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Thomas Jefferson
Age about $8 years
From a portrait painted by Gilbert Stuart at Philadelphia, in May, 1800, now in the pos
session of Bowdoin College, Brunswick, Me.
Stuart painted Jefferson's portrait from life three times. This superb picture was the
first of the three paintings, and was the one preferred by the illustrious statesman, who paid
Stuart $100 for it. Stuart, however, as was his practise, sold the picture twice and turned it
over to Governor James Bowdoin, who bequeathed it to the College named ai'lor him.
[11
1 he Jeffersonian Cyclopedia
A COMPREHENSIVE COLLECTION OF THE
VIEWS OF
(.in/
THOMAS JEFFERSON
Classified and Arranged in Alphabetical Order Under Nine Thousand
Titles Relating to Government, Politics, Law, Education,
Political Economy, Finance, Science, Art,
Literature, Religious Freedom,
Morals, Etc.
EDITED BY
JOHN P. FOLEY
"I have sworn upon the altar of God
eternal hostility against every form of tyranny
over the mind of man." — Thomas Jefferson.
FUNK & WAGNALLS COMPANY
NEW YORK AND LONDON
COPYRIGHT, 1900, BY
FUNK & WAGNALLS COMPANY
REGISTERED AT STATIONERS* HALL, LONDON, ENGLAND
f Printed in the United States of America]
PREFACE
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA is designed to be a complete classified
arrangement of the Writings of Thomas Jefferson on Government, Politics,
Law, Education, Commerce, Agriculture, Manufactures, Navigation, Finance,
Morals, Religious Freedom, and many other topics of permanent human
interest. It contains everything of importance that Jefferson wrote on these
subjects.
Why and wherefore the publication of this volume now ? The answer is
this : More than three-quarters of a century ago, one of the earlier biogra
phers of Jefferson wrote : "It would be a happy circumstance for America
and for the mass of mankind if the works of Jefferson could obtain a circula
tion which would place them in the hands of every individual. Unfortunately,
the form in which they have appeared is not the most advantageous to the
accomplishment of this desirable purpo.se. The publication is too voluminous,
and consequently too expensive, to admit of a general introduction among all
classes, nor is the mode of arrangement the best adapted to its reception into
ordinary use as a work of reference. ' '
From that distant day to the present time, no attempt has been made to
arrange and classify the theories and principles of Jefferson, so as to make
them available in ready reference form.
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA aims to do this — to be a Manual of
Jeffersonian Doclrine, accurate, complete, impartial, giving Jefferson's views,
theories, and ideas in his own words. No edition of Jefferson's Writings,
printed at either public or private expense, contains so comprehensive a collec
tion of Jefferson's opinions as this volume. This fa(5l will be clearly seen by
all who consult it.
Not alone to the American people, but to all peoples, are Jefferson's opin
ions on Government of deep and abiding interest. Among the Statesmen of
all time, he is the foremost Expounder of the Rights of Man, of the unalien-
able right of every human being to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
That is the object of all just Government, to preserve which Jeffersonian
principles must be sacredly cherished.
J. P. F.
Brooklyn, July jist, 1900.
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE
Portrait by Stuart Frontispiece
Portrait by Peale .... . . . 96
Portrait by Desnoyers . . . 192
Portrait by Brumidi ... ...... 288
Bronze Statue by d' Angers . , 384
Portrait by Stuart .... ...,.'. 480
Monticello, the Home of Thomas Jefferson , . , 590
Portrait by Sully . 714
Marble Statue by Powers ........ 800
Portrait by Otis .... . , ,896
CHRONOLOGY OF THOMAS JEFFERSON
Born at Shadwell, Albemarle Co., Va April 2 (O. S.), 13 (N. S.), 1743
Death of his Father, Peter Jefferson August 17, 1757
Entered William and Mary College „ ....... March, 1760
Graduation ............ April 25, 1762
Entered Law Office of George Wythe ........ April, 1762
Admitted to Bar . ... . . . . 1767
Elected to Virginia House of Burgesses ....... March, 1769
Marriage to Martha Wayles Skelton . . . . . . . . January, 1772 *
Birth of his First Daughter, Martha ...... September 27, 1772
/Appointed Surveyor of Albemarle County ...... October, 1773
Birth of Second Daughter, Jane Randolph ....... April 3, 1774
Elected Deputy to Continental Congress ....... March, 1775
Attends Continental Congress June 21, 1775
Death of his Mother .......... March 31, 1776
, ' Appointed on Committee to prepare Declaration of Independence . . June n, 1776
Draft of Declaration Reported ......... June 28, 1776
Elected Commissioner to France . . . . . . September 26, 1776
Attends Virginia Assembly October, 1776
Appointed on Committee to Revise Virginia Laws .... November 6, 1776
Birth of Son May 28, 1777
Death of Son ............. June 14, 1777
Birth of Third Daughter, Mary August I, 1778
Elected Governor of Virginia June i, 1779
Reelected Governor of Virginia . , . . . . . . . June I, 1780
Fourth Daughter Born November 3, 1780
Resigns Governorship ........... June i, 1781
Assembly Orders Investigation of his Administration ..... June 5, 1781
Appointed Peace Commissioner by Continental Congress .... June 14, 1781
Appointment Declined .......... June 30, 1781
Attends Virginia Assembly November 5. 1781
Committee Appointed to State Charges Against Him . . . November 26, 1781
Elected Delegate to Congress November 30, 1781
Voted Thanks of Assembly ........ December 12, 1781
Daughter Lucy Elizabeth Born May 8, 1782
Death of Mrs. Jefferson .......... September 6, 1782
Appointed Peace Commissioner to Europe ..... November 12, 1782
Appointment Withdrawn ........... April i, 1783
Elected Delegate to Congress .......... June 6, 1783
Elected Chairman of Congress ........ March 12, 1784
S Elected Minister to France .......... May 7, 1784
Arrived in Paris August 6, 1784
Elected French Minister by Congress ....... March 10, 1785
Audience at French Court May 17, 1785
Death of Youngest Daughter, Lucy ....... November, 1785
Presented to George III. at Windsor ....... March 22, 1786
Made an LL.D. by Yale October, 1786
Made an LL.D. by Harvard .......... June, 1788
H Prepares Charter for France .......... June 3, 1789 f
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
J Nominated to be Secretary of State
Confirmed by Senate . . . . . .
Leaves France . . . . . . .
At Monticello . . . . .
Accepts Secretaryship of State
/ Marriage of Daughter Martha to Thomas Mann Randolph ,
Writes to Washington of Intention to Resign from Cabinet .
Reconsiders Resignation ........
Offered French Mission . .
Resigns Secretaryship of State ......
Offered Foreign Mission ........
Elected Vice-President ........
.'< Elected President of Philosophical Society ....
Takes Oath of Office as Vice-President
Marriage of Mary Jefferson to John Wayles Eppes
' Writes Essay on Study of Anglo-Saxon
Drafts Kentucky Resolutions .......
Revises Madison's Virginia Resolutions .....
f Plans University of Virginia
Prepares Parliamentary Manual ......
Republican Caucus Nominates Jefferson and Burr
Congress Begins to Ballot for President ....
Elected President
Farewell Address to Senate .......
Inauguration as President
Louisiana Treaty Signed at Paris ......
Louisiana Treaty Ratified .......
Message on Taking Possession of Louisiana ....
Reelected President of United States
? Elected President of American Philosophical Society
Signs Bill to End Slave Trade
Proposes to Seize the Floridas ......
Embargo Act Signed ........
Repeal of Embargo Signed .......
Retires from Presidency ........
Arrives at Monticello ........
Resigns Presidency of American Philosophical Society
Congress Passes Bill to Buy Library .....
'Drafts Virginia Protest
Executes Will
Declines Invitation to Fourth of July Celebration in Washington
Writes Last Letter
Death .
September 25,
September 26,
October,
December 24,
February 14,
February 28,
May 23,
January,
February,
December 31,
September,
, November 4,
January,
March 4,
October 13,
October,
October,
November,
January 18,
February,
May,
. February n,
. February 17,
, February 28,
March 4,
May 2,
October 20,
. January 18,
November,
January,
March 2,
, September i,
December 22,
March i,
March 4,
March 17,
November,
. ' January,
December,
March 16,
. June 24.
. June 25,
. July 4,
1789
1789
1789
1789
1790
1790
1792
1793
1793
1793
1794
1796
1797
1797
1797
1798
1798
1798
1800*-
1800
1800
iSoi
1801
1801
1801
1803
1803
1804
1804
1807
1807 •*
1807
1807
1809
1809
1809
1814
1815
1825 *•
1826
1826
1826
1826
LIST OF PATRONS
THIS CYCLOPEDIA HAS BEEN BROUGHT TO A SUCCESSFUL COMPLETION AND ITS PUBLI
CATION MADE PRACTICABLE THROUGH THE CO-OPERATION OF A LARGE NUMBER OF
ADMIRERS OF THOMAS JEFFERSON, WHO RECOGNIZED IN ADVANCE THE DESIRABILITY
OF SUCH A WORK AND WHO SHARE IN THE HONOR OF ITS PRODUCTION. THE NAMES
OF THESE PATRONS OF THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA ARE AS FOLLOWS:
Abbott, A. F Fredericktown, Mo.
Abbott, M. J Hayes Centre, Neb.
Abersol, Edward J Metamora, 111.
Adams, Hon. Alva Pueblo, Colo.
Adams, Charles B Kansas City, Mo.
Adams, Charles S Volga City, Iowa
Adams, C. M Alexandria, Va.
Adams, Jed. C Kaufman, Tex.
Adams, William R New York, N. Y.
Adkins, William H Easton, Md.
Agar, John G New York City
Aikens, Frank R Sioux Falls, So. Dak.
Ainslie, George Boise City, Idaho
Albert Barnes Memorial Library. ..Philadelphia, Pa.
Albright, Fontaine E Fort Worth Tex.
Albright, J. G Milwaukee.Wis.
Alden, Charles A New York City
Aldrich, Charles H Evanston, 111.
Alexander, Hope H Thomasville, Ga.
Alexander, Hugh Concordia, Kan.
Alison, T. Smvser, M.D Swartz, La.
Alice, W. S., "M.D Olean, Mo.
Allen, G. R. C Wheeling, W. Va.
Allen, Harry K Gallatin, Mo.
Allen, H. Jerome, M.D Washington, D. C.
Allen, John L. M New York City
Allen, Richard E Augusta, Ga.
Alley, S. S Wilber, Neb.
Allison, Hon. William B Dubuque, Iowa
Alrich, Enrique El Paso Tex.
Alston, David M Pittsburg, Pa.
Altgelt, George C San Antonio, Tex.
Alvord, W. C Peoria, 111.
Anderbery, C. P Minden, Neb.
Anderson, E. B Harmony Grove, Ga.
Anderson, Henry W Richmond, Va.
Anderson, James T Stanberry, Mo.
Anderson, Jefferson Randolph Savannah, Ga.
Anderson, Joseph R Lee, Va.
Anderson, T. P Kansas City, Kan.
Andrews, Theodore E Minneapolis, Minn.
Andrus, John A Ashton, 111.
Ansley, Hudson Salamanca, N. Y.
Archibald, J. W Jacksonville, Fla.
Armgardt, H., M.D Brooklyn, N. Y.
Armstrong, Hunter S St. Clairsville, Ohio
Armstrong, W. E Waco, Tex.
Arner, Calvin E Allentown, Pa.
Arthur, John G Omaha, Neb.
Asbury, D. F Newport News, Va.
Ash, Robert San Francisco, Cal.
Ashworth, J. S Bristol, Va.
Atkinson, J. A Creede, Colo.
Atkinson, Louis E Mifflintown, Pa.
Autenrieth, Henry G New York City
Avritt, Samuel Louisville, Ky.
Aycock, William T Columbia, S. C.
Ayers, Harry J Big Stone Gap, Va.
Bacon, Rev. T. S., D.D Buckeystown, Md.
Bader, D. M Cleveland, Ohio
Bagley, George C Minneapolis, Minn.
Bagley, W. D Rockdale, Tex.
Bailey, Mrs. James Stacey Waycross, Ga.
Baird, C. E Philadelphia, Pa.
Baird, William Marine City, Mich.
Baker, Rosa Rochester, N. Y.
Baker, William H Buffalo, N. Y.
Baker, William V Columbus, Ohio
Baldwin, B. J., Jr Paris, Tex.
Baldwin, Frank A Bowling Green, Ohio
Baldwin, W. H Rockport, Tex.
Ballance, William P., M.D Tuneau, Alaska
Ballard, Guy, A.B Anderson, Ind.
Ballard, W. Harrison, M.D Los Angeles, Cal.
Banta, D. A Great Bend, Kan.
Barber, Theodore M Pittsburg, Pa.
Bard, H. Burton Lansing, Mich.
Barker, Joseph D Petersburg, Ind.
Barnes, Carl L., M.D., LL.B Chicago, 111.
Barnes, Charles A Jacksonville, 111.
Barnes, E. H Healdsburg, Cal.
Barnes, O. H Middlebourne, W. Va.
Barnett, DeWitt C Harrisonville, Mo.
Barnett, M. S Cuba, Mo.
Barney, J. A May ville, Wis.
Barrett, James M Fort Wayne, Ind.
Barrick, Charles W New Martinsville, W. Va.
Bartlett, C. L Macon, Ga.
Bartlett, George A Eureka, Nev.
Barton, Alexander J Allegheny, Pa.
Batcheller, George Clinton New York City
Batchelor, R. Horton New York City
Bates, Benjamin F Brooklyn, N. Y.
Bates, William S Houston, Miss.
Uausman, Frederick Seattle, Wash.
Bayne, John Salem, Ore.
Beach, M. W Carroll, Iowa
Beach, W. H Holland, Mich.
Beach, William A Syracuse, N. Y.
Beale Memorial Library Bakersfield, Cal.
Beall & Kemp El Paso, Tex.
Beeber, William P Williamspprt, Pa.
Beecher, Walter H Cincinnati, Ohio
Behrns, C. L Cherokee, Tex.
Beidelman, William Easton, Pa.
Belcher, Bart Dikeville, Ky.
Belford, James B Denver, Colo.
Bell, Hal New York City
Bell, James D Brooklyn, N. Y.
Bell, R. R Gainesville, Tex.
Bell, Theodore A Napa, Cal.
Bender, John S Plymouth, Ind.
Benedict, C. B Attica, N. Y.
Bennett, Lewis J Buffalo, N. Y.
Bentley, A. C Pittsfield, 111.
Bentley, James H Ridley Park, Pa.
Benton, J. M Winchester, Ky.
Berdrow, L. G David City, Neb.
Bernheim, Isaac W Louisville, Ky.
Bernstein, Ernest R Shreveport, La
Berrien, R. Noble, Jr Waynesboro, Ga.
Bertram, G. Webb Oberlin, Kan.
Betts, Frederick New York City
Bettzhoover, F. E Carlisle, Pa.
Biddle, W. R Fort Scott, Kan.
Bidwell, H. G., M.D Jersey City, N. J.
Birnie, C., M.D Taneytown, Md.
Bischoff, Henry, Jr New York City
Bittenbender, H. C Lincoln, Neb.
Bittiner, Edmund New York City
Black, Charles J Jersey City, N. J.
Black, Chauncey F York, Pa.
Black, Cyrenius P Lansing, Mich.
Black. Howard C Plain City, Ohio
Blackford, William M Lewistown, Mont.
Blackmore, Tames W Gallatin, Tenn.
Blackwcll, S'amuel New Decatur, Ala.
Blain, Alexander W Detroit, Mich.
Blair, George New York City
Blake, W. H Wetumpka, Ala.
Blakeley, W. A Pittsburg, Pa.
Blanchard, Nathan W Santa Paula, Cal.
Blanck, Joseph E., M.D Green Lane, Pa
Blee, John W Sandwich, 111.
Bloom, S. S Shelby, Ohio
Blose, G. Ament Hamilton, Pa.
Bohannan, T. E Falmouth, Ky.
Bohannon, L. T.. M.D Orphan Home, Tex.
xiv
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Boles, Thomas Fort Smith, Ark.
Boiler, J. F Porterville, Cal.
Bomar, T. B Forth Worth Tex.
Boney, Richard K Duckport, La.
Bonsall, Charles Salem, Ohio
Booher, Charles F Savannah, Mo.
Booker, A. G Wadena, Minn.
Boone, L. L San Diego, Cal.
Boothe, J. B Sardis, Miss.
Boren, George E Bristol, Tenn.
Borkert, Rev. J. W Grass Creek, Ind.
Bouck, Gabe Oshkosh, Wis.
Bouldin, Virgil Scottsboro, Ala.
Bowers, F. E Perrysburg, Ohio
Bowie, J. C Talladega, Ala.
Bowie, Sydney J Anniston, Ala.
Bowser, O. P ._. .Dallas, Tex.
Boyce, John J Santa Barbara, Cal.
Boyd, Henry A Warrenton, N. C.
Boyle, Wilbur F St. Louis, Mo.
Brace, William Chicago, 111.
Bradford, Ernest W Washington, D. C.
Bradford, Mary S Cleveland, Ohio
Bradley, Herbert E Columbus, Ohio
Bradley, John H Senath, Mo.
Bradley, Washington Kinmundy, 111.
Bradshaw, Homer S Ida Grove, Iowa
Branch, Oliver E Manchester, N. H.
Branch, W. W Charleston, W. Va.
Brandon, William R., M.D Brandon, La.
Bransford, C. W Owensboro, Ky.
Brantley, W. G Brunswick, Ga.
Breckinridge, Hon. William C. P. . .Lexington, Ky.
Brenner, G San Francisco, Cal.
Briant, Paul H San Angelo, Tex.
Brice, J. S Yorkville, S. C.
Bridenbaugh, W. H Altoona, Pa.
Bridges, W. A Center, Tex.
Brock, Cyrus C Pittsburg, Pa.
Bronson, Alice Wellsville, N. Y.
Brooks, W. P., M.D Cook Neb.
Brougher, E. E Linden, Tex.
Brown, Irving Haverstraw, N. Y.
Brown, J. A ' Chadbourn, N. C.
Brown, James L Oklahoma City, Okla.
Brown, James R New York City
ames W Falls Church, Va.
. E Scottsboro, Ala.
Brown,
Brown,
Brown,
)r. J. W Camden, Ark.
Brown, M. R Bellefontaine, Ohio
Brown, Ralph H Atlanta, Ga.
Browne, Jefferson B Key West, Fla.
Browne, Richard H New Orleans, La.
Browne, Dr. Walker G Atlanta, Ga.
Brubaker, Joseph Stauffer Vinton, Iowa
Bruce, George W Pleasant Hill, Mo.
Brumback, Hon. O. S Toledo, Ohio
Bruyere, Dr. John Trenton, N. J.
Bryan, H. A Ruthven, Iowa
Bryan, John D El Paso, Tex.
Bryan, R. W. D Albuquerque, New Mexico
Buchman, Edwin Valley Falls, N. Y.
Buckner, James H Cincinnati, Ohio
Budd, J. D., M.S., M.D Two Harbors, Minn.
Budd, William N Bunker Hill, 111.
Burbank, William F Los Angeles, Cal.
Burckhalter, James B Vinita, I. T.
Burgess, Edward G Montclair, N. J.
Burke, Frank B Indianapolis, Ind.
Burke, John F Milwaukee, Wis.
Burke, Walter J New Iberia, La.
Burson, George Winamac, Ind.
Burtt, Henry A Jeffersonville, Ind.
Bush, Matthew Corunna, Mich.
Bushnell, A. R Madison, Wis.
Butler, Sarah Cincinnati, Ohio
Butler, William J Springfield, 111.
Butt, I. T Clarksdale, Miss.
Byrd, R. E Winchester, Va.
Byrne, E. J Austin, Tex.
Cadwallader, A. D Springfield, 111.
Cahill, John H New York City
Cain, William M David City, Neb.
Calhoon, Judge S. S Jackson, Miss.
Camp, E. T Gadsden, Ala.
Campbell, Daniel West New Brighton, N. Y.
Campbell, Edward, Jr Fairfield, Iowa
Carey, Henry W Eastlake, Mich.
Carmichael, D. W Sacramento, Cal.
Carr, John Lincoln, Neb.
Carr, Julian S Durham, N. C.
Carson, J. A. G Savannah, Ga.
Carter, A. Edson Los Angeles, Cal.
Carter, F. M....
.Farmington, Mo.
Carton, James D Asbury Park, N. J.
Carver, Edwin O Fitzhugh, Fla.
Carver, M. H Natchitoches, La.
Case, Halbert B Chattanooga, Tenn.
Cass, J. E Eau Claire, Wis.
Castle, Bryan J Madison, Wis.
Caywood, John Miles City, Mont.
Cazier, M. H Chicago, 111.
Cease, D. L Cleveland, Ohio
Chalkley, John W Big Stone Gap, Va.
Chambers, David W New Castle, Ind.
Chambers, Emmett Dallas, Tex.
Champlin, John W Grand Rapids, Mich.
Chapman, Oliver J Breckinridge, Mo.
Charters, W. A Dahlonega, Ga.
Chase, C. C Covington, Ky.
Chidester, Arthur Mercer New Waterford, Ohio
Chidester, T. Edwin Philadelphia, Pa.
Child, James E Waseca, Minn.
Chisholm, W. W Salt Lake City, Utah
Cissel, W. W. L Highland, Md.
Clancy, William Butte, Mont.
Clardy, Martin L St. Louis, Mo.
Clark, Ezra W League Island, Pa.
Clark, Frank Jacksonville, Fla.
Clark, Gibson Cheyenne, Wyo.
Clark, Orlando E Appleton, Wis.
Clark, R. S Eau Claire, Wis.
Clark, William H .Daflas, Tex.
Clarke, Enos Kirkwood, Mo.
Clarke, James T., M.D Mount Solon, Va.
Clarke, James W East Orange, N. J.
Clarke, Peyton Neale Louisville, Ky.
Clay, Rhodes Mexico, Mo.
Clay, William Lewis Huntsville, Ala.
Clement, Charles M Sunbury, Pa.
Clemson Agricultural College, Clemson College, S. C.
Cleveland Cider Co Unionville, Lake Co., Ohio
Clinch, Edward S New York City
Closson, James Harwood, M.D.,
Germantown, Philadelphia, Pa.
Clute, Lemuel Ionia, Mich.
Clute, S. R Montezuma, Iowa
Clyne, Benjamin, M.D Yale, Mich.
Cochran, Rev. F. J Roxana, Del.
Cockrell, Joseph E Dallas, Tex.
Cohen, Ira New York City
Cohen, Lewis Bloomsburg, Pa.
Colby University Library Waterville, Me.
Coleman, Henry, President Nat'l Business College,
Newark, N. J.
Collier, B. K Etna Mills, Cal.
Collier, F. S Hampton, Va.
Collier, Thomas A Jamestown, Tenn.
Collins, Charles H Hillsboro, Ohio
Collins. John T Rutherford, N. J.
Collins, Winfield S Basin, Wyo.
Colton, William H Wapello, Iowa
Comstock, C. N Albany, Mo.
Condon, John T Seattle, Wash.
Condon, William H Chicago, 111.
Coney, P. H Topeka, Kan.
Conkling, Cook Rutherford, N. J.
Conkling, Newlan Norborne, Mp.
Connaughton, J. J Wapekoneta, Ohio
Connell, J. H College Station, Tex.
Conover, William A Chicago 111.
Conroy, E. M., M.D Ogden, Utah
Cook, Benjamin H., M.D Wilkinson, Ind.
Cook, John T Albany, N. Y.
Cook, Samuel E Huntington, Ind.
Cooke, J. H Moultrie, Ga.
Cookinham, D. A., M.D Holton, Kan.
Coolidge, T. Jefferson Boston, Mass.
Cooper, A. W Forest, Miss.
Cooper, H. P Lebanon, Ky.
Cooper, J. M. F., M.D Waterville, Wash.
Copeland, Alfred M Springfield, Mass.
Corbett, William P Detroit, Mich.
Corbin, John New Harmony, Ind.
Cosgrave, George Fresno, Cal.
Coshocton Free School Library Coshocton, Ohio
Costello, S. V San Francisco, Cal.
Coulter, J. E Grand Rapids, Mich.
Courtney, Major A. R Richmond, Va.
Courtright, Samuel W., LL.D Circleville, Ohio
Courts, Dr. W. J Reidsville, N. C.
Covell, A. G Sykeston, No. Dak.
Cowen, Gen. B. R Cincinnati, Ohio
Cowdery, J. F San Francisco, Cal.
Cowles, George M Monroe, Iowa
Cowper, George Winston, N. C.
Cox, Henry C La Grange, 111.
Cox, Jefferson D Claremore, I. T.
LIST OF PATRONS
xv
Cox, Jennings S New York City.
Cox, Stephen J New York City
Crain, Robert Baltimore, Md.
Crane, Elvin W Newark, N. J.
Cranston, John A Alexandria, Minn.
Cravath, E. M Nashville, Term.
Cravath, Paul D New York City
Cravens, Robert O Sacramento, Cal.
Crawford, E. C Oakdale, Cal.
Crawford, Thomas Olin Oakland, Cal.
Crocheron, David E New York City
Crossland, Samuel H Mayfield, Ky.
Crouch, B. W Saluda, S. C.
Crouch, David N Humphreys, Mo.
Crunden, Frederick M St. Louis, Mo.
Cullen, John J Jersey City, N. J.
Gumming, Robert Peoria, 111.
Cunningham, Oliver M South Bend, Ind.
Cunningham, W. J Abilene, Tex.
Curd, Thomas N Richmond, Va.
Curdy, Scott Eugene Kingsley, Mich.
Curley, John J Rockaway Beach, N. Y.
Cussons, John Glen Allen, Va.
Dabney, I. T Bloomfield, Iowa
Dagg, J. L Vidalia, La.
Dalton, James L Poplar Bluff, Mo.
Daly, Peter Francis New Brunswick, N. J.
Dalzell, John Washington, D. C.
Danforth, C. R Minonk, 111.
Daniels, Josephus Raleigh, N. C.
Darden, W. M Speights Bridge, N. C.
Darlington, Barton Los Angeles, Cal.
Darlington, J. J Washington, D. C.
Davidson, O. C Commonwealth, Wis.
Davies, William Gilbert New York City
Davis, C. E Deadwood, S. Dak.
Davis, Charles E Madison, Fla.
Davis, Ernest M Camilla, Ga.
Davis, William L Canton, Ohio
Davispn, Charles Stewart New York City
Dawkins, Walter I Baltimore, Md.
Dayton, George D Worthington, Minn.
Dean, Claude M Richmond, Va.
Dean, Gerard Q New York City
Dean, J. A Owensboro, Ky.
Dean, J. R Broken Bow, Neb.
Dean, J. R Woodward, Okla.
Dean, S. W Centerville, Tex.
Dean, Walter E San Francisco, Cal.
Dechert, Henry M Philadelphia, Pa.
De Haven, John J San Francisco, Cal.
De Lacy, John F Eastman) Ga.
Delery, W. S Houston, Tex.
Denmark, Brantley A Savannah, Ga.
Dent, William Hamilton Decorah, Iowa
Denton, John S Cookeville, Tenn.
Denver Athletic Club Library Denver, Colo.
De Pue, E. L Olivia, Minn.
Dersheimer, C. O Tunkhannock, Pa.
de Steuben, T. J Jensen, Fla.
-Ueuel, Joseph M New York City
Devecmon, W. C Cumberland, Md.
Devine, Michael A Atlantic City, N. J.
Devine, Miles J Chicago, 111
Deweese, B. C Lexington, Ky.
De Weese, K. McC Kansas City, Mb.
Dierking, John St. Clair, Mo.
Diggs, Annie L Topeka, Kan.<
Diggs, Rev. P. W Unity, Va.
Digney, John M White Plains, N. Y.
Diller, Peter Bluffton, Ohio
Dillon, Thomas H Petersburg, Ind.
Dines, Tyson S Denver, Colo.
Dively, A. V Altoona, Pa.
Dixon, Warren Jersey City, N. J.
Dixon, W. W Union, S. C.
Dobbins, W. P Corinth, Miss.
Dockstader, G. W Cawker City, Kan.
Dodd, Amzi Newark, N. J.
Dodge, Frank L Lansing, Mich.
Dodge, Geo. E Little Rock, Ark.
Dodge, Samuel D Cleveland, Ohio
Dollard, Robert Scotland, S. Dak.
Domer, S. P Spokane, Wash.
Donahoe, John T Joliet, 111.
Doocy, Edward Pittsfield, 111.
Dooley, Edward J Brooklyn, N. Y.
Dorsey, J. S Columbia, Mo.
Dougherty, J. W Washington, 111.
Douglas, John A New York City
Douglass, P. A Danville, Ark.
Douglass, Joshua Meadville, Pa.
Dowd, Thomas H Salamanca, N. Y.
Dowling, James E Springfield, 111.
Downing, H. H Front Royal, Va.
Downing, Thomas J New London, Mo.
Downs, S. A Mena, Ark.
Doyle, Michael J Green Bay, Wis.
Drake, Thomas Pierre, S. Dak.
Draper, A. L Glenville, Ohio
Dressier, Rev. John M Boelus, Neb.
Dreys, Otto L Delray, Mich.
Drinkle, H. C Lancaster, Ohio
Dudley, James G Paris, Tex.
Duffy, Rodolph Catharine Lake, N. C.
Dunbar, D. C Salt Lake City, Utah
Duncan, John F Lewisburg, Pa.
Duncan, John M Tyler, Tex.
Duncan, W. C Columbus, Ind.
Dunford, P. P Montague, Tex.
Dunn, Chauncey H Sacramento, Cal.
Durand, John S New York City
Durham, T. F Danville, Ky.
Durst, George M Thayer, Mo.
Dxttcher, Frederick L Rochester, N. Y.
Dyer, Elihu B Saybrook, 111.
Dygert, George B Butte, Mont.
Dykman, William N Brooklyn, N. Y.
Eagan, John J Hoboken, N. J.
' • 'ames J Seattle, Wash.
Eastham, H. C..... Baker City, Ore.
Eastman, Charles H Nashville, Tenn.
Eaton, Willard L Osage, Iowa
Ebner, F. E Aitkin, Minn.
Echols, John Warnock Washington, D. C.
Eckert, O. V Northwood, Iowa
Edmunds, Earl Correction ville, Iowa
Edwards, Charles W Bordentown, N. J.
Edwards, S. B Pottsville, Pa.
Edwards, T. M., D.Ps Fortuna, Cal.
Egan, John F Sapulpa, I. T.
Eggen, J. A Milwaukee, Wis.
Eickhoff, Henry San Francisco, Cal.
Einstein, Louis Fresno, Cal.
Eldridge, E. R Chicago, 111.
Eliel, Adolph Dillon, Mont.
Ellegood, James E Salisbury, Md.
Elliott, Frank W Topeka, Kan.
Ellis, G. W Hattiesburg, Miss.
Ellis, Matt H Philadelphia, Pa.
Ellis, O Uvalde, Tex.
Ellis, Stephen D Amite City, La.
Ellison, T. E Fort Wayne, Ind.
Elver, Elmore Theodore Madison, Wis.
Embry, James H Washington, D. C.
Emery, George D ..Minneapolis, Minn.
Emmert, J. M., M.D Atlantic, Iowa
English, John C Helena, Mont.
Ennes, John D Norfolk, Va.
Epes, T. Freeman Blackstone, Va.
Eskridge, J. T., M.D Denver, Colo.
Evans, E. G Des Moines, Iowa
Evarts, H. P Grand Rapids, Mich.
Everett, Howard Terril, Iowa
Ewing, Pressley K Houston, Tex.
F. & C. Co-operative Co Fort Gaines, Ga.
Falconer, John — San Francisco, Cal.
Falloon, Edwin Falls City, Neb.
Fanner, Charles H Walterboro, S. C.
Fanning, William J New York City
Farmer, R. J Detroit, Mich.
Farnham, George R Evergreen, Ala.
Farnsworth, W. H Sioux City, Iowa
Farr, Mark C Chicago, 111.
Farrar, J. H Groesbeeck, Tex.
Farrell, Clinton P New York City
Farrell, Rev. W. B Hempstead, L. L, N. Y.
Farrelly, Robert W Washington, D. C.
Faulkner, Charles J Martinsburg, W. Va.
Faxon, John W Chattanooga, Tenn.
Featherston, W. B Cleburne, Tex.
Feliz, F. P Monterey, Cal.
Ferguson, F. S Birmingham, Ala.
Ferguson, H. G St. Louis, Mo.
Ferris, M. J. II New York City
Ficke, C. A Davenport, Iowa
Field, Frank Harvey Brooklyn, N. Y.
Field, J. H Dickinson, N. Dak.
Filson, Frank M Cameron, Mo.
Finch, A. T., M.D Blacksburg, Va.
Finley, D. C Kansas City, Mo.
Firehammer, J. H Alameda, Cal.
Fischer, Frederick Brooklyn, N. Y.
Fishback, W. II Laramie, Wyo.
Fisher. William Pensacola, Fla.
Fitzgerald, H. R Danville, Va.
Fitzgerald, John E New York City
Fitz-Randolph, Leslie Nortonville, Kan.
xvi
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Flagg, John H New York City
Fleming, Hon. William H Augusta, Ga.
Fletcher, A. S Huntsville, Ala.
Fletcher, James H., Jr Accomack C. H., Va.
Fletcher, R. D Titusville, Pa.
Flournoy, George, Jr Bakersfield, Cal.
Floyd, G. S Waterville, Wash.
Foley, Hamilton, U.S.A
Foley, Paul, U.S.N
Follett, A. D Marietta, Ohio
Ford, Charles M Denver, Colo.
Fordyce, John Weyauwega, Wis.
Foster, E. Agate, M.D Patchogue, L. I., N. Y.
Foster, Samuel M Fort Wayne, Ind.
Fox, Hon. A. F West Point, Miss.
Frank, Henry New York City
Frankenheimer, John New York City
Franklin, David, M.D New York City
Freeman, W. R Denver, Colo.
French, D. E Keystone, W. Va.
French, E. L Lancaster, Mo.
Frick, J. E Salt Lake City, Utah
Frost, A. C Chicago, 111.
Frost, E. Allen Chicago, 111.
Fuller, Judge Ceylon Canfield Big Rapids Mich.
Fuller, Edward M., M.D Chicago, 111.
Fuller, T. A San Antonio, Tex.
Funk, M. P Rantoul, 111.
Furlong, Henry J New York City
Gaffney, F. O Lake City, Mich.
Gage, George W Chester, S. C.
Gail Borden Public Library Elgin, 111.
Gaither, Charles A Erie, Pa.
Galloway, Charles V Park Place, Ore.
Garcin, Ramon D., M.D Richmond, Va.
Gardner, Lawrence Washington, D. C.
Gardner, Levi Atlanta, N. Y.
Garman, John M Nanticoke, Pa.
Garner, James W Kansas City, Mo.
Garth, Col. William Willis Huntsville, Ala.
Gates, Theodore B Brooklyn, N. Y.
Gaylord, Samuel A St. Louis, Mo.
Gearhart, Cicero • Stroudsburg, Pa.
Gehrz, Gustave G Milwaukee, Wis.
Center, E. W Salt Lake City, Utah
George, James A Deadwood, S. Dak.
Gibbes, Heyward M Jerome, Ariz.
Gibbes, Hunter A Columbia, S. C.
Gibbons, James E Purcell, I. T.
Gibson, T. B McColl, S. C.
Gibson, William F San Francisco, Cal.
Gillan, George C Lexington, Neb.
Gillespie, George W Tazewell, Va.
Gillespie, John F Pine Bluff, Ark.
Ginter, H. E Du Bois, Pa.
Gleason, Orton W Detroit, Mich.
Gleason, P Le Roy, N. Y.
Godsman, P. B Burlington, Colo.
Goeke, J. H Wapakoneka, Ohio
Goeschel, Louis Bay City, Mich.
Goldberg, Abraham New Orleans, La.
Goodding, Roscoe E La Plata, Mo.
Goode, George W Grangeville, Idaho
Goodnight, I. H Franklin, Ky.
Gordon, Wellington Columbia, Mo.
Goss. D. F Seymour, Tex.
Gould, Will D Los Angeles, Cal.
Goulder, Holding & Masten Cleveland, Ohio
Gourley, William B Paterson, N. J.
Gow, John R Bellaire, Ohio
Graham, W. H Uniontown, Pa.
Grant, Bishop A Philadelphia. Pa.
Grant, M. R Meridian, Miss.
Grason, William Towson, Md.
Graves, Alvin M Cincinnati, Ohio
Graves, Ernest San Luis Obispo, Cal.
Graves, Hamilton Roanoke, Va
Gray, Alfred W Niagara Falls, N. Y.
Graybill, Capt. George York, Pa.
Grayston, W. E Joplin, Mo.
Greaves, Charles D ,...Hot Springs, Ark.
Greble, H. K Hamilton, Ohio
Green, Henry D Reading, Pa.
Greenburg, Rev. Dr. William H Sacramento, Cal.
Greene, Thomas G Portland, Ore.
Greenfield, Leo New York City
Greenway, J. Henry Havre de Grace, Md".
Greenwood, A. G Palestine, Tex.
Greenwood, Frederick Norfolk, Va.
Greer, H. H Mount Vernon, Ohio
Gregory, James P Louisville, Ky.
Griffiths, G. Charles Chicago, 111.
Grimes, H. H Lincoln, Neb.
Grosshans, Frank E East Liverpool, Ohio
Group, John W Rauchtown, Pa.
Grout, Edward M Brooklyn, N. Y.
Guerin, Claude V Asbury Park, N. J.
Guerry, Du Pont Macon, Ga.
Guerry, Homer Washington, D. C.
Guigon, A. B Richmond, Va.
Guilfoyle, Frank J Syracuse, N. Y.
Gunn, Julien Richmond, Va.
Gunnell, W. M Marlin, Tex.
Gustavus, C. D Oakwoods, Tex.
Guthrie, Ben Eli Macon, Mo.
Guthrie, William A Durham N C
Hackney, Edward T Wellington, Kan.
Hager, John F Ashland, Ky.
Haggan, Rodney Winchester, Ky.
Haire, Col. R. J New York City
Halderman, Grant E Longmont, Colo.
Hale, Hon. Horace M Denver, Colo.
Hale, Morris Hot Springs, Ala.
Hale, S. J Milner, Ga.
Hall, Anthony Paris, Ark.
Hall, Charles S Binghamton, N. Y.
Hall, Dr. D. H Pikeville, Tenn.
Hall, R. W Vernon, Tex.
Hall, William Roland Houston, Miss.
Halligan, John J North Platte, Neb.
Ham, H. W. J Gainesville, Ga.
Hamby, C. C Prescott, Ark.
Hamill, F. P Temple, Tex.
Hamilton, Gen. E. B Quincy, 111.
Hamlin, Byron D Smethport, Pa.
Hammersley, H Cleveland, Ohio
Hammond, George T Brooklyn, N. Y.
Hammond, J. T Salt Lake City, Utah
Hammond, Dr. Robert L Woodsboro, Md.
Hampson, J. K., M.D Nodena, Ark.
Hampton, Charles D El Reno, Okla. T.
Hampton, Charles S Detroit, Mich.
Hampton, William Wade Gainesville, Fla.
Hansbrough, Hon. Henry C Washington, D. C.
Hanson, Dr. T. C Winnemucca, Nev.
Harden, Alfred D New York City
Harding, Gilbert N Lacona, N. Y.
Hardman, Rev. A. L Natchez, Miss.
Harmon, Gilbert Toledo, Ohio
Harne, j. Lee New Martinsville, W. Va.
Harper, P. L Wallace, Neb.
Harrington, M. F O'Neill, Neb.
Harris, A. A Duluth, Minn.
Harris, James C Sheffield, Ala.
Harris, John T Harrisonburg, Va.
Harrison & Long Lynchburg, Va.
Hart, E. H San Francisco, Cal.
Hartigan, M. A Hastings, Neb.
Hartjen, John Brooklyn, N. Y.
Hartman, J. H Claflin, Kan.
Harvey, Edwin Clinton New York City
Hatcher, E. H Columbia, Tenn.
Hatfield, Charles S Clifton, Ohio
Hatton, Goodrich Portsmouth, Va.
Haviland, C. Augustus Brooklyn, N. Y.
Hawkins, A. S Midland, Tex.
Hawkins, J. E Langlois, Ore.
Hawkins, John J Prescott, Ariz.
Hawley, David Yonkers, N. V,
Hayes, George B New York Citj
Hayes, John E New York City
Hayman, L. H., M.D Boscobel, Wis.
Haynie, William Duff Chicago, 111.
Head, J. C Richmond, Ark.
Heagany, Richard Hartford City, Ind.
Heath, Thomas T Cincinnati, Ohio
Heatley, Thomas W Cleveland, Ohio
Heaton, Willis Edgar Hoosick Falls, N. Y.
Hebroy, J. L., Jr Leland, Miss.
Hedden, C. P Irvington, N. J.
Heffelfinger, Jacob Hampton, Va.
Heinly, Harvey F Reading, Pa.
Heiskell, S. G Knoxville, Tenn.
Held, W. D. L Ukiah, Cal.
Hemmeter, John C Cleveland, Ohio
Hemphill, John J Washington, D. C.
Hendrick, C. C Jersey City, N. J.
Henkel, Vernon A Farmersville, Ohio
Henry, John N Champlin, Minn.
Hensler, Gus Anacortes, Wash.
Hermann, Dr. G. J Newport, Ky.
Hero, William S New Orleans, La.
Hewitt, Hon. Abram S New York City
Hewitt, Robert A., Jr Maysyille, Mo.
Hibbard, Bertrand Lesly Monroeville, Ala.
Hickey, W. H., M.D Leipslc, Ohio
Hickok, S. J Canton, Pa.
Higgins, W. E La Porte, Ind.
LIST OF PATRONS
xvii
Higginson, O. F Needles, Cal.
Hildebrand, Edward New York City
Hildebrand, H. E San Antonio, Tex.
Hildreth, Melvin A Fargo, N. Dak.
Hill, Ex-Gov. David B Albany, N. Y.
Hill H. W., M.D Mooresville, Ala.
Hill, James W Peoria, 111.
Hill, Joseph M Fort Smith, Ark.
Hill, W. D Defiance, Ohio
Hilton, Charles S Clarksburg, Md.
Hilton, George Oshkosh, W is.
Himes, George W Shippensburg, Pa.
Hinckley, J. F Sapulpa, I. T.
Hine, Willis G Savannah, Mo.
Hines, Fletcher S Malatt Park, Ind.
Hines, James D Bowling Green, Ky.
Hinson, William G James Island, S. C.
Hite, W. W Louisville, Ky.
Hitt, Orlando Mexico, Mo.
Hobbs, J. W Nineveh, N. Y.
Hobson, F. G Norristown, Pa.
Hoffman, George W Boonsbpro, Md.
Hoffmann, L. O Price, Utah
Holcomb, O. R Ritzville, Wash.
Holcomb, Ex-Gov. Silas A Lincoln, Neb.
Holding, S. H Cleveland, Ohio
Holihan, John Auburn, N. Y.
Holland, L. T., M.D Los Angeles, Cal.
Holliday, W. H Laramie, Wyo.
Hollister, W. R Monticello, Mo.
Holman, J. H Fayetteville, Tenn.
Holmes, D. A Chicago, 111.
Holmes, John T Detroit, Mich.
Holmes, J. T Columbus, Ohio
Hood, R. B Weatherford, Tex.
Hooper, George J Richmond, Va.
Hooper, P. O., M.D Little Rock, Ark.
Hooper & Hooper Oshkosh, Wis.
Hoos, Hon. Edward Jersey City, N. J.
Hoover, S. S Elkhart, Ind.
Hopkins, J. G Hampstead, Albemarle Co., Va.
Hopper, P. L Havre de Grace, Md.
Hopwood, R. F Uniontown, Pa.
Horton, Hiler H St. Paul, Minn.
Horton, H. M Midland, Tex.
Hoskins, H. C Madera, Cal.
Houser, Frederick W Los Angeles, Cal.
Howard, Josiah Emporium, Pa.
Howard, W. A., M.D Waco, Tex.
Hoyt, Dr. Frank C Mt. Pleasant, Iowa
Hubbert, George Neosho, Mo.
Huber, A. H Westminster, Md.
Hudson, F. M Pine Bluff, Ark.
Hudson, Less. L Fort Worth, Tex.
Hudson, T. J Fredonia, Kan.
Hug, Edward V., M.D Lprain, Ohio
Hughes, Adrian Baltimore, Md.
Hughes, Charles J., Tr Denver, Colo.
Hughes, C. W., M.D Eleanor, Pa.
Hughes, L. C. ..../• Tucson, Ariz.
Hull, John M....1 Cleveland, Ohio
Humes, Milton Huntsville, Ala.
Humphrey, J. O Springfield, 111.
Humphries, W. A Portland, Ind.
Hunt, C. C Montezuma, Iowa
Hunter, Henry B Milwaukee, Wis.
Hunter, Peter Eddystone, Pa.
Hunter, Sam J Fort Worth, Tex.
Huntington, D. W. C Lincoln, Neb.
Huntington, R. M Hot Springs, Ark.
Hurley, Rev. John A Emerald, Kan.
Hurst, Elmore W Rock Island, 111.
Hutchings, William T Muscogee, I. T.
Hutter, C. S Lynchburg, Va.
Hutton, A. W Los Angeles, Cal.
Hyde, G. W., M.D Clinton, 111.
Hyde, W. L Buchanan, Va.
Hyland, Judge M. H San Jose, Cal.
Inches, Dr. James W St. Clair, Mich.
Ingersoll, Henry H Knoxville, Tenn.
Irwin, Charles Kingston, N. Y.
Israel, G. C Olympia, Wash.
Itell, Thomas J Johnstown, Pa.
Jackson, E. G Hoboken, N. J.
Jackson, George P. B St. Louis, Mo.
Jackson, J. K. P Margaretville, N. Y.
Jacobs, J. H Reading, Pa.
James, C. F., D.D Danville, Va.
James, H. Clay Huntsville, Tenn.
Janes, F. P., M.D .....Lake Creek, Tex.
Jarvis, George J Faulkton, S. Dak.
Jelleff, A. C Ripon, Wis.
Jenkins, C. H Brownwood, Tex.
Jenkins, J. C MarysvilJe, Cal.
enkins, John J Chippewa Falls, Wis.
ennings, Hyde Fort Worth, Tex.
cnnings, T. A Tampa, Fla.
eter, W. M Dumas, Tex.
ewett, F. T San Francisco, Cal.
ewks, George A Brookville, Pa.
ohanson, Fritz Chinook, Wash.
ohn, Samuel Will Birmingham, Ala.
ohns, John E Massillon, Ohio
ohnson, Alvin J Knoxville, Tenn.
ohnson, Clyde B St. Mary's, W. Va.
ohnson, Ex-Gov. Charles P St. Louis, Mo.
ohnson, David M., Jr Chester, Pa.
ohnson, Francis Little Rock, Ark.
ohnson, Greene F Monticello, Ga.
ohnson, James Pittsburg, Pa.
ohnson, Mrs. James V Brooklyn, N. Y.
ohnson, J. B Nevada, Mo.
Johnson, J. B Des Moines, Iowa
Johnson, J. M Hillsboro, Tex.
Johnson, John G Peabody, Kan.
Johnson, L. H Eureka, Kan.
Johnson, Owens Brunswick, Ga.
Johnson, Col. R. M Elkhart, Ind.
Johnson, Thomas M Osceola, Mo.
Johnson, W. Carter Louisville, Ky.
Johnston, H. M Fresno, Cal.
Jolly, George W Owensboro, Ky.
"ones, Benjamin O Metropolis, 111.
ones, Daniel M Anson, Tex.
ones, Dr. H. C Mt. Vernon, N. Y.
ones, James C St. Louis, Mo.
ones, James H Henderson, Tex.
ones, J. Dunlop Grayson, Ky.
ones, L. A Como, Miss.
ones, Richard A St. Louis, Mo.
ones, Richmond L Reading, Pa.
ones, Ricy H Brigham City, Utah
ones, W. H Riverside, Iowa
ones, William H., M.D Bethlehem, Pa.
ones, William Jarvis Chicago, 111.
ordan, Judge James H Martinsville, Ind.
ordan, J. Eugene Seattle, Wash.
ordan, Warren S Peekskill, N. Y.
ordin, J. F Gallatin, Mo.
udd, John W Nashville, Tenn.
^ane, M. N Warwick, N. Y.
Keast, Alderman J. W St. John, N. B.
Keenan, S. A Clark, S. Dak.
Keene, John Henry Baltimore, Md.
Keffer, J. L Dunbar, Pa.
Reiser, C. W Hazleton, Pa.
Keizer, Lewis R Baltimore, Md.
Keller, John W New York City
Kelley, Marshall C Muskegon, Mich.
Kellogg, A. C Portage, Wis.
Kellogg, Frank E Goleta, Cal.
Kelly, B. A Benton, La.
Kelly, Frank P San Francisco, Cal.
Kelly, James R San Francisco, Cal.
Kelly, John T Milwaukee, Wis.
Kelso, A. W Grant City, Mo.
Kelton, W. H. S Alvarado, Tex.
Kenfield, William F Woonsocket, S. Dak.
Kennedy, Hon. A. M Mexia, Tex.
Kennedy, Crammond Alpine, N. J.
Kennedy, James L Greensburg, Pa.
Kent, Henry T St. Louis, Mo.
Kent, Volney Marshalltown, Iowa
Kern, John W Indianapolis, Ind.
Kern, R. H St. Louis, Mo.
Kerr, Charles Lexington, Ky.
Keyes, W. S San Francisco, Cal.
Kidd, Gideon P., M.D Roann, Ind.
Kilbourne, James Columbus, Ohio
Killebrew, J. B Nashville, Tenn.
Kimbrough, E. R. E Danville, 111.
King, Henry B Augusta, Ga.
King, Col. H. M Evergreen, Ala.
King, John C Baltimore, Md.
King, J. W Kittanning, Pa.
King, Wilbur E Columbus, Ohio
Kingsbury, S. B Boise, Idaho
Kinne, James G Ft. Edward, N. Y.
Kirkpatrick, J. M Dodge City, Kan.
Kissick, W. A Brooklyn, N. Y.
Kitts, Charles W Grass Valley, Cal.
Klaas, Albert R Pittsburg, Pa.
Klar, A. Julian Brooklyn, N. Y.
Klein, Alfred Philadelphia, Pa.
Kleberg, Robert J Corpus Christi, Tex.
KHnedinst, David P York, Pa.
Klugh, James C Abbeville, S. C.
Kluttz, Theodore F Salisbury, N. C.
xviii
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Knapp, F. M Racine, Wis.
Knappe, W, Trevitt, M.D Vincennes, Ind.
Knight, George A Brazil, Ind.
Knight, R. Huston Los Angeles, Cal.
Knoebel, Thomas East St. Louis, 111.
Knox, Chris L Corsicana, Tex.
Knox, J. W Merced, Cal.
Knudson, Charles O Canton, S. Dak.
Kocher, Charles F Newark, N. J.
Koepke, Charles A Chicago, 111.
Kontz, Ernest C Atlanta, Ga.
Koontz, J. B Washington C. H., Ohio
Koontz, J. R Ansted, W. Va.
Krebs, David L Clearfield, Pa.
Kroeer, Lewis Sheffield, Pa.
Kruttschnitt, E. B New Orleans, La.
Krum, Chester St. Louis, Mp.
Kryder, John F Alliance, Ohio
La Buy, M. A Chicago, 111.
Lackland, H. C St. Charles, Mo.
La Due, A Mt. Dora, Fla.
La Force, William N Portland, Ore.
Lake, Lewis F Rpckford, 111.
Lake, Luther E Huntingdon, Ark.
Lamar, J. R Augusta, Ga.
Lamb, Edwin M Butte, Mont.
Lambert, Stenson, M.D Owensboro, Ky.
Lambeth, J. T Lambethville, Ark.
Lamoreaux, Frank B Stevens Point, Wis.
Lamson, John D. R Toledo, Ohio
Landes, S. Z Mt. Carmel, 111.
Landis, William P Philadelphia, Pa.
Lansden, John M Cairo, 111.
Lapp, J. E Cincinnati, Ohio
Larkins, Rev. S. C Long Creek, N. C.
Lamer, John B Washington, D. C.
Larrazolo, O. R Las Vegas, New Mexico
Latham, W. H Curtis, Neb.
Laughlin, Randolph St. Louis, Mo.
Laurence, Howard E Brooklyn, N. Y.
Lawson McGhee Library Knoxville, Tenn.
Lawther, Henry P Dallas, Tex.
Lawyer, George Albany, N. Y.
Lay, W. P .' Gadsden, Ala.
Leber, Henry Oakland, Cal.
Lee, Prof. Duncan Campbell, Cornell University,
Ithaca, N. Y.
Lee, Harry H Denver, Colo.
Lee, N. L Junction City, Ore.
Leek, Rev. John D Dixon, 111.
Leeper, A. B., Ad'jt Gen'l., G.A.A.V., Owaneco, 111.
Lees, Robert Alma, Wis.
Leffler, John, M.D San Francisco, Cal.
Lehmayer, Martin Baltimore, Md.
Leigh, A., A.M., M.D., F.R.M.S... Hiawatha, Kan.
Lentz, Hon. John J Columbus, Ohio
Leonard, Charles R Butte, Mont.
Leonard, H. B Yoakum, Tex.
Leslie, Preston H Helena, Mont.
Lester, Ruf us E Savannah, Ga.
Letcher, Greenlee D Lexington, Va.
Levagood, M. H Elyria, Ohio
Levis, G. W Madison, Wis.
Lewis, Rev. Barney W Chunkey, Miss.
Lewis, H. Claude Salt Lake City, Utah
Lewis, Dr. John V Alliance, Ohio
Lewis, Lyman W Kewanee, 111.
Lewis, Dr. Walter Decatur, Neb.
Libby, M. D El Reno, Okla. T.
Liebig, G. M Sparrow's Point, Md.
Lienesch, T. H Dayton, Ohio
Lightfoot, Henry W Paris, Tex.
Lindsey, S. A Tyler, Tex.
Line, Benajah A., M.D Alexandria, Ind.
Lippmann, Leopold J New York City
Litz, A. W Charleston, 111.
Livingston, Alfred T., M.D Jamestown, N. Y.
Livingston, Hon. J. B Lancaster, Pa.
Livingston, John Henry Tivoli-on-Hudson, N. Y.
Locker, W. H Waynesville, Mo.
Lockett, John W Henderson, Ky.
Lodge, J. C Waverly, Wash.
Logan. D. B Pineville, Ky.
Logan, J. A Kingman, Ariz.
Lomax, Tennent Montgomery, Ala.
Long, Eugene R Batesville, Ark.
Long, George S Troy, Ohio
Long, J. Grier Spokane, Wash.
Long, Solomon L Grenola, Kan.
Long, Theodore K Chicago, 111.
Longan, Edward Everett St. Louis, Mo.
Longfelder, David Wabash, Ind.
Lonigo, E. V Jackson, Cal.
Lookabaugh, I. H Watonga, Okla. T.
Looney, R. H Colorado, Tex.
Loucks, Zachariah Kepner Philadelphia, Pa.
Love, J. King, M.D Yardley, Pa.
Low, M. A Topeka, Kan.
Lowden, Frank Orren Chicago, 111.
Lowe, J. M Kansas City, Mo.
Lowe, Robert J Birmingham, Ala.
Lowenberg, Harry L Norfolk, Va.
Lower, J. C Cleveland, Ohio
Lowry, T. C Richmond, Ky.
Lozier, Ralph F Carrpllton, Mo.
Lubers, H. L Las Animas, Colo.
Lucas, J. T Moshannon, Pa.
Lucking, Alfred Detroit, Mich.
Ludlow, James M., D.D., L.H.D..E. Orange, N. J.
Ludwig, Henry T. J Mt. Pleasant, N. C.
Ludwig, John H New York City
Luf, Charles B New York City
Lumbard, Samuel J Chicago, 111.
Lykins, Joseph C Campton, Ky.
Lyman, J. P Grinnell, Iowa
Lynch, Martin P., LL.B Brooklyn, N. Y.
Lynham, J. Arthur Washington, D. C.
Lyter, M. M Great Falls, Mont.
McAtee, Judge John L Enid, Okla.
McCarren, P. H Brooklyn, N. Y.
McCarthy, C. C Grand Rapids, Minn.
McCarthy, John Henry New York City
McCarty, A. P Bronte, Tex.
McCarty, Homer Monroe, Utah
McCaskill, J. M Rison, Ark.
McComas, George J Huntington, W. Va.
McCoy, Benjamin Oskaloosa Iowa
McCoy, D. W. F New York City
McCoy John W Fairmont, W. Va.
McCravy, S. T Spartanburg, S. C.
McCullock, P. D Marianus, Ark.
McCully, H. G Jersey City, N. L
McDaniel, P. A Abbeville, Ala.
McDavitt, J. C Memphis, Tenn.
McDermot, R. B Coshocton, Ohio
McDonald, Tames H Detroit, Mich.
McDonald, J. H Cedar City, Utah
McDowell, John A Millersburg, Ohio
McElligott, Thomas G Chicago, 111.
McGoorty, John P Chicago, 111.
McGowan, P. J Astoria, Ore.
McGrath, Robert H Philadelphia, Pa.
McGraw, E. W San Francisco, Cal.
McGraw, John T Grafton, W. Va.
McGuffey, John G Columbus, Ohio
McGuire, John C Brooklyn, N. Y.
McHolland (Miss) B Durango, Colo.
Mcllwaine, C. R Knoxville, Tenn.
Mcllwaine, William B Petersburg, Va.
Mclntyre, John F New York City
Mclntyre, William J Riverside, Cal.
McKeighan, J. E St. Louis, Mo.
McKinley, H. C Gaylord, Mich.
McKnight, William F Grand Rapids, Mich.
McLaughlin, I. W Macedon, N. Y.
McLaughlin. W. L Deadwood, S. Dak.
McLean, W. T., M.D., D.D.S Cincinnati, Ohio
McMahon, Charles C Fulton, 111.
McMahon, J. K Chicago, 111.
McMahon, Richard Randolph,
Harper's Ferry, W. Va.
McMackin, John Albany, N. Y.
McMillan, F. H Atlanta, Ga.
McMorrow, M Brazil, Ind.
McNair, A. C Brookhaven, Miss.
McNamara, James J Baltimore, Md.
McNamara, John W Albany, N. Y.
McNamee, F. R Delamar, Nev.
McNaughton, D. W • Boardman, N. C.
McNiel, Dr. W. N Longfield, Va.
McPheeters, James Benton, Mo.
McRae, A. J West Superior, Wis.
McRae, Thomas C Prescott, Ark.
McMurray, J. L Tacoma, Wash.
McSherry, Tames Frederick, Md.
McWilliams, Howard New York City
McWilliams, J. K Sunbury, Pa.
MacDougall, R. S Los Angeles, Cal.
Mackenzie, John R., M.D Weatherford, Tex.
Mackey, C. H Sigourney, Iowa
Mackey, Robert K New York City
MacPhail, Donald T., M.D Purdy Sta., N. Y.
Macquarrie, Neil A Jackson, Cal.
MacRae, Donald Wilmington, N. C.
Macomber, Charles S Ida Grove, Iowa
Madden, Charles J Tennille, Ga.
Magee, Judge Christopher Pittsburg. Pa.
Maloney, Thomas Ogden, Utah
LIST OF PATRONS
xix
Mann, Edgar P Greenfield, Mo.
Mapes, Dorchester Chicago, 111.
Markey, Edward J Brooklyn, N. Y.
Marsh, Craig A Plainfield, N. J.
Marsh, E. J Big Rapids, Mich.
Marshall, Linus R Springfield, Ohio
Martin, I. L Uvalde, Tex.
Martin, John Burlington Covington, Ind.
Martin, Lyman W Scale, Ala.
Martine, Hon. Godfrey R., M.D.. Glens Falls, N. Y.
Marvin, Charles Elmira, N. Y.
Marvin, D. P Woodward, Okla.
Marvin, John L Jacksonville, Fla.
Mason, F. O Geneva, N. Y.
Mason, Tames H Brooklyn, N. Y.
Mason, P. G Le Roy, N. Y.
Masters, Edgar L Chicago, 111.
Mathews. Thomas J Merrill, Wis.
Matoon, Charles M., M.D Brookville, Pa.
Mattes, John, Jr Nebraska City, Neb.
Matthews, W. B Washington, D. C.
Maulsby, Israel T Tillamook City, Ore.
May, S. D Tazewell, Va.
Maybury, Hon. William C Detroit, Mich.
Means, George W Brookville, Pa.
Medill, Thomas J Rock Island, 111.
Meek, J. F Coshocton, Ohio
Mercantile Library St. Louis, Mo.
Merchant, Edward L Horatio, Ark.
Meredith, Milo Wrabash, Ind.
Merrill, John B Long Island City, N. Y.
Metcalf, "Arthur A., M.D Dunbar, Wis.
Millar, A. C Conway, Ark.
Miller, B. S Columbus, Ga.
Miller, Dewitt Philadelphia, Pa.
Miller, George Knox Talladega, Ala.
Miller, Jacob F New York City
Miller, James R Watertown, N. Y.
Miller, John A., M.D San Francisco, Cal.
Miller, John D Susquehanna, Pa.
Miller, Mary E Chicago, 111.
Million, E. C Mt. Vernon, Wash.
Mills, W. P Sidney, Neb.
Milner, J. Cooper Vernon, Ala.
Minor, F. D Galveston, Tex.
Mitchell, Edward P New York City
Mitchell, R. C Duluth, Minn.
Momsen, John Mt. Vernon, S. Dak.
Monahan, Patrick W Red Cliff, Colo.
Monjeau, C Middletown, Ohio
Monnette, O. E Bucyrus, Ohio
Monroe, Chilton Dallas, Tex.
Monroe, Henry S Chicago, 111.
Monroe. Robert W Kingwood, W. Va.
Montandon, A. F Boise City, Idaho
Moon, George C New York City
Mooney, John H New York City
Mooney, William Joliet, 111.
Moore, A. C., M.D North Amherst, Ohio
Moore, Felix W Union City, Tenn.
Moore, Frank N Chicago, 111.
Moore, M. Herndon Columbia, S. C.
Moran, Dr. James New York City
Moroney, John F Brooklyn, N. Y.
Morris, James E Arthur, 111.
Morrissey, Andrew M Valentine, Neb.
Morrow, Thomas R Kansas City, Mo.
Morse, S. F. B Houston, Tex.
Moss, Nathanel P Lafayette, La.
Mott, John Sabert, M.D Kansas City, Mo.
Mountjoy, Wiley Twin Bridges, Mont.
Mounts, William L Carlinville, 111.
Mouton, Homer Lafayette, La.
Moyer, George W Salt Lake City, Utah
Muir, P. B Louisville, Ky.
Mullins, G. M Papillion, Neb.
Mumford, Beverley B Richmond, Va.
Murphy, D. E Milwaukee, Wis.
Murphy, John H Denver, Colo.
Murphy, J. M. C Lodi, Cal.
Murphy, T. J Mayfield, Ky.
Murphy, Rev. William Seward, Neb.
Murray, Arthur Pine Bluff, Ark.
Murray, William H Tishomingo, I. T.
Napton, Charles M St. Louis, Mo.
Nash, John A Audubon, Iowa
Nash, Wiley N Starkville, Miss.
Neal, E. A Cuero, Tex.
Neff, George H Sunbury, Pa.
Nelms, W. W Georgetown, Tex.
Neville, Richard L New York City
Newby, Nathan Los Angeles, Cal.
Newson, John A Buffalo, Tex.
Newton, Hon. C Monroe, La.
New York University Library,
University Heights, New York City
Nicholas, S. H Coshocton, Ohio
Nichols, Joseph F Greenville, Tex.
Nicholson, B. II Attala, Ala.
Nilsson, M. T Laurens, Iowa
Noe, Noah S Kearny, N. J.
Norman, J. Felix Thayer, Mo.
Norman, Louis W Kandiyohi, Minn.
Norrell, A. G Salt Lake City, Utah
Northern State Normal School Marquette, Mich.
Norton, James Garrettsville, Ohio
Norwood, G. A., Jr Goldsboro, N. C.
Nutt, George D., M.D \\illiamsport, Pa.
Nye, Frederick A Kearney, Neb.
O'Brien, Ouin Chicago, 111.
O'Brien, Thomas E New York City
O'Bryan, William H Altruria, Cal.
O'Callaghan, M. J Philadelphia, Pa.
O'Connell, J. B Chicago, 111.
O'Connor, Cornelius New York City
O'Donnell, Joseph A Chicago, 111.
O'Gorman, Hon. James A New York City
O'Hara, R. A Hamilton, Mont.
O'Keeffe, P. T Chicago, 111.
O'Malley, John, M.D Scranton, Pa.
O'Sullivan, Michael New York City
O'Sullivan, W. J New York City
Oakes, Dr. I. N North Ridgeville, Ohio
Oakley, Horace S Chicago, 111.
Ockford, George M., M.D Ridgewood, N. J.
Odell, Spurgeon Marshall, Minn.
Ogden, R. N Deadwood, S. Dak.
Oliver, George A Onawa, Iowa
Olney, Peter B New York City
Oneonta Public Library Oneonta, N. Y.
Ornelas, Dr. P San Antonio, Tex.
Orr, J. S Steel City, Neb.
Orrick, William P., D.D Reading, Pa.
Osborne, H. E Chicago, 111.
Osborne, John E Rawlins, Wyo.
Osborne. S. J Quanah, Tex.
Osthaus, Herman Scranton, Pa.
Otis, A. Walker New York City
Otts, J. Cornelius Gaffney, S. C.
O vermyer, John North Vernon, Ind.
Owsley, Alvin C Denton, Tex.
Packwood, S. E Magnolia, Miss.
Paden, George Armona, Cal.
Paine, Bayard H Grand Island, Neb.
Paine, Karl Idaho City, Idaho
Palmer, Clarence S Kansas City, Mo.
Palmer, Irving H Cortland, N. Y.
Panabaker, P. F Hartington, Neb.
Parker. Silas C Mansfield, Ohio
Parker, Dr. Thomas J Detroit, Mich.
Parker, W. S Henderson, N. C.
Parker, W. W Baltimore, Md.
Parkhurst, Frank B Frankfort, N. Y.
Parrish, Robert L Covington, Va.
Parrott, James M Kinston, N. C.
Parrott, R. B Des Moines, Iowa
Paterson, Van R San Francisco, Cal.
Patrick, Albert T New York City
Patrick, John E Jackson, Ky.
Patterson, Benjamin New York City
Patterson, Charles B El Paso, Tex.
Patterson, R. S Safford, Ariz.
Patterson, Thomas M Denver, Colo.
Patton, D. H Woodward, Okla.
Patton, George S San Gabriel, Cal.
Patty, C. N Pontiac, 111.
Pauly, R. J., Sr St. Louis, Mo.
Pavne, Gen. Walter S Fostoria, Ohio
Pearson, L. W., M.D Brooklyn, N. Y.
Peck, John H Troy, N. Y.
Pendennis Club Louisville, Ky.
Penney, James E New Decatur, Ala.
Penwell, Lewis Helena Mont.
Peoria Public Library Peoria, 111.
Pereles, Thomas Jefferson Milwaukee, Wis.
Perkins, Hon. George C Washington, D. C.
Perkins, John C Sisseton, S. Dak.
Perky, K. I Mountain Home, Idaho
Perry, W. C Kansas City, Mo.
Peterkin, Dr. Guy S Seattle, Wash.
Peterkin, W. G Parkersburg, W. Va.
Pettit, William B Palmyra, Va.
Pettus & Lester Athens, Ala.
Pharr, Olin McRae, Ga.
Phelps, O. C Warren, Ohio
Philips, H. B Jacksonville, Fla.
Phillips, George B Key West, Fla.
Phipps, T. M Key West, Fla.
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Pickens, Samuel O Indianapolis, Ind.
Pickering, A. O., M.D Chuckey City, Tenn.
Pickett, N. J., M.D Milford, Tex.
Pike, Vinton St. Joseph, Mo.
Pile, J. M Wayne, Neb.
Pinckney, John M Hempstead, Tex.
Pinney, William E Valparaiso, Ind.
Pitts, John A Nashville, Tenn.
Pitzer, U. S. G Martinsburg, W. Va.
Planten, J. R New York City
Platt, George G Butte, Mont.
Plumer, Samuel Franklin, Pa.
Plummer, Edwin L Indianapolis, Ind.
Pock, John H Troy, N. Y.
Poindexter, Joseph Cleburne, Tex.
Pool, Lawrence P Manchester, Va.
Porter, Charles H Baltimore, Md.
Porter, Dr. L. L Roslyn, Wash.
Porter, S. W Sherman, Tex.
Porter, W. F Baltimore, Md.
Post, Charles A Cleveland, Ohio
Post, Duff Tampa, Fla.
Post, Floyd L Midland, Mich.
Poston, R. C Corydon, Iowa
Potter, C. C Gainesville, Tex.
Potter, C. L Gainesville, Tex.
Potts, H. Cameron.. Germantown, Philadelphia, Pa.
Potts, W. S Lisbon, Ohio
Pound, James T Newton, Iowa
Pounders, R. L Mt. Vernon, Tex.
Powell, Arthur Gray Blakely, Ga.
Powell, Joseph H Bridgeton, N. J.
Power, John Escanaba, Mich.
Powers, J. N Salt Lake City, Utah
Prendergast, Joseph, M.D Chicago, 111.
Prest, John E Cohoes, N. Y.
Preston, E. F San Francisco, Cal.
Preston, Joseph W., Jr Macon, Ga.
Price, Daniel T Yoakum, Tex.
Price, Sim T St. Louis, Mo.
Price, William B Lincoln, Neb.
Price, William S Philadelphia, Pa.
Pritchett, H. C Huntsville, Tex.
Public Library and Museum Dayton, Ohio
Quackenbush, A. W Stanberry, Mo.
Quick, W. H Rockingham, N. C.
Quinn, Frank J Peoria, 111.
Quinn, Lawrence R New York City
Rader, Perry S Jefferson City, Mo.
Ragland, H. Clay Logan, W. Va.
Rainey, Anson Dallas, Tex.
Ralston, Jackson H Hyattsville, Md.
Ralston, Samuel M Lebanon, Ind.
Ralston, T. A New York City
Ralston, Thomas E St. Louis, Mo.
Ramsland, O. T Sacred Heart, Minn.
Ranney, Henry C Cleveland, Ohio
Rathbun, W. A Springfield, Mo.
Ravenel, Rene Monks Corner, S. C.
Ray, Al Charleston, 111.
Read, Charles A Atlanta, Ga.
Rector, H. M., M.D Hot Springs, Ark.
Redd, Samuel C Beaver Dam P. O., Va.
Reid, James W Lewiston, Idaho
Reid, Rev. J. L Bardstown, Ky.
Reid, Willard P Babylon, N. Y.
Reifkogel, William % Plainview, Minn.
Reppy, Samuel A De Soto, Mo.
Reuter, Dominic Trenton, N. J.
Reynolds, Walter D Philadelphia, Pa.
Rice, Charles E Wilkes-Barre, Pa.
Rich, Albert R Du Bois, Pa.
Richards, F. S Salt Lake City, Utah
Richardson, Edmund F Denver, Colo.
Rickards, Hon. J. E Butte, Mont.
Ricketts, A Wilkes-Barre, Pa.
Riddle, George D Pittsburg, Pa.
Riley, Harry I Pittsburg, Pa.
Riordan, T. J Salinas, Cal.
Ritchie, Alfred G Los Angeles, Cal.
Riviere, Georges Alphonse Mobile, Ala.
Roark, Joe Sam Valparaiso, Ind.
Roberts, John W Riverside, Cal.
Robertson, Andrew C Pittsburg, Pa.
Robertson, George Mexico, Mo.
Robertson, James, Jr Washta, Iowa
Robertson, W. F Georgetown, Tex.
Robinson, C. W Newport News, Va.
Robinson, Edward M Mobile, Ala.
Robinson, George L. F Highmore, S. Dak.
Robinson, George R Minneapolis, Minn.
Robinson, H. R Minneapolis, Minn.
Robinson, Joe T Lonoke, Ark.
Robinson, M. L Columbus, Ga.
Rochford, William E Minneapolis, Minn.
Rodgers, James M Watsonville, Cal.
Rogers, J. R Olympia, Wash.
Roote, Jesse B Butte, Mont.
Rosenwald, David S Roswell, N. Mex.
Ross, P. A Eustis, Fla.
Rubrecht, Franklin Columbus, Ohio
Rush, J. S Des Moines, Iowa
Russel, Andrew Jacksonville, 111.
Russell, William Hepburn New York City
Ryan, Joseph T New York City
Ryan, O'Neill St. Louis, Mo.
Ryan, T. C Wausau, Wis.
Ryan, William J Menominee, Mich.
Rynearson, J. M La Fayette, Ind.
Sackett, Henry W New York City
Saffolds, W. S Guyton, Ga.
Sale, Lee St. Louis, Mo.
Sample, A Bloomington, 111.
Sanders, George A Springfield, 111.
Sankey, R. A Wichita, Kan.
Sargent, Brad V Salinas City, Cal.
Sargent, C. H Jefferson, Ohio
Savage, John H McMinnville, Tenn.
Savage, Michael Clarksville, Tenn.
Sawdey, D. A Erie, Pa.
Sawyer, A. J Lincoln, Neb.
Sawyer, A. L Menominee, Mich.
Sawyer, John H Auburn, N. Y.
Scales, S. S Crawford, Miss.
Scarlett, James Danville, Pa.
Scattergood, Caleb Philadelphia, Pa.
Schaef er, Charles Sedgwick, Kan.
Scharfer, E Toccoa, Ga.
Schevers, A. J Chicago, 111.
Schieck, Christian, Jr New York City
Schilling, A. J Urbana, 111.
Schilling, N Cedar Bayou, Tex
Schlegel, Hon. Henry Lapeer, Mich.
Schlichter, G. V Brooklyn, N. Y..
Schnell, L St. Charles, Miss.
Schoenfeld, Rev. W New York City
Schroeder, James Guttenberg, Iowa
Schubert, C Brooklyn, N. Y.
Schurnight, W. J Mishawaka, Ind
Schultz, Irvine W Phillipsburg, N. J.
Scott, A. G Chicago, III
Scott, C. H Elkins, W. Va.
Scott, George W Davenport, lowt
Scott, Joseph Los Angeles, Cal.
Scott, Tully Oberlin, Kan.
Scott, W Clarksburg, W. Va.
Scott, Wralter E., M.D Adel, Iowa
Scott, W. W., State Librarian Richmond, Va.
Seaberg, Hugo Springer, N. Mex.
Seabury, Samuel New York City
Searcy, Jefferson B Eminence, Mo.
Sebastian. James M Booneville, Ky.
Seiders, C. A Toledo, Ohio
Seiss, Joseph A., D.D., LL.D Philadelphia, Pa.
Selby, T. J Hardin, 111.
Seney, Hon. Henry W Toledo, Ohio
Sennott, John S., M.D Waterloo, 111.
Sentinel of Liberty Chicago, 111.
Sexton, H. A. J Jefferson City, Mo.
Shabad, Henry M Chicago, 111.
Shackleford, Thomas M Tampa, Fla.
Shaffer, C. W Emporium, Pa.
Shank, Corwin S Seattle, Wash.
Shannon, I. M Clarion, Pa.
Shattuck, F. R Philadelphia, Pa.
Shaw, James H Bloomington, 111.
Shaw, O. W Austin, Minn.
Sheard, Titus Little Falls, N. Y.
Shearman, Thomas G Brooklyn, N. Y.
Sheean, David Galena, 111.
Sheeks, Ben Tacoma, Wash.
Shelton, D. C Tulsa, I. T.
Shepherd, W. C Hamilton, Ohio
Shepherd, William G Seneca Falls, N. Y.
Sheppard, Howard R Philadelphia, Pa.
Shick, Robert P Reading, Pa.
Shields, Moses, Jr Nicholson, Pa.
Shime, Patrick C Spokane, Wash.
Shipp, C. J Cordele, Ga.
Shirley, D. D Allerton, Iowa
Shirley, Robert B Carlinville, 111.
Short, John P Brooklyn, N. Y.
Shortz, Edwin Wilkes-Barre, Pa.
Sibley, Hiram S Marietta, Ohio
Sidebottom, Earl E Santa Fe, N. Mex.
Silberman, Louis Albany, N. Y.
Silha, John A Chicago, 111.
Sim, John R New York City
LIST OF PATRONS
Simms, A. H Birmingham, Ala.
Simonds, C. H Conneaut, Ohio
Simonton, Dr. A. C Roslyn, Wash.
Simpson, William J., M.D Western, Mo.
Sioux City Public Library Sioux City, Iowa
Skelton, W. H Alvarado, Tex.
Skipworth, E. R Eugene, Ore.
Slack, Dr. Henry R La Grange, Ga.
Slater, W. T Salem, Ore.
Slinkard, W. L Bloomfield, Ind.
Sloan, J. R Stanley, Kan.
Slocum, C. E., Jr Beatrice, Neb.
Slocum, Charles E., M.D., Ph.D Defiance, Ohio
Smith, Benjamin N Los Angeles, Cal.
Smith, Ephraim P Yorkville, Tenn.
Smith, Gilbert D Middebourne, W. Va.
Smith, Harrison B Charleston, W. Va.
Smith, J. Alfred Philadelphia, Pa.
Smith, J. P Fort \Vorth, Tex.
Smith, Oscar B Washington, Ga.
Smith, Ouincy A Lansing, Mich.
Smith, W. Wickham Brooklyn, N. Y.
Smyth, David Wichita, Kan.
Smythe, P. Henry Burlington, Iowa
Snedeker, J. Q Marshall, 111.
Snider, Millard F Clarksburg, W. Va.
Soliday, George W Carrington, N. Dak.
Solter, George A Baltimore, Md.
Somermier, W. H Winfield, Kan.
Somers, James W San Diego, Cal.
Somerville, Robert Greenville, Miss.
Southall, E. \V., M.D Geneseo, N. Y.
Spain, John A Sardis, Miss.
Spannhorst, Henry J St. Louis, Mo.
Sparr, R. W Lawrence, Kan.
Spearman, Robert F Greenville, Tex.
Speer, D. R Greenville, S. C.
Speer, James A New York City
Spekker, Staas Lewiston, Idaho
Spell, W. E Hillsboro, Tex.
Spencer, H. N., M.D St. Louis, Mo.
Spencer, H. R Duluth, Minn.
Spencer, S. S Eugene, Ore.
Spencer, Thomas H Chicago, 111.
Spencer, William W Indianapolis, Ind.
Spooner, Lewis C Morris, Minn.
Sporer, Thomas D Jacksboro, Tex.
Spratt, William E St. Joseph, Mo.
Sprigg, Joseph Cumberland, Md.
Spriggs, J. P Woodfield, Ohio
Squire, VVilliam Russell New York City
Stahlman, E. C Nashville, Tenn.
Standish, A. B St. Ignace, Mich.
Stansel, M. L Carrollton, Ala.
Staples, John W Harriman, Tenn.
Starnes, P. M Des Moines, Iowa
Starrett, William R New York City
Steck, John M Winchester, Va.
Sleekier, Louis New York City
Steele, Robert W Denver, Colo.
Steenerson, H Crookston, Minn.
Stehle, Rev. Wralter, O.S.B Allegheny, Pa.
Steinman, E. W Belleville, 111.
Stephens, H. A Wallace, N. Y.
Stephenson, Albert G New York City
Stephenson, W . H Hart ington, Neb.
Sterrett, David Washington, Pa.
Stevens, B. J Madison, Wis.
Stewart, I. J Richfield, Utah
Stewart. William C Soapstone, Ala.
Stewart, W. E Clanton, Ala.
Stewart, Hon. William M Washington, D. C.
Stimpson, H. C. S New York City
Stites, O. W Durham, N. C.
Stocker, R. M Honesdale, Pa.
Stoddart, George B Oyster Bay, N. Y.
Stokes, J. William Orangeburg, S. C.
Stone, Alfred Holt Greenville, Miss.
Stone, Russell J Attica, N. Y.
Stone, William J St. Louis, Mo.
Stonesipher, John R Zanesville, Ohio
Straka, Louis David City, Neb.
Stranahan, N. N Fulton, N. Y.
Strattan, Edward K Newcastle, Ind.
Strattan, Oliver H Louisville, Ky.
Street, Oliver Day Guntersville, Ala.
Street, Robert G Galveston, Tex.
Strode, Aubrey E Amherst, Va.
Strong, William J Chicago, 111.
Stuart, Wesley A Sturgis, S. Dak.
Sullivan, John J New York City
Sulzer, Hon. William New York City
Summers, L. P Abingdon, Va.
Sumpter, Orlando H Hot Springs, Ark.
Sure, A. T. H Alameda, Cal.
Sutton, R. H., M.D Shenandoah, Iowa
Sutton, Robert L Troy, Mo.
Sutton, W. Henry Haverford, Pa.
Sweet, Silas C.... Des Moines, Iowa
Swigart, Frank Logansport, Ind.
Sydnor, \Valker Ashland, Va.
Sykes, M. L New York City
Sypher, Gen. J. Hale Washington, D. C.
Syracuse Central Library Syracuse, N. Y.
Tadlock, J. M ". Phillipsburg, Kan.
Tait, A. O Oakland, Cal.
Tartt, J. B Terrell, Tex.
Tatum, I. R Corsicana, Tex.
Tayloe, S. G Sonora, Tex.
Taylor, Col. Charles H Boston, Mass.
Taylor, C. S Keeseville, N. Y.
Taylor, Edward B Pittsburg, Pa.
Taylor, G. F Effingham, 111.
Taylor, John H Chillicothe, Mo.
Taylor, John L Boonville, Ind.
Taylor, Hon. Thomas I' Bridgeport, Conn.
Taylor, Thomas T Lake Charles, La.
Teall, Frank DeWitt Gettysburg, S. Dak.
Templer, James N Muncie, Ind.
Ten Broeck, W. H Paris, 111.
Terrell, J. C, Jr Fort Worth, Tex.
Terrell, R. A Birmingham, Ala.
The Free Library of Philadelphia. .Philadelphia, Pa.
Theobald, Thomas D Grayson, Ky.
The World New York City
Thiele, Theodore B Evanston, 111.
Thomas, Alfred Jefferson Wooster, Ohio
Thompson, Cleveland C Plattsburg, Mo.
Thompson, Col. J. K. P Rock Rapids, Iowa
Thompson, Oliver Silas, D.D Cherokee, Iowa
Thompson, Seymour D Brooklyn, N. Y.
Thompson, William D Racine, Wis.
Thompson, W. H Grand Island, Neb.
Thorn, Samuel S., M.D Toledo, Ohio
Thornburgh, A., M.D Chattanooga, Tenn.
Thorp, F. S South Bend, Wash.
Thrift, J. E Madison, Va.
Thurman, William J., M.D Lisbon, Ark.
Tileston, H. B., D.D.S Louisville, Ky.
Titus, Robert C Buffalo, N. Y.
Tobey, Walter L Hamilton, Ohio
Todd, Robert S Owensboro, Ky.
Toler, Frank Carbondale, 111.
Tongue, Thomas H Hillsboro, Ore.
Tompkins, Prof. Leslie J New York City
Toomer, John Sheldon Lake Charles, La.
Towne, Charles A Duluth, Minn.
Trainor, P. F New York City
Trammell, John W Oxford, Neb.
Travis, John W Traverse City, Mich.
Treacy, Daniel F New York City
Trevyett, Herbert E Utica, N. Y.
Trewin, James H Lansing, Iowa
Trice, H. H Norfolk, Va.
Trimble, James M Montclair, N. T.
Tritch, Dr. J. C Findlay, Ohio
Trueworthy, Dr. J. \V Los Angeles, Cal.
Truitt, Warren Moscow, Idaho
Tuchock, I. W Pueblo, Colo.
Tucker, C. H Lawrence, Kan.
Tucker, Joseph T Winchester, Ky.
Turley, Hon, Thomas B Memphis, Tenn.
Turman, Solon B Tampa, Fla.
Turner, E. J Washington, D. C.
Turner,!. Frank Easton, Md.
Turner, Jesse Van Buren, Ark.
Turner, J. H Henderson, Tex.
Turner, T. A Jackson, Tenn.
Turney, Thomas K Cameron, Mo
Tuttle, G. N Painesville, Ohio
Tuttle, Dr. Jay Astoria, Ore.
Urlls, P. A So. Omaha, Neb.
Utopian Club Library Ballston Spa, N. Y.
Van Alstyne, P New York City
Van Auken, M. W Utica, N. Y.
van Benschoten, H. L Belding, Mich.
Van Cott, Ray Salt Lake City, Utah
Van Deusen, Claudius Leeds, N. Y.
Van Etten, John E Kingston, N. Y!
Van Loo, C Zeeland, Mich.
Van Sickle, W. L Columbus, Ohio
\ an Siclen, J. C New York Citv
Van Vliet, Purdy New York City
Van Wyck, Stephen New York City
Vaughan, Horace W Texarkana, Tex".
Vaughan, W. A., M.D Timberville, Va.
Veale, John W Amarillo, Tex.
Vernier, R. P Ansonia, Ohio
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Vert, C. J...
Vickers, Carl
Plattsburgh, N. Y.
B New Comerstown, Ohio
Vincent', James U Stephenville, Tex.
Virginia State Library Richmond, Va.
Volger, Bernard G Brooklyn, N. Y.
Volger, Theodore G Park Ridge, N. J.
Vollmer, Henry Davenport, Iowa
Vollrath, Edward Bucyrus, Ohio
von Beust, Bernhard, M.D New Albany, Ind.
Wakefield, Tudge George W Sioux City, Iowa
Wakeman, Prof. Thaddeus B., Liberal University,
Silverton, Ore.
Walker, Frank State Centre, Iowa
Walker, F. A., M.D Norfolk, Va.
Walker, John F Luverne, Ala.
Walker, Stuart W Martinsburg, W. Va.
Wall, James A Salinas, Cal.
Wallace, Richard T New York City
Ward, A. D New Bern, N. C.
Ward, C. A., Jr Douglas, Ga.
Ward, Warren P Douglas, Ga.
Warner, C. O Beloit, Wis.
Warner, P. G Red Bank, N. J.
Warren, George M Swainsbpro, Ga.
Wash, Frank H San Antonio, Tex.
Wasson, J. E Giltedge, Mont.
Waters, John H Johnstown, Pa.
Watkins, Charles B Clinton, Miss.
Watkins, O. W Eureka Springs, Ark.
Watkins, R. A Lancaster, Wis.
Watson, E. P Bentonville, Ark.
Watson, John C Nebraska City, Neb.
Watterson, Henry Louisville, Ky.
Watts, Legh R Portsmouth, Va.
Weadock, Thomas A. E Detroit, Mich.
Weaver, William R Philadelphia, Pa.
Webb, B. W Fort Smith, Ark.
Webb, Dr. DeWitt St. Augustine, Fla.
Weedon, L. W Tampa, Fla.
Wehmeyer, Aug. H Quincy, 111.
Weinberg, Benjamin M Newark, N. J.
Weinstock, H N Sacramento, Cal.
Weir, A. R Au Sable, Mich.
Welborne, R. D Chickasha, I. T.
Welbourn, E. L., M.D Union City, Ind.
Welch, Aikman St. Louis, Mo.
Welch, Judge Stanley Corpus Christi, Tex.
Wellman, B. J Fort Madison, Iowa
Wells, G. Wiley Santa Monica, Cal.
Wells, R. H Clarksville, Tex.
Wslsh, John New York City
Westbrook, M. H Lyons, Iowa
Wester, J. K Jacksboro, Tex.
Westerfield, William W New Orleans, La.
Weston, Francis H Columbia, S. C.
Wetmore, Hon. George Peabody Newport, R. I.
Wetmore, J. Douglas Jacksonville, Fla.
Wetmore, J. W Erie, Pa.
Weygandt, C. N Philadelphia, Pa.
Whalen, Frank Ballston Spa, N. Y.
Whalen. Hon. John New York City
Wheeler, B. A Denver, Colo.
Wheeler, Charles H Greeley, Colo.
Wheeler, W. C., M.D Huntsville, Ala.
White, E. D Livingston, Tenn.
White, Harry Indiana, Pa.
White, Henry Kirk Birmingham, Ala.
White, L. E Columbus, Ga.
White, Lewis P New Whatcom, Wash.
White, Robert E. L Washington, D. C.
White, Samuel Baker City, Ore.
White, W. H Oiympia, Wash.
White, Dr. William W Cuero, Tex.
Whitecraf t, John E Macksville, Kan.
Whitehead, N. E Greenwood, Miss.
Whitmore, John A Aurora, Neb.
Whitney, Thomas H Atlantic, Iowa
Wilcox, E. K Cleveland, Ohio
Wilcox, H. D Elmira, N. Y.
Wilcox, M. C Oakland, Cal.
Wildermuth, P. A. Philadelphia, Pa.
Williams, James T Greenville, S. C.
Williams, P. B Rocky Comfort, Ark.
Willis, H. C Norfolk, Va.
Willis, W. L Houston, Tex.
Willits, J. Quincy Lakeview, Ore.
Wilson, Edwin A Springfield, 111.
Wilson, N. V. F Bridgeport, Ohio
Wilson, Stephen Eugene Hot Springs, S. Dak.
Wilson, Sidney Sherman, Tex.
Wilson, Thomas A Jackson, Mich.
Wilson, Thomas E Sylvan Lake, Fla.
Wilson, Thomas F Tucson, Ariz.
Wilsson, M. T Laurens, Iowa
Winborne, R. W Buena Vista, Va.
Wing, John D New York City
Wingo, Col. Charles E Richmond, Va.
Winkler, F. C Milwaukee, Wis.
Winne, Douglas T Appleton, Wis.
Winship, John O Cleveland, Ohio
Winslow, H. M Carrollton, Ky.
Winter, Phil E Omaha, Neb.
Witcover, H Marion, S. C.
Withey, Charles A Reed City, Mich.
Witmark, Isidore New York City
Witter, William C New York City
Wolverton, S. P Sunbury, Pa.
Womack, Thomas B Raleigh, N. C.
Wood, William P Washington, D. C.
Wood, Will R Lafayette, Ind.
Woodard, F. A Wilson, N. C.
Woodard, John Nashville, Tenn.
Woodring, James T So. Bethlehem, Pa.
Woodward, C. S Ballinger, Tex.
Woods, D. A Kokomo, Ind.
Woolling, J. H Indianapolis, Ind.
Worley, Joshua, M.D Belle Plaine, Iowa
Wrenn, Rev. V Amelia C. H., Va.
Wright, E. B Boardman, N. C.
Wright, Eugene L Chicago, 111.
Wright, Lucius W Chicago, 111.
Wright, William B Effingham, 111.
Wyatt, W. F Galena, Kan.
Yancey, John C Batesville, Ark.
Yates, Benjamin New York City
Yeaman, Caldwell Denver, Colo.
Yerex, A. E Chicago, 111.
Yonge, Henry Brooklyn, N. Y
Young, Duncan F Amite City, La.
Young, Hugh Wellsboro, Pa,
Young, James R Raleigh, N. C.
Zabel, John O Petersburg, Mich.
Zallars, Allen Fort Wayne, Ind.
Zang, William Kewanee, 111.
Zangerle, John A Cleveland, Ohio
Zenk, Frederick G., M.D Troy, 111
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
PLAN OF THE WORK AND EXPLANATION
OF ABBREVIATIONS
l\vo editions of Jefferson's Writings have been utilized in the prepara
tion of this volume. One of them is THE WRITINGS OF THOMAS JEFFERSON,
edited by H. A. Washington and printed by the United States Congress in
1853-54. The other edition is THE WRITINGS OF THOMAS JEFFERSON, collected
and edited by Paul Leicester Ford, and published by G. P. Putnam's Sons,
1892-99. The FORD EDITION contains a large number of valuable letters and
papers which are not printed in the WASHINGTON EDITION, while the latter
gives many letters that are not included by Mr. Ford in his volumes.
The quotations in THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA are credited to both
works if they contain them. Quotations with a single credit are printed only
in the edition indicated.
There are, in addition, some quotations from the DOMESTIC LIFE OF JEF
FERSON. Th'ese are marked D. L. J.
The name of the person written to is given after the extract as, under
Abuse, "To EDWARD RUTLEDGE," then the volume and edition where found
are given, as " iv, 151," refers to the WASHINGTON EDITION, while " FORD
ED., viii, 93," is self-explanatory ; next the place and date are given, as (M.,
Dec. 1796) = Monticello, Dec. 1796.
The names of places from which Jefferson wrote are abbreviated as
follows :
Albemarle, Va., . . . Alb. Nice Ne.
Annapolis, A. Nismes, Ns.
Baltimore, B. Paris P.
Chesterfield, Va., . . Ches. Philadelphia, .... Pa.
Eppington, Va., . . . Ep. Popular Forest, Va., . P.F.
Fairfield, Va F. Richmond R.
Germantown. . . G. Tuckahoe, Va T.
London, L. Washington, .... W.
Monticello, M. Williamsburg, Va., . . Wg.
New York N.Y.
In the quotations the mark * * * indicates an omission in the text.
Words not in the text, but supplied by the Editor are, in all cases,
enclosed within brackets.
THE
JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
1. ABILITIES, Appreciate.— I cannot
help hoping that every friend of genius, when
the other qualities of the competitor are
equal, will give a preference to superior abili
ties. — To WILLIAM PRESTON. FORD ED., i,
368. (1768.)
2. ABILITIES, Attract.— Render the
[State] executive a more desirable post to
men of abilities by making it more independ
ent of the legislature. — To ARCHIBALD STUART.
iii, 315. FORD ED., v, 410. (Pa., 1791.)
3. ABILITIES, Education and.— It is
often said there have been shining examples
of men of great abilities, in all businesses of
life, without any other science than what they
had gathered from conversation and inter
course with the world. But, who can say
what these men would not have been, had
they started in the science on the shoulders of
a Demosthenes or Cicero, of a Locke, or
Bacon, or a Newton? — To JOHN BRAZIER.
vii, 133. (1819.)
4. ABILITIES, Few Men of.— Men of
high learning and abilities are few in every
country: and by taking in [the judiciary]
those who are not so, the able part of the body
have their hands tied by the unable. — To
ARCHIBALD STUART, iii, 315. FORD ED., v,
410. (Pa., 1791.) See ARISTOCRACY, TALENTS.
— ABLATIVE CASE IN GREEK.—
See LANGUAGES.
_ ABOLITION OF SLAVERY.— See
SLAVERY.
5. ABORIGINES OF AMERICA, Deri
vation. — Whence came those aboriginals of
America? Discoveries, long ago made, were
sufficient to show that the passage from Europe
to America was always practicable, even to the
imperfect navigation of ancient times. In go
ing from Norway to Iceland, from Iceland to
Greenland, from Greenland to Labrador, the
first traject is the widest; and this having been
practised from the earliest times of which we
have any account of that part of the earth, it is
not difficult to suppose that the subsequent tra-
jects may have been sometimes passed. Again,
the late discoveries of Captain Cook, coasting
from Kamchatka to California, have proved that
if the two continents of Asia and America be
separated at all, it is only by a narrow strait.
So that from this side also, inhabitants may
have passed into America ; and the resemblance
between the Indians of America and the eastern
inhabitants of Asia, would induce us to conjec
ture, that the former are the descendants of the
latter, or the latter of the former ; excepting
indeed the Esquimaux, who, from the same cir
cumstance of resemblance, and from identity of
language, must be derived from the Greenland-
ers, and these probably from some of the north
ern parts of the old continent. — NOTES ON VIR
GINIA, viii, 344. FORD ED., iii, 205. (1782.)
6. ABORIGINES OF AMERICA, Lan
guages. — A knowledge of their several lan
guages would be the most certain evidence of
their derivation which could be produced. In
fact, it is the best proof of the affinity of nations
which ever can be referred to. How many ages
have elapsed since the English, the Dutch, the
Germans, the Swiss, the Norwegians, Danes and
Swedes have separated from their common
stock? Yet how many more must elapse before
the proofs of their common origin, which exist
in their several languages will disappear? It is
to be lamented, then, very much to be lamented,
that we have suffered so many of the Indian
tribes already to extinguish without our having
previously collected and deposited in the records
of literature, the general rudiments at most of
the languages they spoke. Were vocabularies
formed of all the languages spoken in North
and South America, preserving their appella
tions of the most common objects in nature, of
those which must be present to every nation
barbarous or civilized, with the inflections of
their nouns and verbs, their principles of regi
men and concord, and these deposited in all the
public libraries, it would furnish opportunities
to those skilled in the languages of the old
world to compare them with those, now, or at
any future time, and hence to construct the best
evidence of the derivation of their part of the
human race. — NOTES ON VIRGINIA, viii, 344.
FORD ED., iii, 206. (1782.)
7. The question whether the
Indians of America have emigrated from an
other continent is still undecided. Their vague
and imperfect traditions can satisfy no mind on
that subject. I have long considered their lan
guages as the only remaining monument of
connection with other nations, or the want of it,
to which we can now have access. They will like
wise show their connection with one another.
Aborigines of America
Abuses
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Very early in life, therefore, I formed a vocabu
lary of such objects as, being present every
where, would probably have a name in every
language ; and my course of life having given
me opportunities of obtaining vocabularies of
many Indian tribes, I have done so on my
original plan, which, though far from being
perfect, has the valuable advantage of identity,
of thus bringing the languages to the same
points of comparison. * * * The Indians
west of the Mississippi and south of the Ar
kansas, present a much longer list of tribes than
I had expected ; and the relations in which you
stand with them * * * induce me to hope
you will avail us of your means of collecting
their languages for this purpose. — To DR. SIB-
LEY, iv, 580. (W., 1805.)
8. I suppose the settlement of
our continent is of the most remote antiquity.
The similitude between its inhabitants and
those of eastern parts of Asia renders it prob
able that ours are descended from them, or they
from ours. The latter is my opinion, founded
on this single fact : Among the red inhabitants
of Asia, there are but a few languages radically
different, but among our Indians, the number of
languages is infinite, and they are so radically
different as to exhibit at present no appearance
of their having been derived from a common
source. The time necessary for the generation
of so many languages must be immense. — To
EZRA STILES. FORD ED., iv, 298. (P., 1786.)
See INDIANS.
— ABSENCE FROM THE CAPITAL.—
See VACATION.
— ABSTINENCE.— See INTEMPERANCE.
9. ABUSE, Newspaper. — It is hardly
necessary to caution you to let nothing of
mine get before the public : a single sentence
got hold of by the " Porcupines," * will suffice
to abuse and persecute me in their papers
for months. — To JOHN TAYLOR, iv, 248.
FORD ED., vii, 266. (Pa., 1798.) See LIBELS,
MINISTERS, NEWSPAPERS and SLANDER.
10. ABUSE, Personal. — You have seen
my name lately tacked to so much of
eulogy and of abuse that I dare say you hardly
thought that it meant your old acquaintance
of '76. In truth, I did not know myself under
the pens either of my friends or foes. It is
unfortunate for our peace that unmerited
abuse wounds, while unmerited praise has
not the power to heal. These are hard wages
for the services of all the active and healthy
years of one's life. — To EDWARD RUTLEDGE.
iv, 151. FORD ED., vii, 93. (M., Dec. 1796.)
See CALUMNY, LIBELS, MINISTERS, NEWS
PAPERS and SLANDER.
11. If you had lent to your
country the excellent talents you possess, on
you would have fallen those torrents of abuse
which have lately been poured forth on
me. So far I praise the wisdom which has
descried and steered clear of a waterspout
ahead. — To EDWARD RUTLEDGE. iv, 152.
FORD ED., vii, 94. (M., 1796.)
— ABUSE OF POWER.— See POWER.
— ABUSE OF THE PRESS.— See CAL
UMNY, LIBELS, NEWSPAPERS, and SLANDER.
*" Peter Porcupine " was the pen-name of William
Cobbett.— EDITOR.
12. ABUSES, Arraignment of.— The ar
raignment of all abuses at the bar of public
reason, I deem [one of the] essential princi
ples of our government and consequently,
[one] which ought to shape its administra
tion. FIRST INAUGURAL ADDRESS, viii, 4.
FORD ED., viii, 5. (1801.)
13. ABUSES, Barriers against— We are
to guard against ourselves; not against our
selves as we are, but as we may be ; for who
can now imagine what we may become under
circumstances not now imaginable ? — To JEDE-
DIAH MORSE, vii, 236. FORD ED., x, 206.
(M., 1822.)
14. ABUSES, The Constitution and.—
In questions of power * * * let no more
be heard of confidence in man, but bind him
down from mischief by the chains of the
Constitution. — KENTUCKY RESOLUTIONS, ix,
471- FORD ED., vii, 305. (1798.) See CON
FIDENCE.
15. Aware of the tendency of
power to degenerate into abuse, the worthies
of our own country have secured its in
dependence by the establishment of a Consti
tution and form of government for our na
tion, calculated to prevent as well as to cor
rect abuse. — R. TO A WASHINGTON TAMMANY
SOCIETY, viii, 156. (1809.)
16. ABUSES, Correction of.— My confi
dence is that there will for a long time be
virtue and good sense enough in our country
men to correct abuses. — To E. RUTLEDGE. ii,
435. FORD ED., v, 42. (P., 1788.)
17. ABUSES, Economy and. — The new
government has now, for some time, been
under way. Abuses under the old forms have
led us to lay the basis of the new in a rigor
ous economy of the public contributions. —
To M. DE PINTO, iii, 174. (N. Y., 1790.)
18. ABUSES, Education and. — Educa
tion is the true corrective of abuses of consti
tutional power. — To WILLIAM C. JARVIS. vii,
179. FORD ED., x, 161. (M., 1820.)
19. ABUSES, Elections and.— A jealous
care of the right of election by the people, —
a mild and safe corrective of abuses which are
lopped by the sword of revolution where
peaceable remedies are unprovided, I deem
[one of the] essential principles of our gov
ernment and, consequently, [one] which
ought to shape its administration. — FIRST IN
AUGURAL ADDRESS, viii, 4. FORD ED., viii, 4.
(1801.)
20. ABUSES, Liability to.— What insti
tution is insusceptible of abuse in wicked
hands?— To L. H. GIRARDIN. vi, 440. FORD
ED., ii, 151. (M., 1815.)
21. ABUSES, Monarchical.— Nor should
we wonder at the pressure [for a fixed Con
stitution in France in 1788-9], when we con
sider the monstrous abuses of power under
which this people were ground^ to powder,
when we pass in review the weight of their
taxes, and inequality of their distribution:
the oppressions of the tithes, of the tailles,
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Abuses
Academy
the corvces, the gabelles, the farms and bar
riers : the shackles on commerce by monop
olies : on industry by guilds and corporations :
on the freedom of conscience, of thought, and
of speech : on the press by the Censors and
of person by lettres de cachet; the cruelty of
the criminal code generally, the atrocities of
the Rack, the venality of judges, and their
partialities to the rich ; the monopoly of mili
tary honors by the noblesse; the enormous
expenses of the Queen, the princes and the
court ; the prodigalities of pensions ; and the
riches, luxury, indolence, and immorality of
the clergy. Surely under such a mass of mis
rule and oppression, a people might justly
press for a thorough reformation, and might
even dismount their rough-shod riders, and
leave them to walk on their own legs. — AUTO
BIOGRAPHY, i, 86. FORD ED., i, 118. (1821.)
22. ABUSES, Patrimonies in.— Happy
for us that abuses have not yet become patri
monies, and that every description of interest
is in favor of rational and moderate govern
ment.— To RALPH IZARD. ii, 429. (P., 1788.)
— ABUSES OF POWER.— See POWER.
23. ABUSES, Revolution and.— When a
long train of abuses and usurpations begun at
a distinguished period and * pursuing invaria
bly the same object, evinces a design to reduce
them under absolute despotism, it is their
right, it is their duty, to throw off such gov
ernment, and to provide new guards for their
future security. — DECLARATION OF INDEPEND
ENCE AS DRAWN BY JEFFERSON.
24. ABUSES, Temptations to.— Nor
should our Assembly be deluded by the in
tegrity of their own purposes, and conclude
that these unlimited powers will never be
abused, because themselves are not disposed
to abuse them. They should look forward to
a time, and that not a distant one, when
corruption in this as in the country from
which we derive cur origin, will have seized
the heads of government, and be spread by
them through the body of the people ; when
they will purchase the voices of the people
and make them pay the price. Human
nature is the same on each side of the
Atlantic, and will be alike influenced by the
same causes. The time to guard against cor
ruption and tyranny is before they shall have
gotten hold of us. It is better keep the wolf
out of the fold, than to trust to drawing his
teeth and talons after he shall have entered.
—NOTES ON VIRGINIA, viii, 362. FORD ED.,
Hi, 224. (1782.)
25. ABUSES, Tendency to. — Mankind
soon learns to make interested uses of every
right and power which they possess, or may
assume. The public money and public liberty
* * will soon be discovered to be sources
of wealth and dominion to those who hold
them; distinguished, too, by this tempting
circumstance, that they are the instrument,
as well as the object of acquisition. With
money we will get men, said Caesar, and with
* Congress struck out the words in italics.—
EDITOR.
men we will get money. — NOTES ON VIRGINIA.
viii, 362. FORD ED., iii, 224. (1782.)
26. ACADEMY (The Military), Begin
ning-.— It was proposed [at a meeting of the
cabinet] to recommend [in the President's
speech to Congress] the establishment of a
Military Academy. I objected that none of
the specified powers given by the Constitution
to Congress would authorize this. * * *
The President [said], though it would be a
good. thing, he did not wish to bring on any
thing which might generate heat and ill
humor. It was, therefore, referred for fur
ther consideration and inquiry. [At the next
meeting] I opposed it as unauthorized by the
Constitution. Hamilton and Knox approved
it without discussion. Edmund Randolph
was for it, saying that the words of the Con
stitution authorizing Congress to lay taxes
&c., for the common defence, might compre
hend it. The President said he would not
choose to recommend anything against the
Constitution; but if it was doubtful, he was
so impressed with the necessity of this meas
ure, that he would refer it to Congress, and
let them decide for themselves whether the
Constitution authorized it or not. — ANAS.
ix, 182. FORD ED., i, 270. (Nov. 1793.)
27. ACADEMY (The Military), En
largement. — The scale on which the Military
Academy at West Point was originally estab
lished, is become too limited to furnish the
number of well-instructed subjects in the
different branches of artillery and engineering
which the public service calls for. The want
of such characters is already sensibly felt,
and will be increased with the enlargement
of our plans of military preparation. The
chief engineer having been instructed to con
sider the subject, and to propose an augmen
tation which might render the establishment
commensurate with the present circumstances
of our country, has made the report I now
transmit for the consideration of Congress. —
SPECIAL MESSAGE, viii, 101. (March 1808.)
28. ACADEMY (The Military), Impor
tance of. — I have ever considered lhat estab
lishment as of major importance to our
country, and in whatever I could do for it,
I viewed myself as performing a duty only.
* * * The real debt of the institution is
to its able and zealous professors. — To JARED
MANSFIELD, vii, 203. (M., 1821.)
29. ACADEMY (The Military), Re
moval. — The idea suggested by the chief en
gineer of removing the institution to this
place [Washington], is worthy of attention.
Beside the advantage of placing it under
the immediate eye of the Government, it
may render its benefits common to the naval
department, and will furnish opportunities of
selecting on better information, the characters
most qualified to fulfil the duties which the
public service may call for. — SPECIAL MES
SAGE, viii, 101. (March 1808.)
30. ACADEMY, A National.— I have
often wished we could have a Philosophical
Society, or Academy, so organized as that
Academy
Academies
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
while the central academy should «be at the
seat of government, its members dispersed
over the States, should constitute filiated
academies in each State, publish their com
munications, from which the Central Acad
emy should select unpublished what should
be most choice. In this way all the members,
wheresoever dispersed, might be brought into
action, and an useful emulation might arise
between the filiated societies. Perhaps the
great societies, now existing, might incorpo
rate themselves in this way with the National
one. To JOEL BARLOW. FORD ED., viii, 424.
(Feb. 1806.)
31. ACADEMY, Need of a Naval.— I
think * * * that there should be a school
of instruction for our Navy as well as artil
lery ; and I do not see why the same establish
ment might not suffice for both. Both re
quire the same basis of general mathematics,
adding projectiles and fortifications for the
artillery exclusively, and astronomy and the
ory of navigation exclusively for the naval
students. Berout conducted both schools
in France, and has left us the best book ex
tant for their joint and separate instruction.
It ought not to require a separate professor.*
— To JOHN ADAMS, vii, 218. (M., 1821.)
32. ACADEMY, Transfer of Geneva. —
I * * * enclose for your perusal and con
sideration * * * the proposition of M. D'lyer-
nois, a Genevan of .considerable distinction,
to translate the Academy of Geneva in a body
to this country. You know well that the col
leges of Edinburgh and Geneva as seminaries
of science, are considered as the two eyes of
Europe. While Great Britain and America give
the preference to the former, all other coun
tries give it to the latter. I am fully sensible
that two powerful obstacles are in the way of
this proposition. First, the expense ; secondly,
the communication of science in foreign lan
guages ; that is to say, in French and Latin ;
but I have been so long absent from my own
country as to be an incompetent judge either of
the force of the objections, or of the disposi
tion of those who are to decide on them. * *
What I have to request of you is, that you will
* * * consider his proposition, consult on
its expediency and practicability with such gen
tlemen of the Assembly [of Virginia], as you
think best, and take such other measures as you
shall think best to ascertain what would be the
sense of that body, were the proposition to be
hazarded to them. If yourself and friends ap
prove of it, and there is hope that the Assembly
will do so, your zeal for the good of our coun
try in general, and the promotion of science, as
an instrument towards that, will, of course, in
duce you and them to bring it forward in such a
way as you shall judge best. If, on the con
trary, you disapprove of it yourselves, or think
it would be desperate with the Assembly, be so
good as to return it to me with such information
as I may hand forward to M. D'lvernois, to
put him out of suspense. Keep the matter by
all means out of the public papers, and particu
larly, * * * do not couple my name with
the proposition if brought forward, because ^it
is much my wish to be in nowise implicated in
public affairs. — To WILSON NICHOLAS, iv, 109.
FORD EDM vi, 513. (M., Nov. 1794.)
* The Naval Academy at Annapolis was opened in
1845. The credit of its foundation is due to George
Bancroft, who was then Secretary of the Navy.—
EDITOR.
33. I have returned, with infinite
appetite, to the enjoyment of my farm, my fam
ily and my books, and had determined to med
dle in nothing beyond their limits. Your propo
sition, however, for transplanting the college of
Geneva to my own country, was too analogous
to all my attachments to science, and freedom,
the first-born daughter of science, not to excite a
lively interest in my mind, and the essays which
were necessary to try its practicability. This
depended altogether on the opinions and dis
positions of our State Legislature, which was
then in session. I immediately communicated
your papers to a member of the Legislature,
whose abilities and zeal pointed him out as
proper for it, urging him to sound as many of
the leading members of the Legislature as he
could, and if he found their opinions favorable,
to bring forward the proposition ; but if he
should find it desperate, not to hazard it ; be
cause I thought it best not to commit the honor
either of our State or of your college, by an
useless act of eclat. * * * The members
were generally well-disposed to the proposition,
and some of them warmly ; however, there was
no difference in the conclusion, that it could not
be effected. The reasons which they thought
would with certainty prevail against it, were i,
that our youth, not familiarized but with their
mother tongue, were not prepared to receive in
structions in any other ; 2, that the expense of
the institution would excite uneasiness in their
constituents, and endanger its permanence ; and
3, that its extent was disproportioned to the
narrow state of the population with us. What
ever might be urged on these several subjects,
yet as the decision rests with others, there re
mained to us only to regret that circumstances
were such, or were thought to be such, as to
disappoint your and our wishes. — To M.
D'lvERNois. iv, 113. FORD ED., vii, 2. (M.,
Feb. I795-)
34. ACADEMY, Wish for Geneva.— -I
should have seen with peculiar satisfaction the
establishment of such a mass of science in my
country, and should probably have been tempted
to approach myself to it, by procuring a resi
dence in its neighborhood, at those seasons of
the year at least when the operations of agricul
ture are less active and interesting. — To M.
D'IVERNOIS. iv, 114. FORD ED., vii, 4. (M.,
Feb. I795-)
35. ACADEMIES, Architectural Be-
form. — I consider the common plan followed
in this country, but not in others, of making one
large and expensive building, as unfortunately
erroneous. It is infinitely better to erect a
small and separate lodge for each separate pro
fessorship, with only a hall below for his class,
and two chambers above for himself; joining
these lodges by barracks for a certain portion
of the students, opening into a covered way to
give a dry communication between all the
schools. The whole of these arranged around
an open square of grass and trees, would make
it, what it should be in fact, an academical vil
lage, instead of a large and common den of
noise, of filth and of fetid air. It would afford
that quiet retirement so friendly to study, and
lessen the dangers of fire, infection and tumult.
Every professor would be the police officer of
the students adjacent to his own lodge, which
should include those of his own class of
preference, and might be at the head of their
table, if, as I suppose, it can be reconciled with
the necessary economy to dine them in smaller
and separate parties, rather than in a large and
common mess. These separate buildings, too,
might be erected successively and occasionally,
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Accent
Actions
as the number of professors and students should
be increased, as the funds become competent. —
To HUGH L. WHITE, v, 521. (M., 1810.)
— ACCENT, The Greek.— See LAN
GUAGES.
36. ACCOUNTS, Complicated.— Alexan
der Hamilton * * * in order that he
might have the entire government of his
[Treasury] machine, determined so to com
plicate it as that neither the President nor
Congress should be able to understand it, or
to control him. He succeeded in doing this,
not only beyond their reach, but so that he at
length could not unravel it himself. He
gave to the debt, in the first instance, in fund
ing it, the most artificial and mysterious form
he could devise. He then moulded up
his appropriations of a number of scraps
and remnants, many of which were noth
ing at all, and applied them to differ
ent objects in reversion and remainder,
until the whole system was involved in im
penetrable fog ; and while he was giving him
self the airs of providing for the payment of
the debt, he left himself free to add to it con
tinually, as he did in fact, instead of paying
it. — To ALBERT GALLATIN. iv, 428. FORD
ED., viii, 140. (W., 1801.)
37. ACCOUNTS, Keeping.— All these
articles are very foreign to my talents, and
foreign also, as I conceive, to the nature of
my duties. * * * I suppose it practicable
for your board to direct the administration of
your moneys here [Paris] in every circum
stance. — To SAMUEL OSGOOD. i, 451. (P.,
1785.)
38. ACCOUNTS, Neglected.— It is a fact,
which we [Virginia] are to lament, that, in the
earlier part of our struggles, we were so wholly
occupied by the great object of establishing our
rights, that we attended not at all to those little
circumstances of taking receipts and vouchers,
keeping regular accounts, and preparing sub
jects for future disputes with our friends. If
we could have supported the whole Continent,
I believe we should have done it, and never
dishonored our nation by producing accounts ;
sincerely assured that, in no circumstances of
future necessity or distress, a like free applica
tion of anything therein would have been
thought hardly of, or would have rendered nec
essary an appeal to accounts. Hence, it has
happened that, in the present case, the collec
tion of vouchers of the arms furnished by this
State has become tedious and difficult. — To THE
PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS. FORD LD., ii, 283,
(W., 1779.)
39. ACCOUNTS, Simple.— The accounts
of the United States ought to be, and may be
made, as simple as those of a common
farmer, and capable of being understood by
common farmers. — To JAMES MADISON, iv,
131. FORD ED., vii, 61. (M., 1706.)
40. . if * * * [there] can be
added a simplification of the form of accounts
in the Treasury department, and in the or
ganization of its officers, so as to bring every
thing to a single centre, we might hope to
see the finances of the Union as clear and
intelligible as a merchant's books, so that
every member of Congress, and every man
of any mind in the Union, should be able to
comprehend them, to investigate abuses, and
consequently to control them. Our pre
decessors have endeavored by intrica
cies of system, and shuffling the investi
gation over from one officer to another, to
cover everything from detection. I hope we
shall go in the contrary direction, and that,
by our honest and judicious reformations, we
may be able in the limits of our time, to bring
things back to that simple and intelligible
system, on which they should have been or
ganized at first. — To ALBERT GALLATIN. iv,
429. FORD ED., viii, 141. (W., 1802.)
- ACQUISITION OF TERRITORY.—
See TERRITORY.
41. ACTIONS, Approved.— The very ac
tions [on] which Mr. Pickering arraigns
[me] have been such as the great majority
of my fellow citizens have approved. The
approbation of Mr. Pickering, and of those
who thought with him [the Federalists], I
had no right to expect.— To MARTIN VAN-
BUREN. vii, 363. FORD ED., x, 306. (M.,
1824.)
42. ACTIONS, Disinterested.— I am con
scious of having always intended to do what
was best for my fellow citizens ; and never,
for a single moment, to have listened to any
personal interest of my own. — To RICHARD
M. JOHNSTON, v, 256. (W., 1808.)
43. My public proceedings were
always directed by a single view to the best
interests of our country. — To DR. E. GRIFF
ITH, v, 450. (M., 1809.)
44. In the transaction of the
[public] affairs I never felt one interested
motive. — To W. LAMBERT, v, 450. (M May
1809.)
45. ACTIONS, Government and.— The
legislative powers of government reach
actions only and not opinions. — R. TO A.
DANBURY BAPTIST ADDRESS, viii, 113. (1802.)
46. ACTIONS, Honest Principles and.—
Every honest man will suppose honest acts
to flow from honest principles, and the rogues
may rail without intermission.— To DR. BEN
JAMIN RUSH, iv, 426. FORD ED., viii, 126.
(W., 1801.)
47. ACTIONS, Indulgent to.— I owe in
finite acknowledgments to the republican
portion of my fellow citizens for the indul
gence with which they have viewed my pro
ceedings generally. — To W. LAMBERT, v, 450.
(M., May 1809.) See DISINTERESTEDNESS.
48. ACTIONS, Judgment and.— Up
wards of thirty years passed on the stage of
public life and under the public eye, may
surely enable them to judge whether my
future course is likely to be marked with
those departures from reason and moderation,
which the passions of men have been willing
to foresee. — To WILLIAM JACKSON, iv, 358.
(M., 1801.)
Actions
Adams (John)
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
49. ACTIONS, Lawful.— Every man
should be protected in his lawful acts. — To
ISAAC McPHERSON. vi, 175. (M., 1813.)
50. ACTIONS, Present and future.—
Our duty is to act upon things as they are,
and to make a reasonable provision for what
ever they may be. — SIXTH ANNUAL MESSAGE.
viii, 69. FORD ED., viii, 405- (Dec. 1806.)
51. ACTIONS, Publicity and.— I fear no
injury which any man can do me. I have
never done a single act, or been concerned in
any transaction, which I fear to have fully
laid open, or which could do me any hurt if
truly stated. I have never done a single
thing with a view to my personal interest, or
that of any friend, or with any other view
than that of the greatest public good ; there
fore, no threat or fear on that head will ever
be a motive of action with me. * — ANAS, ix,
209. FORD ED., i, 312. (1806.)
52. ACTIONS, Purity of.— I can con
scientiously declare that as to myself, I wish
that not only no act but no thought of mine
should be unknown.— To JAMES MAIN, v,
373- (W., 1808.)
53. ACTIONS, Bight.— The precept of
Providence is, to do always what is right, and
leave the issue to Him.— To MRS. COSWAY.
ii, 41. FORD ED., iv, 320. (P., 1786.)
54. ACTIONS, Rule for.— Whenever you
are to do a thing, though it can never be
known but to yourself, ask yourself how you
would act were all the world looking at you,
and act accordingly, f— To PETER CARR. i, 396.
(Ps., 1785.)
55. When tempted to do any
thing in secret, ask yourself if you would
do it in public ; if you would not, be sure it
is wrong.}— To FRANCIS EPPES. D. L. J. 365.
56. ACTIONS, Virtuous.— If no action is
to be deemed virtuous for which malice can
imagine a sinister motive, then there never
was a virtuous action ; no, not even in the
life of our Saviour Himself. But He has
taught us to judge the tree by its fruit, and
to leave motives to Him who can alone see
into them. — To MARTIN VAN BUREN. vii, 363.
FORD ED., x, 307 (M., 1824.)
— AD AIR (James), Views on Indians.—
See INDIANS.
57. ADAMS (John), Administration of.
— If the understanding of the people could be
rallied to the truth on the subject [of the
French negotiations and the X. Y. Z. plot,]^
by exposing the deception practiced on them,
there are so many other things about to bear
on them favorably for the resurrection of
their republican spirit, that a reduction of the
administration to constitutional principles
cannot fail to be the effect. There are the
* Aaron Burr, in asking Jefferson for office, inti
mated that he could do Jefferson "much harm"
This was Jefferson's defiance.— EDITOR.
i Peter Carr was the young nephew of Jefferson —
EDITOR.
$ Francis Eppes was a grandson, then at school.—
EDITOR.
§See X. Y. Z. plot post.— EDITOR.
Alien and Sedition laws, the vexations of the
stamp act, the disgusting particularities of the
direct tax, the additional army without an
enemy, and recruiting officers lounging at
every court house, a navy of fifty ships, five
millions to be raised to build it, on the
ruinous interest of eight per cent., the perse
verance in war on our part, when the French
government shows such an anxious desire to
<eep at peace with us, taxes of ten millions
now paid by four millions of people, and yet
a necessity, in a year or two, of raising five
millions more for annual expenses. Those
things will immediately be bearing on the
public mind, and if it remain not still blinded
a supposed necessity, for the purpose of
maintaining our independence and defending
our country, they will set things to rights. I
hope you will undertake this statement. — To
EDMUND PENDLETON. iv, 275. FORD ED., vii,
337. (Pa., Jan. 1799.) See 1056.
58. We were far from consider
ing you as the author of all the measures we
blamed. They were placed under the pro
tection of your name, but we were satisfied
they wanted much of your approbation. We
ascribed them to their real authors, the Pick
erings, Wolcotts, the Tracys, the Sedgwicks,
et id genus omne, with whom we supposed you
in a state of duresse. I well remember a
conversation with you in the morning of the
day on which you nominated to the Senate
a substitute for Pickering, in which you ex
pressed a just impatience under " the legacy
of secretaries which General Washington had
left you," and whom you seemed, therefore,
to consider as under public protection.
Many other incidents showed how differently
you would have acted with less impassioned
advisers; and subsequent events have proved
that your minds were not together. You
would do me great injustice, therefore, by
taking to yourself what was intended for men
who were then your secret, as they are now
your open enemies. — To JOHN ADAMS, vi,
126. FORD ED., ix, 387. (M., June 1813.)
— ADAMS (John), Aristocracy and.
— See ARISTOCRACY.
59. ADAMS (John), Attacks on.— With
respect to the calumnies and falsehoods
which writers and printers at large published
against Mr. Adams, I was as far _ from
stooping to any concern or approbation of
them, as Mr. Adams was respecting those of
" Porcupine, " Fenno, or Russell, who pub
lished volumes against me for every sentence
vended by their opponents against Mr.
Adams. But I never supposed Mr. Adams
had any participation in the atrocities of these
editors, or their writers. I knew myself in
capable of that base warfare, and believed
him to be so. On the contrary, whatever I
may have thought of the acts of the adminis
tration of that day, I have ever borne testi
mony to Mr. Adams's personal worth; nor
was it ever impeached in ^my presence,
without a just vindication of it on my part.
I never supposed that any person who knew
either of us, could believe that either of us
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Adams (tiohn)
meddled in that dirty work. — To MRS. JOHN
ADAMS, iv, 555. FORD ED., viii, 309. (W., July
1804.)
60. Mr. Adams has been alien
ated from me, by belief in the lying sugges
tions contrived for electioneering purposes,
that I perhaps mixed in the activity and in
trigues of the occasion. My most intimate
friends can testify that I was perfectly
passive. They would sometimes, indeed, tell
me what was going on; but no man ever
heard me take part in such conversations ;
and none ever misrepresented Mr. Adams
in my presence, without my asserting his just
character. With very confidential persons I
have doubtless disapproved of the principles
and practices of his administration. This was
unavoidable. But never with those with whom
it could do him any injury. Decency would
have required this conduct from me, if dispo
sition had not, and I am satisfied Mr.
Adams's conduct was equally honorable to
wards me. But I think it part of his charac
ter to suspect foul play in those of whom he is
jealous, and not easily to relinquish his sus
picions. — To DR. BENJAMIN RUSH, v, 563.
FORD ED., ix, 299. (M., Jan. 1811.)
61. ADAMS (John), Character.— He is
vain, irritable, and a bad calculator of the
force and probable effect of the motives
which govern men. This is all the ill
which can possibly be said of him. He is
as disinterested as the Being who made him.
He is profound in his views, and accurate
in his judgment, except where knowledge of
the world is necessary to form a judgment.
He is so amiable that I pronounce you will
love him, if ever you become acquainted with
him. He would be, as he was, a great man in
Congress. — To JAMES MADISON, ii, 107.
(P, 1787.)
62. His vanity is a lineament in
his character which had entirely escaped me.
His want of taste I had observed. Notwith
standing all this he has a sound head on sub
stantial points, and I think he has integrity. —
To JAMES MADISON. FORD ED., iii, 309. (B.,
Feb. 1783.)
63. - - The President's title, as
Eroposed by the Senate, was the most super-
itively ridiculous thing I ever heard of. It
is a proof the more of the justice of the
character given by Dr. Franklin of my friend.
Always an honest man, often a great one.
but sometimes absolutely mad. — To JAMES
MADISON. FORD ED., v, 104. (P., July 1789.)
64. ADAMS (John) .Declaration of In
dependence and. — John Adams was the pil
lar of its [Declaration of Independence] sup
port on the floor of Congress ; its ablest advo
cate and defender against the multifarious
assaults it encountered. For many excellent
persons opposed it on doubts whether we
were provided sufficiently with the means of
supporting it, whether the minds of our con
stituents were yet prepared to receive it &c.,
who, after it was decided, united zealously
in the measures it called for. — To WILLIAM P.
GARDNER. FORD ED., ix, 377. (M., 1813.)
65. He supported the Declara
tion with zeal and ability, fighting fearlessly
for every word of it. No man's confident
and fervent addresses, more than Mr.
Adams's encouraged and supported us
through the difficulties surrounding us, which,
like the ceaseless action of gravity, weighed
on us by night and by day. * — To JAMES MAD
ISON, -vii, 305. FORD ED., x, 268. (M., 1823.)
66. . His deep conceptions, ner
vous style, and undaunted firmness, made him
truly our bulwark in debate. — To SAMUEL A.
WELLS, i, 121. FORD ED., x. 131. (M., 1819.)
See DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE.
67. ADAMS (John), Departure from
Europe. — I learn with real pain the resolution
you have taken of quitting Europe. Your pres
ence on this side the Atlantic gave me a con
fidence that, if any difficulties should arise
within my department, I should always have one
to advise with on whose counsels I could rely.
I shall now feel bewidowed. I do not wonder
at your being tired out by the conduct of the
court you are at. — To JOHN ADAMS, ii, 127.
(P., 1787.)
— ADAMS (John), France and.— See
FRANCE.
68. ADAMS (John), Friendship of Jef
ferson for. — Mr. Adams's friendship and
mine began at an early date. It accompanied
us through long and important scenes. The dif
ferent conclusions we had drawn from our
political reading and reflections, were not per
mitted to lessen personal esteem ; each party
being conscious they were the result of an
honest conviction in the other. Like differences
of opinion existing among our fellow citizens,
attached them to one or the other of us, and
produced a rivalship in their minds which did
not exist in ours. We never stood in one an
other's way ; for if either had been withdrawn
at any time, his favorers would not have gone
over to the other, but would have sought for
some one of homogeneous opinions. This con
sideration was sufficient to keep down all jeal
ousy between us, and to guard our friendship
from any disturbance by sentiments of rival-
ship.f — To MRS. JOHN ADAMS, iv, 545. FORD
ED., viii, 306. (W., June 1804.)
69. . I write you this letter as
clue to a friendship coeval with our government,
and now attempted to be poisoned, when too late
in life to be replaced by new affections. I had
for some time observed in the public papers,
dark hints and mysterious innuendoes of a cor
respondence of yours with a friend, to whom
you had opened your bosom without reserve, and
which was to be made public by that friend or
* Daniel Webster visited Jefferson at Monticello
toward the close of 1824. He quoted Jefferson as
having then said in conversation: "John Adams
was our Colossus on the floor. He was not graceful,
nor elegant, nor remarkably fluent ; but he came
out, occasionally, with a power of thought and ex
pression that moved us from our seats." Webster
introduced the quotation in his speech on "Adams
and Jefferson," August 2, 1826. The conversation
entire is printed in the Private Correspondence of
Webster (i, 364), and in the FORD ED. of Jefferson's
Writings, x, 327.— EDITOR.
t A reference to the u Midnight Appointments"of
Mr. Adams in this letter led Mrs. Adams to make a
spirited attack on Jefferson's administration. Jef
ferson's reply, and also his correspondence with Dr.
Rush, which led to a reconciliation with Mr. Adams
will be found in the Appendix to this volume.—
EDITOR.
Adams (John)
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
8
his representative. And now it is said to be
actually published. It has not yet reached us,
but extracts have been given, and such as
seemed most likely to draw a curtain of separa
tion between you and myself. Were there no
other motive than that of indignation against
the author of this outrage on private confi
dence, whose shaft seems to have been aimed at
yourself more particularly, this would make it
the duty of every honorable mind to disappoint
that aim, by opposing to its impression a seven
fold shield of apathy and insensibility. With
me, however, no such armor is needed. The cir
cumstances of the times in which we have hap
pened to live, and the partiality of our friends
at a particular period, placed us in a state of
apparent opposition, which some might suppose
to be personal also ; and there might not be
wanting those who wished to make it so, by
filling our ears with malignant falsehoods, by
dressing up hideous phantoms of their own
creation, presenting them to you under my
name, to me under yours, and endeavoring to
instil into our minds things concerning each
other the most destitute of truth. And if there
had been, at any time, a moment when we were
off our guard, and in a temper to let the whis
pers of these people make us forget what we
had known of each other for so many years, and
years of so much trial, yet all men who have
attended to the workings of the human mind,
who have seen the false colors under which
passion sometimes dresses the actions and mo
tives of others, have seen also those passions
subsiding with time and reflection, dissipating
like mists before the rising sun, and restoring
to us the sight of all things in their true shape
and colors. It would be strange, indeed, if,
at our years, we were to go back an age to
hunt up imaginary or forgotten facts, to dis
turb the repose of affections so sweetening to
the evening of our lives. Be assured, my
dear sir, that I am incapable of receiving the
slightest impression from the effort now made
to plant thorns on the pillow of age, worth and
wisdom, and to sow tares between friends who
have been such for near half a century. Be
seeching you, then, not to suffer your mind to
be disquieted by this wicked attempt to poison
its peace, and praying you to throw it by
among the things which have never happened,
I add sincere assurances of my unabated and
constant attachment, friendship and respect. —
-To JOHN ADAMS, vii, 314. FORD EDV x, 273.
(M., 1823.)
70. . Fortune had disjointed our
first affections, and placed us in opposition in
every point. This separated us for awhile.
But on the first intimation through a friend,
we re-embraced with cordiality, recalled our
ancient feelings and dispositions, and every
thing was forgotten but our first sympathies. —
I bear ill-will to no human being. — To JAMES
MONROE. FORD ED., x, 298. (M., 1824.)
71. ADAMS (John), George III. and.—
The sentiments you expressed [in your ad
dress on presentation to the King] were such
as were entertained in America till the com
mercial proclamation, and such as would
again return were a rational conduct to be
adopted by Great Britain. I think, therefore,
you by no means compromised yourself, or
our country, nor expressed more than it
would be our interest to encourage, if they
were disposed to meet us. — To JOHN ADAMS.
i, 436. (P., September 1785.)
72. ADAMS (John), Honesty.— I have
the same good opinion of Mr. Adams which I
ever had. I know him to be an honest man,
an able one with his pen, and he was a powerful
advocate on the floor of Congress. — To DR. BEN
JAMIN RUSH, v, 562. FORD ED., ix, 298. (M.,
1811.)
73. ADAMS (John), Integrity .—Though
I saw that our ancient friendship was affected
by a little leaven, produced partly by his con
stitution, partly by the contrivance of others,
yet I never felt a diminution -of confidence
in his integrity, and retained a solid affection
for him. His principles of government I knew
to be changed, but conscientiously changed. —
To JAMES MADISON, iv, 161. FORD ED., vii,
108. (M., Jan. 1797.)
74. ADAMS (John), Jefferson and
Election of. — The public and the papers have
been much occupied lately in placing us in
a point of opposition to each other. I trust
with confidence that less of it has been felt
by ourselves personally. In the retired can
ton where I am, I learn little of what is pass
ing ; pamphlets I never see ; papers but a few,
and the fewer the happier. Our latest in
telligence from Philadelphia at present is of
the i6th inst., but though at that date your
election to the first magistracy seems not
to have been known as a fact, yet with me
it has never been doubted. I knew it impossi
ble you should lose a vote North of the
Delaware, and even if that of Pennsylvania
should be against you in the mass, yet that
you would get enough South of that to place
your succession out of danger. I have never
one single moment expected a different issue ;
and though I know I shall not be believed, yet
it is not the less true that I have never wished
it. My neighbors as my compurgators could
aver that fact, because they see my occupa
tions and my attachment to them. Indeed
it is impossible that you may be cheated of
your succession by a trick worthy the subtle
ty of your arch-friend of New York [Alex
ander Hamilton] who has been able to make
of your real friends tools to defeat their and
your just wishes. Most probably he will be
disappointed as to you; and my inclinations
place me out of his reach. I leave to others
the sublime delights of riding in the storm,
better pleased with sound sleep and a warm
berth below, with the society of neighbors,
friends and fellow-laborers of the earth,
than of spies and sycophants. No one
then will congratulate you with purer disin
terestedness than myself. The share, indeed,
which I may have had in the late vote, I
shall value highly as an evidence of the share
I have in the esteem of my fellow citizens.
But while in this point of view, a few votes
less would be little sensible, the difference in
the effect of a few more would be very sensi
ble and oppressive to me. I have no ambition
to govern men. It is a painful and thankless
office. Since the day, too, on which you
signed the treaty of Paris our horizon was
never so overcast. I devoutly wish you may
be able to shun for us this war by which our
agriculture, commerce and credit will be de
stroyed. If you are, the glory will be all your
own ; and that your administration may be
filled with glory^ and happiness to yourself
and advantage to us is the sincere wish of one
9
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Adams (John)
who, though in the course of our own voyage
through life various little incidents have hap
pened or been contrived to separate us, re
tains still for you the solid esteem of the mo
ments when we were working for our inde
pendence, and sentiments of respect and af
fectionate attachment.* — To JOHN ADAMS, iv,
153. FORD ED., vii, 95. (Dec. 28, 1796.)
75. . Mr. Adams and myself
were cordial friends from the beginning of the
Revolution. Since our return from Europe,
some little incidents have happened, which
were capable of affecting a jealous mind like
his. His deviation from that line of politics
on which we had been united, has not made
me less sensible of the rectitude of his heart;
and I wished him to know this, and also an
other truth, that I am sincerely pleased at
having escaped the late draft for the helm,
and have not a wish which he stands
in the way of. That he should be convinced
of these truths, is important to our mutual
satisfaction, and perhaps to the harmony and
good of the public service. But there was a
difficulty in conveying them to him, and a
possibility that the attempt might do mischief
there or somewhere else; and I would not
have hazarded the attempt, if you had not
been in place to decide upon its expediency. —
To JAMES MADISON, iv, 166. FORD ED., vii,
115. (M., Jan. 1797.)
76. . You express apprehensions
that stratagems will be used to produce a
misunderstanding between the President and
myself. Though not a word having this
tendency has ever been hazarded to me by
anyone, yet I consider as a certainty that
nothing will be left untried to alienate
him from me. These machinations will pro
ceed from the Hamiltonians by whom he is
surrounded, and who are only a little less hos
tile to him than to me. It cannot but damp
the pleasure of cordiality when we suspect
that it is suspected. I cannot help thinking
that it is impossible for Mr. Adams to believe
that the state of my mind is what it really is
that he may think I view him as an ob
stacle in my way. I have no supernatura
power to impress truth on the mind oi
another, nor he any to discover that the esti
mate he may form, on a just view of the
human mind as generally constituted, may
not be just in its application to a special con
stitution. This may be a source of private nn
easiness to us ; I honestly confess that it i
so to me at this time. But neither of us is
capable of letting it have effect on our publi
duties. Those who may endeavor to separat
us, are probably excited by the fear that I
might have influence on the Executive coun
cils; but when they shall know that I con
* Jefferson sent this letter to Madison who decidei
that it would be inexpedient to forward it to Adams
" I am very thankful," Jefferson wrote to Madison
m January, 1797 (iv, 166, FORD ED., vii, 115), "to
the discretion you have exercised over the letter
That has happened to be the case, which I knew t
be possible, that the honest expression of my feeling
towards Mr. Adams might be rendered malapropo
from circumstances existing, and known at the sea
of government, but not known by me in my retire
situation. "—EDITOR.
ider my office as constitutionally confined
o legislative functions, and that I could not
ake any part whatever in executive consulta-
ions, even were it proposed, their fears
nay perhaps subside, and their object be
ound not worth a machination. — To EL-
miDGE GERRY, iv, 171. FORD ED., vii, 120. (May
797-)
77. ADAMS (John), Jefferson's Elec-
ion and. — The nation passed condemnation
m the political principles of the federalists,
Dy refusing to continue Mr. Adams in the
Dresidency. On the day on which we learned
n Philadelphia the vote of the citv of New
^ork, which it was well known would decide
:he vote of the State, and that, again, the vote
of the Union, I called on Mr. Adams on some
official business. He was very seriously
affected, and accosted me with these words :
' Well, I understand that you are to beat me
n this contest, and I will only say that I
will be as faithful a subject as any you will
lave." " Mr. Adams," said I, " this is no
personal contest between you and me. Two
systems of principles on the subject of govern
ment divide our citizens into two parties.
With one of these you concur, and I with
the other. As we have been longer on the
public stage than most of those now living,
our names happen to be more generally
known. One of these parties, therefore, has
put your name at its head, the other mine.
Were we both to die to-day, to-morrow two
other names would be in the place of ours,
without any change in the motion of the
machinery. Its motion is from its principle,
and not from you or myself. " " I believe
you are right," said he, " that we are but
passive instruments, and should not suffer
this matter to affect our personal disposi
tions." But he did long retain this just view
of the subject. I have always believed that the
thousand calumnies which the federalists, in
bitterness of heart, and mortfication at their
ejection, daily invented against me, were car
ried to him by their busy intriguers, and
made some impression. — To DR. BENJAMIN
RUSH, v, 560. FORD ED., ix, 296. (M., Jan.
1811.)
78. . When the election between
Burr and myself was kept in suspense by the
federalists, and they were meditating to place
the President of the Senate at the head of the
government, I called on Mr. Adams with a
view to have this desperate measure prevented
by his negative. He grew warm in an in
stant, and said with a vehemence he had not
used towards me before : " Sir, the event of
the election is within your own $ power. You
have only to say you will do justice to the
public creditors, maintain the navy, and not
disturb those holding offices, and the gov
ernment will instantly be put into your hands.
We know it is the wish of the people it should
be so." " Mr. Adams," said I, " I know not
what part of my conduct, in either public or
private life, can have authorized a doubt of
my fidelity to the public engagements. I say.
however, I will not come into the government
by capitulation. I will not enter on it, but in
Adams (JoUii)
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
10
perfect freedom to follow the dictates of my
own judgment." I had before given the same
answer to the same intimation from Gouver-
neur Morris. " Then," said he, " things
must take their course." I turned the con
versation to something else, and soon took
my leave. It was the first time in our lives
we had ever parted with anything like dis
satisfaction. — To DR. BENJAMIN RUSH, v,
561. FORD ED., ix, 297. (M., Jan. 1811.)
79. ADAMS (John), Jefferson, Paine
and. — I am afraid the indiscretion of a printer
has committed me with my friend Mr. Adams,
for whom, as one of the most honest and dis
interested men alive, I have a cordial esteem,
increased by long habits of concurrence in
opinion in the days of his republicanism : and
even since his apostasy to hereditary monarchy
and nobility, though we differ, we differ as
friends should do. Beckley had the only copy
of Paine's pamphlet [Rights of Man], and lent
it to me, desiring when I should read it, that
I would send it to a Mr. J. B. Smith, who had
asked it for his brother to reprint it. Being
an utter stranger to J. B. Smith, both by
sight and character, I wrote a note to explain
to him why I (a stranger to him) sent him
a pamphlet, to wit, that Mr. Beckley had de
sired it ; and to take off a little of the dryness
of the note, I added that I was glad to find it
was to be reprinted, that something would,
at length, be publicly said against the political
heresies which had lately sprung up among
us, and that I did not doubt our citizens would
rally again round the standard of " Common
Sense. " That I had in my view the " Dis
courses on Davila, " which have filled Fenno's
papers for a twelvemonth, without contra
diction, is certain, but nothing was ever
further from my thoughts than to become my
self the contradictor before the public. To my
great astonishment, however, when the pamphlet
came out, the printer had prefixed my note
to it, without having given me the most dis
tant hint of it. Mr. Adams will unquestionably
take to himself the charge of political heresy,
as conscious of his own views of drawing the
present government to the form of the English
constitution, and, I fear, will consider me as
meaning to injure him in the public eye. I
learn that some Anglo-men have censured it
in another point of view, as a sanction of
Paine's principles tends to give offence to the
British government. Their real fear, however,
is that this popular and republican pamphlet,
taking wonderfully, is likely at a single stroke,
to wipe out all the unconstitutional doctrines
which their bell-weather, " Davila, " has been
preaching for a twelvemonth. I certainly never
made a secret of my being anti-monarchical,
and anti-aristocratical ; but I am sincerely morti
fied to be thus brought forward on the public
stage, where to remain, to advance or to re
tire, will be equally against my love of silence
and quiet, and my abhorrence of dispute. — To
PRESIDENT WASHINGTON, iii, 257. FORD ED.,
v, 329. (Pa., 1791-)
80. . I have a dozen times taken
up my pen to write to you, and as often laid
it down again, suspended between opposing
considerations. I determine, however, to write
from a conviction that truth, between candid
minds, can never do harm. The first of Paine's
pamphlets on the " Rights of Man, " which
come to hand here, belonged to Mr. Beckley.
He lent it to Mr. Madison, who lent it to
me ; and while I was reading it. Mr. Beckley
called on me for it, and, as I had not finished it.
he desired me, as soon as I should have done so
to send it to Mr. Jonathan B. Smith, whose
brother meant to reprint it. I finished reading
it, and, as I had no acquaintance with Mr.
Jonathan B. Smith, propriety required that
L should explain to him why I, a stran
ger to him, sent him the pamphlet. I ac
cordingly wrote a note of compliment, in
forming him that I did it at the desire of
Mr. Beckley, and, £p take off a little of the
dryness of the note, I added that I was glad it
was to be reprinted here, and that something
was to be publicly said against the political
heresies which had sprung up among us &c I
thought so little of this note, that I did not
even keep a copy of it; nor ever heard a tittle
more of it, till, the week following, I was
thunderstruck with seeing it come out at the
head of the pamphlet.* I hoped, however, it
would not attract notice. But I found, on my
return from a journey of a month, that a writer
came forward, under the signature of " Pub
licola," attacking not only the author and prin
ciples of the pamphlet, but myself as its spon
sor, by name. Soon after came hosts of other
writers, defending the pamphlet, and attacking
you, by name, as the writer of " Publicola."
Thus were our names thrown on the public
stage as public antagonists. That you and I dif
fer in _our ideas of the best forms of govern
ment, is well known to us both ; but we have
differed as friends should do, respecting the
purity of each other's motives, and confining our
difference of opinion to private conversation.
And I can declare with truth, in the presence of
the Almighty, that nothing was further from my
intention or expectation than to have either
my own or your name brought before the public
on this occasion. The friendship and con
fidence which have so long existed between
us, required this explanation from me, and I
know you too well to fear any misconstruction
of the motives of it. Some people here who
would wish me to be, or to be thought, guilty
of improprieties, have suggested that I was
" Agricola," that I was " Brutus," &c., &c. I
never did in my life, either by myself or by
any other, have a sentence of mine inserted
in a newspaper without putting my name to
it; and I believe I never shall. — To JOHN
ADAMS, iii, 270. FORD ED., v, 353. (Pa.,
1791.)
81. . I was happy to find that
you saw in its true point of view the way in
which I had been drawn into the scene, which
must have been so disagreeable to you. The
importance which you still seem to allow to
my note, and the effect you suppose it to have
had, though unintentional in me, induce me to
show you that it really had no effect. Paine's
pamphlet, with my note, was published here about
the second week in May. Not a word ever
appeared in the public papers here [Philadel
phia] on the subject for more than a month ;
and I am certain not a word on the subject
would ever have been said, had not a writer,
under the name " Publicola " [John Quincy
Adams] at length undertaken to attack Mr.
Paine's principles, which were the principles of
the citizens of the United States. Instantly a
host of writers attacked " Publicola " in support
* The note was as follows : "After some prefatory
remarks, the Secretary of State, Mr. Jefferson, in a
note to a Printer in Philadelphia, accompanying a
copy of this Pamphlet for republication observes :
'I am extremely pleased to find it will be reprinted
here, and that something is at length to be publicly
said against the political heresies which have
sprung up among vis. I have no doubt our citizens
will rally a second time round the standard of
Common Sense.' "—EDITOR.
II
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Adams (John)
of those principles. He had thought proper to
misconstrue a figurative expression in my note ;
and these writers so far noticed me as to place
the expression in its true light. But this was
only an incidental skirmish preliminary to the
general engagement, and they would not have
thought me worth naming, had he not thought
proper to have brought me on the scene. His
antagonists, very criminally, in my opinion,
presumed you to be " Publicola, " and on that
presumption hazarded a personal attack on
you. No person saw with more uneasiness
than I did, this unjustifiable assault ; and the
more so, when I saw it continued after the
printer had declared you were not the author.
But you will perceive from all this, my dear
sir, that my note contributed nothing to the
production of these disagreeable pieces. As
long as Paine's pamphlet stood on its own
feet and on my note, it was unnoticed. As
soon as "Publicola" attacked Paine, swarms
appeared in his defence. To " Publicola," then,
and not in the least degree to my note, this
whole contest is to be ascribed and all its
consequences. You speak of the execrable
paragraph in the Connecticut papers. This, it
is true, appeared before " Publicola " ; but it
has no more relation to Paine's pamphlet and
my note than to the Alcoran. I am satisfied
the writer of it had never seen either ; for
when I passed through Connecticut about the
middle of June, not a copy had ever been
seen by anybody, either in Hartford or New
Haven, nor probably in that whole State : and
that paragraph was so notoriously the re
verse of the disinterestedness of character
which you are known to possess by everybody
who knows your name, that I never heard a
person speak of the paragraph, but with an
indignation in your behalf, which did you entire
justice. This paragraph, then, certainly did
not flow from my note, any more than the
publications which " Publicola " produced. In
deed it was impossible that my note should
occasion your name to be brought into question ;
for so far from meaning you, I had not even in
view any writing which I might suppose to be
yours, and the opinions I alluded to were
principally those I had heard in common con
versation from a sect aiming at the subversion
of the present government to bring in their
favorite form of a king, lords and commons.
Thus I hope, my dear sir, that you will see
me to have been as innocent in effect as I was
in intention. I was brought before the public
without my own consent, and from the first
moment of seeing the effort of the real ag
gressors, in this business to keep me before the
public, I determined that nothing should in
duce me to put pen to paper in the controversy.
The business is now over, and I hope its effects
are over, and that our friendship will never
be suffered to be committed, whatever use
others may think proper to make of our names.
— To JOHN ADAMS, iii, 291. FORD ED., v,
380. (Pa., Aug. 1791-)
82. ADAMS (John), Midnight Appoint
ments of.— One act of Mr. Adams's life, and
one only, ever gave me a moment's personal
displeasure. I did consider his last appoint
ments to office as personally unkind. They
were from among my most ardent political
enemies, from whom no faithful cooperation
could ever be expected ; and laid me under
the embarrassment of acting through men
whose views were to defeat mine, or to en
counter the odium of putting others in their
places, It seemed but common justice to
leave a successor free to act by instruments
of his own choice. If my respect for him
did not permit me to ascribe the whole blame
to the influence of others, it left something for
friendship to forgive, and after brooding over
it for some little time, and not always resist
ing the expression of it, I forgave it cordially,
and returned to the same state of esteem and
respect for him which had so long existed.
* * * I maintain for him, and shall carry into
private life, an uniform and high measure of
respect and good will, and for yourself a sin
cere attachment. — To MRS. JOHN ADAMS, iv,
546. FORD ED., viii, 307. (W., June 1804.)
See COMMISSIONS.
83. . Those scenes of midnight
appointment, * * * have been condemned by
all men. The last day of his political power,
the last hours, and even beyond the midnight,
were employed in filling all offices, and es
pecially permanent ones, with the bitterest
federalists, and providing for me the alterna
tive, either to execute the government by my
enemies, whose study it would be to thwart
and defeat all my measures, or to incur the
odium of such numerous removals from of
fice, as might bear me down. — To DR. BENJA
MIN RUSH, v, 561. FORD ED., ix, 297. (M.,
Jan. 1811.)
— ADAMS (John)» Opinions on IT. S.
Senate.— See SENATE.
84. ADAMS (John), Peace Commission.
— I am glad that he is of the [Peace] Com
mission, and expect he will be useful in it. His
dislike of all parties and all men, by balancing
his prejudices, may give them some fair play
to his reason as would a general benevolence of
temper. At any rate honesty may be extracted
even from poisonous weeds. — To JAMES MADI
SON. FORD ED., iii, 309. (B., Feb. 1783.)
_ ADAMS (John), Political Addresses
of. — See 103, 105.
85. ADAMS (John), Political Princi
ples of. — Mr Adams had originally been a
republican. The glare of royalty and nobil
ity, during his mission to England, had made
him believe their fascination a necessary in
gredient in government ; and Shays's rebel
lion, not sufficiently understood where he then
was, seemed to prove that the absence of
want and oppression, was not a sufficient
guarantee of order. His book on the " Amer
ican Constitutions" having made known his
political bias, he was taken up by monarchical
Federalists, in his absence, and on his return
to the United States, he was by them made to
believe that the general disposition of our
citizens was favorable to monarchy. He then
wrote his " Davila," as a supplement to the
former work, and his election to the Presi
dency confirmed him in his errors. Innumer
able addresses, too, artfully and industriously
poured in upon him, deceived him into a con
fidence that he was on the pinnacle of popu
larity, when a gulf was yawning at his feet,
which was to swallow up him and his de
ceivers. For, when General \Vashington was
withdrawn, these encrgtiincui of royalism.
kept in check hitherto by the dread of his
Adams (John)
Adams (John Quincy)
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
12
honesty, his firmness, his patriotism, and the
authority of his name, now mounted on the
car of state and free from control, like
Phaeton on that of the sun, drove headlong
and wild, looking neither to right nor left,
nor regarding anything but the objects they
were driving at ; until, displaying these fully,
the eyes of the nation were opened, and a
general disbandment of them from the public
councils took place. Mr. Adams, I am sure,
has been long since convinced of the treach
eries with which he was surrounded during
his administration. He has since thoroughly
seen that his constituents were devoted to re
publican government, and whether his judg
ment is resettled on its ancient basis, or not,
he is conformed as a good citizen to the will
of the majority, and would now, I am per
suaded, maintain its republican structure with
the zeal and fidelity belonging to his charac
ter. For even an enemy has said, " he is al
ways an honest man, and often a great one."
But in the fervor of the fever and follies of
those who made him their stalking horse, no
man who did not witness it, can form an idea
of their unbridled madness, and the terrorism
with which they surrounded themselves. —
THE ANAS, ix, 97. FORD ED., i, 166. (1818.)
86. . Adams was for two hered
itary [legislative] branches and an honest
elective one. — THE ANAS, ix, 96. FORD ED.,
i, 166. (1818.)
87. . Can anyone read Mr.
Adams's " Defence of the American Con
stitutions," without seeing that he was a
monarchist? And J. Q. Adams, the son, was
more explicit than the father in his answer to
Paine's " Rights of Man." — T o WILLIAM
SHORT, vii, 390. FORD ED., x, 332. (M.,
1825.)
88. ADAMS (John), Proposed office
for. — A little time and reflection effaced in
my mind this temporary dissatisfaction [be
cause of the midnight appointments, &c.] with
Mr. Adams, and restored me to that just esti
mate of his virtues and passions, which a
long acquaintance had enabled me to fix. And
my first wish became that of making his re
tirement easy by any means in my power ; for
it was understood he was not rich. I suggested
to some republican members of the delegation
from his State, the giving him, either directly
or indirectly, an office, the most lucrative
in that State, and then offered to be resigned,
if they thought he would not deem it affront-
ive. They were of opinion he would take great
offence at the offer ; and moreover, that the
body of republicans would consider such a
step in the outset as arguing very ill of the
course I meant to pursue. I dropped the idea,
therefore, but did not cease to wish for some
opportunity of renewing our friendly under
standing. — To DR. BENJAMIN RUSH, v., 562.
FORD ED., ix,, 298. (M.,Jan. 1811.)
— ADAMS (John), Saves Fisheries. —
See FISHERIES.
89. ADAMS (John), Views on English
Constitution.-— While Mr. Adams wasVice-
President, and I Secretary of State, I re
ceived a letter from President Washington,
then at Mount Vernon, desiring me to call to
gether the Heads of Departments, and to in
vite Mr. Adams to join us (which, by-the-bye,
was the only instance of that being done) in
order to determine on some measure which
required despatch; and he desired me to act
on it, as decided, without again recurring to
him. I invited them to dine with me, and
after dinner, sitting at our wine, having set
tled our question, other conversation came on,
in which a collision of opinion arose between
Mr. Adams and Colonel Hamilton, on the
merits of the British Constitution, Mr. Ad
ams giving it as his opinion, that, if some of
its defects and abuses were corrected, it
would be the most perfect constitution of
government ever devised by man. Hamilton,
on the contrary, asserted, that with its exist
ing vices, it was the most perfect model of
government that could be formed; and that
the correction of its vices would render it an
impracticable government. And this you may
be assured was the real line of difference be
tween the political principles of these two
gentlemen. Another incident took place on
the same occasion, which will further deline
ate Mr. Hamilton's political principles. The
room being hung around with a collection of
the portraits of remarkable men, among them
were those of Bacon, Newton and Locke.
Hamilton asked me who they were. I told
him they were my trinity of the three great
est men the world had ever produced, naming
them. He paused for some time : " The
Greatest man," said he, " that ever lived, was
ulius Caesar." Mr. Adams was honest as a
politician as well as a man ; Hamilton honest
as a man, but, as a politician, believing in the
necessity of either force or corruption to
govern men. To DR. BENJAMIN RUSH, v,
559. FORD ED., ix, 295. (M., Jan. 1811.)
90. ADAMS (John), Washington and.
— General Washington certainly did not love
Mr. Adams. — To DR. BENJAMIN RUSH, iv,
508. FORD ED., viii, 265. (W., 1803.)
91. ADAMS (John), Writings of.— I
have read your book with infinite satisfaction
and improvement. It will do great good in
America. Its learning and its good sense will.
I hope, make it an institute for our politicians,
old as well as young. — To JOHN ADAMS, ii,
128. (P., 1787.)
92.
paper
I enclose you a Boston
You will recognize Mr. A.-
under the signature of " Camillus. " He writes
in every week's paper now and generally under
different signatures This is the first in which
he has omitted some furious incartade against
me. — To JAMES MADISON, iv, 53. FORD ED..
vi, 402. (Pa., Sept. 1793.)
— ADAMS (Mrs. John), Correspond
ence with. — See APPENDIX.
93. ADAMS (John Quincy), Early
Promise. — This young gentleman is I think
very promising. To a vast thirst after ^useful
knowledge he adds a facility in acquiring it.
What his judgment may be I am not well
enough acquainted with him to decide ; but I
expect it is good, and much hope it, as he
may become a valuable and useful citizen. — To
JAMES MONROE. FORD ED., iv, 42. (P., 1785.)
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Adams (John Quincy)
Addresses
94. ADAMS (John Quincy), Foreign
Minister. — The nomination of John Quincy
Adams to Berlin, had been objected to as ex
tending our diplomatic establishment. It was
approved by eighteen to fourteen. — To JAMES
MADISON, iv, 179. FORD ED., vii, 132. (Pa.,
June I797-)
95. ADAMS (John Quincy), Respect
for. — I have never entertained for Mr. Adams
any but sentiments of esteem and respect ; and
if we have not thought alike on political sub
jects, I yet never doubted the honesty of his
opinions. — To . vii, 432. (M.,
1826.) See EMBARGO.
96. ADAMS (John Quincy), Secretary
of State. — I have barely left myself room to
express my satisfaction at your call to the im
portant office * you hold, and to tender you the
assurance of my great esteem and respect. —
To JOHN QUINCY ADAMS, vii, 90. (1817.)
97. . I congratulate Mrs. Adams
and yourself on the return of your excellent
and distinguished son, and our country still
more on such a minister of their foreign
affairs. — To JOHN ADAMS, vii, 83. FORD ED.
(1817.)
98. ADAMS (Samuel), Ability. —He was
truly a great man, wise in council, fertile in
resources, immovable in his purposes, and
had, I think, a greater share than any other
member, in advising and directing our meas
ures in the northern war especially. * * *
Although not of fluent elocution, he was
so rigorously logical, so clear in his views,
abundant in good sense, and master always
of his subject, that he commanded the most
profound attention whenever he rose in an
assembly by which the froth of declamation
was heard with the most sovereign contempt.
— To S. A. WELLS, vii, 126. FORD ED., x,
131. (M.. 1819.)
99. ADAMS (Samuel), Patriarch of
Liberty. — I addressed a letter to you, my
very dear and ancient friend, on the 4th of
March ; not indeed to you by name, but
through the medium of some of my fellow
citizens, whom occasion called on me to ad
dress. In meditating the matter of that ad
dress, I often asked myself, is this exactly in
the spirit of the patriarch of liberty, Samuel
Adams? Is it as he would express it? Will
he approve of it? I have felt a great deal
for our country in the times we have seen.
But, individually, for no one so much as
yourself. When I have been told that you
were avoided, insulted, frowned on, I could
not but ejaculate, " Father, forgive them, for
they know what they do." I confess I felt
an indignation for you, which for myself I
have been able, under every trial, to keep en
tirely passive. * * How much I lament
that time has deprived me of your aid. It
would have been a day of glory which should
have called you to the first office of the Ad
ministration. But give us your counsel, and
give us your blessing, and be assured that
there exists not in the heart of man a more
faithful esteem than mine to you. — To SAM
UEL ADAMS, iv, 389. FORD ED., viii, 38 (W.,
1801.)
* Secretary of State.— EDITOR.
100. ADAMS (Samuel), Principles of.—
His principles, founded on the immovable ba
sis of equal right and reason, have continued
pure and unchanged. Permit me to place
here my sincere veneration for him. — To
JAMES SULLIVAN, iv, 169. FORD ED., vii,
118. (M., 1797.)
101. . Your principles have been
tested in the crucible of time, and have come
out pure. You have proved that it was mon
archy, and not merely British monarchy, you
opposed. — To SAMUEL ADAMS, iv, 321. FORD
ED., vii, 425. (Pa., 1800.)
102. ADAMS (Samuel), Services of.—
I always considered him as more than any
other member [in Congress] the fountain of
our important measures. And although he
was neither an eloquent nor easy speaker,
whatever he said was sound, and commanded
the profound attention of the House. In the
discussions on the floor of Congress he re
posed himself on our main pillar in debate,
Mr. John Adams. These two gentlemen were
verily a host in our councils. — To DR. BEN
JAMIN WATERHOUSE. FORD ED., x, 124. (M.,
1819.)
— ADDRESS, History of Washington's
Farewell.— See WASHINGTON.
— ADDRESS, Jefferson to Inhabitants
of Albemarle Co.,Va. — See APPENDIX.
103. ADDRESSES, Indiscreet Political.
— Indiscreet declarations and expressions of
passion may be pardoned to a multitude act
ing from the impulse of the moment. But
we cannot expect a foreign nation to show
that apathy to the answers of the President
[Adams] which are more thrasonic than the
addresses. Whatever choice for peace might
have been left us * * * is completely lost by
these answers. — To JAMES MADISON, iv, 238.
FORD ED., vii, 247. (Pa., May 1798.)
104. ADDRESSES, Self Respect and.—
Though the expressions of good will from
my fellow citizens cannot but be grateful to
me, yet I would rather relinquish the grati
fication, and see republican self-respect pre
vail over movements of the heart too capable
of misleading the person to whom they are
addressed. However, their will, not mine, be
done. — To SAMUEL SMITH. FORD ED., viii,
28. (W., March 1801.)
— ADDRESSES, Text of Jefferson's In
augural Addresses. — See APPENDIX. *
105. ADDRESSES, Threatening Replies
to. — Nor is it France alone, but his own
fellow citizens, against whom President
[Adams's]threats are uttered. In Fennof's
paper] * * * you will see one, wherein he
says to the address from Newark, " the de
lusions and misrepresentations which have
misled so many citizens, must be discounte
nanced by authority as well as by the citizens
at large," evidently alluding to those letters
from the Representatives to their constituents,
which they have been so in the habit of seek-
* The principles in the Inaugural Addresses are
classified in this work.— EDITOR.
Addresses
Adjournment
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
ing after and publishing ; while those sent by
the tory part of the House to their constit
uents, are ten times more numerous, and re
plete with the most atrocious falsehoods and
calumnies. What new law they will propose
on this subject has not yet leaked out.* —
To JAMES MADISON. ' iv, 239. FORD ED., vii,
247. (Pa., May 1798.)
106. ADDRESSES, Utilizing. — Averse to
receive addresses, yet unable to prevent them,
I have generally endeavored to turn them to
some account, by making them the occasion,
of sowing useful truths and principles among
the people, which might germinate and be
come rooted among their political tenets. — To
LEVI LINCOLN, iv, 427. FORD ED., viii, 129.
(1802.)
107. ADJOURNMENT, Congress and.
— A bill having passed both houses of Con
gress, and being now before the President,
declaring that the seat of the Federal Gov
ernment shall be transferred to the Potomac in
the year 1790, that the sessions of Congress
next ensuing the present shall be held in Phila
delphia, to which place the offices shall be
transferred before the 1st of December next,
a writer in a public paper of July 13, has urged
on the consideration of the President, that
the Constitution has given to the two houses
of Congress the exclusive right to adjourn
themselves ; that the will of • the President
mixed with theirs in a decision of this kind,
would be an inoperative ingredient, repug
nant to the Constitution, and that he ought
not to permit them to part, in a single in
stance, with their constitutional rights ; conse
quently, that he ought to negative the bill.
That is now to be considered.
Every man, and every body of men on
earth, possesses the right of self-govern
ment. They receive it with their being from
the hand of nature. Individuals exercise it
by their single will ; collections of men by
that of their majority; for the law of the
majority is the natural law of every society
of men. When a certain description of men
are to transact together a particular business,
the times and places of their meeting and
separating, depend on their own will; they
make a part of the natural right of self-gov
ernment. This, like all other natural rights,
may be abridged or modified in its exercise
by their own consent, or by the law of those
who depute them, if they meet in the right of
others; but as far as it is not abridged or
modified, they retain it as a natural right, and
may exercise it in what form they please,
either exclusively by themselves, or in asso
ciation with others, or by others altogether,
as they shall agree.
Each house of Congress possesses this nat
ural right of governing itself, and. conse
quently, of fixing its own times and places of
meeting, so far as it has not been abridged
by the law of those who employ them, that is
to say, by the Constitution. This act mani
festly considers them as possessing this right
* Jefferson added a P. S. suggesting that Adams
may have been looking to the sedition bill that had
been spoken of. —EDITOR
of course, and, therefore, has nowhere given
it to them. In the several different passages
where it touches this right, it treats it as an
existing thing, not as one called into ex
istence by them. To evince this, every pass
age of the Constitution shall be quoted, where
the right of adjournment is touched; and it
will be seen that no one of them pretends to
give that right; that, on the contrary, every
one is evidently introduced either to enlarge
the right where it would be too narrow, to re
strain it where, in its natural and full exercise,
it might be too large, and lead to inconven
ience, to defend it from the latitude of its own
phrases, where these were not meant to com
prehend it, or to provide for its exercise by
others, when they cannot exercise it them
selves.
" A majority of each house shall constitute
a quorum to do business ; but a smaller num
ber may adjourn from day to day, and may
be authorized to compel the attendance of
absent members." Art. I. Sec. 5. A majority
of every collection of men being naturally
necessary to constitute its' will, and it being
frequently to happen that a majority is not
assembled, it was necessary to enlarge the
natural right by giving to " a smaller num
ber than a majority " a right to compel the
attendance of the absent members, and, in
the meantime, to adjourn from day to day.
This clause, then, does not pretend to give
to a majority a right which it knew that
majority would have of themselves, but to a
number less than a majority, a right to which
it knew that lesser number could not have of
themselves.
" Neither house, during the session of Con
gress, shall, without the consent of the other,
adjourn for more than three days, nor to any
other place than that in which the two houses
shall be sitting." Ibid. Each house exercising
separately its natural right to meet when and
where it should think best, it might happen
that the two houses would separate either in
time or place, which would be inconvenient.
It was necessary, therefore, to keep them to
gether by restraining their natural right of
deciding on separate times and places, and
by requiring a concurrence of will.
But, as it might happen that obstinacy, or
a difference of object, might prevent this con
currence, it goes on to take from them, in that
instance, the right of adjournment altogether.
and to transfer it to another, by declaring,
Art. 2. Sec. 3, that " in case of disagreement
between the two houses, with respect to the
time of adjournment, the President may ad
journ them to such time as he shall think
proper."
These clauses, then, do not import a gift,
to the two houses, of a general right of ad
journment, which it was known they would
have without that gift, but to restrain or ab
rogate the right it was known they would
have, in an instance where, exercised in its
full extent, it might lead to inconvenience,
and to give that right to another, who would
not naturally have had it. It also gives to
the President a right, which he otherwise
would not have had, " to convene both houses.
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Adjournment
or either of them, on extraordinary occa
sions." Thus substituting the will of another,
where they are not in a situation to exercise
their own.
" Every order, resolution, or vote, to which
the concurrence of the Senate and House of
Representatives may be necessary (except on
a question of adjournment), shall be pre
sented to the President for his approbation,
&c., Art. i. Sec. 7. The latitude of the gen
eral words here used would have subjected
the natural right of adjournment of the two
houses to the will of the President, which was
not intended. They, therefore, expressly
" except questions of adjournment " out of
their operation. They do not here give a
right of adjournment, which it was known
would exist without their gift, but they de
fend the existing right against the latitude
of their own phrases, in a case where there
was no good reason to abridge it. The ex
ception admits they will have the right of
adjournment, without pointing out the source
from which they will derive it.
These are all the passages of the Constitu
tion (one only excepted, which shall be pres
ently cited,) where the right of adjournment
is touched ; and it is evident that none of
these are introduced to give that right ; but
every one supposes it to be existing, and pro
vides some specific modification for cases
where either defeat in the natural right, or a
too full use of it, would occasion inconven
ience.
The right of adjournment, then, is not
given by the Constitution, and consequently
it may be modified by law without interfer
ing with that instrument. It is a natural
right, and, like all other natural rights, may
be abridged or regulated in its exercise by
law and the concurrence of the third branch
in any law regulating its exercise is so ef
ficient an ingredient in that law, that the
right cannot be otherwise exercised but after
a repeal by a new law. The express terms of
the Constitution itself show that this right
may be modified by law, when, in Art. i.
Sec. 4. (the only remaining passage on the
subject not yet quoted) it says, " The Con
gress shall assemble at least once in every
year, and such meeting shall be the first Mon
day in December, unless they shall, by law,
appoint a different day." Then another day
may be appointed by law; and the President's
assent is an efficient ingredient in that law.
Nay, further, they cannot adjourn over the
first Monday of December but by a law. This
is another constitutional abridgment of their
natural right of adjournment; and complet
ing our review of all the clauses in the Con
stitution which touch that right, authorizes
us to say no part of that instrument gives it ;
and that the houses hold it. not from the Con
stitution, but from nature.
A consequence of this is, that the houses
may, by a joint resolution, remove themselves
from place to place, because it is a part of
their right of self-government ; but that as
the right of self-government does not com
prehend the government of others, the two
houses cannot, by a joint resolution of their
majorities only, remove the Executive and
Judiciary from place to place. These branches
possessing, also, the rights of self-government
from nature, cannot be controlled in the ex
ercise of them but by a law, passed in the
forms of the Constitution The clause of the
bill in question, therefore, was necessary to be
put into the form of a law, and to be sub
mitted to the President, so far as it proposes
to effect the removal of the Executive and
Judiciary to Philadelphia. So far as respects
the removal of the present houses of legisla
tion thither, it was not necessary to be sub
mitted to the President ; but such a submis
sion is not repugnant to the Constitution.
On the contrary, if he concurs, it will so far
fix the next session of Congress at Philadel
phia that it cannot be changed but by a reg
ular law.
The sense of Congress itself is always re
spectable authority. It has been given very
remarkably on the present subject. The ad
dress to the President in the paper of the
I3th, is a complete digest of all the arguments
urged on the floor of the Representatives
against the constitutionality of the bill now
before the President ; and they were over
ruled by a majority of that house, compre
hending the delegation of all the States south
of the Hudson, except South Carolina. At
the last session of Congress, when the bill
for remaining a certain term at New York,
and then removing to Susquehanna, or Ger-
mantown, was objected to on the same
ground, the objection was overruled by a ma
jority comprehending the delegations of the
northern half of the Union with that of
South Carolina. So that the sense of every
State in the Union has been expressed, by
its delegation, against this objection, South
Carolina excepted, and excepting also Rhode
Island, which has never yet had a delegation
in place to vote on the question. In both
these instances, the Senate concurred with the
majority of the Representatives. The sense
of the two houses is stronger authority in this
case, as it is given against their own supposed
privilege.
It would be as tedious, as it is unnecessary,
to take up and discuss one by one, the ob
jects proposed in the paper of July 13. Every
one of them is founded on the supposition
that the two houses hold their right of ad
journment from the Constitution. This er
ror being corrected, the objections founded
on it fall of themselves.
It would also be work of mere supereroga
tion to show that, granting what this writer
takes for granted, (that the President's as
sent would be an inoperative ingredient, be
cause excluded by the Constitution, as ^ he
says.) yet the particular views of the writer
would be frustrated, for on every hypothesis
of what the President may do. Congress must
go to Philadelphia, i. If he assents to the
bill, that assent makes good law of the part
relative to the Potomac ; and the part for
holding the next session at Philadelphia is
good, either as an ordinance, or a vote of the
two houses, containing a complete declaration
of their will in a case where it is competent to
Ad j ournment
Administration
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
16
the object; so that they must go to Philadel
phia in that case. 2. If he dissents from the
bill, it annuls the part relative to the Poto
mac; but as to the clause for adjourning to
Philadelphia, his dissent being as inneficient
as his assent, it remains a good ordinance, or
vote, of the two houses for going thither,
and consequently they must go in this case
also. 3. If the President withholds his will
out of the bill altogether, by a ten day's si
lence, then the part relative to the Potomac
becomes a good law without his will, and that
relative to Philadelphia is good also, either
as a law, or an ordinance, or a vote of the
two houses ; and consequently in this case
also they go to Philadelphia. — OPINION ON
RESIDENCE BILL, vii, 495. FORD ED., v, 205.
(July 1790.)
108. ADJOURNMENT, Executives and.
— The Administrator shall not possess the
prerogative * * * of dissolving, proroguing,
or adjourning either House of Assembly. —
PROPOSED VA. CONSTITUTION. FORD ED., ii,
18. (June 1776.)
109. ADMINISTRATION, Acceptable.
— The House of Representatives having con
cluded their choice of a person for the chair
of the United States, and willed me that of
fice, it now becomes necessary to provide an
administration composed of persons whost
qualifications and ' standing have possessed
them of the public confidence, and whose
wisdom may ensure to our fellow citizens the
advantage they sanguinely expect. — To HENRY
DEARBORN, iv, 356. FORD ED., vii, 495. (W.,
Feb. 1801.) See CABINET.
— ADMINISTRATION, John Adams's.
—See 57, 58, 142.
110. ADMINISTRATION, Antagonism
to. — I have received many letters stating to
me in the spirit of prophecy, caricatures which
the writers, it seems, know are to be the prin
ciples of my administration. To these no an
swer has been given, because the prejudiced
spirit in which they have been written proved
the writers not in a state of mind to yield
to truth or reason.— To WILLIAM JACKSON.
iv, 357- (W., 1801.)
111. ADMINISTRATION, Arduous.—
The helm of a free government is always
arduous, and never was ours more so, than
at a moment when two friendly peoples are
likely to be committed in war by the ill tem
per of their administrations. — To JAMES SUL
LIVAN, iv, 168. FORD ED., vii, 117. (M.,
Feb. 1797.)
112. ADMINISTRATION, Confidence
in. — In a government like ours it is necessary
to embrace in its administration as great a
mass of confidence as possible, by employing
those who have a character with the public,
of their own, and not merely a secondary one
through the Executive. * — ANAS, ix, 208.
FORD ED., i, 312. (April, 1806.)
113. . On the whole, I hope we
shall make up an administration which will
* Answer to Aaron Burr's solicitations for an office.
—EDITOR.
unite a great mass of confidence, and bid de
fiance to the plans of opposition meditated
by leaders who are now almost destitute of
followers. — To HORATIO GATES. FORD ED.,
viii, ii. (W., March 1801.)
114. ADMINISTRATION, Confident.—
The important subjects of the government I
meet with some degree of courage and con
fidence, because I do believe the talents to be
associated with me, the honest line of conduct
we will religiously pursue at home and
abroad, and the confidence of my fellow citi
zens dawning on us, will be equal to these
objects.— To WILLIAM B. GILES, iv, 380.
FORD ED., viii, 25. (W., March 1801.)
115. ADMINISTRATION, Devoted.— If
ever the earth has beheld a system of admin
istration conducted with a single and stead
fast eye to the general interest and happiness
of those committed to it, one which, pro
tected by truth, can never know reproach, it
is that to which our lives have been devoted.
—To JAMES MADISON, vii, 435. FORD ED.,
x, 378. (M., 1826.)
116. ADMINISTRATION, Difficult.—
Our situation is difficult ; and whatever we do
is liable to the criticism of those who wish
to represent it awry. If we recommend
measures in a public message, it may be said
that members are not sent here to obey the
mandates of the President, or to register the
edicts of a sovereign. If we express opinions
in conversation, we have then our Charles
Jenkinsons, and back-door counsellors. If
we say nothing, " we have no opinions, no
plans, no cabinet." In truth, it is the fable
of the old man, his son and ass, over again. —
To WILLIAM DUANE. iv, 592. FORD ED., viii,
433- (W., 1806.)
117. ADMINISTRATION, Disapproved.
— There was but a single act of my whole
administration of which the federal party ap
proved. That was the proclamation on the
attack of the Chesapeake. And when I found
they approved of it, I confess I began strongly
to apprehend I had done wrong, and to ex
claim with the Psalmist, " Lord, what have I
done that the wicked should praise me." —
To ELBRIDGE GERRY, vi, 63. FORD ED., ix,
359. (M., 1812.)
118. ADMINISTRATION, Disinterest
ed. — A disinterestedness administration of the
public trusts is essential to perfect tranquillity
of mind. — To SAMUEL HAWKINS, v, 392.
(W., 1808.)
119. ADMINISTRATION, England and
the. — All the troubles and difficulties in the
government during our time proceeded from
England; at least all others were trifling in
comparison with them. — To HENRY DEAR
BORN, v, 455. (M., 1809.)
120. ADMINISTRATION, Errors in.—
It is our consolation and encouragement that
we are serving a just public, who will be in
dulgent to any error committed honestly, and
relating merely to the means of carrying into
effect what they have manifestly willed to be a
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Administration
law. — To W. H. CABELL. v, 162. FORD ED.,
ix, 96. (M., 1807.) See ERROR.
121. ADMINISTRATION, Foreign Pol
icy. — In the transaction of your foreign af
fairs, we have endeavored to cultivate the
friendship of all nations, and especially of
those with which we have the most important
relations. We have done them justice on all
occasions, favored where favor was law
ful, and cherished mutual interests and inter
course on fair and equal terms. We are
firmly convinced, and we act on that convic
tion, that with nations, as with individuals,
our interests soundly calculated, will ever be
found inseparable from our moral duties;
and history bears witness to the fact, that a
just nation is taken on its word, when re
course is had to armaments and wars to
bridle others. — SECOND INAUGURAL ADDRESS.
viii, 40. FORD ED., viii, 343. (1805.)
122. ADMINISTRATION, Formalities
and. — The necessity of these abridgments of
formalities in our present distant situations
requires that I should particularly suggest to
you the expediency of desiring General Knox
to communicate to the foreign ministers him
self directly any matters relative to the inter
positions of his department through the gov
ernors. For him to send these to me from
Boston to this place [Monticello] merely that
I may send them back to the ministers at
Philadelphia or New York, might be an in
jurious delay of business. — To PRESIDENT
WASHINGTON. FORD ED., vi, 435. (M., Oct.
I793-) See FORMALITIES.
123. ADMINISTRATION, Fundamen
tal Principles.— To cultivate peace and main
tain commerce and navigation in all their
lawful enterprises ; to foster our fisheries and
nurseries of navigation and for the nurture of
man, and protect the manufactures adapted to
our circumstances; to preserve the faith of
the nation by an exact discharge of its debts
and contracts, expending the public money
with the same care and economy we would
practice with our own, and impose on our
citizens no unnecessary burden ; to keep in all
things within the pale of our constitutional
powers, and cherish the Federal Union as the
only rock of our safety — these are the land
marks by which we are to guide ourselves in
all our proceedings. By continuing to make
these our rule of action, we shall endear to
our countrymen the true principles of their
Constitution, and promote a union of senti
ment and of action equally auspicious to their
happiness and safety. — SECOND ANNUAL MES
SAGE, viii, 21. FORDED., viii, 186. (1802.) See
INAUGURAL ADDRESSES, APPENDIX.
124. - — . Our wish is * * * that the
public efforts may be directed honestly to the
public good, that peace be cultivated, civil
and religious liberty unassailed, law and or
der preserved, equality of rights maintained,
and that state of property, equal or unequal,
which results to every man from his own in
dustry or that of his fathers.— SECOND IN
AUGURAL ADDRESS, viii, 44. FORD ED., viii,
347- (1805.)
125. . That all should be satis
fied with any one order of things is not to be
expected, but I indulge the pleasing persua
sion that the great body of our citizens will
concur in honest and disinterested efforts,
which have for their object to preserve the
General and State governments in their con
stitutional form and equilibrium ; to maintain
peace abroad and order and obedience to the
laws at home ; to establish principles and prac
tices of administration favorable to the se
curity of liberty and prosperity, and to re
duce expenses to what is necessary for the
useful purposes of government. — FIRST AN
NUAL MESSAGE, viii, 15. FORD ED., viii, 125.
(Dec. 1801.)
126. . Believing that (excepting
the ardent monarchists) all our citizens
agreed in ancient whig principles, I thought
it advisable to define and declare them, and
let them see the ground on which we could
rally. And the fact proving to be so, that
they agree in these principles, I shall pursue
them with more encouragement. — To GEN
ERAL HENRY KNOX. iv, 386. FORD ED., viii,
36. (W., March 1801.)
127. ADMINISTRATION, Good Repub
lican. — A good administration in a republi
can government, securing to us our dearest
rights, and the practical enjoyment of all our
liberties, can never fail to give consolation to
the friends of free government, and mortifica
tion to its enemies. — R. TO A. RHODE ISLAND
REPUBLICANS, viii, 162. (1809.)
128. ADMINISTRATION, Harmoni
ous. — That there is only one minister who is
not opposed to me, is totally unfounded.
There never was a more harmonious, a more
cordial administration, nor ever a moment
when it has been otherwise. And while dif
ferences of opinion have been always rare
among us, I can affirm, that as to present
matters, there was not a single paragraph in
my message to Congress, or those supplement
ary to it, in which there was not a unanimity
of concurrence in the members of the admin
istration. — To WILLIAM DUANE. iv, 591.
FORD ED., viii, 432. (W., March 1806.)
129. ADMINISTRATION, Hesitancy
and. — On every question the lawyers are
about equally divided, and were we to act but
in cases where no contrary opinion of a law
yer can be had, we should never act. — To
ALBERT GALLATIN. v, 369. (M., 1898.)
130. ADMINISTRATION, Honest.—
The measures of my administration * * *
have been pursued with honest intentions, un
biased by any personal or interested views. —
R. TO A. WILMINGTON CITIZENS, viii, 149.
(1809.)
131. ADMINISTRATION, Indebted.— I
do not mean, fellow citizens, to arrogate to
myself the merit of the measures [of the ad
ministration] ; that is due, in the first place, to
the reflecting character of our citizens at
large, who, by the weight of public opinion,
influence and strengthen the public measures ;
it is due to the sound discretion with which
Administration
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
18
they select from among themselves those to
whom they confide the legislative duties; it
is due to the zeal and wisdom of the char
acters selected, who lay the foundations of
public happine s in wholesome laws, the ex
ecution of which alone remains for others ;
and it is due to tl.e able and faithful auxil
iaries, whose patriotism has associated with
me in the executive functions. — SECOND IN
AUGURAL ADDRESS, viii, 43. FORD ED., viii,
345. (1805.)
132. ADMINISTRATION, Indulgence
to.-— There are no mysteries in the public ad
ministration. Difficulties indeed sometimes
arise; but common sense and honest inten
tions will generally steer through them, and,
where they cannot be surmounted, I have ever
seen the well-intentioned part of our fellow
citizens sufficiently disposed not to look for
impossibilities.— To DR. J. B. STUART, vii,
64. (M., 1817.)
133. . A consciousness that I
feel no desire but to do what is best, without
passion or predilection, encourages me to
hope for an indulgent construction of what I
do.— To JOHN PAGE, iv, 377. (W., 1801.)
— ADMINISTRATION, Madison's.—
See MADISON.
134. ADMINISTRATION, Meritorious.
—I wish support^from no quarter longer than
my object, candidly scanned shall merit it;
and especially, not longer than I shall vig
orously adhere to the Constitution. — To BEN
JAMIN STODDERT. iv, 360. FORD ED., vii, 400.
(W., Feb. 1801.)
135. ADMINISTRATION, Moderate.—
I am very much in hopes we shall be able to
restore union to our country. Not, indeed,
that the federal leaders can be brought over.
They are invincibles; but I really hope their
followers may. The bulk of these last were
real republicans, carried over from us by
French excesses. This induced me to offer
a political creed [in the inauguration address],
and to invite to conciliation first; and I am
pleased to hear, that these principles are rec
ognized by them, and considered as no bar
of separation. A moderate conduct through
out which may not revolt our new friends,
and which may give them tenets with us,
must be observed.— To JOHN PAGE, iv, 378.
(W., March 1801.)
136. ADMINISTRATION, Public Opin
ion and. — It will always be interesting to me
to know the impression made by any particu
lar thing on the public mind. My idea is
that where two measures are equally right, it
is a duty to the people to adopt that one
which is most agreeable to them; and where
a measure not agreeable to them has been
adopted, it is desirable to know it, because it
is an admonition to a review of that measure
to see if it has been really right, and to cor
rect it if mistaken. — To WILLIAM FINDLEY.
FORD ED., viii, 27. (W., March 1801.)
137. ADMINISTRATION, Reasonable.
— Unequivocal in principle, reasonable in
manner, we shall be able, 1 hope, to do a great
deal of good to the cause of freedom and har
mony. — To ELBRIDGE GERRY, iv, 392. FORD
ED., viii, 43. (W., March 1801.)
138. ADMINISTRATION, Responsibil
ity and.— We can only be answerable for
the orders we give and not for the execution.
If they are disobeyed from obstinacy of spirit,
or want of coercion in the laws, it is not our
fault. — To GENERAL STEUBEN. FORD ED ii
492. (R., 1781.)
139. ADMINISTRATION, Routine.—
The ordinary affairs of a nation offer little
difficulty to a person of any experience. — To
JAMES SULLIVAN, v, 252. (W., 1808.)
140. ADMINISTRATION, Salutary.—
I am sure the measures I mean to pursue
are such as would in their nature be approved
by every American who can emerge from pre
conceived prejudices; as for those who can
not, we must take care of them as of the sick
in our hospitals. The medicine of time and
fact may cure some of them. — To THEODORE
FOSTER. FORD ED., viii. 50. (W., May 1801.)
141. ADMINISTRATION, Secrecy in.—
The same secrecy and mystery are affected to
be observed by the present, which marked the
former administration. — To AARON BURR.
iv, 185. FORD ED., vii, 147. (Pa., June 1797.)
142. ADMINISTRATION, Slip-shod.—
The administration [of Mr. Adams] had no
rule for anything. — To WILLIAM SHORT, iv,
413. FORD ED., viii, 96. (W., 1801.)
143. ADMINISTRATION, Successors
in- — I have thought it right to take no part
myself in proposing measures, the execution
of which will devolve on my successor. — To
DR. LOGAN, v, 404. (W., Dec. 1808.) .
144. . I should not feel justified
in directing measures which those who are to
execute them would disapprove. — To LEVI
LINCOLN, v, 387. FORD ED., ix, 227. (W.,
Nov. 1808.)
145. . I am now so near the
moment of retiring, that I take no part in af
fairs beyond the expression of an opinion. I
think it fair that my successor should now
originate those measures of which he will be
charged with the execution and responsibility,
and that it is my duty to clothe them with the
forms of authority. — To JAMES MONROE, v,
420. FORD ED., ix, 243. (W., Jan. 1809.)
146. . I hope that my successor
will enter on a calmer sea than I did. He
will at least find the vessel of State in the
hands of his friends, and not of his foes. — To
RICHARD M. JOHNSON, v, 257. (W., 1808.)
147. ADMINISTRATION, Summary of
Jefferson's first. — To do without a land
tax, excise, stamp tax and the other internal
taxes, to supply their place by economies,
so as still to support the government prop
erly, and to apply $7,300,000 a year steadily
to the payment of the public debt; to dis
continue a great portion of the expenses on
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Administration
Admiralty Courts
armies and navies, yet protect our country
and its commerce with what remains; to
purchase a country as large and more fertile
than the one we possessed before, yet ask
neither a new tax, nor another soldier to be
added, but to provide that that country shall
by its own income, pay for itself before the
purchase money is due; to preserve peace
with all nations, and particularly an equal
friendship to the two great rival powers,
France and England, and to maintain the
credit and character of the nation in as high
a degree as it has ever enjoyed, are measures
which I think must reconcile the great body
of those who thought themselves our ene
mies; but were in truth only the enemies
of certain Jacobinical, atheistical, anarchical,
imaginary caricatures, which existed only in
the land of the raw head and bloody bones,
beings created to frighten the credulous. By
this time they see enough of us to judge our
characters by what we do, and not by what
we never did, nor thought of doing, but in
the lying chronicles of the newspapers. — To
TIMOTHY BLOODWORTH. iv, 523. (W., Jan.
1804.)
148. ADMINISTRATION, Temporiz
ing.— Mild laws, a people not used to prompt
obedience, a want of provisions of war, and
means of procuring them render our orders
often ineffectual, oblige us to temporize, and
when we cannot accomplish an object in one
way to attempt it in another. Your knowl
edge of these circumstances, with a temper
to accommodate them, ensure me your co
operation in the best way we can, when we
shall not be able to pursue the way we would
wish. — To MAJOR GENERAL DE LAFAYETTE.
FORD ED., ii, 493. (R., March 1781.)
149. ADMINISTRATION, Tranquil.—
The path we have to pursue is so quiet that
we have nothing scarcely to propose to our
Legislature. A noiseless course, not med
dling with the affairs of others, unattractive
of notice, is a mark that society is going
on in happiness. — To THOMAS COOPER, iv,
453. FORD ED., viii, 178. (W., Nov. 1802.)
150. ADMINISTRATION, Unmed-
dling. — The quiet track into which we are
endeavoring to get, neither meddling with
the affairs of other nations, nor with those
of our fellow citizens, but letting them go
on in their own way, will show itself in the
statement of our affairs to Congress.— To
DR JOSEPH PRIESTLEY. FORD ED., viii, 180.
(W., Dec. 1802.)
151. ADMINISTRATION, Unsuccess
ful. — Two measures have not been adopted,
which I pressed on Congress repeatedly at
their meetings. The one, to settle the whole
ungranted territory of Orleans, by donations
of land to able-bodied young men, to be en
gaged and carried there at the public expense,
who would constitute a force always ready
on the spot to defend New Orleans. The
other was to class the militia according to the
years of their birth, and make all those from
twenty to twenty-five liable to be trained and
called into service at a moment's warn-
ng. This would have given us a force of
;hree hundred thousand young men, prepared
}y proper training, for service in any part
of the United States ; while those who had
passed through that period would remain at
lome, liable to be used in their own or ad
jacent States. Those two measures would
have completed what I deemed necessary
for the entire security of our country. They
would have given me, on my retirement from
the government of the nation, the consola
tory reflection, that having found, when I
was called to it, not a single seaport town
in a condition to repel a levy of contribution
by a single privateer or pirate, I had left
every harbor so prepared by works and gun
boats, as to be in a reasonable state of secur
ity against any probable attack; the territory
of Orleans acquired, and planted with an
internal force sufficient for its protection ; and
the whole territory of the United States or
ganized by such a classification of its male
force, as would give it the benefit of all its
young population for active service, and that
of a middle and advanced age for stationary
defence. But these measures will. I hope,
be completed by my successor. — To GENERAL
KOSCIUSKO. v, 507. (M., Feb. 1810.)
— ADMINISTRATION, Washington's.
— See WASHINGTON.
152. ADMINISTRATIONS, British.— In
general the [British] administrations are so
changeable, and they are obliged to descend
to such tricks to keep themselves in place,
that nothing like honor or morality can ever
be counted on in transactions with them. —
To PRESIDENT MADISON, v, 465. (M., Aug.
1809.)
153. ADMINISTRATIONS, Ill-temp
ered. — We have received a report that the
French Directory has proposed a declaration
of war against the United States to the Coun
cil of Ancients, who have rejected it. Thus
we see two nations, who love one another
affectionately, brought by the ill temper of
their executive administrations, to the very
brink of necessity to imbrue their hands in
the blood of each other. — To AARON BURR.
iv, 187. FORD ED., vii, 148. (Pa., June
I/97-)
154. ADMIRALTY COURTS, Decisions
of British. — I thank you for the case of
Demsey vs. the Insurers, which I have read
with great pleasure, and entire conviction.
Indeed it is high time to withdraw all respect
from courts acting under the arbitrary orders
of governments who avow a total disregard of
those moral rules which have hitherto been
acknowledged by nations, and have served
to regulate and govern their intercourse,
should respect just as much the rules of
conduct which governed Cartouche or Black-
beard, as those now acted on by France or
England. If your argument is defective in
anything, it is in having paid to the antecedent
decisions of the British Courts of Admiralty
the respect of examining them on grounds of
reason; and not having rested the decision
at once on the profligacy of those tribunals,
Admiralty Courts
Advice
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
20
and openly declared against permitting their
sentences to be ever more quoted or listened
to until those nations return to the practice
of justice, to an acknowledgment that there
is a moral law which ought to govern man
kind, and by sufficient evidences of contrition
for their present flagitiousness, make it safe
to receive them, again into the society of civi
lized nations. I hope this will be done on a
proper occasion. Yet knowing that religion
does not furnish grosser bigots than law, I
expect little from old judges. Those now at
the bar may be bold enough to follow reason
rather than precedent, and may bring that
principle on the bench when promoted to
it; but I fear this effort is not for my day.
It has been said that when Harvey discovered
the circulation of the blood, there was not
a physician of Europe of forty years of age,
who assented to it. I fear you will experi
ence Harvey's fate; but it will become law
when the present judges are dead. — To
THOMAS COOPER, v, 531. (M., 1810.)
155. ADMIRALTY COURTS, Jurisdic
tion. — They [Parliament] have extended the
jurisdiction of courts of admiralty beyond
their ancient limits. — DECLARATION ON TAK
ING UP ARMS. FORD ED., i, 468. (July 1775.)
— ADMISSION OF NEW STATES.—
See STATES.
156. ADVERTISEMENTS, Appreciat
ed. — I read but one newspaper and that * * *
more for its advertisements than its news. —
To CHARLES PINCKNEY. vii, 180. FORD ED., x,
162. (M., 1820.)
157. ADVERTISEMENTS, Principle
and. — I think it might be well to advertise my
lands at Elkhill for sale, and therefore enclose
you the form of an advertisement, in which,
you will observe, I have omitted the name
of the proprietor, which, as long as I am in
public, I would wish to keep out of view in
everything of a private nature. — To NICHOLAS
LEWIS. FORD ED., v, 281. (Pa., 1791.)
158. ADVERTISEMENTS, Truth and.
— Advertisements contain the only truths to
be relied on in a newspaper. — To NATHANIEL
MACON. vii, in. FORD ED., x, 120. (M.,
1819.)
159. ADVICE, A Duty.— -Duty tells me
that the public interest is so deeply concerned
in your perfect knowledge of the characters
employed in its high stations, that nothing
should be withheld which can give you useful
information. — To PRESIDENT MADISON, vi
101. (M., 1813.)
160. ADVICE, Friendship in.— No apol
ogies for writing or speaking to me freely
are necessary. On the contrary, nothing my
friends can do is so dear to me, and proves
to me their friendship so clearly, as the in
formation they give me of their sentiments
and those of others on interesting points
where I am to act, and where information
and warning are so essential to excite in me
that due reflection which ought to preced
action.— To WILSON C. NICHOLAS, iv, 507
FORD EDV viii, 248. (M., 1803.)
161. . I always consider it as
he most friendly service which can be ren-
tered me, to be informed of anything which
s going amiss, and which I can remedy. —
To WILSON C. NICHOLAS, v, 400. (W.,
1808.)
162. ADVICE, A Legacy of.— Your af-
ectionate mother requests that I would ad
dress to you, as a namesake, something which
night have a favorable influence on the
course of life you have to run. Few words
are necessary, with good dispositions on your
)art. Adore God ; reverence and cherish
our parents ; love your neighbor as your
self, and your country more than life. Be
ust; be true; murmur not at the ways of
Providence — and the life into which you
may have entered will be one of eternal and
neffable bliss. And if to _the dead it is per
mitted to care for the things of this world,
every action of your life will be under my
regard. Farewell. — To THOMAS JEFFERSON
GROTJAN. FORD ED., x, 287. (M., 1824.)
163. ADVICE, Proffering.— How easily
we prescribe for others a cure for their diffi
culties, while we cannot cure our own. — To
JOHN ADAMS, vii, 201. FORD ED., x, 187.
(M., 1821.)
164. ADVICE, Ten Precepts of.— A
Decalogue of Canons for Observation in
Practical Life: —
1. Never put off till to-morrow what you
can do to-day.
2. Never trouble another for what you can
do yourself.
3. Never spend your money before you
have it.
4. Never buy what you do not want, be
cause it is cheap ; it will be dear to you.
5. Pride costs us more than hunger, thirst
and cold.
6. We never repent of having eaten too
little.
7. Nothing is troublesome that we do
willingly.
8. How much pain have cost us the evils
which have never happened.
9. Take things always by their smooth
handle.
10. When angry, count ten, before you
speak: if very angry, an hundred.— To
THOMAS JEFFERSON SMITH, vii, 401. FORD
ED., x, 341. (M., 1825.)
165. ADVICE, Thankful for. — I am ever
thankful for communications which may
guide me in the duties which I wish to per
form as well as I am able.— To JOHN DICK
INSON, v, 29. FORD ED., ix, 8. (W., 1807.)
166. . I have always received
with thankfulness the ideas of judicious per
sons on subjects interesting to the public. —
To BENJAMIN STODDERT. v, 426. FORD ED.,
ix, 246. (W., 1809.)
167. • In all cases I invite and
shall receive with great thankfulness your
opinion and that of others on the course of
things, and particularly in the suggestion of
21
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Advice
Age
characters who may worthily be appointed. —
TO PlERREPONT EDWARDS. FORD ED., Vlii, 45-
(W., March 1801.)
168. . Far from arrogating the
office of advice, no one will more passively
acquiesce in it than myself. — To JOHN H.
PLEASANTS. vii, 346. FORD ED., x, 304. (M.,
1824.)
169. ADVICE, Valued.—! value no act
of friendship so highly as the communicating
facts to me, which I am not in the way of
knowing otherwise, and could not therefore
otherwise guard against. — To W. C. NICHO
LAS, v, 260. (W., 1808.)
170. . It is impossible for my
friends ever to render me so acceptable a
favor, as by communicating to me, without
reserve, facts and opinions. I have none
of that sort of self-love which winces at
it; indeed, both self-love and the desire to
do what is best strongly invite unreserved
communication. — To WILSON C. NICHOLAS.
v, 48. FORD ED., ix, 32. (W., 1807.)
171. ADVICE, Unbiased.— The greatest
favor which can be done me is the communi
cation of the opinions of judicious men, of
men who do not suffer their judgments to
be biased by either interests or passions. —
To CHANDLER PRICE, v, 46. (W., 1807.)
— AERONAUTICS.— See BALLOONS.
172. AFFECTION, Early.— I find as I
grow older, that I love those most whom I
loved first. — To MRS. JOHN BOLLING. FORD
ED., iv, 412. (P., 1787.)
173. AFFECTION, Of friendship.— The
happiest moments my heart knows are those
in which it is pouring forth its affections to
a few esteemed characters. — To MRS. TRIST.
FORD ED., iv, 331. (P., 1786.) See FRIEND
SHIP.
174. AFFECTION, Parental.— Is not
parental love the strongest affection known?
Is it not greater than that of self-preserva
tion?— NOTE, i, 149. FORD ED., ii, 206. (1778.)
175. . Although parental be yet
stronger than filial affection. * * * .
NOTE, i, 150. FORD ED., ii, 207. (1778.)
176. AFFECTION, Patriotic.— My affec
tions are first for my own country, and then,
generally, for all mankind. — To THOMAS
LAW. v, 556. FORD ED., ix, 293. (M., 1811.)
177. AFFECTION, Rewarded by.— The
affection of my countrymen * * * was
the only reward I ever asked or could have
felt. — To JAMES MONROE, i, 318. FORD ED.,
iii, 57. (M., 1782.) See FAMILY, HOME.
178. AFFLICTION, Consolation in.—
Tried myself in the school of affliction, by the
loss of every form of connection which can
rive the human heart, I know well, and feel
what you have lost, what you have suffered,
are suffering, and have yet to endure. The
same trials have taught me that for ills so
immeasurable, time and silence are the only
medicine. I will not, therefore, by useless
condolences, open afresh the sluices of your
grief, nor, although mingling sincerely my tears
with yours, will I say a word more where words
are vain. — To JOHN ADAMS, vii, 107. FORD
EU., x, 114. (M., 1818.)
179. AFFLICTION, Schooled in.— There
is no degree of affliction, produced by the loss
of those dear to us, which experience has not
taught me to estimate. I have ever found
time and silence the only medicine, and these
but assuage, they never can suppress, the deep
drawn sigh which recollection forever brings
up, until recollection and life are extinguished
together. — To JOHN ADAMS, vi, 221. (M.,
1813.)
180. AFFLICTION, Sympathy in.— Long
tried in the same school of affliction, no loss
which can rend the human heart is unknown to
mine ; and a like one particularly, at about the
same period in life, had taught me to feel the
sympathies of yours. The same experience has
proved that time, silence and occupation are
its only medicines. — To GOVERNOR CLAIBORNE.
v, 520. (M., 1810.)
— AFRICAN SLAVE TRADE.— See
SLAVERY.
181. AGE, Advancing.— Being very sen
sible of bodily decays from advancing years,
I ought not to doubt their effect on the
mental faculties. To do so would evince
either great self-love or little observation of
what passes under our eyes; and I shall be
fortunate if I am the first to perceive and
to obey this admonition of nature. — To MR.
WEAVER, v, 88. (W., June 1807.)
182. AGE, Change and.— I am now of an
age which does not easily accommodate itself
to new manners and new modes of living. —
To BARON GEISMER. i, 427. (P., 1785.)
183. AGE, Deformity in.— Man, like the
fruit he eats, has his period of ripeness. Like
that, too, if he continues longer hanging to
the stem, it is but an useless and unsightly
appendage. — To HENRY DEARBORN, vii, 214.
FORD ED., x, 191. (M., 1821.)
184. AGE, Desire in.— Tranquillity is the
summum bonum of old age. — To MARK L.
HILL, vii, 154. (M., 1820.)
185. AGE, Dread of old. — I have ever
dreaded a doting old age; and my health
has been generally so good, and is now so
good, that I dread it still. The rapid decline
of my strength during the last winter has
made me hope sometimes that I see land.
During the summer I enjoy its temperature,
but I shudder at the approach of winter, and
wish I could sleep through it with the dor
mouse, and only wake with him in the spring,
if ever. — To JOHN ADAMS, vii, 244. FORD
ED., x, 216. (M., 1822.)
186. AGE, Duty in old.— Nothing is more
incumbent on the old, than to know when
they should get out of the way, and re
linquish to younger successors the honors they
can no longer earn, and the duties they can
no longer perform. — To JOHN VAUGHAN. vi,
417. (M., 1815.)
187. — — . I resign myself cheerfully
to the managers of the ship, and the more
Age
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
22
contentedly, as I am near the end of my voy
age. — To EDWARD LIVINGSTON, vii, 342. FORD
ED., x, 300. (M., 1824.)
188. AGE, Evils of protracted.— The
solitude in which we are left by the death of
our friends is one of the great evils of pro
tracted life. When I look back to the days of
my youth, it is like looking over a field of
battle. All, all dead ! and ourselves left alone
midst a new generation whom we know not,
and who know not us. — To FRANCIS A. VAN
DER KEMP. FORD ED., x, 337. (M., 1825.)
189. AGE, Fear of old.— -My only fear is
that I may live too long. This would be
a subject of dread to me. — To PHILIP
MAZZEI. FORD ED., viii, 15. (M., March
1801.)
190. AGE, Insensible to. — It is wonder
ful to me that old men should not be sensible
that their minds keep pace with their bodies
in the progress of decay. Our old revolu
tionary friend Clinton, for example, who
was a hero, but never a man of mind,
is wonderfully jealous on this head. He
tells eternally the stories of his younger days
to prove his memory, as if memory and
reason were the same faculty. Nothing be
trays imbecility so much as the being in
sensible of it. Had not a conviction of the
danger to which an unlimited occupation,
of the Executive chair would expose the re
publican constitution of our government,
made it conscientiously a duty to refuse when
I did, the fear of becoming a dotard, and of
being insensible of it, would of itself have
resisted all solicitations to remain. — To DR.
BENJAMIN RUSH, vi, 3. FORD ED., ix, 328.
(P.F., 1816.)
191. AGE, Offerings of. — Good wishes
are all an old man has to offer to his country
or friends. — To THOMAS LAW. v, 557. FORD
ED., ix, 293. (M., 1811.)
192. AGE, Oppressed by.-— The hand of
age is upon me. All my old friends are
nearly gone. Of those in my neighborhood,
Mr. Divers and Mr. Lindsay alone remain.
If you could make it a panic quarree, it
would be a comfort indeed. We would be
guile our lingering hours with talking over
our youthful exploits, our hunts on Peter's
mountain, with a long train of et cetera, in
addition, and feel, by recollection at least,
a momentary flash of youth. Reviewing the
course of a long and sufficiently successful
life, I find in no portion of it happier mo
ments than those were. — To JAMES MAURY.
vi, 54. FORD ED., ix, 351. (M., 1812.)
193. . The hand of age is upon
me. The decay of bodily faculties apprizes me
that those of the mind cannot be un
impaired, had I not still better proofs. Every
year counts my increased debility, and depart
ing faculties keep the score. The last year
it was the sight, this it is the hearing, the
next something else will be going, until all
is gone. Of all this I was sensible before I
left Washington, and probably my fellow
laborers saw it before I did. The decay of
memory was obvious ; it is now become dis
tressing. But the mind, too, is weakened.
When I was young, mathematics was the
passion of my life. The same passion has
returned upon me, but with unequal powers.
Processes which I then read off with the
facility of common discourse, now cost me
labor, and time, and slow investigation.
When I offered this, therefore, as one of the
reasons deciding my retirement from office,
it was offered in sincerity and a conscious
ness of truth. And I think it a great blessing
that I retain understanding enough to be
sensible how much of it I have lost, and to
avoid exposing myself as a spectacle for the
pity of my friends; that I have surmounted
the difficult point of knowing when to retire.
As a compensation for faculties departed,
nature gives me good health, and a perfect
resignation to the laws of decay which she
has prescribed to all the forms and combina
tions of matter. — To WILLIAM DUANE. vi,
80. FORD ED., ix, 367. (M., Oct. 1812.)
194. — - — . The epistolary industry
* * is gone from me. The aversion
has been growing on me for a considerable
time, and now, near the close of seventy-
five, is become almost insuperable. I am
much debilitated in body, and my memory
sensibly on the wane. Still, however, I en
joy good health and spirits, and am as in
dustrious a reader as when a student at
college. Not of newspapers. These I have
discarded. I relinquish, as I ought to do,
all intermeddling with public affairs, com
mitting myself cheerfully to the watch and
care of those for whom, in my turn, I have
watched and cared. — To BENJAMIN WATER-
HOUSE, vii, 100. FORD ED., x, 103. (M..
1818.)
195. AGE, Vigor in.— It is objected * * *
that Mr. Goodrich is seventy-seven years of
age ; but at a much more advanced age, our
Franklin was the ornament of human nature.
— To THE NEW HAVEN COMMITTEE, iv, 403.
FORD ED., viii, 68. (W., 1801.)
196. AGE, Warned by.— Time, which
wears all things, does not spare the energies
of body and mind of a prcsque octogenaire.
While I could, I did what I could, and now
acquiesce cheerfully in the law of nature
which, by unfitting us for action, warns us
to retire and leave to the generation of the
day the direction of its own affairs. The
prayers of an old man are the only con
tributions left in his power. To MRS. K. D.
MORGAN. FORD ED., viii, 473. (M., 1822.)
197. . A decline of health at the
age of 76, was naturally to be expected, and
is a warning of an event which cannot be dis
tant, and whose approach I contemplate with
little concern ; for indeed, in no circumstance
has nature been kinder to us, than in the
soft gradations by which she prepares us
to part willingly with what we are not des
tined always to retain. First one faculty
is withdrawn and then another, sight, hear
ing, memory, affection and friends, filched
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Age
Agriculture
one by one, till we are left among strangers,
the mere monuments of times, facts, and
specimens of antiquity for the observation of
the curious. — To MR. SPAFFORD. vii, 118.
(M., 1819.)
198. AGE, Yielding to.— I am not the
champion called for by our present dangers.
" Non tali auxilio, nee defcnsoribus istis,
tempus eget." A waning body, a waning
mind, and waning memory, with habitual
ill health warn me to withdraw and relinquish
the arena to younger and abler athletes. I
am sensible myself, if others are not, that
this is my duty. If my distant friends know
it not, those around me can inform them that
they should not, in friendship, wish to call
me into conflicts, exposing only the decays
which nature has inscribed among her un
alterable laws, and injuring the common
cause by a senile and puny defence. — To C.
W. GLOOCH. vii, 430. (M., 1826.) See LIFE.
— AGENTS.— See FOREIGN AGENTS.
199. AGGRESSION, Condemned.— We
did not invade their [the British peoples'] is
land, carrying death or slavery to its inhabit
ants. — DECLARATION ON TAKING UP ARMS.
FORD ED., i, 475. (July 1775.)
200. AGGRESSION, Encouraging.— It
is to be lamented that any of our citizens, not
thinking with the mass of the nation as to the
principles of our government, or of its ad
ministration, and seeing all its proceedings
with a prejudiced eye, should so misconceive
and misrepresent our situation as to encourage
aggressions from foreign nations. Our ex
pectation is, that their distempered views
will be understood by others as they are by
ourselves; but should wars be the conse
quence of these delusions, and the errors of
our dissatisfied citizens find atonement only
in the blood of their sounder brethren, we
must meet it as an evil necessarily flowing
from that liberty of speaking and writing
which guards our other liberties. — R. TO
PHILADELPHIA DEMOCRATIC REPUBLICANS.
viii, 128. (May 1808.)
— AGGRESSION, Equal Rights and.—
See RIGHTS.
201. AGGRESSION, Maritime.— The
ocean, which, like the air, is the common
birthright of mankind, is arbitrarily wrested
from us, and maxims, consecrated by time,
by usage, and by an universal sense of right,
are trampled on by superior force. — R. TO
A. N. Y. TAMMANY SOCIETY, viii, 127.
(1808.) See OCEAN.
202. AGGRESSION, Military.— We did
not embody a soldiery to commit aggression
on them [the British people]. — DECLARATION
ON TAKING UP ARMS. FORD ED., i, 475.
(July 1775.)
203. AGGRESSION, Prohibited.— We
will not permit aggressions to be committed
on our part, against which we remonstrated to
Spain on her part. — To ROBERT SMITH, v,
368. (M., Sep. 1808.)
204. AGGRESSION, Punishment for.—
The interests of a nation, when well un
derstood, will be found to coincide with
their moral duties. Among these it is an im
portant one to cultivate habits of peace and
friendship with our neighbors. To do this
we should make provisions for rendering
the justice we must sometimes require from
them. I recommend, therefore, to your con
sideration whether the laws of the Union
should not be extended to restrain our citi
zens from committing acts of violence within
the territories of other nations, which would
be punished were they committed within our
own.* — PARAGRAPHS FOR PRESIDENT'S MES
SAGE. FORD ED., vi, 119. (1792.) See FILI
BUSTERS.
205. AGITATION, Necessity for.— In
peace as well as in war, the mind must be
kept in motion. — To MARQUIS LAFAYETTE.
vii, 325. FORD ED., x, 280. (M., 1823.)
206. AGITATION, Submission.— The
force of public opinion cannot be resisted,
when permitted freely to be expressed. The
agitation it produces must be submitted to.
It is necessary to keep the waters pure. — To
MARQUIS LAYFAYETTE vii, 325. FORD ED,
x, 280. (M., 1823.)
207. AGRARIANISM, Laws of.— The
tax on importations * * * falls exclu
sively on the rich, and with the equal parti
tion of intestates' estates constitutes the best
agrarian law. — To DUPONT DE NEMOURS, v,
584. FORD ED., ix, 321. (M., 1811.) See
ENTAILS, PRIMOGENITURE, MONOPOLY.
208. AGRICULTURE, Art of.— The first
and most precious of all the arts. — To ROBERT
R. LIVINGSTON. FORD ED., vii, 445. (Pa., 1800.)
209. AGRICULTURE, Atmosphere and.
— The atmosphere is certainly the great work
shop of nature for elaborating the fertilizing
principles and insinuating them into the soil.
It has been relied on as the sole means of re
generating our soil by most of the land-hold
ers in the canton I inhabit, and where rest
has been resorted to before a total ex
haustion, the soil has never failed to recover.
If, indeed, it be so run down as to be in
capable of throwing weeds or herbage of any
kind, to shade the soil from the sun, it either
goes off in gullies, and is entirely lost, or
remains exhausted till a growth springs up of
such trees as will rise in the poorest soils.
Under the shade of these and the cover soon
formed of their deciduous leaves, and a
commencing herbage, such fields sometimes
recover in a long course of years; but this
is too long to be taken into a course of hus-
* Jefferson subsequently recast these paragraphs
as follows : " All observations are unnecessary on
the value of peace with other nations. It would be
wise however, by timely provisions, to guard against
those acts of our own citizens, which might tend to
disturb it, and to put ourselves in a condition to give
satisfaction to foreign nations, which we may some
times have occasion to require from them. I particu
larly recommend to your consideration the means of
preventing those aggressions by our citizens on the
territory of other nations, and other infractions of
the law of nations, which, furnishing just subject of
complaint, might endanger our peace with them."
Agriculture
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
bandry. Not so, however, is the term within
which the atmosphere alone will reintegrate
a soil rested in due season. A year of wheat
will be balanced by one, two, or three years
of rest and atmospheric influence, according
to the quality of the soil. — To iv, 224.
(Pa., 1798.)
210. AGRICULTURE, Commerce and.
— With honesty and self-government for her
portion, agriculture may abandon content
edly to others the fruits of commerce and
corruption. — To HENRY MIDDLETON. vi, 91.
(M., Jan. 1813.)
211. AGRICULTURE, Corn vs. pastur
age. — In every country as fully peopled as
France, it would seem good policy to encour
age the employment of its lands in the cul
tivation of corn rather than in pasturage,
and consequently to encourage the use of all
kinds of salted provisions, because they can
be imported from other countries. — To M.
NECKAR. iii, 120. (P., 1789.)
212. AGRICULTURE, Devastated.— A
very considerable portion of this country
[trance] has been desolated by a hail [storm]
* * * Great contributions, public and
private, are making for the sufferers. But
they will be like the drop of water Lorn the
finger of Lazarus. There is no remedy for
the present evil, .but to bring the people to
such a state of ease, as not to be ruined
by the loss of a single crop. This hail may
be considered as the coup de grace to an ex
piring victim. — To M. DE CREVECOEUR. ii, 458.
(P., Aug. 1788.)
213. AGRICULTURE, Discrimination
against. — Shall we permit the greatest part
of the produce of our fields to rot on our
hands, or lose half its value by subjecting
it to high insurance, [in the event of war,]
merely that our shipbuilders may have
brisker employ? Shall the whole mass of
our farmers be sacrificed to the class of ship
wrights? — OFFICIAL OPINION. vii, 625.
(I793-)
214. AGRICULTURE, Encouragement
of. — [The] encouragement of agriculture, and
of commerce as its handmaid, I deem
[one of the] essential principles of our gov
ernment and, consequently [one] which ought
to shape its administration. — FIRST INAU
GURAL ADDRESS, viii, 4. FORD ED., viii, 5.
(1821.)
215. AGRICULTURE, Equilibrium of.
— An equilibrium of agriculture, manufactures
and commerce is certainly become essential to
our independence. — To JAMES JAY. v, 440.
(M., 1809.)
216. AGRICULTURE, Freedom of.—
Agriculture, manufactures, commerce and
navigation, the four pillars of our prosperity,
are the most thriving when left most free to
individual enterprise. Protection from casual
embarrassments, however, may sometimes be
seasonably interposed. — FIRST_ ANNUAL MES
SAGE, viii, 13. FORD ED., viii, 123. (Dec.
1801.)
217. AGRICULTURE, French and Eng
lish. — I traversed England much, and own
both town and country fell short of my ex
pectations. Comparing it with France, I
found a much greater proportion of barrens,
a soil, in other parts, not naturally so good
as this, not better cultivated, but better ma
nured, and therefore more productive. This
proceeds from the practice of long leases
there, and short ones here. — To JOHN PAGE.
i, 549. FORD ED., iv, 213. (P., 1786.)
218. AGRICULTURE, Grasses.—! send
some seeds of a grass, found very useful
in the southern part of Europe, and par
ticularly, and almost solely cultivated in
Malta. It is called by the names of Sulla,
and Spanish St. Foin, and is the Hedysarum
coronarium of Linnaeus. It is usually sown
early in autumn. — To WILLIAM DRAYTON.
i, 554- (P, 1786.)
219. . I send a little Spanish
San Foin, represented to me as a very
precious grass in a hot country. I would
have it sowed in one of the vacant lots of my
grass ground. — To NICHOLAS LEWIS. FORD
ED., iv, 344. (P., 1786.)
220. . I am much obliged to you
for your attention to my trees and grass. The
latter is one of the principal pillars on which
I shall rely for subsistence when I shall be at
liberty to try projects without injury to any
body. — To NICHOLAS LEWIS. FORD ED., iv,
343. (P, 1786.)
221. AGRICULTURE, Happiness and.
—The United States * * * will be more
virtuous, more free and more happy, em
ployed in agriculture, than as carriers or man—
ufacturers. It is a truth, and a precious one
for them, if they could be persuaded of it. —
To M. DE WARVILLE. ii, n. FORD ED., iv,
281. (P., 1786.)
222. . How far it may lessen
our happiness to be rendered merely agricul
tural; how far that state is more friendly to
principles of virtue and liberty, are questions
yet to be solved. — To HORATIO GATES, iv,
213. FORD ED., vii, 205. (Pa., 1798.)
223. . In general, it is a truth
that if every nation will employ itself in
what it is fittest to produce, a greater quan
tity will be raised of the things contributing
to human happiness, than if every nation at
tempts to raise everything it wants within it
self. — To MR. LASTEYRIE. v, 315. (W., 1808.)
224. AGRICULTURE, Hunting and.—
A little labor in the earth will produce more
food than the best hunts you can now make,
and the women will spin and weave more
clothing than the men can procure by hunt
ing. We shall very willingly assist you in
this course by furnishing you with the neces
sary tools and implements, and with persons
to instruct you in the use of them. — ADDRESS
TO CHICKASAWS. viii, 199. (1805.)
225. AGRICULTURE, Income from. —
The moderate and sure income of husbandry
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Agriculture
begets permanent improvement, quiet life,
and orderly conduct, both public and private.
— To GENERAL WASHINGTON, ii, 252. (P.,
1787.)
226. AGRICULTURE, Land, labor
and. — The indifferent state of agriculture
among us does not proceed from a want of
knowledge merely ; it is from our having such
quantities of land to waste as we please. In
Europe the object is to make the most of
their land, labor being abundant; here it is
to make the most of our labor, land being
abundant. — NOTES ON VIRGINIA, viii, 332.
FORD ED., iii, 190. (1782.)
227. AGRICULTURE, Manufactures,
commerce and. — I trust the good sense of
pur country will see that its greatest prosper
ity depends on a due balance between agricul
ture, manufactures and commerce. — To
THOMAS LEIPER. v, 417. FORD ED., ix, 239.
(W., 1809.)
228. AGRICULTURE, Model plow.— I
shall with great pleasure attend to the con
struction and transmission to the Society
[Agricultural Society of Paris] of a plow
with my mould board. This is the only part
of that useful instrument to which I have
paid any particular attention. But knowing
how much the perfection of the plough must
depend, 1st, on the line of traction ; 2nd, on
the direction of the share; 3rd, on the angle
of the wing; 4th, on the form of the mould
board; and persuaded that I shall find the
three first advantages, eminently exemplified
in that which the Society sends me, I am anx
ious to see combined with these a mould-
board of my form, in the hope it will still ad
vance the perfection of that machine. — To
M. SYLVESTRE. v, 313. (W., 1808.)
229. . I have received the medal
of gold by which the Society of Agriculture
at Paris have been pleased to mark their ap
probation of a form of the mould-board which
I had proposed; also * * * the information
that they had honored me with the title of for
eign associate to their society. I receive with
great thankfulness these testimonies of their
favor, and should be happy to merit them by
greater services. — To M. SYLVESTRE. v, 83.
(W., 1807.)
230. AGRICULTURE, Morals and.—
The pursuits of agriculture * * * are the
best preservative of morals. — To J. BLAIR, ii,
248. (Pa., 1787.)
231. AGRICULTURE, New cultures.—
The greatest service which can be rendered
any country is to add an useful plant to its
culture; especially a bread grain; next in
value to bread is oil. — SERVICES OF JEFFERSON.
i, 176. FORD ED., vii, 477. (1800?)
232. . Perhaps I may render
some service by forwarding to the [Agricul
tural] Society* [of South Carolina] such new
objects of culture, as may be likely to suc
ceed in the soil and climate of South Caro
lina. In an infant country, as ours is, these
* The Society had elected Jefferson a member. —
EPITOR,
experiments are important. We are probably
far from possessing, as yet, all the articles of
culture for which nature has fitted our coun
try. To find out these, will require abundance
of unsuccessful experiments. But if, in a
multitude of these, we make one useful ac
quisition, it repays our trouble. Perhaps it is
the peculiar duty of associated bodies to un
dertake these experiments. Under this sense
of the views of the society, * * * I shall be
attentive to procure for them the seeds of
such plants as they will be so good as to
point out to me, or as shall occur to myself as
worthy their notice. — To WILLIAM DRAYTON.
i, 554- (P., 1786.)
233. m I received the seeds of
the bread-tree. * * * One service of this kind
rendered to a nation, is worth more to them
than all the victories of the most splendid
pages of their history, and becomes a source
of exalted pleasure to those who have been in
strumental in it. — To M. GIRAUD. iv, 17^.
(I797-)
234. . The introduction of new
cultures, and especially of objects of leading
importance to our comfort, is certainly worthy
the attention of every government, and noth
ing short of the actual experiment should dis
courage an essay of which any hope can be
entertained. — To M. LASTEYRIE. v, 315. (W.,
1808.)
235. AGRICULTURE, Prosperity and.
— A prosperity built on the basis of agricul
ture is that which is most desirable to us,
because to the efforts of labor it adds the ef
forts of a greater proportion of soil. — CIR
CULAR TO CONSULS, iii, 431. (Pa., 1792.)
See 216.
236. AGRICULTURE, Prostration of.—
The long succession of years of stunted crops,
of reduced prices, the general prostration of
the farming business, under levies for the
support of manufacturers, &c., with the cal
amitous fluctuations of value in our paper
medium, have kept agriculture in a state of
abject depression, which has peopled the
western States by silently breaking up those
on the Atlantic, and glutted the land market,
while it drew off its bidders. In such a state
of things, property has lost its character of
being a resource for debts. Highland in Bel-
ford, which, in the days of our plethory,
sold readily for from fifty to one hundred
dollars the acre, (and such sales were many
then,) would not now sell for more than
from ten to twenty dollars, or one-quarter or
one-fifth of its former price. — To JAMES MAD
ISON, vii, 434. FORD ED., x, 377. (M., Feb
ruary 1826.)
— AGRICULTURE, Rice.— See RICE.
237. AGRICULTURE, Riches and.—
The pursuits of agriculture are the surest
road to affluence. — To J. BLAIR, ii, 248. (P.,
1787.)
238. AGRICULTURE, Rotation of
crops. — By varying the articles of culture, we
multiply the chances for making something
Agriculture
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
26
and disarm the seasons in a proportionable
degree, of their calamitous effect. — To WILL
IAM DRAYTON. ii, 199. (P., 1787-)
239. . I find * * * that a ten
years abandonment of my lands to the rav
ages of overseers, has brought on them a de
gree of degradation far beyond what I had
expected. As this obliges me to adopt a
milder course of cropping, * * * I have de
termined on a division of my farm into six
fields, to be put under this rotation : first year,
wheat; second, corn, potatoes, peas; third,
rye or wheat, according to circumstances;
fourth and fifth, clover where the fields will
bring it, and buckwheat dressings where they
will not ; sixth, folding, and buckwheat dress
ings. But it will take me from three to six
years to get this plan under way. — To PRESI
DENT WASHINGTON, iv, 106. FORD ED., vi,
509. (M., May I794-)
240. . I find the degradation of
my lands by ill usage much beyond what I had
expected, and at the same time much more
open land than I had calculated on. One of
these circumstances forces a milder course ol
cropping on me, and the other enables me to
adopt it. I drop, therefore, two crops in my
rotation, and instead of five crops in eight
years, take three in six years, in the follow
ing order. I. Wheat. 2. Corn and potatoes
in the strongest moiety, potatoes alone or
pease alone in the other moiety, according to
its strength. 3. Wheat or rye. 4. Clover. 6.
Folding and buckwheat dressing. Tn such of
my fields as are too much worn for clover, I
propose to try St. Foin, which I know will
grow in the poorest land, bring plentiful
crops, and is a great ameliator. — To JOHN
TAYLOR. FORD ED., vi, 506. (M., 1794.)
241. . It has been said that no
rotation of crops will keep the earth in the
same degree of fertility without the aid of
manure. But it is well known here that a
space of rest greater or less in spontaneous
herbage, will restore the exhaustion of a
single crop. This then is a rotation; and as
it is not to be believed that spontaneous herb
age is the only or best covering during rest,
so may we expect that a substitute for it may
be found which will yield profitable crops.
Such perhaps are clover, peas, vetches, &c.
A rotation then may be found, which by giv
ing time for the slow influence of the atmos
phere, will keep the soil in a constant and
equal state of fertility. But the advantage of
manuring is that it will do more in one than
the atmosphere would require several years
to do, and consequently enables you so much
the oftener to take exhausting crops from the
soil, a circumstance of importance where
there is much more labor than land. — To .
iv, 225. (Pa., 1798.)
242. . I have lately received the
proceedings of the Agricultural Society of
Paris. * * * I have been surprised to find
that the rotation of crops and substitution of
some profitable growth preparatory for grain,
instead of the useless and expensive fallow,
is yet only dawning among them. — To ROBERT
R. LIVINGSTON, v, 224. (W., 1808.)
243. AGRICULTURE, Societies.— I have
on several occasions been led to think on some
means of uniting the State agricultural so
cieties into a central society ; and lately it has
been pressed from England with a view to
a cooperation with their Board of Agricul
ture. You know some have proposed to Con
gress to incorporate such a society. I am
against that, because I think Congress cannot
find in all the enumerated powers any one
which authorizes the act, much less the giving
the public money to that use. I believe, too,
if they had the power, it would soon be used
for no other purpose than to buy with sine
cures useful partisans. I believe it will thrive
best if left to itself, as the Philosophical So
cieties are. There is certainly a much greater
abundance of material for Agricultural So-:;
cieties than Philosophical. But what should
be the plan of union? Would it do for the
State societies to agree to meet in a central
society by a deputation of members? If this
should present difficulties, might they not be
lessened by their adopting into their society
some one or more of their delegates in Con
gress, or of the members of the Executive
residing here, who assembling necessarily for
other purposes, could occasionally meet on
the business of their societies? Your [New
York] Agricultural Society, standing un
doubtedly on the highest ground, might set
the thing agoing by writing to such State so
cieties as already exist, and these once meet
ing centrally might induce the other States to
establish societies, and thus complete the in
stitution. This is a mere idea of mine, not
sufficiently considered or digested, and haz
arded merely to set you to thinking on the
subject, and propose something better or to
improve this. Will you be so good as to con
sider it at your leisure, and give me your
thoughts on the subject? — To ROBERT R.
LIVINGSTON. FORD ED., vii, 492. (W., Feb.
1801.)
244. . Our Agricultural Society
has at length formed itself. Like our Ameri
can Philosophical Society, it is voluntary, and ^
unconnected with the public, and is precisely '*
an execution of the plan I formerly sketched
to you. Some State societies have been
formed heretofore ; the other States will do
the same. Each State society names two of
its members of Congress to be their members
in the Central Society, which is of course to
gether during the sessions of Congress. They
are to select matter from the proceedings of
the State societies, and to publish it. * * *
Mr. Madison, the Secretary of State, is their
President. — To SIR JOHN SINCLAIR, iv, 491.
(W., 1803.)
245. . Were practical and observ
ing husbandmen in each county to form them
selves into a society, commit to writing them
selves, or state in conversations at their meet
ings to be written down by others, their prac
tices, and observations, their experiences and
ideas, selections from these might be made
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Agriculture
Alexander of Rusaii
from time to time by every one for his own
use, or by the society or a. committee of it,
for more general purposes. By an interchange
of these selections among the societies of the
different counties, each might thus become
possessed of the useful ideas and processes of
the whole ; and every one adopt such of them
as he should deem suitable to his own situa
tion. Or to abridge the labor of such mul
tiplied correspondences, a central society
might be agreed on to which, as a common
deposit, all the others should send their com
munications. The society thus honored by
the general confidence would doubtless feel
and fulfil the duty of selecting such papers as
should be worthy of entire communication, of
extracting and digesting from others what
ever might be useful, and of condensing their
matter within such compass as might recon
cile it to the reading, as well as to the pur
chase of the great mass of practical men.
Many circumstances would recommend, for
the central society, that which should be es
tablished in the county of the seat of govern
ment. — PLAN FOR AGRICULTURAL SOCIETIES.
ix, 480. (1811.)
246. AGRICULTURE, Strawberry.—
There are two or three objects which you
should endeavor to enrich our country with.
One is the Alpine strawberry. — To JAMES
MONROE. FORD ED., vii, 21. (M., 1795.)
247. AGRICULTURE, Support from. —
Agriculture is the basis of the subsistence,
the comforts and the happiness of man. — To
BARON DE MOLL, vi, 363. (M., 1814.)
248. AGRICULTURE, Threshing ma
chine. — I shall thank you most sincerely for
the model of the threshing machine, besides
replacing the expense of it. The threshing
out our wheat immediately after harvest being
the only preservative against the weavil in
Virginia, the service you will thereby render
that State will make you to them a second
Triptolemus. — To THOMAS PINCKNEY. FORD
ED., vi, 214. (Pa., 1793.)
249. AGRICULTURE, Tobacco.— To
bacco is a culture productive of infinite
wretchedness. Those employed in it are in a
continual state of exertion beyond the power
of nature to support. Little food of any kind
is raised by them; so that the men and an
imals on these farms are badly fed, and the
earth is rapidly impoverished. The cultiva
tion of wheat is the reverse in every circum
stance. Besides clothing the earth with herb
age, and preserving its fertility, it feeds the
laborers plentifully, requires from them only
a moderate toil, except in the season of har
vest, raises great numbers of animals for food
and service, and diffuses plenty and happiness
among the whole. We find it easier to make
an hundred bushels of wheat than a thousand
weight of tobacco, and they are worth more
when made. — NOTES ON VIRGINIA, viii, 407.
FORD ED., iii, 271. (1782.)
250. AGRICULTURE, Utility.— Agri
culture is the most useful of the occupations
of man.— To M. SILVESTRE. v, 83. (W.. 1807.)
251. AGRICULTURE, Virginia.— Good
husbandry with us consists in abandoning In
dian corn and tobacco ; tending small grain, some
red clover, fallowing, and endeavoring to have,
while the lands are at rest, a spontaneous
cover of white clover. I do not present this
as a culture judicious in itself, but as good,
in comparison with what most people there
pursue. Mr. [Arthur] Young has never had
an opportunity of seeing how slowly the fertil
ity of the soil is exhausted^ with moderate
management of it. I can affirm that the James
River low-grounds, with the cultivation of small
grain, will never be exhausted ; because we
know, that, under that condition, we must now
and then take them down with Indian corn, or
they become, as they were originally, too rich
to bring wheat. The highlands where I
live, have been cultivated about sixty years.
The culture was tobacco and Indian corn, as
long as they would bring enough to pay the
labor ; then they were turned out. After four
or five years rest, they would bring good corn
again, and in double that time, perhaps, good
tobacco. Then they would be exhausted by a
second series of tobacco and corn. — To PRESI
DENT WASHINGTON, iv, 4. FORD ED., vi, 83.
— AGRICULTURE, Wheat.— See 249,
and WHEAT.
252. AGRICULTURE, Wisest of pur
suits. — Agriculture is the wisest pursuit of
all.— To R. IZARD. i, 442. (P., 1785.)
253. -- . Agriculture is our wisest
pursuit, because it will in the end contribute
most to real wealth, good morals and hap
piness. — To GENERAL WASHINGTON, ii, 252.
(P., 1787-)
254. AGRICULTURE, Writings on.—
Writings on agriculture are peculiarly pleas
ing to me, for, as they tell us, we are sprung
from the earth, so to that we naturally re
turn. * — To ROBERT R. LIVINGSTON, v., 224.
(W., 1808.) See FARMERS and FARMING.
— AIR.— See 209.
— ALBEMARLE COUNTY.— See AP
PENDIX.
255. ALEXANDER OF RUSSIA, Char
acter of. — A more virtuous man, I believe,
does not exist, nor one who is more enthu
siastically devoted to better the condition of
mankind. He will probably, one day. fall a
victim to it, as a monarch of that principle
does not suit a Russian noblesse. He is not
of the very first order of understanding, but
* Jefferson was always an enthusiast in agriculture.
He was never too busy to find time to note the dates
of the planting and the ripening' of his vegetables
and fruits. He left behind him a table enumerating
thirty-seven esculents, and showing the earliest date
of the appearance of each one of them in the Wash
ington market in each of eight successive years. He
had ever a quick observation and a keen intelligence
ready for every fragment of new knowledge or hint
of a useful invention in the way of field work. All
through his busy official life, abroad and at home, he
appears ceaselessly to have an eye on the soil and1
one ear open to its cultivators ; he is always compar
ing varying methods and results, sending new seeds \
hither and thither, making suggestions^ trying ex
periments, till, in the presence of his enterprise and
activity, one begins to think that the stagnating
character so commonly attributed to the Virginia
planters must be fabulous.— JOHN T. MORSE, JR. , Life
of Jefferson.
Alexander of Russia
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
28
he is of a high one. He has taken a peculiar
affection to this country and its government,
of which he has given me public as well as
personal proofs. Our nation being, like his,
habitually neutral, our interests as to neutral
rights, and our sentiments agree. And when
ever conferences for peace shall take place, we
are assured of a friend in him. In fact, al
though in questions of restitution he will be
with England, in those of neutral rights he
will be with Bonaparte, and with every other
power in the world except England ; and I do
presume that England will never have peace
until she subscribes to a just code of marine
law. I am confident that Russia (while her
present monarch lives) is the most cordially
friendly to us of any power on earth, will go
furthest to serve us, and is most worthy of
conciliation.— To WILLIAM DUANE. v, 140.
FORD ED., ix, 120. (W., June 1807.)
256. . I owe an acknowledg
ment to your Imperial Majesty for the great
satisfaction I have received from your letter
of Aug. 20th, 1895, and embrace the opportu
nity it affords of giving expression to the sincere
respect and veneration I entertain for your
character. It will be among the latest and most
soothing comforts of my life, to have seen ad
vanced to the government of so extensive a
portion of the earth, and at so early a period
of his life, a sovereign whose ruling passion
is the advancement of the happiness and
prosperity of his people ; and not of his own
people only, but who can extend his eye and
his good will to a distant and infant nation,
unoffending in its course, unambitious in its
views. — To THE EMPEROR OF RUSSIA, v, 7
FORD ED., viii, 430. (W., April 1806.)
257. ALEXANDER OF BUSSIA,
France and. — I have no doubt that the firm
ness of Alexander in favor of France, after
the disposition of Bonaparte, has saved that
country from evils still more severe than she
is suffering, and perhaps even from partition. —
To GEORGE LOGAN, vii, 20. (M., 1816.)
258. ALEXANDER OF RUSSIA
Friendliness to U. S.— Of Alexander's sense
of the merits of our form of government, of its
wholesome operation on the condition of the
people, and of the interest he takes in the
success of our experiment, we possess the mos
unquestionable proofs ; and to him we shall be
indebted if the rights of neutrals, to be settlec
whenever peace is made, shall be extendec
beyond the present belligerents ; that is to say
European neutrals, as George and Napoleon, o
mutual consent and common hatred agains
us, would concur in excluding us. I though
it a salutary measure to engage the powerful pat
ronage of Alexander at conferences for peace
at a time when Bonaparte was courting him
and although circumstances have lessened it
weight, yet it is prudent for us to cherish hi
good dispositions, as those alone which wi!
be exerted in our favor when that occasion
shall occur. He, like ourselves, sees and feel
the atrociousness of both the belligerents. — T
WILLIAM DUANE. v, 553. FORD ED., ix, 287
(M., Nov. 1810.)
259. . He is the only sovereig
who cordially loves us. — To WILLIAM DUANF
v, 553. FORD ED., ix, 287. (M., 1810.)
260. ALEXANDER OF RUSSIA, Gif
of Books to.— A little before Dr. Priestley'
eath, he informed me that he had received
ntimations, through a channel he confided in,
lat the Emperor entertained a wish to know
omething of our Constitution. I have, there-
ore, selected the two best works we have on
hat subject, for which I pray you to ask a
lace in his library. — To MR. HARRIS, v, 6.
W., 1806.)
261. ALEXANDER OF RUSSIA, Mis-
ion to. — Desirous of promoting useful in-
ercourse and good understanding between
rour Majesty's subjects and the citizens of the
Jnited States and especially to cultivate the
riendship of your Majesty, I have appointed
William Short,* one of our distinguished citi
zens, to be in quality of Minister Plenipo-
entiary of the United States, the bearer to
you of assurances of their sincere friendship,
,nd of their desire to maintain with your
Vlajesty and your subjects the strictest relations
of amity and commerce ; he will explain to your
Vlajesty the peculiar position of these States,
separated by a wide ocean from the powers
of Europe, with interests and pursuits distinct
rom theirs, and consequently without the
motives or the appetites for taking part in the
associations or oppositions which a different
system of interests produces among them : he
s charged to assure your Majesty more partic
ularly of our purpose to observe a faithful
neutrality towards the contending powers, in
the war to which your Majesty is a party,
rendering to all the services and courtesies of
friendship, and praying for the reestablishment
of peace and right among them ; and we enter-
:ain an entire confidence that this just and
faithful conduct on the part of the United
States will strengthen the friendly dispositions
you have manifested towards them, and be a
fresh motive with so just and magnanimous
a sovereign to enforce, by the high influence of
your example, the respect due to the character
and the rights of a peaceable nation. — To THE
EMPEROR OF RUSSIA, v, 358. FORD ED., ix,
206. (W., Aug. 1808.)
262. ALEXANDER OF RUSSIA, Neu
tral Rights and.— The northern nations of
Europe, at the head of which your Majesty
is distinguished, are habitually peaceable. The
United States of America, like them, are
attached to peace. We have then with them
a common interest in the neutral rights. Every
nation indeed, on the continent of Europe,
belligerent as well as neutral, is interested
in maintaining these rights, liberalizing them
progressively with the progress of science and
refinement of morality, and in relieving them
trom restrictions which the extension of the
arts has long since rendered unreasonable and
vexatious, — To THE EMPEROR OF RUSSIA, v, 8.
FORD ED., viii, 440. (W., April 1806.)
263. . The events of Europe
come to us so late, and so suspiciously, that
observations on them would certainly be stale,
and possibly wide of their actual state. From
their general aspect, however, I collect that
your Majesty's interposition in them has been
disinterested and generous, and having in view
only the general good of the great European
family. When you shall proceed to the pacifi
cation which is to reestablish peace and com
merce, the same dispositions of mind will lead
you to think of the general intercourse of
nations, and to make that provision for its
* Mr. Short's appointment was negatived by the
senate partly on personal grounds, but more espec
ially because of an unwillingness to increase the
diplomatic establishment.— EDITOR.
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Alexander of Russia
future maintenance which, in times past, it has
so much needed. — To THE EMPEROR OF RUSSIA.
v, 8. FORD ED., viii, 439. (W., April 1806.)
264. . Having taken no part in
the past or existing troubles of Europe, we have
no part to act in its pacification. But as
principles may then be settled in which we have
a deep interest, it is a great happiness for us
that we are placed under the protection of
an umpire, who, looking beyond the narrow
bounds of an individual nation, will take under
the cover of his equity the rights of the ab
sent and unrepresented. It is only by a happy
concurrence of good characters and good
occasions, that a step can now and then be
taken to advance the well-being of nations.
If the present occasion be good, I am sure your
Majesty's character will not be wanting to
avail the world of it. By monuments of such
good offices, may your life become an epoch
in the history of the condition of man ; and may
He who called it into being, for the good of
the human family, give it length of days and
success, and have it always in His holy keep
ing. — To THE EMPEROR OF RUSSIA, v, 8.
FORD ED., viii, 440. (W., April 1806.)
265. . Two personages in Eu
rope, of which your Majesty is one, have it
in their power, at the approaching pacification,
to render eminent service to nations in general,
by incorporating into the act of pacification a
correct definition of the rights of neutrals on
the high seas. Such a definition declared by all
the powers lately or still belligerent, would give
to those rights a precision and notoriety, and
cover them with an authority, which would pro
tect them in an important degree against future
violation ; and should any further sanction
be necessary, that of an exclusion of the vio
lating nation from commercial intercourse with
all the others, would be preferred to war, as
more analogous to the offence, more easily and
likely to be executed with good faith. The
essential articles of these rights, too, are so
few and simple as to be easily defined. — To THE
EMPEROR OF RUSSIA, v, 8. FORD ED., viii, 440.
(W., April 1806.)
266. . That the Emperor may
be able, whenever a pacification takes place,
to show himself the father and friend of the
human race, to restore to nations the moral
laws which have governed their intercourse,
and to prevent, forever, a repetition of those
ravages by sea and land, which will distinguish
the present as an age of Vandalism, I
sincerely pray. — To COUNT PAHLEN. v, 527.
(M., 1810.)
267. ALEXANDER OF RUSSIA, Re
form and. — The apparition of such a man
[as Alexander] on a throne is one of the phe
nomena which will distinguish the present epoch
so remarkable in the history of man. But he
must have an herculean task to devise and
establish the means of securing freedom and
happiness to those who are not capable of
taking care of themselves. Some preparation
seems necessary to qualify the body of a nation
for self-government. Who could have thought
the French nation incapable of it? Alexander
will doubtless begin at the right end, by taking
means for diffusing instruction and a sense of
their natural rights through the mass of his
people, and for relieving them in the mean
time from actual oppression. — To DR. JOSEPH
PRIESTLEY. FORD ED., viii, 179. (W., Nov. 1802.)
268. . The information * * * as
to Alexander kindles a great deal of interest
in his existence, and strong spasms of the
heart in his favor. Though his means of doing
good are great, yet the materials on which he is
to work are retractory. Whether he engages
in private correspondences abroad, as the King
of Prussia did much, his grandfather some
times, I know not ; but certainly such a corres
pondence would be very interesting to those
who are sincerely anxious to see mankind
raised from their present abject condition. — To
THOMAS COOPER, iv, 452. FORD ED., viii, 177.
(W., Nov. 1802.)
269. ALEXANDER OF RUSSIA, Trib
ute to.— I am much flattered by the kind no
tice of the Emperor, which you have been
so obliging as to communicate to me. The
approbation of the good is always consoling;
but that of a sovereign whose station and en
dowments are so pre-eminent, is received with
a sensibility which the veneration for his char
acter inspires. Among other motives of com
miseration which the calamities of Europe can
not fail to excite in every virtuous mind, the
interruption which these have given to the
benevolent views of the Emperor, is prominent.
The accession of a sovereign, with the dis
positions and qualifications to improve the con
dition of a great nation, and to place its happi
ness on a permanent basis, is a phenomenon
so rare in the annals of mankind that when the
blessing occurs, it is lamentable that any
portion of it should be usurped by occurrences
of the character we have seen. If separated
from these scenes by an ocean of a thousand
leagues breadth, they have required all our cares
to keep aloof from their desolating effects,
I can readily conceive how much more they
must occupy those to whose territories they are
contiguous. — To COUNT PAHLEN. v, 526. (M.,
1810.)
270. ALEXANDER OF RUSSIA, Tri
umphs of. — To the wonders of Bonaparte's
rise and fall, we may add that of a Czar of
Muscovy, dictating, in Paris, laws and limits
to all the successors of the Caesars, and holding
even the balance in which the fortunes of this
new world are suspended. — To JOHN ADAMS.
vi> 353- FORD ED., ix, 461. (M., 1814.)
271. ALEXANDER OF RUSSIA, Vi
enna Congress and.— The magnanimity of
Alexander's conduct on the first capture of
Paris still magnified everything we had believed
of him ; but how he will come out of his
present trial ^ remains to be seen. That the
sufferings which France had inflicted on other
countries justified severe reprisals, cannot be
questioned; but I have not yet learned what
crimes of Poland, Saxony, Belgium, Venice,
Lombardy and Genoa, had merited for them,
not merely a temporary punishment, but that
of permanent subjugation and a destitution
of independence and self-government. The
fable of ^Esop of the lion dividing the spoils,
is, I fear, becoming true history, and the moral
code of Napoleon and the English government
a substitute for that of Grotius, of Puffendorf,
and even of the pure doctrine of the great au
thor of our holy religion. — To DR. GEORGE LO
GAN, vi, 497. (M., Oct. 1815.)
272. . His character is un
doubtedly good, and the world, I think, may ex
pect good effects from it. * * * I sincerely
wish that the history of the secret proceedings
at Vienna may become known, and may recon
cile to our good opinion of him his participa
tion in the demolition of ancient and inde
pendent States, transferring them and their
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
inhabitants as farms and stocks of cattle at a
market to other owners, and even taking a
part of the spoil himself. It is possible to sup
pose a case excusing this, and my partiality for
his character encourages me to expect it, and to
impute to others, known to have no moral
scruples, the crimes, of that conclave, who
under pretence of punishing the atrocities of
Bonaparte, reached them themselves, and
proved that with equal power they were equally
flagitious. — To DR. LOGAN, vii, 20. (Mv
1816.)
273. ALEXANDER OF RUSSIA, Vir
tues of. — I had * * * formed the most
favorable opinion of the virtues of Alexander,
and considered his partiality to this country as
a prominent proof of them. — To DR. GEORGE
LOGAN, vi, 497. (M., 1815.)
274. ALEXANDRIA, Baltimore and.—
It is not amiss to encourage Alexandria, be
cause it is a rival in the very bosom of Balti
more. — To TAMES MONROE. FORD ED., iv, 10.
(P., 1784.)
275. ALEXANDRIA, Future of.—
Alexandria on the Potomac will undoubtedly
become a very great place, but Norfolk would
be best for cotton manufactures. — To M. DE
LA VALEE. i, 430. (P., 1785.)
— ALGIERS.— See BARBARY POWERS and
H37.
276. ALIENAGE, Law of Violated.—
The bill for establishing a National Bank un
dertakes * * * to form the subscribers into a
corporation, [and] to enable them, in their
corporate capacities, to make alien subscribers
capable of holding lands; and so far is
against the laws of Alienage. — OPINION ON
THE BANK BILL. vii, 555. FORD ED., v, 284.
(February 1791.)
— ALIENATION OF TERRITORY.
— See TERRITORY.
277. ALIEN AND SEDITION LAWS,
Hatching. — One of the war party, in a fit of
unguarded passion, declared some time ago
they would pass a citizen bill, an alien bill,
and a sedition bill ; accordingly, some days
ago, Coit laid a motion on the table of the
House of Representatives for modifying the
citizen law. Their threats point at Gallatin,
and it is believed they will endeavor to reach
him by this bill. Yesterday Mr. Hillhouse
laid on the table of the Senate a motion for
giving power to send away suspected aliens.
This understood to be meant for Volney and
Collot. But it will not stop there when it
gets into a course of execution. There is now
only wanting, to accomplish the whole dec
laration before mentioned, a sedition bill,
which we shall certainly soon see proposed. —
To JAMES MADISON, iv, 237. FORD ED., vii,
244. (Pa., April 26 1798.)
278. ALIEN AND SEDITION LAWS,
Introduction of.— They have brought into
the lower House a sedition bill, which, among
other enormities, undertakes to make printing
certain matters criminal, though one of the
amendments to the Constitution has so ex
pressly taken religion, printing presses, &c.
out of their coercion. Indeed this bill, and the
alien bill are both so palpably in the teeth of
the Constitution as to show they mean to
pay no respect to it. — To JAMES MADISON.
FORD ED., vii, 266. (Pa., June 1798.)
279. ALIEN AND SEDITION LAWS,
Petitions against.— Petitions and remon
strances against the Alien and Sedition laws
are coming from various parts of New York,
Jersey and Pennsylvania. * * * I am in hopes
Virginia will stand so countenanced by those
States as to repress the wishes of the Gov
ernment to coerce her, which they might ven
ture on if they supposed she would be left
alone. Firmness on our part, but a passive
firmness, is the true course. Anything rash or
threatening might check the favorable dispo
sitions of these middle States, and rally them
again around the measures which are ruin
ing us.— To JAMES MADISON, iv, 279. FORD
ED., vii, 341. (Pa., Jan. 1799.)
280. ALIEN AND SEDITION LAWS,
Planning Insurrection against.— In Penn
sylvania, we fear that the ill-designing may
produce insurrection [against the Alien and
Sedition laws]. Nothing could be so fatal.
Anything like force would check the progress
of the public opinion, and rally them around
the government. This is not the kind of op
position the American people will permit.
But keep away all show of force, and they
will bear down the evil propensities of the
government, by the constitutional means of
election and petition. — To EDWARD PENDLE-
TON. iv, 287. FORD ED., vii, 356. (Pa., Feb.
I799-)
281. . Several parts of this
State [Pennsylvania] are so violent that we
fear an insurrection. This will be brought
about by some if they can. It is the only
thing we have to fear. The appearance of an
attack of force against the government would
check the present current of the middle
States, and rally them around the govern
ment; whereas if suffered to go on, it will
pass on to a reformation of abuses. — To
ARCHIBALD STUART, iv, 286. FORD ED., vii,
354- (Pa., Feb. 1799.)
282. ALIEN AND SEDITION LAWS,
Report on. — Yesterday witnessed a scandal
ous scene in the House of Representatives.
It was the day for taking up the report of
their committee against the Alien and Sedi
tion laws, &c. They [the Federalists] held a
caucus and determined that not a word should
be spoken on their side, in answer to anything
which should be said on the other. Gallatin
took up the Alien, and Nicholas the Sedition
law ; but after a little while of common si
lence, they began to enter into loud conversa
tions, laugh, cough, &c., so that for the last
hour of these gentlemen's speaking, they must
have had the lungs of a vendue master to
have been heard. Livingston, however, at
tempted to speak. But after a few sentences,
the Speaker called him to order, and told him
what he was saying was not to the question.
It was impossible to proceed. The question
was carried in favor of the report, 52 to 48;
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA Alien and Sedition Laws
the real strength of the two parties is 56 to
50. — To JAMES MADISON, iv, 298. FORD ED.,
vii, 371. (Pa., Feb. 1799.)
283. ALIEN AND SEDITION LAWS,
Scheme of. — I consider these laws as merely
an experiment on the American mind, to see
how far it will bear an avowed violation of
the Constitution. If this goes down, we shall
immediately see attempted another act of
Congress, declaring that the President shall
continue in office during life, reserving to an
other occasion the transfer of the succession
to the heirs, and the establishment of the
Senate for life. At least, this may be the
aim of the Oliverians, while Monk and the
Cavaliers, (who are perhaps the strongest,)
may be playing their game for the restoration
of his most gracious Majesty, George III.
That these things are in contemplation, I
have no doubt ; nor can I be confident of
their failure, after the dupery of which our
countrymen have shown themselves suscep
tible. — To S. T. MASON, iv, 258. FORD ED.,
vii, 283. (M., 1798.)
284. ALIEN AND SEDITION LAWS,
Suits under. — I discharged every person
under punishment or prosecution under the
Sedition law, because I considered, and MOV
consider, that law to be a nullity, as absolute
and as palpable as if Congress had ordered us
to fall down and worship a golden image ;
and that it was as much my duty to arrest
its execution in every stage, as it would have
been to have rescued from the fiery furnace
those who should have been cast into it for
refusing to worship the image. It was ac
cordingly done in every instance, without
asking what the offenders had done, or
against whom they had offended, but whether
the pains they were suffering were inflicted
under the pretended Sedition law. — To MRS.
JOHN ADAMS, iv, 536. FORDED., viii, 309. (W.,
July 1804.)
285. . With respect to the dis
mission of the prosecutions for sedition in
Connecticut, it is well known to have been
a tenet of the republican portion of our fellow
citizens, that the Sedition law was contrary
to the Constitution and, therefore, void. On
this ground I considered it as a nullity when
ever I met it in the course of my duties ; and
on this ground I directed nolle prosequis in
all the prosecutions which had been insti
tuted under it ; and, as far as the public senti
ment can be inferred from the occurrences of
the day, we must say that this opinion had
the sanction of the nation. The prosecutions,
therefore, which were afterwards instituted
in Connecticut, of which two were against
printers, two against preachers, and one
against a judge, were too inconsistent with
this principle to be permitted to go on. We
were bound to administer to others the same
measure of law, not which they had meted
to us, but we to ourselves, and to extend to
all equally the protection of the same consti
tutional principles. These prosecutions, too.
were chiefly for charges against myself, and
I had from the beginning laid it down as a
rule to notice nothing of the kind. I believed
that the long course of services in which I
had acted on the public stage, and under the
eye of my fellow citizens, furnished better
evidence to them of my character and prin
ciples, than the angry invectives of adverse
partisans in whose eyes the very acts most
approved by the majority were subjects of
the greatest demerit and censure. These
prosecutions against them, therefore, were to
be dismissed as a matter of duty — To GIDEON
GRANGER, vi, 332. FORD ED., ix, 456. (M.,
1814.)
286. ALIEN AND SEDITION LAWS,
Tyrannical.— If the Alien and Sedition Acts
should stand, these conclusions would flow
from them: that the General Government
may place any act they think proper on the
list of crimes, and punish it themselves
whether enumerated or not enumerated by
the Constitution as cognizable by them : that
they may transfer its cognizance to the Presi
dent, or any other person, who may himself
be the accuser, counsel, judge and jury,
whose suspicion may be the evidence, his
order the sentence, his officer the executioner,
and his breast the sole record of the transac
tion : that a very numerous and valuable de
scription of the inhabitants of these states
being, by this precedent, reduced, as outlaws,
to the absolute dominion of one man, and
the barrier of the Constitution thus swept
away from us all, no rampart now remains
against the passions and the powers of a ma
jority in Congress to protect from a like ex
portation, or other more grievous punish
ment, the minority of the same body, the
legislatures, judges, governors, and counsel
lors of the States, nor their other peaceable
inhabitants, who may venture to reclaim the
constitutional rights and liberties of the
States and people, or who for other causes,
good or bad. may be obnoxious to the views,
or marked by the suspicions of the Presi
dent, or be thought dangerous to his or their
election, or other interests, public or per
sonal : that the friendless alien has indeed
been selected as the safest subject of a
first experiment; but the citizen will soon
follow, or rather, has already followed,
for already has a Sedition Act marked
him as its prey: that these and successive
acts of the same character, unless arrested
at the threshold, necessarily drive these
States into revolution and blood, and
will furnish new calumnies aerainst republi
can government, and new pretexts for those
who wish it to be believed that man cannot
be governed but by a rod of iron. — KEN
TUCKY RESOLUTIONS, ix, 469. FORD ED., vii,
302. (1798.)
287. ALIEN AND SEDITION LAWS,
Unconstitutional.— For the present, I should
be for resolving the Alien and Sedition laws
to be against the Constitution and merely
void, and for addressing the other States to
obtain similar declarations : and I would not
do anything at this moment which should
commit us further, but reserve ourselves to
Alien and Sedition Laws THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Alliance
shape our future measures, or no measures,
by the events which may happen. — To JOHN
TAYLOR, iv, 260. FORD ED., vii, 311. (M., Nov.
1798.)
288. . Alien friends are under
the jurisdiction and protection of the laws of
the State wherein they are: no power over
them has been delegated to the United States,
nor prohibited to the individual States, dis
tinct from their power over citizens. And it
being true as a general principle, and one of
the amendments to the Constitution having
also declared that " the powers not delegated
to the United States by the Constitution, nor
prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to
the States respectively, or to the people," the
act of the Congress of the United States,
passed on the day of July, 1798, intituled
" An Act concerning Aliens," which assumes
powers over alien friends, not delegated by
the Constitution, is not law, but is altogether
void, and of no force.— KENTUCKY RESOLU
TIONS, ix, 466. FORD ED., vii, 296. (1798.)
289. ALIEN AND SEDITION LAWS,
Viciousness of. — The Alien bill * * * is a
most detestable thing.— To JAMES MADISON.
iv, 244. FORD ED., vii, 260. (Pa., May 1798.)
290. . That libel on legislation.
— To DR. JOSEPH PRIESTLEY, iv, 374. FORD
ED., viii, 22. (W., March 1801.) See SEDITION
LAW.
291. ALIENS, Forcible Bemoval of.— In
addition to the general principle, as well as
the express declaration, that powers not
delegated are reserved, another and more
special provision, inserted in the Constitution
from abundant caution, has declared that
" the migration or importation of such per
sons as any of the States now existing shall
think proper to admit, shall not be prohibited
by the Congress prior to the year 1808." * * *
This Commonwealth [Kentucky] does admit
the migration of alien friends, described as
the subject of the said act concerning aliens.
* * * A. provision against prohibiting
their migration is a provision against all
acts equivalent thereto, or it would be
nugatory. * * * To remove them
when migrated, is equivalent to a pro
hibition of their migration, and is, therefore,
contrary to the said provision of the Consti
tution, and void. — KENTUCKY RESOLUTIONS.
ix, 466. FORD ED., vii, 296. (1798.)
292. ALIENS, The Revolution and.— I
do not know that there has been any Ameri
can determination on the question whether
American citizens and Britsh subjects, born
before the Revolution, can be aliens to one an
other? I know there is an opinion of Lord
Coke's, in Colvin's case, that if England and
Scotland should, in the course of descent,
pass to separate kings, those born under the
same sovereign during the union, would re
main natural subjects and not aliens. Com
mon sense urges some considerations against
this. Natural subjects owe allegiance; but
we owe none. Aliens are the subjects of a
foreign power; we are not subjects of a for
eign power. The King, by the treaty, ac
knowledges our independence ; how, then, can
we remain natural subjects? The King's
power is, by the Constitution, competent to
the making peace, war and treaties. He had,
therefore, authority to relinquish our alle
giance by treaty. But if an act of parliament
had been necessary, the parliament passed an
act to confirm the treaty. So that it appears
to me that, in this question, fictions of law
alone are opposed to sound sense. — To JOHN
ADAMS, i, 530. (P., 1786.)
293. ALLEGIANCE, Renounced.— We,
therefore, the representatives of the United
States of America in General Congress as
sembled, do in the name and by the authority
of the good people of these States reject and
renounce all allegiance and subjection to the
kings of Great Britain and all others who
may hereafter claim by, through, or under
them; we utterly dissolve all political con
nection which may heretofore have subsisted
between us and the people or parliament of
Great Britain* — DECLARATION OF IN
DEPENDENCE AS DRAWN BY JEFFERSON.
294. ALLEGIANCE, Repudiated.— He
has abdicated government here, withdraw
ing his governors, and declaring us out
of his allegiance and protection.^ — DECLARA
TION OF INDEPENDENCE AS DRAWN BY JEFFER
SON.
295. ALLEN, Protection of Ethan.— It
is with pain we fear that Mr. [Ethan] Allen
and others, taken with him while fighting
bravely in their country's cause, are sent to
Britain in irons, to be punished for pretended
treason; treasons, too, created by one of
those very laws whose obligation we deny,
and mean to contest by the sword. This ques
tion will not be decided by seeking vengeance
on a few helpless captives but by achieving
success in the fields of war, and gathering
there those laurels which grow for the war
rior brave. * * * We have ordered Brig
adier General Prescot to be bound in irons,
and to be confined in close jail, there to ex
perience corresponding miseries to those
which shall be inflicted on Mr. Allen. His
life shall answer for that of Mr. Allen.}: —
CONGRESS RESOLUTION. FORD ED., i, 494.
(Dec. I775-)
296. ALLIANCE, Abjure.— I sincerely
join you in abjuring all political connection
with every foreign power ; and though I cor
dially wish well to the progress of liberty in
all nations, and would forever give it the
weight of our countenance, yet they are not
* Congress struck out the italicized words and
inserted : " Colonies, solemnly publish and declare,
that these United Colonies are, and of right ought to
be, Free and Independent States ; that they are ab
solved from all allegiance to the British crown, and
that all political connection between them and the
State of Great Britain, is, and ought to be, totally
dissolved." Congress also inserted after the word
"assembled," the words, "appealing to the Su-
Kreme Judge of the World for the rectitude of our
itentions. "—EDITOR.
t Congress struck out the words in italics and in
serted "by declaring us out of, his protection, and
waging war against us."— EDITOR.
\ Not adopted by Congress.— EDITOR.
33
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Alliance
Alliances
to be touched without contamination from
their other bad principles. — To T. LOMAX.
iv, 301. FORD ED., vii, 374. (M., March
I799-)
297. ALLIANCE, Coercion and.— The
British ministers equivocate on every proposal
of a treaty of commerce * * * unless, in
deed, we would agree to make it a treaty of
alliance as well as commerce, so as to under
mine our obligations with France. This
method of stripping that rival nation of its al
liances, they tried successfully with Holland,
endeavored at it with Spain, and have plainly
and repeatedly suggested to us. For this they
would probably relax some of the rigors they
exercise against our commerce. — OFFICIAL
REPORT, vii, 518. (December 1790.)
298. ALLIANCE, Dangerous.— An alli
ance [with Great Britain] with a view to
partition of the Floridas and Louisiana, is not
what we would wish, because it may eventu
ally lead us into embarrassing situations with
our best friend, and put the power of two
neighbors into the hands of one. Lord Lans-
downe has declared he gave the Floridas to
Spain rather than the United States as a
bone of discord with the House of Bourbon,
and of reunion with Great Britain. — INSTRUC
TIONS TO WILLIAM CARMICHAEL. ix, 413.
FORD ED., v, 227. (1790.)
299. ALLIANCE, Deprecated.— I sin
cerely deplore the situation of our affairs with
France. War with them, and consequent al
liance with Great Britain, will completely
compass the object of the Executive council,
from the commencement of the war between
France and England ; taken up by some of
them from that moment, by others, more lat
terly. I still, however, hope it will be avoided.
— To JAMES MADISON, iv, 162. FORD ED., vii,
108. (M., Jan. 1797.)
300. ALLIANCE, Destructive.— To take
part in European conflicts would be to divert
our energies from creation to destruction. —
To GEORGE LOGAN. FORD ED., viii, 23. (W.,
March 1801.)
301. ALLIANCE, Divorce from all.— As
to everything except commerce, we ought to
divorce ourselves from them all. But this
system would require time, temper, wisdom,
and occasional sacrifice of interest; and how
far all of these will be ours, our children may
see, but we shall not. The passions are too
high at present, to be cooled in our day. — To
EDWARD RUTLEDGE. iv, 191. FORD ED., vii,
154- (Pa., I797-)
802. . Better keep together as
we are, haul off from Europe as soon as we
can. and from all attachments to any portions
of it. — To JOHN TAYLOR, iv, 247. FORD ED.,
vii, 265. (Pa., 1798.)
303. . Commerce with all na
tions, alliance with none, should be our motto.
— To T. LOMAX. iv, 301. FORD ED., vii, 374.
(M., March 1799.)
304. . It ought to be the very
first object of our pursuits to have nothing to
do with the European interests and politics.
Let them be free or slaves, at will, navigators
or agriculturists, swallowed into one govern
ment or divided into a thousand, we have
nothing to fear from them in any form. —
To GEORGE LOGAN. FORD ED., viii, 23. (W.,
March 1801.)
305. ALLIANCES, Entangling.— I know
that it is a maxim with us, and I think it a
wise one, not to entangle ourselves with the
affairs of Europe. — To E. CARRINGTON. ii,
334- FORD ED., iv, 483. (P., 1787.)
306. . I am for free commerce
with all nations; political connection with
none; and little or no diplomatic establish
ment. And I am not for linking ourselves by
new treaties with the quarrels of Europe; en
tering that field of slaughter to preserve their
balance, or joining in the confederacy of
Kings to war against the principles of lib
erty. — To ELBRIDGE GERRY, iv, 268. FORD ED.,
vii, 328. (Pa., 1 799-)
307. . Let our affairs be disen
tangled from those of all other nations, ex
cept as to commerce. — To GIDEON GRANGER.
iv, 331. FORD ED., vii, 452. (M., 1800.)
308. . The Constitution thought
it wise to restrain the Executive and Senate
from entangling and embroiling our affairs
with those of Europe. — PARLIAMENTARY
MANUAL, ix, 81. (1800.)
309. . Honest friendship with
all nations, entangling alliances with none, I
deem [one of the] essential principles of our
government and, consequently, [one] which
ought to shape its administration. — FIRST IN
AUGURAL ADDRESS, viii, 4. FORD ED., viii, 4.
(1801.)
310. . Determined as we are to
avoid, if possible, wasting the energies of our
people in war and destruction, we shall avoid
implicating ourselves with the powers of
Europe, even in support of principles which
we mean to pursue. They have so many other
interests different from ours, that we must
avoid being entangled in them. We believe
we can enforce these principles, as to our
selves, by peaceable means, now that we are
likely to have our public councils detached
from foreign views. — To THOMAS PAINE, iv,
370. FORD ED., viii, 18. (W., March 1801.)
311. . Peace, and abstinence
from European interferences, are our objects.
—To M. DUPONT DE NEMOURS, iv, 436. (W.,
April 1802.)
312. . It is against our system
* * * to entangle ourselves at all with the af
fairs of Europe. — To PHILIP MAZZEI. iv,
553- (W., July 1864.)
313. . pur nation has wisely
avoided entangling itself in the system of
European interests, has taken no side be
tween its rival powers, attached itself to
none of its ever-changing confederacies. —
R. TO A. OF BALTIMORE BAPTISTS, viii, 137.
(1808.)
Alliances
Alluvium
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
34
314. . The less we have to do
with the amities or enmities of Europe the
better. — To THOMAS LEIPER. vi, 465. FORD
ED., ix, 520. (M., 1815.)
315. . All entanglements with
that quarter of the globe [Europe] should be
avoided if we mean that peace and justice
shall be the polar stars of the American So
cieties. — To J. CORREA. vii, 184. FORD ED., x,
164. (M., 1820.)
316. . The fundamental princi
ple of our government, — never to entangle us
with the broils of Europe. — To M. CORAY.
vii, 318. (M., 1823.)
317. . I have ever deemed it
fundamental for the United States never to
take active part in the quarrels of Europe.
Their political interests are entirely distinct
from ours. Their mutual jealousies, their
balance of power, their complicated alliances,
their forms and principles of government, are
all foreign to us. They are nations of eternal
war. — To PRESIDENT MONROE, vii, 288. FORD
ED., x, 257. (M., 1823.)
318. ALLIANCE, A generous.— If there
could have been a doubt before as to the event
of the war, it is now totally removed by the
interposition of France, and the generous al
liance she has entered into with us. — To .
i, 208. FORD ED., ii, 157. (W., 1778.)
_ ALLIANCE. The Holy.— See HOLY
ALLIANCE.
319. ALLIANCE, Horror of.— We have
a perfect horror at everything like connecting
ourselves with the politics of Europe.— To
WILLIAM SHORT, iv, 414. FORD ED., viii, 98.
(W., 1801.)
320. ALLIANCE, Inadmissible.— The
British talk of * * * a treaty of commerce
and alliance. If the object of the latter be
honorable, it is useless ; if dishonorable, inad
missible. — ToGoUVERNEUR MORRIS. Hi, l82.
FORD ED., v, 224. (N. Y., 1790.)
321. ALLIANCE, Inevitable.— The day
that France takes possession of New Orleans
* * * seals the union of two nations, who,
in conjunction, can maintain exclusive posses
sion of the ocean. From that moment, we
must marry ourselves to the British fleet and
nation. We must turn all our attention to a
maritime force * * *.— To ROBERT R. LIVING
STON, iv, 432. FORD ED., viii, 145. (W.,
April 1802.)
322. ALLIANCE, A lost.— Were the
British court to return to their senses in time
to seize the little advantage which still re
mains within their reach, from this quarter, I
judge, that, on acknowledging our absolute
independence and sovereignty, a commercial
treaty beneficial to them, and perhaps even
a league of mutual offence and defence might,
not seeing the expense or consequences of
such a measure, be approved by our people, if
nothing, in the meantime, done on your part
should prevent it. But they will continue to
grasp at their desperate sovereignty, till every
benefit short of that is forever out of their
reach. — To BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. i, 205.
FORD ED., ii, 132. (August 1777.)
323. ALLIANCE, Suggested French.—
If we can obtain from Great Britain reason
able conditions of commerce, (which, in my
idea, must forever include an admission into
her [West India] islands,) the first ground
between these two nations would seem to be
the best. But if we can obtain no equal terms
from her, perhaps Congress might think it
prudent, as Holland has done, to connect us
unequivocally with France. Holland has pur
chased the protection of France. The price
she pays is aid in time of war. It is interest
ing for us to purchase a free commerce with
the French islands. But whether it is best to
pay for it, by aids in war, or by privileges in
commerce, or not to purchase it at all, is the
question. — REPORT TO CONGRESS. ix, 244.
FORD ED., iv, 130. (P., 1785.)
324. ALLIANCE, Unwise.— I join you
* * * in a sense of the necessity of restoring
freedom to the ocean. But I doubt, with you,
whether the United States ought to join in
an armed confederacy for that purpose; or
rather I am satisfied they ought not. — To
GEORGE LOGAN. FORD ED., viii, 23. (W.,
March 1801.)
325. ALLIANCES, Insufficiency of.—
Treaties of alliance are generally insufficient
to enforce compliance with their mutual stipu
lations. — THE ANAS, ix, 88. FORD ED., i,
157. (1818.)
326. ALLIANCES, International Mar
riage. — What a crowd of lessons do the pres
ent miseries of Holland teach us! * * *
Never to let a citizen ally himself with Kings
* * *.— To JOHN ADAMS, ii, 283. FORD ED.,
iv, 455- (P-, 1787.)
_ ALLODIAL TENURE.— See LAND.
_ ALLOY IN MONEY.— See DOLLAR.
327. ALLSTON, Burr and Washington.
— I send you Allston's letter for perusal. He
thinks to get over this matter by putting a
bold face on it. I have the names of three
persons whose evidence, taken together, can
fix on him the actual endeavor to engage men
in Burr's enterprise. — To ALBERT GALLATIN.
FORD ED., ix, 13. (W., 1807.)
328. . The enclosed copy of an
affidavit from General Wilkinson authenti
cates the copy of a letter from Colonel Burr to
the General, affirming that Mr. Allston his
son-in-law, is engaged in the unlawful en
terprises he is carrying on, and is to be an
actor in them. * * * It is further well known
in Washington that Mr. Allston is an en
dorser to a considerable amount, of the bills
which have enabled Colonel Burr to prepare
his treasons. Nobody is a better judge than
yourself whether any and what measures can
be taken on this information. — To CHARLES
PINCKNEY. v, 34. FORD ED., ix, 13. (W.,
Jan. 1807.)
_ ALLUVIUM.— See BATTURE.
35
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Almanacs
America
329. ALMANACS, Improvements in.— I
received your letter on the publication of an
Ephemeris. I have long thought it desirable
that something of that kind should be published
in the United States, holding a middle station
between the nautical and the common popular
almanacs. * * * What you propose to in
sert is very well so far ; but I think you might
give it more of the character desired by the
addition of some other articles which would not
enlarge it more than a leaf or two. For in
stance, the equation of time is essential to the
regulation of our clocks and watches, and would
only add a narrow column to your second page.
The sun's declination is often desirable and
would only add another narrow column. This
last would be the more useful as an element
for obtaining the rising and setting of the sun
in every part of the United States * * if
you would add a formula for that calculation. —
To MELATIAH NASH, vi, 29. (M., 1811.)
330. ALMANACS, Value of Old.— But
why, you will ask, do I send you old almanacs,
which are proverbially useless? Because, in
these publications have appeared from time to
time, some of the most precious things in as
tronomy. I have searched out those particular
volumes which might be valuable to you on
this account. That of 1781, contains De ia
Caille's catalogue of fixed stars reduced to the
commencement of that year, and a table of the
aberrations and mutations of the principal
stars. 1784 contains the same catalogue with
the nebuleuses of Messier. 1785 contains the
famous catalogue of Hamsteed, with the posi
tions of the stars reduced to the beginning of
the year 1784, and which supersedes the use of
that immense book. 1786 gives von Euler's
lunar tables corrected; and 1787 the tables for
the planet Herschel. The two last needed not
an apology, as not being within the description
of old almanacs. * * * The volume of 1787
gives you Mayer's catalogue of the zodiacal stars.
To DR. STILES, i, 363. (P., 1785.)
— ALMIGHTY, The.— See DEITY.
_ ALMS.— See CHARITY.
331. ALTERCATIONS, Injurious.— An
instance of acquiescence on our part under a
wrong, rather than disturb our friendship by
altercations, may have its value in some fu
ture case.— To JOHN JAY. i, 603. (P., 1786.)
332. ALTERCATIONS, Nursing.— If the
British troops should pass [through our ter
ritory] without having asked leave, I should
be for expressing our dissatisfaction to the
British Court, and keeping alive an alterca
tion on the subject, till events should decide
whether it is most expedient to accept their
apologies, or profit of the aggression as a
cause of war. — To GENERAL WASHINGTON.
vii, 510. FORD ED., v, 239. (1790.)
— AMALGAMATION OF PARTIES.—
See PARTIES.
- AMBASSADORS.— See MINISTERS.
333. AMBITION, Defeating.— The minds
of the people at large should be illuminated,
as far as practicable, * * * that they may be
enabled to know ambition under all its shapes,
and prompt to exert their natural powers to
defeat its purposes. — DIFFUSION OF KNOWL
EDGE BILL. FORD ED., ii, 221. (1779.)
334. AMBITION, Eradicated.— Before I
ventured to declare to my countrymen my de
termination to retire from public employment,
I examined well my heart to know whether it
were thoroughly cured of every principle of
political ambition, whether no lurking par
ticle remained which might leave me uneasy,
when reduced within the limits of mere pri
vate life. I became satisfied that every fibre
of that passion was thoroughly eradicated. —
To JAMES MONROE, i, 317. FORD ED., iii, 56.
(M., 1782.)
335. AMBITION, Family.— I feel no
impulse from personal ambition to the office
now proposed to me, but on account of your
self and your sister and those dear to you. —
To MARY JEFFERSON EPPES. D. L. J. 274.
(W., Feb. 1801.)
336. AMBITION, Government and.— I
have no ambition to govern men; no passion
which would lead me to delight to ride in a
storm. — To EDWARD RUTLEDGE. iv, 152.
FORD ED., vii, 94. (M., 1796.)
337. . I have no ambition to
govern men. It is a painful and thankless of
fice. — To JOHN ADAMS, iv, 154. FORD ED.,
vii, 98. (M., 1796.)
338. . I have no inclination to
govern men. I should have no views of my
own in doing it ; and as to those of the gov
erned, I had rather that their disappointment
(which must always happen) should be
pointed to any other cause, real or supposed,
than to myself. — To MR. VOLNEY. iv, 158.
(M., 1797.)
339. AMBITION, Lost.— The little spice
of ambition which I had in my younger days
has long since evaporated, and I set still 'less
store by a posthumous than present name. —
To JAMES MADISON, iv, 117. FORD ED., vii,
10. (M., April 1795.)
340. AMENDMENTS TO CONSTITU
TION, First.— Congress were to proceed
about the ist of June to propose amendments
to the new Constitution. The principal would
be, the annexing a declaration of rights to
satisfy the mind of all on the subject of their
liberties. — To WILLIAM CARMICHAEL. iii, 89.
(P., Aug. 1789.) See CONSTITUTION (FED
ERAL. )
341. AMERICA, Europe and.— The Eu
ropean nations constitute a separate division
of the globe ; their treaties make them part of
a distinct system ; they have a set of interests
of their own in which it is our business never
to engage ourselves. America has a hemi
sphere to itself. It must have its separate
system of interests, which must not be sub
ordinated to those of Europe. The insulated
state in which nature has placed the American
continent, should so far avail it that no spark
of war kindled in the other quarters of the
globe should be wafted across the wide oceans
which separate us from them. And it will be
so. — To BARON VON HUMBOLDT. vi, 268.
FORD ED., ix, 431. (Dec. 1813.) See CANADA,
COLONIES. SOUTH AMERICA, UNITED STATES.
America
Ancestry
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
342. . Nothing is so important
as that America shall separate herself from
the systems of Europe, and establish one of
her own. Our circumstances, our pursuits,
our interests, are distinct; the principles of
our policy should be so also. All entangle
ments with that quarter of the globe should
be avoided if we mean that peace and justice
shall be the polar stars of the American socie
ties. * * * It would be a leading principle
with me had I longer to live. — To J. CORREA
DE SERRA. vii, 184. FORD ED., x, 164. (M.,
Oct. 1820.) See POLICY.
343. AMERICA, No Kings nor Emper
ors for. — I rejoice to learn that Iturbide is a
mere usurper, and slenderly supported. Al
though we have no right to intermeddle with
the form of government of other nations, yet
it is lawful to wish to see no emperors nor
kings in our hemisphere, and that Brazil as
well as Mexico will homologize with us. — To
JAMES MONROE. FORD ED., x, 244.
— AMERICA, South.— See SOUTH AMER
ICA.
— AMERICA, A Summary View of
the Rights of British America.— See AP
PENDIX.
— AMERICAN REVOLUTION.— See
REVOLUTION.
344. AMERICUS VESPUCCIUS, Pic
ture of. — I have sent to Florence for pictures
of Columbus (if it exists), of Americus Ves-
puccius, Magellan, &c. — To WILLIAM S. SMITH.
FORD ED., v, 2. (P., 1788.)
345. ANARCHY, Averted.— Much has
been gained by the new [Federal] Constitu
tion, for the former was terminating in an
archy, as necessarily consequent to ineffi
ciency. — To GEORGE MASON, iii, 148. FORD
ED., v, 183. (N. Y., 1790.)
346. ANARCHY, Fatal.— Our falling
into anarchy would decide forever the desti
nies of mankind, and seal the political heresy
that man is incapable of self-government. —
To JOHN HOLLINS. v, 597. (M., 1811.)
347. ANARCHY, Imputed.— From the
London gazettes and the papers copying
them, you are led to suppose that all in
America is anarchy, discontent and civil war.
Nothing, however, is less true. There are not
on the face of the earth more tranquil gov
ernments than ours, nor a happier and more
contented people.— To BARON GEISMER. i,
427. (R, 1785.)
348. . Wonderful is the effect of
impudent and persevering lying. The Brit
ish ministry have so long hired their gazet
teers to repeat, and model into every form,
lies about our being in anarchy, that the
world has at length believed them, * * *
and what is more wonderful, we have be
lieved them ourselves. Yet where does this
anarchy exist? Where did it ever exist, ex
cept in the single instance of Massachusetts?
And can history produce one instance of
rebellion so honorably conducted? — To W. S.
SMITH, ii, 318. FORD ED., iv, 466. (P., 1787.)
349. ANARCHY, Suppress.— Let this be
the distinctive mark of an American that, in
cases of commotion, he enlists himself under
no man's banner, inquires for no man's name,
but repairs to the standard of the laws. Do
this and you need never fear anarchy or
tyranny. Your government will be perpet
ual— FROM JEFFERSON'S Mss. FORD ED., viii,
i. (1801?)
350. ANATOMY, Knowledge of.— No
knowledge can be more satisfactory to a man
than that of his own frame, its parts, their
functions and actions. — To THOMAS COOPER.
vi, 390. (M., 1814.)
351. . I have just received * * *
two volumes of Comparative Anatomy by
Cuvier, probably the greatest work in that line
that has ever appeared. His comparisons em
brace every organ of the animal carcass ; and
from man to the rotifer. — To DR. BENJAMIN
RUSH, iv, 385. FORD ED., viii, 33. (W., 1801.)
352. ANCESTORS, Practices of.— I am
not bigotted to the practices of our fore
fathers. It is that bigotry which keeps the
Indians in a state of barbarism in the midst
ot the arts, would have kept us in the same
state even now, and still keeps Connecticut
where their ancestors were when they landed
on these shores. — To ROBERT FULTON, v, 516.
(M., 1810.)
353. ANCESTORS, Regimen of.— We
might as well require a man to wear still the
coat which fitted him when a boy, as civil
ized society to remain ever under the regimen
of their barbarous ancestors. — To SAMUEL
KERCHIVAL. vii, 15. FORD ED., x, 43. (M.,
1816.)
354. ANCESTRY, Equality vs.— The
foundation on which all [our constitutions]
are built, is the natural equality of man, the
denial of every pre-eminence but that an
nexed to legal office and, particularly, the de
nial of a pre-eminence by birth. — To GENERAL
WASHINGTON, i, 334. FORD ED., iii, 466. (A.,
1784.)
355. ANCESTRY, Thomas Jefferson's.
— The tradition in my father's family was that
their ancestor came to this country from Wales,
and from near the mountain of Snowdon, the
highest in Great Britain. I noted once a case
from Wales, in the law reports, where a person
of our name was either plaintiff or defendant ;
and one of the same name was secretary to the
Virginia Company.* These are the only in
stances in which I have met with the name in
that country. I have found it in our early
records ; but the first particular information I
have of any ancestor was of my grandfather,
who lived at the place in Chesterfield called
Ozborne's, and owned the lands afterwards the
glebe of the parish. He had three sons :
Thomas who died young, Field who settled on
the waters of Roanoke and left numerous de
scendants, and Peter, my father, who settled on
the lands I still own, called Shadwell, adjoining
my present residence. He was born February
* No Jefferson was ever Secretary of the Virginia
Company, but John Jefferson was a member of the
Company. He came to Virginia in the Bona Nova,
in 1619.— NOTE IN FORD'S EDITION OF JEFFERSON'S
WRITINGS.
37
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Angels
Animosities
29, 1707-8, and intermarried 1739. with Jane
Randolph, of the age of 19, daughter of Isham
Randolph, one of the seven sons of that name
and family, settled at Dungeoness in Gooch-
land. They trace their pedigree far back in
England and Scotland, to which let every one
ascribe the faith and merit he chooses. — AUTO
BIOGRAPHY, i, i. FORD ED., i, i. (1831.)
356. ANGELS, Kings as.-— Have we
found angels in the form of kings to govern
him?— FIRST INAUGURAL ADDRESS, viii, 3.
FORD ED., viii, 3. (1801.)
857. ANGEB, Control over.— When an
gry, count ten before you speak; if very an
gry, an hundred. — To THOMAS JEFFERSON
SMITH, vii, 402. FORD ED., x, 341. (M., 1825.)
358. ANGLOMANIA, Danger in.— I
fear nothing for our liberty from the assaults
of force ; but I have seen and felt much, and
fear more from English books, English preju
dices, English manners, and the apes, the
dupes, and designs among our professional
crafts. When I look around me for security
against these seductions, I find it in the wide
spread of our agricultural citizens, in their
unsophisticated minds, their independence
and their power, if called on, to crush the
Humists [Tories] of our cities, and to main
tain the principles which severed us from
England. — To HORATIO G. SPAFFORD. vi, 335.
(M., 1814.)
359. ANGLOMANIA, Eradicate.— The
eradication of English partialities is one of
the most consoling expectations from the war.
— To WILLIAM DUANE. vi, 76. FORD ED., ix,
366. (M., Aug. 1812.)
360. ANGLOMANIA, Politics and.—
The Anglicism of 1808, against which we are
now struggling, is but the same thing [as the
Toryism of 1777 and the Federalism of 1799]
in still another form. It is a longing for a
king, and an English King rather than any
other. — To JOHN LANGDON. v, 512. (M.,
1810.)
361. . Anglomany, monarchy,
and separation are the principles of the Es
sex federalists. Anglomany and monarchy,
those of the Hamiltonians, and Anglomany
alone, that of the portion of the people who
call themselves federalists.— To JOHN MEL-
ISH. vi, 96. FORD ED., ix, 375. (M., 1813.)
362. ANGLOMANIA, Servile.— I wish
any events could induce us to cease to copy
such a model, [the British government,] and
to assume the dignity of being original. They
had their paper system, stockjobbing, specu
lations, public debt, moneyed interest, &c.,
and all this was contrived for us. They
raised their cry against jacobinism and revo
lutionists, we against democratic societies and
anti-federalists ; their alarmists sounded in
surrection, ours marched an army to look for
one, but they could not find it. I wish the par
allel may stop here, and that we may avoid,
instead of imitating, a general bankruptcy
and disastrous war. — To HORATIO GATES, iv,
178. FORD ED., vii, 130. (Pa., 1797.)
363. ANGLOPHOBIA, Washington's
Cabinet and.— The Anglophobia has seized
violently on three members of our council.
This sets almost every day on questions of
neutrality. * * * Everything hangs upon
the opinion of a single person [Edmund
Randolph], and that the most indecisive one
I ever had to do business with. He always
contrives to agree in principle with one but
in conclusion with the other. Anglophobia,
secret Anti-Gallomany, a federalisme outree
and a present ease in his circumstances not
usual, have decided the complexion of our
dispositions, and our proceedings towards the
conspirators against human liberty, and the
asserters of it, which is unjustifiable in prin
ciple, in interest, and in respect to the wishes
of our constituents. — To JAMES MADISON, iii,
556. FORD ED., vi, 250. (May 1793.)
ANGLO-SAXON LANGUAGE.— See
LANGUAGES.
— ANIMALS, Do they Degenerate in
America P — See BUFFON.
364. ANIMOSITIES, Individual.— The
great cause which divides our countries is
not to be decided by individual animosities.
The harmony of private societies cannot
weaken national efforts. To contribute by
neighborly intercourse and attention to make
others happy, is the shortest and surest way
of being happy ourselves. As these senti
ments seem to have directed your conduct,
we should be as unwise as illiberal, were we
not to preserve the same temper of mind. —
To GEN. WILLIAM PHILLIPS. D. L. JM 53.
(I779-)
865. ANIMOSITIES, National.— The
animosities of sovereigns are temporary, and
may be allayed; but those which seize the
whole body of a people, and of a people, too,
who dictate their own measures, produce ca
lamities of long duration.* — To C. W. F.
DUMAS, i, 553. (P., 1786.)
366. ANIMOSITIES, Political.— Party
animosities here have raised a wall of separa
tion between those who differ in political sen
timents. They must love misery indeed who
would rather, at the sight of an honest man,
feel the torment of hatred and aversion than
the benign spasms of benevolence and esteem.
—To MRS. CHURCH. FORD ED., vi, 116. (Pa.,
Oct. 1792.)
367. . While I cherish with feel
ing the recollections of my friends, I banish
from my mind all political animosities which
might disturb its tranquillity, or the happi
ness I derive from my present pursuits. — To
WILLIAM DUANE. v, 532. (M., 1810.)
368. ANIMOSITIES, Rekindling.—
Peace with all the world, and a quiet descent
through the remainder of my time, are now
so necessary to my happiness that I am un
willing, by the expression of any opinion be
fore the public, to rekindle ancient animosi-
* Jefferson was describing the " hatred " of Amer
ica by the English people.— EDITOR.
Annapolis
Anti-Federalists
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
ties, covered under their ashes indeed, but
not extinguished. — To GEORGE HAY. FORD ED.,
x, 265. (M., 1823.)
_ ANNAPOLIS (FEDERAL) CON
VENTION.— See CONVENTION.
— ANNEXATION OF TERRITORY.
— See TERRITORY.
369. ANNUITIES, Government Loans
and. — Annuities for single lives are also be
yond our powers, because the single life may
pass the term of a generation. This last prac
tice is objectionable too, as encouraging ce
libacy, and the disinherison of heirs. — To J.
W. EPPES. vi, 198. FORD ED., ix, 397.. (P. F.,
1813.) See GENERATIONS.
370. ANONYMOUS WRITING, News
paper. — I never did in my life, either by my
self or by any other, have a sentence of mine
inserted in a newspaper without putting my
name to it ; and I believe I never shall. — To
JOHN ADAMS, iii, 272. FORD ED., v, 35*5. (Pa.,
1791.)
371. ANTI-FEDERALISTS, Jefferson
and. — You say that I have been dished up to
you as an anti-federalist, and ask me if it be
just. My opinion was never worthy enough
of notice to merit citing; but since you ask
it, I will tell it to you. I am not a federalist,
because I never, submitted the whole system
of my opinions to the creed of any party of
men whatever, in religion, in philosophy, in
politics, or in anything else, where I was ca
pable of thinking for myself. Such an ad
diction is the last degradation of a free and
moral agent. If I could not go to heaven but
with a party, I would not go there at all.
Therefore, I am not of the party of federal
ists. But I am much farther from that of the
anti-federalists. I approved from the first
moment of the great mass of what is in the
new Constitution; the consolidation of the
government ; the organization into executive,
legislative and judiciary; the subdivision of
the legislative; the happy compromise of in
terests between the great and little States, by
the different manner of voting in the different
Houses; the voting by persons instead of
States ; the qualified negative on laws given to
the Executive, which, however, I should have
liked better if associated with the judiciary
also, as in New York ; and the power of taxa
tion. I thought at first that the latter might
have been limited. A little reflection soon con
vinced me it ought not to be. What I disap
proved from the first moment also, was the
want of a bill of rights, to guard liberty
against the legislative as well as the execu
tive branches of the government ; that is to
say, to secure freedom in religion, freedom of
the press, freedom from monopolies, freedom
from unlawful imprisonment, freedom from
a permanent military, and a trial by jury in
all cases determinable by the laws of the land.
I disapproved also the perpetual re-eligibility
of the President. To these points of disap
probation I adhere. My first wish was that
the nine first conventions might accept the
Constitution, as the means of securing to us
the great mass of good it contained, and that
the four last might reject it, as the means of
obtaining amendments. But I was corrected
in this wish the moment I saw the much bet
ter plan of Massachusetts, and which had
never occurred to me. With respect to the
declaration of rights, I suppose the majority
of the United States are of my opinion; for
I apprehend all the anti-federalists and a very
respectable proportion of the federalists think
that such a declaration should now be
annexed. The enlightened part of Europe
have given us the greatest credit for in
venting this instrument of security for
the rights of the people, and have been
not a little surprised to see us so soon
give it up. With respect to the re-
eligibility of the President, I find myself dif
fering from the majority of my countrymen;
for I think there are but three States out of
the eleven which have desired an alteration of
this. And, indeed, since the thing is estab
lished, I would wish it not to be altered dur
ing the life of our great leader, whose execu
tive talents are superior to those, I believe,
of any man in the world, and who, alone, by
the authority of his name and the confidence
reposed in his perfect integrity, is fully quali
fied to put the new government so under way,
as to secure it against the efforts of opposi
tion. But, having derived from our error all
the good there was in it, I hope we shall cor
rect it, the moment we can no longer have
the same name at the helm. These are my
sentiments, by which you will see I was right
in saying I am neither federalist nor anti-
federalist ; that I am of neither party, nor
yet a trimmer between parties. These, my
opinions, I wrote within a few hours after I
had read the Constitution, to one or two
friends in America. I had not then read one
single word printed on the subject. I never
had an opinion in politics or religion which I
was afraid to own. A costive reserve on these
subjects might have procured me more esteem
from some people, but less from myself. My
great wish is to go on in a strict but silent
performance of my duty; to avoid attracting
notice, and to keep my name out of newspa
pers, because I find the pain of a little cen
sure, even when it is unfounded, is more
acute than the pleasure of much praise. The
attaching circumstance of my present office
[Minister] is that I can do its duties unseen
by those for whom they are done. — To F.
HOPKINSON. ii, 585. FORD ED., v, 75. (P.,
March 13, 1789.)
372. ANTI-FEDERALISTS, Malevo
lence of. — Anti-federalism is not yet dead in
this country. The gentlemen who opposed
the new Constitution retain a good deal of
malevolence towards the new government.
Henry is its avowed foe. — To WILLIAM
SHORT. FORD ED., v, 136. (Ep., Dec. 1789.)
373. ANTI-FEDERALISTS, Over
thrown. — The opposition to our new Con
stitution has almost totally disappeared.
Some few indeed had gone such lengths in
their declarations of hostility that they feel it
39
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Antiquities
Apportionment Ratio
awkward perhaps to come over; but the
amendments proposed by Congress have
brought over almost all their followers. * * *
The little vautrien, Rhode Island, will come
over with a little more time. — To MARQUIS
LAFAYETTE, iii, 132. FORD ED., v, 152. (N. Y.,
April 1790.)
374. ANTIQUITIES, American.— I thank
you for the extract of the letter * * * on
the antiquities found in the western country.
I wish that the persons who go thither would
make very exact descriptions of what they see
of that kind, without forming any theories. The
moment a person forms a theory, his imagina
tion sees, in every object, only the traits which
favor that theory. But it is too early to form
theories on those antiquities. We must wait
with patience till more facts are collected. I
wish your Philosophical Society would collect
exact descriptions of the several monuments as
yet known, and insert them naked in their
Transactions. Patience and observation may
enable us in time, to solve the problem, whether
those who formed the scattering monuments in
our western country, were colonies sent off
from Mexico, or the founders of Mexico itself?
Whether both were the descendants or the
progenitors of the Asiatic red men. — To
CHARLES THOMSON, ii, 276. (Pa., 1787.)
375. ANTIQUITIES, Roman.— From
Lyons to Nismes I have been nourished with
the remains of Roman grandeur. * * * At
Vienne, the Praetorian Palace, as it is called,
comparable, for its fine proportions, to the
Maison quarree, defaced by the barbarians who
have converted it to its present purpose, its
beautiful fluted Corinthian columns cut out, in
part, to make space for Gothic windows, and
hewed down, in the residue, to the plane of the
building, was enough * * * to disturb my
composure. At Orange, I thought of you. I was
sure you had seen with pleasure the sublime
triumphal arch of Marius at the entrance of the
city. I went then to the Arenae. Would you be
lieve that in this eighteenth century, in France,,
under the reign of Louis XVI., they are at
this moment pulling down the circular wall of
this superb remain, to pave a road ? And that,
too, from a hill which is itself an entire mass of
stone, just as fit, and more accessible. * * *
I thought of you again * * * at the Pont
du Card, a sublime antiquity, and well-pre
served ; but most of all here [Nismes], whose
Roman taste, genius and magnificence excite
ideas analogous to yours at every step. * * *
You will not expect news. Were I to attempt
to give it, I should tell you stories one thousand
years old. I should detail to you the intrigues
of the courts of the Caesars, how they affect us
here, the oppressions of their praetors, prefects,
&c. I am immersed in antiquities from morn
ing to night. For me, the city of Rome is
actually existing in all the splendor of its em
pire. I am filled with alarms for the event of
the irruptions darly mak'ng on us, by the Goths,
the Visigoths, Ostrogoths, and Vandals, lest
they should reconquer us to our original bar
barism. — To LA COMTESSE DE TESSE. ii, 132.
(N., 1787.)
_ ANTOINETTE, MARIE.— See MARIE
ANTOINETTE.
376. APOSTASY, Defined.— It is to be
considered as apostasy only when they
[schismatizing republicans] purchase the
votes of federalists with a participation in
honor and power. — To THOMAS COOPER, v,
121. FORD ED., ix, 102. (W., 1807.)
377. APOSTASY, Punished.— As to the
effect of Mr. [Patrick] Henry's name among
the people, I have found it crumble like a
dried leaf, the moment they became satisfied
of his apostasy. — To TENCH COXE. FORD ED.,
vii, 381. (M., 1799.)
378. APPLAUSE, Courting.— I am not
reconciled to the idea of a Chief Magistrate
parading himself through the several States,
as an object of public gaze, and in quest of
applause which, to be valuable, should be
purely voluntary. 1 had rather acquire silent
good will by a faithful discharge of my du
ties, than owe expressions of it to my putting
myself in the way of receiving them. — To
JAMES SULLIVAN, v, 102. FORD ED., ix, 77.
(W., 1807.)
379. APPLAUSE, Deserve.— Go on de
serving applause, and you will be sure to
meet with it : and the way to deserve it is to
be good, and to be industrious. — To J. W.
EPPES. ii, 192. (P., 1787.)
380. APPOINTMENT, The Power of.—
The Constitution, having declared that the
President shall nominate and, by and with
the advice and consent of the Senate, shall
appoint ambassadors, other public ministers,
and consuls * * * has taken care to cir
cumscribe this [power] within very strict
limits : for it gives the nomination of the for
eign agents to the President, the appoint
ments to him and the Senate jointly, and the
commissioning to the President. This analy
sis calls our attention to the strict import of
each term. To nominate must be to propose.
Appointment seems that act of the will which
constitutes or makes the agent, and the com
mission is the public evidence of it. — OPINION
ON POWERS OF SENATE, vii, 465. FORD ED.,
v, 161. (1790.)
— APPOINTMENTS TO OFFICE.— See
OFFICE.
381. APPOBTIONMENT, Basis of.—
The number of Representatives for each
county, or borough, shall be so proportioned
to the number of its qualified electors, that
the whole number of representatives shall not
exceed 300, nor be less than 125. For the
present there shall be one representative for
every — qualified electors in each county or
borough; but whenever this, or any future
proportion, shall be likely to exceed or fall
short of the limits before mentioned, it shall
be again adjusted by the House of Repre
sentatives. — PROPOSED VA. CONSTITUTION.
FORD ED., ii, 15. (June 1776.)
382. APPORTIONMENT RATIO, Arbi
trary. — If the [ratio of] representation [is]
obtained by any process not prescribed in the
Constitution, it becomes arbitrary and inad
missible. — OPINION ON APPORTIONMENT BILL.
vii, 595- FORD ED., v, 494. (1792.)
383. APPORTIONMENT RATIO, Com
mon.— The Constitution has declared that
representatives and direct taxes shall be ap
portioned among the several States according
to their respective numbers. * * * That
Apportionment Ratio THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
40
is to say. they shall be apportioned by some
common ratio — for proportion and ratio are
equivalent words ; and in the definition of
proportion among numbers, that they have a
ratio common to all, or in other words, a
common divisor. — OPINION ON APPORTION
MENT BILL, vii, 594. FORD ED., v, 493. (April
1792.)
384. APPORTIONMENT RATIO, Frac
tions and.— It will be said that, though, for
taxes there may always be found a divisor
which will apportion them among the States
according to numbers exactly, without leav
ing any remainder, yet, for representatives,
there can be no such common ratio, or di
visor, which, applied to the several numbers,
will divide them exactly, without a remainder
or fraction. I answer, then, that taxes must
be divided exactly, and representatives as
nearly as the nearest ratio will admit; and
the fractions must be neglected, because the
Constitution calls absolutely that there be an
apportionment or common ratio, and if any
fractions result from the operation, it has left
them unprovided for. In fact it could not but
foresee that such fractions would result, and
it meant to submit to them. It knew they
would be in favor of one part of the Union at
one time, and of another at another, so as,
in the end, to balance occasional irregularities.
— OPINION ON APPORTIONMENT BILL, vii, 596.
FORD ED., v, 495. ,(1792.)
385. APPORTIONMENT RATIO, Near
est Common. — The phrase [of the Constitu
tion] that " the number of representatives
shall not exceed one for every 30,000,"
is violated by this bill which has given
to eight States a number exceeding one
for every, 30,000, to wit, one for every
27.770. In answer to this, it is said
that this phrase may mean either the
30,000 in each State, or the 30,000 in the
whole Union, and that in the latter case it
serves only to find the amount of the whole
representation ; which, in the present state of
population, is 120 members. Suppose the
phrase might bear both meanings, which will
common sense apply to it? Which did the
universal understanding of our country apply
to it? Which did the Senate and Representa
tives apply to it during the pendency of the
first bill, and even till an advanced stage of
this second bill, when an ingenious gentleman
found out the doctrine of fractions, a doctrine
so difficult and inobvious, as to be rejected at
first sight by the very persons who afterwards
became its most zealous advocates? The
phrase stands in the midst of a number of
others, every one of which relates to States in
their separate capacity. Will not plain com
mon sense, then, understand it, like the rest
of its context, to relate to States in their sep
arate capacities? But if the phrase of one for
30,000 is only meant to give the aggregate of
representatives, and not at all to influence
their apportionment among the States, then
the 120 being once found, in order to appor
tion them, we must recur to the former rule
which does it according to the numbers of
the respective States; and we must take the
nearest common divisor, as the ratio of dis
tribution, that is to say, that divisor which,
applied to every State, gives to them such
numbers as, added together, come nearest to
120. This nearest common ratio will be found
to be 28,058, and will distribute 119 of the 120
members leaving only a single residuary one.
It will be found, too, to place 96,648 frac
tional numbers in the eight northernmost
States, and 105,582 in the seven southern
most * * * Whatever may have been
the intention, the effect of neglecting the
nearest divisor (which leaves but one residu
ary member), and adopting a distant one
(which leaves eight), is merely to take a
member from New York and Pennsylvania,
each, ami give them to Vermont and New
Hampshire. But, it will be said, this is giving
more than one for 30,000. True, but has it
not been just said that the one for 30,000 is
prescribed only to fix the aggregate number,
and that we are not to mind it when we come
to apportion them among the States? That
for this we must recur to the former rule
which distributes them according to the num
bers in each State? Besides does not the bill
itself apportion among seven of the States
by the ratio of 27,770? which is much more
than one for 30,000. — OPINION ON APPORTION
MENT BILL, vii, 597. FORD EDV v, 496. (1702.)
386. APPORTIONMENT RATIO, Two
Divisors. — Instead of such a single common
ratio, or uniform divisor, as prescribed by the
Constitution, the bill has applied two ratios,
at least, to the different States, to wit, that
of 30,026 to the seven following: Rhode
Island, New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland,
Virginia, Kentucky, and Georgia ; and that of
27,770 to the eight others, namely: Vermont,
New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut,
New Jersey, Delaware, North Carolina, and
South Carolina. * * * And if two ra
tios be applied, then fifteen may. and the dis
tribution become arbitrary, instead of being
apportioned to numbers. Another member of
the clause of the Constitution * * * says
" The number of representatives shall not ex
ceed one for every 30,000, but each State shall
have at least one representative." This last
phrase proves that it had no contemplation
that all fractions, or numbers below the com
mon ratio were to be unrepresented; and it
provides especially that in the case of a State
whose whole number shall be below the com
mon ratio, one representative shall be given
to it. This is the single instance where it al
lows representation to any smaller number
than the common ratio, and by providing es
pecially for it in this, shows it was under
stood that, without special provision, the
smaller number would in this case, be in
volved in the general principle. — OPINION ON
APPORTIONMENT BILL, vii, 596. FORD ED., v,
495. (1792.)
387. APPORTIONMENT RATIO, Sur
plus Members. — Where a phrase is suscepti
ble of two meanings, we ought certainly to
adopt that which will bring upon us the few
est inconveniences. Let us weigh those re
sulting from both constructions. From that
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Apportionment Ratio
Apportionment Bill
giving to each State a member for every
30,000 in that State results the single incon
venience that there may be large portions un
represented, but it being a mere hazard on
which State this will fall, hazard will equalize
it in the long run. From the others result ex
actly the same inconvenience. A thousand
cases may be imagined to prove it. Take
one. Suppose eight of the States had 45,000
inhabitants each, and the other seven 44.999
each, that is to say, each one less than each of
the others. The aggregate would be 674,993,
and the number of representatives at one for
30,000 of the aggregate, would be 22. Then,
alter giving one member to each State, dis
tribute the seven residuary members among
the seven highest fractions, and though the
difference of population be only an unit, the
representation would be double. * * *
Here a single inhabitant the more would
count as 30,000. Nor is this case imaginable
only, it will resemble the real one whenever
the fractions happen to be pretty equal
through the whole States. The numbers of
our census happen by accident to give the
fractions all very small, or very great, so as
to produce the strongest case of inequality
that could possibly have occurred, and which
may never occur again. The probability is
that the fractions will descend gradually
from 29,999 to i. The inconvenience, then,
of large unrepresented fractions attends both
constructions ; and while the most obvious
construction is liable to no other, that of the
bill incurs many and grievous ones. i. If
you permit the large fraction in one State to
choose a representative for one of the small
fractions in another State, you take from the
latter its election, which constitutes real rep
resentation, and substitute a virtual represen
tation of the disfranchised fractions. * * *
2. The bill does not say that it has given the
residuary representatives to the greatest frac
tion: though in fact it has done so. It seems
to have avoided establishing that into a rule,
lest it might not suit on another occasion.
Perhaps it may be found the next time more
convenient to distribute them among the
smaller States; at another time among the
larger States; at other times according to any
other crotchet which ingenuity may invent,
and the combinations of the day give strength
to carry ; or they may do it arbitrarily by open
bargains and cabal. In short, this construction
introduces into Congress a scramble, or a
vendue for the surplus members. It gener
ates waste of time, hot blood, and may at
some time, when the passions are high, ex
tend a disagreement between the two Houses,
to the perpetual loss of the thing, as happens
now in the Pennsylvania Assembly ; whereas
the other construction reduces the apportion
ment always to an arithmetical operation,
about which no two men can ever possibly
differ. 3. It leaves in full force the violation
of the precept which declares that representa
tives shall be apportioned among the States
according to their numbers i. e., by some com
mon ratio. — OPINION ON APPORTIONMENT
BILL, vii, 599. FORD ED., v, 498. (1792.)
388. APPORTIONMENT RATIO,
Tricks in. — No invasions of the Constitution
are fundamentally so dangerous as the tricks
played on their own numbers, apportionment,
and other circumstances respecting them
selves, and affecting their legal qualifica
tions to legislate for the Union. — OPINION ON
APPORTIONMENT BILL, vii, 601. FORD ED., v,
500. (1792.)
389. APPORTIONMENT BILL, Oppo
sition to. — The ground of the opposition to
the apportionment bill has been founded on
the discovery that the ratio of 30,000 gave
smaller fractions to the southern than to the
eastern States, and to prevent this a variety
of propositions have been made, among which
is the following : To apply the ratio of 30,000
to the aggregate population of the Union (not
that of the individual States) which will give
120 members, and then apportion those mem
bers among the several States by as many
different ratios as there are States ; or to the
population of each State, giving them one for
every 30,000 as far as it will go, making 112,
and then distribute the remaining eight members
among those States having the highest fractions
of which 5 will be given to the States east
of this [Pennsylvania]. * * * The effect of
this principle must be deemed a very perni
cious one, and in my opinion [is a] subversion
of that contained in the Constitution, which
in the 3d paragraph of the 2d Section, first
Article, founds the representation on the
population of each State, in terms as explicit
as it could well have been done. Besides it
takes the fractions of some States to supply
the deficiency of others, and thus makes the
people of Georgia the instrument of giving
a member to New Hampshire. * * * On our
part, the principle will never be yielded, for
when such obvious encroachments are made on
the plain meaning of the Constitution, the bond
of Union ceases to be the equal measure of
justice to all its parts. On theirs, a very per
severing firmness is likewise observed. They
appear to me to play a hazardous game. The
government secures them many important bless
ings, all those which it gives to us and many
more, and yet with these they seem not to be
satisfied. — To ARCHIBALD STUART. FORD ED.,
v, 453. (Pa., March 1792.)
390. APPORTIONMENT BILL, Veto of
Advised. — Viewing this bill either as a
violation of the Constitution, or as giving an
inconvenient exposition of its words, is it a
case wherein the President ought to interpose
his negative? I think it is. * * * The
majorities by which this bill has been carried
(to wit: of one in the Senate and two in the
Representatives) show how divided the opin
ions were there. The whole of both Houses
admit the Constitution will bear the other ex
position, whereas the minorities in both deny
it will bear that of the bill. The application
of any one ratio is intelligible to the people
and will, therefore, be approved, whereas the
complex operations of this bill will never be
comprehended by them, and though they may
acquiesce, they cannot approve what they do
not understand. — OPINION ON APPORTION
MENT BILL, vii, 601. FORD ED., v, 500. (1792.)
391. APPORTIONMENT BILL, Veto
Message. — The Constitution has prescribed
that representatives shall be apportioned
Apportionment Bill
Approbation
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
42
among the several States according to their
respective numbers ; and there is no one pro
portion or division which, applied to the re
spective numbers of the States, will yield the
number and allotment of representatives pro
posed by the bill. The Constitution has also
provided that the number of representatives
shall not exceed one for every thirty thou
sand, which restriction is by the contract, and
by fair and obvious construction, to be ap
plied to the separate and respective numbers
of the States; and the bill has allotted to
eight of the States more than one for thirty
thousand. — DRAFT FOR VETO MESSAGE. FORD
ED., v, 501. (April 1792.)
392. APPORTIONMENT BILL, His
tory of Veto.— The President [Washington]
* * * [referred] to the representation bill,
which he had now in his possession for the
tenth day. I had before given him my opinion
in writing, that the method of apportionment
was contrary to the Constitution. He agreed
that it was contrary to the common understand
ing of that instrument, and to what was under
stood at the time by the makers of it; that yet
it would bear the construction which the bill
put, and he observed that the vote for and
against the bill was perfectly geographical, a
northern against a southern vote, and he feared
he should be thought to be taking side with
a southern party. I admitted this motive of
delicacy, but that it should not induce him to do
wrong ; urged the dangers to which the
scramble for the fractionary members would
always lead. He here expressed his fear that
there would, ere long, be a separation of the
Union ; that the public mind seemed dissatis
fied and tending to this. He went home, sent
for Randolph, the Attorney General, desired
him to get Mr. Madison immediately and come
to me, and if we three concurred in opinion
that he should negative the bill, he desired to
hear nothing more about it, but that we would
draw the instrument for him to sign. They
came. Our minds had been before made up.
We drew the instrument. Randolph carried
it to him, and told him we all concurred in
it. He walked with him to the door, and
as if he still wished to get off, he said, J' and
you say you approve of this yourself. " " Yes,
Sir, " says Randolph, " I do upon my honor. "
He sent it to the House of Representatives
instantly. A few of the hottest friends of the
bill expressed passion, but the majority were
satisfied, and both in and out of doors, it gave
pleasure to have, at length, an instance^ of the
negative being exercised. — THE ANAS, ix, 115.
FORD ED., i, 192. April 1792.)
393. APPROBATION, Consolation in —
Though I have made up my mind not to
suffer calumny to disturb my tranquillity, yet
I retain all my sensibilities for the approba
tion of the good and just. That is, indeed,
the chief consolation for the hatred of so
many, who, without the least personal knowl
edge, and on the sacred evidence of " Por
cupine " and Fenno alone, cover me with their
implacable hatred. The only return I will
ever make to them will be to do them all the
good I can, in spite of their teeth. — To SAM
UEL SMITH, iv, 256. FORD ED., vii, 279. (M
1798.)
394. . I thank God for an op
portunity of retiring without censure, and
carrying with me the most consoling proofs of
public approbation. — To DUPONT DE NEM
OURS, v, 432. (W., 1809.)
395. APPROBATION OF THE DIS
CRIMINATING — With those who wish to
think amiss of me, I have learned to be per
fectly indifferent ; but where I know a mind to
be ingenuous, and to need only truth to set it
to rights, I cannot be as passive. — To MRS.
JOHN ADAMS, iv, 560. FORD ED., viii, 311.
(M., 1804.)
396. APPROBATION BY THE GOOD.
— To be praised by those who themselves
deserve all praise, is a gratification of high or
der. Their approbation who, having been high
in office themselves, have information and tal
ents to guide their judgment, is a consolation
deeply felt. A conscientious devotion to re
publican government, like charity in religion,
has obtained for me much indulgence from
my fellow citizens, and the aid of able coun
sellors has guided me through many diffi
culties. — To LARKIN SMITH, v, 441. (M.,
April 1809.)
397. APPROBATION. Intelligent.— It
has been a great happiness to me, to have re
ceived the approbation of so great a portion
of my fellow citizens, and particularly of
those who have opportunities of inquiring,
reading and deciding for themselves. — To C.
F. WELLES, v, 484. (M., 1809.)
398. APPROBATION, Legislative.— I
learn with pleasure the approbation, by the
General Assembly of Rhode Island, of the
principles declared by me [in the inaugural ad
dress] ; principles which flowed sincerely from
the heart and judgment, and which, with sin
cerity, will be pursued. While acting on them,
I ask only to be judged with truth and can
dor. — To THE RHODE ISLAND ASSEMBLY, iv,
397. (W., May 1801.)
399. . For the approbation which
the Legislature of Vermont has been pleased
to express of the principles and measures pur
sued in the management of their affairs, I am
sincerely thankful ; and should I be so for
tunate as to carry into retirement the equal
approbation and good will of my fellow citi
zens generally, it will be the comfort of my
future days, and will close a service of forty
years with the only reward it ever wished.* —
R. To A. VERMONT LEGISLATURE, viii, 121.
(1807.)
400. . The assurances of your
approbation, and that my conduct has given
satisfaction to my fellow citizens generally,
will be an important ingredient in my future
happiness.— R. To A. VIRGINIA ASSEMBLY.
viii, 148. (1809.)
401. APPROBATION OF NEIGHBORS.
— It is a sufficient happiness to me to know
that my fellow citizens of the country gen
erally entertain for me the kind sentiments
which have prompted this proposition [to
* To addresses from Georgia, New York, Mary
land, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island, received
about the same time, similar replies were sent—
EDITOR.
43
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Approbation
Appropriations
meet him on his way home] without giving
to so many the trouble of leaving their homes
to meet a single individual. I shall have op
portunities of taking them individually by the
hand at our court house and other public
places, and of exchanging assurances of mu
tual esteem. Certainly it is the greatest con
solation to me to know, that in returning to
the bosom of my native country, I shall be
again in the midst of their kind affections:
and I can say with truth that my return to
them will make me hapoier than I have been
since I left them.— To T. M. RANDOLPH, v,
431. FORD ED., ix, 247. (W., Feb. 1809.)
402. APPROBATION, Old friends and.
— The approbation of my ancient friends is,
above all things, the most grateful to my
heart. They know for what objects we re
linquished the delights of domestic society,
tranquillity and science, and committed our
selves to the ocean of revolution, to wear out
the only life God has given us here in scenes
the benefits of which will accrue only to
those who follow us. — To JOHN DICKINSON.
iv, 424. (W., 1801.)
403. APPROBATION, Popular.— The
approbation of my constituents is truly the
most valued reward for any services it has
fallen to my lot to render them — their con
fidence and esteem the greatest consolation of
my life.— R. To A. MASSACHUSETTS LEGISLA
TURE, viii, 116. (Feb. 1807.)
404. . In a virtuous and free
State, no rewards can be so pleasing to sen
sible minds, as those which include the ap
probation of our fellow citizens. — INAUGURA
TION SPEECH AS GOVERNOR. FORD ED., ii, 187.
(I779-)
405. APPROBATION, Principle and.—
Our part is to pursue with steadiness what is
right, turning neither to right nor left for the
intrigues or popular delusions of the day, as
sured that the public approbation will in the
end be with us.— To GENERAL BRECKENRIDGE.
vii, 238. (M., 1822.)
406. APPROBATION, Rewarded by.—
The approbation of my fellow citizens is the
richest reward I can receive. — To RICHARD
M. JOHNSON, v, 256. (W., 1808.)
407. . The approving voice of
pur fellow citizens, for endeavors to be useful,
is the greatest of all earthly rewards.* — R.
To A. NEW LONDON METHODISTS, viii, 147.
(1809.)
408. . If, in my retirement to
the humble station of a private citizen, I am
accompanied with the esteem and approbation
of my fellow citizens, trophies obtained by
the blood-stained steel, or the tattered flags
of the tented field, will never be envied. — R.
To A. MARYLAND REPUBLICANS, viii, 165.
(1809.)
409. APPROBATION, Right and.— I
have ever found in my progress through life,
* Jefferson retired with a reputation and popu
larity hardly inferior to that of Washington.— John
T. Morse, Jr., Life of Jefferson. 318.
that, acting for the public, if we do always
what is right, the approbation denied in the
beginning will surely follow us in the end.
It is from posterity we are to expect remu
neration for the sacrifices we are making for
their service, of time, quiet and good will. —
To JOSEPH C. CABELL. vii, 394. (M., 1825.)
410. APPROBATION, Undeserved.— I
have never claimed any other merit than
of good intentions, sensible that in the choice
of measures, error of judgment has too often
had its influence ; and that with whatever in
dulgence my countrymen * * * have been so
kind as to view my course, yet they would
certainly not know me in the picture here
drawn, and would, I fear, say in the words of
the poet, " praise undeserved is satire in dis
guise." Were, therefore, the piece to be pre
pared for the press, I should certainly entreat
you to revise that part with a severe eye. — To
AMELOT DE LA CROIX. v, 422. (W., 1809.)
411. APPROBATION BY THE VIRTU
OUS. — Sentiments of esteem from men of
worth, of reflection, and of pure attachment
to republican government, are my consolation
against the calumnies of which it has suited
certain writers to make me the object. Under
these I hope I shall never bend. — To HARRY
INNES. FORD ED., vii, 383. (M., 1799.)
412. APPROPRIATIONS, Borrowing
from. — There are funds sufficient and regu
larly appropriated to the fitting out [ships],
but for manning the proper funds are ex
hausted, consequently we must borrow from
other funds, and state the matter to Congress.
— ANAS. FORD ED., i, 308. (1805.)
413. APPROPRIATIONS, The Consti
tution and.— In the answer to Turreau, I
think it would be better to lay more stress on
the constitutional bar to our furnishing the
money, because it would apply in an occasion
of peace as well as war. I submit to you,
therefore, * * * the inserting, " but, in in
dulging these dispositions, the President is
bound to stop at the limits prescribed by our
Constitution and law to the authorities in his
hands. One of the limits is that ' no money
shall be drawn from the Treasury but in
consequence of appropriations made by law,'
and no law having made any appropriation of
money for any purpose similar to that ex
pressed in your letter, it lies, of course, be
yond his constitutional powers." — To JAMES
MADISON. FORD ED., viii, 474. (M., Sep.
1806.)
414. APPROPRIATIONS, Discretion
over. — The question whether the Berceau
was to be delivered up under the treaty was of
Executive cognizance entirely, and witnout
appeal. So was the question as to the con
dition in which she should be delivered. And
it is as much an invasion of its independence
for a coordinate branch to call for the reasons
of the decision, as it would be to call on the
Supreme Court for its reasons on any judi
ciary decision. If an appropriation were asked
the Legislature would have a right to ask
reasons. But in this case they had confided
Appropriations
Arbitration
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
44
an appropriation (for naval contingencies) to
the discretion of the Executive. Under this
appropriation our predecessors bought the
vessel (for there was no order of Congress
authorizing them to buy) and began her re
pairs; we completed them. I will not say
that a very gross abuse of discretion in a past
appropriation would not furnish ground to the
Legislature to take notice of it. In what form
is not now necessary to decide. But so far
from a gross abuse, the decision in this case
was correct, honorable and advantageous to
the nation. I cannot see to what legitimate ob
jects any resolution of the House on the sub
ject can lead; and if one is passed on ground
not legitimate, our duty will be to resist it. —
To WILLIAM B. GILES. FORD ED., viii, 142.
(April 1802.)
415. APPROPRIATIONS, Diverting.—
The diversion of the [French] money from
its legal appropriation offers a flaw against
the Executive which may place them in the
wrong. — To PRESIDENT WASHINGTON. FORD
ED., vi, 179. (I793-)
416. . If it should appear that
the Legislature has done their part in fur
nishing the money for the French nation, and
that the Executive departments have applied
it to other purposes, then it will certainly be
desirable that we get back on legal ground as
soon as possible, by pressing on the domestic
funds and availing ourselves of any proper
opportunity which may be furnished of re
placing the money to the foreign creditors.—
To PRESIDENT WASHINGTON. FORD ED., vi,
177- (I793-)
417. APPROPRIATIONS, Estimates
and. — I like your idea of kneading all Hamil
ton's little scraps and fragments into one
batch, and adding to it a complementary sum,
which, while it forms it into a single mass
from which everything is to be paid, will en
able us, should a breach of appropriation ever
be charged on us, to prove that the sum ap
propriated, and more, has been applied to its
specific object. — To ALBERT GALLATIN. iv,
428. FORD ED., viii, 140. (W., 1802.)
418. . Congress, aware that too
minute a specification has its evil as well as a
too general one, does not make the estimate
a part of their law, but gives a sum in gross,
trusting the Executive discretion for that
year, and that sum only; so in other depart
ments, as of War, for instance, the estimate
of the Secretary specifies all the items of
clothing, subsistence, pay, &c., of the army
And Congress throws this into such masses
as they think best, to wit, a sum in gross for
clothing, another for subsistence, a third for
pay, &c., binding up the Executive discretion
only by the sum, and the object generalized to
a certain degree. The minute details of th<
estimate are thus dispensed with in point o
obligation, and the discretion of the officer i
enlarged to the limits of the classification
which Congress thinks it best for the public
interest to make.— To ALBERT GALLATIN. iv
529. (1804.)
419. APPROPRIATIONS, Executive
power over. — The Executive * * * has the
lower, though not the right, to apply money
ontrary to its legal appropriations. Cases may
»e imagined, however, where it would be their
duty to do this. But they must be cases of
\vtreme necessity. The payment of interest
0 the domestic creditors has been mentioned
as one of the causes of diverting the foreign
und. But this is not an object of greater ne
cessity than that to which it was legally ap
propriated. It is taking the money from our
oreign creditors to pay it to the domestic
mes; a preference which neither justice,
gratitude, nor the estimation in which these
wo descriptions of creditors are held in this
country will justify. The payment of the
Army and the daily expenses of the govern
ment have been also mentioned as objects of
withdrawing this money. These indeed are
jressing objects, and might produce that de-
_ree of distressing necessity which would be
a justification. — To PRESIDENT WASHINGTON.
FORD ED., vi, 176. (Pa., 1793.)
420. APPROPRIATIONS, Expendi
tures and. — A violation of a law making ap
propriations of money, is a violation of that
section of the Constitution of the United
States which requires that no money shall be
drawn from the Treasury but in consequences
of appropriations made by law. — GILES
TREASURY RESOLUTIONS. FORD ED., vi, 168.
(I793-)
421. APPROPRIATIONS, Specific.— It
is essential to the due administration of the
government of the United States, that laws
making specific appropriations of money
should be strictly observed by the Secretary of
the Treasury thereof. — GILES TREASURY RES
OLUTIONS. FORD ED., vi, 168. (1793.)
422. . In our care of the public
contributions intrusted to our direction, it
would be prudent to multiply barriers against
their dissipation, by appropriating specific
sums to every specific purpose susceptible of
definition; by disallowing applications of
money varying from the appropriation in ob
ject, or transcending it in amount; by reduc
ing the undefined field of contingencies, and
thereby circumscribing discretionary powers
over money ; and by bringing back to a single
department all accountabilities for money
where the examination may be prompt, effica
cious, and uniform. — FIRST ANNUAL MES
SAGE, viii, 10. FORD ED., viii, 120. (Dec.
1801.) See MONEY BILLS.
423. ARBITRATION, Offer of.— As to
our dispute with Schweighauser and Dobree,
in the conversation I had with Dobree at
Nantes, he appeared to think so rationally on
the subject, that I thought there would be no
difficulty in accommodating it with him, and
1 wished rather to settle it by accommodation,
than to apply to the minister. I afterwards
had it intimated to him * * *, that I had it
in idea to propose a reference to arbitrators.
He expressed a cheerful concurrence in it. I
thereupon made the proposition to him for-
45
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Arbitration
Architecture
mally, by letter, mentioning particularly, that
we would choose our arbitrators of some neu
tral nation, and, of preference, from among
the Dutch refugees in Paris. I was surprised
to receive an answer from him, wherein, after
expressing his .own readiness to accede to this
proposition, he added, that on consulting with
Mr. Puchilberg, he had declined it. — To
JOHN JAY. ii, 496. (P., 1788.)
424. . I began by offering to
Schweighauser and Dobree an arbitration be
fore honest and judicious men of a neutral na
tion. They declined this, and had the modesty
to propose an arbitration before merchants of
their own tozvn. I gave them warning then,
that as the offer on the part of a sovereign na
tion to submit to a private arbitration was
an unusual cqndescendence, if they did not
accept them, it would not be repeated, and
that the United States would judge the case
for themselves hereafter. They continued to
decline it. — To WILLIAM SHORT. FORD ED., v,
365. (Pa., 1791.)
425. ARBORICULTURE, Coffee tree.—
Bartram is extremely anxious to get a large
supply of seeds of the Kentucky coffee tree.
I told him I would use all my interest with you
to obtain it, as I think I heard you say that
some neighbors of yours had a large number of
trees. Be so good as to take measures for
bringing a good quantity, if possible, to Bart
ram when you come to Congress. — To JAMES
MADISON, iii, 569. FORD ED., vi, 279. (1793.)
426. ARBORICULTURE, Cork Oak.— I
expect from the South of France some acorns
of the cork oak, which I propose for your so
ciety [Agricultural], as I am persuaded they
will succeed with you. I observed it to grow
in England without shelter, not well, indeed,
but so as to give hopes that it would do well
with you. — To WILLIAM DRAYTON. i, 555.
(P., 1786.)
427. . I sent you a parcel of
acorns of the cork oak by Colonel Franks. To
WILLIAM DRAYTON. ii, 202. (Pa., 1787.)
428. . I have been long endeav
oring to procure the cork tree from Europe,
but without success. A plant which I brought
with me from Paris died after languishing some
time, and of several parcels of acorns received
from a correspondent at Marseilles, not one
has ever vegetated. I shall continue my en
deavors, although disheartened by the non
chalance of our southern fellow citizens, with
whom alone they can thrive. — To JAMES
RONALDSON. Vi, 92. FORD ED., ix, 370. (M.,
Jan. 1813.)
429. ARBORICULTURE, Fruit trees.—
Should you be able to send me any plants of
good fruit, and especially of peaches and eating
grapes, they will be thankfully received. — To
PHILLIP MAZZEI. FORD ED., viii, 16. (W.,
March 1801.)
— ARBORICULTURE, the Olive.— See
OLIVE.
430. ARBORICULTURE, Pecan.-— The
pecan nut is, as you conjecture, the Illinois
nut. The former is the vulgar name south
of the Potomac, as also with the Indians and
Spaniards, and enters also into the botanical
name which is Juglano Paean. — To FRANCIS
HOPKINSON. ii, 74. (P., 1786.)
431. - — . Procure me two or three
hundred pecan nuts from the western country.
—To F. HOPKINSON. i, 506. (P., 1786.)
432. - — . I thank you for the pecan
nuts. — To JAMES MADISON, ii, 156. FORD ED.,
iv, 396. (P., 1787.)
433. ARBORICULTURE, Sensitive
Plant. — Your attention to one burthen I laid
on you, encourages me to remind you of
another, which is the sending me some of the
seeds of the Dionaa Muscipula, or Venus fly
trap, called also with you, I believe, the Sensi
tive Plant.— To MR. HAWKINS, ii, 3. (P.,
1786.)
434. ARBORICULTURE, Trees.— I send
a packet of the seeds of trees which I would
wish Anthony to sow in a large nursery, noting
well their names. — To NICHOLAS LEWIS. FORD
ED., iv, 344. (P., 1786.)
435. ARBORICULTURE, Vines.— I am
making a collection of vines for wine and for
the table.— To A. CAREY, i, 508. (P., 1786.)
436. ARCHITECTURE, Bad.— The gen
ius of architecture seems to have shed its
maledictions over this land [Virginia]. —
NOTES ON VIRGINIA, viii, 394. FORD ED., iii,
258. (1782.)
437. ARCHITECTURE, Beauty in.—
How is a taste in this beautiful art to be
formed in our countrymen unless we avail
ourselves of every occasion when public build
ings are to be erected, of presenting to them
models for their study and imitation? — To
JAMES MADISON, i, 433. (P., 1785.)
438. ARCHITECTURE, Brick, Stone,
Wood. — All we shall do in the way of ref
ormation will produce no permanent improve
ment to our country, while the unhappy prej
udice prevails that houses of brick or stone
are less wholesome than those of wood. A
dew is often observed on the walls of the for
mer in rainy weather, and the most obvious
solution is, that the rain has penetrated
through these walls. The following facts,
however, are sufficient to prove the error of
this solution : i. This dew on the walls ap
pears when there is no rain, if the state of the
atmosphere be moist. 2. It appears on the
partition as well as the exterior walls. 3.
So, also on pavements of brick or stone. 4.
It is more copious in proportion as the walls
are thicker ; the reverse of which ought to be
the case, if this hypothesis were just. If cold
water be poured into a vessel of stone, or
glass, a dew forms instantly on the outside;
but if it be poured into a vessel of wood, there
is no such appearance. It is not supposed, in
the first case, that the water has exuded
through the glass, but that it is precipitated
from the circumambient air; as the humid
particles of vapor, passing from the boiler of
an alembic through its refrigerant, are pre
cipitated from the air, in which they are sus
pended, on the internal surface of the refrig
erant. Walls of brick or stone act as the re
frigerant in this instance. They are suffi
ciently cold to condense and precipitate the
moisture suspended in the air of the room,
when it is heavily charged therewith. But
Architecture
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
46
walls of wood are not so. The question then
is, whether the air in which this moisture is
left floating, or that which is deprived of it,
be most wholesome? In both cases, the rem
edy is easy. A little fire kindled in the room,
whenever the air is damp, prevents the pre
cipitation on the walls; and this practice,
found healthy in the warmest as well as
coldest seasons, is as necessary in a wooden
as in a stone or brick house. I do not mean
to say, that the rain never penetrates through
walls of brick. On the contrary, I have seen
instances of it. But with us it is only through
the northern and eastern walls of the house,
after a north-easterly storm, these being the
only ones which continue long enough to
force through the walls. This, however, hap
pens too rarely to give a just character of
unwholesomeness to such houses. In a house,
the walls of which are of well-burnt brick and
good mortar, I have seen the rain penetrate
through but twice in a dozen or fifteen years.
The inhabitants of Europe, who dwell chiefly
in houses of stone or brick, are surely as
healthy as those of Virginia. These houses
have the advantage, too, of being warmer in
winter and cooler in summer than those of
wood ; of being cheaper in their first construc
tion, where lime is convenient, and infinitely
more durable. The latter consideration ren
ders it of great importance to eradicate this
prejudice from the minds of our countrymen.
A country whose buildings are of wood, can
never increase in its improvements to any
considerable degree. Their duration is highly
estimated at fifty years. Every half century
then our country becomes a tabula _ rasa,
whereon we have to set out anew, as in the
first moment of seating it. Whereas when
buildings are of durable materials, every new
edifice is an actual and permanent acquisition
to the State, adding to its value as well as
to its ornament. — NOTES ON VIRGINIA, viii,
395. FORD ED., iii, 258. (1782.)
439. ARCHITECTURE, Delight in.—
Architecture is my delight, and putting up
and pulling down, one of my favorite amuse
ments. — RAYNER'S LIFE OF JEFFERSON. 524.
440. ARCHITECTURE, Economy in.—
I have scribbled some general notes on the
plan of a house you enclosed. I have done
more. I have endeavored to throw the same
area, the same extent of walls, the same num
ber of rooms, and of the same sizes, into an
other form so as to offer a choice to the
builder. Indeed, I varied my plan by showing
what it would be with alcove bed rooms, to
which I am so much attached. — To JAMES
MADISON. FORD ED., vi, 259. (Pa., I793-)
441. ARCHITECTURE, English.— Eng
lish architecture is in the most wretched style
I ever saw, not meaning to except America,
where it is bad, nor even Virginia, where it is
worse than in any other part of America,
which I have seen.— To JOHN PAGE, i, 550.
FORD ED., iv, 214. (P., 1786.)
442. ARCHITECTURE, Fascination of.
— Here I am gazing whole hours at the
Maison quarree, like a lover at his mistress.
The stocking weavers and silk spinners
around it consider me a hypochondriac Eng
lishman, about to write with a pistol the last
chapter of his history. This is the second
time I have been in love since I left Paris.
The first was with a Diana at the Chateau de
Laye-Epinaye in Beaujolois, a delicious mor
sel of sculpture, by M. A. Slodtz. This, you
will say, was in rule, to fall in love with a
female beauty ; but with a house ! it is out of
all precedent. No, madame, it is not without
a precedent in my own history. While in
Paris I was violently smitten with the Hotel
de Salm, and used to go to the Tuileries al
most daily, to look at it— To MADAME LA
COMTESSE DE TESSE. ii, 131. (N., 1787.)
443. ARCHITECTURE, Faulty.— Build
ings are often erected, by individuals, of
considerable expense. To give these sym
metry and taste, would not increase their cost.
It would only change the arrangement of the
materials, the form and combination of the
members. This would often cost less than the
burden of barbarous ornaments with which
these buildings are sometimes charged. But
the first principles of the art are unknown,
and there exists scarcely a model among us
sufficiently chaste to give an idea of them. —
NOTES ON VIRGINIA, viii, 394. FORD ED., iii,
258. (1782.)
444. ARCHITECTURE, French.— Were
I to proceed to tell you how much I enjoy
French architecture * * * I should want
words. — To MR. BELLINI, i, 445. (P., 1785.)
445. ARCHITECTURE, Importance of.
— Architecture is worth great attention. As
we double our number every twenty years we
must double our houses. * * * It is, then,
among the most important arts ; and it is de
sirable to introduce taste into an art which
shows so much. — TRAVELLING HINTS, ix, 404.
(1788.)
446. ARCHITECTURE, Plan of Prison.
— With respect to the plan of a Prison, re
quested [by the Virginia authorities] in 1785,
(being then in Paris), I had heard of a benev
olent society, in England, which had been in
dulged by the government, in an experiment
of the effect of labor, in solitary confinement,
on some of their criminals : which experiment
had succeeded beyond expectation. The same
idea had been suggested in France, and an
architect of Lyons had proposed a plan of a
well-contrived edifice, on the principle of soli
tary confinement. I procured a copy, and as
it was too large for our purposes, I drew one
on a scale less extensive, but susceptible of
additions as they should be wanting. This I
sent to the directors, instead of a plan of a
common prison, in the hope that it would
suggest the idea of labor in solitary confine
ment, instead of that on the public works,
which we had adopted in our Revised Code.
Its principle, accordingly, but not its exact
form, was adopted by Latrobe in carrying the
plan into execution, by the erection of what
is now called the Penitentiary, built under his
direction. — AUTOBIOGRAPHY, i, 46. FORD ED.,
64. (1821.)
447. ARCHITECTURE, Porticos.— A
portico may be from five to ten diameters
47
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Architecture
of the column deep, or projected from the
building. If of more than five diameters,
there must be a column in the middle of each
flank, since it must never be more than five
diameters from center to center of column.
The portico of the Maison quarree is three
intercolonnations deep. I never saw as much
to a private house.— To JAMES MADISON.
FORD ED., vi, 327. (I793-)
_ ARCHITECTURE, Roman.— See AN
TIQUITIES.
448. ARCHITECTURE, Ugly.— The
private buildings [in Virginia] are very rarely
constructed of stone or brick, much the
greater portion being of scantling and boards,
plastered with lime. It is impossible to devise
things more ugly, uncomfortable, and hap
pily more perishable. — NOTES ON VIRGINIA.
viii, 393- FORD ED., iii, 257. (1782.)
449. ARCHITECTURE, Virginia Capi
tol. — I was written to in 1785 (being then in
Paris) by directors appointed to superintend
the building of a Capitol in Richmond, to ad
vise them as to a plan, and to add to it one
of a Prison. Thinking it a favorable opportun
ity of introducing into the State an example
of architecture, in the classic style of antiquity,
and the Maison qarree of Nismes, an ancient
Roman temple, being considered as the most
perfect model existing of what may be called
Cubic architecture, I applied to M. Clerissault,
who had published drawings of the Antiquities
of Nismes, to have me a model of the building
made in stucco, only changing the order from
Corinthinan to Ionic, on account of the diffi
culty of the Corinthian capitals. I yielded,
with reluctance, to the taste of Clerissault, in
his preference of the modern capital of
Scamozzi to the more noble capital of antiquity.
This was executed by the artist whom Choiseul
Goumer had carried with him to Constantinople,
and employed, while ambassador there, in mak
ing those beautiful models of the remains of
Grecian architecture which are to be seen at
Paris. To adapt the exterior to our use, I drew
a plan for the interior, with the apartments
necessary for legislative, executive, and judi
ciary purposes ; and accommodated in their size
and distribution to the form and dimensions of
the building. These were forwarded to the
directors, in 1786, and were carried into execu
tion, with some variations, not for the better,
the most important of which, however, admit
of future correction. — AUTOBIOGRAPHY, i, 45.
FORD ED., i, 63. (1821.)
450. . We took for our model
what is called the Maison quarree of Nismes,
one of the most beautiful, if not the most
beautiful and precious morsel of architecture
left us by antiquity. It was built by Caius and
Lucius Cc-esar, and repaired by Louis XIV., and
has the suffrage of all the judges of architecture
who have seen it, as yielding to no one of the
beautiful monuments of Greece, Rome, Palmyra
and Balbec, which late travellers have communi
cated to us. It is very simple, but it is noble
beyond expression, and would have done honor
to our country, as presenting to travellers a
specimen of taste in our infancy, promising
much for our maturer age. — To JAMES MADISON.
i, 432. (P., 1785.)
451. . I shall send them a plan
taken from the best morsel of ancient archi
tecture now remaining. It has obtained the
approbation of fifteen or sixteen centuries, and
is, therefore, preferable to any design which
might be newly contrived. It will give more
room, be more convenient and cost less than
the plan they sent me. Pray encourage them
to wait for it, and to execute it. It will be
superior in beauty to anything in America, and
not inferior to anything in the world. It is
very simple. — To JAMES MADISON, i, 415.
(P., 1785.)
452. . The designs for the Capi
tol are simple and sublime. More cannot be
said. They are not the brat of a whimsical
conception never before brought to light, but
copied from the most precious, the most perfect
model, of ancient architecture remaining on
earth ; one which has received the approbation
of near 2000 years, and which is sufficiently
remarkable to have been visited by all travellers.
— To DR. JAMES CURRIE. FORD EDV iv, 133.
453. . I have been much morti
fied with information I received * * * from
Virginia, that the first brick of the Capitol
would be laid within a few days. But surely,
the delay of this piece of a summer would
have been repaired by the savings in the plan
preparing here, were we to value its other
superiorities as nothing. — To JAMES MADISON.
i, 432. (P., 1785.)
454. - . Do * * * exert yourself
to get the plan [of the Capitol] begun on,
set aside and that adopted which was drawn
here. It was taken from a model which has
been the admiration of sixteen centuries ; which
has been the object of as many pilgrimages
as the tomb of Mahomet ; which will give
unrivalled honor to our State, and furnish a
model whereon to form the taste of our young
men. It will cost much less, too, than the
one begun because it does not cover one-half
the area. — To JAMES MADISON, i, 534. FORD
ED., iv, 196. (P., 1785.)
455. . Pray try if you can effect
the stopping of this work. * * * The loss will
be only of the laying the bricks already laid,
or a part of them. The bricks themselves
will do again for the interior walls, and one
side wall and one end wall may remain,
as they will answer equally well for our plan.
This loss is not to be weighed against the saving
of money which will arise, against the comfort
of laying out the public money for something
honorable, the satisfaction of seeing an object
and proof of national good taste, and the regret
and mortification of erecting a monument of
our barbarism, which will be loaded with exe
crations as long as it shall endure. — To JAMES
MADISON, i, 433. (P., 1785.)
456. . Our new Capitol, when
the corrections are made, of which it is suscep
tible, will be an edifice of first rate dignity.
Whenever it shall be finished with the proper
ornaments belonging to it (which will not be
in this age), it will be worthy of being ex
hibited alongside the most celebrated remains
of antiquity. Its extreme convenience has
acquired it universal approbation. — To WILLIAM
SHORT. FORD ED., v, 136. (1789.)
457. - — . The capitol in the city of
Richmond, in Virginia, is the model of the
Temples of F.rectheus at Athens, of Balbec,
and of the Maison quarree of Nismes. All of
which are nearly of the same form and pro
portions, and are considered as the most per
fect examples of cubic architecture, as the
Architecture
Aristocracy
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
48
Pantheon of Rome is of the spherical. Their
dimensions not being sufficient for the purposes
of the Capitol, they were enlarged, but their
proportions rigorously observed. The Capitol
is of brick, one hundred and thirty four feet
long, seventy feet wide, and forty-five feet high,
exclusive of the basement. Twenty-eight feet
of its length is occupied by a portico of the
whole breadth of the house, showing six
columns in front, and two intercolonnations in
flank. It is of a single order, which is Ionic ;
its columns four feet two inches diameter, and
their entablature running round the whole
building. The portico is crowned by a pedi
ment, the height of which is two-ninths of its
span. — JEFFERSON MANUSCRIPTS, ix, 446.
458. ARCHITECTURE, Washington
Capitol. — I have had under consideration
Mr. Hallet's plans for the Capitol, which un
doubtedly have a great deal of merit. Dr.
Thornton has also given me a view of his. *
* * The grandeur, simplicity and beauty of
the exterior, the propriety with which the apart
ments are distributed, and economy in the mass
of the whole structure, will, I doubt not, give
it a preference in your eyes, as it has done in
mine and those of several others whom I have
consulted. * * * Some difficulty arises with re
spect to Mr. Hallet, who you know was in
some degree led into his plan by ideas we all
expressed to him. This ought not to induce
us to prefer it to a better ; but while he is
liberally rewarded for the time and labor he
has expended on it, his feelings should be saved
and soothed as much as possible. — To THE
WASHINGTON COMMISSIONERS, iii, 507. (i793-)
459. . Dr. Thornton's plan of a
Capitol has * * * so captivated the eyes and
judgment of all as to leave no doubt you will
prefer it. * * * Among its admirers none is
more decided than he [Washington] whose de
cision is most important. It is simple, noble,
beautiful, excellently distributed, and moderate
in size. * * * A just respect for the right
of approbation in the commissioners will pre
vent any formal decision in the President till
the plan shall be laid before you and be ap
proved by you. — To MR. CARROLL, iii, 508.
(Pa., 1793.)
460. . The Representative's cham
ber will remain a durable monument of
your talents as an architect. * * * The Senate
room I have never seen. — To MR. LATROBE. vi,
75. (M., 1812.)
461. . I shall live in the hope
that the day will come when an opportunity
will be given you of finishing the middle build
ing in a style worthy of the two wings, and
worthy of the first temple dedicated to the sov
ereignty of the people, embellishing with
Athenian taste the course of a nation looking
far beyond the range of Athenian destinies. —
To MR. LATROBE. vi, 75- (M., 1812.) See
CAPITOL(U. S. )and WASHINGTON CITY.
462. ARCHITECTURE, Williamsburg
Capitol.— The only public buildings worthy
mention [in Virginia] are the Capitol, the
Palace, the College, and the Hospital for Luna
tics, all of them in Williamsburg, heretofore
the seat of our government. The Capitol is a
light and airy structure, with a portico in front
of two orders, the lower of which, being Doric,
is tolerably just in its proportions and orna
ments, save only that the intercolonnations are
too large. The upper is Ionic, much too small
for that on which it is mounted, its ornaments
not proper to the order, nor proportioned within
themselves. It is crowned with a pediment,
which is too large for its span. Yet, on the
whole, it is the most pleasing piece of architec
ture we have. The Palace is not handsome with
out, but it is spacious and commodious within,
is prettily situated, arid with the grounds an
nexed to it, is capable of being made an ele
gant seat. The College and Hospital are rude,
misshapen piles, which, but that they have
roofs, would be taken for brick-kilns. There
are no other public buildings but churches and
court-houses, in which no attempts are made
at elegance. Indeed, it would not be easy to
execute such an attempt, as a workman could
scarcely be found here capable of drawing an
order. — NOTES ON VIRGINIA, viii, 394. FORD
ED., iii, 257. (1782.)
463. ARISTOCRACY, Artificial vs.
Natural. — There is a natural aristocracy
among men. The grounds of this are virtue
and talents. Formerly, bodily powers gave
place among the aristoi. But since the in
vention of gunpowder has armed the weak as
well as the strong with missile death, bodily
strength, like beauty, good humor, politeness
and other accomplishments, has become but
an auxiliary ground of distinction. There is,
also, an artificial aristocracy, founded on
wealth and birth, without either virtue or tal
ents : for with these it would belong to the
first class. The natural aristocracy I consider
as the most precious gift of nature for the in
struction, the trusts, and government of so
ciety. And indeed, it would have been in
consistent in creation to have formed man for
the social state, and not to have provided vir
tue and wisdom enough to manage the con
cerns of the society. May we not even say,
that that form of government is the best,
which provides the most effectually for a pure
selection of these natural aristoi into the of
fices of government? The artificial aristoc
racy is a mischievous ingredient in govern
ment, and provision should be made to pre
vent its ascendency. On the question, what
is the best provision, you and I differ ; but we
differ as rational friends, using the free exer
cise of our own reason, and mutually indulg
ing its errors. You think it best to put the
pseudo-aristoi into a separate chamber of leg
islation, where they may be hindered from
doing mischief by their coordinate branches
and where, also, they may be a protection to
wealth against the agrarian and plundering en
terprises of the majority of the people. I think
that to give them power in order to prevent
them from doing mischief, is arming them for
it, and increasing instead of remedying the
evil. For, if the coordinate branches can
arrest their action, so may they that of the
coordinates. Mischief may be done negatively
as well as positively. Of this, a cabal in
the Senate of the United States has furnished
many proofs. Nor do I believe them neces
sary to protect the wealthy; because enough
of these will find their way into every branch
of the legislature to protect themselves. From
fifteen to twenty legislatures of our own, in
action for thirty years past, have proved that
no fears of an equalization of property are to
be apprehended from them. I think the best
remedy is exactly that provided by all our
49
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Aristocracy
constitutions, to leave to the citizens the free
election and separation of the aristoi from the
pseudo-aristoi, of the wheat from the chaff.
In general they will elect the really good and
wise. In some instances, wealth may cor
rupt, and birth blind them, but not in suf
ficient degree to endanger the society. — To
JOHN ADAMS, vi, 223. FORD ED., ix, 425.
(M., 1813.)
464. ARISTOCRACY, Banking.— I
hope we shall * * * crush in its birth the
aristocracy of our moneyed corporations,
which dare already to challenge our govern
ment to a trial of strength and bid defiance to
the laws of our country. — To GEORGE LOGAN.
FORD ED., x, 69. (P. F., Nov. 1816.)
— ARISTOCRACY, Cincinnati Soci
ety and.— See CINCINNATI..
465. ARISTOCRACY, Despised.— An in
dustrious farmer occupies a more dignified
place in the scale of beings, whether moral
or political, than a lazy lounger, valuing him
self on his family, too proud to work, and
drawing out a miserable existence by eating
on that surplus of other men's labor, which
is the sacred fund of the helpless poor. — To
M. DE MEUNIER. ix, 271. FORD ED., iv, 176.
(P., 1786.)
466. ARISTOCRACY. Education and.—
The bill [of the Revised Code of Virginia]
for the more general diffusion of learning
proposed to divide every county into wards
of five or six miles square, like the [New
England] townships; to establish in each
ward a free school for reading, writing and
common arithmetic ; to provide for the an
nual selection of the best subjects from these
schools, who might receive, at the public ex
pense, a higher degree of education at a dis
trict school ; and from these district schools
to select a certain number of the most prom
ising subjects, to be completed at an Univer
sity, where all the useful sciences should be
taught. Worth and genius would thus have
been sought out from every condition of life,
and completely prepared by education for de
feating the competition of wealth and birth
for public trusts. — To JOHN ADAMS, vi, 225.
FORD ED., ix, 427. (P., 1813.)
467. - — . This bill on education
would have raised the mass of the people to
the high ground of moral respectability nec
essary to their own safety, and to orderly
government; and would have completed the
great object of qualifying them to secure the
veritable aristoi for the trusts of government
to the exclusion of the pseudalists. * * *
Although this law has not yet been acted on
but in a small and inefficient degree, it is still
considered as before the Legislature, * * *
and I have great hope that some patriotic
spirit will, at a favorable moment, call it up,
and make it the key stone of the arch of our
government. — To JOHN ADAMS, vi, 226.
FORD ED., ix, 428. (M., 1813.)
468. ARISTOCRACY, Evils of.— To de
tail the real evils of aristocracy, they must
be seen in Europe. — To M. DE MEUNIER. ix,
267. FORD ED., iv, 172. (P., 1786.)
469. . A due horror of the evils
which flow from these distinctions could be
excited in Europe only, where the dignity of
man is lost in arbitrary distinctions, where
the human species is classed into several
stages of degradation, where the many are
crushed under the weight of the few, and
where the order established can present to the
contemplation of a thinking being no other
picture than that of God Almighty and his
angels trampling under foot the host of the
damned. — To M. DE MEUNIER. ix, 270. FORD
ED., iv, 175. (P., 1786.)
470. . To know the mass of evil
which flows from this fatal source, a person
must be in France. He must see the finest
soil, the finest climate, the most compact
state, the most benevolent character of people,
and every earthly advantage combined, in
sufficient to prevent this scourge from ren
dering existence a curse to twenty-four out
of twenty-five parts of the inhabitants of this
country. — To GENERAL WASHINGTON, ii, 62.
FORD ED., iv, 329. (P., 1786.)
471. ARISTOCRACY, Insurrection
against. — But even in Europe a change has
sensibly taken place in the mind of man.
Science has liberated the ideas of those who
read and reflect, and the American example
has kindled feelings of right in the people.
An insurrection has consequently begun of
science, talents, and courage, against rank and
birth, which have fallen into contempt. It
has failed in its first effort, because the mobs
of the cities, the instrument used for its ac
complishment, debased by ignorance, poverty
and vice, could not be restrained to rational
action. But the world will soon recover from
the panic of this first catastrophe. Science is
progressive, and talents and enterprise are
on the alert. Resort may be had to the people
of the country, a more governable power from
their principles and subordination ; and rank,
and birth, and tinsel-aristocracv will finally
shrink into insignificance, even there. This,
however, we have no right to meddle with. It
suffices for us, if the moral and physical con
dition of our own citizens qualifies them to
select the able and good for the direction of
their government, with a recurrence of elec
tions at such short periods as will enable them
to displace an unfaithful servant, before the
mischief he meditates may be irremediable. —
To JOHN ADAMS, vi, 227. FORD ED., ix, 420.
(M., 1813.)
_ ARISTOCRACY, Kings, Priests and.
—See 472.
472. ARISTOCRACY, Liberty and.—
The complicated organization of kings, nobles,
and priests, is not the wisest or best to effect
the happiness of associated man. * * * The
trappings of such a machinery consume by
their expense those earnings of industry they
were meant to protect, and, by the inequalities
they produce, expose liberty to sufferance. —
To WILLIAM JOHNSON, vii, 291. FORD ED.,
x, 227. (M., 1823.)
Aristocracy
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
473. ARISTOCRACY, Religious.— The
law for religious freedom, * * * put down
the aristocracy of the clergy [in Vir
ginia ] and restored to the citizen the free
dom of the mind. — To JOHN ADAMS, vi, 226.
FORD ED., ix, 428. (M., 1813.)
474. ARISTOCRACY, Repressed by.— A
heavy aristocracy and corruption are two
bridles in the mouths of the Irish which will
prevent them from making any effectual ef
forts against their masters. — To JAMES MAD
ISON. FORD ED., iv, 38. (P., 1785.)
475. ARISTOCRACY, Reverence for.—
From what I have seen of Massachusetts and
Connecticut myself, and still more^from what
I have heard, and the character given of the
former by yourself, who know them so
much better, there seems to be in those two
States a traditionary reverence for certain
families, which has rendered the offices of the
government nearly hereditary in those fam
ilies. I presume that from an early period of
your history, members of those families hap
pening to possess virtue and talents, have
honestly exercised them for the good of the
people, and by their services have endeared
their names to them. In coupling Connecti
cut with you, I mean it politically only, not
morally. For haying made the Bible the com
mon law of their land, they seem to have
modeled their morality on the story of Jacob
and Laban. But although this hereditary suc
cession to office with you, may, in some de
gree, be founded in real family merit, yet in
a much higher degree, it has proceeded from
your strict alliance of Church and State.
Those families are canonized in the eyes of
the people on common principles, " you tickle
me, and I will tickle you."— To JOHN ADAMS.
vi, 224. FORD ED., ix, 426. (M., 1813.)
476. ARISTOCRACY, Royalty and.—
The [French] aristocracy [in 1788-9] was
cemented by a common principle of preserving
the ancient regime, or whatever should be
nearest to it. Making this their Polar star,
they moved in phalanx, gave preponderance
on every question to the minorities of the Pa
triots, and always to those who advocated the
least change. — AUTOBIOGRAPHY, i, 104. FORD
ED., i, 144. (l82I.)
— ARISTOCRACY, Trappings of.—
See 472-
477. ARISTOCRACY, Unpopular.— In
Virginia, we have no traditional reverence for
certain families. Our clergy, before the Rev
olution, having been secured against rival-
ship by fixed salaries, did not give themselves
the trouble of acquiring influence over the
people. Of wealth, there were great accum
ulations in particular families, handed down
from generation to generation, under the
English law of entails. But the only object
of ambition for the wealthy was a seat in the
King's council. All their court was paid to
the crown and its creatures; and they Philip-
ised in all collisions between the King and
the people. Hence they were unpopular ; and
that unpopularity continues attached to their
names. A Randolph, a Carter, or a Burwell
must have great personal superiority over a
common competitor to be elected by the
people even at this day. — To JOHN ADAMS, vi,
224. FORD ED., ix, 426. (M., 1813.)
478. ARISTOCRACY, Uprooting.— At
the first session of our Legislature after the
Declaration of Independence, we passed a
law abolishing entails. And this was fol
lowed by one abolishing the privilege of prim
ogeniture, and dividing the lands of intes
tates equally among all the children, or other
representatives. These laws, drawn by myself,
laid the axe to the root of pseudo-aristocracy.
And had another which I had prepared been
adopted by the Legislature, our work would
have been complete. It was a bill for the more
general diffusion of learning. — To JOHN
ADAMS, vi, 225. FORD ED., ix, 427. (M.,
1813.)
479. . I considered four of
these bills [of the Revised Code of Virginia]
* * * as forming a system by which every
fibre would be eradicated of ancient or future
aristocracy; and a foundation laid for a gov
ernment truly republican. The repeal of the
laws of entail would prevent the accumula
tion and perpetuation of wealth, in select fam
ilies, and preserve the soil of the country from
being daily more and more absorbed in mort
main. The abolition of primogeniture, and
equal partition of inheritances removed the
feudal and unnatural distinctions which made
one member of every family rich, and all the
rest poor, substituting equal partition, the
best of all Agrarian laws. The restoration of
the rights of conscience relieved the people
from taxation for the support of a religion not
theirs; for the Establishment was truly of
the religion of the rich, the dissenting sects
being entirely composed of the less wealthy
people ; and these, by the bill for a general
education, would be qualified to understand
their rights, to maintain them, and to exer
cise with intelligence their parts in self-gov
ernment ; and all this would be effected with
out the violation of a single natural right of
any one individual citizen. — AUTOBIOGRAPHY.
i, 49. FORD ED., i, 68. (1821.)
480. ARISTOCRACY IN" VIRGINIA.—
To state the difference between the classes of
society and the lines of demarcation which
separated them [in Virginia] would be diffi
cult. The law admitted none except as to our
twelve counsellors. Yet in a country insu
lated from the European world, insulated from
its sister colonies, with whom there was
scarcely any intercourse, little visited by for
eigners, and having little matter to act upon
within itself, certain families had risen to
splendor by wealth and the preservation of it
from generation to generation under the law
of entails ; some had produced a series of
men of talents ; families in general had re
mained stationary on the grounds of their
forefathers, for there was no emigration to the
westward in those days ; the wild Irish, who
had gotten possession of the valley between
the Blue Ridge and North Mountain, forming
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Aristocracy
Arms
a barrier over which none ventured to leap,
and would still less venture to settle among.
In such a state of things, scarcely admitting
any change of station, society would settle it
self down into several strata, separated by no
marked lines, but shading off imperceptibly
from top to bottom, nothing disturbing the
order of their repose. There were there aris
tocrats, half-breeds, pretenders, a solid yeo
manry, looking askance at those above yet
venturing to jostle them, and last and lowest,
a feculum of beings called overseers, the most
abject, degraded and unprincipled race, al
ways cap in hand to the Dons who employed
them, and furnishing materials for the exer
cise of their pride, insolence and spirit of
domination.— To WILLIAM WIRT. vi, 484.
FORD ED., ix, 473. (M., 1815.)
481. . You surprise me with the
account you give of the strength of family
distinction still existing in Massachusetts.
With us it is so totally extinguished, that not
a spark of it is to be found but working in the
hearts of some of our old tories ; but all bigot
ries hang to one another, and this in the East
ern States hangs, as I suspect, to that of the
priesthood. Here youth, beauty, mind and
manners, are more valued than a pedigree. —
To JOHN ADAMS, vi, 305. (M., 1814.)
482. ARISTOCRACY, Virtuous.— Na
ture has wisely provided an aristocracy of
virtue and talent for the direction of the in
terests of society, and scattered it with equal
hand through all its conditions. — AUTOBIOG
RAPHY, i, 36. FORD ED., i, 49. (1821.)
483. ARISTOCRACY OF WEALTH.—
An aristocracy of wealth [is] of more harm
and danger than benefit to society. — AUTO
BIOGRAPHY, i, 36. FORD ED., i, 49. (1821.)
484. ARISTOCRATS, Impotent.— We,
too. have our aristocrats and monocrats, and
as they float on the surface, they show much
though they weigh little. — To J. P. BRISSOT
DE WARVILLE. FORD ED., vi, 249. (Pa., 1793.)
485. ARISTOCRATS, The People and.—
Aristocrats fear the people, and wish to trans
fer all power to the higher classes of society.
— To WILLIAM SHORT, vii, 391. FORD ED., x,
335- (M., 1825.)
486. ARISTOTLE, Writings of.— So
different was the style of society then, and
with those people, from what it is now and
with us, that I think little edification can be
obtained from their writings on the subject of
government. They had just ideas of the value
of personal liberty, but none at all of the
structure of government best calculated to
preserve it. They knew no medium between
a democracy (the only pure republic, but im
practicable beyond the limits of a town) and
an abandonment of themselves to an aristoc
racy, or a tyranny independent of the people.
It seems not to have occurred that where the
citizens can not meet to transact their business
in person, they alone have the right to choose
the agents who shall transact it ; and that in
this way a republican, or popular government,
of the second grade of purity, may be exer
cised over any extent of country. The full
experiment of a government, democratical,
but representative, was and is still reserved
for us. * * * The introduction of this new
principle of representative democracy has ren
dered useless almost everything written before
on the structure of government; and, in a
great measure, relieves our regret, if the po
litical writings of Aristotle, or of any other
ancient, have been lost, or are unfaithfully
rendered or explained to us. — To ISAAC H.
TIFFANY, vii, 32. (M., 1816.)
— ARITHMETIC.— See MATHEMATICS.
487. ARMS, Loan of.— I am in hopes that
your State [New York] will provide by the
loan of arms for your immediate safety. — To
JACOB J. BROWN, v, 240. (W. 1808.)
488. - — . I enclose you * * * an
application from * * * citizens of New York,
residing on the St. Lawrence and Lake On
tario, setting forth their defenceless situation
for the want of arms, and praying to be
furnished from the magazines of the United
States. Similar applications from other parts
of our frontier in every direction have suffi
ciently shown that did the laws permit such a
disposition of the arms of the United States,
their magazines would be completely exhausted,
and nothing would remain for actual war. But
it is only when troops take the field, that the
arms of the United States can be delivered to
them. For the ordinary safety of the citizens
of the several States, whether against dangers
within or without, their reliance must be on
the means to be provided by their respective
States. Under the circumstances I have
thought it my duty to transmit to you the rep
resentation received, not doubting that you will
have done for the safety of our fellow citizens,
on a part of our frontier so interesting and
so much exposed, what their situation requires,
and the means under your control may permit.
— To GOVERNOR TOMPKINS. v, 238. (W.,
1808.)
489. ARMS, Right to bear.— No freeman
shall be debarred the use of arms [within his
own lands].* — PROPOSED VA. CONSTITUTION.
FORD ED., ii, 27. (June, 1776.)
—ARMS OF CABOT FAMILY.— See
BIRDS.
490. ARMS, Device for the American
States. — A proper device (instead of arms)
for the American states united would be the
Father presenting the bundle of rods to his
sons. The motto " Insuperabiles si Insepara-
biles " , an answer given in part to the H. of
Lds & Comm. 4. Inst. 35. He cites 4. H. 6.
ru. 12. parl. rolls, which I suppose was the time
it happd. f — FORD ED., i, 420.
* Brackets by Jefferson.— EDITOR.
t This is a note written in Jefferson's copy of the
Virginia Almanack for — 1774. All his other entries in
this volume are contemporary with the date of the al
manac, and if, as all the internal evidence indicates,
this was also written at that time, it is not merely in
teresting as a proposed emblem, but even more so as
the earliest reference to the u American States." In a
letter of John Adams (Familiar Letters, 211), Aug. 4,
1776, on the subject of the national arms, is the follow
ing : " Mr. Jefferson proposed the children of Israel
in the wilderness, led by a cloud by day and a pillar
of fire by night ; and on the other side, Hengist and
Horsa, the Saxon chiefs from whom we claim the
honor of being descended, and whose political prin
ciples and forms of government we have assumed."
—NOTE IN FORD'S ED.
Arms
Army
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
491. ABMS, Device for Virginia State.
—I like the device of the first side of the seal
[for Virginia] much. The second I think, is
too much crowded, nor is the design so strik
ing. But for God's sake what is the " Deus
twbis haze otia facit " ! It puzzles everybody
here. If my country really enjoys that otium
it is singular, as every other Colony seems
to be hard struggling. I think it was agreed
on before Dunmore's flight from Gwyn's
Island, so that it can hardly be referred to the
temporary holiday that was given you. This
device is too enigmatical. Since it puzzles
now, it will be absolutely insoluble fifty years
hence. — To JOHN PAGE. FORD ED., ii, 70. (Pa.,
1776.)
492. ARMS OF JEFFERSON FAMILY.
—Search the Herald's office for the arms of
my family. I have what I have been told were
the family arms, but on what authority I know
not. It is possible there may be none. If so,
I would with your assistance become a pur
chaser, having Sterne's word for it that a coat
of arms may be purchased as cheap as any other
coat. — To THOMAS ADAMS. FORD ED., i, 388.
(M., 1771.)
493. ARMSTRONG (John), Hostility
against. — An unjust hostility against Gen
eral Armstrong will, I am afraid, show itself
whenever any treaty [with Spain] made by
him shall be offered for ratification. — To
WILSON C. NICHOLAS, v, 4. FORD ED., viii.
435. (W., April 1806.)
494. ARMSTRONG (John), Secretary
of War. — I have long ago in my heart con
gratulated my country on your call to the
place you now occupy. * * * Whatever you
do in office, I know will be honestly and ably
done, and although we who do not see the
whole ground may sometimes impute error,
it will be because we, not you, are in the
wrong ; or because your views are defeated by
the wickedness or inc9mpetence of those you
are obliged to trust with their execution. — To
GENERAL JOHN ARMSTRONG, vi, 103. (M., Feb.
1813-)
495. . Armstrong is presumptu
ous, obstinate and injudicious. — To J. W.
EPPES. FORD ED., ix, 484. (M., 1814.)
496. ARMY, Adverse to large.— The
spirit of this country is totally adverse to a
large military force. — To CHANDLER PRICE.
v, 47- (W., 1807.)
497. ARMY, Control over.— I like the
declaration of rights as far as it goes, but I
should have been for going further. For in
stance, the following alterations and additions
would have pleased me: * * * Article 10.
All troops of the United States shall stand
ipso facto disbanded, at the expiration of the
term for which their pay and subsistence shall
have been last voted by Congress, and all of
ficers and soldiers, not natives of^the^United
States, shall be incapable of serving in their
armies by land except during a foreign war. —
To JAMES MADISON, iii, 101. FORD ED., v,
113. (P., Aug. 1789.)
498. ARMY, Deserters.— Deserters [Brit
ish] ought never to be enlisted [by us].— To
JAMES MADISON. FORD ED v ix, 128. (M., 1807.)
499. ARMY, Deserters from Enemy's.
— American citizens, * * * whether im
pressed or enlisted into the British service,
* * * [are] equally right in returning to
:he duties they owe their own country. — To
JAMES MADISON, v, 173. FORD ED., ix, 128.
(M., Aug. 1807.)
500. . Resolved, that [Con
gress] will give all such of the * * * foreign
[Hessian] officers as shall leave the armies of
his Britannic Majesty in America, and choose
to become citizens of these States, unappro
priated lands in the following quantities and
proportions to them and their heirs in abso
lute dominion.* — CONGRESS RESOLUTION. FORD
ED., ii, 89. (August 1776.)
501. ARMY, Discipline of.— The British
consider our army * * * a rude, undisci
plined rabble. I hope they will find it a
Bunker's Hill rabble. — To FRANCIS EPPES.
FORD ED., ii, 77. (Pa., Aug. 1776.)
502. ARMY, Enlistments in.— Tardy
enlistments proceed from the happiness of our
people at home. — To JAMES MONROE, vi, 130.
(M., June 1813.)
503. . Our men are so happy at
home that they will not hire themselves to
be shot at for a shilling a day. Hence we can
have no standing armies for defence, because
we have no paupers to furnish the materials.
—To THOMAS COOPER, vi, 379. (M., 1814.)
504. ARMY, Fear of.— How happy that
our army had been disbanded [before the
Presidential crisis of 1801] ! What might
have happened otherwise seems rather a sub
ject of reflection than explanation. — To
NATHANIEL NILES. iv, 377. FORD ED., viii,
24. (W., March 1801.)
505. ARMY, Increase of. — An act has
passed for raising upon the regular establish
ment for the war 3000 additional troops and a
corps of 300 more, making in the whole about
5000 men. To this I was opposed from a con
viction they were useless and that 1200 or
1500 woodsmen would soon end the [Indian]
war, and at a trifling expense. — To ARCHI
BALD STUART. FORD ED., v, 454. (Pa., March
1792.)
506. . It is agreed [in cabinet]
that about 15000 regular troops will be req
uisite for garrisons, and about as many more
as a disposable force, making in the whole
30,000 regulars. — ANAS. FORD ED., i, 329.
(July 1807.)
507. . We are raising some
regulars in addition to our present force, for
garrisoning our seaports, and forming a nu
cleus for the militia to gather to. — To GEN
ERAL KOSCIUSKO. v, 282. (W., May 1808.)
508. ARMY, Inefficiency in.— I thank
you for the military manuals. * * * This is
the sort of book most needed in our country,
where even the elements of tactics are un
known. The young have never seen service,
the old are past it, and of those among them
who are not superannuated themselves, their
* Jefferson, Franklin and Adams reported this res
olution which was adopted.— EDITOR.
53
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Army
science is become so. — To WILLIAM DUANE.
vi, 75. FORD ED., ix, 365. (M., 1812.)
509. ARMY, A mercenary.— He [George
III.] has endeavored to pervert the exercise
of the kingly office in Virginia into a detest
able and insupportable tyranny * * * by
transporting at this time a large army of for
eign mercenaries [to complete] the works of
death, desolation, and tyranny, already begun
with circumstances of cruelty and perfidy so
unworthy the head of a civilized nation. —
PROPOSED VA. CONSTITUTION. FORD ED., ii,
ii. (June 1776.)
510. . He is at this time, trans
porting large armies of foreign mercenaries
to complete the works of death, desolation,
and tyranny, already begun, with circum
stances of cruelty and perfidy* unworthy the
head of a civilized nation. — DECLARATION OF
INDEPENDENCE AS DRAWN BY JEFFERSON.
511. . At this very time, too,
they [British people] are permitting their
chief magistrate to send over not only sol
diers of our common blood, but Scotch and
foreign mercenaries to invade and destroy us.
— DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE AS DRAWN
BY JEFFERSON.
512. ARMY, Morality in.— It is more a
subject of joy [than of regret] that we have so
few of the desperate characters which com
pose modern regular armies. But it proves
more forcibly the necessity of obliging every
citizen to be a soldier ; this was the case with
the Greeks and Romans, and must be that of
every free State. Where there is no oppres
sion there can be no pauper hirelings. — To
JAMES MONROE, vi, 130. (M., June 1813.)
513. ARMY, An obedient.— Some think
the [French] army could not be depended on
by the government ; but the breaking men to
military discipline, is breaking their spirits to
principles of passive obedience. — To JOHN
JAY. ii, 392. (P., 1788.)
514. ARMY, Obligations to the.— We
feel with you our obligations to the army
in general, and will particularly charge our
selves with the interests of those confidential
officers, who have attended your person to
this affecting moment. — CONGRESS TO WASH
INGTON SURRENDERING HIS COMMISSION.
(Dec. 1783.)
515. ARMY, Overpowering.— There is
neither head nor body in the [French] nation
to promise a successful opposition to two
hundred thousand regular troops.— To JOHN
JAY. ii, 392. (P., 1788.)
516. ARMY, The People as an.— I am
satisfied the good sense of the people is the
strongest army our government can ever
have, and that it will not fail them.— To
WILLIAM CARMICHAEL. ii, 81. FORD ED., iv,
346. (P., 1786.)
* Congress inserted after " perfidy " the words
u scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages and
totally . "—EDITOR.
t Congress struck out this passage.— EDITOR.
517. — . I am persuaded myself
that the good sense of the people will al
ways be found to be the best Army. — To
EDWARD CARRINGTON. ii, 99. FORD ED., iv,
359- (P., 1787.)
518. ARMY, Reduction of. — A statement
has been formed by the Secretary of War
* * * of all the posts and stations where gar
risons will be expedient, and of the number
of men requisite for each garrison. The
whole amount is considerably short of the
present military establishment. For the surplus
no particular use can be pointed out. For de
fence against invasion, their number is as
nothing; nor is it conceived needful or safe
that a standing army should be kept up in
time of peace for that purpose. — FIRST AN
NUAL MESSAGE, viii, n. FORD ED., viii, 121.
(Dec. 1801.)
519. . The army is undergoing a
chaste reformation. — To NATHANIEL MACON.
iv, 397. (W., May 1801.)
520. — . The session of the first
Congress convened since republicanism has
recovered its ascendency * * * will pretty
completely fulfil all the desires of the people.
They have reduced the army * * * to what
is barely necessary. — To GENERAL KOSCIUSKO.
iv, 430. (W., April 1802.)
521. — . We are now actually en
gaged in reducing our military establishment
one-third, and discharging one-third of our
officers. We keep in service no more than
men enough to garrison the small posts dis
persed at great distances on our frontiers,
which garrisons will generally consist of a
captain's company only, and in no cases of
more than two or three, in not one, of a suf
ficient number to require a field officer. * — To
GENERAL KOSCIUSKO. iv, 430. (W., April
1802.)
522. ARMY, Regulation of.— The wise
proposition of the Secretary of War for fill
ing our ranks with regulars, and putting our
militia into an effective form, seems to be
laid aside. — To M. CORREA. vi, 406. (M.,
Dec. 1814.)
523. - — . To supply the want of
men, nothing more wise or efficient could
have been imagined than what you proposed.
It would have filled our ranks with regulars,
and that, too, by throwing a just share of the
burthen on the purses of those whose per
sons are exempt either by age or office; and
it would have rendered our militia, like those
of the Greeks and Romans, a nation of war
riors. — To JAMES MONROE, vi, 408. FORD
ED., ix, 497. (M., Jan. 1815.)
524. . Nothing wiser can be de
vised than what the Secretary of War (Mon
roe) proposed in his report at the commence
ment of Congress. It would have kept our
regular army always of necessity full, and
by classing our militia according to ages,
would have put them into a form ready for
* Kosciusko had written to Jefferson, recommend
ing Polish officers for employment.— EDITOR.
Army
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
54
whatever service, distant or at home, should
require them. — To W. H. CRAWFORD, vi, 418.
FORD ED., ix, 502. (M., Feb. 1815.)
525. ARMY, Seniority in.— We received
from Colonel R. H. Lee a resolution of Con
vention, recommending us to endeavor that
the promotions of the officers be according to
seniority without regard to regiments or com
panies. In one instance, indeed, the Congress
reserved to themselves a right of departing
from seniority; that is where a person either
out of the line of command, or in an inferior
part of it, has displayed eminent talents. Most
of the general officers have been promoted in
this way. Without this reservation, the whole
continent must have been supplied with gen
eral officers from the Eastern Colonies, where
a large army was formed and officered before
any other colony had occasion to raise troops
at all, and a number of experienced, able and
valuable officers must have been lost to the
public merely from the locality of their situa
tion. — To GOVERNOR PATRICK HENRY. FORD
ED., ii, 67. (Pa., 1776.)
526. . We [Congress] wait your
recommendation for the two vacant majori
ties. Pray regard militaryment alone. — To
JOHN PAGE. FORD ED., ii, 88. (Pa., 1776.)
527.
-. Several vacancies having
happened in our battalions, we [Congress]
are unable to have them filled for want of a
list of the officers, stating their seniority. We
must beg the favor of you to furnish us
with one. — To GOVERNOR HENRY. FORD ED.,
ii, 67. (Pa., 1776.)
528. . The unfortunate obstinacy
of the Senate in preferring the greatest block
head to the greatest military genius, if one
day longer in commission, renders it doubly
important to sift well the candidates for com
mand in new corps, and to marshal them at
first, towards the head, in proportion to their
qualifications.— To GENERAL ARMSTRONG.
FORD ED., ix, 380. (M., Feb. 1813.)
529. - — . There is not, I believe,
a service on earth where seniority is per
mitted to give a right to advance beyond the
grade of captain. — To GENERAL ARMSTRONG.
FORD ED., ix, 380. (M., Feb. 1813.)
530. . We are doomed. * * * to
sacrifice the lives of our citizens by thousands
to this blind principle, for fear the peculiar in
terest and responsibility of our Executive
should not be sufficient to guard his selection
of officers against favoritism. — To GENERAL
ARMSTRONG. FORD ED., ix, 380. (M., 1813.)
531. — . When you have new corps
to raise you are free to prefer merit : and our
mechanical law of promotion, when once
men have been set in their places, makes it
most interesting indeed to place them origi
nally according to their capacities. It is not
for me even to ask whether in the raw regi
ments now to be raised, it would not be ad
visable to draw from the former the few
officers who may already have discovered
military talent, and to bring them forward
in the new corps to those higher grades, to
which, in the old, the blocks in their way do
not permit you to advance them? — To GEN
ERAL ARMSTRONG. FORD ED., ix, 380. (M.,
Feb. 1813.) See GENERALS.
532. ARMY, A standing.— Standing ar
mies [are] inconsistent with the freedom [of
the Colonies], and subversive of their quiet. —
REPLY TO LORD NORTH'S PROPOSITION. FORD
ED., i, 477. (July 1775.)
533. . There shall be no stand
ing army but in time of actual war. — PRO
POSED VA. CONSTITUTION. FORD ED., ii, 27.
(June 1776.)
534 . He [George III.] has en
deavored to pervert the exercise of the kingly
office in Virginia into a detestable and in
supportable tyranny * * * by [keeping
among us], in time of peace, standing armies
and ships of war. — PROPOSED VA. CONSTITU
TION. FORD ED., ii, 10. (June 1776.)
535. . He has kept among us, in
times of peace, standing armies and ships of
war * without the consent of our legislatures.
— DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE AS DRAWN
BY JEFFERSON.
536. . I do not like [in the new
Federal Constitution] the omission of a bill of
rights, providing clearly and without the aid
of sophisms for * * * protection
against standing armies. — To JAMES MADI
SON, ii, 329. FORD ED., iv, 476. (P., Dec.
1787.)
537. . I sincerely rejoice at the
acceptance of our new Constitution by nine
States. It is a good canvas, on which some
strokes only want retouching. What these
are, I think are sufficiently manifested by the
general voice from north to south, which
calls for a bill of rights. It seems pretty
generally understood that this should go to
* * * standing armies. * * * If no
check can be found to keep the number of
standing troops within safe bounds, while
they are tolerated as far as necessary, aban
don them altogether, discipline well the mi
litia, and guard the magazines with them.
More than magazine guards will be useless if
few, and dangerous if many. No European
nation can ever send against us such a regu
lar army as we need fear, and it is hard if
our militia are not equal to those of Canada,
or Florida. — To JAMES MADISON, ii, 445.
FORD ED., v, 45. (P., July 1788.)
538.
. By declaration of rights, I
mean one which shall stipulate *
standing armies. — To A. DONALD, ii, 355. (P.,
1788.)
539. . There are instruments so
dangerous to the rights of the nation, and
which place them so totally at the mercy of
their governors, that those governors,
whether legislative or executive, should be
restrained from keeping such instruments on
foot, but in well-defined cases. Such an in-
* Congress struck out " and ships of war." — EDITOR,
55
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Army
a standing army. — To DAVID
iii, 13. FORD ED., v, 90. (P.,
strument is
HUMPHREYS
1789.)
540. . I hope a militia bill will
be passed. Anything is preferable to nothing,
as it takes away one of the arguments for a
standing army. — To ARCHIBALD STUART. FORD
ED., v, 454. (Pa., 1792.)
541. . I am not for a standing
army in time of peace, which may overawe
the public sentiment.— To ELBRIDGE GERRY.
iv, 268. FORD ED., vii, 328. (Pa., I799-)
542. . Bonaparte has transferred
the destinies of the republic from the civil
to the military arm. Some will use this as a
lesson against the practicability of republican
government. I read it as a lesson against the
danger of standing armies. — To SAMUEL
ADAMS, iv, 322. FORD ED., vii, 425. (Pa., Feb.
1800.)
543. . It is not conceived need
ful or safe that a standing army should be
kept up in time of peace for defence against
invasion. — FIRST ANNUAL MESSAGE, viii, n.
FORD ED., 121. (1801.)
544. . I hope Kentucky will
* * * finish the matter [Burr's enterprise]
for the honor of popular government, and the
discouragement of all arguments for standing
armies.— To REV. CHARLES CLAY, v, 28.
FORDED., ix, 7. (W., 1807.)
545. . We propose to raise
seven regiments only for the present year, de
pending always on our militia for the opera
tions of the first year of war. On any other
plan, we should be obliged always to keep a
large standing army.— To CHARLES PINCK-
NEY. v, 266. (W., March 1808.)
546. . The Greeks and Romans
had no standing armies, yet they defended
themselves. The Greeks by their laws, and
the Romans by the spirit of their people, took
care to put into the hands of their rulers no
such engine of oppression as a standing army.
Their system was to make every man a sol
dier, and oblige him to repair to the standard
of his country whenever that was reared.
This made them invincible; and the same
remedy will make us so. — To THOMAS
COOPER, vi, 379- (M., 1814.)
547. ARMY, Threatened by an.— We
cannot, my lord, close with the terms of that
Resolution, [Lord North's conciliatory propo
sitions] * * * because at the very time
of requiring from us grants, they are making
disposition to invade us with large armaments
by sea and land, which is a style of asking
gifts not reconcilable to our freedom.' — AD
DRESS TO LORD DUN MORE. FORD ED., i, 457.
(I775-)
548. ARMY, An unnecessary.— One of
my favorite ideas is, never to keep an un
necessary soldier.— THE ANAS, ix, 431. FORD
ED., i, 198. (1792-)
549. . Were armies to be raised
whenever a speck of war is visible in our
horizon, we never should have been without
them. Our resources would have been ex
hausted on dangers which have never hap
pened, instead of being reserved for what is
really to take place. — SIXTH ANNUAL MES
SAGE, viii, 69. FORD ED., viii, 495. (Dec.
1806.)
550. ARMY, An unauthorized.— When,
in the course of the late war, it became ex
pedient that a body of Hanoverian troops
should be brought over for the defence of
Great Britain, his Majesty's grandfather, our
late sovereign, did not pretend to introduce
them under any authority he possessed. Such
a measure would have given just alarm to
his subjects in Great Britain, whose liberties
would not be safe if armed men of another
country, and of another spirit, might be
brought into the realm at any time without
the consent of their legislature. He, there
fore, applied to Parliament, who passed an
act for that purpose, limiting the number to
be brought in, and the time they were to con
tinue. In like manner is his Majesty re
strained in every part of the empire. — RIGHTS
OF BRITISH AMERICA, i, 140. FORD ED., i,
445- (I774-)
551. . He has combined with
others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign
to our constitutions, and unacknowledged by
our laws; giving his assent to their acts of
pretended legislation for quartering large
bodies of armed troops among us; for pro
tecting them by a mock trial from punish
ment for any murders which they should
commit on the inhabitants of these States. —
DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE AS DRAWN BY
JEFFERSON.
552 . He [George III.] has
endeavored to pervert the exercise of the
kingly office in Virginia into a detestable and
insupportable tyranny * * * by com
bining with others to subject us to a foreign
jurisdiction, giving his assent to their pre
tended acts of legislation for quartering large
bodies of armed troops among us. — PROPOSED
VA. CONSTITUTION. FORD ED., ii, 10. (June
1776.)
553. . in order to enforce [his]
arbitrary measures * * * his Majesty
has, from time to time, sent among us large
bodies of armed forces, not made up of the
people here, nor raised by authority of our
laws. Did his Majesty possess such a right
as this, it might swallow up all our other
rights whenever he should think proper. But
his Majesty has no right to land a single
armed man on our shores, and those whom he
sends here are liable to our laws made for
the suppression and punishment of riots, and
unlawful assemblies ; or are hostile bodies,
invading us in defiance of the law. — RIGHTS
OF BRITISH AMERICA, i, 140. FORD ED., i, 445.
(I774-)
554. . The proposition [of Lord
North] is altogether unsatisfactory * * *
because it does not propose to repeal the acts
of Parliament * * * for quartering sol-
Arnold (Benedict)
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
56
diers on us in times of profound peace. — RE
PLY TO LORD NORTH'S PROPOSITION. FORD ED.,
i, 480. (July I775-)
555. ARMY, A volunteer.— [With re
spect to] the proposition for substituting
32,000 twelve-month volunteers instead of
15,000 regulars as a disposable force, I like
the idea much. It will, of course, be a subject
of consideration when we all meet again, but
I repeat that I like it greatly.— To GENERAL
DEARBORN, v, 155. FORD ED., ix, 123. (M.,
Aug. 1807.)
556. . General Dearborn has
sent me a plan of a war establishment
for 15,000 regulars for garrisons, and in
stead of 15,000 others, as a disposable
force, to substitute 32,000 twelve-month
volunteers, to be exercised and paid three
months in the year, and consequently cost
ing no more than 8,000 permanent, giving
us the benefit of 32,000 for any expedition,
who would be themselves nearly equal to
regulars, but could on occasion be put into
the garrisons, and the regulars employed in
the expedition prima facie. I like it well. —
To JAMES MADISON, v, 154. FORD ED., ix,
123. (M., Aug. 1807.) See WAR.
557. ARMY, (French), Dangerous
standing.— The French flatter themselves
they shall form a, better Constitution than the
English one. I think it will be better in some
points — worse in others. * * * It will
be worse, as their situation obliges them to
keep up the dangerous machine of a standing
army. — To DR. PRICE, ii, 557. (P., Jan.
1789.)
558. ARMY (French), Decision by the.
— If the appeal to arms is made fin France]
it will depend entirely on the disposition of
the army whether it issue in liberty or des
potism. — To E. RUTLEDGE. ii, 435. FORD ED.,
v, 42. (P., 1788.)
559. ARMY OFFICERS, Accountabil
ity of. — Whereas it is apprehended that
sufficient care and attention hath not been
always had by officers to the cleanliness, to
the health and to the comfort of the soldiers
entrusted to their command, Be it therefore
enacted, that so long as any troops from this
Commonwealth [Virginia] shall be in any ser
vice to the northward thereof, it shall and may
be lawful for our delegates in Congress, and
they are hereby required from time to time
to enquire into the state and condition of the
troops, and the conduct of the officers com
manding ; and where any troops, raised in this
Commonwealth, are upon duty within the same,
or anywhere to the southward, there the
Governor and Council are required to make
similar enquiry by such ways or means as shall
be in their power : and whensoever it shall be
found that any officer, appointed by this Com
monwealth, shall have been guilty of negli
gence, or want of fatherly care, of the sol
diers under his command, they are hereby re
spectively required to report to this Assembly
the whole truth of the case, who hereby re
serve to themselves a power of removing such
officer ; and whenever they shall find that such
troops shall have suffered through the negli
gence or inattention of any officer of Conti
nental appointment, they are, in like manner,
to make report thereof to this Assembly, whose
duty it will be to represent the same to Con
gress : and they are further respectively re
quired, from time to time, to procure and lay
before this Assembly exact returns of the
numbers and conditions of such of their troops.
— ARMY BILL. FORD ED., ii, 115. (1776.)
560. ARMY OFFICERS, Foreign.— I
believe I mentioned to you, on a former occa
sion, that the last act of Congress for raising
additional troops required that the officers,
should all be citizens of the United States.
Should there be war, however, I am persuaded
this policy must be abandoned, and that we
must avail ourselves of the experience of other
nations, in certain lines of service at least. —
To AMELOT DE LA CROIX. v, 422. (W., Feb
1809.)
561. ARMY OFFICERS, Prosecutions
of.— Many officers of the army being in
volved in the offence of intending a military
enterprise [Burr's] against a nation at peace
with the United States, to remove the whole
without trial, by the paramount authority of the
executive, would be a proceeding of unusual
gravity. Some line must, therefore, be drawn
to separate the more from the less guilty. The
only sound one which occurs to me is between
those who believed the enterprise was with the
approbation of the government, open or secret,
and those who meant to proceed in defiance of
the government. Concealment would be no line
at all, because all concealed it. Applying the
line of defiance to the case of Lieutenant Mead,
it does not appear by any testimony I have seen,
that he meant to proceed in defiance of the gov
ernment, but, on the contrary, that he was made
to believe the government approved of the ex
pedition. If it be objected that he concealed a
part of what had taken place in his communica
tions to the Secretary of War, yet if a conceal
ment of the whole would not furnish a proper
line of distinction, still less would the conceal
ment of a part. This too would be a removal
for prevarication, not for unauthorized enter
prise, and could not be a proper ground for ex
ercising the extraordinary power of removal
by the President. — To GENERAL DEARBORN, v,
60. FORD ED., ix, 38. (W., March 1807.)
562. ARMY OFFICERS, Undesirable
French. — I would not advise that the French
gentlemen should come here. [Philadelphia.]
We have so many of that country, and have
been so much imposed on that the Congress
begins to be sore on that head. * * * If
you approve of the Chevalier de St. Aubin, why
not appoint him yourselves, as your troops of
horse are colonial, not continental ?— To JOHN
PAGE. FORD ED., ii, 70. (Pa., 1776.)
563. ARNOLD (Benedict), Expedition
to Quebec. — The march of Arnold [to Que
bec] is equal to Xenophon's retreat. — To JOHN
PAGE. FORD ED., i, 496. (i775-)
564. . I never understood that
Arnold formed this enterprise, nor do I believe
he did. I heard and saw all General Wash
ington's letters on this subject. I do not think
he mentioned Arnold as author of the proposi
tion ; yet he was always just in ascribing to
every officer the merit of his own works ; and
he was disposed particularly in favor of
Arnold. This officer is entitled to great merit
in the execution, but to ascribe to him that of
having formed the enterprise, is probably to
ascribe to him what belongs to General Wash-
57
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Arnold (Benedict)
Artisans
ington or some other person. — ANSWERS TO
M. SOULES. ix, 301. FORD ED., iv, 300. (P.,
1786.)
565. . General Arnold, (a fine
sailor) has undertaken to command our fleet on
the Lakes. — To FRANCIS EPPES. FORD ED. ii,
77. (Pa., 1776.)
566. ARNOLD (Benedict), RewarcJ for
capture of. — It is above all things desirable
to drag Arnold from those under whose wing
he is now sheltered. On his march to and from
this place [Richmond], I am certain it might
have been done with facility by men of enter
prise and firmness. I think it may still be
done. * * * Having peculiar confidence in
the men from the western side of the moun
tains, I meant, as soon as they should come
down, to get the enterprise proposed to a
chosen number of them : such whose courage
and whose fidelity would be above all doubt.
Your perfect knowledge of those men person
ally, and my confidence in your discretion, in
duce me to ask you to pick from among them
proper characters, in such number as you think
best, to reveal to them our desire, and engage
them to undertake to seize and bring off this
greatest of all traitors. Whether this may be
best effected by their going in (within the Brit
ish lines) as friends and awaiting their oppor
tunity, or otherwise, is left to themselves. The
smaller the number the better, so that they be
sufficient to manage him. Every necessary cau
tion must be used on their part, to prevent a
discovery of their design by the enemy ; as,
should they be taken, the laws of war will jus
tify against them the most rigorous sentence.
I will undertake, if they are successful in bring
ing him off alive, that they shall receive five
thousand guineas reward among them. And to
men, formed for such an enterprise, it must be
a great incitement to know that their names will
be recorded with glory in history, with those of
Van Wart, Paulding and Williams.*— To .
i, 289. FORD ED., ii, 441. (R., 1781.)
567. ARNOLD (Benedict), Treason of.
—The parricide Arnold. — To GENERAL
WASHINGTON, i, 284. FORD ED., ii, 408. (R.,
1781.)
568. ART, Selecting works of.— With
respect to the figures, I could only find three of
those you named, matched in size. Those were
Minerva, Diana and Apollo. I was obliged to
add a fourth, unguided by your choice. They
offered me a fine Venus ; but I thought it out
of taste to have two at table at the same time.
Paris and Helen were represented. I conceived
it would be cruel to remove them from their
peculiar shrine. When they shall pass the At
lantic, it will be to sing a requiem over our
freedom and happiness. At length a fine Mars
was offered, calm, bold, his falchion not drawn
but ready to be drawn. This will do, thinks
I. for the table of the American Minister in
London, where those whom it may concern may
look and learn that though Wisdom is our
guide, and the Song and Chase our supreme
delight, yet we offer adoration to that tutelar
God also who rocked the cradle of our birth,
who has accepted our infant offerings, and has
shown himself the patron of our rights and
avenger of our wrongs. The group then was
closed and your party formed. Envy and mal
ice will never be quiet. I hear it already whis-
* This letter is without an address, but, it is thought
was written to General George Rogers Clark or to
General Muhlenberg. Jefferson was Governor of
Virginia.— EDITOR,
pered to you that in admitting Minerva to your
table, I have departed from the principle which
made me reject Venus; in plain English that
I have paid a just respect to the daughter but
failed to the mother. No, Madam, my respect
to both is sincere. Wisdom, I know, is social.
She seeks her fellows, but Beauty is jealous,
and illy bears the presence of a rival. — To MRS.
JOHN ADAMS. FORD ED., iv, 99. (P., 1785.)
569. ARTISANS, Americans as.— While
we have land to labor, let us never wish to
see our citizens occupied at a work-bench, or
twirling a distaff. Carpenters, masons, and
smiths, are wanting in husbandry ; but for
the general operations of manufacture, let
our workshops remain in Europe. — NOTES ON
VIRGINIA, viii, 405. FORD ED., iii, 269. (1782.)
570. ARTISANS, Condemnation of.— I
consider the class of artificers as the panders of
vice, and the instruments by which the liberties
of a country are generally overturned. — To
JOHN JAY. i, 404. FORD ED., iv, 88. (P.,
1785.)
571. ARTISANS, Explanation of views
on. — Mr. Duane informed me that he meant
to publish a new edition of the Notes on Vir
ginia, and I had in contemplation some particu
lar alterations which would require little time to
make. My occupations by no means permit me
at this time to revise the text, and make those
changes in it which I should now do. I should
in that case certainly qualify several expres
sions * * * which have been construed differ
ently from what they were intended. I had
under my eye, when writing, the manufacturers
of the great cities in the old countries, at the
time present, with whom the want of food and
clothing necessary to sustain life, has begotten
a depravity of morals, a dependence and corrup
tion, which render them an undesirable acces
sion to a country whose morals are sound. My
expressions looked forward to the time when
our great cities would get into the same state.
But they have been quoted as if meant for the
present time here. As yet our manufacturers
are as much at their ease, as independent and
moral as our agricultural inhabitants, and they
will continue so as long as there are vacant
lands for them to resort to ; because whenever
it shall be attempted by the other classes to re
duce them to the minimum of subsistence, they
will quit their trades and go to laboring the
earth. A first question is, whether it is desirable
for us to receive at present the dissolute and
demoralized handicraftsmen of the old cities of
Europe? A second and more difficult one is,
when even good handicraftsmen arrive here, is
it better for them to set up their trade, or go to
the culture of the earth ? Whether their labor
in their trade is worth more than their labor on
the soil, increased by the creative energies of
the earth ? Had I time to revise that chapter,
this question should be discussed, and other
views of the subject taken, which are presented
by the wonderful changes which have taken
place here since 1781, when the Notes on Vir
ginia were written. — To MR. LITHGOW. iv, 563.
FORD ED., iii, 269. (W., Jan. 1805.)
572. ARTISANS, French and English.
— The English mechanics certainly exceed all
others in some lines. But be just to your own
nation. They have not patience, it is true, to
sit rubbing a piece of steel from morning to
night, as a lethargic Englishman will do, full
charged with porter. But do not their benev
olence, their cheerfulness, their amiability,
Artisans
Assumption of State
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
when compared with the growling temper and
manners of the people among whom you are,
compensate their want of patience? — To MAD
AME DE CARNY. ii, 161. (P., 1787.)
573. ARTISANS, Science and.— The me
chanic needs ethics, mathematics, chemistry and
natural philosophy. To them the languages are
but ornament and comfort. — To JOHN BRAZIER.
vii, 133- (P- F., 1819.)
574. ARTISTS, Member of Society of.
— I am very justly sensible of the honor the
Society of Artists of the United States has done
me in making me an honorary member of their
Society. * * * I fear that I can be but a
very useless associate. Time which withers the
fancy, as the other faculties of the mind
and body presses on me with a heavy hand, and
distance intercepts all personal intercourse.
I can offer, therefore, but my zealous good
wishes for the success of the institution, and
that, embellishing with taste a country already
overflowing with the useful productions, it may
be able to give an innocent and pleasing direc
tion to accumulations of wealth, which would
otherwise be employed in the nourishment of
coarse and vicious habits. — To THOMAS SULLY.
vi, 34- (M., Jan. 1812.)
575. ARTS, Enthusiasm for the. — I am
an enthusiast on the subject of the arts. But
it is an enthusiasm of which I am not
ashamed, as its object is to improve the taste
of my countrymen, to increase their reputa
tion, to reconcile to them the respect of the
world, and procure them its praise. — To
JAMES MADISON, i, 433. (P., 1785-)
576. ARTS, French Excellence in. —
Were I to proceed to tell you how much 1
enjoy the architecture, sculpture, painting, mu
sic [of the French], I should want words. It
is in these arts they shine. — To MR. BELLINI.
i, 445- (P-, 1785.)
577. ARTS, Mechanical.— The mechan
ical arts in London are carried to a wonderful
perfection. But of these I need not speak, be
cause of them my countrymen have unfortu
nately* too many samples before their eyes. —
To JOHN PAGE, i, 550. FORD ED., iv, 214. (P.,
1786.)
578. ASSASSINATION, Government
and. — Assassination, poison, perjury * ;
were legitimate principles [of government] in
the dark ages which intervened between an
cient and modern civilization, but exploded
and held in just horror in the eighteenth
century.— To JAMES MADISON, iii, 99. FORD
ED., v, in. (P., 1789.)
— ASSEMBLIES.— See LEGISLATURES.
_ ASSENISIPIA, Proposed State of.—
See WESTERN TERRITORY.
579. ASSIGNATS, Payments in.— I
have communicated to the President what
passed between us * * * on the subject
of the payments made to France by the
United States in the assignats of that coun
try, since they have lost their par with gold
and silver; and after conferences, by his in
struction, with the Secretary of the Treas
ury, I am authorized to assure you, that the
* The allusion is to the extravagance of the period.
—EDITOR.
government of the United States have no idea
of paying their debt in a depreciated me
dium, and that in the final liquidation of the
payments * * : due regard will be had
to an equitable allowance for the circum
stance of depreciation.* — To JEAN BAPTISTE
TERNANT. FORD ED., v, 383. (Pa., Nov.
1791.)
580. ASSUMPTION OF STATE
DEBTS, Acrimony over.— The assumption
of State debts has appeared as revolting to
several States as their non-assumption to others.
It is proposed to strip the proposition of the in
justice it would have done by leaving the States
who have redeemed much of their debts on no
better footing than those who have redeemed
none ; on the contrary, it is recommended to as
sume a fixed sum, allotting a portion of it to
every State in proportion to its census. Con
sequently, every State will receive exactly what
they will have to pay, or they will be exonerated
so far by the General Government's taking their
creditors off their hands. There will be no in
justice then. But there will be the objection
still, that Congress must then lay taxes for
those debts which would have been much better
laid and collected by the State governments.
And this is the objection on which the accommo
dation now hangs with the non-assumptioners,
many of whom committed themselves in their
advocation of the new Constitution by argu
ments drawn from the improbability that Con
gress would ever lay taxes where the States
could do it separately. These gentlemen feel the
reproaches which will be levelled at them per
sonally. I have been, and still am of their opin
ion that Congress should always prefer letting
the States raise money in their own way, where
it can be done. But, in the present instance, I
see the necessity of yielding for this time to the
cries of the creditors in certain parts of the
Union ; for the sake of Union, and to save us
from the greatest of all calamities, the total ex
tinction of our credit in Europe. — To JAMES
MONROE, iii, 153. FORD ED., v, 188. (N. Y.,
June 1790.)
581. ASSUMPTION OF STATE
DEBTS, Compromise plans. — The question
for assuming the State debts has created greater
animosities than I ever yet saw take place on
any occasion. There are three ways in which
it may yet terminate, i. A rejection of the
measure, which will prevent their funding any
part of the public debt, and will be something
very like a dissolution of the government. 2.
A bargain between the Eastern members, who
have had it so much at heart, and the middle
members, who are indifferent about it, to adopt
those debts without any modification on condi
tion of removing the seat of government to
Philadelphia or Baltimore. 3. An adoption of
them with this modification., that the whole
sum to be assumed shall be divided among the
States in proportion to their census ; so that
each shall receive as much as they are to pay ;
and perhaps this might bring about so much
good humor as to induce them to give the tem
porary seat of government to Philadelphia, and
then to Georgetown permanently. It is evident
that this last is the least bad of all the turns the
thing can take. The only objection to it will be
* Jefferson's first draft of this letter ended as fol
lows : " And that they will take measures for making
these payments in their just value, avoiding all bene
fit from depreciation, and desiring on their part to
be guarded against any unjust loss from the circum
stances of mere exchange." It was changed to meet
Hamilton's views.— EDITOR.
i
59
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA Assumption of state
that Congress will then have to lay and collect
taxes to pay these debts, which could much bet
ter have been laid and collected by the State
governments. This, though an evil, is a less one
than any of the others in which it may issue,
and will probably give us the seat of government
at a day not very distant, which will vivify our
agriculture and commerce by circulating through
our State an additional sum every year of half a
million of dollars. — To DR. GEORGE GILMER. iii,
150. FORD ED., v, 192. (N. Y., June 1790.)
582. ASSUMPTION OF STATE
DEBTS, Credit, Union and. — Congress has
been long embarrassed by two of the most ir
ritating questions that can ever be raised among
them: i. The funding of the public debt; and
2, the fixing on a more central residence. After
exhausting their arguments and patience on
these subjects, they have for some time been
resting on their oars, unable to get along as to
these businesses, and indisposed to attend to
anything else till they are settled. And, in fine,
it has become probable that unless they can be
reconciled by some plan of compromise, there
will be no funding bill agreed to ; our credit
(raised by late prospects to be the first on the
exchange at Amsterdam, where our money is
above par), will burst and vanish, and the States
separate, to take care every one of itself. This
prospect appears probable to some well-informed
and well-disposed minds. Endeavors are, there
fore, using to bring about a disposition to some
mutual sacrifices. — To JAMES MONROE, iii, 153.
FORD ED., v, 187. (N. Y., June 1790.)
583. ASSUMPTION OF STATE
DEBTS, Federal capital and. — It is proposed
to pass an act fixing the temporary residence of
twelve or fifteen years at Philadelphia, and that
at the end of that time, it shall stand ipso facto,
and without further declaration transferred to
Georgetown. In this way, there will be some
thing to displease and something to soothe
every part of the Union but New York, which
must be contented with what she has had. If
this plan of compromise does not take place, I
fear one infinitely worse, an unqualified as
sumption, and the perpetual residence on the
Delaware. The Pennsylvania and Virginia dele
gates have conducted themselves honorably and
unexceptionably on the question of residence.
Without descending to talk about bargains, they
have seen that their true interests lay in not
listening to insidious propositions, made to di
vide and defect them, and we have seen them at
times voting against their respective wishes
rather than separate. — To JAMES MONROE, iii,
153- FORD ED., v, 189. (N. Y., June 1790.)
584. ASSUMPTION OF STATE
DEBTS, Justice and. — The assumption
must be admitted, but in so qualified a form as
to divest it of its injustice. This may be done
by assuring to the creditors of every State, a
sum exactly proportioned to the contribution of
the State; so that the State will on the whole
neither gain nor lose. There will remain against
the measure only the objection that Congress
must lay taxes for these debts which might be
better laid and collected by the States. — To
T. M. RANDOLPH. FORD ED., v, 185. (N. Y.
1790.)
585. - — . I am in hopes the as-
• sumption will be put into a jxist form, by assum
ing to the creditors of each State in proportion
to the census of each State, so that the State
will be exonerated towards its creditors just as
much as it will have to contribute to the as
sumption, and consequently no injustice done.
— To FRANCIS EPPES. FORD ED., v, 194. (N. Y.,
July 1790.)
586. ASSUMPTION OF STATE
DEBTS, Mutual sacrifices.— The impossi-
Dility that certain States could ever pay the
debts they had contracted, the acknowledgment
:hat nine-tenths of these debts were contracted
tor the general defence as much as those con
tracted by Congress directly, the clamors of the
creditors within those States, and the possi
bility that they might defeat the funding of any
part of the public debt, if theirs also were not
assumed, were motives not to be neglected. I
saw the first proposition for their assumption
with as much aversion as any man, but the de
velopment of circumstances have convinced me
that if it is obdurately rejected, something
much worse will happen. Considering it, there
fore, as one of the cases in which mutual sacri
fice and accommodation are necessary, I shall
see it pass with acquiescence. — To JOHN HAR-
VIE. FORD ED., v, 214. (N. Y., July 1790.)
587. ASSUMPTION OF STATE
DEBTS, Opposition engendered. — It is not
to be expected that our system of finance has
met your approbation in all its parts. It has
excited even here great opposition ; and more
especially that part of it which transferred the
State debts to the General Government. The
States of Virginia and North Carolina are pecu
liarly dissatisfied with this measure. I believe,
however, that it is harped on by many to mask
their disaffection to the government on other
grounds. — To GOUVERNEUR MORRIS, iii, 198.
FORD ED., v, 250. (Pa., Nov. 1790.)
588. ASSUMPTION OF STATE
DEBTS, Payment by States. — With respect
to the increase of the debt by the Assumption, I
observed to him [Washington] that what was
meant and objected to was, that it increased the
debt of the General Government, and carried it
beyond the possibility of payment ; that if the
balances had been settled, and the debtor States
directed to pay their deficiencies to the creditor
States, they would have done it easily, and by
resources of taxation in their power, and ac
ceptable to the people ; by a direct tax in the
South, and an excise in the North. — THE ANAS.
ix, 118. FORD ED., i, 200. (July 1792.)
589. ASSUMPTION OF STATE
DEBTS, Review of.— The game [Funding
the debt] was over, and another was on the car
pet at the moment of my arrival * [in New
York in 1790], and to this I was most igno-
rantly and innocently made to hold the candle.
This fiscal maneuvre is well known by the name
of the Assumption. Independently of the debts
of Congress, the States had, during the war,
contracted separate and heavy debts ; and Mas
sachusetts particularly in an absurd attempt,
absurdly conducted, on the British post of
Penobscott ; and the more debt Hamilton could
rake up the more plunder for his mercenaries.
This money, whether wisely or foolishly spent,
was pretended to have been spent for general
purposes, and ought, therefore, to be paid from
* Jefferson has here made the curious errors of
separating the funding and assumption act, and of
supposing the latter " was over " before he reached
New York. Hamilton's report was debated in the
House of Representatives from February to April,
and it was not till May 6th that the funding bill was
presented, the section relating to assumption having
been negatived in committee. This bill passed the
House on June zd, and in the Senate had the assump
tion section restored. Not till August 4th did the
bill so altered become a law.— NOTE IN FORD'S ED.
Assumption of State
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
60
the general purse. But it was objected that no
body knew what these debts were, what their
amount, or what their proofs. No matter ; we
will guess them to be twenty millions. But of
these twenty millions, we do not know how
much should be reimbursed to one State, nor
how much to another. No matter ; we will
guess. And so another scramble was set on
foot among the several States, and some got
much, some little, some nothing. But the main
object was attained, the phalanx of the treasury
was reinforced by additional recruits. This
measure produced the most bitter and angry
contests ever known in Congress, before or
since the Union of the States. I arrived in the
midst of it. But a stranger to the ground, a
stranger to the actors on it, so long absent [in
France] as to have lost all familiarity with the
subject, and as yet unaware of its object, I
took no concern in it. The great and trying
question, however, was lost in the House of
Representatives. So high were the feuds ex
cited by this subject, that on its rejection busi
ness was suspended. Congress met and ad
journed from day to day without doing any.
thing, the parties being too much out of temper
to dp business together. The Eastern members
particularly, who, with Smith from South Caro
lina, were the principal gamblers in these
scenes, threatened a secession and dissolution.
Hamilton was in despair. As I was going to
the President's one day, I met him in the
street. He walked me backwards and forwards
before the President's door for half an hour.
He painted pathetically the temper into which
the Legislature had been wrought ; the disgust
of those who were called the creditor States;
the danger of the secession of their members,
and the separation of the States. He observed
that the members of the administration ought
to act in concert ; that though this question
was not one of my department, yet a common
duty should make it a common concern ; that
the President was the centre on which all ad
ministrative questions ultimately rested, and
that all of us should rally around him, and sup
port, with joint efforts, measures approved by
him ; and that the question having been lost by
a small majority only, it was probable that an
appeal from me to the judgment and discretion
of some of my friends might effect a change in
the vote, and the machine of government, now
suspended, might be again" set into motion. I
told him that I was really a stranger to the
whole subject ; that not having yet informed
myself of the system of finance adopted, I knew
not how far this was a necessary sequence ; that
undoubtedly, if its rejection endangered a dis
solution of our Union at this incipient stage, I
should deem that the most unfortunate of all
consequences, to avert which all partial and
temporary evils should be yielded. I proposed
to him, however, to dine with me the next day,
and I would invite another friend or two, to
bring them into conference together, and I
thought it impossible that reasonable men, con
sulting together coolly, could fail, by some mu
tual sacrifices of opinion, to form a compromise
which was to save the Union. The discussion
took place. I could take no part in it, but an
exhortatory one, because I was a stranger to the
circumstances which should govern it. But it
was finally agreed that, whatever importance
had been attached to the rejection of this prop
osition, the preservation of the Union, and of
,oncord among the States was more important,
and that therefore, it would be better that the
vote of rejection should be rescinded, to effect
which some members should change their votes.
But it was observed that this bill would be
peculiarly bitter to the Southern States, and
that some concomitant measure should be
adopted, to sweeten it a little to them. There
had before been proposals to fix the seat of
government either at Philadelphia, or at George
town on the Potomac ; and it was thought that
by giving it to Philadelphia for ten years, and
to Georgetown permanently afterwards, this
might, as an anodyne, calm in some degree the
ferment which might be excited by the other
measure alone. So two of the Potomac mem
bers ([Alexander] White and [Richard Bland]
Lee but White with a revulsion of stomach
almost convulsive), agreed to change their
votes, and Hamilton undertook to carry the
other point. In doing this the influence he
had established over the Eastern members,
with the agency of Robert Morris with those
of the middle States effected his side of the
engagement, and so the Assumption was
passed, and twenty millions of stock divided
among the favored States, and thrown in as
pabulum to the stock-jobbing herd. This ad
ded to the number of votaries to the Treasury,
and made its Chief the master of every vote in
the Legislature which might give to the govern
ment the directions suited to his political
views. — THE ANAS, ix, 92. FORD ED., i, 161.
(1818.)
590. ASSUMPTION OF STATE
DEBTS, Jefferson's agency in.— The As
sumption of the State debts in 1790, was a
supplementary measure in Hamilton's fiscal sys
tem. When attempted in the House of Repre
sentatives it failed. This threw Hamilton him
self, and a number of members into deep
dismay. Going to the President's one day I
met Hamilton, as I approached the door. His
look was sombre, haggard, and dejected beyond
description ; even his dress uncouth and neg
lected. He asked to speak with me. He stood
in the street near the door ; he opened the
subject of the Assumption of the State debts,
the necessity of it in the general fiscal arrange
ment, and its indispensable necessity towards
a preservation of the Union ; and particularly
of the New England States, who had made
great expenditures during the war on expedi
tions which, though of their own undertaking,
were for the common cause : that they consid
ered the Assumption of these by the Union so
just, and its denial so probably injurious that
they would make it a sine qua non of a continu
ance of the Union. That as to his own part,
if he had not credit enough to carry such a
measure as that, he could be of no use and was
determined to resign. He observed at the same
time, that though our particular business lay
in separate departments, yet the administration
and its success was a common concern, and that
we should make common cause in supporting
one another. He added his wish that I would
interest my friends from the South, who were
those most opposed to it. I answered that I
had been so long absent from my country [in
France] that I had lost a familiarity with its
affairs, and being but lately returned had not
yet got into the train of them ; that the fiscal
system being out of my department I had not
yet undertaken to consider and understand it ;
that the Assumption had struck me in an un
favorable light, but still, not having considered
it sufficiently, I had not concerned [myself] in
it, but that I would revolve what he had urged
in my mind. It was a real fact that the Eastern ^
and Southern members (South Carolina how
ever was with the former) had got into the most
extreme ill humor with one another. This
broke out on every question with the most
61
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Assumption of State
Astronomy
alarming heat ; the bitterest animosity seemed
to be engendered, and though they met every
day, little or nothing could be done from mutual
distrust and antipathy. On considering the
situation of things, I thought the first step to
wards some conciliation of views would be to
bring Mr. Madison and Colonel Hamilton to
a friendly discussion of the subject. I imme
diately wrote to each to come and dine with
me the next day, mentioning that we should
be alone, that the object was to find some
temperament for the present fever, and that
I was persuaded that men of sound heads and
honest views needed nothing more than ex
planation and mutual understanding to enable
them to unite in some measures which might
enable us to get along. They came ; I opened
the subject to them, acknowledged that my
situation had not permitted me to understand it
sufficiently but encouraged them to consider
the thing together. They did so. It ended in
Mr. Madison's acquiescence in a proposition
that the question should be again brought be
fore the House by way of amendment from the
Senate : that though he would not vote for it,
nor entirely withdraw his opposition, yet he
should not be strenuous but leave it to its fate.
It was observed, I forget by which of them,
that as the pill would be a bitter one to the
Southern States, something should be done to
soothe them ; that the removal of the seat of
government to the Potomac was a just measure,
and would probably be a popular one with
them, and would be a proper one to follow
the Assumption. It was agreed to speak to
Mr. [Hugh] White and Mr. [Richard Bland]
Lee whose districts lay on the Potomac, and to
refer to them to consider how far the interests
of their particular districts might be a sufficient
inducement in them to yield to the Assump
tion. This was done. Lee came into it without
hesitation : Mr. White had some qualms but
finally agreed. The measure came down by
way of amendment from the Senate and was
finally carried by the change of White and
Lee's votes. But the removal to the Potomac
could not be carried unless Pennsylvania could
be engaged in it. This Hamilton took on him
self, and chiefly, as I understood, through the
agency of Robert Morris, obtained a vote of
that State, on agreeing to an intermediate resi
dence at Philadelphia. This is the real history
of the Assumption, about which many erro
neous conjectures have been published. It was
unjust in itself, oppressive to the States, and
was acquiesced in merely from a fear of discus
sion. While our government was still in its
most infant state, it enabled Hamilton so to
strengthen himself by corrupt services to many
that he could afterwards carry his bank scheme,
and every measure he proposed in defiance of
all opposition. In fact, it was a principal
ground whereon was reared up that speculating
phalanx, in and out of Congress, which has
since been able to give laws to change the polit
ical complexion of the government of the United
States. — To . FORD ED., vi, 172.
(i793.)
591. ASTOB'S SETTLEMENT, Protec
tion of. — I learn with great pleasure the
progress you have made towards an establish
ment on Columbia river. I view it as the germ
of a great, free, and independent empire on that
side of our continent, and that liberty and self-
government spreading from that as well as from
this side, will insure their complete establish
ment over the whole. It must be still more
gratifying to yourself to foresee that your name
will be handed down with that of Columbus and
Raleigh, as the father of the establishment and
founder of such an empire. It would be an
afflicting thing, indeed, should the English be
able to break up the settlement. Their bigotry
to the bastard liberty of their own country, and
habitual hostility to every degree of freedom
in any other, will induce the attempt ; they
would not lose the sale of a bale of furs for the
empire of the whole world. But I hope your
party wilt be able to maintain themselves * * *
and have no doubt our government will do for
its success whatever they have power to do
and especially that at the negotiations for
peace, they will provide, by convention with
the English, for the safety and independence
of that country, and an acknowledgment of
our right of patronizing the Indians in all
cases of injury from foreign nations. — To
JOHN JACOB ASTOR. vi, 247. (M., 1813.) See
FUR TRADE.
592. ASTOB'S SETTLEMENT, Terri
tory and. — On the waters of the Pacific, we
can found no claim in right of Louisiana. If
we claim that country at all, it must be on
Astor's settlement near the mouth of the Co
lumbia, and the principle of the jus gentium of
America, that when a civilized nation takes
possession of the mouth of a river in a new
country, that possession is considered as in
cluding all its waters. — To JOHN MELISH. vii,
51. (M., 1816.)
593. ASTRONOMY, Apparatus for.—
This letter [is] to remind you of your kind
promise of making me an accurate clock ;
which, being intended for astronomical pur
poses only, I would have divested of all appara
tus for striking, or for any other purpose, which,
by increasing its complication, might disturb
its accuracy. A companion to it, for keeping
seconds, and which might be moved easily,
would greatly add to its value. — To DAVID RIT-
TENHOUSE. i, 210. FORD ED., ii, 162. (M.,
1778.)
594. ASTRONOMY, Bowditch's papers.
— I am indebted to you for Mr. Bowditch's
very learned mathematical papers, the calcula
tions of which are not for every reader, al
though their results are readily enough under
stood. One of these impairs the confidence I
had reposed in Laplace's demonstration, that
the eccentricities of the planets of our system
could oscillate only within narrow limits, and
therefore could authorize no inference that the
system must, by its own laws, come one day to
an end. This would have left the question one
of infinitude, at both ends of the line of time,
clear of physical authority. — To JOHN ADAMS.
vii, 112. (M., 1819.)
595. ASTRONOMY, Discoveries in.—
Herschel has pushed his discoveries of double
stars, now, to upwards of nine hundred, being
twice the nvimber of those communicated in the
Philosophical Transactions. You have prob
ably seen, that a Mr. Pigott had discovered
periodical variations of light in the star Algol.
He has observed the same in the ?? of Antinous,
and makes the period of variation seven days,
four hours, and thirty minutes, the duration of
the increase sixty-three hours, and of the de
crease thirty-six hours. What are we to con
clude from this? That there are suns which
have their orbits of revolution too? But this
would suppose a wonderful harmony in their
planets, and present a new scene, where the
attracting powers should be without, and not
within the orbit. The motion of our sun would
be a miniature of this. But this must be left
to you astronomers. — To PROFESSOR JAMES
MADISON, i, 447. (P., 1785.)
Astronomy
Athens
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
62
596. ASTRONOMY, Planet Herschel.— I
shall send you * * * the " Connoissance
de Terns" for the years 1786 and 1787, being
all as yet published. You will find in these the
tables for the planet Herschel, as far as the
observations hitherto made, admit them to be
calculated. You will see, also, that Herschel
was only the first astronomer who discovered it
to be a planet, and not the first who saw it.
Meyer saw it in the year 1756, and placed it in
the catalogue of his zodiacal stars, supposing it
to be such. A Prussian astronomer, in the
year 1781, observed that the 964th star of
Meyer's catalogue was missing ; and the cal
culations now prove that at the time Meyer
saw his 964th star, the planet Herschel should
have been precisely in the place where he noted
that star. — To JOHN PAGE, i, 402. (P., 1785.)
597. . It is fixed on grounds
which scarcely admit a doubt that the planet
Herschel was seen by Meyer in the year 1756,
and was considered by him as one of the zodi
acal stars, and, as such, arranged in his cat
alogue, being the 964th which he describes.
This 964th of Meyer has been since missing,
and the calculations for the planet Herschel
show that it should have been, at the time of
Meyer's observation, where he places his 964th
star.— To DR. STILES, i, 363. (P., 1785.)
598. ASTRONOMY, Solar eclipse.— We
•were much disappointed in Virginia generally
on the day of the great eclipse, which proved to
be cloudy. In Williamsburg, where it was total,
I understand only the beginning was seen. At
this place, (Montjcello,) which is latitude 38°
8' and longitude west from Williamsburg, about
i° 45', as is conjectured, n digits only were
supposed to be covered. It was not seen at all
until the moon had advanced nearly one-third
over the sun's disc. Afterwards it was seen at
intervals through the whole. The egress par
ticularly was visible. It proved, however, of
little use to me, for want of a time piece that
could be depended on. — To DAVID RITTEN-
HOUSE. i, 210. FORD ED., ii, 162. (M., July,
1778.)
599. ASTRONOMY, Variations of
light. — I think your conjecture that the peri
odical variation of light in certain fixed stars pro
ceeds from maculae, is more probable than that
of Maupertius, who supposes those bodies may
be flat, and more probable also than that which
supposes the star to have an orbit of revolution
so large as to vary sensibly its degree of light.
The latter is rendered more difficult of belief
from the shortness of the period of variation. —
To PROFESSOR J. MADISON, ii, 247. (P., 1787.)
600. ASYLUM, America as an.— Amer
ica is now, I think, the only country of tran
quillity, and should be the asylum of all those
who wish to avoid the scenes which have
crushed our friends in Paris. — To MRS.
CHURCH. FORD ED., vi, 289. (Pa., 1793.)
601. - — . I think it fortunate for
the United States to have become the asylum
for so many virtuous patriots of different de
nominations; but their circumstances, with
which you were so well acquainted before, en
abled them to be but a bare asylum, and to
offer nothing for them but an entire freedom
to use their own means and faculties as they
please. — To M. DE MEUNIER. FORD ED., vii, 13,
(M., 1795.)
602. . Small means of being
useful to you are left to me, but they shall be
freely exercised for your advantage, and that,
not on the selfish principle of increasing our
own population at the expense of other na
tions, * * * but to consecrate a sanctuary for
those whom the misrule of Europe may com
pel to seek happiness in other climes. This
refuge, once known, will produce reaction on
the happiness even of those who remain there,
by warning their task-masters that when the
evils of Egyptian oppression become heavier
than those of the abandonment of country,
another Canaan is open where their subjects
will be received as brothers, and secured
against like oppressions by a participation in
the right of self government. — To GEORGE
FLOWER, vii, 84. (P.F., 1817.)
603. ASYLUM, Consuls and.— The
clause in the Consular convention with
France of 1784 giving the right of sanctuary
to consuls' houses, was reduced to a protection
of their chancery room and its papers. —
NOTES ON CONSULAR CONVENTION, ix, 46^.
(1803.)
604. ASYLUM, Public vessels and.—
Article 12 [of the French treaty], giving
asylum in the ports of either to the armed
vessels of the other, with the prizes taken
from the enemies of that other, must be
qualified as it is in the I9th article of the
Prussian treaty; as the stipulation in the
latter part of the article, " that no shelter or
refuge shall be given in the ports of the one,
to such as shall have made prize on the sub
jects of the other of the parties," would forbid
us in case of a war between France and
Spain, to give shelter in our ports to prizes
made by the latter on the former, while the
first part of the article would oblige us to
shelter those made by the former on the lat
ter — a very dangerous covenant, and which
ought never to be repeated in any other in
stance. — MISSISSIPPI RIVER INSTRUCTIONS.
vii, 588. FORD ED., v, 478. (March 1792.)
605. - — . The Executive has never
denied the right of asylum in our ports to
the public armed vessels of [the British] na
tion. They, as well as the French, are free
to come to them, in all cases of weather, pira
cies, enemies, or other urgent necessity, and
to refresh, victual and repair, &c. — To GEORGE
HAMMOND, iv, 65. FORD ED., vi, 423. (Pa.,
1793- ) See EXPATRIATION, FUGITIVES, IM
PRESSMENT.
606. ATHEISM, Calumnious charges
of. — As to the calumny of Atheism, I am so
broken to calumnies of every kind, from
every department of government, Executive,
Legislative, and Judiciary, and from every
minion of theirs holding office or seeking it,
that I entirely disregard it, and from Chace it
will have less effect than from any other man
in the United States. — To JAMES MONROE.
FORD ED., vii, 447. (Ep., May 1800.)
607. ATHEIST, Not an.— An atheist
* * * I can never be. — To JOHN ADAMS.
vii, 281. (M., 1823.)
608. ATHENS, Government of. — The
government of Athens was that of the people
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Atmosphere
Authority
of one city making laws for the whole country
subjected to them. That of Lacedaemon was
the rule of military monks over the laboring
class of the people, reduced to abject slavery.
These are not the doctrines of the present age.
The equal rights of man, and the happiness of
every individual, are now acknowledged to be
the only legitimate objects of government. — To
M. CORAY. vii, 319. (M., 1823.)
_ ATMOSPHERE.— See 209.
_ ATTACHMENTS, Foreign.— See FOR
EIGN INFLUENCE.
609. ATTAINDER, Bills of.— The 9cca-
sion and proper office of a bill of attainder
is this : When a person charged with a
crime withdraws from justice, or resists it by
force, either in his own or a foreign country,
no other recourse of bringing him to trial or
punishment being practicable, a special act
is passed by the legislature adapted to the
particular case. This prescribes to him a
sufficient time to appear and submit to a
trial by his peers; declares that his refusal to
appear shall be taken as a confession of guilt,
as in the ordinary case of an offender at the
bar refusing to plead, and pronounces the
sentence which would have been rendered on
his confession or conviction in a court of
law. No doubt that these acts of attainder
have been abused in England as instruments
of vengeance by a successful over a defeated
party. But what institution is insusceptible
of abuse in wicked hands? — To L. H. GIRAR-
DIN. vi, 440. FORD ED., ii, 151. (M., 1815.)
_ ATTIRE.— See DRESS.
610. ATTORNEY GENERAL, Ap
pointment of. — An Attorney General shall
be appointed by the House of Representatives.
PROPOSED VA. CONSTITUTION. FORD EDV ii, 20.
(June 1776.)
611. ATTORNEYS, Federal District.—
The only shield for our republican citizens
against the federalism of the courts is to
have the attorneys and marshals republicans.
— To A. STUART, iv, 394. FORD ED., viii, 47.
(M., April 1801.)
612. . Republican attorneys and
marshals, being the doors of entrance into
the courts, are indispensably necessary as a
shield to the republican part of our fellow
citizens, which, I believe, is the main body of
the people. — To WILLIAM B. GILES, iv, 381.
FORD ED., viii, 25. (W., 1801.)
613. AUBAINE, Droit d'.— The expres
sion in the eleventh article of our treaty of
commerce and amity with France, " that the
subjects of the United States shall not be re
puted Aubaines in France, and consequently
shall be exempted from the Droit d'Aubaine,
or other similar duty, under what name so
ever," has been construed so rigorously to
the letter, as to consider us as Aubaines in
the colonies of France. Our intercourse with
those colonies is so great, that frequent and
important losses will accrue to individuals, if
this construction be continued. * * * I pre
sume that the enlightened Assembly now en
gaged in reforming the remains of feudal
abuse among them, will not leave so inhospit
able an one as the Droit d'Aubaine existing
in France, or any of its dominions. If this
may be hoped it will be better that you should
not trouble the minister with any application
for its abolition in the colonies as to us. This
would be creating into a special favor to us
the extinction of a general abuse, which will,
I presume, extinguish of itself. Only be so
good as to see, that in abolishing this odious
law in France, its abolition in the colonies,
also, be not omitted by mere oversight; but
if, contrary to expectation, this fragment of
barbarism be suffered to remain, then it will
become necessary to bring forward the en
closed case, and press a liberal and just ex
position of our treaty, so as to relieve our
citizens from this species of risk and ruin
hereafter. — To WILLIAM SHORT. iii, 189.
FORD ED., v, 234. (N.Y., 1790.)
— AURORA NEWSPAPER.— See
DUANE.
— AUSTRIA, Emperor of. — See JOSEPH
II.
614. AUTHORITY, Civil and Military.
— Instead of subjecting the military to the
civil power, his Majesty has expressly made
the civil subordinate to the military. But
can his Majesty thus put down all law under
his feet? Can he erect a power superior to
that which erected himself? He has done it
indeed by force, but let him remember that
force cannot give right. — RIGHTS OF BRITISH
AMERICA, i, 140. FORD ED., i, 445. (1774.)
615. . He [George III.], has
endeavored to pervert the exercises of the
Kingly office in Virginia into a detestable and
insupportable tyranny, * * * by [affecting] to
render the military independent of and su
perior to the civil power. — PROPOSED VA.
CONSTITUTION. FORD ED., ii, 19. (June 1776.)
616. - — .He has affected to render
the military independent of, and superior to,
the civil power. — DECLARATION OF INDEPEND
ENCE AS DRAWN BY JEFFERSON.
617. . The military shall be
subordinate to the civil power. — PROPOSED VA.
CONSTITUTION, viii, 452. FORD ED., iii, 3^2.
(1783.)
618. . A distinction is kept up
between the civil and military which it is
for the happiness of both to obliterate. — To
GENERAL WASHINGTON, i, 335. FORD ED.,
iii. 467. (A., 1784.)
619. . A distinction [will be
continued] between the civil and military
which it would be for the good of the whole
to obliterate as soon as possible. — To M. DE
MEUNIER. ix, 270. FORD ED., iv, 175. (P.,
1786.)
620. . I do not see how they [the
framers of the French constitution] can pro
hibit altogether the aid of the military in
cases of riot, and yet I doubt whether they
can descend from the sublimity of ancient
military pride, to let a MarechrJ of France
Authority
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
64
-vith his troops, be commanded by a magis
trate. They cannot conceive that General
Washington, at the head of his army, during
the late war, could have been commanded by
a common constable to go as his posse comi-
tatus to suppress a mob, and that Count
Rochambeau, when he was arrested at the
head of his army by a sheriff, must have gone
to jail if he had not given bail to appear in
court. Though they have gone astonishing
lengths, they are not yet thus far. It is
probable, therefore, that not knowing how to
use the military as a civil weapon, they will
do too much or too little with it. — To WILL
IAM CARMICHAEL. iii, 90. (P., Aug. 1789.)
621. . The military shall be
subordinate to the civil authority. — FRENCH
CHARTER OF RIGHTS, iii, 47. FORD ED., v,
102. (P., 1789.)
622. . Bonaparte has transferred
the destinies of the republic from the civil
to the military arm. Some will use this as a
lesson against the practicability of republican
government. I read it as a lesson against the
danger of standing armies. — To SAMUEL
ADAMS, iv, 322. FORD ED., vii, 425. (Pa.,
Feb. 1800.)
623. . The supremacy of the
civil over the military authority, I deem [one
of the] essential principles of our government
and, consequently [one] which ought to
shape its administration.— FIRST INAUGURAL
ADDRESS, viii, 4. FORD ED., viii, 5. (1801.)
624. . I sincerely wish General
Wilkinson could be appointed as you pro
pose. But besides the objection from prin
ciple, that no military commander should be
so placed as to have no civil superior, his
residence at Natchez is entirely inconsistent
with his superintendence of the military posts.
— To SAMUEL SMITH. FORD ED., viii, 29.
(W., March 1801.)
625. . Not a single fact has ap
peared, which occasions me to doubt that I
could have made a fitter appointment than
General Wilkinson. One qualm of principle
I acknowledge I do feel, I mean the union
of the civil and military authority. You re
member that when I went into office * * * he
was pressed on me to be made Governor of
the Mississippi Territory, and that I refused
it on that very principle. When, therefore,
the House of Representatives took that
ground, I was not insensible to _ its having
some weight. But in the appointment to
Louisiana, I did not think myself departing
from my own principle, because I consider
it not as a civil government, but merely a
military station. The Legislature had sanc
tioned that idea by the establishment of the
office of the Commandant, in which were
completely blended the civil and military
powers. It seemed therefore, that the Gov
ernor should be in suit with them. I ob
served, too, that the House of Representa
tives, on the very day they passed the stric
ture on this union of authorities, passed a bill
making the Governor of Michigan com
mander of the regular troops which should
at any time be within his government. — To
SAMUEL SMITH, v, 13. FORD ED., viii, 450.
(W., May 1806.)
626. AUTHORITY, Civil and Military
united. — From a belief that, under the pres
sure of the [British] invasion under which
we [Virginia] were then [1781] laboring, the
public would have more confidence in a mil
itary chief, and that the military commander,
being invested with the civil power also,
both might be wielded with more energy,
promptitude and effect for the defence of the
State. I resigned the administration [the
Governorship] at the end of my second year,
[1781] and General Nelson was appointed to
succeed me. — AUTOBIOGRAPHY, i, 50. FORD
ED., i, 70. (1821.)
627. AUTHORITY, Conflict of.— Con
gress having * * * directed that they [British
prisoners in Virginia] should not be removed,
and our Assembly that they should, the Ex
ecutive [of Virginia] are placed in a very dis
agreeable situation. We can order them to
the banks of the Potomac, but our authority
will not land them on the opposite shore. —
To BENJAMIN HARRISON. FORD ED., ii, 439.
628. AUTHORITY, Constitution and.
— The authority of the people is a necessary
foundation for a constitution. — To JOHN H.
PLEASANTS. vii, 345. FORD ED., x, 302. (M.,
1824.)
629. AUTHORITY, Custom as.— Gen
eral example is weighty authority. — NOTES
ON COINAGE, vii, 164. (1790.)
630. AUTHORITY, Enforcing.— We
would do anything in our power to support
and manifest your authority, were anything
wanting. But nothing can be added to the
provision which the military institutions have
made to enforce obedience, and it would be
presumption in us to say what is that pro
vision to you. — To MAJOR-GENERAL STEUBEN.
FORD ED., ii, 491. (R., 1781.)
631. --- . We cannot be respected by
France as a neutral nation, nor by the world
ourselves as an independent one, if we do
not take effectual measures to support, at
every risk, our authority in our own harbors.
—To JAMES MADISON, iv, 558. FORD ED.,
viii, 315. (M., Aug. 1804.)
632. AUTHORITY, Habits of.— If the
President can be preserved a few years till
habits of authority and obedience [to the new
government] can be established generally, we
have nothing to fear. — To M. DE LAFAYETTE.
iii, 132. FORD ED., v. 152. (N.Y., April 1790.)
633. AUTHORITY, Obligation and.— It
is not the name, but the authority that ren
ders an act obligatory. — NOTES ON VIRGINIA.
viii, 365. FORD ED., iii, 228. (1782.)
634. AUTHORITY, Opposition to.— My
long and intimate knowledge of my country
men satisfies me, that let there ever be occa
sion to display the banners of the law, and
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Authority
the world will see how few and pitiful are
those who will array themselves in opposi
tion — TO DR. JAMES BROWN, v, 379. FORD
ED., ix, 211. (W., 1808.)
635. AUTHORITY, The People and.—
Leave no authority not responsible to the
people. — To ISAAC H. TIFFANY. vii, 32.
(M., 1816.)
636. . All authority belongs to
the people. — To SPENCER ROANE. vii, 213.
FORD ED., x, 190. (M., 1821.)
637. AUTHORITY, Religion and Fed
eral. — Civil powers alone have been given to
the President of the United States, and no
authority to direct the religious exercises of
his constituents.— To REV. SAMUEL MILLER.
v, 237. FORD ED., ix, 175. (W., 1808.)
638. . No power to prescribe any
religious exercise, or to assume authority in
religious discipline, has been delegated to the
General Government. It must then rest with
States, so far as it can be in any human au
thority. — To REV. SAMUEL MILLER, v, 237.
FORD ED., ix, 174. (W., 1808.)
639. AUTHORITY, Repudiated.— The
British Parliament has no right to exercise
authority over us — RIGHTS OF BRITISH AM
ERICA, i, 130. FORD ED., i, 434. ((1774.)
640. AUTHORITY, Resistance to
usurped. — It is a dangerous lesson to say to
the people " whenever your functionaries ex
ercise unlawful authority over you, if you do
not go into actual resistance, it will be
deemed acquiescence and confirmation." How
long had we acquiesced under usurpations of
the British parliament? Had that confirmed
them in right, and made our Revolution a
wrong? Besides no authority has yet de
cided whether this resistance must be in
stantaneous: when the right to resist ceases,
or whether it has yet ceased?— To JOHN
HAMBDEN PLEASANTS. vii, 345. FORD ED.,
x, 302. (M., 1824.)
641. AUTHORITY, Self -constituted.
— I deem no government safe which is under
the vassalage of any self-constituted author
ities, or any other authority than that of the
nation, or its regular functionaries. — To AL
BERT GALLATIN. iv, 519. FORD ED., viii, 285.
(W., Dec. 1803.)
642. AUTHORITY, Source of.— I con
sider the source of authority with us to be
the Nation. Their will, declared through its
proper organ, is valid, till revoked by their
will declared through its proper organ again
also. Between 1776 and 1789. the proper or
gan for pronouncing their will, whether legis
lative or executive, was a Congress formed
in a particular manner. Since 1789, it is a
Congress formed in a different manner, for
laws, and a President, elected in a particular
way, for making appointments and doing
other executive acts. The laws and appoint
ments of the ancient Congress were as valid
and permanent in their nature, as the laws
of the new Congress, or appointments of the
new Executive ; these laws and appointments,
in both cases, deriving equally their source
from the will of the Nation. — To PRESIDENT
WASHINGTON. iii, 332. FORD ED., v, 437
(Pa., 1792.)
643- . I consider the people who
constitute a society or nation as the source
of all authority in that nation; as free to
transact their common concerns by any
agents they think proper; to change these
agents individually, or the organization of
them in form or function whenever they
please ; that all the acts done by these agents
under the authority of the nation are the acts
of the nation, are obligatory to them and in
ure to their use, and can in no wise be an
nulled or affected by any change in the form
of the government, or of the persons admin
istering it. — OPINION ON FRENCH TREATIES.
vii, 612. FORD ED., vi, 220. (1793.)
644. AUTHORITY, Upholding.— In no
country on earth is it [forcible opposition to the
law] so impracticable as in one where every
man feels a vital interest in maintaining the
authority of the laws, and instantly engages
in it as in his own personal cause. — To BEN
JAMIN SMITH, v, 293. FORD ED., ix, 195.
(M., 1808.)
645. - — . Forcible opposition [to
the embargo] will rally the whole body of
republicans of every shade to a single point. —
that of supporting the public authority. — To
ALBERT GALLATIN. v, 347. (M., Aug. 1808.)
646. AUTHORITY, Usurpation of.—
Necessities which dissolve a government do
not convey its authority to an oligarchy or a
monarchy. They throw back into the hands
of the people the powers they had delegated,
and leave them as individuals to shift for
themselves.— NOTES ON VIRGINIA, viii, 369.
FORD EDV iii, 233. (1782.)
647. AUTHORITY, Washington and
Civil. — You [General Washington] have
conducted the great military contest with
wisdom and fortitude, invariably regarding
the rights of the civil power through all dis
asters and changes.* — CONGRESS TO GEN.
WASHINGTON. (Dec. 23,1783.)
- AUTHORS.— See LITERATURE.
648. AVARICE, Commercial. — It seems
to me that in proportion as commercial ava
rice and corruption advance on us from the
North and East, the principles of free gov
ernment are to retire to the agricultural
States of the South and West, as their last
asylum and bulwark. — To HENRY MIDDLE-
TON, vi, 91. (M., 1813.)
_ BACON'S REBELLION.— See REBEL
LION.
649. BADGES, Utilizing.— Let them
[Cincinnati society] melt up their eagles and
add the mass to the distributable fund, that
* Jefferson wrote the address to Washington on
surrendering his commission. It is not included in
either of the two leading editions of Jefferson's
writings.— EDITOR.
Bainbridge (William)
Bank
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
66
their descendants may have no temptation
to hang them in their button holes. — To M.
DE MEUNIER. ix, 271. FORD ED., iv., 176.
(P., 1786.) See BIRTHDAY.
650. BAINBRIDGE (William), Victory
of.— After the loss of the Philadelphia, Cap
tain Bainbridge had a character to redeem. He
has done it most honorably, and no one is more
gratified by it than myself. — To MATTHEW
CARR. vi, 132. (M., 1813.)
651. BALLOONS, Experiments with.—
There seems a possibility that the great desid
eratum in the use of the balloon may be ob
tained. There are two persons at Javel (oppo
site to Auteuil), who are pushing this matter.
They are able to rise and fall at wity, without
expending their gas, and they can deflect forty-
five degrees from the course of the wind. — To
R. IZARD. i, 443- (P-, 1785-)
652. BALLOONS, Tall from.— An acci
dent has happened here [France] which will
probably damp the ardor with which aerial
navigation has been pursued. Monsieur Pilatre
de Roziere had been waiting for many months
at Boulogne a fair wind to cross the channel in
a balloon which was compounded of one of
inflammable air, and another called a Mont-
golfier with rarefied air only. He at length
thought the wind fair and with a companion,
Romain, ascended. After proceeding in a
proper direction about two leagues, the wind
changed and brought them again over the
French coast. Being at the height of about six
thousand feet, some accident, unknown, burst
the balloon of inflammable air, and the Mont-
golfier, being unequal alone to sustain their
weight, they precipitated from that height to
the earth and were crushed to atoms. — To
JOSEPH JONES, i, 353. (P-, June 1785.)
653. . The arts, instead of ad
vancing, have lately received a check which will
probably render stationary for awhile, that
branch of them which had promised to elevate
us to the skies. Pilatre de Roziere, who had
first ventured into that region, has fallen a sac
rifice to it. In an attempt to pass from Bou
logne over to England, a change in the wind
having brought him on the coast of France,
some accident happened to his balloon of in
flammable air, which occasioned it to burst,
and that of rarefied air combined with it being
then unequal to the weight, they fell to the
earth from a height, which the first reports
made six thousand feet, but later ones have
reduced to sixteen hundred. Pilatre de Roziere
was dead when a peasant distant one hundred
yards away, ran to him ; but Romain, his com
panion, lived about ten minutes, though speech
less, and without his senses. — To CHARLES
THOMSON, i, 355. (P., 1785.)
654. BALLOONS, Peril of.— Though
navigation by water is attended with frequent
accidents, and in its infancy must have been
attended with more, yet these are now so
familiar that we think little of them, while that
which has signalized the two first martyrs to
the aeronautical art will probably deter very
many from the experiments they would have
been disposed to make. — To CHARLES THOM
SON, i, 354. (P., 1785.)
- BALLOT.— See SUFFRAGE.
— BANISHMENT.— See EXILE.
655. BANK (National 1813), Charter
of. — The scheme is for Congress to establish
a national bank, suppose of thirty millions
capital, of which they shall contribute ten
millions in six per cent, stock, the States ten
millions, and individuals ten millions, one
half of the two last contributions to be of a
similar stock, for which the parties are to
give cash to Congress; the whole, however,
to be under the exclusive management of the
individual subscribers, who are to name all
the directors ; neither Congress nor the States
having any power of interference in its ad
ministration. Discounts are to be at five per
cent., but the profits are expected to be at seven
per cent. Congress then will be paying six
per cent, on twenty millions, and receiving
seven per cent, on ten millions, being its
third of the institution; so that on the ten
millions cash which they receive from the
States and individuals, they will, in fact, have
to pay but five per cent, interest. This is the
bait. The charter is proposed to be for forty
or fifty years, and if any future augmenta
tions should take place, the individual propri
etors are to have the privilege of being the
sole subscribers for that. Congress are fur
ther allowed to issue to the amount of three
millions of notes, bearing interest, which they
are to receive back in payment for lands at a
premium of five or ten per cent., or as sub
scriptions for canals, roads, and bridges, in
which undertakings they are, of course, to
be engaged. This is a summary of the case
as I understand it; but it is very possible I
may not understand it in all its parts, these
schemes being always made unintelligible for
the gulls who are to enter into them. — To J.
W. EPPES. vi, 228. FORD ED., ix, 403. (M.,
Nov. 1813.)
656. BANK (National 1813), Consid
erations on. — The advantages and disadvan
tages shall be noted promiscuously as they
occur; leaving out the speculation of canals
&c., which, being an episode only in the
scheme, may be omitted, to disentangle it as
much as we can. i. Congress are to receive
five millions from the States (if they will en
ter into this "partnership, which few probably
will), and five millions from the individual
subscribers, in exchange for ten millions of
six per cent, stock, one per cent, of which,
however, they will make on their ten millions
of stock remaining in bank, and so reduce it,
in effect, to a loan of ten millions at five per
cent, interest. This is good ; but, 2. They au
thorize this bank to throw into circulation
ninety millions of dollars (three times the
capital), which increases our circulating me
dium fifty per cent.; depreciates proportion-
ably the present value of a dollar, and raises
the price of all future purchases in the same
proportion. 3. This loan of ten millions at
five per cent., is to be once for all, only.
Neither the terms of the scheme, nor their
own prudence could ever permit them to
add to the circulation in the same, or any
other way, for the supplies of the succeeding
years of the war. These succeeding years
then are to be left unprovided for. and the
means of doing it in a great measure pre
cluded. 4. The individual subscribers, on
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Bank
paying their own five millions of cash to Con
gress, become the depositors of ten millions
of stock belonging to Congress, five millions
belonging to the States, and five millions to
themselves, say twenty millions, with which,
as no one has a right ever to see their books,
or to ask a question, they may choose their
time for running away, after adding to their
booty the proceeds of as much of their own
notes as they shall be able to throw into cir
culation. 5. The subscribers may be one,
two, or three, or more individuals (many
single individuals being able to pay in the five
millions), whereupon this bank oligarchy or
monarchy enters the field with ninety millions
of dollars, to direct and control the politics of
the nation ; and of the influence of these in
stitutions on our politics, and into what scale
it will be thrown, we have had abundant ex
perience. Indeed, England herself may be
the real, while her friend and trustee here
shall be the nominal and sole subscriber.
6. This state of things is to be fastened on
us, without the power of relief, for forty or
fifty years. That is to say, the eight millions
of people now existing, for the sake of re*-
ceiving one dollar and twenty-five cents
apiece, at five per cent, interest, are to sub
ject the fifty millions of people who are to
succeed them within that term, to the pay
ment of forty-five millions of dollars, prin
cipal and interest, which will be payable in the
course of the fifty years. 7. But the great
and national advantage is to be the relief of
the present scarcity of money, which is pro
duced and proved by, i. The additional in
dustry created to supply a variety of articles
for the troops, ammunition, &c. 2. By the
cash sent to the frontiers, and the vacuum oc
casioned in the trading towns by that. 3.
By the late loans. 4. By the necessity of
recurring to shavers with good paper, which
the existing banks are not able to take up;
and 5. By the numerous applications of bank
charters showing that an increase of circu
lating medium is wanting. — To J. W. EPPES.
vi, 229. FORD ED., ix, 403. (M., Nov. 1813.)
657. BANK (National 1813), Increased
Medium and. — Let us examine these causes
and proofs of the want of our increase of me
dium, one by one. i. The additional In
dustry created to supply a variety of articles
for troops, ammunition, &c. Now, I had al
ways supposed that war produced a diminu
tion of industry, by the number of hands
it withdraws from industrious pursuits for
employment in arms, &c., which are totally
unproductive. And if it calls for new in
dustry in the articles of ammunition and other
military supplies, the hands are borrowed
from other branches on which the demand is
slackened by the war ; so that it is but a shift
ing of these hands from one pursuit to another.
2. The cash sent to the frontiers occasions a
vacuum in the trading towns, which re
quires a new supply. Let us examine what
are the calls for money to the frontiers. Not
for clothing, tents, ammunition, arms, which
are all bought in the trading towns. Not for
provisions; for although these are bought
partly in the immediate country, bank bills
are more acceptable there than even in the
trading towns. The pay of the army calls
for some cash, but not a great deal, as bank
notes are as acceptable with the military men,
perhaps more so ; and what cash is sent must
find its way back again in exchange for the
wants of the upper from the lower country.
For we are not to suppose that cash stays
accumulating there forever. 3. This scarcity
has been occasioned by the late loans. But
does the government borrow money to keep
it in their coffers? Is it not instantly re
stored to circulation by payment for its nec
essary supplies? And are we to restore a
vacuum of twenty millions of dollars by an
emission of ninety millions? 4. The want of
medium is proved by the recurrence of indi
viduals with good paper to brokers at exor
bitant interest; and 5. By the numerous ap
plications to the State governments for ad
ditional banks; New York wanting eighteen
millions, Pennsylvania ten millions, &c. But
say more correctly, the speculators and spend
thrifts of New York and Pennsylvania, but
never consider them as being the States of
New York and Pennsylvania. These two
items shall be considered together. — To J. W.
EPPES. vi, 231. FORD ED., ix, 405. (M.,
Nov. 1813.)
658. BANK (National 1813), Paper,
Specie and.— It is a litigated question,
whether the circulation of paper, rather than
of specie, is a good or an evil. In the opinion
of England and of English writers it is a
good ; in that of all other nations it is an
evil ; and excepting England and her copyist,
the United States, there is not a nation ex
isting. I believe, which tolerates a paper cir
culation. The experiment is going on, how
ever, desperately in England, pretty boldly
with us. and at the end of the chapter, we
shall see which opinion experience approves :
for I believe it to be one of those cases where
mercantile clamor will bear down reason, un
til it is corrected by ruin. — To J. W. EPPES.
vi, 232. FORD ED., ix, 405. (M., Nov. 1813.)
659. BANK (National 1813), Uncon
stitutional. — After the solemn decision of
Congress against the renewal of the charter of
the Bank of the United States, and the
grounds of that decision (the want of con
stitutional power), I had imagined that ques
tion at rest, and that no "more applications
would be made to them for the incorporation
of banks. The opposition on that ground to
its first establishment, the small majority by
which it was overborne, and the means prac
ticed for obtaining it. cannot be already for
gotten. The law having passed, however, by
a majority, its opponents, true to the sacred
principle of submission to a majority, suffered
the law to flow through its term without ob
struction. During this, the nation had time
to consider the constitutional question, and
when the renewal was proposed, they con
demned it, not by their representatives in
Congress only, but by express instructions
from different organs of their will. Here
Bank
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
68
then we might stop, and consider the me
morial as answered. But, setting authority
apart, we will examine whether the Legisla
ture ought to comply with it, even if they
had the power. — To J. W. EPPES. vi, 232.
FORD ED., ix, 406. (M., Nov. 1813.)
660. . The idea of creating a
national bank, I do not concur in, because it
seems now decided that Congress has not that
power (although I sincerely wish they had
it exclusively), and because I think there is
already a vast redundancy, rather than a
scarcity of paper medium. The rapid rise in
the nominal price of land and labor (while
war and blockade should produce a fall)
proves the progressive state of the depre
ciation of our medium. — To THOMAS LAW.
FORD ED., ix, 433. (M., 1813.)
661. BANK OF NORTH AMERICA,
Incorporation of. — The Philadelphia Bank
was incorporated by Congress. This is,
perhaps, the only instance of their having
done that which they had no power to do.
Necessity obliged them to give this institution
the appearance of their countenance, because
in that moment they were without any other
resource for money. — COUNT VAN HOGEN-
DORP. ii, 24. FORD ED., iv, 286. (P., 1786.)
662. BANK OF NORTH AMERICA,
Pennsylvania , and.— The Legislature of
Pennsylvania passed an act of incorporation
for the bank, and declared that the holders of
stock should be responsible only to the
amount of their stock. Lately that Legisla
ture has repealed their act. The consequence
is, that the bank is now altogether a private
institution, and every holder is liable for its
engagements in his whole property. This
has had a curious effect. It has given those
who deposit money in the bank a greater
faith in it, while it has rendered the holders
very discontented, as being more exposed to
risk, and it has induced many to sell it, so
that I have heard (I know not how truly)
the bank stock sells somewhat below par. —
To COUNT VAN HOGENDORP. ii, 24. FORD
ED., iv, 286. (P., 1786.)
663. BANK (TJ. S.), Beginning of.
— A division, not very unequal, had * * *
taken place in the honest part of * * * [Con
gress in 1791] between the parties styled re
publican and federal. The latter, being mon
archists in principle, adhered to [Alexander]
Hamilton of course, as their leader in
that principle, and this mercenary pha
lanx,* added to them, ensured him always
a majority in both Houses; so that the
whole action of the Legislature was now un
der the direction of the Treasury. Still the
machine was not complete. The effect of the
Funding system, and of the Assumption [of
the State debts], would be temporary. It
would be lost with the loss of the individual
members whom it had enriched, and some
engine of influence more permanent must be
* Those members of Congress who, Jefferson be
lieved and charged, voted for the Assumption of the
State debts from corrupt motives. See ASSUMPTION.
—EDITOR.
contrived while these myrmidons were yet in
place to carry it through all opposition. This
engine was the Bank of the United States. —
THE ANAS, ix, 95. FORD EDV i, 164. (1818.)
664. BANK (U. S.), Constitutionality
of.— The bill for establishing a National
Bank undertakes among other things :— i. To
form the subscribers into a corporation. 2.
To enable them in their corporate capacities
to receive grants of land; and so far is
against the laws of Mortmain.* 3. To make
alien subscribers capable of holding lands;
and so far is against the laws of Alienage.
4- To transmit these lands, on the death of
a proprietor, to a certain line of successors;
and so far changes the course of Descents.
5. To put the lands out of the reach of for
feiture or escheat; and so far is against the
laws of Forfeiture and Escheat. 6. To trans
mit personal chattels to successors in a cer
tain line; and so far is against the laws of
Distribution. 7. To give them the sole and
exclusive right of banking under the national
authority; and so far is against the laws of
Monopoly. 8. To communicate to them a
power to make laws paramount to the laws
of the States ; for so they must be construed,
to protect the institution from the control of
the State Legislatures ; and so, probably, they
will be construed.
I consider the foundation of the Constitu
tion as laid on this ground : f That " all
powers not delegated to the United States,
by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to
the States, are reserved to the States or to
the people." (Xllth amendment.) To take
a single step beyond the boundaries thus spe
cially drawn around the powers of Congress,
is to take possession of a boundless field of
power, no longer susceptible of any definition.
The incorporators of a bank, and the powers
assumed by this bill, have not, in my opinion,
been delegated to the United States, by the
Constitution. I. They are not among the
powers specially enumerated: for these are:
ist A power to lay taxes for the purpose of
paying the debts of the United States; but
no debt is paid by this bill, nor any tax laid.
Were it a bill to raise money, its origination
in the Senate would condemn it by the Con
stitution. 2nd " To borrow money." But
this bill neither borrows money nor ensures
the borrowing it. The proprietors of the
bank will be just as free as any other money
holders, to lend or not to lend their money
to the public. The operation proposed in the
bill, first, to lend them two millions, and
then to borrow them back again, cannot
* Though the Constitution controls the laws of
Mortmain so far as to permit Congress itself to hold
land for certain purposes, yet not so far as to permit
them to communicate a similar right to other corpo
rate bodies.— NOTE BY JEFFERSON.
t Washington requested the written opinions of
the Cabinet on the constitutionality of the bill.
Those of the Secretaries of the Treasury, and of
War, were in favor of the constitutionalty of the act.
Those of the Secretary of State, and Attorney Gen
eral, were against it. The opinion of Jefferson is an
unanswerable argument against the doctrine of im
plied powers, and is justly considered the text of the
true republican faith, on the subject of constitutional
interpretation.— RAYNER'S Life of Jefferson, p. 304.
69
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Bank
change the nature of the latter act, which will
still be in a payment, and not a loan, call it
by what name you please. 3rd To " regulate
commerce with foreign nations, and among
the States, and with the Indian tribes." To
erect a bank, and to regulate commerce, are
very different acts. He who erects a bank,
creates a subject of commerce in its bills; so
does he who makes a bushel of wheat, or
digs a dollar out of the mines ; yet neither of
these persons regulates commerce thereby. To
make a thing which may be bought and sold,
is not to prescribe regulations for buying and
selling. Besides, if this was an exercise of
the power of regulating commerce, it would
be void, as extending as much to the internal
commerce of every State as to its external.
For the power given to Congress by the Con
stitution does not extend to the internal regu
lation of the commerce of a State (that is to
say of the commerce between citizen and
citizen), which remains exclusively with its
own legislature ; but to its external commerce
only, that is to say, its commerce with an
other State, or with foreign nations, or with
the Indian tribes. Accordingly the bill does
not propose the measure as a regulation of
trade, but as, " productive of considerable
advantages to trade." Still less are these
powers covered by any other of the special
enumerations.
II. Nor are they within either of the gen
eral phrases, which are the two following: —
i. To lay taxes to provide for the general
welfare of the United States, that is to say,
" to lay taxes for the purpose of providing
for the general welfare." For the laying of
taxes is the power, and the general welfare
the purpose for which the power is to be ex
ercised. They are not to lay taxes ad libi
tum for any purpose they please; but only
to pay the debts or provide for the welfare of
the Union. In like manner, they are not to
do anything they please to provide for the
general welfare, but only to lay taxes for that
purpose. To consider the latter phrase, not
as describing the purpose of the first, but as
giving a distinct and independent power to do
any act they please, which might be for the
good of the Union, would render all the pre
ceding and subsequent enumerations of power
completely useless. It would reduce the whole
instrument to a single phrase, that of in
stituting a Congress with power to do what
ever would be for the good of the United
States; and, as they would be the sole judges
of the good or evil, it would be also a power
to do whatever evil they please. It is an es
tablished rule of construction where a phrase
will bear either of two meanings, to give to
it that which will allow some meaning to the
other parts of the instrument and not that
which would render all the others useless.
Certainly no such universal power was meant
to be given them. It was intended to lace them
up straitly within the enumerated powers, and
those without which, as means, these powers
could not be carried into effect. It is known
that the very power now proposed as a means
was rejected as an end by the Convention
which formed the Constitution. A propo
sition was made to them to authorize Congress
to open canals, and an amendatory one to em
power them to incorporate. But the whole
was rejected, and one of the reasons for re
jection urged in debate was, that then they
would have power to erect a bank, which
would render the great cities, where there
were prejudices and jealousies on the subject,
adverse to the reception of the Constitution.
2. The second general phrase is, " to make
all laws necessary and proper for carrying
into execution the enumerated powers." But
they can all be carried into execution with
out a bank. A bank therefore is not neces
sary, and consequently not authorized by this
phrase.
It has been urged that a bank will give great
facility or convenience in the collection of
taxes. Suppose this were true: yet the Con
stitution allows only the means which are
"necessary" not those which are merely
" convenient " for effecting the enumerated
powers. If such a latitude of construction
be allowed to this phrase as to give any non-
enumerated power, it will go to every one,
for there is not one which ingenuity may not
torture into a convenience in some instance
or other, to some one of so long a list of
enumerated powers. It would swallow up
all the delegated powers, and reduce the
whole to one power, as before observed.
Therefore it was that the Constitution re
strained them to the necessary means, that
is to say, to those means without which the
grant of power would be nugatory. But let
us examine this convenience and see what it
is. The report on this subject, page 3. states
the only general convenience to be, the pre
venting the transportation and retransporta-
tion of money between the States and the
treasury (for I pass over the increase of
circulating medium, ascribed to it as a want,
and which, according to my ideas of paper
money, is clearly a demerit). Every State
will have to pay a sum of tax money into the
treasury ; and the treasury will have to pay,
in every State, a part of the interest on the
public debt, and salaries to the officers of
government resident in that State. In most
of the States there will still be a surplus of
tax money to come up to the seat of govern
ment for the officers residing there. The
payments of interest and salary in each State
may be made by treasury orders on the State
collector. This will take up the great export
of the money he has collected in his State,
and consequently prevent the great mass of it
from being drawn out of the State. If there
be a balance of commerce in favor of that
State against the one in which the govern
ment resides, the surplus of taxes will be re
mitted by the bills of exchange drawn for
that commercial balance. And so it must be
if there was a bank. But if there be no bal
ance of commerce, either direct or circuitous,
all the banks in the world could not bring up
the surplus of taxes, but in the form of
money. Treasury orders then, and bills of
exchange may prevent the displacement of the
Bank
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
70
main mass of the money collected, without
the aid of any bank; and where these fail,
it cannot be prevented even with that aid.
Perhaps, indeed, bank bills may be a more
convenient vehicle than treasury orders. But
a little difference in the degree of conve
niences, cannot constitute the necessity which
the Constitution makes the ground for as
suming any non-enumerated power.
Besides ; the existing banks will, without a
doubt, enter into arrangements for lending
their agency, and the more favorable, as there
will be a competition among them for it;
whereas the bill delivers us up bound to the
national bank, who are free to refuse all ar
rangement, but on their own terms, and the
public not free, on such refusal, to employ
any other bank. That of Philadelphia, I be
lieve, now does this business, by their post-
notes, which, by an arrangement with the
treasury, are paid by any State collector to
whom they are presented. This expedient
alone suffices to prevent the existence of that
necessity which may justify the assumption
of a non-enumerated power as a means for
carrying into effect an enumerated one. The
thing may be done, and has been done, and
well done, without this assumption ; therefore,
it does not stand on that degree of necessity
which can honestly justify it. It may be said
that a bank whose bills would have a currency
all over the States, would be more convenient
than one whose currency is limited to a single
State. So it would be still more convenient
that there should be a bank, whose bills
should have a currency all over the world.
But it does not follow from this superior
conveniency, that there exists anywhere a
power to establish such a bank; or that the
world may not go on very well without it.
Can it be thought that the Constitution in
tended that for a shade or two of convenience.
more or less, Congress should be authorized
to break down the most ancient and funda
mental laws of the several States; such as
those against Mortmain, the laws of Alienage.
the rules of Descent, the acts of Distribu
tion, the laws of Escheat and Forfeiture, the
laws of Monopoly? Nothing but a necessity
invincible by any other means, can justify
such a prostitution of laws, which constitute
the pillars of our whole system of jurispru
dence. Will Congress be too straight-laced
to carry the Constitution into honest effect,
unless they may pass over the foundation
laws of the State government for the slightest
convenience of theirs?
The negative of the President is the shield
provided by the Constitution to protect
against the invasions of the Legislature: I.
The right of the Executive. 2. Of the Ju
diciary. 3. Of the States and State Legisla
tures. The present is the case of a right re
maining exclusively with the States, and con
sequently one of those intended by the Con
stitution to be placed under its protection.
It must be added, however, that unless the
President's mind on a view of everything
which is urged for and against this bill, is
tolerably clear that it is unauthorized by the
Constitution ; if the pro and the con hang so
even as to balance his judgment, a just re
spect for the wisdom of the Legislature would
naturally decide the balance in favor of their
opinion. It is chiefly for cases where they
are clearly misled by error, ambition, or in
terest, that the Constitution has placed a
check in the negative of the President.—
NATIONAL BANK OPINION, vii, 555. FORD
ED., v, 284. (February 1791.)
665. BANK (IT. S.), Directors of.—
While the Government remained at Philadel
phia, a selection of members of both Houses
were constantly kept as directors, who, on
every question interesting to that institution,
or to the views of the federal head, voted at
the will of that head; and, together with the
stockholding members, could always make
the federal vote that of the majority. By
this combination, legislative expositions were
given to the Constitution, and all the admin
istrative laws were shaped on the model of
England, and so passed. And from this in
fluence we were not relieved, until the re
moval from the precincts of the Bank, to
Washington. — THE ANAS, ix, 95. FORD ED
i, 164. (1818.)
666. BANK (U. S.), Dividends of.— The
bank has just notified its proprietors that
they may call for a dividend of ten per cent,
on their capital for the last six months. This
makes a profit of twenty-six per cent, per an
num. Agriculture, commerce, and everything
useful must be neglected, when the useless
employment of money is so much more
lucrative. — To PLUMARD DE RIEUX. FORD
ED., v, 420. (Pa., 1792.)
667. BANK (U. S.), Fall in stock.— The
failure of some stock gamblers and some
other circumstances, have brought the public
paper low. The 6 per cents have fallen from
26 to 21 1-4, and bank paper stock from 115
or 120 to 73 or 74, within two or three weeks.
This nefarious business is becoming more
and more the public detestation, and cannot
fail, when the knowledge of it shall be suffi
ciently extended, to tumble its authors head
long from their heights. — To WILLIAM
SHORT, iii, 342. FORD ED., v, 459. (Pa.,
March 1792.)
668. BANK (U. S.), Hostility to U. S.
Government. — This institution is one of the
most deadly hostility existing, against the
principles and form of our Constitution. The
nation is, at this time, so strong and united
in its sentiments, that it cannot be shaken at
this moment. But suppose a series of unto
ward events should occur, sufficient to bring
into doubt the competency of a republican
government to meet a crisis of great danger,
or to unhinge the confidence of the people in
the public functionaries: an institution like
this, penetrating by its branches every part of
the Union, acting by command and in
phalanx, may, in a critical moment, upset the
government.. I deem no government safe
which is under the vassalage of any self-con
stituted authorities, or any other authority
than that of the nation, or its regular func-
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Bank
tionaries. What an obstruction could not this
Bank of the United States, with all its branch
banks, be in time of war? It might dictate
to us the peace we should accept, or withdraw
its aids. Ought we then to give further
growth to an institution so powerful, so
hostile? That it is so hostile we know: I,
from a knowledge of the principles of the
persons composing the body of directors in
every bank, principal or branch ; and those of
most of the stockholders; 2, from their op
position to the measures and principles of the
government, and to the election of those
friendly to them; and 3, from the sentiments
of the newspapers they support. Now, while
we are strong, it is the greatest debt we owe
to the safety of our Constitution, to bring its
powerful enemy to a perfect subordination
under its authorities. The first measure
would be to reduce them to an equal footing
only with other banks, as to the favors of the
government. But, in order to be able to meet
a general combination of the banks against
us, in a critical emergency, could we not
make a beginning towards an independent use
of our own money, towards holding our own
bank in all the deposits where it is received,
and letting the treasurer give his draft or
note, for payment at any particular place,
which, in a well-conducted government, ought
to have as much credit as any private draft,
or bank note, or bill, and would give us the
same facilities which we derive from • the
banks? — To ALBERT GALLATIN. iv, 519. FORD
ED., viii, 284. (W., Dec. 1803.)
669. BANK (U.S.), Inflation projects.
—The Bank is so firmly mounted on us that
we must go where they will guide. They
openly publish a resolution, that the national
property being increased in value, they must
by an increase of circulating medium furnish
an adequate representation of it, and by fur
ther additions of active capital promote the
enterprises of our merchants. It is supposed
that the paper in circulation in and around
Philadelphia, amounts to twenty millions of
dollars, and that in the whole Union, to one
hundred millions. — To JAMES MONROE, iv,
140. FORD ED., vii, 80. (M., June 1796.)
670. BANK (IT. S.), Regulation of.—
The Attorney General having considered and
decided that the prescription in the law for
establishing a bank, that the officers in the
subordinate offices of discount and deposit,
shall be appointed " on the same terms and
in the same manner practiced in the principal
bank," does not extend to them the principle
of rotation, established by the Legislature in
the body of directors in the principal bank,
it follows that the extension of that principle
has been merely a voluntary and prudential
act of the principal bank, from which they
are free to depart. I think the extension was
wise and proper on their part, because the
Legislature having deemed rotation useful in
the principal bank constituted by them, there
would be the same reason for it in the sub
ordinate banks to be established by the princi
pal. It breaks in upon the esprit de corps
so apt to prevail in permanent bodies: it
gives a chance for the public eye penetrating
into the sanctuary of those proceedings and
practices, which the avarice of the directors
may introduce for their personal emolument,
and which the resentments of excluded direct
ors, or the honesty of those duly admitted,
might betray to the public; and it gives an
opportunity at the end of the year, or at
other periods, of correcting a choice, which,
on trial, proves to have been unfortunate: an
evil of which themselves complain in their
distant institutions. Whether, however, they
have a power to alter this, or not, the Execu
tive has no right to decide : and their consul
tation with you has been merely an act of
complaisance, or a desire to shield so im
portant an innovation under the cover of ex
ecutive sanction. But ought we to volunteer
our sanction in such a case? Ought we to
disarm ourselves of any fair right of ani
madversion, whenever that institution shall
be a legitimate subject of consideration? I
own, I think the most proper answer would
be that we do not think ourselves authorized
to give an opinion on the question. — To AL
BERT GALLATIN. iv, 518. FORD ED., viii, 284.
(W., 1803.)
671. BANK (U. S.), Richmond Branch.
— It seems nearly settled with the Treasuro-
bankites that a branch shall be established at
Richmond. Could not a counter-bank be set
up to befriend the agricultural man by let
ting him have money on a deposit of tobacco
notes, or even wheat, for a short time, and
would not such a bank enlist the legislature in
its favor, and against the Treasury bank? —
To JAMES MADISON. FORD ED., vi, 98. (Pa.,
1792.)
672. BANK (IT. S.), Ruin by.— It was
impossible the Bank and paper mania should
not produce great and extensive ruin. The
President is fortunate to get off just as the
bubble is bursting, leaving others to hold the
bag. Yet, as his departure will mark the mo
ment when the difficulties begin to work, you
will see, that they will be ascribed to the new
administration, and that he will have his
usual good fortune of reaping credit from the
good acts of others, and leaving to them that
of his errors. — To JAMES MADISON. FORD ED.,
vii, 104. (Jan. 1797.)
673. BANK (IT. S.), Saddled by.— We
are completely saddled and bridled, and the
bank is so firmly mounted on us that we must
go where they will guide. — To JAMES MON
ROE, iv, 140. FORD ED., vii, 80. (M., June
1796.)
674. BANK (U. S.), Subscriptions to.—
You will have seen the rapidity with which
the subscriptions to the bank were filled. As
yet the delirium of speculation is too strong
to admit sober reflection. It remains to be
seen whether in a country whose capital is
too small to carry on its own commerce, to
establish manufactures, erect buildings, &c.,
such sums should have been withdrawn from
these useful pursuits to be employed in gam
bling? Whether it was well judged to force
Bank
Bankruptcy
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
on the public a paper circulation of so many
millions for which they will be paying about
7 per cent, per ann. and thereby banish as
many millions of gold and silver for which
they would have paid no interest? I am afraid
it is the intention to nourish this spirit of
gambling by throwing in from time to time
new aliment. — To EDMUND PENDLETON. FORD
ED., v, 357. (Pa., 1791-)
675. . The subscriptions to the
Bank from Virginia were almost none. * * *
This gives so much uneasiness to Colonel
Hamilton that he thinks to propose to the
President to sell some of the public shares to
subscribers from Virginia and North Caro
lina, if any more should offer. This partial
ity would offend the other States without
pleasing those two : for I presume they would
rather the capitals of their citizens should be
employed in commerce than be locked up in
a strong box here [Philadelphia] : nor can
sober thinkers prefer a paper medium at 13
per cent, interest to gold and silver for noth
ing. — To JAMES MADISON. FORD ED., v, 350.
(Pa., 1791.)
676. . The bank filled and over
flowed in the moment it was opened. In
stead of twenty thousand shares, twenty-four
thousand were offered, and a great many were
presented, who had not suspected that so
much haste was necessary. Thus it is that we
shall be paying 13 per cent, per ann. for eight
millions of paper money, instead of having
that circulation of gold and silver for noth
ing. Experience has proved to us that a
dollar of silver disappears for every dollar of
paper emitted; and, for the paper emitted
from the bank, seven per cent, profits will be
received by the subscribers for it as bank
paper (according to the last division of profits
by the Philadelphia bank), and six per cent,
on the public paper of which it is the repre
sentative. Nor is there any reason to believe,
that either the six millions of public paper,
or the two millions of specie deposited, will
not be suffered to be withdrawn, and the
paper thrown into circulation. The cash de
posited by strangers for safe keeping will
probably suffice for cash demands. — To JAMES
MONROE, iii, 268. FORD ED., v, 352. (Pa., 1791.)
677. BANKRUPTCY, Agriculture,
Commerce and.— I find you are to be har
assed again with a bankrupt law. Could you
not compromise between agriculture and com
merce by passing such a law which like the
by-laws of incorporate towns, should be bind
ing on the inhabitants of such towns only,
being the residence of commerce, leaving the
agriculturists, inhabitants of the country, in
undisturbed possession of the rights and
modes of proceedings to which their habits,
their interests and their partialities attach
them? This would be as uniform as other
laws of local obligation. — To JAMES PLEAS-
ANTS. FORD ED., x, 198. (M., 1821.)
678. BANKRUPTCY, Agriculturists
and. — A bankrupt bill is brought in in such a
form as to render almost all the landholders
south of Pennsylvania liable to be declared
bankrupts. Hitherto we had imagined that the
General Government could not meddle with
the title to lands. — To T. M. RANDOLPH. FORD
ED., vi, 149. (Pa., 1792.)
679. . The bankrupt bill is
brought on with some very threatening fea
tures to landed and farming men, who are
in danger of being drawn into its vortex. It
assumes the right of seizing and selling lands,
and so cuts the knotty question of the Consti
tution, whether the General Government may
direct the transmission of land by descent or
otherwise. — To JOHN FRANCIS MERCER, iii,
495. FORD ED., vi, 148. (Pa., 1792.)
680. BANKRUPTCY, English Law of.
— The British statute excepts expressly farm
ers, graziers, drovers, as such though they
buy to sell again. This bill has no such ex
ception. The British adjudications exempt
the buyers and sellers of bank stock, govern
ment paper, &c. What feelings guided the
draughtsman [of this bill] in adhering to his
original in this case and then departing from
it in the other? The British courts adjudge
that any artists may be bankrupts if the ma
terials of their art are bought, such as shoe
makers, blacksmiths, carpenters, &c. Will the
body of our artists desire to be brought within
the vortex of this law? It will follow as a
consequence that the master who has an artist
of this kind in his family, whether hired, in
dentured, or a slave, to serve the purposes of
his farm or family, but who may at leisure
time do something for his neighbors also, may
be a bankrupt. The British law makes a de
parture from the realm, i. e. out of the media
tion of British law, an act of bankruptcy.
This bill makes a departure from the State
wherein he resides (though into a neighbor
ing one where the laws of the United States
run equally), an act of bankruptcy. The
commissioners may enter houses, break open
doors, chests &c. Are we really ripe for
this? Is that spirit of independence and sov
ereignty, which a man feels in his own house,
and which Englishmen felt when they denom
inated their houses their castles, to be abso
lutely subdued, and is it expedient that it
should be subdued? The lands of the bank
rupt are to be taken, sold. Is not this a pre
dominant question between the General and
State legislatures? Is commerce so much the
basis of the existence of the United States as
to call for a bankrupt law? On the contrary,
are we not almost agricultural ? Should not all
laws be made with a view essentially to the
poor husbandman? When laws are wanting
for particular descriptions of other callings,
should not the husbandman be carefully ex
cused from their operation, and preserved un
der that of the general system only, which
general system is fitted to the condition of
the husbandman?* — NOTES ON THE BANK
RUPT BILL, ix, 431. FORD ED., vi, 145. (Dec.
1792.)
* This paper is without date. Jefferson gave it this
caption: "Extempore thoughts and doubts on very
superficially running over the bankrupt bill." A
bankrupt bill, introduced in the House in December,
1702, by W. L. Smith, is probably the one referred to.
—EDITOR.
73
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Banks
681. BANKS, Abuses of.— The crisis of
the abuses of banking is arrived. The banks
have pronounced their own sentence of death.
Between two and three hundred millions of
dollars of their promissory notes are in the
hands of the people, for solid produce and
property sold, and they formally declare they
will not pay them. This is an act of bank
ruptcy, of course, and will be so pronounced
by any court before which it shall be brought.
But cui bono? The laws can only uncover
their insolvency, by opening to its suitors
their empty vaults. Thus by the dupery of
our citizens, and tame acquiescence of our
legislators, the nation is plundered of two or
three hundred millions of dollars, treble the
amount of debt contracted in the Revolution
ary war, and which, instead of redeeming our
liberty, has been expended on sumptuous
houses, carriages, and dinners. A fearful
tax! if equalized on all; but overwhelming
and convulsive by its partial fall. — To
THOMAS COOPER, vi, 381. (M., Sep. 1814.)
682. . Everything predicted by
the enemies of banks, in the beginning, is now
coming to pass. We are to be ruined now by
the deluge of bank paper, as we were formerly
by the old Continental paper. It is cruel that
such revolutions in private fortunes should
be at the mercy of avaricious adventurers,
who, instead of employing their capital, if
any they have, in manufactures, commerce,
and other useful pursuits, make it an instru
ment to burthen all the interchanges of prop
erty with their swindling profits, profits
which are the price of no useful industry of
theirs. Prudent men must be on their guard
in this game of Robin's alive, and take care
that the spark does not extinguish in their
hands. I am an enemy to all banks discount
ing bills or notes for anything but coin. But
our whole country is so fascinated by this
Jack-lantern wealth, that they will not stop
short of its total and fatal explosion.* — To
DR. THOMAS COOPER, vi, 295. (M., Jan. 1814.)
683. . The enormous abuses of
the banking system are not only prostrating
our commerce, but producing revolution of
property, which without more wisdom than
we possess, will be much greater than were
produced by the Revolutionary paper. That,
too, had the merit of purchasing our liberties,
while the present trash has only furnished
aliment to usurers and swindlers. — To RICH
ARD RUSH. FORD ED., x, 133. (M., June
1819.)
684. BANKS, Aristocracy.— I hope we
shall * * * crush in its birth the aristoc
racy of our moneyed corporations, which dare
already to challenge our government to a trial
of strength, and bid defiance to the laws of
our country. — To GEORGE LOGAN. FORD ED.,
x, 69. (P.F., Nov. 1816.)
685. . The bank mania * * *
is raising up a moneyed aristocracy in our
country which has already set the govern
ment at defiance, and although forced at
* This accordingly took place four years later. —
NOTE, WASHINGTON EDITION,
length to yield a little on this first essay
of their strength, their principles are un-
yielded and unyielding. These have taken
deep root in the hearts of that class from
which our legislators are drawn, and the sop
to Cerberus from fable has become history.
Their principles lay hold of the good, their
pelf of the bad, and thus those whom the Con
stitution had placed as guards to its portals,
are sophisticated or suborned from their du
ties.— To DR. J. B. STUART, vii, 64. (M.,
1817.)
686. BANKS, Capital and.— At the time
we were funding our national debt, we heard
much about " a public debt being a public
blessing " ; that the stock representing it was
a creation of active capital for the aliment of
commerce, manufactures and agriculture.
This paradox was well adapted to the minds of
believers in dreams, and the gulls of that size
entered bond fide into it. But the art and mys
tery of banks is a wonderful improvement on
that. It is established on the principle that
" private debts are a public blessing." That
the evidences of those private debts, called
bank notes, become active capital, and aliment
the whole commerce, manufactures, and agri
culture of the United States. Here are a set
of people, for instance, who have bestowed on
us the great blessing of running in our debt
about two hundred millions of dollars, with
out our knowing who they are, where they
are, or what property they have to pay this
debt when called on ; nay, who have made us
so sensible of the blessings of letting them
run in our debt, that we have exempted them
by law from the repayment of these debts be
yond a given proportion (generally estimated
at one-third). And to fill up the measure of
blessing, instead of paying, they receive an
interest on what they owe from those to
whom they owe; for all the notes, or evi
dences of what they owe, which we see In
circulation, have been lent to somebody on
an interest which is levied again on us
through the medium of commerce. And they
are so ready still to deal out their liberalities
to us, that they are now willing to let them
selves run in our debt ninety millions more,
on our paying them the same premium of six
or eight per cent, interest, and on the same
legal exemption from the repayment of more
than thirty millions of the debt, when it shall
be called for. But let us look at this principle
in its original form, and its copy will then be
equally understood. "A public debt is a pub
lic blessing." That our debt was juggled
from forty-three up to eighty millions, and
funded at that amount, according to this opin
ion was a great public blessing, because the
evidences of it could be vested in commerce,
and thus converted into active capital, and
then the more the debt was made to be, the
more active capital was created. That is to
say, the creditors could now employ in com
merce the money due them from the public,
and make from it an annual profit of five per
cent., or four millions of dollars. But ob
serve, that the public were at the same time
paying on it an interest of exactly the same
Banks
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
74
amount of four millions of dollars. Where,
then, is the gain to either party, which makes
it a public blessing? There is no change in
the state of things, but of persons only. A
has a debt due to him from the public, of
which he holds their certificate as evidence,
and on which he is receiving an annual inter
est. He wishes, however, to have the money
itself, and to go into business with it. B has
an equal sum of money in business, but wishes
now to retire, and live on the interest. He
therefore gives it to A in exchange for A's
certificates of public stock. Now, then, A has
the money to employ in business, which B so
employed before. B has the money on inter
est to live on, which A lived on before ; and
the public pays the interest to B which they
paid to A before. Here is no new creation of
capital, no additional money employed, nor
even a change in the employment of a single
dollar. The only change is of place between
A and B in which we discover no creation of
capital, nor public blessing. Suppose, again,
the public to owe nothing. Then A not hav
ing lent his money to the public, would be in
possession of it himself, and would go into
business without the previous operation of
selling stock. Here again, the same quantity
of capital is employed as in the former case,
though no public debt exists. In neither case
is there any creation of active capital, nor
other difference than that there is a public
debt in the first case, and none in the last;
and we safely ask which of the two situa
tions is most truly a public blessing? If,
then, a public debt be no public blessing, we
may pronounce, a fortiori, that a private one
cannot be so. If the debt which the bank
ing companies owe be a blessing to anybody,
it is to themselves alone, who are realizing a
solid interest of eight or ten per cent, on it.
As to the public, these companies have ban
ished all our gold and silver medium, which,
before their institution, we had without in
terest, which never could have perished in
our hands, and would have been our salvation
now in the hour of war ; instead of which
they have given us two hundred millions of
froth and bubble, on which we are to pay
them heavy interest, until it shall vanish into
air, as Morris's notes did. We are warranted,
then, in affirming that this parody on the prin
ciple of " a public debt being a public bless
ing," and its mutation into the blessing of
private instead of public debts, is as ridicu
lous as the original principle itself. — To J. W.
EPPES. vi, 239. FORD ED., ix, 411. (M., Nov.
1813.)
687. . Capital may be produced
by industry, and accumulated by economy;
but jugglers only will propose to create it by
legerdemain tricks with paper. — To J. W.
EPPES. vi, 241. FORD ED., ix, 413. (M., Nov.
1813.)
688. BANKS, Criticism of.— I am too
desirous of tranquillity to bring such a nest of
hornets on me as the fraternity of banking
companies. — To JOSEPH C. CABELL. vi, 300.
(M., 1814.)
689. BANKS, Dangerous. — Banking es
tablishments are more dangerous than stand
ing armies. — To JOHN TAYLOR, vi, 608. FORD
ED., x, 31. (M., 1816.)
690. BANKS, Deposit.— Banks of de
posit, where cash should be lodged, and a pa
per acknowledgment taken out as its repre
sentative, entitled to a return of the cash on
demand, would be convenient for remittances,
traveling persons, &c. But, liable as its cash
would be to be pilfered and robbed, and its
paper to be fraudulently reissued, or issued
without deposit, it would require skilful and
strict regulation. This would differ from the
bank of Amsterdam, in the circumstance that
the cash could be redeemed on returning the
note. — To J. W. EPPES. vi, 247. FORD ED., ix,
417. (M., Nov. 1813.)
691. BANKS, Depreciated Paper of.—
Everything predicted by the enemies of banks,
in the beginning, is now coming to pass. We
are to be ruined now by the deluge of bank
paper, as we were formerly by the old Con
tinental paper. It is cruel that such revolu
tions in private fortunes should be at the
mercy of avaricious adventurers, who, instead
of employing their capital, if they have any, in
manufactures, commerce, and other useful
pursuits, make it an instrument to burden all
the interchanges of property with their swind
ling profits, profits which are the price of no
useful industry of theirs. Prudent men must
be on their guard in this game of Robin's
alive, and take care that the spark does not
extinguish in their hands. I am an enemy
to all banks discounting bills or notes for
anything but coin. But our whole country is
so fascinated by this Jack-lantern wealth, that
they will not stop short of its total and fatal
explosion. — To THOMAS COOPER, vi, 295.
(M., Jan. 1814.)
692. . Already there is so much
of their trash afloat that the great holders of
it show vast anxiety to get rid of it. They
perceive that now, as in the Revolutionary
war, we are engaged in the old game of Rob
in's alive. They are ravenous after lands and
stick at no price. In the neighborhood of
Richmond, the seat of that sort of sensibility,
they offer twice as much now as they would
give a year ago. — To PRESIDENT MADISON.
FORD ED., ix, 453. (M., Feb. 1814.)
693. . The depreciation of bank
paper swells nominal prices, without furnish
ing any stable index of value. I will endeavor
briefly to give you an idea of this state of
things by an outline of its history.
In 1781 we had I bank, its capital $1,000,000.
In 1791 we had 6 banks, their capital $13,-
135,000.
In 1794 we had 17 banks, their capital $18,-
642,000.
In 1796 we had 24 banks, their capital $20,-
472,000.
In 1803 we had 34 banks, their capital $29,-
112,000.
In 1804 we had 66 banks, their amount of
capital not known.
75
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Banks
And at this time we have probably one
hundred banks, with capital amounting to
one hundred millions of dollars, on which
they are authorized by law to issue notes to
three times that amount, so that our circulating
medium may now be estimated at from two
to three hundred millions of dollars, on a
population of eight and a half millions. The
banks were able for awhile, to keep this trash
at par with metallic money, or rather to de
preciate the metals to a par with their paper,
by keeping deposits of cash sufficient to ex
change for such of their notes as they were
called on to pay in cash. But the circum
stances of the war draining away all our
specie, all these banks have stopped payment,
but with a promise to resume specie ex
changes whenever circumstances shall produce
a return of the metals. Some of the most
prudent and honest will possibly do this ; but
the mass of them never will nor can. Yet,
having no other medium, we take their pa
per, of necessity, for purposes of the instant,
but never to lay by us. The government is
now issuing treasury notes for circulation,
bottomed on solid funds, and bearing interest.
The banking confederacy (and the merchants
bound to them by their debts) will endeavor
to crush the credit of these notes ; but the
country is eager for them, as something they
can trust to, and so soon as a convenient
quantity of them can get into circulation, the
bank notes die. — To JEAN BAPTISTE SAY.
vi, 434. (M., March 1815.)
694. BANKS, Difficulties caused by.—
For the emolument of a small proportion of
our society, who prefer those demoralizing
pursuits [banking and commerce] to labors
useful to the whole, the peace of the whole
is endangered, and all our present difficul
ties produced. — To ABBE SALIMANKIS. v, 516.
(M., 1810.)
695. . The fatal possession of
the whole circulating medium by our banks,
the excess of those institutions, and their
present discredit, cause all our difficulties. —
To W. H. CRAWFORD, vi, 419. FORD ED., ix,
503. (M., Feb. 1815.)
696. BANKS, Dominion of.— -The do
minion of the banks must be broken, or it
will break us. — To JAMES MONROE, vi, 409.
FORD ED., ix, 498. (M., Jan. 1815.)
697. BANKS, Dropsical.— I wish I could
see Congress get into a better train of finance.
Their banking projects are like dosing dropsy
with more water. * * * Their new bank,
if not abortive at its birth, will not last
through one campaign; and the taxes pro
posed cannot be paid. — To WILLIAM SHORT.
vi, 400. (M., Nov. 1814.)
698. BANKS, Evils of.— The evils they
[the banks] have engendered are now upon
us, and the question is how we are to get out
of them? Shall we build an altar to the old
paper money of the Revolution, which ruined
individuals but saved the republic, and burn
on that all the bank charters, present and fu
ture, and their notes with them? For these
are to ruin both republic and individuals.
This cannot be done. The mania is too
strong. It has seized by its delusions and
corruptions, all the members of pur govern
ments, general, special and individual. — To
JOHN ADAMS, vi, 305. (M., Jan. 1814.)
699. - — . I think it impossible but
that the whole system must blow up before
the year is out ; and thus a tax of three or
four hundred millions will be levied on our
citizens who had found it a work of so much
time and labor to pay off a debt of eighty
millions which had redeemed them from bond
age.— To PRESIDENT MADISON. FORD ED., ix,
453- (M., Feb. 1814.)
— . I see that this infatuation
of banks must take its course, until actual ruin
shall awaken us from its delusions. Until the
gigantic banking propositions of this winter
had made their appearance in the different
Legislatures, I had hoped that the evil might
still be checked; but I see now that it is des
perate, and that we must fold our arms and
go to the bottom with the ship. — To JOSEPH
C CABELL. vi, 300. (M., Jan. 1814.)
701. - _. The evils of this deluge
of paper money are not to be removed until
our citizens are generally and radically in
structed in their cause and consequences, and
silence by their authority the interested clam
ors and sophistry of speculating, shaving,
and banking institutions. Till then we must
be content to return, quoad hoc, to the savage
state, to recur to barter in the exchange of
our property, for want of a stable, common
measure of value, that now in use being less
fixed than the beads and wampum of the In
dian, and to deliver up our citizens, their
property and their labor, passive victims to
the swindling tricks of bankers and mounte-
bankers. — To JOHN ADAMS, vii, 115. (M.
1819.)
702. BANKS, Excess of.— That we are
overdone with banking institutions, which
have banished the precious metals, and sub
stituted a more fluctuating and unsafe me
dium, that these have withdrawn capital from
useful improvements and employments to
nourish idleness * * * are evils more
easily to be deplored than remedied. — To
ABBE SALIMANKIS. v, 516. (M., 1810.)
703. - — .A parcel of mushroom
banks have set up in every State, have filled
the country with their notes, and have thereby
banished all our specie. A twelvemonth ago
they all declared they could not pay cash for
their own notes, and notwithstanding this act
of bankruptcy, this trash has of necessity been
passing among us, because we have no other
medium of exchange, and is still taken and
passed from hand to hand, as you remember
the old Continental money to have been in
the Revolutionary war; every one getting rid
of it as quickly as he can, by laying it out in
property of any sort at double, treble and
manifold higher prices. * * * A general
crush is daily expected when this trash will
be lost in the hands of the holders. This will
take place the moment some specie returns
Banks
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
76
among us, or so soon as the government will
issue bills of circulation. The little they have
issued is greatly sought after, and a premium
given for them which is rising fast. — To
PHILLIP MAZZEI. FORD ED., ix, 524. (M.,
Aug. 1815.)
704. BANKS, Failures of.— The failure
of our banks will occasion embarrassment for
awhile, although it restores to us a fund
which ought never to have been surrendered
by the nation, and which now, prudently used,
will carry us through all the fiscal difficulties
of the war. — To PRESIDENT MADISON, vi, 386.
(M., Sep. 1814.)
705. . The banks have discon
tinued themselves. We are now without any
medium ; and necessity, as well as patriotism,
and confidence, will make us all eager to re
ceive treasury notes, if founded on specific
taxes. Congress may now borrow of the pub
lic, and without interest, all the money they
may want, to the amount of a competent cir
culation, by merely issuing their own promis
sory notes, of proper denominations for the
larger purposes of circulation, but not for the
small. Leave that door open for the entrance
of metallic money. — To THOMAS COOPER, vi,
382. (M., Sep. 1814.)
706. . Providence seems, in
deed, by a special dispensation, to have put
down for us, without a struggle, that very
paper enemy which the interest of our citi
zens long since required ourselves to put
down, at whatever risk. The work is done.
The moment is pregnant with futurity, and
if not seized at once by Congress, I know not
on what shoal our bark is next to be stranded.
— To THOMAS COOPER, vi, 382. (M., Sep.
1814.)
707. - _. The crush will be tre
mendous ; very different from that brought
on by our paper money. That rose and fell
so gradually that it kept all on their guard,
and affected severely only early or long-
winded contracts. Here the contract of yester
day crushes in an instant the one or the other
party. The banks stopping payment suddenly,
all their mercantile and city debtors do the
same; and all, in short, except those in the
country, who, possessing property, will be
good in the end. But this resource will not
enable them to pay a cent on the dollar. —
To THOMAS COOPER, vi, 381. (M., Sep. 1814.)
708. . The paper interest is now
defunct. Their gossamer castles are dis
solved, and they can no longer impede and
overawe the salutary measures of the govern
ment. Their paper was received on a belief
that it was cash on demand. Themselves
have declared it was nothing, and such
scenes are now to take place as will open the
eyes of credulity and of insanity itself to the
dangers of a paper medium, abandoned' to
the discretion of avarice and of swindlers. It
is impossible not to deplore our past follies,
and their present consequences, but let them
at least be warnings against like follies in
future. — To THOMAS COOPER, vi, 382. (M.,
Sep. 1814.)
709. BANKS, Fictitious Capital.— The
banks themselves were doing business on cap
itals, three-fourths of which were fictitious;
and to extend their profit they furnished ficti
tious capital to every man, who having noth
ing and disliking the labors of the plow,
chose rather to call himself a merchant, to
set up a house of $5,000 a year expense, to
dash into every species of mercantile gam
bling, and if that ended as gambling gen
erally does, a fraudulent bankruptcy was an
ultimate resource of retirement and compe
tence. This fictitious capital, probably of one
hundred millions of dollars, is now to be lost,
and to fall on somebody ; it must take on those
who have property to meet it, and probably
on the less cautious part, who, not aware of
the impending catastrophe have suffered
themselves to contract, or to be in debt, and
must now sacrifice their property of a value
many times the amount of their debt. We
have been truly sowing the wind, and are
now reaping the whirlwind. If the present
crisis should end in the annihilation of these
pennyless and ephemeral interlopers only, and
reduce our commerce to the measure of dur
own wants and surplus productions, it will
be a benefit in the end. But how to effect this,
and give time to real capital, and the holders
of real property, to back out of their entan
glements by degrees requires more knowledge
of political economy than we possess. I be
lieve it might be done, but I despair of its
being done. The eyes of our citizens are not
sufficiently open to the true cause of our dis
tress. They ascribe them to everything but
their true cause, the banking system ; a sys
tem, which, if it could do good in any form,
is yet so certain of leading to abuse, as to be
utterly incompatible with the public safety
and prosperity. At present, all is confusion,
uncertainty and panic. — To RICHARD RUSH.
FORD ED., x, 133. (M., June 1819.)
710. BANKS, Government Deposits
and. — The application of the Bank of Balti
more is of great importance. The considera
tion is very weighty that it is held by citizens,
while the stock of the United States bank is
held in so great a proportion by foreigners.
Were the Bank of the United States to swal
low up the others and monopolize the whole
banking business of the United States, which
the demands we furnish them with tend
shortly to favor, we might, on a misunder
standing with a foreign power, be immensely
embarrassed by any disaffection in that bank.
It is certainly for the public good to keep all
the banks competitors for our favors by a ju
dicious distribution of them, and thus to en
gage the individuals who belong to them in
the support of the reformed order of things,
or at least in an acquiescence under it. I
suppose that, on the condition of participating
in the deposits, the banks would be willing to
make such communications of their opera
tions and the state of their affairs as might
satisfy the Secretary of the Treasury of their
stability. It is recommended to Mr. Gallatin
to leave such an opening in his answer to this
letter, as to leave us free to do hereafter what
77
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Banks
shall be advisable on a broad view of all the
banks in the different parts of the Union. — To
ALBERT GALLATIN. FORD ED., viii, 172. (Oct
1802.)
711. . As to the patronage of
the Republican Bank at Providence, I am de
cidedly in favor of making all the banks re
publican, by sharing deposits with them in
proportion to the dispositions they show. If
the law now forbids it, we should not permit
another session of Congress to pass without
amending it. It is material to the safety of
republicanism to detach the mercantile in
terest from its enemies and incorporate them
into the body of its friends. — To ALBERT GAL-
LATIN. FORD ED., viii, 252. (July 1803.)
712. BANKS, Jefferson's disapproba
tion of Paper. — My original disapprobation
of banks circulating paper is not unknown,
nor have I since observed any effects either on
the morals or fortunes of our citizens, which
are any counter balance for the public evils
produced. — To J. W. EPPES. vi, 203. FORD
ED., ix, 402. (P.F., Sep. 1813.)
713. - _. The toleration of banks
of paper-discount costs the United States one
half their war taxes; or, in other words,
doubles the expense of every war. — To J. W.
EPPES. vi, 201. FORD ED., ix, 400. (P.F.,
Sep. 1813.)
714. . From the establishment
of the United States Bank to this day, I have
preached against this system, and have been
sensible no cure could be hoped, but in the
catastrophe now happening. — To THOMAS
COOPER, vi, 381. (M., 1814.)
715. . I have ever been the en
emy of banks, not of those discounting for
cash, but of those foisting their own paper
into circulation, and thus banishing our cash.
My zeal against those institutions was so
warm and open at the establishment of the
Bank of the United States, that I was derided
as a maniac by the tribe of bank-mongers,
who were seeking to filch from the public
their swindling and barren gains. — To JOHN
ADAMS, vi, 305. (M., Jan. 1814.)
716. . I am an enemy to all
banks discounting bills or notes for anything
but coin. — To DR. THOMAS COOPER, vi, 295.
(M., Jan. 1814.)
717. . The system of banking
we have both equally and ever reprobated.
I contemplate it as a blot left in all our con
stitutions, which, if not covered, will end in
their destruction, which is already hit by the
gamblers in corruption, and is sweeping away
in its progress the fortunes and morals of our
citizens. — To JOHN TAYLOR, vi, 605. FORD
ED., x, 28. (M., May 1816.)
718. . I do not know whether
you may recollect how loudly my voice was
raised against the establishment of banks in
the beginning ; but like that of Cassandra it
was not listened to. I was set down as a
madman by those who have since been vic
tims to them. I little thought then how much
I was to suffer by them myself; for I, too, am
taken in by endorsements for a friend to the
amount of $20,000, for the payment of which
I shall have to make sale of that much of my
property. And yet the general revolution of
fortunes, which these instruments have pro
duced, seems not at all to have cured our
country of this mania. — To THOMAS LEIPER.
FORD ED., x, 254. (May 1823.)
719. BANKS, Mania for.— We are un
done if this banking mania be not suppressed.
Aut Carthago, out Roma delcnda cst. — To
ALBERT GALLATIN. vi, 498. (M., Oct. 1815.)
720. . The mania * * * has
seized, by its delusions and corruptions, all
the members of our governments, general,
special, and individual. — To JOHN ADAMS.
vi, 306. (M., Jan. 1814.)
721. . Knowing well that the
Bank mania still possessed the great body of
our countrymen, it was not expected that any
radical cure of that could be at once effected.
We must go further wrong, probably to a ne
plus ultra before we shall be forced into what
is right. Something will be obtained how
ever, if we can excite, in those who think,
doubt first, reflection next, and conviction at
last. — To JOSEPH C. CABELL. FORD ED., ix,
499- (M., 1815.)
722. - — . Like a dropsical man
calling out for water, water, our deluded cit
izens are clamoring for more banks, more
banks. The American mind is now in that
state of fever which the world has so often
seen in the history of other nations. We are
under the bank bubble, as England was under
the South Sea bubble, France under the Mis
sissippi bubble, and as every nation is liable to
be, under whatever bubble, design or delusion
may puff up in moments when off their guard.
—To CHARLES YANCEY. vi, 515. FORD ED.,
x, 2. (M., Jan. 1816.)
723. - — . This infatuation of banks
is a torrent which it would be a folly for me
to get in the way of. I see that it must take
its course, until actual ruin shall awaken us
from its delusions. — To JOSEPH C. CABELL.
vi, 300. (M., Jan. 1814.)
724. BANKS, Monopoly.— The monopoly
of a single bank is certainly an evil. The
multiplication of them was intended to cure
it ; but it multiplied an influence of the same
character with the first, and completed the
supplanting of the precious metals by a paper
circulation. Between such parties the less we
meddle the better.— To ALBERT GALLATIN.
iv, 446. FORD ED., viii, 158. (W., 1802.)
725. BANKS, Paper.— Interdict forever,
to both the State and National governments
the power of establishing any paper bank; for
without this interdiction we shall have the
same ebbs and flows of medium, and the same
revolutions of property to go through every
twenty or thirty years. — To W. C. RIVES, vii,
147. FORD ED., x, 151. (M., 1819.)
726. BANKS, Power to establish.— The
States should be applied to, to transfer the
Banks
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
78
right of issuing circulating paper to Congress
exclusively, in perpetuum, if possible, but dur
ing the war at least, with a saving of charter
rights. — To J. W. EPPES. vi, 140. FORD ED.,
ix, 393. (M., June 1813.)
727. - — . The States should be
urged to concede to the General Government,
with a saving of chartered rights, the exclu
sive power of establishing banks of discount
for paper. — To J. W. EPPES. vi, 427. FORD
ED., ix, 417. (M., Nov. 1813.)
728. . I still believe that on
proper representations of the subject, a great
proportion of the Legislatures would cede to
Congress their power of establishing banks,
saving the charter rights already granted.
And this should be asked, not by way of
amendment to the Constitution, because until
three-fourths should consent, nothing could
be done ; but accepted from them one by one,
singly, as their consent might be obtained.
Any single State, even if no other should
come into the measure, would find its interest
in arresting foreign bank paper immediately,
and its own by degrees. Specie would flow
in on them as paper disappeared. Their own
banks would call in and pay off their notes
gradually, and their constituents would thus
be saved from the general wreck. Should the
greater part of the States concede, as is ex
pected, their power over banks to Congress,
besides insuring their own safety, the paper of
the non-conceding States might be so checked
and circumscribed, by prohibiting its receipt
in any of the conceding States, and even in
the non-conceding as to duties, taxes, judg
ments, or other demands of the United
States, or of the citizens of other States, that
it would soon die of itself, and the me
dium of gold and silver be universally re
stored. This is what ought to be done. But
it will not be done. Carthago non delibi-
tur. The overbearing clamor of merchants,
speculators, and projectors, will drive us be
fore them with our eyes open, until, as in
France, under the Mississippi bubble, our cit
izens will be overtaken by the crash of this
baseless fabric, without other satisfaction than
that of execrations on the heads of those func
tionaries, who, from ignorance, pusillanimity
or corruption, have betrayed the fruits of
their industry into the hands of projectors
and swindlers. — To J. W. EPPES. vi, 245.
FORD ED., ix, 415. (M., Nov. 1813.)
729. - — . The State Legislature
should be immediately urged to relinquish the
right of establishing banks of discount. Most
of them will comply, on patriotic principles,
under the convictions of the moment and the
non-complying may be crowded into concur
rence by legitimate devices. — To THOMAS
COOPER, vi, 382. (M., Sep. 1814.)
730. . I do not remember the
conversation between us which you mention
* * * on your proposition to vest in Con
gress the exclusive power of establishing
banks. My opposition to it must have been
§ rounded, not on taking the power from the
tafes, but on leaving any vestige of it in ex
istence, even in the hands of Congress, be
cause it would only have been a change of
the organ of abuse. — To JOHN ADAMS, vi,
305. (M., Jan. 1814.)
731. BANKS, Precautions against.-— In
order to be able to meet a general combination
of the banks against us, in a critical emer
gency, could we not make a beginning to
wards an independent use of our own money,
towards holding our own bank in all the de
posits where it is received, and letting the
treasurer give his draft or note, for payment
at any particular place, which, in a well-con
ducted government, ought to have as much
credit as any private draft, or bank note, or
bill, and would give us the same facilities
which we derive from the banks. — To ALBERT
GALLATIN. v, 520. FORD ED., viii, 285. (W.,
Dec. 1803.)
732. BANKS, Private Fortunes and.-—
Private fortunes, in the present state of our
circulation, are at the mercy of those self-
created money-lenders, and are prostrated by
the floods of nominal money with which their
avarice deluges us. He who lent his money
to the public or to an individual, before the
institution of the United States Bank, twenty
years ago, when wheat was well sold at a
dollar the bushel, and receives now his nom
inal sum when it sells at two dollars, is
cheated of half his fortune; and by whom ?
By the banks, which, since that, have thrown
into circulation ten dollars of their nominal
money where there was one at that time. — To
JOHN W. EPPES. vi, 142. FORD ED., ix, 394.
(M., June 1813.)
733. . It is cruel that such revo
lutions in private fortunes should be at the
mercy of avaricious adventurers, who in
stead of employing their capital, if any they
have, in manufactures, commerce, and other
useful pursuits, make it an instrument to bur
den all the interchanges of property with their
swindling profits, profits which are the price
of no useful industry of theirs. — To DR.
THOMAS COOPER, vi, 295. (M., 1814.)
734. . The flood of paper money
had produced an exaggeration of nominal
prices, and at the same time a facility of ob
taining money, which not only encouraged
speculations on fictitious capital, but seduced
those of real capital, even in private life, to
contract debts too freely. Had things con
tinued in the same course, these might have
been manageable ; but the operations of the
United States bank for the demolition of the
State banks obliged these suddenly to call in
more than half their paper, crushed all ficti
tious and doubtful capital, and reduced the
prices of property and produce suddenly to
one-third of what they had been. — To ALBERT
GALLATIN. FORD ED., x, 176. (M., Dec. 1820.)
735. BANKS, Scarcity of Medium and.
— Instead of yielding to the cries of scarcity
of medium set up by speculators, projectors
and commercial gamblers, no endeavors
should be spared to begin the work of reduc
ing it by such gradual means as may give
79
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
time to private fortunes to preserve their
poise, and settle down with the subsiding
medium. — To J. W. EPPES. vi, 246. FORD ED.,
ix, 417. (M., Nov. 1813.)
736. . We are called on to add
ninety millions more to the circulation. Pro
ceeding in this career, it is infallible, that we
must end where the Revolutionary paper
ended. Two hundred millions was the whole
amount of all the emissions of the old Con
gress, at which point their bills ceased to cir
culate. We are now at that sum, but with
treble the population, and of course a longer
tether. Our depreciation is. as yet, but about
two for one. Owing to the support its credit
receives from the small reservoirs of specie in
the vaults of the banks, it is impossible to say
at what point their notes will stop. Nothing
is necessary to effect it but a general alarm;
and that may take place whenever the public
shall begin to reflect on, and perceive the im
possibility that the banks should repay this
sum. At present, caution is inspired no
farther than to keep prudent men from selling
property on long payments. Let us suppose
the panic to arise at three hundred millions, a
point to which every session of the Legis
lature hastens us by long strides. Nobody
dreams that they would have three hundred
millions of specie to satisfy the holders of
their notes. Were they even to stop now, no
one supposes they have two hundred millions
in cash, or even the sixty-six and two-third
millions, to which amount alone the law com
pels them to repay. One hundred and thirty-
three and one-third millions of loss, then, is
thrown on the public by law; and as to the
sixty-six and two-thirds, which they are legally
bound to pay, and ought to have in their
vaults, every one knows there is no such
amount of cash in the United States, and
what would be the course with what they
really have there? Their notes are refused.
Cash is called for. The inhabitants of the
banking towns will get what is in the vaults,
until a few banks declare their insolvency ;
when, the general crush becoming evident,
the others will withdraw even the cash they
have, declare their bankruptcy at once, and
have an empty house and empty coffers for
the holders of their notes. In this scramble
of creditors, the country gets nothing, the
towns but little. What are they to do? Bring
suits? A million of creditors bring a million
of suits against John Nokes and Robert
Styles, wheresoever to be found? All non
sense. The loss is total. And a sum is thus
swindled from our citizens, of seven times
the amount of the real debt, and four times
that of the fictitious one of the United States,
at the close of the war. All this they will
justly charge on their Legislatures ; but this
will be poor satisfaction for the two or three
hundred millions they will have lost. It is
time, then, for the public functionaries to look
to this. Perhaps it may not be too late. Per
haps, by giving time to the banks, they may
call in and pay off their paper by deerrees.
But no remedy is ever to be expected while
it rests with the State Legislatures. Personal
motive can be excited through so many ave
nues to their will, that, in their hands, it will
continue to go on from bad to worse, until
the catastrophe overwhelms us. — To J. W.
EPPES. vi, 243. FORD ED., ix, 414. (M., Nov.
1813.)
— . Our circulating paper of
the last year was estimated at two hundred
millions of dollars. The new banks now
petitioned for, to the several Legislatures, are
for about sixty millions additional capital, and
of course one hundred and eighty millions
of additional circulation, nearly doubling that
of the last year, and raising the whole mass
to near four hundred millions, or forty for
one, of the wholesome amount of circulation
for a population of eight millions circum
stanced as we are, and you remember how
rapidly our money went down after our forty
for one establishment in the Revolution. I
doubt if the present trash can hold as long.
I think the three hundred and eighty mil
lions must blow all up in the course of the
present year, or certainly it will be consum
mated by the reduplication to take place of
course at the legislative meetings of the next
winter. Should not prudent men, who pos
sess stock in any moneyed institution, either
draw and hoard the cash now while they can,
or exchange it for canal stock, or such other
as being bottomed on immovable property
will remain unhurt by the crush? — To JOHN
ADAMS, vi, 306. (M., Jan. 1814.)
738. - -- . — . Two hundred millions in
actual circulation and two hundred millions
more likely to be legitimated by the legislative
sessions of this winter, will give us about
forty times the wholesome circulation for
eight millions of people. When the new emis
sions get out, our legislatures will see, what
they otherwise cannot believe, that it is pos
sible to have too much money. — To PRESIDENT
MADISON. FORD ED., ix, 453. (M., Feb. 1814.)
739. - — . The evils of this deluge
of paper money are not to be removed, until
our citizens are generally and radicallv in
structed in their course and consequences,
and silence by their authority the interested
clamors and sophistry of speculating, shav
ing, and banking institutions. Till then we
must be content to return, quoad hoc, to the
savage state, to recur to barter in the ex
change of our property, for the want of a
stable, common measure of value, that now in
use being less fixed than the beads and
wampum of the Indian, and to deliver up our
citizens, their property and their labor, pas
sive victims to the swindling tricks of bankers
and mountebankers. — To JOHN ADAMS, vii,
115. (M., 1819.)
740. BANKS, Sound Money.— But, it will
be asked, are we to have no banks ? Are mer
chants and others to be deprived of the re
source of short accommodations, found so con
venient? I answer, let us have banks; but
let them be such as are alone to be found in
any country on earth, except Great Britain.
There is not a bank of discount on the con-
Banks
Barbary States
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
80
tinent of Europe (at least there was not one
when I was there), which offers anything
but cash in exchange for discounted bills.
No one has a natural right to the trade of a
money lender, but he who has the money to
lend. Let those then among us, who have a
moneyed capital, and who prefer employing
it in loans rather than otherwise, set up
banks, and give cash or national bills for the
notes they discount. Perhaps, to encourage
them, a larger interest than is legal in the
other cases might be allowed them, on the
condition of their lending for short periods
only. It is from Great Britain we copy the
idea of giving paper in exchange for dis
counted bills ; and while we have derived
from that country some good principles of
government and legislation, we unfortunately
run into the most servile imitations of all her
practices, ruinous as they prove to her, and
with the gulf yawning before us into which
these very practices are precipitating her. —
To JOHN W. EPPES. vi, 141. FORD ED., ix,
394. (M., June 1813.)
741. . Let banks continue if
they please, but let them discount for cash
alone or for treasury notes. They discount
for cash alone in every other country on
earth except Great Britain, and her too often
unfortunate copyist, the United States. If
taken in time they may be rectified by degrees,
but if let alone till the alternative forces it
self on us, of submitting to the enemy for
want of funds, or the suppression of bank
paper, either by law or by convulsion, we can
not foresee how it will end. — To J. W. EPPES.
vi, 199. FORD ED., ix, 399. (P. F., Sept.
1813-)
742. . To the existence of banks
of discount for cash, as on the continent of
Europe, there can be no objection, because
there can be no danger of abuse, and they
are a convenience both to merchants and in
dividuals. I think they should even be en
couraged, by allowing them a larger than
legal interest on short discounts, and tapering
thence in proportion as the term of discount
is lengthened, down to legal interest on those
of a year or more. — To J. W. EPPES. vi, 247.
FORD ED., ix, 417. (M., Nov. 1813.)
743. BANKS, Suspend Specie Pay
ments. — The paper bubble is burst. This is
what you and I, and every reasoning man.
seduced by no obliquity of mind or interest,
have long foreseen. We were laboring under
a dropsical fulness of circulating medium.
Nearly all of it is now called in by the banks,
who have the regulation of the safety-valves
of our fortunes, and who condense and ex
plode them at their will. Lands in this State
[Virginia"! cannot now be sold for a year's
rent; and unless our Legislature have wis
dom enough to effect a remedy by a gradual
diminution only of the medium, there will
be a general revolution of property in this
State. Over our own paper and that of other
States coming among us, they have competent
powers ; over that of the Bank of the United
States there is doubt, not here, but elsewhere.
That bank will probably conform voluntarily
to such regulations as the Legislature may
prescribe for the others. If they do not, we
must shut their doors, and join the other
States which deny the right of Congress to
establish banks, and solicit them to agree to
some mode of settling this constitutional
question. They have themselves twice de
cided against their right, and twice for it.
Many of the States have been uniform in
denying it, and between such parties the Con
stitution has provided no umpire. — To JOHN-
ADAMS, vii, 142. FORD ED., x, 147. (M.,
Nov. 1819.) See MONEY and PAPER MONEY.
744. BANNEKER (Benjamin), Talents
of. — We have now in the United States a
negro, the son of a black man born in Africa,
and a black woman born in the United States,
who is a very respectable mathematician. I
procured him to be employed under one of our
chief directors in laying out the new Federal
city on the Potomac, and in the intervals of
his leisure, while on that work, he made an
almanac for the next year, which he sent me
in his own handwriting, and which I enclose to
you. I have seen very elegant solutions of
geometrical problems by him. Add to this that
he is a very worthy and respectable member of
society. He is a free man. I shall be delighted
to see these instances of moral eminence so
multiplied as to prove that the want of talents,
observed in them, is merely the effect of their
degraded condition, and not proceeding from
any difference in the structure of the parts on
which intellect depends. — To MARQUIS DE CON-
DORCET. FORD EDV v, 379. (Pa., 1791.)
745. BARBARISM, America and.— We
are destined to be a barrier against the re
turn of ignorance and barbarism. — To JOHN
ADAMS, vii, 27. (M., 1816.)
746. BARBARISM, End to.— Barbarism
* * * will in time, I trust, disappear from the
earth.— To WILLIAM LUDLOW. vii, 377. (M.,
1824.)
- BARBARY STATES, Algerine Cap
tives. — See CAPTIVES.
747. BARBARY STATES, A Confed
eration against. — I was very unwilling that
we should acquiesce in the European humil
iation of paying a tribute to those * * * pi
rates, and endeavored to form an association
of the powers subject to habitual depreda
tions from them. I accordingly prepared, and
proposed to their ministers at Paris, for con
sultation with their governments, articles of a
special confederation. — AUTOBIOGRAPHY. i,
65. FORD ED., i, 91. (1821.)
748. BARBARY STATES, Confedera
tion Articles.— Proposals for concerted
operation among the powers at war with the
piratical States of Barbary: i. It is proposed,
that the several powers at war with the pirat
ical States of Barbary, or any two or more of
them who shall be willing, shall enter into a
convention to carry on their operations against
those States, in concert, beginning with the
Algerines. 2. This convention shall remain
open to any other power who shall at any fu
ture time wish to accede to it ; the parties re
serving the right to prescribe the conditions of
such accession, according to the circumstances
existing at the time it shall be proposed. 3.
8i
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Barbary States
The object of the convention shall be to compel
the piratical States to perpetual peace, without
price, and to guarantee that peace to each other.
4. The operations for obtaining this peace shall
be constant cruisers on their coast, with a naval
force now to be agreed on. It is not proposed
that this force shall be so considerable as to be
inconvenient to any party. It is believed that
half a dozen frigates, with as many tenders or
Xebecs, one half of which shall be in cruise,
while the other half is at rest, will suffice. 5.
The force agreed to be necessary shall be fur
nished by the parties in certain quotas now to
be fixed ; it being expected that each will be
willing to contribute in such proportion as cir
cumstances may render reasonable. 6. The mis
carriages often proceed from the want of har
mony among officers of different nations, the
parties shall now consider and decide whether
it will not be better to contribute their quotas
in money to be employed in fitting out, and
keeping on duty, a single fleet of the force
agreed on. 7. The difficulties and delays too
which will attend the management of these
operations, if conducted by the parties them
selves separately, distant as their Courts may
be from one another, and incapable of meeting
in consultation, suggest a question whether it
will not be better for them to give full powers
for that purpose to their Ambassadors or other
Ministers Resident at some one Court of Eu
rope, who shall form a Committee or Council
for carrying this convention into effect ; wherein
the vote of each member shall be computed in
proportion to the quota of his sovereign, and
the majority so computed shall prevail in all
questions within the view of this convention.
The Court of Versailles is proposed, on account
of its neighborhood to the Mediterranean, and
because all those powers are represented there,
who are likely to become parties to this con
vention. 8. To save to that council the embar
rassment of personal solicitations for office, and
to assure the parties that their contributions
will be applied solely to the object for which
they are destined, there shall be no establish
ment of officers for the said Council, such as
Commissioners, Secretaries, or any other kind,
with either salaries or perquisites, nor any
other lucrative appointments but such whose
functions are to be exercised on board the said
vessels. 9. Should war arise between any two
of the parties to this convention it shall not
extend to this enterprise, nor interrupt it ; but
as to this they shall be reputed at peace. 10.
When Algiers shall be reduced to peace, the
other piratical States, if they refuse to dis
continue their piracies, shall become the objects
of this convention, either successively or
together, as shall seem best. n. Where this
convention would interfere with treaties actu
ally existing between any two of the parties and
the said States of Barbary, the treaty shall
prevail, and such party shall be allowed to
withdraw from the operations against that
State. — AUTOBIOGRAPHY, i, 65. FORD ED., \,
91-
749. BARBARY STATES, Congress
and. — Nothing was now wanting to bring it
into direct and formal consideration but the
assent of our government, and their author
ity to make the formal proposition. I com
municated to them the favorable prospect of
protecting our commerce from the Barbary
depredations, and for such a continuance of
time as, by an exclusion of them from the
sea, to change their habits and characters
from a predatory to an agricultural people:
towards which however it was expected they
would contribute a frigate, and its expenses
to be in constant cruise. But they were in
no condition to make any such engagement.
Their recommendatory powers for obtaining
contributions were so openly neglected by the
several States that they declined an engage
ment which they were conscious they could
not fulfil with punctuality; and so it fell
through. — AUTOBIOGRAPHY, i, 67. FORD ED.,
1, 93. (1821.)
750. BARBARY STATES, Europe and.
— Spain had just concluded a treaty with Al
giers, at the expense of three millions of dol
lars, and did not like to relinquish the benefit
of that until the other party should fail in their
observance of it. Portugal, Naples, the two
Sicilies, Venice, Malta, Denmark and Sweden
were favorably disposed to such an association ;
but their representatives at Paris expressed
apprehensions that France would interfere, and,
either openly or secretly support the Barbary
powers ; and they required that I should ascer
tain the dispositions of the Count de Vergennes
on the subject. I had before taken occasion
to inform him of what we were proposing, and
therefore did not think it proper to insinuate
any doubt of the fair conduct of his govern
ment ; but stating our propositions, I mentioned
the apprehensions entertained by us that Eng
land would interfere in behalf of those pirat
ical governments. " She dares not do it/ said
he. I pressed it no further. The other Agents
were satisfied with this indication of his senti
ments. — AUTOBIOGRAPHY, i, 67. FORD ED., i,
93- (1821.)
751. BARBARY STATES, Great Brit
ain and.— I hinted to the Count de Ver
gennes that I thought the English capable of
administering aid to the Algerines. He seemed
to think it impossible on account of the scandal
it would bring on them. — To JOHN JAY. i, 575.
FORD ED., iv, 228. (P., 1786.)
752. BARBARY STATES, Jefferson's
Views on. — Our instructions relative to the
Barbary States haying required us to proceed
by way of negotiation to obtain their peace, it
became our duty to do this to the best of our
power. Whatever might be our private opin
ions, they were to be suppressed, and the line
marked out to us was to be followed. It has
been so, honestly and zealously. It was, there
fore, never material for us to consult together,
on the best plan of conduct toward these States.
I acknowledge, I very early thought it would be
best to effect a peace through the medium of
war. Though it is a question with which we
have nothing to do, yet as you propose some
discussion of it, I shall trouble you with my
reasons. Of the four positions laid down by
you, I agree to the three first, which are, in
substance, that the good offices of our friends
cannot procure us a peace without paying its
price ; that they cannot materially lessen that
price ; and that paying it, we can have the
peace in spite of the intrigues of our enemies.
As to the fourth, that the longer the negotia
tion is delayed, the larger will be the demand ;
this will depend on the intermediate captures :
if they are many and rich, the price may be
raised ; if few and poor, it will be lessened.
However, if it is decided that we shall buy a
peace, I know no reason for delaying the opera
tion, but should rather think it ought to be
hastened ; but I should prefer the obtaining it
by war. i. Justice is in favor of this opinion.
2. Honor favors it. 3. It will procure us re
spect in Europe ; and respect is a safeguard to
Barbary States
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
82
interest. 4. It will arm the Federal head with
the safest of all the instruments of coercion
over its delinquent members, and prevent it
from using what would be less safe. I think
that so far, you go with me. But in the next
steps, we shall differ. 5. I think it least ex
pensive. I ask a fleet of one hundred and fifty
guns, the one-half of which shall be in constant
cruise. This fleet, built, manned and victualled
for six months will cost four hundred and fifty
thousand pounds sterling. Its annual expense
will be three hundred pounds sterling a gun,
including everything; this will be forty-five
thousand pounds sterling a year. I take the
British experience for the basis of my calcula
tion ; though we know, from our own experi
ence, that we can do it in this way, for pounds
lawful, what costs them pounds sterling. Were
we to charge all this to the Algerine war, it
would amount to little more than we must pay,
if we buy peace. But as it is proper and neces
sary that we should establish a small marine
force (even were we to buy a peace from the
Algerines), and as that force, laid up in our
dockyards, would cost us half as much annu
ally, as if kept in order for service, we have a
right to say that only twenty-two thousand and
five hundred pounds sterling, per annum, should
be charged to the Algerine war. 6. It will be
as effectual. To all the mismanagements of
Spain and Portugal, urged to show that war
against these people is ineffectual, I urge a
single fact to prove the contrary, where there is
any management. About forty years ago, the
Algerines having broken their treaty with
France, that court sent Monsieur de Massiac,
with one large and two small frigates ; he block
aded the harbor of Algiers three months, and
they subscribed to the terms he proposed. If it
be admitted, however, that war, on the fairest
prospects, is still exposed to uncertainties, I
weigh against this the greater uncertainty of
the duration of a peace bought with money,
from such a people, from a Dey eighty years
old, and by a nation who, on the hypothesis of
buying peace, is to have no power on the sea
to enforce an observance of it. So far, I have
gone on the supposition that the whole weight
of this war would rest on us. But, i. Naples
will join us. The character of their naval
minister (Acton), his known sentiments with
respect to the peace Spain is officiously trying
to make for them, and his dispositions against
the Algerines, give the best grounds to believe
it. 2.. Every principle of reason assures us that
Portugal will join us. I state this as taking
for granted, what all seem to believe, that they
will not be at peace with Algiers. I suppose,
then, that a convention might be formed be
tween Portugal, Naples and the United States,
by which the burthen of the war might be
quotaed on them, according to their respective
wealth ; and the term of it should be, when
Algiers should subscribe to a peace with all
three, on equal terms. This might be left open
for other nations to accede to. and many, if
not most, of the powers of Europe (except
France, England, Holland, and Spain, if her
peace be made), would sooner or later enter
into the confederacy, for the sake of having
their peace with the piratical States guaranteed
by the whole. I suppose, that, in this case, our
proportion of force would not be the half of
what I first calculated on. — To JOHN ADAMS.
i, SQL (P., July 1786.)
753. . Were the honor and ad
vantage of establishing such a confederacy
[against tbe piratical powers] out of the ques
tion, yet the necessity that the United States
should have some marine force, and the hap
piness of this, as the ostensible cause for be
ginning it, would decide on its propriety. It
will be said, there is no money in the treasury.
There never will be money in the treasury, till
the confederacy shows its teeth. The States
must see the rod ; perhaps it must be felt by
some one of them. I am persuaded, all of
them would rejoice to see every one obliged to
furnish its contributions. It is not the diffi
culty of furnishing them, which beggars the
treasury, but the fear that others will not fur
nish as much. Every rational citizen must wish
to see an effective instrument of coercion, and
should fear to see it on any other element than
the water. — To JAMES MONROE, i, 606. FORD
ED., iv, 264. (P., 1786.)
754. BABBABY STATES, The Medi
terranean and.— Algiers, Tunis and Tripoli,
remaining hostile, will shut up the Mediterra
nean to us. — To GOVERNOR HENRY, i, 601. (P.,
1786.)
755. . The Algerines form an
obstacle; but the object of our commerce in
the Mediterranean is so immense that we ought
to surmount that obstacle, and I believe it can
be done by means in our power, and which,
instead of fouling us with the dishonorable and
criminal baseness of France and England, will
place us in the road to respect with all the
world. — To E. RUTLEDGE. iii, no. (P., 1789.)
— BABBABY STATES, Morocco.— See
MOROCCO.
756. BABBABY STATES, Purchasing
Peace with.— What will you do with the
piratical States? Buy a peace at their enor
mous price; force one; or abandon the car
riage into the Mediterranean to other powers?
All these measures are disagreeable. — To EL-
BRIDGE GERRY, i, 557. (P., 1786.)
757. . The States of Algiers,
Tunis and Tripoli hold their peace at a price
which would be felt by every man in his set
tlement with the taxgatherer. — To PATRICK
HENRY, i, 601. (P., 1786.)
758. . It is not in the choice of
the States, whether they will pay money to
cover their trade against the Algerines. If they
obtain a peace by negotiation, they must pay
a great sum of money for it ; if they do noth
ing, they must pay a great sum of money in the
form of insurance ; and in either way, as great
a one as in the way of force, and probably less
effectual. — To JAMES MONROE, i, 607. FORD
ED., iv, 265. (P., 1786.)
759. . Congress must begin by
getting money. When they have this, it is a
matter of calculation whether they will buy a
peace, or force one, or do nothing. — To JOHN
ADAMS, i, 585. (P., 1786.)
760. . The continuance of [a
purchased] peace with the Barbary States will
depend on their idea of our power to enforce
it. and on the life of the particular Dey, or
other head of the government, with whom it is
contracted. Congress will, no doubt, weigh
these circumstances against the expense and
probable success of compelling a peace by arms.
— To JAMES MONROE, i, 565. FORD ED., iv,
221. (P., 1786.)
761.
In London Mr. Adams
and I had conferences with a Tripoline am
bassador, named Abdrahaman. He asked us
thirty thousand guineas for a peace with his
court, and as much for Tunis, for which he
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Barbary States
Barclay (Thomas)
said he could answer. What we were author
ized to offer, being to this but as a drop to a
bucket, our conferences were repeated only for
the purpose of obtaining information. If the
demands of Algiers and Morocco should be in
proportion to this, according to their superior
power, it is easy to foresee that the United
States will not buy a peace with money. — To
WILLIAM CARMICHAEL. i, 551. (P., 1786.)
762. . The Tripoline ambassa
dor offered peace for 30,000 guineas for Tripoli,
and as many for Tunis. Calculating on this
scale, Morocco should ask 60,000, and Algiers
120,000. — To DAVID HUMPHREYS, i, 559. (P.,
1786.)
763. . A second plan might be
to obtain peace by purchasing it. For this we
have the example of rich and powerful nations,
in this instance counting their interest more
than their honor. — REPORT ON MEDITERRANEAN
TRADE, vii, 522. (1790.)
764. . As the duration of this
peace cannot be counted on with certainty, and
we look forward to the necessity of coercion by
cruises on their coast, to be kept up during the
whole of their cruising season, you will be
pleased to inform yourself * * * of every
circumstance which may influence or guide us
in undertaking and conducting such an opera
tion. — To JOHN PAUL JONES, iii, 438. (Pa.,
1792.)
765. BABBABY STATES, Suppression
of- — The attempts heretofore made to sup
press the [Barbary] powers have been to exter
minate them at one blow. They are too nu
merous and powerful by land for that. A small
effort, but long continued, seems to be the only
method. By suppressing their marine and trade
totally, and continuing this till the present race
of seamen should be pretty well out of the way,
and the younger people betake themselves to
husbandry for which their soil and climate are
well fitted, these nests of banditti might be re
formed. — To JAMES MONROE. FORD ED., iv, -n.
(P., 1785.)
766. BABBABY STATES, Tribute to.
—It is impossible I fear to find out what
[tribute] is given by other countries [to the
piratical States]. Either shame or jealousy
makes them wish to keep it secret. — To JAMES
MONROE. FORD ED., iv, 31. (P., 1785.)
767. . The Algerines, I fear,
will ask such a tribute for the forbearance of
their piracies as the United States would be
unwilling to pay. When this idea comes across
my mind my faculties are absolutely suspended
between indignation and impotence. I think
whatever sums we are obliged to pay for free
dom of navigation in the European seas, should
be levied on European commerce with us, by a
separate impost ; that these powers may see
that they protect these enormities for their own
loss. To NATHANIEL GREENE. FORD ED., iv,
*5- (P, 1785.)
768. . Such [European] powers
as should refuse [to join a confederation to
suppress the Barbary piracies] would give us a
just right to turn pirates also on their West
India trade, and to require an annual tribute
which might reimburse what we may be obliged
to pay to obtain a safe navigation in their seas.
— To JAMES MONROE. FORD ED., iv, 33. (P.,
769. BABBABY STATES, War with.
—From what I learn from the temper of my
countrymen and their tenaciousness of money,
it will be more easy to raise ships to fight these
pirates into reason than money to bribe them. —
To EZRA STILES, ii, 78. (P., 1786.)
770. - — . The motives pleading
for war rather than tribute [to the piratical
States] are numerous and honorable ; those op
posing them are mean and short-sighted. — To
JAMES MONROE. FORD ED., iv, 32. (P., 1785.)
— BABBABY STATES, War with
Tripoli.— See TRIPOLI.
771. BABBABY STATES, Weakness
°f- — These pirates are contemptibly weak.
Morocco, who has just dared to commit an out
rage on us, owns only four or five frigates of
1 8 or 20 guns. There is not a port in their
country which has more than 13 feet of water.
Tunis is not quite so strong (having three or
four frigates only, small and worthless) ; is
more mercantile than predatory, and would
easily be led to treat either by money or
fear. Tripoli has one frigate only. Algiers
alone possesses any power, and they are
brave. As far as I have been able to discover,
she possesses about sixteen vessels, from 22 up
to 52 guns ; but the vessels of all these powers
are wretched in the last degree, being mostly
built of the discordant pieces of other vessels
which they take and pull asunder ; their cord
age and sails are of the same kind, taken from
vessels of different sizes and powers, seldom
any two guns of the same bore and all of them
light. — To JAMES MONROE. FORD ED., iv, 31.
(P., 1785.) See MOROCCO, TRIPOLI and TUNIS.
772. BABCLAY (Thomas), Missions to
Morocco. — Though we are not authorized to
delegate to Mr. Barclay the power of ulti
mately signing the treaty, yet such is our re
liance on his wisdom, his integrity, and his at
tention to the instructions with which he is
charged, that we assure his Majesty, the con
ditions which he shall arrange and send to
us, shall be returned with our signature.* — To
THE EMPEROR OF MOROCCO, i, 419. (P.,
1/85.)
773. . Mr. Barclay's mission
has been attended with complete success. For
this we are indebted, unquestionably, to the
influence and good offices of the court of Mad
rid. — To JOHN JAY. ii, 85. (P., 1786.)
774. . You have my full and
hearty approbation of the treaty you obtained
from Morocco, which is better and on better
terms than I expected. — To THOMAS BARCLAY.
ii, 125. (P., 1787.)
775. . You are appointed by the
President * * * to go to the court of Morocco,
for the purpose of obtaining from the new
Emperor, a recognition of our treaty with his
father. As it is thought best that you should
go in some definite character, that of consul
has been adopted. — To THOMAS BARCLAY, iii,
261. (P., 1791.)
776. . As you have acted since
my arrival in France, in the characters of
Consul General for that country, and Minister
to the Court of Morocco, and also as agent in
some particular transactions for the State of
Virginia, I think it is a duty to yourself, to
truth, and to justice, on your departure for
America, to declare that in all these characters,
* Mr. Barclay was U. S. Consul-General at Paris.
Jefferson and Adams appointed him to negotiate a
treaty with the Emperor of Morocco.— EDITOR.
Barlow (Joel)
Bastrop's Case
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
84
as far as has come within my notice, you have
acted with judgment, with attention, with in
tegrity and honor.* — To THOMAS BARCLAY, ii,
211. (P., 1787-)
777. BARLOW (Joel), Proposed His
tory by. — Mr. Madison and myself have cut
out a piece of work for you, which is to write
the history of the United States, from the close
of the war downwards. We are rich ourselves
in materials, and can open all the public
archives to you ; but your residence here
[Washington] is essential, because a great deal
of the knowledge of things is not on paper,
but only within ourselves, for verbal commu
nication. John Marshall is writing the life of
General Washington from his papers. It is in
tended to come out just in time to influence
the next Presidential election. It is written,
therefore, principally with a view to election
eering purposes. But it will consequently be
out in time to aid you with information, as
well as to point out the perversions of truth
necessary to be rectified. — To JOEL BARLOW.
iv, 438. FORD ED., viii, 151. (W., May
1802.)
778. . You owe to republican
ism, and indeed to the future hopes of man, a
faithful record of the march of this govern
ment, which may encourage the oppressed to
go and do likewise. Your talents, your princi
ples, and your means of access to public and
private sources of information, with the
leisure which is at your command, point you
out as the person, who is to do this act of jus
tice to those who believe in the improvability
of the condition of man, and who have acted
on that behalf, in opposition to those who con
sider man as a beast of burthen made to be
ridden by him who has genius enough to get a
bridle into his mouth. — To JOEL BARLOW, v,
496. FORD ED., ix, 269. (M., 1810.)
779. . I felicitate you on your
destination to Paris [as minister]. * _* * Yet
it is not unmixed with regret. What is to be
come of our post-revolutionary history? _ Of
the antidotes of truth to the misrepresentations
of Marshall? This example proves the wis
dom of the maxim, never put off till to-mor
row what can be done to-day. — To JOEL BAR
LOW, v, 587. FORD ED., ix, 322. (M., April
1811.)
780. BARLOW (Joel), Works of.— I
thank you for your " Conspiracy of Kings "
and advice to the privileged orders. Be as
sured that your endeavors to bring the trans-
Atlantic world into the road of reason, are not
without their effect in America. Some here
are disposed to move retrograde, and to take
their stand in the rear of Europe, now advanc
ing to the high ground of natural right. — To
JOEL BARLOW, iii, 451- FORD ED., vi, 88. (P.,
1792.)
781. . Thomas Jefferson re
turns thanks to Mr. Barlow for the copy of
the " Columbiad " he has been so kind as to
send him ; the eye discovers at once the excel
lence of the mechanical execution of the work,
and he is persuaded that the mental part will
be found to have merited ^ it. He will not do
it the injustice of giving it such a reading as
his situation here [Washington] would admit
* Mr. Barclay, while acting for the United States
in Europe, was engaged in commercial transactions
on his own account. His arrest for debt by credit
ors led to some discussion with the French govern
ment which is embodied in Jefferson's Writings.
—EDITOR.
of a few minutes at a time, and at intervals of
many days. He will reserve it for that retire
ment after which he is panting, and not now
very distant, where he may enjoy it in full con
cert with its kindred scenes, amidst those rural
delights which join in chorus with the poet,
and give to his song all its magic effect. — To
JOEL BARLOW, v, 238. (W., 1808.)
— BARRUEL (Abbe), Book by.— See
ILLUMINATI.
— BARRY, Commodore J.— See MOURN
ING.
782. BASTILE, Fall of the.— The mob,
now openly joined by the French guards,
forced the prison of St. Lazare, released all the
prisoners, and took a great store of corn,
which they carried to the corn market. Here
they got some arms, and the French guards
began to form and train them. The committee
determined to raise forty-eight thousand Bour-
geoise, or rather to restrain their numbers to
forty-eight thousand. On the i4th [July], they
sent one of their members (Monsieur de
Corny, whom we knew in America) to the
Hotel des Invalides, to ask arms for their
Garde Bourgeoise. He was followed by, or he
found there, a great mob. The Governor _ of
the Invalides came out, and represented the im
possibility of delivering his arms, without the
orders of those from whom he received them.
De Corny advised the people then to retire,
and retired himself ; and the people took pos
session of the arms. It was remarkable, that
not only the Invalides themselves made no op
position, but that a body of five thousand
foreign troops, encamped within four hundred
yards, never stirred. Monsieur de Corny and
five others were then sent to ask arms of
Monsieur de Launey, Governor of the Bastile.
They found a great collection of people already
before the place, and they immediately planted
a flag of truce, which was answered by a like
flag hoisted on the parapet. The deputation
prevailed on the people to fall back a little,
advanced themselves to make their demand of
the Governor, and in that instant a discharge
from the Bastile killed four of those nearest to
the deputies. The deputies retired ; the people
rushed against the place, and almost in an in
stant were in possession of a fortification, de
fended by one hundred men, of infinite strength,
which in other times had stood several regular
sieges, and had never been taken. How they
got in, has, as yet, been impossible to discover.
Those who pretend to have been of the party
tell so many different stories, as to destroy the
credit of them all. They took all the arms,
discharged the prisoners, and such of the gar
rison as were not killed in the first moment
of fury: carried the Governor and Lieutenant
Governor to the Greve (the place of public
execution), cut off their heads, and sent them
through the city in triumph to the Palais
Royal. — To JOHN JAY. iii, "76. (P., July 19
1789.)
783. BASTROP'S CASE, Account of.—
I find Bastrop's case less difficult than I had
expected. My view of it is this : The Gov
ernor of Louisiana being desirous of introduc
ing the culture of wheat into that province,
engages Bastrop as an agent for carrying that
object into effect. He agrees to lay off twelve
leagues square on the Washita and Bayou
Hard as a settlement for the culture of wheat,
to which Bastrop is to bring five hundred fam
ilies, each of which families is to have four
hundred arpens of the land ; the residue of
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
"Batture
the twelve leagues square, we may understand,
was to be Bastrop's premium. The government
was to bear the expense of bringing these emi
grants from New Madrid, and was to allow
them rations for six months, — Bastrop under
taking to provide the rations, and the govern
ment paying a seal and a half for each. Bas
trop binds himself to settle the five hundred
families in three years, and the Governor es
pecially declares that if within that time the
major part of the establishment shall not have
been made good, the twelve leagues square,
destined for Bastrop's settlers, shall be occu
pied by the families first presenting themselves
for that purpose. Bastrop brings on some set
tlers, — how many does not appear, and the
intendant, from a want of funds, suspends
further proceeding in the settlement until the
King's decision. (His decision of what?
Doubtless whether the settlement shall proceed
on these terms, and the funds be furnished
by the King? or shall be abandoned?) He
promises Bastrop, at the same time, that the
former limitation of three years shall be ex
tended to two years, after the course of the
contract shall have again commenced to be
executed, and the determination of the King
shall be made known to Bastrop. Here, then,
is a complete suspension of the undertaking
until the King's decision, and his silence from
that time till, and when, he ceded the province,
must be considered as an abandonment of the
project. There are several circumstances in
this case offering ground for question, whether
Bastrop is entitled to any surplus of the lands.
But this will be an investigation for the At
torney General. But the uttermost he can
claim is a surplus proportioned to the number
of families to be settled, that is to say, a quota
ol land bearing such a proportion to the num
ber of families he settled (deducting four hun
dred arpens for each of them) as one hun
dred and forty-four square leagues bear to
the whole number of five hundred families.
The important fact, therefore, to be settled,
is the number of families he established there
before the suspension. — To ALBERT GALLATIN.
v, 231. (Jan. 1808.)
784. BATTURE, Authority over.— Mr.
Livingston, * * * finding that we considered
the Batture as now resting with Congress,*
and that it is our duty to keep it clear of all
adversary possession till their decision is ob
tained [has written] a letter to the Secretary
of State, which, if we understand it, amounts
to a declaration that he will * * * bring the
authority of the court into array against that of
the Executive, and endeavor to obtain a forci
ble possession. But I presume that the court
knows too well that the title of the United
States to land is subject to the jurisdiction
of no court, it having never been deemed safe
to submit the major interests of the nation
to an ordinary tribunal, or to any one but such
as the Legislature establishes for the special
occasion ; and the marshal will find his duty
too plainly marked out in the act of March 3,
1807, to be at a loss to determine what author
ity he is to obey. — To GOVERNOR CLAIBORNE.
v, 319. (W., July 1808.)
785. BATTURE, Jefferson's action in.
— The interposition noticed by the Legisla
ture of Orleans was an act of duty of the office
I then occupied. Charged with the care of
the general interests of the nation, and among
these with the preservation of their lands from
intrusion, I exercised, on their behalf, a right
* Jefferson in a special message, March 7, 1808, laid
the case before Congress for its action.— EDITOR.
given by nature to all men, individual or as
sociated, that of rescuing their own property
wrongfully taken. In cases of forcible entry
on individual possessions, special provisions,
both of the common and civil law, have re
strained the right of rescue by private force,
and substituted the aid of the civil power. But
no law has restrained the right of the nation
itself from removing by its own arm, in
truders on its possessions. On the contrary,
a statute recently passed, had required that
such removals should be diligently made. The
Batture of New Orleans, being a part of the
bed contained between the two banks of the
river, a naked shoal indeed at low water, but
covered through the whole season of its regular
full tides, and then forming the ground of the
port and harbor for the upper navigation, over
which vessels ride of necessity when moored to
the bank, I deemed it public property, in
which all had a common use. The removal,
too, of the force which had possessed itself of
it, was the more urgent from the interruption
it might give to the commerce, and other law
ful uses, of the inhabitants of the city and of
the Western waters generally. — To GOVERNOR
CLAIBORNE. v, 518. (M, 1810.)
786. BATTURE, Livingston's suit.—
Livingston has served a writ on me, stating
damages at $100,000. — To PRESIDENT MADISON.
FORD ED., ix, 275. (M., 1810.)
787. BATTURE, Marshall's bias and.
— In speaking of Livingston's suit, I omitted
to observe that it is a little doubted that his
knowledge of Marshall's character has induced
him to bring this action. His testifications
in the case of Marbury, in that of Burr, and the
Yazoo case show how dexterously he can
reconcile law to his own personal biasses ; and
nobody seems to doubt that he is ready pre
pared to Decide that Livingston's right to the
batture is unquestionable, and that I am
bound to pay for it with my private fortune. —
To PRESIDENT MADISON. FORD ED., ix, 276.
(M., 1810.)
788. . What the issue of the
case ought to be, no unbiased man can doubt.
What it will be, no one can tell. The judge's
[Marshall's] inveteracy is profound, and his
mind of that gloomy malignity which will never
let him forego the opportunity of satiating it
on a victim. His decisions, his instructions to
a jury, his allowances and disallowances and
garblings of evidence, must all be subjects of
appeal. I consider that as my only chance of
saving my fortune from entire wreck. And to
whom is my appeal? From the judge in
Burr's case to himself and his associate judges
in the case of Marbury v. Madison. Not ex
actly, however. I observe old Gushing is dead.
At length, then, we have a chance of getting a
republican majority in the Supreme judiciary.
— To ALBERT GALLATIN. FORD ED., ix, 284.
(M., Sep. 1810.)
789. BATTURE, Title to.— I have no
concern at all in maintaining the title to the
batture. It would be totally unnecessary for
me to employ counsel to go into the question at
all for my own defence. That is solidly built
on the simple fact, that if I were in error, it
was honest, and not imputable to that gross
and palpable corruption or injustice which
makes a public magistrate responsible to a
private party. — To ALBERT GALLATIN. v, 537.
(M., 1810.)
790. BATTURE, True course in.— If
human reason is not mere illusion, and law a
JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
86
labyrinth without a clew, no error has been
committed ['in the Batture case]. — BATTURE
CASE, viii, 604. (1812.)
791. BAYARD (James A.), Aaron Burr
and. — Edward Livingston tells me that Bay
ard applied to-day or last night to General
Samuel Smith, and represented to him the ex
pediency of his coming over to the States who
vote for Burr [for President], that there was
nothing in the way of appointment which he
might not command, and particularly mentioned
the Secretaryship of the Navy. Smith asked
him if he was authorized to make the offer.
He said he was authorized. Smith told this to
Livingston, and to W. C. Nicholas who confirms
it to me. Bayard, in like manner, tempted
Livingston, not by offering any particular office,
but by representing to him his (Livingston's)
intimacy and connection with Burr ; that from
him he had everything to expect, if he would
come over to him. To Doctor Linn of New
Jersey, they have offered the government of
New Jersey. — THE ANAS, ix, 202. FORD ED.,
i, 291. (Feb. 1808.) See ELECTIONS, PRESI
DENTIAL, 1800.
792. BEAUMARCHAIS (M.), Claim of.
—I hear that Mr. Beaumarchais means to
make himself heard, if the memorial which he
sends by an agent in the present packet is not
attended to as he thinks it ought to be. He
called on me with it and desired me to recom
mend his case to a decision, and to note in
my dispatch that it was the first time he had
spoken to me on the subject. This is true, it
being the first time I ever saw him ; but my
recommendations would be as displaced as un
necessary. I assured him Congress would do
in that business what justice should require,
and their means enabled them. — To JOHN JAY.
ii, 232. (P., 1787.)
793. . A final decision of some
sort should be made on Beaumarchais's affairs.
— To JAMES MADISON, ii, 209. FORD ED., iv, 423.
(P., 1787.)
794. BEE, The Honey.— The honey-bee
is not a native of our continent. Marcgrove,
indeed, mentions a species of honey-bee in
Brazil. But this has no sting, and is therefore
different from the one we have, which resem
bles perfectly that of Europe. The Indians
concur with us in the tradition that it was
brought from Europe ; but when, and by whom,
we know not. The bees have generally ex
tended themselves into the country, a little in
advance of the white settlers. The Indians,
therefore, call them the white man's fly, and
consider their approach as indicating the ap
proach of the settlements of the whites. —
NOTES ON VIRGINIA, viii, 319. FORD ED., iii,
175. (1782.)
795. . How far northwardly
have these insects been found? That they
are unknown in Lapland, I infer from Schef-
fer's information, that the Laplanders eat the
pine bark, prepared in a certain way, instead
of those things sweetened with sugar. * * *
Certainly if they had honey, it would be a bet
ter substitute for sugar than any preparation of
the pine bark. Kalm tells us the honey-bee
cannot live through the winter in Canada. They
furnish then an additional remarkable fact, first
observed by the Count de Buffon, and which
has thrown such a blaze of light on the field
of natural history, that no animals are found in
both continents, but those which are able to
bear the cold of those regions where they prob
ably join. — NOTES ON VIRGINIA, viii, 320.
FORD ED., iii, 176. (1782.)
796. BEER vs. WHISKY.— There is be
fore the Assembly [of Virginia] a petition of a
Captain Miller, which I have at heart, because
I have great esteem for the petitioner as an
honest and useful man. He is about to settle
in pur country, and to establish a brewery, in
which art I think him as skilful a man as has
ever come to America. I wish to see this
beverage become common instead of the whis
ky which kills one-third of our citizens, and
ruins their families. He is staying with me
until he can fix himself, and I should be thank
ful for information from time to time of the
progress of his petition. — To CHARLES YANCEY.
vi, 515. FORD ED., x, 2. (M., 1815.)
797. BELLIGERENTS, Code of Rules
for. — First. The original arming and equip
ping of vessels in the ports of the United
States by any of the belligerent powers for
military service, offensive or defensive, is
deemed unlawful. Second. Equipment of
merchant vessels by either of the belligerent
parties in the ports of the United States,
purely for the accommodation of them as such,
is deemed lawful. Third. Equipments in the
ports of the United States of vessels of war
in the immediate service of the government
of any of the belligerent parties, which, if
done to other vessels, would be of a doubtful
nature, as being applicable either to commerce
or war, are deemed lawful, except those
which shall have made prize of the subjects,
people or property of France, coming with
their prizes into the ports of the United
States, pursuant to the seventeenth article of
our treaty of amity and commerce with
France. Fourth. Equipments in the ports of
the United States by any of the parties at war
with France, of vessels fitted for merchandise
and war, whether with or without commis
sions, which are doubtful in their nature, as
being applicable either to commerce or war,
are deemed lawful, except those which shall
have made prize, &c. Fifth. Equipments of
any of the vessels of France in the ports of
the United States, which are doubtful in their
nature, as being applicable to commerce or
war, are deemed lawful. Sixth, Equipments
of every kind in the ports of the United
States of privateers of the powers at war
with France, are deemed unlawful. Seventh.
Equipments of vessels in the ports of the
United States which are of a nature solely
adapted to war, are deemed unlawful ; except
those stranded or wrecked, as mentioned in
t, i eighteenth article of our treaty with
France, the sixteenth of our treaty with the
United Netherlands, the ninth of our treaty
with Prussia, and except those mentioned in
the nineteenth article of our treaty with
France, the seventeenth of our treaty with
the United Netherlands, the eighteenth of
our treaty with Prussia. Eighth. Vessels of
either of the parties not armed, or armed pre
vious to their coming into the ports of the
United States, which shall not have infringed
any of the foregoing rules may lawfully en
gage or enlist therein their own subjects, or
aliens not being inhabitants of the United
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Belligerents
Berlin Decrees
States, except privateers of the powers at
war with France, and except those vessels
which shall have made prize, &c. The fore
going rules, having been considered by us
[the Cabinet] at several meetings, and being
now unanimously approved, they are sub
mitted to the President of the United States.
— CABINET DECISION, ix, 440. FORD ED., vi,
358. (Aug. 3,1793.)
798. BELLIGERENTS, History of
Bules. — At a cabinet meeting on account of
the British letter-of-marque ship Jane, said
to have put up waste boards, to have pierced
two port-holes, and mounted two cannon
(which she brought in) on new carriages
which she did not bring in, and consequently
having sixteen, instead of fourteen, guns
mounted, it was agreed that a letter-of-
marque, or vessel arme en guerre, and en
marchandise, is not a privateer, and, there
fore, not to be ordered out of our ports. It
was agreed by Hamilton, Knox, and myself,
that the case of such a vessel does not depend
on the treaties, but on the law of nations.
Edmund Randolph thought, as she had a
mixed character of merchant vessel and pri
vateer, she might be considered under the
treaty; but this being overruled, the follow
ing paper was written : Rules proposed by
Attorney General : i. That all equipments
purely for the accommodation of vessels, as
merchantmen, be admitted. (Agreed.) 2d.
That all equipments, doubtful in their nature,
and applicable equally to commerce or war,
be admitted, as producing too many minutiae.
(Agreed.) 3. That all equipments, solely
adapted to military objects, be prohibited.
(Agreed.) Rules proposed by the Secretary
of the Treasury: 1st. That the original arm
ing and equipping of vessels for military ser
vice, offensive or defensive, in the ports of
the United States, be considered as prohibited
to all. (Agreed.) 2d. That vessels which
were armed before their coming into our
ports, shall not be permitted to augment these
equipments in the ports of the United States,
but may repair or replace any military equip
ments which they had when they began their
voyage for the United States ; that this, how
ever, shall be with the exception of privateers
of the parties opposed to France, who shall
not fit or repair (Negatived, the Secretary of
the Treasury only holding this opinion). 3d.
That for convenience, vessels armed and
commissioned before they come into our
ports, may engage their own citizens, not
being inhabitants of the United States.
(Agreed.) I subjoined the following: I con
cur in the rules proposed by the Attorney-
General, as far as respects materials or means
of annoyance furnished by us ; and I should
be for an additional rule, that as to means
or materials brought into this country, and
belonging to themselves, they are free to use
them. — THE ANAS, ix, 161. FORD ED., i,
250. (July 1793.)
799. BELLIGERENTS, Policy toward.
— Far from a disposition to avail our
selves of the peculiar situation of any bellig
erent nation to ask concessions incompatible
with their rights, with justice, or reciprocity,
we have never proposed to any the sacrifice
of a single right : and in consideration of ex
isting circumstances, we have ever been will
ing, where our duty to other nations permit
ted us, to relax for a time, and in some cases,
that strictness of right which the laws of na
ture, the acknowledgments of the civilized
world, and the equality and independence of
nations entitle us to. — R. To A. ORLEANS
LEGISLATURE, viii, 129. (June 1808.)
800. BELLIGERENTS, Recruiting by.
— May an armed vessel, arriving here, be
prohibited to employ their own citizens found
here, as seamen or mariners? They cannot
be prohibited to recruit their own citizens. —
THE ANAS. ix, 158. FORD ED., i, 242.
(I793-)
801. BELLIGERENTS, Sale of Arms
to. — Our citizens have been always free to
make, vend and export arms. It is the con
stant occupation and livelihood of some of
them. To suppress their callings, the only
means perhaps of their subsistence, because
a war exists in foreign and distant countries,
in which we have no concern, would scarcely
be expected. It would be hard in principle,
and impossible in practice. The law of na
tions, therefore, respecting the rights of
those at peace, does not require from them
such an internal derangement in their occu
pations. It is satisfied with the external pen
alty pronounced in the President's proclama
tion, that of confiscation of such portion of
these arms as shall fall into the hands of any
of the belligerent powers on their way to the
ports of their enemies. To this penalty our
citizens are warned that they will be aban
doned ; and that even private contraven
tions may work no inequality between the
parties at war, the benefits of them will be
left equally free and open to all. — To GEORGE
HAMMOND, iii, 558. FORD ED., vi, 253. (May
I793-)
802. BELLIGERENTS, Sale of Ships
to. — The United States, being a ship-building
nation, may they sell ships, prepared for war,
to both parties? They may sell such ships in
their ports to both parties, or carry them for
s?le to the dominions of both parties. — ANAS.
ix, 158. FORDED., i, 242. (1793-)
803. BELLIGERENTS, Transit Priv
ileges. — It is well enough agreed, in the law
of nations, that for a neutral power to give or
refuse permission to the troops of either
belligerent party to pass through their ter
ritory, is no breach of neutrality, provided
the same refusal or permission be extended
to the other party. — OFFICIAL OPINION, vii,
500. (Aug. 1790.) See NEUTRALITY.
804. BENEFICENCE, Humanity and.—
I believe * * * that every human mind feels
pleasure in doing good to another. — To JOHN
ADAMS, vii, 39. (M.. 1816.)
805. BERLIN DECREES, Piratical
Meaning of. — These decrees and orders [of
council!, taken together, want little of
amounting to a declaration that every neutral
bible
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THE JBFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
88
vessel found on the high seas, whatsoever be
her cargo, and whatsoever foreign port be
that of her departure or destination, shall be
deemed lawful prize; and they prove, more
and more, the expediency of retaining our
vessels, our seamen, and property, within our
own harbors, until the dangers to which they
are exposed can be removed or lessened. —
SPECIAL MESSAGE, viii, 100. FORD ED., ix,
185. (March 17 1808.) See EMBARGO.
806. BIBLE, Circulation of the.— I had
not supposed there was a family in this State
[Virginia] not possessing a Bible, and wish
ing without haying the means to procure one.
When, in earlier life, I was intimate with
every class, I think I never was in a house
where that was the case. However, circum
stances may have changed, and the [Bible]
Society, I presume, have evidence of the fact.
I, therefore, enclose you cheerfully, an order
* * * for fifty dollars, for the purposes of
the Society.— To SAMUEL GREENHOW. vi,
308. (M., 1814.)
807. BIBLE, Morality in the.— There
never was a more pure and sublime system
of morality delivered to man than is to be
found in the four Evangelists. — To SAMUEL
GREENHOW. vi, 309. (M., 1814.)
808. BIBLE, Protestants and the. — As
to tradition, if we are Protestants we reject
all tradition, and rely on the Scripture alone,
for that is the essence and common principle
of all the Protestant churches.— NOTES ON
RELIGION. FORD ED., ii, 96. (1776?.)
809. BIBLE, Translation of the. — I pro
pose [after retirement], among my first em
ployments, to give to the Septuagint an at
tentive perusal.* — To CHARLES THOMSON, v,
403. FORD ED., ii, 234. (W., 1808.)
810. BIGOTRY, A Disease. — Bigotry is
the disease of ignorance, of morbid minds;
enthusiasm of the free and buoyant. Educa
tion and free discussion are the antidotes of
both.— To JOHN ADAMS, vii, 27. (M., 1816.)
811. BIGOTRY, Political and Relig
ious. — What an effort of bigotry in politics
and religion have we gone through ! The bar
barians really flattered themselves they should
be able to bring back the times of Vandalism,
when ignorance put everything into the hands
of power and priestcraft. All advances in
science were proscribed as innovations. They
pretended to praise and encourage education,
but it was to be the education of our ances
tors. We were to look backwards, not for
wards for improvement ; the President him
self [John Adams] declaring * * * that we
were never to expect to go beyond them in
real science. — To DR. JOSEPH PRIESTLEY, iv,
373. FORD ED., viii, 21. (W., March 1801.)
812. BIGOTRY, Self-government and.
— Ignorance and bigotry, like other insanities,
are incapable of self-government. — To MAR
QUIS LAFAYETTE, vii, 67. FORD ED., x, 84.
(M., 1817.)
* Thomson's translation of the Septuagint.— ED
ITOR.
813. BIGOTRIES, Union of.— All big
otries hang to one another. — To JOHN ADAMS.
vi, 305. (M., 1814.)
814. BILL OF RIGHTS, An American
Idea. — The enlightened part of Europe have
given us the greatest credit for inventing this
instrument of security for the rights of the
people, and have been not a little surprised to
see us so soon give it up [not having incor
porated one in the new Constitution]. — To
F. HQPKINSON. ii, 586. FORD ED., v, 77.
(P., March 1789.)
815. BILL OF RIGHTS, The Constitu
tion and.— [ do not like [in the Federal Con
stitution] first, the omission of a bill of
rights, providing clearly and without the aid
of sophisms for freedom of religion, freedom
of the press, protection against standing
armies, restriction against monopolies, the
eternal and unremitting force of the habeas
corpus laws, and trials by jury in all matters
of fact triable by the laws of the land, and
not by the law of nations. To say, as Mr.
Wilson does, that a bill of rights was not
necessary, because all is reserved in the case
of the General Government ' which is not
given> while in the particular ones, all is
given which is not reserved, might do for the
audience to whom it was addressed; but it is
surely a gratis dictum, opposed by strong in
ferences from the body of the instrument, as
well as from the omission of the clause of
our present confederation, which had declared
that in express terms. It was a hard conclu
sion to say, because there has been no uni
formity among the States as to the cases tri
able by jury, because some have been so in
cautious as to abandon this mode of trial,
therefore the more prudent States shall be
reduced to the same level of calamity. It
would have been much more just and wise to
have concluded the other way, that as most
of the States had judiciously preserved this
palladium, those who had wandered should
be brought back to it, and to have established
general right instead of general wrong.* Let
me add that a bill of rights is what the people
are entitled to against every government on
earth, general or particular ; and what no
just government should refuse or rest on in
ferences. — To JAMES MADISON, ii, 329. FORD
ED., iv, 476. (P., Dec. 1787.)
816. . I am in hopes that the
annexation of a bill of rights to the Consti
tution will alone draw over so great a propor
tion of the minorities, as to leave little dan
ger in the opposition of the residue ; and that
this annexation may be made by Congress
and the Assemblies, without calling a con
vention which might endanger the most valu
able parts of the system. — To GENERAL
WASHINGTON, ii, 533. FORD ED., v, 56. (P.,
Dec. 1788.)
* The Congress edition contains the following pas
sage: "For I consider all the ill as established,
which may be established. I have a right to noth
ing, which another has a right to take away ; and
Congress will have a right to take away trials by
jury in all civil cases." — EDITOR.
S9
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Bill of Bights
817. BILL OF BIGHTS, Demand for.—
I sincerely rejoice at the acceptance of our
new Constitution by nine States. It is a
good canvas on which some strokes only
want retouching. What these are, I think
are sufficiently manifested by the general
voice from north to south, which calls for a
bill of rights. It seems pretty generally un
derstood that this should go to juries, habeas
corpus, standing armies, printing, religion,
and monopolies. I conceive there may be dif
ficulty in finding general modifications of
these, suited to the habits of all the States.
But if such cannot be found, then it is better
to establish trials by jury, the right of habeas
corpus, freedom of the press, and freedom of
religion, in all cases, and to abolish standing
armies in time of peace, and monopolies in all
cases, than not to do it in any. The few
cases wherein these things may do evil, can
not be weighed against the multitude wherein
the want of them will do evil. In disputes
between a foreigner and a native, a trial by
jury may be improper. But if this exception
cannot be agreed to, the remedy will be to
model the jury by giving the mediatas lingua
in civil as well as criminal cases. Why sus
pend the habeas corpus in insurrections and
rebellions ? The parties who may be arrested,
may be charged instantly with a well-defined
crime; of course, the judge will remand them.
If the public safety requires that the govern
ment should have a man imprisoned on less
probable testimony in this than in other emer
gencies, let him be taken and tried, and re
taken and retried, while the necessity contin
ues, only giving them redress against the gov
ernment, for damages. Examine the history
of England. See how few of the cases of the
suspension of the habeas corpus law have
been worthy of that suspension. They have
been either real treason, wherein the parties
might as well have been charged at once, or
sham plots, where it was shameful they
should ever have been suspected. Yet for the
few cases wherein the suspension of the
habeas corpus has done real good, that opera
tion is now become habitual, and the mass of
the nation almost prepared to live under its
constant suspension. A declaration, that the
Federal government will never restrain the
presses from printing anything they please,
will not take away the liability of the printers
for false facts printed. The declaration, that
religious faith shall be unpunished, does not
give impunity to criminal acts, dictated by
religious error. The saying there shall be no
monopolies, lessens the incitements to ingenu
ity, which is spurred on by the hope of a
monopoly for a limited time, as of fourteen
years; but the benefit of even limited mon
opolies is too doubtful to be opposed to that
of their general suppression. If no check can
be found to keep the number of standing
troops within safe bounds, while they are tol
erated as far as necessary, abandon them al
together: discipline well the militia, and
guard the magazines with them. More than
magazine guards will be useless if few, and
dangerous if many. No European nation can
ever send against us such a regular army as
we need fear; and it is hard if our militia
are not equal to those of Canada or Florida.
My idea then, is that though proper excep
tions to these general rules are desirable, and
probably practicable, yet if the exceptions
cannot be agreed on, the establishment of the
rules in all cases will do ill in very few. I
hope, therefore, a bill of rights will be formed,
to guard the people against the Federal Gov
ernment, as they are already guarded against
their State governments in most instances. —
To JAMES MADISON, ii, 445. FORD ED., v,
45- (P., July 1788.)
818. BILL OF BIGHTS, Fetters
against Evil.— By a declaration of rights I
mean one which shall stipulate freedom of
religion, freedom of the press, freedom of
commerce against monopolies, trial by juries
in all cases, no suspensions of the habeas cor
pus, no standing armies. These are fetters
against doing evil which no honest government
should decline. — To A. DONALD, ii, 355. (P.,
Feb. 1788.)
819. BILL OF BIGHTS, A Guard to
Liberty. — I disapproved from the first mo
ment [in the new Constitution] the want of
a bill of rights, to guard liberty against the
legislative as well as the executive branches
of the government; that is to say, to secure
freedom in religion, freedom of the press,
freedom from monopolies, freedom from un
lawful imprisonment, freedom from a per
manent military, and a trial by jury, in all
cases determinable by the laws of the land. —
To F. HOPKINSON. ii, 586. FORD ED., v, 76.
(P., March 1789.)
820. BILL OF BIGHTS, An Insuffi
cient. — I like the declaration of rights as far
as it goes, but I should have been for going
further. For instance, the following altera
tions and additions would have pleased me.
" Article IV. The people shall not be deprived
or abridged of their right to speak, to write,
or otherwise to publish anything but false
facts affecting injuriously the life, liberty, or
reputation of others, or affecting the peace
of the Confederacy with foreign nations.
Article VII. All facts put in issue before any
judicature shall be tried by jury except, I,
in cases of admiralty jurisdiction wherein a
foreigner shall be interested ; 2, in cases cog
nizable before a court martial, concerning
only the regular officers and soldiers of the
United States, or members of the militia in
actual service in time of war or insurrection ;
and, 3, in impeachments allowed by the Con
stitution. Article VIII. No person shall be
held in confinement more than days after
he shall have demanded and been refused a
writ of habeas corpus by the judge appointed
by law, nor more than days after such a
writ shall have been served on the person
holding him in confinement, and no order
given on due examination for his remandment
or discharge, nor more than hours in any
place of a greater distance than miles
from the usual residence of some judge au
thorized to issue the writ of habeas corpus:
nor shall that writ be suspended for any term
Bill of Rights
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90
exceeding one year, nor in any place more
than miles distant from the station or
encampment of enemies, or of insurgents.
Article IX. Monopolies may be allowed to
persons for their own productions in litera
ture, and their own inventions in the arts,
for a term not exceeding years, but for
no longer term, and for no other purpose.
Article X. All troops of the United States
shall stand ipso facto disbanded, at the ex
piration of the term for which their pay and
subsistence shall have been last voted by
Congress, and all officers and soldiers, not
natives of the United States, shall be incapa
ble of serving in their armies by land, ex
cept during a foreign war." These restric
tions, I think, are so guarded as to hinder
evil only. However, if we do not have them
now, I have so much confidence in my coun
trymen, as to be satisfied that we shall have
them as soon as the degeneracy of our gov
ernment shall render them necessary. — To
JAMES MADISON, iii, 100. FORD ED., v, 112.
(P., Aug. 1789.)
821. BILL OF RIGHTS, The Judiciary
and. — In the arguments in favor of the
declaration of rights, you omit one which
has great weight with me: the legal check
which it puts into the hands of the judiciary.
This is a body which, if rendered independent
and kept strictly to their own department,
merits great confidence for their learning and
integrity. In fact, what degree of confidence
would be too much for a body composed of
such men as Wythe, Blair and Pendleton?
On characters like these, the " civium ardor
prava jubentium" would make no impres
sion. I am happy to find that, on the
whole, you are a friend to this amendment.
The declaration of rights is, like all other
human blessings, alloyed with some incon
veniences, and not accomplishing fully its ob
ject. But the good in this instance vastly out
weighs the evil. — To JAMES MADISON, iii, 3.
FORD ED., v, 80. (P., March 1789.)
822. BILL OF BIGHTS, The People
and. — A bill of rights is what the people are
entitled to against every government on earth,
general or particular; and what no just gov
ernment should refuse, or rest on inferences.
— To JAMES MADISON, ii, 330. FORD ED., iv,
477- (P-, Dec. 1787.)
823. BILL OF BIGHTS, Security in.—
A general concurrence of opinion seems to
authorize us to say the Constitution has some
defects. I am one of those who think it a de
fect that the important rights, not placed in
security by the frame of the Constitution it
self, were not explicitly secured by a supple
mentary declaration. There are rights which
it is useless to surrender to the govern
ment, and which governments have yet al
ways been found to invade. These are the
riehts of thinking, and publishing our
thoughts by speaking or writing ; the right of
free commerce; the right of personal free
dom. There are instruments for administer
ing the government so particularly trust
worthy, that we should never leave the legis
lature at liberty to change them. The new
Constitution has secured these in the Execu
tive and Legislative departments: but not in
the Judiciary. It should have established
trials by the people themselves, that is to say,
by jury. There are instruments so dangerous
to the rights of the nation, and which place
them so totally at the mercy of their govern
ors, that those governors, whether legisla
tive or executive, should be restrained from
keeping such instruments on foot, but in well
defined cases. Such an instrument is a
standing army. We are now allowed to say
such a declaration of rights, as a supplement
to the Constitution where that is silent, is
wanting, to secure us in these points. The
general voice has legitimated this objection. —
To DAVID HUMPHREYS, iii, 12. FORD ED., v,
89. (P., March 1789.)
824. . I am one of those who
think it a defect [in the new Constitution],
that the important rights, not placed in se
curity by the frame of the Constitution it
self, were not explicitly secured by a sup
plementary declaration [of rights]. — To DA
VID HUMPHREYS, iii, 12. FORD ED., v, 89.
(P., March 1789.)
825. BILL OF BIGHTS, Where Nec
essary. — I cannot refrain from making short
answers to the objections which your letter
states to have been raised, i. That the
rights in question are reserved by the man
ner in which the Federal powers are granted.
Answer. A constitutive act may, certainly.
be so formed as to need no declaration of
rights. The act itself has the force of a dec
laration as far as it goes ; and if it goes to
all material points, nothing more is wanting.
In the draft ot a Constitution which I had
once a thought of proposing in Virginia, I
endeavored to reach all the great objects of
public liberty, and did not mean to add a
declaration of rights. Probably the object
was imperfectly executed; but the deficien
cies would have been supplied by others, in
the course of discussion. But in a constitu
tive act which leaves some precious articles
unnoticed, and raises implications against
others, a declaration of rights becomes nec
essary by way of supplement. This is the
case of our new Federal Constitution. This
instrument forms us into one State, as to
certain objects, and gives us a legislative and
executive body for these objects. It should,
therefore, guard against their abuses of power
within the field submitted to them. 2. A
positive declaration of some essential rights
could not be obtained in the requisite lati
tude. Answer. Half a loaf is better than
no bread. If we cannot secure all our rights,
let us secure what we can. 3. The limited
powers of the Federal Government, and jeal
ousy of the subordinate governments, af
ford a security which exists in no other in
stance. Answer. The first member of this
seems resolvable into the first objection be
fore stated. The jealousy of the subordi
nate governments is a precious reliance. But
observe that these governments are only
agents. They must have principles furnished
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Bill of Bights
them whereon to found their opposition. The
declaration of rights will be the text, whereby
they will try all the acts of the Federal Gov
ernment, In this view, it is necessary to the
Federal Government also, as by the same
text, they may try the opposition of the sub
ordinate governments. 4. Experience proves
the inefficacy of a Bill of Rights. Answer.
True. But though it is not absolutely effica
cious under all circumstances, it is of great
potency always and rarely inefficacious. A
brace the more will often keep up the build
ing which would have fallen with that brace
the less. There is a remarkable difference
between the characters of the inconveniences
which attend a declaration of rights, and
those which attend the want of it. The in
conveniences of the declaration are that it
may cramp government in its useful exer
tions. But the evil of this is short-lived,
moderate and reparable. The inconveniences
of the want of a declaration are permanent,
afflicting and irreparable. They are in con
stant progression from bad to worse. The
executive, in our governments, is not the
sole, it is scarcely the principal, object of my
jealousy. The tyranny of the legislatures is
the most formidable dread at present, and
will be for many years. That of the executive
will come in its turn; but it will be at a re
mote period. I know there are some among
us who would now establish a monarchy. But
they are inconsiderable in number and weight
of character. The rising race are all republi
cans. We were educated in royalism ; no
wonder if some of us retain that idolatry
still. Our young people are educated in repub
licanism; an apostasy from that to royalism
is unprecedented and impossible. I am much
pleased with the prospect that a declaration
of rights will be added ; and I hope it will be
done in that way which will not endanger
the whole frame of government, or any essen
tial part of it. — To JAMES MADISON, iii, 4.
FORD ED., v, 81. (P., March 1789.)
826. BILL OF BIGHTS (French), Draft
of. — i. The States General shall assemble, un
called, on the first day of November, annu
ally, and shall remain together so long as
they shall see cause. They shall regulate
their own elections and proceedings, and un
til they shall ordain otherwise, their elec
tions shall be in the forms observed in the
present year, and shall be triennial. 2.. The
States General alone shall levy money on the
nation, and shall appropriate it. 3. Laws
shall be made by the States General only,
with the consent of the King. 4. No person
shall be restrained of his liberty, but by regu
lar process from a court of justice, author
ized by a general law. (Except that a Noble
may be imprisoned by order of a -court of
justice, on the prayer of twelve of his nearest
relations.) On complaint of an unlawful im
prisonment, to any judge whatever, he shall
have the prisoner immediately brought before
him, and shall discharge him, if his imprison
ment be unlawful. The officer in whose cus
tody the prisoner is, shall obey the orders of
the judge ; and both judge and officer shall be
responsible, civilly and criminally, for a fail
ure of duty herein. 5. The military shall be
subordinate to the civil authority. 6. Printers
shall be liable to legal prosecution for print
ing and publishing false facts, injurious to
the party prosecuting; but they shall be un
der no other restraint. 7. All pecuniary priv
ileges and exemptions, enjoyed by any de
scription of persons, are abolished. 8. All
debts already contracted by the King, are
hereby made the debts of the nation; and
the faith thereof is pledged for their payment
in due time. 9. Eighty million of livres are
now granted to the King, to be raised by
loan, and reimbursed by the nation; and the
taxes heretofore paid, shall continue to be
paid to the end of the present year, and no
longer. 10. The States General shall now
separate, and meet again on the ist day of
November next. Done, on behalf of the whole
nation, by the King and their representatives
in the States General, at Versailles, this
day of June, 1789. Signed by the King, and
by every member individually, and in his pres
ence.* — FRENCH CHARTER OF RIGHTS, iii, 47.
FORD ED., v, 101. (P., June 1789.)
827. BILL OF BIGHTS (French), His
tory of.— After you [M. de St. Etienne]
quitted us yesterday evening, we continued
our conversation (Monsr de Lafayette, Mr.
Short and myself) on the subject of the dif
ficulties which environ you. The desirable
object being to secure the good which the
King has offered and to avoid the ill which
seems to threaten, an idea was suggested,
which appearing to make an impression on
Mons de Lafayette, I was encouraged to
pursue it on my return to Paris, to put it
into form, and now to send it to you and him.
It is this, that the King, in a seance royale
should come forward with a Charter of
Rights in his hand, to be signed by himself,
and by every member of the three orders.
This Charter to contain the five great points
which the Resultat of December offered on
the part of the King, the abolition of pecu
niary privileges offered by the privileged or
ders, and the adoption of the national debt,
and a grant of the sum of money asked from
the nation. This last will be a cheap price for
the preceding articles, and let the same act
declare your immediate separation till the
next anniversary meeting. You will carry
back to your constituents more good than
ever was effected before without violence,
and you will stop exactly at the point where
violence would otherwise begin. Time will
be gained, the public mind will continue
to ripen and to be informed, a basis of sup
port may be prepared with the people them
selves, and expedients occur for gaining still
something further at your next meeting, and
for stopping again at the point of force. I have
ventured to send to yourself and Monsieur
de Lafayette a sketch of my ideas of what this
act might contain without endangering any
dispute. But it is offered merely as a canvas
*This paper is entitled "A Charter of Rights, Sol
emnly established by the King and Nation".— ED
ITOR.
Bill of Rights
Birthday
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
for you to work on, if it be fit to work on at
all. I know too little of the subject, and you
know too much of it to justify me in offering
anything but a hint. I have done it too in a
hurry; insomuch that since committing it to
writing it occurs to me that the 5th article
may give alarm, that it is in a good degree
included in the 4th, and is, therefore, useless.
But, after all, what excuse can I make, Sir,
for this presumption? I have none but an
unmeasurable love for your nation, and a
painful anxiety lest despotism, after an unac
cepted offer to bind its own hands, should
seize you again with tenfold fury. — To M. DE
ST. ETIENNE. FORD ED., v, 99. (P., June
1789) See RIGHTS.
- BIMETALISM.— See DOLLAR and
MONEY.
828. BI3STGHAM (William), Character
of. — Though Bingham is not in diplomatic
office, yet as he wishes to be so, I will mention
such circumstances of him, as you might other
wise be deceived in. He will make you believe
he was on the most intimate footing with the
first characters in Europe, and versed in the
secrets of every cabinet. Not a word of this
is true. He had a rage for being presented
to great men, and had no modesty in the meth
ods by which he could if he attained acquaint
ance. — To JAMES MADISON, ii, 108. FORD ED.,
iv, 366. (P., 1787.)
829. BIRDS, Mocking-bird.— Teach all
the children to venerate the mocking-bird as a
superior being in the form of a bird, or as a
being which will haunt them if any harm is
done to itself or its eggs. I shall hope that the
multiplication of the cedar in the neighborhood,
and of the trees and shrubs round the house
[Monticello] will attract more of them ; for
they like to be in the neighborhood of our
habitations if they furnish cover. — To MARTHA
JEFFERSON RANDOLPH. D. L. J., 221. (Pa.,
I/93-)
830. BIRDS, Nightingale.— I have heard
the nightingale in all its perfection, and I do
not hesitate to pronounce that in America it
would be deemed a bird of the third rank only,
our mocking-bird, and fox-colored thrush being
unquestionably superior to it. — To MRS. JOHN
ADAMS. FORD ED., iv, 63. (P., 1785.)
831. . I have been for a week
past sailing on the canal of Languedoc, cloud
less skies above, limpid waters below, and on
each hand a row of nightingales in full chorus.
This delightful bird had given me a rich treat
before, at the fountain of Vaucluse. After vis
iting the tomb of Laura at Avignon, I went to
see this fountain — a noble one of itself, and
rendered famous forever by the songs of Pe
trarch, who lived near it. I arrived there some
what fatigued, and sat down by the fountain
to repose myself. It gushes, of the size of a
river, from a secluded valley of the mountains,
the ruins of Petrarch's chateau being perched
on a rock two hundred feet perpendicular
above. To add to the enchantment of the
scene, every tree and bush was filled with night
ingales in full song. I think you told me that
you had not yet noticed this bird. As you
have trees in the garden of the convent, there
might be nightingales in them, and this is the
season of their song. Endeavor to make your
self acquainted with the music of this bird,
that when you return to your own country,
you may be able to estimate its merit in com
parison with that of the mocking-bird. The
latter has the advantage of singing through a
great part of the year, whereas the nightingale
sings about five or six weeks in the spring, and
a still shorter term, and with a more feeble
voice, in the fall. — To MARTHA JEFFERSON.
FORD ED., iv, 388. (1787.)
832. BIRDS, Skylark.— There are two
or three objects which you should endeavor to
enrich our country with, — the skylark, the red-
legged partridge. I despair too much of the
nightingale to add that. — To JAMES MONROE.
FORD ED., vii, 21. (M., 1795.)
833. BIRDS, Turkey.— I suppose the
opinion to be universal that the turkey is a
native of America. Nobody, as far as I know,
has ever contradicted it but Daines Harrington ;
and the arguments he produces are such as
none but a head, entangled and kinked as his
is, would ever have urged. Before the discov
ery of America, no such bird is mentioned
in a single author, all those quoted by Bar-
rington, by description referring to the crane,
hen, pheasant, or peacock ; but the book of
every traveller, who came to America soon
after its discovery, is full of accounts of the
turkey and its abundance ; and immediately
after that discovery we find the turkey served
up at the feasts of Europe, as their most ex
traordinary rarity. — To DR. HUGH WILLIAM
SON, iv, 346. FORD ED., vii, 480. (W., Jan.
1801.)
834. BIRDS, The Crested Turkey.— I
have taken measures to obtain the crested tur
key, and will endeavor to perpetuate that beau
tiful and singular characteristic, and shall be
not less earnest in endeavors to raise the Mor-
onnier. — To M. CORREA. vii, 95. (P. F., 1817.)
835. BIRDS, The Turkey in Heraldry.
— Mr. William Strickland, the eldest son of
St. George Strickland, of York, in England,
told me this anecdote : Some ancestor of his
commanded a vessel in the navigations of Ca
bot. Having occasion to consult the Herald's
office concerning his family, he found a petition
from that ancestor to the Crown, stating that
Cabot's circumstances being slender, he had been
rewarded by the bounties, he needed from the
Crown ; that as to himself, he asked nothing in
that way, but that as a consideration for his
services in the same way, he might be permitted
to assume for the crest of his family arms, the
turkey, an American bird ; and Mr. Strick
land observed that their crest is actually a
turkey. — To DR. HUGH WILLIAMSON, iv, 346.
FORD ED., vii, 480. (W., Jan. 1801.)
836. BIRTH, Public Office and. — For
promoting the public happiness, those per
sons, whom nature has endowed with genius
and virtue, should be rendered by liberal
education worthy to receive, and able to
guard the sacred deposit of the rights and
liberties of their fellow citizens; and they
should be called to that charge without re
gard to * * * birth, or other accidental
condition or circumstance. — DIFFUSION OF
KNOWLEDGE BILL. FORD ED., ii, 221. (1779.)
837. BIRTHDAY, Jefferson's.— Disap
proving myself of transferring the honors and
veneration for the great birthday of our Re
public to any individual, or of dividing them
with individuals, I have declined letting my
own birthday be known, and have engaged
mv family not to communicate it. This has
been the uniform answer to every applica
tion of the kind. — To LEVI LINCOLN", iv, 504.
FORD ED., viii, 246. (M., Aug. 1803.)
93
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Birthday
Bishop (Samuel)
838. . The only birthday which
I recognize is that of my country's liberties.*
— RAYNER'S LIFE OF JEFFERSON, p. 18.
839. BIRTHDAY, Celebration of Wash
ington's. — A great ball is to be given here
[Philadelphia] on the 22d, and in other great
towns of the Union. This is, at least, very
indelicate, and probably excites uneasy sensa
tions in some. I see in it, however, this use
ful deduction, that the birthdays, which have
been kept, have been, not those of the Presi
dent, but of the General. — To JAMES MADISON.
iv, 212. FORD ED., vii, 203. (Pa., Feb. 1798.)
-. The late birth-night has
tares among the exclusive
840.
certainly sown
federalists. It has winnowed the grain from
the chaff. The sincerely Adamites did not go.
The Washingtonians went religiously, and took
the secession of the others in high dudgeon.
The one sect threaten to desert the levees, the
other the parties. The whigs went in number,
to encourage the idea that the birth-nights
hitherto kept had been for the General and not
the President, and of course that time would
bring an end to them. — To JAMES MADISON.
iv, 218. FORD EDV vii, 211. (Pa., Feb. 1798.)
841. BISHOP (Samuel), Appointment
as Collector. — I have received the remon
strance you were pleased to address to me,
on the appointment of Samuel Bishop to the
office of Collector of New Haven, lately va
cated by the death of Daniel Austin. The
right of our fellow citizens to represent to the
public functionaries their opinion on proceed
ings interesting to them, is unquestionably
a constitutional right, often useful, some
times necessary, and will always be respect
fully acknowledged by me. Of the various
executive duties, no one excites more anx
ious concern than that of placing the inter
ests of our fellow citizens in the hands of
honest men, with understandings sufficient
for their stations. No duty, at the same time,
is more difficult to fulfil. The knowledge of
characters possessed by a single individual
is, of necessity, limited. To seek out the
best through the whole Union, we must re
sort to other information, which, from the
best of men, acting disinterestedly and with
the purest motives, is sometimes incorrect.
In the case of Samuel Bishop, however, the
subject of your remonstrance, time was
taken, information was sought, and such ob
tained as could leave no room for doubt of
his fitness. From private sources it was
learned that his understanding was sound.
his integrity pure, his character unstained.
And the offices confided to him within his
own State, are public evidences of the es
timation in which he is held by the State
in general, and the city and township par
ticularly in which he lives. He is said to
be the town clerk, a justice of the peace,
mayor of the city of New Haven, an office
held at the will of the legislature, chief judge
of the court of common pleas for New
Haven County, a court of high criminal and
* Jefferson thought he discovered in the birthday
celebrations of particular persons, a germ of aristo-
cratical distinction, which it was incumbent upon all
such persons, by a timely concert of example, to
crush in the bud..— RAYNER'S Life of Jefferson^ p. 17.
civil jurisdiction wherein most causes are de
cided without the right of appeal or review,
and sole judge of the court of Probates,
wherein he singly decides all questions of
wills, settlement of estates, testate and in
testate, appoints guardians, settles their ac
counts, and in fact has under his jurisdiction
and care all the property, real and personal, of
persons dying. The two last offices, in the
annual gift of the legislature, were given to
him in May last. Is it possible that the man
to whom the legislature of Connecticut has
so recently committed trusts of such diffi
culty and magnitude, is " unfit to be the col
lector of the district of New Haven," though
acknowledged in the same writing, to have
obtained all this confidence " by a long life
of usefulness"? It is objected, indeed, in
the remonstrance, that he is seventy-seven
years of age ; but at a much more advanced
age, our Franklin was the ornament of hu
man nature. He may not be able to perform
in person all the details of his office; but if
he gives us the benefit of his understanding,
his integrity, his watchfulness and takes
care that all the details are well per
formed by himself or his necessary assist
ants, all public purposes will be answered.
The remonstrance, indeed, does not allege
that the office has been illy conducted, but
only apprehends that it will be so. Should
this happen in event, be assured I will do in it
what shall be just and necessary for the
public service. In the meantime, he should
be tried without being prejudged.— To THE
NEW HAVEN COMMITTEE, iv, 402. FORD ED.,
viii, 67. (W., July 1801.)
842. BISHOP (Samuel), Goodrich's re
moval and. — The removal, as it is called, of
Mr. [Elizur] Goodrich, promises another
subject of complaint. Declarations by my
self in favor of political tolerance, exhorta
tions to harmony and affection in social in
tercourse, and to respect for the^equal rights
of the minority, have, on certain occasions,
been quoted and misconstrued into assur
ances that the tenure of offices was to be un
disturbed. But could candor apply such a
construction? It is not, indeed, in the re
monstrance that we find it; but it leads to
the explanations which that calls for. When
it is considered, that during the late adminis
tration, those who were not of a particular
sect of politics were excluded from all office :
when, by a steady pursuit of this measure,
nearly the whole officers of the United States
were monopolized by that sect; when
the public sentiment at length declared itself,
and burst open the doors of honor and con
fidence to those whose opinions they more
approved, was it to be imagined that this
monopoly of office was still to be continued
in the hands of the minority? Does it vio
late their equal rights, to assert some rights
in the majority also? Is it political intoler
ance to claim a proportionate share in the
direction of the public affairs? Can they
not harmonise in society unless they have
everything in their own hands? If the will
of the nation, manifested by their various
Bishop (Samuel)
Bland (Richard)
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
94
elections, calls for an administration of gov
ernment according with the opinions of those
elected; if, for the fulfilment of that will,
displacements are necessary, with whom can
they so justly begin as with persons ap
pointed in the last moments of an adminis
tration, not for its own aid. but to begin a
career at the same time with their success
ors, by whom they had never been approved,
and who could scarcely expect from them a
cordial cooperation? Mr. Goodrich was one
of these. Was it proper for him to place
himself in office, without knowing whether
those whose agent he was to be would have
confidence in his agency? Can the prefer
ence of another, as the successor to Mr.
Austin, be candidly called a removal of Mr.
Goodrich? If a due participation of office
is a matter of right, how are vacancies to be
obtained? Those by death are few; by res
ignation, none. Can any other mode than
that of removal be proposed ? This is a pain
ful office ; but it is made my duty, and I meet
it as such. I proceed in the operation with
deliberation and inquiry, that it may injure
the best men least, and effect the purposes of
justice and public utility with the least pri
vate distress ; that it may be thrown, as much
as possible, on delinquency, on oppression,
on intolerance, on incompetence, on ante-
revolutionary adherence to our enemies. The
remonstrance laments " that a change in the
administration must produce a change in the
subordinate officers," in other words, that
it should be deemed necessary for all offi
cers to think with their principal? But on
whom does this imputation bear? On those
who have excluded from office every shade
of opinion which was not theirs? Or on
those who have been so excluded? I lament
sincerely that unessential differences of po
litical opinion should ever have been deemed
sufficient to interdict half the society from
the rights and blessings of self-government,
to proscribe them as characters unworthy of
every trust. It would have been to me a
circumstance of great relief, had I found a
moderate participation of office in the hands
of the majority. I would gladly have left
to time and accident to raise them to their
just share. But their total exclusion calls
for prompter correctives. I shall correct the
procedure ; but that done, disdain to follow
it, shall return with joy to that state of
things, when the only questions concerning
a candidate shall be: Is he honest? Is he
capable? Is he faithful to the Constitu
tion? — To THE NEW HAVEN COMMITTEE, iv,
403. FORD ED., viii, 69. (W., July 1801.)
843. BISHOP (Samuel), New Haven
Remonstrance and. — Mr. Goodrich' s re
moval has produced a bitter remonstrance,
with much personality against the two Bish
ops. I am sincerely sorry to see the inflex
ibility of the federal spirit there, for I cannot
believe they are all monarchists. — To LEVI
LINCOLN, iv, 399. FORD ED., viii, 67. (W.,
July 1801.)
844. . Some occasion of public
explanation was eagerly desired, when the
New Haven remonstrance offered us that oc
casion. The answer was meant as an ex
planation to our triends. It has had ori
them, everywhere, the most wholesome effect.
Appearances of schismatizing from us have
been entirely done away. I own I expected
it would check the current with which the
republican federalists were returning to their
brethren, the republicans. I extremely la
mented this effect ; for the moment which
should convince me that a healing of the na
tion into one is impracticable, would be the
last moment of my wishing to remain where
I am. — To LEVI LINCOLN, iv, 406. FORD ED.,
viii, 84. (M., Aug. 1801.) See GOODRICH. .
845. BLACKSTONE (Sir William),
Commentaries. — The exclusion from the
courts of the malign influence of all author
ities after the Georgium Sidus became as
cendant, would uncanonize Blackstone,
whose book, although the most elegant and
best digested of our law catalogue, has been
perverted, more than all others, to the de
generacy of legal science. A student finds
there a smattering of everything, and his
indolence easily persuades him that if he
understands that book, he is master of the
whole body of the law. The distinction be
tween these, and those who have drawn their
stores from the deep and rich mines of Coke
on Littleton, seems well understood even by
the unlettered common people, who apply
the appellation of Blackstone lawyers to
these ephemeral insects of the law. — To JUDGE
TYLER, vi, 66. (M., 1812.)
846. BLACKSTONE (Sir William),
Toryism of. — Blackstone and Hume have
made tories of all England, and are making
tories of those young Americans whose native
feelings of independence do not place them
above the wily sophistries of a Hume or a
Blackstone. These two books, but especially
the former, have done more towards the
suppression of the liberties of man, than all
the million of men in arms of Bonaparte, and
the millions of human lives with the sacrifice
of which he will stand loaded before the
judgment seat of his Maker. — To HORATIO G.
SPAFFORD. vi, 335. (M., 1814.)
847. BLAND (Richard), Character of.—
Colonel Richard Bland was the most learned
and logical man of those who took prominent
lead in public affairs, profound in constitu
tional lore, a most ungraceful speaker (as were
Peyton Randolph and Robinson, in a remark
able degree.) He wrote the first pamphlet on
the nature of the connection with Great Brit
ain which had #ny pretension to accuracy of
view on that subject, but it was a singular one.
He would set out on sound principles, pursue
them Logically till he found them leading to the
precipice which he had to leap, start back
alarmed, then resume his ground, go over it in
another direction, be led again by the correct
ness of his reasoning to the same place, and
again back out, and try other processes to
reconcile right and wrong, but finally left his
reader and himself bewildered between the
steady index of the compass in their hand, and
the phantasm to which it seemed to point. Still
there was more sound matter in his pamphlet
than in the celebrated " Farmer's Letters,"
95
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Blockades
|{.)llm,ni (Eric)
which were really but an ignis fatuus, mislead
ing us from true principles. — To WILLIAM
WIRT. vi, 485. FORD ED., ix, 474. (M., 1815.)
848. BLOCKADES, Law of. —When the
fleet of any nation actually beleaguers the
port of its enemy, no other has a right to
enter their line any more than their line of
battle in the open sea, or their lines of cir-
cumvallation, or of encampment, or of battle
array on land. The space included within
their lines in any of those cases, is either the
property of their enemy, or it is common
property, assumed and possessed for a mo
ment, which cannot be intruded on, even by
a neutral, without committing the very tres
pass we are now considering, that of intrud
ing into the lawful possession of a friend. —
To ROBERT R. LIVINGSTON, iv, 410. FORD
ED., viii, 91. (M., 1801.)
849. BLOCKADES, Neutrals and.—
When two nations go to war, it does not
abridge the rights of neutral nations but in
the two articles of blockade and contraband
of war. — To BENJAMIN STODDERT. v, 425.
FORD ED., ix, 245. (W., 1809.)
850. BLOCKADES, Seizure of Ships.—
The instruction [to commanders of British
war ships] which allows the armed vessels
of Great Britain to seize, for condemnation,
all vessels, on their first attempt to enter a
blockaded port, except those of Denmark and
Sweden, which are to be prevented only, but
not seized, on their first attempt. Of the
nations inhabiting the shores of the Atlantic
ocean, and practising its navigation, Den
mark, Sweden and the United States, alone
are neutral. To declare, then, all neutral
vessels (for as to the vessels of the belliger
ent powers no order was necessary) to be
legal prize, which shall attempt to enter a
blockaded port, except those of Denmark
and Sweden, is exactly to declare that the
vessels of the United States shall be lawful
prize, and those of Denmark and Sweden
shall not. It is of little consequence that the
article has avoided naming the United
States, since it has used a description ap
plicable to them, and to them alone, while it
exempts the others from its operation, by
name. You will be pleased to ask an ex
planation of this distinction ; and you will
be able to say in discussing its justice, that
in every circumstance, we treat Great Brit
ain on the footing of the most favored na
tion, where our treaties do not preclude us,
and that even these are just as favorable to
her as hers are to us. Possibly she may be
bound by treaty to admit this exception in
favor of Denmark and Sweden, but she can
not be bound by treaty to withhold it from us ;
and if it be withheld merely because not
established with us by treaty, what might
not we, on the same ground, have with
held from Great Britain, during the short
course of the present war, as well as the
peace which has preceded it ? — To THOMAS
PINCKNEY. iv, 62. FORD ED., vi, 416. (Pa.,
Sept. 1793.)
851. . You express your appre
hension that some of the belligerent powers
may stop our vessels going with grain to the
ports of their enemies, and ask instructions
which may meet the question in various
points of view, intending, however, in the
meantime to contend for the amplest freedom
of neutral nations. Your intention in this
is perfectly proper, and coincides with the
ideas of our own government in the particu
lar case you put, as in general cases. Such a
stoppage to an unblockaded port would be
so unequivocal an infringement of the neu
tral rights, that we cannot conceive it will be
attempted. — To THOMAS PINCKNEY. iii, 551.
FORD ED., vi, 242. (Pa., May 1793.)
852. BLOUNT (William), Impeach
ment of. — It is most evident, that the anti-
republicans wish to get rid of Blpunt's impeach
ment. Many metaphysical niceties are handing
about in conversation, to show that it cannot be
sustained. To show the contrary, it is evident
must be the task of the republicans, or of no
body. — To JAMES MADISON, iv, 206. FORD
ED., vii, 190. (Pa., Jan. 1798.) See IMPEACH
MENT.
853. BOLINGBROKE, Writings of
Lord. — Lord Bolingbroke and Thomas Paine
were alike in making bitter enemies of the
priests and pharisees of their day. Both
were honest men ; both advocates for human
liberty. Paine wrote for a country which per
mitted him to push his reasoning to whatever
length it would go. Lord Bolingbroke in one
restrained by a constitution, and by public opin
ion. He was called indeed a tory ; but his
writings prove him a stronger advocate for lib
erty than any of his countrymen, the whigs of
the present day. Irritated by his exile, he com
mitted one act unworthy of him, in connecting
himself momentarily with a prince rejected by
his country. But he redeemed that single act
by his establishment of the principles which
proved it to be wrong. These two persons dif
fered remarkably in the style of their writing,
each leaving a model of what is most perfect
in both extremes of the simple and sublime.
No writer has exceeded Paine in ease and fa
miliarity of style, in perspicuity of expression,
happiness of elucidation, and in simple and un
assuming language. In this he may be com
pared with Dr. Franklin ; and indeed his Com
mon Sense was, for awhile, believed to have
been written by Dr. Franklin, and published
under the borrowed name of Paine, who had
come over with him from England. Lord
Bolingbroke's. on the other hand, is a style of
the highest order. The lofty, rythmical, full-
flowing eloquence of Cicero ; periods of just
measure, their members proportioned, their
close full and round. His conceptions, too, are
bold and strong, his diction copious, polished
and commanding as his subject. His writings
are certainly the finest samples in the English
language of the eloquence proper for the sen
ate. His political tracts are safe reading for
the most timid religionist, his philosophical, for
those who are not afraid to trust their reason
with discussions of right and wrong. — To
FRANCIS EPPES. vii, 197. FORD ED., x, 183.
(M., 1821.)
854. BOLLMAN (Eric), Burr and.— I
am sorry to tell you that Bollman was Burr's
right hand man in all his guilty schemes. On
being brought to prison here [Washington], he
communicated to Mr. Madison and myself the
whole of the plans, always, however, apolo
getically for Burr, as far as they would bear.
But his subsequent tergiversations have proved
Bollman (Eric)
Bouaparte (N.)
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
96
him conspicuously base. I gave him a pardon,
however, which covers him from everything but
infamy. I was the more astonished at his en
gaging in this business, from the peculiar mo
tives he should have felt for fidelity. When I
came into the government, I sought him out on
account of the services he had rendered you,
cherished him, offered him two different ap
pointments of value, which, after keeping them
long under consideration, he declined for com
mercial views, and would have given him any
thing for which he was fit. Be assured he is
unworthy of ever occupying again the care of
any honest man. — To MARQUIS DE LAFAYETTE.
v, 130. FORD ED., ix, 114. (W., July 1807.)
855. BOLLMAN (Eric), Pardon of.—
Dr. Bollman, on his arrival in Washington in
custody in January, voluntarily offered to make
communications to me, which he accordingly
did, Mr. Madison also being present. I pre
viously and subsequently assured him. (without,
however, his having requested it), that they
should never be used against himself. Mr.
Madison on the same evening committed to
writing, by memory, what he had said ; and
I moreover asked of Bollman to do it himself,
which he did, and I now enclose it to you.
The object is, as he is to be a witness, that
you may know how to examine him, and draw
everything from him. I wish the paper to be
seen and known only to yourself and the gen
tlemen who aid you, and to be returned to me.
If he should prevaricate, I should be willing
you should go so far as to ask him whether he
did not say so, and so to Mr. Madison and my
self, in order to let him see that his prevarica
tions will be marked. Mr. Madison will for
ward you a pardon for him, which we mean
should be delivered previously. It is suspected
by some he does not intend to appear. If he
does not, I hope you will take effectual meas
ures to have him immediately taken into cus
tody. Some other blank pardons are sent on
to be filled up at your discretion, if you should
find a defect of evidence, and believe that this
would supply it, * * * avoiding to give
them to the gross offenders, unless it be visi
ble that the principal will otherwise escape. —
To GEORGE HAY. FORD ED., ix, 52. (W., May
1807.)
856. BONAPARTE (Jerome), Marriage
of. — A report reaches us from Baltimore,
* * * that Mr. Jerome Bonaparte, brother
of the First Consul, is married to Miss Patter
son, of that city. The effect of this measure
on the mind of the First Consul, is not for me
to suppose ; but as it might occur to him,
prima facie, that the Executive of the United
States ought to have prevented it, I have
thought it advisable to mention the subject to
you, that, if necessary, you may by explana
tion set that idea to rights. You know that by
our laws, all persons are free to enter into
marriage, if of twenty-one years of age, no one
having a power to restrain it, not even their
parents ; and that under that age, no one can
prevent it but the parent or guardian. The
lady is under age, and the parents, placed be
tween her affections, which were strongly fixed,
and the considerations opposing the measure,
yielded with pain and anxiety to the former.
Mr. Patterson is the President of the Bank
of Baltimore, the wealthiest man in Maryland,
perhaps in the United States, except Mr. Car
roll ; a man of great virtue and respectability ;
the mother is the sister of the lady of General
Samuel Smith ; and, consequently, the station
of the family in society is with the first of
the United States. These circumstances fix
rank in a country where there are no heredi
tary titles. — To ROBERT R. LIVINGSTON, iv,
510. FORD ED., viii, 277. (W., Nov. 1803.)
857. BONAPARTE (N.), Brutuses for.
— If Bonaparte declares for royalty, either in
his own person, or for Louis XVIII., he has
but a few days to live. In a nation of so
much enthusiasm, there must be a million of
Brutuses who will devote themselves to de
stroy him. — To HENRY INNES. iv, 315. FORD
EDV vii, 412. (Pa., Jan. 1800.)
858. . Had the consuls been put
to death in the first tumult, and before the
nation had time to take sides, the Directory
and Councils might have reestablished
themselves on the spot. But that not being
done, perhaps it is now to be wished that
Bonaparte may be spared, as, according to
his protestations, he is for liberty, equality
and representative government, and he is
more able to keep the nation together, and
to ride out the storm than any other. Per
haps it may end in their establishing a single
representative, and that in his person. I
hope it will not be for life, for fear of the in
fluence of the example on our countrymen.
It is very material for the latter to be made
sensible that their own character and situa
tion are materially different from the French ;
and that whatever may be the fate of republi
canism there, we are able to preserve it in
violate here. — To JOHN BRECKENRIDGE. FORD
ED., vii, 418. (Pa., Jan. 1800.)
859. BONAPARTE (N.), Cromwell,
Washington and. — My confidence has been
placed in the head, not in the heart of Bona
parte. I hoped he would calculate truly the
difference between the fame of a Washington
and a Cromwell. — To SAMUEL ADAMS, iv,
321. FORD EDV vii, 425. (Pa., Feb. 1800.)
860. BONAPARTE (N.), Detested.— No
man on earth has stronger detestation than
myself of the unprincipled tyrant who is del
uging the continent of Europe with blood.
No one was more gratified by his disasters of
the last compaign.* — To DR. GEORGE LOGAN.
vi, 216. FORD ED., ix, 423. (M., Oct. 1813.)
861. BONAPARTE (N.), Embargo and.
— The explanation of his principles given you
by the French Emperor, in conversation, is
correct as far as it goes. He does not wish
us to go to war with England, knowing we
have no ships to carry on that war. To sub
mit to pay to England the tribute on our com
merce which she demands by her orders of
council, would be to aid her in the war
against him, and would give him just ground
to declare war with us. He, concludes, there-
* This extract got into the newspapers contrary to
Jefferson's wishes, and led to a long interruption of
the correspondence between him and Dr. Logan. At
length, in 1816, he wrote to Logan, complaining of
the publication, and said: " this [extract] produced
to me more complaints from my best friends and
called for more explanations than any transaction of
my life had ever done. They inferred from this par
tial extract an approbation of the conduct of Eng
land, which yet the same letter censured with equal
rigor. It prodticed, too, from the minister of Bona
parte a complaint, not indeed formal, for I was but a
private citizen, but serious, of my volunteering with
England in the abuse of his sovereign."— EDITOR.
Thomas Jefferson
Age about J
'rom the painting by Charles Wilson IValo hanging in
Hall, Philadelphia.
[2]
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THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Bonaparte (N.)
fore, as every rational man must, that the
Embargo, the only remaining alternative, was
a wise measure. These are acknowledged
principles, and should circumstances arise
which may offer advantage to our country in
making them public, we shall avail ourselves
of them. But as it is not usual nor agreeable
to governments to bring their conversations
before the public, I think it would be well to
consider this on your part as confidential,
leaving to the government to retain or make
it public, as the general good may require.
Had the Emperor gone further, and said that
he condemned our vessels going voluntarily
into his ports in breach of his municipal laws,
we might have admitted it rigorously legal,
though not friendly. But his condemnation
of vessels taken on high seas, by his pri
vateers and carried involuntarily _ into his
ports, is justifiable by no law; is piracy, and
this is the wrong we complain of against
him.— To ROBERT R. LIVINGSTON, v, 370.
FORD ED., ix, 209. (W., Oct. 1808.)
862. BONAPARTE (N.), England and.
— To complete and universalize the desola
tion of the globe, it has been the will of Provi
dence to raise up, at the same time, a tyrant
as unprincipled and as overwhelming, for
the ocean. Not in the poor maniac George,
but in his government and nation. Bonaparte
will die, and his tyrannies with him. But a
nation never dies. The English government,
and its piratical principles and practices, have
no fixed term of duration. Europe feels, and
is writhing under the scorpion whips of Bona
parte. We are assailed by those of England.
The one continent thus placed under the gripe
of England, and the other of Bonaparte, each
has to grapple with the enemy immediately
pressing on itself. We must extinguish the
fire kindled in our own house, and leave to
our friends beyond the water that which is
consuming theirs. — To MADAME DE STAEL.
vi, 115. (M., May 1813.)
863. BONAPARTE (N.), Execrated.— I
know nothing which can so severely try the
heart and spirit of man, and especially of the
man of science, as the necessity of a passive
acquiescence under the abominations of an
unprincipled tyrant who is deluging the earth
with blood to acquire for himself the reputa
tion of a Cartouche or a Robin Hood. The
petty larcenies of the Blackbeards and Buc
caneers of the ocean, the more immediately
exercised on us, are dirty and grovelling
things addressed to our contempt, while the
horrors excited by the Scelerat of France are
beyond all human execrations. — To DR. MOR-
RELL. vi, 100. (M., Feb. 1813.)
864. BONAPARTE (N.), A Great Scoun
drel. — Bonaparte was a lion in the field only.
In civil life, a cold-blooded, calculating, un
principled usurper, without a virtue ; no
statesman, knowing nothing of commerce,
political economy, or civil government, and
supplying ignorance by bold presumption. I
had supposed him a great man until his en
trance into the Assembly des cinq cens.
eighteen Brumaire (an. 8.) From that date,
however, I set him down as a great scoundrel
only. — To JOHN ADAMS, vi, 352. FORD ED.,
ix, 461. (M., July 1814.)
865. BONAPARTE (N.), Hatred of
United States. — Bonaparte hates our gov
ernment because it is a living libel on his. —
To WILLIAM DUANE. v, 553. FORD ED., ix,
287. (M., 1810.)
866. . Bonaparte's hatred of us
is only a little less than that he bears to Eng
land, and England to us. Our form of govern
ment is odious to him, as a standing contrast
between republican and despotic rule ; and as
much from that hatred, as from ignorance in
political economy, he had excluded inter
course between us and his people, by pro
hibiting the only articles they wanted from
us, cotton and tobacco. — To THOMAS LEIPER.
vi, 464. FORD ED., ix, 520. (M., June 1815.)
867. . It is not possible Bona
parte should love us; and of that our com
merce had sufficient proof during his power.
Our military achievements, indeed, which he
is capable of estimating, may in some degree,
moderate the effect of his aversions; and he
may, perhaps, fancy that we are to become the
natural enemies of England, as England her
self has so steadily endeavored to make us,
and as some of our own over-zealous patriots
would be willing to proclaim; and in this
view, he may admit a cold toleration of
some intercourse and commerce between the
two nations. He has certainly had time to see
the folly of turning the industry of France
from the cultures for which nature has so
highly endowed her, to those of sugar, cotton,
tobacco, and others, which the same creative
power has given to other climates; and, on
the whole, if he can conquer the passions of
his tyrannical soul, if he has understanding
enough to pursue from motives of interest,
what no moral motives lead him to, the tran
quil happiness and prosperity of his country,
rather than a ravenous thirst for human
blood, his return may become of more advan
tage than injury to us. — To JOHN ADAMS.
vi, 458 (M., June 1815.)
868. BONAPARTE (N.), Havoc by.—
A conqueror roaming over the earth with
havoc and destruction. — To DR. WALTER
JONES, v, 511. FORD ED., ix, 274. (M., 1810.)
869. BONAPARTE (N.), His Ideas on
Government.— Should it be really true that
Bonaparte has usurped the government with
an intention of making it a free one, whatever
his talents may be for war, we have no proofs
that he is skilled in forming governments
friendly to the people. Wherever he has
meddled, we have seen nothing but fragments
of the old Roman government stuck into ma
terials with which they can form no cohesion.
We see the bigotry of an Italian to the ancient
splendor of his country, but nothing which
bespeaks a luminous view of the organization
of rational provernment. Perhaps, however,
this may end better than we augur; and it
certainly will, if his head is equal to true and
Bonaparte (N.)
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
solid calculations of glory. — To T. M. RAN
DOLPH, iv, 319. FORD ED., vii, 422. (Pa.,
Feb. 1800.)
870. BONAPARTE (N.), Human Mis
ery and.— Bonaparte has been the author of
more misery and suffering to the world, than
any being who ever lived before him. After
destroying the liberties of his country, he has
exhausted all its resources, physical and mor
al, to indulge his own maniac ambition, his
own tyrannical and overbearing spirit. His
sufferings cannot be too great. — To ALBERT
GALLATIN. vi, 499. (M., Oct. 1815.)
871. BONAPARTE (N.), Ignorance of
Commerce. — Of the principles and advan
tages of commerce, Bonaparte appears to be
ignorant. — To JOEL BARLOW, v, 601. (M.,
1812.)
872. BONAPARTE (N.), Imprison
ment of. — The Attila of the age dethroned,
the ruthless destroyer of ten millions of the
human race, whose thirst for blood appeared
unquenchable, the great oppressor of the
rights and liberties of the world, shut up
within the circle of a little island of the Med
iterranean, and dwindled to the condition of
an humble and degraded pensioner on the
bounty of those he had most injured. How
miserable, how meanly, has he closed his
inflated career ! What a sample of the bathos
will his history present ! He should have per
ished on the swords of his enemies, under the
walls of Paris. — To JOHN ADAMS, vi, 352.
FORD ED., ix, 461. (M., July 1814.)
873. BONAPARTE (N.), Invasion of
U. S. by.— The fear that Bonaparte will
come over and conquer us also, is too chimer
ical to be genuine. Supposing him to have
finished Spain and Portugal, he has yet Eng
land and Russia to subdue. The maxim of
war was never sounder than in this case, not
to leave an enemy in the rear; and especially
where an insurrectionary flame is known to
be under the embers, merely smothered, and
ready to burst at every point. These two
subdued (and surely the Anglomen will not
think the conquest of England alone a short
work), ancient Greece and Macedonia, the
cradle of Alexander, his prototype, and Con
stantinople, the seat of empire for the world,
would glitter more in his eye than our bleak
mountains and rugged forests. Egypt, too,
and the golden apples of Mauritania, have for
more than half a century fixed the longing
eyes of France; and with Syria, you know,
he has an old affront to wipe out. Then come
" Pontus and Galatia, Cappadocia, Aeolia and
Bithynia," the fine countries on the Eu
phrates and Tigris, the Oxus and Indus, and
all beyond the Hypasis, which bounded the
glories of his Macedonian rival ; with the in
vitations of his new British subjects on the
banks of the Ganges, whom, after receiving
under his protection the mother country, he
cannot refuse to visit. When all this is done
and settled, and nothing of the old world re
mains unsubdued, he may turn to the new
one. But will he attack us first, from whom
he will get but hard knocks and no money?
Or will he first lay hold of the gold and silver
of Mexico and Peru, and the diamonds of
Brazil ? A republican emperor, from his af
fection to republics, independent of motives
of expediency, must grant to ourselves the
Cyclop's boon of being the last devoured.
While all this is doing, are we to suppose the
chapter of accidents read out, and that noth
ing can happen to cut short or disturb his
enterprises? — To JOHN LANGDON. v, 512.
(M., March 1810.)
874. BONAPARTE (N.), Louisiana
and. — I assured M. Pichon [French Minis
ter] that I had more confidence in the word
of the First Consul than in all the parchment
we could sign. — To ROBERT R. LIVINGSTON.
iv, 511. FORD ED., viii, 278. (W., Nov. 1803.)
875. . Your emperor has done
more splendid things, but he has never done
one which will give happiness to so great a
number of human beings as the ceding of
Louisiana to the United States.* — To MAR
QUIS DE LAFAYETTE. FORD ED., ix, 67. (W.,
May 1807.) See LOUISIANA.
876. BONAPARTE (N.), No Moral
Sense. — O'Meara's book proves that nature
had denied Bonaparte the moral sense, the first
excellence of well organized man. If he could
seriously and repeatedly affirm that he had
raised himself to power without ever having
committed a crime, it proves that he wanted
totally the sense of right and wrong. If he
could consider the millions of human lives
which he had destroyed, or caused to be de
stroyed, the desolations of countries by plun-
derings, burnings and famine, the destitutions
of lawful rulers of the world without the
consent of their constituents, to place his
brothers and sisters on their thrones, the cut
ting up of established societies of men and
jumbling them discordantly together again at
his caprice, the demolition of the fairest hopes
of mankind for the recovery of their rights
and amelioration of their condition, and all
the numberless train of his other enormities ;
the man I say, who could consider all these
as no crimes, must have been a moral mon
ster, against whom every hand should have
been lifted to slay him. — To JOHN ADAMS.
vii, 275. (M., 1823.)
877. BONAPARTE (N.), Peace and.—
Bonaparte's restless spirit leaves no hope of
peace to the world. — To THOMAS LEIPER.
vi, 464. FORD ED., ix, 520. (M., 1815.)
878. BONAPARTE (N.), Policy to
ward United States.— As to Bonaparte, I
should not doubt the revocation of his edicts,
were he governed by reason. But his policy
is so crooked that it eludes conjecture.
1 fear his first object now is to dry up
the sources of British prosperity by ex
cluding her manufactures from the con
tinent. He may fear that opening the
ports of Europe to our vessels will open them
to an inundation of British wares. He ought
* This accession of territory strengthens forever
the power of the United States, and I have just given
to England a maritime rival that will sooner or later
humble her pride.— NAPOLEON.
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THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Bonaparte (N.)
to be satisfied with having forced her to re
voke the orders [in council] on which he
pretended to retaliate, and to be particularly
satisfied with us, by whose unyielding ad
herence to principle she has been forced into
the revocation. He ought the more to con
ciliate our good will, as we can be such an
obstacle to the new career opening on him
in the Spanish Colonies. That he would give
us the Floridas to withhold intercourse with
the residue of those colonies, cannot be
doubted. But that is no price ; because they
are ours in the first moment of the first war ;
and until a war they are of no particular ne
cessity to us. But, although with difficulty,
he will consent to our receiving Cuba into
our Union, to prevent our aid to Mexico and
the other provinces. That would be a price,
and I would immediately erect a column on
the southernmost limit of Cuba, and inscribe
on it a ne plus ultra as to us in that direction.
We should then only have to include the
North in our Confederacy, which would be of
course in the first war, and we should have
such an empire for liberty as she has never
surveyed since the creation ; and I am per
suaded no Constitution was ever before so
well calculated as ours for extensive empire
and self-government. — To PRESIDENT MAD
ISON, v, 444. (M., April 1809.)
879. BONAPARTE (N.), Political Wick
edness of. — I view Bonaparte as a political
engine only, and a very wicked one ; you, I
believe, as both political and religious, and
obeying, as an instrument, an Unseen Hand.
I still deprecate his becoming sole lord of
the continent of Europe, which he would
have been, had he reached in triumph the
gates of St. Petersburg. The establishment
in our day of another Roman Empire, spread
ing vassalage and depravity over the face of
the globe, is not, I hope, within the purposes
of Heaven.— To THOMAS LEIPER. vi, 463.
FORD ED., ix, 519. (M., June 1815.)
880. BONAPARTE (N.), Promises of.—
Promises cost him nothing when they could
serve his purpose. On his return from Elba,
what did he not promise? But those who had
credited them a little, soon saw their total in
significance, and, satisfied that they could
not fall under worse hands, refused every ef
fort after the defeat of Waterloo.— To BEN
JAMIN AUSTIN, vi, 554. FORD ED., x, n.
(M., 1816.)
881. BONAPARTE (N.), Republicans
and. — Here you will find rejoicings on the
[restoration] of Bonaparte, and by a strange
quid pro quo, not by the party hostile to lib
erty, but by its zealous friends. In this they
see nothing but the scourge reproduced for
the back of England. They do not permit
themselves to see in it the blast of all the
hopes of mankind, and that however it may
jeopardize England, it gives to her self-de
fence the lying countenance again of being
the sole champion of the rights of man, to
which in all other nations she is most ad
verse. — To M. DUPONT DE NEMOURS, vi,
457- (M., May 1815.)
882. -- . I have grieved to see even
good republicans so infatuated as to this man,
as to consider his downfall as calamitous to
the cause of liberty. In their indignation
against England which is just, they seem to
consider all her enemies as our friends, when
it is well known there was not a being on
earth who bore us so deadly a hatred. * * *
To whine after this exorcised demon is a
disgrace to republicans, and must have arisen
either from want of reflection, or the indul
gence of passion against principle. — To BEN
JAMIN AUSTIN, vi, 553. FORD ED., x, n.
(M., Feb. 1816.)
883. BONAPARTE (N.), Restoration of.
— You despair of your country, and so do
I. A military despotism is now fixed upon it
permanently, especially if the son of the ty
rant should have virtues and talents. What
a treat it would be to me, to be with you, and
to learn from you all the intrigues, apostacies
and treacheries which have produced this last
death's blow to the hopes of France. For, al
though not in the will, there was in the im
becility of the Bourbons a foundation of
hope that the patriots of France might obtain
a moderate representative government. — To
M. DUPONT DE NEMOURS, vi, 457. (M., May
884. BONAPARTE (N.), Rights of Na
tions and.— The new treaty of the allied
powers declares that the French nation shall
not have Bonaparte, and shall have Louis
XVIII. for their ruler. They are all then as
great rascals as Bonaparte himself. While he
was in the wrong, I wished him exactly as
much success as would answer our purposes,
and no more. Now that they are in the
wrong and he in the right, he shall have all
my prayers for success, and that he may de
throne every man of them. — To THOMAS
LEIPER. vi, 467. FORD ED., ix, 522. (M.,
June 1815.)
885. -- . As far as we can judge
from appearances, Bonaparte, from being a
mere military usurper, seems to have become
the choice of his nation ; and the allies in
their turn, the usurpers and spoliators of the
European world. The rights of nations to
self-government being my polar star, my par
tialities are steered by it, without asking
whether it is a Bonaparte or an Alexander
towards whom the helm is directed. — To M.
CORREA. vi, 480. (M., June 1815.)
886. -- . No man more severely
condemned Bonaparte than myself during his
former career, for his unprincipled enterprises
on the liberty of his own country, and the
independence of others. But the allies hav
ing now taken up his pursuits, and he ar
rayed himself on the legitimate side, I also
am changed as to him. He is now fighting
for the independence of nations, of which his
whole life hitherto had been a continued viola
tion, and he has now my prayers as sincerely
for success as he had before for his over
throw. He has promised a free government to
his own country, and to respect the rights of
others ; and although his former conduct does
Bonaparte (N.)
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
100
not inspire entire faith in his promises ; yet
we had better take the chance of his word for
doing right than the certainty of the wrong
which his adversaries avow. — To PHILLIP
MAZZEI. FORD ED., ix, 525. (M., Aug. 1815.)
887. . At length Bonaparte has
got on the right side of a question. From
the time of his entering the legislative hall to
his retreat to Elba, no man has execrated him
more than myself. I will not except even the
members of the Essex Junto; although for
very different reasons ; I, because he was war
ring against the liberty of his own country,
and independence of others ; they, because he
was the enemy of England, the Pope and the
Inquisition. But at length, and as far as we
can judge, he seems to have become the choice
of his nation. At least, he is defending the
cause of his nation, and that of all mankind,
the rights of every people to independence
and self-government. He and the allies have
now changed sides. They are parcelling out
among themselves, Poland, Belgium, Saxony,
Italy, dictating a ruler and government to
France, and looking askance at our republic,
the splendid libel on their governments, and
he is fighting for the principles of national
independence of which his whole life hitherto
has been a continued violation. He has
promised a free government to his own coun
try, and to respect the rights of others ; and
although his former conduct inspires little
confidence in his promises, yet we had better
take the chance of his word for doing right,
than the certainty of the wrong which his ad
versaries are doing and avowing. If they
succeed ours is only the boon of the Cyclops
to Ulysses, of being the last devoured.* — To
JOHN ADAMS, vi, 490. FORD ED., ix, 529.
(M., Aug. 1815.)
888. BONAPARTE (N.), Robespierre
and. — Robespierre met the fate, and his
memory the execration, he so justly merited.
The rich were his victims, and perished by
thousands. It is by millions that Bonaparte
destroys the poor, and he is eulogized and
deified by the sycophants even of science.
These merit more than the mere oblivion to
which they will be consigned : and the day
will come when a just posterity will give
to their hero the only preeminence he has
earned, that of having been the greatest of
the destroyers of the human race. What year
of his military life has not consigned a million
of human beings to death, to poverty and
wretchedness ! What field in Europe may not
raise a monument of the murders, the burn
ings, the desolations, the famines, and mis
eries it has witnessed from him? And all
* To the letter from which this extract is taken Jef
ferson appended a postscript as follows : " I had fin
ished my letter yesterday and this morning' (Aug.
n), received the news of Bonaparte's second abdica
tion. Very well. For him, personally, I have no
feeling but reprobation. The representatives of the
nations have deposed him. They have taken the
allies at their word, that they had no object in the
war but his removal. The nation is now free to give
itself a good government, either with or without a
Bourbon ; and France, unsubdued, will still be a bri
dle on the enterprises of the combined powers, and a
bulwark to others. "—EDITOR.
this to acquire a reputation, which Cartouche
attained with less injury to mankind, of being
fearless of God or man. — To MADAME DE
STAEL. vi, 114. (M., May 1813.)
889. BONAPARTE (N.), Self-govern
ment and.— I see in Bonaparte's expulsion
of the Bourbons, a valuable lesson to the
world, as showing that its ancient dynasties
may be changed for their misrule. Should
the allied powers presume to dictate a ruler
and government to France, and follow the
example he had set of parcelling and usurping
to themselves their neighbor nations, I hope
he will give them another lesson in vindica
tion of the rights of independence and self-
government, which himself had hitherto so
much abused, and that in this contest he will
wear down the maritime power of England
to limitable and safe dimensions. So far,
good. It cannot be denied, on the other hand,
that his successful perversion of the force
(committed to him for vindicating the rights
and liberties of his country) to usurp its gov
ernment, and to enchain it under an hered
itary despotism, is of baneful effect in en
couraging future usurpations, and deterring
those under oppression from rising to redress
themselves. — To THOMAS LEIPER. vi, 464.
FORD ED., ix, 519. (M., 1815.)
890. . If adversity should have
taught him wisdom, of which I have little
expectation, he may yet render some service
to mankind, by teaching the ancient dynasties
that they can be changed for misrule, and
by wearing down the maritime power of Eng
land to limitable and safe dimensions. — To
JOHN ADAMS, vi, 458. (M., June 1815.)
891. BONAPARTE (N.), Selfishness of.
—Bonaparte saw nothing in this world but
himself, and looked on the people under him
as his cattle, beasts for burthen and slaughter.
— To BENJAMIN AUSTIN, vi, 553. FORD ED.,
x, ii. (M., 1816.)
892. BONAPARTE (N.), Statesmanship
o*-— I have just finished reading O'Meara's
Bonaparte. It places him in a higher
scale of understanding than I had allotted
him. I had thought him the greatest of all
military captains, but an indifferent states
man, and misled by unworthy passions. The
flashes, however, which escaped from him in
these conversations with O'Meara, prove a
mind of great expansion, although not of dis
tinct development and reasoning. He seizes
results with rapidity and penetration, but
never explains logically the processes of
reasoning by which he arrives at them.— To
JOHN ADAMS, vii, 275. (M., 1823.)
893. BONAPARTE (N.), Sufferings of.
— O'Meara's Bonaparte makes us forget his
atrocities ^ for a moment, in commiseration of
his sufferings. I will not say that the author
ities of the world, charged with the care of
their country and people, had not a right to
confine him for life, as a lion or a tiger, on
the principle of self-preservation. There was
no safety to nations while he was permitted
to roam at large. But the putting him to
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THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Bonaparte (N.)
death in cold blood, by lingering tortures- or
mind, by vexations, insults, and deprivations,
was a degree of inhumanity to which the
poisonings and assassinations of the school of
Borgia and the den of Marat never attained.
— To JOHN ADAMS, vii, 275. (M., 1823.)
894. BONAPARTE (N.), Temper of.—
Bonaparte's domineering temper deafens him
to the dictates of interest, of honor, and of
morality. — To JOEL BARLOW, v, 601. (M.,
1811.)
895. BONAPARTE (N.), Tyranny of.—
A ruthless tyrant, drenching Europe in
blood to obtain through future time the char
acter of the destroyer of mankind. — To
HENRY MIDDLETON. vi, 91. (M., Jan. 1813.)
896. . That Bonaparte is an un
principled tyrant, who is deluging the con
tinent of Europe with blood, there is not a
human being, not even the wife of his bosom
who does not see. — To THOMAS LEIPER. vi,
283. FORD ED., ix, 445. (M.. Jan. 1814.)
897. BONAPARTE (N.), United States
and. — Considering the character of Bona
parte, I think it material at once to let him
see that we are not of the powers who will
receive his orders.— To JAMES MADISON, iv,
585. FORD ED., viii, 377. (M., Aug. 1805.)
898. . I never expected to be
under the necessity of wishing success to
Bonaparte. But the English being equally ty
rannical at sea as he is on land, and that^ tyr
anny bearing on us in every point of either
honor or interest, I say, " down with Eng
land," and as for what Bonaparte is then to
do to us, let us trust to the chapter of acci
dents. I cannot, with the Anglomen, prefer
a certain present evil to a future hypothetical
one.— To THOMAS LEIPER. FORD ED., ix, 130.
(M., Aug. i8#.)
899. . Although we neither ex
pected, nor wished any act of friendship from
Bonaparte, and always detested him as a
tyrant, yet he gave employment to much of
the force of the nation who was our common
enemy. So far, his downfall was illy timed
for us; it gave to England an opportunity
to turn full-handed on us, when we were un
prepared. No matter, we can beat her on our
own soil, leaving the laws of the ocean to be
settled by the maritime powers of Europe,
who are equally oppressed and insulted by the
usurpations of England on that element. — To
W H CRAWFORD, vi, 418. FORD ED., ix, 502.
(M.. Feb. 1815.)
900. BONAPARTE (N.), United States,
Russia and. — There cannot, I think, be a
doubt as to the line we wish drawn between
Bonaparte's successes and those of Alexan
der. Surely none of us wish to see Bonaparte
conquer Russia, and lay thus at his feet the
whole continent of Europe. This done. Eng
land would be but a breakfast : and although
I am free from the visionary fears which the
votaries of England have affected to entertain,
because I believe he cannot effect the conquest
of Europe ; yet put all Europe into his hands,
and he might spare such a force, to be sent
in British ships, as I would as lief not have
to encounter, when I see how much trouble a
handful of soldiers in Canada has given us.
No. It cannot be to our interest that all
Europe should be reduced to a single mon
archy. The true line of interest for us, is,
that Bonaparte should be able to effect the
complete exclusion of England from the whole
continent of Europe, in order, bv this peace
able engine of constraint to make her re
nounce her views of dominion over the ocean,
of permitting no other nation to navigate it
but with her license, and on tribute to her,
and her aggressions on the persons of our
citizens who may choose to exercise their
right of passing over that element. And this
would be effected by Bonaparte succeeding
so far as to close the Baltic against her. This
success I wished him the last year, this I wish
him this year; but were he again advanced
to Moscow, I should again wish him such
disasters as would prevent his reaching St.
Petersburg. And were the consequences even
to be the longer continuance of our war, I
would rather meet them than see the whole
force of Europe wielded by a single hand. —
To THOMAS LIEPER. vi, 283. FORD ED., ix,
445- (M., Jan. 1814.)
901. . I have gone into this ex
planation * * * because I am willing to
trust to your discretion the explaining me
to our honest fellow laborers, and the bring
ing them to pause and reflect, if any of them
have not sufficiently reflected on the extent
of the success we ought to wish to Bona
parte, with a view to our own interests only;
and even were we not men, to whom nothing
human should be indifferent. But is our par
ticular interest to make us insensible to all
sentiments of morality? Is it then become
criminal, the moral wish that the torrents
of blood this man is shedding in Europe, the
sufferings of so many human beings, good as
ourselves, on whose necks he is trampling,
the burnings of ancient cities, devastations of
great countries, the destruction of law and
order, and demoralization of the world,
should be arrested, even if it should place our
peace a little further distant? No. You and
I cannot differ in wishing that Russia, and
Sweden, and Denmark, and Germany, and
Spain, and Portugal, and Italy, and even
England, may retain their independence. —
To THOMAS LEIPER. vi, 283. FORD ED., ix,
446. (M., Jan. 1814.)
902. - — . It is cruel that we should
have been forced to wish any success to such
a destroyer of the human race. Yet while
it was our interest and that of humanity that
he should not subdue Russia, and thus lay
all Europe at his feet, it was desirable to us
that he should so far succeed as to close the
Baltic to our enemy, and force him, by the
pressure of internal distress, into a disposition
to return to the paths of justice towards us. —
To JOHN CLARKE, vi, 308. (M., Jan. 1814.)
903. BONAPARTE (N.), Vanquished.
— The unprincipled tyrant of the land is
Bonaparte (N.)
Books, l>uty on
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
IO2
fallen, his power reduced to its original noth
ingness, his person only not yet in the mad
house, where it ought always to have been. —
To CESAR A. RODNEY, vi, 448. (M., 1815.)
004. . On the general scale of
nations, the greatest wonder is Napoleon at
St. Helena; and yet it would have been well
for the lives and happiness of millions and
millions, had he been deposited there twenty
years ago. France would now have a free
government, unstained by the enormities she
has enabled him to commit on the rest of the
world, and unprostrated by the vindictive
hand, human or divine, now so heavily bear
ing upon her.— To MRS. TRIST. D. L. J. 363.
(P. F., April 1816.)
905. . What is infinitely inter
esting [in the letters you enclosed to me], is
the scene of the exchange of Louis XVIII. for
Bonaparte. What lessons of wisdom Mr.
[John Quincy] Adams must have read in that
short space of time! More than fall to the
lot of others in the course of a long life. Man,
and the man of Paris, under those circum
stances, must have been a subject of profound
speculation ! It would be a singular addition
to that spectacle to see the same beast in the
cage at St. Helena, like a lion in the tower.
That is probably the closing verse of the chap
ter of his crimes.— To MRS. JOHN ADAMS.
vii, 52. FORD ED., x, 69. (M., 1817.)
906. . Had Bonaparte reflected
that such is the moral construction of the
world, that no national crime passes unpun
ished in the long run, he would not now be
in the cage of St. Helena.— M. DE MARBOIS.
vii, 76. (M., 1817.) See FRANCE.
907. BOOKS AS CAPITAL.— Some few
years ago when the tariff was before Con
gress, I engaged some of our members of
Congress to endeavor to get the duty re
pealed, and wrote on the subject to some
other acquaintances in Congress, and press-
ingly to the Secretary of the Treasury. The
effort * * * failed. * * * There is a consid
eration going to the injustice of the tax *
Books constitute capital. A library book lasts
as long as a house, for hundreds of years.
It is not, then, an article of mere consump
tion but fairly of capital, and often in the case
of professional men, settiner out in life, it is
their only capital. Now there is no other
form of capital which is first taxed 18 per
cent, on the gross, and the proprietor then
left to pay the same taxes in detail with
others whose capital has paid no tax on the
gross. Nor is there a description of men less
proper to be singled out for extra taxation. —
To JAMES MADISON. FORD ED., x, 194. (M.,
Sep. 1821.)
908. BOOKS, Censorship of.— I am mor
tified to be told that., in the United States of
America, the sale of a book* can become a
subject of inquiry, and of criminal inquiry
too, as an offence against religion; that a
* A work in French by M. De Becourt entitled
" Sur la Creation du Monde, un Systeme d'Organisa-
tion Primitive".— EDITOR.
question like this can be carried before the
civil magistrate. Is this then our freedom of
religion? And are we to have a censor
whose imprimatur shall say what books may
be sold, and what we may buy? And who
is thus to dogmatize religious opinions for
our citizens? Whose foot is to be the meas
ure to which ours are all to be cut or
stretched? Is a priest to be our inquisitor, or
shall a layman, simple as ourselves, set up
his reason as the rule for what we are to read,
and what we must believe? It is an insult to
our citizens to question whether they are
rational beings or not, and blasphemy against
religion to suppose it cannot stand the test
of truth and reason. If M. de Becourt's book
be false in its facts, disprove them; if false
in its reasoning, refute it. But, for God's
sake, let us freely hear both sides, if we
choose. I know little of its contents, having
barely glanced over here and there a passage,
and over the table of contents. From this,
the Newtonian philosophy seemed the chief
object of attack, the issue of which might be
trusted to the strength of the two combat
ants ; Newton certainly not needing the aux
iliary arm of the government, and still less
the Holy Author of our religion, as to what
in it concerns Him. I thought the work
would be very innocent, and one which might
be confided to the reason of any man ; not
likely to be much read if let alone, but, if
persecuted, it will be generally read. Every
man in the United States will think it a duty
to buy a copy, in vindication of his right to
buy. and to read what he pleases. — To M.
DUFIEF. vi, 340. (M., 1814.)
909. . I have been just reading
the new constitution of Spain. One of its
fundamental bases is expressed in these
words : " The Roman Catholic religion, the
only true one, is, and always shall be, that
of the Spanish nation. The government pro
tects it by wise and just laws, and prohibits
the exercise of any other whatever." Now I
wish this presented to those who question
what you may sell,* or we may buy with a re
quest to strike out the words, " Roman Cath
olic," and to insert the denomination of
their own religion. This would ascertain the
code of dogmas which each wishes should
domineer over the opinions of all others, and
be taken, like the Spanish religion, under
the " protection of wise and just laws." It
would show to what they wish to reduce the
liberty for which one generation has sacri
ficed life and happiness. It would present
our boasted freedom of religion as a thing of
theory only, and not of practice, as what
would be a poor exchange for the theoretic
thraldom, but practical freedom of Europe. —
To M. DUFIEF. vi, 340. (M., 1814.)
910. BOOKS, Duty on.— To prohibit us
from the benefit of foreign light, is to con
sign us to a long darkness. — To
vii, 221. (M., 1821.)
911. . I hope a crusade will be
kept up against the duty on books until those
* M. Dufief was a Philadelphia bookseller.— EDITOR.
103
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Books
in power shall become sensible of this stain
on our legislation, and shall wipe it from their
code, and from the remembrance of man, if
possible.— To JARED SPARKS, vii, 335. FORD
ED., x, 293. (M., 1824.)
912. . I hear nothing definitive
of the three thousand dollars duty [on books
for the University of Virginia] of which we
are asking the remission from Congress. — To
JAMES MADISON, vii, 433. FORD ED., x, 376.
(M., 1826.)
913. . The government of the
United States, at a very early period, when
establishing its tariff on foreign importations,
were very much guided in their selection of
objects by a desire to encourage manufac
tures within ourselves. Among other ar
ticles then selected were books, on the im
portation of which a duty of fifteen per cent,
was imposed, which, by ordinary custom
house charges, amounts to about eighteen per
cent., and adding the importing booksellers'
profit on this, becomes about twenty-seven
per cent. This was useful at first, perhaps,
towards exciting our printers to make a be
ginning in that business here. But it is found
in experience that the home demand is not
sufficient to justify the reprinting any but the
most popular English works, and cheap
editions of a few of the classics for schools.
For the editions of value, enriched by notes,
commentaries, &c., and for books in foreign
living languages, the demand here is too small
and sparse to re-imburse the expense of re
printing them. None of these, therefore, are
printed here, and the duty on them becomes
consequently not a protecting, but really a
prohibitory one. It makes a very serious ad
dition to the price of the book and falls
chiefly on a description of persons little able
to meet it. Students who are destined for
professional callings, as most of our scholars
are, are barely able for the most part to
meet the expenses of tuition. The addition
of eighteen or twenty-seven per cent, on the
books necessary for their instruction, amounts
often to a prohibition as to them. For want
of these aids, which are open to the students
of all other nations but our own, they enter
on their course on a very unequal footing
with those of the same professions in foreign
countries, and our citizens at large, too. who
employ them, do not derive from that em
ployment all the benefit which higher qualifi
cations would give them. It is true that no
duty is required on books imported for sem
inaries of learning, but these, locked up in li
braries, can be of no avail to the practical
man when he wishes a recurrence to them for
the uses of life. Of many important books of
reference there is not perhans a single copy
in the United States; of others but a few,
and these too distant often to be accessible
to scholars generally. It is believed, there
fore, that if the attention of Congress could
be drawn to this article, they would, in their
wisdom, see its impolicy. Science is more
important in a republican than in any other
government. And in an infant country like
ours, we must much depend for improvement
on the science of other countries, longer es
tablished, possessing better means, and more
advanced than we are. To prohibit us from
the benefit of foreign light, is to consign us to
long darkness. The northern seminaries fol
lowing with parental solicitude the interest of
their elcves in the course for which they have
prepared them, propose to petition Congress
on this subject, and wish for the cooperation
of those of the south and west, and I have
been requested, as more convenient in posi
tion than they are, to solicit that cooperation.
Having no personal acquaintance with those
who are charged with the direction of the
college of , I do not know how more
effectually to communicate these views to
them, than by availing myself of the knowl
edge I have of your zeal for the happiness and
improvement of our country. I take the lib
erty, therefore, of requesting you to place the
subject before the proper authorities of that
institution, and if they approve the measure,
to solicit a concurrent proceeding on their
part to carry it into effect. Besides petition
ing Congress, I would propose that they ad
dress, in their corporate capacity, a letter to
their delegates and senators in Congress, so
liciting their best endeavors to obtain the
repeal of the duty on imported books. I
cannot but suppose that such an application
will be respected by them, and will engage
their votes and endeavors to effect an object
so reasonable. A conviction that science is
important to the preservation of our repub
lican government, and that it is also essential
to its protection against foreign power, in
duces me, on this occasion, to step beyond the
limits of that retirement to which age and
inclination equally dispose me. — To
vii, 220. (M., 1821.)
914. BOOKS, Lending.— The losses I
have sustained by lending my books will be
my apology to you for asking your particular
attention to the replacing them in the presses
as fast as you finish them, and not to lend
them to anybody else, nor suffer anybody to
have a book out of the study under cover of
your name. — To JOHN GARLAND JEFFERSON.
FORD ED., v, 182. (N. Y., 1790.)
915. BOOKS, Love of.— I cannot live
without books. — To JOHN ADAMS, vi, 460.
(M., 1815.)
916. BOOKS, Prices of.— French books
are to be bought here [Paris] for two-thirds
of what they can in England. English and
Greek and Latin authors cost from twenty-
five to fifty per cent, more here than in Eng
land. — To EDMUND RANDOLPH, i, 434. (P.,
1785.)
917. . Greek and Roman au
thors are dearer here [France] than I believe
anywhere in the world. Nobody here reads
them, wherefore they are not printed. — To
JAMES MADISON, i, 414. (P., 1785.)
918. BOOKS, Becommending. — It is
with extreme reluctance that I permit myself
to usurp the office of an adviser of the public,
what books they should read, and what not.
I yield, however, on this occasion to your
wish and that of Colonel Taylor, and do
Books
Boston Port Bill
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
104
what (with a single exception only) I never
did before, on the many similar applications
made to me. — To SPENCER ROANE. vii, 212.
FORD ED., x, 189. (M., 1821.)
919. . This book [" Construc
tions Construed "] is the most effectual retrac
tion of our government to its original prin
ciples which has ever yet been sent by
heaven to our aid. Every State in the Union
should give a copy to every member they elect,
as a standing instruction, and ours should set
the example. — To ARCHIBALD THWEAT. vii,
199. FORD ED., x, 184. (M., 1821.)
920. . You ask for my opinion
of the work you send me, and to let it go out
to the public. This I have ever made a point
of declining (one or two instances only ex-
cepted). Complimentary thanks to writers who
have sent me their works, have betrayed me some
times before the public, without my consent hav
ing been asked. But I am far from presuming
to direct the reading of my fellow citizens,
who are good enough judges themselves of
what is worthy their reading. — To THOMAS
RITCHIE, vii, 192. FORD ED., xvi, 171. (M.,
1820.)
921. BOOKS, Time and.— The [French]
literati are half a dozen years before us.
Books, really good, acquire just reputation in
that time, and so become known to us, and
communicate to us all their advances in knowl
edge. Is not this delay compensated, by our
being placed out of the reach of that swarm
of nonsensical publications which issues daily
from a thousand presses, and perishes almost
in issuing? — To MR. BELLINI, i, 445. (P.,
1785.)
922. BOOKS, Translations of.— I make it
a rule never to read translations when I can
read the original. — To EDMUND RANDOLPH.
iv, 101. (M., 1794.)
923. BOOKS, Warfare by.— After the se
vere chastisement given by Mr. Walsh in his
American Register to English scribblers, which
they well deserved, and I was delighted to see,
I hoped there would be an end of this inter-
crimination, and that both parties would prefer
the course of courtesy and conciliation, and I
think their considerate writers have since
shown that disposition, and that it would pre
vail if equally cultivated by us. Europe is
doing us full justice ; why then detract from
her? — To CHARLES JARED INGERSOLL. FORD
ED., x, 325. (M., 1824.)
924. BOSTON POUT BILL, Denounced.
— All such assumptions of unlawful power
[as the Boston Port act] are dangerous to the
right of the British empire in general, and
should be considered as its common cause ;
and we will ever be ready to join with our
fellow-subjects in every part of the same, in
executing all those rightful powers which
God has given us. for the reestablishment
and guaranteeing * * * their constitutional
rights, when, where, and by whomsoever in
vaded.* — RESOLUTION OF ALBEMARLE COUNTY.
FORD ED., i, 419. (July 26, 1774.)
925. BOSTON PORT BILL, A Fast
Proclaimed.- The Legislature of Virginia
happened to be in session, in Williamsburg,
when news was received of the passage by
the British Parliament of the Boston Port
* Jefferson's own county.— EDITOR.
Bill, which was to take effect on the first
day of June [1774] then ensuing. The House
of Burgesses thereupon passed a resolution,
recommending to their fellow citizens, that
that day should be set apart for fasting and
prayer to the Supreme Being, imploring Him
to avert the calamities then threatening us,
and to give us one heart and one mind to
oppose every invasion of our liberties. The
next day, May 20, 1774, the Governor dis
solved us. — JEFFERSON PAPERS, i, 122. (1821.)
See FAST DAYS.
926. BOSTON PORT BILL, Ruin by.—
By an act (7. G. 3) to discontinue in such
manner, and for such time as they are therein
mentioned, the landing and discharging, la
ding or shipping of goods, wares and merchan
dize, at the town and within the harbor of
Boston, * * * a large and populous town,
whose trade was their sole subsistence, was
deprived of that trade, and involved in utter
ruin. Let us for a while, suppose the question
of right suspended, in order to examine this
act on principles of justice: An act of Par
liament had been passed imposing duties on
teas, to be paid in America, against which
act the Americans had protested as inauthor-
itative. The East India Company, who till
that time had never sent a pound of tea to
America on their own account, step forth on
that occasion the asserters of Parliamentary
right, and send hither many ship loads of
that obnoxious commodity. The masters of
their several vessels, however, on their ar
rival in America, wisely attended to admoni
tion, and returned with their cargoes. In
the province of Massachusetts alone, the re
monstrances of the people were disregarded,
and a compliance, after being many days
waited for, was flatly refused. Whether in
this the master of the vessel was governed
by his obstinacy, or his instructions, let those
who know say. There are extraordinary sit
uations which require extraordinary inter
position. An exasperated people, who feel
that they possess power, are not easily re
strained within limits strictly regular. A
number of them assembled in the town of
Boston, threw the tea into the ocean, and
dispersed without doing any other act of
violence. If in this they did wrong, they
were known and were amenable to the laws
of the land, against which it could not be ob
jected that they had ever, in any instance, been
obstructed or diverted fro™i their regular
course in favor of popular offenders. They
should, therefore, not have been distrusted on
this occasion. But that ill-fated colony had
formerly been bold in their enmities against
the house of Stuart, and were now devoted
to ruin by that unseen hand which governs
the momentous affairs of this great empire.
On the partial representations of a few worth
less ministerial dependents, whose constant
office it has been to keep that government
embroiled, and who, by their treacheries, hope
to obtain the dignity of British Knighthood,*
without calling for the party accused, with-
* Alluding to the Knighting of Sir Francis Bernard.
—NOTE BY JEFFERSON.
105
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Boston Port Bill
Bottetourt (Lord)
out asking a proof, without attempting a dis
tinction between the guilty and the innocent,
the whole of that ancient and wealthy town,
is in a moment reduced from opulence to
beggary. Men who had spent their lives in
extending the British commerce, who had in
vested in that place the wealth their honest
endeavors had merited, found themselves and
their families thrown at once on the world
for subsistence by its charities. Not the hun
dredth part of the inhabitants of that town
had been concerned in the act complained of ;
many of them were in Great Britain and in
other parts beyond the sea; yet all were in
volved in one indiscriminate ruin by a new
executive power, unheard of till then, that of
a British Parliament. A property of the
value of many millions of money was sacri
ficed to revenge, not repay, the loss of a few
thousands. This is administering justice with
a heavy hand indeed ! And when is this tem
pest to be arrested in its course? Two
wharves are to be opened again when his
Majesty shall think proper. The residue,
which lined the extensive shores of the Bay
of Boston, are forever interdicted the exer
cise of commerce. This little exception seems
to have been thrown in for no other purpose
than that of setting a precedent for investing
his Majesty with legislative powers. If the
pulse of his people shall beat calmly under this
experiment, another and another shall be
tried, till the measure of despotism be rilled
up. It would be an insult on common sense
to pretend that this exception was made in
order to restore its commerce to that great
town. The trade which cannot be received at
two wharves alone must of necessity be trans
ferred to some other place ; to which it will
soon be followed by that of the two wharves.
Considered in this light, it would be insolent
and cruel mockery at the annihilation of the
town of Boston. — RIGHTS OF BRITISH AMER
ICA, i, 131. FORD ED., i, 436. (i734-) See
DEPORTATION, TEA.
927. BOTANY, Attractiveness of.— You
will find botany offering its charms to you, at
every step during summer. — To T. M. RAN
DOLPH, JR. FORD ED., iv, 290. (P., 1786.)
928. BOTANY, New York.— We were
* * * pleased with the botanical objects which
continually presented themselves. Those either
unknown or rare in Virginia were the sugar
maple in vast abundance, the silver fir, white
pine, pitch pine, spruce pine, a shrub with de
cumbent stems which they call juniper, an
azalea, very different from the nudiflora, with
very large clusters of flowers, more thickly set
on the branches, of a deeper red, and high
pink-fragrance. It is the richest shrub I have
seen. The honeysuckle of the gardens grow
ing wild on the banks of Lake George, the
paper birch, an aspen with a velvet leaf, a
shrub willow with downy catkins, a wild goose
berry, the wild cherry with single fruit (not
the bunch cherry), strawberries in abundance. —
To T. M. RANDOLPH. FORD ED., v, 340. (June
1791.)
929. BOTANY, School of.— It is time to
think of the introduction of the school of Botany
into our institution. (University of Virginia).
* * * i. Our first operation must be the se
lection of a piece of ground of proper soil and
site, suppose of about six acres, as M. Correa
proposes. In choosing this we are to regard
the circumstances of soil, water, and distance.
I have diligently examined all our grounds with
this view, and think that on the public road, at
the upper corner of our possessions, where the
stream issues from them, has more of the req
uisite qualities than any other spot we possess.
One hundred and seventy yards square, taken
at that angle, would make the six acres we
want. * * * 2. Enclose the ground with a ser
pentine brick wall seven feet high. This
would take about 80,000 bricks and cost $800,
and it must depend on our finances whether
they will afford that immediately, or allow us,
for awhile, but enclosure of posts and rails.
3. Form all the hill sides into level terraces of
convenient breadth, curving with the hill, and
the level ground into beds and alleys. 4. Make
out a list of the plants thought necessary and
sufficient for botanical purposes, and of the
trees we propose to introduce, and take meas
ures in time for procuring them. As to the
seeds of plants, much may be obtained from the
gardeners of our own country. I have, more
over, a special resource. For three and twenty
years of the last twenty-five, my good old
friend Thonin, superintendent of the Jardin
des Plantes at Paris, has regularly sent me a
box of seeds of such exotics, as to us, as would
suit our climate, and containing nothing indig
enous to our country. These I regularly
sent to the public and private gardens of the
other States, having as yet no employment for
them here. * * The trees I should pro
pose would be exotics of distinguished use
fulness, and accommodated to our climate ;
such as the Larch, Cedar of Libanus, Cork,
Oak, the Maronnier, Mahogany? the Catachu
or Indian rubber tree of Napul (30°), Teak
tree, or Indian oak of Burmah (23°), the
various woods of Brazil, &c. The seed of
the Larch can be obtained from a tree at
Monticello. Cones of the Cedar of Libanus
are in most of our seed shops, but may be had
fresh from the trees in the English gardens.
The Maronnier and Cork tree I can obtain
from France. ^ There is a Maronnier at Mount
Vernon, but it is a seedling, and not, there
fore, select. The others may be got through
the means of our ministers and consuls in
the countries where they grow, or from the
seed shops of England, where they may
very possibly be found. Lastly, a gardener of
sufficient skill must be found.* — To DR. EM-
METT. vii. 438. (M., 1826.)
930. BOTANY, Value of.— Botany I
rank with the most valuable sciences, whether
we consider its subjects as furnishing the
principal subsistence of life to man and beast,
delicious varieties for our tables, refreshments
from our orchards, the adornments of our
flower borders, shade and perfume of our
groves, materials for our buildings, or medi
caments for our bodies. To the gentleman it
is certainly more interesting than mineralogy
(which I by no means, however, undervalue),
and is more at hand for his amusement ; and
to a country family it constitutes a great por
tion of their social entertainment. No country
gentleman should be without what amuses
every step he takes into his fields. — To
THOMAS COOPER, vi, 390. (M., 1814.)
_ BOTTA'S (C.), History.— See HISTORY.
931. BOTTETOURT (Lord), Character
of. — Lord Bottetourt was an honourable man.
* Dr. Emmett was Professor of Natural History in
the University of Virginia.— EDITOR.
Bottetourt (Lord)
Boundaries
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
1 06
His government had authorized him to make
certain assurances to the people here [Vir
ginia], which he made accordingly. He wrote
to the minister that he had made these assur
ances, and that, unless he should be enabled
to fulfil them, he must retire from his situa
tion. This letter he sent unsealed to Peyton
Randolph for his inspection. Lord Botte-
tourt's great respectability, his character for
integrity, and his general popularity, would
have enabled him to embarrass the measures
of the patriots exceedingly. His death was,
therefore, a fortunate event for the cause of
the Revolution. He was the first governor in
chief that had ever come over to Virginia.
Before his time, we had received only depu
ties, the governor residing in England, with
a salary of five thousand pounds, and paying
his deputy one thousand pounds. — CONVERSA
TION WITH DANIEL WEBSTER. FORD ED., x,
330. (1824.)
932. BOUNDARIES, Louisiana.— The
boundaries of Louisiana, which I deem not ad
mitting question, are the highlands on the
western side of the Mississippi enclosing all
its waters, the Missouri of course, and termi
nating in the line drawn from the northwestern
point of the Lake of the Woods to the nearest
source of the Mississippi, as lately settled
between Great Britain and the United States.
We have some claims, to extend on the sea-
coast westwardly to the Rio Norte or Bravo,
and better, to go eastwardly to the Rio Perdido,
between Mobile and Pensacola, the ancient
boundary of Louisiana. Those claims will be a
subject of negotiation with Spain, and if, as
soon as she is at war, we push them strongly
with one hand, holding out a price in the
other, we shall certainly obtain the Floridas,
and, all in good time. In the meanwhile,
without waiting for permission, we shall enter
into the exercise of the natural right we have
always insisted on with Spain, to wit, that of
a nation holding the upper part of streams,
having a right of innocent passage through
them to the ocean. We shall prepare her to
see us practice on this, and she will not op
pose it by force. — To JOHN C. BRECKENRIDGE.
iv, 498. FORD ED., viii, 242. (M., Aug. 1803.)
933. . We are attached to the
retaining of the Bay of St. Bernard, because
it was the first establishment of the unfortunate
La Salle, was the cradle of Louisiana, and more
incontestibly covered and conveyed to us by
France, under that name, than any other spot
in the country. — To JAMES BOWDOIN. v, 19.
(W., 1806.)
934. . You know the French
considered themselves entitled to the Rio Bravo,
and that Laussat declared his orders to be to
receive possession to that limit, but not to
Perdido; and that France has to us been al
ways silent as to the western boundary, while
she spoke decisively as to the eastern. ^You
know Turreau agreed with us that neither
party should strengthen themselves in the dis
puted country during negotiation ; and [Gen
eral] Armstrong, who says Monroe concurs
with him, is of opinion, from the character of
the Emperor, that were we to restrict ourselves
to taking posts on the west side of the Missis
sippi, and threaten a cessation of intercourse
with Spain, Bonaparte would interpose effi
ciently to prevent the quarrel going further.
Add to these things the fact that Spain has
sent five hundred colonists to San Antonio,
and one hundred troops to Nacogdoches, and
probably has fixed or prepared a post at the
Bay of St. Bernard, at Matagordo. Supposing,
then, a previous alliance with England to
guard us in the worst event, I should propose
that Congress should pass acts, i, authorizing
the Executive to suspend intercourse with
Spain at discretion ; 2, to dislodge the new
establishments of Spain between the Missis
sippi and Bravo ; and, 3, to appoint commis
sioners to examine and ascertain all claims
for spoliation that they might be preserved for
future indemnification. — To JAMES MADISON.
iv, 587. FORD ED., viii, 379. (M., Sept. 1805.)
935. . By the charter of Louis
XIV. all the country comprehending the
waters which flow into the Mississippi, was
made a part of Louisiana. Consequently its
northern boundary was the summit of the high
lands in which its northern waters rise. But
by the Xth Art. of the Treaty of Utrecht,
France and England agreed to appoint commis
sioners to settle the boundary between their
possessions in that quarter, and those com
missioners settled it at the 49th degree of
latitude. (See Hutchinson's Topographical
Description of Louisiana, p. 7.) This it
was which induced the British Commissioners,
in settling the boundary with us, to follow the
northern water line to the Lake of the Woods,
at the latitude of 49°, and then go off on that
parallel. This, then, is the true northern
boundary of Louisiana. The western boundary
of Louisiana is, rightfully, the Rio Bravo (its
main stream), from its mouth to its source,
and thence along the highlands and mountains
dividing the waters of the Mississippi from
those of the Pacific. The usurpations of
Spain on the east side of that river, have in
duced geographers to suppose the Puerco or
Sal a do to be the boundary. The line along
the highlands stands on the charter of _ Louis
XIV., that of the Rio Bravo on the circum
stance that, when La Salle took possession
of the Bay of St. Bernard, Panuco was the
nearest possession of Spain, and the Rio
Bravo the natural half-way boundary between
them. On the waters of the Pacific, we can
found no claims in right of Louisiana. — To
JOHN MELLISH. vii, 51. (M., 1816.)
936. BOUNDARIES, Massachusetts
and New York. — I enclose you a Massachu
setts paper, whereby you will see that some
acts of force have taken place on our eastern
boundary. * * * The want of an accurate
map of the Bay of Passamaquoddy renders
it difficult to form a satisfactory opinion in
the point in contest. * * * There is a re
port that some acts of force have taken place
on the northern boundary of New York, and
are now under the consideration of the gov
ernment of that State. The impossibility of
bringing the court of London to an adjust
ment of any difference whatever, renders our
situation perplexing. Should any applications
from the States or their citizens be so urgent
as to require something to be said before your
return, my opinion would be that they should
be desired to make no new settlements on our
part, nor suffer any to be made on the part of
the British, within the disputed territory; and
if any attempt should be made to remove them
from the settlements already made, that they
are to repel force by force, and ask aid of the
neighboring militia to do this and no more. I
see no other way of forcing the British govern
ment to come forward themselves and demand
an amicable settlement. — To PRESIDENT WASH
INGTON, iii, 230. (Pa., March 1791-)
937. BOUNDARIES, Northwest.— [In a
conversation with George Hammond, the
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Boundaries
British minister], he observed that the treaty
[of peace] was of itself so vague and inconsist
ent in many of its parts as to require an ex
planatory convention. He instanced the two
articles, one of which gave them the navigation
of the Mississippi, and the other bounded them
by a due west line from the Lake of the Woods,
which being now understood to pass beyond
the most northern sources of the Mississippi,
intercepted all access to that river ; that to
reconcile these articles, that line should be so
run as to give them access to the navigable
waters of the Mississippi, and that it would
even be for our interest to introduce a third
power between us and the Spaniards. He
asked my idea of the line from the Lake of
the Woods, and of now settling it. I told
him I knew of no objection to the settlement
of it ; that my idea of it was, that if it was an
impassable line, as proposed in the treaty, it
should be rendered passable by as small and
unimportant an alteration as might be, which
I thought would be to throw in a line running
due north from the northernmost source of the
Mississippi till it should strike the western
line from the Lake of the Woods ; that the arti
cle giving them a navigation in the Mississippi
did not relate at all to this northern boundary,
but to the southern one, and to the secret arti
cle respecting that ; that he knew that our
Provisional Treaty was made seven weeks be
fore that with Spain ; that at the date of purs,
their ministers had still a hope of retaining
Florida, in which case they were to come up
to the 32d degree, and in which case also the
navigation of the Mississippi would have been
important ; but that they had not been able, in
event, to retain the country to which the navi
gation was to be an appendage. (It was evi
dent to me that they had it in view to claim a
slice on our northwestern quarter, that they
may get into the Mississippi ; indeed, I thought
it presented as a sort of make-weight with the
Posts to compensate the great losses their citi
zens had sustained by the infractions charged
on us). — THE ANAS, ix, 428. FORD ED., i,
195. (June 1792.)
938. BOUNDARIES, Pennsylvania and
Virginia.— The principle on which the bound
ary between Pennsylvania and this State is
to be run having been fixed, it is now proposed
by President Reed that commissioners proceed
to execute the work from the termination of
Mason and Dixon's line to the completion of
five degrees of longitude, and thence on a
meridian to the Ohio. We propose that the
extent of the five degrees of longitude shall
be determined by celestial observation. Of
course it will require one set of astronomers
to be at Philadelphia, and another at Fort Pitt.
We ask the favor of yourselves to undertake
this business, the one to go to the one place,
the other to the other, meaning to add a co
adjutor to each of you. — To REV. JAMES MADI
SON AND ROBERT ANDREWS. FORD ED., ii, 513.
(R., 1781.)
939. . No mode of determining
the extent of the five degrees of longitude of
Delaware river, in the latitude of Mason and
Dixon's Line having been pointed out by your
Excellency [Joseph Reed], I shall venture to
propose that this be determined by astronom
ical observations., to be made at or near the
two ^ extremities of the line, as being in our
opinion the most certain and unexceptionable
mode of determining that point which, being
fixed, everything else will be easy. — To PRESI
DENT REED. FORD ED., iii, 15. (R., 1781.)
940. BOUNDARIES, United States and
Great Britain.— A further knowledge of the
ground in the north-eastern and north-western
angles of the United States has evinced that
the boundaries established by the treaty of
Paris, between the British territories and
ours in those parts, were too imperfectly de
scribed to be susceptible of execution. It has,
therefore, been thought worthy of attention, for
preserving and cherishing the harmony and
useful intercourse subsisting between the two
nations, to remove by timely arrangements
what unfavorable incidents might otherwise
render a ground of future misunderstanding.
A convention has, therefore, been entered into,
which provides for a practical demarcation of
those limits to the satisfaction of both parties.
— THIRD ANNUAL MESSAGE, viii, 26. FORD ED.,
viii, 270. (Oct. 1803.)
941. BOUNDARIES, United States and
Spain. — The southern limits of Georgia de
pend chiefly on, i. The charter of Carolina
to the Lords Proprietors, in 1663, extending
southwardly to the river Matheo, now called St.
John's, supposed in the charter to be in latitude
31°, and 50° west in a direct line as far as the
South Sea. See the charter in 4th Manoires
de 1'Amerique, 554. 2. On the proclamation of
the British King, in 1763, establishing the
boundary between Georgia and the two Flori-
das, to begin in the Mississippi, in thirty-one
degrees of latitude north of the equator, and
running eastwardly to the Apalachicola ; thence,
along the said river to the mouth cf the Flint ;
thence, in a direct line, to the source of the
St Mary's River, and down the same to the
ocean. 3. On the treaties between the United
States and Great Britain, of November 30, 1782,
and September 3, 1783, repeating and confirm
ing these ancient boundaries. There was an
intermediate transaction, to wit : a convention
concluded at the Pardo, in 1739, whereby it
was agreed that Ministers Plenipotentiary
should be immediately appointed by Spain and
Great Britain for settling the limits of Florida
and Carolina. The convention is to be found
in the collections of treaties. But the proceed
ings of the Plenipotentiaries are unknown
here. * * * — MISSISSIPPI RIVER IN
STRUCTIONS, vii, 573. FORD ED., v, 464.
(1792.)
942. . To this demonstration of
our rights may be added the explicit declara
tion of the court of Spain, that she would ac
cede to them. This took place in conversa
tions and correspondence thereon between
Mr. Jay, Minister Plenipotentiary for the
United States at the court of Madrid, the
Marquis de Lafayette, and the Count de Florida
Blanca. Monsieur de Lafayette, in his letter
of February 19, 1783, to the Count de Florida
Blanca, states the result of their conversations
on limits in these words : " With respect to
limits, his Catholic Majesty has adopted those
that are determined by the preliminaries of
the 3oth of November, between the United
States and the court of London." The Count
de Florida Blanca, in his answer of February
22d, to M. de Lafayette, says, " although it is
his Majesty's intention to abide for the present
by the limits established by the treaty of the
30th of November, 1782, between the English
and the Americans, the King intends to inform
himself particularly whether it can be in any
ways inconvenient or prejudicial to settle that
affair amicably with the United States;" and
M. de Lafayette, in his letter of the same day
to Mr. Jay, wherein he had inserted the pre
ceding, says, " On receiving the answer of the
Boundaries
Brazil
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
1 08
Count de Florida Blanca (to wit : his answer,
before mentioned, to M. de Lafayette), I de
sired an explanation respecting the addition
that relates to the limits. I was answered
that it was a fixed principle to abide by the
limits established by the treaty between the
English and the Americans : that his remark
related only to mere unimportant details, which
he wished to receive from the Spanish com
mandants, which would be amicably regulated,
and would by no means oppose the general prin
ciple. I asked him, before the Ambassador of
France (M. de Montmorin), whether he would
give me his word of honor for it ; he assured
me he would, and that I might engage it to the
United States." — MISSISSIPPI RIVER INSTRUC
TIONS, vii, 574. FORD ED., v, 465. (1792.)
943. . To conclude the subject
of boundary, the following condition is to be
considered by the commissioners as a sine qua
non : That our southern boundary remain es
tablished at the completion of thirty-one de
grees of latitude on the Mississippi, and so on
to the ocean, * * * and our western one
along the middle of the channel of the Missis
sippi, however that channel may vary, as it is
constantly varying, and that Spain cease to
occupy, or to exercise jurisdiction in any part
northward or eastward of these boundaries. —
MISSISSIPPI RIVER INSTRUCTIONS, vii, 585.
FORD ED., v, 475. (1792.)
944. . It is not true that our
ministers, in agreeing to establish the Colorado
as our western boundary, had been obliged to
exceed the authority of their instructions. Al
though we considered our title good as far as
the Rio Bravo, yet in proportion to what they
could obtain east of the Mississippi, they were
to relinquish to the westward, and successive
sacrifices were marked out, of which even the
Colorado was not the last.* — To W. A. BUR-
WELL, v, 20. FORD EDV viii, 469. (M., Sep.
1806.)
945. BOUNDARIES, Virginia and
Maryland. — I suppose you are informed oj
the proceeding commenced by the Legislature
of Maryland, to claim the south branch of the
Potomac as their boundary, and thus of Albe-
marle, now the central county of the State, to
make a frontier. As it is impossible upon any
consistent principles, and after such a length o:
undisturbed possession, that they can expect to
establish their claim, it can be ascribed to no
other than intention to irritate and divide ; am
there can be no doubt from what bow the shaf
is shot. However, let us cultivate Pennsyl
vania, and we need not fear the universe. The
Assembly have named me among those who
are to manage this controversy. But I am so
averse to motion and contest, and the othe
members are so fully equal to the business
that I cannot undertake to act in it. I wisl
you were added to them. — To JAMES MADISON
iv, 162. FORD ED., vii, 109. (M., Jan. 1797.
946. BOUNTIES, Policy regarding.—
It is not the policy of the government i
America to give aid to works of any kinc
They let things take their natural course with
out help or impediment, which is generall
the best policy. — To THOMAS DIGGES.
413. FORD ED., v, 29. (P., 1788.)
947. BOUNTIES, Recommended.—
Among the purposes to which the Constitutio
* This was one of the newspaper charges made b
John Randolph against the administration of Jeffer
son.— EDITOR.
)ermits Congress to apply money, the grant-
ng premiums or bounties is not enumerated,
nd there has never been a single instance of
icir doing it, although there has been a mul-
plicity of applications. The Constitution has
eft these encouragements to the separate
States. I have in two or three messages to
Tongress recommended an amendment to the
Constitution, which shall extend their power
0 these objects. But nothing is yet done in
t. I fear, therefore, that the institution you
propose must rest on the patronage of the
State in which it is to be. I wish I could
have answered you more to my own mind, as
well as yours; but truth is the first object. —
To DR. MAESE. v, 412. (W., Jan. 1809.)
948. BOURBONS, Incompetent.— A new
:rial of the Bourbons has proved to the world
heir incompetence to the functions of the sta-
ions they have occupied ; and the recall of the
usurper has clothed him with the semblance
of a legitimate autocrat. — To JOHN ADAMS, vi,
458. (M., June 1815.)
949. BOWLES (W. A.), Incites Creek In
dians.— I * * * enclose you [the British
Minister] an extract of a letter * * * giv-
ng information of a Mr. Bowles,* lately come
from England into the Creek country, endeav
oring to excite that nation of Indians to war
against the United States, and pretending to be
employed by the government of England. We
lave other testimony of these pretensions, and
that he carries them much farther than there
stated. We have too much confidence in the
justice and wisdom of the British government
to believe they can approve of the proceedings
01 this incendiary and impostor, or countenance
ior a moment a person who takes the liberty
of using their name for such a purpose. — To
GEORGE HAMMOND. FORD ED., v. (Pa., 1791.)
950.
Of this adventurer the
Spanish government rid us. — To CARMICHAEL
AND SHORT, iv, u. FORD ED., vi, 332. (Pa.,
I793-)
951. BOYS, Sound Principles and.— The
boys of the rising generation are to be the
men of the next, and the sole guardians of
the principles we deliver over to them. — To
REV. MR. KNOX. v, 502. (M., 1810.) See
CHILDREN.
952. BRAZIL, Condition of.— Procure
for us all the information possible as to the
strength, riches, resources, lights and dispo
sitions of Brazil. The jealousy of the court
of Lisbon on this subject will, of course, in
spire you with due caution in making and
communicating these inquiries. — To DAVID
HUMPHREYS. FORD ED., v, 317. (Pa., 1791.)
953. BRAZIL, Empire of. — Having
learned the safe arrival of your Royal High
ness at the city of Rio Janeiro I perform with
pleasure the duty of offering you my sincere
congratulations * * * . I trust that this
event will be as propitious to the prosperity
of your faithful subjects^as to the happiness
of your Royal Highness in which the United
* A Maryland Loyalist, who later styled himself a
chief of the Creek Indians. See FORD'S Writings of
Washington, xii. 159, and Maryland Loyalist, 33.—
NOTE in FORD ED.
109
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Brazil
Bubbles
States of America have ever taken a lively
interest. Inhabitants now of the same land,
of that great continent which the genius of
Columbus has given to the world, the United
States feel sensibly that they stand in new
and closer relations with your Royal High
ness, and that the motives which heretofore
nourished the friendly relations which have so
happily prevailed, have acquired increased
strength on the transfer of your residence to
their shores. They see in prospect, a system
of intercourse between the different regions
of this hemisphere of which the peace and
happiness of mankind may be the essential
principle. To this principle your long tried
adherence, for the benefit of those you gov
erned, in the midst of warring powers, is a
pledge to the new world that its peace, its
free and friendly intercourse, will be your
chief concern. On the part of the United
States I assure you, that these which have
hitherto been their ruling objects, will be most
particularly cultivated with your Royal High
ness and your subjects at Brazil, and they
hope that that country so favored by the gifts
of nature, now advanced to a station under
your immediate auspices, will find, in the in
terchange of mutual wants and supplies, the
true aliment of an unchanging friend
ship with the United States of America. —
To THE EMPEROR OF BRAZIL, v, 285. (May
1808.)
954. BRAZIL, Republicanism in.— I
shall not wonder if Brazil should revolt in
mass, and send their royal family back to Por
tugal. Brazil is more populous, more wealthy,
more energetic, and as wise as Portugal. — To
MARQUIS LAFAYETTE, vii, 68. FORD ED., x,
85. (M., 1817.)
955. . Although we have no
right to intermeddle with the form of gov
ernment of other nations, yet it is lawful to
wish to see no emperors nor kings in our
hemisphere, and that Brazil as well as Mex
ico will homologize with us. — To PRESIDENT
MONROE. FORD EDV x, 244. (M., Dec. 1822.)
956. BRIBERY, Electoral.— No person
shall be capable of acting in any office, civil,
military, or ecclesiastical, who shall have
given any bribe to obtain such office. — PRO
POSED VA. CONSTITUTION. FORD ED., ii, 28.
(June 1776.)
957. . Every person * * *
qualified to elect [to the House of Represen
tatives of Virginia], shall be capable of being
elected [to the House of Representatives] ;
provided he shall have given no bribe, either
directly or indirectly, to any elector. — PRO
POSED VA. CONSTITUTION. FORD ED., ii, 14.
(June 1776.)
958. - — . The Senators' qualifica
tions shall be * * * the having given no
bribe, directly or indirectly, to obtain their ap
pointment.— PROPOSED VA. CONSTITUTION.
FORD ED., ii, 16. (June 1776.)
959. BRIBERY, Great Britain and.—
The known practice [of the British Govern
ment] is to bribe whom they can, and whom
they cannot to calumniate. They have found
scoundrels in America, and either judging
from that, or their own principles, they would
pretend to believe all are so. If pride of
character be of worth at any time, it is when
it disarms the efforts of malice. What a mis
erable refuge is individual slander to so glo
rious a nation as Great Britain has been. — To
GENERAL NELSON. FORD ED., ii, 464. (R.,
1781.)
960. BRIBERY, Jefferson and.— Of
you, my neighbors, I may ask, in the face of
the world, " whose ox have I taken, or whom
have I defrauded? Whom have I oppressed,
or of whose hand have I received a bribe to
blind mine eyes therewith? On your ver
dict I rest with conscious security. — To THE
INHABITANTS OF ALBEMARLE COUNTY, v, 439.
FORD ED., ix, 251. (M., April 1809.)
961. BRIBERY OF OFFICIALS.— In
general, I am confident that you will receive
notice of the [trade] regulations of this coun
try [France] respecting their islands, by the
way of those islands before you will from
hence [Paris]. Nor can this be remedied but
by a system of bribery which would end in the
corruption of your own ministers, and pro
duce no good adequate to the expense. — To
JAMES MONROE, i, 590. FORD ED., iv, 250. (P.,
1786.) See CORRUPTION.
962. BRIGGS (Isaac), Scientific At
tainments of.— I have appointed Isaac
Briggs, of Maryland, surveyor of the lands
south of Tennessee. He is a Quaker, a sound
republican, and of a pure and unspotted char
acter. In point of science, in astronomy,
geometry and mathematics, he stands in a line
with Mr. Ellicott, and second to no man in the
United States. I recommend him to your
particular patronage ; the candor, modesty and
simplicity of his manners cannot fail to gain
ycur esteem. For the office of surveyor, men of
the first order of science in astronomy and
mathematics are essentially necessary. — To GOV
ERNOR CLAIBORNE. iv, 489. (W., 1803.)
963. BROGLIO (Marshal de), Charac
ter of.— The Marshal de Broglio, is a high
flying aristocrat, cool and capable of every
thing. — To JOHN JAY. iii, 74. (P., 1789.)
964. BROWN (James), Loyalty of.—
That you ever participated in any plan for a
division of the Union, I never for a moment
believed. I knew your Americanism too well.
But as the enterprise against Mexico was of a
very different character, I had supposed what I
heard on that subject to be possible. You dis
avow it ; that is enough for me, and I forever
dismiss the idea. — To DR. JAMES BROWN, v,
378. FORD ED., ix, 210. (W., 1808.)
965. BUBBLES, Speculative.— The Amer
ican mind is now in that state of fever
which the world has so often seen in the his
tory of other nations. We are under the bank
bubble, as England was under the South Sea
bubble, France under the Mississippi bubble,
and as every nation is liable to be, under what
ever bubble, design, or delusion may puff up
in moments when off their guard. — To
CHARLES YANCEY. vi, 515. FORD ED., x, 2.
(M., Jan. 1816.) See SPECULATION.
Buchan (Karl of)
Bunker Mill
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
110
966. BUCHAN (Earl of), Character.—
He is an honorable, patriotic, and virtuous char
acter [and], was in correspondence with Dr.
Franklin and General Washington. — To JAMES
MONROE. FORD ED., viii, 287. (W., 1804.)
967. BUCHANAN (George), Works of.
— The title of the tract of Buchanan which
you propose to translate was familiar to me, and
I possessed the tract ; but no circumstance had
ever led me to look into it. Yet I think noth
ing more likely than that, in the free spirit of
that age and state of society, principles should
be avowed, which were felt and followed, al
though unwritten in the Scottish constitution.
Undefined powers had been intrusted to the
crown, undefined rights retained by the people,
and these depended for their maintenance on
the spirit of the people, which, in that day was
dependence sufficient.* — To REV. MR. KNOX.
v, 502. (M., 1810.)
968. . His latinity is so pure as
to claim a place in school reading. — To REV.
MR. KNOX. v, 502. (M., 1810.)
969. BUFFON (Count de), Animal the
ories refuted.— The opinion advanced by
the Count de Buffon, is, i. That the animals
common both to the old and new world are
smaller in the latter. 2. That those peculiar
to the new are on a smaller scale. 3. That
those which have been domesticated in both
have degenerated in America ; and 4. That
on the whole it exhibits fewer species. And
the reason he thinks is, that the heats of
America are less ; that more waters are spread
over its surface by nature, and fewer of these
drained off by the hand of man. In other
words, that heat is friendly, and moisture ad
verse to the production and development of
large quadrupeds. I will not meet this hypothe
sis on its first doubtful ground, whether the
climate of America be comparatively more
humid, because we are not furnished with ob
servations sufficient to decide this question.
And though, till it be decided, we are as free
to deny as others are to affirm the fact, yet
for a moment let it be supposed. The hy
pothesis after this supposition, proceeds to an
other ; that moisture is unfriendly to animal
growth. The truth of this is inscrutable to
us by reasonings a priori. Nature has hidden
from us her modus agendi. Our only appeal
on such questions is to experience ; and I
think that experience is against the supposi
tion. It is by the assistance of heat and mois
ture that vegetables are elaborated from the
elements of earth, air, water, and fire. We
accordingly see the more humid climates pro
duce the greater quantity of vegetables. Veg
etables are mediately or immediately the food
of every animal; and in proportion to the
quantity of food, we see animals not only mul
tiplied in their numbers, but improved in
their bulk, as far as the laws of their nature
will admit. Of this opinion is the Count de
Buffon himself in another part of his work :
" En g.eneral il paroit que les pays un peu
froids conviennent mieux a nos boeufs que
les pays chauds et qu'ils sont d'autant plus
gros et plus grands que le climat est plus
* Buchanan's works were publicly burned at Ox
ford. See Macaulay's History of England, Chap. II.
—EDITOR.
humide et plus abondans en paturages. Les
boeufs de Danemarck, de la Podolie, de
1'Ukraine et de la Tartarie qu'habitent les Cal-
mouques sont les plus Brands de tous."
Here then a race of animals, and one of the
largest too, has been increased in its dimen
sions by cold and moisture, in direct opposi
tion to the hypothesis, which supposes that
these two circumstances diminish animal bulk,
and that it is their contraries, heat and dry-
ness which enlarge it. — NOTES ON VIRGINIA.
viii, 290. FORD ED., iii, 135. (1782.)
970. . The mammoth should
have sufficed to have rescued the earth
it inhabited, and the atmosphere it breathed,
from the imputation of impotence in the
conception and nourishment of animal life
on a large scrale; to have stifled, in its
birth, the opinion of a writer, the most
learned, too, of all others in the science of
animal history, that in the new world. " La
nature vivante est beaucoup moins agissante,
beaucoup moins forte " ; that nature is less
active, less energetic on one side of the globe
than she is on the other. As if both sides
were not warmed by the same genial sun ; as
if a soil of the same chemical composition
was Jess capable of elaboration into animal
nutriment; as if the fruits and grains from
that soil and sun yielded a less rich chyle,
gave less extension to the solids and fluids
of the body, or produced sooner in the carti
lages, membranes, and fibres, that rigidity
which restrains all further extension, and ter
minates animal growth. The truth is that a
pigmy and a Patagonian, a mouse and a mam
moth, derive their dimensions from the same
nutritive juices. The difference of increment
depends on circumstances unsearchable to be
ings with our capacities. Every race of ani
mals seems to have received from their Maker
certain laws of extension at the time of their
formation. Their elaborate organs were
formed to produce this, while proper obsta
cles were opposed to its further progress. Be
low these limits they cannot fall, nor rise
above them. What intermediate station they
shall take may depend on soil, on climate, on
food, on a careful choice of breeders. But
all the manna of heaven would never raise
the mouse to the bulk of the mammoth. —
NOTES ON VIRGINIA, viii, 289. FORD ED., iii,
134. (1782.) See MAMMOTH.
971. BUFFON (Count de), Gifts to.—
I wrote to some of my friends in America de
siring they would send me such of the spoils of
the moose, caribou, elk and deer, as might
throw light on that class of animals. * * *
I am happy to be able to present to you * * *
the bones and skin of a moose, the horns of the
caribou, the elk, the deer, the spiked horned
buck, and the roebuck of America. They all
come from New Hampshire and Massachusetts.
— To COMTE DE BUFFON. ii, 285. FORD ED.,
iv, 457- (P-, 1787.)
972. BUNKER HILL, Battle of.— Bun
ker's Hill, or rather Breed's Hill, whereon the
action was, is a peninsula joined to the main
land by a neck of land almost, level with the
water, a few paces wide, and about one or two
hundred toises long. On one side of this neck
III
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
liurke (Edmund)
Burr (Aaron)
lay a vessel of war, and on the other several
gunboats. The body of our army was on the
mainland ; and only a detachment had been
sent into the peninsula. When the enemy de
termined to make the attack, they sent the ves
sel of war and gunboats to take the position,
before mentioned, to cut off all reinforcements,
which they effectually did. Not so much as a
company could venture to the relief of the men
engaged, who therefore fought through the
whole action, and at length were obliged to re
tire across the neck through the cross fire of
the vessels before mentioned. Single persons
passed along the neck during the engagement,
particularly General Putnam. — To M. SOULES.
ix, 293. FORD ED., iv, 301. (P., 1786.)
973. BURKE (Edmund), Toryism of.—
The Revolution of France does not astonish me
so much as the revolution of Mr. Burke. I wish
I could believe the latter proceeded from as
pure motives as the former. But what demon
stration could scarcely have established before,
less than the hints of Dr. Priestley and Mr.
Paine establish firmly now. How mortifying
that this evidence of the rottenness of his mind
must oblige us now to ascribe to wicked mo
tives those actions of his life which wore the
mark of virtue and patriotism. — To BENJAMIN
VAUGHAN. FORD ED., v, 333. (1791.)
974. BUSINESS, Visionary Principles
in. — Men come into business at first with vis
ionary principles. It is practice alone which
can correct and conform them to the actual cur
rent of affairs. In the meantime, those to
whom their errors were first applied have been
their victims. — To JAMES MADISON. FORD ED.,
v, 16. (P., 1788.)
975. BURR (Aaron), Characteristics of.
— I never thought him an honest, frank-deal
ing man, but considered him as a crooked
gun, or other perverted machine, whose aim
or shot you could never be sure of. Still,
while he possessed the confidence of the na
tion, I thought it my duty to respect in him
their confidence, and to treat him as if he de
served it. — To WILLIAM B. GILES, v, 68.
FORD ED., ix, 46. (M., April 1807.)
976. BURR (Aaron), Distrust of.— I had
never seen Colonel Burr till he came here as
a member of the Senate. His conduct very
soon inspired me with distrust. I habitually
cautioned Mr. Madison against trusting him
too much. I saw afterwards that under Gen
eral Washington's and Mr. Adams's admin
istrations, whenever a great military appoint
ment or a diplomatic one was to be made, he
came post to Philadelphia to show himself and
in fact that he was always at market, if they
had wanted him. He was indeed told by Day
ton in 1800 he might be Secretary of War ;
but this bid was too late. His election as
V. P. was then foreseen. With these impres
sions of Colonel Burr there never had been
any intimacy between us, and but little asso
ciation. When I destined him for a high ap
pointment, it was out of respect for the fa
vor he had obtained with the republican party
by his extraordinary exertions and successes
in the New York election in 1800. — ANAS, ix,
207. FORD ED., i, 304. (1804.)
977. BURR (Aaron), Feeling toward.—
Against Burr, personally, I never had one
hostile sentiment. — To WILLIAM B. GILES, v,
68. FORD ED., ix, 46. (M., April 1807.)
978. BURR (Aaron), Honesty and.— No
man's history proves better the value of hon
esty. With that, what might he not have
been! — To LEVI LINCOLN, v, 55. (W., 1807.)
979. BURR (Aaron), Overrated Tal
ents. — Burr has indeed made a most inglo
rious exhibition of his much overrated tal
ents. — To ROBERT R. LIVINGSTON, v, 55. FORD
ED., ix, 38. (W., 1807.)
980. - — .A great man in little
things, he is really small in great ones. — To
GEORGE HAY. v, 88. FORD ED., ix, 55. (W.,
1807.)
981. BURR (Aaron), Political Services.
— He has certainly greatly merited of his
country, and the republicans in particular, to
whose efforts his have given a chance of suc
cess. — To PIERCE BUTLER. FORD ED., vii, 449.
(Aug. 1800.)
982. . While I must congratu
late you on the issue of this contest [the Presi
dential], because it is more honorable, and,
doubtless, more grateful to you than any station
within the competence of the Chief Magistrate,
yet for myself, and for the substantial service of
the public, I feel most sensibly the loss we sus
tain of your aid in our new administration. It
leaves a chasm in my arrangements, which can
not be adequately filled up. I had endeavored to
compose an administration whose talents, integ
rity, names, and dispositions, should at once in
spire unbounded confidence in the public mind,
and insure a perfect harmony in the conduct of
the public business. I lose you from the list,
and am not sure of all the others. Should
the gentlemen, who possess the public confi
dence, decline taking a part in their affairs,
and force us to take persons unknown to the
people, the evil genius of this country may
realize his avowal that " he will beat down the
administration." — To AARON BURR. iv, 341.
FORD ED., vii, 467. (W., Dec. 1800.)
983. BURR (Aaron), Presidential Con
test. — It was to be expected that the enemy
would endeavor to sow tares between us, that
they might divide us and our friends. Every
consideration satisfies me you will be on your
guard against this, as I assure you I am strong
ly. I hear of one stratagem so imposing and so
base that it is proper I should notice it to you.
Mr. Munford says he saw at New York an
original letter of mine to Judge Breckenridge,
in which are sentiments highly injurious to you.
He knows my handwriting, and did not doubt
that to be genuine. I enclose you a copy
taken from the press copy of the only letter I
ever wrote to Judge Breckenridge in my life.
* * Of consequence, the letter seen by
Mr. Munford must be a forgery, and if it con
tains a sentiment unfriendly or disrespectful to
you, I affirm it solemnly to be a forgery ; as
also if it varies from the copy enclosed. With
the common trash of slander I should not think
of troubling you ; but the forgery of one's
handwriting is too imposing to be neglected. —
To AARON BURR, iv, 349. FORD ED., vii, 485.
(W., Feb. 1801.) See ELECTIONS — PRESIDEN
TIAL, 1800.
984. BURR (Aaron), Relations with
Jefferson.— Colonel Burr, the Vice Presi-
Burr (Aaron)
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
112
dent, called on me in the evening [January 26th,
1804], having previously asked an opportunity
of conversing with me. He began by recapit
ulating summarily, that he had come to New
York a stranger, some years ago ; that he
found the country in possession of two rich
families (the Livingstons and Clintons) ; that
his pursuits were not political, and he meddled
not. When the crisis, however, of 1800 came
on, they found their influence worn out, and
solicited his aid with the people. He lent it
•without any views of promotion. That his be
ing named as a candidate for Vice-President
was unexpected by him. He acceded to it with
a view to promote my fame and advancement,
and from a desire to be with me, whose com
pany and conversation had always been fasci
nating to him. That since, those great families
had become hostile to him, and had excited
the calumnies which I had seen published.
That in this Hamilton had joined, and had even
written some of the pieces against him. That
his attachment to me had been sincere, and was
still unchanged, although many little stories had
been carried to him, and he supposed to me also,
which he despised ; but that attachment must
be reciprocal or cease to exist, and, therefore,
he asked if any change had taken place in mine
towards him ; that he had chosen to have this
conversation with myself directly; and not
through any intermediate agent. He reminded
me of a letter written to him about the time of
counting the votes (say February, 1801),
mentioning that his election had left a chasm in
my arrangements ; that I had lost him from my
list in the Administration, &c. He observed,
he believed it would be for the interest of the
republican cause for him to retire ; that a dis
advantageous schism would otherwise take
place ; but that were he to retire, it would be
said he shrunk from the public sentence, which
he never would do ; that his enemies were using
my name to destroy him, and something was
necessary from me to prevent and deprive
them of that weapon, some mark of favor from
me which would declare to the world that he
retired with my confidence.
I answered by recapitulating to him what had
been my conduct previous to the election of
i Sop. That I had never interfered directly or
indirectly with my friends or any others, to
influence the election either for him or myself ;
that I considered it as my duty to be merely
passive, except that in Virginia, I had taken
some measures to procure for him the unani
mous vote of that State, because I thought any
failure there might be imputed to me. That in
the election now coming on, I was observing
the same conduct, held no councils with anybody
respecting it, nor suffered any one to speak to
me on the subject, believing it my duty to leave
myself to the free discussion of the public ;
that I do not at this moment know, nor have
ever heard, who were to be proposed as candi
dates for the public choice, except so far as
could be gathered from the newspapers. That
as? to the attack excited against him in the
newspapers, I had noticed it but as the passing
wind ; that I had seen complaints that Cheet-
ham, employed in publishing the laws, should
be permitted to eat the public bread and
abuse its second officer ; that as to this, the
publishers of the laws were appointed by the
Secretary of State, without any reference to
me ; that to make the notice general, it was
often given to one republican and one federal
printer of the same place ; that these federal
printers did not in the least intermit their
abuse of me. though receiving emoluments from
die government, and that I never thought it
proper to interfere for myself, and consequently
not in the case of the Vice-President. That as
to the letter he referred to, I remembered it,
and believed he had only mistaken the date at
which it was written ; that I thought it must
have been on the first notice of the event of
the election of South Carolina; and that I had
taken that occasion to mention to him, that I
had intended to have proposed to him one of
the great offices, if he had not been elected ;
but that his election in giving him a higher sta
tion had deprived me of his aid in the Admin
istration. The letter alluded to was, in fact,
mine to him of December the isth, 1800. I
now went on to explain to him verbally, what I
meant by saying I had lost him from my list.
That in General Washington's time, it had been
signified to him that Mr. Adams, the Vice-Presi
dent, would be glad of a foreign embassy ; that
General Washington mentioned it to me, ex
pressed his doubts whether Mr. Adams was a
fit character for such an office, and his still
greater doubts, indeed his conviction, that it
would not be justifiable to send away the
person who, in case of his death, was provided
by the Constitution to take his place; that it
would moreover appear indecent for him to be
disposing of the public trusts, in apparently
buying off a competitor for the public favor. I
concurred with him in the opinion, and, if I
recollect rightly, Hamilton, Knox, and Randolph
were consulted and gave the same opinions.
That when Mr. Adams came to the Administra
tion, in his first interview with me, he men
tioned the necessity of a mission to France,
and how desirable it would have been to him if
he could have got me to undertake it ; but that
he conceived it would be wrong in him to send
me away, and assigned the same reasons General
Washington had done ; and, therefore, he should
appoint Mr. Madison, &c. That I had myself
contemplated his (Colonel Burr's) appointment
to one of the great offices, in case he was not
elected Vice-President ; but that as soon as that
election was known, I saw it could not be done,
for the good reasons which had led General
Washington and Mr. Adams to the same con
clusion ; and therefore, in my first letter to
Colonel Burr, after the issue was known, I
had mentioned to him that a chasm in my ar
rangements had been produced by this event.
I was thus particular in rectifying the date of
this letter, because it gave me an opportunity
of explaining the grounds on which it was
written, which were, indirectly an answer to
his present hints. He left the matter with me
for consideration, and the conversation was
turned to indifferent subjects. I should here
notice, that Colonel Burr must have thought
that I could swallow strong things in my own
favor, when he founded his acquiescence in
the nomination as Vice-President. to his de
sire of promoting my honor, the being with me,
whose company and conversation had always
been fascinating with him. &c. — THE ANAS, ix,
204. FORD ED., i, 301. (Jan. 1804.)
985. BURR (Aaron), Threatens Jeffer
son.— About a month ago [March 1806]
Colonel Burr called on me, and entered into a
conversation, in which he mentioned that a
little before my coming into office, I had written
to him a letter intimating that I had destined
him for high employ, had he not been placed by
the people in a different one; that he had signi
fied his willingness to resign as Vice-President,
to give aid to the Administration in any other
place, that he had never asked an office, how
ever ; he asked aid of nobody, but could walk
on his own legs and take care of himself; that
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Burr •. AM roii)
tturr's i A.) Treason
I had always used him with politeness, but noth
ing more ; that he aided in bringing on the
present order of things ; that he had supported
the Administration ; and that he could do me
much harm ; he wished, however, to be on dif
ferent ground ; he was now disengaged from
all particular business — willing to engage in
something — should be in town some days, if I
should have anything to propose to him. I ob
served to him, that I had always been sensible
that he possessed talents which might be em
ployed greatly to the advantage of the public,
and that as to myself, I had a confidence that if
he were employed, he would use his talents for
the public good ; but that he must be sensible
the public had withdrawn their confidence from
him, and that in a government like ours it was
necessary to embrace in its administration as
great a mass of public confidence as possible,
by employing those who had a character with
the public, of their own, and not merely a sec
ondary one through the Executive. He ob
served, that if we believed a few newspapers,
it might be supposed he had lost the public
confidence, but that I knew how easy it was
to engage newspapers in anything. I observed,
that I did not refer to that kind of evidence of
his having lost the public confidence, but to
the late Presidential election, when, though in
possession of the office of Vice-President, there
was not a single voice heard for his retaining
it. That as to any harm he could do me, I
knew no cause why he should desire it. but,
at the same time, I feared no injury which any
man could do me ; that I never had done a
single act, or been concerned in any transac
tion, which I feared to have fully laid open, or
which could do me any hurt, if truly stated ;
that I had never done a single thing with a view
to my personal interest, or that of any friend, or
with any other view than that of the greatest
public good ; that, therefore, no threat or fear
on that head would ever be a motive of action
with me. I did not commit these things to
writing at the time, but I do it now, because in
a suit between him and Cheetham, he has had
a deposition of Mr. Bayard taken, which seems
to have no relation to the suit, nor to any other
object than to calumniate me. Bayard pretends
to have addressed to me, during the pending of
the Presidential election in February, 1801,
through General Samuel Smith, certain condi
tions on which my election might be obtained,
and that General Smith, after conversing with
me, gave answers from me. This is absolutely
false. No proposition of any kind was ever
made to me on that occasion by General Smith,
nor any answer authorized by me. And this
fact General Smith affirms at this moment. —
THE ANAS, ix, 208. FORD EDV i, 311. (April
1806.)
986. BURR'S (A.) TREASON, Counter
acted. — During the last session of Congress,
Colonel Burr who was here [Washington], find
ing no hope of being employed in any depart
ment of the government, opened himself con
fidentially to some persons on whom he thought
he could rely, on a scheme of separating the
Western from the Atlantic States, and erecting
the former into an independent confederacy.
He had before made a tour of those States
u'hich had excited suspicions, as every nation
does of such a Catalinian character. * * *
We [the cabinet] are of opinion unanimously,
that confidential letters be written to the
Governors of Ohio, Indiana, Mississippi and
Orleans * * * to have him strictly watched
and on his committing any overt act unequivo
cally, to have him arrested and tried for treason,
misdemeanor, or whatever other offence the act
may amount to. And in like manner to arrest
and try any of his followers committing acts
against the laws. — ANAS. FORD ED., i, 318.
(July 1806.)
987. BURR'S (A.) TREASON, Decoys.
— Burr has been able to decoy a great propor
tion of his people by making them believe the
government secretly approves of this expedition
against the Spanish territories. We are look
ing with anxiety to see what exertions the
Western country will make in the first instance
for their own defence ; and I confess that my
confidence in them is entire. — To GOVERNOR
CLAIBORNE. FORD ED., viii, 502. (W., Dec.
1806.)
988. . It is understood that
wherever Burr met with subjects who did not
choose to embark in his projects, unless ap
proved by their government, he asserted that he
had that approbation. Most of them took his
word for it, but it is said that with those who
would not, the following stratagem was prac
ticed. A forged letter, purporting to be from
General Dearborn, was made to express his ap
probation, and to say that I was absent at
Monticello, but that there was no doubt that,
on my return, my approbation of his enterprises
would be given. This letter was spread open
on his table, so as to invite the eye of whoever
entered his room, and he contrived occasions
of sending up into his room those whom he
wished to become witnesses of his acting under
sanction. By this means he avoided committing
himself to any liability to prosecution for
forgery, and gave another proof of being a great
man in little things, while he is really small in
great ones. I must add General Dearborn's
declaration, that he never wrote a letter to Burr
in his life, except that when here, once in a
winter, he usually wrote him a billet of invita
tion to dine. — To GEORGE HAY. v, 87. FORD
ED., ix, 54. (W., June 1807.)
989. BURR'S (A.) TREASON, Designs
of. — The designs of our Cataline are as real as
they are romantic, but the parallel he has se
lected from history for the model of his own
course corresponds but by halves. It is true in
its principal character, but the materials to be
employed are totally different from the scour-
ings of Rome. I am confident he will be com
pletely deserted on the appearance of the procla
mation, because his strength was to consist of
people who had been persuaded that the govern
ment connived at the enterprise. — To CAESAR A.
RODNEY. FORD EDV viii, 497. (W., Dec. 1806.)
990. . Burr's object is to take
possession of New Orleans, as a station whence
to make an expedition against Vera Cruz and
Mexico. His party began their formation at
the mouth of the Beaver, whence they started
the ist or 2d of this month, and would collect
all the way down the Ohio. We trust that the
opposition we have provided at Marietta, Cin
cinnati, Louisville, and Massac will be sufficient
to stop him ; but we are not certain because we
do not know his strength. It is, therefore, pos
sible he may escape, and then his great ren
dezvous is to be at Natchez. * * * We
expect you will collect all your force of militia,
act in conjunction with Colonel Freeman, and
take such a stand as shall be concluded best. —
To GOVERNOR CLAIBORNE. FORD ED., viii. 501.
(W., Dec. 1806.)
991. . His first enterprise was
to have been to seize New Orleans, which he
Burr's (A.) Treason
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
114
supposed would powerfully bridle the upper
country, and place him at the door of Mexico.
— To MARQUIS DE LAFAYETTE, v, 131. FORD
ED., x, 144. (W., July 1807.)
992. . Burr's enterprise is the
most extrarodinary since the days of Don Qui
xote. It is so extravagant that those who know
his understanding, would not believe it if the
proofs admitted doubt. He has meant to place
himself on the throne of Montezuma, and ex
tend his empire to the Alleghany, seizing on
New Orleans as the instrument of compulsion
for western States. — To REV. CHAS. CLAY, v,
28. FORD ED., ix, 7. (W., Jan. 1807.)
993. BURR'S (A.) TREASON, Fearless
of. — For myself, even in Burr's most flatter
ing periods of the conspiracy, I never enter
tained one moment's fear. My long and intimate
knowledge of my countrymen, satisfied and sat
isfies me, that let there ever be occasion to dis
play the banners of the law, and the world will
see how few and pitiful are those who shall
array themselves in opposition. — To DR. JAMES
BROWN, v, 379. FORD ED., ix, 211. (W., Oct.
1808.)
994. BURR'S (A.) TREASON", Flagi
tious. — His conspiracy has been one of the
most flagitious of which history will ever furnish
an example. He meant to separate the Western
States from us, to add Mexico to them, place
himself at their head, establish what he would
deem an energetic government, and thus provide
an example and an instrument for the subver
sion of our freedom. The man who could ex
pect to effect this, with American materials,
must be a fit subject for Bedlam. — To MARQUIS
DE LAFAYETTE, v, 129. FORD ED., ix, 113.
(W., July 1807.)
995. . Burr's conspiracy has
been one of the most flagitious of which history
will ever furnish an example. He had combined
the objects of separating the Western States
from us, of adding Mexico to them, and of pla
cing himself at their head. But he who could
expect to effect such objects by the aid of
American citizens, must be perfectly ripe for
Bedlam. — To DUPONT DE NEMOURS, v, 128.
FORD ED., ix, in. (W., July 1807.)
996. BURR'S (A.) TREASON, Louis
iana and. — It has given me infinite satisfac
tion that not a single native Creole of Louisiana,
and but one American, settled there before the
delivery of the country to us, were in his inter
est. His partisans there were made up of fugi
tives from justice, or from their debts, who had
flocked there from other parts of the United
States, after the delivery of the country, and
of adventurers and speculators of all descrip
tions. — To DUPONT DE NEMOURS, v, 128. FORD
ED., ix, 113. (W., July 1807.)
997. . The native inhabitants
were unshaken in their fidelity. But there was
a small band of American adventurers who had
fled from their debts, and who were longing to
dip their hands into the mines of Mexico, en
listed in Burr's double project of attacking that
country, and severing our Union. Had Burr
had a little success in the upper country, these
parricides would have joined him. — To MARQUIS
DE LAFAYETTE. FORD ED., ix, 65. (W., May
1807.)
998. BURR'S (A.) TREASON, The Peo
ple and. — The hand of the people has given
the mortal blow to a conspiracy which, in other
countries, would have called for an appeal to
armies, and has proved that government to be
the strongest of which every man feels himself a
part. It is a happy illustration, too, of the im
portance of preserving to the State authorities
all that vigor which the Constitution foresaw
would be necessary, not only for their own
safety, but for that of the whole. — To GOVERNOR
H. D. TIFFIN, v, 38. FORD ED., ix, 21. (W.,
Feb. 1807.)
999. . The whole business has
shown that neither Burr nor his [associates]
knew anything of the people of this country. A
simple proclamation informing the people of
these combinations, and calling on them to sup
press them, produced an instantaneous levee en
masse of our citizens wherever there appeared
anything to lay hold of, and the whole was
crushed in one instant. — To MARQUIS DE LA
FAYETTE. FORD ED., ix, 66. (W., May 1807.)
1000. BURR'S (A.) TREASON, Punish
ment of.— -Their crimes are defeated, and
whether they shall be punished or not belongs
to another department, and is not the subject of
even a wish on my part. — To J. H. NICHOLSON.
v, 45. FORD ED., ix, 31. (W., Feb. 1807.)
1001. BURR'S (A.) TREASON, Self-
government and. — The suppression of the
late conspiracy by the hand of the people, up
lifted to destroy it wherever it reared its head,
manifests their fitness for self-government, and
the power of a nation, of which every individual
feels that his own will is part of the public au
thority. — R. TO A. NEW JERSEY LEGISLATURE.
viii, 122. (Dec. 1807.)
1002. BURR'S (A.) TREASON, Strength
of Government and. — The proof we have
lately seen of the innate strength of our govern
ment, is one of the most remarkable which his
tory has recorded, and shows that we are a
people capable of self-government, and worthy
of it. The moment that a proclamation apprised
our citizens that there were traitors among
them, and what was the object, they rose upon
them wherever they lurked, and crushed by
their own strength what would have produced
the march of armies and civil war in any other
country. The government which can wield the
arm of the people must be the strongest possible.
To MR. WEAVER, v, 89. (W., June 1807.)
1003. . Nothing has ever so
strongly proved the innate force of our form of
government, as this conspiracy. Burr had prob
ably engaged one thousand men to follow his
fortunes, without letting them know his projects,
otherwise than by assuring them that the gov
ernment approved them. The moment a proc
lamation was issued, undeceiving them, he
found himself left with about thirty desperadoes
only. The people rose in mass wherever he
was, or was suspected to be, and by their own
energy the thing was crushed in one instant,
without its having been necessary to employ a
man of the military but to take care of their
respective stations. — To MARQUIS DE LAFAYETTE.
v, 130. FORD ED., ix, 114. (W., July 1807.)
1004. . This affair has been a
great confirmation in my mind of the innate
strength of the form of our government. He
had probably induced near a thousand men to
engage with him, by making them believe the
government connived at it. A proclamation
alone, by undeceiving them, so completely dis
armed him, that he had not above thirty men
left, ready to go all lengths with him. — To DU
PONT DE NEMOURS, v, 128. FORD ED., ix, in.
(W., July 1807.)
,
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Burr's (A.) Treason
Burr's (A.) Trial
1005. BURR'S (A.) TREASON, Sup
pressed. — I informed Congress at their last
session * of the enterprises against the public
peace which were believed to be in preparation
by Aaron Burr and his associates, of the meas
ures taken to defeat them, and to bring the of
fenders to justice. Their enterprises were hap
pily defeated by the patriotic exertions of the
militia wherever called into action, by the fidel
ity of the army, and energy of the commander-
in-chief in promptly arranging the difficulties
presenting themselves on the Sabine, repairing to
meet those arising on the Mississippi, and dis
sipating, before their explosion, plots engender
ing them. — SEVENTH ANNUAL MESSAGE, viii,
87. FORD ED., ix, 162. (Oct. 1807.)
1006. BURR'S (A.) TREASON, Western
Loyalty. — The enterprise has done good by
proving that the attachment of the people in the
West is as firm as that in the East to the union
of our country, and by establishing a mutual and
universal confidence. — To MARQUIS DE LAFAY
ETTE. FORD ED., ix, 66. (W., May 1807.)
1007. BURR'S (A.) TRIAL, Arrest.—
Your sending here [Washington] Swartwout
and Ballman and adding to them Burr, Blenner-
hassett and Tyler, should they fall into your
hands, will be supported by the public opinion.
* * * I hope, however, you will not extend this
deportation to persons against whom there is
only suspicion, or shades of offence not strongly
marked. In that case, I fear the public senti
ment would desert you : because seeing no dan
ger here, violations of law are felt with strength.
— To GENERAL WILKINSON, v, 39. FORD ED.,
ix, 4. (W., Feb. 1807.)
1008. . That the arrest of Col
onel Burr was military has been disproved ; but
had it been so, every honest man and good citi
zen is bound, by any means in his power, to
arrest the author of projects so daring and dan
gerous. — To EDMUND PENDLETON GAINES. v,
141. FORD ED., ix, 122. (W., July 1807.)
— BURR'S (A.) TRIAL, Bollman's con
fession. — See BOLLMAN.
1009. BURR'S (A.) TRIAL, Charges.— I
do suppose the following overt acts will be
proved, i. The enlistment of men in a regular
way. 2. The regular mounting of guard round
Blennerhassett's Island * * * . 3. The ren
dezvous of Burr with his men at the mouth of
the Cumberland. 4. His letter to the acting
Governor of Mississippi, holding up the prospect
of civil war. 5. His capitulation regularly
signed with the aids of the Governor, as be
tween two independent and hostile commanders.
— To WILLIAM B. GILES, v, 66. FORD ED., ix,
43. (M., April 1807.)
1010. BURR'S (A.) TRIAL, Conviction
doubtful. — That there should be anxiety and
doubt in the public mind, in the present defect
ive state of the proof, is not wonderful ; and
this has been sedulously encouraged by the
tricks of the judges to force trials before it is
possible to collect the evidence, dispersed
through a line of two thousand miles from
Maine to Orleans. — To WILLIAM B. GILES, v,
65. FORD ED., ix, 42. (M., April 1807.)
1011. . Although there is not a
man in the United States who doubts his guilt,
such are the jealous provisions of our laws in
* Jefferson sent a message to Congress, January 22,
1807, giving a record of the facts in Burr's conspiracy.
—EDITOR.
favor of the accused against the accuser, that
1 question if he is convicted. — To MARQUIS DE
LAFAYETTE, v, 130. FORD ED., ix, 113. (W.,
July 1807.)
1012. BURR'S (A.) TRIAL, Court ru
lings. — Hitherto we have believed our law to
be, that suspicion on probable grounds was suffi
cient cause to commit a person for trial, allow
ing time to collect witnesses till the trial. But
the judges have decided, that conclusive evi
dence of guilt must be ready in the moment of
arrest, or they will discharge the malefactor.
If this is still insisted on, Burr will be dis
charged ; because his crimes having been sown
from Maine through the whole line of the
western waters to New Orleans, we cannot bring
the witnesses here under four months. — To
JAMES BOWDOIN. v, 65. FORD ED., ix, 41. (W.,
April 1807.)
1013. BURR'S (A.) TRIAL, Evidence re
quired. — A moment's calculation will show
that the evidence cannot be collected under four
months, probably five, from the moment of de
ciding when and where the trial shall be. I
desired Mr. Rodney [Attorney General] ex
pressly to inform the Chief Justice of this, in-
officially. But Mr. Marshall says : " More than
five weeks have elapsed since the opinion of the
Supreme Court has declared the necessity of
proving the overt acts, if they exist. Why are
they not proved ? " In what terms of decency
can we speak of this? As if an express could
go to Natchez, or the mouth of the Cumber
land, and return in five weeks, to do what has
never taken less than twelve. Again : " If, in
November or December last, a body of troops
had been assembled on the Ohio, it is impossible
to suppose the affidavits establishing the fact
could not have been obtained by the last of
March." But I ask the judge where they should
have been lodged? At Frankfort? at Cincin
nati ? at Nashville ? St. Louis ? Natchez ? New
Orleans? _ These were the probable places of
apprehension and examination. It was not
known at Washington till the 26th of March
that Burr would escape from the Western tribu
nals, be retaken and brought to an Eastern
one; and in five days after (neither five months
nor five weeks, as the judge calculated), he says.
" it is impossible to suppose the affidavits could
not have been obtained". Where? At Rich
mond he certainly meant, or meant only to
throw dust in the eyes of his audience. But all
the principles of law are to be perverted which
would bear on the favorite offenders who en
deavor to overturn this odious Republic. " I
understand ", says the judge, " probable cause of
guilt to be a case made out by proof furnishing
good reason to believe ", &c. Speaking as a law
yer, he must mean legal proof, i. e., proof on
oath, at least. But this is confounding probabil
ity and proof. We had always before understood
that where there was reasonable ground to be
lieve guilt, the offender must be put on his trial.
That guilty intentions were probable, the judge
believed. And as to the overt acts, were not
the bundle of letters of information in Mr.
Rodney's hands, the letters and facts published
in the local newspapers, Burr's flieht, and the
universal belief or rumor of his guilt, probable
ground for presuming the facts of enlistment,
military guard, rendezvous, threats of civil war,
or capitulation, so as to put him on trial? Is
there a candid man in the United States who
does not believe some one, if not all, of these
overt acts to have taken place? — To WILLIAM
B. GILES, v, 67. FORD ED., ix, 44. (M., Anril
1807.)
Burr's (A.) Trial
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
116
_ BURR'S (A.) TRIAL, Executive
Papers demanded. — See PAPERS (EXECU
TIVE) .
1014. BURR'S (A.) TRIAL, Federalist
support. — The federalists appear to make
Burr's cause their own, and to spare no efforts
to screen his adherents. Their great mortifica
tion is at the failure of his plans. Had a little
success dawned on him, their openly joining him
might have produced some danger. — To COLONEL
G. MORGAN, v, 57. (W., March 1807.)
1015. . The federalists, too, give
all their aid, making Burr's cause their own,
mortified only that he did not separate the
Union or overturn the government, and proving,
that had he had a little dawn of success, they
would have joined him to introduce his object,
their favorite monarchy, as they would any
other enemy, foreign or domestic, who could rid
them of this hateful Republic for any other
government in exchange. — To WILLIAM B.
GILES, v, 66. FORD ED., ix, 42. (M., April
1807.)
1016. . The fact is that the fed
eralists make Burr's case their own, and exert
their whole influence to shield him from punish
ment, as they did the adherents of Miranda.
And it is unfortunate that federalism is still
predominant in our Judiciary department,
which is in opposition to the Legislative and
Executive branches, and is able to baffle their
measures often. — To JAMES BOWDOIN. v, 65.
FORD ED., ix, 41. (W., April 1807.)
1017. . The first ground of com
plaint [by the federalists] was the supine in
attention of the Administration to a treason
stalking through the land in open day. The
present one, that they have crushed it before it
was ripe for execution, so that no overt acts
can be produced. This last may be true ;
though I believe it is not. Our information
having been chiefly by way of letter, we do not
know of a certainty yet what will be proved.
We have set on foot an inquiry through the
whole of the country which has been the scene
of these transactions, to be able to prove to the
courts, if they will give time, or to the public
by way of communication to Congress, what
the real facts have been. For obtaining this,
we are obliged to appeal to the patriotism of
particular persons in different places, of whom
we have requested to make the inquiry in their
neighborhood, and on such information as shall
be voluntarily offered. Aided by no process or
facilities from the federal courts, but frowned
on by their new born zeal for the liberty of
those men whom we would not permit to over
throw the liberties of their country, we can ex
pect no revealments from the accomplices of the
chief offender. Of treasonable intentions the
judges have been obliged to confess there is
probable appearance. What loophole they will
find in the case, when it comes to trial, we can
not foresee. Eaton, Stoddart, Wilkinson, and
two others whom I must not name, will satisfy
the world, if not the judges, of Burr's guilt. — To
WILLIAM B. GILES, v, 66. FORD ED., ix, 42.
(M., April 1807.)
1018. BURR'S (A.) TRIAL, Grand Jury
and. — The favor of the marshal and the judge
promises Burr all which can depend on them.
A grand jury of two " feds ", four " quids " and
ten republicans, does not seem to be a fair rep
resentation of the State of Virginia. I have
always entertained a high opinion of the mar
shal's integrity and political correctness. But
in a State where there are not more than
eight " quids ", how five of them should have
been summoned to one jury, is difficult to ex
plain from accident. But all this will show the
original error of establishing a judiciary inde
pendent of the nation, and which, from the
citadel of the law, can turn its guns on those
they were meant to defend, and control and
fashion their proceedings to its own will. — To
JOHN W. EPPES. FORD ED., ix, 68. (W., May
1807.)
1019. BURR'S (A.) TRIAL, Guilt clear.
— Before an impartial jury, Burr's conduct
would convict himself, were not one word of
testimony to be offered against him. But to
what a state will our law be reduced by party
feelings in those who administer it ? * — To
GEORGE HAY. v, 174. FORD ED., ix, 62. (M.,
Aug. 1807.)
— BURR'S (A.) TRIAL, Jefferson Sub
poenaed.— See PRESIDENT.
1020. BURR'S (A.) TRIAL, Judiciary
Partisanship.— If there ever had been an in
stance in this or the preceding administra
tions, of federal judges so applying principles
of law as to condemn a federal or acquit a re
publican offender, I should have judged them
in the present case with more charity. All this,
however, will work well. The nation will judge
both the offender and judges for themselves.
If a member of the Executive or Legislature
does wrong, the day is never far distant when
the people will remove him. They will see then
and amend the error in our Constitution, which
makes any branch independent of the nation.
They will see that one of the great coordinate
branches of the government, setting itself in
opposition to the other two, and to the common
sense of the nation, proclaims impunity to that
class of offenders which endeavors to overturn
the Constitution, and are themselves protected
in it by the Constitution itself ; for impeachment
is a farce which will not be tried again. If
their protection of Burr produces this amend
ment, it will do more good than his condemna
tion would have done. * * * If his punish
ment can be commuted now for an useful
amendment of the Constitution, I shall rejoice
in it. — To WILLIAM B. GILES, v, 68. FORD ED.,
ix, 45. (M., April 1807.)
1021. . Burr's trial goes on to
the astonishment of all, as to the manner of
conducting it. — To ALBERT GALLATIN. v, 172.
(M., Aug. 1807.)
1022. . The scenes which have
been acted at Richmond are such as have never
before been exhibited in any country where all
regard to public character has not yet been
thrown off. They are equivalent to a proclama
tion of impunity to every traitorous combina
tion which may be formed to destroy the Union ;
and they preserve a head for all such combina
tions as may be formed within, and a centre
for all the intrigues and machinations which
foreign governments may nourish to disturb us.
However, they will produce an amendment to
the Constitution which, keeping the judges in
dependent of the Executive, will not leave them
so, of the nation. — To GENERAL WILKINSON.
v, 198. FORD ED., ix, 142. (M., Sep. 1807.)
1023.
The scenes which have
been acting at Richmond are sufficient to fill
us with alarm. We had supposed we possessed
fixed laws to guard us equally against treason
and oppression. But it now appears we have no
law but the will of the judge. Never will chi
canery have a more difficult task than has been
* Hay was the U. S. District Attorney,— EDITOR.
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Rurr's (A.) Trial
Cabinet
now accomplished to warp the text of the law
to the will of him who is to construe it. Our
case, too, is the more desperate, as the attempt
to make the law plainer by amendment is only
throwing out new amendments for sophistry. —
To WILLIAM THOMPSON. FORD ED., ix, 143.
(M., Sep. 1807.)
_ BURR'S (A.) TRIAL, Judge Marshall
and. — See MARBURY vs. MADISON, MARSHALL.
1024. BURR'S (A.) TRIAL, Release.—
The event has been — (blank in the original)
not only to clear Burr, but to prevent
the evidence from ever going before the
world. But this latter case must not
take place. It is now, therefore, more than
ever indispensable, that not a single witness be
paid or permitted to depart until his testimony
has been committed to writing, either as de
livered in court, or taken by yourself in the
presence of any of Burr's counsel, who may
choose to attend to cross-examine. These
whole proceedings will be laid before Congress,
that they may decide whether the defect has
been in the evidence of guilt, or in the law, or
in the application of the law, and that they may
provide the proper remedy for the past and the
future. — To GEORGE HAY. v, 188. (M., Sep.
1807.)
1025. . The criminal is preserved
to become the rallying point of all the disaf
fected and the worthless of the United States,
and to be the pivot on which all the intrigues
and the conspiracies which foreign governments
may wish to disturb us with, are to turn. If
he is convicted of the misdemeanor, the judge
must in decency give us a respite by some short
confinement of him ; but we must expect it to
be very short. — To GEORGE HAY. v, 187. (M.,
Sept. 1807.)
1026. BURR'S (A.) TRIAL, Relegated to
Congress.— Be * * * the result before the
formal tribunal fair or false, it becomes our
duty to provide that full testimony shall be laid
before the Legislature, and through them the
public. For this purpose, it is necessary that
we be furnished with the testimony of every
person who shall be with you as a witness. *
* * Go into any expense necessary for this
purpose * * * . — To GEORGE HAY. v, 81.
FORD ED., ix, 52. (W., May 1807.)
1027. - I shall think it my duty
to lay before you the proceedings and the evi
dence publicly exhibited on the arraignment
of the principal offenders before the Circuit
Court of Virginia. You will be enabled to judge
whether the defeat was in the testimony, in
the law, or in the administration of the law ;
and wherever it shall be found, the Legislature
alone can apply or originate the remedy. The
framers of our Constitution certainly supposed
they had guarded, as well their government
against destruction by treason, as their citizens
against oppression, under pretence of it ; and if
these ends are not attained, it is of importance
to inquire by what means, more effectual, they
may be secured.* — SEVENTH ANNUAL MESSAGE.
viii, 87. FORD ED., viii, 163. (Oct. 1807.)
1028. CABELL (J. C.), University of
Va. and. — We always counted on you as the
main pillar of their [University of Virginia
measures] support. — To JOSEPH C. CABELL.
FORD ED., ix, 500. (M., 1815.)
1029. CABINET, Confidence in.— The
Cabinet Council of the President should be of
* As a result Congress enacted additional rigorous
legislation respecting treason.— EDITOR.
his bosom confidence. Our geographical posi
tion has been an impediment to that. — To
SAMUEL DEXTER, iv, 359. FORD ED., vii, 498.
(W., Feb. 1801.)
1030. CABINET, Contentions.— In the
discussions [on the affairs of France and Eng
land], Hamilton and myself were daily pitted
in the cabinet like two cocks. We were then
but four in number, and, according to the
majority, which of course was three to one,
the President decided. The pain was for
Hamilton and myself, but the public experi
enced no inconvenience. — To DR. WALTER
JONES, v, 510. FORD ED., ix, 273. (M., 1810.)
1031. - — . The method of separate
consultation, practiced sometimes in the Cab
inet, prevents disagreeable collisions. — To
JOEL BARLOW, v, 496. FORD ED., ix, 269. (M.,
1810.)
1032. CABINET, Enmity in.— I have
learned, with real sorrow, that circumstances
have arisen among our executive counsellors,
which have rendered foes those who once
were friends. To themselves it will be a
source of infinite pain and vexation, and
therefore chiefly I lament it, for I have
a sincere esteem for both parties. To the
President, it will be really inconvenient; but
to the nation I do not know that it can do
serious injury, unless we were to believe the
newspapers, which pretend that Mr. Gallatin
will go out. That, indeed, would be a day
of mourning for the United States ; but I hope
that the position of both gentlemen may be
made so easy as to give no cause for either to
withdraw. — To DR. WALTER JONES, v, 509.
FORD ED., ix, 273. (M., March 1810.)
1033. . The dissensions between
two members of the Cabinet are to be la
mented. But why should these force Mr. Gal
latin to withdraw? They cannot be greater
than between Hamilton and myself, and
yet we served together four years in that way.
We had indeed no personal dissensions
Each of us, perhaps, thought well of the other
as a man, but as politicians it was impossible
for two men to be of more opposite princi
ples. — To JOEL BARLOW, v, 496. FORD ED., ix,
269. (M., 1810.)
1034. CABINET, Equipoise of Opinion
in. — President Washington fsaid to me] that
he thought it important to preserve the check
of my opinions in the Administration, in or
der to keep things in their proper channel, and
prevent them from going too far. — THE ANAS.
ix, 121. FORD ED., i, 204. (Oct. 1792.)
1035. CABINET, Harmonious. — Our Ad
ministration now drawing towards a close, I
have a sublime pleasure in believing it will be
distinguished as much by having placed itself
above all the passions which could disturb its
harmony, as by the great operations by which
it will have advanced the well-being of the na
tion. — To ALBERT GALLATIN. v, 23. FORD ED.,
viii, 476. (W., 1806.)
1036. . I have so much reliance
on the superior good sense and candor of all
Cabinet
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
118
those associated with me, as to be satisfied
that they will not suffer either friend or foe
to sow tares among us. — To ALBERT GALLA-
TIN. v, 23. FORD ED., viii, 476. (W., 1806.)
1037. . Among the felicities
which have attended my administration, I
am most thankful for having been able to
procure coadjutors so able, so disinterested,
and so harmonious. Scarcely ever has a dif
ference of opinion appeared among us which
has not, by candid consultation, been amal
gamated into something which all approved;
and never one which in the slightest degree
affected our personal attachments.— To MR.
WEAVER, v, 89. (W., 1807.)
1038. . I look back with pecul
iar satisfaction on the harmony and cordial
good will which, to ourselves and to our
brethren of the Cabinet, so much sweetened
our toils.— To ROBERT SMITH, v, 451. (M.,
June 1809.)
1039. . I have thought it among
the most fortunate circumstances of my late
Administration that, through its eight years
continuance, it was conducted wjth a cordial
ity and harmony among all its members,
which never were ruffled on any, the greatest
or smallest occasion.— To WILLIAM DUANE.
v, 533- (M., 1810.)
1040. — . The harmony among us
was so perfect, that whatever instrument ap
peared most likely to effect the object, was
always used without jealousy. — To WILLIAM
WIRT. v, 594. FORD ED., ix, 318. (M., 1811.)
1041. . The affectionate har
mony of our Cabinet is among the sweetest of
my recollections.— To C^SAR RODNEY, vi, 448.
(M., 1815.)
1042. CABINET, Indebtedness to.— Far
from assuming to myself the merit of the
measures you note, they belong first, to a wise
and patriotic Legislature, which has given
them the form and sanction of law, and next
to my faithful and able fellow laborers in the
Executive administration. — R. To A. MASSA
CHUSETTS LEGISLATURE, viii, 116. (1807.)
1043. . For the advantages flow
ing from the measures of the government, you
are indebted principally to a wise and patriotic
Legislature, and to the able and inestimable
coadjutors with whom it has been my good
fortune to be associated in the direction of af
fairs.— R. To A. PHILADELPHIA CITIZENS.
viii, 145- (1809.)
1044. . Whatever may be the
merit or demerit of the acquisition of Louis
iana, I divide it with my colleagues, to whose
counsels I was indebted for a course of ad
ministration which, notwithstanding this late
coalition of clay and brass, will, I hope, con
tinue to receive the approbation of our coun
try. — To HENRY DEARBORN, vii, 215- FORD
ED., x, 192. (M., August 1821.)
1045. CABINET, Intrigue in.— It is im
possible for you to conceive what is passing
in our conclave ; and it is evident that one or
two at least, under pretence of avoiding war
on the one side, have no great antipathy to
run foul of it on the other, and to make a
part in the confederacy of princes against
human liberty. — To JAMES MADISON, iii, 563.
FORD ED., vi, 261. (Pa., May 1793.)
1046. CABINET, A Kitchen.— That
there is an ostensible Cabinet and a concealed
one, a public profession and concealed coun
teraction, is false. — To WILLIAM DUANE. iv,
592. FORD ED., viii, 433. (W., 1806.)
1047. CABINET, Rules of Jefferson's.—
Coming all of us into executive office, new,
and unfamiliar with the course of business
previously practiced, it was not to be expected
we should in the outset, adopt in every part a
line of proceeding so perfect as to admit
no amendment. The mode and degrees of
communication, particularly between the Pres
ident and heads of departments, have not
been practiced exactly on the same scale in all
of them. Yet it would certainly be more safe
and satisfactory for ourselves as well as
the public, that not only the best, but also an
uniform course of proceeding as to manner
and degree, should be observed. Having been
a member of the first Administration under
General Washington, I can state with exact
ness what our course then was. Letters of
business came addressed sometimes to the
President, but most frequently to the heads
of departments. If addressed to himself, he
referred them to the proper department to be
acted on; if to one of the Secretaries, the letter,
if it required no answer, was communicated to
the President, simply for his information. If
an answer was requisite, the Secretary of the
department communicated the letter and his
proposed answer to the President. Generally
they were simply sent back after perusal,
which signified his approbation. Sometimes
he returned them with an informal note, sug
gesting an alteration or a query. If a doubt
of any importance arose, he reserved it for
conference. By this means, he was always in
accurate possession of all facts and proceed
ings in every part of the Union, and to what
soever department they related ; he formed a
central point for the different branches; pre
served an unity of object and action among
them ; exercised that participation in the sug
gestion of affairs which his office made incum
bent on him; and met himself the due respon
sibility for whatever was done. During Mr.
Adam's Administration, his long and habitual
absences from the seat of government, ren
dered this kind of communication impracti
cable, removed him from any share in the
transaction of affairs, and parcelled out the
government, in fact, among four independent
heads, drawing sometimes in opposite direc
tions. That the former is preferable to the
latter course, cannot be doubted. It gave,
indeed, to the heads of departments the
trouble of making up, once a day, a packet of
all their communications for the perusal of
the President ; it commonly also retarded
one day their despatches by mail. But in
pressing cases, this injury was prevented by
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Cabinet
presenting that case singly for immediate at
tention; and it produced us in return the ben
efit of his sanction for every act we did.
Whether any change in circumstances may
render a change in this procedure necessary,
a little experience will show us. But I can
not withhold recommending to heads of de
partments, that we should adopt this course
for the present, leaving any necessary modifi
cations of it to time and trial. I am sure my
conduct must have proved, better than a thou
sand declarations would, that my confidence in
those whom I am so happy as to have associ
ated with me, is unlimited, unqualified, and
unabated. I am well satisfied that everything
goes on with a wisdom and rectitude which I
could not improve. If I had the universe to
choose from, I could not change one of my
associates to my better satisfaction. My sole
motives are those before expressed, as govern
ing the first Administration in chalking out
the rules of their proceeding ; adding to them
only a sense of obligation imposed on me by
the public will, to meet personally the duties
to which they have appointed ^ me. — To THE
HEADS OF THE DEPARTMENTS, iv, 415. FORD
ED., viii, 99. (W., Nov. 1801.)
1048. . In ordinary affairs every
head of a department consults me on those
of his department, and where anything arises
too difficult or important to be decided be
tween us, the consultation becomes general. —
To WILLIAM DUANE. iv, 592. FORD ED., viii,
432. (W., 1806.)
1049. . Something now occurs
almost every day on which it is desirable to
have the opinions of the heads of depart
ments, yet to have a formal meeting every
day would consume so much of their time as
to seriously obstruct their regular business. I
have proposed to them, as most convenient for
them, and wasting less of their time, to call
on me at any moment of the day which suits
their separate convenience, when, besides any
other business they may have to do, I can
learn their opinions separately on any matter
v/hich has occurred, and also communicate the
information received daily. — To ALBERT GAL-
LATIN, v, 122. FORD ED., ix, 104. (W., July
1807.)
1050. CABINET, Theory and the.— Our
Government, although in theory subject to be
directed by the unadvised will of the Presi
dent, is, and from its origin has been, a very
different thing in practice. The minor busi
ness in each department is done by the head
of the department, on consultation with the
President alone. But all matters of impor
tance or difficulty are submitted to all the
heads of departments composing the Cabinet :
sometimes by the President consulting them
separately and successively, as they happen to
call on him ; but in the gravest cases, by call
ing them together, discussing the subject ma
turely, and finally taking the vote, in which the
President counts himself but as one. So that
in all important cases the Executive is, in fact
a directory, which certainly the President
might control ; but of this there was never an
example, either in the first or the present ad
ministration. I have heard, indeed, that my
predecessor sometimes decided things against
his council by dashing and trampling his wig
on the floor. This only proves what you and
I know, that he had a better heart than head.
— To WILLIAM SHORT, v, 94. FORD ED ix
69. (W., 1807.)
1051. CABINET, An Unbroken.— It
would have been to me the greatest of con
solations to have gone through my term with
the same coadjutors, and to have shared with
them the merit, or demerit, of whatever good
or evil we may have done. — To HENRY DEAR
BORN, v, 229. FORD ED., ix, 171. (W., Jan.
1052. CABINET, Verbal and Written
Opinions. — I practiced the method [of as
sembling the Cabinet members and taking their
opinions verbally], because the harmony was
so cordial among us all, that we never failed,
by a contribution of mutual views on a sub
ject, to form an opinion acceptable to the
whole. I think there never was one instance
to the contrary, in any case of consequence. —
To DR. WALTER JONES, v, 510. FORD ED., ix,
273. (M., 1810.)
1053. _ _. The [method of taking
the opinions of the Cabinet verbally] does, in
fact, transform the Executive into a directory,
and I hold the other method [opinions in wri
ting,] to be more constitutional. It is better
calculated, too, to prevent collision and irrita
tion, and to cure it, or at least suppress its
effects when it has already taken place. — To
DR. WALTER JONES, v, 510. FORD ED., ix, 273.
(M., 1810.)
1054. . The ordinary business of
every day is done by consultation between the
President and the head of the department
alone to which it belongs. For measures of im
portance or difficulty, a consultation is held
with the heads of departments, either assem
bled, or by taking their opinions separately in
conversation or in writing. The latter is
most strictly in the spirit of the Constitution :
because the President, on weighing the advice
of all, is left free to make up an opinion for
himself. In this way they are not brought to
gether, and it is not necessarily known to
any what opinion the others have given. This
was General Washington's practice for the
first two or three years of his Administration,
till the affairs of France and England threat
ened to embroil us, and rendered considera
tion and discussion desirable. — To DR. WAL
TER JONES, v, 510. FORD ED., ix, 273. (M.,
1810.)
1055. CABINET, Vice-President and.—
The Vice-President, Secretaries of the Treas
ury and War, and myself, met. * * *
We unanimously advised an immediate order*
* Before the President set out on his Southern tour
in April, lygi, he addressed a letter of the 4th of that
month, from Mt. Vernon to the Secretaries of State.
Treasury and War, desiring that if any serious and
important cases should arise during his absence, they
would consult and act on them, and he requested that
the Vice-President should also be consulted. This
Cabinet
Callender (J. T.)
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
I 2O
* * * e — TO PRESIDENT WASHINGTON, iii,
247. FORD ED., v, 320. (Pa., April 1791.)
1056. . My letters inform me
that Mr. Adams speaks of me with great
friendship and with satisfaction in the pros
pect of administering the government in con
currence with me. * * * If by that he
means the Executive Cabinet, both duty and
inclination will shut that door to me. I can
not have a wish to see the scenes of 1793 re
vived as to myself, and to descend daily into
the arena like a gladiator, to suffer martyr
dom in every conflict. — To JAMES MADISON.
iv, 161. FORD ED., vii, 107. (M., Jan. 1797.)
1057. CABINET OFFICERS, Congress
and. — An attempt has been made to give fur
ther extent to the influence of the Executive
over the Legislature, by permitting the heads
of departments to attend the House, and ex
plain their measures viva voce. But it was
negatived by a majority of 35 to II, which
gives us some hope of the increase of the re
publican vote. — To T. M. RANDOLPH, iii, 491.
FORD ED., vi, 134. (Pa., Nov. 1792.)
1058. CABINET OFFICERS, Courtesy
between. — It is but common decency to leave
to my successor [in the State Department] the
moulding of his own business. — To WILLIAM
SHORT, iii, 504. FORD ED., vi, 156. (1793.)
1059. CABINET OFFICERS, Newspa
pers and. — Is not the dignity, and even de
cency of government committed, when one of
its principal ministers enlists himself as an
anonymous writer or paragraphist for either
the one or the other paper ? * — To PRESIDENT
WASHINGTON, iii, 467. FORD ED., vi, 108.
(M., 1792.)
1060. CABINET OFFICERS, Public
Confidence in.— It is essential to assemble in
the outset persons to compose our Adminis
tration, whose talents, integrity and revolu
tionary name and principles may inspire the
nation at once, with unbounded confidence,
and impose an awful silence on all the malign-
ers of republicanism ; as may suppress in em
bryo the purpose avowed by one of their most
daring and effective chiefs, of beating down
the Administration. These names do not
abound at this day. So few are they, that
yours cannot be spared among them without
leaving a blank which cannot be filled. If I
can obtain for the public the aid of those I
have contemplated, I fear nothing. If this
cannot be done, then we are unfortunate in
deed ! We shall be unable to realize the pros
pects which have been held out to the people,
and we must fall back into monarchism, for
want of heads, not hands to help us out of it.
This is a common cause, common to all re
publicans. Though I have been too honorably
placed in front of those who are to enter the
breach so happily made, yet the energies of
every individual are necessary, and in the very
place where his energies can most serve the
was the only occasion on which that officer was ever
requested to take part in a Cabinet question. — THE
ANAS, ix, q6. FORD ED., i, 165. (1818.)
* Refering to Alexander Hamilton's newspaper
articles.— EDITOR.
enterprise. * * * The part which circum
stances constrain us to propose to you is the
Secretaryship of the Navy. * * * Come
forward, then, and give us the aid of your
talents, and the weight of your character to
wards the new establishment of republican
ism : I say, for its new establishment, for
hitherto we have only seen its travesty. — To
ROBERT R. LIVINGSTON, iv, 338. FORD ED., vii,
464. (M., Dec. 1800.)
1061. CABINET OFFICERS, Society
and. — The gentlemen who composed General
Washington's first Administration took up,
too universally, a practice of general entertain
ment, which was unnecessary, obstructive of
business, and so oppressive to themselves, that
it was among the motives for their retirement.
Their successors profited. by the experiment,
and lived altogether as private individuals,
and so have ever continued to do. Here,
[Washington] indeed, it cannot be otherwise,
our situation being so rural, that during the
vacations of the Legislature we shall have no
society but of the officers of the government,
and in time of sessions the Legislature is be
come and becoming so numerous, that for the
last half dozen years nobody but the President
has pretended to entertain them. — To ROBERT
R. LIVINGSTON, iv, 339. FORD ED., vii, 465.
(W., Dec. 1800.)
_ CABOT FAMILY, Arms of.— See
BIRDS, TURKEY.
— C-ffiSAR.— See CICERO.
1062. CALLENDER (J. T.), Defence of.
— I think it essentially just and necessary that
Callender should be substantially defended.
Whether in the first stages by public interfer
ence, or private contributors, may be a question,
Perhaps it might be as well that it should be
left to the Legislature, who will meet in time,
and before whom you can lay the matter so
as to bring it before them. It is become pe
culiarly their cause, and may furnish them a
fine opportunity of showing their respect to the
Union, and at the same time of doing justice in
another way to those whom they cannot protect
without committing the public tranquillity. — To
JAMES MONROE. FORD ED., vii, 448. (Ep., May
1800.)
1063. CALLENDER (J. T.), Federalists
and. — I enclose you a paper which shows the
tories mean to pervert these charities to Cal
lender as much as they can. They will probably
first represent me as the patron and support of
the " Prospect Before Us" and other things of
Callender's ; and then picking out all the scurril
ities of the author against General Washington,
Mr. Adams, and others, impute them to me. I,
as well as most other republicans who were in
the way of doing it, contributed what I could
afford to the support of the republican papers
and printers, paid sums of money for The Bee,
the Albany Register, &c., when they were stag
gering under the Sedition law ; contributed to
the fines of Callender himself, of Holt, Brown
and others, suffering under that law. I dis
charged, when I came into office, such as were
under the persecution of our enemies, without
instituting any prosecutions in retaliation.
They may, therefore, with the same justice,
impute to me, or to every republican contribu
tor, everything which was ever published in
121
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Callender (J. T.)
those papers, or by those persons. — To JAMES
MONROE, iv, 447. FORD ED., viii, 167. (W.,
1802.)
1064. CALLENDER (J. T.), Fine paid.
— To take from Callender all room for com
plaint, I think, with you, we had better refund
his fine by private contributions. I enclose you
an orde^ * * * for fifty dollars, which, I
believe, is one-fourth of the whole sum. — To
JAMES MONROE. FORD ED., viii, 58. (W., May
1801.)
1065. CALLENDER (J. T.), Persecu
tion of. — The violence which was meditated
against you lately has excited a very general
indignation in this part of the country. Our
State, from its first plantation, has been remark
able for its order and submission to the laws.
But three instances are recollected in its his
tory of an organized opposition to the laws.
The first was Bacon's rebellion ; the second,
our Revolution ; the third, the Richmond asso
ciation, who, by their committee, have in the
public papers avowed their purpose of taking
out of the hands of the law the function of de
claring who may or may not have free residence
among us. But these gentlemen miscalculate
the temper and force of this country extremely
if they supposed there would have been a want
of either to support the authority of the laws ;
and equally mistake their own interests in set
ting the example of club-law. Whether their
self-organized election of a committee, and pub
lication of their manifesto, be such overt acts
as bring them within the pale of the law ; the
law, I presume is to decide ; and there it is
our duty to leave it. — To J. T. CALLENDER.
FORD ED., vii, 392. (M., Sep. 1799.)
1066. CALLENDER (J. T.), Relations
with Jefferson.— I am really mortified at the
base ingratitude of Callender. It presents hu
man nature in a hideous form. It gives me
concern, because I perceive that relief, which
was afforded him on mere motives of charity,
may be viewed under the aspect of employing
him as a writer. When the "Political Progress
of Britain " first appeared in this country, it
was in a periodical publication called The Bcc,
where I saw it. I was speaking of it in terms
of strong approbation to a friend in Philadel
phia, when he asked me if I knew that the
author was then in the city, a fugitive from
prosecution on account of that work, and in
want of employ for his subsistence. This was the
first of my learning that Callender was author of
the work. I considered him as a man of science
fled from persecution, and assured my friend of
my readiness to do whatever could serve him.
It was long after this before I saw him ; prob
ably not till 1798. He had, in the meantime,
written a second part of the Political Progress,
much inferior to the first, and his History of
the United States. In 1798. I think, I was ap
plied to by Mr. Leiper to contribute to his re
lief. I did so. In 1799, I think, S. T. Mason
applied for him. I contributed again. He had,
by this time, paid me two or three personal
visits. When he fled in a panic from Philadel
phia to General Mason's, he wrote to me that
he was a fugitive, in want of employ, wished
to know if he could get into a counting-house
or a school, in my neighborhood or in that of
Richmond ; that he had materials for a volume,
and if he could get as much money as would buy
the paper, the profit of the sale would be all his
own. I availed myself of this pretext to
cover a mere charity, by desiring him to con
sider me a subscriber for as many copies of his
book as the money enclosed (fifty dollars)
amounted to ; but to send me two copies only,
as the others might lie till called for. But I
discouraged his coming into my neighborhood.
His first writings here had fallen far short of
his original Political Progress, and the scurrili
ties of his subsequent ones began evidently to do
mischief. As to myself, no man wished more
to see his pen stopped ; but I considered him
still as a proper object of benevolence. The
succeeding year, he again wanted money to
buy paper for another volume. I made his let
ter, as before, the occasion of giving him an
other fifty dollars. He considers these as
proofs of my approbation of his writings, when
they were mere charities, yielded under a strong
conviction that he was injuring us by his
writings. It is known to many that the sums
fiven to him were such, and even smaller than
was in the habit of giving to others in distress,
of the federal as well as the republican party,
without attention to political principles. Soon
after I was elected to the government, Callender
came on here [Washington] wishing to be made
postmaster at Richmond. I knew him to be
totally unfit for it ; and however ready I was
to aid him with my own charities (and I then
gave him fifty dollars). I did not think the
public offices confided to me to give away as
charities. He took it in mortal offence, and
from that moment has been hauling off to his
former enemies, the federalists. Besides the
letters I wrote him in answer to the one from
General Mason, I wrote him another, contain
ing answers to two questions he addressed to me.
i. Whether Mr. Jay received salary as Chief
Justice and Envoy at the same time ; and 2.
something relative to the expenses of an em
bassy to Constantinople. I think these were
the only letters I ever wrote him in answer to
volumes he was perpetually writing to me.
This is the true state of what has passed be
tween him and me. I do not know that it
can be used without committing me in contro
versy, as it were, with one too little respected
by the public to merit that notice. I leave to
your judgment what use can be made of these
facts. Perhaps it will be better judged of,
when we see what use the tories will endeavor
to make of their new friend. — To JAMES MON
ROE, iv, 444. FORD ED., viii, 164. (W., July
1802.)
1067. CALLENDER (J. T.), Threats of.
— Callender is arrived here [Washington].
He did not call on me ; but understanding he
was in distress I sent Captain Lewis to him with
fifty dollars, to inform him we were making
some enquiries as to his fine which would take
a little time, and lest he should suffer in the
meantime, I had sent him, &c. His language
to Captain Lewis was very high-toned. He
intimated that he was in possession of things
which he could and would make use of in a
certain case ; that he received the fifty dollars,
not as a charity but a due, in fact as hush
money; that I knew what he expected, viz.. a
certain office, and more to this effect. Such a
misconstruction of my charities puts an end to
them forever. You will, therefore, be so good
as to make no use of the order* I enclosed you.
He knows nothing of me which I am not will
ing to declare to the world myself. I knew him
first as the author of the Political Progress of
Britain, a work I had read with great satisfac
tion, and as a fugitive from persecution for this
very work. I gave to him from time to time
such aids as I could afford, merely as a man
of genius suffering under persecution, and not
* An order for fifty dollars towards payment of
Callender's fine.— EDITOR.
Calonne (C. A. de)
Calumny
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
122
as a writer in our politics. It is long since I
wished he would cease writing on them, as do
ing more harm than good. — To JAMES MONROE.
FORD EDV viii, 61. (W., May 1801.)
1068. CALONNE (C. A. de), Character
of. — The memoir of M. de Calonne, though it
does not prove him to be more innocent than
his predecessors, shows him not to have been
that exaggerated scoundrel which the calcula
tions and the clamors of the public have sup
posed. — To MADAME DE CARNY. D. L. J., 132.
(P., 1787.)
1069. CALUMNY, Character and.— I
laid it down as a law to myself, to take no
notice of the thousand calumnies issued
against me, but to trust my character to my
own conduct, and the good sense and candor
of my fellow citizens. — To WILSON C. NICH
OLAS, v, 452. FORD ED., ix, 253. (M., 1809.)
1070. CALUMNY, Contradiction of.— I
have never even contradicted the thousands of
calumnies so industriously propagated against
myself. — To THOMAS SEYMOUR, v, 43. FORD
EDV ix, 30. (W., 1807.)
1071. CALUMNY, Foolish.— Of all the
charges brought against me by my political
adversaries, that of possessing some science
has probably done them the least credit. Our
countrymen are too enlightened themselves to
believe that ignorance is the best qualification
for their service.— To C. F. WELLS, v, 483.
(M., 1809.)
1072. CALUMNY, Forgotten.— The ex
pression respecting myself, stated in your let
ter to have been imputed to you by your cal
umniators, had either never been heard by me,
or, if heard, had been unheeded and forgotten.
I have been too much the butt of such false
hoods myself to do others the injustice of per
mitting them to make the least impression on
me. My consciousness that no man on earth
has me under his thumb is evidence enough
that you never used the expression. — To GEN
ERAL WILKINSON, v, 573. (M., 1811.)
1073. CALUMNY, Newspaper.— Were I
to undertake to answer the calumnies of the
newspapers, it would be more than all my
own time, and that of twenty aids could
effect. For while I should be answering one,
twenty new ones would be invented. I have
thought it better to trust to the justice of my
countrymen, that they would judge me by
what they see of my conduct on the stage
where they have placed me, and what they
knew of me before the epoch since which a
particular party has supposed it might answer
some view of theirs to villify me in the public
eye. Some, I know, will not reflect how
apocryphal is the testimony of enemies so
palpably betraying the views with which they
give it. But this is an injury to which duty
requires every one to submit whom the public
think proper to call into its councils. — To
SAMUEL SMITH, iv, 255. FORD ED., vii, 279.
(M., 1798.)
1074. CALUMNY, Political.— With the
aid of lying renegade from republicanism
[Callender], the federalists have opened all
their sluices of calumny. They say we lied
them out of power, and, openly avow they
will do the same by us. But it was not lies
or arguments on our part which dethroned
them, but their own foolish acts, Sedition
laws, Alien laws, taxes, extravagance and
heresies. " Porcupine," their friend wrote
them down. Callender, their new recruit,
will do the same. Every decent man among
them revolts at his filth.— To ROBERT R. LIV
INGSTON, iv, 448. FORD ED., viii, 173. (W.
Oct. 1802.)
1075. . It has been a source of
great pain to me, to have met with so many
among our opponents, who had not the lib
erality to distinguish between political and
social opposition ; who transferred at once to
the person, the hatred they bore to his polit
ical opinions. I suppose, indeed, that in pub
lic life, a man whose political principles have
any decided character, and who has energy
enough to give them effect, must always ex
pect to encounter political hostility from those
of adverse principles. But I came to the
government under circumstances calculated
to generate peculiar acrimony. I found all its
offices in the possession of a political sect,
who wished to transform it ultimately into
the shape of their darling model, the English
government; and in the meantime, to famil
iarize the public mind to the change, by ad
ministering it on English principles, and in
English forms. The elective interposition of
the people had blown all their designs, and
they found themselves and their fortresses of
power and profit put in a moment into the
hands of other trustees. Lamentations and
invective were all that remained to them.
This last was naturally directed against the
agent selected to execute the multiplied refor
mations, which their heresies had rendered
necessary. I became, of course, the butt of
everything which reason, ridicule, malice and
falsehood could supply. They have concen
trated all their hatred on me, till they have
really persuaded themselves, that I am the sole
source of all their imaginary evils. — To RICH
ARD M. JOHNSON, v, 256. (W., 1808.)
1076. . The large share I have
enjoyed, and still enjoy of anti-republican ha
tred and calumny, gives me the satisfaction of
supposing that I have been some obstacle to
anti-republican designs; and if truth should
find its way into history, the object of these
falsehoods and calumnies will render them
honorable to me. — To W. LAMBERT, v, 450.
(M., May 1809.)
1077. . if? brooding over past
calamities, the adherents of federalism can,
by abusing me, be diverted from disturbing
the course of government, they will make me
useful longer than I had expected to be so.
Having served them faithfully for a term of
twelve or fourteen years, in the terrific sta
tion of Rawhead and Bloodybones, it was sup
posed that, retired from power, I should have
been functus oiftcio, of course, for them also.
If, nevertheless, they wish my continuance in
that awful office, I yield, and the rather as it
123
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Calumny
Campbell (Col.)
may be exercised at home, without interfering
with the tranquil enjoyment of my farm, my
family, my friends and books. In truth, hav
ing never felt a pain from their abuse, I bear
them no malice. — To W. D. G. WORTHING-
TON. v, 504. (M., 1810.)
1078. CALUMNY, Posterity and.— It is
fortunate for those in public trust that pos
terity will judge them by their works and not
by the malignant vituperations and invectives
of the Pickerings and Gardiners of their age.
— To JOHN ADAMS, vii, 62. (M., 1817.)
1079. CALUMNY, Public Service and.
— Calumny would not weigh an atom with me
on any occasion where my avowal of either
facts or opinions would be of public use ; but
whenever it will not, I then think it useful to
keep myself out of the way of calumny. — To
J. T. CALLENDER. FORD ED., vii, 394. (M.,
I799-)
1080. CALUMNY, Religion and.— From
the moment that a portion of my fellow citi
zens looked towards me with a view to one of
their highest offices, the flood-gates of calumny
have been opened upon me ; not where I am
personally known, and where their slanders
would be instantly judged and suppressed
from the general sense of their falsehood ; but
in the remote parts of the Union, where the
means of detection are not at hand, and the
trouble in an enquiry is greater than would
suit the hearers to undertake. I know that
I might have filled the courts of the United
States with actions for these slanders, and
have ruined, perhaps, many persons who are
not innocent. But this would be no equiva
lent to the loss of character. I leave them,
therefore, to the reproof of their own con
sciences. If these do not condemn them, there
will yet come a day when the false witness will
meet a Judge who has not slept over his slan
ders. If the Rev. Cotton Mather Smith, of
Shena, believed this as firmly as I do, he
would surely never have affirmed that " I had
obtained my property by fraud and robbery;
that in one instance, I had defrauded and
robbed a widow and fatherless children of
an estate and to which I was executor, of ten
thousand pounds sterling by keeping the prop
erty and paying then in money at the nominal
rate, when it was worth no more than forty
for one; and that all this could be proved."
Every tittle of it is fable; there not having
existed a single circumstance of my life to
which any part of it can hang. I never was
executor but in two instances, both of which
having taken place about the beginning of
the Revolution, which withdrew me immedi
ately from all private pursuits, I never med
dled in either executorship. In one of the
cases only, were there a widow and children.
She was my sister. She retained and managed
the estate in her own hands, and no part of it
was ever in mine. In the other, I was a co
partner, and only received on a division the
equal portion allotted to me. To neither of
these executorships, therefore, could Mr.
Smith refer. Again, my property is all patri
monial, except about seven or eight hundred
pounds worth of lands, purchased by myself
and paid for not, to widows and orphans, but
to the very gentleman from whom I pur
chased. If Mr. Smith, therefore, thinks the
precepts of the gospel intended for those who
preach them as well for others, he will doubt
less some day feel the duties of repent
ance, and of acknowledgment in such forms
as to correct the wrong he has done. Per
haps he will have to wait till the passions of
the moment have passed away. All this is
left to his own conscience. — To URIAH MC
GREGOR Y. iv, 333. (M., Aug. 1800.)
1081. CALUMNY, Silence under.—
Though I see the pen of the Secretary of the
Treasury [Alexander Hamilton] plainly in the
attack on me, yet, since he has not chosen to
put his name to it, I am not free to notice it
as his. I have preserved through life a reso
lution, set in a very early part of it, never to
write in a public paper without subscribingimy
name, and to engage openly an adversary who
does not let himself be seen, is staking all
against nothing. The indecency, too, of news
paper squabbling between two public minis
ters, besides my own sense of it, has drawn
something like an injunction from another
quarter [President Washington]. Every
fact alleged under the signature of " An
American " as to myself, is false, and can be
proved so * * * . But for the present, lying
and scribbling must be free to those mean
enough to deal in them, and in the dark. — To
EDMUND RANDOLPH, iii, 470. FORD ED., vi,
112. (M., 1792.)
1082. CALUMNY, Unnoticed.— My rule
of life has been never to harass the public
with fendings and provings of personal slan
ders. * * * I have ever trusted to the jus
tice and consideration of my fellow citizens,
and have no reason to repent it, or to change
my course. — To MARTIN VAN BUREN. vii,
372. FORD ED., x, 315. (M., 1824.)
1083. CAMDEN, Battle of.— I sincerely
condole with you on our late misfortune [the
battle of Camden], which sits the heavier on my
mind as being produced by my own country
men. Instead of considering what is past, how
ever, we are to look forward and prepare for
the future. — To GENERAL EDWARD STEVENS, i,
250. FORD ED., ii, 333. (R., 1780.)
1084. . I am extremely morti
fied at the misfortune [the battle of Camden]
incurred in the South, and the more so as the
militia of our State concurred so eminently in
producing it. — To GENERAL GATES. FORD ED.,
ii, 332. (R., 1780.)
1085. CAMPBELL (Col.), Battle of
King's Mountain. — Your favor * * *
gives me the first information * * * that
the laurels which Colonel Campbell so honor
ably won in the battle of King's Mountain had
ever been brought into question by any one.
To him has been ever ascribed so much of the
success of that brilliant action as the valor and
conduct of an able commander might justly
claim. * * * It was the joyful annuncia
tion of that turn of the tide of success which
terminated the Revolutionary war with the seal
of our Independence. * * * The descend
ants of Colonel Campbell may rest their heads
quietly on the pillow of his renown. History
Canada
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
124
has consecrated, and will forever preserve it
in the faithful annals of a grateful country. —
To JOHN CAMPBELL, vii, 268. (M., 1822.)
1086. CANADA, The Colonies and.—
They [Parliament] have erected in a neigh
boring province [Quebec], acquired by the
joint arms of Great Britain and America, a
tyranny dangerous to the very existence of
all these Colonies. — DECLARATION ON TAKING
UP ARMS. FORD ED., i, 468. (July 1775.)
1087. . The proposition [of Lord
North] is altogether unsatisfactory * * *
because it does not propose to repeal the sev
eral acts of Parliament * * * extending the
boundaries and changing the government and
religion of Quebec. — REPLY TO LORD NORTH'S
PROPOSITION, i, 480. (July 1775.)
1088. . The cooperation of the
Canadians is taken for granted in all the min
isterial schemes. We hope, therefore, they
will be dislocated by the events in that quar
ter.— To FRANCIS EPPES. FORD ED., i, 487. (Pa.,
Oct. 1775.)
1089. . In a short time, we have
reason to hope, the delegates of Canada will
join us in Congress and complete the Amer
ican union, as far as we wish to have it com
pleted. — To JOHN RANDOLPH, i, 202. FORD
ED., i. 492. (Pa., Nov. 1775.)
1090. CAN AD A, Conquest of.— The Brit
ish [by forcing us into war] will oblige us to
take from them Canada and Nova Scotia
which it is not our interest to possess. — To
WILLIAM CARMICHAEL. FORD ED., iv, 453.
(P., Sep. 1787.)
1091. - — . One of our first [Cabi
net] consultations must be on the question
whether we shall not order all the militia and
volunteers destined for the Canadas to be em
bodied on the 26th of October, and to march
immediately to such points on the way to their
destination as shall be pointed out, there to
await the decision of Congress? — To JAMES
MADISON, v, 197. FORD ED., ix, 141. (M.,
Sep. 1807.)
1092. . [It was agreed in Cabi
net to] prepare all necessaries for an attack
of Upper Canada, and the upper part of
Lower Canada, as far as the mouth of Riche
lieu river; also to take possession of the
islands of Campobello, &c., in the bay of Pas-
samaquoddy. — ANAS. FORD ED., i, 326. (July
1807.)
1093. . The acquisition of Can
ada this year, as far as the neighborhood of
Quebec, will be a mere matter of marching,
and will give us experience for the attack of
Halifax the next, and the final expulsion of
England from the American continent. — To
WILLIAM DUANE. vi, 75. FORD ED., ix, 366.
(M., Aug. 1812.)
1094. . Our present enemy will
have the sea to herself, while we shall be
equally predominant at land, and shall strip
her of all her possessions on this continent. —
To GENERAL KOSCIUSKO. vi, 68. FORD ED. ix,
361. (M., June 1812.)
1095.
To continue the war
popular, * * * it is necessary to stop In
dian barbarities. The conquest of Canada will
do this. — To PRESIDENT MADISON, vi, 70.
FORD ED., ix, 364. (M., June 1812.)
1096. . The declaration of war
is entirely popular here [Virginia], the only
opinion being that it should have been issued
the moment the season admitted the militia
to enter Canada. — To PRESIDENT MADISON, vi,
70. FORD ED., ix, 364. (M., June 1812.)
1097. . I know your feelings on
the present state of the world, and hope they
will be cheered by the successful course of
our war, and the addition of Canada to our
confederacy. The infamous intrigues of Great
Britain to destroy our government (of which
Henry's is but one sample), and with the In
dians to tomahawk our women and children,
prove that the cession of Canada, their ful
crum for these Machiavelian levers, must be
a sine qua non at a treaty of peace. — To GEN
ERAL KOSCIUSKO. vi, 70. FORD ED., ix, 363.
(M., June 1812.)
1098. - — . We have taken Upper
Canada, * * * and hope to remove the
British fully and finally from our continent. —
To MADAME DE TESSE. vi, 273. FORD ED., ix,
440. (Dec. 1813.)
1099. CANADA, Indemnification and.
— With Canada in hand we can go to treaty
with an off-set for spoliation before the war.
— To PRESIDENT MADISON, vi, 78. (M., Aug.
1812.)
1100. . For one thousand ships
taken, and six thousand seamen impressed,
give us Canada for indemnification, and the
only security they can give us against their
Henrys and the savages. — To MR. WRIGHT.
vi, 78. (M., Aug. 1812.)
1101.- . If we could but get Can
ada to Trois Rivieres in our hands we should
have a set-off against spoliations to be treated
of, and in the meantime separate the Indians
from them, and set the friendly to attack the
hostile part with our aid. — To PRESIDENT
MADISON. FORD ED., ix, 370. (M., Nov. 1812.)
1102. . We have a great and
a just claim of indemnifications against the
British for the thousand ships they have taken
piratically, and six thousand seamen im
pressed. Whether we can, on this score, suc
cessfully insist on curtailing their American
possessions, by the meridian of Lake Huron,
so as to cut them off from the Indians border
ing on us, would be matter for conversation
and experiment at the treaty of pacification. —
To WILLIAM SHORT, vi, 129. (M., June
1813-)
1103. . Could we acquire that
country, we might perhaps insist successfully
at St. Petersburg on retaining all westward
of the meridian of Lake Huron, or of Ontario,
or of Montreal, according to the pulse of the
place, as an indemnification for the past and
security for the future. To cut them off from
125
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Canada
Caual
the Indians even west of the Huron would be
a great future security. — To JAMES MONROE.
vi, 131. (M., June 1813.)
1104. - — .A thousand ships taken
unjustifiably in time of peace, and thousands
of our citizens impressed, warrant expecta
tions of indemnification ; such a Western fron
tier, perhaps, given to Canada, as may put it
out of their power to employ the tomahawk
and scalping knife of the Indians on our
women and children ; or, what would be nearly
equivalent, the exclusive right to the Lakes. —
To DR. GEORGE LOGAN, vi, 216. FORD ED., ix,
422. (M., Oct. 1813.)
1105. . The conduct of the Brit
ish during the war in exciting the Indian
hordes to murder and scalp the women and
children on our frontier, renders peace for
ever impossible but on the establishment of
such a meridian boundary to their possessions,
as that they never more can have such influ
ence with the savages as to excite again the
same barbarities. The thousand ships, too,
they took from us in peace, and the six thou
sand seamen impressed call for this indemni
fication. — To DON. V. TORONDA CORUNA. vi,
275. (M., Dec. 1813.)
1106. CANADA, Value of.— If the war is
lengthened we shall take Canada, which will
relieve us from Indians, and Halifax, which
will put an end to their occupation of the
American Seas, because every vessel must then
go to England to repair every accident. To
retain these would become objects of first im
portance to us, and of great importance to
Europe, as the means of curtailing the Brit
ish marine. But at present, being merely in
fosse, they should not be an impediment to
peace. — To WILLIAM SHORT, vi, 129. (M.,
June 1813.)
1107. CANAL, Big Beaver.— I remember
having written to you, while Congress sat at
Annapolis, on the water communication be
tween ours and the western country, and to
have mentioned particularly the information I
had received of the plain face of the country
between the sources of Big Beaver and Cayo-
hoga, which made me hope that a canal of no
great expense might unite the navigation of
Lake Erie and the Ohio. You must since have
had occasion of getting better information on
this subject, and if you have, you would oblige
me by a communication of it. I consider this
canal, if practicable, as a very important work.
— To GENERAL WASHINGTON, ii, 250. (P.
1787.)
1108. . I thank you for the in
formation * * * on the communication
between the Cayohoga and Big Beaver. I have
ever considered the opening of a canal between
those two water courses as the most important
work in that line which the State of Virginia
could undertake. It will infallibly turn through
the Potomac all the commerce of Lake Erie,
and the country west of that, except what may
pass down the Mississippi ; and it is important
that it be soon done, lest that commerce should,
in the meantime, get established in another
channel. * * * I take the liberty of send
ing you the notes I made when I examined
the canal of Languedoc, through its whole
course, last year. You may find in them some
thing, perhaps, which may be turned to account,
some time or other, in the prosecution of the
Potomac canal.— To GENERAL WASHINGTON.
11, 370. FORD ED., v, 7. (P., 1788.)
1109.- — . Another vast object, and
of much less difficulty, is to add, also, all the
country on the Lakes and their waters. Thi«
would enlarge our [Virginia's] field immensely,
and would certainly be effected by an union ol
the Ohio and Lake Erie. The Big Beaver and
Cayohoga offer the most direct line. * * *
The States of Maryland and Virginia should
make a common object of it. The navigation
again, between Elizabeth River and the Sound!
is of vast importance, and in my opinion, it is
much better that these should be done at pub
lic than private expense. — To GENERAL WASH
INGTON, iii, 30. FORD ED., v, 93. (P., 1789.)
1110. CANAL, Erie.— The most gigantic
undertaking yet proposed is that of New York,
for drawing the waters of Lake Erie into the
Hudson. The expense will be great, but its
effect incalculably powerful in favor of the
Atlantic States.— To F. H. ALEXANDER VON
HUMBOLDT. vii, 75. FORD ED., x, 80 CM
1817.)
1111. CANAL, James River.— The opin
ion I have ever expressed of the advantages of
a western communication through the James
River, I still entertain ; and that the Cayuga
is the most promising of the links of communi
cation. To WILLIAM SHORT, vii, 156. (M.
1820.)
1112. CANAL, Languedoc. — I am now
about setting out on a journey to the South of
France. I shall carefully examine
the canal of Languedoc. — To COLONEL MONROE
ii, 70. (P., 1786.)
1113. CANAL, New Orleans.— The United
States feel a strong interest in the New Orleans
canal, * and in some conversations
on the subject the winter before last,
there was a mutual understanding that the
company would complete the canal, and the
United States would make the locks. This we
are still disposed to do ; and so anxious are we
to get this means of defence completed, that to
hasten it we would contribute any other en
couragement within the limits of our authority
which might produce this effect. — To GOVERNOR
CLAIBORNE. v, 306. (W., July 1808.)
1114. - _. The first interests of the
company will be to bring a practicable naviga
tion from the Lake Pontchartrain through the
Bayou St. Jean and Canal de Carondelet to the
city, because that entitles them to a toll on the
profitable part of the enterprise. But this
would answer no object of the government un
less it was carried through to the Mississippi,
so that pur armed vessels drawing five feet of
water might pass through. Instead therefore of
the ground I suggested in my last letter, I
would propose to lend them a sum of money
on the condition of their applying it entirely
to that part of the canal which, beginning at the
Mississippi, goes round the city to a junction
with the canal of Carondelet ; and we may
moreover at our own expense erect the locks.
— To GOVERNOR CLAIBORNE. v, 319. (W., July
1808.)
1115. . The Canal Company ask
specifically that we should either lend them
fifty thousand dollars, or buy the remaining
part of their shares now on hand. On consulta
tion with Mr. Madison, Mr. Gallatin and Mr.
Canal
Capital
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
126
Rodney, we concluded it best to say we would
lend them a sum of money if they would agree
to lay out the whole of it in making the canal
from the Mississippi round the town to its junc
tion with the canal of Carondelet. — To HENRY
DEARBORN, v, 321. (W., 1808.)
1116. CANAL, Panama.— The Spaniards
are, at this time, desirous of trading to the
Philippine Islands, by the way of the Cape of
Good Hope;, but opposed in it by the Dutch,
under authority of the treaty of Munster, they
are examining the practicability of a common
passage through the Straits of Magellan or
round Cape Horn. Were they to make an
opening through the Isthmus of Panama, a
work much less difficult than some even of the
inferior canals of France, however small this
opening should be in the beginning, the tropical
current, entering it with all its force, would
soon widen it sufficiently for its own passage.
— To M. LE ROY DE L'ACADEMIE DES SCIENCES.
ii, 59. (P., 1786.) See GULF STREAM.
1117.
I have been told that the
cutting through the Isthmus of Panama, which
the world has so often wished, and supposed
practicable, has at times been thought of by
the government of Spain, and that they once
proceeded so far as to have a survey and ex
amination made of the ground ; but that the
result was either impracticable or of too great
difficulty. Probably the Count de Camporn-
anes, or Don Ulloa, can give you information
on this head. I should be exceedingly pleased
to get as minute details as possible on it, and
even copies of the survey, report, &c., if they
could be obtained at a moderate expense. I
take the liberty of asking your assistance in
this. — To WILLIAM CARMICHAEL. ii, 325.
FORD ED., iv, 473. (P., 1787.)
1118.
With respect to the
Isthmus of Panama, I am assured by Burgoyne
* * * that a survey was made, that a canal
appeared very practicable, and that the idea
was suppressed for political reasons altogether.
He has seen and minutely examined the report.
This report is to me a vast desideratum, for
reasons political and philosophical. — To WILL
IAM CARMICHAEL. ii, 397. FORD ED., v, 22.
(P., 1788.)
1119. CANAL, Potomac and Ohio.— I
consider the union of the Potomac and the Ohio
rivers as among the strongest links of communi
cation between the eastern and western sides
of our confederacy. It will, moreover, add to
the commerce of Virginia, in particular, all the
upper parts of the Ohio and its v/aters. * * *
With respect to the doubts which you say are
entertained by some, whether the upper waters
of the Potomac can be rendered capable of
navigation on account of the falls and rugged
banks, they are answered, by observing that it
is reduced to a maxim that whenever there is
water enough to float a batteau, there may be
navigation for a batteau. Canals and locks
may be necessary, and they are expensive ; but
I hardly know what expense would be too great
for the object in question. — To GENERAL
WASHINGTON, iii, 29. FORD ED., v, 93. (P.,
1789.)
1120. CANAL, Santee and Cooper Riv
ers. — As to the Santee and Cooper rivers
canal, I shall be glad to do anything I can to
promote it. But I confess I have small ex
pectations for the following reason : General
Washington sent me a copy of the Virginia
act for opening the Potomac. * * * It was
pushed here [Paris] among the moneyed men
to obtain subscriptions, but not a single one
could be obtained. The stockjobbing in this
city offered greater advantages than to buy
shares in the canal. — To M. TERRASSON. ii,
383. (P., 1788.)
1121. CANDOR, Appeal to.— I ask only
to be judged with truth and candor.— To THE
RHODE ISLAND ASSEMBLY, iv, 397. (W., May
1801.)
1122. CANDOR, Appreciating.— If those,
who thought I might have been remiss, would
have written to me on the subject, I should
have admired them for their candor, and
thanked them for it; for I have no jealousies
nor resentments at things of this kind, where
I have no reason to believe they have been
excited by a hostile spirit. — To JAMES MON
ROE, i, 589. FORD ED., iv, 248. (P., 1786.)
1123. CANNIBALS, Rulers as.— Canni
bals are not to be found in the wilds of Amer
ica only, but are revelling on the blood of
every living people. — To CHARLES CLAS. vi,
413- (M., 1815.)
1124. CANNING (George), Policy of.—
Canning's equivocations degrade his govern
ment as well as himself. — To PRESIDENT MADI
SON, v, 468. (M., Sep. 1809.)
1125. CANOVA (A.), Washington's
Statue and.— Who should make the Wash
ington statue? There can be but one answer
to this. Old Canova, of Rome. No artist in
Europe would place himself in a line with him ;
and for thirty years, within my own knowledge,
he has been considered by all Europe as with
out a rival. — To NATHANIEL MACON. vi, 534.
(M., 1816.)
1126. CAPITAL, Corruption through.—
The capital employed in paper speculation
* * * has furnished effectual means of
corrupting such a portion of the Legislature,
as turns the balance between the honest vo
ters, whichever way it is directed. This cor
rupt squadron, deciding the voice of the Leg
islature, have manifested their dispositions to
get rid of the limitations imposed by the Con
stitution on the General Legislature, limita
tions, on the faith of which, the States ac
ceded to that instrument. — To PRESIDENT
WASHINGTON, iii, 361. FORD ED., vi, 3. (Pa.,
May 1792.)
1127. CAPITAL, Creation of.— Capital
may be produced by industry, and accumu
lated by economy; but jugglers only will pro
pose to create it by legerdemain tricks with
paper. — To J. W. EPPES. vi, 241. FORD ED.,
ix, 413. (M., Nov. 1813.)
1128. CAPITAL, Opportunities for.—
The citizens of a country like ours will never
have unemployed capital. Too many enter
prises are open, offering high profits, to per
mit them to lend their capitals on a regular
and moderate interest. They are too enter
prising and sanguine themselves not to be
lieve they can do better with it. — To PRESI
DENT MADISON, vi, 393. FORD ED., ix, 401.
(M., 1815.)
1129. CAPITAL, Stock- jobbing and.—
The capital employed in paper speculation
127
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Capital
Capitol
* * * nourishes in our citizens habits of vice
and idleness, instead of industry and moral
ity. — To PRESIDENT WASHINGTON, iii, 361.
FORD ED., vi, 3. (Pa., 1792.)
1130. . The capital employed in
paper speculation is barren and useless, pro
ducing, like that on a gaming table, no acces
sion to itself, and is withdrawn from com
merce and agriculture, where it would have
produced addition to the common mass. — To
PRESIDENT WASHINGTON, iii, 361. FORD ED.,
vi, 3. (Pa., 1792.)
_ CAPITAL LAWS.— See DEATH PEN
ALTY.
_ CAPITAL, National.— See WASHING
TON CITY.
1131. CAPITALS (State), Location of.
— The equal rights of all the inhabitants re
quire that the seat of government should be
as nearly central to all as may be.* — BILL TO
REMOVE VA. CAPITAL. FORD ED., ii, 106.
(1776.)
1132.
-. The seat of government
[in Virginia] had been originally fixed in the
peninsula of Jamestown, the first settlement of
the colonists; and had been afterwards re
moved a few miles inland to Williamsburg.
But this was at a time when our settlements
had not extended beyond the tide waters. Now
they had crossed the Alleghany ; and the
centre of population was very far removed
from what it had been. Yet Williamsburg
was still the depository of our archives, the
habitual residence of the Governor and many
other of the public functionaries, the estab
lished place for the sessions of the legislature,
and the magazine of our military stores ; and
its situation was so exposed that it might be
taken at any time in war, and, at this time par
ticularly, an enemy might in the night run up
either of the rivers, between which it lies,
land a force above, and take possession of the
place, without the possibility of saving either
persons or things. I had proposed its removal
so early as October, '76 ; but it did not prevail
until the session of May, '79. — AUTOBIOGRA
PHY. 1,40. FORD ED., i, 55. (1821.)
1133. CAPITOL (United States), Burn
ing of. — The Vandalism of our enemy has
triumphed at Washington over science as well
as the arts, by the destruction of the public
library with the noble edifice in which it was
deposited. Of this transaction, as of that of
Copenhagen, the world will entertain but one
sentiment. They will see a nation suddenly
withdrawn from a great war, full armed and
full handed, taking advantage of another
whom they had recently forced into it, un
armed, and unprepared, to indulge themselves
in acts of barbarism which do not belong to a
civilized age. When Van Ghent destroyed
their shipping at Chatham, and De Ruyter
rode triumphantly up the Thames, he might
in like manner, by the acknowledgment of
their own historians, have forced all their
* This principle has governed the selection of
nearly every State capital from 1776 to the present
time.— EDITOR.
ships up to London Bridge, and there have
burned them, the Tower, and city, had these
examples been then set. London, when thus
menaced, was near a thousand years old,
Washington is but in its teens. — To S. H.
SMITH, vi, 383. FORD ED., ix, 485. (M., Sep.
1814.)
1134. CAPITOL (United States), In
scription for.— If it be proposed to place an
inscription on the Capitol, the lapidary style
requires that essential facts only should be
stated, and these with a brevity admitting no
superfluous word. The essential facts in the
two inscriptions proposed are these :
" FOUNDED 1791. — BURNT BY A BRITISH ARMY
1814. — RESTORED BY CONGRESS 1817." The rea
sons for this brevity are that the letters must
be of extraordinary magnitude to be read
from below ; that little space is allowed them,
being usually put into a pediment or in a
frieze, or on a small tablet on the wall ; and
in our case, a third reason may be added, that
no passion can be imputed to this inscription,
every word being justifiable from the most
classical examples. But a question of more
importance is whether there should be one at
all ? The barbarism of the conflagration will
immortalize that of the nation. It will place
them forever in degraded comparison with the
execrated Bonaparte, who, in possession of
almost every capitol in Europe, injured no
one. Of this, history will take care, which all
will read, while our inscription will be seen
by few. — To JAMES MONROE, vii, 41. FORD
ED., x, 65. (M., 1816.)
1135. CAPITOL (United States), Wis
dom of Inscription. — But a question of more
importance is whether there should be
one at all? The barbarism of the con
flagration will immortalize that of the
nation. It will place them forever in
degraded comparison with the execrated
Bonaparte, who, in possession of almost
every capitol in Europe, injured no one. Of
this, history will take care, which all will
read, while our inscription will be seen by
few. Great Britain, in her pride and ascend
ancy, has certainly hated and despised us be
yond every earthly object. Her hatred may
remain, but the hour of her contempt
is passed and is succeeded by dread ; not a
present, but a deep and distant one. It is the
greater as she feels herself plunged into an
abyss of ruin from which no human means
point out an issue. We have also more reason
to hate her than any nation on earth. But
she is not now an object for hatred. She is
falling from her transcendant sphere, which
all men ought to have wished, but not that
she should lose all place among nations. It
is for the interest of all that she should be
maintained nearly on a par with other mem
bers of the republic of nations. Her power
absorbed into that of any other, would be an
object of dread to all, and to us more than
all, because we are accessible to her alone and
through her alone. The armies of Bonaparte
with the fleets of Britain would change the
aspect of our destinies. Under these circum-
Captives
Carmichael (William)
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
128
stances should we perpetuate hatred against
her? Should we not, on the contrary, begin
to open ourselves to other and more rational
dispositions ? It is not improbable that the
circumstances of the war [1812] and her own
circumstances may have brought her wise men
to begin to view us with other and even with
kindred eyes. Should not our wise men, then,
lifted above the passions of the ordinary cit
izen, begin to contemplate what will be the
interests of our country on so important a
change among the elements which influence
it? I think it would be better to give her
time to show her present temper, and to pre
pare the minds of our citizens for a corre
sponding change of disposition, by acts of
comity towards England rather than by com
memoration of hatred. These views might be
greatly extended. Perhaps, however, they are
premature, and that I may see the ruin of
England nearer than it really is. This will be
matter of consideration with those to whose
councils we have committed ourselves, and
whose wisdom, I am sure, will conclude on
what is best. Perhaps they may let it go off
on the single and short consideration that the
thing can do no good, and may do harm. — To
JAMES MONROE, vii, 42. FORD ED., x, 66. (M.,
1816.) See ARCHITECTURE.
1136. CAPTIVES, American in Algiers.
— The Algerines have taken two of our ves
sels, and I fear they will ask such a tribute for
a forbearance of their piracies as the United
States would be unwilling to pay. When this
idea comes across my mind, my faculties are
absolutely suspended between indignation and
impatience. — To GENERAL GREENE, i, 509.
(P., 1786.)
1137. CAPTIVES, Attempts at Ran
som. — If Congress decide to redeem our cap
tives, * * * it is of great importance that
the first redemption be made at as low a price
as possible, because it will form the future
tariff. If these pirates find that they can have
a very great price for Americans, they will
abandon proportionally their pursuits against
other nations to direct them towards ours. — To
JOHN JAY. ii, 113. (P., 1787.)
1138. CAPTIVES, Failure to Release.—
The demands of Algiers for the ransom of our
prisoners, and also for peace, are so infinitely
beyond our instructions that we must refer the
matter back to Congress.* — To WM. CAR-
MICHAEL, i, 580. (P., 1786.)
1139. CAPTIVES, Intercession of the
Mathurins. — That the choice of Congress
may be enlarged as to the instruments they
may use for effecting the redemption [of our
captives], I think it my duty to inform them
that there is an order of priests called the
Mathurins, the object of whose institution is
to beg alms for the redemption of captives.
They keep members always in Barbary, search
ing out the captives of their country, and re
deem, I believe, on better terms than any other
* Congress sent a Mr. Lambe to Europe with in
structions respecting A1giers. Jefferson and Adams
made him their agent to visit Algiers, but his mis
sion resulted in failure. Referring to it, Jefferson
wrote to Monroe (i, 606 [1786]. FORD ED., iv, 264)
that, " an angel sent on this business, and so much
limited in his terms, could have done nothing ". —
EDITOR.
body, public or private. It occurred to me,
that their agency might be obtained for the re
demption of our prisoners at Algiers. I ob
tained conference with the General, and with
some members of the order. The General, with
all the benevolence and cordiality possible, un
dertook to act for us, if we should desire it.
He told me that their last considerable redemp
tion was of about three hundred prisoners, who
cost them somewhat upwards of fifteen hundred
livres apiece ; but that they should not be able
to redeem ours as cheap as they do their own,
and that it must be absolutely unknown that the
public concern themselves in the operation, or
the price would be greatly enhanced. The dif
ference of religion was not once mentioned,
nor did it appear to me to be thought of. It
was a silent reclamation and acknowledgment
of fraternity between two religions of the same
family which historical events of ancient date
had rendered more hostile to one another than
to their common adversaries.* — To JOHN JAY.
ii, 113. (P., 1787-)
1140. CAPTIVES, Jefferson and.— -I do
not wonder that Captain Q'Bryan has lost pa
tience under his long continued captivity, and
that he may suppose some of the public servants
have neglected him and his brethren. He may
possibly have imputed neglect to me, because a
forbearance to correspond with him would
have that appearance, though it was dictated
by the single apprehension, that if he received
letters from me as Minister Plenipotentiary of
the United States at Paris, or as Secretary of
State, it would increase the expectations of
his captors, and raise the ransom beyond what
his countrymen would be disposed to give, and
so end in their perpetual captivity. But, in
truth, I have labored for them constantly and
zealously in every situation in which I have
been placed. In the first moment of their cap
tivity, I first proposed to Mr. Adams to take
upon ourselves their ransom, though unauthor
ized by Congress. I proposed to Congress and
obtained their permission to employ the Order
of Mercy in France for their ransom, but never
could obtain orders for the money till just as
I was leaving France, and was obliged to turn
the matter over to Mr. Short. As soon as I
came here,, I laid the matter before the Presi
dent and Congress in two long reports, but Con
gress could not decide until the beginning of
1792, and then clogged their ransom by a
previous requisition of peace. The unfortunate
death of two successive commissioners [Paul
Jones and Mr. Barclay] have still retarded their
relief, and even should they be now relieved,
will probably deprive me of the gratification of
seeing my endeavors for them crowned at
length with success by their arrival when I
am here. It would, indeed, be grating to me
if, after all, I should be supposed by them to
have been indifferent to their situation. I will
ask of your friendship to do me justice in
their eyes, that to the pain I have already felt
for them, may not be added that of their dis
satisfaction. — To COLONEL DAVID, iii, 531.
(Pa., 1793.)
1141. CARMICHAEL (William), Char
acter. — Mr. Carmichael is, I think, very lit
tle known in America. I never saw him, and
while I was in Congress I formed rather a
disadvantageous idea of him. His letters *
* * showed him vain, and more attentive to
ceremony and etiquette, than we suppose men
* The Mathurins were employed, but the negotia
tions were fruitless, and the captives remained in
prison. In December, 1790, Jefferson made an ex
haustive report on the subject to Congress.— EDITOR.
129
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Carmichael (William)
Carthage
of sense should be. I have now a constant
correspondence with him, and find him a little
hypochondriac and discontented. He possesses
a very good understanding, though not of the first
order. I have had great opportunities of
searching into his character, and have availed
myself of them. Many persons of different
nations, coming from Madrid to Paris, all speak
of him as in high esteem, and I think it certain
that he has more of the Count de Blanca's
friendship, than any diplomatic character at
that court. As long as that minister is in
office, Carmichael can do more than any other
person who could be sent there. — To JAMES
MADISON, ii, 107. FORD ED., iv, 365. (P.,
1787.)
1142. . Neither Mr. J. nor Mr.
ever mentioned one word of any want of
decorum in Mr. Carmichael. — To EDMUND RAN
DOLPH, iv, 108. FORD ED., vi, 513. (M., 1794.)
1143. CARMICHAEL (William), Span
ish Mission and.— I think it probable that
Mr. Carmichael will impute to me an event
which must take place this year. In truth, it
is so extraordinary a circumstance, that a public
agent placed in a foreign court for the purpose
of correspondence, should, in three years, have
found means to get but one letter to us, that he
must himself be sensible that if he could have
sent us letters, he ought to be recalled as
negligent, and if he could not, he ought to be
recalled as useless. I have, nevertheless, pro
cured his continuance, in order to give him an
opportunity which occurred of his rendering
a sensible service to his country, and thereby
drawing some degree of favor on his return. —
To COLONEL DAVID, iii, 532. (Pa., 1793.)
1 144. CARMICHAEL (William), Stand
ing in Spain.— With Mr. Carmichael I am
unacquainted personally, but he stands on ad
vantageous grounds in the opinion of Europe,
and most especially in Spain. Every person,
whom I see from there, speaks of him with
great esteem. I mention this for your private
satisfaction, as he seemed to be little known in
Congress. Mr. Jay, however, knows him well.
— To COL. MONROE, i, 526. (P., 1786.)
— CAROLINA (North).— See NORTH
CAROLINA.
— CAROLINA (South).— See SOUTH
CAROLINA.
1145. CARONDELET (Baron), Animos
ity of. — We are quite disposed to believe that
the late wicked excitements [among the In
dians] to war have proceeded from the Baron
de Carondelet himself, without authority from
his court. If so, have we not reason to expect
the removal of such an officer from our neigh
borhood, as an evidence of the disavowal of his
proceedings? — To CARMICHAEL AND SHORT, iii,
481. FORD ED., vi, 130. (Pa., 1792.)
1146. CARR (Dabney), Character.—
His character was of a high order. A spotless
integrity, sound judgment, handsome imagina
tion, enriched by education and reading, quick
and clear in his conceptions, of correct and
ready elocution, impressing every hearer with
the sincerity of the heart from which it flowed.
His firmness was inflexible in whatever he
thought was right ; but when no moral princi
ple stood in the way, never had man more
of the milk of human kindness, of indulgence,
of softness, of pleasantry of conversation and
conduct. The number of his friends and the
warmth of their affection, were proofs of his
worth, and of their estimate of it. To give to
those now living, an idea of the affliction pro
duced by his death in the minds of all who
knew him, I liken it to that lately felt by them
selves on the death of his eldest son, Peter
Carr, so like in all his endowments and moral
qualities, and whose recollection can never
recur without a deep-drawn sigh from the
bosom of any one who knew him. — To DABNEY
CARR, JR. vi, 528. FORD ED., x, 17. (M., 1816.)
1147. - _. Dabney Carr, * * *
mover of the proposition of March, 1773, for
Committees of Correspondence, the first fruit
of which was the call of an American Con
gress, merits honorable mention in your history
if any proper occasion offers.— To MR. Gi-
RARDIN. vi, 411. (M., 1815.)
1148. . This friend of ours,
Page, in a very small house, with a table, half
a dozen chairs, and one or two servants, is
the happiest man in the universe. Every in
cident in life he so takes as to render it a
source of pleasure. With as much benevo
lence as the heart of man will hold, but with
an utter neglect of the costly apparatus of life,
he exhibits to the world a new phenomenon
in philosophy — the Samian sage in the tub of
the cynic.* — To JOHN PAGE, i, 195. FORD
ED., i, 373. (1770.)
1149. CARRIAGES, Tax on.— Almost
every carriage owner has been taken in for a
double-tax ; information through the news
papers not being actual, though legal, in a
country where they are little read. This cir
cumstance has made almost every man, so
taken in. a personal enemy to the tax. I es
caped the penalty only by sending an express
over the country to search out the officer the
day before the forfeiture would have been in
curred. — To JAMES MADISON. FORD ED vii
2. (M., Feb. 1795.)
1150. CARRYING TRADE, Preserva
tion of the.— Admitting their right of keep
ing their markets to themselves, ours cannot
be denied of keeping our carrying trade to
ourselves. — REPORT ON THE FISHERIES, vii,
554- (i79i-) See NAVIGATION.
1151. CARRYING TRADE, Protection
of. — We find in some parts of Europe mon
opolizing discriminations, which, in the form
of duties, tend effectually to prohibit the
carrying thither our own produce in our own
vessels. From existing amities, and a spirit
of justice, it is hoped that friendly discussion
will produce a fair and adequate reciprocity.
But should false calculations of interest de
feat our hope, it rests with the Legislature to
decide whether they will meet inequalities
abroad with countervailing inequalities at
home, or provide for the evil in any other
way. — SECOND ANNUAL MESSAGE, viii, 16.
FORD ED., viii, 182. (Dec. 1802.)
1152. CARTER (Landon), Speeches of.
— Landon Carter's speeches, like his writings,
were dull, vapid, verbose, egotistical, smooth
as the lullaby of the nurse, and commanding,
like that, the repose only of the hearer. — To
WILLIAM WIRT. vi, 486. FORD ED. ix 474
(M., 1815.)
1153. CARTHAGE, History of.— It has
often been a subject of regret, that Carthage
* Dabney Carr married Jefferson's sister.— EDITOR.
Censors
Centralization
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
130
had no writer to give her side of her own
history, while her wealth, power and splendor
prove she must have had a very distinguished
policy and government. — To JOHN ADAMS.
vii, 63. (M., 1817.)
1154. CENSORS, Government and. — No
government ought to be without censors ; and
where the press is free, no one ever will. — To
PRESIDENT WASHINGTON, iii, 467. FORD ED.,
vi, 108. (M., 1792.)
1155. CENSURE, Pain of.— I find the
pain of a little censure, even when it is un
founded, is more acute than the pleasure of
much praise.— To F. HOPKINSON. ii, 5^7-
FORD ED., v, 78. (P., 1789.)
1156. CENSUS, First U. S.— I enclose
you a copy of the census which I have made
out for you. — To JAMES MADISON. FORD ED., v,
371. (Pa., 1791-)
1157. . Nearly the whole of the
States have now returned their census. I send
you the result. * * * Making a very small
allowance for omissions, we are upwards of
four millions ; and we know in fact that the
omissions have been very great. — To DAVID
HUMPHREYS. FORD ED., v, 372. (Pa., Aug.
1791.)
1158. CENSUS, Perfecting the.— For the
articles of a statistical table, I think the last
census of Congress presented what was
proper, as far as it went, but did not go far
enough. It required detailed accounts of our
manufactures, and an enumeration of our peo
ple, according to ages, sexes and colors. But
to this should be added an enumeration ac
cording to their occupations. We should know
what proportion of our people are employed in
agriculture, what proportion are carpenters,
smiths, shoemakers, tailors, bricklayers, mer
chants, seamen, &c. No question is more
curious than that of the distribution of society
into occupations, and none more wanting. I
have never heard of such tables being effected
but in the instance of Spain, where it was first
done under the administration, I believe, of
Count D' Aranda, and a second time under the
Count de Florida Blanca, and these have
been considered as the most curious and valu
able tables in the world. The combination of
callings with us would occasion some diffi
culty, many of our tradesmen being, for in
stance, agriculturists also ; but they might
be classed under their principal occupation. —
To THOMAS W. MAURY. vi, 548. (M., 1816.)
1159. CENTRALIZATION, Advancing
toward. — I told the President [Washington]
that they [the Hamilton party] had now
brought forward a proposition, far beyond
every one ever yet advanced, and to which
the eyes of many were turned, as the decision
which was to let us know, whether we live
under a limited or an unlimited government,
* * * [to wit], that in the Report on Man
ufactures which, under color of giving boun
ties for the encouragement of particular man
ufactures, meant to establish the doctrine,
that the power given by the Constitution to
collect taxes to provide for the general welfare
of the United States, permitted Congress to
take everything under their management
which they should deem for the public wel
fare, and which is susceptible of the applica
tion of money ; consequently, that the subse
quent enumeration of their powers was not
the description to which resort must be had,
and did not at all constitute the limits of their
authority ; that this was a very different ques
tion from that of the Bank [of the United
States], which was thought an incident to an
enumerated power. — THE ANAS, ix, 104.
FORD ED., i, 177. (Feb. 1792.)
1160. . I wish to see maintained
that wholesome distribution of powers estab
lished by the Constitution for the limitation
of both ; and never to see all offices trans
ferred to Washington, where, further with
drawn from the eyes of the people, they may
more secretly be bought and sold as at mar
ket. — To WILLIAM JOHNSON, vii, 297. FORD
ED., x, 232. (M., 1823.)
1161. CENTRALIZATION, Balance of
Power and.— I said to [President Washing
ton] that if the equilibrium of the three great
bodies, Legislative, Executive, and Judiciary,
could be preserved, if the Legislature could
be kept independent, I should never fear the
result of such a government ; but that I could
not but be uneasy when I saw that the Execu
tive had swallowed up the Legislative branch.
— ANAS, ix, 122. FORD ED., i, 204. (1792.)
1162. CENTRALIZATION, Corruption
and. — Our government is now taking so steady
a course as to show by what road it will
pass to destruction, to wit : by consolidation
first, and then corruption, its necessary con
sequence. The engine of consolidation will be
the Federal judiciary; the two other branches
the corrupting and corrupted instruments. —
To NATHANIEL MACON. vii, 223. (M., 1821.)
1163. . I do verily believe that
* * * a single consolidated government
would become the most corrupt government
on the earth. — To GIDEON GRANGER, iv, 331.
FORD ED., vii, 451. (M., Aug. 1800.) —
1164. CENTRALIZATION, Disguised
Toryism. — Consolidation is but toryism in dis
guise. — To NATHANIEL MACON. FORD ED., x,
379- (M., 1826.)
1165. . The consolidationists
may call themselves republicans if they please,
but the school of Venice, and all of this prin
ciple, I call at once tories. — To NATHANIEL
MACON. FORD ED., x, 378. (M., 1826.)
1166. CENTRALIZATION, Eastern
States and. — I fear our eastern associates
wish for consolidation, in which they would
be joined by the smaller States generally. —
To NATHANIEL MACON. vii, 223. FORD ED., x,
194. (M., 1821.)
1167. CENTRALIZATION, Enumerated
Powers and.— To take from the States all the
powers of self-government and transfer them
to a general and consolidated government,
without regard to the special delegations and
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Centralization
reservations solemnly agreed to in [the Fed
eral] compact, is not for the peace, happiness
or prosperity of these States. — KENTUCKY
RESOLUTIONS, ix, 468. FORD ED., vii, 300.
(1798.)
1 168. CENTRALIZATION, Jobbery and.
— You hvve seen the practices by which the
public servants have been able to cover their
conduct, or, where that could not be done,
delusions by which they have varnished it
for the eye of their constituents. What an
augmentation of the field for jobbing, specu
lating, plundering, office-building and office-
hunting would be produced by an assumption
of all the State powers into the hands of the
General Government. — To GIDEON GRANGER.
iv, 331. FORD ED., vii, 451. (M., Aug. 1800.)
1169. CENTRALIZATION, Judiciary
drives on to. — After twenty years' confirma
tion of the federal system by the voice of the
nation, declared through the medium of elec
tions, we find the judiciary on every occasion,
still driving us into consolidation. — To SPEN
CER ROANE. vii, 134. FORD ED., x, 140. (P.F.,
1819.)
1170. . It has long been my
opinion, and I have never shrunk from its ex
pression (although I do not choose to put it
into a newspaper, nor like a Priam in armor to
offer myself as its champion), that the germ
of dissolution of our Federal Government is
in the constitution of the Federal Judiciary;
an irresponsible body (for impeachment is
scarcely a scare-crow), working like gravity
by night and by day, gaining a little to-day and
a little to-morrow, and advancing its noiseless
step like a thief, over the field of jurisdiction,
until all shall be usurped from the States, and
the government of all be consolidated into
one. To this I am opposed ; because, when all
government, domestic and foreign, in little as
in great things, shall be drawn to Washing
ton as the centre of all power, it will render
powerless the checks provided of one govern
ment on another, and will become as venal
and oppressive as the government from which
we separated. It will be, as in Europe, where
every man must be either pike or gudgeon,
hammer or anvil. Our functionaries and theirs
are wares from the same workshop ; made of
the same materials and by the same hand. If
the States look with apathy on this silent
descent of their government into the gulf which
is to swallow all, we have only to weep over
the human character formed uncontrollable but
by a rod of iron, and the blasphemers of man,
as incapable of self-government, become his
true historians. — To C. HAMMOND, vii, 216.
(M., 1821.)
1171. . We already see the
power, installed for life, responsible to no
authority (for impeachment is not even a
scare-crow), advancing with a noiseless and
steady pace to the great object of consolida
tion. The foundations are already deeply
laid by their decisions for the annihilation of
constitutional State rights, and the removal of
every check, every counterpoise to the ingulf
ing power of which themselves are to make a
sovereign part. If ever this vast country is
brought under a single government, it will be
one of the most extensive corruption, indiffer
ent and incapable of a wholesome care over so
wide a spread of surface. This will not be
borne, and you will have to choose between
reformation and revolution. If I know the
spirit of this country, the one or the other is
inevitable. Before the canker is become in
veterate, before its venom has reached so
much of the body politic as to get beyond con
trol, remedy should be applied.— To WILLIAM
T. BARRY, vii, 256. (M., 1822.)
' Tnere is no danger I ap
prehend so much as the consolidation of our
government by the noiseless, and, therefore,
unalarming instrumentality of the Supreme
Court. This is the form in which federalism
now arrays itself, and consolidation is the
present principle of distinction between repub
licans and the pseudo-republicans but real fed
eralists.— To WILLIAM JOHNSON, vii 278
FORD ED., x, 248. (M., 1823.)
1173. CENTRALIZATION, Liberty and.
—It is a singular phenomenon, that while our
State governments are the very best in the
world, without exception or comparison, our
General Government has, in the rapid course
of nine or ten years, become more arbitrary,
and has swallowed more of the public liberty
than even that of England.— To JOHN TAY
LOR. iv, 260. FORD ED., vii, 311. (M., 1798.)
1174. - __. What has destroyed the
liberty and the rights of man in every govern
ment which has ever existed under the sun?
The generalizing and concentrating all cares
and powers into one body, no matter whether
of the autocrats of Russia or France, or of
the aristocrats of a Venetian Senate.— To
JOSEPH C. CABELL. vi, 543. (M., 1816.)
1175. CENTRALIZATION, Limitless.—
It is but too evident that the branches of our
foreign department of government, Executive,
Judiciary and Legislative, are in combination
to usurp the powers of the domestic branch,
all so reserved to the States, and consolidate
themselves into a single government without
limitation of powers. I will not trouble you
with details of the instances which are thread
bare and unheeded. The only question is,
what is to be done? Shall we give up the
ship? No, by heavens, while a hand remains
able to keep the deck. Shall we, with the hot
headed Georgian, stand at once to our arms?
Not yet, nor until the evil, the only greater
one than separation, shall be all upon us, that
of living under a government of discretion.
Between these alternatives there can be no
hesitation. But, again, what are we to do?
* We had better, at present, rest awhile
on our oars and see which way the tide will
set in Congress and in the State Legislatures.
— To WILLIAM F. GORDON. FORD ED., x ^8
(M., Jan. 1826.)
1176. CENTRALIZATION, Local Gov
ernment vs. — It is not by the consolidation,
or concentration of powers, but by their dis
tribution, that good government is effected.
Centralization
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
132
Were not this great country already divided
into States, that division must be made, that
each might do for itself what concerns itself
directly, and what it can so much better do
than a distant authority. Every State again
is divided into counties, each to take care of
what lies within its local bounds ; each county
again into townships or wards, to manage
minuter details; and every ward into farms,
to be governed each by its individual proprie
tor. * * * It is by this partition of cares,
descending in gradation from general to par
ticular, that the mass of human affairs may
be best managed, for the good and prosperity
of all. — AUTOBIOGRAPHY, i, 82. FORD ED., i,
113. (1821.)
1177. CENTRALIZATION, Local Inter
est and. — Of the two questions of the tariff
and public improvements, the former, perhaps,
is not yet at rest, and the latter will excite
boisterous discussions. It happens that both
these measures fall in with the western inter
ests, and it is their secession from the agricul
tural States which gives such strength to the
manufacturing and consolidating parties, on
these two questions. The latter is the most
dreaded, because thought to amount to a de
termination in the Federal government to
assume all powers non-enumerated as well as
enumerated in the Constitution, and by giving
a loose to construction, make the text say
whatever will relieve them from the bridle of
the States. These are difficulties for your
day; I shall give them the slip. — To RICHARD
RUSH, vii, 380. FORD ED., x, 322. (M., 1824.)
1178. CENTRALIZATION, Opposition
to. — I fear an explosion in our State Leg
islature. I wish they may restrain them
selves to a strong but temperate protestation.
Virginia is not at present in favor with her
co- States. An opposition headed by her
would determine all the anti-Missouri States
to take the contrary side. She had better lie
by, therefore, till the shoe shall pinch an east
ern State. — To NATHANIEL MACON. vii, 223.
FORD ED., x, 194. (M., Oct. 1821.)
1179. CENTRALIZATION, Plunder and.
— Our country is top large to have all its af
fairs directed by a single government. Public
servants at such a distance, and from under
the eye of their constituents, must, from the
circumstance of distance, be unable to admin
ister and overlook all the details necessary for
the good government of the citizens ; and the
same circumstance, by rendering detection im
possible to their constituents, will invite the
public agents to corruption, plunder and
waste. — To GIDEON GRANGER, iv, 331. FORD
ED., vii, 451. (M., Aug. 1800.)
— CENTRALIZATION, Plundered Yeo
manry and. — See YEOMANRY.
1 1 80. CENTRALIZATION, Poverty and.
— Were we directed from Washington when
to sow, and when to reap, we should soon
want bread. — AUTOBIOGRAPHY, i, 82. FORD ED.,
i, 113. (1821.)
1181. CENTRALIZATION, Resistance
to.— Although I have little hope that the tor
rent of consolidation can be withstood, I
should not be for giving up the ship without
efforts to save her. She lived well through
the first squall, and may weather the present
one.— To C. W. GOOCH. vii, 430. (M., Jan
uary 1826.)
1182. CENTRALIZATION, Revolution
— I have been blamed for saying, that a
prevalence of the doctrines of consolidation
would one day call for reformation or revolu
tion. ^ I answer by asking if a single State of
the Union would have agreed to the Consti
tution had it given all powers to the General
Government? If the whole opposition to it
did not proceed from the jealousy and fear
of every State, of being subjected to the other
States in matters merely its own? And if
there is any reason to believe the States more
disposed now than then, to acquiesce in this
general surrender of all their rights and pow
ers to a consolidated government, one and un
divided? — To SAMUEL JOHNSON. vii, 293.
FORD ED., x, 228. (M., 1823.)
1183. CENTRALIZATION, States'
Rights and.— [ see with the deepest affliction,
the rapid strides with which the Federal
branch of our government is advancing to
wards the usurpation of all the rights reserved
to the States, and the consolidation in itself of
all powers, foreign and domestic; and that
too, by constructions which, if legitimate,
leave no limits to their power. Take together
the decisions of the Federal Court, the doc
trines of the President [John Quincy Ad
ams], and the misconstructions of the consti
tutional compact acted on by the legislature
of the Federal branch, and it is but too evi
dent, that the three ruling branches of that
department are in combination to strip their
colleagues, the State authorities, of the powers
reserved by them, and to exercise themselves
all functions foreign and domestic. Under the
power to regulate commerce, they assume in
definitely that also over agriculture and man
ufactures, and call it regulation to take the
earnings of one of these branches of industry,
and that, too, the most depressed, and put
them into the pockets of the other, the most
flourishing of all. Under the authority to es
tablish post roads, they claim that of cutting
down mountains for the construction of roads,
of digging canals, and aided by a little sophis
try on the words " general welfare," a right
to do, not only the acts to effect that, which
are specifically enumerated and permitted, but
whatsoever they shall think, or pretend will
be for the general welfare. And what is pur
resource for the preservation of the Constitu
tion? Reason and argument? You might as
well reason and argue with the marble col
umns encircling them. The representatives
chosen by ourselves? They are joined in the
combination, some from incorrect views of
government, some from corrupt ones, suffi
cient voting together to outnumber the sound
parts; and with majorities only of one, two,
or three, bold enough to go forward in defi
ance. Are we then to stand to our arms, with
the hot-headed Georgian? No. That must
be the last resource, not to be thought of until
133
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Centralization
Character
much longer and greater sufferings. If every
infraction of a compact of so many parties is
to be resisted at once, as a dissolution of it,
none can ever be formed which would last
one year. We must have patience and longer
endurance then with our brethren while un
der delusion; give them time for reflection
and experience of consequences; keep our
selves in a situation to profit by the chapter of
accidents; and separate from our compan
ions only when the sole alternatives left, are
the dissolution of our Union with them, or
submission to a government without limita
tion of powers. Between these two evils,
when we must make a choice, there can be
no hesitation. But, in the meanwhile, the
States should be watchful to note every ma
terial usurpation on their rights; denounce
them as they occur in the most peremptory
terms; to protest against them as wrongs to
which our present submission shall be consid
ered, not as acknowledgments or precedents
of right, but as a temporary yielding to the
lesser evil, until their accumulation shall
overweigh that of separation. I would go
still further, and give to the Federal member,
by a regular amendment of the Constitution,
a right to make roads and canals of intercom
munication between the States, providing
sufficiently against corrupt practices in Con
gress (log-rolling, &c.) by declaring that the
Federal proportion of each State of the mon
eys so employed, shall be in works within the
State, or elsewhere with its consent, and with
a due salvo of jurisdiction. This is the course
which I think safest and best as yet. — To
WILLIAM B. GILES, vii, 426. FORD ED., x,
354. (M., Dec. 1825.)
1184. CENTRALIZATION, Venality
and. — When all government, domestic and
foreign, in little as in great things, shall be
drawn to "Washington as the centre of all
power, it will render powerless the checks
provided of one government on another, and
will become as venal and oppressive as the
government from which we separated. — To
C. HAMMOND, vii, 216. (M., 1821.)
1185. CEREMONY, Suppression of mon
archical. — We have suppressed all those pub
lic forms and ceremonies which tended to
familiarize the public eye to the harbingers of
another form of government. — To GENERAL
KOSCIUSKO. iv, 430- (W., April 1802.)
1186. CEREMONY, Unnecessary.— Mr.
Adams, your predecessor, seemed to under
stand, on his being presented to the Court [of
St. James's] that a letter was expected for
the Queen also. You will be pleased to in
form yourself whether the custom of that
court requires this from us; and to enable
you to comply with it, if it should, I enclose
a letter sealed for the Queen, and a copy of it
open for your own information. Should its
delivery not be a requisite, you will be so
good as to return it, as we do not wish to set
a precedent which may bind us hereafter to
a single unnecessary ceremony.— To THOMAS
PINCKNEY. iii. 441. FORD ED., vi, 74. (Pa.,
1792.)
1187. CEREMONY, Yellow fever and.
— Those [in Philadelphia] who caught the
yellow fever seemed to consider every man
as their personal enemy who would not catch
their disorder, and many suffered themselves
to think it was a sufficient cause for breaking
off society with them. I became sensible of
this on my next arrival in town, on perceiv
ing that many declined visiting me with
whom I had been on terms of the greatest
friendship and intimacy. I determined, for
the first time in my life, to stand on the cere
mony of the first visit, even with my friends ;
because it served to sift out those who chose
a separation. — To WILLIAM HAMILTON. FORD
ED., vii, 441. (Pa., 1800.)
1188. CHANCELLORS, Inconsistencies
of English.— The English Chancellors have
gone on from one thing to another without
any comprehensive or systematic view of the
whole field of equity, and therefore they have
sometimes run into inconsistencies and con
tradictions. — To PETER CARR. iii, 452. FORD
ED., vi, 92. (Pa., 1792.)
— CHANCERY COURTS.— See COURTS.
1189. CHAPLAINS, Appointment of.—
These small preferments [chaplains to legis
lative bodies] should be reserved to reward
and encourage genius, and not be strowed
with an indiscriminating hand among the
common herd of competitors. — To COLONEL
W. PRESTON. FORD ED., i, 368. (1768.)
1190. CHARACTER, Evidence of.— The
uniform tenor of a man's life furnishes better
evidence of what he has said or done on any
particular occasion than the word of any
enemy, and of an enemy, too, who shows that
he prefers the use of falsehoods which suit
him to truths which do not. — To DE WITT
CLINTON, iv, 520. (W., 1803.)
1191. CHARACTER, Public Service
and. — There is sometimes an eminence of
character on which society have such peculiar
claims as to control the predilections of the
individual for a particular walk of happiness,
and restrain him to that alone arising from
the present and future benedictions of man
kind.— To PRESIDENT WASHINGTON, iii, 364.
FORD ED., vi, 5. (Pa., 1792.)
1192. CHARACTER, Rational.— Like
the rest of mankind, General Washington was
disgusted with atrocities of the French Revo
lution, and was not sufficiently aware of the
difference between the rabble who were used
as instruments of their perpetration, and the
steady and rational character of the Ameri
can people, in which he had not sufficient con
fidence. — INTRODUCTION TO ANAS, ix, 99.
FORD ED., i, 168. (1818.)
1193. CHARACTER, Steady American.
—The steady character of our countrymen is
a rock to which we may safely moor. — To
ELBRIDGE GERRY, iv, 392. FORD ED., viii, 43.
(W., March 1801.)
1194. CHARACTER, Strong American.
— The order and good sense displayed in this
Charity
Charters
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
134
recovery from delusion, and in the momentous
crisis [Presidential election] which lately
arose, really bespeak a strength of character
in our nation which augurs well for the dura
tion of our Republic ; and I am much better
satisfied now of its stability than I was before
it was tried. — To DR. JOSEPH PRIESTLEY, iv,
374. FORD ED., viii, 22. (W., March 1801.)
1195. CHARITY, A duty. — Private
charities, as well as contributions to public
purposes in proportion to every one's circum
stances, are certainly among the duties we
owe to society. — To CHARLES CHRISTIAN, vi,
44. (M., 1812.)
1196. CHARITY, Principles of Distrib
uting. — We are all doubtless bound to con
tribute a certain portion of our income to
the support of charitable and other useful
public institutions. But it is a part of our
duty also to apply our contributions in the
most effectual way we can to secure their ob
ject. The question, then, is whether this will
not be better done by each of us appropri
ating our whole contributions to the institu
tions within our reach, under our own eye ;
and over which we can exercise some useful
control? Or, would it be better that each
should divide the sum he can spare among
all the institutions of his State, or of the
United States? Reason, and the interest of
these institutions themselves, certainly decide
in favor of the former practice. This ques
tion has been forced on me, heretofore, by
the multitude of applications which have
come to me from every quarter of the Union
on behalf of academies, churches, missions,
hospitals, charitable establishments, &c. Had
I parcelled among them all the contributions
which I could spare, it would have been for
each too feeble a sum to be worthy of being
either given or received. If each portion of
the State, on the contrary, will apply its aids
and its attentions exclusively to those nearest
around them, all will be better taken care of.
Their support, their conduct, and the best ad
ministration of their funds, will be under the
inspection and control of those most conve
nient to take cognizance of them, and most
interested in their prosperity. — To SAMUEL
KERCHIVAL. v, 489. (M., 1810.)
1197. . it is a duty certainly to
give our sparings to those who want; but
to see also that they are faithfully distributed,
and duly apportioned to the respective wants
of those receivers. And why give through
agents whom we know not, to persons whom
we know not, and in countries from which we
get no account, when we can do it at short
hand, to objects under our eye, through
agents we know, and to supply wants we see?
—To MR. MEGEAR. vii, 286. (M., 1823.)
1198. CHARITY, Rules in bestowing.
— I deem it the duty of every man to devote a
certain portion of his income for charitable
purposes; and that it is his further duty to
see it so applied as to do the most good of
which it is capable. This I believe to be best
insured, by keeping within the circle of his
own inquiry and information the subjects of
distress to whose relief his contributions shall
be applied. If this rule be reasonable in pri
vate life, it becomes so necessary in my situ
ation, that to relinquish it would leave me
without rule or compass. The applications
of this kind from different parts of our own,
and foreign countries, are far beyond any
resources within my command. The mission
of Serampore, in the East Indies, the object of
the present application, is but one of many
items. However disposed the mind may feel
to unlimited good, our means having limits,
we are necessarily circumscribed by them.
They are too narrow to relieve even the dis
tresses under my own eye ; and to desert
these for others which we neither see nor
know, is to omit doing a certain good for one
which is uncertain. I know, indeed, there
have been splendid associations for effecting
benevolent purposes in remote regions of the
earth. But no experience of their effect has
proved that more good would not have been
done by the same means employed nearer
home. In explaining, however, my own mo
tives of action, I must not be understood as
impeaching those of others. Their views are
those of an expanded liberality. Mine may
be too much restrained by the law of useful
ness. But it is a law to me, and with minds
like yours, will be felt as a justification. — To
DR. ROGERS, iv, 589. (W., 1806.)
1199. . The general relation in
which I, some time since, stood to the citi
zens of all our States, drew on me such mul
titudes of applications as exceeded all re
source. Nor have they abated since my re
tirement to the limited duties of a private
citizen, and the more limited resources of a
private fortune. They have obliged me to
lay down as a law of conduct for myself, to
restrain my contributions for public institu
tions to the circle of my own State, and for
private charities to that which is under my
own observation ; and these calls I find more
than sufficient for everything I can spare. — To
CHARLES CHRISTIAN, vi, 44. (M., 1812.)
1200. CHARTERS, Abolishing. — He
has combined with others * * * for ta
king away our charters. — DECLARATION OF IN
DEPENDENCE AS DRAWN BY JEFFERSON.
1201. CHARTERS, Altering.— But, what
is of more importance [than the loss of prop
erty], and what they keep in this proposal
[of Lord North] out of sight, as if no such
point was in contest, they claim a right of
altering all our charters and established laws,
which leaves us without the least security for
our lives or liberties. — REPLY TO LORD NORTH'S
PROPOSITION. FORD ED., i, 481. (July 1775.)
1202. CHARTERS, Violation of.— They
[Parliament] have attempted fundamentally
to alter the form of government in one of
these Colonies, a form secured by charters
on the part of the crown and confirmed by
acts of its own legislature. — DECLARATION ON
TAKING UP ARMS, FORD ED., i, 468. (July
I/75-)
135
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Chase (Samuel)
Cherbourg
1203. CHASE (Samuel), Independence
and. — A Fourth of July oration, delivered in
the town of Milford, in your State, gives to
Samuel Chase the credit of having " first
started the cry of Independence in the ears of
his countrymen ". Do you remember anything
of this ? I do not. I have no doubt it was
uttered in Massachusetts even before it was
by Thomas Paine. But, certainly, I never
considered Samuel Chase as foremost, or even
forward in that hallowed cry. I know that
Maryland hung heavily on our backs, and that
Chase, although first named, was not most in
unison with us of that delegation. — To JOHN
ADAMS, vii, 218. (1821.)
1204. CHASE (Samuel), Partisan
charge of. — You must have heard of the ex
traordinary charge of Chase to the grand jury
at Baltimore. Ought this seditious and offi
cial attack on the principles of our Constitu
tion, and on the proceedings of a State, to go
unpunished? And to whom so pointedly as
yourself will the public look for the necessary
measures? I ask these questions for your
consideration ; for myself it is better that I
should not interfere. — To MR. NICHOLSON.
iv, 486. (W., May 1803.)
1205. CHATHAM (Lord), Colonies and.
—When I saw Lord Chatham's bill, I enter
tained high hope that a reconciliation could
have been brought about. The difference be
tween his terms and those offered by our Con
gress might have been accommodated, if entered
on by both parties with a disposition to accom
modate. — To DR. WILLIAM SMALL, i, 199. FORD
ED., i, 454. (I775-)
1206. CHATHAM (Lord), Gratitude to.
— I hope Lord Chatham may live till the for
tune of war puts his son into our hands, and en
ables us by returning him safe to his father, to
pay a debt of gratitude. — To JOHN PAGE. FORD
EDV 496. (i775-)
1207. CHEMISTRY, Application of.—
I have wished to see chemistry applied to do
mestic objects, to malting, for instance, brew
ing, making cider, to fermentation and dis
tillation generally, to the making of bread,
butter, cheese, soap, to the incubation of eggs,
&c.— To THOMAS COOPER, vi, 73. (M.,
1812.)
1208. CHEMISTRY, Experiments in.—
The contradictory experiments of chemists
leave us at liberty to conclude what we please.
My conclusion is, that art has not yet in
vented sufficient aids to enable such subtle
bodies [air, light, &c.] to make a well-defined
impression on organs as blunt as ours; that
it is laudable to encourage investigation but
to hold back conclusion.— To REV. JAMES
MADISON, ii, 431. (P., 1788.)
1209. CHEMISTRY, Merits attention.
"—I do not know whether you are fond of
chemical reading. There are some things in
this science worth reading. — To MR. RITTEN-
HOUSE. i, 517. (P., 1786.)
1210. CHEMISTRY, Nomenclature.—
The attempt of Lavoisier to reform the
chemical nomenclature is premature. One
single experiment may destroy the whole
filiation of his terms ; and his string of
sulphates, sulphites, and sulphures, may have
served no other end than to have retarded
the progress of the science by a jargon, from
the confusion of which time will be requisite
to extricate us. — To REV. JAMES MADISON.
ii, 432. (P., 1788.)
1211. -- . You have heard of the
new chemical nomenclature endeavored to
be introduced by Lavoisier, Fourcroy, &c.
Other chemists of this country, of equal note,
reject it, and prove in my opinion that it is
premature, insufficient and false. These lat
ter are joined by the British chemists; and
upon the whole, I think the new nomenclature
will be rejected, after doing more harm than
good. There are some good publications in
it, which must be translated into the ordinary
chemical language before they will be useful.
—To DR. CURRIE. ii, 544. (P., 1788.)
1212. . A schism has taken place
among the chemists. A particular set of
them in France have undertaken to remodel
all the terms of the science, and to give to
every substance a new name, the composition,
and especially the termination of which, shall
define the relation in which it stands to other
substances of the same family. But the
science seems too much in its infancy as yet,
for this reformation ; because in fact, the
reformation of this year must be reformed
again the next year, and so on, changing the
names of substances as often as new experi
ments develop properties in them undiscov
ered before. The new nomenclature has, ac
cordingly, been already proved to need nu
merous and important reformations. * *
It is espoused by the minority only here, and
by very few, indeed, of the foreign chemists.
It is particularly rejected in England. — To
DR. WILLARD. iii, 15. (P., 1789-)
1213. CHEMISTRY, System of.— Chem
istry is yet, indeed, a mere embryon. Its
principles are contested; experiments seem
contradictory; their subjects are so minute as
to escape our senses ; and their result too fal
lacious to satisfy the mind. It is probably an
age too soon to propose the establishment of
a system. — To REV. JAMES MADISON, ii, 431.
(P., 1788.)
1214. CHEMISTRY, Utility of.— Speak
ing one day with Monsieur de Buffon, on the
present ardor of chemical inquiry, he affected
to consider chemistry but as cookery, and to
place the toils of the laboratory on a footing
with those of the kitchen. I think it, on the
contrary, among the most useful of sciences,
and big with future discoveries for the utility
and safety of the human race. — To REV. JAMES
MADISON, ii, 431. (P., 1788.)
1215. CHERBOURG, Expense of.—
That work will be steadily pursued, and, in all
probability, be finally successful. They calcu
late on half a million of livres, say twenty thou
sand pounds sterling, for every cone, and that
there will be from seventy to eighty cones.
Probably they must make more cones. Suppose
Cherbourg
Chesapeake
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
136
one hundred; this will be two millions of
pounds sterling. Versailles has cost fifty mil
lions of pounds sterling. Ought we to doubt
then that they will persevere to the end in a
work, small and useful in proportion as the
other was great and foolish? — To MR. CUT
TING, ii, 438. (P., 1788.)
1216. CHERBOURG, Harbor of.— The
King's visit to Cherbourg has made a great sen
sation in England and here [France]. It proves
to the world, that it is a serious object to this
country, and that the King commits himself for
the accomplishment of it. Indeed, so many
cones have been sunk, that no doubt remains of
the practicability of it. It will contain, as is
said, eighty ships of the line, be one of the best
harbors in the world, and by means of two en
trances, on different sides, will admit vessels to
come in and go out with every wind. The ef
fect of this, in another war with England, de
fies calculation. — To JAMES MONROE, i, 587.
FORD ED., iv, 245. (P., 1786.)
1217. CHERBOURG, Invasion of Eng
land from. — An event seems to be preparing,
in the order of things, which will probably de
cide the fate of that country [England]. It
is no longer doubtful that the harbor of Cher
bourg will be completed, that it will be a most
excellent one, and capacious enough to hold the
whole navy of France. Nothing has ever been
wanting to enable France to invade that but a
naval force conveniently stationed to protect
the transports. This change of situation must
oblige the English to keep up a great standing
army, and there 'is no king, who, with sufficient
force, is not always ready to make himself abso
lute. — To GEORGE WYTHE. ii, 8. FORD EDV iv,
269. (P., 1786.)
1218. . This port will enable
them in case of a war with England, to invade
that country, or to annihilate its commerce,
and of course its marine. Probably, too, it
will oblige them to keep a standing army of
considerable magnitude. — To MR. HAWKINS, ii,
3. (P., 1786.)
1219. . The harbor of Cher
bourg will -* * * hold the whole [French]
navy. This is putting a bridle into the mouth
of England. — To DAVID HUMPHREYS, ii, n.
(P., 1786.)
1220. CHEROKEE INDIANS, Hope-
well Treaty and. — Were the treaty of Hope-
well, and the act of acceptance of Congress
to stand in any point in direct opposition to
each other, I should consider the act of ac
ceptance as void in that point; because the
treaty is a law made by two parties, and not
revocable by one of the parties either acting
alone or in conjunction with a third party.
If we consider the acceptance as a legislative
act of Congress, it is the act of one party
only; if we consider it as a treaty between
Congress and North Carolina, it is but a
subsequent treaty with another power, and
cannot make void a preceding one, with a
different power. But I see no such opposi
tion between these two instruments. The
Cherokees were entitled to the sole occupa
tion of the lands within the limits guaran
teed to them. The State of North Carolina
according to the jus gentium established for
America by universal usage, had only a right
of preemption of these lands against all other
nations. It could convey, then, to its citizens
only this right of preemption, and the right of
occupation could not be united to it until ob-
.ained by the United States from the Chero-
<ees. The act of cession of North Carolina
only preserves the rights of its citizens in the
same state as they would have been, had that
act never been passed. It does not make im
perfect titles perfect; but only prevents their
)eing made worse. Congress, by their act,
accept on these conditions. The claimants
of North Carolina, then, and also the Chero-
<ees, are exactly where they would have been,
lad neither the act of cession, nor that of
acceptance, been ever made ; that is, the latter
possess the right of occupation, and the
former the right of preemption. Though
these deductions seem clear enough, yet the
question would be a disagreeable one between
the General Government, a particular govern
ment, and individuals, and it would seem very
desirable to draw aJl the claims of preemption
within a certain limit, by commuting for
those out of it, and then to purchase of the
Cherokees the right of occupation. — To
HENRY KNOX. iii, 192. FORD ED., v, 237.
(N.Y., 1790.)
— CHERRONESUS, Proposed State of.
— See WESTERN TERRITORY.
1221. CHESAPEAKE, Attack on Frig
ate. — On the 22nd day of June last [1807], by
a formal order from the British admiral, the
frigate Chesapeake, leaving her port for dis
tant service, was attacked by one of those
vessels which had been lying in our harbors
under the indulgences of hospitality, was dis
abled from proceeding, had several of her
crew killed, and four taken away. On this
outrage no commentaries are necessary. Its
character has been pronounced by the indig
nant voice of our citizens with an emphasis
and unanimity never exceeded. I imme
diately, by proclamation, interdicted our
harbors and waters to all British armed ves
sels, forbade intercourse with them, and un
certain how far hostilities were intended, and
the town of Norfolk, indeed, being threatened
with immediate attack, a sufficient force was
ordered for the protection of that place, and
such other preparations commenced and pur
sued as the prospect rendered proper. An
armed vessel of the United States was dis
patched with instructions to our ministers at
London to call on that government for the
satisfaction and security required by the out
rage. A very short interval ought now to
bring the answer. * * * The aggression
thus begun has been continued on the part of
the British commanders by remaining within
our waters, in defiance of the authority of the
country, by habitual violations of its juris
diction, and at length by putting to death
one of the persons whom they had forcibly
taken from on board the Chesapeake. These
aggravations necessarily lead to the policy,
either of never admitting an armed vessel
into our harbors, or of maintaining in every
harbor such an armed force as may constrain
obedience to the laws, and protect the lives
137
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Chesapeake
and property of our citizens, against their
armed guests. But the expense of such a
standing force, and its inconsistence with our
principles, dispense with those obligations of
hospitality which would necessarily call for
it, and leave us equally free to exclude the
navy, as we are the army of a foreign power,
from entering our limits. — SEVENTH ANNUAL
MESSAGE, viii, 83. FORD ED., viii, 152. (Oct.
27, 1807.)
1222. CHESAPEAKE, Demand for rep
aration. — We now send a vessel to call upon
the British government for reparation for the
past outrage, and security for the future, nor
will anything be deemed security but a re
nunciation of the practice of taking persons
out of our vessels, under the pretence of their
being English. — To JOHN ARMSTRONG, v,
134. FORD ED., ix, 116. (W., July 1807.)
1223. . You will have seen by
the proclamation the measures adopted. We
act on these principles, i. That the usage of
nations requires that we shall give the of
fender an opportunity of making reparation
and avoiding war.* 2. That we should give
time to our merchants to get in their property
and vessels and our seamen now afloat. And,
3. That the power of declaring war being
with the Legislature, the Executive should do
nothing, necessarily committing them to de
cide for war in preference to non-intercourse,
which will be preferred by a great many. — To
VICE-PRESIDENT CLINTON, v, 116. FORD ED.,
ix, 100. (W., July 1807.)
1224. . We have acted on these
principles; I, to give that government an
opportunity to disavow and make reparation ;
2, to give ourselves time to get in the vessels,
property and seamen, now spread over the
ocean; 3, to do no act which might com-
promit Congress in their choice between
war, non-intercourse, or any other measure. —
To BARNABAS BIDWELL. v, 126. FORD ED.,
ix, 106. (W., 1807.)
1225. . Whether the outrage is
a proper cause of war, belonging exclusively
to Congress, it is our duty not to commit them
by doing anything which would have to be
retracted. We may, however, exercise the
powers entrusted to us for preventing fu
ture insults within our harbors, and claim
firmly satisfaction for the past. This will
leave Congress free to decide whether war
is the most efficacious mode of redress in our
case, or whether, having taught so many
other useful lessons to Europe, we may not
add that of showing them that ^ there are
peaceable means of repressing injustice, by
making it the interest of the aggressor to do
what is just, and abstain from future wrong.
—To W. H. CABELL. v, 114. FORD ED.,
ix, 87. (W., June 1807.)
1226. CHESAPEAKE, Excitement Over.
— This country has never been in such a state
* The action of the commander of the Leopard was
disavowed by the British government, and it also
disclaimed the right of search in the case of ships of
war.— EDITOR.
of excitement since the battle of Lexing
ton. — To JAMES BOWDOIN. v, 124. FORD ED.,
ix, 105. (July 1807.)
1227. . Never since the battle of
Lexington have I seen this country in such
a state of exasperation as at present, and even
that did not produce such unanimity. The
federalists themselves coalesce with us as to
the object, though they will return to their
trade of censuring every measure taken to ob
tain it. — To DUPONT DE NEMOURS, v, 127.
FORD ED., ix, no. (W., July 1807.)
1228. CHESAPEAKE, Hostilities
Threatened. — You will perceive by the en
closed copies of letters from Captain Decatur
that the British commanders have their foot
on the threshold of war. They have begun
the blockade of Norfolk; have sounded the
passage to the town, which appears practica
ble for three of their vessels, and menace an
attack on the Chesapeake and Cybele. These,
with four gunboats, form the present defence,
and there are four more gunboats in Nor
folk nearly ready. The four gunboats at
Hampton are hauled up, and in danger, four
in Mop jack bay are on the stocks. Blows
may be hourly possible. — To GENERAL DEAR
BORN, v, 117. FORD ED., ix, 101. (W., July
1807.)
1229. CHESAPEAKE, Interdiction of
British ships. — The interdicted ships are
enemies. Should they be forced, by stress of
weather, to run up into safer harbors, we
are to act towards them as we would towards
enemies in regular war, in a like case. Per
mit no intercourse, no supplies ; and if they
land, kill or capture them as enemies. If they
lie still, Decatur has orders not to attack them
without stating the case to me, and awaiting
instructions. But if they attempt to enter the
Elizabeth River, he is to attack them without
awaiting for instructions. Other armed ves
sels, putting in from sea in distress, are
friends. They must report themselves to the
collector, he assigns them their station, and
regulates their repairs, supplies, intercourse
and stay. Not needing flags, they are under
the direction of the collector alone, who
should be reasonably liberal as to their re
pairs and supplies, furnishing them for a
voyage to any of their American ports. — To
JAMES MADISON, v, 173. FORD ED., ix, 130.
(M., Aug. 1807.)
1230. - — . The intention of the
[British] squadron in the bay is so manifestly
pacific, that your instructions are perfectly
proper, not to molest their boats merely for
approaching the shore. While they are giv
ing up slaves and citizen seamen, and at
tempting nothing ashore, it would not be well
to stop this by any new restriction. — To W. H.
CABELL. v, 191. (M., Sep. 1807.)
1231. . If they come ashore,
they must be captured, or destroyed if they
cannot be captured, because we mean to en
force the proclamation rigorously in prevent
ing supplies. — To W. H. CABELL. v, 191. (M ,
Sep. 1807.)
Chesapeake
Children
THE JEFFERSON I AN CYCLOPEDIA
138
1232. . The authority of the
proclamation is to be maintained, no supplies
to be permitted to be carried to the Brit
ish vessels, nor their vessels permitted to land.
For these purposes force, and to any extent,
is to be applied, if necessary, but not unless
necessary; nor, considering how short a time
the present state of things has to continue,
would I recommend any extraordinary vigi
lance or great industry in seeking even just
occasions for collision. It will suffice to do
what is right when the occasion comes into
their way. — To ALBERT GALLATIN. v, 202.
(Oct. 1807.)
1233. CHESAPEAKE, New injuries.—
Should the British government give us repa
ration of the past, and security for the future,
yet the continuance of their vessels in our
harbors in defiance constitutes a new injury,
which will not be included in any settlement
with our ministers, and will furnish good
ground for declaring their future exclusion
from our waters, in addition with the reason
able ground before existing. — To JAMES MAD
ISON, v, 195. FORDED., ix, 139. (M., Sep.
1807.)
1234. CHESAPEAKE, Premeditation
suspected. — Though in the first moments of
the outrage on the Chesapeake I did not sup
pose it was by authority from their govern
ment, I now more and more suspect it, and of
course, that they will not give the reparation
for the past and security for the future, which
alone may prevent war. The new depreda
tions committing on us, with this attack on
the Chesapeake, and their calling on Portu
gal to declare on the one side or the other,
if true, prove they have coolly calculated it
will be to their benefit to have everything on
the ocean fair prize, and to support their,
navy by plundering all mankind. * * * It is
really mortifying that we should be forced
to wish success to Bonaparte, and to look to
his victories as our salvation. — To COLONEL
JOHN TAYLOR, v, 149. (W., Aug. 1807.)
1235. CHESAPEAKE, Preparations at
New York. — The spirit of the orders to De-
catur should be applied to New York. So
long as the British vessels merely enter the
Hook, or remain quiet there, I would not pre
cipitate hostilities. I do not sufficiently know
the geography of the harbor to draw the line
which they should not pass. But a
line should be drawn which if they attempt to
pass, Commodore Rogers should attack them
with all his force. — To ROBERT SMITH, v, 196.
FORD ED., ix, 140. (M., Sep. 1807.)
1236. CHESAPEAKE, Status of British
captives. — The relation in which we stand
with the British naval force within our waters
is so new, that differences of opinion are not
to be wondered at respecting the captives,
who are the subject of your letter. Are they
insurgents against the authority of the laws?
Are they public enemies, acting under the
orders of their sovereign? Or will it be more
correct to take their character from the act
of Congress for the preservation of peace in
our harbors, which authorizes a qualified war
against persons of their demeanor, defining its
objects, and limiting its extent? Consider
ing this act as constituting the state of things
between us and them, the captives may cer
tainly be held as prisoners of war. If we
restore them it will be an act of favor, and
not of any right they can urge. Whether
Great Britain will give us that reparation
for the past and security for the future, which
we have categorically demanded, cannot as
yet be foreseen; but we have believed we
should afford an opportunity of doing it,
as well from justice and the usage of nations,
as a respect to the opinion of an impartial
world, whose approbation and esteem are
always of value. This measure was requisite,
also, to produce unanimity among ourselves.
* * * It was necessary, too, for our own in
terests, afloat on the ocean. * * * These con
siderations render it still useful that we should
avoid every act which may precipitate imme
diate and general war, or in any way shorten
the interval so necessary for our own pur
poses ; and they render it advisable that the
captives, in the present instance, should be
permitted to return, with their boat, arms,
&c., to their ships. * * * And we wish the
military to understand that while, for special
reasons, we restore the captives in this first
instance, we applaud the vigilance and activ
ity which, by taking them, have frustrated
the object of their enterprise, and urge a con
tinuance of them, to intercept all intercourse
with the vessels, their officers and crews, and
to prevent them from taking or receiving sup
plies of any kind ; and for this purpose, should
the use of force be necessary, they are un
equivocally to understand that force is to be
employed without reserve or hesitation. — To
W. H. CABELL. v, 141. FORD ED., ix, 89.
(W., July 1807.)
1237. CHESAPEAKE, Tergiversation
of Great Britain.— The communications
made to Congress at their last session ex
plained the posture in which the close of the
discussion, relating to the attack by a British
ship of war on the frigate Chesapeake, left
a subject on which the nation had manifested
so honorable a sensibility. Every view of
what had passed authorized a belief that im
mediate steps would be taken by the British
government for redressing a wrong, which,
the more it was investigated, appeared the
more clearly to require what had not been pro
vided for in the special mission. It is found
that no steps have been taken for the pur
pose. On the contrary, it will be seen, in the
documents laid before you, that the inadmis
sible preliminary which obstructed the adjust
ment is still adhered to ; and moreover, that
it is now brought into connection with the dis
tinct and irrelative case of the orders in
council. — EIGHTH ANNUAL MESSAGE, viii, 105.
FORD ED., ix, 220. (Nov, 1808.)
1238. CHILDREN, Affection for.— No
considerations in this world would compen
sate to me a separation from yourself and
your sister. — To MARY JEFFERSON EPPES.
FORD ED., vii, 478. (W., Jan. 1801.)
139
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Children
Church
1239. . Francis will ever be to
me one of the dearest objects in life. — To
JOHN W. EPPES. FORD ED., ix, 107. (W., 1807.)
1240. CHILDREN, A blessing.— I sin
cerely congratulate you on the addition to
your family. The good old Book, speaking
of children says, " happy is the man who hath
his quiver full of them ". — To CESAR A. ROD
NEY. FORD ED., ix, 144. (W., 1807.)
1241. CHILDREN, Good humor in.— In
the ensuing autumn, I shall be sending on to
Philadelphia a grandson of about fifteen years
of age, to whom I shall ask your friendly at
tentions. Without that bright fancy which
captivates, I am in hopes he possesses sound
judgment and much observation; and, what
I value more than all things, good humor. — To
DR. BENJAMIN RUSH, v, 225. (W., 1808.)
1242. CHILDREN, Happiness and. —
An only daughter and numerous family of
grandchildren, will furnish me great resources
of happiness. — To CHARLES THOMSON, v, 403.
FORD ED., ix, 234. (W., 1808.)
1243. . My expectations from
you are high, yet not higher than yon may at
tain. Industry and resolution are all that are
wanting. Nobody in this world can make me
so happy, or so miserable, as you. Retire
ment from public life will ere long become
necessary for me. To your sister and yourself
I look to render the evening of my life se
rene and contented. Its morning has been
clouded by loss after loss, till I have nothing
left but you. I do not doubt either your af
fections or your dispositions. But great ex
ertions are necessary, and you have little time
left to make them. Be industrious, then, my
child. Think nothing insurmountable by res
olution and application, and you will be all
that I wish you to be. — To MARTHA JEFFER
SON. FORD ED., iv, 374. (1787.)
1244. CHILDREN, Moral training of.—
When your sister arrives [in France] she
will become a precious charge on your hands.
The difference of your age and your common
loss of a mother, will put that office on you.
Teach her above all things to be good, be
cause without that we can neither be valued
by others nor set any value on ourselves.
Teach her always to be true; no vice is so
mean as the want of truth, and at the same
time so useless. Teach her never to be angry ;
anger only serves to torment ourselves, to
divert others, and alienate their esteem. And
teach her industry, and application to useful
pursuits. I will venture to assure you that
if you inculcate this in her mind, you will
make her a happy being herself, a most inter
esting friend to you, and precious to all the
world. — To MARTHA JEFFERSON. FORD ED., iv,
375-
1245. CHILDREN, Prattle of.— You
were never more mistaken than in supposing
you were too long on the prattle. &c., of little
Anne [his granddaughter], I read it with quite
as much pleasure as you write it. — To MAR
THA JEFFERSON RANDOLPH. FORD ED., vi, 163.
(Pa., 1793.)
1246. CHINA, Conciliation of.— Punqua
Winchung the Chinese Mandarin, has, I be
lieve, his headquarters at New York, and
therefore his case is probably known to you.
He came to Washington just as I had left it
[for Monticello], and therefore wrote to me,
praying for permission to depart to his own
country with his property, in a vessel to be
engaged by himself. * * * I consider it as
a case of national comity, and coming within
the views of the first section of the first em
bargo act. The departure of this individual
with good dispositions, may be the means of
making our nation known advantageously at
the source of power in China, to which it is
otherwise difficult to convey information.
It may be of sensible advantage to our
merchants in that country. I cannot, there
fore, but consider that a chance of obtain
ing a permanent national good will should
overweigh the effect of a single case taken
out of the great field of the embargo. The
case, too,, is so singular, that it can lead to
no embarrassment as a precedent. — To AL
BERT GALLATIN. v, 325. (M., July 1808.)
1247. . In the case of the Chi
nese Mandarin, * * * the opportunity
hoped from that, of making known through
one of its own characters of note, our nation,
our circumstances and character, and of let
ting that government understand at length the
difference between us and the English, and
separate us in its policy, rendered that meas
ure a diplomatic one in my view, and likely
to bring lasting advantage to our merchants
and commerce with that country. — To ALBERT
GALLATIN. v, 344. (M., Aug. 1808.)
1248. CHOCOLATE, Tea, coffee and.
— The superiority of chocolate, both for health
and nourishment, will soon give it the same
preference over tea and coffee in America,
which it has in Spain. — To JOHN ADAMS, i,
494- (P-, 1785-)
— CHRISTIANITY, The Common Law
and. — See COMMON LAW.
1249. CHURCH, Definition of a.— A
church is " a voluntary society of men, join
ing themselves together of their own accord,
in order to the public worshipping of God in
such a manner as they judge acceptable to
Him and effectual to the salvation of their
souls ". It is voluntary, because no man is by
nature bound to any church. The hope of
salvation is the cause of his entering into it.
If he find anything wrong in it. he should be
as free to go out as he was to come in. — NOTES
ON RELIGION. FORD ED., ii, 101. (1776?)
1250. CHURCH, Jurisdiction. — Each
church being free, no one can have jurisdic
tion over another one, not even when the
civil magistrate joins it. It neither acquires
the right of the sword by the magistrate's
coming to it, nor does it lose the rights of in
struction or excommunication by his going
from it. It cannot by the accession of any
new member acquire jurisdiction over those
who do not accede. He brings only himself,
having no power to bring others. Suppose,
for instance, two churches, one of Arminians.
Church
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
140
another of Calvinists in Constantinople, has
either any right over the other? Will it be
said the orthodox one has? Every church is
to itself orthodox ; to others erroneous or
heretical.— NOTES ON RELIGION. FORD ED., ii,
99- d776?)
1251. CHURCH, Law of. —What is the
power of that church? As it is a society, it
must have some laws for its regulation. Time
and place of meeting; admitting and exclud
ing members, &c., must be regulated. But
as it was a spontaneous joining of members,
it follows that its laws extend to its own mem
bers only, not to those of any other volun
tary society ; for then, by the same rule, some
other voluntary society might usurp power
over them.— NOTES ON RELIGION. FORD EDV
ii, 101. (1776?)
1252. CHURCH, Regulation of.— If any
thing pass in a religious meeting seditiously
and contrary to the public peace, let it be pun
ished in the same manner and no otherwise
than as if it had happened in a fair or market.
These meetings ought not to be sanctuaries
for faction and flagitiousness. — NOTES ON RE
LIGION. FORD ED., ii, 1 02. (1776?)
1253. CHURCH (Anglican in Vir
ginia), Disestablishment of.— The first set
tlers of Virginia were Englishmen, loyal sub
jects to their king and church, and the grant
to Sir Walter Raleigh contained an express
proviso that their laws " should not be against
the true Christian faith, now professed in the
Church of England ". As soon as the state of
the colony admitted, it was divided into par
ishes, in each of which was established a min
ister of the Anglican church, endowed with
a fixed salary, in tobacco, a glebe house and
land with the other necessary appendages. To
meet these expenses, all the inhabitants of the
parishes were assessed, whether they were or
not, members of the established church. To
wards Quakers who came here, they were
most cruelly intolerant, driving them from the
colony by the severest penalties. In proc
ess of time, however, other sectarisms were
introduced, chiefly of the Presbyterian fam
ily ; and the established clergy, secure for life
in their glebes and salaries, adding to these,
generally, the emoluments of a classical
school, found employment enough, in their
farms and school-rooms, for the rest of the
week, and devoted Sunday only to the edifica
tion of their flock, by service, and a sermon
at their parish church. Their other pastoral
functions were little attended to. Against this
inactivity, the zeal and industry of sectarian
preachers had an open and undisputed field ;
and by the time of the Revolution, a majority
of the inhabitants had become dissenters from
the established church, but were still obliged
to pay contributions to support the pastors
of the minority. This unrighteous compul
sion, to maintain teachers of what they
deemed religious errors, was grievously felt
during the regal government, and without a
hope of relief. But the first republican legis
lature, which met in '76, was crowded with
petitions to abolish this spiritual tyranny.
These brought on the severest contests in
which I have ever been engaged. Our great
opponents were Mr. Pendleton and Robert
Carter Nicholas; honest men, but zealous
churchmen. The petitions were referred to
the " committee of the Whole House on the
State of the^ Country";* and, after desper
ate contests in that committee, almost daily
from the nth of October to the 5th of Decem
ber, we prevailed so far only, as to repeal the
laws which rendered criminal the mainte
nance of any religious opinions, the forbear
ance of repairing to church, or the exercise
of any mode of worship; and further, to ex
empt dissenters from contributions to the sup
port of the established church ; and to suspend,
only until the next session, levies on the mem
bers of that church for the salaries of their
own incumbents. For although the majority
of our citizens were dissenters, as has been
observed, a majority of the legislature were
churchmen. Among these, however, were
some reasonable and liberal men, who enabled
us, on some points, to obtain feeble majorities.
But our opponents carried, in the general res
olutions of the committee of Nov. 19, a dec
laration that religious assemblies ought to be
regulated, and that provision ought to be
made for continuing the succession of the
clergy, and superintending their conduct.
And, in the bill, now passed, t was inserted
an express reservation of the question,
whether a general assessment should not be
established by law, on every one, to the sup
port of the pastor of his choice ; or whether all
should be left to voluntary contributions ; and
on this question, debated at every session,
from '76 to '79 (some of our dissenting allies,
haying now secured their particular object,
going over to the advocates of a general
assessment), we could only obtain a suspen
sion from session to session until '79, when
the question against a general assessment was
finally carried, and the establishment of the
Anglican church entirely put down. In jus
tice to the two honest but zealous opponents,
who have been named, I must add, that al
though, from their natural temperaments, they
were more disposed generally to acquiesce in
things as they are, than to risk innovations,
yet whenever the public will had once decided,
none were more faithful or exact in their
obedience to it. — AUTOBIOGRAPHY, i, 38. FORD
ED., i, 52. (1821.)
1254. . The restoration of the
rights of conscience relieved the people from
taxation for the support of a religion not
theirs; for the [Church of England] Estab-
* A note in the FORD edition says these petitions
were referred to the " Committee of Religion " of
which Jefferson was a member. This committee
was subsequently discharged of this question, and it
was referred to the " Committee of the Whole House
upon the State of the Country ".—EDITOR.
+ Entitled; u An Act for exempting the different so
cieties of dissenters from contributing to the support
and maintenance of the church as by law established,
and its ministers, and for other purposes therein
mentioned." Passed by the House of Delegates, De
cember sth. Concurred in by the Senate, December
gth. Re-enacted January i, 1778. It is printed in A
Collection of Public Acts of Virginia^ Richmond,
1785, p. 39.— NOTE, FORD ED.
141
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Church
Church and State
lishment was truly of the religion of the rich,
the dissenting sects being entirely composed
of the less wealthy people.* — AUTOBIOGRAPHY.
i, 49. FORD ED., i, 69. (1821.)
— CHURCH (Anglican in Virginia),
Persecution by.— See QUAKERS.
1255. CHURCH AND STATE, Consti
tutional provisions against. — No person
shall be compelled to frequent or maintain
any religious institution. — PROPOSED VA. CON
STITUTION. FORD ED., ii, 27. (June 1776.)
1256. . The General Assembly
shall not have power * * * to abridge the
civil rights of any person on account of his re
ligious belief; to restrain him from professing
and supporting that belief, or compel him to
contributions, other than those he shall have
personally stipulated for the support of that
or any other. — PROPOSED VA. CONSTITUTION.
viii, 445. FORD ED., iii, 325. (1783.)
1257. . No man shall be com
pelled to frequent, or support, any religious
worship, place, or ministry, whatsoever; nor
shall be enforced, restrained, molested, or
burthened in his body or goods, or shall oth
erwise suffer, on account of his religious opin
ions or belief ; but * * * all men shall be free
to profess, and by argument to maintain, their
opinion in matters of religion, and * * * the
Fame shall in no wise diminish, enlarge, or
affect their civil capacities. — STATUTE OF RE
LIGIOUS FREEDOM, viii, 455. FORD ED., ii, 239.
(1779.)
1258. CHURCH AND STATE, Evils of
union. — If the magistracy had vouchsafed to
interpose in other sciences, we should have as
bad logic, mathematics, and philosophy as we
have divinity in countries where the law set
tles orthodoxy. — NOTES ON RELIGION. FORD
ED., ii, 95. (1776?)
1259. _. To suffer the civil mag
istrate to intrude his powers into the
field of opinion, and to restrain the profession
or propagation of principles on supposition
of their ill tendency, is a dangerous fallacy,
which at once destroys all religious liberty,
because he being, of course, judge of that
tendency will make his opinions the rule of
judgment, and approve or condemn the sen
timents of others only as they shall square
with or suffer from his own. — STATUTE OF
RELIGIOUS FREEDOM, viii, 455. FORD ED., ii,
239- (I779-)
1260. CHURCH AND STATE, False
Religions. — The impious presumption of leg
islators and rulers, civil as well as ecclesias
tical, who, being themselves but fallible and
uninspired men, have assumed dominion over
the faith of others, setting up their own opin
ions and modes of thinking as the only true
and infallible, and as such endeavoring to im
pose them on others, hath established and
maintained false religions over the greatest
part of the world and through all time. —
STATUTE OF RELIGIOUS FREEDOM, viii, 454.
FORD ED., ii, 38. (1779.)
* See Note to ENTAIL —EDITOR.
1261. CHURCH AND STATE, Guid
ance by. — I canaot give up my guidance to
the magistrate, because he knows no more
of the way to heaven than I do, and is less
concerned to direct me right than I am to
go right. — NOTES ON RELIGION. FORD ED., ii,
100. (1776?)
1262. . If it be said the magis
trate may make use of arguments and so draw
the heterodox to truth, I answer, every man
has a commission to admonish, exhort, con
vince another of error. — NOTES ON RELIGION.
FORD ED., ii, 101. (1776?)
1263. . If the magistrate com
mand me to bring my commodity to a public
store-house, I bring it because he can indem
nify me if he erred, and I thereby lose it; but
what indemnification can he give one for the
kingdom of heaven ? — NOTES ON RELIGION.
FORD ED., ii, 100. (1776?)
1264. CHURCH AND STATE, New
York, Pennsylvania and.— Our sister States
of Pennsylvania and New York have long sub
sisted without any establishment at all. The
experiment was new and doubtful when they
made it. It has answered beyond conception.
They flourish infinitely. Religion is well sup
ported ; of various kinds, indeed, but all good
enough; all sufficient to preserve peace and
order ; or if a sect arises, whose tenets would
subvert morals, good sense has fair play, and
reasons and laughs it out of doors, without
suffering the State to be troubled with it.
They do not hang more malefactors than we
do. They are not more disturbed with relig
ious dissensions. On the contrary, their har
mony is unparalleled, and can be ascribed to
nothing but their unbounded tolerance, be
cause there is no other circumstance in which
they differ from every nation on earth. They
have made the happy discovery, that the way
to silence religious disputes, is to take no no
tice of them. — NOTES ON VIRGINIA, viii, 402.
FORD ED., iii, 265. (1782.)
1265. CHURCH AND STATE, People
and. — The people have not given the magis
trate the care of souls because they could not.
They could not, because no man has the right
to abandon the care of his salvation to an
other. — NOTES ON RELIGION. FORD ED., ii, 101.
(1776?)
1266. CHURCH AND STATE, Right
of opinion and. — The opinions of men are
not the object of civil government, nor under
its jurisdiction.* — STATUTE OF RELIGIOUS
FREEDOM. FORD ED., ii, 238. (1779.)
1267. CHURCH AND STATE, Support
of. — To compel a man to furnish contribu-
* Parton in his Life of Jefferson, p. 211, says: "This
vigorous utterance of Thomas Jefferson was the ar
senal from which the opponents of the forced sup
port of religion drew their weapons, during the whole
period of about fifty years that elapsed between its
publication and the repeal of the last State law which
taxed a community for the support of the clergy; nor
will it cease to have a certain value as long as any
man, in any land, is distrusted, or undervalued, or
abridged of his natural rights, on account of any
opinion whatever." This extract is not in the Stat
ute as printed in the Congress Edition.— EDITOR
Church and Statfe
Cincinnati Society
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
142
tions of money for the propagation of opin
ions which he disbelieves and abhors, is sin
ful and tyrannical. — STATUTE OF RELIGIOUS
FREEDOM, viii, 454. FORD ED., ii, 238. U779-)
1268. . The forcing a man to
support this or that teacher even of his own
religious persuasion, is depriving him of the
comfortable liberty of giving his contributions
to the particular pastor whose morals he
would make his pattern, and whose powers he
feels most persuasive to righteousness ; and is
withdrawing from the ministry those tem
porary rewards, which, proceeding from an
approbation of their personal conduct, are an
additional incitement to earnest and unremit
ting labors for the instruction of mankind. —
STATUTE OF RELIGIOUS FREEDOM, viii, 454.
FORD ED., ii, 238. (1779.)
1269. CHURCH AND STATE, Wall of
separation. — Believing that religion is a
matter which lies solely between man and his
God, that he owes account to none other for
his faith or his worship, that the legislative
powers of government reach actions only, and
not opinions, I contemplate with sovereign
reverence that act of the whole American peo
ple which declared that their Legislature
should " make no law respecting an establish
ment of religion, or prohibiting the free exer
cise thereof ", thus building a wall of separa
tion between Church and State.* — R. TO A.
DANBURY BAPTISTS, viii, 113. (1802.)
1270. CICERO, Letters of. —The letters
of Cicero breathe the purest effusions of an
exalted patriot, while the parricide Caesar is
lost in odious contrast. — To JOHN ADAMS, vii,
148. FORD ED., x, 152. (M., 1819.)
1271. CINCINNATI SOCIETY, Foun
dation. — When the army was about to be dis
banded, and the officers to take final leave,
perhaps never again to meet, it was natural
for men who had accompanied each other
through so many scenes of hardship, of diffi
culty, and danger, who, in a variety of in
stances, must have been rendered mutually
dear by those aids and good offices to which
their situations had given occasion ; it was
natural, I say, for these to seize with fondness
any proposition which promised to bring them
together again at certain and regular periods.
And this, I take for granted, was the origin
and object of this institution ; and I have no
suspicion that they foresaw, much less in-
* Before sending this reply to the Danbury Bap
tists, Jefferson enclosed a copy of it to Levi Lincoln,
his Attorney General, with a note (FORD ED., viii.
i2g) in which he said: " The Baptist address admits
of a condemnation of the alliance between Church
and State, under the authority of the Constitution.
It furnishes an occasion, too, which I have long
wished to find, of saying why I do not proclaim fast
ings and thanksgivings, as my predecessors did. *
* * I know it will give great offence to the New
England clergy ; but the advocate of religious free
dom is to expect neither peace nor forgiveness from
them. Will you be so good as to examine the answer,
and suggest any alterations which might prevent an
ill effect, or promote a good one among the people ?
You understand the temper of those in the North,
and can weaken it, therefore, to their stomachs ; it is
at present seasoned to the Southern taste only."—
EDITOR.
tended, those mischiefs which exist perhaps
in the forebodings of politicians only. I doubt,
however, whether, in its execution, it would
be found to answer the wishes of those who
framed it, and to foster those friendships it
was intended to preserve. The members
would be brought together at their annual
assemblies, no longer to encounter a com
mon enemy, but to encounter one another in
debate and sentiment. For something, I sup
pose, is to be done at these meetings, and,
however unimportant, it will suffice to produce
difference of opinion, contradiction and irrita
tion. The way to make friends quarrel is to
put them in disputation under the public eye.
An experience of near twenty years has taught
me that few friendships stand this test, and
that public assemblies, where every one is
free to act and speak, are the most powerful
looseners of the bands of private friendship.
I think, therefore, that this institution would
fail in its principal object, the perpetuation
of the personal friendships contracted through
the war.* — To GENERAL WASHINGTON, i, 333.
FORD ED., iii, 465. (A., April 1784.)
1272. CINCINNATI SOCIETY, Objec
tions to. — The objections of those who are
opposed to the institution shall be briefly
sketched. They urge that it is against the
Confederation — against the letter of some of
our constitutions, against the spirit of all of
them — that the foundation on which all these
are built is the natural equality of man, the
denial of every preeminence but that annexed
to legal office, and, particularly, the denial of
preeminence by birth ; that, however, in their
present dispositions, citizens might decline ac
cepting honorary instalments into the order,
a time may come, when a change of disposi
tions would render these flattering, when a
well-directed distribution of them might draw
into the order all the men of talents, of office
and wealth, and, in this case, would probably
procure an ingraftment into the government;
that in this, they will be supported by their
foreign members, and the wishes and influ
ence of foreign courts ; that experience has
shown that the hereditary branches of mod
ern governments are the patrons of privilege
and prerogative, and not of the natural rights
of the people, whose oppressors they generally
are; that, besides these evils, which are re
mote, others may take place more immedi
ately ; that a distinction is kept up between the
civil and military, which it is for the happi
ness of both to obliterate ; that when the
members assemble they will be proposing to
do something, and what that something may
be, will depend on actual circumstances ; that
being an organized body under habits of sub
ordination, the first obstructions to enterprise
will be already surmounted ; that the modera
tion and virtue of a single character have
probably prevented this Revolution from being
closed, as most others have been, by a sub
version of that liberty it was intended to es
tablish; that he is not immortal, and his suc
cessor, or some of his successors, may be led
* Washington asked Jefferson's opinions on the
subject. —EDITOR.
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Cincinnati Society
Cities
by false calculation into a less certain road to
glory. — To GENERAL WASHINGTON, i, 334.
FORD ED., iii, 466. (A., April 1784.)
1273. CINCINNATI SOCIETY, Opposi
tion in Congress. — What arc the sentiments
of Congress on this subject, and what line they
will pursue, can only be stated conjecturally.
Congress, as a body, if left to themselves, will,
in my opinion, say nothing on the subject.
They may, however, be forced into a declara
tion by instructions from some of the States,
or by other incidents. Their sentiments, if
forced from them, will be unfriendly to the
institution. If permitted to pursue their own
path, they will check it by side-blows when
ever it comes in their way, and in competitions
for office, on equal or nearly equal ground,
will give silent preference to those who are
not of the fraternity. My reasons for thinking
this are, I. The grounds on which they lately
declined the foreign order proposed to be
conferred on some of our citizens. 2.. The
fourth of the fundamental articles of con
stitution for the new States. * * 3. Pri
vate conversations on this subject with the
members. * * * I have taken occasion to ex
tend these, not, indeed, to the military mem
bers, because, being of the order, delicacy
forbade it, but to the others pretty generally;
and among these, I have as yet found but
one who is not opposed to the institution. —
To GENERAL WASHINGTON, i, 335. FORD ED.,
iii, 467. (A., April 1784.)
1274. CINCINNATI SOCIETY, Senti
ment in France. — What has heretofore
passed between us on this institution, makes
it my duty to mention to you that I have
never heard a person in Europe, learned or un
learned, express his thoughts on this insti
tution, who did not consider it as dishonor
able and destructive to our governments ; and
that every writing which has come out since
my arrival here [Paris] in which it is men
tioned, considers it, even as now reformed, as
the germ whose development is one day to
destroy the fabric we have reared. I did not
apprehend this while I had American ideas
only. But I confess that what I have seen in
Europe has brought me over to that opinion ;
and that though the day may be at some dis
tance, beyond the reach of our lives, perhaps,
yet it will certainly come, when a single fibre
left of this institution will produce an hered
itary aristocracy, which will change the form
of our governments from the best to the worst
in the world. To know the mass of evil
which flows from this fatal source, a person
must be in France. He must see the finest
soil, the finest climate, the most compact
State, the most benevolent character of peo
ple, and every earthly advantage combined, in
sufficient to prevent this scourge from ren
dering existence a curse to twenty-four out
of twenty-five parts of the inhabitants of this
country. With us, the branches of this insti
tution cover all the States. The southern
ones at this time are aristocratical in their
disposition; and that that spirit should grow
and extend itself, is within the natural order
of things. I do not flatter myself with the im
mortality of our governments; but I shall
think little also of their longevity, unless this
germ of destruction be taken out. When the
society themselves shall weigh the possibility
of evil against the impossibility of any good
to proceed from this institution, I cannot help
hoping they will eradicate it. I know they
wish the permanence of our governments as
much as any individuals composing them. — To
GENERAL WASHINGTON, ii, 61. FORD ED iv,
328. (P., Nov. 1786.)
1275. CIPHER, Jefferson's.— A favor
able and confidential opportunity offering by
M. Dupont de Nemours, who is revisiting his
native country * * * I send you a cipher
to be used between us, which will give you some
trouble to understand, but, once understood, is
the easiest to use, the most undecipherable, and
varied by a new key with the greatest facility
of any I have ever known. I am in hopes the
explanation enclosed will be sufficient. Let
our key of letters be [some figures tvhich are
illegible] and the key of lines be [figures il
legible], and lest we should lose our key or be
absent from it, it is so formed as to be kept in
the memory and put upon paper at pleasure ;
being produced by writing our names and resi
dences at full length, each of which containing
twenty-seven letters is divided into three parts
of nine letters each ; and each of the nine let
ters is then numbered according to the place it
would hold if the nine were arranged alpha
betically thus [so blotted as to be illegible].
The numbers over the letters being then ar
ranged as the letters to which they belong
stand in our names, we can always construct
our key. But why a cipher between us, when
official things go naturally to the Secretary of
State, and things not political need no cipher?
i. Matters of a public nature, and proper to
go on our records, should go to the Secretary
of State. 2. Matters of a public nature, not
proper to be placed on onr records, may still
go to the Secretary of State, headed by the
word " private." But, 3, there may be matters
merely personal to ourselves, and which require
the cover of a cipher more than those of any
other character. This last purpose and others,
which we cannot foresee, may render it con
venient and advantageous to have at hand a
mask for whatever may need it. — To ROBERT
R. LIVINGSTON, iv, 431. FORD ED., viii, 143.
(W., 1802.)
1276. CIRACCHI, Genius of.— Ciracchi
was second to no sculptor living except Canova ;
and, if he had lived, he would have rivalled him.
His style had been formed on the fine models
of antiquity in Italy, and he had caught their
ineffable majesty of expression. On his re
turn to Rome, he made the bust of General
Washington in marble, from that in plaster ;
it was sent over here, was universally consid
ered as the best effigy of him ever executed,
was bought by the Spanish minister for the
King of Spain, and sent to Madrid. — To
NATHANIEL MACON. vi, 535. (M., 1816.)
1277. CITIES, Corruption and. — When
we get piled upon one another in large cities,
as in Europe, we shall become as corrupt as in
Europe.* — To JAMES MADISON. FORD ED., iv,
479. (P., Dec. 1787.)
* In the Congress edition (ii, 332) this extract has
been edited so as to read : u When \j'e get piled upon
one another in large cities, as in Europe, we shall
become corrupt as in Europe, and go to eating one
another as they do there." — EDITOR.
Cities
Citizens
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
144
1278. CITIES, Evils of.— I view great
cities as pestilential to the morals, the
health, and the liberties of man. True, they
nourish some of the elegant arts, but the use
ful ones can thrive elsewhere, and less perfec
tion in the others, with more health, virtue
and freedom, would be my choice. — To DR.
BENJAMIN RUSH, iv, 335. FORD ED., vii, 459.
(M., 1800.)
1279. CITIES, Federalist strongholds.
— The cities [were] the strongholds of feder
alism. — To WILLIAM JOHNSON, vii, 292.
FORD ED., x, 227. (M., 1823.)
1280. . The inhabitants of the
commercial cities are as different in senti
ment and character from the country people as
any two distinct nations, and are clamorous
against the order of things [republicanism]
established by the agricultural interest. — To
M. PICTET. iv, 463. (W., 1803.)
1281. CITIES, Foreign Character of.—
In our cities your son will find distant imi
tations of the cities of Europe. But if he
wishes to know the nation, its occupations,
manners, and principles, they reside not in
the cities. He must travel through the coun
try, accept the hospitalities of the country gen
tlemen, and visit with them the school of the
people. — To MADAME DE STAEL. v, 133. (W.,
1807.)
1282. . Our cities exhibit speci
mens of London only; our country is a dif
ferent nation. — To M. DASHKOFF. v, 463.
(M., 1809.)
1283. CITIES, Founding. — There are
places [in Virginia] at which * * * the laws
have said there shall be towns ; but nature has
said there shall not. * * * Accidental circum
stances, however, may control the indications
of nature, and in no instance do they do it
more frequently than in the rise and fall of
towns. — NOTES ON VIRGINIA, viii, 351. FORD
ED., iii, 213. (1782.)
1284. CITIES, Life in.— A city life offers
indeed more means of dissipating time, but
more frequent, also, and more painful ob
jects of vice and wretchedness. — To WILLIAM
SHORT, vii, 310. (M., 1823.)
1285. CITIES, Misery in.— Even here we
find too strong a current from the country to
the towns ; and instances are beginning to
appear of that species of misery, which you
are so humanely endeavoring to relieve with
you. Although we have in the old countries
of Europe the lesson of their experience to
warn us, yet I am not satisfied we shall have
the firmness and wisdom to profit by it. —
To DAVID WILLIAMS, v, 514. (W., 1803.)
1286. . The general desire of
men to live by their heads rather than their
hands, and the strong allurements of great
cities to those who have any turn for dissi
pation threaten to make them here, as in
Europe, the sinks of voluntary misery. — To
DAVID WILLIAMS, iv, 514. (W., 1803.)
1287. CITIES, Political influence of.—
The commercial cities, though, by the com
mand of newspapers, they make a great deal
of noise, have little effect in the direction of
the government. — To M. PICTET. iv, 463.
(W., 1803.)
1288. CITIZENS, Adopted.— Born in
other countries, yet believing you could be
happy in this, our laws acknowledge, as they
should do, your right to join us in society,
conforming * * * to our established rules.
That these rules shall be as equal as pruden
tial considerations will admit, will certainly
be the aim of our legislatures, general and par
ticular. — REPLY TO ADDRESS, iv, 394. (W., May
1801.)
1289. . If the unexampled state
of the world has, in any instance, occasioned
among us temporary departures from the sys
tem of equal rule, the restoration of tranquil
lity will doubtless produce reconsideration;
and your knowledge of the liberal conduct
heretofore observed towards strangers settling
among us will warrant the belief that what is
right will be done. — REPLY TO ADDRESS, iv,
394. (May 1801.)
1290. CITIZENS, Dangerous.— Every so
ciety has a right to fix the fundamental
principles of its association, and to say to all
individuals, that, if they contemplate pursuits
beyond the limits of these principles, and in
volving dangers which the society chooses to
avoid, they must go somewhere else for their
exercise ; that we want no citizens, and still
less ephemeral and pseudo-citizens, on such
terms. We may exclude them from our ter
ritory, as we do persons infected with dis
ease. We have most abundant resources of
happiness within ourselves, which we may
enjoy in peace and safety without permitting
a few citizens, infected with the mania of
rambling and gambling, to bring danger on
the great mass engaged in innocent and safe
pursuits at home. — To WILLIAM H. CRAW
FORD, i, 6. FORD ED., x, 34. (M., 1816.)
1291. CITIZENS, Fraudulent and real.
— [As to citizens] there is a distinction which
we ought to make ourselves, and with which
the belligerent powers [France and England]
ought to be content. Where, after the com
mencement of a war, a merchant of either
comes here and is naturalized, the purpose^ is
probably fraudulent against the other, and in
tended to cloak their commerce under our
flag. This we should honestly discountenance,
and never reclaim their property when cap
tured. But merchants from either, settled
and made citizens before a war, are citizens
to every purpose of commerce, and not to be
distinguished in our proceedings from na
tives. Every attempt of Great Britain to
enforce her principle of " once a subject, al
ways a subject " beyond the case of her own
subjects, ought to be repelled.— To ALBERT
GALLATIN. FORD ED., viii, 251. (July 1803.)
See EXPATRIATION.
1292. CITIZENS, Government and. —
Give to every citizen, personally, a part in
the administration of the public affairs. — To
SAMUEL KERCHIVAL. vii, 13. FORD ED., x, 41.
(M., 1816.)
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Citizens
Civilization
1293. CITIZENS, Military service and.
— Every citizen [should] be a soldier. This
was the case with the Greeks and Romans,
and must be that of every free State. — To
JAMES MONROE, vi, 131. (M., 1813.)
1294. CITIZENS, Protection of.— It is
an obligation of every government to yield
protection to its citizens as the consideration
of their obedience.— To JOHN JAY. i, 458.
(P., 1785-)
1295. . The first foundations of
the social compact would be broken up, were
we definitely to refuse to its members the pro
tection of their persons and property, while
in their lawful pursuits. — To JAMES MAURY.
vi, 52. FORD ED., ix, 348. (M., 1812.)
1296. . The persons and prop
erty of our citizens are entitled to the protec
tion of our government in all places where
they may lawfully go. — OFFICIAL OPINION.
vii, 624. (I793-)
1297. CITIZENS, Belief of imprisoned.
— There are in the prison of St. Pol de Leon
six or seven citizens of the United States of
America, charged with having attempted a
contraband of tobacco, but, as they say them
selves, forced into that port by stress of
weather. I believe that they are innocent.
Their situation is described to me as deplora
ble as should be that of men found guilty of
the worst of crimes. They are in close jail,
allowed three sous a day only, and unable to
speak a word of the language of the country.
I hope their distress, which it is my duty to
relieve, * * * will apologize for the liberty
I take of asking you to advise them what to
do for their defence, to engage some good
lawyer for them, and to pass them the pecuni
ary reliefs necessary. I write to Mr. Lister
Asquith, the owner of the vessel, that he
may draw bills on me from time to time, for
a livre a day for every person of them, and
what may be necessary to engage a lawyer
for him.— To M. DESBORDES. i, 402. (P., 1785.)
1298. . I take the liberty of
troubling your excellency on behalf of six
citizens of the United States who have been
for some time confined in the prison of St. Pol
de Leon, and of referring for particulars to the
enclosed state of their case. * * * I have thus
long avoided troubling your Excellency with
this case, in hopes it would receive its decision
in the ordinary course of law, and I relied
that that would indemnify the sufferers, if
they had been used unjustly; but though
they have been in close confinement, now near
three months, it has yet no appearance of ap
proaching to decision. In the meantime, the
cold of the winter is coming on, and, to men
in their situation, may produce events which
would render all indemnification too late.
I must, therefore, pray the assistance of your
Excellency, for the liberation of their persons,
if the established order of things may possi
bly admit of it.— To COUNT DE VERGENNES.
i, 479- (P., 1785.)
1299. CITIZENS, Bights of distressed.
—Citizens [in a foreign country] under un
expected calamity have a right to call for the
patronage of the public servants. — To JOHN
JAY. i, 583. (P., 1786.) See ALIEN AND
SEDITION LAWS, EXPATRIATION, NATURALIZA
TION.
1300. CITIZENSHIP, Government and.
— No Englishman will pretend that a right to
participate in government can be derived from
any other source than a personal right, or a
right of property. The conclusion is inevi
table that he, who had neither his person nor
property in America, could rightfully as
sume a participation in its government. — To
M. SOULES. ix, 299. FORD ED., iv, 306. (P.,
1786.)
- CIVIL SEBVICE.— See OFFICE.
1301. CIVILIZATION, Letters and.—
Our experience with the Indians has proved
that letters are not the first, but the last step
in the progression from barbarism to civiliza
tion. — To JAMES PEMBERTON. v, 303. (W.,
1808.)
1302. CIVILIZATION, Progress of.—
The idea which you present of the progress
of society from its rudest state to that it has
now attained, seems conformable to what may
be probably conjectured. Indeed, we have
under our eyes tolerable proofs of it. Let a
philosophic observer commence a journey
from the savages of the Rocky Mountains,
eastwardly to our seacoast. These he would
observe in the earliest stages of association
living under no law but that of nature, sub
sisting and covering themselves with the flesh
and skins of wild beasts. He would next find
those on our frontiers in the pastoral state,
raising domestic animals to supply the defects
of hunting. Then succeed our semi-barba
rous citizens, the pioneers of the advance of
civilization, and so in his progress he would
meet the gradual shades of improving man
until he would reach his, as yet, most im-
? roved state in our seaport towns. This, in
act, is equivalent to a survey, in time, of the
progress of man from the infancy of creation
to the present day. I am eighty-one years of
age, born where I now live, in the first range
of mountains in the interior of our country.
And I have observed this march of civilization
advancing from the sea coast, passing over us
like a cloud of light, increasing our knowl
edge and improving our condition, insomuch
as that we are at this time more advanced in
civilization here than the seaports were when
I was a boy. And where this progress will
stop no one can say. Barbarism has, in the
meantime, been receding before the steady
step of amelioration ; and will in time, I
trust, disappear from the earth. You seem
to think that this advance has brought on us
too complicated a state of society, and that we
should gain in happiness by treading back our
steps a little way. I think, myself, that we
have more machinery of government than is
necessary, too many parasites living on the
labor of the industrious. I believe it might
be much simplified to the relief of those
who maintain it. Your experiment seems to
have this in view. A society of seventy
Claiborne (W. C. C.)
Clergy
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
146
families, the number you name, may very pos
sibly be governed as a single family, subsist
ing on their common industry, and holding
all things in common. Some regulators of
the family you still must have, and it re
mains to be seen at what period of your in
creasing population your simple regulations
will cease to be sufficient to preserve order,
peace, and justice. — To WILLIAM LUDLOW.
vii, 377. (M., 1824.)
1303. CLAIBORNE (W. C. C.), Ap
pointed Governor.— Among the enclosed
commissions is one for yourself as Governor of
the Territory of Orleans. With respect to this
I will enter into frank explanations. This office
was originally destined for a person* whose
great services and established fame would have
rendered him peculiarly acceptable to the na
tion at large. Circumstances, however, exist,
which do not now permit his nomination, and
perhaps may not at any time hereafter. That,
therefore, being suspended and entirely con
tingent, your services have been so much ap
proved as to leave no desire to look elsewhere
to fill the office. Should the doubts you have
sometimes expressed, whether it would be eli
gible for you to continue, still exist in your
mind, the acceptance of the commission gives
you time to satisfy yourself by further experi
ence, and to make the time and manner of with
drawing, should you ultimately determine on
that, agreeable to yourself. — To GOVERNOR CLAI
BORNE. iv, 558. (M., Aug. 1804.)
1304. CLAIBORNE (W. C. C.), Feder
alists and. — The federalists have been long
endeavoring to batter down the Governor, who
has always been a firm republican. There were
characters superior to him whom I wished to
appoint, but they refused the office. I know no
better man who would accept of it, and it would
not be right to turn him out for one not better.
— To JOHN DICKINSON, v, 30. FORD ED., ix,
8. (W., 1807.)
1305. CLAIMANTS, Assistance to— It
is impossible for me to give any authority for
the advance of moneys to Mr. Wilson. Were
we to do it in his case, we should, on the
same principles, be obliged to do it in several
others, wherein foreign nations decline or
delay doing justice to our citizens. No law of
the United States would cover such an act
of the executive ; and all we can do legally is
to give him all the aid which our patronage
of his claims with the British court can effect.
— To THOMAS PINCKNEY. iii, 526. (Pa.,
I793-)
1306. CLAIMS, Settle just.— Mr. Cut
ting has a claim against the government. * * *
I have only to .desire that you will satisfy
yourself as to the facts * * * and communi
cate the same to me, that justice may be done
between the public and the claimant. — To
THOMAS PINCKNEY. iii, 445. (Pa., 1792.)
1307. CLARK (George Rogers), Great
ness of. — I know the greatness of General
Clark's mind and am the more mortified at the
cause which obscures it. Had not this unhap
pily taken place, there was nothing he might
not have hoped ; could it be surmounted, his
lost ground might yet be recovered. No man
alive rated him higher than I did, and would
* In the margin is written by Jefferson, " Lafay
ette ".—EDITOR.
again, were he to become what I knew him.
We are made to hope he is writing an ac
count of his expeditions north of Ohio. They
will be valuable morsels of history, and will
justify to the world those who have told them
how great he was. — To HARRY INNES. iii, 217.
FORD ED., v, 295. (Pa., 1791.)
1308. CLARKE (Daniel), Consul at
New Orleans.— I have appointed Mr. Daniel
Clarke, at New Orleans, our consul there. His
worth and influence will aid you powerfully in
the interfering interests of those who go, and
who reside there. — To WILLIAM C. CLAIBORNE.
FORD ED., viii, 72. (W., July 1801.)
_ CLASSICS, Study of the.— See LAN
GUAGES.
1309. CLAY (Henry), Opposition to Jef
ferson. — It is true, as you have heard, that a
distance has taken place between Mr. Clay
and myself. The cause I never could learn,
nor imagine. I had always known him to be an
able man, and I believe him an honest one. I
had looked to his coming into Congress with an
entire belief that he would be cordial with the
administration, and, even before that, I had
always had him in my mind for a high and im
portant vacancy which had been, from time to
time, expected, but is only now about to take
place. I feel his loss, therefore, with real con
cern, but it is irremediable from the necessity
of harmony and cordiality between those who
are to manage the public concerns. Not only
his withdrawing from the usual civilities of
intercourse with me (which even the federalists
with two or three exceptions keep up), but his
open hostility in Congress to the administration,
leave no doubt of the state of his mind as a
fact, although the cause be unknown. — To
THOMAS COOPER, v, 183. (M., Sep. 1807.)
1310. CLERGY, Benefit of.— This privi
lege, originally allowed to the clergy, is now
extended to every man, and even to women.
It is a right of exemption from capital pun
ishment, for the first offence, in most cases.
It is, then, a pardon by the law. In other
cases, the Executive gives the pardon. But
when laws are made as mild as they should be,
both these pardons are absurd. The principle
of Beccaria is sound. Let the legislators be
merciful, but the executors of the law inex
orable. — To M. DE MEUNIER. ix, 263. FORD
ED., iv, 168. (P., 1786.)
1311. CLERGY, Public office and.—
In the scheme of constitution for Virginia
which I prepared in 1783, I observe an abridg
ment of the right of being elected, which after
seventeen years more of experience and reflec
tion, I do not approve. It is the incapacitation
of a clergyman from being elected. The
clergy, by getting themselves established by
law, and ingrafted into the machine of gov
ernment, have been a very formidable engine
against the civil and religious rights of man.
They are still so in many countries, and even
in some of these United States. Even in 1783,
we doubted the stability of our recent meas
ures for reducing them to the footing of
other useful callings. It now appears that
our means were effectual. The clergy here
seem to have relinquished all pretension to
privilege, and to stand on a footing with law
yers, physicians, &c. They ought, therefore,
147
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Clergy
Climate
to possess the same rights. — To JEREMIAH
MOOR. FORD ED., vii, 454. (M., Aug. 1800.)
1312. CLERGY, Support of.— In the an
cient feudal times of our good old forefathers,
when the seigneur married his daughter, or
knighted his son, it was the usage for his
vassals to give him a year's rent extra in the
name of an aid. I think it as reasonable
when our pastor builds a house, that each of
his flock should give him an aid of a year's
contribution. I enclose mine as a tribute of
justice, which of itself indeed is nothing, but
as an example, if followed, may become some
thing. In any event, be pleased to accept it
as an offering of duty. — To THE REV. MR.
HATCH. FORD ED., x, 197. (M., 1821.) See
CHURCH, CHURCH AND STATE, MINISTERS,
RELIGION.
1313. CLIMATE, American and Euro
pean. — The comparison of climate between
Europe and North America, taking together its
corresponding parts, hangs chiefly on three
great points, i. The changes between heat and
cold in America are greater and more frequent,
and the extremes comprehend a greater scale
on the thermometer in America than in Europe.
Habit, however, prevents these from affecting
us more than the smaller changes of Europe
affect the European. But he is greatly affected
by ours. 2. Our sky is always clear ; that of
Europe always cloudy. Hence a greater accu
mulation of heat here than there, in the same
parallel. 3. The changes between wet and dry
are much more frequent and sudden in Europe
than in America. Though we have double the
rain, it falls in half the time. Taking all these
together, I prefer much the climate of the
United States to that of Europe. I think it a
more cheerful one. It is our cloudless sky
which has eradicated from our constitutions
all disposition to hang ourselves, which we
might otherwise have inherited from our
English ancestors. During a residence of
between six and seven years in Paris, I never,
but once, saw the sun shine through a whole
day, without being obscured by a cloud in any
part of it ; and I never saw the moment, in
which, viewing the sky through its whole
hemisphere, I could say there was not the
smallest speck of a cloud in it. I arrived at
Monticello, on my return from France, in
January ; and during only two months' stay
there, I observed to my daughters, who had
been with me to France, that, twenty odd
times within that term, there was not a speck
of cloud in the whole atmosphere. Still, I
dp not wonder that an European should prefer
his gray to our azure sky. Habit decides our
taste in this, as in most other cases. — To C. F.
VOLNEY. iv, 570. (W., 1805.)
1314. CLIMATE, Enjoyment and.— Cer
tainly it is a truth that climate is one of the
sources of the greatest sensual enjoyment. — To
DR JOSEPH PRIESTLEY, iv, 441. FORD ED., viii,
160. (W., 1802.)
1315. CLIMATE, Habit and.— In no
case, perhaps, does habit attach our choice or
judgment more than in climate. The Canadian
glows with delight in his sleigh and snow ; the
very idea of which gives me the shivers. — To
C. F. VOLNEY. iv, 569. (W., 1805.)
1316. CLIMATE, Humidity. — It has
been an opinion pretty generally received
among philosophers, that the atmosphere of
America is more humid than that of Europe.
Monsieur de Buffon makes this hypothesis one
ol the two pillars whereon he builds his system
of the degeneracy of animals in America. Hav
ing had occasion to controvert this opinion of
his, as to the degeneracy of animals there, I
expressed a doubt of the fact assumed that our
climates are more moist. I did not know of
any experiments which might authorize a de
nial of it. Speaking afterwards on the sub
ject with Dr. Franklin, he mentioned to me
the observations he had made on a case of
magnets, made for him by Mr. Nairne in
London. Of these you will see a detail, in the
second volume of the American Philosophical
Transactions, in a letter from Dr. Franklin to
Mr. Nairne, wherein he recommends to him to
take up the principle therein explained, and
endeavor to make an hygrometer, which, taking
slowly the temperature of the atmosphere, shall
give its mean degree of moisture, and enable us
to make with more certainty, a comparison be
tween the humidities of different climates.
May I presume to trouble you with an inquiry
of Mr. Nairne, whether he has executed the
Doctor's idea? and if he has, to get him to
make for me a couple of the instruments he
may have contrived. They should be made of
the same piece, and under like circumstances,
that sending one to America, I may rely on
its indications there, compared with those of
the one I shall retain here [Paris]. Being in
want of a set of magnets also, I would be glad
if he would at the same time send me a set, the
case of which should be made as Dr. Franklin
describes his to have been, so that I may re
peat his experiment. — To MR. VAUGHAN. ii,
82. (P., 1786.)
1317. CLIMATE, Humidity gauge.—
I think Mr. Rittenhouse never published an
invention of his in this way, which was a very
good one. It was of an hygrometer which, like
the common ones, was to give the actual moist
ure of the air. He has two slips of mahogany
about five inches long, three-fourths of an inch
broad, and one-tenth of an inch thick, the one
having the grain running lengthwise, and the
other crosswise. These are glued together by
their faces, so as to form a piece five inches
long, three-fourths of an inch broad, and one-
third of an inch thick, which is stuck by its
lower end into a little plinth of wood, presenting
their edge to the view. The fibres of the
wood, you know, are dilated, but not lengthened
by moisture. The slip, therefore, whose
grain is lengthwise, becomes a standard, retain
ing always the same precise length. That
which has its grain crosswise, dilates with
moisture, and contracts for the want of it. If
the right hand piece be the cross-grained one,
when the air is very moist, it lengthens, and
forces its companion to form a kind of interior
annulus of a circle on the left. When the air
is dry, it contracts, draws its companion to the
right, and becomes itself the interior annulus.
In order to show this dilation and contraction,
an index is fixed on the upper end of two of the
slips ; a plate of metal or wood is fixed on the
upper end of two of the slips ; a plate of metal
or wood is fastened to the front of the plinth,
so as to cover the two slips from the eye. A
slit, being nearly the portion of a circle, is cut
in this plate, so that the shank of the index
may play freely through its whole range. On
the edge of the slit is a graduation. The ob
jection to this instrument is, that it is not fit
for comparative observations, because no two
pieces or wood being of the same texture ex
actly, no two will yield exactly alike to the
Climate
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
148
same agent. However, it is less objectionable
on this account than are most of the substances
used. Mr. Rittenhouse had a thought of try
ing ivory ; but I do not know whether he exe
cuted it. All these substances not only vary
from one another at the same time, but from
themselves at different times. All of them,
however, have some peculiar advantages, and
I think this, on the whole, appeared preferable
to any other I had ever seen. — To MR. VAUGHAN.
ii, 83. (P., 1786.)
% 1318. CLIMATE, Madeira.— [I am] told
that the temperature of Madeira is generally
from 55° to 65°, its extreme about 50° and 70°
If I ever change my climate for health, it
should be for that Island. — To DR. HUGH WILL
IAMSON, iv, 346. FORD ED., vii, 479. (W.,
1801.)
1319. CLIMATE, Old persons and.— I
have a great opinion of the favorable influence
of genial climates in winter, and especially
on old persons. — To DR. JOSEPH PRIESTLEY.
FORD ED., viii, 180. (W., 1802.)
1320. CLIMATE, Preference for warm.
— I wonder that any human being should re
main in a cold country who could find room in
a warm one. — To DR. HUGH WILLIAMSON, iv,
346. FORD ED., vii, 479. (W., 1801.)
1321. . I have often wondered
that any human being should live in a cold
country who can find room in a warm one. — To
WILLIAM DUNBAR. iv, 347. FORD ED., vii, 482.
(W., Jan. 1 80 1.),
1322. CLIMATE, Sufferings from cold.
— I have no doubt but that cold is the source
of more suffering to all animal nature than hun
ger, thirst, sickness, and all the other pains of
life and of death itself put together. I live in a
temperate climate, and under circumstances
which do not expose me often to cold. Yet
when I recollect, on one hand, all the sufferings
I have had from cold, and, on the other, all my
other pains, the former preponderate greatly.
What, then, must be the sum of that evil if we
take in the vast proportion of men who are
obliged to be out in all weather, by land and by
sea ; all the families of beasts, birds, reptiles,
and even the vegetable kingdom ! for that, too,
has life, and where there is life there may be
sensation. — To WILLIAM DUNBAR. iv, 347.
FORD ED., vii, 482. (W., Jan. 1801.)
1323. CLIMATE, Theories concerning.
— I thank you for your pamphlet on the cli
mate of the west, and have read it with great
satisfaction. Although it does not yet estab
lish a satisfactory theory, it is an additional
step towards it. Mine was perhaps the first at
tempt, not to form a theory, but to bring to
gether the few facts then known, and suggest
them to public attention. They were written
between forty and fifty years ago, before the
close of the Revolutionary war, when the
western country was a wilderness, untrodden
but by the foot of the savage or the hunter. It
is now flourishing in population and science,
and after a few years more of observation and
collection of facts, they will doubtless furnish
a theory of solid foundation. Years are requi
site for this, steady attention to the ther
mometer, to the plants growing there, the times
of their leafing and flowering, its animal inhabit
ants, beasts, birds, reptiles, and insects ; its
prevalent winds, quantities or rain and snow,
temperature of fountains, and other indexes of
climate. We want this indeed for all the
States, and the work should be repeated once,
or twice in a century, to show the effect of
clearing and culture towards changes of climate.
My Notes give a very imperfect idea of what
our climate was, half a century ago, at this
place [Monticello], which being nearly central
to the State may be taken for its medium. Lat
terly, after seven years of close and exact ob
servation, I have prepared an estimate of what
it is now, which may some day be added to
the former work ; and I hope something like this
is doing in the other States, which, when all
shall be brought together, may produce theories
meriting confidence. — To LEWIS M. BECK, vii,
375. (1824.)
1324. CLIMATE OF VIRGINIA.— A
change in our [Virginia] climate is taking place
very sensibly. Both heats and colds are becom
ing much more moderate within the memory
even of the middle-aged. Snows are less frequent
and less deep. They do not often lie, below the
mountains, more than, one. two, or three days,
and very rarely a week. They are remembered
to have been formerly frequent, deep, and of
long continuance. The elderly inform me, the
earth used to be covered with snow about three
months in every year. The rivers, which then
seldom failed to freeze over in the course of
the winter, scarcely ever do so now. — NOTES ON
VIRGINIA, viii, 327. FORD ED., iii, 185. (1782.)
1325. — . . The change which has
taken place in our [Virginia] climate, is one of
those facts which all men of years are sensible
of, and yet none can prove by regular evidence ;
they can only appeal to each other's general
observation for the fact. I remember when I
was a small boy (say sixty years ago), snows
were frequent and deep in every winter — to
my knee very often, to my waist sometimes —
and that they covered the earth long. And I
remember while yet young, to have heard from
very old men, that in their youth, the winters
had been still colder, with deeper and longer
snows. In the year 1772, we had a snow two
feet deep in the champaign parts of Virginia,
and three feet in the counties next below the
mountains. That year is still marked in con
versation by the designation of " the year of
the deep snow." But I know of no regular
diaries of the weather very far back. In latter
times, they might perhaps be found. While I
lived at Washington, I kept a diary, and by
recurring to that, I observe that from the winter
of 1802-3, to that of 1808-9, inclusive, the aver
age fall of snow of the seven winters was only
fourteen and a half inches, and that the ground
was covered but sixteen days in each winter
on an average of the whole. The maximum in
any one winter, during that period, was twenty-
one inches fall, and thirty-four days on the
ground. — To DR. CHAPMAN, v, 487. (M.,
1809.)
1326. . I find nothing anywhere
else, in point of climate, which Virginia need
envy to any part of the world. Here [northern
New York] they are locked up in snow and ice
for six months. Spring and autumn, which
make a paradise of our country, are rigorous
winter with them ; and a tropical summer breaks
on them all at once. When we consider how
much climate contributes to the happiness of
our condition, by the fine sensations it excites,
and the productions it is the parent of, we have
reason to value highly the accident of birth in
such a one as that of Virginia. — To MARTHA
JEFFERSON RANDOLPH. FORD ED., v, 338. (1791.)
See WEATHER.
149
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Clinton
Coast Line
1327. CLINTON (De Witt), Defends
Jefferson. — Thomas Jefferson presents his
compliments to Mr. Clinton, and his thanks for
the pamphlet sent him.* He recollects the hav
ing read it at the time with a due sense of his
obligation to the author, whose name was sur
mised, though not absolutely known, and a con
viction that he had made the most of his matter.
The ground of defence might have been solidly
aided by the assurance (which is the absolute
fact) that the whole story fathered on Mazzei,
was an unfounded falsehood. Dr. Linn, as
aware of that, takes care to quote it from a
dead man, who is made to quote from one re
siding in the remotest part of Europe. Equally
false was Dr. Linn's other story about Bishop
Madison's lawn sleeves, as the Bishop can tes
tify, for certainly Th : J. never saw him in
lawn sleeves. Had the Doctor ventured to
name time, place, and person, for his third lie
(the government without religion), it is prob
able he might have been convicted on that also.
But these are slander and slanderers, whom
Th : J. has thought it best to leave to the
scourge of public opinion. — To DE WITT CLIN
TON, v, 80. FORD ED., ix, 59. (W., 1807.)
1328. CLINTON (George), Election as
Governor. — It seems probable that Mr. Jay
had a majority of the qualified voters, and I
think not only that Clinton would have honored
himself by declining to accept, and agreeing to
take another fair start, but that probably such
a conduct would have ensured him a majority
on a new election. To retain the office, when
it is probable the majority was against him, is
dishonorable. — To JAMES MONROE. FORD EDV
vi, 94. (Pa., June 1792.)
1329. . It does not seem possi
ble to defend Clinton as a just or disinterested
man, if he does not decline the office [of Gov
ernor], of which there is no symptom; and 1
really apprehend that the cause of republicanism
will suffer if its votaries be thrown into schism
by embarking in support of this man, and for
what? To draw over the anti-federalists who
are not numerous enough to be worth drawing
over. — To JAMES MADISON. FORD ED., vi, 89.
(Pa., 1792.)
1330. CLINTON (George), English war
ships and. — I congratulate you on your safe
arrival with Miss Clinton at New York, and es
pecially on your escape from British violence.
This aggression is of a character so distinct
from that on the Chesapeake, and of so aggra
vated a nature, that I consider it as a very
material one to be presented with that to the
British government. I pray you, therefore, to
write me a letter, stating the transaction, and
in such form as that it may go to that govern
ment. — To VICE-PRESIDENT CLINTON, v, 115.
FORD ED., ix, 100. (W., July 1807.)
1331. CLINTON (George), Estrange
ment from Jefferson. — I already perceive
my old friend Clinton, estranging himself from
me. No doubt lies are carried to him, as they
will be to the two other candidates [for the
Presidency], under forms which, however false,
he can scarcely question. Yet, I have been
equally careful as to him also, never to say a
word on this subject. — To JAMES MONROE, v,
247. FORD ED., ix, 177. (W., Feb. 1808.)
1332. CLINTON (George), Mental de
cay. — It is wonderful to me that old men
*" A vindication of Thomas Jefferson, against the
charges contained in a pamphlet entitled ' Serious
Considerations'. By Grotius, N. Y., 1800".— EDITOR.
should not be sensible that their minds keep
pace with their bodies in the progress of decay.
Our old revolutionary friend Clinton, for ex
ample, who was a hero, but never a man of
mind, is wonderfully jealous on this head. He
tells eternally the stories of his younger days
to prove his memory, as if memory and reason
were the same faculty. Nothing betrays imbe
cility so much as the being insensible of it. — To
BENJAMIN RUSH, vi, 3. FORD ED., ix, 328.
(P.P., 1811.)
- COAST DEFENCE.— See DEFENCE.
1333. COAST LINE, Jurisdiction and.—
Governments and jurisconsults have been
much divided in opinion as to the distance
from their sea coasts to which they might
reasonably claim a right of prohibiting the
commitment of hostilities. The greatest dis
tance, to which any respectable assent among
nations has been at any time given, has been
the extent of the human sight, estimated at
upwards of twenty miles; and the smallest
distance, I believe, claimed by any nation
whatever, is the utmost range of a cannon
ball, usually stated at one sea league. Some
intermediate distances have also been insisted
on, and that of three sea-leagues has some
authority in its favor. The character of our
coast, remarkable in considerable parts of it
for admitting no vessels of size to pass the
shores, would entitle us in reason to as broad
a margin of protected navigation as any na
tion whatever. Not proposing, however, at
this time, and without a respectful and friend
ly communication with the powers interested
in this navigation, to fix on the distance to
which we may ultimately insist on the right
of protection, the President gives instructions
to the officers acting under his authority, to
consider those heretofore given them as re
strained, for the present, to the distance of
one sea-league, or three geographical miles,
from the sea shore. This distance can admit
of no opposition, as it is recognized by
treaties between some of the powers with
whom we are connected in commerce and
navigation, and is as little or less than is
claimed by any one of them on their own
coasts.* — To E. C. GENET, iv, 75. FORD ED.,
vi, 440. (G., Nov. 1793.)
1334. — __. I think myself that the
limits of our [marine] protection are of great
consequence, and would not hesitate the sac
rifice of money to obtain them large. I would
say, for instance, to Great Britain, " we will
pay you for such of these vessels [taken by
France] as you choose; only requiring in re
turn that the distance of their capture from
shore shall, as between us, be ever considered
as within our limits ; now say for yourself,
which of these vessels you will accept pay
ment for ". With France it might not be so
easy to purchase distance by pecuniary sacri
fices ; but if by giving up all further reclama
tion of the vessels in their hands, they could
be led to fix the same limits (say three
leagues) I should think it an advantageous
purchase. — To PRESIDENT WASHINGTON. FORD
ED., vi, 434. (M., Oct. 1793.)
* Jefferson wrote to the same effect to Mr Ham
mond, the British Minister.— EDITOR.
Coast Line
Coles (Edward)
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
150
1335. COAST LINE, Limits of.— The
rule of the common law is that wherever
you can see from land to land, all the water
within the line of sight is in the body of the
adjacent country, and within common law
jurisdiction. Thus, if in this curvature
•2^_^^~~^\_J^you can see from a to b, all the
water within the line of sight is within com
mon law jurisdiction, and a murder com
mitted at c is to be tried as at common law.
Our coast is generally visible, I believe, by the
time you get within about twenty-five miles.
I suppose that at New York you must be
some miles out of the Hook before the oppo
site shores recede twenty-five miles from each
other. The three miles of marine jurisdiction
is always to be counted from this line of sight.
—To ALBERT GALLATIN. iv, 559. FORD ED., viii,
319. (M., 1804.)
1336. COAST LINE, Rivers, Bays and.
— For the jurisdiction of the rivers and bays
of the United States, the laws of the several
States * * * have made provision, and they
are, moreover, as being land-locked, within
the body of the United States.— To GEORGE
HAMMOND, iv, 76. FORDED., vi, 442. (G., 1793-)
1337. COCKADES, Politics and.— Some
of the young men, who addressed the President
[John Adams] on Monday, mounted the black
(or English) cockade. The next day, numbers
of the people appeared with the tricolored (or
French) cockade. Yesterday being the fast day,
the black cockade again appeared, on which the
tricolor also showed itself. A fray ensued, the
light horse were called in, and the city [Phila
delphia] was so filled with confusion, from
about 6 to 10 o'clock last night, that it was
dangerous going out. — To JAMES MADISON.
FORD ED., vii, 251. (Pa., May 10, 1798.)
1338. . In the first moments of
the tumult in Philadelphia, the cockade assumed
by one party was mistaken to be the tricolor.
It was the old blue and red, adopted in some
places in an early part of the Revolutionary
war. It is laid aside, but the black is still fre
quent. — To JAMES MADISON. FORD ED., vii, 253.
(Pa., May 1798.)
1339. COERCION OF A STATE, The
Confederation and. — It has been often said
that the decisions of Congress are impotent
because the Confederation provides no com
pulsory power. But when two or more na
tions enter into compact, it is not usual for
them to say what shall be done to the party
who infringes it. Decency forbids this, and
it is as unnecessary as indecent, because the
right of compulsion naturally results to the
party injured by the breach. When any one
State in the American Union refuses obedi
ence to the Confederation by which they have
bound themselves, the rest have a natural
right to compel them to obedience. Congress
would probably exercise long patience before
they would recur to force ; but if the case ul
timately required it, they would use that re
currence. Should this case ever arise, they
will probably coerce by a naval force, as be
ing more easy, less dangerous to liberty, and
less likely to produce much bloodshed. — To
M. DE MEUNIER. ix. 291. FORD ED., iv, 147.
(P., 1786.)
1340. COERCION OF A STATE, Law of
Nature and. — The coercive powers supposed
to be wanting in the federal head, I am of
opinion they possess by the law of nature,
which authorizes one party to an agreement
to compel the other to performance. A delin
quent State makes itself a party against the
rest of the confederacy. — To EDWARD RAN
DOLPH, ii, 211. (P., 1787.)
1341. . it has been so often said,
as to be generally believed, that Congress have
no power by the Confederation to enforce
anything, for example, contributions of
money. It was not necessary to give them
that power expressly, for they have it by the
law of nature. When two parties make a
compact, there results to each a power of
compelling the other to execute it. — To E.
CARRINGTON. ii, 217. FORD ED., iv, 424. (P.,
Aug. 1787.)
1342. COERCION OF A STATE, Meth
ods of. — Peaceable means should be contrived
for the Federal head to enforce compliance
on the part of the States. — To GEORGE WYTHE.
ii, 267. FORD ED., iv, 445. (P., Sept. 1787.)
1343. COERCION OF A STATE, A navy
— Compulsion was never so easy as in
our case, where a single frigate would soon
levy on the commerce of any State the de
ficiency of its contributions ; nor more safe
than in the hands of Congress which has al
ways shown that it would wait, as it ought
to do, to the last extremities before it would
execute any of its powers which are disagree
able. — To E. CARRINGTON. ii, 218. FORD ED.,
iv, 424- (P-, August 1787.)
1344. COERCION OF A STATE, Neces
sity of.— -There never will be money in the
treasury till the confederacy shows its teeth.
The States must see the rod ; perhaps it must
be felt by some of them. I am persuaded all
of them would rejoice to see every one obliged
to furnish its contributions. It is not the
difficulty of furnishing them, which beggars
the treasury, but the fear that others will not
furnish as much. Every rational citizen must
wish to see an effective instrument of coer
cion, and should fear to1 see it on any other
element than the water. A naval force can
never endanger our liberties, nor occasion
bloodshed : a land force would do both. — To
JAMES MONROE, i, 606. FORD ED., iv, 265.
(P., 1786.)
— COINAGE OF UNITED STATES.—
See DOLLAR.
1345. COKE (Lord), Opinions of.— Lord
Cokes opinion it is ever dangerous to neglect. —
NOTE TO CRIMES BILL, i, 150. FORD ED., ii,
208. (i779-)
- COLD, Suffering caused by.— See
CLIMATE.
1346. COLES (Edward), Jefferson's sec
retary. — Mr. Coles, the bearer of public des
patches, by an aviso, has lived with me as Sec
retary, is my wealthy neighbor at Monticello,
and worthy of all confidence. His intimate
knowledge of our situation has induced us to
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Coles (Edward)
Colonies
send him, because he will be a full supplement
as to all those things which cannot be detailed
in writing. — To JOHN ARMSTRONG, v, 433.
(W., March 1809.)
1347. . To give you a true de
scription of the state of things here, I must
refer you to Mr. Coles, the bearer of this
[letter], my Secretary, a most worthy, intelli
gent and well-informed young man, whom I
recommend to your notice. * His dis
cretion and fidelity may be relied on. — To Du-
PONT DE NEMOURS, v, 432. (W., 1809.)
_ COLLEGES Arrangement, of build
ings for. — See ACADEMIES.
1348. COLONIES (The American), Be
ginning of the. — America was conquered,
and her settlements made, and firmly estab
lished, at the expense of individuals, and not
of the British public. Their own blood was
spilt in acquiring lands for their settlement,
their own fortunes expended in making that
settlement effectual; for themselves they
fought, for themselves they conquered, and
for themselves alone they have right to hold.
No shilling was ever issued from the public
treasuries of his Majesty, or his ancestors,
for their assistance, till of very late times,
after the colonies had become established on a
firm and permanent footing.— RIGHTS OF BRIT
ISH AMERICA, i, 126. FORD ED., i, 430. (i?74-)
See RIGHTS OF BRITISH AMERICA, APPENDIX.
1349. COLONIES (The American), The
Crown and. — Our forefathers, inhabitants of
the island of Great Britain, left their native
land to seek on these shores a residence for
civil and religious freedom. At the expense
of their blood, to the ruin of their fortunes,
with the relinquishment of everything quiet
and comfortable in life, they effected settle
ments in the inhospitable wilds of America;
and there established civil societies with va
rious forms of constitution. To continue
their connection with the friends whom they
had left, they arranged themselves by charters
of compact under the same common King,
who thus completed their powers of full and
perfect legislation and became the link of
union between the several parts of the em
pire.— DECLARATION ON TAKING UP ARMS
FORD ED., i, 464. (July I775-)
1350. . That settlement having
been thus effected in the wilds of America
the emigrants thought proper to adopt tha
system of laws under which they had hitherto
lived in the mother country, and to continue
their union with her. by submitting them
selves to the same common sovereign, who
was thereby made the central link, connecting
the several parts of the empire thus newly
multiplied.— RIGHTS OF BRITISH AMERICA,
126. FORD ED., i, 431- (I774-)
_ COLONIES (The American), George
III. and.— See GEORGE III.
1351. COLONIES (The American), Har
assed by the Stuarts. — But not long wer
the Colonies permitted, however far the]
thought themselves removed from the ham
of oppression, to hold undisturbed the right
.cquired at the hazard of their lives and loss
)f their fortunes. A family of princes was
hen on the British throne, whose treason-
ible crimes against their people brought on
hem, afterwards, the exertion of those
acred and sovereign rights of punishment,
cserved in the hands of the people for cases
>f extreme necessity, and judged by the con-
titution unsafe to be delegated to any other
udicature. While every day brought forth
;ome new and unjustifiable exertion of power
over their subjects on that side of the water,
t was not to be expected that those here,
much less able at the time to oppose the de
signs of despotism, should be exempted from
njury. Accordingly, this country which had
Deen acquired by the lives, the labors, and for-
unes of individual adventurers, was by these
Princes, several times, parted* out and dis
tributed among the favorites and followers
of their fortunes; and. by an assumed right
of the Crown alone, was erected into distinct
and independent governments ; a measure
which, it is believed, his Majesty's prudence
and understanding would prevent him from
imitating at this day; as no exercise of such
power of dividing and dismembering a
country has ever occurred in his Majesty's
realm of England, though now of very an
cient standing; nor could it be justified or
acquiesced under there, or in any other part
of his Majesty's empire. — RIGHTS OF BRITISH
AMERICA. 1,127. FORD ED., i, 431. (I774-)
1352. COLONIES (The American), Par
liamentary encroachments. — In 1650, the
parliament, considering itself as standing in
the place of their deposed king, and as hav
ing succeeded to all his powers, without as
well as within the realm, began to assume
a right over the Colonies, passing an act for
inhibiting their trade with foreign nations.
This succession to the exercise of kingly au
thority gave the first color for parliamentary
interference with the Colonies, and produced
that fatal precedent which they continued to
follow, after they had retired, in other re
spects, within their proper functions. — NOTES
ON VIRGINIA, viii, 355- FORD ED., iii, 217.
(1782.)
1353. . What powers the Par
liament might rightfully exercise over us,
and whether any, had never been declared
either by them or us. They had very early
taken the gigantic step of passing the Navi
gation Act. The Colonies remonstrated vio
lently against it, and one of them, Virginia,
when she capitulated to the Commonwealth
of England, expressly stipulated for a free
* In 1621, Nova Scotia was granted by James I. to
Sir William Alexander. In 16^2, Maryland was
granted by Charles I. to Lord Baltimore. In 1664,
New York was granted by Charles II. to the Duke of
York • as also New Jersey, which the Duke of York
conveyed again to Lord Berkely and Sir George Car-
teret. So also were the Delaware counties, which the
same Duke conveyed to Wm. Penn. In 1665, the
countrv including "North and South Carolina, Geor
gia and the Floridas was granted by Charles II. to
the Earl of Clarendon, Duke of Albemarle, Earl of
Craven, Lord Berkely, Lord Ashlev, Sir George Car-
teret, Sir John Coleton, and Sir Wm. Berkely. In
1681, Pennsylvania was granted by Charles II. to
Wm. Penn.— NOTE BY JEFFERSON.
Colonies
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
152
trade. This capitulation, however, was as
little regarded as the original right, restored
by it, had been. The Navigation Act was
reenacted by Charles II., and was enforced.
And we had been so long in the habit of see
ing them consider us merely as objects for
the extension of their commerce, and of sub
mitting to every duty or regulation imposed
with that view, that we had ceased to com
plain of them.— NOTES ON M. SOULES'S BOOK.
ix, 294. FORD ED., iv, 302. (P., 1786.)
1354. COLONIES (The American), Po
litical relations of. — The settlement of the
Colonies was not made by public authority,
or at the public expense of England; but by
the exertions, and at the expense of individu
als. Hence it happened that their constitu
tions were not formed systematically, but ac
cording to the circumstances which happened
to exist in each. Hence, too, the principles
of the political connection between the old
and new countries were never settled. That
it would have been advantageous to have set
tled them, is certain ; and, particularly to have
provided a body which should decide, in the
last resort, all cases wherein both parties
were interested. But it is not certain that
that right would have been given, or ought
to have been given to the Parliament ; much
less, that it resulted to the Parliament, with
out having been given to it expressly. Why
was it necessary that there should have been
a body to decide in the last resort? Because
it would have been for the good of both
parties. But this reason shows it ought not
to have been the Parliament, because that
would have exercised it for the good of one
party only. — To M. DE MEUNIER. ix, 255.
FORD ED., iv, 160. (P., 1786.)
1355. COLONIES (The American), Rec
onciliation of.— There was * * * a plan of
accommodation offered in Parliament, which,
though not entirely equal to the terms we
had a right to ask, yet differed but in few
points from what the General Congress had
held out. Had Parliament been disposed sin
cerely, as we are, to bring about a reconcilia
tion, reasonable men had hoped, that by meet
ing us on this ground something might have
been done. Lord Chatham's Bill, on the one
part, and the terms of Congress on the other,
would have formed a basis for negotiations,
which a spirit of accommodation on both sides
might, perhaps, have reconciled. It came rec
ommended, too, from one whose successful
experience in the art of government should
have insured it some attention from those to
whom it was intended. He had shown to the
world, that Great Britain with her Colonies
united firmly under a just and honest Gov
ernment formed a power which might bid de
fiance to the most potent enemies. With a
change of Ministers, however, a total change
of measures took place. The component
parts of the Empire have from that moment
been falling asunder, and a total annihilation
of its weight in the political scale of the world
seems justly to be apprehended. — ADDRESS OF
VA. HOUSE OF BURGESSES TO LORD DUNMORE.
FORD ED., i, 458. (I775-)
1356. . Though desirous and de
termined to consider, in the most dispassion
ate view, every advance towards reconcilia
tion made by the British Parliament, let our
brethren of Britain reflect what would have
been the sacrifice to men of free spirits, had
even fair terms been proffered, * * * as
these were, with circumstances of insult and
defiance. — REPLY TO LORD NORTH'S PROPOSI
TION. FORD ED., i, 478. (July 1775.)
1357. . With what patience
could Britain have received articles of treaty
from any power on earth, when borne on the
point of the bayonet by military plenipoten
tiaries? — REPLY TO LORD NORTH'S PROPOSI
TION. FORD ED., i, 479. (July 1775.)
1358. . If * * * Great Britain,
disjoined from her Colonies, be a match for
the most potent nations of Europe, with the
Colonies thrown into their scale, they may go
on securely. But if they are not assured of
this, it would be certainly unwise, by try
ing the event of another campaign, to risk our
accepting a foreign aid, which, perhaps, may
not be obtainable, but on condition of ever
lasting avulsion from Great Britain. This
would be thought a hard condition to those
who still wish for reunion with their parent
country. I am sincerely one of those, and
would rather be in dependence on Great
Britain, properly limited, than on any nation
on earth, or than on no nation. But I am one
of those, too, who, rather than submit to the
rights of legislating for us, assumed by the
British Parliament, and which late experi
ence has shown they will so cruelly exercise,
would lend my hand to sink the whole Island
in the ocean. — To JOHN RANDOLPH, i, 201.
FORD ED., i, 484. (M., August 1775.)
1359. COLONIES (The American), Re
sistance to Unjust Taxation.— When Par
liament proposed to consider us as objects of
taxation, all the States took the alarm. Yet
so little had we attended to this subject, that
our advocates did not know at first on what
ground to take their stand. Mr. Dickinson,
a lawyer of more ingenuity than sound judg
ment, and still more timid than ingenious,
not daring to question the authority to regu
late commerce so as best to answer their own
purpose, to which we had long submitted,
admitted that authority in its utmost extent.
He acknowledged * * * that they could
levy duties, internal or external, payable in
Great Britain or in the States. He only re
quired that these duties should be bond fide
for the regulation of commerce, and not to
raise a solid revenue. He admitted, there
fore, that they might control our commerce,
but not tax us. This mysterious system took
for a moment in America as well as in Eu
rope. But sounder heads saw in the first
moment that he who could put down the
loom, could stop the spinning wheel, and he
who could stop the spinning wheel could tie
the hands which turned it. They saw that
this flimsy fabric could not be supported.
Who were to be the judges whether duties
were imposed with a view to burden and sup-
153
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Colonies
press a branch of manufacture or to raise a
revenue ? If either party, exclusively of the
other, it was plain where that would end.
If both parties, it was plain where that
would end also. They saw, therefore, no
sure clew to lead them out of their difficulties
but reason and right. They dared to follow
them, assured that they alone could l?ad them
to defensible ground. The first elements of
our reason showed that the members of Par
liament could have no power which the
people of the several counties had not; that
these had naturally a power over their own
farms, and collectively over all England.
But if they had any power over counties out
of England, it must be founded on compact
or force. No compact could be shown, and
neither party chose to bottom their preten
sions on force. It was objected that this
annihilated the Navigation Act. True, it
does. The Navigation Act, therefore, be
comes a proper subject of treaty between
the two nations. Or, if Great Britain does
not choose to have its basis questioned, let
us go on as we have done. Let no new
shackles be imposed, and we will continue to
submit to the old. We will consider the
restrictions on our commerce now actually
existing as compensations yielded by us for
the protection and privileges we actually en
joy, only trusting that if Great Britain on a
revisal of these restrictions, is sensible that
some of them are useless to her and oppres
sive to us, she will repeal them. But on this
she shall be free. Place us in the condition
we were when the King came to the throne,
let us rest so, and we will be satisfied. This
was the ground on which all the States very
soon found themselves rallied, and that there
was no other which could be defended. —
NOTES ON M. SOULES'S BOOK, ix, 295. FORD
ED., iv, 302. (P., 1786.) See TAXATION.
— COLONIES (The American), Re
strictions on trade of. — See TRADE.
1360. COLONIES (The American), Sep
aration from England. — It is neither our
wish nor our interest to separate from Great
Britain. We are willing, on our part, to sac
rifice everything which reason can ask to the
restoration of that tranquillity for which all
must wish. On their part, let them be ready
to establish union on a generous plan. Let
them name their terms, but let them be just.
Accept of every commercial privilege which
it is in our power to give, for such things
as we can raise for their use, or they make
for ours. But let them not think to exclude
us from going to other markets to dispose
of those commodities which they cannot use,
or to supply those wants which they cannot
supply. Still less, let it be proposed, that our
properties within our own territories shall
be taxed or regulated by any power on earth
but our own. The God who gave us life,
gave us liberty at the same time : the hand of
force may destroy, but cannot disjoin them.
This, Sire, is our last, pur determined resolu
tion. And that you will be pleased to inter
pose with that efficacy which your earnest
endeavors may insure to procure redress of
these our great grievances, to quiet the minds
of your subjects in British America against
any apprehensions of future encroachment,
to establish fraternal love and harmony and
love through the whole empire, and that that
may continue to the latest ages of time, is
the fervent prayer of all British America. —
RIGHTS OF BRITISH AMERICA. \, 141. FORD
ED., i, 446. (I774-)
1361. — . Before the commence
ment of hostilities I never had heard a
whisper of disposition to separate from Great
Britain. And after that, its possibility was
contemplated with affliction by all.— To
GEORGE A. OTIS. FORD ED., x, 188. (M.,
1821.)
1362. COLONIES (The American), Tory
ism of George III. and.— The tory educa
tion of the King was the first preparation
for that change in the British government
which that party never ceases to wish. This
naturally ensured tory administration during
his life. At the moment he came to the
throne and cleared his hands of his enemies
by the peace of Paris, the assumptions of
unwarrantable right over America com
menced. They were so signal, and followed
one another so close, as to prove they were
part of a system, either to reduce it under
absolute subjection, and thereby make it an
instrument for attempts on Great Britain
itself, or to sever it from Britain, so that it
might not be a weight in the Whig scale.
This latter alternative, however, was not con
sidered as the one which would take place.
They knew so little of America, that they
thought it unable to encounter the little finger
of Great Britain. — NOTES ON M. SOULES'S
WORK, ix, 299. FORD ED., iv, 307. (P.,
1786.) See GEORGE III.
— COLONIES (The American), Tyr
anny of George III. and.— See TYRANNY.
1363. COLONIES (The American), Un
ion of. — We cannot, my Lord, close with
the terms of that Resolution [Lord North's
Conciliatory Proposition] because * * *
[it] involves the interests of all the other
Colonies. We are now represented in Gen
eral Congress by members approved by this
House, where the former union, it is hoped,
will be so strongly cemented, that no partial
applications can produce the slightest depart
ure from the common cause. We consider
ourselves as bound in honor, as well as in
terest, to share one general fate with our
sister Colonies; and should hold ourselves
base deserters of that union to which we
have acceded, were we to agree on any
measures distinct and apart from them. —
ADDRESS TO LORD DUNMORE FROM VA. HOUSE
OF BURGESSES. FORD ED., i, 457. (1775.)
1364. . [Lord North's] proposi
tion * * * is unreasonable and insidi
ous : unreasonable because if we declare we
accede to it, we declare, without reservation,
we will purchase the favor of Parliament,
not knowing at the same time at what price
Colonies
Colonization
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
154
they will please to estimate their favor; it is
insidious because any individual Colonies,
having bid and bidden again till they find the
avidity of the seller too great for all their
powers, are then to return into opposition,
divided from their sister Colonies, whom the
minister will have previously detached by a
grant of easier terms, or by an artful pro
crastination of a definitive answer. — REPLY OF
CONGRESS TO LORD NORTH'S PROPOSITION.
FORD ED., i, 478. (July 1775.)
1365. . We will ever be ready
to join with our fellow-subjects in every part
of the British empire, in executing all those
rightful powers which God has given us, for
the reestablishment and guaranteeing * * *
their constitutional rights, when, where, and
by whomsoever invaded.* — RESOLUTION OF
ALBEMARLE COUNTY. FORD ED., i, 419. (July
26, 1774.) See COMMITTEES OF CORRESPOND
ENCE.
— COLONIES (The American), Viola
tions of Charters. — See CHARTERS.
1366. COLONIES, Ancient and Modern.
— Ancient nations considered colonies princi
pally as receptacles for a too numerous popu
lation, and as natural and useful allies in
time of war ; but modern nations, viewing
commerce as an object of first importance,
value colonies chiefly as instruments for the
increase of that. This is principally effected
by their taking commodities from the mother
State, whether raised within herself, or ob
tained elsewhere in the course of her trade,
and furnishing in return colonial productions
necessary for her consumption or for her
commerce of exchange with other nations.
In this way the colonies of Spain, Portugal,
France and England, have been chiefly sub
servient to the advantages of their mother
country. In this way, too, in a smaller de
gree has Denmark derived utility from her
American colonies, and so, also, has Holland,
except as to the island of St. Eustatius. — To
BARON STAKE. FORD ED., iv, 238. (P.,
1786.)
1367. COLONIES, European nations
and their.— The habitual violation of the
equal rights of the colonist by the dominant
(for I will not call them the mother)
countries of Europe, the invariable sacrifice
of their highest interests to the minor advan
tages of any individual trade or calling at
home, are as immoral in principle as the con
tinuance of them is unwise in practice, after
the lessons they have received. — To CLEMENT
CAINE. vi, 13. FORD ED., ix, 329. (M.,
1811.)
1368. COLONIZATION (Negro), Africa
and — In the disposition of these unfortunate
people, there are two rational objects to be
distinctly kept in view. First. The estab
lishment of a colony on the coast of Africa,
which may introduce among the aborigines
the arts of cultivated life and the blessings
of civilization and science. By doing this,
we may make to them some retribution for
* Jefferson's own county.— EDITOR.
the long course of injuries we have been com
mitting on their population. And consider
ing that these blessings will descend to the
" nati natorum et qui nascentur ab illis", we
shall in the long run have rendered them
perhaps more good than evil. To fulfil this
object, the colony of Sierra Leone promises
well, and that of Mesurado adds to our pros
pect of success. Under this view the Col
onization Society is to be considered as a
missionary society, having in view, however,
objects more humane, more justifiable, and
less aggressive on the peace of other nations
than the others of that appellation. The sec
ond object, and the most interesting to us,
as coming home to our physical and moral
characters, to our happiness and safety, is
to provide an asylum to which we can, by
degrees, send the whole of that population
from among us, and establish them under
our patronage and protection, as a separate,
free and independent people, in some country
and climate friendly to human life and hap
piness. That any place on the coast of Africa
should answer the latter purpose, I have ever
deemed entirely impossible. And without re
peating the other arguments which have been
urged by others, I will appeal to figures only,
which admit no controversy.* — To JARED
SPARKS, vii, 332. FORD ED., x, 290. (M
1824.)
1369. COLONIZATION (Negro), Eman
cipation and. — There is, I think, a way in
which [the removal of the slaves to another
country] can be done; that is by emanci
pating the after-born, leaving them, on due
compensation, with their mothers, until their
services are worth their maintenance, and
then putting them to industrious occupations
until a proper age for deportation. This
was the result of my reflections on the sub
ject five and forty years ago, and I have
never yet been able to conceive any other
practicable plan. It was sketched in the
" Notes on Virginia ". The estimated value
of the new-born infant is so low (say twelve
dollars and fifty cents) that it would prob
ably be yielded by the owner gratis, and
would thus reduce the six hundred millions
of dollars, the first head of expense, to thirty-
seven millions and a half; leaving only the
expenses of nourishment while with the
mother, and of transportation. — To JARED
SPARKS, vii, 333. FORD ED., x, 291. (M.,
1824.)
1370. COLONIZATION (Negro), Ex
penses of. — From what fund are these ex
penses to be furnished? Why not from that
of the lands which have been ceded by the
very States now needing this relief? And
ceded on no consideration, for the most part,
but that of the general good of the whole.
The.se cessions already constitute one-fourth
of the States of the Union, It may be said
* Jefferson then made a calculation showing that it
would require six hundred millions of dollars to pur
chase the slaves, -while the cost of transportation,
provisions, support in the settlement, &c., would take
three hundred millions additional,— an amount which
made it " impossible to look at the question a second
time ".—EDITOR.
155
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Colonization
Colony
that these lands have been sold ; are now the
property of the citizens composing those
States ; and the money long ago received and
expended. But an equivalent of lands in
the territories since acquired may be appropri
ated to that object, or so much, at least, as
may be sufficient; and the object, although
more important to the slave States, is highly
so to the others also, if they were serious in
their arguments on the Missouri question.
The slave States, too, if more interested,
would also contribute more by their gratu
itous liberation, thus taking on themselves
alone the first and heaviest item of expense. —
To JARED SPARKS, vii, 334. FORD ED., x,
291. (M., 1824.)
1371. COLONIZATION (Negro), San
Domingo and.— In the plan sketched in the
" Notes on Virginia ", no particular place of
asylum was specified ; because it was
thought possible that in the revolutionary
state of America, then commenced, events
might open to us some one within practicable
distance. This has now happened. Santo
Domingo has become independent, and with
a population of that color only; and if the
public papers are to be credited, their Chief
offers to pay their passage, to receive them
as free citizens, and to provide them employ
ment. This leaves, then, for the general con
federacy, no expense but that of nurture with
the mother for a few years, and would call,
of course, for a very moderate appropriation
of the vacant lands. * * * In this way
no violation of private right is proposed. — To
JARED SPARKS, vii, 334. FORD ED., x, 292.
(M., 1824.) See COLONY, SLAVES.
1372. COLONY (Penal), Establishment
of. — Questions would arise whether the es
tablishment of a [negro penal] colony* within
our limits, and to become a part of our
Union, would be desirable to the State of
Virginia itself, or to other States — espe
cially those who would be in its vicinity.
Could we procure lands beyond the limits
of the United States to form a receptacle
for these people? On our northern boundary,
the country not occupied by British subjects,
is the property of Indian nations, whose title
would have to be extinguished, with the con
sent of Great Britain ; and the new settlers
would be British subjects. It is hardly to be be
lieved that either Great Britain or the Indian
proprietors have so disinterested a regard
for us, as to be willing to relieve us, by
receiving such a colony themselves.
On our western and southern frontiers, Spain
holds an immense country, the occupancy of
which, however, is in the Indian natives, ex
cept a few insulated spots possessed by Span
ish subjects. It is very questionable, indeed,
whether the Indians would sell? whether
Spain would be willing to receive these peo
ple? and nearly certain that she would not
alienate the sovereignty. The same question
* James Monroe, then Governor of Virginia, wrote
to Jefferson asking his good offices towards the estab
lishment of a penal colony in America. A short time
before, there had been a negro insurrection in Vir
ginia and the House of Representatives of the State
had passed a resolution on the subject. — EDITOR.
to ourselves would recur here also, as did
in the first case : should we be willing to have
such a colony in contact with us? However
our present interests may restrain us within
our own limits, it is impossible not to look
forward to distant times, when our rapid
multiplication will expand itself beyond those
limits, and cover the whole northern, if not
the southern continent, with a people speak
ing the same language, governed in similar
forms, and by similar laws ; nor can we con
template with satisfaction either blot or mix
ture on that surface. Spain, France, and
Portugal hold possessions on the southern
continent, as to which I am not well enough
informed to say how far they might meet our
views. But either there or in the northern
continent, should the constituted authorities
of Virginia fix their attention, of preference,
I will have the dispositions of those powers
sounded in the first instance. — To JAMES
MONROE, iv, 420. FORD ED., viii, 104. (W.,
1801.)
1373. COLONY (Penal), Sierra Leone
and. — The course of things in the * * * West
Indies appears to have given a considerable
impulse to the minds of the slaves in * * *
the United States. A great disposition to
insurgency has manifested itself among them,
which, in one instance, in the State of Vir
ginia, broke out into actual insurrection. This
was easily suppressed ; but many of those
concerned' (between twenty and thirty, I be
lieve) fell victims to the law. So extensive
an execution could not but excite sensibility in
the public mind, and beget a regret that the
laws had not provided for such cases, some
alternative, combining more mildness with
equal efficacy. The Legislature of the State
* * * took the subject into consideration, and
have communicated to me through the Gov
ernor of the State, their wish that some
place could be provided, out of the limits of
the United States, to which slaves guilty of
insurgency might be transported; and they
have particularly looked to Africa as offering
the most desirable receptacle. We might, for
this purpose, enter into negotiations with the
natives, on some part of the coast, to obtain
a settlement ; and, by establishing an African
company, combine with it commercial opera
tions, which might not only reimburse ex
penses, but procure profit also. But there be
ing already such an establishment on that
coast by the English Sierra Leone Company,
made for the express purpose of colonizing
civilized blacks to that country, it would seem
better, by incorporating our emigrants with
theirs, to make one strong, rather than two
weak colonies. This would be the more desir
able because the blacks settled at Sierra
Leone, having chiefly gone from the States,
would often receive among those whom we
should send, their acquaintances and relatives.
The object of this letter is to ask * * * you
to enter into conference with such persons,
private and public, as would be necessary
to give us permission to send thither the per
sons under contemplation. * * They are
not felons, or common malefactors, but per-
Colony
Commerce
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
156
sons guilty of what the safety of society, un
der actual circumstances, obliges us to treat
as a crime, but which their feelings may rep
resent in a far different shape. They will be
a valuable acquisition to the settlement, * *
and well calculated to cooperate in the plan
of civilization.— To RUFUS KING, iv, 442.
FORD ED., viii, 161. (W., 1802.)
1374. . The consequences of
permitting emancipations to become extensive,
unless a condition of emigration be annexed
to them, furnish matter of solicitude to the
Legislature of Virginia. Although provision
for the settlement of emancipated negroes
might perhaps be obtained nearer home than
Africa, yet it is desirable that we should be
free to expatriate this description of people
also to the colony of Sierra Leone, if consid
erations respecting either themselves or us
should render it more expedient. I pray you,
therefore, to get the same permission extended
to the reception of these as well as the [in
surgents]. Nor will there be a selection of
bad subjects ; the emancipations, for the most
part, being either of the whole slaves of the
master, or of such individuals as have partic
ularly deserved well. The latter are most
frequent. — To RUFUS KING, iv, 443. FORD
ED., viii, 163. (W., 1802.)
1375. COLONY (Penal), Transportation
to. — As the expense of so distant a trans
portation would be very heavy, and might
weigh unfavorably in deciding between the
modes of punishment, it is very desirable that
it should be lessened as much as is practica
ble. If the regulations of the place would per
mit these emigrants to dispose of themselves,
as the Germans and others do who come to
this country poor, by giving their labor for a
certain time to some one who will pay their
passage ; and if the master of the vessel could
be permitted to carry articles of commerce
from this country and take back others from
that, which might yield him a mercantile profit
sufficient to cover the expenses of the voyage,
a serious difficulty would be removed. — To
RUFUS KING, iv, 443. FORD ED., viii, 162. (W.,
1802.)
1376. COLONY (Penal), West Indies
and. — The West Indies offer a more probable
and practicable retreat for them. Inhabited
already by a people of their own race and
color; climates congenial with their natural
constitution; insulated from the other de
scriptions of men; nature seems to have
formed these islands to become the receptacle
of the blacks transplanted into this hemi
sphere. Whether we could obtain from the
European sovereigns of those islands leave to
send thither the persons under consideration,
I cannot say ; but I think it more probable than
the former propositions, because of their being
already inhabited more or less by the same
race. The most promising portion of them is
the island of St. Domingo, where the blacks
are established into a sovereignty de facto,
and have organized themselves under regular
laws and government. I should conjecture
that their present ruler might be willing * * *
to receive over that description which would
be exiled for acts deemed criminal by us, but
meritorious, perhaps, by him. The possibility
that these exiles might stimulate and conduct
vindictive or predatory descents on our coasts,
and facilitate concert with their brethren re
maining here, looks to a state of things be
tween that island and us not probable on a
contemplation of our relative strength. * * *
Africa would offer a last and undoubted re
sort, if all others more desirable should fail
us. Whenever the Legislature of Virginia
shall have brought its mind to a point, so that
I may know exactly what to propose to for
eign authorities, I will execute their wishes
with fidelity and zeal. — To JAMES MONROE, iv,
421. FORD ED., viii, 105. (W., 1801.)
— COLUMBIA RIVER, Fur trading
posts on.— See ASTOR'S SETTLEMENT and FUR
TRADE.
1377. COLUMBUS, Portrait of. —While
I resided at Paris, knowing that the portraits
of Columbus and Americus Vespucius were in
the gallery of Medici at Florence, I took meas
ures for engaging a good artist to take and
send me copies of them. I considered it as
even of some public concern that our country
should not be without the portraits of its first
discoverers. — To MR. DELAPLAINE. vi, 343.
(M., 1814.)
1378. COMMERCE, Agriculture and.—
The exercise, by our own citizens, of so much
commerce as may suffice to exchange our su
perfluities for our wants, may be advanta
geous for the whole. But it does not follow,
that with a territory so boundless, it is the
interest of the whole to become a mere city of
London, to carry on the business of one half
the world at the expense of eternal war with
the other half. The agricultural capacities
of our country constitute its distinguishing
feature ; and the adapting our policy and pur
suits to that, is more likely to make us a nu
merous and happy people, than the mimicry of
an Amsterdam, a Hamburg, or a city of Lon
don. — To WILLIAM H. CRAWFORD, vii, 6.
FORD ED., x, 34. (M., 1816.)
1379. . I am sensible of the
great interest which Rhode Island justly feels
in the prosperity of commerce. It is of vital
interest also to States more agricultural,
whose produce, without commerce, could not
be exchanged. — To THE RHODE ISLAND AS
SEMBLY, iv, 398. (W., May 1801.)
1380. COMMERCE, Agriculture, manu
factures and.— I trust the good sense of our
country will see that its greatest prosperity
depends on a due balance between agricul
ture, manufactures and commerce. — To
THOMAS LEIPER. v, 417. FORD ED., ix, 239.
(W., 1809.) See MANUFACTURES.
1381. COMMERCE, But no alliance.—
Commerce with all nations, alliance with none,
should be our motto. — To T. LOMAX. iv, 301.
FORD ED., vii, 374. (M.. March 1799.)
1382. COMMERCE, Cherish.— As the
handmaid of agriculture, commerce will be
1
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Commerce
cherished by me both from principle and duty.
— To THE RHODE ISLAND ASSEMBLY, iv, 398.
(W., May 1801.)
1383. — . Unconscious of partial
ity between the different callings of my fellow
citizens, I trust that a fair review of my at
tention to the interests of commerce in partic
ular, in every station of my political life, will
afford sufficient proofs of my just estimation
of its importance in the social system. What
has produced our present difficulties, and what
will have produced the impending war, if that
is to be our lot? Our efforts to save the
rights of commerce and navigation. From
these, solely and exclusively, the whole of our
present dangers flow.' — R. TO A. LEESBURG
CITIZENS, viii, 161. (1809.)
1384. . One imputation in par
ticular has been remarked till it seems as if
some at least believe it: that I am an enemy
to commerce. They admit me as a friend to
agriculture, and suppose me an enemy to the
only means of disposing of its produce. — To
MAJOR WILLIAM JACKSON, iv, 358. (M.. Feb.
1801.)
1385. COMMERCE, Coercion of Europe
by. — War is not the best engine for us to re
sort to ; nature has given us one in our com
merce, which, if properly managed, will be
a better instrument for obliging the inter
ested nations of Europe to treat us with jus
tice. If the commercial regulations had been
adopted which our Legislature were at one
time proposing, we should at this moment
have been standing on such an eminence of
safety and respect as ages can never recover.
But having wandered from that, our object
should now be to get back, with as little loss
as possible, and when peace shall be restored
to the world, endeavor so to form our com
mercial regulations as that justice from other
nations shall be their mechanical result. — To
THOMAS PINCKNEY. iv, 177. FORD ED., vii,
129. (Pa., May 1797.)
— COMMERCE, The Confederation and.
— See CONFEDERATION.
1386. COMMERCE, Control by Con
gress. — A general disposition is taking place
to commit the whole management of our
commerce to Congress.* This has been much
promoted by the interested policy of England
which, it was apparent, could not be counter
worked by the States separately. — To W.
CARMICHAEL. i, 393. (P., 1785.)
1387. . I am much pleased with
the proposition to the States to invest Con
gress with the regulation of their trade, re
serving its revenue to the States. I think it
a happy idea, removing the only objection
which could have been justly made to the
proposition. The time, too, is the present,
before the admission of the Western States. —
To JAMES MONROE, i, 347. FORD ED., iv, 52.
(P., 1785.)
* The Congress of the Confederation. This move
ment finally resulted in the adoption of the Federal
Constitution.— EDITOR.
— . The late proceedings in
America have produced a wonderful sensa
tion in England in our favor. I mean the
disposition which seems to be becoming gen
eral, to invest Congress with the regulation
of our commerce, and, in the meantime, the
measures taken to defeat the avidity of the
British government grasping at our carrying
business. I can add with truth, that it was
not till these symptoms appeared in America
that I have been able to discover the smallest
token of respect towards the United States in
any part of Europe. — To JAMES MADISON.
i, 413- (P., Sep. 1785.)
1389. . Congress have desired
to be invested with the whole regulation of
their trade, and forever; and to prevent all
temptations to abuse the power, and all fears
of it, they propose that whatever moneys shall
be levied on commerce, either for the purpose
of revenue, or by way of forfeitures or pen
alty, shall go directly into the coffers of the
State wherein it is levied, without being
touched by Congress. From the present tem
per of the States, and the conviction which
your country [England] has carried home to
their minds, that there is no other method of
defeating the greedy attempts of other coun
tries to trade with them on equal terms, I
think they will add an article for this purpose
to their Confederation. — To DAVID HARTLEY.
i, 425. FORD ED., iv, 94. (P., 1785.)
1390. . The British * * * at
tempt without disguise to possess themselves
of the carriage of our produce, and to pro
hibit our own vessels from participating of
it. This has raised a general indignation in
America. The States see, however, that their
constitutions have provided no means of coun
teracting it. They are, therefore, beginning
to invest Congress with the absolute power
of regulating their commerce, only reserv
ing all revenue arising from it to the State
in which it is levied. This will consolidate
our Federal building very much, and for this
we shall be indebted to the British.— To
COUNT VAN HOGENDORP. i, 465. FORD ED., iv,
104. (P., Oct. 1785.)
1391. . The determination of
the British cabinet to make no equal treaty
[of commerce] with us, confirms me in the
opinion * * * that the United States must
pass a navigation act against Great Britain,
and load her manufactures with duties, so as
to give a preference to those of other coun
tries; and I hope our Assemblies will wait
no longer, but transfer such a power to Con
gress, at the sessions of this fall. — To JOHN
ADAMS, ii, 486. (P., Nov. 1785.)
1392. . I have heard with great
pleasure that the [Virginia] Assembly have
come to the resolution of giving the regula
tion of their commerce to the federal head.
I will venture to assert, that there is not one
of its opposers who, placed on this ground
[Europe] would not see the wisdom of this
measure. The politics of Europe render it
indispensably necessary that with respect to
Commerce
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
everything external, we be one nation only,
firmly hooped together. * * * If it were seen
in Europe that all our States could be brought
to concur in what the Virginia Assembly has
done, it would produce a total revolution in
their opinion of us, and respect for us. — To
JAMES MADISON, i, 531. FORD ED., iv, 192.
(P., February 1786.)
1393. . All the States have
agreed to the impost. But New York has
annexed such conditions that it cannot
be accepted. It is thought, therefore, they
will grant it unconditionally. But a new
difficulty has started up. Three or four
States had coupled the grant of the impost
with the grant of the supplementary funds,
asked by Congress at the same time, declar
ing that they should come into force only
when all the States had granted both. One
of these, Pennsylvania, refuses to let the im
post come into being alone. We are still to
see whether they will persist in this. — To
WILLIAM CARMICHAEL. ii, 19. (P., 1786.)
1394. COMMERCE, Cultivate.— All the
world is becoming commercial. Were it prac
ticable to keep our new empire separated from
them, we might indulge ourselves in specula
ting whether commerce contributes to the hap
piness of mankind. But we cannot separate
ourselves from them. Our citizens have had
too full a taste of the comforts furnished by
the arts and manufactures to be debarred the
use of them. We must, then, in our defence
endeavor to share as large a portion as we can
of this modern source of wealth and power. —
To GENERAL WASHINGTON. FORD ED., iii, 422.
(A., 1784.)
1395. . I am decidedly of opin
ion we should take no part in European quar
rels, but cultivate peace and commerce with
all. — To GENERAL WASHINGTON, ii, 533. FORD
ED., v, 57- (P-, 1788.)
1396. COMMERCE, Debt and.— No
earthly consideration could induce my con
sent to contract such a debt as England has
by her wars for commerce, to reduce our cit
izens by taxes to such1 wretchedness, as that
laboring sixteen of the twenty-four hours,
they are still unable to afford themselves
bread, or barely to earn as much oatmeal or
potatoes as will keep soul and body together.
And all this to feed the avidity of a few mil-
lionary merchants, and to keep up one thou
sand ships of war for the protection of their
commercial speculations. — To WILLIAM H.
CRAWFORD, vii, 7. FORD ED., x, 35. (M.,
1816.)
1397. COMMERCE, Discriminating Du
ties. — It is true we must expect some incon
venience in practice from the establishment of
discriminating duties. But in this, as in so
many other cases, we are left to choose be
tween two evils. These inconveniences are
nothing when weighed against the loss of
wealth and loss of force, which will follow
our perseverance in the plan of indiscrimina
tion. When once it shall be perceived that
we are either in the system or in the habit of
giving equal advantages to those who ex
tinguish our commerce and navigation by du
ties and prohibitions, as to those who treat
both with liberality and justice, liberality and
justice will be converted by all into duties and
prohibitions. It is not to the moderation and
justice of others we are to trust for fair and
equal access to market with our productions,
or for our due share in the transportation of
them ; but to our own means of independence,
and the firm will to use them. Nor do the
inconveniences of discrimination merit con
sideration. Not one of the nations before
mentioned, perhaps not a commercial nation
on earth, is without them. In our case, one
distinction alone will suffice : that is to say,
between nations who favor our productions
and navigation, and those who do not favor
them. One set of moderate duties, say the
present duties, for the first, and a fixed ad
vance on these as to some articles, and pro
hibitions as to others, for the last. — REPORT
ON FOREIGN COMMERCE AND NAVIGATION.
vii, 650. FORD ED., vi, 483. (Dec. 1793.)
— COMMERCE, Drawbacks and. — See
DRAWBACKS.
— COMMERCE, The Embargo and. —
See EMBARGO.
1398. COMMERCE, Encouragement of.
— [The] encouragement of agriculture, and of
commerce as its handmaid, I deem [one of
the] essential principles of our government
and, consequently [one] which ought to shape
its administration. — FIRST INAUGURAL AD
DRESS, viii, 4. FORD ED., viii, 5. (1801.)
1399. COMMERCE, Exchange of pro-
dxictions. — A commerce carried on by ex
change of productions is the most likely to be
lasting and to meet mutual encouragement. —
To DR. RAMSAY, ii, 50. (P., 1786.)
1400. . I hope that the policy of
our country will settle down with as much
navigation and commerce only as our own
exchanges will require, and that the disadvan
tage will be seen of our undertaking to carry
on that of other nations. This, indeed, may
bring gain to a few individuals, and enable
them to call off from our farms more labor
ers to be converted into lackeys and grooms
for them, but it will bring nothing to our
country but wars, debt, and dilapidation. — To
J. B. STUART, vii, 64. (M., 1817.)
— COMMERCE, Drawbacks and.— See
FRANCE.
1401. COMMERCE, Freedom of.— If we
are to contribute equally with the other parts
of the empire, let us equally with them enjoy
free commerce with the whole world. — REPLY
TO LORD NORTH'S PROPOSITION. FORD ED., i,
479. (July 1775.)
1402. . Our interest will be to
throw open the doors of commerce, and to
knock off all its shackles, giving perfect free
dom to all persons for the vent of whatever
they may choose to bring into our ports, and
asking the same in theirs. — NOTES ON VIR
GINIA, viii, 412. FORD ED., iii, 279. (1782.)
159
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Commerce
1403. . By a declaration of
rights, I mean one which shall stipulate * * *
freedom of commerce against monopolies
* * * .—To A. DONALD, ii, 355. (P., 1788.)
1404. . One of my favorite ideas
is to leave commerce free. — THE ANAS, ix,
431. FORD ED., i, 198. (1792:)
1405. . Instead of embarrassing
commerce under piles of regulating laws, du
ties and prohibitions, could it be relieved
from all its shackles in all parts of the world,
could every country be employed in producing
that which nature has best fitted it to pro
duce, and each be free to exchange with oth
ers mutual surpluses for mutual wants the
greatest mass possible would then be produced
of those things which contribute to human
life and human happiness ; the numbers of
mankind would be increased, and their con
dition bettered. Would even a single nation
begin with the United States this system of
free commerce, it would be advisable to begin
it with that nation ; since it is one by one only
that it can be extended to all. Where the cir
cumstances of either party render it expedi
ent to levy a revenue, by way of impost, on
commerce, its freedom might be modified, in
that particular, by mutual and equivalent
measures, preserving it entire in all others. —
REPORT ON FOREIGN COMMERCE AND NAVIGA
TION, vii, 646. FORD ED., vi, 479. (Dec. 1793.)
1406. . I am for free commerce
with all nations. — To ELBRIDGE GERRY, iv, 268.
FORD ED., vii, 328. (Pa., 1799.)
_ COMMERCE WITH GREAT BRIT
AIN. — See ENGLAND.
1407. COMMERCE., Independence and.
— To have submitted pur rightful commerce
to prohibitions and tributary exactions from
others, would have been to surrender our in
dependence. — REPLY TO A BOSTON REQUEST.
viii, 133. (Aug. 1808.)
1408. COMMERCE, Individual enter
prise and. — Agriculture, manufactures, com
merce, and navigation, the four pillars of our
prosperity, are the most thriving when left
most free to individual enterprise. Protec
tion from casual embarrassments, however,
may sometimes be seasonably interposed. —
FIRST ANNUAL MESSAGE, viii, 13. FORD ED.,
viii, 123. (Dec. 1801.)
1409. COMMERCE, Interdicted.— By
several acts of parliament * * * they [the
British ministers] have interdicted all com
merce to one of our principal towns. — DECLA
RATION ON TAKING UP ARMS. FORD ED., i,
468. (July I775-)
1410. COMMERCE, Laws governing.—
George Mason's proposition in the [Federal]
Convention was wise, that on laws regulating
commerce, two-thirds of the votes should be
required to pass them.— To JAMES MADISON.
iv, 323. FORD ED., vii, 432. (Pa., March 1800.)
1411. COMMERCE, Madness for.— We
are running commerce mad.— To JOSEPH
PRIESTLEY, iv, 311. FORD ED., vii, 406. (Pa.,
Jan. 1800.)
1412. COMMERCE, Maintain.— To main
tain commerce and navigation in all their law
ful enterprises * * * [is one of] the land
marks by which we are to guide ourselves
in all our proceedings. — SECOND ANNUAL
MESSAGE, viii, 21. FORD ED., viii, 186 (Dec
1802.)
1413. COMMERCE,, Merchants and.—
Where a nation refuses permission to our
merchants and factors to reside within certain
parts of their dominions, we may, if it should
be thought expedient, refuse residence to
theirs in any and every part of ours, or modify
their transactions. — REPORT ON FOREIGN COM
MERCE AND NAVIGATION, vii, 649. FORD ED.,
vi, 482. (Dec. 1793.)
1414. . The merchants will man
age commerce the better, the more they are
left free to manage for themselves. — To GID
EON GRANGER, iv, 331. FORD ED., vii, 452. (M ,
1800.)
- COMMERCE., Navigation and.— See
NAVIGATION, OCEAN.
1415. COMMERCE, Neutrality and.—
If the new government wears the front which
I hope it will, I see no impossibility in avail
ing ourselves of the wars of others to open
the other parts * of America to our commerce,
as the price of our neutrality. — To GENERAL
WASHINGTON, ii, 533. FORD ED., v, 57. (P.,
I788.)
- COMMERCE, The Ocean and.— See
OCEAN.
1416. COMMERCE, Oppressing.— I am
principally afraid that commerce will be over
loaded by the assumption [of the State debts],
believing that it would be better that property
should be duly taxed. — To MR. RANDOLPH.
iii, 185. (N.Y., 1700.)
1417. COMMERCE, Power of Congress
over. — The power given to Congress by the
Constitution does not extend to the internal
regulation of the commerce of a State (that
is to say oi the commerce between citizen and
citizen), which remains exclusively with its
own Legislature; but to its external com
merce only, that is to say, its commerce with
another State, or with foreign nations, or with
the Indian tribes. — NATIONAL BANK OPIN
ION, vii, 557. FORD ED., v, 286. (1791.)
1418. COMMERCE, Protection of.— If
we wish our commerce to be free and unin-
sulted, we must let [the European] nations
see that we have an energy which at present
they disbelieve. The low opinion they en
tertain of our powers, cannot fail to involve us
soon in a naval war. — To JOHN PAGE, i, 401.
(P, 1785.)
1419. . Should any nation, con
trary to our wishes, suppose it may better
find its advantage by continuing its system
of prohibitions, duties and regulations, it be
hooves us to protect our citizens, their com
merce and navigation, by counter prohibi
tions, duties and regulations, also. Free
* The Colonies of the European powers.— EDITOR.
Commerce
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
1 60
commerce and navigation are not to be given
in exchange for restrictions and vexations;
nor are they likely to produce a relaxation of
them. — REPORT ON COMMERCE AND NAVIGA
TION, vii, 647. FORD ED., vi, 480. (Dec. 1793.)
— COMMERCE WITH PRUSSIA.— See
FREDERICK THE GREAT.
1420. COMMERCE, Pursuit of.— You
ask what I think on the expediency of en
couraging our States to be commercial ? Were
I to indulge my own theory, I should wish
them to practice neither commerce nor navi
gation, but to stand, with respect to Europe,
precisely on the footing of China. We should
thus avoid wars, and all our citizens would be
husbandmen. Whenever, indeed, our numbers
should so increase as that our produce would
overstock the markets of those nations who
should come to seek it, the farmers must
either employ the surplus of their time in
manufactures, or the surplus of our hands
must be employed in manufactures, or in nav
igation. But that day would, I think, be dis
tant, and we should long keep our workmen
in Europe, while Europe should be drawing
rough materials, and even subsistence from
America. But this is theory only, and a the
ory which the servants of America are not
at liberty to follow. Our people have a de
cided taste for navigation and commerce.
They take this from their mother country;
and their servants are in duty bound to cal
culate all their measures on this datum: we
wish to do it by throwing open all the doors
of commerce, and knocking off its shackles.
But as this cannot be done for others, unless
they will do it for us, and there is no proba
bility that Europe will do this, I suppose we
shall be obliged to adopt a system which may
shackle them in our ports, as they do us in
theirs.— To COUNT VAN HOGENDORP. i, 465.
FORD ED., iv, 104. (P., 1785.)
1421. COMMERCE, Reciprocity. — Some
nations, not yet ripe for free commerce in all
its extent, might still be willing to mollify its
restrictions and regulations for us, in pro
portion to the advantages which an inter
course with us might offer. Particularly they
may concur with us in reciprocating the du
ties to be levied on each side, or in compen
sating any excess of duty by equivalent ad
vantages of another nature. Our commerce
is certainly of a character to entitle it to favor
in most countries. The commodities we offer
are either necessaries of life, or materials for
manufacture, or convenient subjects of rev
enue; and we take in exchange, either man
ufactures, when they have received the last
finish of art and industry, or mere luxuries.
Such customers may reasonably expect wel
come and friendly treatment at every market.
Customers, too, whose demands, increasing
with their wealth and population, must very
shortly give full employment to the whole
industry of any nation whatever, in any line of
supply they may get into the habit of calling
for from it. — REPORT ON FOREIGN COMMERCE
AND NAVIGATION, vii. 646. FORD ED., vi, 479.
(Dec. 1793.)
1422. COMMERCE, Regulation of.— The
interests of commerce require steady regula
tions.— To COMTE DE MONTMORIN. U, 531.
(P., 1788.)
1423. COMMERCE, Restrictions on.—
The question is, in what way may best be
removed, modified or counteracted, the re
strictions on the commerce and navigation
of the United States? As to commerce, two
methods occur, i. By friendly arrangements
with the several nations with whom these
restrictions exist: Or, 2, by the separate
act of our own legislatures for counter
vailing their effects. There can be no doubt
but that of these two, friendly arrangement
is the most eligible. * * * Friendly arrange
ments are preferable with all who will come
into them; and we should carry into such ar
rangements all the liberality and spirit of
accommodation which the nature of the case
will admit. — REPORT ON FOREIGN COMMERCE
AND NAVIGATION, vii, 645-650. FORD ED., vi,
479-483- (Dec. 1793.)
1424. COMMERCE, Routes of.— Com
merce is slow in changing its channel. — To
COMTE DE MONTMORIN. ii, 300. (P., 1787.)
1425. COMMERCE, Selfish.— The selfish
spirit of commerce knows no country, and
feels no passion or principle but that of gain.
— To LARKIN SMITH, v, 441. (M., 1809.)
1426. COMMERCE, The States and.—
As long as the States exercise, separately,
those acts of power which respect foreign na
tions, so long will there continue to be irreg
ularities committed by some one or other of
them, which will constantly keep us on an ill
footing with foreign nations. — To JAMES MAD
ISON. 1,531. FORD ED., iv, 192. (P., February
1786.)
1427. COMMERCE, Suppression of.—
They [Parliament] have cut off the commer
cial intercourse of whole Colonies with for
eign countries. — DECLARATION ON TAKING UP
ARMS. FORD ED., i, 468. (July 1775.)
1428. COMMERCE,, Swollen.— That the
wars of the world have swollen our com
merce beyond the wholesome limits of ex
changing our own productions for our own
wants, and that, for the emolument of a
small proportion of our society, who prefer
these demoralizing pursuits to labors useful
to the whole, the peace of the whole is endan
gered, * * * are evils more easily to be de
plored than remedied. — To ABBE SALIMAN-
KIS. v, 516. (M., 1810.)
1429. . You have fairly stated
the alternatives between which we are to
choose: i, licentious commerce and gam
bling speculations for a few, with eternal war
for the many ; or, 2, restricted commerce,
peace, and steady occupations for all. If any
State in the Union will declare that it prefers
separation with the first alternative, to a con
tinuance in union without it, I have no hesi
tation in saying " let us separate." I would
rather the States should withdraw which are
for unlimited commerce and war, and confed-
161
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Commerce
the States
erate with those alone which are for peace
and agriculture. I know that every nation in
Europe would join in sincere amity with the
latter, and hold the former at arm's length,
by jealousies, prohibitions, restrictions, vexa
tions and war. — To WILLIAM H. CRAWFORD.
vii, 7. FORD ED., x, 35. (M., 1816.)
_ COMMERCE, Treaties of.— See TREA
TIES.
1430. COMMERCE, Vices of. — Our
greediness for wealth, and fantastical expense,
have degraded, and will degrade, the minds
of our maritime citizens. These are the pecul
iar vices of commerce. — To JOHN ADAMS.
vii, 104. FORD ED., x, 107. (M., 1818.)
1431. COMMERCE, War and.— The ac
tual habits of our countrymen attach them to
commerce. They will exercise it for them
selves. Wars, then, must sometimes be our
lot ; and all the wise can do, will be to avoid
that half of them which would be produced
by our own follies, and our own acts of injus
tice; and to make for the other half the best
preparations we can. Of what nature should
these be? A land army would be useless for
offence, and not the best nor safest instru
ment of defence. For either of these pur
poses, the sea is the field on which we should
meet an European enemy. On that element
it is necessary we should possess some power.
— NOTES ON VIRGINIA, viii, 413. FORD ED., iii,
279- (1782.)
1432. . My principle has ever
been that war should not suspend either ex
ports or imports.— To WILLIAM SHORT, vi,
128. (M., 1813.)
1433. . Whether we shall en
gage in every war of Europe, to protect the
mere agency of our merchants and shipown
ers in carrying on the commerce of other na
tions, even were these merchants and ship
owners to take the side of their country in
the contest, instead of that of the enemy, is
a question of deep and serious consideration.
—To JOHN ADAMS, vi, 460. (M., June 1815.)
— COMMERCE, West Indies and.— See
WEST INDIES.
— COMMERCE, Western Routes of.—
See CANALS.
1434. COMMISSIONS, Adams's Mid
night.— Among the midnight appointments of
Mr. Adams were commissions to some federal
justices of the peace for Alexandria. These
were signed and sealed by him but not de
livered. I found them on the table of the
department of State, on my entrance into
office, and I forbade their delivery. Marbury.
named in one of them, applied to the Su
preme Court for a mandamus to the Secretary
of State (Mr. Madison) to deliver the com
mission intended for him. The Court deter
mined at once that, being an original process,
they had no cognizance of it; and, therefore
the question before them was ended. But the
Chief Justice went on to lay down what the
law would be, had they jurisdiction of the
case, to wit: that they should command the
delivery. The object was clearly to instruct
any other court, having the jurisdiction, what
hey should do if Marbury should apply to
them. — To WILLIAM JOHNSON, vii, 295. FORD
ED., x, 230. (M., 1823.)
1435. COMMISSIONS, Blank.— In mat-
:crs of government, there can be no question
n\t that a commission sealed and signed with
a blank for the name, date, place, &c., is good ;
because government can in no country be car
ried on without it. The most vital proceed
ings of our own government would soon be
come null were such a construction to pre
vail, and the argumentum ab inconvenienti,
which is one of the great foundations of the
law, will undoubtedly sustain the practice,
and sanction it by the maxim " qui facit per
alium, facit per se." I would not, there
fore, give the countenance of the government
to so impracticable a construction by issuing
a new commission. — To ALBERT GALLATIN.
v, 371. (W., 1808.)
1436. COMMISSIONS, Delivery of.—
In the case of Marbury and Madison, the Fed
eral judges declared that commissions, signed
and sealed by the President, were valid, al
though not delivered. I deemed delivery es
sential to complete a deed, which, as long as
it remains in the hands of the party, is yet
no deed ; it is in posse only, but not in esse,
and I withheld delivery of the commissions. —
To SPENCER ROANE. vii, 135. FORD ED., x,
142. (P.F., 1819.)
1437. _ — . The Constitution, hav
ing given to the Judiciary branch no means
of compelling the Executive either to deliver
a commission, or to make a record of it, shows
that it did not intend to give the Judiciary
that control over the Executive, but that it
should remain in the power of the latter to do
it or not.— To GEORGE HAY. v, 84. FORD ED.,
ix, 53- (W., 1807.)
1438. COMMISSIONS, Signing of.— The
delivery of a commission is immaterial. As
it may be sent by letter to any one, so it may
be delivered by hand to him anywhere. The
place of signature by the sovereign is the ma
terial thing. Were that to be done in any
other jurisdiction than his own, it might draw
the validity of the act into question. — To
THOMAS PINCKNEY. iii, 583. FORD ED., vi,
302. (Pa., June I793-)
1439. COMMISSIONERS, Executive.—
To the list may be added the appointment of
Gouverneur Morris to negotiate with the
court of London, by letter written and signed
by General Washington, and David Hum
phreys to negotiate with Liston by letter.
Commissions were not given in form because
no ministers had been sent here by those
courts. But all the powers were given them,
and half the salary (as they were not to dis
play the diplomatic ranks, half-salary was
thought sufficient) but they were completely
officers on salaries, and no notice given the
Senate till afterwards. — To WILSON C. NICH
OLAS. FORD ED., viii, 131. (W., Jan. 1802.)
_ COMMITTEE OF THE STATES.—
See CONFEDERATION.
Common Law
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
162
1440. COMMON LAW, Christianity
and.— I was glad to find in your book a
formal contradiction of the judiciary usurpa
tion of legislative powers; for such the
judges have usurped in their repeated deci
sions, that Christianity is a part of the com
mon law. The proof of the contrary, which
you have adduced, is incontrovertible ; to wit,
that the common law existed while the Anglo-
Saxons were yet Pagans, at a time when they
had never heard the name of Christ pro
nounced, or knew that such a character had
ever existed. But it may amuse you, to show
when, and by what means, they stole this law
in upon us. In a case of quare impedit in the
Year Book 34, H. 6, folio 38 (anno 1458.) a
question was made, how far the ecclesiastical
law was to be respected in a common law
court? And Prisot, Chief Justice, gives his
opinion in these words : " A tiel leis qu us de
seint eglise ont en ancien scripture, covient a
nous a donner credence ; car ceo common ley
sur quels touts manners leis sont fondes. Et
auxy, Sir, nous sumus obleges de conustre
lour ley de saint eglisse; et semblablement
its sont obliges de consustre nostre ley. Et,
Sir, si poit apperer or a nous que 1'evesque ad
fait come un ordinary fera en tiel cas, adong
nous devons cee adjuger bon, ou auterment
nemy," sec. See S. C. Fitzh. Abr. Qu. imp.
89, Bro. Abr. Qu. imp. 12. Finch in his first
book c. 3, is the first afterwards who quotes
this case and mistakes it thus : " To such
laws of the church as have warrant ^ in holy
scripture, our law giveth credence." And
cites Prisot; mistranslating "ancien scrip
ture," into " holy scripture." Whereas Prisot
palpably says, " to such laws as those of holy
church have in ancient writing, it is proper for
us to give credence," to wit, to their ancient
-written laws. This was in 1613, a century and
a half after the dictum of Prisot. Wingate, in
1658, erects this false translation into a max
im of the common law, copying the words of
Finch, but citing Prisot, Wing. Max. 3. And
Sheppard, title, " Religion," in 1675, copies
the same mistranslation, quoting the Y. B.
Finch and Wingate. Hale expresses it in
these words : " Christianity is parcel of the
laws of England." I Ventr. 293, 3 Keb. 607.
But he quotes no authority. By these echo-
ings and re-echoings from one to another, it
had become so established in 1728, that in the
case of the King vs. Woolston, 2 Stra. 834,
the court would not suffer it to be debated,
whether to write against Christianity was
punishable in the temporal court at common
law? Wood, therefore, 409, ventures still to
vary the phrase, and say, that all blasphemy
and profaneness are offences by the common
law; and cites 2 Stra. Then Blackstone, in
1763, iv. 59, repeats the words of Hale, that
" Christianity is part of the laws of England,"
citing Ventris and Strange. And finally, Lord
Mansfield, with a little qualification, in Evans
case, in 1767, says, that " the essential princi
ples of revealed religion are part of the com
mon law." Thus ingulphing Bible, Testa
ment and all into the common law, without
citing any authority. And thus we find this
chain of authorities, hanging link by link, one
upon another, and all ultimately on one and
the same hook, and that a mistranslation of
he words " ancien scripture," used by Prisot.
Finch quotes Prisot ; Wingate does the same.
Sheppard quotes Prisot, Finch and Wingate.
Hale cites nobody. The court in Woolston's
case, cites Hale. Wood cites Woolston's case.
Blackstone quotes Woolston's case and Hale.
And Lord Mansfield, like Hale, ventures it on
bis own authority. Here I might defy the
best-read lawyer to produce another scrip of
authority for this judiciary forgery; and I
might go on further to show, how some of
the Anglo-Saxon priests interpolated into the
text of Alfred's laws, the 20th, 21 st, 22d, and
23d chapters of Exodus, and the isth, of the
Acts of the Apostles, from the 23d to the
29th verses. But this would lead my pen and
your patience too far. What a conspiracy
this between Church and State !— To JOHN
CARTWRIGHT. vii, 359. (M., 1824.)
1441. . Those who read Prisot' s
opinion with a candid view to understand and
not to chicane it, cannot mistake its meaning.
The reports in the Year-Books were taken
very short. The opinions of the judges were
written down sententiously, as notes or mem
oranda, and not with all the development
which theya probably used in developing them.
Prisot's opinion, to be fully expressed, should
be thus paraphrased : " To such laws as those
holy church have recorded, and preserved in
their ancient books and writings, it is proper
for us to give credence; for so is, or so says
the Common Law, or law of the land, on
which all manner of other laws rest for their
authority, or are founded ; that is to say, the
Common Law, or the law of the land com
mon to us all, and established by the author
ity of us all, is that from which is derived the
authority of all other special and subordinate
branches of law, such as the canon law, law
merchant, law maritime, law of gavelkind,
Borough English, corporation laws, local cus
toms and usages, to all of which the common
law requires its judges to permit authority
in the special or local cases belonging to them.
The evidence of these laws is preserved in
their ancient treatises, books and writings, in
like manner as our common law itself is
known, the text of its original enactments
having been long lost, and its substance only
preserved in ancient and traditionary wri
tings. And if it appears, from their ancient
books, writings and records, that the bishop,
in this case, according to the rules prescribed
by these authorities, has done what an ordi
nary would have done in such case, then we
should adjudge it good, otherwise not." To
decide this question, they would have to turn
to the ancient writings and records of the
canon law, in which they would find evidence
of the laws of advowsons, quare impedit,
the duties of bishops and ordinaries, for
which terms Prisot could never have
meant to refer them to the Old or New
Testament, les saincts scriptures, where
surely they would not be found. A
license which should permit "ancien scrip-
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Common Law
ture," to be translated " holy scripture," an
nihilates at once all the evidence of lan
guage. With such a license, we might re
verse the sixth commandment into " Thou
shalt not omit murder." It would be the more
extraordinary in this case, where the mis
translation was to effect the adoption of the
whole code of the Jewish and Christian laws
into the text of our statutes, to convert relig
ious offenses into temporal crimes, to make
the breach of every religious precept a sub
ject of indictment; to submit the question of
idolatry, for example, to the trial of a jury,
and to a court, its judgment, to the third and
fourth generation of the offender. Do we al
low our judges this lumping legislation?— To
EDWARD EVERETT, vii, 381. (M., 1824.)
1442. COMMON LAW, Codification of.
— Whether we should undertake to reduce
the common law, our own, and so much of the
English statutes as we have adopted, to
a text, is a question of transcendent diffi
culty. It was discussed at the first meeting
of the committee of the Revised Code [of
Virginia] in 1776, and decided in the negative,
by the opinions of Wythe, Mason and my
self, against Pendleton and Thomas Lee.
Pendleton proposed to take Blackstone for that
text, only purging him of what was inappli
cable or unsuitable to us. In that case, the
meaning of every word of Blackstone would
have become a source of litigation, until it
had been settled by repeated legal decisions.
And to come at that meaning, we should have
had produced, on all occasions, that very pile
of authorities from which it would be said he
drew his conclusion, and which, of Bourse,
would explain it, and the terms in which it is
couched. Thus we should have retained the
same chaos of law lore from which we wished
to be emancipated, added to the evils of
the uncertainty which a new text and new
phrases would have generated. An example of
this may be found in the old statutes, and
commentaries on them, in Coke's Second In
stitute, but more remarkably in the Institute
of Justinian, and the vast masses explanatory
or supplementary of that which fill the libra
ries of the civilians. We were deterred from
the attempt by these considerations, added to
which, the bustle of the times did not admit
leisure for such an undertaking. — To JOHN
TYLER, vi, 66. (M., 1812.)
1443. COMMON LAW, The Colonists
and. — I deride with you the ordinary doc
trine, that we brought with us from England
the common law rights. This narrow notion
was a favorite in the first moment of rallying
to our rights against Great Britain. But it
was that of men who felt their rights before
they had thought of their explanation. The
truth is, that we brought with us the rights of
men; of expatriated men. On our arrival
here, the question would at once arise, by
what law will we govern ourselves? The
resolution seems to have been, by that system
with which we are familiar, to be altered by
ourselves occasionally, and adapted to our
new situation. The proofs of this resolution
are to be found in the form of the oaths of
the judges, i. Henings Stat. 169. 187: of the
Governor, ib. 504 ; in the act for a provisional
government, ib, 372; in the preamble to the
laws of 1661-2; the uniform current of opin
ions and decisions, and in the general recog
nition of all our statutes, framed on that
basis. But the state of the English law at
the date of our emigration, constituted
the system adopted here. We may doubt,
therefore, the propriety of quoting in our
courts English authorities subsequent to that
adoption ; still more the admission of author
ities posterior to the Declaration of Inde
pendence, or rather to the accession of that
King, whose reign, ab initio, was the very
tissue of wrongs which rendered the Declara
tion at length necessary. The reason for it
had inception at least as far back as the com
mencement of his reign. This relation to the
beginning of his reign, would add the ad
vantage of getting us rid of all Mansfield's
innovations, or civilizations of the Common
Law. For, however, I admit the superiority
of the civil over the common law code, as a
system of perfect justice, yet an incorpora
tion of the two would be like Nebuchadnez
zar's image of metals and clay, a thing with
out cohesion of parts. The only natural im
provement of the common law. is through its
homogeneous ally, the Chancery, in which
new principles are to be examined, concocted
and digested. But when, by repeated decis
ions and modifications, they are rendered pure
and certain, they should be transferred by
statute to the courts of common law ana
placed within the pale of juries. The exclu
sion from the courts of the malign influence
of all authorities after the Gcorgium Sidus
became ascendant, would uncanonize Black-
stone, whose book, although the most elegant
and best digested of our law catalogue, has
been perverted more than all others, to the
degeneracy of legal science. A student finds
there a smattering of everything, and his in
dolence easily persuades him that if he under
stands that book, he is master of the whole
body of the law. The distinction between
these, and those who have drawn their stores
from the deep and rich mines of Coke on Lit
tleton, seems well understood even by the un
lettered common people who apply the appel
lation of Blackstone lawyers to these
ephemeral insects of the law.* — To JOHN TY
LER, vi, 65. (1812.)
1444. COMMON LAW, The Constitu
tion and. — I consider all the encroachments
made on the Constitution, heretofore, as
nothing, as mere retail stuff compared with
the wholesale doctrine, that there is a Com
mon Law in force in the United States of
which, and of all the cases within its provi-
* W. G. Hammond, in his edition of Blackstone's
Commentaries, (i. 276) says : " Jefferson and the party
he represented were always disposed to disown the
Common Law and claim their freedom as one of the
'rights of man', but the majority of the 'rebels'
insisted only on what they considered their common-
law rights, and maintained that the English Colonists
had brought these with them over the sea. The Dec
laration of Independence unites both positions in the
most skilful manner."— EDITOR.
Common Law
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
164
sions, their courts have cognizance.* It is
complete consolidation. [Judgesl Ellsworth
and Iredell have openly recognized it. [Bush-
rod] Washington has squinted at it, and
I have no doubt it has been decided to cram
it down our throats. — To CHARLES PINCKNEY.
FORD ED., vii, 398. (M., Oct. 1799.)
1445. COMMON LAW, Corruption and.
— I do verily believe, that if the principle were
to prevail, of a Common Law being in force
in the United States (which principle pos
sesses the General Government at once of all
the powers of the State governments, and
reduces us to a single consolidated govern
ment), it would become the most corrupt
* The subjoined extracts from Jefferson's ANAS,
bear on the assertion of this doctrine in the United
States Senate :
i— Mr. Dexter, Mr. Hillhouseand Mr. Read insisted
[in the Senate] in the fullest and most explicit terms,
that the Common Law of England is in force in these
States, and may be the rule of adjudication in all
cases where the laws of the United States have made
no provision. Mr. Livermore seemed to urge the
same, though he seemed to think that in criminal
cases it might be necessary to adopt by an express
law. Mr. Tracy was more reserved on this occasion.
He only said that Congress might by a law adopt
the provisions of the Common Law on any subjects
by a reference to that, without detailing the particu
lars ; as in this bill it was proposed that the marshals
should summon juries "according to the practice of
the Common Law". THE ANAS. FORD ED., i, 288.
(April 1800.)
2— Dexter maintained that the Common Law as to
crimes is in force jn the courts of the United States.
Chipman says that the principles of common right
are Common Law. And he says the Common Law
of England is in force here. There being no law in
Vermont for appointing juries which the marshal
can follow, he says he may appoint them as provided
by the Common Law of England, though that part
of the Common Law was never adopted in Vermont.
THE ANAS. FORD ED., i, 286. (March 19, 1800.)
3_ Heretical doctrines maintained in Senate on
the motion against the Aurora * * * that the
Common Law authorizes the proceeding proposed
against the Aurora, and is in force here. By Read.
* * * Tracy says he would not exactly say that
the Common Law of England in all its extent is in
force here ; but common sense, reason and morality,
which are the foundations of the Common Law, are
in force here and establish a Common Law. He held
himself so nearly half way between the Common
Law of England and what everybody else has called
natural law, and not Common Law, that he could
hold to either the one or the other, as he should find
expedient. Dexter maintained that the Common
Law, as to crimes, is in force in the United States.
Chipman says that the principles of common right
are Common Law.— THE ANAS, ix, 198. FORD ED., i,
285. (1800.)
4— The jury bill before the Senate. Mr. Read says
that, if from any circumstances of inaptitude the
marshal cannot appoint a jury analogously with
the State juries, the Common Law steps in, and he
may name them according to that. And March 12,
same bill, Mr. Chipman speaking of the case of Ver
mont, where a particular mode of naming jurors
was in force under a former law of that State, when
the law of the United States passed declaring that
juries shall be appointed in their courts in the sev
eral States in the mode unow" in use in the same
State. Vermont has since altered their mode of
naming them. Mr. Chipman admits the Federal
courts cannot adopt the new mode, but in that case
he says their marshal may name them according to
the rules of the Common Law. Now observe that
that is a part of the Common Law which Vermont
had never adopted, but, on the contrary, had made
a law of their own, better suited to their circum
stances.— THE ANAS. FORD ED., i, 286. (March n,
5— See in the Wilmington Mirror of Feb. i4th, Mr.
Bayard's elaborate argument to prove that the Com
mon Law, as modified by the laws of the respective
States at the epoch of the ratification of the Consti
tution, attached to the courts of the United States.—
THE ANAS, ix, 203. FORD ED., i, 291. (Feb. 1801.)
government on the earth. — To GIDEON GRAN
GER, iv, 331. FORD ED., vii, 451. (M., Aug.
1800.)
1446. COMMON LAW, Origin of.— The
term " common law," although it has more
than one meaning, is perfectly definite, secun-
dum subjectam materiem. Its most probable
origin was on the conquest of the Heptarchy
by Alfred, and the amalgamation of their sev
eral codes of law into one, which became com
mon to them all. The authentic text of these
enactments has not been preserved ; but their
substance has been committed to many ancient
books and writings, so faithfully as to have
been deemed genuine from generation to gen
eration, and obeyed as such by all. We have
some fragments of them collected by Lam-
bard, Wilkins and others, but abounding with
proofs of their spurious authenticity. Magna
Charta is the earliest statute, the text of
which has come down to us in an authentic
form, and thence downward we have them
entire. We do not know exactly when the
common law and statute law, the lex scripta
et non scripta, began to be contra-dis
tinguished, so as to give a second acceptation
to the former term ; whether before, or after
Prisot's day, at which time we know that
nearly two centuries and a half of statutes
were in preservation. In later times, on the
introduction of the chancery branch of law,
the term common law began to be used in a
third sense, as the correlative of chancery law.
— To EDWARD EVERETT, vii, 382. (M., 1824.)
1447. COMMON LAW, State Laws and.
— On the settlement of the colonies now com
posing the United States, and the settlement
of a legislature in each of them, that legisla
ture, in some cases, finding that the enacting
a complete code of laws which should reach
every transaction needing legislation, would
be far beyond their time and abilities, adopted,
by an express act of their own, the laws of
England as they stood at that date, compre
hending the common law, statutes to that
period, and the chancery law. In other cases,
instead of adopting them by an express statute
of their own, they considered themselves as
having brought with them, and been, even on
their passage, under the constant obligation
of the laws of the mother country, and on
their arrival they continued to practice them
without any act of adoption, which practice
or usage is evidence that there was an adop
tion by general consent. In the case of Con
necticut, they did not adopt the common law
of England at all as their basis, but declared
by an act of their own, that the law of God,
as it stood revealed in the Old and New Tes
taments, should be the basis of their laws, to
be subject to such alterations as they should
make. In all the cases where the common
law, or laws of England, were adopted either
expressly or tacitly, the legislatures held of
course, and exercised the power of making
additions and alterations. As the different
States were settled at very different periods,
and the adoption for each State was the laws
of England as they stood at the moment of
the adoption by the State, it is evident that
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Common Law
the system as adopted in 1607 by Virginia, was
one thing, as by Pennsylvania was another
thing, as by Georgia, in 1759, was still a dif
ferent one. And when to this is added the
very diversified modifications of the adopted
code, produced by the subsequent laws passed
by the legislatures of the different States, the
system of common law in force in any one
State on the 24th of September, 1789, when
Congress assumed the jurisdiction given them
by the Constitution, was very different from
the systems in force at the same moment in
the several other States: that in all of these
the common law was in force by virtue of
the adoption of the State, express or tacit, and
that it was not in force in Connecticut, be
cause they had never adopted it. — OBSERVA
TIONS ON HARDIN'S CASE, ix, 485. (Nov.
1812.)
1448. COMMON LAW, United States
Law and. — Having settled by way of prelimi
nary, to what extent, and by what authority,
the common law of England is the law of
each of the States, we will proceed to consider
how far, and by what authority, it "is the law
of the United States 'as a national govern
ment. By the Constitution, the General Gov
ernment has jurisdiction in all cases arising
under the Constitution, under the (constitu
tional) laws of the United States, and under
treaties; in all cases, too, of ambassadors, of
admiralty jurisdiction, where the United
States is a party, between a State or its citi
zens, or another State or its citizens, or for
eign State or its citizens. The General Gov
ernment, then, had a right to take under their
cognizance all these cases, and no others.
This might have been done by Congress, by
passing a complete code, assuming the whole
field of their jurisdiction, and by applying
uniformly to every State, without any respect
to the laws of that State. But, like the State
legislatures, who had been placed before in
a similar situation, they felt that it was a
work of too much time and difficulty to be
undertaken. Observing, therefore, that (ex
cept cases of piracy and murder on the high
seas) all the cases within the jurisdiction must
arise in some of the States, they declared
by the act of September, 24, 1789. C 20 §
34, " that the laws of the several States, ex
cept where the Constitution, treaties, or stat
utes of the United States shall otherwise pro
vide, shall be regarded as rules of decision in
trials at common law in the courts of the
United States in cases where they apply."
Here, then, Congress adopted for each State
the laws of that State ; and among the laws so
adopted were portions of the common law,
greater or less in different States, and in force,
riot by any innate authority of its own, but by
the adoption or enacting of it by the State
authority. Now what was the opinion to
which this was opposed? Several judges of
the General Government declared that " the
common law of England is the unwritten
law of the United States in their national and
federal capacity.'' A State judge, in a printed
work, lays it down as " certainly wrong to
say that the judiciary power of the nation can
exercise no authority but what depends for
its principle on acts of the national legisla
ture." And then, quoting the preamble to
the Constitution of the United States, which
says that its object is, " to insure domestic
tranquillity, promote the general welfare "
&c., he adds, that " what is here expressed is
the common law of the whole country," and
that " whatever is in opposition to it, whether
treason, insurrection, sedition, murder, riot,
assaults, batteries, thefts or robberies, may be
punished as crimes, independent of any act of
Congress." And opinions equivalent to these
were declared by one party on the floor of
Congress. This is the doctrine which the re
publicans declared heretical. They deny that
Congress can pass any law not authorized by
the Constitution, and that the judges can act
on any law not authorized by Congress, or by
the Constitution in very direct terms. If the
true doctrine then be, that certain portions
of the common and statute law of England
be in force in the different States by virtue of
the adoption in that State, and in the Federal
courts of the same State by virtue of the adop
tion by Congress of the laws of that State
within its limits, then whenever a case is
presented to a Federal court, they are to ask
themselves the following questions : i. Is this
case within any of the definitions of jurisdic
tion given by the Constitution to the General
Government? If it be decided that it is, then,
2. Has Congress by any positive statute as
sumed cognizance of this case as permitted
them by the Constitution ? To determine this
question, the judge must first look into the
statutes of Congress generally; if he finds it
not there, he must look into the laws of the
State, as well as that portion of the English
code which the State may have adopted, as
the acts passed specially by the legislature.
If the case be actually found provided for
in these laws, another question still remains,
viz. : 3. Is the law of the State applicable to
the analogous case of the General Govern
ment? for it may happen that a law of the
State, adapted perfectly to its own organiza
tion and local circumstances, may not tally
with the different organizations or circum
stances of the Federal government. If the
difference be such as to defeat the ap
plication, it must be considered as a case
unprovided for by Congress, and not cog
nizable in their courts. Just so parts
of the common or statute law of Eng
land are found by the State judges inap
plicable to their State from a difference of
circumstances. These differences of circum
stances will be shaded off from nothing to
direct inconsistence, and it will be only by
many decisions on a great variety of cases
that the line will at length be drawn. Let
us apply these questions to Hardin's case,
which is simply this : Congress by an express
statute, 1802, c. 13. § 6, have made the mur
der of an Indian within the territory of the
United States, punishable by death. A mur
der is committed on an Indian in that terri
tory. The murderers fly to Kentucky. They
are demanded by the Governor of Indiana of
the Governor of Kentucky; under whose
Common Law
Compacts
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
166
authority our officer attempting to take them,
they were protected by Hardin and others in
arms. i. Is this case within the jurisdiction
of Congress? Answer. Congress having a
right " to make all rules and regulations re
specting the territory of the United States,"
have declared this to be a case of murder. As
they can " make all laws necessary and proper
for carrying their power into execution,"
they can make the protecting a murderer crim
inal in any part of the United States. 2. Has
Congress assumed cognizance of the offence
of Hardin? We must first examine whether
the act oi Congress, 1799. c. Q, § 22, takes in
this offence. Then whether the laws of Ken
tucky, common, statute, or State law, as
adopted by Congress comprehend this offence.
3. Whether any difference of organization or
other circumstance renders the law of Ken
tucky inapplicable to this offence, can be de
cided by those only who are particularly ac
quainted with that law. — OBSERVATIONS ON
HARBIN'S CASE, ix, 486. (Nov. 1812.)
1449. - — . I read the sixth chapter
of your book with interest and satisfaction, on
the question whether the common law (of
England) makes a part of the laws of our
General Government. That it makes more
or less a part of the laws of the States is,
I suppose, an unquestionable fact. Not by
birthright, * * * but by adoption. But, as to
the General Government, the Virginia Re
port on the Alien and Sedition laws, has so
completely pulverized this pretension that
nothing new can be said on it. Still, seeing
the judges of the Supreme Court (I recollect,
for example, Ellsworth and Story) had been
found capable of such paralogism, I was glad
to see that the Supreme Court had given it
up. In the case of Libel in the United States
District Court of Connecticut, the rejection of
it was certainly sound ; because no law of the
General Government had made it an offence.
But such a case might, I suppose, be sustained
in the State courts which have State laws
against libels. Because as to the portions of
power within each State assigned to the Gen
eral Government, the President is as much the
Executive of the State, as their particular
governor is in relation to State powers. — To
MR. GOODENOW. vii, 251. (M., 1822.)
1450. COMMON SENSE, Authority
and. — Common sense is the foundation of all
authorities, of the laws themselves, and of
their construction. — BATTURE CASE, viii, 575.
(1812.)
1451. COMMON SENSE, Confidence in.
— I have great confidence in the common
sense of mankind in general. — To JEREMIAH
MOOR. FORD ED., vii, 455. (M., 1800.)
1452. COMMON SENSE, Kings and.—
No race of kings has ever presented above one
man of common sense in twenty generations.
To BENJAMIN HAWKINS, ii, 221. FORD ED.,
iv, 426. (P., 1787.)
1453. COMMON SENSE, Safety in.— I
can never fear that things will go far wrong
where common sense has fair play. — To JOHN
ADAMS, ii, 73. (P., 1786.)
1454. . Let common sense and
common honesty have fair play and they will
soon set things to rights.— To EZRA STILES
ii, 77- (P., 1786.)
1455. COMMON SENSE, Stock-jobbing
and.— Happy if the victims of the stock
jobbers now * * * get back into the tract of
plain, unsophisticated common sense which
they ought never to have been decoyed from.—
To NICHOLAS LEWIS. FORD ED., v, 508. (Pa
1792.) See SENSE.
1456. COMPACT, The Federal.— The
States in North America which confederated
to establish their independence of the Govern
ment of Great Britain, of which Virginia was
one, became, on that acquisition free and inde
pendent States, and as such, authorized to
constitute governments, each for itself, in
such form as it thought best. They entered
into a compact (which is called the Consti
tution of the United States of America),
by which they agreed to unite in a single
government as to their relations with each
other and with foreign nations, and as to cer-
tain^other articles particularly specified. They
retained at the same time, each to itself the
other rights of independent government, com
prehending mainly their domestic interests.
For the administration of their Federal
branch, they agreed to appoint, in conjunction,
a distinct set of functionaries, legislative, ex
ecutive and judiciary, in the manner settled in
that compact: while to each, severally, and
of course remained its original right of ap
pointing, each for itself, a separate set of
functionaries, legislative, executive and judi
ciary, also for administering the domestic
branch of their respective governments.
These two sets of officers, each independent
of the other, constitute thus a whole of gov
ernment, for each State separately ; the powers
ascribed to the one, as specifically made
federal, exercisable over the whole, the re
siduary powers, retained to the other, exer
cisable exclusively over its particular
State, foreign herein, each to the others,
as they were before the original compact. —
DECLARATION AND PROTEST OF VIRGINIA, ix,
496. FORD ED., x, 349. (Dec. 1825.)
1457. COMPACTS, Enforcing.— The co
ercive powers supposed to be wanting in the
federal head I am of opinion they possess by
the law of nature, which authorizes one party
to an agreement to compel the other to per
formance. A delinquent State makes itself
a party against the rest of the confederacy. —
To EDWARD RANDOLPH, ii, 211. (P., 1787.)
See COERCION.
1458. COMPACTS, Infractions of.— As
in all other cases of compact among powers
having no common judge, each party has an
equal right to judge for itself, as well of in
fractions as of the mode and measure of re
dress. — KENTUCKY RESOLUTIONS. ix, 465.
FORD ED., vii, 292. (1798.)
1459. . Where a party from
necessity or danger withholds compliance with
part of a treaty, it is bound to make com-
167
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Compacts
Confederation
pensation where the nature of the case ad
mits and does not dispense with it. — OPINION
ON FRENCH TREATIES, vii, 617. FORD ED., vi,
224. (I793-)
1460. COMPACTS, Self-preservation
and. — Obligation is [to observe compacts]
not suspended till the danger [of self-preser
vation] is become real, and the moment of it
so imminent, that we can no longer avoid de
cision without forever losing the opportunity
to do it. — OPINION ON FRENCH TREATIES, vii,
615. FORD ED., vi, 222. (1793.)
1461. COMPACTS, Straining.— However
strong the cord of compact may be, there is a
point of tension at which it will break. — To
EDWARD LIVINGSTON, vii, 404. (M., 1825.)
See TREATIES.
1462. COMPROMISE, Necessity of.— It
is necessary to give as well as take in a gov
ernment like ours. — To GEORGE MASON, iii,
147. FORD ED., v, 184. (N.Y., 1790.)
1463. COMPROMISE OF OPINION.— I
see the necessity of sacrificing our opinions
sometimes to the opinions of others for the
sake of harmony. — To FRANCIS EPPES. FORD
ED., v, 194. (N.Y., 1790.)
1464. . A government held to
gether by the bands of reason only, requires
much compromise of opinion ; that things
even salutary should not be crammed down
the throats of dissenting brethren, especially
when they may be put into a form to be will
ingly swallowed, and that a great deal of in
dulgence is necessary to strengthen habits of
harmony and fraternity. — To EDWARD LIV
INGSTON, vii, 343. FORD ED., x, 301. (M.,
1824.)
_ CONCHOLOGY.— See SHELLS.
1465. CONCILIATION, Coalition and.
— If we can hit on the true line of conduct
which may conciliate the honest part of those
who were called federalists, and do justice to
those who have so long been excluded from it,
I shall hope to be able to obliterate, or rather
to unite the names of federalists and republic
ans. — To HORATIO GATES. FORD ED., viii, n.
(W., March 1801.)
1466. CONCILIATION, Principle and.
— My inaugural address * * * will present
the leading objects to be conciliation and ad
herence to sound principle. This, I know, is
impracticable with the leaders of the late fac
tion, whom I abandon as incurables, and will
never turn an inch out of my way to reconcile
them. But with the main body of the fed
eralists, I believe it very practicable. — To
JAMES MONROE, iv, 367. FORD ED., viii, 8.
(W., March 1801.)
1467. . After the first unfavor
able impressions of doing top much* in the
opinion of some, and too little in that of
others, shall be got over. I should hope a
steady line of conciliation very practicable, and
that without yielding a single republican prin-
* With respect to appointments and removals.—
EDITOR.
ciple. A certainty that these principles pre
vailed in the breasts of the main body of fed
eralists, was my motive for stating them as
the ground of reunion.— To DR. BENJAMIN
RUSH, iv, 384. FORD ED., viii, 32. (W.,
March 1801.)
— CONDOLENCE.— See SYMPATHY.
1468. CONDORCET (M. J. A. N. C. de),
Genius of. — I am glad the bust of Condorcet
has been saved. His genius should be before
us ; while the lamentable, but singular act of
ingratitude which tarnished his latter days, may
be thrown behind us. — To WILLIAM SHORT, vii,
141. FORD ED., x, 145. (M., 1819.)
1469. CONDUCT, Advice as to.— Be very
select in the society you attach yourself to;
avoid taverns, drinkers, smokers, idlers, and
dissipated persons generally * * * and
you will find your path more easy and tran
quil. — To THOMAS JEFFERSON RANDOLPH, v,
391. FORD ED., ix, 233. (W., 1808.)
1470. . A determination never
to do what is wrong, prudence and good humor,
will go far towards securing to you the estima
tion of the world. When I recollect that at
fourteen years of age, the whole care and di
rection of myself was thrown on myself en
tirely, without a relation or friend qualified to
advise or guide me, and recollect the various
sorts of bad company with which I associated
from time to time, I am astonished I did not
turn off with some of them, and become as
worthless to society as they were. I had the
good fortune to become acquainted very early
with some characters of very high standing, and
to feel the incessant wish that I could ever be
come what they were. Under temptations and
difficulties, I would ask myself what would Dr.
Small, Mr. Wythe, Peyton Randolph do in this
situation? What course in it will insure me
their approbation? I am certain that this mode
of deciding on my conduct, tended more to its
correctness than any reasoning powers I pos
sessed. Knowing the even and dignified line
they pursued, I could never doubt for a moment
which of two courses would be in character for
them. Whereas, seeking the same object
through a process of moral reasoning, and with
the jaundiced eye of youth, I should often have
erred. From the circumstances of my position,
I was often thrown into the society of horse
racers, card players, fox hunters, scientific and
professional men, and of dignified men ; and
many a time have I asked myself, in the enthu
siastic moment of the death of a fox, the vic
tory of a favorite horse, the issue of a question
eloquently argued at the bar, or in the great
council of the nation, well, which of these kinds
of reputation should I prefer? That of a horse
jockey? a fox hunter? an orator? or the honest
advocate of my country's rights? Be assured,
my dear Jefferson, that these little returns into
ourselves, this self-catechising habit, is not tri
fling nor useless, but leads to the prudent selec
tion and steady pursuit of what is right. — To
THOMAS JEFFERSON RANDOLPH, v, 388. FORD
ED., ix, 231. (W., 1808.)
1471. CONFEDERATION, The Articles
of. — On Friday, July 12 [1776], the commit
tee appointed to draw the Articles of Confed
eration reported them, and, on the 22d, the
House resolved themselves into a committee
to take them into consideration. On the 3Oth
and 3 ist of that month, and ist of the ensu-
Confederation
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
168
ing, those Articles were debated which deter
mined the proportion, or quota, of money
which each State should furnish to the com
mon treasury, and the manner of voting in
Congress. The first of these Articles was
expressed in the oriemal draft in these words.
" Art. XI. All charges of war and all other
expenses that shall be incurred for the com
mon defence, or general welfare, and allowed
by the United States assembled, shall be de
frayed out of a common treasury, which shall
be supplied by the several colonies in propor
tion to the number of inhabitants of every age,
sex, and quality, except Indians not paying
taxes, in each Colony, a true account of
which, distinguishing the white inhabitants,
shall be triennially taken and transmitted to
the Assembly of the United States."
[Here follows Jefferson's report of the debates,
printed in the Appendix to this volume.]
These Articles, reported July 12, '76, were
debated from day to day, and time to time, for
two years, were ratified July 9, '78, by ten
States, by New Jersey on the 26th of Novem
ber of the same year, and by Delaware on the
23d of February following. Maryland alone
held off two years more, acceding to them
March I, '81, and thus closing the obligation.
— AUTOBIOGRAPHY, i, 26. FORD ED., i, 38.
(1821.)
1472. CONFEDERATION-, Commerce
and. — Congress, by the Confederation, have
no original and inherent power over the com
merce of the States. But, by the pth article,
we are authorized to enter into treaties of
commerce. The moment these treaties are
concluded, the jurisdiction of Congress over
the commerce of the States springs into exist
ence, and that of the particular States is
superseded so far as the articles of the treaty
may have taken up the subject. There are
two restrictions only, on the exercise of the
power of treaty by Congress, ist. That they
shall not, by such treaty, restrain the legisla
tures of the States from imposing such duties
on foreigners as their own people are subject
to; nor, 2ndly, from prohibiting the exporta
tion or importation of any particular species of
goods. Leaving these two points free, Con
gress may, by treaty, establish any system of
commerce they please; but, as I before ob
served, it is by treaty alone they can do it.
Though they may exercise their other powers
by resolution or ordinance, those over com
merce can only be exercised by forming a
treaty, and this probably by an accidental
wording of our Confederation. — To JAMES
MONROE, i, 349. FORD ED., iv, 54. (P., 1785.)
See TREATIES.
1473. CONFEDERATION, Congress
under the. — Our body [the Confederation
Congress] was little numerous, but very con
tentious. Day after day was wasted on the
most unimportant questions. My colleague
[John F.] Mercer, was one of those afflicted
with the morbid rage of debate, of an ardent
mind, prompt imagination, and copious flow
of words, who heard with impatience any logic
which was not his own. Sitting near me on
some occasion of a trifling but wordy debate,
he asked how I could sit in silence, hearing so
much false reasoning, which a word should
refute ? I observed to him, that to refute was
easy, but to silence was impossible; that in
measures brought forward by myself, I took
the laboring oar, as was incumbent on me;
but that in general, I was willing to listen;
that if every sound argument or objection was
used by some one or other of the numerous
debaters, it was enough; if not, I thought it
sufficient to suggest the omission, without go
ing into a repetition of what had been already
said by others ; that this was a waste and
abuse of the time and patience of the House,
which could not be justified. And I believe,
that if the members of deliberative bodies
were to observe this course generally, they
would do in a day what takes them a week;
and it is really more questionable, than may at
first be thought, whether Bonaparte's dumb
legislature which said nothing and did much,
may not be preferable to one which talks
much and does nothing. — AUTOBIOGRAPHY.
i, 58. FORD ED., i, 81. (1821.) See CON
GRESS.
— CONFEDERATION, Consuls and.—
See CONSULS.
— CONFEDERATION, Debates on Ar
ticles. — See APPENDIX.
1474. CONFEDERATION, Defects of.—
There are some alterations which experience
proves to be wanting. Those are principally
three, i. To establish a general rule for
the admission of new States into the Union.
* * * 2. The Confederation, in its eighth arti
cle, decides that the quota of money, to be
contributed by the several States, shall be in
proportion to the value of the landed property
in the State. Experience has shown it im
practicable to come at this value. Congress
have, therefore, recommended to the States
to agree that their quotas shall be in propor
tion to the number of their inhabitants, count
ing five slaves, however, but as equal to
three free inhabitants. 3. The Confederation
forbids the States individually to enter
into treaties of commerce, or of any other
nature, with foreign nations ; and it au
thorizes Congress to establish such treaties,
with two reservations however, viz., that they
shall agree to no treaty which would, I, re
strain the legislatures from imposing such
duties, on foreigners as matters are subject
to ; or 2, from prohibiting the exportation or
importation of any species of commodities.
Congress may. therefore, be said to have a
power to regulate commerce, so far as it
can be effected by conventions with other
nations, and by conventions which do not
infringe the two fundamental reservations
before mentioned. But this is too imper
fect. Because till a convention be made
with any particular nation, the commerce of
any one of our States with that nation
may be regulated by the State itself, and
even when a convention is made, the reg
ulation of commerce is taken out of the hands
of the several States only so far as it is cov
ered or provided for by that convention or
169
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Confederation
treaty. But treaties are made in such general
terms, that the greater part of the regulations
would still result to the legislatures. * * *
The commerce of the States cannot be regu
lated to the best advantage but by a single
body, and no body so proper as Congress.
* * * — ANSWERS TO M. DE MEUNIER. ix,
285. FORD ED., iv, 141. (P., 1786.)
1475. _ — . Its greatest defect is the
imperfect manner in which matters of com
merce have been provided for. — To E. CAR-
RINGTON. i'l,2l7. FORD ED., iv, 424. (P., 1787.)
1476. - — . The fundamental defect
of the Confederation was that Congress was
not authorized to act immediately on the peo
ple, and by its own officers. Their power was
only requisitory, and these requisitions were
addressed to the several Legislatures, to be
by them carried into execution, without other
coercion than the moral principle of duty.
This allowed in fact a negative to every Leg
islature, on every measure proposed by Con
gress; a negative so frequently exercised in
practice as to benumb the action of the Fed
eral Government, and to render it inefficient
in its general objects, and more especially in
pecuniary and foreign concerns. The want,
too, of a separation of the Legislative, Execu
tive, and Judiciary functions, worked dis-
advantageously in practice. Yet this state of
things afforded a happy augury of the future
march of our confederacy, when it was seen
that the good sense and good dispositions of
the people, as soon as they perceived the in
competence of their first compact, instead
of leaving its correction to insurrection and
civil war, agreed with one voice to elect dep
uties to a general Convention, who should
peaceably meet and agree on such a Constitu
tion as " would ensure peace, justice, liberty,
the common defence and general welfare."-
AUTOBIOGRAPHY. i, 78. FORD ED., i, I08. (l82I.)
1477. CONFEDERATION, Distribution
of Powers. — To make us one nation as to
foreign concerns, and keep us distinct in do
mestic ones, gives the outline of the proper
division of power between the general and
particular governments. But, to enable the
Federal head to exercise the power given it,
to best advantage, it should be organized, as
the particular ones are, into Legislative, Ex
ecutive and Judiciary. The first and last are
already separated. The second should also be.
When last with Congress, I often proposed to
members to do this, by making of the Com
mittees of the States, an Executive Commit
tee during the recess of Congress, and, dur
ing its sessions, to appoint a Committee to re
ceive and despatch all executive business, so
that Congress itself should meddle only with
what should be legislative. But I question if
any Congress (much less all successively)
can have self-denial enough to go through
with this distribution. The distribution, then,
should be imposed on them. — To JAMES
MADISON, ii, 66. FORD ED., iv, 333. (P., Dec.
1786.)
— CONFEDERATION, Executive Com
mittee for.— -See 1477.
1478. CONFEDERATION, Failure of.—
Our first essay, in America, to establish a fed
erative government had fallen, on trial, very
short of its object. During the war of Inde
pendence, while the pressure of an external
enemy hooped us together, and their enter
prises kept us necessarily on the alert, the
spirit of the people, excited by danger, was a
supplement to the Confederation, and urged
them to zealous exertions, whether claimed by
that instrument, or not ; but, when peace and
safety were restored, and every man became
engaged in useful and profitable occupation,
less attention was paid to the calls of Con
gress. — AUTOBIOGRAPHY, i, 78. FORD ED., i,
107. (1821.)
1479. CONFEDERATION, Financial
Embarrassments under.— Mr. Adams, while
residing at the Hague, had a general au
thority to borrow what sums might be
requisite for ordinary and necessary expenses.
Interest on the public debt, and the mainte
nance of the diplomatic establishment in Eu
rope, had been habitually provided in this
way. He was now elected Vice-President of
the United States, was soon to return to
America, and had referred our bankers to me
for future counsel on our affairs in their
hands. But I had no powers, no instructions,
no means, and no familiarity with the subject.
It had always been exclusively under his
management, except as to occasional and par
tial deposits in the hands of Mr. Grand,
banker in Paris, for special and local pur
poses. These last had been exhausted for
some time, and I had frequently pressed the
Treasury Board to replenish this particular
deposit, as Mr. Grand now refused to make
further advances. They answered candidly
that no funds could be obtained until the
new government should get into action, and
have time to make its arrangements. Mr.
Adams had received his appointment to the
court of London while engaged at Paris, with
Dr. Franklin and myself, in the negotiations
under our joint commissions. He had re
paired thence to London, without returning to
the Hague to take leave of that government.
He thought it necessary, however, to do so
now, before he should leave Europe, and ac
cordingly went there. I learned of his de
parture from London by a letter from Mrs.
Adams received on the very day on which he
would arrive at the Hague. A consultation
with him, and some provision for the future
was indispensable, while we could yet avail
ourselves of his powers ; for when they would
be gone, we should be without resource. I
was daily dunned by a Company who had
formerly made a small loan to the United
States, the principal of which was now be
come due ; and our bankers in Amsterdam
had notified me that the interest on our gen
eral debt would be expected in June ; that if
we failed to pay it, it would be deemed an
act of bankruptcy and would effectually de
stroy the credit of the L^nited States and all
future prospect of obtaining money there;
that the loan they had been authorized to
open, of which a third only was filled, had
Confederation
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
170
now ceased to get forward and rendered des
perate that hope of resource. I saw that there
was not a moment to lose, and set out for the
Hague on the second morning after receiv
ing the information of Mr. Adams's journey.
* * * Mr. Adams concurred with me at once
in opinion that something must be done, and
that we ought to risk ourselves on doing it
without instructions, to save the credit of the
United States. We foresaw that before the
new government could be adopted, assem
bled, establish its financial system, get the
money into the Treasury and place it in Eu
rope, considerable time would elapse; that,
therefore, we had better provide at once for
the years 1788, 1789 and 1790 in order to
place our government at its ease, and our
credit in security, during that trying interval.
We set out * * * for Amsterdam.
I had prepared an estimate showing that:
There would be necessary for the
year '88 531.937-10 Florins
There would be necessary for the
year '89 538.540
There would be necessary for the
year '90 473-540
Total . 1.544.017-10 "
To meet this the bankers had in
hand 79.268-2-8 florins
And the unsold bonds would yield 542. 800 florins
622.068-2-8 florins
Leaving a deficit of 921.949-7-4 florins
We proposed then to borrow a
million, yielding gao.ooo florins
Which would leave a small defi
ciency of 1.949-7-4 florins
Mr. Adams accordingly executed 1000
bonds, for 1000 florins each and deposited
them in the hands of our bankers, with in
structions, however, not to issue them until
Congress should ratify the measure. * * *
I had the satisfaction to reflect that by this
journey our credit was secured, the new gov
ernment was placed at ease for two years to
come and that, as well as myself, relieved
from the torment of incessant duns, whose
just complaints could not be silenced by any
means within our power. — AUTOBIOGRAPHY.
i, 83. FORD ED,, i, 114. (1821.)
1480. CONFEDERATION, Franklin's
plan for. — I was absent from Congress from
the beginning of January, 1776, to the middle
of May. Either just before I left Congress,
or immediately on my return to it (I rather
think it was the former), Dr. Franklin put
into my hands the draft of a plan of Confed
eration, desiring me to read it, and tell him
what I thought of it. I approved it highly.
He showed it to others. Some thought as I
did ; others were revolted at it. We found it
could not be passed, and the proposing it
to Congress as the subject for any vote
whatever would startle many members so
much, that they would suspect we had lost
sight of reconciliation with Great Britain,
and that we should lose much more
ground than we should gain by the prop
osition. Yet, that the idea of a more firm
bond of union than the undefined one under
which we then acted might be suggested and
permitted to grow, Dr. Franklin informed
Congress that he had sketched the outlines of
an instrument which might become necessary
at a future day, if the ministry continued per
tinacious, and would ask leave for it to lay
on the table of Congress, that the members
might in the meantime be turning the subject
in their minds, and have something more
perfect prepared by the time it should become
necessary. This was agreed to by the more
timid members, only on condition that no
entry whatever should be made in the jour
nals of Congress relative to this instrument.
This was to continue in force only till a
reconciliation with Great Britain. < This is all
that ever was done or proposed in Congress
on the subject of a Confederation before June,
1776, when the proposition was regularly
made to Congress, a committee appointed to
draw an instrument of Confederation, who
accordingly drew one, very considerably dif
fering from the sketch of Dr. Franklin. —
NOTES ON M. SOULES'S WORK, ix, 303. FORD
ED., iv, 310. (P., 1786.)
1481. CONFEDERATION, Jealousy of
government under.— pur first federal con
stitution, or Confederation, as it was called,
was framed in the first moments of our sepa
ration from England, in the highest point of
our jealousies of independence as to her, and
as to each other. It formed, therefore, too
weak a bond to produce an union of action
as to foreign nations. This appeared at once
on the establishment of peace, when the pres
sure of a common enemy which had hooped
us together during the war, was taken away.
Congress was found to be quite unable to
point the action of the several States to a
common object. A general desire, therefore,
took place of amending the federal constitu
tion. — To C. D. EBELING. FORD ED., vii, 451.
(I795-)
1482. CONFEDERATION, Money req
uisitions and.— Among the debilities of the
government of the Confederation, no one was
more distinguished or more distressing than
the utter impossibility of obtaining, from the
States, the moneys necessary for the pay
ment of debts, or even for the ordinary ex
penses of the government. Some contributed
a little, some less, and some nothing, and the
last furnished at length an excuse for the
first to do nothing also. — AUTOBIOGRAPHY.
i, 82. FORD ED., i, ..14. (1821.)
1483. CONFEDERATION, Perfection
of. — The confederation is a wonderfully per
fect instrument considering the circumstances
under which it was formed. — To M. DE MEU-
NIER. ix, 285. FORD ED., iv, 141. (P., 1786.)
1484. . With all the imperfec
tions of our present government, it is with
out comparison the best existing, or that ever
did exist. — To E. CARRINGTON. ii, 217. FORD
ED., iv, 424. (P., 1787.)
1485. CONFEDERATION, Representa
tion under. — I learn from our delegates that
the Confederation is again on the carpet, a
great and a necessary work, but I fear al-
I/I
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Confederation
Confiscation
most desperate. The point of representation
is what most alarms me, and I fear the great
and small colonies are bitterly determined not
to cede. Will you be so good as to collect the
proposition I formerly made you in private,
and try if you can work it into some good
to save our union? It was, that any propo
sition might be negatived by the representa
tives of a majority of the people of America,
or of a majority of the Colonies of Amer
ica. The former secures the larger; the lat
ter, the smaller Colonies. I have mentioned
it to many here [Williamsburg]. The good
Whigs, I think, will so far cede their opin
ions for the sake of the union, and others we
care little for. — To JOHN ADAMS. FORD ED.,
ii, 130. (Wg., May 1777.)
1486. CONFEDERATION, State Coer
cion and. — It has often been said that the
decisions of Congress are impotent because the
Confederation provides no compulsory power.
But when two or more nations enter into
compact, it is not usual for them to say what
shall be done to the party who infringes it.
Decency forbids this, and it is as unnecessary
as indecent, because the right of compulsion
naturally results to the party injured by the
breach. When any one State in the Amer
ican Union refuses obedience to the confed
eration by which they have bound themselves,
the rest have a natural right to compel them
to obedience. Congress would probably ex
ercise long patience before they would recur
to force; but if the case ultimately required
it, they would use that recurrence. Should
this case ever arise, they will probably coerce
by a naval force, as being more easy, less
dangerous to liberty, and less likely to pro
duce much bloodshed.— To M. DE MEUNIER,
ix, 291. FORD ED., iv, 147. (P., 1786.) See
COERCION.
1487. CONFEDERATION, The States'
Committee. — The Committee of the States,
which shall be appointed pursuant to the Qth
article of Confederation and perpetual union,
to sit in the recess of Congress for transact
ing the business of the United States, shall
possess all the powers which may be exercised
by seven States in Congress assembled, ex
cept that of sending ambassadors, ministers,
envoys, resident-consuls or agents to foreign
countries or courts : Establishing rales for de
ciding what captures on land or water shall
be legal, and i. what manner prizes, taken by
land or naval forces in the service of the
United States, shall be divided or appropri
ated : Establishing courts for receiving and
determining finally appeals in cases of cap
ture, constituting courts for deciding dis
putes and differences arising between two or
more States : Fixing the standard of weights
and measures for the United States: Chan
ging the rate of postage on the papers passing
through the post-offices established by Con
gress, *and of repealing or contravening any
ordinance or act passed by Congress. No
question except for adjourning from day to
day shall be determined without the con
currence of nine votes. A chairman to be
chosen by the Committee shall preside. The
officers of Congress, when required, shall
attend on the Committee. The Committee
shall keep a journal of their proceedings, to
DC laid before Congress, and in these journals,
which shall be published monthly, and trans
mitted to the Executives of the several States,
shall be entered the yeas and nays of the
members, when any one of them shall have
desired it before the question be put. — RE
PORT ON COM. OF THE STATES. FORD ED., iii, 392.
(Jan. 1784.)
1488. - — . As the Confederation
d made no provision for a visible head of
the government during the vacations of Con
gress, and such a one was necessary to super
intend the executive business, to receive and
communicate with foreign ministers and na
tions, and to assemble Congress on sudden
and extraordinary emergencies, I proposed
early in April [April 14, 1784] the appoint
ment of a committee, to be called the Commit
tee of the States, to consist of a member from
each State, who should remain in session
during the recess of Congress : that the func
tions of Congress should be divided into ex
ecutive and legislative, the latter to be re
served, and the former by a general resolution
to be delegated to that Committee. This
proposition was afterwards agreed to. — AUTO
BIOGRAPHY, i, 54. FORD ED., i, 75. (1821.)
1489. - — .A Committee [of the
States] was appointed who entered on duty
on the subsequent adjournment of Congress
[in 1784], quarrelled very soon, split, into two
parties, abandoned their post, and left the
government without any visible head until the
next meeting in Congress.* We have since
seen the same thing take place in the Direc
tory of France; and I believe it will forever
take place in any Executive consisting of a
plurality. Our plan best, I believe, combines
wisdom and practicability, by providing a
plurality of Counsellors, but a single Arbiter
for ultimate decision.— AUTOBIOGRAPHY, i, 54.
FORD ED., i, 75. (1821.)
— CONFIDENCE, Public.— See PUBLIC
CONFIDENCE.
1490. CONFISCATION, George III.
and. — He has incited treasonable insurrec
tions of our fellow citizens, with the allure
ments of forfeiture and confiscation of our
property.! — DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE
AS DRAWN BY JEFFERSON.
1491. CONFISCATION, Loyalist Refu
gees and. — The British court had it extreme
ly at heart to procure a restitution of the es
tates of the refugees who had gone over to
their side [in the Revolution] ; they proposed
it in the first conferences [on the treaty of
peace], and insisted on it to the last. Our
commissioners, on the other hand, refused
it from first to last, urging, ist, that it was
unreasonable to restore the confiscated prop
erty of the refugees unless they would reim-
* Jefferson adds that in speaking of this disruption
of the Committee with Franklin in Paris, the latter
told the famous story of the Eddystone lighthouse
keepers.— EDITOR.
t Struck out by Congress.— EDITOR.
Confiscation
Congress
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
172
burse the destruction of the property of our
citizens, committed on their part ; and 2dly,
that it was beyond the powers of the commis
sioners to stipulate, or of Congress to enforce.
On this point, the treaty hung long. It was
the subject of a special mission of a confiden
tial agent of the British negotiator from Paris
to London. It was still insisted on, on his
return, and still protested against, by our
commissioners; and when they were urged
to agree only, that Congress should recom
mend to the State Legislatures to restore the
estates, &c., of the refugees, they were ex
pressly told that the Legislatures would not
regard the recommendation. In proof of this,
I subjoin extracts from the letters and jour
nals of Mr. Adams and Dr. Franklin, two of
our commissioners, the originals of which are
among the records of the Department of
State. * * * These prove, beyond all question,
that the difference between an express agree
ment to do a thing, and to recommend it to
be done, was well understood by both parties,
and that the British negotiators were put on
their guard by those on our part, not only
that the Legislatures will be free to refuse, but
that they probably would refuse. And it
is evident from all circumstances, that Mr.
Oswald accepted the recommendation merely
to have something to oppose to the clamors of
the refugees — to keep alive a hope in them
that they might yet get their property from
the State Legislatures ; and that if they should
fail in this, they would have ground to de
mand indemnification from their own gov
ernment ; and he might think it a circumstance
of present relief at least, that the question of
indemnification by them should be kept out of
sight, till time and events should open it
upon the nation insensibly. The same was
perfectly understood by the British ministry,
and by the members of both Houses in Par
liament, as well those who advocated, as those
who opposed the treaty ; the latter of whom,
being out of the secrets of the negotiation,
must have formed their judgment on the mere
import of the terms. *— To GEORGE HAMMOND.
iii, 372. FORD ED., vi, 18. (Pa., May 1792.)
1492. CONFISCATION, Principles Un
derlying. — It cannot be denied that the state
of war strictly permits a nation to seize the
property of its enemies found within its own
limits, or taken in war, and in whatever form
it exists whether in action or possession.
This is so perspicuously laid down by one
of the most respectable writers on subjects of
this kind, that I shall use his words. " Since
it is a condition of war. that enemies may be
deprived of all their rights, it is reasonable
that everything of an enemy's, found among
his enemies, should change its owner, and go
to the treasury. It is, moreover, usually di
rected, in all declarations of war, that the
goods of enemies, as well those found among
us, as those taken in war, shall be confiscated.
If we follow the mere right of war, even im-
* The extract is from Jefferson's reply to Mr. Ham
mond, the British minister, on the infraction of the
treaty of peace. A summary of the confiscation laws
of the different colonies is given in this masterly
State paper.— EDITOR.
movable property may be sold, and its price
carried into the treasury, as is the custom
with movable property. But in almost all
Europe, it is only notified that their profits,
during the war, shall be received by the treas
ury ; and the war being ended, the immovable
property itself is restored, by agreement, to
the former owner." Bynkersh. Quest. Jur.
Pub. L. i c. 7. Every nation, indeed, would
wish to pursue the latter practice, if under
circumstances leaving them their usual re
sources. — To GEORGE HAMMOND, iii, 369.
FORD ED., vi, 15. (Pa., May 1792.)
1493. CONFISCATION, The Revolution
and. — The circumstances of our war were
without example; excluded from all com
merce, even with neutral nations, without arms,
money, or the means of getting them abroad,
we were obliged to avail ourselves of such re
sources as we found at home. Great Britain,
too, did not consider it as an ordinary war,
but a rebellion ; she did not conduct it accord
ing to the rules of war, established by the law
of nations, but according to her acts of parlia
ment, made from time to time, to suit cir
cumstances. She would not admit our title
even to the strict rights of ordinary war ; she
cannot then claim from us its liberalities; yet
the confiscations of property were by no means
universal, and that of debts still less so. — To
GEORGE HAMMOND, iii, 369. FORD ED., vi, 16.
(Pa., May 1792.)
1494. CONGRESS, Adjournment.— The
Houses of Congress hold [the right of ad
journment], not from the Constitution, but
from nature.* — OFFICIAL OPINION, vii, 499.
FORD ED., v, 209. (1790.) See ADJOURNMENT.
1495. . The right of adjourn
ment is not given by the Constitution, and
consequently, it may be modified by law with
out interfering with that instrument. — OF
FICIAL OPINION, vii, 498. FORD ED., v, 208.
(1790.)
1496. CONGRESS, The Administration
and. — I do not mean that any gentleman, re
linquishing his own judgment, should im
plicitly support all the measures of the ad
ministration ; but that, where he does not dis
approve of them, he should not suffer them
to go off in sleep, but bring them to the at
tention of the House, and give them a fair
chance. Where he disapproves, he will of
course leave them to be brought forward by
those who concur in the sentiment. Shall I
explain my idea by an example? The classi
fication of the militia was communicated to
General Varnum and yourself merely as a
proposition which, if you approved, it was
trusted you would support. I knew, indeed,
that General Varnum was opposed to any
thing which might break up the present or
ganization of the militia ; but when so modi
fied as to avoid this, I thought he might,
perhaps, be reconciled to it. As soon as I
* In all the extracts respecting the National Legis
lature, the date sufficiently indicates the particular
Congress — Continental, Federal, or Confederation,
and United States,— to which Jefferson referred.—
EDITOR.
173
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Congress
found it did not coincide with your senti
ments, I could not wish you to support it ; but
using the same freedom of opinion, I procured
it to be brought forward elsewhere. — To MR.
BIDWELL. v, 15. (W., 1806.)
1497. . If members of Congress
are to know nothing but what is important
enough to be put into a public message, and
indifferent enough to be made known to all
the world ; if the Executive is to keep all other
information to himself and the House to
plunge on in the dark, it becomes a govern
ment of chance and not of design. — To MR.
BIDWELL. v, 16. (W., 1806.)
1498. . When a gentleman,
through zeal for the public service, undertakes
to do the public business, we know that we
shall hear the cant of backstairs councillors.
But we never heard this while the declaimer
[John Randolph] was himself a backstairs
man, as he calls it, but in the confidence and
views of the administration, as may more
properly and respectfully be said. — To MR.
BIDWELL. v, 16. (W., 1806.)
1499. - — . The imputation [back
stairs councillors] was one of those artifices
used to despoil an adversary of his most effec
tual arms ; and men of mind will place them
selves above a gabble of this order. — To MR.
BIDWELL. v, 16. (W., 1806.)
1500. . All we have to wish is,
that at the ensuing session, every one may
take the part openly which he secretly be
friends.— To MR. BIDWELL. v, 17. (W., 1806.)
1501. CONGRESS, Appointment of
Members. — Delegates to represent this col
ony [Va.] in the American Congress shall be
appointed, when necessary, by the House of
Representatives. After serving one year in
that office, they shall not be capable of being
reappointed to the same during an interval of
one year. — PROPOSED VA. CONSTITUTION.
FORD ED., ii, 20. (June 1776.)
1502. - — . The delegates to Con
gress shall be five in number; any three of
whom, and no fewer, may be a representa
tion. They shall be appointed by joint ballot
of both houses of Assembly for any term
not exceeding one year, subject to be recalled,
within the term, by joint vote of both the
said houses. They may, at the same time, be
members of the legislative or judiciary de
partments, but not of the executive. — PRO
POSED CONSTITUTION FOR VIRGINIA, viii, 452.
FORD ED., iii, 331. (1783.)
1503. CONGRESS, Apportionment and.
— No invasions of the Constitution are fun
damentally so dangerous as the tricks played
on their own numbers, apportionment, and
other circumstances respecting themselves,
and affecting their legal qualifications to leg
islate for the Union.— OPINION ON APPORTION
MENT BILL, vii, 601. FORD ED., v, 500.
(1792.) See APPORTIONMENT.
— CONGRESS, Arrest of Members.—
See 1572.
1504. CONGRESS, Attendance. — That
every State should be represented in the great
council of the nation, is not only the interest
of each, but of the whole united, who have a
right to be aided by the collective wisdom
and information of the whole, in questions
which are to decide on their future well-
being. I trust that your Excellency will deem
it incumbent on you to call an immediate
meeting of your [Tennessee's] Legislature,
in order to put it in their power to fulfil this
high duty, by making special and timely pro
vision for the representation of their State
at the ensuing meeting of Congress ; to which
measures I am bound earnestly to exhort
yourself and them. I am not insensible of the
personal inconvenience of this special call to
the members composing the Legislature of so
extensive a State ; but neither will I do them
the injustice to doubt their being ready to
make much greater sacrifices for the common
safety, should the course of events still lead
to a call for them. — To GOVERNOR SEVIER. v,
421. (W., Jan. 1809.)
1505. CONGRESS, Authority.— The au
thority of Congress can never be wounded
without injury to the present Union. — To THE
PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS. FORD ED., ii, 286.
(Wg.. I779-)
1506. . The sense of Congress
itself is always respectable authority. — OF
FICIAL OPINION, vii, 499. FORD ED., v, 209.
(1790.)
— CONGRESS, Bribery of Members.—
See 1573-
1507. CONGRESS, Buildings for.— The
United States should be made capable of ac
quiring and holding in perpetuum such
grounds and buildings in and about the place
of the session of [the Continental] Congress as
may be necessary for the transaction of busi
ness by their own body, their committees and
officers; each State should be made capable
of acquiring and holding in perpetuum such
grounds and buildings as they may at any
time think proper to acquire and erect for the
personal accommodation of their delegates;
and all the grounds and buildings * * * should
be exempt from taxation. — RESOLVE ON CONTI
NENTAL CONGRESS. FORD ED., iii, 463. (April
1784?)
1508. CONGRESS, Business Men in.—
We want men of business [in Congress].* * *
I am convinced it is in the power of any man
who understands business, and who will un
dertake to keep a file of the business before
Congress and press it, as he would his own
docket in a court, to shorten the sessions a
month one year with another, and to save in
that way $30,000 a year. An ill-judged mod
esty prevents those from undertaking it who
are equal to it. I really wish you were here. —
To CESAR A. RODNEY. FORD ED., viii, 187.
(W., Dec. 1802.)
1509. CONGRESS, Cabinet Officers in.
— An attempt has been made to give further
extent to the influence of the executive over
Congress
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
174
the Legislature, by permitting the heads of de
partments to attend the House and explain
their measures viva voce. But it was nega
tived by a majority of 35 to n, which gives us
some hope of the increase of the republican
vote. — To T. M. RANDOLPH, iii, 491. FORD
ED., vi, 134. (Pa., Nov. 1792.)
1510. CONGRESS, Call for Continental.
—We (Patrick Henry, R. H. Lee, Francis
R. Lee, Thomas Jefferson, and three or four
other members of the Virginia House of
Burgesses) * * * agreed to an association,
and instructed the committee of correspond
ence to propose to the corresponding commit
tees of the other Colonies, to appoint deputies
to meet in Congress at such place, annually,
as should be convenient, to direct from time to
time, the measures required by the general in
terest : and we declared that an attack on any
one Colony, should be considered as an attack
on the whole. This was in May, 1774. We
further recommended to the several counties
to elect deputies to meet at Williamsburg, the
ist of August ensuing, to consider the state of
the Colony, and particularly to appoint dele
gates to a general Congress, should that meas
ure be acceded to by the committees of cor
respondence generally. It was acceded to:
Philadelphia was appointed for the place, and
the 5th of September for the time of meeting.
— AUTOBIOGRAPHY. 1,7. FORDED., i, n. (1820.)
1511. CONGRESS, Compensation of
Members. — You say you did not understand
to what proceeding of Congress I alluded as
likely to produce a removal of most of the
members, and that by a spontaneous move
ment of the people, unsuggested by the news
papers, which had been silent on it. I al
luded to the law giving themselves $1500 a
year. There has never been an instant before
of so unanimous an opinion of the people,
and that through every State in the Union.
A very few members of the first order of
merit in the House will be reelected ; Clay, of
Kentucky, by a small majority, and a few
others. But the almost entire mass will go
out, not only those who supported the law or
voted for it, or skulked from the vote, but
those who voted against it or opposed it act
ively, if they took the money ; and the ex
amples of refusals to take it were very few. —
To ALBERT GALLATIN. FORD ED., x, 63. (M.,
Sep. 1816.)
1512. . According to the opin
ion I hazarded to you, we have had almost an
entire change in the body of Congress. The
unpopularity of the compensation law was
completed, by the manner of repealing it as
to all the world except themselves. In some
States, it is said, every member is changed ;
in all, many. What opposition there was to
the original law, was chiefly from Southern
members. Yet many of those have been left
out, because they received the advanced
wages. I have never known so unanimous a
sentiment of disapprobation; and what is
more remarkable is, that it was spontaneous.
The newspapers were almost entirely silent,
and the people not only unled by their leaders,
but in opposition to them. I confess I was
highly pleased with this proof of the innate
good sense, the vigilance, and the determina
tion of the people to act for themselves. — To
ALBERT GALLATIN. vii, 78. FORD ED., x, 90.
(M., 1817.)
- CONGRESS, Under the Confedera
tion. — See 1473.
1513. CONGRESS, The Constitution
and. — Congress * * * [is] not a party but
merely the creature of the [Federal] compact,
and [is] subject, as to its assumptions of
power, to the final judgment of those by
whom, and for whose use, itself and its pow
ers were all created and modified. — KEN
TUCKY RESOLUTIONS, ix, 469. FORD ED., vii,
302. (1798.)
1514. CONGRESS, Constitutional view
of Continental.— There is one opinion in
your book which I will ask you to reconsider,
because it appears to me not entirely accurate,
and not likely to do good. Page 362, " Con
gress [Continental] is not a legislative, but a
diplomatic body." Separating into parts the
whole sovereignty of our States, some of these
parts are yielded to Congress. Upon these I
should think them both legislative and exec
utive, and that would have been judiciary
also, had not the Confederation required them
for certain purposes to appoint a judiciary.
It has accordingly been the decision of our
courts that the Confederation is a part of the
law of the land, and superior in authority to
the ordinary laws, because it cannot be altered
by the legislature of any one State. I doubt
whether they are at all a diplomatic assembly.
—To JOHN ADAMS, ii, 128. (P., 1787.)
- CONGRESS, Contempt of.— See 1573.
1515. CONGRESS, Contracts to Mem
bers. — I am averse to giving contracts of any
kind to members of the Legislature. — To AL
BERT GALLATIN. v, 50. (W., 1807.)
1516. CONGRESS, Control over.— It is
not from this branch of government [Con
gress] we have most to fear. Taxes and short
elections will keep them right. — To THOMAS
RITCHIE, vii, 192. FORD ED., x, 170. (M., 1820.)
1517. CONGRESS, Convening. — I have
carefully considered the question whether the
President may call Congress to any other
place than that to which they have adjourned
themselves, and think he cannot have such a
right unless it has been given him by the
Constitution, or the laws, and that neither of
these has given it. The only circumstance
which he can alter, as to their meeting is that
of time, by calling them at an earlier day than
that to which they stand adjourned, but no
power to change the place is given. * * *
I think * * * Congress must meet in
Philadelphia, even if it be in the open fields,
to adjourn themselves to some other place. —
To PRESIDENT WASHINGTON, iv, 73. FORD
ED., vi, 436. (M., Oct. 1793.)
1518. CONGRESS, Corruption and.— I
told President [Washington] that it was a
fact, as certainly known as that he and I
i75
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Congress
were then conversing, that particular mem
bers of the Legislature, while those laws [As
sumption, Funding, &c.] were on the carpet,
had feathered their nests with paper, had then
voted for the laws, and constantly since lent
all the energy of their talents, and instru
mentality of their offices, to the establish
ment and enlargement of the [Treasury]
system.— THE ANAS, ix, 104. FORD ED., i,
177. (Feb. 1792.)
1519. — . It [is] a cause of just
uneasiness, when we [see] a legislature legis
lating for their own interests, in opposition
to those of the people.— THE ANAS, ix, 118.
FORD ED., i, 200. (1792.)
1520. . The capital employed in
paper speculation * * * has furnished ef
fectual means of corrupting such a portion
of the Legislature, as turns the balance be
tween the honest voters, which ever way it is
directed. This corrupt squadron, deciding
the voice of the Legislature, have manifested
their dispositions to get rid of the limitations
imposed by the Constitution on the general
Legislature, limitations, on the faith of which,
the States acceded to that instrument. — To
PRESIDENT WASHINGTON, iii, 361. FORD ED.,
vi, 3. (Pa., May 1792.)
1521. . Of all the mischiefs ob
jected to the system of measures [public debt,
paper money] none is so afflicting as the cor
ruption of the Legislature. As it was the
earliest of these measures, it became the in
strument for producing the rest, and will be
the instrument for producing in future a
king, lords and commons, or whatever else
those who direct it may choose. — To PRESI
DENT WASHINGTON, iii, 362. FORD ED., vi,
4. (Pa., May 1792.)
1522. . Withdrawn such a dis
tance from the eye of their constituents, and
these so dispersed as to be inaccessible to pub
lic information, and particularly to that of
the conduct of their own representatives, they
will form the most corrupt government on
earth, if the means of their corruption be not
prevented. — To PRESIDENT WASHINGTON,
iii, 362. FORD ED., vi, 4. (Pa., 1792.)
1523. . I told President Wash
ington there was great difference between the
little accidental schemes of self-interest, which
would take place in every body of men, and
influence their votes, and a regular system
for forming a corps of interested persons, who
should be steadily at the orders of the
Treasury. — THE ANAS, ix, 122. FORD ED.,
i, 205. (1792.)
1524. . I indulge myself on one
political topic only, that is, in declaring to my
countrymen the shameless corruption of a por
tion of the representatives to the first and
second Congresses, and their implicit devotion
to the Treasury. I think I do good in this,
because it may produce exertions to reform
the evil, on the success of which the form of
the government is to depend. — To EDMUND
RANDOLPH, iv, 101. FORD ED., vi, 498. (M.,
Feb. 1794.)
1525. . Alexander Hamilton
avowed the opinion that man could be gov
erned by one of two motives only, force or
interest. Force, he observed, in this country
was out of the question; and the interests,
therefore, of the members must be laid hold
of to keep the Legislature in unison with the
Executive. And with grief and shame it
must be acknowledged that his machine was
not without effect ; that even in this, the birth
of our government, some members were
found sordid enough to bend their duty to
their interests, and to look after personal
rather than public good. — THE ANAS, ix,
91. FORD ED., i, 160. (1818.)
1526. CONGRESS, Credentials of Mem
bers. — We have had hopes till to-day of re
ceiving an authentication of the next year's
delegation [to the Continental Congress], but
are disappointed. I know not who should
have sent it, — the Governor, or President of
the convention ; but certainly somebody
should have done it. What will be the con
sequence, I know not. We cannot be ad
mitted to take our seat on any precedent, or
the spirit of any precedent yet set. Accord
ing to the standing rules, not only an au
thentic copy will be required, but it must be
entered in the journals verbatim, that it may
there appear we have right to sit.— To JOHN
PAGE. FORD ED., ii, 74. (Pa., 1776.)
1527. . Some of the newspapers
indeed mention that on such a day, such and
such gentlemen were appointed to serve for
the next year, but could newspaper evidence
be received? They could not furnish the
form of the appointment. — To JOHN PAGE.
FORD ED., ii, 75. (Pa., 1776.)
- CONGRESS, Debate in.— See 1571.
1528. CONGRESS, Delegates. — Until
their admission by their delegates into Con
gress, any of the said States, after the es
tablishment of their temporary Government,
shall have authority to keep a sitting member
in Congress, with a right of debating, but not
of voting. — WESTERN TERRITORY REPORT.
FORD ED., iii, 409. (1784.)
1529. CONGRESS, Election of Members.
— An election [of members of Congress] by
districts would be best, if it could be general ;
but while ten States choose either by their
legislatures or by a general ticket, it is folly
and worse than folly for the other six not to
do it. In these ten States the minority is en
tirely unrepresented ; and their majorities not
only have the weight of their whole State in
their scale, but have the benefit of so much of
our minorities as can succeed at a district
election. This is, in fact, ensuring to our
minorities the appointment of the Govern
ment. To state it in another form, it is
merely a question whether we will divide the
United States into sixteen or one hundred and
thirty-seven districts. The latter being more
chequered, and representing the people in
smaller sections, would be more likely to be
an exact representation of their diversified
sentiments. But a representation of a part by
Congress
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
176
great, and a part by small sections, would give
a result very different from what would be
the sentiment of the whole people of the
United States, were they assembled together.
— To JAMES MONROE, iv, 308. FORD ED.,
vii, 401. (Pa., 1800.)
i 1530. CONGRESS, Executive influence.
— The republicans complain that the influence
and patronage of the Executive are to be
come so great as to govern the Legislature.
They endeavored a few days ago to take away
one means of influence by condemning refer
ences to the heads of departments. They
failed by a majority of five votes. They were
more successful in their endeavor to prevent
the introduction of a new means of influence,
that of admitting the heads of departments to
deliberate occasionally in the House in ex
planation of their measures. — To THOMAS
PINCKNEY. iii, 493. FORD ED., vi, 143. (Pa.,
1792.)
1531. CONGRESS, Executive informa
tion.— The Secretary of the Treasury [Alex
ander Hamilton] has been guilty of inde
corum to this House, in undertaking to
judge of its motives in calling for informa
tion which was demandable of him, from the
constitution of his office ; and in failing to
give all the necessary information within his
knowledge, relatively to the subjects of the
reference made to him of the I9th, January,
1792, and of the 22d November, 1792, during
the present session. — GILES TREASURY RESO
LUTIONS. FORD ED., vi, 170. (1793.)
1532. CONGRESS, Expenditures and.—
The subject of the debates was, whether the
representatives of the people were to have
no check on the expenditure of the public
money, and the Executive to squander it at
their will, leaving to the Legislature only the
drudgery of furnishing the money. They be
gin to open their eyes on this to the Eastward,
and to suspect they have been hoodwinked. —
To EDMUND PENDLETON. iv, 229. FORD ED.,
vii, 228. (Pa., April 1798.)
1533. CONGRESS, Farmers in.— The
only corrective of what is corrupt in our
present form of government will be the aug
mentation of the members in the lower House
so as to get a more agricultural representa
tion, which may put that interest above that
of the stock-jobbers. — To GEORGE MASON, iii,
209. FORD ED., v, 275. (Pa., 1791.)
1534. CONGRESS, Foreign Powers and.
— The Legislature should never show itself in
a matter with a foreign nation, but where the
case is very serious, and they mean to commit
the nation on its issue. — To JAMES MADISON.
iii, 296. FORD ED., v, 391. (1791.)
1535. CONGRESS, Influencing.— As I
never had the desire to influence the members,
so neither had I any other means than my
friendships, which I valued too highly to risk
by usurpation on their freedom of judgment,
and the conscientious pursuit of their own
sense of duty. — To PRESIDENT WASHINGTON.
iii, 460. FORD ED., vi, 102. (M., 1792.)
1536. . If it has been supposed
that I have ever intrigued among the members
of the Legislature to defeat the plans of the
Secretary of the Treasury, it is contrary to all
truth. * * * That I have utterly, in my
private conversations, disapproved of the
system of the Secretary of the Treasury,
I acknowledge and avow ; and this was
not merely a speculative difference. — To
PRESIDENT WASHINGTON, iii, 460. FORD ED.,
vi, 102. (M., 1792.)
— CONGRESS, Instructing Members.—
See INSTRUCTIONS.
— CONGRESS, Insult to Members.— See
1572, 1575-
1537. CONGRESS, Intermeddling with.
—With the affairs of the Legislature, I never
did intermeddle. — To PRESIDENT WASHING
TON, iii, 467. FORD ED., vi, 108. (M., 1792.)
1538. . When I embarked in the
government, it was with a determination to
intermeddle not at all with the Legislature. —
To PRESIDENT WASHINGTON, iii, 460. FORD
ED., vi, 102. (M., 1792.)
1539. CONGRESS, Jobbery in.— I have
always observed that in questions of expense,
where members may hope either for offices or
jobs for themselves or their friends, some few
will be debauched, and that is sufficient to
turn the decision where a majority is, at most,
but small. — To JAMES MADISON, iv, 103.
FORD ED., vi, 503. (M., April 1794.)
1540. CONGRESS, The Judiciary vs.—
Were I called upon to decide whether the peo
ple had best be omitted in the Legislative or
Judiciary department, I would say it is better
to leave them out of the Legislative. The
execution of the laws is more important than
the making them. — To M. L'ABBE ARNOND.
iii, 82. FORD ED., v, 104. (P., 1789.)
1541. CONGRESS, Lawyers in.— I have
much doubted whether, in case .of a war,
Congress would find it practicable to do their
part of the business. That a body containing
one hundred lawyers in it, should direct the
measures of a war, is, I fear, impossible ; and
that thus that member of our Constitution,
which is its bulwark, will prove to be an
impracticable one from its cacoethes loquendi.
It may be doubted how far it has the power,
but I am sure it has not the resolution to
reduce the right of talking to practicable
limits. — To PRESIDENT MADISON. FORD ED.,
ix, 337. (M., Feb. 1812.)
1542. . How can expedition be
expected from a body which we have saddled
with an hundred lawyers, whose trade is talk
ing. — To THOMAS LEIPER. vi, 466. FORD ED.,
ix, 521. (M., 1815.) See DEBATE, LAWYERS.
1543. CONGRESS, Leadership in.— I
wish sincerely you were back in the Senate;
and that you would take the necessary meas
ures to get yourself there. Perhaps, as a
preliminary, you should go to our [Virginia]
Legislature. * * * A majority of the
Senate means well. But Tracy and Bayard
177
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Congress
are too dexterous for them, and have very
much influenced their proceedings. Tracy
has been of nearly every committee during
the session, and for the most part the chair
man, and of course drawer of the reports.
Seven federalists voting always in phalanx,
and joined by some discontented republicans,
some oblique ones, some capricious, have so
often made a majority, as to produce very
serious embarrassment to the public opera
tions ; and very much do I dread the submit
ting to them, at the next session, any treaty
which can be made with either England or
Spain, when I consider that five joining the
federalists, can defeat a friendly settlement
of our affairs. — To WILSON C. NICHOLAS.
v, 4. FORD ED., viii, 435. (W., April 1806.)
1544. . The House of Repre
sentatives is as well disposed as I ever saw
one. The defection of so prominent a leader
[John Randolph], threw them into dismay
and confusion for a moment; but they soon
rallied to their own principles, and let him
go off with five or six followers only. One
half of these are from Virginia. His late
declaration of perpetual opposition to this ad
ministration, drew off a few others who at
first had joined him, supposing his opposition
occasional only, and not systematic. The
alarm the House has had from this schism,
has produced a rallying together and a har
mony, which carelessness and security had be
gun to endanger. On the whole, this little
trial of the firmness of our representatives in
their principles, and that of the people also,
which is declaring itself in support of their
public functionaries, has added much to my
confidence in the stability of our government ;
and to my conviction, that, should things go
wrong at any time, the people will set them
to rights by the peaceable exercise of their
elective rights.— To WILSON C. NICHOLAS, v,
5. FORD ED., viii, 435. (W., April 1806.)
1545. . There never was a time
when the services of those who possess tal
ents, integrity, firmness, and sound judgment,
were more wanted in Congress. Some one
of that description is particularly wanted to
take the lead in the House of Representatives,
to consider the business of the nation as his
own business, to take it up as if he were
singly charged with it, and carry it through.
I do not mean that any gentleman, relinquish
ing his own judgment, should implicitly sup
port all the measures of the administration ;
but that, where he does not disapprove of
them, he should not suffer them to go off in
sleep, but bring them to the attention of the
House, and give them a fair chance. Where
he disapproves, he will of course leave them
to be brought forward by those who concur
in the sentiment.— To MR. BIDWELL. v, 15.
(W., 1806.)
1546. . Mr. T. M. Randolph is,
I believe, determined to retire from Congress,
and it is strongly his wish, and that of all
here, that you should take his place. Never
did the calls of patriotism more loudly assail
you than at this moment. After excepting
the Federalists who will be twenty-seven, and
the little band of schismatics, who will be
three or four (all tongue), is as well-disposed
House of Representatives is as well-disposed
a body of men as I ever saw collected. But
there is no one whose talents and standing,
taken together, have weight enough to give
him the lead. The consequence is, that there
is no one who will undertake to do the public
business, and it remains undone. Were you
here, the whole would rally round you in an
instant, and willingly cooperate in whatever
is for the public good. Nor would it require
you to undertake drudgery in the House.
There are enough, able and willing to do that.
A rallying point is all that is wanting. Let
me beseech you, then, to offer yourself. — To
WILSON C. NICHOLAS, v, 48. FORD ED., ix,
32. (W., 1807.)
1547. CONGRESS, Legislation and.—
Whatever of the enumerated objects [in the
Constitution] is proper for a law, Congress
may make the law. — To WILSON C. NICHOLAS.
iv, 506. FORD ED., viii, 248. (M., 1803.)
— CONGRESS, Long speeches in. — See
1571 and 1579.
1548. CONGRESS, Majority.— What
[you ask] has led Congress to determine that
the concurrence of seven votes is requisite in
questions which, by the Confederation, are
submitted to the decision of a majority of
the United States, in Congress assembled?
The ninth article of Confederation, section
six, evidently establishes three orders of ques
tions in Congress. I. The greater ones, which
relate to making peace or war, alliances,
coinage, requisitions for money, raising mili
tary force, or appointing its commander-in-
chief. 2. The lesser ones, which comprehend
all other matters submitted by the Confedera
tion to the federal head. 3. The single ques
tion of adjourning from day to day. This
gradation of questions is distinctly character
ized by the article. In proportion to the mag
nitude of these questions, a greater concur
rence of the voices composing the Union
was thought necessary. Three degrees of
concurrence, well distinguished by substan
tial circumstances, offered themselves to no
tice. I. A concurrence of a majority of the
people of the Union. It was thought that
this would be ensured by requiring the voices
of nine States ; because according to the loose
estimates which had been made of the inhab
itants, and the proportion of them which were
free, it was believed that even the nine small
est would include a majority of the free citi
zens of the Union. The voices, therefore, of
nine States were required in the greater ques
tions. 2. A concurrence of the majority of
the States. Seven constitute that majority.
This number, therefore, was required in the
lesser questions. 3. A concurrence of the
majority of Congress, that is to say, of the
States actually present in it. As there is no
Congress, when there are not seven States
present, this concurrence could never be of
less than four States. But these might hap
pen to be the four smallest, which would not
Congress
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
178
include one-ninth part of the free citizens of
the Union. This kind of majority, therefore,
was entrusted with nothing but the power of
adjourning themselves from day to day.
Here, then, are three kinds of majorities, i.
Of the people. 2. Of the States. 3. Of the
Congress; each of which is entrusted to a
certain length. — To M. DE MEUNIER. ix, 244.
FORD ED., iv, 148. (P., 1786.)
1549. CONGBESS, Messages to.— The
first communication to the next Congress
will be, like all subsequent ones, by me sage,
to which no answer will be expected. — To
NATHANIEL MACON. iv, 39^. FORD ED., viii,
52. (W., May 1801.)
1550. . The circumstances un
der which we find ourselves placed rendering
inconvenient the mode heretofore practiced
of making, by personal address, the first com
munications between the Legislative and Ex
ecutive branches, I have adopted that by mes
sage, as used on all subsequent occasions
through the session. In doing this, I have
had principal regard to the convenience of
the Legislature, to the economy of their time,
to their relief from the embarrassment of im
mediate answers on subjects not yet fully
before them, and to the benefits thence result
ing to the public affairs. Trusting that a
procedure founded on these motives will meet
their approbation, I beg leave through you,
Sir, to communicate the enclosed message,
with the documents accompanying it, to the
honorable the Senate, * * * . — To THE
PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE, iv, 423. FORD
ED., viii, 108. (W., Dec. 1801.)
1551. . By sending a message,
instead of making a speech, * * * I have
prevented the bloody conflict to which the
making an answer would have committed
them. They consequently were able to set
into real business at once, without losing ten
or twelve days in combating an answer. — To
DR. BENJAMIN RUSH, iv, 426. FORD ED.,
viii, 127. (W., 1801.)
1552. CONGRESS, Mutiny against.—
The conduct of [the Federation] Congress
was marked with indignation and firmness.
They received no propositions from the mu
tineers. They came to the resolutions which
may be seen in the journals of June the 2ist,
1783, then adjourned regularly, and went
through the body of the mutineers to their
respective lodgings. The measures taken by
Dickinson, the President of Pennsylvania, for
punishing this insult, not being satisfactory to
Congress, they assembled, nine days after, at
Princeton, in Jersey. The people of Pennsyl
vania sent petitions declaring their indig
nation at what passed, their devotion to
the federal head, and their dispositions
to protect it, and praying them to return ;
the Legislature, as soon as assembled, did
the same thing; the Executive, whose
irresolution had been so exceptionable,
made apologies. But Congress was now
removed; and, to the opinion that this
example was proper, other causes were now
added, sufficient to prevent their return to
Philadelphia. — To M. DE MEUNIER. ix, 258.
FORD ED., iv, 163. (Pa., 1786.)
1553. CONGBESS, Non-attendance.—
It is now above a fortnight since Congress
should have met, and six States only appear.
We have some hopes of Rhode Island coming
in to-day, but when two more will be added
seems as insusceptible of calculation as when
the next earthquake will happen. — To JAMES
MADISON. FORD ED., iii, 347. (A., Dec
1783-)
1554. — . . I am sorry to say that
I see no immediate prospect of making up
nine States [requisite to ratify the definitive
treaty of peace with Great Britain], so care
less are either the States or their delegates
to their particular interests, as well as the
general good which would require that they
be all constantly and fully represented in Con
gress.— To GOVERNOR BENJ. HARRISON. FORD
ED., iii, 350. (A., Dec. 1783.)
1555. . We have never yet had
more than seven States [in attendance], and
very seldom that, a Maryland is scarcely
ever present, and we are now without a hope
of its attending till February. Consequently,
having six States only, we do nothing. Ex
presses and letters are gone forth to hasten on
the absent States, that we may have nine for
a ratification of the definitive treaty. Jersey
perhaps may come in. and if Beresford will
not come to Congress, Congress must go to
him to do this one act. — To JAMES MADISON.
FORD ED., iii, 371. (A., Jan. i, 1784.)
1556. . We have but nine States
present, seven of which are represented by
only two members each. There are fourteen
gentlemen, then, any one of whom differing
from the rest, stops our proceeding on ques
tions requiring the concurrence of nine States.
* * It is my expectation that after hav
ing tried several of these questions succes
sively, and finding it impossible to obtain a
single determination, Congress will find it
necessary to adjourn till the Spring, first in
forming the States that they adjourn because
from the inattendance of members their busi
ness cannot be done, recommending to them
to instruct and enable their members to come
on at the day appointed, and that they con
stantly keep three at least with Congress while
it shall be sitting. I believe if we had thir
teen States present represented by three mem
bers each, we could clear off our business in
two or three months, and hereafter a session
of two or three months in the year could
suffice. — To GOVERNOR BENJ. HARRISON.
FORD ED., iii, 379. (A., Jan. 1784.)
1557. . We cannot make up a
Congress at all. There are eight States in
town, six of which are represented by two
members only. Of these, two members of
different States are confined by the gout, so
that we cannot make a House. We have
not sat above three days, I believe, in as many
weeks. Admonition after admonition has
been sent to the States, to no effect. We
have sent one to-day. If it fails, it seems as
i79
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Congress
well we should all retire. There have never
been nine States on the floor but for the rati
fication of the treaty [of peace with England]
and a day or two after. — To JAMES MADISON.
FORD ED., iii, 399- (A., Feb. 20, 1784.)
1558. . We have only nine
States present, eight of which are represented
by two members each and, of course, on all
freat questions not only an unanimity of
tates but of members is necessary, an una
nimity which can never be obtained on a mat
ter of any importance. The consequence is
that we are wasting our time and labor in vain
efforts to do business. Nothing less than the
presence of thirteen States, represented by
an odd number of delegates, will enable us
to get forward a single capital point. — To
GEORGE WASHINGTON. FORD ED., iii, 420.
(A., 1784.)
1559. . Delaware and South
Carolina, we lost within these two days by
the expiration of their powers. The other ab
sent States are New York, Maryland and
Georgia. We have done nothing, and can
do nothing in this condition, but waste our
time, temper, and spirits, in debating things
for days and weeks and then losing them by
the negative of one or two individuals. — To
JAMES MADISON. FORD ED., iii, 426. (A.,
1784.)
1560. CONGRESS, Opportunity and.—
Congress is the great commanding theatre of
this nation, and the threshold to whatever
department of office a man is qualified to
enter. — To WILLIAM WIRT. v, 233. (W.,
1808.)
1561. CONGRESS, Opposition in.— You
now see the composition of our public bodies,
and how essential system and plan are for
conducting our affairs wisely with so bitter a
party in opposition to us, who look not at all
to what is best for the public, but how they
may thwart whatever we may propose, though
they should thereby sink their country. — To
CESAR A. RODNEY. FORD ED., viii, 296. (W.,
1804.)
1562. CONGRESS, Parliament and.—
There is a difference between the British Par
liament and our Congress. The former is a
legislature, an inquest and a council for the
king. The latter is, by the Constitution, a
legislature and an inquest, but not a council.
—THE ANAS, ix, 113. FORD ED., i, 190.
(1792.)
1563. CONGRESS, Partisan. — I had
hoped that the proceedings of this session of
Congress would have rallied the great body of
pur citizens at once to one opinion. But the
inveteracy of their quondam leaders has been
able by intermingling the grossest lies and
misrepresentations to check the effect in some
small degree until they shall be exposed. The
great sources and authors of these are in Con
gress. Besides the slanders in their speeches,
such letters have been written to their con
stituents as I shall forbear to qualify by the
proper terms. — To CESAR A. RODNEY. FORD
ED., viii, 147. (W., April 1802.)
1564. . And what is our re
source for the preservation of the Constitu
tion ? Reason and argument ? You might
as well reason and argue with the marble
columns encircling them. The representatives
chosen by ourselves? They are joined in the
combination, some from incorrect views of
government, some from corrupt ones, suffi
cient voting together to outnumber the sound
parts; and with majorities only of one, two,
or three, bold enough to go forward in de
fiance. — To W. B. GILES, vii, 427. FORD ED.,
x, 355- (M., 1825.)
1565. CONGRESS, The People and.— I
look for our safety to the broad representa
tion of the people [in Congress]. It will be
more difficult for corrupt views to lay hold
of so large a mass. — To T. M. RANDOLPH.
FORD ED., v, 455. (Pa., 1792.)
1566. - — . The only hope of safety
hangs now on the numerous representation
which is to come forward the ensuing year.
Some of the new members will be, probably,
either in principle or interest, with the present
majority, but it is expected that the great
mass will form an accession to the republican
party. They will not be able to undo all
which the two preceding Legislatures, and
especially the first, have done. Public faith
and right will oppose this. But some parts of
the system may be rightfully reformed, a
liberation from the rest unremittingly pursued
as fast as right will permit, and the door shut
in future against similar commitments of the
nation. — To PRESIDENT WASHINGTON. iii,
362. FORD ED., vi, 4. (Pa., May 1792.)
1567. CONGRESS, Power over papers.
—At a meeting of the cabinet the subject [of
discussion] was the resolution of the House
of Representatives of March 27, to appoint
a committee to inquire into the causes of the
failure of the late expedition under Major
General St. Clair, with power to call for such
persons, papers and records as may be nec
essary to assist their inquiries. The Presi
dent [Washington] said he had called us to
consult, merely because it was the first ex
ample, and he wished that so far as it should
become a precedent, it should be rightly con
ducted. He neither acknowledged nor denied,
nor even doubted the propriety of what the
House were doing, for he had not thought
upon it, nor was acquainted with subjects of
this kind. He could readily conceive there
might be papers of so secret a nature as that
they ought not to be given up. [The cabinet
was not then ready to give their opinions,
but another meeting was held two days later
when] we had all considered and were of
one mind : I. That the House was an inquest,
and, therefore, might institute inquiries. 2.
That it might call for papers generally. 3.
That the Executive ought to communicate such
papers as the public good would permit, and
ought to refuse those, the disclosure of which
would injure the public. Consequently,
[they] were to exercise discretion. 4. That
neither the Committee nor the House had a
right to call on the head of a Department, who
Congress
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
1 80
and whose papers were under the President
alone ; but that the Committee should instruct
their Chairman to move the House to address
the President. * * * Hamilton agreed with
us in all these points except as to the power
of the House to call on the heads of Depart
ments. He observed, that as to his Depart
ment, the act constituting it had made it sub
ject to Congress in some points, but he
thought himself not so far subject, as to be
obliged to produce all papers they might call
for. They might demand secrets of a very
mischievous nature. * * * I observed here a
difference between the British Parliament and
our Congress, that the former was a legisla
ture, an inquest, and a council for the King.
The latter was, by the Constitution, a legis
lature and an inquest but not a council. [It
was] finally agreed, to speak [separately] to
the members of the Committee, and bring
them by persuasion into the right channel.
It was agreed in this case, that there was not
a paper which might not be properly produced,
that copies only should be sent, with an as
surance, that if they should desire it, a clerk
should attend with the originals to be verified
by themselves.— THE ANAS, ix, 112. FORD
ED., i, 189. (April 1792.)
1568. CONGRESS, Prayer in.— I enclose
you (to amuse your curiosity) the form of the
prayer substituted in the room of the prayer
for the King by Mr. Duche, chaplain to the
Congress. I think by making it so general as
to take in conventions, assemblies, &c., it
might be used instead of that for the Parlia-
ment._To JOHN PAGE. FORD ED., ii, 75. (Pa.,
1776.)
1569. CONGRESS, Precedence.— As the
United States in Congress assembled, repre
sent the sovereignty of the whole Union, their
body collectively, and their President individ
ually, should on all occasions have precedence
of all other bodies and persons. — CONGRESS
RESOLUTION. FORD ED., iii, 464. (1784?)
1570. . During the recess of
Congress the Committee of the States, being
left to pursue the same objects and under the
same circumstances, their body, their members
and their President, should respectively be
placed on the same footing with the body, the
members, and the President of Congress.—
CONGRESS RESOLUTION. FORD ED., iii, 464.
(April 1784?)
1571. CONGRESS, Previous question
in. — I observe the House is endeavoring to
remedy the eternal protraction of debate by
sitting up all night, or by the use of the pre
vious question. Both will subject them to the
most serious inconvenience. The latter may
be turned upon themselves by a trick of their
adversaries. I have thought that such a rule
as the following would be more effectual and
less inconvenient : " Resolved, that at
[VIII.] o'clock in the evening (whenever the
House shall be in session at that hour) it shall
be the duty of the Speaker to declare that
hour arrived, whereupon all debate shall cease.
If there be then before the House a main
question for the reading or passing of a bill,
resolution or order, such main question shall
immediately be put by the Speaker, and de
cided by yeas and nays. If the question be
fore the House be secondary, as for amend
ment, commitment, postponement, adjourn
ment of the debate or question, laying on the
table, reading papers, or a previous question,
such secondary (or any other which may
delay the main question) shall stand ipso
facto discharged, and the main question shall
then be before the House, and shall be im
mediately put and decided by yeas and nays.
But a motion for adjournment of the House,
may once and once only, take place of the
main question, and if decided in the negative,
the main question shall then be put as before.
Should any question of order arise, it shall
be decided by the Speaker instanter, and
without debate or appeal; and questions of
privilege arising, shall be postponed till the
main question be decided. Messages from the
President or Senate may be received but not
acted on till after the decision of the main
question. But this rule shall be suspended
during the [three] last days of the session
of Congress." No doubt this, on investiga
tion, will be found to need amendment ; but
I think the principle of it better adapted to
meet the evil than any other which has oc
curred to me. — To J. W. EPPES. v, 491. FORD
ED., ix, 268. (M., 1810.)
1572. CONGRESS, Privilege.— Delegates
to Congress ought to be invested in the place
where they may be sitting with such privileges
and immunities as will cover them from mo
lestation and disturbance, and leave them in
freedom and tranquillity to apply their whole
time and attention to the objects of their
delegation. * * * Long experience has
led the civilized nations of Europe to
an ascertainment of those principles and
immunities, which may enable the repre
sentatives of an independent nation, exercis
ing high functions within another, to do the
same unawed and undisturbed, and, there
fore, the privileges and immunities annexed
by the law and usage of nations to such char
acters should be allowed to the Congress of
the United States collectively, and to their
members individually, by the laws of the
States in and adjacent to which they may be
sitting, and should be secured in their con
tinuance by sufficient sanctions. — RESOLVE ON
CONTINENTAL CONGRESS. FORD ED., iii, 463.
(April 1784?)
1573. . In December, 1795, the
House of Representatives committed two
persons of the names of Randall and Whit
ney, for attempting to corrupt the integrity
of certain members, which they considered
as a contempt and breach of the privileges of
the House ; and the facts being proved,
Whitney was detained in confinement a
fortnight, and Randall three weeks, and was
reprimanded by the Speaker. In March,
1796, the House of Representatives voted a
challenge given to a member of their House,
to be a breach of the privileges of the House ;
but satisfactory apologies and acknowledg-
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Congress
ments being made, no further proceedings
were had. The editor of the Aurora having
in his paper of February 19, 1800, inserted
some paragraphs defamatory to the Senate,
and failed in his appearance, he was ordered
to be committed. In debating the legality of
this order, it was insisted in support of it,
that every man, by the law of nature, and
every body of men, possesses the right of self-
defence; that all public functionaries are
essentially invested with the powers of self-
preservation ; that they have an inherent right
to do all acts necessary to keep themselves
in a condition to discharge the trusts con
fided to them; that whenever authorities are
given, the means of carrying them into exe
cution are given by necessary implication ;
that thus we see the British Parliament ex
ercise the right of punishing contempts ; all
the State Legislatures exercise the same
power; and every Court does the same; that
if we have it not, we sit at the mercy of every
intruder who may enter our doors or gallery,
and by noise and tumult render proceeding
in business impracticable ; that if our tran
quillity is to be perpetually disturbed by news
paper defamation, it will not be possible to
exercise our functions with the requisite cool
ness and deliberation; and that we must,
therefore, have a power to punish these dis
turbers of our peace and proceedings. To
this it was answered, that the Parliament and
Courts of England have cognizance of con
tempts by the express provisions of their law ;
that the State Legislatures have equal author
ity, because their powers are plenary; they
represent their constituents completely, and
possess all their powers, except such as their
Constitutions have expressly denied them ;
that the Courts of the several States have
the same powers by the laws of their States,
and those of the Federal Government by the
same State laws, adopted in each State by
a law of Congress ; that none of these bodies,
therefore, derive those powers from natural
or necessary right, but from express law ; that
Congress have no such natural or necessary
power, nor any powers but such as are given
them by the Constitution ; that that has
given them directly exemption from personal
arrest, exemption from question elsewhere
for what is said in the House, and power
over their own members and proceedings;
for these, no further law is necessary, *he
Constitution being the law; that, moreover,
by that article of the Constitution which
authorizes them " to make all laws necessary
and proper for carrying into execution the
powers vested by the Constitution in them,"
they may provide by law for an undisturbed
exercise of their functions, c. g. for the
punishment of contempts, of affrays, or
tumults in their presence, &c. ; but, till the
law be made, it does not exist ; and does not
exist, from their own neglect ; that in the
meantime, however, they are not unprotected,
the ordinary magistrates and courts of law
being open and competent to punish all un
justifiable disturbances or defamations, and
even their own sergeant, who may appoint
deputies ad libitum to aid him (3 Grey, 59.
147, 255), is equal to the smallest disturb
ances; that, in requiring a previous law, the
Constitution has regard to the inviolability of
the citizen as well as of the member; as,
should one House, in the regular form of a
bill, aim at too broad privileges, it may be
checked by the other, and both by the Presi
dent; and also as, the law being promulgated,
the citizen will know how to avoid offence.
But, if one branch may assume its own
privileges without control ; if it may do it
on the spur of the occasion, conceal the law
in its own breast, and after the fact com
mitted make its sentence both the law and
the judgment on that fact; if the offence is
to be kept undefined, and to be declared only
ex re nata, and according to the passions of
the moment, and there be no limitation either
in the manner or measure of the punishment,
the condition of the citizen will be perilous in
deed. Which of these doctrines is to prevail,
time will decide. Where there is no fixed
law, the judgment on any particular case is
the law of that single case only, and dies with
it. When a new and even similar case arises,
the judgment which is to make, and, at the
same time, apply, the law, is open to question
and consideration, as are all new laws. Per
haps Congress, in the meantime, in their care
for the safety of the citizen, as well as that
for their own protection, may declare by law
what is necessary and proper to enable them
to carry into execution the powers vested in
them, and thereby hang up a rule for the in
spection of all, which may direct the conduct
of the citizen, and, at the same time, test the
judgments they shall themselves pronounce in
their own case. — PARLIAMENTARY MANUAL.
ix, 9.
1574. . It was probably from
this view* of the encroaching character of
privilege, that the framers of our Constitution,
in their care to provide that the laws shall
bind equally on all, and especially that those
who make them shall not be exempt them
selves from their operation, have only privi
leged " Senators and Representatives " them
selves from the single act of arrest in all cases
except treason, felony, and breach of the
peace, during their attendance at the session
of their respective Houses, and in going to
and returning from the same, and from be
ing questioned in any other place for any
speech or debate in either House.— PARLIA
MENTARY MANUAL, ix, 8.
1575. . J. Randolph * * * used
an unguarded word in his first speech [on the
bill suspending intercourse with France], ap
plying the word " ragamuffin " to the common
soldiery. He took it back of his own accord,
and very handsomely, the next day, when he
had occasion to reply. Still, in the evening of
the second day, he was jostled, and his coat
pulled at the theatre by two officers of the
*"The maxims upon which they[ Parliament] pro
ceed, together with the method of proceeding, rest
entirely in their own breast, and are not defined and
ascertained by any particular stated laws " — i
BLACKSTONE, 163, 164.
Congress
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
182
Navy, who repeated the word " ragamuffin."
His friends present supported him spiritedly,
so that nothing further followed. Conceiv
ing, and, as I think justly, that the House of
Representatives (not having passed a law on
the subject) could not punish the offenders,
he wrote a letter to the President, who laid
it before the House. * * * He has con
ducted himself with great propriety, and I
have no doubt will come out with increase
of reputation, being determined himself to op
pose the interposition of the House when they
have no law for it. — To MARY JEFFERSON
EPPES. FORD ED., vii, 404. (Pa., Jan. 1800.)
1576. CONGRESS, Public Opinion and.
— I think it a duty in those entrusted with the
administration of their affairs to conform
themselves to the decided choice of their con
stituents. — To JOHN JAY. i, 404. FORD ED.,
iv, 89. (P., 1785-)
1577. CONGRESS, Qualifications of
Members. — You ask my opinion on the ques
tion, whether the States can add any qualifi
cations to those which the Constitution has
prescribed for their members of Congress? It
is a question I had never before reflected on;
yet had taken up an off-hand opinion, agree
ing with your first, that they could not; that
to add new qualifications to those of the Con
stitution, would be as much an alteration as
to detract from- them. And so I think the
House of Representatives decided in some
case; I believe that of a member from Balti
more. But your letter having induced me
to look into the Constitution, and to consider
the question a little, I am again in your pre
dicament, of doubting the correctness of my
first opinion. Had the Constitution been si
lent, nobody can doubt but that the right to
prescribe all the qualifications and disquali
fications of those they would send to repre
sent them, would have belonged to the State.
So also the Constitution might have pre
scribed the whole, and excluded all others.
It seems to have preferred the middle way.
It has exercised the power in part, by declar
ing some disqualifications, to wit, those of
not being twenty-five years of age, of not hav
ing been a citizen seven years, and of not be
ing an inhabitant of the State at the time of
election. But it does not declare, itself, that
the member shall not be a lunatic, a pauper,
a convict of treason, of murder, of felony, or
other infamous crime, or a non-resident of
his district; nor does it prohibit to the State
the power of declaring these, or any other
disqualifications which its particular circum
stances may call for; and these may be
different in different States. Of course,
then, by the tenth amendment, the power is
reserved to the State. If, wherever the Con
stitution assumes a single power out of many
which belong to the same subject, we should
consider it as assuming the whole, it would
vest the General Government with a mass of
power never contemplated. On the contrary,
the assumption of particular powers seems an
exclusion of all not assumed. This reasoning
appears to me to be sound ; but, on so recent a
change of view, caution requires us not to be
too confident, and that we admit this to be one
of the doubtful questions on which honest men
may differ with the purest motives ; and the
more readily, as we find we have differed from
ourselves on it. — To JOSEPH C. CABELL. vi,
309. FORD ED., ix, 451. (M., 1814.)
1578. . I have always thought
that where the line of demarcation between
the powers of the General and the State
governments was doubtfully or indistinctly
drawn, it would be prudent and praise
worthy in both parties, never to approach
it but under the most urgent necessity. Is the
necessity now^ urgent, to declare that no non
resident of his district shall be eligible as a
member of Congress? It seems to me that,
in practice, the partialities of the people are
a sufficient security against such an election ;
and that if, in any instance, they should ever
choose a non-resident, it must be one of such
eminent merit and qualifications, as would
make it a good, rather than an evil ; and that,
m any event, the examples will be so rare, as
never to amount to a serious evil. If the case
then be neither clear nor urgent, would it
not be better to let it lie undisturbed? Per
haps its decision may never be called for.
But if it be indispensable to establish this
disqualification now, would it not be better to
declare such others, at the same time, as may
be proper? — To JOSEPH C. CABELL. vi, 310.
FORD ED., ix, 452. (M., Jan. 1814.)
1579. CONGRESS, Reconsideration.—
" How far " [you ask] " is it permitted to
bring on the reconsideration of a question
which Congress has once determined? " The
first Congress which met, being composed
mostly of persons who had been members of
the legislatures of their respective States, it
was natural for them to adopt those rules in
their proceedings to which they had been ac
customed in their legislative houses ; and the
more so, as there happened to be nearly the
same, as having been copied from the same
original, those of the British Parliament.
One of these rules of proceeding was, that " a
question, once determined, cannot be proposed
a second time in the same session." Con
gress, during the first session, in the autumn
of 1774, observed this rule strictly. But be
fore their meeting in the spring of the follow
ing year, the war had broken out. They
found themselves at the head of that war,
in an Executive as well as Legislative capac
ity. They found that a rule, wise and
necessary for a legislative body, did not suit
an executive one, which, being governed by
events, must change their purposes, as those
change. Besides, their session was likely
then to become of equal duration with the
war; and a rule, which should render their
legislation immutable during all that period
could not be submitted to. They, therefore,
renounced it in practice, and have ever since
continued to reconsider their questions freely.
The only restraint as yet provided against
the abuse of this permission to reconsider, is
that when a question has been decided, it can-
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Congress
not be proposed for reconsideration but by
some one who voted in favor of the former
decision, and declares that he has since
changed his opinion. — ANSWERS TO M. DE
MEUNIER. ix, 246. FORDED., iv, 149. (P., 1786.)
1580. CONGRESS, Reform and.— They
[new Congress] will not be able to undo all
which the two preceding Legislatures, and
especially the first, have done. Public faith
and right will oppose this. But some parts of
the system may be rightfully reformed, a
liberation from the rest unremittingly pur
sued as fast as right will permit, and the door
shut in future against similar commitments
of the nation.— To PRESIDENT WASHINGTON.
iii, 362. FORD ED., vi, 4. (Pa., 1792.)
1581. . The representatives of
the people in Congress are alone competent
to judge of the general disposition of the
people, and to what precise point of reforma
tion they are ready to go.— To MR. RUTHER
FORD, iii, 499- (Pa., I7Q2.)
1582. . The session of the first
Congress, convened since republicanism has
recovered its ascendancy, * * * will pretty
completely fulfil all the desires of the people.
They have reduced the army and navy to what
is barely necessary. They are disarming ex
ecutive patronage and preponderance, by put
ting down one-half the offices of the United
States, which are no longer necessary. These
economies have enabled them to suppress all
the internal taxes, and still to make such pro
vision for the payment of their public debt
as to discharge that in eighteen years. They
have lopped off a parasite limb, planted by
their predecessors on their judiciary for party
purposes, and they are opening the doors of
hospitality to the fugitives from the oppres
sions of other countries. — To GENERAL Kos-
CIUSKO. iv, 430. (W., April 1802.)
1583. CONGRESS, Republicanism and.
— In the General Government, the House of
Representatives is mainly republican ; * * *
as elected by the people directly. — To JOHN
TAYLOR, vi, 607. FORD ED., x, 30. (M.,
1816.)
— CONGRESS, Residence of Members. —
See 1577, 1578.
1584. CONGRESS, Rules for.— No per
son to read printed papers. Every Colony
present, unless divided, to be counted. No
person to vote unless present when the ques
tion is put. No person to walk while the
question is putting. Every person to sit while
not speaking. Orders of day at 12 o'clock.
Amendments first proposed to be first put.
Committees or officers to be named before
ballot. Call of the House every morning;
absentees to be noted and returned to Con
vention. No members to be absent without
leave of the House, or written order of Con
vention on pain of being returned to Conven
tion.* — NOTES OF RULES FOR CONGRESS. FORD
ED., ii, 60. (1776.)
* Jefferson was member of a committee to frame
rules for the Congress.— EDITOR.
1585. CONGRESS, Salaries of Mem
bers. — Our [financial] distresses ask notice
[by the Virginia Legislature]. I had been
from home four months, and had expended
$1200 before I received one farthing. By the
last post we received about seven weeks' al
lowance. In the meantime, some of us had
had the mortification to have our horses
turned out of the livery stable for want of
money. There is really no standing this.
The supply gives us no relief because it was
mortgaged. We are trying to get something
more effectual from the treasury, having sent
on express to inform them of our predica
ment. — To JAMES MADISON. FORD ED., iii,
404. (A., Feb. 1784.) See 1511.
1586. CONGRESS, Sessions of.— Each
house of Congress possesses the natural right
of governing itself, and, consequently, of fix
ing its own times and places of meeting, so
far as it has not been abridged by the law of
those who employ them, that is to say, by
the Constitution.— OFFICIAL OPINION, vii,
496. FORD ED., v, 206. (1790.)
1587. . To shorten the sessions,
is to lessen the evils and burthens of the gov
ernment on our country. — To JAMES MONROE.
iv, 243. FORD ED., vii, 259. (Pa., 1798.)
1588. . I was in hopes that all
efforts to render the sessions of Congress
permanent were abandoned. But a clear
profit of three or four dollars a day is suffi
cient to reconcile some to their absence from
home.— To JAMES MADISON. FORD ED., vii,
254- (1798.)
1589. . Congress separate in
two ways only, to wit, by adjournment or
dissolution by the efflux of their time. What
then constitutes a session with them? A
dissolution certainly closes one session, and
the meeting of the new Congress begins an
other. The Constitution authorizes the
President, " on extraordinary occasions, to
convene both Houses, or either of them."
If convened by the President's proclamation,
this must begin a new session, and of course
determine the preceding one to have been a
session. So, if it meets under the clause of
the Constitution, which says, " the Congress
shall assemble, at least once in every year, and
such meeting shall be on the first Monday in
December, unless they shall by law appoint
a different day," this must begin a new ses
sion. For even if the last adjournment was
to this day, the act of adjournment is merged
in the higher authority of the Constitution,
and the meeting will be under that, and not
under their adjournment. So far we have
fixed landmarks for determining sessions.
In other cases, it is declared by the joint vote
authorizing the President of the Senate and
the Speaker to close the session on a fixed
day. — PARLIAMENTARY MANUAL, ix, 79.
1590. CONGRESS, Size of.— Our present
federal limits are not too large for good gov
ernment, nor will the increase of votes in
Congress produce any ill effect. On the con
trary, it will drown the little divisions at
Congress
Connecticut
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
184
present existing there. — To ARCHIBALD STU
ART, i, 518. FORD ED., iv, 188. (P., Jan.
1786.)
1591. CONGRESS, State representa
tion in. — I am captivated by the compromise
[in the Federal Constitution] of the opposite
claims of the great and little States, of the
latter to equal, and the former to proportional
influence. — To JAMES MADISON. ii, 329.
FORD ED., iv, 475. (P., 1787.)
1592. CONGRESS, Stock-jobbers in.—
Too many stock-jobbers and King- jobbers
have come into our Legislature, or rather too
many of our Legislature have become stock
jobbers and King- jobbers. — To GENERAL LA
FAYETTE, iii, 450. FORD ED., vi, 78. (Pa.,
1792.)
1593. . I told President Wash
ington that my wish was to see both Houses
of Congress cleansed of all persons inter
ested in the bank or public stocks; and that
a pure Legislature being given us, I should
always be ready to acquiesce under their de
terminations, even if contrary to my own
opinions; for that I subscribe to the prin
ciple, that the will of the majority, honestly
expressed, should give law. — ANAS, ix, 131.
FORD ED., i, 215. (Feb. 1793.)
1594. CONGRESS, Taxation and.— I
like the power given the Legislature [in the
Federal Constitution] to levy taxes, and for
that reason solely approve of the greater
House being chosen by the people directly.
For though I think a House chosen by them
will be very illy qualified to legislate for the
Union, for foreign nations, &c., yet this evil
does not weigh against the good of preserving
inviolate the fundamental principle that the
people are not to be taxed but by representa
tives chosen immediately by themselves. — To
JAMES MADISON, ii, 328. FORD ED., iv, 475.
(P., 1787-)
1595. CONGRESS, Term of Members.—
To prevent every danger which might arise to
American freedom by continuing too long
in office the members of the Continental Con
gress, to preserve to that body the confidence
of their friends, and to disarm the malignant
imputation of their enemies: It is earnestly
recommended to the several Provinces, As
semblies or Conventions of the United Col
onies, that in their future elections of dele
gates to the Continental Congress, one half,
at least, of the persons chosen be such as were
not of the delegation next preceding, and the
residue be of such as shall not have served in
that office longer than two years. * — FORD ED.,
ii,6i. d776?)
1596. . No person who shall
have served two years in Congress, shall be
capable of serving therein again, till he shall
have been out of the same one whole year, f —
CONGRESS BILL. FORD ED., ii, 128. (1777.)
* This resolution * * * was probably offered in
July, 1776, when Congress was establishing rules for
its own guidance, and rejected.— NOTE IN FORD ED.
t From a bill drafted by Jefferson and passed by
the Virginia House of Delegates. The representa
tion of the Colony in the Continental Congress ex-
1597. CONGRESS, Verbosity in.— Her
[Delaware's] long speeches and wicked work
ings at this session have added at least thirty
days to its length, cost us $30,000, and filled
the Union with falsehoods and misrepresenta
tions. — To OESAR A. RODNEY. FORD ED., viii,
148. (W., April 1802.)
1598. . — . I observe that the House
of Representatives are sensible of the ill ef
fects of the long speeches in their house on
their proceedings. But they have a worse
effect in the disgust they excite among the
people, and the disposition they are producing
to transfer their confidence from the Legisla
ture to the Executive branch, which would
soon sap our Constitution. These speeches,
therefore, are less and less read, and if con
tinued will soon cease to be read at all. — To
JOHN WAYLES EPPES. v, 490. FORD ED., ix,
267. (M., 1810.) See DEBATE.
1599. CONGRESS, Voting in.— I am
much pleased with the substitution [in the
Federal Constitution] of the method of voting
by persons, instead of that of voting by
States. — To JAMES MADISON, ii, 329. FORD
ED., iv, 475- (P-, 1787.)
1600. CONGRESS, Wisdom of.— Their
decisions are almost always wise ; they are
like pure metal. — To JAMES MADISON, ii, 152.
FORD ED., iv, 391. (P., 1787.)
1601. CONGRESS, Young men and.—
Congress is a good school for our young
statesmen. It gives them impressions friendly
to the Federal Government instead of those
adverse, which too often take place in persons
confined to the politics of their State. — To
JAMES MADISON. FORD ED., iii, 472. (A.,
1784.)
1602. -. I see the best effects
produced by sending our young statesmen [to
Congress]. They see the affairs of the Con
federacy from a high ground : they learn the
importance of the Union, and befriend federal
measures when they return. Those who never
come here, see our affairs insulated, pursue
a system of jealousy and self-interest, and dis
tract the Union as much as they can. — To
JAMES MADISON. FORD ED., iii, 403. (A.,
Feb. 1784.)
1603. CONNECTICUT, Bigotry of.— In
Connecticut, they are so priest-ridden that
nothing is expected from them but the most
bigoted, passive obedience. — To JAMES MADI
SON, iv, 219. FORD ED., vii, 213. (Pa., 1789.)
1604. . Connecticut remains riv
eted in her political and religious bigotry. —
To JAMES MADISON. FORD ED., vii, 344. (Pa.,
Feb. I799-)
_ CONNECTICUT, Federal offices in.
— See BISHOP.
1605. CONNECTICUT, Government in.
— The nature of your government being a
cited bitter factional animosity. Richard Henry
Lee, being the leader of one party, and Benjamin
Harrison, with whom Jefferson acted, of the other. —
EDITOR.
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Connecticut
Conscience
subordination of the civil to the ecclesiastical
power, I consider it as desperate for long
years to come. Their steady habits exclude
the advances of information, and they seem
exactly where they were when they separated
from the saints of Oliver Cromwell. And
there your clergy will always keep them if
they can. You will follow the bark of liberty
only by the help of a tow-rope. — To PIERRE-
PONT EDWARDS. FORD ED., viii, 74. (W., July
1801.)
1606. CONNECTICUT, Politics of.—
Connecticut is still federal by a small major
ity. She will be with us in a short time. — To
C F. VOLNEY. iv, 573. (W., 1805.)
1607. CONNECTICUT, Republicanism
and. — I rejoice that in some forms, though
not in all, republicanism shows progress in
Connecticut. A clerical bondage is the root
of the evil. * * * The lawyers, the other
pillar of federalism, are from the nature of
their calling so ready to take either side, that
as soon as they see as much, or perhaps more
money to be got on one side than the other,
they will tack over. The clergy are unwilling
to exchange the certain resource of legal
compulsion for the uncertain one of their own
merit and industry. — To GIDEON GRANGER.
FORD ED., viii, 232. (W., May 1803.)
1608. CONNECTICUT, Resurrection of.
—What need we despair of after the resur
rection of Connecticut to light and liberty? I
had believed that the last retreat of monkish
darkness, bigotry, and abhorrence of those ad
vances of the mind which had carried the
other States a century ahead of them. They
seemed still to be exactly where their fore
fathers were when they schismatized from
the covenant of works, and to consider as
dangerous heresies all innovations, good or
bad. I join you, therefore, in sincere congrat
ulations that this den of the priesthood is at
length broken up, and that a Protestant Pope-
dom is no longer to disgrace the American
history and character. *— To JOHN ADAMS.
vii, 62. (M., 1817.)
1609. . Even Connecticut, as a
State, and the last one expected to yield its
steady habits (which were essentially bie-oted
in politics as well as religion), has chosen a
republican governor, and republican legisla
ture.— To MARQUIS DE LAFAYETTE, vii, 66.
FORD ED., x, 83. (M., 1817.)
1610. CONQUEST, Avoid.— If there be
one principle more deeply rooted than any
other in the mind of every American, it is
that we should have nothing to do with con
quest.— To WILLIAM SHORT, iii, 275. FORD
ED., v, 364. (Pa., 1791-)
1611. CONQUEST, Compact and equal
ity vs. — I have much confidence that we shall
* Mr. Adams replied : u Do you think that Protest
ant Popedom is annihilated in America? Do you
recollect, or have you ever attended to the ecclesias
tical strifes in Maryland, Pennsylvania, New York,
and every part of New England ? What a mercy it
is that these people cannot whip, and crop and pil-
lorv and roast, as vet in the United States ! If they
could, they would.0— EDITOR,
proceed successfully for ages to come, and
that, contrary to the principle of Montes
quieu it will be seen that the larger the extent
of country, the more firm its republican struc
ture, if founded, not on conquest, but in prin
ciples of compact and equality.— To M. DE
MARBOIS. vii, 77. (M., 1817.)
1612. CONQUEST, Disavowed.— We did
not raise armies for glory or for conquest. —
DECLARATION ON TAKING UP ARMS. FORD
ED., i, 475. (July 1775.)
1613. CONQUEST, Submission to.— The
government of a nation may be usurped by the
forcible intrusion of an individual into the
throne. But to conquer its will, so as to rest
the right on that, the only legitimate basis,
requires long acquiescence and cessation of all
opposition.— To . vii, 413. (M.,
1825.)
1614. CONQUEST, Title by.— It is an
established principle that conquest gives only
an inchoate right, which does not become
perfect till confirmed by the treaty of peace,
and by a renunciation or abandonment by the
former proprietor. — MISSISSIPPI RIVER IN
STRUCTIONS, vii, 572. FORD ED., v, 463. (1792.)
1615. CONQUEST, Un-American.— Con
quest is not in our principles. It is incon
sistent with our government. — INSTRUCTIONS
TO WILLIAM CARMICHAEL. ix, 414. FORD ED.,
v, 230. (1790.)
1616. CONSCIENCE, Coercing.— It is in
consistent with the spirit of our laws and
Constitution to force tender consciences. —
PROCLAMATION CONCERNING PAROLES. FORD
ED., ii, 430. (P., 1781.)
1617. CONSCIENCE, Elections and.—
Every officer of the government may vote at
elections according to his conscience ; but we
should betray the cause committed to our
care, were we to permit the influence of of
ficial patronage to be used to overthrow that
cause. — To LEVI LINCOLN, iv, 451. FORD ED.,
viii, 176. (W., Oct. 1802.)
1618. — - . Our principles render
federalists in office safe, if they do not employ
their influence in opposing the government,
and only give their own vote according to
their conscience. And this principle we act
on as well with those put in office by others,
as by ourselves. — To LEVI LINCOLN, v, 264.
(W., March 1808.)
1619. CONSCIENCE, Freedom of.— We
are bound, you, I, and every one, to make
common cause, even with error itself, to main
tain the common right of freedom of con
science.— To EDWARD DOWSE, iv, 478. (W.,
1803.)
1620. . Nor should we wonder
at * * * [the] pressure [for a fixed con
stitution in 1788-9] when we consider the
monstrous abuses of power under which *
* * the [French] people were ground to
powder; when we pass in review * * *
the shackles on the freedom of conscience. —
AUTOBIOGRAPHY, i, 86. FORDED.,}, 118. (1821.)
Conscience
Constitution
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
186
1621. CONSCIENCE, A guide.— Con
science is the only sure clew which will eter
nally guide a man clear of all doubts and in
consistencies.— To GENERAL WASHINGTON, iii,
31. FORD ED., v, 96. (P., 1789-)
1622. CONSCIENCE, Inquisition over.
— I am averse to the communication of my re
ligious tenets to the public; because it would
countenance the presumption of those who
have endeavored to draw them before that
tribunal, and to seduce public opinion to erect
itself into that inquisition over the rights of
conscience, which the laws have so justly pro
scribed. — To DR. BENJAMIN RUSH, iv, 480.
FORD ED., viii, 224. (W., April 1803.)
1623. CONSCIENCE, Liberty of.— It be
hooves every man who values liberty of
conscience for himself, to resist invasions
of it in the case of others ; or their case may,
by change of circumstances, become his own.
It behooves him. too, in his own case, to give
no example of concession, betraying the
common right of independent opinion, by
answering questions of faith, which the laws
have left between God and himself. — To DR.
BENJAMIN RUSH, iv, 480. FORD ED., viii,
224. April 1803.)
1624. . This blessed country of
free inquiry and belief has surrendered its
creed and conscience to neither kings nor
priests. — To DR. BENJAMIN WATERHOUSE.
vii, 253. FORD ED., x, 220. (M., 1822.)
1625. CONSCIENCE, Moral laws and.—
The true fountains of evidence [are] the head
and heart of every rational and honest man,
It is there nature has written her moral laws,
and where every man may read them for him
self. — FRENCH TREATIES OPINION, vii, 613.
FORD ED., vi, 221. (1793.)
1626. CONSCIENCE, Office and.— If
their conscience urges them [federalists] to
take an active and zealous part in opposition,
it ought also to urge them to retire from a
post which they could not conscientiously
conduct with fidelity to the trust reposed in
them.— To JOHN PAGE. v, 136. FORD ED.,
ix, 119. (W., 1807.)
1627. CONSCIENCE, Bights of.— The
error seems not sufficiently eradicated, that the
operations of the mind, as well as the acts of
the body, are subject to the coercion of the
laws. But our rulers can have no authority
over such natural rights, only as we have sub
mitted to them. The rights of conscience we
never submitted, we could not submit. We
are answerable for them to our God. — NOTES
ON VIRGINIA, viii, 400. FORD ED., iii, 263.
(1782.)
1628. . A right to take the side
which every man's conscience approves in a
civil contest is too precious a right, and too
favorable to the preservation of liberty, nol
to be protected by all its well informed
friends. The Assembly of Virginia have
given sanction to this right in several of their
laws, discriminating honorably those who took
side against us, before the Declaration of In
dependence, from those who remained among
us, and strove to injure us by their treach
eries. — To MRS. SPROWLE. FORD ED., iv, 66
(P., 17850
1629. . No provision in our Con-
jtitution ought to be dearer to man than that
which protects the rights of conscience against
the enterprises of the civil authority. It has
not left the religion of its citizens under the
power of its public functionaries, were it
possible that any of these should consider
a conquest over the conscience of men either
attainable or applicable to any desirable pur
pose. — R. To A. NEW LONDON METHODISTS.
viii, 147. (1809.)
1630. . The restoration of the
rights of conscience [in the Revised Code of
Virginia] relieved the people from taxation
for the support of a religion not theirs: for
the [Church of England] Establishment was
truly of the religion of the rich, the dis
senting sects being entirely composed of the
less wealthy people. — AUTOBIOGRAPHY, i, 49.
FORD ED., i, 69. (1821.)
— CONSENT OF THE GOVERNED.—
See GOVERNMENT.
_ CONSOLIDATION.— See CENTRALIZA
TION.
1631. CONSTANTINOPLE, The Key of
Asia. — Constantinople is the Key of Asia.
Who shall have it? is the question. — To
GEORGE WYTHE. ii, 267. FORD ED., iv, 444.
(P., 1787.) See TURKS.
1632. CONSTITUTION, Definition of
a. — A constitution, ex vi termini, means " an
act above the powers of the ordinary legisla
ture." Constitutio, constitutum, statutum, lex,
are convertible terms. " Constitutio dicitur
jus quod a principe conditur." Constitutum
quod ab imperatoribus rescriptum statutumye
est" "Statutum, idem quod lex." (Calvini
Lexicon juridicum.) Constitution and statute
were originally terms of the* civil law, and
from thence introduced by ecclesiastics into
the English law. Thus in the statute 25
Hen. viii, c. 19, § i, " Constitutions and
ordinances" are used as synonymous. The
term constitution has many other significations
in physics and politics; but in jurisprudence,
whenever it is applied to any act of the legis
lature, it invariably means a statute, law, or
ordinance. — NOTES ON VIRGINIA, viii, 365.
FORD ED., iii, 227. (1782.)
1633. CONSTITUTION (The Federal),
Acceptance of. — I am glad to hear that the
new Constitution is received with favor. I
sincerely wish that the nine first conventions
may receive, and the four last reject it. The
former will receive it finally, while the latter
will oblige them to offer a declaration of
rights in order to complete the Union. We
* To bid, to set, was the ancient legislative word of
the English. LI. Hlotharri and Eadrici. LI. Inae.
LI. Eadwerdi, LI. ^thelstani.— NOTE BY JEFFER
SON.
i87
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Constitution
shall thus have all its good, and cure its
principal defect. — To JAMES MADISON. FORD
ED., v, 5- (P-, Feb. 1788.)
1634. . I wish with all my soul
that the nine first conventions may accept
the new Constitution, because this will secure
to us the good it contains which I think great
and important. But I equally wish that the
four latest conventions, whichever they may
be, may refuse to accede to it till a declaration
of rights be annexed. This would probably
command the offer of such a declaration, and
thus give to the whole fabric, perhaps, as
much perfection as any one of that kind ever
had.— To A. DONALD, ii, 355. (P., Feb.
1788.)
1635. . I am glad to hear that
our new Constitution is pretty sure of being
accepted by States enough to secure the good
it contains, and to meet such opposition in
some others as to give us hopes it will be
accommodated to them by the amendment of
its most glaring faults, particularly the want
of a declaration of rights.— To WILLIAM
RUTLEDGE. ii, 350. FORD ED., v, 4. (P., Feb.
1788.)
1636. — — . I learn with great pleas
ure the progress of the new Constitution. In
deed I have presumed it would gain on the
public mind, as I confess it has on my own.
At first, though I saw that the great mass
and groundwork were good, I disliked many
appendages. Reflection and discussion have
cleared off most of these.— To E. CARRING-
TON. ii, 404. FORD ED., v, 19. (P., May 1788.)
1637. . My first wish was that
nine States would adopt it in order to
ensure what was good in it, and that the
others might, by holding off, produce the
necessary amendments. But the plan of
Massachusetts is far preferable, and will, I
hope, be followed by those who are yet to de
cide. — To E. CARRINGTON. ii, 404. FORD ED.,
v, 20. (P., May 1788.)
1638. . It will be easier to get
the assent of nine States to correct what is
wrong in the way pointed out by the Con
stitution itself, than to get thirteen to concur
in a new convention and another plan of con
federation. I therefore sincerely pray that
the remaining States may accept it, as Massa
chusetts has done, with standing instructions
to their delegates to press for amendments
till they are obtained. They cannot faU of
being obtained when the delegates of eight
States shall be under such perpetual instruc
tions.— To T. LEE SHIPPEN. ii, 415. (P.,
June 1788.)
1639. . I sincerely rejoice at the
acceptance of our new Constitution by nine
States. It is a good canvas, on which some
strokes only want retouching. What these
are, I think are sufficiently manifested by
the general voice from north to south, which
calls for a bill of rights. It seems pretty
generally understood, that this should go to
juries, habeas corpus, standing armies, print
ing, religion and monopolies. — To JAMES
MADISON, ii, 445. FORD ED., v, 45. (P.,
July 1788.)
1640. CONSTITUTION (The Federal),
Action by the States.— With respect to the
new government, nine or ten States will
probably have accepted by the end of this
month. The others may oppose it. Virginia,
I think, will be of this number. Besides other
objections of less moment, she will insist on
annexing a bill of rights to the new Consti
tution, i. e. a bill wherein the government
shall declare that, i. Religion shall be free.
2. Printing presses free. 3. Trials by jury
preserved in all cases. 4. No monopolies in
commerce. 5. No standing army. Upon re
ceiving this bill of rights, she will probably
depart from her other objections, and the bill
is so much to the interest of all the States,
that I presume they will offer it, and thus our
Constitution be amended, and our Union
closed by the end of the present year. In this
way, there will have been opposition enough
to do good, and not enough to do harm. — To
C W. F. DUMAS, ii, 356. (P., Feb. 1788.)
1641. - — . At first, I wished that
when nine States should have accepted the
Constitution, so as to ensure us what is good
in it, the other four might hold off till the
want of the bill of rights, at least, might be
supplied. But I am now convinced that the
plan of Massachusetts is the better, that is,
to accept, and to amend afterwards. If the
States which were to decide after her, should
all do the same, it is impossible but they must
obtain the essential amendments. It will
be more difficult if we lose this instrument,
to recover what is good in it, than to correct
what is bad, after we shall have adopted it.
It has, therefore, my hearty prayers. — To
WILLIAM CARMICHAEL. ii, 399. FORD ED.,
v, 25. (P., May 1788.)
1642. . The conduct of Massa
chusetts has been noble. She accepted the
Constitution, but voted that it should stand
as a perpetual instruction to her delegates, to
endeavor to obtain such and such reforma
tions ; and the minority, though very strong
both in numbers and abilities, declared viritim
and seriatim, that acknowledging the principle
that the majority must give the law, they
would now support the new Constitution with
their tongues, and with their blood, if neces
sary. — To WILLIAM CARMICHAEL. ii, 398.
FORD ED., v, 24. (P., 1788.)
1643. . I congratulate you on
the accession of your State [South Carolina]
to the new Federal Constitution. I expect to
hear daily that my own has followed the good
example. Our government needed bracing.
Still, we must take care not to run from one
extreme to another ; not to brace too high. —
To E. RUTLEDGE. ii, 435. FORD ED., v, 41.
(P., July 1788.)
1644. - . In New York, two-thirds
of the State were against it [the new Constitu
tion], and certainly, if they had been called to
the decision in any other stage of the business,
Constitution
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
188
they would have rejected it; but before they
put it to the vote, they would certainly have
heard that eleven States had joined in it,
and they would find it safer to go with those
eleven, than put themselves into opposition,
with Rhode Island only.— To WILLIAM CAR-
MICHAEL, ii, 465. (P., Aug. 1788.)
1645. . No news from North
Carolina ; but in such a case no news is good
news, as an unfavorable decision of the I2th
State would have flown like an electrical
shock through America and Europe. — To MR.
SHIPPEN. ii, 484. (P., Sep. 1788.)
1646. . I have seen with infinite
pleasure our new Constitution accepted by
eleven States, not rejected by the twelfth;
and that the thirteenth happens to be a State
of the least importance. It is true, that the
minorities in most of the accepting States
have been very respectable ; so much so as to
render it prudent, were it not otherwise
reasonable, to make some sacrifice to them.
I am in hopes that the annexation of a bill
of rights to the Constitution will alone draw
over so great a proportion of the minorities,
as to leave little danger in the opposition of
the residue ; and that this annexation may be
made by Congress and the Assemblies, with
out calling a convention which might en
danger the most valuable parts of the
system. — To GENERAL WASHINGTON, ii, 533.
FORD ED., v, 56. (P., Dec. 1788.)
1647. . The Virginia Assembly,
furiously anti-federal, have passed a bill
rendering every person holding any Federal
office incapable of holding at the same time
any State office. This is a declaration of
war against the new Constitution. — To WIL
LIAM SHORT, ii, 576. (P., Feb. 1789.)
1648. CONSTITUTION (The Federal),
Adopt and amend.— Were I in America, I
would advocate it warmly till nine [States]
should have adopted and then as warmly take
the other side to convince the remaining four
that they ought not to come into it till the
declaration of rights is annexed to it. By
this means we should secure all the good of
it, and procure so respectable an opposition as
would induce the accepting States to offer
a bill of rights. This would be the happiest
turn the thing could take. — To WILLIAM
STEPHENS SMITH. FORD ED., v, 2. (P., Feb.
1788.)
1649. . Under this hope [that
the necessary amendments will be made] I
look forward to the general adoption of the
new Constitution with anxiety, as necessary
for us under our present circumstances. — To
GENERAL WASHINGTON, ii, 375. FORD ED., v,
8. (P., May 1788.)
1650. . I see in this instrument
a great deal of good. The consolidation of
onr government, a just representation, an ad
ministration of some permanence, and other
features of great value will be gained by it.
There are, indeed,, some faults which revolted
me a good deal in the first moment ; but we
must be contented to travel on towards per
fection, step by step. We must be contented
with the ground which this Constitution will
gain for us, and hope that a favorable moment
will come for correcting what is amiss in it. —
To COMTE DE MOUSTIER. ii, 388. FORD ED
v, ii. (P., May 1788.)
1651. . I should deprecate with
you, indeed, the meeting of a new conven
tion. I hope they will adopt the mode of
amendment by Congress and the Assemblies,
in which case I should not fear any danger
ous innovation in the plan. But the minorities
are too respectable not to be entitled to some
sacrifice of opinion in the majority; especially,
when a great proportion of them would be
contented with a bill of rights. — To JAMES
MADISON, ii, 506. FORD ED., v, 53. (P., Nov.
1788.)
1652. CONSTITUTION (The Federal),
Amendments to. — We must be contented to
accept of its good, and to cure what is evil in
it hereafter. It seems necessary for our hap
piness at home ; I am sure it is so for our re
spectability abroad. — To JOHN BROWN, ii, 397.
FORD ED., v, 19. (P., May 1788.)
1653. . There are two amend
ments only which I am anxious for: I. A bill
of rights, which it is so much the interest of
all to have, that I conceive it must be yielded.
The first amendment proposed by Massachu
setts * will in some degree answer this end,
but not so well. It will do too much in some
instances, and too little in others. It will
cripple the Federal Government in some
cases where it ought to be free, and not re
strain it in some others where restraint would
be right. The 2d amendment which appears
to me essential is the restoring the principle
of necessary rotation, particularly to the Sen
ate and Presidency, but most of all to the last.
* * * Of the correction of this article,
however, I entertain no present hope, because
I find it has scarcely excited an objection in
America. And if it does not take place ere
long, it assuredly never will. — To E. CARRING-
TON. ii, 404. FORD ED., v, 20. (P., May
1788.)
1654. . Though I approve of the
mass, I would wish to see some amendments,
further than those which have been proposed,
fixing it more surely on a republican basis.
* * * To secure the ground we gain, and
gain what more we can, is the wisest course.
—To GEORGE MASON, iii, 147. FORD ED., v,
183. (N.Y., 1790.)
1655. . It is too early to think
of a declaratory act as yet, but the time is
approaching and not distant. Two elections
more will give us a solid majority in the
House of Representatives, and a sufficient one
in the Senate. As soon as it can be depended
on, we must have " A Declaration of the
Principles of the Constitution," in nature of
a Declaration of Rights, in all the points in
* The ist amendment of Massachusetts was :
" That it explicitly declare that all powers, not ex
pressly delegated by the aforesaid Constitution, are
reserved to the several States, to be by them exer
cised."— EDITOR.
189
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Constitution
which it has been violated. — To P. N. NICH
OLAS, iv, 327. FORD ED., vtt, 439. (Pa., April
1800.)
1656. . How the good [in the new
Constitution] should be secured and the ill
brought to right was the difficulty. To refer
it back to a new Convention might endanger
the loss of the whole. My first idea was that
the nine States, first acting, should accept it
unconditionally, and thus secure what in it was
good and that the four last should accept on the
previous condition, that certain amendments
should be agreed to ; but a better course was
devised of accepting the whole and trusting
that the good sense and honest intentions of
our citizens would make the alterations which
should be deemed necessary. Accordingly, all
accepted, six without objection and seven with
recommendations of specified amendments. —
AUTOBIOGRAPHY. 1,79. FORD ED., i, 109. (1821.)
1657. . Let us go on perfecting
the Constitution by adding, by way of amend
ment, those forms which time and trial show
are still wanting. — To WILSON C. NICHOLAS.
iv, 506. FORD ED., viii, 248. (M., 1803.)
1658. . The States are now so
numerous that I despair of ever seeing an
other amendment to the Constitution, al
though the innovations of time will certainly
call, and now already call, for some. — To
GEORGE HAY. FORD ED., x, 265. (M., 1823.)
1659. . Those who formerly
usurped the name of federalists, which in
fact, they never were, have now openly aban
doned it, and are as openly marching by the
road of construction, in a direct line to that
consolidation which was always their real ob
ject. They, almost to a man, are in posses
sion of one branch of the government, and ap
pear to be very strong in yours. The three
great questions of amendment now before
you, will give the measure of their strength.
I mean, ist, the limitation of the term of the
Presidential service ; 2nd, the placing the
choice of President effectually in the hands of
the people ; 3rd, the giving to Congress the
power of internal improvement, on condition
that each State's federal proportion of the
moneys so expended shall be employed within
the State. The friends of consolidation would
rather take these powers by construction than
accept them by direct investiture of the States.
Yet, as to internal improvement particularly,
there is probably not a State in the Union
which would not grant the power on the con
dition proposed, or which would grant it
without that. * * * If I can see these
three great amendments prevail, I shall con
sider it as a renewed extension of the term
of our lease, shall live in more confidence and
die in more hope. — To ROBERT J. GARNETT. vii,
336. FORD ED., x, 294. (M., Feb. 1824.)
1660. . The real friends of the
Constitution in its federal form, if they wish
it to be immortal, should be attentive, by
amendments, to make it keep pace with the
advance of the age in science and experience.
Instead of this, the European governments
have resisted reformation, until the people,
seeing no other resource, undertake it them
selves by force, their only weapon, and work
it out through blood, desolation and long-con
tinued anarchy. Here it will be by large frag
ments breaking off, and refusing reunion, but
on condition of amendment, or perhaps per
manently. — To ROBERT J. GARNETT. vii, 336.
FORD ED., x, 295. (M., 1824.)
1661. . I have read with pleas
ure and satisfaction the very able and elo
quent speech you have been so kind as to send
me on the amendment of the Constitution,
proposed by Mr. McDuffie, and concur with
much of its contents. — To EDWARD EVERETT.
vii, 437. FORD ED., x, 385. (M., April 1826.)
1662. CONSTITUTION (The Federal),
Approval of. — I like much the general idea
of framing a government which should go on
of itself, peaceably, without needing continual
recurrence to the State Legislatures. I like
the organization of the government into Leg- j
islative, Judiciary and Executive. I like the
power given the Legislature to levy taxes,
and for that reason solely, I approve of the
greater House being chosen by the people di
rectly. For though I think a House chosen
by them will be very illy qualified to legislate
for the Union, for foreign nations, &c., yet
this evil does not weigh against the good of
preserving inviolate the fundamental principle
that the people are not to be taxed but by rep
resentatives chosen immediately by them
selves. I am captivated by the compromise of
the opposite claims of the great and little
States, of the latter to equal, and the former
to proportional influence. I am much pleased,
too, with the substitution of the method of
voting by persons instead of that of voting by
States : and I like the negative given to the
Executive, conjointly with a third of either
House; although I should have liked it bet
ter, had the Judiciary been associated for that
purpose, or invested separately with a similar
power. There are other good things of less
moment. — To JAMES MADISON, ii, 328. FORD
ED., iv, 475. (P., Dec. 20, 1787.)
1663. . It is a good canvas, on
which some strokes only want retouching. —
To JAMES MADISON, ii, 445. FORD ED., v, 45.
(P., July 1788.)
1664. - — . I approved, from the
first moment, of the great mass of what is in
the new Constitution ; the consolidation of the
government ; the organization into Executive.
Legislative, and Judiciary; the subdivision of
the Legislative ; the happy compromise of in
terests between the great and little States, by
the different manner of voting in the differ
ent Houses ; the voting by persons instead of
States; the qualified negative on laws given
to the Executive, which, however, I should
have liked better if associated with the Judi
ciary also as in New York ; and the power
of taxation. I thought at first that the latter
might have been limited. A little reflection
soon convinced me it ought not to be. — To
F. HOPKINSON. ii, 586. FORD ED., v, 76.
(P., March 1789.)
Constitution
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
IQO
_ CONSTITUTION (The Federal), Bill
of Bights and. — See BILL OF RIGHTS.
1665. CONSTITUTION (The Federal),
Compromises of. — The Constitution was a
matter of compromise ; a capitulation between
conflicting interests and opinions. — To SAM
UEL KERCHIVAL. vii, 37. FORD ED., x, 46. (M.,
1816.)
_ CONSTITUTION (The Federal), Con
solidation and.— See CENTRALIZATION.
1666. CONSTITUTION (The Federal),
Construction of.— I told the President
[Washington] * * * that they [the Ham
ilton members of the Legislature] had chained
it [the Treasury system] about our necks for a
great length of time, and, in order to keep
the game in their hands had, from time to
time, aided in making such legislative con
structions of the Constitution, as made it a
very different thing from what the people
thought they had submitted to.— THE ANAS.
ix, 104. FORD ED., i, 177. (Feb. 1792.)
1667. . Our peculiar security is
in the possession of a written Constitution.
f Let us not make it a blank paper by construc
tion. I say the same as to the opinion of those
who consider the grant of the treaty-making
power as boundless. If it is, then we have
no Constitution. If it has bounds, they can
be no others than' the definitions of the powers
which that instrument gives. It specifies and
delineates the operations permitted to the
Federal Government, and gives all the powers
necessary to carry these into execution. What
ever of these enumerated objects is proper for
a law, Congress may make the law ; whatever
is proper to be executed by way of a treaty,
the President and Senate may enter into the
treaty; whatever is to be done by a judicial
sentence, the Judges may pass the sentence.
Nothing is more likely than that their^ enu
meration of powers is defective. This is the
ordinary case of all human works. Let us then
go on perfecting it, by adding, by way of
amendment to the Constitution those powers
which time and trial show are still wanting.
To WILSON C. NICHOLAS, iv, 505. FORD ED.,
viii, 247. (M., Sep. 1803.)
1668. . When an instrument ad
mits two constructions, the one safe the other
dangerous ; the one precise, the other indefi
nite, I prefer that which is safe and precise.
I had rather ask an enlargement of power
from the nation, where it is found necessary,
than to assume it by a construction which
would make our powers boundless. — To WIL
SON C. NICHOLAS, iv, 506. FORD ED., viii,
247. (M., 1803.)
1669. . Strained constructions
* * * loosen all the bands of the Consti
tution.— To GEORGE TICKNOR. FORD ED., x, 81
(1817.)
1670. . In denying the right they
[the Supreme Court] usurp of exclusively ex
plaining the Constitution, I go further than
you do, if I understand rightly your quota
tion from the Federalist, of an opinion tha
' the judiciary is the last resort in relation to
the other departments of the government, but
not in relation to the rights of the parties to
the compact under which the judiciary is de
rived." If this opinion be sound, then in
deed is our Constitution a complete felo de se.
For intending to establish three departments,
co-ordinate and independent, that they might
check and balance one another, it has given,
according to this opinion, to one of them
alone, the right to prescribe rules for the gov
ernment of the others, and to that one, too,
which is unelected by and independent of the
nation. For experience has already shown
that the impeachment it has provided is not
even a scare-crow ; that such opinions as
the one you combat, sent cautiously out, as
you observe also, by detachment, not belong
ing to the case often, but sought for out of it,
as if to rally the public opinion beforehand to
their views, and to indicate the line they are
to walk in, have been so quietly passed over
as never to have excited animadversion, even
in a speech of any one of the body entrusted
with impeachment. The Constitution, on this
hypothesis, is a mere thing of wax in the
hands of the judiciary, which they may twist
and shape into any form they please. * * *
My construction of the Constitution is very
[different from that you quote. It is that each
(department is truly independent of the others,
and has an equal right to decide for itself
what is the meaning of the Constitution in
the cases submitted to its action; and espe-
jcially, where it is to act ultimately and with-
but appeal.— To SPENCER ROANE. vii, 134.
FORD ED., x, 140. (P.F., 1819.)
1671. - — . Each of the three de
partments has equally the right to decide for
itself what is its duty under the Constitution,
without any regard to what the others may
have decided for themselves under a similar
question. — To SPENCER ROANE. vii, 136. FORD
ED., x, 142. (P.F., 1819.)
1672. . . My construction of the
Constitution is * * * that each depart
ment is truly independent of the others, and
[has an equal right to decide for itself what
,is the meaning of the Constitution in the cases
submitted to its action ; and especially, where
it is to act ultimately and without appeal. I
will explain myself by examples, which, hav
ing occurred while I was in office, are better
known to me, and the principles which gov
erned them. A Legislature had passed the
-Sedition law. The Federal courts had sub
jected certain individuals to its penalties of
fine and imprisonment. On coming into of
fice, I released these individuals by the power
of pardon committed to executive discretion,
which could never be more properly exercised
than where citizens were suffering without the
authority of law, or, which was equivalent,
under a law unauthorized by the Constitution,
and therefore null. In the case of Marbury
vs. Madison, the Federal judges declared that
commissions, signed and sealed by the Presi
dent, were valid, although not delivered. I
deemed delivery essential to complete a deed,
which, as long as it remains in the hands of
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Constitution
the party, is as yet no deed, it is in posse only,
but not in esse, and I withheld delivery of the
commissions. They cannot issue a mandamus
to the President or Legislature, or to any of
their officers.* When the British treaty of
arrived, without any provision against
the impressment of our seamen, I determined
not to ratify it. The Senate thought I should
ask their advice. I thought that would be a
mockery of them, when I was predetermined
against following it, should they advise its
ratification. The Constitution had made their
advice necessary to confirm a treaty, but not
to reject it. This has been blamed by some;
but I have never doubted its soundness. In
the cases of two persons, antenati, under ex
actly similar circumstances, the Federal court
had determined that one of them (Duane)
was not a citizen; the House of Representa
tives nevertheless determined that the other
(Smith, of South Carolina) was a citizen, and
admitted him to his seat in their body. Duane
was a republican, and Smith a federalist, and
these decisions were made during the federal
ascendency. These are examples of my posi
tion, that each of the three departments has
equally the right to decide for itself what is
its duty under the Constitution, without any
regard to what the others may have decided
for themselves under a similar question. — To
SPENCER ROANE. vii, 135. FORD ED., x, 141.
(P.F., 1819.)
1673. . The judges are practic
ing on the Constitution by inferences, an
alogies, and sophisms, as they would on an
ordinary law. They do not seem aware that
it is not even a constitution, formed by a
single authority, and subject to a single
superintendence and control ; but that it
is a compact of many independent powers,
every single one of which claims an equal
right to understand it, and to require its ob
servance. However strong the cord of com
pact may be, there is a point of tension at
which it will break. A few such doctrinal
decisions, as barefaced as that of the Cohens,
happening to bear immediately on two or
three of the large States, may induce them to
join in arresting the march of government,
and in arousing the co-States to pay some
attention to what is passing, to bring back
the compact to its original principles, or to
modify it legitimately by the express consent
of the parties themselves, and not by the
usurpation of their created agents. They im
agine they can lead us into a consolidate
government, while their road leads directly to
its dissolution. — To EDWARD LIVINGSTON, vii,
403. (M., 1825.) See 1684.
— CONSTITUTION (The Federal), Cor
porations and. — See INCORPORATION.
1674. CONSTITUTION (The Federal),
Disapproval of. — How do you like our new
Constitution? I confess there are things in
it which stagger all my dispositions to sub
scribe to what such an assembly has proposed.
* Jefferson adds this note : " The Constitution con
trolling the common law in this particular."—
EDITOR.
The House of Federal representatives will
not be adequate to the management of af
fairs, either foreign or federal. Their Presi
dent seems a bad edition of a Polish king.
He may be elected from four years to four ^
years for life. Reason and experience prove
to us that a chief magistrate, so continuable,
is an officer for life. When one or two gen
erations shall have proved that this is an office
for life, it becomes on every occasion worthy
of intrigue, of bribery, of force, and even of
foreign interference. It will be of great con
sequence to France and England to have
America governed by a Galloman, or an
Angloman. Once in office, and possessing the
military force of the Union, without the aid
or check of a council, he would not be easily
dethroned even if the people could be induced
to withdraw their votes from him. I wish
that at the end of four years they had made
him forever ineligible a second time. Indeed,
I think all the good of this new Constitution
might have been couched in three or four new
articles, to be added to the good, old and
venerable fabric, which should have been
preserved even as a religious relique.— To
JOHN ADAMS, ii, 316. (P., Nov. 13, 1787.)
1675. . There are very good ar
ticles in it, and very bad. I do not know
which preponderate.— To W. S. SMITH, ii,
318. FORD ED., iv, 466. (P., Nov. 1787.)
1676. . I dislike, and greatly l
dislike, the abandonment in every instance, of /y
the necessity of rotation in office, and most I
particularly in the case of the President. Ex-f
perience concurs with reason in concluding
that the first magistrate will always be re-
elected, if the Constitution permits it. He is
then an officer for life. This once observed,
it becomes of so much consequence to certain
nations to have a friend or a foe at the head
of our affairs, that they will interfere with
money and with arms. A Galloman, or an
Angloman will be supported by the nation he
befriends. If once elected, and at a second or
third election outvoted by one or two votes,
he will pretend false votes, foul play, hold
possession of the reins of government, be
supported by the States voting for him, es
pecially if they are the central ones, lying in
a compact body themselves, and separating
their opponents ; and they will be aided by
one nation of Europe, while the majority are
aided by another. The election of a Presi
dent of America, some years hence will be
much more interesting to certain nations of
Europe than ever the election of a King of
Poland was. Reflect on all the instances in
history, ancient and modern, of elective mon
archies, and say if they do not give founda
tion for my fears. The Roman Emperors, the
Popes, while they were of any importance ;
the German Emperors, till they became hered
itary in practice ; the Kings of Poland ; the
Deys of the Ottoman Dependencies. It may
be said that if elections are to be attended
with these disorders, the seldomer they are
renewed the better. But experience shows
that the only way to prevent disorder is to
Constitution
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
I92
render them uninteresting by frequent
changes. An incapacity to be elected a
second time would have been the only effec
tual preventive. The power of removing him
every fourth year by the vote of the people,
is a power which will not be exercised. The
King of Poland is removable every day by
the Diet, yet he is never removed. Smaller
objections are, the appeal in fact as well as
law, and the binding all persons, legislative,
executive, and judiciary by oath to maintain
that Constitution. I do not pretend to decide
what would be the best method of procuring
the establishment of the manifold good
things in this Constitution, and of getting rid
of the bad. Whether by adopting it, in
hopes of future amendment ; or after it has
been duly weighed and canvassed by the
people, after seeing the parts they generally
dislike, and those they generally approve, to
say to them : " We see now what you wish.
Send together your deputies again, let them
frame a constitution for you, omitting what
you have condemned, and establishing the
powers you approve. Even these will be a
great addition to the energy of your govern
ment." At all events, I hope you will not be
discouraged from other trials, if the present
one should fail of its full effect. I have thus
told you freely what I like and dislike ; merely
as a matter of curiosity, for I know your own
judgment has been formed on all these points
after having heard everything which could be
urged on them. * * : After all, it is my
principle that the will of the majority should
always prevail. If they approve the pro
posed convention in all its parts, I shall con
cur in it cheerfully, in hopes that they will
amend it whenever they shall find it works
wrong. — To JAMES MADISON, ii, 330. FORD
ED., iv, 477. (P., December 20, 1787.)
1677. . As to the new Constitu
tion, I find myself nearly a neutral. There
is a great mass of good in it, in a very de
sirable form; but there is also to me a bitter
pill or two. — To E. CARRINGTON. ii, 334.
FORD ED., iv, 481. (P., Dec. 1787.)
1678. . I was much pleased with
many and essential parts of this instrument
from the beginning. But I thought I saw in
it many faults, great and small. What I
have read and reflected has brought me over
from several of my objections of the first
moment, and to acquiesce under some others.
Two only remain of essential consideration,
to wit, the want of a bill of rights, and the
expunging the principle of necessary rotation
in the offices of President and Senator. — To
WILLIAM CARMICHAEL. ii, 398. FORD ED.,
v, 25- (P., May 1788.)
1679. . What I disapproved from
the first moment was the want of a bill of
rights, to guard liberty against the Legisla
tive as well as the Executive branches of the
government; that is to say, to secure freedom
in religion, freedom of the press, freedom
from monopolies, freedom from unlawful im
prisonment, freedom from a permanent mili
tary, and a trial by jury, in all cases de-
terminable by the laws of the land. I dis
approved, also, the perpetual re-eligibility of
the President. To these points of disappro
bation I adhere. My first wish was that the
nine first conventions might accept the Con
stitution, as the means of securing to us the
great mass of good it contained ; and that the
four last might reject it, as the means of ob
taining amendments. But I was corrected in
this wish the moment I saw the much better
plan of Massachusetts, and which had never
occurred to me. With respect to the dec
laration of rights, I suppose the majority of
the United States are of my opinion ; for, I
apprehend, all the anti-federalists, and a
very respectable proportion of the federalists,
think that such a declaration should now be
annexed. The enlightened part of Europe
have. given us the greatest credit for invent
ing this instrument of security for the rights
of the people, and have not been a little sur
prised to see us so soon give it up. With
respect to the re-eligibility of the President,
I find myself differing from the majority of
my countrymen ; for I think there are but
three States out of the eleven which have
desired an alteration of this. And, indeed,
since the thing is established, I would wish
it not to be altered during the life of our
great leader, whose executive talents are
superior to those I believe, of any man in
the world, and who, alone, by the authority
of his name, and the confidence reposed in
his perfect integrity, is fully qualified to put
the new government so under way, as to
secure it against the efforts of opposition.
But, having derived from our error all the
good there was in it, I hope we shall correct
it, the moment we can no longer have the
same name at the helm. * * * These, my
opinions, I wrote within a few hours after
I had read the Constitution, to one or two
friends in America. — To F. HOPKINSON. ii,
586. FORD ED., v, 76. (P., March 1789.)
1680. . I received a copy [of the
new Federal Constitution] early in Novem
ber [1787] and read and contemplated its
provisions with great satisfaction. As not a
member of the Convention, however, nor
probably a single citizen of the Union had
approved it in all its parts, so I, too, found
articles which I thought objectionable. The
absence of express declarations ensuring/
freedom of religion, freedom of the press,"
freedom of the person under the uninter
rupted protection of the habeas corpus, and
trial by jury in civil as well as in criminal
cases excited my jealousy; and the re-eligi
bility of the President for life I quite dis
approved. I expressed freely in letters to
my friends and most particularly to Mr.
Madison and General Washington my ap
probations and objections. — AUTOBIOGRAPHY.
i, 79. FORD ED., i, 108. (1821.)
_ CONSTITUTION (The Federal), Fed
eral Convention and. — See CONVENTION.
1681. CONSTITUTION (The Federal),
Foundation of. — I consider the foundation of
the Constitution as laid on this ground:
Thomas Jefferson
Age about /,/ years
From ;ui ciio raving by Boquevauvilli^r after the painting by Desnoyers. This portrait
was painted by the French artist IVsimvrrs, when .Ti'HVrson was in France as United States
Ambassador (1784-1789).
193
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Constitution
That " all powers not delegated to the
United States, by the Constitution, nor pro
hibited by it to the States, are reserved to the
States or to the people." [Xllth Amend
ment.] To take a single step beyond the
boundaries thus specifically drawn around the
powers of Congress, is to take possession of
a boundless field of power, no longer suscep
tible of any definition.— NATIONAL BANK
OPINION, vii, 556. FORD ED., v, 285. (I791-)
_ CONSTITUTION (The Federal), Gen
eral Welfare clause of. — See GENERAL WEL
FARE CLAUSE.
1682. CONSTITUTION (The Federal),
Infractions of. — If on [one] infraction [of
the Constitution] we build a second, on that
second a third, &c., any one of the powers
in the Constitution may be made to com
prehend every power of government. — To
ALBERT GALLATIN. iv, 450. FORD ED., viii,
175. (1802.)
1683. CONSTITUTION (The Federal),
Intention of. — We ought always to presume
that the real intention [of the Constitution]
which is alone consistent with the Constitu
tion. — To ALBERT GALLATIN. iv, 449. FORD
ED., viii, 174. ((1802.)
_ CONSTITUTION (The Federal), In
ternal Improvements and. — See INTERNAL
IMPROVEMENTS.
1684. CONSTITUTION (The Federal),
Interpretation of. — Where a phrase is sus
ceptible of two meanings, we ought certainly
to adopt that which will bring upon us the
fewest inconveniences. — OPINION ON APPOR
TIONMENT BILL, vii, 599. FORD ED., v, 498.
(1792.)
1685. . The Constitution^ * *
was meant to be republican, and we believe it
to be republican according to every candid
interpretation. Yet we have seen it so in
terpreted and administered, as to be truly/
what the French have called, a monarchist
masquee. — To ROBERT R. LIVINGSTON. \<\
338. FORD ED., vii, 464. (W., Dec. 1800.)
1686. - . The Constitution on
which our Union rests, shall be administered
by me according to the safe and honest mean-j
ing contemplated by the plain understanding
of the people of the United States, at the tim
of its adoption, — a meaning to be found i
the explanations of those who advocated, m}t
those who opposed it, and who opposed
merely lest the construction should be ap
plied which they denounced as possible.-
REPLY TO ADDRESS, iv, 387. (W., Marc
1801.)
1687. . The Constitution is a
compact of many independent powers, every
single one of which claims an equal right to
understand it, and to requre its observance. —
To EDWARD LIVINGSTON, vii, 404. (M.,
1825.)
1688. . The Constitution of the
United States is a compact of independent
nations, subject to the rules acknowledged in
similar cases, as well that of amendment pro
vided within itself, as. in case of abuse, the
justly dreaded but unavoidable ultima ratio
gentium. — To EDWARD EVERETT, vii, 437.
FORD ED., x, 385. (M.. 1826.)
1689. CONSTITUTION (The Federal),
Jefferson and. — One passage in the paper
you enclosed me must be corrected. It is
the following: "And all say it was yourself
more than any other individual that planned
and established the Constitution." I was in
Europe when the Constitution was planned,
and never saw it till after it was established.
On receiving it, I wrote strongly to Mr. Mad
ison, urging the want of provision for the free
dom of religion, freedom of the press, trial
by jury, habeas corpus, and substitution of
militia for a standing army, and an express
reservation to the State of all rights not
specifically granted to the Union. He ac
cordingly moved in the first session of
Congress for these amendments, which were
ag?eed to and ratified by the States as they
now stand. This is all the hand I had in
what related to the Constitution. — To DR.
JOSEPH PRIESTLEY, iv, 441. FORD ED., viii,
159. (W.. 1802.)
1690. CONSTITUTION (The Federal),
Jurisdiction of. — It may be impracticable to
lay down any general formula of words which
shall decide at once and with precision in
every case, this limit of jurisdiction. But
there are two canons which will guide us
safely in most of the cases, ist. The capital
and leading object of the Constitution was to
leave with the States all authorities which
respected their own citizens only, and to
transfer to the United States those which
respected citizens of foreign or other States;
to make us several as to ourselves, but one
as to all others. In the latter case, then, con
structions should lean to the general juris
diction, if the words will bear it, and in
favor of the States in the former, if possible
to be so construed. And, indeed, between citi
zens and citizens of the same State and under
their own laws, I know but a single case in
which a jurisdiction is given to the General
Government. That is where anything but gold
or silver is made a lawful tender, or the obli
gation of contracts is any otherwise impaired.
The separate legislatures had so often abused
that power that the citizens themselves chose
to trust it to the general rather than to their
own special authorities. 2d. On every ques
tion of construction, carry ourselves back to
the time when the Constitution was adopted
recollect the spirit manifested in the debates,
and instead of trying what meaning may be
squeezed out of the text, or invented against
it, conform to the probable one in which it
was passed. — To WILLIAM JOHNSON, vii,
296. FORD ED., x, 230. (M., 1823.)
1691. CONSTITUTION (The Federal),
Model for France. — Ours [Constitution] has
been professedly their model, in which such
changes are made as a difference of circum
stances rendered necessary, and some others
neither necessary nor advantageous, but into
Constitution
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
194
which men will ever run, when versed in
theory and new in the practice of the govern
ment, when, acquainted with man only as
they see him in their books, and not in the
world. — To JAMES MADISON, iii, 98. FORD
ED., v, 109. (P., Aue. 1789-)
1692. CONSTITUTION (The Federal),
Monarchizing. — I am opposed to the mon-
archizing its features by the forms of its ad
ministration, with a view to conciliate a
first transition to a President and Senate
for life, and from that to an hereditary tenure
of these offices, and thus to worm out the
elective principle. — To ELBRIDGE GERRY, iv,
268. FORD ED., vii, 327. (Pa., I799-)
1693. CONSTITUTION (The Federal),
Necessity for. — Our new Constitution has
succeeded beyond what I apprehended it
would have done. I did not at first believe
that eleven States out of thirteen would have
consented to a plan consolidating themselves
as much into one. A change in their dis
positions, which had taken place since I left
them, had rendered this consolidation neces
sary, that is to say, had called for a federal
government which could walk upon its own
legs, without leaning for support on the State
Legislatures. A sense of necessity, and a
submission to it, is to me a new and con
solatory proof that whenever the people are
well-informed, they can be trusted with their
own government; that whenever things get
so far wrong as to attract their notice, they
may be relied on to set them to rights. — To
DR. PRICE, ii, 553. (P., 1789.) See 1648.
1694. CONSTITUTION (The Federal),
Preservation of. — The preservation of the
Federal Constitution is all we need con
tend for. — To ARCHIBALD STUART, iii, 314.
FORD ED., v, 409. (Pa., 1791-)
1695. . The preservation of the
General Government in its whole constitu
tional vigor, as the sheet anchor of our peace
at home and safety abroad, I deem [one of]
the essential principles of our government,
and consequently [one of] those which ought
to shape its administration. — FIRST INAUGU
RAL ADDRESS, viii, 4. FORD ED., viii, 4.
(1801.)
1696. . I do, with sincere zeal,
wish an inviolable preservation of our present
Federal Constitution according to the true
sense in which it was adopted by the States ;
that in which it was advocated by its friends,
and not that which its enemies apprehended,
who therefore became its enemies. — To EL-
BRIDGE GERRY, iv, 268. FORD ED., vii, 327.
(Pa., I799-)
1697. . May you and your co-
temporaries meet them [attacks on the Con
stitution] with the same determination and
effect, as your father and his did the Alien
and Sedition laws, and preserve inviolate a
constitution, which, cherished in all its
chastity and purity, will prove in the end a
blessing to all the nations of the earth. — To
MR. NICHOLAS, vii, 230. (M., 1821.)
1698. . To preserve the repub
lican forms and principles of our Constitution,
and cleave to the salutary distribution of
powers which that has established, * * *
are the two sheet anchors of our Union. If
driven from either we shall be in danger of
foundering. — To WILLIAM JOHNSON, vii, 298.
FORD ED., x, 232. (M., 1823.)
1699. CONSTITUTION (The Federal),
Principles of.— The principle of the Consti
tution is that of a separation of Legislative,
Executive and Judiciary functions, except
in cases specified. If this principle be not ex
pressed in direct terms, it is clearly the spirit
of the Constitution, and it ought to be so
commented and acted on by every friend of
free government. — To JAMES MADISON, iv,
161. FORD ED., vii, 108. (M., Jan. 1797.)
1700. . The leading principle of
our Constitution is the independence of the
Legislative, Executive and Judiciary of one
another. — To GEORGE HAY. v, 103. FORD ED.,
ix, 60. (W., 1807.)
1701. — . The adored principles of
our Constitution. — To JEDEDIAH MORSE, vii,
235. FORD ED., x. 205. (M., 1822.)
1702. CONSTITUTION (The Federal),
Republican opposition to. — Our first federal
constitution, or Confederation, as it was
called, was framed in the first moments of
our separation from England, in the highest
point of our jealousies of independence as
to her, and as to each other. It formed,
therefore, too weak a bond to produce a
union of action as to foreign nations. This
appeared at once on the establishment of
peace, when the pressure of a common enemy
which had hooped us together during the
war, was taken away. Congress was found
to be quite unable to point the action of the
several States to a common object. A gen
eral desire, therefore, took place of amending
the federal constitution. This was opposed
by some of those who wished for monarchy,
to wit, the refugees, now returned ; the old
tories, and the timid whigs who prefer tran
quillity to freedom, hoping monarchy might
be the remedy if a state of complete anarchy
could be brought on. A convention, how
ever, being decided on. some of the mono-
crats got elected, with a hope of introducing
an English constitution, when they found that
the great body of the delegates were strongly
for adhering to republicanism, and for giving
due strength to their government under that
form, they then directed their efforts to the
assimilation of all the parts of the new gov
ernment to the English constitution as nearly
as was attainable. In this they were not al
together without success; insomuch that the
monarchical features of the new Constitution
produced a violent opposition to it from the
most zealous republicans in the several
States. For this reason, and because they
also thought it carried the principle of a
consolidation of the States farther than was
requisite for the purpose of producing a
union of action as to foreign powers, it is still
195
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Constitution
doubted by some whether a majority of the
people of the United States were not against
adopting it. However it was carried through
all the assemblies of the States, though by
very small majorities in the larger States. —
To C D. EBELING. FORD ED., vii, 45. (i?95-)
1703. CONSTITUTION (The Federal),
Reverence for. — With the House of Repre
sentatives of Vermont I join cordially in ad
miring and revering the Constitution of the
United States, — the result of the collected
wisdom of our country. — REPLY TO ADDRESS.
iv, 418. (W., 1801.)
1704. CONSTITUTION (The Federal),
Safety in. — Our national Constitution, the
ark of our safety, and grand palladium of
our peace and happiness. — R. TO A. MASSA
CHUSETTS CITIZENS, viii, 160. (1800.)
1705. CONSTITUTION (The Federal),
Security in. — A constitution has been ac
quired, which, though neither of us thinks
perfect, yet both consider as competent to
render our fellow citizens the happiest and
the securest on whom the sun has ever
shone. — To JOHN ADAMS, vi, 227. FORD ED.,
ix, 429. (M., 1813.)
1706. CONSTITUTION (The Federal),
Self-government and. — No constitution
was ever before so well calculated as ours for
extensive empire and self-government. — To
PRESIDENT MADISON, v, 444. (M., April
1809.)
1707. CONSTITUTION (The Federal),
' Theory of. — The true theory of our Constitu
tion is surely the wisest and best, that the
States are independent as to everything within
themselves, and united as to everything re
specting foreign affairs. Let the General
Government be reduced to foreign concerns
only, and let our affairs be disentangled from
those of all other nations, except as to com
merce, which the merchants will manage the
better, the more they are left free to manage^
for themselves, and our General Government
may be reduced to a very simple organization,
and a very inexpensive one ; a few plain du
ties to be performed by a few servants. — T
GIDEON GRANGER, iv, 331. FORD ED., vii, 451.
(M., 1800.)
1708. CONSTITUTION (The Federal),
Value of. — Much has been gained by the new
Constitution ; for the former was terminating
in anarchy, as necessarily consequent to in
efficiency. — To GEORGE MASON, iii, 148. FORD
ED., v, 183. (N.Y., 1790.)
1709. CONSTITUTION (The Federal),
Wisdom, of.— The Constitution * * * is
unquestionably the wisest ever yet presented
to men, and some of the accommodations of
interest which it has adopted are greatly
pleasing to me, who have had occasions of
seeing how difficult those interests were to ac
commodate. — To DAVID HUMPHREYS, iii, 12.
FORD ED., v. 80. (P., March 1789.)
1710. CONSTITUTION (French), Ad
vice of Jefferson on. — I wish you success in
your meeting [of the Notables]. I should form
jetter hopes of it, if it were divided into two
houses instead of seven. Keeping the good
model of your neighboring country [England]
before your eyes, you may get on, step by step,
towards a good constitution. Though that model
is not perfect, yet, as it would unite more suf
frages than any new one which could be pro
posed, it is better to make that the object. If
every advance is to be purchased by filling the
royal coffers with gold, it will be gold well em
ployed. — To MARQUIS LAFAYETTE, ii, 131. (P.,
1787.)
1711. CONSTITUTION (French), Ame
lioration of. — If the Etats Gencrcux, when
they assemble, do not aim at too much, they may
begin a good constitution. There are three
articles which they may easily obtain ; i, their
own meeting, periodically ; 2, the exclusive
right of taxation ; 3, the right of registering
laws, and proposing amendments to them, as
exercised now by the parliaments. This last
would be readily approved by the court, on
account of their hostility against the parlia
ments, and would lead immediately to the
origination of laws. The second has been al
ready solemnly avowed by the King ; and it is
well understood there would be no opposition
to the first. If they push at much more, all
may fail. — To JAMES MADISON, ii, 506. FORD
ED., v, 54. (P., Nov. 1788.)
1712. CONSTITUTION (French),
Amendments contemplated. — No plan [of a
constitution] is yet reported ; but the leading
members [of the National Assembly] (with
some small differences of opinion) have in
contemplation the following : The Executive
power in a hereditary King, with a negative on
laws, and power to dissolve the legislature ; to
be considerably restrained in the making of
treaties, and limited in his expenses. The Leg
islative is a House of Representatives. They
propose a Senate also, chosen on the plan of
our Federal Senate by the Provincial Assem
blies, but to be for life, of a certain age (they
talk of forty years), and certain wealth (four
or five hundred guineas a year), but to have
no other power against the laws but to remon
strate against them to the Representatives, who
will then determine their fate by a simple ma
jority. This, you will readily perceive, is a
mere council of revision, like that of New York,
which, in order to be something, must form an
alliance with the King, to avail themselves of
his veto. The alliance will be useful to both,
and to the nation. The Representatives to be
chosen every two or three years. The Judiciary
system is less prepared than any other part of
the plan ; however, they will abolish the parlia
ments, and establish an order of judges and
justices, general and provincial, a good deal
like ours, with trial by jury in criminal cases
certainly, perhaps also in civil. The provinces
will have Assemblies for their provincial gov
ernment, and the cities a municipal body for
municipal government, all founded on the basis
of popular election. These subordinate gov
ernments, though completely dependent on the
general one, will be entrusted with almost the
whole of the details which our State govern
ments exercise. They will have their own ju
diciary, final in all but great cases : the Execu
tive business will principally pass through their
hands, and a certain local legislature will be
allowed them. In short, ours has been pro
fessedly their model, in which such changes
are made as a difference of circumstances ren
dered necessary, and some others, neither neces
sary nor advantageous, but into which men will
ever run, when versed in theory and new in the
Constitution
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
196
practice of government, when acquainted with
man only as they see him in their books, and not
in the world. — To JAMES MADISON, iii, 97.
FORD ED., v, 108. (P., Aug. 1789.)
1713. CONSTITUTION" (French),
Amendments demanded. — The [National]
Assembly * * * proceeded to arrange the
order in which they would take up the heads
of their constitution as follows : First, and as
preliminary to the whole, a general Declaration
of the Rights of Man. Then, specifically, the
Principles of the Monarchy ; Rights of the
Nation ; Rights of the King ; Rights of the Citi
zens ; organization and rights of the National
Assembly ; forms necessary for the enactment
of Laws ; organization and functions of the
Provincial and Municipal Assemblies; duties
and limits of the Judiciary power; functions
and duties of the Military power. A Declara
tion of the Rights of Man, as the preliminary
of their work, was accordingly prepared and
proposed by the Marquis de Lafayette. — AUTO
BIOGRAPHY, i, 96. FORD ED., i, 132. (1821.)
1714. CONSTITUTION (French), Coop
eration of Jefferson invited. — The Assem
bly appointed a committee for the " reduction
of a projet " of a constitution, at the head of
which was the Archbishop of Bordeaux. I re
ceived from him, as chairman of the committee,
a letter of July 2oth [1/89], requesting me to
attend and assist at their deliberations; but I
excused myself, on the obvious considerations
that my mission was to the King as Chief Mag
istrate of the nation, that my duties were limited
to the concerns of my own country, and forbade
me to intermeddle with the internal transac
tions of that in which I had been received under
a specific character only. — AUTOBIOGRAPHY, i,
103. FORD ED., i, 143. (1821.)
1715. CONSTITUTION (French), Di
vergent views on.— The plan of a consti
tution was discussed in sections, and so reported
from time to time, as agreed to by the com
mittee. The first respected the general frame
of the government ; and that this should be
formed into three departments, Executive, Leg
islative and Judiciary, was generally agreed.
But when they proceeded to subordinate devel
opments, many and various shades of opinion
came into conflict, and schism, strongly marked.,
broke the Patriots into fragments of very dis
cordant principles. The first question : Whether
there should be a King? met with no open oppo
sition ; and it was readily agreed that the gov
ernment of France should be monarchical and
hereditary. Shall the King have a negative on
the laws? Shall that negative be absolute or
suspensive only? Shall there be two Chambers
of Legislation, or one only ? If two, shall one
of them be hereditary? or for life? or for a
fixed term? and named by the King? or elected
by the people? These questions found strong
differences of opinion, and produced repulsive
combinations among the Patriots. The Aris
tocracy was cemented by a common principle
of preserving the ancient regime, or whatever
should be nearest to it. Making this their polar
star, they moved in phalanx, gave preponder
ance on every question to the minorities of the
Patriots, and always to those who advocated
the least change. The features of the new con
stitution were thus assuming a fearful aspect,
and great alarm was produced among the honest
Patriots by these dissensions in their ranks. —
AUTOBIOGRAPHY. i, 103. FORD ED., i, 144.
(1821.)
— CONSTITUTION (French), Jeffer
son's Bill of Bights for. — See BILL OF
RIGHTS.
1716. CONSTITUTION (French), Jef
ferson, Patriots and.— The features of the
new Constitution were thus assuming a fearful
aspect, and great alarm was produced among
the honest Patriots in their ranks. In this un
easy state of things, I received one day a note
from the Marquis de Lafayette, informing me
that he should bring a party of six or eight
friends to ask a dinner of me the next day. *
* * When they arrived, they were Lafay
ette himself, Duport, Barnave, Alexander La
Meth, Blacon, Mounier, Maubourg and Dagout.
These were leading Patriots, of honest but dif
fering opinions, sensible of the necessity of ef
fecting a coalition by mutual sacrifices, knowing
each other, and not afraid, therefore, to un
bosom themselves mutually. This last was a
material principle in the selection. With this
view, the Marquis had invited the conference,
and had fixed the time and place inadvertently
as to the embarrassment under which it might
place me. The cloth being removed, wine set
on the table, after the American manner, the
Marquis introduced the objects of the confer
ence, by summarily reminding them of the state
of things in the Assembly, the course which the
principles of the Constitution were taking, and
the inevitable result unless checked by more
concord among the Patriots themselves. He
observed, that although he also had his opinion,
he was ready to sacrifice it to that of his
brethren of the same cause ; but that a common
opinion must now be formed, or the Aristoc
racy would carry everything and that, whatever
they should now agree on, he, at the head of the
National force, would maintain. The discus
sions began at the hour of four and were con
tinued till ten o'clock in the evening ; during
which time I was a silent witness to a coolness
and candor of argument, unusual in the con
flicts of political opinion ; to a logical reasoning
and chaste eloquence, disfigured by no gaudy
tinsel of rhetoric or declamation, and truly
worthy of being placed in parallel with the
finest dialogues of antiquity, as handed to us
by Xenophon, by Plato and Cicero. The result
was an agreement that the King should have
a suspensive veto on the laws, that the legisla
ture should be composed of a single body only,
and that to be chosen by the people. This
Concordat decided the fate of the Constitution.
The Patriots all rallied to the principles thus
settled, carried every question agreeably to
them, and reduced the Aristocracy to insignifi
cance and impotence. — AUTOBIOGRAPHY, i, 104.
FORD ED., i, 144. (1821.)
1717. CONSTITUTION (French), Mont-
morin, Jefferson and. — But duties of ex
culpation were now incumbent on me. I waited
on Count Montmorin the next morning, and
explained to him with truth and candor how it
had happened that my house had been made
the scene of conferences of such a character.
He told me he already knew everything which
had passed, that so far from taking umbrage
at the use of my house on that occasion, he
earnestly wished I would habitually assist at
such conferences, being sure that I should be
useful in moderating the warmer spirits, and
promoting a wholesome and practicable reforma
tion only. I told him I knew too well the du
ties I owed to the King, to the nation and to
my own country, to take any part in councils
concerning their internal government, and that
I should persevere, with care, in the character
i97
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Constitution
of a neutral and passive spectator, with wishes
only and very sincere ones, that those measures
might prevail which would be for the greatest
good of the nation. I have no doubts, indeed,
that this conference was previously known and
approved by this honest minister, who was in
confidence and communication with the Patriots,
and wished for a reasonable reform of the Con
stitution. — AUTOBIOGRAPHY, i, 105. FORD ED.,
i, 146. (1821.)
1718. CONSTITUTION (French), Ne
cessity for. — Nor should we wonder at the
pressure, [for a fixed constitution] when we
consider the monstrous abuses of power under
which * * * the [French] people were
ground to powder ; when we pass in review the
weight of their taxes, and the inequality of
their distribution ; the oppressions of the tithes,
the tallies, the corvees, the gabelles, the farms
and barriers ; the shackles on commerce by mon
opolies ; on industry by guilds and corporations ;
on the freedom of conscience, of thought, and
of speech ; on the freedom of the press by the
Censure; and of the person by Lcttres de
Cachet; the cruelty of the Criminal code gen
erally; the atrocities of the Rack; the venality
of the judges, and their partialities to the rich ;
the monopoly of Military honors by the No
blesse; the enormous expenses of the Queen,
the Princes and the Court; the prodigalities
of pensions ; and the riches, luxury, indolence
and immorality of the Clergy. Surely under
such a mass of misrule and oppression, a peo
ple might justly press for a thorough reforma
tion, and might even dismount their rough
shod riders, and leave them to walk on their
own legs. — AUTOBIOGRAPHY, i, 86. FORD ED., i,
118. (1821.)
1719. CONSTITUTION (Great Brit
ain's), Boot of. — I think your book has de
duced the constitution of the English nation
from its rightful root, the Anglo-Saxon. It is
really wonderful that so many able and learned
men should have failed in their attempts to de
fine it with correctness. No wonder, then, that
[Thomas] Paine, who thought more than he
read, should have credited the great authorities
who have declared, that the will of parliament
is the constitution of England. So Marbois,
before the French Revolution, observed to
me, that the Almanac Royal was the constitu
tion of France. Your derivation of it from the
Anglo-Saxons, seems to be made on legitimate
principles. Having driven out the former in
habitants of that part of the island called Eng
land, they become aborigines as to you, and
your lineal ancestors. They, doubtless, had a
constitution ; and although they have not left
it in a written formula, to the precise text of
which you may always appeal, yet they have
left fragments of their history and laws, from
which it may be inferred with considerable
certainty. What ever their history and laws
show to have been practiced with approbation,
we may presume was permitted by their con
stitution ; whatever was not so practiced, was
not permitted. And, although this constitution
was violated and set at naught by Norman force,
yet force cannot change right. A perpetual
claim was kept up by the nation, by their per
petual demand of a restoration of their Saxon
laws ; which shows they were never relinquished
by the will of the nation. In the pullings and
haulings for these ancient rights, between the
nation, and its kings of the races of Plantagenets.
Tudors and Stuarts, there was sometimes gain,
and sometimes loss, until the final re-conquest
of their rights from the Stuarts. The destitu
tion and expulsion of this race broke the thread
of pretended inheritance, extinguished all regal
usurpations, and the nation reentered into all
its rights ; and although in their Bill of Rights
they specifically reclaimed some only, yet the
omission of the others was no renunciation of
the right to assume their exercise also, whenever
occasion should occur. The new King received
no rights or powers, but those expressly granted
to him. It has ever appeared to me, that the
difference between the whig and the tory of
England is, that the whig deduces his rights
from the Anglo-Saxon source and the tory from
the Norman. And Hume, the great apostle of
toryism, says, in so many words (note AA to
chapter 42), that, in the reign of the Stuarts,
" it was the people who encroached upon the
sovereign, not the sovereign who attempted, as
is pretended, to usurp upon the people." This
supposes the Norman usurpations to be rights
in his successors. And again (C. 159), "the
commons established a principle, which is noble
in itself, and seems specious, but is belied by
all history and experience, that the people are
the origin of all just power." And where else
will this degenerate son of science, this traitor
to his fellow men, find the origin of just powers,
if not in the majority of the society? Will it
be in the minority ? Or in an individual of that
minority? Our Revolution commenced on more
favorable ground. It presented us an album on
which we were to write what we pleased. We
had no occasion to search into musty records,
to hunt up royal parchments, or to investigate
the laws and institutions of a semi-barbarous
ancestry. We appealed to those of nature, and
found them engraved on our hearts. Yet, we
did not avail ourselves of all the advantages
of our position. We had never been permitted
to exercise self-government. When forced to
assume it, we were novices in its science. Its
principles and forms had entered little into our
former education. We established some, al
though not all its important principles. — To
JOHN CARTWRIGHT. vii, 355. (M., 1824.)
1720. CONSTITUTION (Spanish), Pro
posed. — The Constitution proposed has one
feature which I like much ; that which provides
that when the three coordinate branches differ
in their construction of the Constitution, the
opinion of two branches shall overrule the third.
Our Constitution has not sufficiently solved this
difficulty. — To VALENTINE DE FORONDA. v, 473.
(M., 1809.)
1721. CONSTITUTION (Spanish), State
Church.— There are parts of the new Consti
tution of Spain in which you would expect, of
course, that we should not concur. One of
these is the intolerance of all but the Catholic
religion ; and no security provided against the
reestablishment of an Inquisition, the exclusive
judge of Catholic opinions, and authorized to
proscribe and punish those it shall deem anti-
Catholic. — To CHEVALIER DE ONIS. vi, 342.
(M., 1814.)
1722. CONSTITUTION (Spanish), Suf
frage. — There is one provision [in the new
Constitution of Spain] which will immortalize
its inventors. It is that which, after a certain
epoch, disfranchises every citizen who cannot
read and write. This is new, and is the fruit
ful germ of the improvement of everything
good, and the correction of everything imper
fect in the present Constitution. This will give
you an enlightened people, and an energetic
public opinion which will control and enchain
the aristocratic spirit of the government. — To
CHEVALIER DE ONIS. vi, 342. (M., 1814.)
Constitution
Constitution*
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
198
1723.
-. In the Constitution of
Spain, as proposed by the late Cortes, there was
a principle entirely new to me, * * that
no person, born after that day, should ever ac
quire the rights of citizenship until he could
read and write. It is impossible sufficiently
to estimate the wisdom of this provision. Of
all those which have been thought of for secur
ing fidelity in the administration of the govern
ment, constant ralliance to the principles of
the Constitution, and progressive amendments
with the progressive advances of the human
mind, or changes in human affairs, it is the most
effectual. Enlighten the people generally, and
tyranny and oppressions of body and mind will
vanish like evil spirits at the dawn of day.
Although I do not, with some enthusiasts, be
lieve that the human condition will ever ad
vance to such a state of perfection as that there
shall no longer be pain or vice in the world.,
yet I believe it susceptible of much improve
ment, and most of all, in matters of government
and religion ; and that the diffusion of knowl
edge among the people is to be the instrument
by which it is to be effected. The Constitution
of the Cortes had defects enough ; but when
I saw in it this amendatory provision, I was sat
isfied all would come right in time, under its
salutary operation. — To DUPONT DE NEMOURS.
vi, 592. FORD ED., x, 24. (M., 1816.)
— CONSTITUTION (Spanish-Ameri
can). — See SPANISH AMERICA.
— CONSTITUTION OF VIRGINIA.—
See VIRGINIA.
1724. CONSTITUTIONS (American),
Amending. — Happily for us, that when we
find our constitutions defective and insuf
ficient to secure the happiness of our people,
we can assemble with all the coolness of phi
losophers, and set them to rights, while every
other nation on earth must have recourse to
arms to amend or to restore their constitu
tions.— To C. W. F. DUMAS. ii, 264. (P.,
Sep. 1787.)
1725. . Had our former Consti
tution been unalterable (pardon the absurd
ity of the hypothesis), we must have gone
to ruin with our eyes open. — To BENJAMIN
VAUGHAN. v, 334. (P., 1791.)
1726.
Whatever be the Consti
tution, great care must be taken to provide
a mode of amendment, when experience, or
change of circumstances shall have man
ifested that any part of it is unadapted to the
good of the nation. In some of our States
it requires a new authority from the whole
people, acting by their representatives, chosen
for this express purpose, and assembled in
convention. This is found too difficult for
remedying the imperfections which experi
ence develops from time to time in an or
ganization of the first impression. A greater
facility of amendment is certainly requisite
to maintain it in a course of action accom
modated to the times and changes through
which we are ever passing. — To A. CORAY.
vii, 323. (M., 1823.)
1727. CONSTITUTIONS (American),
Best of all Constitutions. — The worst of the
American constitutions is better than the best
which ever existed before in any other
country, and they are wonderfully perfect
for a first essay. Yet, every human essay
must have defects. — To T. M. RANDOLPH, ii,
175. FORD ED., iv, 403. (P., 1787.)
1728. CONSTITUTIONS (American),
Characteristics of. — Our Revolution * * *
presented us an album on which we were free
to write what we pleased. * * * Yet we
did not avail ourselves of all the advantages
of our position. We had never been per
mitted to exercise self-government. When
forced to assume it, we were novices in its
science. Its principles and forms had entered
little into our former education. We es
tablished, however, some although not all
its important principles. The constitutions of
most of our States assert that all power is
inherent in the people ; that they may exercise
it by themselves, in all cases to which they
think themselves competent (as in electing
their functionaries executive and legislative,
and deciding by a jury of themselves, ,in all
judiciary cases in which any fact is involved),
or they may act by representatives, freely and
equally chosen; that it is their right and
duty to be at all times armed ; that they are
entitled to freedom of person, freedom of re
ligion, freedom of property, and freedom of
the press. In the structure of our legisla
tures, we think experience has proved the
benefit of subjecting questions to two sep
arate bodies of deliberants ; but in consti
tuting these, natural right has been mistaken,
some making one of these bodies, and some
both, the representatives of property instead
of persons ; whereas the double deliberation
might be as well obtained without any viola
tion of true principle, either by requiring a
greater age in one of the bodies, or by electing
a proper number of representatives of persons,
dividing them by lots into two chambers, and
renewing the division at frequent intervals,
in order to break up all cabals. — To JOHN
CARTWRIGHT. vii, 356. (M., 1824.)
1729. CONSTITUTIONS (American),
English Constitution and. — The first princi
ple of a good government is, certainly, a dis
tribution of its powers into executive, judici
ary and legislative, and a subdivision of
the latter into two or three branches. It is
a good step gained, when it is proved that the
English Constitution, acknowledged to be
better than all which have preceded it, is only
better in proportion as it has approached
nearer to this distribution of powers. From
this, the last step is easy, to show by a com
parison of our constitutions with that of
England, how much more perfect they are. —
To JOHN ADAMS, ii, 282. FORD ED., iv, 454.
(P., 1787.)
1730. CONSTITUTIONS (American),
Happiness under. — It is a misfortune that
our countrymen do not sufficiently know the
value of their constitutions, and how much
happier they are rendered by them than any
other people on earth by the governments
under which they live.— To JOHN ADAMS.
ii. 282. FORD ED., iv, 455. (P., 1787.)
199
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Constitutions
1731. CONSTITUTIONS (American),
Permanent. — A permanent constitution must
be the work of quiet, leisure, much inquiry,
and great deliberation. — To A. CORAY. vii,
320. (M., 1823.)
1732. CONSTITUTIONS (American),
Principles of. — There are certain principles
in which our constitutions all agree, and
which all cherish as vitally essential to the
protection of the life, liberty, property, and
safety of the citizen, i. Freedom of relig
ion, restricted only from acts of trespass on
that of others. 2. Freedom of person, secur
ing every one from imprisonment, or other
bodily restraint, but by the laws of the land.
This is effected by the law of habeas corpus.
3. Trial by jury, the best of all safe-guards
for the person, the property, and the fame of
every individual. 4. The exclusive right of
legislation and taxation in the representatives
of the people. 5. Freedom of the press, sub
ject only to liability for personal injuries. —
To A. CORAY. vii, 323. (M., 1823.)
1733. CONSTITUTIONS (American),
Revision of. — Some men look at constitu
tions with sanctimonious reverence, and deem
them like the ark of the covenant, too sacred
to be touched. They ascribe to the men of
the preceding age a wisdom more than human,
and suppose what they did to be beyond
amendment. I knew that age well: I be
longed to it, and labored with it. It deserved
well of its country. It was very like the
present, but without the experience of the
present ; and forty years of experience in
government is worth a century of book-
reading; and this they would say themselves,
were they to rise from the dead. I am cer
tainly not an advocate for frequent and un
tried changes in laws and constitutions. I
think moderate imperfections had better be
borne with; because, when once known, we
accommodate ourselves to them and find
practical means of correcting their ill effects.
But I know, also, that laws and institutions
must go hand in hand with the progress of
the human mind. As that becomes more de
veloped, more enlightened, as new discoveries
are made, new truths disclosed, and manners
and opinions change with the change of
circumstances, institutions must advance also,
and keep pace with the times. We might as
well require a man to wear still the coat which
fitted him when a boy, as civilized society to
remain ever under the regimen of their bar
barous ancestors. It is this preposterous idea
which has lately deluged Europe in blood.
Their monarchs, instead of wisely yielding to
the gradual change of circumstances, of
favoring progressive accommodation to pro
gressive improvement, have clung to old
abuses, entrenched themselves behind steady
habits, and obliged their subjects to seek
through blood and violence rash and ruinous
innovations, which, had they been referred
to the peaceful deliberations and collected wis
dom of the nation, would have been put into
acceptable and salutary forms. Let us follow
no such examples, nor weakly believe that one
generation is not as capable as another of
taking care of itself, and of ordering its own
affairs. Let us [Virginia], as our sister
States have done, avail ourselves of our reason
and experience, to correct the crude essays of
our first and unexperienced, although wise,
virtuous, and well meaning councils. And
lastly, let us provide in our Constitution for
its revision at stated periods. What these
periods should be, nature herself indicates. By
the European tables of mortality, of the adults
living at any one moment of time, a majority
will be dead in about nineteen years. At the
end of that period then, a new majority is
come into place ; or, in other words, a new
generation. Each generation is as independ
ent of the one preceding as that was of all
which has gone before. It has, then, like
them, a right to choose for itself the form of
government it believes most promotive of
its own happiness ; consequently, to accommo
date to the circumstances in which it finds
itself, that received from its predecessors ; and
it is for the peace and good of mankind, that
a solemn opportunity of doing this every
nineteen or twenty years, should be provided
by the Constitution ; so that it may be handed
on, with periodical repairs, from generation to
generation, to the end of time, if anything
human can so long endure. It is now forty
years since the Constitution of Virginia was
formed. The same tables inform us, that,
within that period, two-thirds of the adults
then living are now dead. Have, then, the re
maining third, even if they had the wish,
the right to hold in obedience to their will,
and to laws heretofore made by them,
the other two-thirds, who, with themselves,
compose the present mass of adults? If they
have not, who has? The dead? But the
dead have no rights. They are nothing; and
nothing can not own something. Where
there is no substance, there can be no acci
dent. This corporeal globe, and everything
upon it, belong to its present corporeal in
habitants, during their generation. They
alone have a right to direct what is the con
cern of themselves alone, and to declare the
law of that direction ; and this declaration can
only be made by their majority. That ma
jority, then, has a right to depute representa
tives to a convention, and to make the con
stitution what they think will be the best for
themselves. ... If this avenue be shut
to the call of sufferance, it will make itself
heard through that of force, and we shall go
on, as other nations are doing, in the endless
circle of oppression, rebellion, reformation;
and oppression, rebellion, reformation, again;
and so on forever. — To SAMUEL KERCHIVAL,
vii, 14. FORD ED., x, 42. (M., 1816.)
1734. CONSTITUTIONS (American),
Written. — Though written constitutions may
be violated in moments of passion or delusion,
yet they furnish a text to which those who are
watchful may again rally and recall the people.
They fix, too, for the people the principles of
their political creed. — To DR. JOSEPH PRIEST
LEY, iv, 441. FORDED., viii, 159. (W., 1802.)
1735. . Virginia was not only
the first of the American States, but the first
Constitutions
Consuls
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2OO
nation in the world, at least within the
records of history, which, peaceably by its
wise men, formed on free deliberation a con
stitution of government for itself, and de
posited it in writing among their archives,
always ready and open to the appeal of every
citizen. — To JOHN HAMBDEN PLEASANTS. vii,
344. FORD ED., x, 302. (M., 1824.)
1736. . Virginia was not only
the first of the States, but, I believe I may
say, the first of the nations of the earth, which
assembled its wise men peaceably together to
form a fundamental constitution, to commit it
to writing, and place it among their archives,
where everyone should be free to appeal to its
text. But this act was very imperfect. The
other States, as they proceeded successively to
the same work, made successive improve
ments: and several of them, still further cor
rected by experience, have, by conventions,
still further amended their first forms. Vir
ginia has gone on so far with its premiere
ebauche; but is now proposing a convention
for amendment. — To JOHN CARTWRIGHT. vii,
357. (M., 1824.)
1737. CONSTRUCTION OF THE CON
STITUTION.— Our peculiar security is in the
possession of a written Constitution. Let us
not make it a blank paper by construction. —
To WILSON C. NICHOLAS, iv, 506. FORD
ED., viii, 247. (M., 1803.) See 1666.
1738. CONSTRUCTION OF INSTRU
MENTS. — When an instrument admits two
constructions, the one safe, the other dan
gerous, the one precise, the other indefinite, I
prefer that which is safe and precise. — To
WILSON C. NICHOLAS. i<v. 506. FORD ED.,
viii, 247. (M., 1803.)
1739. CONSULAR CONVENTION, His
tory of French.— In 1784 a convention was
entered into between Dr. Franklin and the
Count de Vergennes concerning consuls. It
contained many things absolutely inadmissible
by the laws of the several States, and incon
sistent with their genius and character. Dr.
Franklin not being a lawyer, and the project
offered by the Count de Vergennes being a
copy of the conventions which were estab
lished between France and the despotic States
on the continent (for with England they never
had one), he seems to have supposed it a
formula established by universal experience,
and not to have suspected that it might con
tain matters, inconsistent with the princi
ples of a free people. He returned to Amer
ica soon after the signature of it. Congress
received it with the deepest concern. They
honored Dr. Franklin, they were attached to
the French nation; but they could not re
linquish fundamental principles. They de
clined ratifying it, and sent it back with new
powers and instructions to Mr. Jefferson,
who succeeded Dr. Franklin at Paris. The
most objectionable matters were the privileges
and exemptions given to the consuls, and their
powers over persons of the nation, establish
ing a jurisdiction independent of that of the
nation in which it was exercised, and uncon
trollable by it. The French government
valued these because they then apprehended a
very extensive emigration from France to the
United States, which this convention enabled
them to control. It was, therefore, with the
utmost reluctance, and inch by inch, that they
could be induced to relinquish those condi
tions. The following changes, however, were
effected by the convention of 1788: The
clauses of the convention of 1784, clothing
consuls with the privileges of the laws of
nations, were struck out, and they were ex
pressly subjected in their persons and prop
erty, to the laws of the land. The giving the
right of sanctuary to their houses was re
duced to a protection of their chancery room
and its papers. Their coercive power over
passengers were taken away ; and those whom
they might have termed deserters of their
nation, were restrained to deserted seamen
only. The clause allowing them to arrest and
send back vessels was struck out, and instead
of it they were allowed to exercise a police
over the ships of their nation generally. So
was that which declared the indelibility of the
character of subject, and the explanation and
extension of the eleventh article of the treaty
of amity. The innovations in the laws of
evidence were done away ; and the convention,
from being perpetual, was limited to twelve
years. Although strong endeavors were made
to do away some other disagreeable articles,
yet it was found that more could not be done
without disturbing the good humor, which
Congress wished so much to preserve, and the
limitation obtained for the continuance of the
convention insured our getting finally rid of
the whole. Congress, therefore, satisfied with
having so far amended their situation, ratified
the convention of 1788 without hesitation.* —
To MR. WINGATE. ix, 462. (1803.)
1740. . A consular convention
had been agreed on in 1784, between Dr.
Franklin and the French government, con
taining several articles, so entirely inconsistent
with the laws of the several States, and the
general spirit of our citizens, that Congress
withheld their ratification, and sent it back to
me with instructions to get those articles
expunged, or modified, so as to render them
compatible with our laws. The Minister un
willingly released us from these concessions,
which, indeed, authorized the exercise of
powers very offensive in a free State. After
much discussion, the convention was reformed
in a considerable degree, and was signed by
the Count Montmorin and myself, on the I4th
of November, 1788; not, indeed, such as I
would have wished, but such as could be ob
tained with good humor and friendship. — AU
TOBIOGRAPHY, i, 85. FORD ED., i, 117. (1821.)
1741. CONSULS, The Confederation
— As the States have renounced the sepa
rate power of making treaties with foreign
nations, they cannot separately receive a con
sul ; and as Congress have, by the confed
eration, no immediate jurisdiction over com-
* This convention is the basis of our consular sys
tem, which is practically the same as Jefferson ar
ranged it.— EDITOR.
201
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Consuls
merce, as they have only a power of bringing
that jurisdiction into existence by entering
into a treaty, till such treaty be entered into,
Congress themselves cannot receive a consul.
Till a treaty, then, there exists no power in
any part of our government, federal or partic
ular, to admit a consul among us. * * *
Nothing less than a new article, to be agreed
to by all the States, would enable Congress,
or the particular States, to receive him. — To
DAVID HARTLEY, i, 426. FORD EDV iv, 96.
(P., 1785.)
1742. CONSULS, Creation of.— A consul
is the creature of a treaty. No nation with
out an agreement, can place an officer m
another country, with any powers or juris
diction whatever.— To DAVID HARTLEY, i,
426. FORD ED., iv, 96. (P., 1785.)
1743. . A consul is the creature
of a convention altogether ; without this he
must be unknown, and his jurisdiction un
acknowledged by the laws of the country in
which he is placed. The will of the sovereign
in most countries can give a jurisdiction by a
simple order. With us, the Confederation ad
mitting Congress to make treaties with foreign
powers, they can by treaty or convention,
provide for the admission and jurisdiction of
consuls and the Confederation, and whatever
is done under it, being paramount to the laws
of the States, this establishes the power of the
consuls. But without a convention, the laws
of the States cannot take any notice of a
consul, nor permit him to exercise any juris
diction. — To WILLIAM CARMICHAEL. ii, 17.
(P., 1786.)
1744. CONSULS, Excluded.— With re
spect to the placing consuls in the British
[West India] Islands, we are so far from
being permitted that a common mercantile
factor is not permitted by their laws. — To
MR. COXE. iv, 69. (1793.)
1745. CONSULS, Inutility of.— As to
ourselves, we do not find the institution of
consuls very necessary. Its history com
mences in times of barbarism, and might well
have ended with them. During these, they
were perhaps useful, and may still be so in
countries not yet emerged from that condition.
But all civilized nations at this day, under
stand so well the advantages of commerce,
that they provide protection and encourage
ment for merchant strangers and vessels
coming among them. So extensive, too, have
commercial connections now become, that
every mercantile house has correspondents in
almost every port. They address their vessels
to these correspondents, who are found to
take better care of their interests, and to ob
tain more effectually the protection of the laws
of the country for them, than the consul of
their nation can. He is generally a foreigner,
unpossessed of the little details of knowledge
of greatest use to them. He makes national
questions of all the difficulties which arise;
the correspondent prevents them. We carry
on commerce with good success in all parts of
the world ; yet we have not a consul in a
single port, nor a complaint for the want of
one, except from the persons who wish to be
consuls themselves. Though these consid
erations may not be strong enough to establish
the absolute inutility of consuls, they may
make us less anxious to extend their privileges
and jurisdictions, so as to render them ob
jects of jealousy and irritation in the places of
their residence. That the government [of
France] thinks them useful, is sufficient rea
son for us to give them all the functions and
facilities which our circumstances will admit.
Instead, therefore, of declining, every article
[in the consular convention] which will be
useless to us, we accede to everyone which will
not be inconvenient. Had this nation alone
been concerned, our desire to gratify them,
might have tempted us to press still harder
on the laws and opinions of our country. But
your Excellency knows, that we stand engaged
in treaties with some nations, which wilt give
them occasion to claim whatever privileges
we yield to any other. This renders circum
spection more necessary. — To COUNT DE
MONTMORIN. ii, 420. (P., 1788.)
1746. CONSULS, Law of Nations and.
— The law of nations does not of itself extend
to consuls at all. They are not of the diplo
matic class of characters, to which alone that
law extends of right. Convention, indeed,
may give it to them, and sometimes has done
so; but in that case, the convention can be
produced. In ours with France, it is ex
pressly declared that consuls shall not have
the privileges of that law, and we have no
convention with any other nation. * * *
Independently of law, consuls are to be con
sidered as distinguished foreigners, dignified
by a commission from their sovereign, and
specially recommended by him to the respect
of the nation with whom they reside. They
are subject to the laws of the land, indeed,
precisely as other foreigners are, a convention,
where there is one, making a part of the laws
of the land ; but if at any time, their conduct
should render it necessary to assert the au
thority of the laws over them, the rigor of
those laws should be tempered by our respect
for their sovereign, as far as the case will ad
mit. This moderate and respectful treatment
towards foreign consuls, it is my duty to
recommend and press on our citizens, be
cause I ask it for their good towards our
own consuls, from the people with whom they
reside.— To T. NEWTON, iii, 295. (1791.)
1747. CONSULS, Market Reports and.
— It would be useful if the consuls could for
ward directly to me, from time to time, the
prices current of their place, and any other
circumstance which it might be interesting
to make known to our merchants without
delay. — CIRCULAR TO CONSULS, iii, 430. (Pa.,
1792.)
1748. CONSULS, Native Citizens for.—
With respect to the consular appointments
it is a duty on me to add some observations,
which my situation here has enabled me to
make. I think it was in the spring of 1784,
that Congress (harassed by multiplied appli
cations of foreigners, of whom nothing was
Consuls
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
2O2
known but on their own information, or on
that of others as unknown as themselves)
came to a resolution, that the interest of
America would not permit the naming any
person, not a citizen, to the office of consul,
vice-consul, agent or commissary. This was
intended as a general answer to that swarm
of foreign pretenders. It appears to me,
that it will be best still to preserve a part of
this regulation. Native citizens, on several
valuable accounts, are preferable to aliens,
and to citizens alien-born. They possess our
language, know our laws, customs, and com
merce; have, generally, acquaintance in the
United States ; give better satisfaction, and
are more to be relied on in point of fidel
ity. Their disadvantages are an imperfect ac
quaintance with the language of this country,
and an ignorance of the organization of its ju
dicial and executive powers, and consequent
awkwardness, whenever application to either
of these is necessary, as it frequently is. But
it happens that in some of the principal ports
of France, there is not a single American
(as in Marseilles, L'Orient, and Havre), in
others but one (as in Nantes and Rouen),
and in Bordeaux only, are there two or three.
Fortunately for the present moment, most of
these are worthy of appointments. But we
should look forward to future times, when
there may happen to be no native citizens in a
port, but such as, being bankrupt, have taken
asylum in France from their creditors, or
young ephemeral adventurers in commerce,
without substance or conduct, or other de
scriptions, which might disgrace the consular
office, without protecting our commerce. To
avail ourselves of our good native citizens,
when we have one in a port, and when there
are none, to have yet some person to attend to
our affairs, it appears to me advisable, to de
clare by a standing law that no person but a
native citizen shall be capable of the office of
consul,, and that the consul's presence in his
port shall suspend, for the time, the functions
of the vice-consul. This is the rule of 1784,
restrained to the office of consul, and to native
citizens. The establishing this, by a standing
law, will guard against the effect of particular
applications, and will shut the door against
such appplications. — To JOHN JAY. ii, 494.
(P., 1788.)
1749. . The office of vice-consul
may be given to the best subject in the port,
whether citizen or alien; and that of consul
be kept open for any native citizen of superior
qualifications, who might come afterwards to
establish himself in the port. The functions of
the vice-consul would become dormant during
the presence of his principal, come into ac
tivity again on his departure, and thus spare
us and them the painful operation of revo
king and reviving their commissions perpet
ually. Add to this that during the presence
of the consul, the vice-consul would not be
merely useless, but would be a valuable coun
sellor to his principal, new in the office, the
language, laws and customs of the country.
Every consul and vice-consul should be re
strained in his jurisdiction to the port for
which he is named, and the territory nearer to
that than to any other consular or vice-con
sular port, and no idea be permitted to arise
that the grade of consul gives a right to any
authority whatever over a vice-consul, or
draws on any dependence.— To JOHN JAY. ii,
496. (P., 1788.)
1750. — . . The determination to
appoint natives only is generally proper, but
not always. These places are for the most
part of little consequence to the public; and if
they can be made resources of profit to our
ex-military worthies, they are so far advanta
geous. You and I, however, know that one
of these novices, knowing nothing of the
laws, or authorities of his port, nor speaking
a word of its language, is of no more account
than the fifth wheel of a coach.— To JAMES
MONROE, vi, 552. (M., 1816.)
1751. CONSULS, Punished.— One of
Genet's consuls* has committed a pretty
serious deed at Boston, by going with an
armed force taken from a French frigate in
the harbor, and rescuing a vessel out of the
hands of the marshal who had arrested her by
process from a court of justice; in another
instance, he kept off the marshal by an armed
force from serving a process on a vessel.
He is ordered, consequently, to be arrested
himself, prosecuted and punished for the res
cue, and his exequatur will be revoked. — To
JAMES MADISON, iv, 52. FORD ED., vi, 401.
(Pa., Sep. 1793.)
1752 . The President is in
formed that M. Duplaine, consul of
France at Boston, has * * * rescued a
vessel from the officer of the court of justice,
by process from which she was under arrest
in his custody; and that he has in like manner,
with an armed force, opposed and prevented
the officer, charged with process from a court
against another vessel, from serving that proc
ess. This daring violation of the laws re
quires the more attention, as it is by a for
eigner clothed with a public character, arro
gating an unfounded right to Admiralty juris
diction, and probably meaning to assert it by
this act of force. By the law of nations, con
suls are not diplomatic characters, and have
no immunities whatever against the laws of
the land. To put this altogether out of dis
pute, a clause was inserted in our consular
convention with France, making them ame
nable to the laws of the land, as other inhab
itants. Consequently, M. Duplaine is liable to
arrest, imprisonment, and other punishments,
even capital, as other foreign subjects resident
here. * You will immediately in
stitute such a prosecution against him as the
laws will warrant. — To CHRISTOPHER GORE.
iv, 55- FORD ED., vi, 404. (Pa., Sep. 1793.)
1753. . If there be any doubt as
to the character of his offence, whether of a
higher or a lower grade, it will be best to
prosecute for that which will admit the least
doubt, because an acquittal, though it might
* The consuls appointed by Genet when he camo
here as Minister of the French Republic.— EDITOK,
203
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Consuls
Contention
be founded on the opinion that the grade of
offence with which he is charged is higher
than his act would support, yet it might be
construed by the uninformed to be a judiciary
decision against his amenability to the law, or
perhaps in favor of the jurisdictions these
consuls [Genet's appointments] are assuming.
The process, therefore, should be of the
surest kind, and all the proceedings well
grounded. — To CHRISTOPHER GORE, iv, 55.
FORD ED., vi, 405. (Pa., Sep. 1793.)
1754. - — . If an arrest * * * be
the first step, it should be so managed as to
leave room neither for escape nor rescue. It
should be attended with every mark of respect,
consistent with safe custody, and his confine
ment as mild and comfortable also, as that
would permit. These are the distinctions to
which a consul is entitled, that is to say, of a
particular decorum of deportment towards
him, indicative of respect to the sovereign
whose officer he is. — To CHRISTOPHER GORE.
iv, 55. FORD ED., vi, 405. (Pa., Sep. 1793.)
1755. CONSULS, Reception of.— We are
very far from admitting your principle, that
the government on their side has no other
right, on the presentation of a consular com
mission, than to certify that, having examined
it, they find it according to rule. The govern
ments of both nations have a right, and that
of yours has exercised it as to us, of consider
ing the character of the person appointed ; the
place for which he is appointed, and other ma
terial circumstances ; and of taking precau
tions as to his conduct, if necessary ; and this
does not defeat the general object of the con
vention, which, in stipulating that consuls shall
be promoted on both sides, could not mean to
supersede reasonable objections to particular
persons, who might at the moment be obnox
ious to the nation to which they were sent,
or whose conduct might render them so at any
time hereafter. In fact, every foreign agent
depends on the double will of the two govern
ments, of that which sends him, and of that
which is to permit the exercise of his func
tions within their territory ; and when either
of these wills is refused or withdrawn, his au
thority to act within that territory becomes
incomplete. — To E. C. GENET, iv, 90. FORD
ED., vi, 463. (Pa., Dec. I793-)
1756. . By what member of the
government the right of giving or withdraw
ing permission is to be exercised here, is a
question on which no foreign agent can be
permitted to make himself the umpire. It is
sufficient for him, under our government, that
he is informed of it by the Executive. — To
E. C. GENET, iv, 90. FORD ED., vi, 463. (Pa.,
Dec. 1793.)
1757. CONSULS, Uniform for.— The
consuls and vice-consuls of the United States
are free to wear the uniform of their navy, if
they choose to do so. This is a deep blue coat
with red facings, lining and cuffs, the cuffs
slashed and a standing collar ; a red waistcoat
(laced or not at the election of the wearer)
and blue breeches ; yellow buttons with a foul
anchor, and black cockades and small swords.
— To THE CONSULS OF THE U. S. iii, 187.
(1790.)
1758. CONSULS, Usurpation of Juris
diction by. — I have it in charge, from the
President of the United States, to give notice
to all the consuls and vice-consuls of France,
that if any of them * * * shall assume
any jurisdiction not expressly given by the
convention between France and the United
States, the exequatur of the consul FO trans
gressing will be immediately revoked, and his
person submitted to such prosecutions and
punishments as the laws may prescribe for the
case. — CIRCULAR TO FRENCH CONSULS. FORD
ED., vi, 417. (Sep. 1793.)
1759. . We learn * * * that
the [French] consul of New York, in the
first instance, and yourself in a subsequent
one, forbade an officer of justice to serve the
process with which he was charged from his
court, on the British brig William Tell, taken
by a French armed vessel, within a mile of
our shores, * * * and that you had even
given orders to the French squadron there to
protect the vessel against any person who
should attempt to take her from their custody.
If this opposition were founded, * * * on
the indulgence of the letters before cited
[with respect to the William Tell], it was ex
tending that to a case not within their pur
view ; and even had it been precisely the case
to which they were to be applied, is it pos
sible to imagine you might assert it, within the
body of the country, by force of arms? 1
forbear to make the observations which such
a measure must suggest, and cannot but be
lieve that a moment's reflection will evince to
you the depth of the error committed in this
opposition to an officer of justice, and in the
means proposed to be resorted to in support
of it. I am, therefore, charged to declare to
you expressly, that the President expects and
requires, that the officer of justice be not ob
structed, in freely and peaceably serving the
process of his court; and that, in the mean
time, the vessel and her cargo be not suffered
to depart, till the judiciary, if it will undertake
it, or himself, if not, shall decide whether the
seizure has been within the limits of our pro
tection. — To E. C. GENET, iv, 68. FORD ED.,
vi, 421. (Pa., Sep. 1793.)
1760. . With respect to the
usurpation of admiralty jurisdiction by the
consuls of France, within these States, the
honor and rights of the States themselves
were sufficient motives for the Executive to
take measures to prevent its continuance, as
soon as they were apprised of it. They have
been led, by particular considerations, to await
the effect of these measures, believing they
would be sufficient ; but finding at length they
were not, such others have been lately taken,
as can no longer fail to suppress this irregu
larity completely. — To GEORGE HAMMOND.
iv, 66. FORD ED., vi, 424. (Pa., Sep. 1793.)
1761. CONTENTION, Horror of.— There-
may be people to whose tempers and dispo-
Contentment
Contracts
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
204
sitions contention is pleasing and who, there
fore, wish a continuance of confusion, but to
me it is of all states but one the most hor
rid. — To JOHN RANDOLPH, i, 200. FORD ED.,
i, 482. (M., 1775.)
1762. CONTENTMENT, Wisdom of.— It
is wise and well to be contented with the good
things which the Master of the feast places
before us, and to be thankful for what we
have, rather than thoughtful about what we
have not. — To MRS. JOHN ADAMS, vii, 53.
FORD ED., x, 71. (M., 1817.)
— CONTINENTAL CONGRESS.— See
CONGRESS.
1763. CONTRABAND OF WAR, Abu
sive Seizures.— We believe the practice of
seizing what is called contraband of war, is an
abusive practice, not founded in natural right.
War between two nations cannot diminish the
rights of the rest of the world remaining at
peace. The doctrine that the rights of nations
remaining quietly under the exercise of moral
and social duties, are to give way to the con
venience of those who prefer plundering and
murdering one another, is a monstrous doc
trine ; and ought to yield to the more rational
law, that " the wrongs which two nations en
deavor to inflict on each other, must not in
fringe on the rights or conveniences of those
remaining at peace ". — To ROBERT R. LIVING
STON, iv, 410. FORD ED., viii, 90. (M., 1801.)
1764. CONTRABAND OF WAR, Na
tional Law and. — What is contraband by
the law of nature? Either everything which
may aid or comfort an enemy or nothing.
Either all commerce which would accommo
date him is unlawful, or none is. The differ
ence between articles of one or another de
scription, is a difference in degree only. No
line between them can be drawn. Either all
intercourse must cease between neutrals and
belligerents, or all be permitted. Can the world
hesitate to say which shall be the rule? Shall
two nations turning tigers, break up in one
instant the peaceable relations of the whole
world? Reason and nature clearly pronounce
that the neutral is to go on in the enjoyment
of all its rights, that its commerce remains
free, not subject to the jurisdiction of another,
nor consequently its vessels to search, or to in
quiries whether their contents are the property
of an enemy, or are of those which have been
called contraband of war. — To ROBERT R.
LIVINGSTON, iv, 410. FORD ED., viii, 90. (M.,
1801.)
1765. CONTRABAND OF WAR, Naval
Stores and. — I have had a consultation with
Mr. Madison on the application of the British
vessel of war for stores. We are both of
opinion that if by this term he meant sea
stores only, or even munitions de bouche, or
provisions generally, there can be no objection
to their taking them, or indeed anything ex
cept contraband of war. But what should be
deemed contraband of war in this case we are
not agreed. He thinks that as the English
deem naval stores to be contraband, and as
such take them from our vessels at sea,
we ought to retaliate their own definition on
them. I think we ought to act on the opinion
that they are not contraband; because by
treaties between all the nations (I think)
having treaties with another they are agreed
not to be contraband; even England herself,
with every nation but ours, makes them non-
contraband, and the only treaty making them
contraband (Jay's) is now expired. We
ought, then, at once to rally with all the other
nations on the ground that they are non-
contraband; and if England treats them as
contraband in our ships, instead of admitting
it by retaliation, let us contest it on its true
ground. Mr. Madison thinks France might
complain of this ; but I think not, as we shall
permit both nations equally to take naval
stores; or at least such articles of them as
may be used for peaceable as well as warlike
purposes ; this being the true line. — To ALBERT
GALLATIN. FORD ED., viii, 455. (June 1806.)
1766. CONTRABAND OF WAR, Pro
visions and. — Certainly provisions are not
allowed by the consent of nations, to be con
traband but where everything is so, as in
the case of a blockaded town, with which all
intercourse is forbidden. — To EDWARD EVER
ETT, vii, 270. (M., 1823.)
1767. CONTRACTS, Abiding by.— To
preserve the faith of the nation by an exact
discharge of its debts and contracts * * *
[is one of] the landmarks by which we are
to guide ourselves in all our proceedings. —
SECOND ANNUAL MESSAGE, viii, 21. FORD
ED., viii, 187. (Dec. 1802.)
1768. CONTRACTS, Congressmen and.
— I am averse to giving contracts of any kind
to members of the Legislature. — To ALBERT
GALLATIN. v, 50. (W., 1807.)
1769. CONTRACTS, Impairment of.—
Between citizens and citizens of the same
State, and under their own laws, I know but
a single case in which a jurisdiction is given to
the General Government. That is, where any
thing but gold or silver is made a lawful ten
der, or the obligation of contracts is any other
wise impaired. The separate legislatures had
so often abused that power, that the citizens
themselves chose to trust it to the general
rather than to their own special authorities. —
To WILLIAM JOHNSON, vii, 296. FORD ED.,
x, 231. (M., 1823.)
1770. CONTRACTS, Liberation from.—
There are circumstances which sometimes ex
cuse the non-performance of contracts be
tween man and man ; so are there also between
nation and nation. When performance, for
instance, becomes impossible, non-perform
ance is not immoral; so if performance be
comes self-destructive to the party, the law
of self-preservation overrules the laws of ob
ligation in others.— FRENCH TREATIES OPIN
ION, vii, 613. FORD ED., vi, 220. (1793.)
1771. . Reason, which gives the
right of self-liberation from a contract in
certain cases, has subjected it to certain just
limitations. The danger which absolves us
205
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Contracts
Convention
must be great, inevitable and imminent. —
FRENCH TREATIES OPINION, vii, 614. FORD
ED., vi, 221. (I793-)
1772. . Obligation is not sus
pended till the danger is become real, and the
moment of it so imminent, that we can no
longer avoid decision without forever losing
the opportunity to do it.— FRENCH TREATIES
OPINION, vii, 615. FORD ED., vi, 222. (1793.)
1773. CONTRACTS, Possibilities and.—
If possibilities would void contracts, there
never could be a valid contract, for possibil
ities hang over everything. — FRENCH TREATIES
OPINION, vii, 614. FORD ED., vi, 222. (1793.)
1774. CONTROVERSY, Aversion to.—
Having an insuperable aversion to be drawn
into controversy in the public papers, I must
request not to be quoted.— To JOSEPH DELA--
PLAINE. vii, 21. FORD ED., x, 56. (M.,
1816.)
1775. CONTROVERSY, Avoiding.— So
many persons have of late found an interest
or a passion gratified by imputing to me say
ings and writings which I never said or wrote,
or by endeavoring to draw me into newspapers
to harass me personally, that I have found
it necessary for my quiet and my other pur
suits to leave them in full possession of the
field, and not to take the trouble of contradict
ing them even in private conversation. — To
ALEXANDER WHITE, iv, 201. FORD ED., vii,
174. (M., 1797.)
1776. CONTROVERSY, Declining.— As
to myself, I shall take no part in any dis
cussions. I leave others to judge of what I
have done, and to give me exactly the place
which they shall think I have occupied. Mar
shall has written libels on one side ; others, I
suppose, will be written on the other side ; and
the world will sift both and separate the truth
as well as they can. — To JOHN ADAMS, vi,
127. FORD ED., ix, 388. (M., 1813.)
1777. CONVENT, Entering a.— And
Madame Cosway in a convent! I knew that to
much goodness of heart she joined enthusiasm
and religion ; but I thought that very enthusi
asm would have prevented her from shutting
up her adoration of the God of the universe
within the walls of a cloister; that she would
rather have sought the mountain top. — To MRS.
CHURCH. FORD ED., vi, 455. (G., 1793.)
1778. CONVENTION (Federal), Call
for. — The want of some authority which
should procure justice to the public creditors,
and an observance of treaties with foreign
nations, produced the call of a convention of
the States at Annapolis.* — THE ANAS, ix,
89. FORD ED., i, 158. (1818.)
1779. . All the States have come
into the Virginia proposition for a commer
cial convention, the deputies of which are
to agree on the form of an article giving to
Congress the regulation of their commerce.
Maryland alone has not named deputies, con-
* For quotation purposes the Annapolis Commer
cial Convention, and the Philadelphia Federal Con
vention are treated as one body. — EDITOR.
ceiving that Congress might as well propose
the article. They are, however, for giving
the power, and will, therefore, either nomi
nate deputies to the convention, or accede to
their measures. — To M. DE LAFAYETTE, ii, 21.
(P., 1786.)
1780. CONVENTION (Federal), Charac
ter of. — It is really an assembly of demi-gods.*
—To JOHN ADAMS, ii, 260. (P., 1787.)
1781. . The convention holding
at Philadelphia consists of the ablest men in
America. — To C. W. F . DUMAS, ii, 140.
(P., 1787.)
1782. . A more able assembly
never sat in America. — To C. W. F. DUMAS
ii, 264. (P., 1787.)
1783. CONVENTION (Federal), Pub
licity and.— I am sorry the Federal Conven
tion began their deliberations by so abomina
ble a precedent as that of tying up the tongues
of their members. Nothing can justify this
example but the innocence of their intentions ;
and ignorance of the value of public discus
sions.— To JOHN ADAMS, ii, 260. (P., 1787.)
1784. CONVENTION (Federal), Re
form and. — I remain in hopes of great and
good effects from the decision of the Assembly
over which you are presiding.— To GENERAL
WASHINGTON, ii, 250. (P., Aug. 1787.)
1785. . I look to the Federal
Convention for an amendment of our Federal
affairs.— To BENJAMIN HAWKINS, ii, 220.
FORD ED., iv, 426. (P., 1787.)
1786. CONVENTION (Federal), Repre
sentation in.— I find by the public papers that
your commercial convention [at Annapolis]
failed in point of representation. If it should
produce a full meeting in May, and a broader
reformation, it will still be well.— To JAMES
MADISON, ii, 65. FORD ED., iv, 332. (P.
Dec. 1786.)
1787. CONVENTION, National Repub
lican.— If * * * the [Federal] govern
ment should expire on the 3d of March bv the
loss of its head, there is no regular provision
for reorganizing it, nor any authority but in
the people themselves. They may authorize a
convention to reorganize, and even amend the
machine. — To BENJAMIN SMITH BARTON, iv,
353- FORD ED., vii, 490. (W., Feb. 14, 1801.)
1788. . The Federalists in Con
gress were completely alarmed at the resource
for which we declared, to wit, a convention to
reorganize the government, and to amend it.
The very word convention gives them the hor
rors, as in the present democratical spirit of
America, they fear they should lose some of
the favorite morsels of the Constitution. — To
JAMES MONROE, iv, 354. FORD ED., vii, 491.
(W., Feb. 15, 1801.)
1789. . I have been, above all
things, solaced by the prospect which opened
on us [in the Presidential contest in 1801] in
the event of a non- election of a President;
* Philadelphia Convention.— EDITOR.
Convention
Cooper
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
206
in which case, the Federal Government would
have been in the situation of a clock or watch
run down. There was no idea of force, nor
of any occasion for it. A convention, invited
by the Republican members of Congress, with
the virtual President and Vice-President,
would have been on the ground in eight
weeks, would have repaired the Constitution
where it was defective, and wound it up
again. This peaceable and legitimate re
source, to which we are in the habit of im
plicit obedience, superseding all appeal to
force, and being always within our reach,
shows a precious principle of self-preserva
tion in our composition, till a change of cir
cumstances shall take place, which is not
within prospect at any definite period. — To
JOSEPH PRIESTLEY, vii, 374. FORD ED., viii, 22.
(W., March 21, 1801.)
1790. CONVENTION (Virginia), First.
— On the discontinuance of Assemblies [in
Virginia], it became necessary to substitute in
their place some other body, competent to the
ordinary business of government, and to the
calling forth the powers of the state for the
maintenance of our opposition to Great Brit
ain. Conventions were, therefore, intro
duced, consisting of two delegates from each
county, meeting together and forming one
House, on the plan of the former House of
Burgesses, to whose places they succeeded.
These were at first chosen anew for every
particular session. But in March, 1775, they
recommended to the people to choose a con
vention, which should continue in office a
year. — NOTES ON VIRGINIA, viii, 363. FORD
ED., iii, 225. (1782.)
1791. CONVENTION (Virginia), Pow
ers of. — The convention of Virginia, which
organized their new government, had been
chosen before a separation from Great Brit
ain had been thought of in their State. They
had, therefore, none but the ordinary powers
of legislation. This leaves their act for or
ganizing the government subject to be altered
by every legislative assembly, and though no
general change in it has been made, yet its
effect has been controlled in several special
cases. — To M. DE MEUNIER. viii, 283. FORD
ED., iv, 139. (P., 1786.)
1792. . To our convention no
special authority had been delegated by the
people to form a permanent Constitution, over
which their successors in legislation should
have no powers of alteration. They had been
elected for the ordinary purposes of legisla
tion only, and at a time when the establish
ment of a new government had not been pro
posed or contemplated. Although, therefore,
they gave to this act the title of a constitu
tion, yet it could be no more than an act of
legislation, subject, as their other acts were,
to alteration by their successors. — To JOHN
HAMBDEN PLEASANTS. vii, 344. FORD ED., x,
302. (M., 1824.)
1793. CONVENTIONS, Constitutional.
—The * * * States in the Union have
been of opinion that to render a form of gov
ernment unalterable by ordinary acts of As
sembly, the people must delegate persons with
special powers. They have accordingly chosen
special conventions to form and fix their gov
ernments. — NOTES ON VIRGINIA, viii, 367.
FORD ED., iii, 229. (1782.)
1794. . Happy for us that we are
yet able to send our wise and good men to
gether to talk over our form of government,
discuss its weaknesses, and establish its reme
dies with the same sang froid as they would
a subject of agriculture. — To RALPH IZARD.
ii, 429. (P., 1788.)
1795. . The example of chang
ing a constitution by assembling the wise
men of the State, instead of assembling
armies, will be worth as much to the world
as the former examples we had given them. —
To DAVID HUMPHREYS, iii, 12. FORD ED.,
v, 89. (P., 1789.)
1796. . This corporeal globe,
and everything upon it, belong to its pres
ent corporeal inhabitants, during their genera
tion. They alone have a right to direct what
is the concern of themselves alone, and to de
clare the law of that direction ; and this dec
laration can only be made by their majority.
That majority, then, has a right to depute
representatives to a convention, and to make
the constitution what they think will be the
best for themselves. * * * If this avenue
be shut to the call of sufferance it will make
itself through that of force, and we shall go
on, as other nations are doing, in the endless
circle of oppression, rebellion, reformation ;
and oppression, rebellion, reformation, again;
and so on forever. — To SAMUEL KERCHIVAL.
vii, 16. FORD ED., x, 44. (M., 1816.)
1797. CONVICTS, Transported.— The
malefactors sent to America were not sufficient
in number to merit enumeration, as one class
out of three which peopled America. It was
at a late period of their history that this prac
tice began. * * * I do not think the whole
number sent would amount to two thousand,
and being principally men, eaten up with dis
ease, they married seldom and propagated little.
I do not suppose that themselves and their de
scendants are at present four thousand, which
is little more than one-thousandth part of the
whole inhabitants. — To M. DE MEUNIER. ix^
254. FORD ED., iv, 158. (P., 1786.)
— COOKERY.— See GASTRONOMY.
1798. COOPER (Thomas), University
of Va. and. — I do sincerely lament that unto
ward circumstances have brought on us the ir
reparable loss of this professor, whom I have
looked to as the corner stone of our edifice
[University of Virginia]. I know no one who
could have aided us so much in forming the fu
ture regulations of our infant institution ; and
although we may perhaps obtain from Europe
equivalents in science, they can never replace
the advantages of his experience, his knowledge
of the character, habits and manners of our
country, his identification with its sentiments
and principles, and high reputation he has ob
tained in it generally.* — To GENERAL TAYLOR.
vii, 164. (M., 1820.)
* Dr. Cooper was an Englishman, and the son-in-
law of Dr. Priestley, with whom he came to America
in 1792. Cooper edited Priestley's writings and was
207
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Cooper
Cornwallis
1799. . You may have heard of
the hue and cry raised from the different pul
pits on our appointment [to be professor in
the University of Virginia] of Dr. Cooper,
whom they charge with Unitarianism as boldly
as if they knew the fact, and as presumptuously
as if it were a crime, and one for which, like
Servetus, he should be burned * * * . For
myself, I was not disposed to regard the denun
ciations of these satellites of religious inquisi
tion ; but our colleagues, better judges of popu
lar feeling, thought that they were not to be
altogether neglected ; and that it might be bet
ter to relieve Dr. Cooper, ourselves and the in
stitution from this crusade. — To GENERAL
TAYLOR, vii, 162. (M., 1820.)
1800. COPYING PRESS, Appreciated.—
Have you a copying press? If you have not,
you should get one. Mine (exclusive of paper,
which costs a guinea a ream) has cost me about
fourteen guineas. I would give ten times that
sum to have had it from the date of the Stamp
Act. — To JAMES MADISON. i, 415. (P.,
1785.)
1801. . I shall be able to have a
small copying press completed for you here
[Paris] in about three weeks. — To M. DE LA
FAYETTE, ii, 22. (P.; 1786.)
1802. COPYING PRESS, Jefferson's
portable. — Having a great desire to have a
portable copying machine, and being satisfied
from some experiments that the principle of
the large machines might be applied in a small
one, I planned one when in England, and had
it made. It answers perfectly. I have since set
a workman to making them here, and they are
in such demand that he has his hands full.
* * * I send you one. The machine costs
06 livres, the appendages 24 livres. * * *
You must expect to make many essays before
you succeed perfectly. A soft brush, like a
shaving brush, is more convenient than the
sponge. — To JAMES MADISON, ii, no. FORD
ED., iv, 369. (P., 1787-)
— COPYRIGHT.— See BOOKS, GENERA
TIONS and MONOPOLY.
1803. CORAY (A.), Works of.— I recol
lect with pleasure the short opportunity of ac
quaintance with you afforded me in Paris
* * * and the fine editions of the classical
writers of Greece, which have been announced
by you from time to time, have never permitted
me to lose the recollection. Until those of
Aristotle's Ethics and the Strategicos of One-
sander, with which you have now favored me
I had seen only your Lives of Plu
tarch. * * * I profited much by your valu
able scholia. * * * You have certainly be
gun at the right end towards preparing [your
countrymen] for the great object they are now
contending for, by improving their minds and
qualifying them for self-government. For this
they will owe you lasting honors. Nothing is
more likely to forward this object than a study
of the fine models of science left by their an
cestors, to whom we also are all indebted for the
regarded as a Unitarian. He was well-versed in
chemistry, physics and physiology; was one of the
earliest writers in this country on political economy,
and the first to introduce the study of Roman law by
his edition of Justinian. He was a professor in
Dickinson College, a lecturer in the University of
Pennsylvania and became a Judge. His liberal
views on religion aroused the antagonism of the
orthodox clergy of Virginia and their attacks led to
his retirement from the University of Virginia. In
1820, he became President of the 'College of South
Carolina. He died in 1830-— EDITOR.
lights which originally led ourselves out of
Gothic darkness. — To A. CORAY. vii, 318. (M.,
1823.)
_ CORK TREK— See TREES.
1804. CORNWALLIS (Lord), Ravages
of in Virginia. — Lord Cornwallis remained
in this position [from Point of Fork along the
main James River] ten days, his own head
quarters being in my house [Elk-hill] at that
place. I had time to remove most of the ef
fects out of the house. He destroyed all my
growing crops of corn and tobacco; he burned
all my barns, containing the same articles of
the last year, having first taken what corn he
wanted ; he used, as was to be expected, all my
stock of cattle, sheep and hogs, for the sus
tenance of his army, and carried off all the
horses capable of service ; of those too young
for service, he cut the throats ; and he burned
all the fences on the plantation, so as to leave
it an absolute waste. He carried off also
about thirty slaves. Had this been to give them
freedom, he would have done right ; but it was
to consign them to inevitable death from the
small-pox and putrid fever, then raging in his
camp. This I knew afterwards to IDC the fate
of twenty-seven of them. I never had news
of the remaining three, but presume they shared
the ^ same fate. When I say that Lord Corn-
waliis did all this, I do not mean that he car
ried about the torch in his own hands, but that
it was all done under his eye ; the situation of
the house in which he was, commanding a
view of every part of the plantation, so that
he must have seen every fire. I relate these
things on my own knowledge in a great degree,
as I was on the ground soon after he left it.
He treated the rest of the neighborhood some
what in the same style, but not with that spirit
of total extermination with which he seemed to
rage over my possessions. Wherever he went,
the dwelling houses were plundered of every
thing that could be carried off. Lord Corn-
wallis's character in England would forbid the
belief that he shared in the plunder ; but that
his table was served with the plate thus pil
laged from private houses, can be proved by
many hundred eyewitnesses. From an estimate
I made at that time, on the best information I
could collect, I supposed the State of Virginia
lost under Lord Cornwallis's hands, that year,
about thirty thousand slaves ; and that of these,
about twenty-seven thousand died of the small
pox and camp fever, and the rest were partly
sent to the West Indies, and exchanged for
rum, sugar, coffee and fruit, and partly sent
to New York, whence they went, at the peace,
either to Nova Scotia or England. From this
last place, I believe they have been lately sent
to Africa. History will never relate the hor
rors committed by the British army in the
Southern States of America. They raged in
Virginia six months only, from the middle of
April to the middle of October, 1781, when they
were all taken prisoners ; and I give you a
faithful specimen of their transactions for ten
days of that time, and on one spot only. Ex
pede Herculem. I suppose their whole dev
astations during those six months amounted to
about three millions sterling. — To DR. WILLIAM
GORDON, ii, 426. FORD ED., v, 39. (P., 1788.)
1805. . Lord Cornwallis en
camped ten days on an estate of mine at Elk
Island, having his headquarters in my house.
He burned all the tobacco houses and barns on
the farm with the produce of the former year
in them. He burned all the enclosures, and
wasted the fields in which the crop of that year
Cornwallis
Correspondence
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
208
(it was in the month of June) was growing.
He killed or carried off every living animal,
cutting the throats of those which were too
young for service. Of the slaves he carried
away thirty. — To WILLIAM JONES. FORD EDV
iv, 354- (P-, 1787-)
1806. CORNWAiLIS (Lord), Trum-
bulFs picture of. — The painting lately exe
cuted by Colonel Trumbull, I have never seen,
but as far back as the days of Horace at least,
we are told that " pictoribiis atque poetis ;
Quidlibet audendi semper fuit aqua potestas."
He has exercised this licentia pictoris in like
manner in the surrender of Yorktown, where
he has placed Lord Cornwallis at the head of
the surrender although it is well known that he
was excused by General Washington from ap
pearing. — To SAMUEL A. WELLS. FORD ED.,
x, 133- (M., 1819.)
1807. CORONERS, Election of.— Coro
ners of Counties shall be annually elected by
those qualified to vote for Representatives.—
PROPOSED VA. CONSTITUTION. FORD ED., ii,
20. (June 1776.)
— CORPORATION".— See INCORPORATION.
1808. CORREA DE SERRA (J.), Learn
ed. — I found him one of the most learned and
amiable of men. — To BARON VON HUMBOLDT. vi,
267. FORD ED., ix, 430. (1813.)
1809. CORREA DE SERRA (J.), Minis
ter at Washington. — We have to join in
mutual congratulations on the appointment of
our friend Correa, to be minister or envoy of
Portugal, here (Washington). This, I hope,
will give him to us for life. — To F. W. GILMER.
vii, 5. FORD ED., x, 33. (M., 1816.)
1810. CORREA DE SERRA (J.), Re
grets for. — No foreigner, I believe, has ever
carried with him more friendly regrets. — To
JAMES MADISON, vii, 190. FORD ED., x, 169.
(P.F., 1820.)
1811. CORREA DE SERRA (J.), Uni
versity of Va. and. — M. Correa is here
(Monticello) on his farewell visit to us. He
has been much pleased with the plan and prog
ress of our University, and has given some
valuable hints to its botanical branch. He
goes to do, I hope, much good in his new
country (Brazil) ; the public instruction there,
as I understand, being within the department
destined for him. — To WILLIAM SHORT, vii,
168. (M., 1820.)
1812. CORRESPONDENCE, Between
Citizens. — A right of free correspondence
between citizen and citizen, on their joint in
terests, whether public or private, and under
whatsoever laws these interests arise (to
wit, of the State, of Congress, of France,
Spain, or Turkey), is a natural right; it is
not the gift of any municipal law, either of
England, or of Virginia, or of Congress; but
in common with all our other natural rights,
is one of the objects for the protection of
which society is formed, and municipal laws
established. — To JAMES MONROE, iv, 199.
FORD ED., vii, 172. (M., 1797.)
1813. . The right of free corre
spondence between citizen and citizen on their
joint interests, public or private, and under
whatsoever laws these interests arise, is a
natural right of every individual citizen, not
the gift of municipal law, but among the ob
jects for the protection of which municipal
laws are instituted. — JURY PETITION, ix, 451.
FORD ED., vii, 161. (1797.)
- CORRESPONDENCE, Revolutionary
Committees of. — See APPENDIX.
1814. CORRESPONDENCE, Constitu
ents and representatives. — By the Constitu
tion of Virginia, established from its earliest
settlement, the people thereof have professed
the right of being governed by laws to which
they have consented by representatives chosen
by themselves immediately. In order to give
to the will of the people the influence it ought
to have, and the information which may en
able them to exercise it usefully, it was a part
of the common law, adopted as the law of
this land, that their representatives, in the
discharge of their functions, should be free
from the cognizance or coercion of the co
ordinate branches, Judiciary and Executive;
and that their communications with their
constituents should of right, as of duty also,
be free, full, and unawed by any. So neces
sary has this intercourse been deemed in the
country from which they derive principally
their descent and laws, that the correspond
ence between the representative and constitu
ent is privileged there to pass free of expense
through the channel of the public post, and
that the proceedings of the legislature have
been known to be arrested and suspended at
times until the Representatives could go home
to their several counties and confer with their
constituents. — JURY PETITION, ix, 448. FORD
ED., vii, 158. (1797.)
1815. CORRESPONDENCE, Judiciary
and. — For the Judiciary to interpose in the
Legislative department between the constitu
ent and his representative, to control them in
the exercise of their functions or duties
towards each other, to overawe the free cor
respondence which exists and ought to exist
between them, to dictate what may pass be
tween them, and to punish all others, to put
the representative into jeopardy of criminal
prosecution, of vexation, expense, and pun
ishment before the Judiciary, if his communi
cations, public or private, do not exactly
square with their ideas of fact or right, or
with their designs of wrong, is to put the
Legislative department under the feet of the
Judiciary, is to leave us, indeed, the shadow,
but to take away the substance of representa
tion, which requires essentially that the rep
resentative be as free as his constituents
would be, that the same interchange of senti
ment be lawful between him and them as
would be lawful among themselves were they
in the personal transaction of their own busi
ness; is to do away the influence of the peo
ple over the proceedings of their representa
tives by excluding from their knowledge, by
the terror of punishment, all but such infor
mation or misinformation as may suit their
own views.* — JURY PETITION, ix, 450. FORD
ED., vii, 160. 0797-)
* In 1707, a Federal Grand Jury in Virginia made
a presentment of the act of Samuel J. Cabell, a mem-
209
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Correspondence
Corruption
1816. CORRESPONDENCE, Literary.—
I set the more value on literary correspond
ence, inasmuch as I can make private friend
ships instrumental to the public good, by
inspiring a confidence which is denied to pub
lic and official communications. — To JAMES
MONROE. FORD ED., viii, 287. (W., 1804.)
1817. CORRESPONDENCE, Longing
for. — But why has nobody else written to
me? Is it that one is forgotten as soon as
their back is turned? I have a better opinion
of men. — To JAMES MONROE. FORD ED., iv,
45. (P., 1785.)
1818. CORRESPONDENCE, Men of
Worth and. — I cannot relinquish the right
of correspondence with those whom I have
learned to esteem. If the extension of com
mon acquaintance in public life be an incon
venience, that with select worth is more than
a counterpoise. — To LEVI LINCOLN, vi, 7. (M.,
1811.)
1819. CORRESPONDENCE, Natural
Right and. — The right of free correspond
ence is not claimed under the Constitution of
the United States, nor the laws or treaties de
rived from it, but as a natural right, placed
originally under the protection of our munici
pal laws, and retained under the cognizance
of our own courts. — JURY PETITION, ix, 452.
FORD ED., vii, 162. (1797.)
1820. CORRESPONDENCE, Punctual
ity and. — I never was a punctual correspond
ent to any person, as I must own to my
shame.— To RICHARD HENRY LEE. FORD ED.,
", 193- (Wg., I779-)
1821. CORRESPONDENCE, Rank and.
— If it be possible to be certainly conscious of
anything, I am conscious of feeling no dif
ference between writing to the highest or
lowest being on earth. — To JAMES MONROE.
iv, 401. FORD ED., viii, 59. (W., 1801.) See
LETTERS.
1822. CORRESPONDENCE, State courts
and. — The Federal Constitution alienates
from [the State courts] all cases arising, ist,
under the Constitution; 2d, under the laws
of Congress; 3d, under treaties, &c. But
the right of free correspondence, whether
with a public representative in General As
sembly, in Congress, in France, in Spain, or
with a private one charged with a pecuniary
trus,t, or with a private friend, the object of
our esteem, or any other, has not been given
to us under, ist, the Federal Constitution;
2dly, any law of Congress ; or 3dly, any
treaty; but * * * by nature. It is, there
fore, not alienated, but remains under the
protection of our courts. — To JAMES MONROE.
iv, 200. FORD ED., vii, 172. (M., 1797.) See
LETTERS.
1823. CORRUPTION, Agriculturists
and. — Corruption of morals in the mass of cul
tivators is a phenomenon of which no age nor
nation has furnished an example. It is the
mark set on those, who, not looking up to
ber of Congress from Virginia, in writing political
circular-letters to his constituents.— EDITOR.
heaven, to their own soil and industry, as
does the husbandman, for their subsistence,
depend for it on casualties and caprice of cus
tomers. — NOTES ON VIRGINIA, viii, 405. FORD
ED., iii, 268. (1782.)
1824. CORRUPTION, British.— I have
been among those who have feared the de
sign to introduce the corruptions of the Eng
lish government here, and it has been a strong
reason with me for wishing there was an
ocean of fire between that island and us. — To
JOHN ADAMS. FORD ED., vii, 57. (M., 1796.)
1825. CORRUPTION, Centralization.—
Our country is too large to have all its affairs
directed by a single government. Public serv
ants at such a distance, and from under the
eye of their constituents, must, from the cir
cumstance of distance, be unable to administer
and overlook all the details necessary for the
good government of the citizens, and the same
circumstance, by rendering detection impossi
ble to their constituents, will invite the public
agents to corruption, plunder, and waste. And
I do verily believe, that if the principle were
to prevail, of a common law being in force in
the United States (which principle possesses
the general government at once of all the
powers of the State governments, and re
duces us to a single consolidated govern
ment), it would become the most corrupt
government on the earth. — To GIDEON GRAN
GER, iv, 331. FORD ED., vii, 451. (M., 1800.)
1826. . Consolidation first, and
then corruption, its necessary consequence. —
To NATHANIEL MACON. vii, 223. FORD ED., x,
193. (M., 1821.)
1827. . If ever this vast country
is brought under a single government, it will
be one of the most extensive corruption, in
different and incapable of a wholesome care
over so wide a spread of surface. — To WILL
IAM T. BARRY, vii, 256. (M., 1822.)
1828. CORRUPTION, Cities and.— When
they [the people] get piled upon one another
in large cities, as in Europe, they will become
corrupt as in Europe.* — To JAMES MADISON.
FORD ED., iv, 479. (P., Dec. 1787.)
1829. CORRUPTION, Congress.— I said
that he [President Washington] mus,t know,
and everybody knew, there was a considerable
squadron in both [Houses] whose votes were
devoted to the paper and stock- jobbing inter
est, that the names of a weighty number were
known, and several others suspected on good
grounds. That on examining the votes of
these men, they would be found uniformly
for every Treasury measure, and that as most
of these measures had been carried by small
majorities, they were carried by these very
votes: that, therefore, it was a cause of just
uneasiness, when we saw a legislature legis
lating for their own interests, in opposition to
those of the people. — THE ANAS, ix, 117. FORD
ED., i, 200. (July 1792.)
* In the Congress edition (ii, 332), the reading is :
When we get piled upon one another in large cities,
as in Europe, we shall become corrupt as in Europe,
and go to eating one another as they do there."
The FORD version is the correct one. — EDITOR.
Corruption
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
210
1830. . With grief and shame it
must be acknowledged that his [Alexander
Hamilton's] [financial] machine was not
without effect; that even in this, the birth of
our government, some members were found
sordid enough to bend their duty to their in
terests and to look after personal rather than
public good. — THE ANAS, ix, 91. FORD ED.,
i, 1 60. (1818.)
1831. . I indulge myself on one
political topic only, that is, the shameless cor
ruption of a portion of the Representatives in
the first and second Congresses, and their im
plicit devotion to the treasury. I think I do
good in this, because it may produce exertions
to reform the evil, on the success of which the
form of the government is to depend. — To E.
RANDOLPH, iv, 101. FORD ED., vi, 498. (M.,
Feb. 1794.)
1832. CORRUPTION, Extirpating.— I
would prefer a native Frenchman [for the
office of surveyor and inspector for the port
of Bayou St. John], if you can find one proper
and disposed to cooperate with us in extir
pating that corruption which has prevailed in
those offices under the former government,
and had so familiarized itself as that men,
otherwise honest, could look on it without
horror. I pray you to be alive to the sup
pression of this 'odious practice, and that you
bring to punishment and brand with eternal
disgrace every man guilty of it, whatever be
his station. — To GOVERNOR CLAIBORNE. iv, 551.
(W., 1804.)
1833. CORRUPTION, Government and.
— In every government on earth is some trace
of human weakness, some germ of corruption
and degeneracy, which cunning will Discover,
and wickedness insensibly open, cultivate and
improve. Every government degenerates
when trusted to the rulers of the people alone.
The people themselves, therefore, are its only
safe depositories. And to render even them
safe, their minds must be improved to a cer
tain degree. This, indeed, is not all that is
necessary, though it be essentially necessary.
An amendment to our Constitution [Vir
ginia] must here come in aid of the public
education. The influence over government
must be shared among all the people. If
every individual which composes their mass,
participates of the ultimate authority, the gov
ernment will be safe; because the corrupting
the whole mass will exceed any private re
sources of wealth ; and public ones cannot be
provided but by levies on the people. In this
case, every man would have to pay his own
price. The government of Great Britain has
been corrupted, because but one man in ten
has a right to vote for members of Parlia
ment. The sellers of the government, there
fore, get nine-tenths of their price clear. It
has been thought that corruption is restrained
by confining the risfht of suffrage to a few of
the wealthier of the people; but it would be
more effectually restrained, by an extension
of that right, to such members as would bid
defiance to the means of corruption. — NOTES
ON VIRGINIA. viii,39o. FORDED., 111,254. (1782.)
1834. _. [We] should look for
ward to a time,' and that not a distant one,
when a corruption in this, as in the country
from which we derive our origin, will have
seized the heads of government, and be
spread by them through the body of the peo
ple ; when they will purchase the voices of the
people, and make them pay the price. Human
nature is the same on every side of the At
lantic, and will be alike influenced by the same
causes. — NOTES ON VIRGINIA, viii, 362. FORD
ED., iii, 225. (1782.)
1835. . Mankind soon learn to
make interested uses of every right and power
which they possess, or may assume., The
public money and public liberty, intended [in
the Virginia constitution] to have been de
posited with three branches of magistracy,
but found inadvertently to be in the hands of
one only, will soon be discovered to be sources
of wealth and dominion to those who hold
them ; distinguished, too, by this tempting cir
cumstance, that they are the instrument, as
well as the object, of acquisition. With
money we will get men, said Caesar, and with
men we will get money. — NOTES ON VIRGINIA.
viii, 362. FORD ED., iii, 224. (1782.)
1836. CORRUPTION, Guarding against.
The time to guard against corruption and
tyranny is before they shall have gotten hold
of us. It is better to keep the wolf out of the
fold, than to trust to drawing his teeth and
talons after he shall have entered. — NOTES ON
VIRGINIA, viii, 363. FORDED., iii, 225. (1782.)
1837. CORRUPTION, Influence
through. — I wonder to see such an arrearage
from the Department of State to our bankers
in Holland. Our predecessors seem to have
levied immense sums from their constituents
merely to feed favorites by laree advances,
and thus to purchase by corruption an ex
tension of their influence and power. — To
JAMES MADISON. FORD ED., viii, 93. (M.,
Sep. 1801.)
1838. CORRUPTION, Innocent of.—
Recurring to the tenor of a long life of public
service, against the charge of malice and cor
ruption (in the New Orleans Batture case)
I stand conscious and erect. — THE BATTURE
CASE, viii, 604. (1812.)
1839. CORRUPTION, Monarchical.—
A germ of corruption indeed has been trans
ferred from our dear mother country, and has
already borne fruit, but its blight is begun
from the breath of the people. — To J. P. BRIS-
SOT DE WARVILLE. FORD ED., vi, 249. (Pa.,
I793-)
1840. CORRUPTION, Principles and.—
Time indeed changes manners and notions,
and so far we must expect institutions to bend
to them. But time produces also corruption
of principles, and against this it is the duty of
good citizens to be ever on the watch, and if
the gangrene is to prevail at last, let the day
be kept off as long as possible. — To SPENCER
ROANE. vii, 211. FORD ED., x, 188. (M.,
1821.)
211
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Corruption
uorropt
Council
1841. CORRUPTION, Refuge from.— It
seems to me that in proportion as commercial
avarice and corruption advance on us from
the North and East, the principles of free
government are to retire to the agricultural
States of the South and West as their last
asylum and bulwark.— To HENRY MIDDLETON.
vi, 91. (M., 1813.)
1842. COTTON, Early Conditions.— The
four southernmost States make a great deal of
cotton. Their poor are almost entirely clothed
in it in winter and summer. In winter they wear
shirts of it, and outer clothing of cotton and
wool mixed. In summer their shirts are linen,
but the outer clothing cotton. The dress of
the women is almost entirely of cotton
manufactured by themselves, except the richer
class, and even many of these wear a good deal
of home-spun cotton. It is as well manufac
tured as the calicoes of Europe. These four
States furnish a great deal of cotton to the States
north of them, who cannot make it, as being too
cold. — TO J. P. BRISSOT DE WARVILLE. ii, 12.
FORD ED., iv, 281. (P., 1786.)
1843. COTTON, Plans to raise.— Much
enquiry is made of me here [Paris] about the
cultivation of cotton, and I would thank you to
give me your opinion how much a hand would
make cultivating that as his principal crop in
stead of tobacco. — To NICHOLAS LEWIS. FORD
ED., v, 36. (P., 1788.)
1844. COTTON GIN, Invention.— Your
favor of Oct. 15 [1793] inclosing a drawing
of your cotton gin, was received on the 6th
inst. The only requisite of the law now un-
complied with is the forwarding a model,
which being received your patent may be
made out and delivered to your order imme
diately. — To ELI WHITNEY. FORD ED., vi, 448.
(G., Nov. 16, 1793.)
1845. COTTON GIN, Practicability of.
— As the State of Virginia * * * carries
on household manufactures of cotton to a
great extent, as I also do myself, and one of
our great embarrassments is the clearing the
cotton of the seed, I feel a considerable in
terest in the success of your invention, for
family use. Permit me, therefore, to ask
information from you on these points. Has
the machine been thoroughly tried in the gin
ning of cotton, or is it yet but a machine of
theory? What quantity of cotton has it
cleared on an average of several days, and
worked by hand, and by how many hands?
What will be the cost of one of them, made
to be worked by hand? Favorable answers
to these questions would induce me to engage
one of them. — To ELI WHITNEY. FORD ED.,
vi, 448. (G., Nov. 1793.)
1846. COUNCIL, Appointment of.— A
Privy Council shall be annually appointed by
the House of Representatives, whose duties it
shall be to give advice to the Administrator,
when called on by him. With them the Dep
uty Administrator shall have session and suf
frage. — PROPOSED VA. CONSTITUTION. FORD ED.,
ii, 20. (June 1776.)
1847. COUNCIL, Duties.— A Council of
State shall be chosen by joint ballot of both
houses of Assembly, who shall hold their of
fices seven years and be ineligible a second
time, and who, * * * shall hold no other
office or emolument under this State, or any
other State or power whatsoever. Their duty
shall be to * * * advise the Governor
when called on by him, and their advice in
any case shall be a sanction to him. They
shall also have power, and it shall be their
duty, to meet at their own will, and to give
their advice, though not required by the gov
ernor, in cases where they shall think the pub
lic good calls for it. * * * They shall an
nually choose a President, who shall preside
in council in the absence of the Governor, and
who, in case of his office becoming vacant by
death or otherwise, shall have authority to
exercise all his functions, till a new appoint
ment be made, as he shall also in any interval
during which the Governor shall declare him
self unable to attend to the duties of his of
fice.— PROPOSED CONSTITUTION FOR VIRGINIA.
viii, 447. FORD ED., Hi, 327. (1783.)
1848. COUNCIL, Expensive.— What will
you do with the Council ? They are expen
sive, and not constantly nor often necessary;
yet to drop them would be wrong. I think
you had better require their attendance twice
a year to examine the executive department,
and see that it be going on rightly, advise on
that subject the Governor, or inform the Leg
islature, as they shall see occasion. Give them
fifty guineas for each trip, fill up only five
of the places, and let them be always subject
to summons on great emergencies by the Gov
ernor, on which occasions their expenses only
should be paid. At an expense of five hun
dred guineas you will then preserve this mem
ber of the Constitution always fit for use.
Young and ambitious men will leave it to go
into the Assembly; but the elderly and able,
who have retired from the legislative field
as too turbulent, will accept of the offices. — To
JAMES MADISON. FORD ED., iii, 404. (A.,
Feb. 1784.)
— COUNCIL, Orders in.— See ORDERS IN
COUNCIL.
1849. COUNCIL, Shelter of a.— Responsi
bility is a tremendous engine in a free gov
ernment. Let the Executive [of Virginia]
feel the whole weight of it then, by taking
away the shelter of his Executive Council.
Experience both ways has already established
the superiority of this measure. — To ARCHI
BALD STUART, iii, 315. FORD ED., v, 315.
(Pa., 1791-)
1850. . Leave no screen of a
council behind which to skulk from responsi
bility. — To SAMUEL KERCHIVAL. vii, 12. FORD
ED., x, 39. (M., 1816.)
1851. COUNCIL, Useless.— [The Gov
ernor's] Council * * * is at best but a
fifth wheel to a wagon. — To SAMUEL KER
CHIVAL. vii, 10. FORD EDV x, 38. (M., 1816.)
1852. COUNCIL, Votes in.— In answer
to your inquiry whether, in the early times of
our [Virginia] government, where the Council
was divided, the practice was for the Governor
to give the deciding vote? I must observe that,
Council
Counties
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
212
correctly speaking, the Governor not being a
counsellor, his vote could make no part of an
advice of Council. That would be to place an
advice on their journals which they did not
give, and could not give because of their equal
division. But he did what was equivalent in
effect. While I was in the administration,
no doubt was ever suggested that where the
Council, divided in opinion, could give no ad
vice, the Governor was free and bound to act
on his own opinion and his own responsibility.
Had this been a change of the practice of my
predecessor, Mr. Henry, the first Governor, it
would have produced some discussion, which
it never did. Hence, I conclude it was the
opinion and practice from the first institution of
the government. During Arnold's and Cornwal-
lis's invasion, the Council dispersed to their
several homes, to take care of their families.
Before their separation, I obtained from them a
capitulary of standing advices for my govern
ment in such cases as ordinarily occur : ^such ^as
the appointment of militia officers, justices, in
spectors, &c., on the recommendations of the
courts ; but in the numerous and extraordinary
occurrences of an invasion, which could not be
foreseen, I had to act on my own judgment
and my own responsibility. The vote of gen
eral approbation, at the session of the succeed
ing winter, manifested the opinion of the Legis
lature, that my proceedings had been correct.
General Nelson, my successor, staid mostly, I
think, with the army ; and I do not believe his
Council followed Jus camp, although my mem
ory does not enable me to affirm the fact. Some
petitions against him for impressment of prop
erty without authority of law, brought his pro
ceedings before the next Legislature ; the ques
tions necessarily involved were whether neces
sity, without express law, could justify the im
pressment, if it could, whether he could order
it without the advice of Council. The appro
bation of the Legislature amounted to a decision
of both questions. I remember this case the
more especially, because I was then a member of
the Legislature, and was one of those who sup
ported the Governor's proceedings, and I think
there was no division of the House on the ques
tion. I believe the doubt was first suggested
in Governor Harrison's time, by some member
of the Council, on an equal division. Harrison,
in his dry way, observed that instead of one gov
ernor and eight counsellors, there would then
be eight governors and one counsellor, and con
tinued, as I understood, the practice of his pred
ecessors. Indeed, it is difficult to suppose it
could be the intention of those who framed the
Constitution, that when the Council should be
divided, the government should stand still ; and
the more difficult as to a constitution formed
during a war, and for the purpose of carrying
on that war, that so high an officer as their Gov
ernor should be created and salaried, merely to
act as the clerk and authenticator of the votes
of the Council. No doubt it was intended that
the advice of the Council should control the
Governor. But the action of the controlling
power being withdrawn, his would be left free
to proceed on its own responsibility. Where
from division, absence, sickness, or other obsta
cle, no advice could be given, they could not
mean that their Governor, the person of their
peculiar choice and confidence, should stand by,
an inactive spectator, and let their government
tumble to pieces for want of a will to direct it.
In executive cases, where promptitude and de
cision are all important, an adherence to the
letter of a law against its probable intentions
(for every law must intend that itself shall be
executed), would be fraught with incalculable
danger. Judges may await further legislative
explanations, but a delay of executive action
might produce irretrievable ruin. The State
is invaded, militia to be called out, an army
marched, arms and provisions to be issued from
the public magazines, the Legislature to be con
vened, and the Council is divided. Can it be be
lieved to have been the intention of the framers
of the Constitution, that the Constitution itself
and their constituents with it should be des
troyed for want of a will to direct the resources
they had provided for its preservation ? Before
such possible consequences all verbal excuses
must vanish ; construction must be made
secunditm arbitrium boni viri, and the con
stitution be rendered a practicable thing. That
exposition of it must be vicious, which would
leave the nation under the most dangerous
emergencies without a directing will. The cau
tious maxims of the bench, to seek the will of
the legislator and his words only, are proper
and safe for judicial government. They act ever
on an individual case only, the evil of which is
partial, and gives time for correction. But an
instant of delay in executive proceedings may
be fatal to the whole nation. They must not,
therefore, be laced up in the rules of the ju
diciary department. They must seek the inten
tion of the legislator in all the circumstances
which may indicate it in the history of the day,
in the public discussions, in the general opinion
and understanding, in reason and in practice.
The three great departments having distinct
functions to perform, must have distinct rules
adapted to them. Each must act under its own
rules, those of no one having any obligation
on either of the others. Where the opinion
first began that a governor could not act when
his council could not or would not advise, I
am uninformed. Probably not till after the
war; for, had it prevailed then, no militia could
have been opposed to Cornwallis, nor neces
saries furnished to the opposing army of La
fayette. — To JAMES BARBOUR. vi, 38. FORD
ED., ix, 335. (M., 1812.)
1853. COUNTIES, Administration of .—
I have two great measures at heart, without
which no republic can maintain itself in
strength. I. That of general education, to
enable every man to judge for himself what
will secure or endanger his freedom. 2. To
divide every county into hundreds, of such
size that all the children of each will be
within reach of a central school in it. But
this division looks to many other fundamental
provisions. Every hundred, besides a school,
should have a justice of the peace, a constable,
and a captain of militia. These officers, or
some others within the hundred, should be a
corporation to manage all its concerns, to take
care of its roads, its poor, and its police by
patrols, &c. (as the selectmen of the Eastern
townships). Every hundred should elect one
or two jurors to serve where requisite, and
all other elections should be made in the
hundreds separately, and the votes of all the
hundreds be brought together. Our present
captaincies might be declared hundreds for
the present, with a power to the courts to
alter them occasionally. These little repub
lics would be the main strength of the great
one. We owe to them the vigor given to our
Revolution in its commencement in the East
ern States, and by them the Eastern States
were enabled to repeal the Embargo in oppo-
213
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Counties
Courtiers
sition to the Middle, Southern, and Western
States, and their large and lubberly division
into counties which can never be assembled.
General orders are given out from a centre
to the foreman of every hundred, as to the
sergeants of an army, and the whole nation
is thrown into energetic action, in the same di
rection in one instant and as one man, and
becomes absolutely irresistible. Could I once
see this I should consider it as the dawn of
the salvation of the republic, and say with old
Simeon, " nunc dimittas, Domine." But our
children will be as wise as we are, and will
establish in the fulness of time those things
not yet ripe for establishment. — To JOHN TY
LER, v, 525. FORD ED., ix, 277. (M., 1810.)
1854. . The organization of our
[Virginia] county administration may be
thought * * * difficult; but follow prin
ciple and the knot unties itself. Divide the
counties into wards of such size as that every
citizen can attend, when called on, and act in
person. Ascribe to them the government of
their wards in all things relating to themselves
exclusively. A justice, chosen by themselves,
in each, a constable, a military company, a
patrol, a school, the care of their own poor,
their own portion of the public roads, the
choice of one or more jurors to serve in some
court, and the delivery, within their own
wards, of their own votes for all elective
officers of higher sphere, will relieve the
county administration of nearly all its busi
ness, will have it better done, and by making
every citizen an acting member of the govern
ment, and in the offices nearest and most in
teresting to him, will attach him by his
strongest feelings to the independence of his
country, and its republican constitution. — To
SAMUEL KERCHIVAL. vii, 12. FORD ED., x, 40.
(M., 1816.)
1855. COUNTIES, Division of.— [n what
terms reconcilable to Majesty, and at the
same time to truth, shall we speak of a late
instruction to the Governor of the Colony of
Virginia, by which he is forbidden to assent
to any law for the division of a county, unless
the new county will consent to have no rep
resentative in Assembly? That Colony has as
yet fixed no boundary to the westward. Their
westward counties, therefore, are of indefinite
extent. Some of them are actually seated
many hundreds of miles from their eastern
limits. Is it possible, then, that his Majesty
can have bestowed a single thought on the
situation of those people, who, in order to ob
tain justice for injuries, however great or
small, must, by the laws of that Colony, attend
their County Court, at such a distance, with
all their witnesses, monthly, till their litiga
tion be determined. — RIGHTS OF BRITISH
AMERICA, i, 136. FORD ED., i, 441. (1774.)
1856. . The article, nearest my
heart, is the division of counties into wards.
These will be pure and elementary repub
lics, the sum of all which, taken together,
composes the State, and will make of the
whole a true democracy as to the business
of the wards, which is that of nearest and
daily concern. The affairs of the larger sec
tions, of counties, of States, and of the Union,
not admitting personal transactions by the
people, will be delegated to agents elected by
themselves; and representation will thus be
substituted, where personal action becomes
impracticable. Yet, even over these repre
sentative organs, should they become corrupt
and perverted, the division into wards con
stituting the people, in their wards, a regu
larly organized power, enables them by that
organization to crush, regularly and peace
ably, the usurpations of their unfaithful
agents, and rescues them from the dreadful
necessity of doing it insurrectionaily. In this
way we shall be as republican as a large so
ciety can be; and secure the continuance of
purity in our government, by the salutary,
peaceable, and regular control of the people. —
To SAMUEL KERCHIVAL. vii, 35. FORD ED., x,
45- (M., 1816.)
1857. - — . As Cato concluded every
speech with the words " Carthago delenda
est," so do I every opinion, with the injunc
tion, " divide the counties into wards." — To
JOSEPH C. CABELL. vi, 544. (M., 1816.)
1858. . These wards, called town
ships in New England, are the vital principle
of their governments, and have proved them
selves the wisest invention ever devised by the
wit of man for the perfect exercise of self-
government, and for its preservation. — To
SAMUEL KERCHIVAL. vii, 13. FORD ED., x, 41.
(M., 1816.)
1859. COUNTIES, The State and.— A
county of a State * * * cannot be gov
erned by its own laws, but must be subject to
those of the State of which it is a part.— To
WILLIAM LEE. vii, 57. (M., 1817.)
I860. . Every State is divided
into counties, each to take care of what lies
within its local bounds; each county again
into townships or wards, to manage minuter
details. — AUTOBIOGRAPHY, i, 82. FORD ED., i,
113. (1821.)
1861. COURTESY, Diplomatic.— When
ever Mr. Hammond [the British Minister]
applies to our government on any matter what
ever, be it ever so new or difficult, if he does
not receive his answer in two or three days
or a week, we are goaded with new letters
on the subject. Sometimes it is the sailing
of the packet, which is made the pretext for
forcing us into premature and undigested de
terminations. You know best how far your
applications meet such early attentions, and
whether you may with propriety claim a re
turn of the'"- : you can best judge, too, of the
expediency of an imitation, that where dis
patch is not reciprocal it may be expedient
and justifiable that delay should be so. — To
THOMAS PINCKNEY. iii, 583. FORD ED., vi,
302. (Pa., June 1793.)
1862. COURTIERS, Unprincipled.—
Courtiers had rather give up power than
pleasures; they will barter, therefore, the
usurped prerogatives of the King, for the
Courts
Courts of Chancery
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
214
money of the people. — To COUNT DE Mous-
TIER. ii, 389. (P., May 1788.)
_ COURTS, Admiralty.— See ADMIRALTY.
1863. COURTS, Erection of.— The Ad
ministrator* shall not possess the prerogative
* * * of erecting courts. — PROPOSED VA.
CONSTITUTION. FORD ED., ii, 19. (June 1776.)
1864. COURTS, Organization of Vir
ginia. — The Judiciary powers shall be exer
cised : First, by County Courts, and other
inferior jurisdictions. Secondly, by a Gen
eral Court and a High Court of Chancery.
Thirdly, by a Court of Appeals.— PROPOSED
VA. CONSTITUTION. FORD ED., ii, 22. (June
1776.)
1865. COURTS, Jurisdiction of.— The
courts of this commonwealth [Virginia]
(and among them the General Court, as a
court of impeachment), are originally com
petent to the cognizance of all infractions of
the rights of one citizen by another citizen;
and they still retain all their judiciary cog
nizances not expressly alienated by the Fed
eral Constitution.— To JAMES MONROE, iv,
199. FORD ED., vii, 172. (M., 1797.)
1866. COURTS (Appeals), Judges of.—
The Court of Appeals shall consist of not less
than seven nor more than eleven members, to
be appointed by the House of Representa
tives. — PROPOSED VA. CONSTITUTION. FORD
ED., ii, 23. (June 1776.)
1867. . The members of the
Court of Appeals * * * shall hold their
offices during good behavior., for breach of
which they shall be removable by an act of
the Legislature only. — PROPOSED VA. CON
STITUTION. FORD ED., ii, 23. (June 1776.)
1868. . The jurisdiction [of the
Court of Appeals] shall be to determine
finally all causes removed before them from
the General Court, or High Court of Chan
cery, or of the County Court, or other in
ferior jurisdictions, for misbehavior; to try
impeachments. — PROPOSED VA. CONSTITUTION.
FORD ED., ii, 23. (June 1776.)
1869. - — . In the Court of Appeals,
the judges of the General Court and High
Court of Chancery shall have session and de
liberative voice, but no suffrage. — PROPOSED
VA. CONSTITUTION. FORD ED., ii, 23. (June
1776.)
1870. COURTS OF CHANCERY, Begin
ning of. — In ancient times, when contracts
and transfers of property were more rare, and
their objects more simple. the imperfections of
the administration of justice according to the
letter of the law were less felt. But when
commerce began to make progress, when the
transfer of property came into daily use, when
the modifications of these transfers were in
finitely diversified, when with the improve
ment of other faculties that of the moral
sense became also improved, and learnt to re-
* The Governor.— EDITOR.
spect justice in a variety of cases which it had
not formerly discriminated, the instances of
injustice left without remedy by courts ad
hering to the letter of the law, would be
so numerous as to produce a general desire
that a power should be found somewhere
which would redress them. History renders
it probable that appeals were made to the
king himself in these cases, and that he ex
ercised this power sometimes in person, but
more generally by his chancellor to whom he
referred the case. This was most commonly
an Ecclesiastic, learning being rare in any
other class at that time. Romai. learning,
and a prejudice in favor of Roman institu
tions are known to have been a leading fea
ture in the ecclesiastical character. Hence it
happened that the forms of proceeding in the
Court of Chancery, and the rules of its de
cisions were assimilated to those of the Ro
man law. The distinction in that svstem
between the jus pratorium, or discretion of
the Praetor, and the general law is well known.
Among the Romans, and in most modern
nations, these were and are exercised by the
same person. But the Chancellors of Eng
land, finding the ordinary courts in possession
of the administration of general law, and con
fined to that, assumed to themselves by de
grees that of the jus prcetorium, and made
theirs be considered as a court of conscience,
or of equity. The history of the struggles
between the ordinary, or common law courts,
and the Court of Equity or Chancery, would
be beyond our purpose. It is sufficient to say
that the interpositions of the Chancellor were
at first very rare, that they increased insen
sibly, and were rather tolerated from their
necessity, than authorized by the laws in the
earlier periods of history. Lord Bacon first
introduced regularity into their proceedings,
and Finch, Earl of Nottingham, in the reign
of Charles II. opened to view that system
which has been improving from that time to
this. — To PHILLIP MAZZEI. FORD ED., iv, no.
(P., 1785.)
1871. COURTS OF CHANCERY, Com
mon Law and. — One practice only is want
ing to render the Court of Chancery com
pletely valuable. That is that when a class
of cases has been formed, and has been the
subject of so many decisions in the Court of
Chancery as to have been seen there under
all circumstances, and in all its combinations,
and the rules for its decision are modified ac
cordingly and thoroughly digested, the Legis
lature should reduce these rules to a text and
transplant them into the department of the
Common Law, which is competent then to
the application of them, and is a safer deposi
tory for the general administration of jus
tice. This would be to make the Chancery
a nursery only for the forming new plants
for the department of the Common Law.
Muc.h of the business of Chancery is now ac
tually in a state of perfect preparation for
removal into the Common Law. — To PHILLIP
MAZZEI. FORD ED., iv, 113. (P., 1785.)
1872. . It has often been pre
dicted in England that the Chancery would
215
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Courts of Chancery
swallow up the Common Law. During many
centuries, however, that these two courts
have gone on together, the jurisdiction of
the Common Law has not been narrowed in
a single article; on the contrary, it has been
enlarged from time to time by act of the
Legislature; but jealousy, uncorrected by
reason or experience, sees certainty wherever
there is a possibility, and sensible men still
think that the danger from this court over-
weighs its utility.— To PHILLIP MAZZEI. FORD
ED., iv, 113- (P-, 1785.)
1873. COURTS OF CHANCERY, Judges
of. — The Judges of the General Court and of
the High Court of Chancery, * * * if
kept united, shall be five in number; if sep
arate, there shall be five for the General
Court, and three for the High Court of Chan
cery.— PROPOSED VA. CONSTITUTION. FORD ED.,
ii, 22. (June 1776.)
1874. . The Judges of the Gen
eral Court and of the High Court of Chan
cery shall be appointed by the Administrator
and Privy Council.— PROPOSED VA. CONSTITU
TION. FORD ED., ii, 22. (June 1776.)
1875. . The appointment of the
Judges of the General Court and of the High
Court of Chancery shall be made from the
faculty of the law, and of such persons of
that faculty as shall have actually exercised
the same at the bar of some court, or courts of
record within this Colony, for seven years. —
PROPOSED VA. CONSTITUTION. FORD ED., ii, 22.
(June 1776.)
1876. . The Judges of the Gen
eral Court and of the High Court of Chan
cery * * * shall hold their commissions
during good behavior, for breach of which
they shall be removable by the Court of Ap
peals. — PROPOSED VA. CONSTITUTION. FORD
ED., ii, 23. (June 1776.)
1877. . The judges of the high
court of chancery, general court, and court of
admiralty shall * * be appointed by
joint ballot of both houses of Assembly, and
hold their offices during good behavior. — PRO
POSED CONSTITUTION FOR VIRGINIA, viii, 448.
FORD ED., iii, 328. (1783.)
1878. COURTS OF CHANCERY, Ju
ries in. — All facts in causes whether of Chan
cery, Common, Ecclesiastical, or Marine law,
shall be tried by a jury upon evidence given
viva voce, in open court ; but where witnesses
are out of the Colony, or unable to attend
through sickness, or other invincible necessity,
their deposition may be submitted to the
credit of the jury. — PROPOSED VA. CONSTITU
TION. FORD ED., ii, 24. (June 1776.)
1879. . To guard still more ef
fectually against the dangers apprehended
from a Court of Chancery, the Legislature of
Virginia have very wisely introduced into it
the trial by jury for all matters of fact. — To
PHILIP MAZZEI. FORD ED., iv, 116. (P.,
1785.)
1880. . In your new station
[Legislature of Va.] let me recommend to
you the jury system; as also the restoration of
juries in the Court of Chancery, which a
law not long since repealed, because " the trial
by jury is troublesome and expensive." If
the reason be good, they should abolish it
at common law also. — To JAMES MADISON.
iv, 307. FORD ED., vii, 400. (M., Nov. 1799.)
1881. . I Was once a great advo
cate for introducing into chancery viva voce
testimony, and trial by jury. I am still so
as to the latter, but have retired from the
former opinion on the information received
from both your State [Kentucky] and ours,
that it worked inconveniently. I introduced
it into the Virginia law, but did not return
to the bar, so as to see how it answered. — To
JOHN BRECKENRIDGE. iv, 318. FORD ED., vii,
416. (Pa., Jan. 1800.)
1882. . In that one of the bills
for organizing our [Va.] judiciary system,
which proposed a court of Chancery, I had
provided for a trial by jury of all matters of
fact, in that as well as in the courts of law.
Edmund Pendleton defeated it by the intro
duction of four words only, " if either party
choose." The consequence has been, that as
no suitor will say to his judge, " Sir, I dis
trust you, give me a jury," juries are rarely, I
might say, perhaps, never seen in that court,
but when called for by the Chancellor of his
own accord. — AUTOBIOGRAPHY, i, 37. FORD
ED., i, 50. (1821.)
1883. COURTS OF CHANCERY, Ju
risdiction of.— The Court of Chancery, whilst
developing and systematizing its powers, has
found, in the jealousy of the nation and its
attachment to certain and impartial law, an
obstacle insuperable beyond that line. It has
been obliged therefore to establish for itself
certain barriers as the limitation of its power,
which, whenever it transcends the general jur
isdiction which superintends all the Courts,
and receives appeals from them, corrects its
encroachments, and reverses its decisions.
This is the House of Lords in England, and
the Court of Appeals in Virginia. These lim
itations are: i. That it cannot take cognizance
of any case wherein the Common Law can
give complete remedy. 2. That it cannot in
terpose in any case against the express letter
and intention of the Legislature. If the Legis
lature means to enact an injustice, however
palpable, the Court of Chancery is not the
body with whom a correcting power is lodged.
3. That it shall not interpose in any case
which does not come within a general de
scription, and admit of redress by a general
and practicable rule. This is to prevent par
tiality. When a Chancellor pretends that acase
fs distinguished from all others, it is thought
better that that singular case should go
without remedy, than that he should be at
liberty to cover partial decisions under ore-
tence of singular circumstances, which in
genious men can always invent. Hence all
the cases remediable in Chancery are reduced
to certain classes. When a new case presents
itself, not found in any of these classes, it is
dismissed as irremediable. If in the progress
Courts of Chancery
Courts (County)
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
2l6
of commerce, and of the developments of
moral duties, the same case is presented so
often that the Chancellor can seize certain
leading features which submit to a general
description, and show that it is a proper
object for the application of some moral
rule> — here is a new class of cases formed
and brought within the regular relief of the
Court of Chancery, which thus continues the
administration of justice progressive almost
in equal pace with the progress of commerce
and refinement of morality. — To PHILLIP
MAZZEI. FORDED., iv, 112. (P., 1785.)
1884. COURTS OF CHANCERY, Lord
Mansfield and.— Unhappily for England a
very unexpected revolution is working in
their laws of late years. Lord Mansfield, a
man of the clearest head and most seducing
eloquence, coming from a country where the
powers of the common law and chancery are
united in the same court, has been able since
his admission to the bench of judges in Eng
land, to persuade the courts of common law
to revise the practice of construing their text
equitably. The object of former judges has
been to render the law more and more certain ;
that of this person to render it more uncer
tain under pretence of rendering it more
reasonable. No period of the English law, of
whatever length. it be taken, can be produced
wherein so many of its settled rules have been
reversed as during the time of this judge.
His decisions will be precious in those States
where no chancery is established; but his ac
cession to the bench should form the epoch,
after which all recurrence to English decisions
should be proscribed in those States which
have separated the two courts. His plan of
rendering the Chancery useless by adminis
tering justice in the same way in the courts
of common law has been admirably seconded
by the celebrated Doctor Blackstone, a judge
in the same department, who has endeavored
seriously to prove that the jurisdiction of the
Chancery is a chaos, irreducible to system,
insusceptible of fixed rules, and incapable of
definition or explanation. Were this true,
it would be a monster whose existence should
not be suffered one moment in a free country
wherein every power is dangerous which is
not bound up by general rules. — To PHILLIP
MAZZEI. FORD ED., iv, 115. (P., 1785.)
1885. COURTS OF CHANCERY, Util
ity of. — Even some of the States in our
Union have chosen to do without this court;
and it has been proposed to others to follow
their example in this case. One of two con
sequences must follow. Either, i — the cases
now remediable in Chancery must be left with
out remedy, in which event the clamorers for
justice which originally begat this court,
would produce its re-institution; or 2 — the
courts of common law must be permitted to
perform the discretionary functions of the
Chancery. This will be either by adopting at
once all the rules of the Chancery, with the
consent of the Legislature, or if that is with
held, these courts will be led, by the desire of
doing justice, to extend the text of the law
according to its equity as was done in Eng
land before the Chancery took a regular form.
This will be worse than running on Scylla to
avoid Charybdis, for at present nine-tenths
of our legal contestations are perfectly rem
edied by the common law, and can be carried
before that judicature only. This propor
tion then of our rights is placed on sure
ground. Relieve the judges from the rigor
of text law, and permit them, with praetorian
discretion, to wander into its equity, and the
whole legal system becomes uncertain. This
has been its fate in every country where the
fixed and the discretionary law have been
committed into the same hands. It is prob
able that the singular certainty, with which
justice has been administered in England,
has been the consequence of their distribu
tion into two distinct departments. — To PHIL
LIP MAZZEI. FORD ED., iv, 114. (P., 1785.)
1886. COURTS (County), Appoint
ment of Judges.— The judges of the County
Courts, and other inferior jurisdictions, shall
be appointed by the Administrator, subject to
the negative of the Privy Council. They
shall not be fewer than five in number. —
PROPOSED VA. CONSTITUTION FOR VIRGINIA.
FORD EDV ii, 22. (June 1776.)
1887. COURTS (County), Election of
Judges. — I acknowledge the value of this
institution [County Courts] ; that it is in
truth our principal executive and judiciary,
and that it does much for little pecuniary re
ward. It is their self-appointment I wish to
correct ; to find some means of breaking up
a cabal, when such a one gets possession of
the bench. When this takes place, it be
comes the most afflicting of tyrannies, be
cause its powers are so various, and exercised
on everything most immediately around us. —
To JOHN TAYLOR, vii, 18. FORD ED., x, 52.
(M., 1816.)
1888. . It has been thought that
the people are not competent electors of
judges learned in the law. But I do not
know that this is true, and, if doubtful, we
should follow principle. In this, as in many
other elections, they would be guided by repu
tation, which would not err oftener, perhaps,
than the present mode of appointment. In
one State of the Union, at least, it has long
been tried, and with the most satisfactory
success. The judges of Connecticut have
been chosen by the people every six months,
for nearly two centuries, and I believe there
has hardly ever been an instance of change ;
so powerful is the curb of incessant respon
sibility. If prejudice, however, derived from
a monarchical institution, is still to prevail
against the vital elective principle of our own,
and if the existing example among ourselves
of periodical election of judges by the people
be still mistrusted, let us at least not adopt the
evil, and reject the good, of the English pre
cedent; let us [Virginia] retain amovability on
the concurrence of the executive and legisla
tive branches, and nomination by the execu
tive alone. — To SAMUEL KERCHIVAL. vii, 12.
FORD ED., x, 39. (M., 1816.)
217
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Courts (County)
Credit
1889. COURTS (County), Jurisdic
tion. — The jurisdictions of the judges of the
County Courts * * * shall be defined
from time to time by the Legislature. — PRO
POSED VA. CONSTITUTION. FORD ED., ii, 22.
(June 1776.)
1890. COURTS (County), Removal
of Judges. — The judges of the County Courts
* * * shall be removable for misbehav
ior by the Court of Appeals. — PROPOSED VA.
CONSTITUTION. FORD ED., ii, 22. (June 1776.)
_ COURTS (Federal).— See JUDICIARY.
1891. COURTS (Inferior), Judges.— The
justices or judges of the inferior court * * *
shall be appointed by the governor, on advice
of the Council of State.— PROPOSED CONSTITU
TION FOR VIRGINIA, viii, 450. FORD ED., iii,
329. (1783.)
1892. . The justices or judges of
the inferior courts may be members of the
Legislature. — PROPOSED CONSTITUTION FOR
VIRGINIA. viii, 450. FORD ED., iii, 330.
(1783.)
1893. COURTS (French Plenary), Com
position of. — The composition of the Plenary
Court is, indeed, vicious in the extreme; but
the basis of that court may be retained, and
its composition changed. Make of it a rep
resentative of the people, by composing it of
members sent from the Provincial Assem
blies, and it becomes a valuable member of the
constitution.— To COUNT DE MOUSTIER. ii,
388. (P., May 1788.)
1894. . Two innovations must
be fundamentally condemned : the abolishing,
in so great a degree, of the parliaments, and
the substitution of so ill-composed a body as
the Cour Pleniere. If the King has power to
do this, the government of this country is a
pure despotism.— To MR. CUTTING, ii, 438.
(P., July 1788.)
1895. . The right of registering
the laws is taken from the parliaments and
transferred to a Plenary court, created by the
King. This last is the measure most obnox
ious to all persons. Though the members
are to be for life, yet a great proportion of
them are from descriptions of men always
candidates for the royal favor in other
lines. — To JOHN JAY. ii, 391. (P., May
1788.)
1896. COURTS (Monarchical), Character
of. — Courts are to be seen as you would see
the tower of London, or menagerie of Ver
sailles with their lions, tigers, hyenas and
other beasts of prey, standing in the same re
lation to their fellows. A slight acquaintance
with them will suffice to show you that, under
the most imposing exterior, they are the
weakest and worst part of mankind. Their
manners, could you ape them, would not
make you beloved in your own country, nor
would they improve it could you introduce
them there to the exclusion of that honest
simplicity now prevailing in America, and
worthy of being cherished. — TRAVELLING
HINTS. ix, 405. (1788.)
1897. COURTS (Monarchical), Inscruta
ble. — The designs of these [European] courts
are unsearchable.— To JAMES MONROE, i,
346. FORD ED., iv, 51. (P., 1785.)
1898. COURTS (Monarchical), The Peo
ple and. — Courts love the people always, as
wolves do the sheep. — To JOHN JAY. ii, 561.
(P., 1789-)
1899. COURTS (Monarchical), Unaffec-
tionate. — A court has no affections ; but those
of the people whom they govern influence
their decisions, even in the most arbitrary
governments. — To JAMES MONROE, i, 346.
FORD ED., iv, 51. (P., 1785.)
- COURTS (State).— See JUDICIARY.
1900. CRAWFORD (William H.), Presi
dency and. — A baseless and malicious at
tack on Mr. Crawford has produced from him
so clear, so incontrovertible, and so temperate
a justification of himself as to have added much
to the strength of his interest. The question
will ultimately be, as I suggested in a former
letter to you, between Crawford and Adams,
with this in favor of Crawford that, although
many States have a different first favorite, he
is the second with nearly all, and that if it goes
into the Legislature he will surely be elected. —
To RICHARD RUSH. FORD ED., x, 305. (M.,
June 1824.)
— CREATION, Jefferson's Views on.—
See EARTH.
1901. CREDIT, American.— The real
credit of the United States depends on the
ability, and the immutability of their will, to
pay their debts.— To C. W. F. DUMAS. FORD
ED., vi, 70. (Pa., 1792.)
1902. . We beg * * * to as
sure the French nation, that among the im
portant reasons which lead us to economize
and foster our public credit, a strong one is
the desire of preserving to ourselves the
means of discharging our debts to them with
punctuality and good faith in the terms and
sums which have been stipulated between us.
—To EDMOND CHARLES GENET. FORD ED., vi,
295. (Pa., 1793.)
1903. CREDIT, Destroyed.— They [at
tacks in English newspapers] have destroyed
our credit, and thus checked our disposition
to luxury ; and, forcing our merchants to buy
no more than they have ready money to pay
for, they force them to go to those markets
where that ready money will buy most. Thus
* * * they check our luxury, they force us to
connect ourselves with all the world, and they
prevent foreign emigrations to our country,
all of which I consider as advantageous to
us.— To COUNT VAN HOGENDORP. i, 464.
FORD ED., iv, 104. (P., 1785.)
1904. . I heartily wish the States
may, by their contributions, enable you to re
establish a credit, which cannot be lower than
at present, to exist at all. This is partly ow
ing to their real deficiencies, and partly to
the lies propagated by the London papers,
which are probably paid for by the minister,
to reconcile the people to the loss of us. * * *
Should this produce the amendment of our
Credit
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
218
federal constitution * * * we shall receive
a permanent indemnification for a temporary
loss.— To SAMUEL OSGOOD. i, 450. (P., 1785.)
1905. . Desperate of finding re
lief from a free course of justice, I look for
ward to the abolition of all credit as the only
other remedy which can take place. I have
seen, therefore, with pleasure, the exaggera
tions of our want of faith with which the
London papers teem. It is, indeed, a strong
medicine for sensible minds, but it is a medi
cine. It will prevent their crediting us
abroad, in which case we cannot be credited
at home. — To A. DONALD, ii, 194. FORD ED.,
iv, 414. (P., 1787.)
1906. CREDIT, Establishing.— I told
the President [Washington] all that was ever
necessary to establish our credit, was an effi
cient government, and an honest one, de
claring it would sacredly pay our debts, lay
ing taxes for this purpose and applying them
to it. — THE ANAS, ix, 123. FORD ED., i,
205. (Oct. 1792.)
1907. CREDIT, Faith in American.— I
had rather trust money in the hands of the
United States than in those of any govern
ment on earth. — To C. W. F. DUMAS, ii, 121.
(P., 1787.)
1908. CREDIT, Funding and.— The fund
ing the public debt will secure to us the credit
we now hold at Amsterdam, where our Euro
pean paper is above par, which is the case
of no other nation. Our business is to have
great credit and to. use it little. — To JAMES
MONROE. FORDED., v, 198. (N.Y., 1790.)
1909. . The consolidation and
funding their debts will give the French gov
ernment a credit which then will enable them
to do what they please. — To DAVID HUM
PHREYS, iii, 12. FORD ED., v, 88. (P., 1789.)
1910. CREDIT, High.— pur loan in Am
sterdam for two and a half millions of florins
was filled in two hours and a half after it was
opened. — To PRESIDENT WASHINGTON, iii,
255. FORD ED., v, 327. (Pa., May 1791.)
1911. CREDIT, Interest and.— The bank
ers of Holland consider us as the surest na
tion on earth for the repayment of the capital,
but as the punctual payment of interest is of
absolute necessity in their arrangements, we
cannot borrow but with difficulty and dis
advantage. — To GENERAL WASHINGTON, ii,
374. (P., 1788.)
1912. . If the first money opera
tions of the government under the new Con
stitution are injudiciously begun, correction,
whenever they shall be corrected, will come
too late. Our borrowings will always be
difficult and disadvantageous. If they begin
well, our credit will immediately take the
first station. Equal provision for the in
terest, adding to it a certain prospect for the
principal, will give us [in Holland] a pref
erence to all nations, the English not ex-
cepted. — To JAMES MADISON, ii, 376. (P.,
1913. CREDIT, Low.— American reputa
tion in Europe is not such as to be flattering
to its citizens. Two circumstances are par
ticularly objected to us; the non-payment of
our debts, and the want of energy in our gov
ernment. These discourage a connection with
us. I own it to be my opinion, that good will
arise from the destruction of our credit. I
see nothing else which can restrain our dis
position to luxury, and to the loss* of those
manners which alone can preserve republican
government. As it is impossible to prevent
credit, the best way would be to cure its ill ef
fects, by giving an instantaneous recovery
to the creditor. This would be reducing pur
chases on credit to purchases for ready
money. A man would then see a prison
painted on everything he wished, but had not
ready money to pay for. — To ARCHIBALD
STUART, i, 518. FORD ED., iv, 188. (P.,
1786.)
1914. CREDIT, Manufactures and.— If
credit alone can be obtained for the manufac
tures of the country, it will still help to
clothe our armies, or to increase at market
the necessaries our people want. — To JOHN
ADAMS, i, 206. FORD ED., ii, 134. (Alb.,
I777-)
1915. CREDIT, National Existence and.
— The existence of a nation having no credit
is always precarious. — To JAMES MADISON.
ii, 376. (P., 1788.)
1916. CREDIT, Necessity of.— The sense
of the necessity of public credit is so univer
sal and so deeply rooted, that no other neces
sity will ever prevail against it. — To WILL
IAM SHORT, vi, 401. (M., Nov. 1814.)
1917. CREDIT, Paper, Prices and.—
Though the price of public paper is con
sidered as the barometer of the public credit,
it is truly so only as to the general average
of prices.— To C. W. F. DUMAS, vi, 70. (Pa.,
1792.)
1918. CREDIT, Sustaining.— I think
nothing can bring the security of our con
tinent and its cause into danger, if we can
support the credit of our paper. To do that,
I apprehend, one of two steps must be taken.
Either to procure free trade by alliance with
some naval power able to protect it ; or, if
we find there is no prospect of that, to shut
our ports totally, to all the world, and turn
our colonies into manufactories. The for
mer would be most eligible, because most
conformable to the habits and wishes of our
people. — To BENJ. FRANKLIN, i, 205. FORD
ED., ii, 132. (Aug. 1777.)
1919'. CREDIT, Taxation and.— It is a
wise rule, and should be a fundamental in a
government disposed to cherish its credit,
and at the same time to restrain the use of it
within the limits of its faculties, " never to
borrow a dollar without laying a tax in the
same instant for paying the interest annually,
and the principal within a given term ; and to
* " Change " of those manners in the Congress edi
tion.— EDITOR.
219
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Credit
Crime
consider that tax as pledged to the creditors
on the public faith." On such a pledge as
this, sacredly observed, a government may
always command, on a reasonable interest,
all the lendable money of their citizens, while
the necessity of an equivalent tax is a salu
tary warning to them and their constituents
against oppressions, bankruptcy, and its in
evitable consequence, revolution. But the
term of redemption must be moderate, and at
any rate within the limit of their rightful
powers. But what limits, it will be asked,
does this prescribe to their powers? What
is to hinder them from creating a perpetual
debt? The laws of nature, I answer. The
earth belongs to the living, not to the dead.
The will and the power of man expire with
his life, by nature's law. — To JOHN W.
EPPES. vi, 136. FORD ED., ix, 389. (M.,
June 1813.)
1920. CREDIT, Using.— I am anxious
about everything which may affect our credit.
My wish would be to possess it in the highest
degree, but to use it little. Were we without
credit, we might be crushed by a nation of
much inferior resources, but possessing
higher credit. — To GENERAL WASHINGTON.
ii, 374- (P-, 1788.)
1921. . Though I am an enemy
to the using our credit but under absolute
necessity, yet the possessing a good credit I
consider as indispensable, in the present sys
tem of carrying on war. — To JAMES MADI
SON, ii, 376. (P., 1788.)
1922. . We consider it as of the
first importance to possess the first credit at
Amsterdam, and to use it little.— To C. W. F.
DUMAS, iii, 155. FORD ED., v, 190.. (N. Y.,
1790.)
1923. CREDIT, War and. — War requires
every resource of taxation and credit. — To
GENERAL WASHINGTON, ii, 533. FORD ED.,
v, 57- (P., 1788.)
1924. . The present system of
war renders it necessary to make exertions
far beyond the annual resources of the State,
and to consume in one year the efforts of
many. And this system we cannot change.
It remains, then, that we cultivate our credit
with the utmost attention. — To GENERAL
WASHINGTON, ii, 374. (P., 1788.) See DEBT.
1925. CREDIT (Private), Evils of.— As
it is impossible to prevent credit, the best way
would be to cure its ill effects by giving an
instantaneous recovery to the creditor. This
would be reducing purchases on credit to
purchases for ready money. A man would
then see a prison painted on everything he
wished but had not the ready money to pay
for. — To ARCHIBALD STUART, i, 518. FORD
ED., iv, 1 88. (P., 1786.)
1926. CREDULITY, Mankind and.—
What is it men cannot be made to believe ! —
To RICHARD H. LEE. i, 541. FORD ED., iv,
207. (L., 1786.)
1927. CREEK INDIANS, Carthaginians
and. — I shall be very glad to receive the con
jectures of your philosopher on the descent of
the Creek Indians from the Carthaginians, sup
posed to have been separated from Hanno's
fleet, during his periplus. I see nothing impos
sible in his conjecture. I am glad he means to
appeal to similarity of language, which I con
sider as the strongest kind of proof it is possi
ble to adduce. I have somewhere read that the
language of the ancient Carthaginians is still
spoken by their descendants, inhabiting the
mountainous interior parts of Barbary, to which
they were obliged to retire by the conquering
Arabs. If so, a vocabulary of their tongue can
still be got, and if your friend will get one of
the Creek languages, the comparison will de
cide. * * My wish, like his, is to ascertain
the history of the American aborigines. — To E.
RUTLEDGE. ii, 434. FORD ED., v, 41. (P
1788.)
1928. CREEK INDIANS, Civilization
°f- — The Cherokee nation, consisting now of
about 2,000 warriors, and the Creeks of about
3,000 are far advanced in civilization. They
have good cabins, enclosed fields, large herds of
cattle and hogs, spin and weave their own
clothes of cotton, have smiths and other of
the most necessary tradesmen, write and read,
are on the increase in numbers, and a branch
of Cherpkees is now instituting a regular rep
resentative government. Some other tribes are
advancing in the same line. — To JOHN ADAMS
vi, 62. FORD ED., ix, 358. (M., 1812.) See
INDIANS.
- CREEK INDIANS, Commerce with.
— See MONOPOLY.
— CRESAP (Captain), Logan and.— See
LOGAN.
1929. CRIME, Adequate punishment.—
Whereas, it frequently happens that wicked
and dissolute men, resigning themselves to
the dominion of inordinate passions, commit
violations on the lives, liberties and property
of others, and the secure enjoyment of these
having principally induced men to enter into
society, government would be defective in its
principal purpose, were it not to restrain such
criminal acts, by inflicting due punishments
on those who perpetrate them.— CRIMES BILL
i, 147. FORD ED., ii, 203. (1779.)
1930. . The punishment of all
real crimes is certainly desirable, as a security
to society; the security is greater in propor
tion as the chances of avoiding punishment
are less.— REPORT ON SPANISH CONVENTION.
iii, 353- FORD ED., v, 482. (1792.)
1931. CRIME, Breach of Prison.— The
law of nature impels every one to escape from
confinement; it should not, therefore, be sub
jected to punishment. Let the legislator re
strain his criminal by walls, not parchment.
As to strangers breaking prison to enlarge an
offender, they should, and may be fairly con
sidered as accessories after the fact. — NOTE
TO CRIMES BILL, i, 159. FORD ED., ii, 218.
(1779 )
- CRIME, Death Penalty.— See DEATH
PENALTY.
1932. CRIME, Disproportionate pun
ishment. — The punishment of crimes against
property is, in most countries, immensely dis-
Crime
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
2 2O
proportionate to the crime. In England, and
probably in Canada, to steal a hare, is death
the first offence. To steal above the value of
twelve pence is death the second offence. —
REPORT ON SPANISH CONVENTION, iii, 353.
FORD ED., v, 483. (1792.)
1933. CHIME, Flight from debts.— The
carrying away of the property of another may
be reasonably made to found a civil action.
A convention, then, may include forgery and
the carrying away the property of others
under the head of " Flight from Debts." To
remit the fugitive in this case, would be to
remit him in every case ; for in the present state
of things, it is next to impossible not to owe
something. But I see neither injustice nor
inconvenience in permitting the fugitive to be
sued in our courts. The laws of some coun
tries punishing the unfortunate debtor by
perpetual imprisonment, he is right to liberate
himself by flight, and it would be wrong to
reimprison him in the country to which he
flies. Let all process, therefore, be confined
to his property. — REPORT ON SPANISH CON
VENTION, iii, 354. FORD ED., v, 484. (1792.)
1934. CHIME, Forgery.— There is one
crime against property, pressed by its conse
quences into more particular notice, to wit,
forgery, whether of coin, or paper; and
whether paper, of public, or private obliga
tion. But the fugitive for forgery, is pun
ished by exile and confiscation of the prop
erty he leaves. To which, add by Conven
tion a civil action against the property he
carries or acquires, to the amount of the spe
cial damage done by his forgery. — REPORT
ON SPANISH CONVENTION, iii, 354. FORD ED.,
v, 484. (1792.)
1935. CHIME, Horse-stealing.— The of
fence of horse-stealing seems properly dis
tinguishable from other larcenies, here, where
these animals generally run at large, the temp
tation being so great and frequent, and the
facility of commission so remarkable.* — NOTE
ON CRIMES BILL, i, 157. FORD ED., ii, 215.
(I779-)
1936. CRIME, Jurisdiction over.— The
Constitution of the United States, * * * hav
ing delegated to Congress a power to pun
ish treason, counterfeiting the securities and
current coin of the United States, piracies
and felonies committed on the high seas, and
offences against the law of nations, and no
other crimes whatsoever ; and it being true, as
a general principle, and one of the amend
ments to the Constitution having also de
clared, that " the powers not delegated to
the United States by the Constitution, nor
prohibited by it to the States, are reserved
to the States respectively, or to the people/'
therefore the act of Congress, passed on the
I4th day of July, 1798, and intituled, " An
Act in addition to the act intituled An Act
for the punishment of certain crimes against
the United States," as also the act passed by
them on the day of June, 1798, intituled,
* For horse-stealing, the bill provided a punish
ment of three years hard labor in the public works
and reparation to the person injured.— EDITOR.
" An Act to punish frauds committed on
the Bank of the United States" (and all
other acts which assume to create, define, or
punish crimes, other than those so enumer
ated in the Constitution), are altogether void,
and of no force ; and that the power to create,
define, and punish such other crimes is re
served, and, of right, appertains solely and
exclusively to the respective States, each
within its own territory. — KENTUCKY RESO
LUTIONS, ix, 465. FORD ED., vii, 292. (1798.)
1937. CHIME, Lex Talionis and.— They
[the members of the Revision Committee of
the Virginia Code] were agreed * * * that for
other felonies [than treason and murder]
hard labor in the public works should be
substituted, and in some cases, the lex tal-
ionis. How this last revolting principle came
to obtain our* approbation, I do not remem
ber. There remained, indeed, in our laws, a
vestige of it in a single case of a slave ; it was
the English law, in the time of the Anglo-
Saxons, copied probably from the Hebrew
Law of " an eye for an eye, a tooth for a
tooth," and it was the law of several ancient
people; but the modern mind had left it far
in the rear of its advances. — AUTOBIOGRAPHY.
i, 43. FORD ED., i, 60. (1821.)
1938. CRIME, National.— No national
crime passes unpunished in the lonj? run. —
To M. DE MARBOIS. vii, 76. (M., 1817.)
1939. CRIME, Natural Laws and.— It is
not only vain, but wicked, in a legislator to
frame laws in opposition to the laws of na
ture, and to arm them with the terrors of
death. This is truly creating crimes in order
to punish them. — NOTE ON CRIMES BILL, i,
159. FORD ED., ii, 218. (1779.)
1940. CHIME, Principles of Punishing.
— In forming a scale of crimes and punish
ments, two considerations have principal
weight, i. The atrocity of the crime. 2.
The peculiar circumstances of a country
which furnish greater temptations to commit
it, or greater facilities for escaping detection.
The punishment must be heavier to counter
balance this! Were the first the only consid
eration, all nations would form the same
scale. But, as the circumstances of a coun
try have influence on the punishment, and
no two countries exist precisely under the
same circumstances, no two countries will
form the same scale of crimes and punish
ments. For example in America, the inhabit
ants let their horses go at large in the un-
inclosed lands, which are so extensive as to
maintain them altogether. It is easy, there
fore, to steal them, and easy to escape. There
fore, the laws are obliged to oppose these
temptations with a heavier degree of pun
ishment. For this reason, the stealing of a
horse in America is punished more severely
than stealing t^e same value in any other
form. In Europe, where horses are confined
so securely that it is impossible to steal them,
that species of theft need not be punished
* Jefferson was a member of the Committee.—
EDITOR.
221
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Criminals
Cruelty
more severely than any other. In some coun
tries of Europe, stealing fruit from trees is
punished capitally. The reason is, that it be
ing impossible to lock fruit trees up in cof
fers, as we do our money, it is impossible to
oppose physical bars to this species of theft.
Moral ones are, therefore, opposed by the
laws. This, to an unreflecting American, ap
pears the most enormous of all the abuses
of power; because he has been used to see
fruits hanging in such quantities that if not
taken by men, they would rot. He has been
used to consider them therefore, as of no
value, and as not furnishing materials for the
commission of a crime. — To M. DE MEUNIER.
ix, 264. FORD ED., iv, 169. (P., 1786.)
1941. CRIMINALS, Reformation of.—
A member of society, committing an inferior
injury, does not wholly forfeit the protection
of his fellow citizens, but after suffering a
punishment in proportion to his offence, is
entitled to their protection from all greater
pain, so that it becomes a duty in the Legis
lature to arrange, in a proper scale, the crimes
which it may be necessary for them to re
press, and to adjust thereto a corresponding
gradation of punishments. — CRIMES BILL, i,
147. FORD ED., ii, 204. (1779.)
1942. CRITICISM, Canons of.— [ have
alwavs very much despised the artificial can
ons of criticism. When I have read a work
in prose or poetry, or seen a painting, a
statue, &c., I have only asked myself whether
it gives me pleasure, whether it is animating,
interesting, attaching? If it is, it is good
for these reasons. — To WILLIAM WIRT. FORD
ED., x, 61. (P.F., 1816.)
1943. CRITICISM, Freedom of .—In men
tioning me in your Essays, and canvassing
my opinions, you have done what every man
has a right to do, and it is for the good of
society that that right should be freely exer
cised. No republic is more real than that of
letters, and I am the last in principles, as I
am the least in pretensions, to any dictator
ship in it. Had I other dispositions, the
philosophical and dispassionate spirit with
which you have expressed your own opinions
in opposition to mine, would still have com
manded my approbation. — To NOAH WEBSTER.
iii, 201. FORD ED., v, 254. (P., 1790.)
— CROAKINGS OF WEALTH.— See
WEALTH.
1944. CRUELTY, British in America.
— If M. de Meunier proposes to mention the
facts of cruelty of which he * * *
spoke yesterday, these facts are: i. The death
of upwards of eleven thousand American pris
oners in one prison ship (the Jersey), and in
the space of three years. 2. General Howe's
permitting our prisoners, taken at the battle of
Germantown, and placed under a guard in the
yard of the State-house of Philadelphia, to be
so long without any food furnished them that
many perished with hunger. Where the bodies
lay, it was seen that they had eaten all
the grass around them within their reach,
after they had lost the power of rising, or
moving from their place. 3. The second fact
was the act of a commanding officer ; the first.
of several commanding officers, and for so
long a time as must suppose the approbation
of government, itself. But the following was
the act of the government itself. During the
periods that our affairs seemed unfavorable,
and theirs successful, that is to say, after the
evacuation of New York, and again, after the
taking of Charleston, in South Carolina, they
regularly sent our prisoners, taken on the seas
and carried to England, to the East Indies.
This is so certain, that in the month of Novem
ber or December, 1785, Mr. Adams having of
ficially demanded a delivery of the American
prisoners sent to the East Indies. Lord Car
marthen answered, officially, " that orders were
immediately issued for their discharge." M. de
Meunier i at liberty to quote this fact. 4. A
fact to be ascribed not only to the government,
but to the parliament, who passed an act for
that purpose in the beginning of the war, was
the obliging our prisoners taken at sea to join
them, and fight against their countrymen. This
they effected by starving and whipping them.
The fact is referred to in that para
graph of the Declaration of Independence,
which says, " He has constrained our fellow-
citizens, taken captive on the high seas, to bear
arms against their country, to become the exe
cutioners of their friends and brethren, or to
fall themselves by their hands." This was the
most afflicting to our prisoners of all the cruel
ties exercised on them. The others affected
the body only, but this the mind; they were
haunted by the horror of having, perhaps, them
selves shot the ball by which a father or a
brother fell. Some of them had constancy
enough to hold out against half allowance of
food and repeated whippings. These were gen
erally sent to England, and from thence to
the East Indies. One of them escaped from
the East Indies, and got back to Paris, where
he gave an account of his sufferings to Mr.
Adams. — To M. DE MEUNIER. ix, 277. FORD
ED., iv, 183. (P., 1786.)
1945. - — . I doubt whether human
ity is the character of the British nation in gen
eral. But [your] history, and every one which
is impartial, must in its relation of the [Ameri
can] war show, in such repeated instances, that
they conducted it, both in theory and practice,
on the most barbarous principles, that the ex
pression here cited* will stand in contradiction
to the rest of the work. As examples of their
theory, recollect the act of Parliament for con
straining our prisoners, taken on the sea, to
bear arms against their fathers, brothers, &c.
For their practice, recollect the exciting the
savages against us, insurrections of our slaves,
sending our prisoners to the East Indies, kill
ing them in prison ships, keeping them on half
rations, and of the most unwholesome quality,
cruel murders of unarmed individuals of every
sex, massacres of those in arms after they had
asked quarter, &c., &c. — NOTES ON M. SOULES
WORK, ix, 300. FORD ED., iv, 308. (P., 1786.)
1946. . I confess that when I
heard of the atrocities committed by the
English troops at Hampton, I did not believe
them, but subsequent evidence has placed them
beyond doubt. To this has been added informa
tion from another quarter which proves the vio
lation of women to be their habitual practice in
war. Mr. Hamilton, a son of Alexander Ham
ilton, of course, a federalist and Angloman,
and who was with the British army in Spain,
declares it is their constant practice, and that
at the taking of Badajoz, he was himself eye-
* "L'humanite des Britons."— EDITOR.
Cuba
Currency
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
222
witness to it in the streets, and that the officers
did not attempt to restrain it. The information
contained in your letter proves it is not merely
a recent practice. This is a trait of barbarism,
in addition to their encouragement of the sav
age cruelties, and their brutal treatment of
prisoners of war, which I had not attached to
their character. — To JOSIAH MEIGS. FORD ED.,
ix, 419. (M., 1813.) See CORNWALLIS and RE
TALIATION.
1947. CUBA, Acquisition by United
States.— I candidly confess, that I have ever
looked on Cuba as the most interesting ad
dition which could ever be made to our system
of States. The control which, with Florida
Point, this island would give us over the
Gulf of Mexico, and the countries an isth
mus bordering on it, as well as all those whose
waters flow into it, would fill up the measure
of our political well-being.— To PRESIDENT
MONROE, vii, 316. FORD ED., x, 278. (M., 1823.)
1948. . Certainly, her addition
to our confederacy is exactly what is wanting
to round our power as a nation to the point of
its utmost interest. — To PRESIDENT MONROE.
vii, 300. FORD ED., x, 261. (M., June 23, 1823.)
1949. . It is better to lie still in
readiness to receive that interesting incor
poration when solicited by herself. — To
PRESIDENT MONROE, vii, 300. FORD ED., x,
261. (M., June 1823.)
1950. . It will be objected to
our receiving Cuba, that no limit can then be
drawn to our future acquisitions. Cuba can
be defended by us without a navy, and this
develops the principle which ought to limit
our views. Nothing should ever be accepted
which would require a navy to defend it. — To
PRESIDENT MADISON, v, 445. (M., 1809.)
1951. . Bonaparte, although with
difficulty, will consent to our receiving Cuba
into our Union, to prevent our aid to Mexico
and the other [Spanish] provinces. That
would be a price, and I would immediately
erect a column on the southernmost limit
of Cuba, and inscribe on it a ne plus ultra
as to us in that direction. — To PRESIDENT
MADISON, v, 444. FORD ED., ix, 25. (M.,
April 1809.)
1952. CUBA, England, France and. —
Patriots of Spain have no warmer friends
than the administration of the United States,
but it is our duty to say nothing and to do
nothing for or against either. If they succeed,
we shall be well satisfied to see Cuba and Mex
ico remain in their present dependence ; but
very unwilling to see them in that of either
France or England, politically or commer
cially. We consider their interests and ours
as the same, and that the object of both must
be to exclude all European influence from
this hemisphere. * * * These are senti
ments which I would wish you to express to
any proper characters of either of these two
countries, and particularly that we have noth
ing more at heart than their friendship. — To
GOVERNOR CLAIBORNE. v, 381. FORD ED., ix,
212. (W., Oct. 1808.)
1953. CUBA, Possession by England.—
Cuba alone seems at present to hold up a
speck of war to us. Its possession by Great
Britain would indeed be a great calamity to
us. Could we induce her to join us in guaran
teeing its independence against all the world,
except Spain, it would be nearly as valuable
to us as if it were our own.* But should she
take it, I would not immediately go to war
for it; because the first war on other ac
counts will give it to us; or the island will
give itself to us, when able to do so. — To
PRESIDENT MONROE, vii, 288. FORD ED., x,
257. (M., 1823.)
1954. CUBA, Spain, Bonaparte and.— I
suppose the conquest of Spain will soon force
a delicate question on you as to the Floridas
and Cuba, which will offer themselves to you.
Napoleon will certainly give his consent with
out difficulty to our receiving the Floridas,
and with some difficulty possibly Cuba. And
though he will disregard the obligation when
ever he thinks he can break it with success,
yet it has a great effect on the opinion of
our people and the world to have the moral
right on our side, of his agreement as well as
that of the people of those countries.— To
PRESIDENT MADISON, v, 442. FORD EDV ix,
251. (M., April 1809.)
1955. CUBA, Spanish Retention of.— I
shall sincerely lament Cuba's falling into any
hands but those of its present owners. Span
ish-America is at present in the best hands
for us, and " Chi sta bene, non si muove "
should be our motto. — To ALBERT GALLATIN.
v, 290. (M., 1808.)
1956. . [The Cabinet was] unani
mously agreed in the sentiments which should
be unauthoritatively expressed by our agents
to influential persons in Cuba and Mexico, to
wit : " If you remain under the dominion of
the Kingdom and family of Spain, we are con
tented ; but we should be extremely unwilling
to see you pass under the dominion or as
cendency of France or England. In the lat
ter cases should you choose to declare inde
pendence, we cannot now commit ourselves
by saying we would make common cause with
you, but must reserve ourselves to act ac
cording to the then existing circumstances;
but in our proceedings we shall be influenced
by friendship to you, by a firm belief that our
interests are intimately connected, and by the
strongest repugnance to see you under subor
dination to either France or England, either
politically or commercially." — ANAS. FORD
ED., i, 334. (Oct. 1808.)
— CURRENCY.— See BANKS, DOLLAR,
NATIONAL CURRENCY, and MONEY.
* Jefferson wrote, two weeks later, to President
Monroe, withdrawing this opinion, it having been
"founded on an error of fact," with regard to the
existence of an English interest in Cuba, and the
possibility of its falling into the possession of Great
Britain. ''We are surely," said Jefferson, " under no
obligation to give her, gratis, an interest which she
has not ; and the whole inhabitants being averse to
her, and the climate mortal to strangers, its contin
ued military occupation by her would be impracti
cable. It is better, then, to lie still in readiness to
receive that interesting incorporation when solicited
by herself."— EDITOR.
223
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Curtius
Deaae (Silas)
you
1957. " CURTIUS," Letters of.— I send
* * * one of the pieces, " Curtius "
* . It is evidently written by [Alex
ander] Hamilton, giving a first and general view
of the subject, that the public mind might be
kept a little in check, till he could resume the
subject more at large from the beginning, under
his second signature of " Camillus." The piece
called " The Features of the Treaty," I do not
send, because you have seen it in the news
papers. It is said to be written by Coxe, but
I should rather suspect, by Beckley. The anti
dote is certainly not strong enough for the
poison of " Curtius." If I had not been in
formed the present came from Beckley, I should
have suspected it from Jay or Hamilton. I
gave a copy or two, by way of experiment, to
honest, sound-hearted men of common under
standing, and they v/ere not able to parry the
sophistry of " Curtius." * * * For God's
sake take up your pen, and give a fundamental
reply to " Curtius " and " Camillus." * — To
JAMES MADISON, iv, 121. FORD ED., vii, 31.
(M., Sep. I795-)
_ GUSHING (William), Death of.— See
SUPREME COURT.
1958. DALRYMPLE (— ), Republican
ism of. — Mr. Dalrymple, secretary to the
legation of Mr. Crawford * * * is a young
man of learning and candor, and exhibits a
phenomenon I never before met with, that is,
a republican born on the north side of the
Tweed. — To JOHN ADAMS, i, 501. (P., 1785.)
1959. DANCING, Women and.— Dan
cing is a necessary accomplishment, although
of short use ; for the French rule is wise, that
no lady dances after marriage. This is founded
in solid physical reasons. — To N. BURWELL. vii,
102. FORD ED., x, 105. (M., 1818.)
1960. DASHKOFF (M.), Welcome to.—
I hail you with particular pleasure, as the first
harbinger of those friendly relations with your
country [Russia], so desirable to ours. — To M.
DASHKOFF. v, 463. (M., Aug. 1809.)
1961. DAVID (Jacques Louis), Paint
ings of. — We have nothing new and excellent
in your charming art of painting. In fact, I do
not feel an interest in any pencil but that of
David. — To MADAME DE BREHAN. ii, SQL FORD
ED., v, 80. (P., 1789-)
1962. DAYTON (Jonathan), Becomes a
Federalist. — You will have perceived that
Dayton has gone over completely. He expects
to be appointed Secretary of War, in the room
of M'Henry, who, it is said, will retire. He has
been told, as report goes, that they would not
have confidence enough in him to appoint him.
The desire of inspiring them with more, seems
the only way to account for the eclat which he
chooses to give to his conversion. t — To JAMES
MADISON, iv, 211. FORD ED., vii, 202. (P.,
Feb. 1798.)
1963. DEAD, Binding power of the.—
Rights and powers can only belong to per-
* The letters of " Curtius " were written by Noah
Webster, except numbers 6-7, which were from the
pen of James Kent. -NOTE IN FORD EDITION.
t Dayton became implicated with Aaron Burr in his
treasonable enterprise, and in August, 1807. applied
to Jefferson to be admitted to bail. Jefferson de
clined on the ground that, " when a person, charged
with an offence, is placed in the possession of the Ju
diciary authority, the laws commit to that solely the
whole direction of the case ; and any interference
with it on the part of the Executive would be an en
croachment on their independence, and open to just
censure."— FORD ED., ix, 126.
sons, not to things, not to mere matter, un
endowed with will. The dead are not even
things. The particles of matter which com
posed their bodies make part now of the
bodies of other animals, vegetables, or min
erals, of a thousand forms. To what, then, are
attached the rights and powers they held
while in the form of men? A generation may
bind itself as long as its majority continues
in life; when that has disappeared, another
majority is in place, holds all the rights and
powers their predecessors once held, and may
change their laws and institutions to suit
themselves. — To JOHN CARTWRIGHT. vii, 350.
(M., 1824.) See EARTH.
1964. DEAD, No Rights attached to.—
The dead have no rights. They are nothing;
and nothing cannot own something. Where
there is no substance, there can be no acci
dent. — To SAMUEL KERCHIVAL. vii, 16. FORD
ED., x, 44. (M., 1816.) See GENERATIONS.
1965. DEANE (Silas), Official books of.
— About three weeks ago, a person called on
me and informed me that Silas Deane had taken
him in for a sum of one hundred and twenty
guineas, and that being unable to obtain any
other satisfaction, he had laid hands on his
account book and letter book, and had brought
them off to Paris, to offer them first to the
United States, if they would repay him his
money, and if not, that he should return to
London, and offer them to the British minister.
I desired him to leave them with me four and
twenty hours, that I might judge whether they
were worth our notice. He did so. They were
two volumes. One contained all his accounts
with the United States, from his first coming
to Europe, to January the loth, 1781. * * *
The other volume contained all his correspond
ence from March the 3oth to August the 23d,
1777- * * On perusal of many of them,
I thought it desirable that they should not come
to the hands of the British minister, and from
an expression dropped by the possessor of them,
I believe he would have fallen to fifty or sixty
guineas. I did not think them important
enough, however, to justify my purchasing them
without authority ; though, with authority, I
should have done it. Indeed, I would have
given that sum to cut out a single sentence,
which contained evidence of a fact, not proper
to be committed to the hands of enemies. I
told him I would state his proposition to you,
and await orders. — To JOHN JAY. ii, 454. (P.,
Aug. 1788.)
1966. . A Monsieur Foulloy,
who has been connected with Deane, lately of
fered me for sale two volumes of Deane's letter
books and account books, that he had taken
instead of money which Deane owed him. I
have purchased them on public account. He
tells me Deane has still six or eight volumes
more, and being to return soon to London, he
will try to get them also, in order to make us
pay high for them. You are sensible of the im
propriety of letting such books get into hands
which might make an unfriendly use of them.
You are sensible of the immorality of an ex-
minister's selling his secrets for money ; ancl
consequently that there can be no immorality
in tempting him with money to part with them ;
so that they may be restored to that govern
ment to whom they properly belong. Your
former acquaintance with Deane may, perhaps,
put it in your power to render our country the
service of recovering those books. It would
Deane (Silas)
Death
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
224
not do to propose it to him as for Congress.
* * * I suppose his distresses and his crapu
lous habits will not render him difficult on this
head. On the supposition that there are six
or eight volumes, I think you might venture as
far as fifty guineas, and proportionally for
fewer. — To DR. EDWARD BANCROFT, ii, 578.
(P., 1789.)
1967. DEANE (Silas), Poverty of.— Silas
Deane is coming over to finish his days in
America, not having one sou to subsist on
elsewhere. He is a wretched monument of
the consequences of a departure from right. — To
JAMES MADISON, iii, 101. FORD ED., v, 114.
(P., 1789.)
1968. DEARBORN (Henry), Appoint
ment to Cabinet. — On a review of the char
acters in the different States proper for the dif
ferent departments, I have had no hesitation in
considering you as the person to whom it would
be most advantageous to the public to confide
the Department of War. May I hope that you
will give your country the aid of your talents ? —
To HENRY DEARBORN, iv, 356. FORD ED., vii,
496. (W., 1801.)
1969. DEARBORN (Henry), Esteem for.
—In public or in private, and in all situations,
I shall retain for you the most cordial esteern,
and satisfactory recollections of the harmony
and friendship with which we have run our
race together. — To HENRY DEARBORN, v, 230.
FORD ED., ix, 172.. (W., Jan. 1808.)
1970. DEARBORN (Henry), Political
Attacks on. — That you as well as myself, and
all our brethren, have maligners, who from ill-
temper, or disappointment, seek opportunities
of venting their angry passions against us, is
well known, and too well understood by our
constituents to be regarded. No man who can
succeed you will have fewer, nor will any one
enjoy a more extensive confidence through the
nation. — To HENRY DEARBORN, v, 229. FORD
ED., ix, 171. (W., Jan. 1808.)
1971. DEARBORN (Henry), Services
of. — The integrity, attention, skill, and econ
omy with which you have conducted your de
partment (War) have given me the most com
plete and unqualified satisfaction, and this testi
mony I bear to it with all the sincerity of truth
and friendship ; and should a war come on, there
is no person in the United States to whose man
agement and care I could commit it with equal
confidence. — To HENRY DEARBORN, v, 229.
FORD ED., ix, 171. (W., 1808.)
1972. . Nor among the incidents
of the war, will we forget your services. * * *
Your capture of York and Fort George first
turned the tide of success in our favor ; and
the subsequent campaigns sufficiently wiped
away the disgrace of the first. — To GENERAL
DEARBORN, vi, 450. (M., 1815.)
1973. DEARBORN (Henry), Retire
ment of. — If it were justifiable to look to your
own happiness only, your resolution to retire
from all public business could not but be ap
proved. But you are too young to ask a dis
charge as yet, and the public councils too much
reeding the wisdom of our ablest citizens, to re
linquish their claim on you. And surely none
needs your aid more than your own State. — To
GENERAL DEARBORN, vi, 451. (M., March 1815.)
1974. DEATH, Blighted by.— The part
you take in my loss makes an affectionate
concern for the greatness of it. It is great in
deed. Others may lose of their abundance,
but I, of my want, have lost even the half of
all I had. My evening prospects now hang
on the slender thread of a single life. Per
haps I may be destined to see even this last
cord of parental affection broken. The hope
with which I had looked forward to the mo
ment, when, resigning public cares to younger
hands, I was to retire to that domestic com
fort from which the last step is to be taken, is
fearfully blighted. — To JOHN PAGE, iv, 547.
(W., 1804.)
1975. DEATH, A Conqueror. — When you
and I look back on the country over which
we have passed, what a field of slaughter does
it exhibit! Where are all the friends who
entered it with us, under all the inspiring en
ergies of health and hope? As if pursued by
the havoc of war, they are strewed by the way,
some earlier, some later, and scarce a few
stragglers remain to count the numbers fallen,
and to mark yet, by their own fall, the last
footsteps of their party. Is it a desirable thing
to bear up through the heat of the action, to
witness the death of all our companions,
and merely to be the last victim? I doubt it.
We have, however, the traveller's consolation.
Every step shortens the distance we have to
go; the end of our journey is in sight, the
bed wherein we are to rest, and to rise in the
midst of the friends we have lost. — To JOHN
PAGE, iv, 547. (W., 1804.)
1976. DEATH, Decay and.— To me every
mail, in the departure of some contemporary,
brings warning to be in readiness myself also,
and to cease from new engagements. It is a
warning of no alarm. When faculty after
faculty is retiring from us, and all the avenues
to cheerful sensation closing, sight failing
now, hearing next, then memory, debility of
body, torpitude of mind, nothing remaining
but a sickly vegetation, with scarcely the re
lief of a little locomotion, the last cannot be
but a coup de grace. — To MR. JOHN MELISH.
vi, 403. (M., 1814.)
1977. DEATH, Generations and.— When
we have lived our generation out, we should
not wish to encroach on another. I enjoy
good health : I am happy in what is around
me, yet I assure you I am ripe for leaving all,
this year, this day, this hour. — To JOHN AD
AMS, vii, 26. (M., 1816.)
1978. . There is a ripeness of
time for death, regarding others as well as
ourselves, when it is reasonable we should
drop off, and make room for another growth.
When we have lived our generation out, we
should not wish to encroach on another. — To
JOHN ADAMS, vii, 26. (M., 1816.)
1979. DEATH, Life and.— When all our
faculties have left, or are leaving us, one by
one, sight, hearing, memory, every avenue of
pleasing sensation is closed, and athymy, de
bility, and malaise left in their places; when
friends of our youth are all gone, and a new
generation is risen around us whom we know
not, is death an evil? * * * I think not. I
have ever dreaded a doting old age ; and my
225
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Death
Debate
health has been generally so good, and is
now so good, that I dread it still— To JOHN
ADAMS, vii, 243. FORD ED., x, 216. (M.,
1822.)
1980. DEATH, Meeting after.— Our
next meeting must be in the country to which
[those years] have flown, — a country for us
not now very distant. For this journey we
shall need neither gold nor silver in our purse,
nor scrip, nor coats, nor staves. Nor is the
provision for it more easy than the prepara
tion has been kind. Nothing proves more
than this, that the Being who presides over
the world is essentially benevolent. Stealing
from us, one by one, the faculties of enjoy
ment, searing our sensibilities, leading us, like
the horse in his mill, round and round the
same beaten circle,
To see what we have seen,
To taste the tasted, and at each return
Less tasteful; o'er our palates to decant
Another vintage —
Until satiated and fatigued with this leaden
iteration, we ask our own conge. I heard
once a very old friend, who had troubled him
self with neither poets nor philosophers, say
the same thing in plain prose, that he was
tired of pulling off his shoes and stockings at
night and putting them on again in the morn
ing. — To MRS. JOHN ADAMS, vii, 53. FORD
ED., x, 70. (M., 1817.)
1981. DEATH, Prepared for. — Mine is
the next turn, and I shall meet it with good
will; for after one's friends are all gone be
fore him, and our faculties leaving us, too,
one by one, why wish to linger in mere vege
tation, as a solitary trunk in a desolate field,
from which all its former companions have
disappeared. — To MRS. COSWAY. D. L. J.,
374. (M., 1820.)
1982. DEATH, Problem of.— The great
problem, untried by the living, unreporttd by
the dead.— To M. CORREA. vii, 95. (P.F.,
1817.)
1983. DEATH, A Time for.— There is a
fulness of time when men should go, and not
occupy too long the ground to which others
have a right to advance. — To DR. BENJAMIN
RUSH, vi, 4. FORD ED., ix, 329. (P.F., 1811.)
1984. DEATH PENALTY, Crimes Pun
ishable by.— The General Assembly [of Vir
ginia] shall have no power to pass any law
inflicting death for any crime, excepting mur
der ; and those offences in the military ser
vice for which they shall think punishment
by death absolutely necessary : and all capital
punishments in other cases are hereby abol
ished. — PROPOSED VA. CONSTITUTION. FORD
ED., ii, 17. (June 1776.)
1985. . No crime shall be hence
forth punished by the deprivation of life or
limb, except those hereinafter ordained to be
so punished.* — CRIMES BILL, i, 148. FORD
ED., ii, 205. (I779-)
* Those crimes, so ordained, were treason and
murder. When Jefferson made this humane propo-
1986. DEATH PENALTY, Criminal Re
form and.— The reformation of offenders,
though an object worthy the attention of the
laws, is not effected at all by capital punish-
nents, which exterminate instead of reform
ing, and should be the last melancholy re
source against those whose existence is be
come inconsistent with the safety of their fel
low citizens ; which also weaken the State, by
cutting off so many who, if reformed, might
be restored sound members to society, who,
even under a course of correction, might be
rendered useful in various labors for the pub
ic, and would be living and long continued
spectacles to deter others from committing
:he like offences. — CRIMES BILL, i, 147.
FORD ED., ii, 204. (1779.)
1987. . Beccaria, and other wri
ters on crimes and punishments, had satisfied
the reasonable world of the unrightfulness
and inerficacy of the punishment of crimes by
death; and hard labor on roads, canals and
other public works, had been suggested as a
proper substitute. The Revisors [of the Vir
ginia laws] had adopted these opinions; but
the general idea of our country had not yet
advanced to that point. The bill, therefore,
for proportioning crimes and punishments,
was lost in the House of Delegates by a ma
jority of a single vote. I learned afterwards,
that the substitute of hard labor in public,
was tried (I believe it was in Pennsylvania)
without success. Exhibited as a public spec
tacle, with shaved heads and mean clothing,
working on the high roads, produced in the
criminals such a prostration of character,
such an abandonment of self-respect, as in
stead of reforming, plunged them into the
most desperate and hardened depravity of
morals and character. — AUTOBIOGRAPHY, i, 45.
FORD ED., i, 62. (1821.)
1988. DEATH PENALTY, Indians and.
— It will be worthy the consideration of the
Legislature, whether the provisions of the
law inflicting on Indians, in certain cases, the
punishment of death by hanging, might not
permit its commutation into death by military
execution, the form of the punishment in the
former way being peculiarly repugnant to
their ideas, and increasing the obstacles to the
surrender of the criminal. — SPECIAL MESSAGE.
viii, 22. (Jan. 1802.)
1989. DEATH PENALTY, Pardons
and. — If all these people are convictedt there
will be too many to be punished with death.
My hope is that they will send me full state
ments of every man's case, that the most
guilty may be marked as examples, and the
less so suffer long imprisonment under re
prieves from time to time. — To ALBERT GAL-
LATIN, vii, 363. (M., 1808.)
1990. DEBATE, In Congress.— Was
there ever a proposition so plain as to pass
Congress without a debate? — To JAMES
MADISON, ii, 152. FORD ED., iv, 391. (P.,
1787.) See 1473, i57i.
sition, the penal code of England comprehended
more than two hundred offences, besides treason and
murder, punishable by hanging.— EDITOR.
Debate
L»ebt
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
226
1991. DEBATE, Lawyers and.— If the
present Congress errs in too much talking,
how can it be otherwise in a body to which
the people send one hundred and fifty law
yers, whose trade it is to question everything,
yield nothing, and talk by the hour? That
one hundred and fifty lawyers should do busi
ness together ought not to be expected. — AU
TOBIOGRAPHY, i, 58. FORD ED., i, 82. (i8ci.)
1992. DEBATE, Secrecy and.— I am sorry
the Federal convention began their delibera
tions by so abominable a precedent as that of
tying up the tongues of their members. Noth
ing could justify this example but the inno
cence of their intentions and ignorance of
the value of public discussions. — To JOHN
ADAMS, ii, 260. (P., 1787.)
1993. DEBATE, Washington and
Franklin in. — I served with General Wash
ington in the Legislature of Virginia before
the Revolution and, during it, with Dr.
Franklin in Congress. I never heard either
of them speak ten minutes at a time, nor to
any but the main point which was to decide
the question. They laid their shoulders to
the great points, knowing that the little ones
would follow of themselves. — AUTOBIOG
RAPHY, i, 58. FORD ED., i, 82. (1821.)
1994. DEBT, Avoiding.— The maxim of
buying nothing but what we have money in
our pockets to pay for lays, of all others, the
broadest foundation for happiness. — To MR.
SKIPWITH. ii, 191. (P., 1787.)
1995. . The maxim of buying
nothing without the money in our pockets to
pay for it, would make of our country one of
the happiest on earth. Experience during the
war proved this ; and I think every man will
remember, that under all the privations it
obliged him to submit to during that period,
he slept sounder, and awoke happier than he
can do now. — To A. DONALD, ii, 193. FORD
ED., iv, 414. (P., 1787.)
1996. - _. [We should] put off buy
ing anything until we have the money to pay
for it.— To DR. CURRIE. ii, 219. (P., 1787.)
1997. DEBT, Blessing of a public.— As
the doctrine is that a public debt is a public
blessing, so they [the supporters of State
debt assumption] think a perpetual one is a
perpetual blessing and, therefore, wish to
make it so large that we can never pay it off.
— To NICHOLAS LEWIS, iii, 348. FORD EDV
v, 505- (Pa., 1792.)
1998. DEBT, Contracts and. — If there
was ever any agreement between Mr. Ross
and me to pay him any part of the account
in tobacco, it must be paid in tobacco. But
neither justice nor generosity can call for re
ferring anything to any other scale than that
of hard money. Paper money was a cheat.
Tobacco was the counter-cheat. Every one
is justifiable in rejecting both except so far as
his contracts bind him. — To FRANCIS EPPES.
FORD ED., v, 211. (N.Y., 1790.)
1999. DEBT, Fashion, Folly and.—
Everything I hear from my own country fills
me with despair as to their recovery from
their vassalage to Great Britain. Fashion
and folly are plunging them deeper and
deeper into distress ; and the legislators of the
country becoming debtors also, there seems no
hope of applying the only possible remedy,
that of an immediate judgment and execution.
We should try whether the prodigal might
not be restrained from taking on credit the
gewgaw held out to him in one hand, by see
ing the keys of a prison in the other. — To T.
PLEASANTS. i, 564. (P., 1786.)
2000. DEBT, Generations and.— That we
are bound to defray the expenses of the war
within our own time, and unauthorized to
burthen posterity with them, I suppose to
have been proved in my former letter. I will
place the question nevertheless in one addi
tional point of view. The former regarded
their independent right over the earth; this
over their own persons. There have existed
nations, and civilized and learned nations,
who have thought that a father had a rie^ht to
sell his child as a slave, in perpetuity; that
he could alienate his body and industry con
jointly, and dfortiari his industry separately ;
and consume its fruits himself. A nation as
serting this fratricide right might well sup
pose they could burthen with nublic as well
as private debt their nati natorum, et qui
nasccntur ab illis. But we, this age, and in
this country especially, are advanced beyond
those notions of natural law. We acknowl
edge that our children are born free; that
that freedom is the gift of nature, and not of
him who begot them ; that though under our
care during infancy, and therefore of neces
sity, under a duly tempered authority, that
care is confided to us to be exercised for the
good of the child only ; and his labors during
youth are given as a retribution for the
charges of infancy. As he was never the
property of his father, so when adult he is
sui juris, entitled himself to the use of his
own limbs and the fruits of his own exer
tions : so far we are advanced, without mind
enough, it seems, to take the whole step. We
believe, or we act as if we believed, that al
though an individual father cannot alienate
the labor of his son, the aggregate body of
fathers may alienate the labor of all their
sons, or of their posterity in the aggregate,
and oblige them to pay for all the enterprises,
just or unjust, profitable or ruinous, into
which our vices, our passions, or our personal
interests may lead us. But I trust that this
proposition needs only to be looked at by
an American to be seen in its true point of
view, and that we shall all consider ourselves
unauthorized to saddle posterity with our
debts, and morally bound to pay them our
selves ; and consequently within what may
be deemed the period of a generation, or the
life of the majority. * * * We must raise,
then, ourselves the money for this war, either
by taxes within the year, or by loans ; and
if by loans, we must repay them ourselves,
proscribing forever the English practice of
perpetual funding ; the ruinous consequences
of which, putting right out of the question,
227
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Debt
should be a sufficient warning to a consider
ate nation to avoid the example. — To J. W.
EPPES. vi, 196. FORD ED., ix, 396. (P.F.,
Sep. 1813.) See GENERATIONS.
2001. . The public expenses of
England during the present reign have
amounted to the fee simple value of the
whole island. If its whole soil could be sold,
farm by farm, for its present market price,
it would not defray the cost of governing it
during the reign of the present King, as man
aged by him. Ought not then the right of
each successive generation to be guaranteed
against the dissipations and corruptions of
those preceding, by a fundamental provision
in our Constitution ? And, if that has not
been made, does it exist the less ; there being
between generation and generation, as be
tween nation and nation, no other law than
that of nature? And is it the less dishonest
to do what is wrong, because not expressly
prohibited by written law ? Let us hope our
moral principles are not yet in that stage of
degeneracy, and that in instituting the sys
tem of finance to be hereafter pursued, we
shall adopt the only safe, the only lawful and
honest one, of borrowing on such short terms
of reimbursement of interest and principal
as will fall within the accomplishment of our
own lives. — To J. W. EPPES. vi, 199. FORD
ED., ix, 398. (P.F., Sep. 1813.)
2002. . It is incumbent on every
generation to pay its own debts as it goes.
A principle which, if acted on, would save
one-half the wars of the world.— To DESTUTT
TRACY. FORD ED., x, 175. (M., 1820.) See
GENERATIONS.
2003. DEBT, Imprisonment for.— It may
be safely affirmed that neither natural right
nor reason subjects the body of a man to
restraint for debt. It is one of the abuses
introduced by commerce and credit, and
which even the most commercial nations have
been obliged to relax, in certain cases. The
Roman law, the principles of which are the
nearest to natural reason of those of any
municipal code hitherto known, allowed im
prisonment of the body in criminal cases only,
or those wherein the party had expressly sub
mitted himself to it. The French laws allow
it only in criminal or commercial cases. The
laws of England, in certain descriptions of
cases (as bankruptcy) release the body. Many
of the United States do the same in all cases,
on a cession of property by the debtor. — To
GEORGE HAMMOND, iii, 306. FORD ED., vi, 38.
(Pa., May 1792.)
2004. . The laws of some coun
tries punishing the unfortunate debtor by
perpetual imprisonment, he is right to liberate
himself by flight, and it would be wrong to
re-imprison him in the country to which he
flies. Let all process, therefore, be confined
to his property. — REPORT ON SPANISH CON
VENTION, iii, 354. FORD ED., v, 484. (1792.)
— DEBT, Interest on.— See INTEREST and
DEBTS DUE BRITISH.
2005. DEBT, Jeff erson's personal.— You
will have seen in the newspapers some pro
ceedings in the Legislature, which have cost
me much mortification.* My own debts had
become considerable, but not beyond the ef
fect of some lopping of property, which would
have been but little felt, when our friend f
gave me the coup de grace. Ever since that I
have been paying twelve hundred dollars a
year interest on his debt, which, with my own,
was absorbing so much of my annual income
as that the maintenance of my family
was making deep and rapid inroads on my
capital, and had already done it. Still, sales
at a fair price would leave me competentlv
provided. Had crops and orices for several
years been such as to maintain a steady com
petition of substantial bidders at market, all
would have been safe. But tl> long succes
sion of years of stunted crops, of reduced
prices, the general prostration of the farming
business, under levies for the support of
manufacturers, &c., with the calamitous fluc
tuations of value in our paper medium, have
kept agriculture in a state of abject depres
sion, which has peopled the western States
by silently breaking up those on the Atlantic,
and glutted the land market, while it drew off
its bidders. In such a state of things, prop
erty has lost its character of being a resource
for debts. Highland in Bedford, which, in
the days of our plethory, sold readily for from
fifty to one hundred dollars the acre (and
such sales were many then), would not now
sell for more than from ten to twenty dollars,
or one-quarter or one-fifth of its former price.
Reflecting on these things, the practice oc
curred to me, of selling, on fair valuation,
and by way of lottery, often resorted to be
fore the Revolution to effect large sales, and
still in constant usage in every State for in
dividual as well as corporation purposes. If
it is permitted in my case, my lands here
alone, with the mills, &c., will pay everything
and leave me Monticello and a farm free. If
refused, I must sell everything here, perhaps
considerably in Bedford, move thither with
my family, where I have not even a log hut
to put my head into, and whether ground for
burial, will depend on the depredations which,
under the form of sales, shall have been com
mitted on my property. The question then
with me was ultrutn horum? — To JAMES
MADISON, vii, 433. FORD ED., x, 376. (M.,
February 1826.)
2006. . Had our land market re
mained in a healthy state everything might
have been paid, and have left me competently
provided. But the agricultural branch of in
dustry with us had been so many years in a
state of abject prostration, that, combined
with the calamitous fluctuations in the value
of pur circulating medium, those concerned
in it, instead of being in a condition to pur
chase, were abandoning farms no longer
yielding profit, and moving off to the western
* Application for authority to dispose of his prop
erty by lottery.— EDITOR.
t W. C. Nicholas.— EDITOR.
Debt
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
228
country. — To GEORGE LOYALL. FORD ED., x,
380. (M., 1826.)
2007. . A long succession of un
fruitful years, long-continued low prices, op
pressive tariffs levied on other branches to
maintain that of manufactures, for the most
flourishing of all, calamitous fluctuations in
the value of our circulating medium, and, in
my case, a want of skill in the management
of our land and labor, these circumstances
had been long undermining the state of agri
culture, had been breaking up the landholders,
and glutting the land market here, while
drawing off its bidders to people the western
country. Under such circumstances agricul
tural property had become no resource for
the payment of debts.— To THOMAS RITCHIE.
FORD ED., x, 381. (M., 1826.) See 2091.
2008. DEBT, Just Payment of.— What
the laws of Virginia are, or may be, will in
no wise influence my conduct. Substantial
justice is my object, as decided by reason,
and not by authority or compulsion. — To
WILLIAM JONES. FORD ED., iv, 352. (P.,
1787.)
2009. DEBT, Misery of .—I am miserable
till I shall owe not a shilling.— To NICHOLAS
LEWIS. FORD ED., iv, 343. (P., 1786.)
_ DEBT, National.— See DEBT, U. S.
2010. DEBT, Oppressive English.—
George III. in execution of the trust con
fided to him, has, within his own day, loaded
the inhabitants of Great Britain with debts
equal to the whole fee-simple value of their
island, and under pretext of governing it,
has alienated its whole soil to creditors who
could lend money to be lavished on priests,
pensions, plunder and perpetual war. This
would not have been so, had the people re
tained organized means of acting on their
agents. In this example, then, let us read a
lesson for ourselves, and not " go and do like
wise." — To SAMUEL KERCHIVAL vii, 36.
FORD ED., x, 45. (M., 1816.)
2011. . The interest of the
[English] national debt is now equal to
such a portion of the profits of all the land
and the labor of the island, as not to leave
enough for the subsistence of those who la
bor. Hence the owners of the land abandon
it and retire to other countries, and the la
borer has not enough of his earnings left to
him to cover his back and to fill his belly.
The local insurrections, now almost general,
are of the hungry and the naked, who cannot
be quieted but by food and raiment. But
where are the means of feeding and clothing
them? The landholder has nothing of his own
to give ; he is but the fiduciary of those who
have lent him money ; the lender is so taxed in
his meat, drink and clothing, that he has but a
bare subsistence left. The landholder, then,
must give up his land, or the lender his debt,
or they must compromise by giving up each
one-half. But will either consent peaceably,
to such an abandonment of property? Or
must it not be settled by civil conflict? If
peaceably compromised, will they agree to
risk another ruin under the same government
unreformed? I think not, but I would rather
know what you think ; because you have lived
with John Bull, and know better than I do the
character of his herd. — To JOHN ADAMS, vii,
40. (M. 1816.)
2012. DEBT, Perpetual.— What is to hin
der [the government] from creating a per
petual debt? The laws of nature, I answer.
The earth belongs to the liviner not to the dead.
The will and the power of man expire with his
life, by nature's law. Some societies give it
an artificial continuance, for the encourage
ment of industry; some refuse it, as our abo
riginal neighbors, whom we call barbarians.
The generations of men may be considered
as bodies or corporations. Each generation
has the usufruct of the earth during the period
of its continuance. When it ceases to exist
the usufruct passes on to the succeeding gen
eration, free and unincumbered, and so on,
successively, from one generation to another
forever. We may consider each generation
as a distinct nation, with a right, by the will
of its majority, to bind themselves, but none
to bind the succeeding generation, more than
the inhabitants of another country. Or the
case may be likened to the ordinary one of a
tenant for life, who may hypothecate the land
for his debts, during the continuance of his
usufruct; but at his death, the reversioner
(who is also for life only) receives it ex
onerated from all burden. The period of a
generation, or the term of its life, is deter
mined by the laws of mortality, which, vary
ing a little only in different climates, offer
a general average to be found by observation.
I turn, for instance, to Buffon's tables, of
twenty-three thousand nine hundred and
ninety-four deaths, and the ages at which
they happened, and I find that of the numbers
of all ages living at one moment, half will be
dead in twenty-four years and eight months.
But (leaving out minors, who have not the
power of self-government) of the adults (of
twenty-one years of age) living at one mo
ment, a majority of whom act for the so
ciety, one-half will be dead in eighteen years
and eight months. At nineteen years, then,
from the date of a contract, the majority of
the contractors are dead, and their contract
with them. Let this general theory be ap
plied to a particular case. Suppose the an
nual births of the Stat~ of New York to be
twenty-three thousand nine hundred and
ninety-four, the whole number of its inhabit
ants, according. to Buffon, will be six hun
dred and seventeen thousand, seven hundred
and three, of all ages. Of these there would
constantly be two hundred and sixty-nine
thousand two hundred and eighty-six minors,
and three hundred and forty-eight thousand
four hundred and seventeen adults, of which
last, one hundred and seventy-four thousand
two hundred and nine will be a majority. Sup
pose that majority, on the first day of the year
1794, had borrowed a sum of money equal
to the fee-simple value of the State, and to
have consumed it in eating, drinking and
229
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Debt
making merry in their day ; or, if you please,
in quarrelling and fighting with their unof
fending neighbors. Within eighteen years
and eight months, one-half of the adult citi
zens were dead. Till then, being the major
ity, they might rightfully levy the interest
of their debt annually on themselves and
their fellow-revellers, or fellow-champions.
But at that period, say at this moment, a
new majority have come into place, in their
own right, and not under the rights, the con
ditions, or laws of their predecessors. Are
they bound to acknowledge the debt, to con
sider the preceding generation as 'having had
a right to eat up the whole soil of their coun
try, in the course of a life, to alienate it from
them (for it would be an alienation to the
creditors), and would they think themselves
either legally or morally bound to give up
their country and emigrate to another for
subsistence ? Every one will say no ; that the
soil is the gift of Cod to the living, as much
as it had been to the deceased generation ;
and that the laws of nature impose no obliga
tion on them to pay this debt. And although,
like some other natural rights, this has not
yet entered into any declaration of rights,
it is no less a law, and ought to be acted on
by honest governments. It is, at the same
time, a salutary curb on the spirit of war
and indebtment, which, since the modern
theory of the perpetuation of debt, has
drenched the earth with blood, and crushed
its inhabitants under burthens ever accu
mulating. Had this principle been declared
in the British bill of rights, England would
have been placed under the happy disability
of waging eternal war, and of contracting her
thousand millions of public debt. In seeking
then, for an ultimate term for the redemption
of our debts, let us rally to this principle, and
provide for their payment within the term of
nineteen years at the farthest. — To JOHN
WAYLES EPPES. vi, 136. FORD ED., ix, 389.
(M., June 1813.) See GENERATIONS.
2013. DEBT, Public.— At the time we
were funding our national debt, we heard
much about " a public debt being a public
blessing " ; that the stock representing it was
a creation of active capital for the aliment
of commerce, manufactures and agriculture.
This paradox was well adapted to the minds
of believers in dreams, and the gulls of that
size entered bond fide into it. But the art
and mystery of banks is a wonderful improve
ment on that. It is established on the prin
ciple that " private debts are a public bless
ing " ; that the evidences of those private
debts, called bank notes, become active capi
tal, and aliment the whole commerce, manu
factures, and agriculture of the United States.
Here are a set of people, for instance, who
have bestowed on us the great blessing of
running in our debt about two hundred mil
lions of dollars, without our knowing who
they are, where they are, or want property
they have to pay this debt when called on;
nay, who have made us so sensible of the
blessings of letting them run in our debt, that
we have exempted them by law from the re
payment of these debts beyond a given pro
portion (generally estimated at one-third).
And to fill up the measure of blessing, in
stead of paying, they receive an interest on
what they owe from those to whom they owe ;
for all the notes, or evidences of what they
owe, which we see in circulation, have been
lent to somebody on an interest which is
levied again on us through the medium of
commerce. And they are so ready still to
deal out their liberalities to us, that they are
now willing to let themselves run in our debt
ninety millions more, on our paying them the
same premium of six or eight per cent, in
terest, and on the same legal exemption from
the repayment of more than thirty millions
of the debt when it shall be called for. But
let us look at this principle in its original
form, and its copy will then be equally under
stood. " A public debt is a public blessing."
That our debt was juggled from forty-three
to eighty millions, and funded at that amount,
according to this opinion a great public bless
ing, because the evidences of it could be
vested in commerce, and thus converted into
active capital, and then the more the debt
was made to be, the more active capital was
created. That is to say, the creditors could
now employ in commerce the money due
them from the public, and make from it an
annual profit of five per cent, or four millions
of dollars. But observe, that the public were at
the same time paying on it an interest of ex
actly the same amount of four millions of dol
lars. Where, then, is the gain to either party,
which makes it a public blessing? There is no
change in the state of things, but of persons
only. A has a debt due to him from the public,
of which he holds their certificate as evidence,
and on which he is receiving an annual in
terest. He wishes, however, to have the
money itself, and to go into business with
it. B has an equal sum of money in business,
but wishes now to retire, and live on the in
terest. He therefore gives it to A in ex
change for A's certificates of public stock.
Now, then, A has the money to employ in
business, which B so employed before. B
has the money on interest to live on, which
A lived on before; and the public pays the
interest to B which they paid to A before.
Here is no new creation of capital, no addi
tional money employed, nor even a change
in the employment of a single dollar. The,
only change is of place between A and B in
which we discover no creation of capital, nor
public blessing. Suppose, again, the public
to owe nothing. Then A not having lent his
money to the public, would be in possession
of it himself, and would go into business
without the previous operation of selling
stock. Here, again, the same quantity of
capital is employed as in the former case,
though no public debt exists. In neither case
is there any creation of active capital, nor
other difference than that there is a public
debt in the first case, and none in the last;
and we may safely ask which of the two
situations is most truly a public blessing? If,
then, a public debt be no public blessing, we
Debt
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
230
may pronounce, a fortiori, that a private one
cannot be so. If the debt which the banking
companies owe be a blessincr to anybody, it is
to themselves alone, who are realizing a solid
interest of eight or ten per cent, on it. As to
the public, these companies have banished
all our gold and silver medium, which, be
fore their institution, we had without in
terest, which never could have perished in
our hands, and would have been our salvation
now in the hour of war ; instead of which
they have given us two hundred million of
froth and bubble, on which we are to pay
them heavy interest, until it shall vanish into
air as the Morris notes did. We are war
ranted, then, in affirming that this parody
on the principle of " a public debt being a
public blessing," and its mutation into the
blessing of private instead of public debts, is
as ridiculous as the original principle itself.
In both cases, the truth is, that capital may
be produced by industry, and accumulated
by economy; but jugglers only will propose to
create it by legerdemain tricks with paper. —
To J. W. EPPES. vi, 239. FORD ED., ix, 411.
(M., Nov. 1813.)
2014. DEBT, Running in.— -It is a mis
erable arithmetic which makes any single pri
vation whatever ,so painful as a total priva
tion of everything which must necessarily fol
low the living so far beyond our income.
What is to extricate us I know not, whether
law, or loss^of credit. If the sources of the
former are corrupted, so as to prevent justice,
the latter must supply its place, leave us pos
sessed of our infamous gains, but prevent all
future ones of the same character. — To WILL
IAM HAY. ii, 215. (P., 1787.)
2015. . How happy a people
were we during the war from the single cir
cumstance that we could not run in debt. —
To DR. CURRIE. ii, 219. (P., 1787.)
— DEBT, Of the States.— See ASSUMP
TION.
2016. DEBT, Thraldom of.— Instead of
the unalloyed happiness of retiring unembar
rassed and independent, to the enjoyment
of my estate, which is ample for my limited
views, I have to pass such a length of time
in a thraldom of mind never before known to
me. Except for this, my happiness would
have been perfect. — To GENERAL KOSCIUSKO.
v, 509. (M., 1810.)
2017. DEBT, Tormented by. — The tor
ment of mind I endure till the moment shall
arrive when I shall not owe a shilling on
earth is such really as to render life of little
value. I cannot decide to sell my lands. I
have sold too much of them already, and
they are the only sure provision for my chil
dren ; nor would I willingly sell the slaves as
long as there remains any prospect of paying
my debts with their labor. In this I am gov
erned solely by views to their happiness,
which will render it worth their while to use
extraordinary exertions for some time to en
able me to put them ultimately on an easier
footing, which I will do the moment they
have paid the debts due from the estate, two-
thirds of which have been contracted by pur
chasing them. — To NICHOLAS LEWIS. FORD
ED., iv, 416. (P., 1787.)
2018. DEBT (French), Assignats and.—
I have communicated to the President what
passed between us * * * on the subject of
the payments made to France by the United
States in the assignats of that country, since
they have lost their par with gold and silver ;
and after conferences, by his instruction, with
the Secretary of the Treasury, I am authorized
to assure you, that the government of the United
States have, no idea of paying their debt in a
depreciated medium, and that in the final liqui
dation of the payments, which shall have been
made, due regard will be had to an equitable al
lowance for the circumstance of depreciation.*
— To JEAN BAPTISTE TERNANT. iii, 294. FORD
ED., v, 383. (Pa., Sep. 1791.)
2019. DEBT (French), Complaints of
officers. — A second year's interest is become
due [to the French officers]. They have pre
sented their demands. There is not money here
[Paris] to pay them ; the pittance remaining in
Mr. Grand's hands being only sufficient to pay
current expenses three months longer. The dis
satisfaction of these officers is extreme, and
their complaints will produce the worst effect.
The Treasury Board has not ordered their pay
ment, probably because they knew there would
not be money. The amount of their demand is
about forty-two thousand livres, and Mr. Grand
has in his hands but twelve thousand. I have
thought it my duty, under this emergency, to
ask you whether you could order that sum for
their relief from the funds in Holland? If you
can, I am persuaded it will have the best of
effects. — To JOHN ADAMS, i, 510. (P., 1786.)
2020. . The payment of the
French officers, the last year, had the happiest
effect imaginable. It procured so many ad
vocates for the credit and honor of the United
States, who were heard in all companies. It
corrected the idea that we were unwilling to
pay our debts. I fear that our present failure
towards them will give new birth to new im
putations, and a relapse of credit. — To THE
TREASURY COMMISSIONERS, i, 521. (P., 1786.)
2021. . The debt to the officers
of France carries an interest of about two thou
sand guineas, so we may suppose its principal
is between thirty and forty thousand. This
makes more noise against us than all our other
debts put together. — To JOHN ADAMS, ii, 164.
FORD ED., iv, 399. (P., 1787.)
2022. . Mr. Adams informs me
he has borrowed money in Holland, which, if
confirmed by Congress, will enable them to pay
not only the interest due here to the foreign
officers, but the principal. Let me beseech you
to reflect on the expediency of transferring
this debt to Holland. All our other debts in
Europe do not injure our reputation so much
as this. These gentlemen have connections both
in and out of office, and these again their con
nections, so that our default on this article is
further known, more blamed, and excites worst
* As written by Jefferson, the letter, after the
words "depreciated medium" closed as follows :
" and that they will take measures for making these
payments in their just value, avoiding all benefit
from depreciation, and desiring on their part to be
guarded against any unjust loss from the circum
stances of mere exchange." It was changed to meet
the views of Hamilton.— EDITOR.
231
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Debt
dispositions against us, than you can conceive.
To JAMES MADISON, ii, 209. FORD ED., iv,
422. (P., 1787-)
2023. DEBT (French), Desire to pay. —
We desire strongly to pay off our debt to
France, and for this purpose we will use our
credit as far as it will hold good. * * * Under
these dispositions and prospects, it would grieve
us extremely to see our debt pass into the hands
of speculators, and be subjected ourselves to the
chicaneries and vexations of private avarice.
We desire you, therefore, to dissuade the gov
ernment * * * from listening to any over
tures of that kind, and as to the speculators
themselves, whether native or foreign, to in
form them without reserve that our govern
ment condemns their projects, and reserves to
itself the right of paying nowhere but into
the Treasury of France. — To WILLIAM SHORT.
iii, 253. (Pa., 1791-)
2024. DEBT (French), Payments discon
tinued. — We are informed by the public pa
pers that the late constitution of France, for
mally notified to us, is suspended, and a new
convention called. During the time of this sus
pension, and while no legitimate government
exists, we apprehend we cannot continue the
payments of our debt to France, because there is
no person authorized to receive it, and to give
us an unobjectionable acquittal. You are, there
fore, desired to consider the payment as sus
pended, until further orders. Should circum
stances oblige you to mention this (which it
is better to avoid if you can), do it with such
solid reasons as will occur to yourself, and ac
company it with the most friendly declarations
that the suspension does not proceed from any
wish in us to delay the payment, the contrary
being our wish, nor from any desire to embar
rass or oppose the settlement of their govern
ment in that way in which their nation shall
desire it ; but from our anxiety to pay this debt
justly and honorably, and to the persons really
authorized by the nation (to whom we owe it)
to receive it for their use. Nor shall this sus
pension be continued one moment after we can
see our way clear out of the difficulty into which
their situation has thrown us. — To GOUVER-
NEUR MORRIS, iii, 476. FORD EDV vi, 121. (Pa.,
Oct. 1792.)
2025. DEBT (French), Payments Re
sumed. — On the dissolution of the late con
stitution in France, by removing so integral a
part of it as the King, the National Assembly,
to whom a part only of the public authority had
been delegated, appear to have considered them
selves as incompetent to transact the affairs
of the nation legitimately. They invited their
fellow-citizens, therefore, to appoint a National
Convention. In conformity with this their
idea of the defective state of the national au
thority, you were desired from hence to suspend
further payments of our debt to France till new
orders, with an assurance, however, to the act
ing power, that the suspension should not be
continued a moment longer than should be nec
essary for us to see the reestablishment of
some person or body of persons authorized to
receive payment and give us a good acquittal ;
(if you should find it necessary to give any
assurance or explanation at all). In the mean
time, we went on paying up the four million
of livres which had been destined by the last
constituted authorities to the relief of St. Do
mingo. Before this was completed, we received
information that a National Assembly had met.
with full powers to transact the affairs of the
nation, and soon afterwards, the minister of
France here presented an application for three
millions of livres, to be laid out in provisions
to be sent to France. Urged by the strongest
attachment to that country, and thinking it
even providential that moneys lent to us in dis
tress could be repaid under like circumstances,
we had no hesitation to comply with the ap
plication, and arrangements are accordingly
taken, for furnishing this sum at epochs accom
modated to the demand and our means of pay
ing it. * * We shall certainly use our utmost
endeavors to make punctual payments of the
instalments and interest hereafter becoming ex
igible, and to omit no opportunity of convincing
that nation how cordially we wish to serve them.
— To GOUVERNEUR MORRIS, iii, 521. FORD ED.,
vi, 199. (Pa., March 1793.)
2026. DEBT (French), Proposition of
Genet.— I cannot but think that to decline the
propositions* of M. Genet on the subject of
our debt, without assigning any reason at all,
would have a very dry and unpleasant aspect in
deed. We are then to examine what are our
good reasons for the refusal, which of them
may be spoken out, and which may not. i.
Want of confidence in the continuance of the
present form of government, and consequently
that advances to them might commit us with
their successors. This cannot be spoken out.
2. Since they propose to take the debt in prod
uce, it would be better for us that it should
be done in moderate masses yearly, than all
in one year. This cannot be professed. 3.
When M. de Calonne was Minister of Finance,
a Dutch company proposed to buy up the whole
of our debt, by dividing it into actions or shares.
I think M. Claviere, now Minister of Finance,
was their agent. It was observed to M. de
Calonne, that to create such a mass of American
paper, divide it into shares, and let them deluge
the market, would depreciate the rest of our
paper, and our credit in general ; that the credit
of a nation was a delicate and important thing,
and should not be risked on such an operation.
M. de Calonne, sensible ^of the injury of the op
eration to us, declined it. In May, 1791, there
came, through Mr. Otto, a similar proposition
from Schweizer, Jeanneret & Co. We had a
communication on the subject from Mr. Short,
urging this same reason strongly. It was re
ferred to the Secretary of the Treasury, who,
in a letter to yourself, assigned the reasons
against it, and these were communicated to
Mr. Otto, who acquiesced in them. This ob
jection, then, having been sufficient to decline
the proposition twice before, and having been
urged to the two preceding forms of govern
ment (the ancient and that of 1791), will not be
considered by them as founded in objections to
the present form. 4. The law allows the whole
debt to be paid only on condition it can be done
on terms advantageous to the United States.
The minister foresees this objection, and thinks
he answers it by observing the advantage which
the payment in produce will occasion. It would
be easy to show that this was not the sort of ad
vantage the Legislature meant, but a lower rate
of interest. 5. I cannot but suppose that the
Secretary of the Treasury * * * would, on
examination, be able to derive practical objec
tions from them. We pay to France but five
per cent. The people of this country would
never subscribe their money for less than six.
If, to remedy this, obligations at less than five
per cent, were offered, and accepted by M.
Genet, he must part with them immediately,
at a considerable discount, to indemnify the loss
* That the remainder of t^e debt be paid at once,
provided the sum be invested in produce.— EDITOR.
Debt
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
232
of the one per cent., and at still greater dis
count to bring them down to par with our pres
ent six per cent., so that the operation would
be equally disgraceful to us and losing to them,
&c., &c. I think it very material myself to keep
alive the friendly sentiments of that country,
so far as can be done without risking war or
double payment. If the instalments falling due
this year can be advanced, without incurring
those dangers, I should be for doing it. We
now see by the declaration of the Prince of
Saxe Coburg, on the part of Austria and Prus
sia, that the ultimate point they desire is to re
store the constitution of 1791- Were this even
to be done before the pay days of this year,
there is no doubt in my mind but that that gov
ernment (as republican as the present, except
in the form of its Executive) would confirm an
advance so moderate in sum and time. I
am sure the nation of France would never suf
fer their government to go to war with us for
such a bagatelle, and the more surely if that
bagatelle shall have been granted by us so as
to please and not displease the nation; so as
to keep their affections engaged on our side.
So that I should have no fear in advancing the
instalments of this year at epochs convenient
to the Treasury. But at any rate I should be
for assigning reasons for not changing the form
of the debt— To PRESIDENT WASHINGTON, in,
575. FORD ED., vi, 287. (June I793-)
2027. DEBT (French), Reply to Genet.—
The instalments as they are settled by conven
tion between the two nations far exceed the or
dinary resources of the United States. To ac
complish them completely and punctually, we
are obliged to anticipate the revenues of future
terms by loans to as great an extent as we can
prudently attempt. As they are arranged how
ever by the convention, they give us time for
successive and gradual efforts. But to crowd
these anticipations all into a single one, and
that to be executed, in the present instant, would
more than hazard that state of credit, the pres
ervation of which can alone enable us to meet
the different payments a't the time agreed on. To
do even this hitherto, has required in the opera
tions of borrowing, time, prudence and pa
tience ; and these operations are still going on in
all the extent they will bear. To press them
beyond this, would be to defeat them both now
and hereafter. — To EDMOND CHARLES GENET.
FORD ED., vi, 294. (Pa., June I793-)
2028. DEBT (French), Speculators and.
— I am of opinion, as I always have been, that
the purchase of our debt to France by private
speculators, would have been an operation ex
tremely injurious to our credit; and that the
consequence foreseen by our banker, that the
purchasers would have been obliged, in order
to make good their payments, to deluge the
markets of Amsterdam with American paper of
all sorts, and to sell it at any price, was a
probable one. And the more so, as we know
that the particular individuals who were en
gaged in that speculation, possess no means of
their own adequate to the payments they would
have had to make. While we must not doubt
that these motives, together with a proper re
gard for the credit of the United States, had
real and full weight with our bankers towards
inducing them to counterwork these private
speculations; yet, to ascribe their industry in
tli is business wholly to these motives, might lead
to a too great and dangerous confidence in
them. It was obviously their interest to defeat
all such speculations, because they tended to
take out of their hands, or at least to divide
with them, the profits of the great operation of
transferring the French debt to Amsterdam,
an object of first rate magnitude to them, and
on the undivided enjoyments of which they
might count, if private speculators could be
Daffled. It has been a contest of dexterity and
cunning, in which our champions have obtained
the victory. The manoeuvre of opening a loan
of three millions of florins, has, on the whole,
been useful to the United States, and though
unauthorized, I think should be confirmed. The
measure proposed by the Secretary of the Treas
ury, of sending a superintendent of their future
operations, will effectually prevent their doing
the like again, and the funding laws leave no
danger that such an expedient might at any fu
ture time be useful to us. — OPINION ON FOREIGN
DEBT, vii, 506. FORD ED., vi, 231. (August
1790.)
2029. DEBT (French), Transfer to Hol
land. — It being known that M. de Calonne,
the Minister of Finance, is at his wit's ends to
raise supplies for the ensuing year, a proposition
has been made him by a Dutch company to pur
chase the debt of the United States to this coun
try [France] for seventy millions of livres in
hand. His necessities dispose him to accede to
the proposition ; but a hesitation is produced by
the apprehension that it might lessen our credit
in Europe, and perhaps be disagreeable to Con
gress. I have been consulted here only by the
agent for that company. I informed him that
I could not judge what effect it might have on
our credit, and was not authorized either to ap
prove or disapprove of the transaction. I have
since reflected on this subject. If there be
a danger that our payments may not be punc
tual, it might be better that the discontents
which would thence arise should be transferred
from a court, of whose goodwill we have so
much need, to the breasts of a private company.
But it has occurred to me, that we might find
occasion to do what would be grateful to this
court, and establish with them a confidence in
our honor. I am informed that our credit in
Holland is sound. Might it not be possible,
then, to borrow the four and twenty millions
due to this country and thus pay them their
whole debt at once? This would save them
from any loss on our account. Is it liable to
the objection of impropriety in creating new
debts before we have more certain means of
paying them? It is only transferring from one
creditor to another, and removing the causes of
discontent to persons with whom they would
do us less injury. — To JOHN JAY. ii, 28. (P.,
September 1786.)
2030. . I think it would be ad
visable to have our debt transferred to individu
als of your country [Holland]. There could,
and would be no objection to the guarantee re
maining as you propose ; and a postponement
of the first payments of capital would surely
be a convenience to us. For though the re
sources of the United States are great and grow
ing, and their dispositions good, yet their ma
chine is new, and they have not got it to go
well. It is the object of their general wish at
present, and they are all in movement, to set
it in a good train ; but their movements are
necessarily slow. They will surely effect it in
the end, because all have the same end in view ;
the difficulty being only to get all the thirteen
States to agree on the same means. — To C. W.
F. DUMAS, ii, 120. (P., 1787.)
2031. . Would to heaven Con
gress would authorize you to transfer the debt
of France to Holland before you leave Europe.
233
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Debt
Most especially is it necessary to get rid of the
debt to the officers. Their connections at Court
are such as to excite very unfavorable feelings
there against us, and some very hard things
have been said (particularly in the Assemblee
des Notables) on the prospect relative to our
debts. The payment of the interest to the of
ficers would have kept them quiet ; but there
are two years now due to them. I dare not
draw for it without instructions. — To JOHN
ADAMS, ii, 181. (P., 1787.)
2032. DEBT (Revolutionary), Divisions
of. — The first and great division of our fed
eral debt, is, into i, foreign; and 2, domestic.
The foreign debt comprehends, i, the loan from
the government of Spain ; 2, the loans from the
government of France, and from the Farmers
General ; 3, the loans negotiated in Holland by
order of Congress. This branch of our debt
stands absolutely singular ; no man in the United
States having ever supposed that Congress, or
their legislatures, can, in any wise, modify or
alter it. They justly view the United States
as the one party, and the lenders as the other,
and that the consent of both would be requisite,
were any modification to be proposed. But with
respect to the domestic debt, they consider Con
gress as representing both the borrowers and
lenders, and that the modifications which have
taken place in this have been necessary to do
justice between the two parties, and that they
flowed properly from Congress as their mutual
umpire. The domestic debt comprehends, i,
the army debt ; 2, the loan office debt ; 3, the liq
uidated debt ; and 4, the unliquidated debt. The
first term includes debts to the officers and sol
diers for pay, bounty and subsistence. The
second term means moneys put into the loan
office of the United States. The third com
prehends all debts contracted by quarter-mas
ters, commissaries, and others duly authorized
to procure supplies for the army, and which
have been liquidated (that is, settled) by com
missioners appointed under the resolution of
Congress, of June 12, 1780, or by the officers
who made the contract. The fourth compre
hends the whole mass of debts, described in the
preceding article, which have not yet been liqui
dated. These are in a course of liquidation
and are passing over daily into the third class.
* * * No time is fixed for the payment of
the debts of this third class, that is the liqui
dated debt ; no fund is yet determined, nor any
firm provision for the interest in the meantime.
The consequence is that the certificates of these
debts sell greatly below par. When I left Amer
ica, they could be bought for from two shil
lings and sixpence to fifteen shillings in the
pound ; this difference proceeding from the cir
cumstance of some States having provided for
paying the interest on those due in their own
State, which others had not. Hence, an opinion
had arisen with some, and propositions had
even been made in the legislatures, for paying
oft the principal of these debts with what they
had cost the holder, and interest on that. This
opinion is far from being general, and I think
will not prevail. But it is among possible
events. — To MESSRS. VAN STAPHORST. i, 471.
FORD ED., iv, 106. (P., 1785.)
2033. DEBT (Revolutionary), Foreign.
— As to the foreign debt, Congress is consid
ered as the representative of one party only, and
I think I can say with truth, that there is not
one single individual in the United States,
either in or out of office, who supposes they
can ever do anything which might impair their
foreign contracts. — To C. W. F. DUMAS, iii,
155. FORD ED., v, 190. (N.Y., 1790.)
— DEBT (Revolutionary), Funding of.
— See ASSUMPTION.
2034. DEBT (Revolutionary), Payment
of. — I am in hopes you will persuade the
States to commit their commercial arrangements
to Congress and to enable them to pay their
debts, interest and capital. — To EDWARD RAN
DOLPH, ii, 211. (P., 1787.)
2035. DEBT (Revolutionary), Payments
on.— The public effects of the United States,
such as their paper bills of credit, loan office
bills, &c., were a commodity which varied its
value from time to time. A scale of their value
for every month has been settled according to
what they sold for at market, in silver or gold.
This value in gold or silver, with an interest
of six per cent, annually til payment, is what
the United States pay. This they are able to
pay ; but were they to propose to pay off all
their paper, not according to what it cost the
holder, in gold or silver, but according to the
sum named in it, their whole country, if sold,
and all their persons into the bargain, might not
suffice. They would, in this case, make a bank
ruptcy where none exists, as an individual
would, who being very able to pay the real debts
he has contracted, would undertake to give to
every man fifty times as much as he had re
ceived from him. — To M. TROUCHIN. ii, 360.
(P., 1788.)
2036. DEBT (Revolutionary), Principle
of Payment. — The principle on which it [the
paper money debt] shall be paid I take to be
settled, though not directly, yet virtually, by
the resolution of Congress of June 3d, 1784;
that is, that they will pay the holder, or his
representative, what the money was worth at
the time he received it, with an interest from
that time of six per cent, per annum. — To H.
S. CREVECOEUR. i, 595. FORD ED., iv, 253. (P..
July 1786.)
2037. - _. It is not our desire to
pay off those bills [of exchange] according to
the present depreciation, but according to
their actual value in hard money, at the time
they were drawn with interest. The State hav
ing received value, so far as it is just it should
be substantially paid. — To VA. DEL. IN CON
GRESS. FORD ED., ii, 500. (R., 1781.)
2038. . The loan office certifi
cates will be settled by the table of depreciation
at their true worth in gold or silver at the time
the paper dollars were lent. On that true value
the interest has been paid, and continues to be
paid to the creditors annually in America. That
the principal will also be paid is as sure as
any future fact can be. — To MESSRS. DELAP.
ii, 102. (P., 1787.)
2039. DEBT (Revolutionary), Redemp
tion of Domestic. — No man in America ever
entertained a doubt that our foreign debt is to
be paid fully ; but some people in America have
seriously contended, that the certificates and
other evidences of our domestic debt, ought
to be redeemed only at what they have cost the
holder. * * * But this is very far from
being a general opinion ; a very great majority
being firmly decided that they shall be paid
fully. Were I the holder of any of them, I
should not have the least fear of their full pay
ment. — To MESSRS. ' VAN STAPHORST. i, 369.
FORD ED., iv, 78. (P., 1785.)
2040. DEBT (Revolutionary), Settle
ment of Foreign.— The first act of the new
Debt
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
234
government [under the Constitution] should be
some operation whereby they may assume to
themselves the [first] station [in point of
credit]. Their European debts form a proper
subject for this. Digest the whole, public and
private, Dutch, French and Spanish, into a
table, showing the sum of interest due every
year, and the portions of principal payable the
same year. Take the most certain branch of
revenue, and one which shall suffice to pay the
interest, and leave such a surplus as may ac
complish all the payments of the capital, at
terms somewhat short of those at which they
will become due. Let the surpluses of those
years, in which no reimbursement of principal
falls, be applied to buy up our paper on the ex
change of Amsterdam, and thus anticipate the
demands of principal. In this way, our paper
will be kept up at par ; and this alone will en
able us to command in four and twenty hours,
at any time, on the exchange of Amsterdam,
as many millions as that capital can produce.
The same act, which makes this provision for
the existing debts, should go on to open a loan
to their whole amount ; the produce of that loan
to be applied, as fast as received, to the pay
ment of such parts of the existing debts as ad
mit of payment. The rate of interest to be as
the government should privately instruct their
agent, because it must depend on the effect
these measures would have on the exchange.
Probably it could be lowered from time to time.
— To JAMES MADISON, ii, 377. (P., 1788.)
2041. DEBT (Revolutionary), Sound
ness of. — As a private individual and citizen
of America, I can with propriety and truth
deliver it to you as my firm belief, that the
loan office certificate you showed me, and all
others of the same kind, will be paid, principal
and interest, as soon as the circumstances of
the United States will permit ; that I do not
consider this as a distant epoch, nor suppose
there is a public debt on earth less doubtful. —
To M. DIRIEKS. ii, 422. (P., 1788.)
2042. DEBT (Revolutionary), Specula
tion and. — In consequence of [the acceptance
by nine States of the new Constitution] specu
lations are already begun here [Paris], to pur
chase up our domestic liquidated debt. Indeed,
I suspect that orders may have been previously
lodged in America to do this, as soon as the new
Constitution was accepted effectually. If it is
thought that this debt should be retained at
home, there is not a moment to lose ; and I
know of no means of retaining it but those I
suggested to the Treasury Board. The transfer
of these debts to Europe, will exclusively em
barrass, and perhaps totally prevent the borrow
ing any money in Europe, till these shall be
paid off. This is a momentous object, and in
my opinion should receive instantaneous atten
tion. — To JOHN JAY. ii, 455. (P., Aug. 1788.)
2043. DEBT (Revolutionary), Transfer
of Domestic.— If the transfer of the [domes
tic] debts to Europe meet with any encourage
ment from us, we can no more borrow money
here, let our necessities be what they will. For
who will give ninety-six per cent, for the
foreign obligations of the same nation, whose
domestic ones can be bought at the same
market for fifty-five per cent. ; the former, too,
bearing an interest of only five per cent., while
the latter yields six? If any discouragements
can be honestly thrown on this transfer, it
would seem advisable, in order to keep the
domestic debt at home. It would be a very
effectual one, if, instead of the title existing in
the Treasury books alone, it was made to exist
in loose papers, as our loan office debts do. The
European holder would then be obliged to risk
the title paper of his capital, as well as his in
terest, in the hands of his agents in America,
whenever the interest was to be demanded;
whereas, at present, he trusts him with the in
terest only. This single circumstance would
put a total stop to all future sales of domestic
debt at this market. [Amsterdam.] — To THE
TREASURY BOARD, ii, 368. (A., 1788.)
2044. DEBT (Revolutionary), Western
Lands and.— It is made a fundamental that
the proceeds [of the sale of our lands] shall be
solely and sacredly applied as a sinking fund
to discharge the capital only of the [national]
debt.' — To COUNT VAN HAGENDORP. i, 466.
(P., 1785.)
2045. . It will be yet a twelve
month before we shall be able to judge of the
efficacy of our Land office to sink our national
debt. It is made a fundamental, that the pro
ceeds shall be solely and sacredly applied as a
sinking fund to discharge the capital only of
the debt. — To COUNT VAN HOGENDORP. i, 466.
FORD ED., iv, 106. (P., 1785.)
2046. . I am uneasy at seeing
that the sale of our western lands is not yet
commenced. That precious fund for the im
mediate extinction of our debt will, I fear, be
suffered to slip through our fingers. Every
delay exposes it to events which no human
foresight can guard against. — To JAMES MADI
SON, ii, 153. FORD ED., iv, 391. (P., 1787.)
2047. . I am very much pleased
to hear that our western lands sell so success
fully. I turn to this precious resource as that
which will in every event liberate us from our
domestic debt, and perhaps too from our foreign
one ; and this much sooner than I had expected.
— To E. CARRINGTON. ii, 333. FORD EDV iv,
481. (P., 1787.)
2048. . I am much pleased that
the sale of western lands is so successful. I
hope they will absorb all the certificates of our
domestic debt speedily, in the first place, and
that then, offered for cash, they will do the same
by our foreign one. — To JAMES MADISON, ii^
328. FORD ED., iv, 475. (P., 1787.)
2049. DEBT (United States), Dangers
of. — I place economy among the first and
most important of republican virtues, and
public debt as the greatest of the dangers to
be feared. — To GOVERNOR PLUMER. vii, 19.
(M., 1816.)
2050. DEBT (United States), Economy
and. — I am for applying all the possible sa
vings of the public revenue to the discharge
of the national debt. — To ELBRIDGE GERRY, iv,
268. FORD ED., vii, 327. (Pa., 1799.)
2051. DEBT (United States), Evils of.—
If we run into such debts, as that we must be
taxed in our meat and in our drink, in our
necessaries and our comforts, in our labors
and our amusements, for our callings and
our creeds, as the people of England are, our
people, like them, must come to labor sixteen
hours in the twenty-four, give the earnings
of fifteen of these to the government for their
debts and daily expenses ; and the sixteenth
being insufficient to afford us bread, we must
235
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
I>ebt
live, as they now do, on oatmeal and pota
toes'; have no time to think, no means of call
ing the mismanagers to account ; but be glad
to obtain subsistence by hiring ourselves out
to rivet their chains on the necks of our fel
low-sufferers.— To SAMUEL KERCHIVAL. vii,
14. FORD ED., x, 41. (M., 1816.)
2052. DEBT (United States), Increas
ing. — A further assumption of State debt has
been proposed by the Secretary of the Treas
ury [in order to raise money]. It has been re
jected by a small majority; but the chickens
of the treasury have so many contrivances,
and are so indefatigable within doors and
without, that we all fear they will get it in
yet some way or other. — To NICHOLAS LEWIS.
iii, 348. FORD ED., 505. (Pa., 1792.)
2053. - — . I am not for increasing,
by every device, the public debt, on the prin
ciple of its being a public blessing. — To EL-
BRIDGE GERRY, iv, 268. FORD ED., vii, 327.
(Pa., I799-)
2054. - — .A debt of an hundred
millions, growing by usurious interest, and an
artificial paper phalanx, overruling the agri
cultural mass of our country, * * * have a
portentous aspect. — To SAMUEL ADAMS. Iv,
321. FORD ED,, vii, 425. (Pa., Feb. 1800.)
2055. - — . The growth and entail-
ment of a public debt is an indication solicit
ing the employment of the pruning knife. —
To SPENCER ROANE. vii, 212. FORD ED., x,
188. (M., 1821.)
2056. DEBT (United States), Independ
ence and. — To preserve our independence, we
must not let our rulers load us with perpetual
debt. We must make our election between
economy and liberty, or profusion and serv
itude. — To SAMUEL KERCHIVAL. vii, 14. FORD
ED., x, 41. (M., 1816.)
2057. DEBT (United States), Interest.—
1 once thought that in the event of a war
we should be obliged to suspend paying the
interest of the public debt. But a dozen years
more of experience and observation on our
people and government, have satisfied me
it will never be done. The sense of the ne
cessity of public credit is so universal and so
deeply rooted, that no other necessity will pre
vail against it. — To WILLIAM SHORT, vi, 401.
(M., Nov. 1814.)
2058. DEBT (United States), Louisiana
and. — Should the acquisition of Louisiana be
constitutionally confirmed and carried into ef
fect, a sum of nearly thirteen millions of dol
lars will then be added to our public debt,
most of which is payable after fifteen years;
before which term the present existing debts
will all be discharged by the established op
eration of the sinking fund. — THIRD ANNUAL
MESSAGE, viii, 27. FORD ED., viii, 271. (Oct.
1803.)
2059. DEBT (United States), Manufac
tures and.— The British war has left us in
debt; but that is a cheap price for the good it
has done us. The establishment of the neces
sary manufactures among ourselves, the proof
that our government is solid, can stand the
shock of war, and is superior even to civil
schism, are precious facts for us ; and of these
the strongest proofs were furnished, when,
with four eastern States tied to us, as dead to
living bodies, all doubt was removed as to the
achievements of the war, had it continued.
But its best effect has been the complete sup
pression of party. The federalists who were
truly American (and their great mass was
so), have separated from their brethren who
were mere Anglomen, and are received with
cordiality into the republican ranks.— To
MARQUIS DE LAFAYETTE, vii, 66. FORD ED
x, 83. (M., 1817.)
2060. DEBT (United States), Payment
°f- — It is proposed to provide additional
funds, to meet the additional debt [assump
tion], by a tax on spirituous liquors, foreign
and home-made, so that the whole interest
will be paid by taxes on consumption. If
a sufficiency can now be raised in this way
to pay the interest at present, its increase by
the increase of population (suppose five per
cent, per annum), will alone sink the principal
within a few years, operating as it will in the
way of compound interest. Add to this what
may be done by throwing in the aid of western
lands and other articles as a sinking fund,
and our prospect is really a bright one. — To
GOUVERNEUR MORRIS, iii, 198. FORD ED., v,
250. (Pa., 1790.)
2061. . No man is more ar
dently intent to see the public debt soon and
sacredly paid off than I am. This exactly
marks the difference between Colonel Hamil
ton's views and mine, that I would wish the
debt paid to-morrow; he wishes it never to
be paid, but always to be a thing wherewith
to corrupt and manage the Legislature. — To
PRESIDENT WASHINGTON, iii, 464. FORD ED.,
vi, 105. (M., 1792.)
2062. . The simple question ap
pears to me to be what did the public owe,
principal and interest, when the Secretary's
(Hamilton's] taxes began to run? If less,
it must have been paid ; but if he was paying
old debts with one hand and creating new
ones with the other, it is such a game as Mr.
Pitt is playing. — To JAMES MADISON, vi, 113.
(M., Sep. 1792.)
2063. - . The honest payment of
our debts, I deem [one of the] essential prin
ciples of pur government and, consequently,
[one] which ought to shape its administra
tion. — FIRST INAUGURAL ADDRESS, viii, 4.
FORD ED., viii, 5. (1801.)
2064. - — . The economies [of the
first republican Congress] have enabled us to
suppress all the internal taxes, and still to
make such provision for the payment of the
public debt as to discharge that in eighteen
years. — To GENERAL KOSCIUSKO. iv, 430.
(W., April 1802.)
2065. . I consider the fortunes
of our republic as depending, in an eminent
Debt
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
236
degree, on the extinguishment of the public
debt before we engage in any war ; because
that done, we shall have revenue enough to
improve our country in peace and defend it
in war, without recurring either to new taxes
or loans. But if the debt should once more
be swelled to a formidable size, its entire dis
charge will be despaired of, and we shall be
committed to the English career of debt, cor
ruption and rottenness, closing with revolu
tion. The discharge of the public debt, there
fore, is vital to the destinies of our govern
ment, and it hangs on Mr. Madison and your
self alone. We shall never see another Presi
dent and Secretary of the Treasury making
all their objects subordinate to this. Were
either of you to be lost to the public, that
great hope is lost.— To ALBERT GALLATIN. v,
477. FORD ED., ix, 264. (M., 1809.)
2066. . There are two measures
which if not taken we are undone. * * *
[The second* is] to cease borrowing money,
and to pay off the national debt. If this can
not be done without dismissing the army,
and putting the ships out of commission, haul
them up high and dry, and reduce the army to
the lowest point at which it was ever estab
lished. There does not exist an engine so
corruptive of the government and so demor
alizing of the nation as a public debt. It will
bring on us more ruin at home than all the
enemies from abroad against whom this army
and navy are to protect us. What interest
have we in keeping ships in service in the
Pacific Ocean? To protect a few speculative
adventurers in a commerce dealing in nothing
in which we have an interest. As if the At
lantic and Mediterranean were not large
enough for American capital ! As if com
merce and not agriculture was the principle
of our association. — To NATHANIEL MACON.
FORD ED., x, 193. (M., Aug. 1821.)
2067. DEBT (United States), Perpetua
tion of. — As the doctrine is that a public debt
is a public blessing, so they think a perpetual
one is a perpetual blessing, and therefore
wish to make it so large that we can never
pay it off. — To NICHOLAS LEWIS, iii, 348.
FORD ED., v, 505. (Pa., April 1792.)
2068. DEBT (United States), Prosperity
and. — We are ruined if we do not overrule
the principles that " the more we owe, the
more prosperous we shall be " ; " that a public
debt furnishes the means of enterprise " ;
" that if ours should be once paid off, we
should incur another by any means however
extravagant."— To JAMES MONROE. FORD ED.,
v, 320. (Pa., 1791.)
2069. DEBT (United States), Public
Faith and. — The payments made in dis
charge of the principal and interest of the
national debt, will show that the public faith
has been exactly maintained. — FIRST ANNUAL
MESSAGE, viii, n. FORD ED., viii, 121. (Dec.
1801.)
* The first was to arrest the progress of centraliza
tion tinder the decisions of the Supreme Court. —
EDITOR.
2070. . To preserve the faith of
the nation by an exact discharge of its debts
and contracts * * * [is one of] the land
marks by which we are to guide ourselves in
all our proceedings. — SECOND ANNUAL MES
SAGE, viii, 21. FORD ED., viii, 187. (Dec.
1802.)
2071. DEBT (United States), Purcha
sing.— The saving of interest on the sum so
to be bought [of the national debt] may be
applied in buying up more principal, and
thereby keep this salutary operation going. —
OPINION ON FOREIGN DEBT, vii, 507. FORD
ED., v, 233. (1790.)
2072. DEBT (United States), Reduction
of.— The receipts of external duties for the
last twelve months have exceeded those of
any former year, and the ratio of increase has
been also greater than usual. This has en
abled us to answer all the regular exigencies
of government, to pay from the treasury in
one year upwards of eight millions of dollars,
principal and interest, of the public debt, ex
clusive of upwards of one million paid by the
sale of bank stock, and making in the whole
a reduction of nearly five millions and a
half of principal; and to have now in the
treasury four millions and a half of dollars,
which are in a course of application to a fur
ther discharge of debt and current demands.
—SECOND ANNUAL MESSAGE, viii, 18. FORD
ED., viii, 184. (Dec. 1802.)
2073. . The amount of debt paid
for the year ending September 30, 1803, is
about three millions one hundred thousand
dollars, exclusive of interest, and making,
with the payment of the preceding year, a dis
charge of more than eight millions and a half
of dollars of the principal of that debt, be
sides the accruing interest; and there re
main in the treasury nearly six millions of
dollars.*— THIRD ANNUAL MESSAGE, viii, 26.
FORD ED., viii, 271. (Oct. 1803.)
2074. . Eleven millions and a
half of dollars, received in the course of the
year ending on the 30th of September last,
have enabled us, after meeting all the ordi
nary expenses of the year, to pay upwards of
$3,600,000 of the public debt, exclusive of
interest. This payment, with those of the two
preceding years, has extinguished upwards of
twelve millions of the principal, and a greater
sum of interest, within that period. — FOURTH
ANNUAL MESSAGE, viii, 38. FORD ED., viii,
331. (Nov. 1804.)
2075. . The receipts * * * dur
ing the year * * * have exceeded the
sum of thirteen millions of dollars, which,
with not quite five millions in the treasury
at the beginning of the year, have enabled
us, after meeting other demands, to pay nearly
two millions of the debt contracted under the
British treaty and convention, upwards of
four millions of principal of the public debt,
* In the six millions are to be included two millions
of dollars which had been appropriated with a view
of purchasing New Orleans and other territory. This
fact is set forth in the message.— EDITOR.
237
TJHE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Debt
Debts due British
and four millions of interest. These pay
ments, with those which had been made in
three years and a half preceding, have ex
tinguished of the funded debt nearly eighteen
millions of principal.— FIFTH ANNUAL MES
SAGE, viii, 52. FORD ED., viii, 395. (Dec.
1805.)
2076. . The receipts * * * dur
ing the year * * * have amounted to
near fifteen millions of dollars, which have
enabled us, after meeting the current de
mands, to pay two millions seven hundred
thousand dollars of the American claims, in
part of the price of Louisiana ; to pay of the
funded debt upward of three millions of prin
cipal, and nearly four of interest ; and in ad
dition, to reimburse, * * * nearly two
millions of five and a half per cent, stock.
These payments and reimbursements of the
funded debt, with those which have been
made in four years and a half preceding, will,
at the close of the present year, have extin
guished upward of twenty-three millions of
principal. — SIXTH ANNUAL MESSAGE, viii, 67.
FORD ED., viii, 493. (Dec. 1806.)
2077. . The receipts have
amounted to near sixteen millions of dollars,
which, with the five millions and a half in the
treasury at the beginning of the year, have
enabled us * * * to pay more than four
millions of the principal of our funded debt.
These payments, with those of the preceding
five and a half years, have extinguished of
the funded debt twenty-five millions and a
half of dollars, being the whole which could
be paid or purchased within the limits of law,
and of our contracts, and have left us in the
treasury eight millions and a half of dollars.
— SEVENTH ANNUAL MESSAGE. viii, 88.
FORD ED., ix, 164. (Oct. 1807.)
2078. . The receipts have
amounted to near eighteen millions of dollars,
which with the eight millions and a half in
the treasury at the beginning of the year,
have enabled us * * * to pay two mil
lions three hundred thousand dollars of the
principal of our funded debt, and left us in
the treasury, on that day, near fourteen mil
lions of dollars. * * * These payments,
with those made in the six years and a half
preceding, will have extinguished thirty-three
millions five hundred and eighty thousand
dollars of the principal of the funded debt,
being the whole which could be paid or pur
chased within the limits of the law and our
contracts ; and the amount of principal thus
discharged will have liberated the revenue
from about two millions of dollars of interest,
and added that sum annually to the disposable
surplus. — EIGHTH ANNUAL MESSAGE, viii,
109. FORD ED., ix, 224. (Nov. 1808.)
2079. DEBT (United States), Repub
licans and. — An alarm has been endeav
ored to be sounded as if the republican in
terest was indisposed to the payment of the
public debt. Besides the general object of the
calumny, it was meant to answer the special
one of electioneering. Its falsehood was so
notorious that it produced little effect. — To
THOMAS PINCKNEY. iii, 493. FORD ED., vi,
143. (Pa., Dec. 1792.)
2080. DEBT (United States), Sacredness
of. — The evidences of the public debt are solid
and sacred. I presume there is not a man in
the United States who would not part with
his last shilling to pay them.— To FRANCIS
EPPES. FORD ED., v, 507. (Pa., April 1792.)
2081. . There can never be a fear
but that the paper which represents the pub
lic debt will be ever sacredly good. The pub
lic faith is bound for this, and no change of
system will ever be permitted to touch this;
but no other paper stands on ground equally
sure. — To WILLIAM SHORT, iii, 343. FORD
ED., v, 460. (Pa., March 1792.)
2082. DEBT (United States), State
ments of. — An accurate statement of the
original amount and subsequent augmenta
tions or diminutions of the public debt, to be
continued annually [in the message to Con
gress], is an article on which we have con
ferred before. A similar statement of the
annual expenses of the government for a
certain period back, and to be repeated an
nually, is another wholesome necessity we
should impose on ourselves and our succes
sors. — To ALBERT GALLATIN. FORD ED., viii,
181. (W., Dec. 1802.)
2083. DEBT (United States), Time and.
— No nation can make a declaration against
the validity of long-contracted debts, so dis
interestedly as we, since we do not owe a
shilling which will not be paid with ease,
principal and interest, by the measures you
[the new government] have taken, within
the time of our own lives. — To JAMES MADI
SON, iii, 108. FORD ED., v, 123. (P., 1789.)
See GENERATIONS.
2084. DEBT (United States), Wars and.
— Our distance from the wars of Europe, and
our disposition to take no part in them, will,
we hope, enable us to keep clear of the debts
which they may occasion to other powers. —
To C. W. F. DUMAS, iii, 155. FORD ED., v,
190. (N.Y., 1790.)
2085. DEBT (United States), Wars for
Commerce and. — No earthly consideration
could induce my consent to contract such a
debt as England has by her wars for com
merce, to reduce our citizens by taxes to such
wretchedness, as that laboring sixteen of the
twenty-four hours, they are still unable to af
ford themselves bread, or barely to earn as
much oatmeal or potatoes as will keep soul
and body together. And all this to feed the
avidity of a few millionary merchants, and
to keep up one thousand ships of war for the
protection of their commercial speculations.
— To WILLIAM H. CRAWFORD, vii, 7. FORD
ED., x, 35. (M., 1816.)
- DEBTORS, Fugitives.— See FUGITIVES.
2086. DEBTS DUE BRITISH, British
government and. — It is uncertain how far we
should have been able to accommodate our opin-
Debts due British
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
238
ions [in the settlement of the debts]. But the
absolute aversion of the [British] government
to enter into any arrangement [with Mr.
Adams and myself] prevented the object from
being pursued. Each country is left to do jus
tice to itself and to the other, according to its
own ideas, as to what is past ; and to scramble
tor the future as well as they can ; to regulate
their commerce by duties and prohibitions and,
perhaps, by cannons and mortars ; in which
event, we must abandon the ocean, where we
are weak, leaving to neutral nations the car
riage of our commodities ; and measure with
them on land, where they alone can lose.* — To
JAMES Ross, i, 562. FORD ED., iv, 218. (Pv
1786.)
2087. . I wish it were in my
power to inform you that arrangements were
at length taken between the two nations for
carrying into complete execution the late treaty
of peace, and for settling those conditions which
are essential to the continuance of a commerce
between them. I suppose all arrangement is
thought unnecessary here [London], as the sub
ject has not been deemed worthy of a confer
ence [with Mr. Adams and myself]. Both na
tions are left to pursue their own measures, and
it is not easy to foresee what these will be. — To
ALEXANDER McCAUL. FORD EDV iv, 202. (L.,
April 1786.)
2088. DEBTS DUE BRITISH, Execu
tions for. — The immensity of the [Virginia]
debt [to British1 creditors] was another reason
for forbidding such a mass of property to be
offered for sale under execution at once, as,
from the small quantity of circulating money,
it must have been sold for little or nothing,
whereby the creditor would have failed to re
ceive his money, and the debtor would have
lost his whole estate without being discharged
of his debt.t — REPORT TO CONGRESS, ix, 241.
FORD ED., iv, 127. (1785.)
2089. DEBTS DUE BRITISH, Interest
011. — It is a general sentiment in America that
the principal of these debts should be paid, and
that that alone is stipulated by the treaty. But
they [the British] think the interest also
which arose before and since the war, is
justly due. They think it would be as unjust
to demand interest during the war. They urge
that during that time they could not pay the
debt, for that of the remittances attempted,
two-thirds on an average were taken by the
nation to whom they were due ; that during that
period they had no use of the money, as from
the same circumstances of capturing their prod
uce on the sea, tobacco sold at 55. the hundred,
which was not sufficient to bear the expenses
of the estate ; that they paid taxes and other
charges on the property during that period, and
stood its insurers in the ultimate event of the
war. They admit, indeed, that such individual
creditors, as were not engaged in privateering
against them, have lost this interest ; but that
it was the fault of their own nation, and that
this is the case where both parties having lost,
each may justifiably endeavor to save himself.
Setting aside this portion of the interest, I am
persuaded the debts in America are generally
good, and that there is an honest intention to
pay them. — To ALEXANDER McCAUL. FORD
ED., iv, 203. (L., 1786.)
* These were debts due by Americans to British
merchants and others previous to the war of the
Revolution.— EDITOR.
t Report to Congress of a conference with Count
de Vergennes, respecting commercial arrangements.
—EDITOR.
2090. . While the principal, and
interest preceding and subsequent to the war,
seem justly due from us [to the British], that
which accrued during the war does not. Inter
est is a compensation for the use of money.
Their money, in our hands, was in the form of
lands and negroes. Tobacco, the produce of
these lands and negroes (or as I may call it,
the interest of them), being almost impossible
of conveyance to the markets of consumption,
because taken by themselves in its way there,
sold during the war, at five or six shillings the
hundred. This did not pay taxes, and for tools
and other plantation charges. A man who
should have attempted to remit to his creditor
tobacco, for either principal or interest, must
have remitted it three times before one cargo
would have arrived safe ; and this from the
depredations of their own nation, and often of
the creditor himself ; for some of the merchants
entered deeply into the privateering business.
The individuals, who did not, say they have
lost this interest ; the debtor replies that he
has not gained it, and that it is a case, where a
loss having been incurred, every one tries to
(shift it from himself. The known bias of the
human mind from motives of interest should
lessen the confidence of each party in the jus
tice of their reasoning ; but it is difficult to
say which of them should make the sacrifice,
both of reason and interest. — To JAMES Ross.
i, 562. FORD ED., iv, 218. (P., 1786.) See
INTEREST ON MONEY.
2091. DEBTS DUE BRITISH, Jeffer
son's Personal.— With respect to myself, I
acknowledge to you that I do not think an in
terest justly demandable during the war.
Whatever I owed, with interest previous and
subsequent to the war, I have taken measures
for paying as speedily as possible. My chief
debts are to yourself, and to Mr. Jones, of
Bristol. In the year 1776, before there was a
shilling of paper money issued, I sold land for
£4200 to pay these two debts. I did not re
ceive the money till it was not worth oak leaves.
I have lost the principal and interest of these
debts once then in attempting to pay them.
Besides this, Lord Cornwallis's army took off
thirty of my slaves, burned one year's crop of
tobacco in my houses, and destroyed another
in the fields, with other damages to the amount
of three or four thousand pounds. Still, I am
renewing my efforts to pay what I justly ought;
and I hope these will be more successful. My
whole estate is left in the hands of Mr. Lewis,,
of Albemarle, and Mr. Eppes, of Chesterfield,
to apply its whole profits to the payment of
my debts. * * * Till payment is effected,
I shall not draw one shilling from the estate,
nor resume its possession, * * * I think it
very possible that you will not concur with me
in opinion as to the intermediate interest ; and
that so far I shall meet your censure. Both
parties are liable to feel too strongly the argu
ments which tend to justify their endeavors to
avoid this loss. Yet after making allowances
for this prejudice, it seems to me impossible
but that the hardships are infinitely greater on
our side than on yours. You have lost the in
terest but it is not we who have gained it. We
deem your nation the aggressors. They took
those profits which arose from your property in
our hands, and inflicted on us immeasurable
losses besides. I urge these considerations be
cause, while they decide my own opinion, I wish
them to weigh so much as to preserve me yours,
which I highly esteem, and should be afflicted
were I to lose it. — To ALEXANDER McCAUL.
FORD ED., iv, 204. (L., 1786.)
239
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Debts due British
2092. . I am desirous of ar
ranging with you s.uch just and practicable con
ditions as will ascertain to you the terms at
which you will receive my part of your debt,
and give me the satisfaction of knowing that
you are contented. * * * The first question
which arises is as to the article of interest. For
all the time preceding the war, and all subse
quent to it, I think it reasonable that interest
should be paid ; but equally rnreasonable dur
ing the war. Interest is a compensation for the
use of money. Your money in my hands is in
the form of lands and negroes. From these,
during the war, no use, no profits could be de
rived. Tobacco is the article they produce.
That can only be turned into money at a foreign
market. But the moment it went out of our
ports for that purpose, it was captured either
by the King's ships, or by those of individuals.
The consequence was that tobacco, worth from
twenty to thirty shillings the hundred, sold gen
erally in Virginia during the war for five shil
lings. This price, it is known, will not maintain
the laborer and pay taxes. There was no sur
plus of profit then to pay an interest. In the
meanwhile we stood insurers of the lives of the
laborers, and of the ultimate issue of the war.
He who attempted during the war to remit
either his principal or interest, must have ex
pected to remit three times to make one pay
ment ; because it is supposed that two out of
three parts of the shipments were taken. It
was not possible, then, for the debtor to derive
any profit from the money which might enable
him to pay an interest, nor yet to get rid of the
principal by remitting it to his creditor. — To
WILLIAM JONES. FORD ED., iv, 352. (P., 1787.)
2093. . Besides these reasons in
favor of the general mass of debtors, I have
some peculiar to my own case. In the year
1776, before a shilling of paper money was is
sued, I sold lands to the amount of four thou
sand two hundred pounds sterling. In order to
pay these two debts I offered the bonds of the
purchasers to your agent, Mr. Evans, if he
would acquit me, and accept of the purchasers
as debtors in my place. They were as sure as
myself had he done it. These debts, being
turned over to you, would have been saved to
you by the treaty of peace, but he declined it.
Great sums of paper money were afterwards
issued. This depreciated, and payment was
made me in this money when it was but a
shadow. Our laws do not entitle their own
citizens to require repayment in these cases,
though the treaty authorizes the British creditor
to do it. Here, then, I lost the principal and
interest once. Again Lord Cornwallis encamped
ten days on an estate of mine at Elk island,
having his headquarters in my house. He
burned all the tobacco houses and barns on
the farm, with the produce of the former year
in them. He burned all the enclosures, and
wasted the fields in which the crop of that year
(it was the month of June), was growing. He
killed or carried off every living animal, cutting
the throats of those which were too young for
service. Of the slaves, he carried away thirty.
The useless and barbarous injury he did me,
in that instance, was more than would have
repaid your debt, principal and interest. Thus
I lost it a second time. Still I lay my shoulder
assiduously to the payment of it a third time.
In doing this, however, I think yourself will be
of opinion that I am authorized in justice to
clear it of every article not demandable in strict
right. Of this nature I consider interest dur
ing the war. — To WILLIAM JONES. FORD ED.,
iv, 353- (1787.)
2094. . Another question is as
to the paper money I deposited in the treasury
of Virginia towards the discharge of this debt.
I before observed that I had sold lands to the
amount of four thousand two hundred pounds
sterling before a shilling of paper money was
emitted, with a view to pay this debt. I re
ceived this money in depreciated paper. The
State was then calling on those who owed
money to British subjects to bring it into the
treasury, engaging to pay a like sum to the
creditor at the end of the war. I carried the
identical money therefore to the Treasury,
where it was applied, as all the money of the
same description was, to the support of the war.
Subsequent events have been such that the State
cannot, and ought not to pay the same nominal
sum in gold or silver which they received in
paper, nor is it certain what they will do. *
Whatever the State decides you shall re
ceive ' the debt fully. I am ready to
remove all difficulty arising from this deposit,
to take back to myself the demand against the
State, and to consider the deposit as originally
made for myself and not for you. — To WILLIAM
JONES. FORD ED., iv, 355. (P., 1787.) See
2005 to 2010.
2095. DEBTS DUE BRITISH, Liquida
tion of. — There are two circumstances of
difficulty in the payment of these debts. To
speak of [Virginia], the particular State with
which you and I are best acquainted, we know
that its debt is ten times the amount of its circu
lating cash. To pay that debt at once then is a
physical impossibility. Time is requisite. Were
all the creditors to rush to judgment together,
a mass of two millions of property would be
brought to market, where there is but the tenth
of that sum of money in circulation to purchase
it. Both debtor and creditor would be ruined,
as debts would be thus rendered desperate
which are in themselves good. Of this truth
I find the merchants here [London] sufficiently
sensible, and I have no doubt we should have
arranged the article of time to mutual satisfac
tion, allowing judgment to pass immediately,
and dividing the execution into instalments. —
To ALEXANDER McCAUL. FORD ED., iv, 202.
(1786.)
2096. DEBTS DUE BRITISH, Plan to
pay. — They [British merchants whom I met in
London] were certainly disposed to consent to
accommodation as to the article of debts. I was
not certain, when I left England, that they
would relinquish the interest dur'ng the war.
A letter received since, from the first character
among the American merchants in Scotland,
satisfies me they would have relinquished it
to insure the capital and residue of interest.
Would to heaven all the States, therefore, would
settle a uniform plan. To open the courts to
them, so that they might obtain judgments;
to divide the executions into so many equal an
nual instalments, as that the last might be paid
in the year 1790 ; to have the payments in actual
money ; and, to include the capital, and in
terest preceding and subsequent to the war,
would give satisfaction to the world, and to the
merchants in general. Since it is left for each
nation to pursue their own measures in the exe
cution of the late treaty, may not Congress with
propriety recommend a mode of executing that
article respecting the debts, and send it to each
State to be passed into law. Whether England
gives up the [Western] posts or not, these debts
must be paid, or our character stained with in
famy among all nations and through all time.
Debts due British
Decimal System
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
240
As to the satisfaction for slaves carried off, it is
a bagatelle, which, if not made good before the
last instalment becomes due, may be secured
out of that. — To JAMES MONROE. i, 565.
FORD ED., iv, 221. (P., 1786.)
2097. DEBTS DUE BRITISH, Priva
teering and.— With respect to the creditors
in Great Britain, they mostly turned their atten
tion to privateering; and arming the vessels
they had before employed in trading with us,
they captured on the seas, not only the produce
of the farms of their debtors, but of those of the
whole State. They thus paid themselves by
capture more than their annual interest, and we
lost more. Some merchants, indeed, did not
engage in privateering. These lost their inter
est. But we did not gain it. It fell into the
hands of their countrvmen. It cannot, there
fore, be demanded of us. As between these
merchants and their debtors, it is the case
where, a loss being incurred, each party may
justifiably endeavor to shift it from himself.
Each has an equal right to avoid it. One party
can never expect the other to yield a thing to
which he has as good a right as the demander;
we even think he has a better right than the
demander in the present instance. This loss
has been occasioned by the fault of the nation
which was creditor. Our right to avoid it, then,
stands on less exceptionable ground than theirs.
But it will be said, that each party thought the
other the aggressor. In these disputes there is
but one umpire, and that has decided the ques
tion where the .world in general thought the
right lay. — To WILLIAM JONES. FORD ED., iv,
353- (1787.)
2098. DEBTS DUE BRITISH, Slaves
and. — The British army, after ravaging the
State of Virginia, had sent off a very great num
ber of slaves to New York. By the seventh
article of the treaty of peace, they stipulated not
to carry away any of these. Notwithstanding
this, it was known, when they were evacuating
New York, that they were carrying away the
slaves. General Washington made an official
demand of Sir Guy Carleton, that he should
cease to send them away. He answered, that
these people had come to them under promise
of the King's protection, and that that promise
should be fulfilled in preference to the stipu
lation in the treaty. The State of Virginia,
to which nearly the whole of these slaves be
longed, passed a law to forbid the recovery of
debts due to British subjects. They declared,
at the same time, they would repeal the law, if
Congress were of opinion they ought to do it.
But, desirous that their citizens should be dis
charging their debts, they afterwards permitted
British creditors to prosecute their suits, and
to receive their debts in seven equal and annual
payments ; relying that the demand for the
slaves would be either admitted or denied in
time to lay their hands on some of the latter
payments for reimbursement. — REPORT TO CON
GRESS, ix, 240. FORD ED., iv, 127. (1785.)
2099. DEBTS DUE BRITISH, Virginia
Loan and. — A citizen of the Commonwealth
[of Virginia], who is debtor to a British sub
ject, may lodge the money due, or any part
thereof,, in the * * * loan office, accounting
sixteen pence of the lawful money of the Com
monwealth, or two-thirds of a dollar in bills of
credit there current, equal to twelve pence of
any such debt payable in the debtor's name,
signed by the commissioner of the loan office,
and delivering the same to the Governor whose
receipt shall discharge the debt.* — BRITISH
PROPERTY BILL. FORD ED., ii, 200. (1779.)
2100. DEBTS DUE BRITISH, Sum of
Virginia's. — Virginia certainly owed two mil
lions sterling to Great Britain at the conclusion
of the war. Some have conjectured the debt as
high as three millions. I think that State owed
near as much as all the rest put together. This
is to be ascribed to peculiarities in the tobacco
trade. The advantages made by the British
merchants, on the tobaccos consigned to them,
were so enormous, that they spared no means
of increasing those consignments. A powerful
engine for this purpose was the giving good
prices and credit to the planter, till they got
him more immersed in debt than he could pay,
without selling his lands or slaves. They then
reduced the prices given for his tobaccos, so
that, let his shipments be ever so great, and his
demand of necessaries ever so economical, they
never permitted him to clear off his debt.
These debts had become hereditary from father
to son, for many generations, so that the plant
ers were a species of property, annexed to cer
tain mercantile houses in London. — ANSWER
TO M. DE MEUNIER. ix, 250. FORD ED. iv
155. (P., 1786.)
2101. DECIMAL SYSTEM, Advantages
of- — The most easy ratio of multiplication and
division, is that by ten. Everyone knows the
facility of Decimal Arithmetic. Every one
remembers, that when learning Money-Arith
metic, he used to be puzzled with adding the
farthings, taking out the fours and carrying
them on; adding the pence, taking put the
twelves and carrying them on; adding the
shillings, taking out the twenties and carry
ing them on; but when he came to the
pounds, where he had only tens to carry for
ward, it was easy and free from error. The
bulk of mankind are schoolboys through life.
These little perplexities are always great to
them. And even mathematical heads feel the
relief of an easier, substituted for a more dif
ficult process. Foreigners, too, who trade and
travel among us, will find a great facility in
understanding our coins and accounts from
this ratio of subdivision. Those who have
had occasion to convert the livres, sols and
deniers of the French ; the gilders, stivers
and pfennigs of the Dutch ; the pounds, shil
lings, pence, and farthings of these several
States, into each other, can judge how much
they would have been aided, had their several
subdivisions been in a decimal ratio. Cer
tainly, in all cases, where we are free to
choose between easy and difficult modes of
operation, it is most rational to choose the
easy. The Financier [Robert Morris], there
fore, in his report, well proposes that our
coins should be in decimal proportion to one
another. — NOTES ON A MONEY UNIT, i, 163.
FORD ED., iii, 447. (1784.)
2102. DECIMAL SYSTEM, Approba
tion of. — The experiment made by Congress
in the year one thousand seven hundred and
eighty-six, by declaring that there should be
* The courts held that payments under [this law!
did not liquidate the debts. * * * Among those
to suffer the most was Jefferson, who had paid into
the loan-office moneys due by him to John Randolph,
Kippent & Co., and William Jones.— NOTE FORD
EDITION.
241
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Decimal System
Declaration
one money of account and payment through
the United States, and that its parts and mul
tiples should be in a decimal ratio, has ob
tained such general approbation, both at home
and abroad, that nothing seems wanting but
the actual coinage, to banish the discordant
pounds, shillings, pence and farthings of the
different States, and to establish in their
stead the new denominations. — COINAGE,
WEIGHTS AND MEASURES REPORT, vii, 477.
(July 1790.)
2103. DECIMAL SYSTEM, France and.
— The convenience of [the decimal system] in
our moneyed system has been approved by all,
and France has followed the example. — To
JOHN QUINCY ADAMS, vii, 89. (M., 1817.)
2104. DECIMAL SYSTEM, Weights,
Measures and. — The divisions into dimes,
cents and mills is now so well understood
that it would be easy of introduction into the
kindred branches of weights and measures.
I use, when I travel, an odometer of Clarke's
invention, which divides the mile into cents,
and I find every one comprehends a distance
readily, when stated to him in miles and
cents; so he would in feet and cents, pounds
antt cents, &c. — AUTOBIOGRAPHY, i, 53. FORD
ED., i, 75. (1821.)
— DECIUS, Charges of. — See RANDOLPH,
JOHN.
— DECLARATION OF INDEPEND
ENCE.— See APPENDIX.*
2105. DECLARATION OF INDE
PENDENCE, Action in Congress.— On the
I5th of May, 1776, the Convention of Virginia
instructed their delegates in Congress, to pro
pose to that body to declare the Colonies in
dependent of Great Britain, and appointed a
committee to prepare a declaration of rights,
and plan of government.
"In Congress, Friday, June 7, 1776. The
delegatest from Virginia moved, in obedience
to instructions from their constituents that the
Congress should declare, that these United Colo
nies are, and of right ought to be, free and
independent States, that they are absolved from
all allegiance to the British crown, and that all
political connection between them and the State
of Great Britain is, and ought to be, totally dis
solved ; that measures should be immediately
taken for procuring the assistance of foreign
powers, and a Confederation be formed to
bind the Colonies more closely together. The
House being obliged to attend at that time to
some other business, the proposition was re
ferred to the next day, when the members were
ordered to attend punctually at ten o'clock.
Saturday, June 8. They proceeded to take
it into consideration, and referred it to a com
mittee of the whole, into which they immedi
ately resolved themselves, and passed that day
and Monday, the loth, in debating on the sub
ject."* — AUTOBIOGRAPHY, i, 12. FORD ED., i, 18.
(1821.)
* The principles asserted in the Declaration are
classified in this work. The text of the Declaration,
as drawn by Jefferson, with the alterations made by
Congress, is given in the APPENDIX.— EDITOR.
t Richard H. Lee, being the oldest member of the
Virginia delegation, was selected to make the mo
tion.— EDITOR.
$ The quoted paragraphs are from notes made by
Jefferson in the Congress.— EDITOR.
2106.
. It appearing in the course
of these debates [on Independence!, that the
Colonies of New York, New Jersey, Pennsyl
vania, Delaware, Maryland, and South Caro
lina were not yet matured for falling from
the parent stem, but that they were fast ad
vancing to that state, it was thought most
prudent to wait a while for them, and to post
pone the final decision to July ist; but, that
this might occasion as little delay as pos
sible, a committee was appointed to prepare
a Declaration of Independence. — AUTOBIOG
RAPHY, i, 17. FORD ED., i, 24. (1821.)
2107. . On Monday, the 1st of
July, the House resolved itself into a com
mittee of the whole, and resumed the consid
eration of the original motion [to declare the
Colonies independent States] made by the
delegates of Virginia, which, being again de
bated through the day, was carried in the af
firmative by the votes of New Hampshire,
Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island,
New Jersey, Maryland. Virginia, North Caro
lina, and Georgia. South Carolina and Penn
sylvania voted against it. Delaware had but
two members present and they were divided.
The delegates from New York declared they
were for it themselves, and were assured their
constituents were for it; but that their in
structions having been drawn near a twelve
month before, when reconciliation was still
the general object, they were enjoined by
them to do nothing which should impede that
object. They, therefore, thought themselves
not justifiable in voting on either side, and
asked leave to withdraw from the question,
which was given them. The committee rose
and reported their resolution to the House.
Mr. Edward Rutledge, of South Carolina,
then requested the determination might be put
off to the next day. as he believed his col
leagues, though they disapproved of the res
olution, would then join in it for the sake of
unanimity. The ultimate question, whether
the House would agree to the resolution of
the committee, was accordingly postponed to
the next day, when it was again moved, and
South Carolina concurred in voting for it.
In the meantime, a third member had come
post from the Delaware counties, and turned
the vote of that Colony in favor of the res
olution. Members of a different sentiment
attending that morning from Pennsylvania
also, her vote was changed, so that the whole
twelve Colonies, who were authorized to vote
at all, gave their voices for it; and within a
few days (July 9) the convention of New
York approved of it, and thus supplied the
void occasioned by the withdrawing of her
delegates from the vote. — AUTOBIOGRAPHY, i,
18. FORDED., 1,24. (1821.)
2108. DECLARATION OF INDE
PENDENCE, Committee on.— The com
mittee were John Adams, Dr. Franklin,
Roger Sherman, Robert R. Livingston and
myself. * * *. The committee * *
desired me to do it.* It was accordingly
done, and being approved by them, I reported
* To write the Declaration.— EDITOR.
Declaration
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
242
it to the House on Friday, the 28th of June,
when it was read, and ordered to lie on the
table. — AUTOBIOGRAPHY, i, 17. FORD ED., i,
24. (1821.) See 2119.
2109. DECLARATION OF INDE
PENDENCE, Consideration of. — Congress
proceeded * * * on July ist to consider
the Declaration of Independence, which had
been reported and laid on the table the Fri
day preceding, and on Monday referred to a
committee of the whole. * * * The de
bates, having taken up the greater parts of
the 2d, 3d and 4th days of July, were, on the
evening of the last, closed; the Declaration
was reported by the committee, agreed to
by the House, and signed by every member
present, except Mr. [John] Dickinson.* —
AUTIOBIOGRAPHY. i, IQ. FORD ED., i, 28.
(1821.) See 2122.
2110. DECLARATION OF INDE
PENDENCE, Copies of.— I enclose [you] a
copy of the Declaration of Independence, as
agreed to by the House, and also as originally
framed. You will judge whether it is the
better or worse for the critics. — To RICHARD
HENRY LEE. i, 204. FORD ED., ii, 59. (Pa.,
July 8, 1776.)
2111. . I am not able to give
you any particular account of the paper
handed you by Mr. Lee, as being either the
original or a copy of the Declaration of In
dependence, sent by myself to his grand
father. The draft, when completed by myself,
with a few verbal amendments by Dr. Frank
lin and Mr. Adams, two members of the
Committee, in their own handwriting, is now
in my possession, and a fair copy of this was
reported to the Committee, passed by them
without amendment, and then reported to
Congress. This latter should be among the
records of the old Congress; and whether
this or the one from which it was copied
and now in my hands, is to be called the orig
inal, is a question of definition. To that in my
hands, if worth preserving, my relations with
our University [of Virginia] give irresistible
claims. Whenever, in the course of the com
position, a copy became overcharged, and dif
ficult to be read with amendments, I copied
it fair, and when that also was crowded with
other amendments, another fair copy was
made, &c. These rough drafts I sent to dis
tant friends who were anxious to know what
was passing. But how many and to whom I
do not recollect. One sent to Mazzei was
given by him to the Countess de Tesse (aunt
of Madame de Lafayette) as the original, and
is probably now in the hands of her family.
Whether the paper sent to R. H. Lee was
one of these, or whether, after the passage
of the instrument. I made a copy for him,
with the amendments of Congress, may, I
think, be known from the face of the paper. —
To JOHN VAUGHAN. vii, 409. FORD ED., x,
345- (M., 1825.)
* "Thus," says Knight, in his History of England,
11 on the 4th of July, was completed what has been
not unjustly termed the most memorable public
document which history records." — EDITOR.
— DECLARATION OF INDEPEND
ENCE, Franklin and.— See 2115.
2112. DECLARATION OF INDE
PENDENCE, History of.— On the 7th of
June, 1776, the delegates from Virginia,
moved, in obedience to instructions from their
constituents, that Congress should declare the
Thirteen United Colonies to be independent
of Great Britain, that a Confederation should
be formed to bind them together, and meas
ures be taken for procuring the assistance of
foreign powers. The House ordered a punc
tual attendance of all their members the next
day at ten o'clock, and then resolved them
selves into a committee of the whole, and
entered on the discussion. It appeared in
the course of the debates that seven States,
viz., New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode
Island, Connecticut, Virginia, North Caro
lina, and Georgia, were decided for a separa
tion; but that six others still hesitated, to
wit. New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania,
Delaware, Maryland, and South Carolina.
Congress, desirous of unanimity, and seeing
that the public mind was advancing rapidly
to it, referred the further discussion to the
ist of July, appointing in the meantime a
Committee to prepare a Declaration of In
dependence, a second to form Articles for the
Confederation of the States, and a third to
propose measures for obtaining foreign aid.
On the 28th of June, the Declaration of In
dependence was reported to the House, and
was laid on the table for the consideration of
the members. On the ist day of July, they
resolved themselves into a committee of the
whole, and resumed the consideration of the
motion of June 7 [declaring independence].
It was debated through the day, and at length
was decided in the affirmative by the vote of
nine States, viz., New Hampshire, Massa
chusetts, Rhode Island, New Jersey, Mary
land. Virginia, North Carolina and Georgia.
Pennsylvania and South Carolina voted
against it. Delaware, having but two members
present, was divided. The delegates from
New York declared they were for it, and
their constituents also; but that the instruc
tions against it which had been given them a
twelvemonth before, were still unrepealed;
that their convention was to meet in a few
days, and they asked leave to suspend their
vote till they could obtain a repeal of their
instructions. Observe that all this was in a
committee of the whole Congress, and that
according to the mode of their proceedings,
the resolution of that committee to declare
themselves independent was to be put to
the same persons reassuming their forms as a
Congress. It was now evening, the members
exhausted by a debate of nine hours, during
which all the powers of the soul had been dis
tended with the magnitude of the object, and
the delegates of South Carolina desired that
the final decision might be put off to the next
morning that they might still weigh in their
own minds their ultimate vote. It was put
off, and in the morning of the 2d of July,
they joined the other nine States in voting for
it. The members of the Pennsylvania delega-
243
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Declaration
tion, too, who had been absent the day before
came in and turned the vote of their State in
favor of independence, and a third member
of the State of Delaware, who, hearing of the
division in the sentiment of his two col
leagues, had travelled post to arrive in time,
now came in and decided the vote of that
State also for the resolution. Thus twelve
States voted for it at the time of its passage,
and the delegates of New York, the thirteenth
State, received instructions within a few days
to add theirs to the general vote; so that
* * * there was not a dissenting voice.
Congress proceeded immediately to consider
the Declaration of Independence which had
been reported by their Committee on the 28th
of June. The several paragraphs of that
were debated for three days, viz., the 2d, 3d,
and 4th of July. In the evening of the 4th,
they were finally closed, and the instrument
approved by an unanimous vote, and signed
by every member, except Mr. Dickinson. —
To THE EDITOR OF THE JOURNAL DE PARIS, ix,
309. FORD ED., iv, 440. (P., Aug. 1787."!
2113. DECLARATION OF INDE
PENDENCE, Objects of.— With respect to
our rights, and the acts of the British govern
ment contravening those rights, there was but
one opinion on this side of the water. All
American whigs thought alike on these sub
jects. When forced, therefore, to resort to
arms for redress, an appeal to the tribunal
of the world was deemed proper for our jus
tification. This was the object of the Dec
laration of Independence. Not to find out
new principles, or new arguments, never be
fore thought of, not merely to say things
which had never been said before ; but to
place before mankind the common sense of
the subject, in terms so plain and firm as to
command their assent, and to justify our
selves in the independent stand we were com
pelled to take. Neither aiming at originality
of principle or sentiment, nor yet copied from
any particular and previous writing, it was
intended to be an expression of the American
mind, and to give to that expression the
proper tone and spirit called for by the oc
casion. All its authority rests, then, on the
harmonizing sentiments of the day, whether
expressed in conversation, in letters, printed
essays, or in the elementary books of public
right, as Aristotle, Cicero, Locke, Sidney,
&c. — To HENRY LEE. vii, 407. FORD ED., x,
343- (M., 1825.)
2114. DECLARATION OF INDE
PENDENCE, Opposition to. — Many excel
lent persons opposed it on doubts whether we
were provided sufficiently with the means of
supporting it, whether the minds of our con
stituents were yet prepared to receive, &c.,
who, after it was decided, united zealously in
the measures it called for.— To WILLIAM P.
GARDNER. FORD ED., ix, 377. (M., 1813.)
2115. . When the Declaration
of Independence was under the consideration of
Congress, there were two or three unlucky ex
pressions in it which gave offence to some mem
bers. The words " Scotch and other foreign
auxiliaries," excited the ire of a gentleman or
two of that country. Severe strictures on the
conduct of the British King, in negativing our
repeated repeals of the law which permitted the
importation of slaves, were disapproved by some
Southern gentlemen whose reflections were not
yet matured to the full abhorrence of that traffic.
Although the offensive expressions were imme
diately yielded, these gentlemen continued their
depredations on other parts of the instrument.
I was sitting by Dr. Franklin who perceived
that I was not insensible to these mutilations.
" I have made it a rule," said he, " whenever
in my power, to avoid becoming the draftsman
of papers to be reviewed by a public body. I
took my lesson from an incident which I will
relate to you. When I was a journeyman
printer, one of my companions, an apprentice
hatter, having served out his time, was about to
open shop for himself. His first concern was
to have a handsome signboard, with a proper in
scription. He composed it in these words :
John Thompson, Hatter, makes and sells hats
for ready money," with a figure of a hat sub
joined. But he thought he would submit to
his friends for their amendments. The first
he showed it to thought the word " hatter "
tautologous, because followed by the words,
" makes hats," which show he was a hatter. It
was struck out. The next observed that the
word " makes " might as well be omitted, be
cause his customers would not care who made
the hats. If good and to their mind, they would
buy by whomsoever made. He struck it out.
A third said he thought the words " for ready
money," were useless as it was not the custom
of the place to sell on credit. Everyone who
purchased expected to pay. They were parted
with, and the inscription now stood, " John
Thompson sells hats." " Sells hats," says his
next friend? Why nobody will expect you to
give them away. What, then, is the use of
that word ? It was stricken out, and " hats "
followed it, — the rather as there was one painted
on the board. So his inscription was reduced
ultimately to " John Thompson " with the figure
of a hat subjoined. — ANECDOTES OF DR. FRANK
LIN, viii, 500. FORD ED., x, 119. (M., 1818.)
— DECLARATION OF INDEPEND
ENCE, Original ideas in. — See 2119.
2116. DECLARATION OF INDE
PENDENCE, People of England and. —
The pusillanimous idea that we had any
friends in England worth keeping terms with,
still haunted the minds of many. For this
reason, those passages which conveyed cen
sure on the people of England were struck
out, lest they should give them offence. —
AUTOBIOGRAPHY. i, 19. FORD ED., i, 28.
(1821.)
2117. DECLARATION OF INDE
PENDENCE, Pictures of.— Mr. Barralet's
sketch of the ornaments pronosed to accompany
the publication of the Declaration of Independ
ence, contemplated by Mr. Murray and yourself,
has been received. I am too little versed in
the art of design to be able to offer any sugges
tions to the artist. As far as I am a judge,
the composition appears to be judicious and
well-imagined. Were I to hazard a suggestion,
it should be that Mr. Hancock, as President
of Congress, should occupy the middle and
principal place. No man better merited than
did Mr. John Adams to hold a most conspicuous
place ;n the design. — To WILLIAM P. GARDNER.
FORD ED., ix, 377. (M., Feb. 1813.)
Declaration
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
244
2118. . The painting lately exe
cuted by Col. Trumbull, I have never seen,
but as far back as the days of Horace, at least,
we are told that " pictoribiis atque poetis ;
Quidlibet audendi semper fuit aqua potestas."
He has exercised this licentia pictoris in like
manner in the surrender at Yorktown, where
he has placed Lord Cornwallis at the head of
the surrender, although it is well known that he
was excused by General Washington from ap
pearing. — To S. A. WELLS. FORD ED., x, 133.
(M., 1819.)
2119. DECLARATION OF INDE
PENDENCE, Recollections of by Adams.
— You have doubtless seen Timothy Picker
ing's Fourth of July observations on the Dec
laration of Independence. If his principles
and prejudices, personal and political, gave
us no reason to doubt whether he had truly
quoted the information he alleges to have
received from Mr. Adams, I should then say,
that in some of the particulars, Mr. Adams's
memory has led him into unquestionable er
ror. At the age of eighty-eight, and forty-
seven years after the transactions of Inde
pendence, this is not wonderful. Nor should
I, at the age of eighty, on the small advantage
of that difference only, venture to oppose my
memory to his, were it not supported by writ
ten notes, taken by myself at the moment,
and on the spot. He says. " the Committee
of five, to wit, Dr. Franklin, Sherman, Liv
ingston, and ourselves, met, discussed the
subject, and then appointed him and myself
to make the draft; that we, as a sub-com
mittee, met, and after the urgencies of each
on the other, I consented to undertake the
task; that the draft being made, we, the sub
committee, met, and conned the paper over,
and he does not remember that he made, or
suggested a single alteration." Now these
details are quite incorrect. The Committee
of five met ; no such thing as a sub-committee
was proposed, but they unanimously pressed
on myself alone to undertake the draft. I
consented; I drew it; but before I reported
it to the Committee, I communicated it sep
arately to Dr. Franklin and Mr. Adams, re
questing their correction, because they were
the two members of whose judgments and
amendments I wished most to have the bene
fit, before presenting it to the Committee;
and you have seen the original paper now
in my hands, with the corrections of Dr.
Franklin and Mr. Adams interlined in their
own handwritings. Their alterations were
two or three only, and merely verbal. I
then wrote a fair copy, reported it to the
Committee, and from them, unaltered, to
Congress. This personal communication and
consultation with Mr. Adams, he has misre-
membered into the actings of a sub-commit
tee, Pickering's observations, and Mr. Ad
ams's in addition, " that it contained no new
ideas, that it is a common-place compilation,
its sentiments hackneyed in Congress for two
years before, and its essence contained in
Otis's pamphlet," may all be true. Of that
I am not to be the judge. Richard Henry Lee
charged it as copied from Locke's Treatise on
Civil Government. Otis's pamphlet I never
saw, and whether I had gathered my ideas
from reading or reflection, I do not know. I
know only that I turned to neither book nor
pamphlet while writing it. I did not consider
it as any part of my charge to invent new
ideas altogether, and to offer no sentiment
which had ever been expressed before. Had
Mr. Adams been so restrained, Congress
would have lost the benefit of his bold and
impressive advocacy of the rights of the Rev
olution. For no man's confident and fervid
addresses, more than Mr. Adams's, encour
aged and supported us through the difficulties
surrounding us, which, like the ceaseless ac
tion of gravity, weighed on us bv night and
by day. Yet, on the same ground, we may
ask what of these elevated thoughts was new,
or can be affirmed never before to have en
tered the conceptions of man? Whether,
also, the sentiments of Independence and the
reasons for ^ declaring it, which make so
great a portion of the instrument, had been
hackneyed in Congress for two years before
the 4th of July, '76, or this dictum also of
Mr. Adams be another slip of memory, let
history say. This, however, I will say for
Mr. Adams, that he supported the Declara
tion with zeal and ability, fighting fearlessly
for every word of it. As for myself, I thought
it a duty to be, on that occasion, a passive
auditor of the opinions of others, more im
partial judges than I could be, of its merits
or demerits. During the debate I was sitting
by Dr. Franklin, and he observed that I was
writhing a little under the acrimonious crit
icisms on some of its parts ; and it was on
that occasion, that by way of comfort, he
told me the story of John Thompson, the
hatter, and his new sign. Timothy thinks the
instrument the better for having a fourth of it
expunged. He would have thought it still
better, had the other three-fourths gone out
also, all but the sinele sentiment (the only
one he approves), which recommends friend
ship to his dear England, whenever she is
willing to be at peace with us. His insinua
tions are, that although " the high tone of the
instrument was in unison with the warm
feelings of the times, this sentiment of habit
ual friendship to England should never be
forgotten, and that the duties it enjoins
should especially be borne in mind on every
celebration of this anniversary." In other
words, that the Declaration, as being a libel
on the government of England, composed in
times of passion, should now be buried in
utter oblivion, to spare the feelings of our
English friends and Angloman fellow-citi
zens. But it is not to wound them that we
wish to keep it in mind; but to cherish the
principles of the instrument in the bosoms
of our fellow-citizens; and it is a heavenly
comfort to coe that these principles are yet
so strongly felt, as to render a circumstance
so trifling as this lapse of memory of Mr.
Adams, worthy of being solemnly announced
and supported at an anniversary assemblage
of the nation on its birthday. In opposition,
however, to Mr. Pickering. I pray God that
these principles may be eternal. — To JAMES
MADISON, vii, 304. FORD ED., x, 267. (M.,
Aug. 1823.) See 64.
245
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Declaration
_ DECLARATION OF INDEPEND
ENCE, Rights of Man and.— See 2120.
2120. DECLARATION OF INDE
PENDENCE, Semi-centennial of. — The
kind invitation I received from you, on the
part of the citizens of the city of Washington,
to be present with them at their celebration
on the fiftieth anniversary of American In
dependence, as one of the surviving signers
of an instrument pregnant with our own and
the fate of the world, is most flattering to
myself, and heightened by the honorable ac
companiment proposed for the comfort of
such a journey. It adds sensibly to the suf
ferings of sickness, to be deprived by it of a
personal participation in the rejoicings of
that day. But acquiescence is a duty, under
circumstances not placed among those we are
permitted to control. I should, indeed, with
peculiar delight, have met and exchanged
there congratulations personally with the
small band, the remnant of that host of wor
thies, who joined with us on that day, in the
bold and doubtful election we were to make
for our country, between submission or the
sword; and to have enjoyed with them the
consolatory fact, that our ^ fellow-citizens,
after half a century of experience and pros
perity, continue to approve the choice we
made. May it be to the world, what I be
lieve it will be (to some parts sooner, to
others later, but finally to all), the signal of
arousing men to burst the chains under which
monkish ignorance and superstition had per
suaded them to bind themselves, and to as
sume the blessings and security of self-gov
ernment. That form which we have substi
tuted, restores the free right to the unbounded
exercise of reason and freedom of opinion.
All eyes are opened, or opening, to the rights
of man. The general spread of the light of
science has already laid open to every view
the palpable truth, that the mass of mankind
has not been born with saddles on their backs,
nor a favored few, booted and spurred, ready
to ride them legitimately, by the grace of
God. These are grounds of hope for others.
For ourselves, let the annual return of this
day forever refresh our recollections of these
rights, and an undiminished devotion to them.
I will ask permission here to express the
pleasure with which I should have met my
ancient neighbors of the city of Washington
and its vicinity, with whom I passed so many
years of a pleasing social intercourse; an in
tercourse which so much relieved the anx
ieties of the public cares, and left impressions
so deeply engraved in my affections, as never
to be forgotten. With my regret that ill
health forbids me the gratification of an ac-
ceotance, be pleased to receive for yourself,
and those for whom you write, the as
surance of my highest respect and friendly
attachments.*— To ROGER C. WEIGHTMAN.
vii, 450. FORD ED., x, 390. (M., June 24, 1826.)
2121. DECLARATION OF INDE
PENDENCE, Signers of. — Governor Mc-
Kean, in his letter to McCorkle of July i6th,
* This was the last letter written by Jefferson. He
died on the following Fourth of July. — EDITOR.
1817, has thrown some lights on the transac
tions of that day ; but, trusting to his memory
chiefly, at an age when our memories are not
to be trusted, he has confounded two ques
tions, and ascribed proceedings to one which
belonged to the other. These two questions
were, ist, the Virginia motion of June the
7th, to declare Independence ; and 2d, the act
ual Declaration, its matter and form. Thus
he states the question on the Declaration it
self as decided on the ist of July; but it was
the Virginia motion which was voted on
that day in Committee of the Whole; South
Carolina, as well as Pennsylvania, then vo
ting against it. But the ultimate decision
in the House, on the report of the Committee,
being, by request, postponed to the next morn
ing; all the States voted for it except New
York, whose vote was delayed for the reason
before stated. It was not till the 2d of
July, that the Declaration itself was taken
up; nor till the 4th, that it was decided, and
it was signed by every member present, except
Mr. Dickinson. — To SAMUEL A. WELLS, i,
120. FORDED., x, 130. (M., 1819.)
2122. . The subsequent signa
tures of members who were not then present,
and some of them not yet in office, is easily
explained, if we observe who they were; to
wit, that they were of New York and Penn
sylvania. New York did not sign till the
I5th, because it was not till the gth (five
days after the general signature), that their
convention authorized them to do so. The
Convention of Pennsylvania, learning that it
had been signed by a minority only of their
delegates, named a new delegation on the
2Oth, leaving out Mr. Dickinson, who had
refused to sign, Willing and Humphreys who
had withdrawn, reappointing the three mem
bers who had signed, Morris, who had not
been present, and five new ones, to wit, Rush,
Clymer, Smith, Taylor and Ross ; and Morris,
and the five new members were permitted to
sign, because it manifested the assent of their
full delegation and the express will of their
Convention, which might have been doubted
on the former signature of a minority only.
Why the signature of Thornton, of New
Hampshire, was permitted so late as the 4th
of November, I cannot now say ; but un
doubtedly for some particular reason which
we should find to have been good, had it been
expressed. These were the only post-signers,
and you see that there were solid reasons for
receiving those of New York and Pennsyl
vania, and that this circumstance in no wise
affects the faith of this Declaratory Charter
of our rights, and of the rights of man. — To
SAMUEL A. WELLS, i, 120. FORD ED., x, 130.
(M., 1819.)
2123. . I have received the new
publication of the Secret Journals of Con
gress, wherein is stated a resolution of Julv
I9th, 1776, that the Declaration passed on the
4th, be fairly engrossed on parchment, and
when engrossed, be signed by every member;
and another of August 2d, that being en
grossed and compared at the table, it was
Declaration
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
246
signed by the members ; that is to say, the
copy engrossed on parchment (for durabil
ity) was signed by the members, after being
compared at the table, with the original one
signed on paper as before stated. — MEMO
RANDUM BY JEFFERSON, i, 122. FORD ED., x,
132. (Aug. 1822.)
2124. . I observe your toast of
Mr. [John] Jay on the 4th of July [1823]
wherein you say that the omission of his
signature to the Declaration of Independence
was by accident. Our impressions as to this
fact being different, I shall be glad to have
mine corrected, if wrong1. Jay, you know,
had been in constant opposition to our labor
ing majority. Our estimate at the time was,
that he, Dickinson and Johnson of Mary
land, by their ingenuity, perseverance and
partiality to our English connection, had con
stantly kept us a year behind where we ought
to have been in our preparations and pro
ceedings. From about the date of the Vir
ginia instructions of May I5th, 1776, to de
clare Independence, Mr. Jay absented himself
from Congress, and never came there again
until December, 1778. Of course, he had no
part in the discussions or decision of that
question. The instructions to their Delegates
by the Convention of New York, then sitting,
to sign the Declaration, were presented to
Congress on the I5th of July only, and on
that day the journals show the absence of
Mr. Jay, by a letter received from him, as
they had done as early as the 2Qth of May by
another letter. And I think he had been
omitted by the convention on a new election of
Delegates, when they changed their instruc
tions. Of this last fact, however, having no
evidence but an ancient impression, I shall
not affirm it. But whether so or not, no
agency of accident appears in the case. This
error of fact, however, whether yours or
mine, is of little consequence to the public.
But truth being as cheap as error, it is as well
to rectify it for our own satisfaction. — To
JOHN ADAMS, vii, 308. FORD ED., x, 271.
(M., 1823.)
2125. . Of the signers of the
Declaration of Independence, I see now living
not more than half a dozen on your side of the
Potomac, and on this side, myself alone. — To
JOHN ADAMS, vi, 37. FORD ED., ix, 334. (M.,
Jan. 1812.)
2126. . I think Mr. Adams will
outlive us all, I mean the Declaration-men, al
though our senior since the death of Colonel
Floyd. It is a race in which I have no ambi
tion to win. — To HENRY DEARBORN, vii, 214.
FORD ED., x, 191. (M., Aug. 1821.)
2127. DECLARATION OF INDE
PENDENCE, Slavery clause. — The clause
[in the draft] reprobating the enslaving the
inhabitants of Africa, was struck out in com
plaisance to South Carolina and Georgia, who
had never attempted to restrain the importa
tion of slaves, and who, on the contrary, still
wished to continue it. Our northern brethren
also, I believe, felt a little tender under those
censures, for though their people had very
few slaves themselves, yet they had been
pretty considerable carriers of them to others.
— AUTOBIOGRAPHY, i, 19. FORD ED., i, 28.
(1821.)
2128. DECLARATION OF INDE
PENDENCE, Spirit of.— The genuine effu
sion of the soul of our country at that time.*
— To DR. JAMES MEASE, vii, 410. FORD ED.,
x, 346. (M., 1825.) See FOURTH OF JULY.
2129. DECLARATION OF INDE
PENDENCE, The Union and.— This holy
bond of our Union. — To DR. JAMES MEASE.
vii, 410. FORD ED., x, 346. (M., 1825.)
2130. DECLARATION OF INDE
PENDENCE, Virginia Constitution and.
— The [Virginia] Constitution, with the Pre
amble, was passed on the 2Qth of June [1776],
and the Committee of Congress had only the
day before that reported to that body the
draft of the Declaration of Independence.
The fact is, that that Preamble was prior in
composition to the Declaration; and both
having the same object, of justifying our
separation from Great Britain, they used
necessarily the same materials of justification,
and hence their similitude.t — To AUGUSTUS
B. WOODWARD, vii, 406. FORD ED., x, 342.
(M., 1825.)
2131. DECLARATION OF INDE
PENDENCE, Where written.— The Decla
ration of Independence was written in a house
on the north side of Chestnut Street, Philadel
phia, between Third and Fourth, not a corner
house. Heiskell's tavern, which has been
pointed out as the house, is not the true one. —
FROM DANIEL WEBSTER'S CONVERSATION WITH
JEFFERSON. FORD ED., x, 327. (1824.)
2132. . At the time of writing
the Declaration, I lodged in the house of a Mr.
Graaf, a new brick house, three stories high, of
which I rented the second floor, consisting of a
parlor and bedroom, ready furnished. In that
parlor I wrote habitually, and in it wrote this
paper, particularly. So far I state from written
proofs in my possession. The proprietor, Graaf,
was a young man, son of a German, and then
newly married. I think he was a bricklayer,
and that his house was on the south side of
Market street, probably between Seventh and
Eighth streets, and if not the only house on
that part of the street, I am sure there were
few others near it. I have some idea that it
was a corner house, but no other recollections
throwing light on the question, or worth com
munication. $ — To DR. JAMES MEASE, vii, 410.
FORD ED., x, 346. (M., 1825.)
* Bancroft in volume 8, chapter 70, of the History
of the United States, says, "this immortal State
paper which, for its composer, was the aurora of en
during fame, was 'the genuine effusion of the soul
of the country at that time ', the revelation of its
mind, when in its youth, its enthusiasm, its sublime
confronting of danger, it rose to the highest creative
powers of which man is capable ".—EDITOR.
+ Jefferson wrote the Preamble of the Virginia
Constitution. The phraseology of the indictment in
it of George III. is nearly the same as that in the
Declaration.— EDITOR.
% Jefferson had been asked to supply this informa
tion. In the letter, from which the quotation is
made, he wrote: "It is not for me to estimate the
importance of the circumstances concerning which
your letter makes inquiry. They prove, even in
their minuteness, the sacred attachments of our fel
low citizens to the event of which the paper of July
247
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Declaration
Defence
2133. DECLABATION OF INDE
PENDENCE, The Mecklenburg.— You
seem to think the Mecklenburg Declaration
genuine. I believe it spurious. I deem it to
be a very unjustifiable quiz, like that of the
volcano, so minutely related to us as having
broken out in North Carolina, some half a
dozen years ago, in that part of the country,
and perhaps in that very county of Mecklenburg,
for I do not remember its precise locality. If
this paper be really taken from the Raleigh
Register, as quoted, I wonder it should have es
caped Ritchie, who culls what is good from
every paper, as the bee from every flower ; and
the National Intelligencer, too, which is edited
by a North Carolinian ; and that the fire should
blaze out all at once in Essex,* one thousand
miles from where the spark is said to have
fallen. But if really taken from the Raleigh
Register, who is the narrator, and is the name
subscribed real, or is it as fictitious as the paper
itself? It appeals, too, to an original book,
which is burned, to Mr. Alexander, who is
dead, to a joint letter from Caswell, Hughes
and Hooper, all dead, to a copy sent to the dead
Caswell, and another sent to Dr. Williamson,
now probably dead, whose memory did not
recollect, in the history he has written of North
Carolina, this gigantic step of its county of
Mecklenburg. Horry, too, is silent in his his
tory of Marion, whose scene of action was the
county bordering on Mecklenburg. Ramsay,
Marshall, Jones. Girardin, Wirt, historians of
the adjacent States, all silent. When Mr.
Henry's resolutions, far short of Independence,
flew like lightning through every paper, and
kindled both sides of the Atlantic, this flaming
declaration of the same date, of the independ
ence of Mecklenburg county, of North Caro
lina, absolving it from the British allegiance,
and abjuring all political connection with that
nation, although sent to Congress too, is never
heard of. It is not known even a twelve
month after, when a similar proposition is
first made in that body. Armed with this bold
example, would not you have addressed our
timid brethren in peals of thunder on their tardy
fears ? Would not every advocate of Independ
ence have rung the glories of Mecklenburg
county in North Carolina, in the ears of the
doubting Dickinson and others, who hung so
heavily on us? Yet the example of independ
ent Mecklenburg county, in North Carolina,
was never once quoted. The paper speaks, too,
of the continued exertions of their delegation
(Caswell, Hooper, Hughes) " in the cause of
liberty and independence." Now, you remem
ber as well as I do, that we had not a greater
tory in Congress than Hooper ; that Hughes was
very wavering, sometimes firm, sometimes fee
ble, according as the day was clear or cloudy ;
that Caswell, indeed, was a good whig, and kept
these gentlemen to the notch, while he was pres
ent ; but that he left us soon, and their line of
conduct became then uncertain until Penn came,
who fixed Hughes and the vote of the State. I
must not be understood as suggesting any doubt
fulness in the State of North Carolina. No
State was more fixed or forward. Nor do I
affirm, positively, that this paper is a fabrica
tion ; because the proof of a negative can only
4th, 1776, was but the declaration, the genuine effu
sion of the soul of our country at that time. Small
things may, perhaps, like the relics of saints, help to
nourish our devotion to this holy bond of our Union,
and keep it longer alive and warm in our affections.
This effect may give importance to circumstances,
however small." EDITOR.
* Adams had sent Jefferson a paper clipping about
it from the Essex (Mass.) Register.— EDITOR.
be presumptive. But I shall believe it such
until positive and solemn proof of its authen
ticity be produced. And if the name of Mc-
Knitt be real, and not a part of the fabrication,
it needs a vindication by the production of such
proof. For the present, I must be an unbe
liever in the apocryphal gospel. — To JOHN
ADAMS, vii, 128. FORD ED., x, 136. (M., July
1819.)
2134. DEFENCE, Coast.— A steady, per
haps, a quickened pace in preparations for the
defence of our seaport towns and waters ; an
early settlement of the most exposed and vul
nerable parts of our country ; a militia so or
ganized that its effective portions can be called
to any point in the Union, or volunteers in
stead of them to serve a sufficient time, are
means which may always be ready yet never
preying on our resources until actually called
into use. They will maintain the public inter
ests while a more permanent force shall be in
course of preparation. — SIXTH ANNUAL MES
SAGE, viii, 69. FORD ED., viii, 495. (Dec.
1806.) See MILITIA.
2135. . For the purposes of de
fence, it has been concluded to combine — ist,
land batteries, furnished with heavy cannon
and mortars, and established on all the points
around the place favorable for preventing ves
sels from lying before it; 2d, movable ar
tillery which may be carried * * * to
points unprovided with fixed batteries; 3d,
floating batteries ; and 4th, gunboats, which
may oppose an enemy at its entrance and co
operate with the batteries for his expulsion. —
SPECIAL MESSAGE, viii, 79. FORD ED., ix, 23.
(Feb. 1807.)
- DEFENCE, Gunboats and.— See GUN
BOATS.
2136. DEFENCE, National.— To draw
around the whole nation the strength of the
General Government, as a barrier against for
eign foes * * * is [one of the] functions
of the General Government on which you
have a right to call. — REPLY TO VERMONT AD
DRESS, iv, 418. (W., 1801.)
2137. DEFENCE, Naval.— I am for such
a naval force only * * * as may protect
our coasts and harbors * * * . — To EL-
BRIDGE GERRY, iv, 268. FORD ED., vii, 328.
(Pa., 1799.) See NAVY.
2138. DEFENCE, Personal.— One loves
to possess arms, though they hope never to
have occasion for them. — To PRESIDENT
WASHINGTON, iv, 143. FORD ED., vii, 84.
(M., 1796.)
2139. DEFENCE, Preparations for.—
The moment our peace was threatened [by
the attack on the Chesapeake], I deemed it in
dispensable to secure a greater provision of
those articles of military stores with which
our magazines were not sufficiently furnished.
To have awaited a previous and special sanc
tion by law would have lost occasions which
might not be retrieved. I did not hesitate,
therefore, to authorize engagements for such
supplements to our existing stock as would
render it adequate to the emergencies threat-
Defence
-Ueity
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
248
ening us; and I trust that the Legislature,
feeling the same anxiety for the safety of our
country, so materially advanced by this pro
tection, will approve, when done, what they
would have seen so important to be done, if
then assembled. — SEVENTH ANNUAL MESSAGE.
viii, 87. FORD ED., ix, 161. (Oct. 1807.) See
LAW, TRANSCENDING.
2140. DEFENCE, Readiness for.— While
we are endeavoring * * * to obtain by
friendly negotiation a peaceable redress of the
injury [suspension of deposit at New Or
leans], and effectual provision against its
repetition, let us array the strength of the
nation, and be ready to do with promptitude
and effect whatever a regard to justice and
our future security may require. — To . iv,
469. (W., Feb. 1803.)
2141. - — . Although our prospect
is peace, our policy and purpose are to
provide for defence by all those means to
which our resources are competent. — To
JAMES BOWDOIN. v, 19. (W., 1806.)
2142. DEFENCE, The States and.— For
the ordinary safety of the citizens of the sev
eral States, whether against dangers from
within or without, reliance has been placed
either on the domestic means of the individ
uals, or on those provided by the respective
States.— To JACOB J. BROWN, v, 240. (W.,
1808.) See FORTIFICATIONS.
- DEFENCE, Torpedoes. — See TORPE
DOES.
2143. DEITY, Assistance Implored.—
We commit our injuries to the even-handed
justice of that Being, Who doth no wrong,
earnestly beseeching Him to illuminate the
councils, and prosper the endeavors of those
to whom America hath confided her hopes,
that through their wise direction we may
again see reunited the blessings of liberty,
property, and harmony with Great Britain. —
ADDRESS VIRGINIA HOUSE OF BURGESSES TO
LORD DUNMORE. FORD ED., i, 459. (June 1775.)
2144. - — . We devoutly implore as
sistance of Almighty God to conduct us hap
pily through this great conflict. — DECLARATION
ON TAKING UP ARMS. FORD ED., i, 476. (July
I775-)
2145. DEITY, Beneficence of.— It hath
pleased the Sovereign Disposer of all human
events to give to this [Revolution] appeal an
issue favorable to the rights of the States. —
PROPOSED CONSTITUTION FOR VIRGINIA, viii,
441. FORD ED., iii, 321. (1783.)
2146. DEITY, Deliverer of the Dis
tressed. — When the measure of their [the
Slaves] tears shall be full, when their groans
shall have involved heaven itself in darkness,
doubtless, a God of justice will awaken to
their distress, and by diffusing light and liber
ality among their oppressors, or, at length, by
His exterminating thunder, manifest His at
tention to the things of this world, and that
they are not left to the guidance of a blind
fatality. — To M. DE MEUNIER. ix, 279. FORD
ED., iv, 185. (P., 1786.)
2147. DEITY, Existence of.— I think that
every Christian sect gives a great handle to
atheism by their general dogma, that, with
out a revelation, there would not be sufficient
proof of the being of a God. Now, one-sixth
of mankind only are supposed to be Chris
tians; the other five-sixths, then, who do not
believe in the Jewish and Christian revelation,
are without a knowledge of the existence of
a God ! This gives completely a gain de
cause to the disciples of Ocellus, Timceus,
Spinosa, Diderot and D'Holbach. The argu
ment which they rest on as triumphant and
unanswerable is, that in every hypothesis of
cosmogony, you must admit an eternal pre-
existence of something; and according to the
rule of sound philosophy, you are never to
employ two principles to solve a difficulty
when one will suffice. They say, then, that it
is more simple to believe at once in the eternal
pre-existence of the world, as it is now going
on, and may forever go on by the principle of
reproduction which we see and witness, than
to believe in the eternal pre-existence of an
ulterior cause, or Creator of the world, a
Being whom we see not and know not, of
whose form, substance, and mode, or place of
existence, or of action, no sense informs us,
no power of the mind enables us to delineate
or comprehend. On the contrary, I hold
(without appeal to revelation) that when we
take a view of the universe, in all its parts,
general or particular, it is impossible for the
human mind not to perceive and feel a con
viction of design, consummate skill, and in
definite power in every atom of its compo
sition. The movements of the heavenly
bodies, so exactly held in their course by
the balance of centrifugal and centripetal
forces; the structure of our earth itself, with
its distribution of lands, waters and atmos
phere ; animal and vegetable bodies, examined
in all their minutest particles; insects, mere
atoms of life, yet as perfectly organized as
man or mammoth; the mineral substances,
their generation and uses; it is impossible, I
say, for the human mind not to believe,
that there is in all this, design, cause, and
effect, up to an ultimate cause, a fabricator of
all things from matter and motion, their pre
server and regulator while permitted to exist
in their present forms, and their regeneration
into new and other forms. We see, too, evi
dent proofs of the necessity of a superintend
ing power, to maintain the universe in its
course and order. Stars, well known, have
disappeared, new ones have come into view ;
comets in their incalculable courses, may run
foul of suns and planets, and require renova
tion under other laws; certain races of
animals are become extinct; and were there
no restoring power, all existences might ex
tinguish successively, one by one, until all
should be reduced to a shapeless chaos. So
irresistible are these evidences of an intelli
gent and powerful agent, that, of the infinite
numbers of men who have existed through
all time, they have believed, in the propor
tion of a million at least to a unit, in the hy
pothesis of an eternal pre-existence of a
249
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Deity
Creator, rather than in that of a self-existent
universe. Surely this unanimous sentiment
renders this more probable, than that of the
few in the other hypothesis. Some early
Christians, indeed, have believed in the co-
eternal pre-existence of both the Creator and
the world, without changing their relation of
cause and effect. That this was the opinion
of St. Thomas, we are informed by Cardinal
Toleta. — To JOHN ADAMS, vii, 281. (M.,
1823.)
2148. DEITY, Favor Invoked.— May
that Infinite Power which rules the destinies
of the universe, lead our councils to what is
best, and give them a favorable issue for your
peace and prosperity. — FIRST INAUGURAL AD
DRESS, viii, 5. FORD ED., viii, 6. (1801.)
2149. DEITY, Goodness of.— When we
assemble together to consider the state of
our beloved country, our just attentions are
first drawn to those pleasing circumstances
which mark the goodness of that Being from
whose favor they flow, and the large measure
of thankfulness we owe for His bounty. —
SECOND ANNUAL MESSAGE, viii, 15. FORD
ED., viii, 181. (Dec. 1802.)
2150. DEITY, Gratitude to the.— While
we devoutly return thanks to the Beneficent
Being who has been pleased to breath into our
sister nations the spirit of conciliation and
forgiveness, we are bound with peculiar grati
tude to be thankful to Him that our own peace
has been preserved. — FIRST ANNUAL MESSAGE.
viii, 6. FORD ED., viii, 109. (Dec. 1801.)
2151. DEITY, Inalienable Bights and.
— All men are * * * endowed by their
Creator with inalienable rights. — DECLARA
TION OF INDEPENDENCE AS DRAWN BY JEFFER
SON.
2152. DEITY, Liberty and the.— We
* * * most solemnly, before God and the
world declare that, * * * the arms we
have been compelled to assume we will use
with perseverance, exerting to their utmost
energies all those powers which our Creator
hath given us, to preserve that liberty which
He committed to us in sacred deposit * * * . —
DECLARATION ON TAKING UP ARMS. FORD
ED., i, 476. (July 1775.)
2153. DEITY, National Equality and
the. — When * * * it becomes necessary
for one people * * * to assume among
the powers of the earth the * * * equal
station to which the laws of nature and of
nature's God entitle them * * * .—DEC
LARATION OF INDEPENDENCE AS DRAWN BY JEF
FERSON.
2154. DEITY, An Overruling.— We are
not in a world ungoverned by the laws and
the power of a Superior Agent. Our efforts
are in His hand, and directed by it; and He
will give them their effect in His own time.* —
To DAVID BARROW, vi, 456. FORD ED., ix, 516.
(M., 1815.)
•"Jefferson was writing on the subject of negro
emancipation. — EDITOR.
2155. DEITY, Prayers to.— I offer my
sincere prayers to the Supreme Ruler of the
Universe, that He may long preserve our
country in freedom and prosperity. — To BEN
JAMIN WARING, iv, 379. (W., March 1801.)
2156. . I j0in in addressing Him
whose Kingdom ruleth over all, to direct the
administration of their affairs to their own
greatest good.— REPLY TO VERMONT ADDRESS.
iv, 419. (W., 1801.)
2157. - __. That the Supreme Ruler
of the universe may have our country under
His special care, will be among the latest of
my prayers.— R. TO A. VIRGINIA ASSEMBLY.
viii, 149. (1809.)
2158. DEITY, Protection of.— We join
you [Washington] in commending the inter
ests of our dearest country to the protection
of Almighty God, beseeching Him to dispose
the hearts and minds of its citizens to improve
the opportunity afforded them of becoming a
happy and respectable nation. And for you
we address to Him our earnest prayers, that
a life so beloved may be fostered with all His
care; that your days may be happy as they
have been illustrious ; and that He will finally
give you that reward which this world cannot
give.*— ADDRESS OF CONGRESS TO GENERAL
WASHINGTON. RAYNER'S LIFE OF JEFFERSON
226.
2159. . I reciprocate your kind
prayers for the protection and blessing of
the Common Father and Creator of man. — R.
TO A. DANBURY BAPTISTS, viii, 114. (1802.)
2160. DEITY, Submission to.— What
ever is to be our destiny, wisdom as well as
duty, dictates that we should acquiesce in
the will of Him whose it is to give and take
away, and be contented in the enjoyment of
those who are still permitted to be with us. —
To JOHN PAGE, iv, 547. (1804.)
2161. DEITY, Supplications to.— I shall
need the favor of that Being in whose hands
we are, Who led our forefathers, as Israel of
old, from their native land, and planted them
in a country flowing with all the necessaries
and comforts of life; Who has covered our
infancy $with His providence, and our riper
years with His wisdom and power; and to
whose goodness I ask you to join with me
in supplications, that He will so enlighten
the minds of your servants, guide their coun
cils, and prosper their measures, that whatso
ever they do shall result in your good, and
shall secure to you the peace, friendship, and
approbation of all nations. — SECOND INAUG
URAL ADDRESS, viii, 45. FORD ED., viii, 347.
(1805.)
2162. — - . I return your kind prayers
with supplications to the same Almighty
Being for your future welfare and that of
our beloved country. — R. TO A. OF BALTIMORE
BAPTISTS, viii, 138. (1808.)
* The quotation is from the Reply of Congress to
General Washington on surrendering his commis
sion Dec., 1^83. The paper was written by Jefferson,
but is not in either of the two principal editions of
his writings.— EDITOR.
Deity
Deluge
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
250
2163. . I supplicate the Being in
whose hands we all are, to preserve our
country in freedom and independence, and to
bestow on yourselves the blessings of His
favor. — R. TO A. NORTH CAROLINA LEGISLA
TURE, viii, 126. (1808.)
2164. . I join in supplications to
that Almighty Being, Who has heretofore
guarded our councils, still to continue His
gracious benedictions towards our country. —
R. TO A. NEW LONDON REPUBLICANS, viii,
152. (1809.)
2165. DELAWARE, Anglomany in.—
Delaware is on a poise, as she has been since
1775, and will be till Anglomany with her
yields to Americanism. — To C. F. VOLNEY.
iv, 573- (W., 1805.)
2166. DELAWARE, An English Coun
ty. — Delaware will probably remain what it
ever has been, a mere county of England,
conquered indeed, and held under by force,
but always disposed to counter-revolution.
I speak of its majority only. To MR. BID-
WELL, v, 14. (W., 1806.)
2167. DELAY, Danger in.— An instant
of delay in executive proceedings may be fatal
to the whole nation. — To JAMES BARBOUR. vi,
40. FORD ED., ix, 337. (M., 1812.)
2168. DELUGE, Arguments against
the. — Near the eastern foot of the North-
Mountain [of Virginia] are immense bodies of
Schist, containing impressions of shells in a
variety of forms. I have received petrified
shells of very different kinds from the first
sources of Kentucky, which bear no resemblance
to any I have ever seen on the tide-waters. It
is said that shells are found in the Andes, in
South America, fifteen thousand feet above the
level of the ocean. This is considered by many,
both of the learned and unlearned, as a proof
of an universal deluge. To the many considera
tions opposing this opinion, the following may
be added : The atmosphere, and all its contents,
whether of water, air, or other matter, gravi
tate to the earth ; that is to say, they have
weight. Experience tells us, that the weight of
all these together never exceeds that of a col
umn of mercury of 31 inches height, which is
equal to one of rain water of 35 feet high. If
the whole contents of the atmosphere, then.
were water, instead of what they are, it would
cover the globe but 35 feet deep ; but as these
waters, as they fell, would run into the seas,
the superficial measure of which is to that of the
dry parts of the globe, as two to one, the seas
would be raised only 52^ feet above their pres
ent level, and of course would overflow the
lands to that height only. In Virginia this would
be a very small proportion even of the cham
paign country, the banks of our tide waters
being frequently, if not generally, of a greater
height. Deluges beyond this extent, then, as
for instance to the North mountain or to Ken
tucky, seem out of the laws of nature. But
within it they may have taken place to a greater
or less degree, in proportion to the combination
of natural causes which may be supposed to have
produced them. — NOTES ON VIRGINIA, viii, 275.
FORD ED., iii, 116. (1782.)
2169. DELUGE, Cases of a Partial.—
History renders probably some instances of a
partial deluge in the country lying around the
Mediterranean Sea. It has been often supposed,
(2 Buffon Epoques, 96) and it is not unlikely
that that sea was once a lake. While such, let
us admit an extraordinary collection of the
waters of the atmosphere from the other parts
of the globe to have been discharged over that
and the countries whose waters run into it.
Or without supposing it a lake, admit such an
extraordinary collection of the waters of the
atmosphere, and an influx from the Atlantic
ocean, forced by long-continued Western winds.
That lake, or that sea, may thus have been so
raised as to overflow the low lands adjacent to
it, as those of Egypt and Armenia, which, ac
cording to a tradition of the Egyptians and He
brews, were overflowed about 2300 years before
the Christian era ; those of Attica, said to have
been overflowed in the time of Ogyges, about
500 years later; and those of Thessaly, in the
time of Deucalion, still 300 years posterior. —
NOTES ON VIRGINIA, vii, 275. FORD ED., iii,
117. (1782.)
2170. DELUGE, Mountain Shells and
the. — But such deluges as those will not ac
count for the shells found in the higher lands.
A. second opinion has been entertained ; which
is that, in times anterior to the records either
of history or tradition, the bed of the ocean,
the principal residence of the shelled tribe, has,
by some great convulsion of nature, been heaved
to the heights at which we now find shells and
other remains of marine animals. The favorers
of this opinion do well to suppose the great
events on which it rests to have taken place be
yond all the eras of history ; for within these,
certainly, none such are to be found ; and we
may venture to say farther, that no fact has
taken place, either in our own days, or in the
thousands of years recorded in history, which
proves the existence of any natural agents,
within or without the bowels of the earth, of
force sufficient to heave, to the height of 15,000
feet, such masses as the Andes. The difference
between the power necessary to produce such an
effect, and that which shuffled together the dif
ferent parts of Calabria in our days, is so im
mense, that, from the existence of the latter we
are not authorized to infer that of the former.
— NOTES ON VIRGINIA, viii, 276. FORD ED., iii,
118. (1782.)
2171. DELUGE, Voltaire's Shell theory
and. — M. de Voltaire has suggested a third
solution of this difficulty (Quest Encycl. Co-
quilles). He cites an instance in Touraine,
where, in the space of 80 years a particular
spot of earth had been twice metamorphosed
into soft stone, which had become hard when
employed in building. In this stone, shells of
various kinds were produced, discoverable at
first only with the microscope, but afterwards
growing with the stone. From this fact, I sup
pose, he would have us infer that, besides the
usual process for generating shells by the elab
oration of earth and water in animal vessels.,
nature may have provided an equivalent opera
tion, by passing the same materials through the
pores of calcareous earths and stones ; as we
see calcareous drop-stones generating every day
by percolation of water through limestone and
new marble forming in the quarries from which
the old has been taken out ; and it might be
asked, whether it is more difficult for nature to
shoot the calcareous juice into the form of a
shell, than other juices into the form of crys
tals, plants, animals, according to the construc
tion of the vessels through which they pass?
There is a wonder somewhere. Is it greatest on
this branch of the dilemma ; on that which sup
poses the existence of a power of which we
have no evidence in any other case; or on the
251
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Delusion
Democratic Societies
first, which requires us to believe the creation
of a body of water, and its subsequent annihila
tion? The establishment of the instance, cited
by M. de Voltaire, of the growth of shells un
attached to animal bodies, would have been that
of his theory. But he has not established it.
He has not even left it on ground so respectable
as to have rendered it an object of inquiry to
the literati of his own country. Abandoning
this fact, therefore, the three hypotheses are
equally unsatisfactory ; and we must be con
tented to acknowledge that this great phenom
enon is as yet unsolved. Ignorance is preferable
to error ; and he is less remote from truth who
believes nothing, than he who believes what is
wrong. — NOTES ON VIRGINIA, viii, 276. FORD
ED., iii, 118. (1782.)
2172. DELUSION, A policy of.— War
ring against the principles of the great body
of the American people, the delusion of the
people is necessary to the dominant party.
I see the extent to which that delusion has
been already carried, and I see there is no
length to which it may not be pushed by a
party in possession of the revenues and the
legal authorities of the United States, for a
short time, indeed, but yet long enough to
admit much particular mischief. There is no
event, therefore, however atrocious, which
may not be expected. — To SAMUEL SMITH, iv,
254. FORD ED., vii, 277. (M., 1798.) See X.
Y. Z. PLOT.
2173. DELUSION", Recovery from.—
Our fellow citizens have been led hood-winked
from their principles, by a most extraordinary
combination of circumstances. But the band
is removed, and they now see for themselves.
— To JOHN DICKINSON, iv, 366. FORD ED.,
viii, 7. (W., March 1801.)
2174. . The late chapter of our
history * * * furnishes a new proof of
the falsehood of Montesquieu's doctrine that
a republic can be preserved only in a small
territory. The reverse is the truth. Had our
territory been a third only of what it is, we
were gone. But while frenzy and delusion
like an epidemic, gained certain parts, the
residue remained sound and untouched, and
held on till their brethren could recover from
the temporary delusion. — To NATHANIEL
NILES. iv, 376. FORD ED., viii, 24. (W.,
March 1801.)
2175. . The return of our citi
zens from the frenzy into which they had been
wrought, partly by ill conduct in France,
partly by artifices practiced on them, is almost
entire, and will, I believe, become quite so. —
To THOMAS PAINE, iv, 370. FORD ED., viii,
18. (W., March 1801.)
— DEMOCRACY.— See PARTIES, PEOPLE,
REPRESENTATION, REPUBLICANS and SELF-
GOVERNMENT.
2176. DEMOCRATIC SOCIETIES, Fed
eralist condemnation of. — The denuncia
tion of the Democratic Societies is one of the
extraordinary acts of boldness of which we
have seen so many from the faction of mono-
crats. It is wonderful, indeed, that the Presi
dent [Washington] should have permitted
himself to be the organ of such an attack on
the freedom of discussion, the freedom of
writing, printing and publishing. It must
be a matter of rare curiosity to get at the
modifications of these rights proposed by
them, and to see what line their ingenuity
would draw between democratical societies,
whose avowed object is the nourishment of
the republican principles of our Constitution,
and the Society of the Cincinnati, a self-
created one, carving out for itself hereditary
distinctions, lowering over our Constitution
eternally, meeting together in all parts of the
Union, periodically, with closed doors, ac
cumulating a capital in their separate treas
ury, corresponding secretly and regularly, and
of which society the very persons denoun
cing the democrats are themselves the fathers,
founders and high officers. Their sight must
be perfectly dazzled by the glittering of
crowns and coronets, not to see the extrava
gance of the proposition to suppress the
friends of general freedom, while those who
wish to confine that freedom to the few are
permitted to go on in their principles and prac
tices. I here put out of sight the persons whose
misbehavior has been taken advantage of to
slander the friends of popular rights; and I
am happy to observe that as far as the circle
of my observation and information extends,
everybody has lost sight of them, and views
the abstract attempt on their natural and con
stitutional rights in all its nakedness. I have
never heard, or heard of, a single expression
or opinion which did not condemn it as an
inexcusable aggression. — To JAMES MADISON.
iv, in. FORD ED., vi, 516. (M., Dec. 1794.)
2177. DEMOCRATIC SOCIETIES, Free
dom of Speech and. — The attempt which
has been made to restrain the liberty of our
citizens meeting together, interchanging sen
timents on what subjects they please, and sta
ting their sentiments in the public papers, has
come upon us a full century earlier than I
expected. To demand the censors of public
measures to be given up for punishment, is
to renew the demand of the wolves in the
fable that the sheep should give up their dogs
as hostages of the peace and confidence
established between them.— To WILLIAM
BRANCH GILES. FORD ED., vi, 515. (M., Dec.
I794-)
2178. DEMOCRATIC SOCIETIES, Ham
ilton's Hostility to.— The servile copyist
of Mr. Pitt thought he, too, must have his
alarms, his insurrections, and plots against
the Constitution. Hence the incredible fact
that the freedom of association, of conversa
tion, and of the press, should in the fifth year
of our government, have been attacked under
the form of a denunciation of the Democratic
Societies, a measure which even England, as
boldly as she is advancing to the establish
ment of an absolute monarchy, has not yet
been bold enough to attempt. — To JAMES
MONROE. FORD ED., vii, 16. (M., May 1795-)
2179. DEMOCRATIC SOCIETIES, Pro
posed bill against. — We are in suspense in
Virginia to see the fate and effect of Mr.
Pitt's bill against democratic societies. I
Democrats
Importation Act
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
252
wish extremely to get at the true history of
this effort to suppress freedom of meeting,
speaking, writing and printing. * *
Pray get the outlines of the bill Sedgwick
intended to have brought in for this purpose.
This will enable us to judge whether we have
the merit of the invention; whether we were
really beforehand with the British minister on
this subject, whether he took his hint from
our proposition, or whether the concurrence
in the sentiment is merely the result of the
general truth that great men will think alike
and act alike, though without intercommuni
cation.— To WILLIAM B. GILES, iv, 132.
FORD ED., vii, 65. (M., March 1796.)
2180. DEMOCRATS, Americans as.—
We of the United States are constitutionally
and conscientiously Democrats. — To DUPONT
DE NEMOURS, vi, 589. FORD EDV x, 22. (P.
R, 1816.)
2181. DEMOCRATS AND ARISTO
CRATS. — The appellation of aristocrats and
democrats is the true one expressing the es
sence of all [political parties]. — To H. LEE.
vii, 376. FORD ED., x, 318. (M.? 1824.)
2182. DEMOCRATS, The People and.—
Democrats consider the people as the safest
depository of power in the last resort; they
cherish them, therefore, and wish to leave
in them all the powers to the exercise of
which they are competent.— To WILLIAM
SHORT, vii, 391. FORD ED., x, 335. (M.,
1825.)
2183. DENMARK, Commerce with.—
The Baron de Blome, minister plenipotentiary
at this court (France) from Denmark, informed
me in February that he was instructed by his
court to give notice to the ministers from the
United States, appointed to negotiate a treaty
of commerce with them, that the Baron de
Waltersdorff, formerly commissioned by them
for the same purpose, had received another des
tination which called him to the West Indies ;
that they were sensible of the advantages which
would arise to the two countries from a com
mercial intercourse ; that their ports accordingly
were placed on a very free footing as they sup
posed ours to be also ; that they supposed the com
merce on each port might be well conducted under
the actual arrangements, but that whenever any
circumstances should arise which would render
particular stipulations more eligible, they would
be ready to concur with the United States in
establishing them, being desirous of continu
ing on the terms of the strictest harmony and
friendship with them. — To JOHN JAY. i, 571.
(P., 1786.)
2184. DENMARK, Prize Claims
against. — Dr. Franklin, during his residence
at this court [Versailles] was instructed by
Congress to apply to the court of Denmark for a
compensation for certain vessels and cargoes,
taken from the English during the late war,
by the American squadron under the com
mand of Commodore Paul Jones, carried into
a port of Denmark, and by order of the court
of Denmark, redelivered to the English. Dr.
Franklin made the application through Baron
de Waltersdorff, at that time charged with other
matters relative to the two countries of Den
mark and the United States of America. Baron
de Waltersdorff, after having written to his
court, informed Dr. Franklin that he was au
thorized to offer a compensation of ten thou
sand guineas. This was declined, because it
was thought that the value of the prizes was the
true measure of compensation, and that that
ought to be inquired into. Baron de Walters
dorff left this court sometime after, on a visit
only, as he expected, to Copenhagen, and the
matter was suffered to rest till his return. This
was constantly expected till you did me the
honor of informing me that he had received
another destination. It being now, therefore,
necessary to renew our application, it is thought
better that Commodore Paul Jones should repair
in person to Copenhagen. His knowledge of
the whole transaction will best enable him to
represent it to that court, and the world has
had too many proofs of the justice and magna
nimity of his Danish Majesty to leave a doubt
that he will order full justice to be done to
those brave men who saw themselves deprived
of the spoils, won by their gallantry, and at
the hazard of their lives, and on whose behalf
the justice and generosity of His Majesty is
now reclaimed. — To BARON BLOME. ii, 13. (P.,
1786.)
2185. — . I am instructed * * *
to bring again under the consideration of
the King of Denmark the case of the
three prizes taken from the English during the
late war, by an American squadron under the
command of Commodore Paul Jones, put into
Bergen in distress, there rescued from our pos
session by orders from the court of Denmark,
and delivered back to the English. * * *
The United States continue to be very sensibly
affected by this delivery of their prizes to Great
Britain, and the more so, as no part of their
conduct had forfeited their claim to those rights
of hospitality which civilized nations extend to
each other.* — To LE COMTE BERNSTORFF. ii,
347- (P., Jan. 1788.)
2186. DENNIE (Joseph), A Monarch
ist. — Among the [Federalist] writers, Den-
nie, the editor of the Portfolio, who was a kind
of oracle with them, and styled " the Addison of
America," openly avowed his preference of
monarchy over all other forms of government,
prided himself on the avowal, and maintained
it by argument freely and without reserve in
his publications. — To WILLIAM SHORT, vii,
390. FORD ED., x, 334. (M., 1825.)
- DEPARTMENTS, Government. — See
CABINET.
2187. DEPENDENCE, Evils of.— De
pendence begets subservience and venality,
suffocates the germ of virtue, and prepares
fit tools for the designs of ambition. — NOTES
ON VIRGINIA, viii, 405. FORD ED., iii, 269.
(1782.)
2188. DEPORTATION ACT, De
nounced. — By the act for the suppression of
riots and tumults in the town of Boston (14.
G. 3), passed also in the last session of Par
liament, a murder committed there is, if the
Governor pleases, to be tried in the court of
King's Bench, in the island of Great Britain,
by a jury of Middlesex. The witnesses, too,
on receipt of such a sum as the Governor
shall think it reasonable for them to expend,
are to enter into recognizance to appear at
* Congress directed Jefferson to appoint a special
agent to Copenhagen to present the claim. He se
lected Paul Jones. The claims were paid.— EDITOR.
253
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Deportation Act
the trial. This is, in other words, taxing them
to the amount of their recognizance; and
that amount may be whatever a Governor
pleases. For who does his Majesty think can
be prevailed on to cross the Atlantic for the
sole purpose of bearing evidence to a fact?
His expenses are to be borne, indeed, as they
shall be estimated by a Governor ; but who are
to feed the wife and children whom he leaves
behind, and who have had no other subsist
ence but his daily labor? Those epidemical
disorders, too, so terrible in a foreign climate,
is the cure of them to be estimated among the
articles of expense, and their danger to be
warded off by the almighty power of a Parlia
ment? And the wretched criminal, if he
happen to have offended on the American
side, stripped of his privilege of trial by peers
of his vicinage, removed from the place
where alone full evidence could be obtained,
without money, without counsel, without
friends, without exculpatory proof, is tried
before judges predetermined to condemn.
The cowards who would suffer a countryman
to be torn from the bowels of their society, in
order to be thus offered a sacrifice to Parlia
mentary tyranny, would merit that everlasting
infamy now fixed on the authors of the act ! —
RIGHTS OF BRITISH AMERICA, i, 133. FORD
ED., i, 438. (I774-)
2189. — .They [Parliament] have
declared that American subjects, charged
with certain offences, shall be transported be
yond sea to be tried before the very persons
against whose pretended sovereignty the of
fence is supposed to be committed. — DECLARA
TION ON TAKING UP ARMS. FORD ED., i, 468.
(July 1775.)
2190. . The proposition [of Lord
North] is altogether unsatisfactory * *
because it does not propose to repeal the *
* * acts of Parliament transporting us into
other countries, to be tried for criminal
offences. — REPLY TO LORD NORTH'S PROPO
SITION. FORD ED., i, 480. (July 1775.)
2191. DEPORTATION ACT, George III.
and. — He [George III.] has endeavored
to pervert the exercise of the kingly office in
Virginia into a detestable and insupportable
tyranny * * * by combining with others
to subject us to a foreign jurisdiction, giving
his assent to their pretended acts of legisla
tion * * * for transporting us beyond
the seas to be tried for pretended offences. —
PROPOSED VA. CONSTITUTION. FORD ED., ii, n.
(June 1776.)
2192. - . He has combined, with
others, * * * for transporting us beyond
seas to be tried for pretended offences. — DEC
LARATION OF INDEPENDENCE AS DRAWN BY
JEFFERSON.
2193. DEPORTATION ACT, Unexe
cuted. — Notwithstanding the laws the Eng
lish made, I think they never ventured to
carry a single person to be tried in England.
They knew that reprisals would be made,
and probably on the person of the governor
who ventured on the measure. — NOTES ON M.
SOULE'S WORK, ix, 300. FORD ED., iv, 307.
(P., 1786.)
2194. DEPORTATION OF ALIENS,
Sedition laws and. — The imprisonment of a
person under the protection of the laws of
this Commonwealth [Kentucky], on his fail
ure to obey the simple order of the President
to depart out of the United States, as is un
dertaken by * * :c [the] act, intituled " An
Act concerning Aliens," is contrary to the
Constitution, one amendment to which has
provided that " no person shall be deprived
of liberty without due process of law " ; and
that another having provided, that " in all
criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy
the right to public trial, by an impartial jury,
to be informed of the nature and cause of the
accusation, to be confronted with the wit
nesses against him, to have compulsory proc
ess for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and
to have the assistance of counsel for his de
fence," the same act, undertaking to authorize
the President to remove a person out of the
United States, who is under the protection of
the law, on his own suspicion, without ac
cusation, without jury, without public trial,
without confrontation of the witnesses
against him. without hearing witnesses in
his favor, without defence, without counsel,
is contrary to the provision also of the
Constitution, is therefore not law, but ut
terly void, and of no force ; that trans
ferring the power of judging any person, who
is under the protection of the laws, from the
courts to the President of the United States,
as is undertaken by the same act concerning
aliens, is against the article of the Constitu
tion which provides that " the judicial power
of the United States shall be vested in courts,
the judges of which shall hold their offices
during good behavior ; " and * * * the
said act is void for that reason also. And it
is further to be noted, that this transfer of
judiciary power is to that magistrate of the
General Government who already possesses
all the Executive, and a negative on all Leg
islative powers. — KENTUCKY RESOLUTIONS, ix,
467. FORD ED., vii, 297. (1798.)
2195. - — . The war hawks talk of
septembrizing, deportation, and the examples
for quelling sedition set by the French Exec
utive. All the firmness of the human mind
is now in a state of requisition. — To JAMES
MADISON, iv, 238. FORD ED., vii, 246. (Pa.,
April 1798.)
2196. DESCENTS, Law of.— Descents
shall go according to the laws of Gavelkind,
save only that females shall have equal rights
with males. — PROPOSED VA. CONSTITUTION.
FORD ED., ii, 26. (June 1776.)
2197. . The bill for establishing
a National Bank undertakes * * * to form the
subscribers into a corporation [and] to enable
them, in their corporate capacities, to trans
mit these* lands, on the death of a proprietor,
* Lands held by aliens in their capacity as stock
holders of the bank.— EDITOR.
Deserters
Detroit
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
254
to a certain line of successors; and so far
changes the course of Descents. — NATIONAL
BANK OPINION, vii, 555. FORD ED., v, 284.
(I7QI-)
2198. DESERTERS, British, in Vir
ginia. — The number of deserters from the
British army who have taken refuge in this
State [Virginia] is now considerably augment
ing. These people, notwithstanding their com
ing over to us, being deemed in law alien ene
mies, and as such not admissible to be citizens,
are not within the scope of the Militia and
Invasion laws, under which citizens alone can
be embodied. — To THE COUNTY LIEUTENANTS.
FORD ED., ii, 513- (R-> 1781.)
2199. DESERTERS, Political.— In all
countries where parties are strongly marked, as
the monocrats and republicans here, there will
always be deserters from the one side to the
other. — To JAMES MONROE. FORD ED., vii, 27.
(M., Sep. I795-)
2200. DESERTERS, Punishment of. —
The desertions of your militia have taken away
the necessity of answering the question how
they shall be armed. * * * I have sent ex
presses into all the counties from which those
militia went, requiring the County Lieuten
ants to exert themselves in taking them ; and
such is the detestation with which they have
been received, that I have heard from many
counties they were going back of themselves.
You will, of course, hold courts martial on
them, and make them soldiers for eight months.
— To GENERAL STEVENS, i, 252. FORD ED., ii,
338. (R., 1780.) See HESSIANS.
2201. DESPAIR, The Republic and.
— We are never permitted to despair of the
commonwealth. — To JAMES MADISON, ii, 331.
(P., 1787.)
2202. DESPOTISM, Revolution and.—
When a long train of abuses and usurpations,
begun at a distinguished period and pursuing
invariably the same object, evinces a design
to reduce them under absolute despotism, it
is their right, it is their duty, to throw off
such government, and to provide new guards
for their future security.*— DECLARATION OF
INDEPENDENCE AS DRAWN BY JEFFERSON.
2203. DESPOTISM, Single and Divided.
— The question * * * whether a pure
despotism in a single head, or one which is
divided among a king, nobles, priesthood,
and numerous magistracy, is the least bad,
I should be puzzled to decide ; but I hope [the
French people] will have neither, and that
they are advancing to a limited, moderate
government, in which [they] * * * will
have a good share. — To JAMES MADISON, ii,
445. FORD ED., v, 45. (P., 1788.)
2204. DESPOTISM, Submission to.— If
the pulse of his [George the Third's] people
shall beat calmly under this experiment,!
another and another will be tried, till the
measure of despotism be filled up. — RIGHTS OF
BRITISH AMERICA, i, 133. FORD ED., i, 438.
(I774-)
2205. DESPOTISM, Unlimited.— It de
lights me to find that there are persons who
* Congress struck out the words in italics.— EDITOR
t Boston Port Bill.— EDITOR.
still think that all is not lost in France: that
iheir retrogradation from a limited to an un
limited despotism is but to give themselves a
new impulse. But I see not how or when.
The press, the only tocsin of a nation, is com
pletely silenced there, and all means of a
general effort taken away. However, I am
willing to hope, as long as anybody will hope
with me ; and I am entirely persuaded that
the agitations of the public mind advance its
Dowers, and that at every vibration between
;he points of liberty and despotism, some-
:hing will be gained for the former. As men
Decome letter informed, their rulers must re
spect them the more. — To THOMAS COOPER.
iv, 452. FORD ED., viii, 177. (W., Nov.
1802.)
2206. DESPOTS, Methods of.— It is the
old practice of despots, to use a part of the
people to keep the rest in order. — To JOHN
TAYLOR, iv, 246. FORD ED., vii, 263. (Pa.,
1798.)
— D'ESTAING, Count.— See ESTAING.
2207. DETAIL, Importance of .—In gov
ernment, as well as in every other business of
life, it is by division and sub-division of
duties alone, that all matters, great and small,
can be managed to perfection. — To SAMUEL
KERCHIVAL. vii, 13. FORD ED., x, 41. (M.,
1816.)
2208. DETROIT, Contemplated Cap
ture.— The exposed and weak state of our
western settlements and the danger to which
they are subject from the northern Indians, act
ing under the influence of the British post at
Detroit, render it necessary for us to keep from
five to eight hundred men on duty for their
defence. This is a great and perpetual ex
pense. Could that post be reduced and re
tained, it would cover all the States to the
southeast of it. We have long meditated the
attempt under the direction of Colonel Clark,
but the expense would be so great that whenever
we have wished to take it up, the circumstance
has obliged us to decline it. Two different esti
mates make it amount to two millions of pounds,
present money. We could furnish the men,
provisions and every necessary, except powder,
had we the money, or could the demands from
us be so far supplied from other quarters as
to leave it in our power to apply such a sum
to that purpose ; and, when once done, it
would save annual expenditures to a great
amount. When I speak of furnishing the men,
I mean they should be militia; such being the
popularity of Colonel [George Rogers] Clark,
and the confidence of the Western people in
him, that he could raise the requisite number at
any time. We, therefore, beg leave to refer this
matter to yourself to determine whether such
an enterprise would not be for the general good,
and if you think it would, to authorize it at the
general expense. This is become the more rea
sonable if, as I understand, the ratification of
the Confederation has been rested on our ces
sion of a part of our Western claim ; a cession
which (speaking my private opinion) I verily
believe will be agreed to if the quantity de
manded is not unreasonably great. Should this
proposition be approved of, it should be imme
diately made known to us, as the season is now
coming on at which some of the preparations
must be made. — To GENERAL WASHINGTON.
i, 259. FORD ED., ii, 346. (R., 1780.)
255
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Detroit
2209. DETROIT, Expedition against. —
The face of things has so far changed as to
leave it no longer optional in us to attempt or
decline the expedition [against Detroit], but
compels us to decide in the affirmative, and to
begin our preparations immediately. The army
the enemy at present have in the South, the re
inforcements still expected there, and their de
termination to direct their future exertions to
that quarter, are not unknown to you. The
regular force, proposed on our part to counter
act those exertions, is such, either from the
real or supposed inability of this State, as by
no means to allow a hope that it may be effect
ual. It is, therefore, to be expected that the
scene of war will either be within our country,
or very nearly advanced to it ; and that our
principal dependence is to be on militia, for
which reason it becomes incumbent to keep as
great a proportion of our people as possible
free to act in that quarter. In the meantime,
a combination is forming in the westward,
which, if not diverted, will call thither a princi
pal and most valuable part of our militia. From
intelligence received, we have reason to expect
that a confederacy of British and Indians, to
the amount of two thousand men, is formed for
the purpose of spreading destruction and dis
may through the whole extent of our frontier
in the Spring. * * * There seems to me
but one method of preventing this, which is,
to give the western enemy employment in their
own country. The regular force Colonel Clark
already has, with a proper draft from the mili
tia beyond the Alleghany, and that of three or
four of our most northern counties, will be
adequate to the reduction of Fort Detroit, in
the opinion of Colonel Clark. * * * We
have, therefore, determined to undertake it,
and commit it to his direction. Whether the
expense of the enterprise shall be defrayed by
the Continental or State expense, we will leave
to be decided hereafter by Congress. * * *
In the meantime, we only ask the loan of such
necessaries as, being already at Fort Pitt, will
save time and an immense expense of transpor
tation. * * * I hope your Excellency will
think yourself justified in lending us this aid,
without awaiting the effect of an application
elsewhere, as such a delay would render the
undertaking abortive. * * * Independent
of the favorable effects which a successful en
terprise against Detroit must produce to the
United States in general, by keeping in quiet
the frontier of the northern ones, and leaving
our western militia at liberty to aid those of
the South, we think the like friendly office per
formed by us to the States, whenever desired,
and almost to the absolute exhausture of our
own magazines, gives well-founded hopes that
we may be accommodated on this occasion. — To
GENERAL WASHINGTON, i, 279. FORD ED., ii,
375- (R-- Dec. 1780.)
2210 DETROIT, Importance of.— If the
post at Detroit be reduced we shall be quiet
in future on our frontier, and thereby immense
treasures of blood and money be saved ; we shall
be at leisure to turn our whole force to the res
cue of our eastern country from subjugation ;
we shall divert through our own country a
branch of commerce which the European States
have thought worthy of the most important
struggles and sacrifices, and in the event of
peace on terms which have been contemplated
by some powers, we shall form to the American
Union a barrier against the dangerous exten
sion of the British Province of Canada, and
add to the Empire of liberty an extensive and
fertile country, thereby converting dangerous
enemies into valuable friends. — To GENERAL
GEORGE R. CLARK. FORD ED., ii, 390. (R., Dec.
1780.)
2211. DETROIT, Instructions to Gen.
Clark. — A powerful army forming by our en
emies in the south renders it necessary for us
to reserve as much of our militia as possible,
free to act in that quarter. At the same time,
we have reason to believe that a very extensive
combination of British and Indian savages is
preparing to invest our western frontier. To
prevent the cruel murders and devastations
which attend the latter species of war, and at
the same time to prevent its producing a pow
erful diversion of our force from the southern
quarter, in which they mean to make their prin
cipal effort, and where alone success can be
decisive of their ultimate object, it becomes
necessary that we aim the first stroke in the
western country, and throw the enemy under
the embarrassments of a defensive war rather
than labor under them ourselves. We have,
therefore, determined that an expedition shall
be undertaken, under your command, at a very
early season of the approaching year, into the
hostile country beyond the Ohio, the principal
object of which is to be the reduction of the
British post at Detroit, and, incidental to it, the
acquiring possession of Lake Erie. — To GEN
ERAL GEORGE ROGERS CLARK. FORD ED., ii, 383.
(R., Dec. 25, 1780.)
2212. . Should you succeed in
the reduction of the Post, you are to promise
protection to the persons and property of the
French and American inhabitants, or of such at
least as shall not, on tender, refuse to take the
oath of fidelity to the Commonwealth. You
are to permit them to continue under the laws
and form of government under which they at
present live, only substituting the authority of
this Commonwealth in all instances in lieu of
that of his British Majesty, and exercising
yourself under that authority, till further order,
those powers which the British Commandant of
the Post, or his principal in Canada, hath used
regularly to exercise. To the Indian neighbors
you will hold out either fear or friendship, as
their disposition and your actual situation may
render most expedient. — To GENERAL GEORGE
ROGERS CLARK. FORD ED., ii, 389. (R., Dec.
1780.)
2213. DETROIT, Territory acquired.
— The posts of Detroit and Mackinac, having
been originally intended by the governments
which established and held them, as mere de
pots for the commerce with the Indians, very
small cessions of land around were obtained or
asked from the native proprietors, and these
posts depended for protection on the strength
of their garrisons. The principle of our gov
ernment leading us to the employment of such
moderate garrisons in time of peace, as may
merely take care of the post, and to a reliance
on the neighboring militia for its support in
the first moments of war, I have thought it
would be important to obtain from the Indians
such a cession of the neighborhood of these
posts as might maintain a militia proportioned
to this object: and I have particularly contem
plated, with this view, the acquisition of the
eastern moiety of the peninsula between the
Lakes Huron, Michigan, and Erie, extending
it to the Connecticut reserve, as soon as it
could be effected with the perfect good will of
the natives. By a treaty concluded at Detroit,
on the 1 7th of November last, with the Ottawas,
Chippewas, Wyandotts, and Pottawatomies, so
much of this country has been obtained as ex-
Detroit
Dictator
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
256
tends from about Saginaw bay southwardly to
the Miami of the lakes, supposed to contain
upwards of five millions of acres, with a pros
pect of obtaining, for the present, a breadth
of two miles for a communication from the
Miami to the Connecticut reserve. The Senate
having advised and consented to this treaty, I
now lay it before both Houses of Congress for
the exercise of their constitutional powers as to
the means of fulfilling it. — SPECIAL MESSAGE.
viii, 94- (Jan. 1808.)
2214. DETROIT, War of 1812.— With
respect to the unfortunate loss of Detroit and
our army, I with pleasure see the animation it
has inspired through our whole country, but
especially through the Western States, and the
determination to retrieve our loss and our honor-
by increased exertions. — To THOMAS C. F.
TOURNOY. vi, 83. (M., Oct. 1812.)
— DIAL. — See SUN-DIAL.
2215. DICKINSON (John), Character.—
A more estimable man, or truer patriot, could
not have left us. Among the first of the advo
cates for the rights of his country when assailed
by Great Britain, he continued to the last the
orthodox advocate of the true principles of our
new government, and his name will be conse
crated in history as one of the great worthies
of the Revolution. We ought to be grate
ful for having been permitted to retain the
benefit of his counsel to so good an old age. —
To JOSEPH BRINGHURST. v, 249. (W., 1808.)
See DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE.
2216. . He was so honest a man,
and so able a one that he was greatly indulged
even by those who could not feel his scruples.*
— AUTOBIOGRAPHY, i, n. FORD ED., i, 17.
(1821.)
2217. DICKINSON (John), Congress
and. — Congress gave a signal proof of their
indulgence to Mr. Dickinson., and of their great
desire not to go too fast for any respectable
part of our body, in permitting him to draw
their second petition to the King according to
his own ideas, and passing it with scarcely
any amendment. The disgust against this hu
mility was general ; and Mr. Dickinson's de
light at its passage was the only circumstance
which reconciled them to it. The vote being
passed, although further observation on it was
out of order, he could not refrain from rising
and expressing his satisfaction, and concluded
by saying, " there is but one word, Mr. Presi
dent, in the paper which I disapprove, and that
is the word Congress " ; on which Ben. Harrison
rose and said, " there is but one word in the
paper, Mr. President, of which I approve, and
that is the word Congress." — AUTOBIOGRAPHY.
i, ii. FORD ED., i, 17. (1821.)
2218. DICKINSON (John), Writings of.
— Of the papers of July, 1775, I recollect well
that Mr. Dickinson drew the petition to the
King. — To JOHN ADAMS, vi, 194. FORD ED.,
ix, 419. (M., 1813.)
2219. DICTATOR, Attempt in Virginia
to appoint a. — In December, 1776, our [Vir
ginia] circumstances being much distressed, it
was proposed in the House of Delegates to
create a dictator, invested with every power
* John Dickinson was one of the delegates from
Delaware in the Continental Congress and in the
proceedings leading up to the Declaration of Inde
pendence, he, to quote Jefferson (i, n), "retained
the hope of reconciliation with the mother country,
and was unwilling it should be lessened by offensive
statements ".—EDITOR.
legislative, executive, and judiciary, civil and
military of life, and of death, over our persons
and over our properties; and in June, 1781,
again under calamity, the same proposition
was repeated, and wanted a few votes only
of being passed. One who entered into this
contest from a pure love of liberty, and a
sense of injured rights, who determined to
make every sacrifice, and to meet every
danger for the reestablishment of those rights
on a firm basis, who did not mean to expend
his blood and substance for the wretched pur
pose of changing this master for that, but to
place the powers of governing him in a plu
rality of hands of his own choice, so that the
corrupt will of no one man might in future
oppress him, must stand confounded and dis
mayed when he is told, that a considerable
portion of that plurality had meditated the
surrender of them into a single hand, and, in
lieu of a limited monarch, to deliver him over
to a despotic one! How must he find his
efforts and sacrifices abused and baffled, if
he may still, by a single vote, be laid prostrate
at the feet of one man ! ^ In God's name, from
whence have they derived this power? Is
it from our ancient laws? None such can be
produced. Is it from any principle in our new
Constitution, expressed or implied? Every
lineament expressed or implied, is in full op
position to it. Its fundamental principle is,
that the State shall be governed as a Com
monwealth. It provides a republican organi
zation, proscribes under the name of preroga
tive the exercise of all powers undefined by
the laws; places on this basis the whole sys
tem of our laws; and by consolidating them
together, chooses that they should be left to
stand or fall together, never providing for any
circumstances, nor admitting that such could
arise, wherein either should be suspended ; no,
not for a moment. Our ancient laws ex
pressly declare, that those who are but dele
gates themselves, shall not delegate to others
powers which require judgment and integrity
in their exercise. Or was this proposition-
moved on a supposed right in the movers, of
abandoning th^ir posts in a moment of dis
tress? The same laws forbid the abandon
ment of that post, even on ordinary occasions ;
and much more a transfer of their powers
into other hands and other forms, without
consulting the people. They never admit the
idea that these, like sheep or cattle, may be
given from hand to hand without an appeal
to their own will. Was it from the necessity
of the case? Necessities which dissolve a
government, do not convey its authority to
an oligarchy or a monarchy. They throw
back, into the hands of the people, the powers
they had delegated, and leave them as indi
viduals to shift for themselves. A leader may
offer, but not impose himself, nor be imposed
on them. Much less can their necks be sub
mitted to his sword, their breath be held at
his will or caprice. The necessity which
should operate these tremendous effects
should at least be palpable and irresistible.
Yet in both instances, where it was feared, or
pretended with us, it. was belied by the event.
257
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Dictator
Difficulties
It was belied, too, by the preceding ex
perience of our sister States, several of whom
had grappled through greater difficulties with
out abandoning their forms of government.
When the proposition was first made, Massa
chusetts had found even the government of
committees sufficient to carry them through
an invasion. But we at the time of that
proposition, were under no invasion. When
the second was made, there had been added
to this example those of Rhode Island, New
York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, in all
of which the republican form had been found
equal to the task of carrying them through
the severest trials. In this State alone did
there exist so little virtue, that fear was to
be fixed in the hearts of the people, and to
become the motive of their exertions, and
the principle of their government? The very
thought alone was treason against the people ;
was treason against mankind in general ; as
riveting forever the chains which bow down
their necks, by giving to their oppressors a
proof, which they would have trumpeted
through the universe, of the imbecility of re
publican government, in times of pressing
danger, to shield them from harm. Those
who assume the right of giving away the
reins of government in any case, must be sure
that the herd, whom they hand on to the rods
and hatchet of the dictator, will lay their
heads on the block, when he shall nod to
them. But if our Assemblies supposed such a
resignation in the people, I hope they mistook
their character. I am of opinion, that the
government, instead of being braced and in
vigorated for greater exertions under their
difficulties, would have been thrown back
upon the bungling machinery of county com
mittees for administration, till a convention
could have been called, and its wheels again
set into regular motion. What a cruel mo
ment was this for creating such an embar
rassment, for putting to the proof, the attach
ment of our countrymen to republican gov
ernment? — NOTES ON VIRGINIA, viii, 368.
FORD ED. , i ii, 23 1 . ( 1 782. )
2220. DICTATOR, Misapplied Prece
dent for.— Those who meant well, of the ad
vocates of this measure (and most of them
meant well, for I knew them personally, had
been their fellow-laborer in the common
cause, and had often proved the purity of
their principles), had been seduced in their
judgment by the example of an ancient re
public, whose constitution and circumstances
were fundamentally different. They had
sought this precedent in the history of Rome,
where alone it was to be found, and where at
length, too, it had proved fatal. They had
taken it from a republic rent by the most
bitter factions and tumults, where the govern
ment was of a heavy-handed unfeeling aris
tocracy, over a people ferocious and rendered
desperate by poverty and wretchedness; tu
mults which could not be allayed under the
most trying circumstances, but by the om
nipotent hand of a single despot. Their con
stitution, therefore, allowed a temporary ty
rant to be erected, under the name of a dic
tator; and that temporary tyrant, after a few
examples, became perpetual. They misap
plied this precedent to a people mild in their
dispositions, patient under their trial, united
for the public liberty, and affectionate to their
leaders. But if from the constitution of the
Roman government there resulted to their
senate a power of submitting all their rights
to the will of one man, does it follow that the
Assembly of Virginia have the same author
ity? What clause in our Constitution has
substituted that of Rome, by way of residuary
provision, for all cases not otherwise pro
vided for? Or if they may step ad libitum
into any other form of government for prec
edents to rule us by, for what oppression may
not a precedent be found in this world of the
bcllum omnium in omniaf Searching for the
foundations of this proposition, I can find
none which may pretend a color of right or
reason, but the defect * * * that there
being no barrier between the legislative, ex
ecutive, and judiciary departments, the Leg
islature may seize the whole; that having
seized it and possessing a right to fix their
own quorum, they may reduce that quorum
to one, whom they may call a chairman,
speaker, dictator, or any other name they
please. — NOTES ON VIRGINIA, viii, 370. FORD
ED., iii, 234. (1782.)
2221. DICTIONARY, An Anglo-Saxon.
— There are several things wanting to pro
mote this improvement. [The recovery of the
lost Anglo-Saxon and other words.] To re
print the Saxon books in modern type ; reform
their orthography ; publish in the same way the
treasures still existing in manuscript. And
more than all things we want a dictionary on
the plan of Stephens or Scapula, in which the
Saxon root, placed alphabetically, shall be fol
lowed by all its cognate modifications of nouns,
verbs, &c., whether Anglo-Saxon, or found in
the dialects of subsequent ages. — To J. EVELYN
DENISON. vii, 418. (M., 1825.) See LAN
GUAGES.
2222. DICTIONARIES, Neology and.—
Dictionaries are but the depositories of words
already legitimated by usage. Society is the
workshop in which new ones are elaborated.
When an individual uses a new word, if ill-
formed, it is rejected in society; if well formed,
adopted, and after due time, laid up in the de
pository of dictionaries. — To JOHN ADAMS, vii,
175. (M., 1820.) See LANGUAGES.
2223. DIFFICULTIES, True way out
of. — If you ever find yourself environed with
difficulties and perplexing circumstances, out of
which you are at a loss how to extricate your
self, do what is right, and be assured that that
will extricate you the best out of the worst situ
ations. Though you cannot see, when you take
one step, what will be the next, yet follow truth,
justice, and plain dealing, and never fear their
leading you out of the labyrinth, in the easiest
manner possible. The knot which you thought
a Gordian one, will untie itself before you.
Nothing is so mistaken as the supposition that
a person is to extricate himself from a difficulty
by intrigue, by chicanery, by dissimulation, by
trimming, by an untruth, by an injustice. This
increases the difficulties tenfold ; and those, who
pursue these methods, get themselves so in
volved at length, that they can turn no way but
Dignity
Disinterestedness
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
258
their infamy becomes more exposed. — To PETER
CARR. i, 396. (P., 1785.)
2224. DIGNITY, Maintain.— With the
British who respect their own dignity so
much, ours must not be counted at naught. —
To GOUVERNEUR MORRIS, iii, 182. FORD ED.,
v, 224. (N.Y., 1790.)
2225. DPPLOMACY, Demeanor.— Let
what will be said or done, preserve your sang
froid immovably, and to every obstacle, op
pose patience, perseverance, and soothing lan
guage. — To WILLIAM SHORT, iii, 342. FORD
ED., v, 459- (Pa., 1792.)
2226. DIPLOMATIC ESTABLISH
MENT, Economy in. — The new government
has now for some time been under way.
* * * Abuses under the old forms have
led us to lay the basis of the new in a rigor
ous economy of the public contributions. This
principle will show itself in our diplomatic
establishments; and the rather, as at such a
distance from Europe, and with such an ocean
between us, we hope to meddle little in its
quarrels or combinations. Its peace and its
commerce are what we shall court; and to
cultivate these, we propose to place at the
courts of Europe most interesting to us diplo
matic characters of economical grade, and
shall be glad to receive like ones in exchange.
—To M. DE PINTO, iii, 174. (N.Y., 1790.)
2227. DIPLOMATIC ESTABLISH
MENT, Extent of .—I am for * * * little or
no diplomatic establishment. — To ELBRIDGE
GERRY, iv, 268. FORD ED., vii, 328. (Pa.,
I799-)
2228. DIPLOMATIC ESTABLISH
MENT, Reduction of.— The diplomatic es
tablishment in Europe will be reduced to three
ministers. — To NATHANIEL MACON. iv, 396.
FORD ED., viii, 52. (W., May 1801.)
2229. . We call in our diplomatic
missions, barely keeping up those to the most
important nations. There is a strong dispo
sition in our countrymen to discontinue even
these ; and very possibly it may be done. — To
WILLIAM SHORT, iv, 415. FORD ED., viii, 98.
(W., 1801.) See MINISTERS.
— DIRECT TAX.— See APPORTIONMENT
and TAXATION.
— DIRECTORY.— See EXECUTIVES.
2230. DISCIPLINE, Education and.—
The article of discipline is the most difficult
in American education. Premature ideas of
independence, too little repressed by parents,
beget a spirit of insubordination, which is the
great obstacle to science with us, and a prin
cipal cause of its decay since the Revolution.
I look to it with dismay in our institution
[the Virginia University] as a breaker ahead,
which I am far from being confident we shall
be able to weather. — To THOMAS COOPER, vii,
268. FORD ED., x, 244. (M., 1822.)
2231. __ . The rock which I most
dread is the discipline of the institution [the
University of Virginia], and it is that on
which most of our public schools labor. The
insubordination of our youth is now the
greatest obstacle to their education. We may
lessen the difficulty, perhaps, by avoiding too
much government, by requiring no useless ob
servances, none which shall merely multiply
occasion for dissatisfaction, disobedience and
revolt by referring to the more discreet of
themselves the minor discipline, the graver to
the civil magistrates, as in Edinburgh.* — To
GEORGE TICKNOR. vii, 301. (M., 1823.)
2232. DISCIPLINE, Military.— Good
dispositions and arrangements will not do
without a certain degree of bravery and dis
cipline in those who are to carry them into
execution. — To GENERAL GATES, i, 314. FORD
ED., iii. 52. (R., 1781.)
2233. - . The breaking men to
military discipline is breaking their spirits to
principles of passive obedience. — To JOHN
JAY. ii, 392. (P., 1788.)
- DISCOUNT, Banks of.— See BANKS.
2234. DISCRETION, Exercise of.— In
operations at such a distance [case of Naval
Agent Eaton in Tripoli], it becomes necessary
to leave much to the discretion of the agents
employed, but events may still turn up beyond
the limits of that discretion. Unable in such
case to consult his government, a zealous
citizen will act as he believes that would
direct him were it apprised of the circum
stances, and will take on himself the respon
sibility. In all these cases, the purity and
patriotism of the motives should shield the
agent from blame, and even secure the sanc
tion where the error is not too injurious, f —
SPECIAL MESSAGE, viii, 56. (P., 1806.)
2235. DISCRETION, Law and.— A full
representation at the ensuing session [of
Congress] will doubtless * * * take
measures for ensuring the authority of the
laws over the corrupt maneuvers of the heads
of departments under the pretext of exerci
sing discretion in opposition to law. — To T.
M. RANDOLPH. FORD ED., vi, 195. (Pa., 1793.)
— DISCRIMINATING DUTIES.— See
DUTIES.
2236. DISINTERESTEDNESS, Losses
through. — I retired much poorer than when I
entered the public service, t— To EDWARD RUT-
LEDGE, iv, 151. FORD ED., vii, 93. (M.,
1796.)
2237. DISINTERESTEDNESS, Prac
tice of. — I prefer public benefit to all personal
considerations. — To J. W. EPPES. vi, 203.
FORD ED., ix, 402. (P.F., Sep. 1813.)
2238. DISINTERESTEDNESS, Pri
vate fortune and.— When I first entered on
*The introduction of the u honor system ", in colle
giate education, is one of Jefferson's great reforms.
—EDITOR.
t In this message, Jefferson laid before Congress
the case of Hamet Caramalli, with whom Eaton, as
the agent of the U. S. Government, had cooperated
in the attempt to recover his throne from the usurp
ing Bashaw of Tripoli.— EDITOR.
?" Few persons," says Parton in his Life of Jeffer
son (p. 147) ''have ever performed public duty at such
a sacrifice of oersonal feeling and private interest as
did Thomas Jefferson."— EDITOR.
259
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Disinterestedness
Dissension
the stage of public life (now twenty-four
years ago), I came to a resolution never to
engage while in public office in any kind of
enterprise for the improvement of my fortune
* * * . I have never departed from it in
a single instance; and I have in multiplied
instances found myself happy in being able
to decide and to act as a public servant, clear
of all interest, in the multiform questions
that have arisen, wherein I have seen others
embarrassed and biased by having got them
selves into a more interested situation. Thus
I have thought myself richer in contentment
than I should have been with any increase
of fortune. * * * My public career is now
closing, and I will go through on the principle
on which I have hitherto acted. — To .
iii, 527. (Pa., I793-)
2239. . I do not wish to make
a shilling [as Minister to France], but only
my expenses to be defrayed, and in a moder
ate style.— To SAMUEL OSGOOD. i, 452. (P.,
1785.)
224:0. . I have the consolation of
having added nothing to my private fortune,
during my public service, and of retiring with
hands as clean as they are empty. — To COUNT
DIODATI. v, 62. (W., 1807.)
2241. DISINTERESTEDNESS, Ruin
and. — I had been thirteen years engaged in
public service and, during that time, I had so
totally abandoned all attention to my private
affairs as to permit them to run into great dis
order and ruin. — To JAMES MONROE, i, 318.
FORD ED., iii, 56. (M., 1782.)
2242. DISPUTATION, Avoid.— In sta
ting prudential rules for our government in
society, I must not omit the important one of
never entering into dispute or argument with
another. I never saw an instance of one
of two disputants convincing the other by
argument. I have seen many, on their getting
warm, becoming rude, and shooting one an
other. Conviction is the effect of our own
dispassionate reasoning, either in solitude,
or weighing within ourselves, dispassionately,
what we hear from others, standing un
committed in argument ourselves. It was
one of the rules which, above all others, made
Dr. Franklin the most amiable of men in
society, " never to contradict anybody." If he
was urged to announce an opinion, he did it
rather by asking questions, as if for informa
tion, or by suggesting doubts. When I hear
another express an opinion which is not mine,
I say to myself, he has a right to his opinion,
as I to mine; why should I question it? His
error does me no injury, and shall I become
a Don Quixote, to bring all men by force of
argument to one opinion? If a fact be mis
stated, it is probable he is gratified by a be
lief of it, and I have no right to deprive him
of the gratification. If he wants information,
he will ask it, and then I will give it in
measured terms ; but if he still believes his
own story, and shows a desire to dispute the
fact with me, I hear him and say nothing. It
is his affair, not mine, if he prefers error. To
THOMAS JEFFERSON RANDOLPH, v, 390 FORD
ED., ix, 232. (W., 1808.)
224:3. DISPUTATION, Political.— There
are two classes of disputants most frequently
to be met with among us. The first is of
young students, just entered the threshold of
science, with a first view of its outlines, not
yet filled up with the details and modifications
which a further progress would bring to their
knowledge. The other consists of the ill-
tempered and rude men in society, who have
taken up a passion for politics. From both of
these classes of disputants, * * * keep
aloof, as you would from the infected sub
jects of yellow fever or pestilence. Consider
yourself, when with them, as among the
patients of Bedlam, needing medical more
than moral counsel. Be a listener only, keep
within yourself, and endeavor to establish
with yourself the habit of silence, especially
on politics. In the fevered state of our country,
no good can ever result from any attempt to
set one of these fiery zealots to rights, either
in fact or principle. They are determined as
to the facts they will believe, and the opinions
on which they will act. Get by them, there
fore, as you would by an angry bull ; it is not
for a man of sense to dispute the road with
such an animal. You will be more exposed
than others to have these animals shaking
their horns at you, because of the relation in
which you stand with me. Full of political
venom, and willing to see me and to hate me
as a chief in the antagonistic party, your pres
ence will be to them what the vomit grass is
to the sick dog, a nostrum for producing
ejaculation. Look upon them exactly with
that eye, and pity them as objects to whom
you can administer only occasional ease.
My character is not within their power. It is
in the hands of my fellow citizens at large,
and will be consigned to honor or infamy by
the verdict of the republican mass of our
country, according to what themselves will
have seen, not what their enemies and mine
shall have said. Never, therefore, consider these
puppies in politics as requiring any notice
from you, and always show that you are not
afraid to leave my character to the umpirage
of public opinion. — To THOMAS JEFFERSON
RANDOLPH, v, 391. FORD ED., ix, 232. (W.,
1808.)
2244. DISPUTES, Children and.— In lit
tle disputes with your companions, give way
rather than insist on trifles, for their love and
the approbation of others will be worth more
to you than the trifle in dispute.* — To FRAN
CIS EPPES. D. L. J. 365.
2245. DISSENSION, Evils of Political.
— Political dissension is doubtless a less evil
than the lethargy of despotism, but still it is
a great evil, and it would be as worthy the
efforts of the patriot as of the philosopher, to
exclude its influence, if possible, from social
life. The good are rare enough at best.
There is no reason to subdivide them by
* Eppes was a little grandson.— EDITOR.
Distribution
Dollar
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
260
artificial lines. But whether we shall ever be
able so far to perfect the principles of society,
as that political opinions shall, in its inter
course, be as inoffensive as those of philoso
phy, mechanics, or any other, may well be
doubted. — To THOMAS PINCKNEY. iv, 176.
FORD ED., vii, 128. (Pa., 1797.) See SOCIAL
INTERCOURSE.
2246. DISTRIBUTION, Laws of.— The
bill for establishing a National Bank un
dertakes * * * to form the subscribers
into a corporation [and] to enable them, in
their corporate capacities, * * * to trans
mit personal chattels to successors in a certain
line ; and, so far, is against the laws of Dis
tribution. — NATIONAL BANK OPINION, vii.
555. FORD ED., v, 285. (1791-)
2247. DISUNION, New England and.
— The fog which arose in the east in the last
moments of my service, will doubtless clear
away and expose under a stronger light the
rocks and shoals which have threatened us
with danger. It is impossible the good cit
izens of the east should not see the agency
of England, the tools she employs among
them, and the criminal arts and falsehoods of
which they have been the dupes. — To GOV
ERNOR WRIGHT. viii, 167. (1809.) See
HARTFORD CONVENTION and SECESSION.
— DIVINITY. — See DEITY.
— DOCKYARDS.— See NAVY.
2248. DOLLAR, Adaptedness for Unit.
—In fixing the Unit of Money, these circum
stances are of principal importance, i. That
it be of convenient size to be applied as a
measure to the common money transactions
of life. 2. That its parts and multiples be in
an easy proportion to each other, so as to
facilitate the money arithmetic. 3. That the
unit and its parts, or divisions, be so nearly of
the value of some of the known coins, as that
they may be of easy adoption for the people.
The Spanish dollar seems to fulfil all these
conditions. Taking into our view all money
transactions, great and small, I question if a
common measure of more convenient size
than the Dollar could be proposed. The value
of 100, 1,000, 10,000 dollars is well estimated
by the mind; so is that of the tenth or the
hundredth of a dollar. Few transactions are
above or below these limits. The expediency
of attending to the size of the money Unit
will be evident to anyone who will consider
how inconvenient it would be to a manufac
turer or merchant, if, instead of the yard for
measuring cloth, either the inch or the mile
had been made the Unit of Measure.* — NOTES
ON A MONEY UNIT, i, 162. FORD ED., iii, 446.
(1784.) See DECIMAL SYSTEM.
* Parton in his Life of Jefferson says : "Two years
before, Gouverneur Morris, a clerk in the office of
his uncle Robert Morris, had conceived the most
happy idea of applying the decimal system to the no
tation of money. But it always requires several
men to complete one great thing. The details of the
system devised by Gouverneur Morris were so cum
brous and awkward as almost to neutralize the sim-
and the largest silver coin."— EDITOR.
2249. . The Unit, or Dollar, is
a known coin, and the most familiar of all,
to the minds of the people. It is already
adopted from South to North; has identified
pur currency, and therefore happily offers
itself as a Unit already introduced. Our
public debt, our requisitions, and their ap
pointments, h'ave given it actual and long
possession of the place of Unit. The course
of our commerce, too, will bring us more of
this than of any other foreign coin, and,
therefore, renders it more worthy of attention.
I know of no Unit which can be proposed in
competition with the dollar, but the Pound.
But what is the Pound? 1547 grains of fine
silver in Georgia; 1289 grains in Virginia,
Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts
and New Hampshire; 1031 1-4 grains in
Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania and New
Jersey; 966 3-4 grains in North Carolina and
New York. Which of these shall we adopt?
To which State give that preeminence of
which all are so jealous? And on which
impose the difficulties of a new estimate of
their corn, their cattle and other commodi
ties? Or shall we hang the pound sterling,
as a common badge, about all their necks?
This contains 1718 3-4 grains of pure silver.
It is difficult to familiarize a new coin to the
people ; it is more difficult to familiarize them
to a new coin with an old name. Happily,
the dollar is familiar to them all, and is al
ready as much referred to for a measure of
value, as are their respective provincial
pounds. — NOTES ON A MONEY UNIT, i, 165.
FORD ED., iii, 448. (1784.)
2250. DOLLAR, Advantages as Unit.—
The Financier [Robert Morris] * * *
seems to concur with me in thinking his
smallest fractional division too minute for
a Unit and, therefore, proposes to transfer
that denomination to his largest silver coin,
containing 1000 of the units first proposed,
(1440) and worth about 45. 2d. lawful, or
25-36 of a Dollar. The only question then
remaining between us is, whether the Dollar,
or this coin, be best for the Unit. We both
agree that the ease of adoption with the peo
ple, is the thing to be aimed at. As to the
Dollar, events have overtaken and superseded
the question. It is no longer a doubt whether
the people can adopt it with ease ; they have
adopted it, and will have to be turned out of
that into another tract of calculation, if an
other Unit be assumed. They have now two
Units, which they use with equal facility,
viz., the Pound of their respective State, and
the Dollar. The first of these is peculiar to
each State ; the second, happily, common to
all. In each State, the people have an easy
rule of converting the pound of their State
into dollars, or dollars into pounds ; and this
is enough for them, without knowing how this
may be done in every State of the Union.
Such of them as live near enough the borders
of their State to have dealings with their
neighbors, learn also the rule of their neigh
bors ; thus, in Virginia and the Eastern
States, where the dollar is 6s. or 3-10 of a
26l
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Dollar
pound, to turn pounds into dollars, they mul
tiply by 10 and divide by three. To turn dol
lars into pounds, they multiply by 3 and divide
by 10. Those in Virginia who live near to
Carolina, where the dollar is 8s. or 4-10 of a
pound, learn the operation of that State,
which is a multiplication by 4, and division
by 10, et e convcrso. Those who live near
Maryland, where the dollar is 7s. 6d. or 3-8 of
a pound, multiply by 3, and divide by 8, ct e
converse. All these operations are easy, and
have been found, by experience, not too much
for the arithmetic of the people, when they
have occasion to convert their old Unit into
dollars, or the reverse. — SUPPLEMENTARY EX
PLANATIONS. i, 171. FORD ED., iii, 455.
(1784.) See MONEY, UNIT.
2251. -- - . In the States where
the dollar is 3-10 of a pound, this Unit
[of the Financier] will be 5-24. Its conver
sion into the pound, then, will be by a multi
plication of 5 and a division by 24. In the
States where the dollar is 3-8 of a pound, this
Unit will be 25-96 of a pound, and the opera
tion must be to multiply by 25, and divide by
96, et e converse. Where the dollar is 4-10 of
a pound, this Unit will be 5-18. The sim
plicity of the fraction and, of course, the
facility of conversion and reconversion is,
therefore, against this Unit, and in favor of
the dollar, in every instance. The only ad
vantage it has over the dollar, is, that it will
in every case, express our farthing without a
remainder ; whereas, though the dollar and its
decimals will do this in many cases, it will
not in all. But, even in these, by extending
your notation one figure further, to wit, to
thousands, you approximate to perfect ac
curacy within less than the two-thousandth
part of a dollar; an atom in money which
every one would neglect. Against this single
inconvenience, the other advantages of the
dollar are more than sufficient to preponder
ate. This Unit will present to the people a
new coin, and whenever they endeavor to es
timate its value by comparing it with a
Pound, or with a Dollar, the Units they now
possess, they will find the fraction very com
pound, and, of course, less accommodated to
their comprehension and habits than the dol
lar. Indeed, the probability is, that they
could never be led to compute in it generally.
— SUPPLEMENTARY EXPLANATIONS. i, 171.
FORD ED., iii, 455. (1784-)
2252. DOLLAR, Coinage.— If we adopt
the Dollar for our Unit, we should strike four
coins, one of gold, two of silver, and one of
copper, viz. : i. A golden piece, equal in value
to ten dollars:* 2. The Unit or Dollar itself.
of silver: 3. The tenth of a Dollar, of silver
also : 4. The hundredth of a Dollar, of copper.
— NOTES ON A MONEY UNIT, i, 163. FORD
ED., iii, 447. (1784.)
•2253.
Perhaps it would not be
amiss to coin three more pieces of silver, one
of the value of five-tenths, or half a dollar,
one of the value of two-tenths, which would
* Jefferson subsequently added the five-dollar gold
coin to the list.— EDITOR.
be equal to the Spanish pistereen, and one of
the value of five coppers, which would be
equal to the Spanish half-bit. We should
then have five silver coins, viz. :
1. The Unit or Dollar;
2. The half dollar or five-tenths:
3. The double-tenth, equal to 2, or one-fifth of
a dollar, or to the pistereen ;
4. The tenth, equal to a Spanish bit :
5. The five copper piece, equal to .5, or one-
twentieth of a dollar, or the half bit. — NOTES ON
A MONEY UNIT, i, 166. FORD ED., iii, 450.
(1784.)
2254. DOLLAR, Copper coinage and. —
The hundredth [of a dollar], or copper, will
differ little from the copper of the four East
ern States, which is 1-108 of a dollar; still
less from the penny of New York and North
Carolina, which is 1-96 of a dollar ; and some
what more from the penny or copper of Jer
sey. Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maryland,
which is 1-90 of a dollar. It will be about
the medium between the old and the new cop
pers of these States, and will, therefore, soon
be substituted for them both. In Virginia,
coppers have never been in use. It will be as
easy, therefore, to introduce them there of
one value as of another. The copper coin
proposed will be nearly equal to three-fourths
of their penny, which is the same with the
penny lawful of the Eastern States. — NOTES
ON A MONEY UNIT, i, 165. FORD ED., iii, 449.
(1784.)
2255. . The Financier [Robert
Morris] supposes that the i-ioo part of a dol
lar is not sufficiently small, where the poor
are purchasers or vendors. If it is not, make
a smaller coin. But I suspect that it is small
enough. Let us examine facts, in countries
where we are acquainted with them. In
Virginia, where our towns are few, small,
and, of course, their demand for necessaries
very limited, we have never yet been able to
introduce a copper coin at all. The smallest
coin which anybody will receive there is the
half-bit, or the 1-20 of a dollar. In those
States where the towns are larger and more
populous, a more habitual barter of small
wants has called for a copper coin of 1-90, i-
96, or 1-108 of a dollar. In England, where the
towns are many and populous, and where
ages of experience have matured the con
veniences of intercourse, they have found that
some wants may be supplied for a farthing,
or 1-208 of a dollar, and they have accommo
dated a coin to this want This business is
evidently progressive. In Virginia, we are
far behind. In some other States, they are
further advanced, to wit, to the appreciation
of 1-90, 1-96, 1-108 of a dollar. To this most
advanced state, then, I accommodated my
smallest coin in the decimal arrangement, as
a money of payment, corresponding with the
money of account. I have no doubt the time
will come when a smaller coin will be called
for. When that comes, let it be made. It
will probably be the half of the copper I
suppose, that is to say, 5-1000 or .005 of a
dollar, this being very nearly the farthing of
England. But it will be time enough to make
Dollar
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
262
it, when the people shall be ready to receive
it. — SUPPLEMENTARY EXPLANATIONS, i, 173.
FORD ED., iii, 456. (1784.)
2256. . The Secretary of State
is * * * uncertain whether, instead of the
larger copper coin, the Legislature might not
prefer a lighter one of billon, or mixed metal,
as is practiced with convenience, by several
other nations. — COINAGE REPORT. vii, 463.
(April 1790.)
2257. DOLLAR, Grains of Silver in.— If
we determine that a Dollar shall be our Unit,
we must then say with precision what a Dol
lar is. This coin, struck at different times,
of different weights and fineness, is of dif
ferent values. Sir Isaac Newton's assay and
representation to the Lords of the Treasury,
in 1717, of those which he examined, make
their values as follows :
The Seville piece
of eight ,
The Mexico piece
of eight
dwt. grs.
. . .17 — 12 containing 387 grains
of pure silver
...17 — 10 5-9 containing 385 1-2
grains of pure silver.
The Pillar piece of eight.. 17— Q containing 385 3-4
grains of pure silver.
The new Seville piece
of eight 14— containing 308 7-10
grains of pure silver.
The Financier states the old Dollar as con
taining 376 grains of fine silver, and the new
365 grains. If the Dollars circulating among
us be of every date equally, we should ex
amine the quantity of pure metal in each, and
from them form an average for our Unit.
This is a work proper to be committed to
mathematicians as well as merchants, and
which should be decided on actual and ac
curate experiment. — NOTES ON A MONEY UNIT.
i, 167. FORD ED., iii, 451. (1784-) See GOLD
AND SILVER.
2258. . Congress, in 1786, estab
lished the Money Unit at 375-64 Troy grains
of pure silver. It is proposed to enlarge this
by about the third of a grain in weight, or a
mill in value; that it is to say, to establish
it at 376 (or, more exactly, 375-989343)
instead of 375.64 grains; because it will be
shown that this, as the unit of coin, will link
in system with the units of length, surface,
capacity, and weight, whenever it shall be
thought proper to extend the decimal ratio
through all these branches. It is to preserve the
possibility of doing this, that this very minute
alteration is proposed. * * * Let it be de
clared, therefore, that the money unit or dol
lar of the United States, shaH contain 371.262
American grains of pure silver. — COINAGE,
WEIGHTS AND MEASURES REPORT, vii, 487.
(July 1790-)
2259. . Let the Money Unit, or
dollar, contain eleven-twelfths of an ounce of
pure silver. This will be 376 Troy grains (or
more exactly, 375.989343 Troy grains), which
will be about a third of a grain (or more ex
actly, .349343 of a grain) more than the
present unit. This, with the twelfth of alloy
already established, will make the dollar or
unit, of the weight of an ounce, or of a cubic
inch of rain water, exactly. The series of
mills, cents, dimes, dollars, and eagles, to
remain as already established.— COINAGE,
WEIGHTS AND MEASURES REPORT, vii, 490.
(July 1790.)
2260. . The pure silver in a dol-
]ar * * * |-jsj fixed by iaw at 34714
grains, and all debts and contracts * * *
[are] bottomed on that value * * * . —
To DR. ROBERT PATTERSON, vi, 22. (M.,
Nov. 1811.)
2261. DOLLAR, Proportion of Alloy.—
Some alloy is necessary to prevent the coin
from wearing too fast; too much, fills our
pockets with copper, instead of silver. The
silver coin assayed by Sir Isaac Newton,
varied from i 1-2 to 76 pennyweights alloy, in
the pound Troy of mixed metal. The British
standard has 18 dwt. ; the Spanish coins as
sayed by Sir Isaac Newton, have from 18
to 19 1-2 dwt. ; the new French crown has in
fact 19 1-2, though by edict, it should have
20 dwt., that is 1-12. The taste of our coun
trymen will require that their furniture plate
should be as good as the British standard.
Taste cannot be controlled by law. Let it
then give the law, in a point which is indif
ferent to a certain degree. Let the Legisla
ture fix the alloy of furniture plate at 18 dwt,
the British standard, and Congress that of
their coin at one ounce in the pound, the
French standard. This proportion has been
found convenient for the alloy of gold coin,
and it will simplify the system of our mint
to alloy both metals in the same degree. The
coin, too, being the least pure, will be the less
easily melted into plate. These reasons are
light, indeed, and, of course, will only weigh
if no heavier ones can be opposed to them. —
NOTES ON A MONEY UNIT, i, 167. FORD ED.,
iii, 451. (1784.)
2262. . As to the alloy for gold
coin, the British is an ounce in the pound;
the French, Spanish and Portuguese differ
from that, only from a quarter of a grain, to
a grain and a half. I should, therefore, pre
fer the British, merely because its fraction
stands in a more simple form, and facilitates
the calculations into which it enters. — NOTES
ON A MONEY UNIT, i, 168. FORD ED., iii, 452.
(1784.)
2263. . I concur with you in
thinking that * * * the alloy should be
the same in both metals. — To ALEXANDER
HAMILTON, iii, 330. (Feb. 1792.)
2264. DOLLAR, Reducing- Value of. —
With respect to the dollar, it must be admitted
by all the world, that there is great uncer
tainty in the meaning of the term, and there
fore all the world will have justified Congress
for their first act of removing the uncertainty
by declaring what they understand by the
term; but the uncertainty once removed,
exists no longer, and I very much doubt now
a right to change the value, and especially to
lessen it. It would lead to so easy a mode
of paying off their debts. Besides, the parties
injured by this reduction of the value would
263
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Dollar
Drawbacks
have so much matter to urge in support of the
first point of fixation. — To ALEXANDER HAM
ILTON, iii, 330. (1792.)
2265. . Should it be thought that
Congress may reduce the value of the dollar,
I should be for adopting for our unit, instead
of the dollar, either one ounce of pure silver,
or one ounce of standard silver, so as to keep
the unit of money a part of the system of
measures, weights and coins. — To ALEXANDER
HAMILTON, iii, 330. (1792.)
2266. DOLLAR, Stopping Coinage.— I
should approve of your employing the Mint on
small silver coins, rather than on dollars
and gold coins, so far as the consent of those
who employ it can be obtained. It would be
much more valuable to the public to be sup
plied with abundance of dimes and half dimes,
which would stay among us, than with dollars
and eagles which leave us immediately. In
deed I wish the law authorized the making
two-cent and three-cent pieces of silver, and
golden dollars, which would all be large
enough to handle, and would be a great con
venience to our own citizens. — To ROBERT
PATTERSON, v, 61. (W., March 1807.)
2267. DOLLAR, Summary Review of
measures. — Congress as early as January 7,
1782, had turned their attention to the moneys
current in the several States, and had directed
the Financier, Robert Morris, to report to
them a table of rates at which the foreign
coins should be received at the treasury.
That officer, or rather his assistant, Gouver-
neur Morris, answered them on the I5th, in
an able and elaborate statement of the de
nominations of money current in the several
States, and of the comparative value of the
foreign coins chiefly in circulation with us,
He went into the consideration of the neces
sity of establishing a standard of value with
us, and of the adoption of a money Unit. He
proposed for that Unit, such a fraction of
pure silver as would be a common measure
of the penny of every State, without leaving
a fraction. This common divisor he found
to be the 1-1440 of a dollar, or 1-1600 of the
crown sterling. The value of a dollar was,
therefore, to be expressed by 1440 units, and
of a crown by 1600; each Unit containing a
quarter of a grain of fine silver. Congress
turning again their attention to this subject
the following year, the Financier, by a letter
of April 30, 1783. further explained and urged
the Unit he had proposed ; but nothing more
was done on it until the ensuing year, when it
was again taken up, and referred to a com
mittee, of which I was a member. The general
views of the Financier were sound, and the
principle was ingenious on which he proposed
to found his Unit ; but it was too minute for
ordinary use, too laborious for computation,
either by the head or in figures. The price
of a loaf of bread, 1-20 of a dollar, would be
72 units. A pound of butter 1-5 of a dollar,
288 units. A horse or bullock of eighty dol
lars value would require a notation of six
figures, to wit. 115,200. and the public debt,
suppose of eighty millions, would require
twelve figures, to wit, 115,200,000,000 units.
Such a system of money-arithmetic would be
entirely unmanageable for the common pur
poses of Society. I propose, therefore, instead
of this, to adopt the Dollar as our Unit of ac
count and payment, and that its divisions and
sub-divisions should be in the decimal ratio.
I wrote some Notes on the subject, which I
submitted to the consideration of the Finan
cier. I received his answer and adherence to
his general system, only agreeing to take for
his Unit one hundred of those he first pro
posed, so that a Dollar should be 14 40-100,
and a crown 16 units. I replied to this, and
printed my notes and reply on a flying sheet,
which I put into the hands of the members
of Congress for consideration, and the Com
mittee agreed to report on my principle. This
was adopted the ensuing year, and is the sys
tem which now prevails. — AUTOBIOGRAPHY, i,
52. FORD ED., i, 73. (1820.) See MONEY, UNIT.
— DOUBLE STANDARD.— See MONEY.
2268. DOUBT, Caution in.— In case of
doubt, it is better to say too little than too
much. — To PRESIDENT WASHINGTON. FORD
ED., v, 369. (Pa., 1791.)
2269. DRAFT, Unpopularity of.— In
Virginia a draft was ever the most unpopular
and impracticable thing that could be at
tempted. Our people, even under the mon
archical government, had learned to consider
it as the last of all oppressions. — To JOHN
ADAMS. FORD ED., ii, 129. (Wg., 1777.)
2270. DRAWBACKS, Evils of.— With
respect to the interests of the United States
in this exuberant commerce which is now
bringing war on us, we concur perfectly. It
brings us into collision with other powers
in every sea, and will force us into every war
of the European powers. The converting this
great agricultural country into a city of Am
sterdam, — a mere headquarters for carrying on
the commerce of all nations with one another,
is too absurd. Yet this is the real object of the
drawback system, — it enriches a few individ
uals, but lessens the stock of native produc
tions, by withdrawing from them all the hands
thus employed. It is essentially interesting to
us to have shipping and seamen enough to
carry our surplus produce to market ; but be
yond that, I do not think we are bound to
give it encouragement by drawbacks or pre
miums. I wish vou may be right in supposing
that the trading States would now be willing
to give up the drawbacks, and to denation
alize all ships taking foreign articles on board
for any other destination than the United
States, on being secured by discriminating
duties, or otherwise in the exclusive carryage
of the produce of the United States. I should
doubt it. Were such a proposition to come
from them, I presume it would meet with little
difficulty. .Otherwise, I suppose it must wait
till peace, when the right of drawback will be
less valued than the exclusive carryage of
our own produce. — To BENJAMIN STODDERT.
v, 426. FORD ED., ix, 245. (W., Feb. 1809.)
Drawbacks
Duane (William)
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
264
2271. DRAWBACKS, Introduction of.
— This most heterogeneous principle was
transplanted into ours from the British system
by a man [Alexander Hamilton] whose mind
was really powerful, but chained by native
partialities to everything English; who had
formed exaggerated ideas of the superior per
fection of the English constitution, the supe
rior wisdom of their government, and sin
cerely believed it for the good of this country
to make them their model in everything ; with
out considering that what might be wise and
good for a nation essentially commercial, and
entangled in complicated intercourse with
numerous and powerful neighbors, might not
be so for one essentially agricultural, and in
sulated by nature from the abusive govern
ments of the old world. — To WILLIAM H.
CRAWFORD, vii, 6. FORD ED., x, 34. (M., 1816.)
2272. DRAWBACKS, Repeal of.— The
inordinate extent given to commerce among
us by our becoming the factors of the whole
world, has enabled it to control the agricul
tural and manufacturing interests. When a
change of circumstances shall reduce it to an
equilibrium with these, to the carrying our
produce only, to be exchanged for our wants,
it will return to a wholesome condition for
the body politic, and that beyond which it
should never be encouraged to go. The re
peal of the drawback system will either effect
this, or bring sufficient sums into the treasury
to meet the wars we shall bring on by our
covering every sea with our vessels. But
this must be the work of peace. The cor
rection will be after my day, as the error
originated before it. — To LARKIN SMITH.
v, 441. (M., April i8og.)
2273. DRAWBACKS, Wars and.— I re
turned from Europe after our government had
got under way, and had adopted from the
British code the law of drawbacks. I early
saw its effects in the jealousies and vexations
of Britain ; and that, retaining it, we must be
come, like her, an essentially warring nation,
and meet, in the end, the catastrophe impend
ing over her. No one can doubt that this
alone produced the Orders of Council, the
depredations which preceded, and the war
which followed them. Had we carried but our
own produce, and brought back but our own
wants, no nation would have troubled us.
* * * When war was declared, and especially
after Massachusetts, who had produced it,
took side with the enemy waging it, I pressed
on some confidential friends in Congress to
avail us of the happy opportunity of repealing
the drawbacks and I do rejoice to find that
you are in that sentiment. * * * It is one
of three great measures necessary to insure us
permanent prosperity. It preserves our peace.
— To WILLIAM H. CRAWFORD, vii, 7. FORD
ED., x, 35. (M., 1816.)
2274. DREAMS, Hints from.— We some-
times from dreams pick up some hint worth im-
Soving by * * * reflection. — To JAMES
ONROE. FORD ED., x, 249. (M., 1823.)
2275. DREAMS, Utopian.— Mine, after
{ill, may be an Utopian dream, but being inno
cent, I have thought I might indulge in it till
I go to the land of dreams, and sleep there with
the dreamers of all past and future times.* —
To M. CORREA. vii, 95. (P.F., 1817.)
2276. DRESS, Economy and.— The arti
cle of dress is perhaps that in which economy
is the least to be recommended. It is so im
portant [in married life] to each to continue
to please the other, that the happiness of both
requires the most pointed attention to what
ever may contribute to it — and the more as
time makes greater inroads on our person.
Yet, generally, we become slovenly in propor
tion as personal decay requires the contrary. —
To MARY JEFFERSON EPPES. D. L. T 247
(Pa., 1798.)
2277. DRESS, Women's.— Some ladies
think they may, under the privileges of the
deshabille, be loose and negligent of their
dress in the morning. But be you, from the
moment you rise till you go to bed, as cleanly
and properly dressed as at the hours of dinner
or tea. — To MARTHA JEFFERSON. D. L. T.
— DRUNKARDS.— See INTEMPERANCE.
2278. DUANE (William), Assistance to.
— The zeal, the disinterestedness, and the
abilities with which you have supported the
great principles of our [political] revolution,
the persecutions you have suffered, and the
firmness and independence with which you have
suffered them, constitute too strong a claim on
the good wishes of every friend of elective gov
ernment to be effaced by a solitary case of dif
ference in opinion. Thus I think, and thus I
believed my much-esteemed friend Lieper would
have thought ; and I am the more concerned he
does not, as it is so much more in his power to
be useful to you than in mine. His residence,
and his standing at the great seat of the mon
eyed institutions, command a credit with them,
which no inhabitant of the country, and of agri
cultural pursuits only, can have. The two or
three banks in our uncommercial State are too
distant to have any relations with the farmers
of Albemarle. We are persuaded you have not
overrated the dispositions of this State to sup
port yourself and your paper. They have felt
its services too often to be indifferent in the
hour of trial. They are well aware that the
days of danger are not yet over. And I am
sensible that if there were any means of bring
ing into concert the good will of the friends
of the " Aurora " scattered over this State, they
would not deceive your expectations. One
month sooner might have found such an oppor
tunity in the assemblage of our Legislature in
Richmond. But that is now dispersed not to
meet again under a twelvemonth. We, here,
are but one of a hundred counties., and on con
sultation with friends of the neighborhood, it is
their opinion that if we can find an endorser
resident in Richmond, ten (for that is indispen
sable) or twelve persons of this county would
readily engage, as you suggest, for their $100
each, and some of them for more. It is be
lieved that the republicans in that city can and
will do a great deal more ; and perhaps their
central position may enable them to communi
cate with other counties. We have written to
a distinguished friend to the cause of liberty
there to take the lead in the business, as far as
* Jefferson was discussing his popular and higher
education plans for Virginia.— EDITOR,
265
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Duane (William)
Dumas (C. W. F.)
concerns that place ; and for our own, we are
taking measures for obtaining the aid of the
bank of the same place. In all this I am merely
a cipher. Forty years of almost constant ab
sence from the State have made me a stranger
in it, have left me a solitary tree, from around
which the axe of time has felled all the com
panions of its youth and growth. I have, how
ever, engaged some active and zealous friends
to do what I could not. * * * But our sup
port can be but partial, and far short, both in
time and measure, of your difficulties. They
will be little more than evidences of our friend
ship. — To WILLIAM DUANE. v, 575. FORD EDV
ix, 311. (M., 1811.)
2279. DUANE (William), Character of.
— I believe Duane to be a very honest man
and sincerely republican ; but his passions are
stronger than his prudence, and his personal as
well as general antipathies render him very
intolerant. These traits lead him astray, and
require his readers, even those who value him
for his steady support of the republican cause,
to be on their guard against his occasional aber
rations. — To WILLIAM WIRT. v, 595. FORD
ED., ix, 319. (M., 1811.)
2280. DUANE (William), Defection of.
— After so long a course of steady adherence
to the general sentiments of the republicans, it
would afflict me sincerely to see you separate
from the body, become auxiliary to the enemies
of our government, who have to you been the
bitterest enemies, who are now chuckling at the
prospect of division among us, and, as I am told,
are subscribing for your paper. — To WILLIAM
DUANE. v, 592. FORD ED., ix, 316. (M., April
1811.)
2281. DUANE (William), Office for.—
Duane's defection from the republican ranks,
his transition to the federalists, and giving tri
umph, in an important State, to wrong over
right, have dissolved, of his own seeking, his
connection with us. Yet the energy of his
press when our cause was laboring, and all but
lost under the overwhelming weight of its pow
erful adversaries, its unquestionable effect in
the revolution produced in the public mind,
which arrested the rapid march of our govern
ment towards monarchy, overweight in fact the
demerit of his desertion, when we had become
too strong to suffer from it sensibly. He is, in
truth, the victim of passions which his princi
ples were not strong enough to control. Al
though, therefore, we are not bound to clothe
him with the best robe, to put a ring on his
finger, and to kill the fatted calf for him, yet
neither should we leave him to eat husks with
the swine.* — To JAMES MONROE. FORD ED., x,
275- (M. 1823.)
2282. - . I received a letter from
some friend of yours who chose to be anony
mous, suggesting that your situation might be
bettered, and the government advantaged by
availing itself of your services in some line.
I immediately wrote to a friend whose situation
enabled him to attend to this. I have received
no answer but hope it is kept in view. I am
long since withdrawn from the political world,
think little, read less, and know all but nothing
of what is going on ; but I have not forgotten
the past, nor those who were fellow laborers in
the gloomy hours of federal ascendency when
the spirit of republicanism was beaten down, its
votaries arraigned as criminals, and such threats
denounced as posterity would never believe.
* From a letter recommending Duane for office.—
EDITOR,
My means of service are slender ; but such as
they are, if you can make them useful to you
in any solicitation, they shall be sincerely em
ployed. — To WILLIAM DUANE. FORD ED., x,
276. (M., 1824.)
2283. DUEL, Murder by.— Whosoever
committeth murder by way of duel shall suf
fer death by hanging; and if he were the
challenger, his body, after death, shall be gib-
betted. He, who removeth it from the gibbet,
shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and the
officer shall see that it be replaced. — CRIMES
BILL, i, 150. FORD ED., ii, 207. (1779.)
2284. DUER (William), Failure of.—
The stock-jobbing speculations have occupied
some of our countrymen to such a degree as to
give sincere uneasiness to those who would
rather see their capitals employed in commerce,
manufactures, buildings and agriculture. The
failure of Mr. Duer, the chief of that descrip
tion of people, has already produced some other
bankruptcies, and more are apprehended. He
had obtained money from great numbers of
small tradesmen and farmers, tempting them by
usurious interest, which has made the distress
very extensive. — To DAVID HUMPHREYS. FORD
ED., v, 502. (Pa., April 1792.)
2285. . Duer, the King of the
alley, is under a sort of check. The stocksellers
say he will rise again. The stockbuyers count
him out, and the credit and fate of the nation
seem to hang on the desperate throws and
plunges of gambling scoundrels. — To T. M.
RANDOLPH. FORD ED., v, 455. (Pa., 1792.)
2286. DUER (William), Outbreak
against.— It was reported here [Philadel
phia] last night, that there had been a collec
tion of people round the place of Duer's con
finement, of so threatening an appearance, as to
call out the Governor and militia, and to be fired
on by them, and that several of them were
killed. I hope it is not true. Nothing was want
ing to fill up the criminality of this paper sys
tem, but to shed the blood of those whom it had
cheated of their substance. — To FRANCIS EPPES.
FORD ED., v, 508. (April 1792.)
2287. DUER (William), Threats of.—
Duer now threatens that, if he is not relieved
by certain persons, he will lay open to the world
such a scene of villainy as will strike it with as
tonishment. — To JAMES MADISON. FORD ED.,
vi, 213. (Pa., 1793.)
2288. DUMAS (C. W. F.), Agency of.—
Would it not be worth while to continue the
agency of Dumas? * * * He is undoubtedly
in the confidence of some one who has a part in
the Dutch government, and who seems to allow
him to communicate to us. — To JAMES MONROE.
FORD ED., iv, 8. (P., 1784.)
2289. . Mr. Dumas, very early
in the [Revolutionary] war, was employed first
by Dr. Franklin, afterwards by Mr. Adams, to
transact the affairs of the United States in
Holland. Congress never passed any express
vote of confirmation, but they opened a direct
correspondence with Mr. Dumas, sent him
orders to be executed, confirmed and augmented
his salary, made that augmentation retrospec
tive, directed him to take up his residence in
their hotel at the Hague, and passed such
other votes from time to time as established
him de facto their agent at the Hague. On the
change in the organization of our government
in 1789, no commission nor new appointment
Dumas (C. W. F.)
Dupoiit de Nemours
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
266
took place with respect to him, though it did in
most other cases ; yet the correspondence with
him from the office of Foreign Affairs has been
continued, and he has regularly received his
salary. — To PRESIDENT WASHINGTON, iii, 331.
FORD ED., v, 437. (Pa., 1792.)
2290. DUMAS (C. W. F.), Congress
and. — On the i8th of this month, I received a
letter from his Excellency, the Count de Ver-
gennes, expressing the interest which he takes
in your welfare, and recommending you to Con
gress. — To C. W. F. DUMAS, i, 528. FORD ED.,
iv, 190. (P., 1786.)
2291. . I am pressed on so many
hands to recommend Dumas to the patronage
of Congress, that I cannot avoid it. Every
body speaks well of him, and his zeal in our
cause. Anything done for him will gratify this
court [France], and the patriotic party in Hol
land, as well as some distinguished individuals.
— To ELBRIDGE GERRY, i, 557. (P., 1786.)
2292. . I enclose you a letter
from the Count de Vergennes in favor of Mr.
Dumas. With the services of this gentleman to
the United States, yourself and Dr. Franklin
are better acquainted than I am. Those he
has been able to render towards effecting the
late alliance between France and the United
Netherlands are the probable ground of the
present application. — To JOHN JAY. i, 524.
(P., 1786.)
2293. — . I was gratified with the
receipt of your favor * * * containing a
copy of the resolution of Congress of October
24th, 1785, in your favor, and which I wish had
been more so. — To C. W. F. DUMAS, i, 528.
(P., 1786.)
2294. DUMAS (C. W. F.), Holland and.
— Besides former applications to me in favor
of Dumas, the Rhingrave of Salm (the effective
minister of the government of Holland, while
their two embassadors here are ostensible, and)
who is conducting secret arrangements for them
with this court, presses his interests on us. It
is evident the two governments make a point
of it. You ask why they do not provide for
him themselves? I am not able to answer the
question, but by a conjecture that Dumas's
particular ambition prefers an appointment
from us. I know all the difficulty about this
application which Congress has to encounter.
I see the reasons against giving him the pri
mary appointment at that court, and the diffi
culty of his accommodating himself to a subor
dinate one. Yet I think something must be done
in it to gratify this court [France!, of which
we must be always asking favors. In these
countries, personal favors weigh more than pub
lic interest. The minister who has asked a
gratification for Dumas, has embarked his own
feelings and reputation in that demand. I do
not think it was discreet by any means. But
this reflection might, perhaps, aggravate a dis
appointment. I know not really what you can
do ; but yet hope something will be done. — To
JAMES MONROE, i, 568. FORD ED., iv, 226.
(P., 1786.)
2295. . Dumas is a great favor
ite both of Holland and France. — To JAMES
MONROE, i, 526. (P., 1786.)
2296. DUMOURIEZ (C. F.), Apostacy
of. — From the steadiness of the French people
on the defection of so popular and capital a
commander as Dumouriez, we have a proof that
nothing can shake their republicanism. — TQ
JAMES MADISON, iv, 8. FORD ED., vi, 325.
2297. DUMOURIEZ (C. F.), A scoun
drel. — Dumouriez was known to be a scoun
drel in grain. I mentioned this from the be
ginning of his being placed at the head of the
armies ; but his victories at length silenced me.
His apostasy has now proved that an unprinci
pled man, let his other fitnesses be what they
will, ought never to be employed. It has
proved, too, that the French army, as well as
nation, cannot be shaken in their republicanism.
Dumouriez's popularity put it to as severe a
proof as could be offered. — To DR. GEORGE
GILMER. iv, 5. FORD ED., vi, 324. (Pa., 1793.)
2298. DUMOURIEZ (C. F.), Without
Virtue. — No confidence in Dumouriez's vir
tue opposes the story that he has gone over to
the Austrians ; for he has none. — To MARTHA
JEFFERSON RANDOLPH. FORD ED., vi, 267. (Pa.,
I793-)
2299. DUNBAR (William), Esteem for.
— I recommend to your particular civilities
and respect Mr. William Dunbar, a person of
great worth and wealth in New Orleans, and
one of the most distinguished citizens of the
United States in point of science. He is a cor
respondent of mine in that line in whom I set
great store. As a native of Britain, he must
have a predilection towards her ; but as to every
other nation he is purely American. — To WILL
IAM C. CLAIBORNE. FORD ED., viii, 72. (WM
1801.)
2300. DUNMORE (Lord), Defeated.—
Lord Dunmore has commenced hostilities in
Virginia. That people bore with everything,
till he attempted to burn the town of Hampton.
They opposed and repelled him, with consider
able loss on his side, and none on ours. It has
raised our countrymen into a perfect phrenzy. —
To JOHN RANDOLPH, i, 203. FORD ED., i, 492.
(Pa., November 1775.)
2301. DUPLICITY, Disdained.— I dis
dain everything like duplicity. — To JAMES
MADISON, iv, 194. FORD ED., vii, 166. (M.,
I797-)
2302. DUPONT DE NEMOURS, Amer
ica and. — I pray you to cherish Dupont. He
has the best disposition for the continuance of
friendship between the two nations, and per
haps you may be able to make a good use of
him. — To ROBERT R. LIVINGSTON, iv, 434.
FORD EDV viii, 147. (W., 1802.)
2303. DUPONT DE NEMOURS, Confi
dence in. — You will perceive the unlimited
confidence I repose in your good faith, and in
your cordial dispositions to serve both coun
tries, when you observe that I leave the letters
for Chancellor Livingston open for your peru
sal. The first page respects a cipher, as do the
loose sheets folded with the letter. These are
interesting to him and myself only, and there
fore are not for your perusal. It is the second,
third, and fourth pages which I wish you to
read, to possess yourself of completely, and
then seal the letter with wafers stuck under
the flying seal, that it may be seen by nobody
else if any accident should happen to you. I
wish you to be possessed of the subject, because
you may be able to impress on the government
of France the inevitable consequences of their
taking possession of Louisiana ; and though, as
I here mention, the cession of New Orleans
267
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Dupont de Nemours
Duties
and the Floridas to us would be a palliation,
yet I believe it would be no more, and that this
measure will cost France, and perhaps not very
long hence, a war which will annihilate her on
the ocean, and place that element under the
despotism of two nations, which I am not rec
onciled to the more because my own would be
one of them. — To M. DUPONT DE NEMOURS, iv,
435. (W., April 1802.)
2304. DUPONT DE NEMOURS, Louisi
ana Purchase and. — The confidence which
the government of France reposes in you, will
undoubtedly give great weight to your informa
tion [with respect to Louisiana]. An equal con
fidence on our part, founded on your knowledge
of the subject, your just views of it, your good
dispositions towards this country, and my long
experience of your personal faith and friend
ship, assure me that you will render between us
all the good offices in your power. The in
terests of the two countries being absolutely
the same as to this matter, your aid may be
conscientiously given. It will often, perhaps,
be possible for you, having a freedom of com
munication, omnibus horis, which diplomatic
gentlemen will be excluded from by forms, to
smooth difficulties by representations and rea
sonings, which would be received with more
suspicion from them. You will thereby render
great good to both countries. — To P. S. DUPONT
DE NEMOURS, iv, 457. FORD ED., viii, 205. (W.,
Feb. 1803.)
2305. DUPUIS (C. F.), Works of.— Your
undertaking [to read] the twelve volumes of
Dupuis, is a degree of heroism to which I could
not have aspired even in my younger days. I
have been contented with the humble achieve
ment of reading the analysis of his work by
Destutt Tracy, in two hundred pages octavo. I
believe I should have ventured on his own
abridgment of the work, in one octavo volume,
had it ever come to my hands ; but the marrow
of it in Tracy has satisfied my appetite ; and
even in that, the preliminary discourse of the
analyser himself, and his conclusion, are worth
more in my eye than the body of the work.
For the object of that seems to be to smother
all history under the mantle of allegory. If his
tories so unlike as that of Hercules and Jesus,
can, by a fertile imagination and allegorical
interpretations, be brought to the same tally, no
line of distinction remains between fact and
fancy. — To JOHN ADAMS, vii, 38. (M., 1816.)
2306. DUTIES, Discriminating.— It is
true we must expect some inconvenience in
practice from the establishment of discrimi
nating duties. But in this, as in so many other
cases, we are left to choose between two evils.
These inconveniences are nothing when
weighed against the loss of wealth and loss
of force, which will follow our perseverance in
the plan of indiscrimination. When once it
shall be perceived that we are either Li the
system, or in the habit, of giving equal ad
vantages to those who extinguish our com
merce and navigation by duties and prohibi
tions, as to those who treat both with liber
ality and justice, liberality and justice will be
converted by all into duties and prohibitions.
It is not to the moderation and justice of
others we are to trust for fair and equal ac
cess to market with our productions, or for
our due share in the transportation of them ;
but to our means of independence, and the
firm will to use them. Nor do the incon
veniences of discrimination merit considera
tion. * * * Perhaps not a commercial
nation on earth is without them. — FOREIGN
COMMERCE REPORT, vii, 650. FORD ED., vi,
483. (Dec. I793-)
2307. . Between nations who
favor our productions and navigation and
those who do not favor them, one distinction
alone will suffice ; one set of moderate duties
for the first, and a fixed advance on these as
to some articles ; and prohibitions as to others,
for the last.— FOREIGN COMMERCE REPORT, vii,
650. FORD ED., vi, 483. (Dec. 1793.)
2308. . If the commercial regu
lations had been adopted which our Legisla
ture were at one time proposing, we should
at this moment have been standing on such an
eminence of safety and respect as ages can
never recover. But having wandered from
that, our object should now be to get back,
with as little loss as possible, and, when peace
shall be restored to the world, endeavor so to
form our commercial regulations as that jus
tice from other nations shall be their mechan
ical result. — To THOMAS PINCKNEY. iv, 177.
FORD ED., vii, 129. (Pa., May 1797. )
2309. — — . To those [nations] who
refuse the admission [to the West Indies] we
must refuse our commerce, or load theirs by
odious discriminations in our ports. — To
JAMES MONROE, i, 351. FORD ED., iv, 58.
(P,. 1785.)
2310. DUTIES, Prohibitory.— Should
any nation, contrary to our wishes, suppose it
may better find its advantage by continuing
its system of prohibitions, duties and regula
tions, it behooves us to protect our citizens,
their commerce and navigation, by counter
prohibitions, duties and regulations, also.
Free commerce and navigation are not to be
given in exchange for restrictions and vex
ations ; nor are they likely to produce a re
laxation of them. — FOREIGN COMMERCE RE
PORT, vii, 647. FORD ED., vi, 480. (Dec.
I793-)
2311. DUTIES, Reciprocal. — Some na
tions not yet ripe for free commerce in all
its extent, might still be willing to mollify
its restrictions and regulations for us, in pro
portion to the advantages which an inter
course with us might offer. Particularly
they may concur with us in reciprocating the
duties to be levied on each side, or in com
pensating any excess of duty by equivalent
advantages of another nature. — FOREIGN COM
MERCE REPORT, vii, 646. FORD ED., vi, 479.
(Dec. 1 793-)
2312. DUTIES, Retaliatory.— Massachu
setts has passed an act, the first object of
which seemed to be, to retaliate on the British
commercial measures, but in the close of it,
they impose double duties on all goods im
ported in bottoms not wholly owned by citi
zens of our States. New Hampshire has fol
lowed the example. This is much complained
of here [France], and will probably draw re
taliating measures from the States of Europe,
Duties
Duty
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
268
if generally adopted in America, or not cor
rected by the States which have adopted it.
It must be our endeavor to keep them quiet
on this side the water, under the hope that our
countrymen will correct this step ; as I trust
they will do. It is no ways akin to their gen
eral system.— To WILLIAM CARMICHAEL. i,
475. (P., 1785.) See TARIFF.
2313. DUTIES (Governmental), Divi
sion of.— In government, as well as in every
other business of life, it is by division and
subdivision of duties alone, that all matters,
great and small, can be managed to perfec
tion. And the whole is cemented by giving
to every citizen, personally, a part in the ad
ministration of the public affairs. — To SAM
UEL KERCHIVAL. vii, 13. FORD ED., x, 41.
(M., 1816.)
DUTIES, Natural. — See DUTY and
NATURAL RIGHTS.
2314. DUTY, Ability and.— A debt of
service is due from every man to his country
proportioned to the bounties which nature and
fortune have measured to him.— To EDWARD
RUTLEDGE. iv, 152. FORD ED., vii, 94. (M.,
1796.) See OFFICE.
2315. DUTY, Administrative.— On tak
ing this station , [Presidency] on a former
occasion, I declared the principles on which
I believed it my duty to administer the affairs
of our commonwealth. My conscience tells
me that I have, on every occasion, acted up
to that declaration, according to its obvious
import, and to the understanding of every
candid mind.— SECOND INAUGURAL ADDRESS.
viii, 40. FORD ED., viii, 342. (1805.)
2316. . It was my lot to be
placed at the head of the column which made
the first breach in the ramparts of federalism,
and to be charged, on that event, with the
duty of changing the course of the govern
ment from what we deemed a monarchical
to its republican tack. This made me the
mark for every shaft which calumny and
falsehood could point against me. I bore them
with resignation, as one of the duties imposed
on me by my post. But it_ was
among the most painful duties from which I
hoped to find relief in retirement. — To MARK
LANGDON HILL, vii, 154. (M., 1820.)
2317. DUTY, Age and.— I should not
shrink from the post of duty, had not the de
cays of nature withdrawn me from the list
of combatants.— To SPENCER ROANE. vii,
211. FORD ED., x, 188. (M., 1821.)
2318. DUTY vs. COMFORT.— Renounce
your domestic comforts for a few months,
and reflect that to be a good husband and
good father at this moment, you must be also
a good citizen.— To ELBRIDGE GERRY, iv, 189.
FORD ED., vii, 151. (Pa., I797-)
2319. DUTY, Danger and. — I would
really go away [from Philadelphia] because
I think there is rational danger [from the
yellow fever], but that I had before an
nounced that I should not go till the begin
ning of October, and I do not like to exhibit
the appearance of panic. Besides that, I
think there might serious ills proceed from
there being not a single member of the ad
ministration in place. — To JAMES MADISON.
FORD ED., vi, 419. (Sep. 1793.)
2320. DUTY, Filial.— A lively and last
ing sense of filial duty is more effectually im
pressed on the mind of a son or daughter by
reading King Lear, than by all the dry vol
umes of ethics and divinity that ever were
written. — To ROBERT SKIPWITH. FORD ED.,
i, 398. (i77i.)
2321. DUTY, Fulfilled.— I determined to
set out for Virginia as soon as I could clear
my own letter files. I have now got through
it so as to leave not a single letter unan
swered, or anything undone, which is in a
state to be done. — To PRESIDENT WASHING
TON. FORD ED., vi, 428. (1793.)
2322. DUTY, Honest discharge of.—
He who has done his duty honestly, and ac
cording to his best skill and judgment, stands
acquitted before God and man. — THE BAT-
TURE CASE, viii, 602. (1812.)
2323. DUTY, Imperial.— Only aim to dp
your duty, and mankind will give you credit
where you fail.* — RIGHTS OF BRITISH AMER
ICA, i, 141. FORD ED., i, 446. (1774.)
2324. DUTY TO MANKIND.— We have,
willingly, done injury to no man; and have
done for our country the good which has
fallen in our way, so far as commensurate
with the faculties given us. That we have
not done more than we could, cannot be im
puted to us as a crime before any tribunal.
I look, therefore, to the crisis as one " qui
summum nee metuit diem nee optat." — To
JOHN ADAMS, vii, 154. (1820.)
2325. . I have done for my
country, and for all mankind, all that I
could do, and I now resign my soul, without
fear, to my God ; my daughter, to my coun
try, f — RAYNER'S LIFE OF JEFFERSON. 554.
(1826.)
2326. DUTY, Men of eminence and.—
Some men are born for the public. Nature
by fitting them for the service of the human
race on a broad scale, has stamped them with
the evidences of her destination and their
duty. — To JAMES MONROE, iv, 455. FORD ED.,
viii, 190. (W., 1803.)
2327. DUTY, Merit and.— If it be found
that I have done my duty as other faithful
citizens have done, it is all the merit I
claim. — R. To A. GEORGETOWN REPUBLICANS.
viii, 159. (1809.)
2328. . One of those who en
tered into public life at the commencement
of an era the most extraordinary which the
* To George III.— EDITOR.
t B. L. Rayner, in his Life of Jefferson, says :
"These were the last words Jefferson articulated.
* * * All that was heard from him afterwards, was
a hurried repetition, in indistinct and scarcely audi
ble accents, of his favorite ejaculation, Nunc Dimit-
tis, Domine—Nunc Dimittis, Doming"— EDITOR.
269
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Duty
Earth
history of man has ever yet presented to his
contemplation, I claim nothing more, for
the part I have acted in it, than a common
merit of having, with others, faithfully en
deavored to do my duty in the several sta
tions allotted to me.— R. To A. VIRGINIA AS
SEMBLY, viii, 148. (1809.)
2329. DUTY, Natural. — Every man is
under the natural duty of contributing to the
necessities of the society ; and this is all the
laws should enforce on him. — To F. W. GIL-
MER. vii, 3. FORD ED., x, 32. (M., 1816.)
2330. . No man having a natu
ral right to be the judge between himself
and another, it is his natural duty to submit
to the umpirage of an impartial third. — To
F. W. GILMER. vii, 3. FORD ED., x, 32. (M.,
1816.) See NATURAL RIGHTS.
2331. DUTY, Obstacles and.-— The zeal
ous citizen, unable to do his duty so soon
as was prescribed, will do it as soon as he
can. — LETTER TO MEMBERS OF VA. ASSEMBLY.
FORD ED., ii, 434. (R., 1781.)
2332. DUTY, Office and.— Could I have
persuaded myself that public offices were
made for private convenience, I should un
doubtedly have preferred a continuance in
the French mission, which placed me nearer
to you; but believing, on the contrary, that
a good citizen should take his stand where
the public authority marshals him, I have
acquiesced. — To MADAME LA DUCHESSE
D'AuviLLE. iii, 134. FORD ED., v, 153. (N.
Y., 1790.)
2333. DUTY, Hank and.— I think with
the Romans of old, that the general of to
day should be a common soldier to-morrow,
if necessary. — To JAMES MADISON, iv, 155.
FORD ED., vii, 99. (1797.)
2334. DUTY, Rewards for.— The first of
all our consolations is that of having faith
fully fulfilled our duties ; the next, the ap
probation and good will of those who have
witnessed it.— To JAMES FISBACK. v, 471.
(M., 1809.)
2335. DUTY, Bight and.— Our part is to
pursue with steadiness what is right, turning
neither to right nor left for the intrigues
or popular delusions of the day, assured that
the public approbation will in the end be with
us. — To GENERAL BRECKENRIDGE. vii, 238.
(M., 1822.)
2336. DUTY, Silent performance of.—
The attaching circumstance of my present of
fice [Minister to France] is that I can do its
duties unseen by those for whom they are
done. — To F. HOPKINSON. ii, 587. FORD ED.,
v, 78. (P., 1789-)
2337. . My great wish is to go
on in a strict but silent performance of my
duty; to avoid attracting notice, and to keep
my name out of newsoapers. — To F. HOP
KINSON. ii, 587. FORD ED., v, 78. (P., 1789.)
2338. DUTY, Suborned from.— Those
whom the Constitution had placed as guards
to its portals are sophisticated or suborned
from their duties.— To DR. J. B. STUART.
vii, 65. (M., 1817.)
— DUTY, Tours of Official.— See OF
FICE.
2339. EARTH, Belongs to the Living.
—The ground * * * I suppose to be self-
evident, that the earth belongs in usufruct
to the living"-, that the dead have neither
powers nor rights over it. The portion oc
cupied by any individual ceases to be his
when himself ceases to be, and reverts to the
society.— To JAMES MADISON, iii, 103. FORD
ED., v, 116. (P., 1789.)
2340. . The earth belongs al
ways to the living generation. They may
manage it, and what proceeds from it, as they
please, during their usufruct— To JAMES
MADISON, iii, 106. FORD ED v 121 (P
1789.)
2341. . The principle that the
earth belongs to the living and not to the
dead, is of very extensive application and
consequences in every country, and most es
pecially in France. It enters into the res
olution of the questions, whether the nation
may change the descent of lands holden in
tail ? Whether they may change the appro
priation of lands given anciently to the
Church, to hospitals, colleges, orders of chiv
alry, and otherwise in perpetuity? whether
they may abolish the charges and privileges
attached on lands, including the whole cata
logue, ecclesiastical and feudal; it goes to
hereditary offices, authorities and jurisdic
tions; to hereditary orders, distinctions and
appellations ; to perpetual monopolies in com
merce, the arts or sciences ; with a long train
of et ceteras; and it renders the question of
reimbursement a question of generosity and
not of right. In all these cases the legislature
of the day could authorize such appropria
tions and establishments for their own time,
but no longer; and the present holders, even
where they or their ancestors have purchased,
are in the case of bona fide purchasers of
what the seller had no right to convey. —
To JAMES MADISON, iii, 107. FORD ED., v,
122. (P., 1789.)
2342. - — . The earth belongs to the
living, not to the dead. The will and the
power of man expire with his life, by na
ture's law. Some societies give it an artificial
continuance, for the encouragement of in
dustry; some refuse it, as our aboriginal
neighbors, whom we call barbarians. The
generations of men may be considered as
bodies or corporations. Each generation has
the usufruct of the earth during the period
of its continuance. When it ceases to ex
ist the usufruct passes on to the succeeding
generation, free and unencumbered, and so
on, successively, from one generation to an
other forever. — To JOHN WAYLES EPPES. vi,
136. FORD ED., ix, 389. (M., June 1813.)
2343. . This corporeal globe, and
everything upon it, belong to its nresent cor-
Earth
East Indies
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
270
poreal inhabitants, during their generation. —
To SAMUEL KERCHIVAL. vii, 16. FORD ED.,
x. 44. (M., 1816.)
2344. . Our Creator made the
earth for the use of the living and not of
the dead. Those who exist not have no use,
or right in it, no authority or power over it. —
To THOMAS EARLE. vii, 310. (M., 1823.)
2345. EARTH, Equal Bights in.— The
earth is given as a common stock for man to
labor and live on. — To REV. JAMES MADISON.
FORD ED., vii, 36. (Pa., 1785.)
2346. . If, for the encourage
ment of industry, we allow the earth to be
appropriated, we must take care that other
employment be provided to those excluded
from the appropriation. If we do not, the
fundamental right to labor the earth returns
to the employed. — To REV. JAMES MADISON.
FORD ED., vii, 36. (P., 1785.)
2347. EARTH, God's Gift.— The soil is
the gift of God to the living.— To JOHN W.
EPPES. vi, 138. FORD ED., ix, 391. M..
1813.) See GENERATIONS.
2348. EARTH, Internal Heat of.— The
term " central heat " does of itself give us a
false idea of Buffon's hypothesis. If it means
a heat lodged in ,the centre of the earth, and dif
fusing its warmth from thence to the extremi
ties, then certainly it would be less in propor
tion to the distance from that centre, and, of
course, less under the equator than the poles.,
on high mountains than in deep valleys. But
Buffon's theory is that this earth was once in
a state of hot fusion, and that it has been, and
still continues to be cooling. What is the
course of this process? A heated body being
surrounded by a colder one, whether solid or
fluid, the heat, which is itself a fluid, flows into
the colder body equally from every point of the
hotter. Hence if a heated spheroid of iron cools
to a given degree, in a given space of time, an
inch deep from its surface in one point, it
has in the same time done the same in any and
every other point. In a given time more, it will
be cooled all around to double that depth. So
that it will always be equally cooled at equal
depths from the surface. This would be the
case with Buffon's earth, if it were a smooth
figure without unevennesses. But it has moun
tains and valleys. The tops of mountains will
cool to greater depths in the same time than
the sides of mountains, and than plains in
proportion as the line A. B. is longer than
A. C. or D. E. or F. G. In the valley line
H. I., on depth of the same temperature, will
be the same as on a plain. This, however, is
very different from Buffon's opinion. He says
that the earth, being thinnest at the poles, will
cool sooner there than under the equator, where
it is thicker. If my idea of the process of
cooling be right, his is wrong, and his whole
theory in the Epochs of Nature, is overset. — To
JAMES MADISON. FORD EDV iii. 369. (A., 1784.)
2349. EARTH, Theory of Creation. — I
give one answer to all theorists. That is as
follows : They all suppose the earth a created
existence. They must suppose a Creator then;
and that He possessed power and wisdom to a
great degree. As He intended the earth for
the habitation of animals and vegetables, is it
reasonable to suppose He made two jobs of His
creation, that He first made a chaotic lump and
set it into motion, and then, waiting the ages
necessary to form itself — that when it had done
this, He stepped in a second time, to create the
animals and plants which were to inhabit it?
As a hand of a Creator is to be called in, it
may as well be called in at one stage of the
process as another. We may as well suppose He
created the earth at once, nearly in the state
in which we see it, fit for the preservation of
the beings He placed on it. But, it is said, we
have a proof that He did not create it in its
present solid form, but in a state of fluidity;
because its present shape of an oblate spheroid
is precisely that which a fluid mass, revolving
on its axis, would assume ; but I suppose the
same equilibrium between gravity and cen
trifugal force, which would determine a fluid
mass into the form of an oblate spheroid,
would determine the wise Creator of that mass,
if he made it in a solid state, to give it the
same spheroidical form. A revolving fluid
will continue to change its shape, till it attains
that in which its principles of contrary motion
are balanced ; for if you suppose them not bal
anced, it will change its form. Now, the bal
anced form is necessary for the preservation of
a revolving solid. The Creator, therefore, of a
revolving solid, would make it an oblate
spheroid, that figure alone admitting a perfect
equilibrium. He would make it in that form
for another reason ; that is, to prevent a shifting
of the axis of rotation. Had He created the
earth perfectly spherical, its axis might have
been perpetually shifting, by the influence of the
other bodies of the system, and by placing the
inhabitants of the earth successively under its
poles, it might have been depopulated ; whereas,
being spheroidical, it has but one axis on which
it can revolve in equilibria. Suppose the axis
of the earth to shift forty-five degrees ; then
cut it into one hundred and eighty slices, ma
king every section in the plane of a circle of
latitude perpendicular to the axis : every one
of these slices, except the equatorial one, would
be unbalanced, as there would be more matter
on one side of its axis than on the other.
There could be but one diameter drawn through
such a slice which would divide it into two
equal parts ; on every other possible diameter,
the parts would hang unequal. This would pro
duce an irregularity in the diurnal motion. We
may, therefore, conclude it impossible for the
poles of the earth to shift, if it was made
spheroidically, and that it would be made
spheroidical, though solid, to obtain this end.
I use this reasoning only on the supposition that
the earth has had a beginning. I am sure I
shall read your conjectures on this subject with
great pleasure, though I bespeak, beforehand.,
a right to indulge my natural incredulity and
scepticism. — To CHARLES THOMSON, ii, 68.
FORD ED., iv, 338. (P., 1786.)
2350. EAST INDIES, Trade to.— Phila
delphia and New York have begun trade to the
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
East and West Line
Economy
East Indies. Perhaps Boston may follow their
example. But their importations will be sold
only to the country adjacent to them. For a
long time to come, the States south of the Dela
ware will not engage in a direct commerce with
the East Indies. They neither have, nor will
have ships or seamen for their other commerce ;
nor will they buy East India goods of the north
ern States. Experience shows that the States
never bought foreign goods of one another.
The reasons are that they would, in so doing,
pay double freight and charges ; and again that
they would have to pay mostly in cash what
they could obtain for commodities in Europe.
I know that the American merchants have
looked with some anxiety to the arrangements
to be taken with Portugal, in expectation that
they could, through her, get their East India
articles on better and more convenient terms;
and I am of opinion, Portugal will come in for
a good share of this traffic with the southern
States, if they facilitate our payments. — To
JOHN ADAMS, i, 493. (P., 1785.)
2351. EAST AND WEST LINE, Mean
ing of.— On the question what is an east and
west line? which, you say, has been a subject
of discussion in the papers, I presume * * *
that the parties have differed only in applying
the same appellation to different things. The
one defines an east and west line to be on a
great circle of the earth, passing through the
point of departure, its nadir point, and the
centre of the earth, its plane rectangular, to
that of the meridian of departure. The other
considers an east and west line to be a line on
the surface of the earth, bounding a plane at
right angles with its axis, or a circle of latitude
passing through the point of departure, or in
other words, a line which, from the point of
departure, passes every meridian at a right
angle. Each party, therefore, defining the line
he means, may be permitted to call it an east
and west one, or at least it becomes no longer
a mathematical but a philological question of
the meaning of the words east and west. The
last is what was meant probably by the east
and west line in the treaty of Ghent. The same
has been the understanding in running the nu
merous east and west lines which divide our
different States. They have been run by ob
servations of latitude at very short intervals,
uniting the points of observation by short
direct lines, and thus constituting in fact part
of a polygon of very short sides. — To CHILES
TERRIL. vii, 260. (M., 1822.)
2352. ECONOMY, Domestic.— Domestic
economy * * * [is] of more solid value
than anything else. — To MRS. EPPES. D. L. T.
127. (P., 1787.)
2353. . In household economy,
the mothers of our country are generally
skilled, and generally careful to instruct their
daughters. We all know its value, and that
diligence and dexterity in all its processes
are inestimable treasures. The order and
economy of a house are as honorable to the
mistress as those of the farm to the master,
and if either be neglected, ruin follows, and
children destitute of the means of living. —
To N. BURWELL. vii, 103. FORD ED., x, 106.
(M., 1818.)
2354. ECONOMY, An Essential Princi
ple. — Economy in the public expense, that
labor may be lightly burdened, I deem [one
of the] essential principles of our government
and, consequently [one] which ought to shape
its administration. — FIRST INAUGURAL AD
DRESS, viii, 4. FORD ED., viii, 5. (1801.)
2355. - . TO expend the public
money with the same care and economy
[that] we would practice ^ith our own
[is one of] the land marks by which
we are to guide ourselves in all our pro
ceedings.— SECOND ANNUAL MESSAGE viii
21. FORD ED., viii, 187. (Dec. 1802.)
2356. . The same prudence,
which, in private life, would forbid our pay
ing our money for unexplained projects, for
bids it in the disposition of the public moneys.
— To SHELTON GILLIAM. v, 301. (W.,
2357. ECONOMY, Evil of want of .—We
see in England the consequences of the want
of economy ; their laborers reduced to live on
a penny in the shilling of their earnings, to
give up bread, and resort to oatmeal and po
tatoes for food ; and their landholders exiling
themselves to live in penury and obscurity
abroad, because at home the government must
have all the clear profits of their land. In
fact, they see the fee simple of the island
transferred to the public creditors, all its
profits going to them for the interest of their
debts. Our laborers and landholders must
come to this also, unless they severely adhere
to the economy you recommend. — To GOVER
NOR PLUMER. vii, 19. (M., 1816.)
2358. ECONOMY, Happiness and.— If
we can prevent the government from wasting
the labors of the people, under the pretence of
taking care of them, they must become happy.
— To THOMAS COOPER, iv, 453. FORD ED.,
viii, 178. (W., 1802.)
2359. ECONOMY, Honesty and.— A
rigid economy of the public contributions,
and absolute interdiction of all useless ex
penses, will go far towards keeping the gov
ernment honest and unoppressive. — To MAR
QUIS LAFAYETTE, vii, 325. FORD ED., x, 280.
(M., 1823.)
2360. ECONOMY, Ignorance of Politi
cal.— I transmit for M. Tracy * * * a
translation of his Economic Politique, which
we have made and published here in the hope
of advancing our countrymen somewhat in
that science; the most profound ignorance of
which threatened irreparable disaster during
the late war, and by the parasite insti
tutions of banks is now consuming the pub
lic industry. — To ALBERT GALLATIN. FORD
ED., x, 116. (M., 1818.)
2361. ECONOMY, Insisting on.— We
shall push Congress to the uttermost in
economizing. — To NATHANIEL MACON. iv
397. (W., May 1801.)
2362. ECONOMY, Liberty and.— We
must make our election between economy and
liberty, or profusion and servitude. — To
SAMUEL KERCHIVAL. vii, 14. FORD ED., x, 41.
(M., 1816.)
Economy
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
272
2363. ECONOMY, Necessity for.— [We
are] conscious that our endeavors to reconcile
economy and the public wants must meet
with the approbation of every person, who
attends at all to the dangers impending over
us from circumscribed finances. — To THE
PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS. FORD ED., ii, 337.
(R., 1780.)
2364. ECONOMY vs. NEW LOANS.— I
learn with great satisfaction that wholesome
economies have been found, sufficient to re
lieve us from the ruinous necessity of adding
annually to our debt by new loans. The
deviser of so salutary a relief deserves truly
well of his country. — To SAMUEL SMITH.
vii, 284. FORD ED., x, 251. (M., 1823.) See
LOANS.
2365. ECONOMY, Political.— In so com
plicated a science as political economy, no
one axiom can be laid down as wise and ex
pedient for all times and circumstances, and
for their contraries. — To BENJAMIN AUSTIN.
vi, 523. FORD ED., x, 10. (M., Jan. 1816.)
2366.
Political economy in
modern times assumed the form of a regular
science first in the hands of the political sect
in France, called the Economists. They made
it a branch only of a comprehensive system
on the natural . order of societies. Quesnay
first, Gournay, Le Frosne, Turgot, and Du-
pont de Nemours, the enlightened, philan
thropic, and venerable citizen, now of the
United States, led the way in these develop
ments, and gave to our inquiries the direction
they have since observed. Many sound and
valuable principles established by them have
received the sanction of general approbation.
Some, as in the infancy of a science might be
expected, have been brought into question,
and have furnished occasion for much dis
cussion. Their opinions on production, and
on the proper subjects of taxation, have been
particularly controverted; and whatever may
be the merit of their principles of taxation,
it is not wonderful they have not prevailed;
not on the questioned score of correctness,
but because not acceptable to the people,
whose will must be the supreme law. Taxa
tion is, in fact, the most difficult function of
government, and that against which their
citizens are most apt to be refractory. The
general aim is, therefore, to adopt the mode
most consonant with the circumstances and
sentiments of the country. Adam Smith,
first in England, published a rational and
systematic work on Political Economy, adopt
ing generally the ground of the Economists,
but differing on the subjects before specified.
The system being novel, much argument and
detail seemed then necessary to establish
principles which now are assented to as soon
as proposed. Hence his book, admitted to be
able, and of the first degree of merit, has yet
been considered as prolix and tedious. In
France, John Baptiste Say has the merit of
producing a very superior work on the sub
ject of Political Economy. His arrangement
is luminous, ideas clear, style perspicuous,
and the whole subject brought within half
the volume of Smith's work. Add to this
considerable advances in correctness and ex
tension of principles. The work of Senator
[Destutt] Tracy, now announced, comes for
ward with all the lights of his predecessors
in the science, and with the advantages of
further experience, more discussion, and
greater maturity of subjects. It is certainly
distinguished by important traits; a cogency
of logic which has never been exceeded in
any work, a rigorous enchainment of ideas,
and constant recurrence to it to keep it in
the reader's view, a fearless pursuit of truth
whithersoever it leads, and a diction so cor
rect that not a word can be changed but for
the worse * * * — INTRODUCTION TO DES
TUTT TRACY'S POLITICAL ECONOMY, vi, 570.
(1816.) See TRACY.
2367. ECONOMY, Prodigality vs.— To
reform the prodigalities of our predecessors
js * * * peculiarly our duty, and to bring
the government to a simple and economical
course. — To JAMES MONROE, iv, 455. FORD
ED., viii, 191. (W., 1803.)
2368. ECONOMY, A Republican virtue.
— I place economy among the first and most
important of republican virtues. — To GOVER
NOR PLUMER. vii, 19. (M. 1816.)
2369.
I am for a government
rigorously frugal and simple, applying all the
possible savings of the public revenue to the
discharge of the national debt.— To ELBRIDGE
GERRY, iv, 268. FORD ED., vii, 327. (Pa.,
I799-)
2370. ECONOMY, Rigorous.— The new
government has now, for some time, been
under way. * * * Abuses under the old
forms have led us to lay the basis of the new
in a rigorous economy of the public con
tributions. — To M. DE PINTO, iii, 174. (N.
Y., 1790.)
2371. . We are endeavoring to
reduce he government to the practice of a
rigorous economy, to avoid burthening the
people, and arming the magistrate with a
patronage of money, which might be used to
corrupt and undermine the principles of our
government.— To M. PICTET. iv, 463. (W.,
1803.)
2372. . I may err in my meas
ures, but never shall deflect from the inten
tion to fortify the public liberty by every pos
sible means, and to put it out of the power
of the few to riot on the labors of the many.
-To JUDGE TYLER, iv, 548. (W., 1804.)
2373. ECONOMY vs. TAXATION.—
When, merely by avoiding false objects of ex
pense, we are able, without a direct tax, with
out internal taxes, and without borrowing, to
make large and effectual payments toward the
discharge of our public debt and the emanci
pation of our posterity from that moral can
ker, it is an encouragement of the highest
order, to proceed as we have begun, in substi
tuting economy for taxation, and in pursuing
273
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Economy
Education
what is useful for a nation placed as we are,
rather than what is practiced by others under
different circumstances.— SECOND ANNUAL
MESSAGE, viii, 19. FORD ED., viii, 185. (Dec.
1802.)
2374. ECONOMY, Wisdom of.— Our
public economy is such as to offer drudgery
and subsistence only to those entrusted with
its administration,— a wise and necessary pre
caution against the degeneracy of the public
servants.— To M. DE MEUNIER. FORD ED., vii,
14. (M., I795-)
2375. EDEN" (William), Hatred of the
United States. — Mr. Eden is appointed am
bassador from England to Madrid. To the
hatred borne us by his court and country is
added a recollection of the circumstances of
the unsuccessful embassy to America, of which
he made a part. I think he will carry to Mad
rid dispositions to do us all the ill he can. — To
JOHN JAY. ii, 158. (P., 1787.)
2376. . We had often * * *
occasions of knowing each other. His peculiar
bitterness towards us had sufficiently appeared,
and I had never concealed from him that I con
sidered the British as our natural enemies, and
as the only nation on earth who wished us ill
from the bottom of their souls. And I am sat
isfied that were our continent to be swallowed
up by the ocean, Great Britain would be in a
bonfire from one end to the other. — To WILL
IAM CARMICHAEL. ii, 323. FORD ED., iv, 469.
(P., 1787.)
2377. . Mr. Eden sets out in a
few days for Madrid. You will have to oppose
in him the most bitter enemy against our
country that exists. His late and sudden ele
vation makes the remembrance of the contempt
we showed to his mission in America rankle
the more in his breast. — To WILLIAM CAR-
MICHAEL. FORD ED., iv, 453. (P., 1787-)
2378. EDITORS, Contention and.— The
printers can never leave us in a state of per
fect rest and union of opinion. They would
be no longer useful and would have to go to
the plow. — To ELBRIDGE GERRY, iv, 392.
FORD ED., viii, 43. (W., March 1801.)
2379. . A coalition of senti
ments is not for the interest of the printers.
They, * * *, live by the zeal they can
kindle, and the schisms they can create. It
is contest of opinion in politics :
which makes us take great interest in them,
and bestow our money liberally on those who
furnish aliment to our appetite. — To ELBRIDGE
GERRY, iv, 391. FORD ED., viii, 42. (W.,
March 1801.)
2380. EDITORS, Ferocity of .—Our print
ers raven on the agonies of their victims,
as wolves do on the blood of the lamb.
— To JAMES MONROE, v, 598. FORD ED., ix,
324. (M., 1811.)
2381. EDITORS, Government, People
and. — The printers and the public are very
different personages. The former may lead
the latter a little out of their track, while
the deviation is insensible; but the moment
they usurp their direction and that of their
government, they will be reduced to their
true places. — To JAMES MONROE, v, 598.
FORD ED., ix, 324. (M., May 1811.)
2382. EDITORS, Independence of.— I
think an editor should be independent, that
is, of personal influence, and not be moved
from his opinions on the mere authority of
any individual. But with respect to the gen
eral opinion of the political section with which
he habitually accords, his duty seems very
like that of a member of Congress. — To
WILLIAM DUANE. v, 591. FORD ED., ix, 315.
(M., 1811.)
2383. EDITORS, Jefferson's Relations
with. — In your letter it is said that, for cer
tain services performed by Mr. James Lyon
and Mr. Samuel Morse, formerly editors of
the Savannah Republican, I promised them
the sum of one thousand dollars. This is
totally unfounded. I never promised to any
printer on earth the sum of one thousand dol
lars, nor any other sum, for certain services
performed, or for any services which that
expression would imply. I have had no ac
counts with printers but for their newspapers,
for which I have paid always the ordinary
price and no more. I have occasionally joined
in moderate contributions to printers, as I
have done to other descriptions of persons,
distressed or persecuted, not by promise, but
the actual payment of what I contributed. —
To JAMES L. EDWARDS, vi, 8. (M., 1811.)
2384. - — . I take the liberty of re
questing a letter from you bearing testimony
to the truth of my never having made to you,
or within your knowledge or information,
any such promise to yourself, your partner
Morse, or any other. My confidence in your
character leaves me without a doubt of your
honest aid in repelling this base and bold
attemot to fix on me practices to which no
honors or powers in this world would ever
have induced me to stoop. I have solicited
none, intrigued for none. Those which my
country has thought proper to confide to me
have been of their own mere motion, unasked
by me. Such practices as this letter-writer
imputes to me, would have proved me un
worthy of their confidence. — To JAMES LYON.
vi, 10. (M., 1811.) See NEWSPAPERS.
2385. EDUCATION, Abuses of power
and. — Education is the true corrective of
abuses of constitutional power. — To WILLIAM
C. JARVIS. vii, 179. FORD ED., x, 161. (M.,
1820.)
2386. EDUCATION, Amelioration of
mankind. — If the condition of man is to be
progressively ameliorated, as we fondly hope > -
and believe, education is to be the chief in
strument in effecting it. — To M. JULLIEN.
vii, 106. (M., 1818.)
2387. EDUCATION, Course of.— I have
never thought a boy should undertake ab
struse or difficult sciences, such as mathe
matics in general, till fifteen years of age at
soonest. Before that time, they are best em
ployed in learning the languages, which is
merely a matter of memory. — To RALPH
IZARD. ii, 428. (P,i;88.)
Education
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
274
2388. EDUCATION, Devotion to.— A
system of general instruction, which shall
reach every description of our citizens from
the richest to the poorest, as it was the ear
liest, so will it be the latest of all the public
concerns in which I shall permit myself to
take an interest. Nor am I tenacious of the
form in which it shall be introduced. Be
that what it may, our descendants will be
as wise as we are, and w'll know how to
amend and amend it, until it shall suit their
circumstances. Give it to us then in any
shape, and receive for the inestimable boon
the thanks of the young and the blessings of
the old, who are past all other services but
prayers for the prosperity of their country,
and blessings for those who promote it. — To
JOSEPH C. CABELL. FORD ED., x. 102. (M.,
1818.)
— EDUCATION, Discipline and.— See
DISCIPLINE and UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA.
2389. EDUCATION, Drawing.— I have
been quite anxious to get a good drawing
master in the military or landscape line for
the University [of Virginia]. It is a branch
of male education most highly and justly
valued on the continent of Europe. — To
JAMES MADISON. FORD ED., x, 360. (M.,
1826.)
_ EDUCATION, Elective Studies.— See
UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA.
_ EDUCATION, European.— See
SCHOOLS.
2390. EDUCATION, Female.— A plan of
female education has never been a subject of
systematic contemplation with me. It has
occupied my attention so far only as the edu
cation of my own daughters occasionally re
quired. Considering that they would be
placed in a country situation, where little aid
could be obtained from abroad, I thought it
essential to give them a solid education, which
might enable them, when become mothers, to
educate their own daughters, and even to di
rect the course for sons, should their fathers
be lost, or incapable, or inattentive. * * *
A great obstacle to good education is the or-
dinate passion prevalent for novels, and the
time lost in that reading which should be in
structively employed. When this poison in
fects the mind, it destroys its tone and revolts
it against wholesome reading. Reason and
fact, plain and unadorned, are rejected.
Nothing can engage attention unless dressed
in all the figments of fancy, and nothing so
bedecked comes amiss. The result is a
bloated imagination, sickly judgment, and
disgust towards all the real businesses of
life. This mass of trash, however, is not with
out some distinction ; some few modelling
their narratives, although fictitious, on the
incidents of real life, have been able to make
them interesting and useful vehicles of a
sound morality. Such, I think, are Marmon-
tel's new Moral Tales, but not his old ones,
which are really immoral. Such are the wri
tings of Miss Edgeworth, and some of those
of Madame Genlis. For a like reason, too,
much poetry should not be indulged. Some
is useful for forming style and taste. Pope,
Dryden, Thomson, Shakespeare, and of the
French Moliere, Racine, the Corneilles, may
be read with pleasure and improvement. The
French language, become that of the general
intercourse of nations, and from their ex
traordinary advances, now the depository of
all science, is an indispensable part of educa
tion for both sexes. * * * The ornaments,
too, and the amusements of life, are entitled
to their portion of attention. These, for a
female, are dancing, drawing, and music. The
first is a healthy exercise, elegant and very
attractive for young people. Every affec
tionate parent would be pleased to see his
daughter qualified to participate with her
companions, and without awkwardness at
least, in the circles of festivity, of which she
occasionally becomes a part. It is a neces
sary accomplishment, therefore, although of
short use; for the French rule is wise, that
no lady dances after marriage. This is
founded in solid physical reasons, gestation
and nursing leaving little time to a married
lady when this exercise can be either safe or
innocent. Drawing is thought less of in this
country than in Europe. It is an innocent
and engaging amusement, often useful, and
a qualification not to be neglected in one who
is to become a mother and an instructor. Mu
sic is invaluable where a person has an ear.
Where they have not, it should not be at
tempted. It furnishes a delightful recreation
for the hours of respite from the cares of the
day, and lasts us through life. The taste of
this country, too, calls for this accomplish
ment more strongly than for either of the
others. I need say nothing of household
economy, in which the mothers of our coun
try are generally skilled, and generally care
ful to instruct their daughters. We all know
its value, and that diligence and dexterity in
all its processes are inestimable treasures.
The order and economy of a house are as
honorable to the mistress as those of the farm
to the master, and if either be neglected,
ruin follows, and children destitute of the
means of living. — To N. BURWELL. vii, 101.
FORD ED., x, 104. (M., 1818.)
_ EDUCATION, Fostering Genius.—
See 2398, 2399, 2400.
2391. EDUCATION, Freedom and.— If a
nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a
state of civilization, it expects what never
was and never will be. — To CHARLES YANCEY.
vi, 517. FORD ED., x, 4. (M.,i8i6.)
2392. EDUCATION, Freedom, Happi
ness and. — No other sure foundation can be
devised for the preservation of freedom and
happiness. * * * Preach a crusade against
ignorance ; establish and improve the law for
educating the common people. Let our coun
trymen know that the people alone can pro
tect us against the evils [of misgovernment].
— To GEORGE WYTHE. ii, 7. FORD ED., iv,
268. (P., 1786.)
2393. EDUCATION, Friends of.— A wise
direction of [the force friendly to education]
275
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Education
will insure to our country its future prosper
ity and safety. — To JOSEPH C. CABELL. vii,
189. FORD ED., x, 167. (P.F., 1820.)
2394. EDUCATION, Good Government
and. — No one more sincerely wishes the
spread of information among mankind than
I do, and none has greater confidence in its
effect towards supporting free and good gov
ernment.— To HUGH L. WHITE, v, 521. (M.,
1810.)
2395. EDUCATION, Higher.— I do most
anxiously wish to see the highest degrees of
education given to the higher degrees of
genius, and to all degrees of it, so much as
may enable them to read and understand what
is going on in the world, and to keep their
part of it going on right; for nothing can
keep it right but their own vigilant and dis
trustful superintendence. — To MANN PAGE.
iv, 119. FORD ED., vii, 24. (M., 1795.)
2396. . The greatest good [of
the people] requires, that while they are in
structed in general, competently to the com
mon business of life, others should employ
their genius with necessary information to
the useful arts, to inventions for saving la
bor and increasing our comforts, to nourish
ing our health, to civil government, military
science, &c.— To JOSEPH C. CABELL. vii, 187.
FORD ED., x, 166. (P. F., 1820.)
2397. . When sobered by ex
perience, I hope our successors will turn
their attention to the advantages of education.
I mean of education on the broad scale, and
not that of the petty academies, as they call
themselves, which are started up in every
neighborhood, and where one or two men,
possessing Latin and sometimes Greek, a
knowledge of the globes, and the first six
books of Euclid, imagine and communicate
this as the sum of science. They commit
their pupils to the theatre of the world, with
just taste enough of learning to be alienated
from industrious pursuits, and not enough to
do service in the ranks of science. * * *
I hope the necessity will at length be seen of
establishing institutions here, as in Europe,
where every branch of science useful at this
day, may be taught in its highest degree. — To
JOHN ADAMS, vi, 356. FORD ED., ix, 464.
(M., July 1814.)
2398. EDUCATION, Jefferson's Bills
on. — The bill [on Education in the Revised
Code of Virginia] proposes to lay off every
county into small districts of five or six miles
square, called hundreds, and in each of them
to establish a school for teaching reading,
writing, and arithmetic. The tutor to be
supported by the hundred, and every person
in it entitled to send their children three years
gratis, and as much longer as they please,
paying for it. These schools to be under a
visitor who is annually to choose the boy of
best genius in the school, of those whose par
ents are too poor to give them further e.duca-
tion, and to send him forward to one or the
grammar schools, of which twenty are pro
posed to be erected in different parts of the
country, for teaching Greek, Latin, geography,
and the higher branches of numerical arith
metic. Of the boys thus sent in any one year,
trial is to be made at the grammar schools
one or two years, and the best genius of the
whole selected, and continued six years, and
the residue dismissed. By this means twenty
of the best geniuses will be raked from the
rubbish annually, and be instructed at the
public expense, so far as the grammar schools
go. At the end of six years instruction, one-
half are to be discontinued (from among
whom the grammar schools will probably
be supplied with future masters) ; and the
other half, who are to be chosen for the su
periority of their parts and disposition, are to
be sent and continued three years in the study
of such sciences as they shall choose, at Will
iam and Mary College. * * * The ul
timate result of the whole scheme of educa
tion would be the teaching all the children of
the State reading, writing, and common arith
metic; turning out ten annually of superior
genius, well taught in Greek, Latin, geog
raphy, and the higher branches of arithmetic ;
turning out ten others annually, of still su
perior parts, who. to those branches of learn
ing, shall have added such branches of the
sciences as their genius shall have led them
to ; the further furnishing to the wealthier
part of the people convenient schools at which
their children may be educated at their own
expense. — NOTES ON VIRGINIA. viii, 388.
FORD ED., iii, 251. (1782.)
2399. — . I have sketched and put
into the hands of a member a bill, delineating
a practicable plan, entirely within the means
they [the Virginia Legislature] already have
on hand, destined to this object. My bill
proposes: I. Elementary schools in every
county, which shall place every householder
within three miles of a school. 2. District
colleges, which shall place every father within
a day's ride of a college where he may dis
pose of his son. 3. An university in a healthy
and central situation, with the offer of the
lands, buildings, and funds of the Central
College, if they will accept that place for their
establishment. In the first will be taught
reading, writing, common arithmetic, and
general notions of geography. In the second,
ancient and modern languages, geography
fully, a higher degree of numerical arithmetic,
mensuration, and the elementary principles
of navigation. In the third, all the useful
sciences in their highest degree. To all of
which is added a selection from the elemen
tary schools of subjects of the most promising
genius, whose parents are too poor to give
them further education, to be carried at the
public expense through the colleges and uni
versity. The object is to bring into action
that mass of talents which lies buried in pov
erty in every country, for want of the means
of development, and thus give activity to a
mass of mind, which, in proportion to our
population, shall be the double or treble of
what it is in most countries. The expense
of the elementary schools for every count v,
is proposed to be levied on the wealth of the
Education
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
276
county, and all children rich and poor, to be
educated at these three years gratis. * * *
This is, in fact and substance, the plan I pro
posed in a bill forty years ago, but accom
modated to the circumstances of this, instead
of that day.— To M. CORREA. vii, 94. (P.
R, 1817.)
2400. EDUCATION, Jefferson's Ex
planation of.— The general objects of this
law are to provide an education adapted to
the years, to the capacity, and the condition
of every one, and directed to their freedom
and happiness. Specific details were not
proper for the law. These must be the busi
ness of the visitors entrusted with its execu
tion. The first stage of this education being
the schools of the hundreds, wherein the great
mass of the people will receive their instruc
tion, the principal foundations of future or
der will be laid here. Instead, therefore, of
putting the Bible and the Testament into the
hands of the children at an age when their
judgments are not sufficiently matured for
religious inquiries, their memories may here
be stored with the most useful facts from
Grecian, Roman, European and American
history. The first elements of morality, too,
may be instilled into their minds: such as,
when further developed as their judgments
advance in strength, may teach them how to
work out their own greatest happiness, by
showing them that it does not depend on
the condition of life in which chance has
placed them, but is always the result of
a good conscience, good health, occupation,
and freedom in all just pursuits. Those whom
either the wealth of their parents or the adop
tion of the State shall destine to higher de
grees of learning-, will go on to the gram
mar schools, which constitute the next stage,
there to be instructed in the languages. The
learning Greek and Latin, I am told, is going
into disuse in Europe. I know not what their
manners and occupations may call for; but
it would be very ill-judged in us to follow
their example in this instance. There is a
certain period of life, say from eight to fifteen
or sixteen years of age, when the mind, like
the body is not yet firm enough for laborious
and close operations. If applied to such, it
falls an early victim to premature exertion;
exhibiting, indeed, at first, in these young
and tender subjects, the flattering appearance
of their being men while they are yet children,
but ending in reducing them to be children
when they should be men. The memory is
then most susceptible and tenacious of im
pressions; and the learning of languages be
ing chiefly a work of memory, it seems pre
cisely fitted to the powers of this period,
which is long enough, too, for acquiring the
most useful languages, ancient and modern.
I do not pretend that language is science. It
is only an instrument for the attainment of
science. But that time is not lost which is
employed in providing tools for future opera
tion ; more especially, as in this case, the
books put into the hands of the youth for this
purpose may be such as will, at the same time,
impress their minds with useful facts and
good principles. If this period be suffered
to pass in idleness, the mind becomes lethar
gic and impotent, as would the body it in
habits, if unexercised during the same time.
The sympathy between body and mind dur
ing their rise, progress, and decline, is too
strict and obvious to endanger our being
misled, while we reason from the one to the
other.
As soon as they are of sufficient age, it is
supposed they will be sent from the grammar
schools to the university, which constitutes
our third and last stage, there to study those
sciences which may be adapted to their views.
By that part of our plan which prescribes
the selection of the youths of genius from
among the classes of the poor, we hope to
avail the State of those talents which nature
has sown as liberally among the poor as the
rich, but which perish without use, if not
sought for and cultivated. But of all the
views of this law none is more important,
none more legitimate, than that of rendering
the people the safe, as they are the ultimate,
guardians of their own liberty. For this pur
pose the reading in the first stage, where
they will receive their whole education, is
proposed, as has been said, to be chiefly his
torical. History, by apprising them of the
past, will enable them to judge of the fu
ture; it will avail them of the experience of
other times and other nations; it will qual
ify them as judges of the actions and designs
of men ; it will enable them to know ambition
under every disguise it may assume; and
knowing it, to defeat its views. In every
government on earth is some trace of human
weakness, some germ of corruption and de
generacy, which cunning will discover, and
wickedness insensibly open, cultivate and im
prove. Every government degenerates when
trusted to the rulers of the people alone. The
people themselves, therefore, are its only safe
depositories. And to render even them safe,
their minds must be improved to a certain
degree. This indeed is not all that is neces
sary, though it be essentially necessary. An
amendment of our Constitution must have
come in aid of the public education. The in
fluence over government must be shared
among all the people. If every individual
which composes their mass participates of
the ultimate authority, the government will
be safe; because the corrupting the whole
mass will exceed any private resources of
wealth ; and public ones cannot be provided
but by levies on the people. In this case every
man would have to pay his own price. The
government of Great Britain has been cor
rupted, because but one man in ten has a
right to vote for members of parliament. The
sellers of the government, therefore, get nine-
tenths of their price clear. It has been
thought that corruption is restrained by con
fining the right of suffrage to a few of the
wealthier of the people ; but it would be more
effectually restrained, by an extension of that
right, to such members as would bid defiance
to the means of corruption. — NOTES ON VIR
GINIA, viii, 388. FORD ED., iii, 252. (1782.)
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
277
EDUCATION, Languages and. — See
LANGUAGES.
2401. EDUCATION, Large Cities and.—
I am not a friend to placing young men in
populous cities, because they acquire there
habits and partialities which do not contrib
ute to the happiness of their after life. — To
DOCTOR WISTAR. v, 104. FORD ED., ix, 70.
(W., 1807.)
2402. EDUCATION, Law and.— Laws
will be wisely formed, and honestly adminis
tered, in proportion as those who form and
administer them are wise and honest ; whence
it becomes expedient for promoting the pub
lic happiness that those persons, whom nature
has endowed with genius and virtue, should
be rendered by liberal education worthy to
receive, and able to guard the sacred deposit
of the rights and liberties of their fellow
citizens; and that they should be called to
that charge without regard to wealth, birth or
other accidental condition or circumstance;
but the indigence of the greater number dis
abling them from so educating, at their own
expense, those of their children whom nature
has fitly formed and disposed to become use
ful instruments for the public, it is better
that such should be sought for and educated
at the common expense of all, than that the
happiness of all should be confined to the weak
or wicked.— DIFFUSION OF KNOWLEDGE BILL.
FORD ED., ii, 221. (i?79-)
2403. EDUCATION, Material progress
vs.— People generally have more feeling for
canals and roads than education. However, I
hope we can advance them with equul pace. —
To JOEL BARLOW, v, 217. FORD ED., ix, 169.
(W.. 1807.)
2404. EDUCATION, Military instruc
tion.— We must make military instruction a
regular part of collegiate education. We
can never be safe till this is done.* — To
JAMES MONROE, vi, 131. (M., 1813.)
2405. EDUCATION, Municipal govern
ment and. — Education is not a branch of mu
nicipal government, but, like the other arts
and sciences, an accident only.— To JOHN
TAYLOR, vii, 17. FORD ED., x, 51. (M.,
1816.)
_ EDUCATION, National University.
— See UNIVERSITY.
2406. EDUCATION, Neglect of.— If the
children * * * are untaught, their igno
rance and vices will, in future life cost us
much dearer in their consequences, than it
would have done, in their correction, by a
good education. — To JOSEPH C. CABELL. FORD
ED., x, 99. (1818.)
2407. EDUCATION, New York vs. Vir
ginia. — Surely Governor Clinton's display of
the gigantic effort.? of New York towards the
education of her citizens will stimulate the
pride as well as the patriotism of our Legis
lature, to look to the reputation and safety
* Jefferson was the first to suggest military train
ing in the schools. — EDITOR.
Education
of their own country, to rescue it from the
degradation of becoming the Barbary of the
Union, and of falling into the ranks of our
own negroes. To that condition it is fast
sinking. We shall be in the hands of the
other States, what our indigenous predeces
sors were when invaded by the science and
arts of Europe. The mass of education in
Virginia, before the Revolution, placed her
with the foremost of her Sister Colonies.
What is her education now? Where is it?
The little we have we import, like beggars,
from other States ; or import their beggars to
bestow on us their miserable crumbs. A.nd
what is wanting to restore us to our station
among our confederates? Not more money
from the people. Enough has been raised
by them, and appropriated to this very ob
ject. It is that it should be employed under-
standingly, and for their greatest good. — To
JOSEPH C. CABELL. vii, 186. FORD ED., x,
165. (P.F., 1820.)
2408. . Six thousand common
schools in New York, fifty pupils in each,
three hundred thousand in all; one hundred
and sixty thousand dollars annually paid to
the masters ; forty established academies, with
two thousand two hundred and eighteen pu
pils ; and five colleges with seven hundred
and eighteen students; to which last classes
of institutions seven hundred and twenty
thousand dollars have been given; and the
whole appropriations for education estimated
at two and a half millions of dollars! What
a pigmy to this is Virginia become, with a
population almost equal to that of New
York! And whence this difference? From
the difference their rulers set on the value of
knowledge, and the prosperity it produces.
But still, if a pigmy, let her do what a pigmy
may do. — To JOSEPH C. CABELL. vii, 188.
FORD ED., x, 167. (P.F., 1820.)
2409. EDUCATION, The People and.—
Above all things, I hope the education of the
common people will be attended to ; convinced . ^
that on their good senses we may rely with
the most security for the preservation of a
due degree of liberty.* — To JAMES MADISON.
FORD ED., iv, 480. (P., 1787.)
2410. . [To give] information to
the people * * * is the most certain, and
the most legitimate engine of government. —
To JAMES MADISON, ii, 332. (1787.)
2411. . The diffusion of ih^"
formation, I deem [one] of the essential prin
ciples of our government and, consequently,
[one] which ought to shape its administra
tion. — FIRST INAUGURAL ADDRESS, viii, 4.
FORD ED., viii, 5. (1801.)
2412. . Enlighten the people
e-enerally, and tyranny and oppressions of
body and mind will vanish like spirits at the
* In Congress edition : (ii, 332,) "Educate and in
form the whole mass of the people. Enable them to
see that it is their interest to preserve peace and order
and they will preserve them. And it requires no very
high degree of education to convince them of this.
They are the only sure reliance for the preservatior
of our liberty."— EDITOR.
Education
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
278
dawn of day. — To DUPONT DE NEMOURS.
vi, 592. FORD ED., x, 25. (P. F., 1816.)
2413. . Nobody can doubt my
zeal for the general instruction of the people.
Who first started that idea? I may surely
say, myself. Turn to the bill in the Revised
Code, which I drew more than forty years
ago, and before which the idea of a plan for
the education of the people, generally, had
never been suggested in this State. There
you will see developed the first rudiments of
the whole system of general education we are
now urging and acting on : and it is well
known to those with whom I have acted on
this subject, that I never have proposed a
sacrifice of the primary to the ultimate grade
of instruction. Let us keep our eye steadily
on the whole system. — To GENERAL BRECK-
ENRIDGE. vii, 205. (M., 1821.) See PEOPLE.
2414. EDUCATION, Perversion of
power and. — The most effectual means of
preventing the perversion of power into tyr
anny are to illuminate, as far as practicable,
the minds of the people.— DIFFUSION OF
KNOWLEDGE BILL. FORD ED., ii. 221. (1799.)
2415. EDUCATION, Power and.— All
the States but our own are sensible that
knowledge is power. The Missouri question
is for power. . The efforts now gener
ally making in all the States to advance
their science is for power, while we are sink
ing into the barbarism of our Indian abo
rigines, and expect like them to oppose by ig
norance the overwhelming mass of light and
science by which we shall be surrounded. It
is a comfort that I am not to live to see this.
— To JOSEPH C. CABELL. FORD ED., x, 155.
(M., 1820.)
2416. EDUCATION, Progress through.
— I look to the diffusion of light and educa
tion as the resource most to be relied on for
ameliorating the condition, promoting the vir
tue, and advancing the happiness of man. —
To C. C. BLATCHLY. vii, 263. (M., 1822.)
See 2386.
2417. EDUCATION, The Republic and.
—I have two great measures at heart, without
which no republic can maintain itself in
strength, i. That of general education, to
enable every man to judge for himself what
wi'll secure or endanger his freedom. 2. To
divide every county into hundreds, of such
size that all the children of each will be within
reach of a central school in it. — To JOHN TY
LER, v, 525. FORD ED., ix, 277. (M., 1810.)
2418. EDUCATION, Safety in.— The in
formation of the people at large can alone
make them the safe, as they are the sole de
positary of our political and religious free
dom. — To WILLIAM DUANE. v, 541. (M.,
1810.)
2419. EDUCATION, Self-sufficiency
and. — Our post-revolutionary youth are born
under happier stars than you and I were.
They acquire all learning in their mother's
womb, and bring it into the world ready made.
The information of books is no longer neces
sary; and all knowledge which is not in
nate, is in contempt, or neglect at least. Every
folly must run its round ; and so, I suppose,
must that of self-learning and self-sufficiency ;
of rejecting the knowledge acquired in past
ages, and starting on the new ground of in
tuition. — To JOHN ADAMS, vi, 355. FORD ED.,
ix, 464. (M., 1814.)
2420. EDUCATION, Suffrage and.—
There is one provision [in the new constitu
tion of Spain] which will immortalize its in
ventors. It is that which, after a certain
epoch, disfranchises every citizen who cannot
read and write. This is new, and is the fruit
ful germ of the improvement of everything
good, and the correction of everything imper
fect in the present constitution. This will
give you an enlightened people, and an en
ergetic public opinion which will control and
enchain the aristocratic spirit of the govern
ment. — To CHEVALIER DE Ouis. vi, 342. (M.,
1814.)
2421. EDUCATION, Suitable.— Promote
in every order of men the degree of instruc
tion proportioned to their condition, and to
their views in life. — To JOSEPH C. CABELL.
vii, 189. FORD ED., x, 167. (P. F., 1820.)
2422. EDUCATION, System and.— The
truth is that the want of common education
with us is not from our poverty, but from the
want of an orderly system. More money is
now paid for the education of a part than
would be paid for that of the whole, if sys
tematically arranged. — To JOSEPH C. CABELL.
vii, 188. FORD ED., x, 167. (P.F., 1820.)
2423. EDUCATION, Taxes for.— The
tax which will be paid for the purpose of
education is not more than the thousandth
part of what will be paid to kings, priests
and nobles who will rise up among us if we
leave the people in ignorance. — To GEORGE
WYTHE. ii, 7. FORD ED., iv, 269. (P., 1786.)
2424. . If the Legislature would
add to the literary fund a perpetual tax of a
cent a head on the population of the State, it
would set agoing at once, and forever main
tain, a system of primary or ward schools,
and an university where might be taught, in
its highest degree, every branch of science
useful in our time and country; and it would
rescue us from the tax of toryism, fanaticism,
and indifferentism to their own State, which
we now send our youth to bring from those
of New England. — To CHARLES YANCEY. vi,
517. FORD ED., x, 4. (M., 1816.)
— EDUCATION, Technical.— See 2396.
2425. EDUCATION, Tyranny and.—
Enlighten the people generally, and tyranny
and oppressions of body and mind will vanish
like evil spirits at the dawn of day. — To
DUPONT DE NEMOURS, vi, 592. FORD ED., x,
25. (P. F., 1816.)
— EDUCATION vs. VICE.— See 2406.
2426. EDUCATION, The Wealthy and.
— What will be the retribution of the wealthy
individual [for his support of general educa-
279
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Education
Elections
tion] ? i. The peopling of his neighborhood
with honest, useful and enlightened citizens,
understanding their own rights and firm in
their perpetuation. 2. When his own de
scendants become poor, which they generally
do within three generations (no law of
primogeniture now perpetuating wealth in
the same families), their children will be edu
cated by the then rich, and the little advance
he now makes to poverty, while rich himself,
will be repaid by the then rich, to his de
scendants when become poor, and thus give
them a chance of rising again. This is a
solid consideration, and should go home to
the bosom of every parent. This will be
seed sowed in fertile ground. It is a pro
vision for his family looking to distant times,
and far in duration beyond what he has now
in hand for them. Let every man count back
ward in his own family, and see how many
generations he can go, before he comes to the
ancestor who made the fortune he now holds.
Most will be stopped at the first generation,
many at the second, few will reach the third,
and not one in the State [of Virginia] go be
yond the fifth.— To JOSEPH C. CABELL. FORD
ED., x, 100. (M., 1818.)
_ EDUCATION, Zeal for.— See 2388.
2427. ELECTION, Abuses and.— Should
things go wrong at any time, the people will
set them to rights by the peaceable exercise
of their elective rights. — To WILSON C.
NICHOLAS, v, 5. FORD ED., viii, 435. (W.,
1806.)
2428. ELECTION, Care of.— A jealous
care of the right of election by the people, —
a mild and safe corrective of abuses which
are lopped by the sword of revolution where
peaceable remedies are unprovided, I deem
[one of the] essential principles of our
government and, consequently [one] which
ought to shape its administration. FIRST IN
AUGURAL ADDRESS, viii, 4. FORD ED., viii. 4.
(1801.)
2429. ELECTION, Contested.— To retain
the office, when it is probable the majority
was against him [George Clinton] is dishon
orable.* — To JAMES MONROE. FORD ED., vi,
94. (Pa., 1792.)
2430. ELECTION, Expenditures and. —
The frequent recurrence of this chastening
operation can alone restrain the propensity of
governments to enlarge expense beyond in
come. — To ALBERT GALL ATI N. FORD ED., x,
176. (M., 1820.)
2431. ELECTION vs. FORCE.— Keep
away all show of force, and the people will
bear down the evil propensities of the govern
ment by the constitutional means of election
and petition. — To EDMUND PENDLETON. iv,
287. FORD ED., vii, 356. (Pa., 1799.)
2432. ELECTION, Government and.—
Election * * * [is] a fundamental mem
ber in the structure of government. — To
JOHN TAYLOR, vii, 18. FORD ED., x. 52. (M.,
1816.)
* Jefferson was discussing the CHnton-Jay contest
for the governorship in New York.— EDITOR.
— ELECTION OF PRESIDENT.— See
ELECTIONS, PRESIDENTIAL and PRESIDENT.
2433. ELECTION, Republican Govern
ment and. — Governments are more or less
republican as they have more or less of the
element of popular election and control in
their composition. — To JOHN TAYLOR, vi, 608.
FORD ED., x, 31. (M., 1816.)
2434. ELECTION, Short Periods of.— A
government by representatives, elected by the
people at short periods, was our object; and
our maxim at that day was, " where annual
election ends, tyranny begins " ; nor have our
departures from it been sanctioned by the
happiness of their effects. — To SAMUEL
ADAMS, iv, 321. FORD EDU vii, 425. (Pa.,
Feb. 1800.)
2435. . A representative govern
ment, responsible at short periods of election,
* * * produces the greatest sum of hap
piness to mankind. — R. To A. VERMONT LEG
ISLATURE, viii, 121. (1807.)
2436. - — . The rights [of the peo
ple] to the exercise and fruits of their own
industry, can never be protected against the
selfishness of rulers not subject to their con
trol at short periods. — To ISAAC H. TIFFANY.
vii, 32. (M., 1816.)
2437. — . Submit the members of
the Legislature to approbation or rejection at
short intervals. — To SAMUEL KERCHIVAL.
vii, ii. FORD ED., x, 39. (M., 1816.)
2438. ELECTION, Congress and.—
Short elections will keep Congress right. —
To THOMAS RITCHIE, vii, 192. FORD ED.,
x, 170. (M., 1820.)
2439. - — . The Legislative and ex
ecutive branches may sometimes err, but
elections and dependence will bring them to
rights. — To ARCHIBALD THWEAT. vii, 199.
FORD ED., x, 184. (M., 1821.)
2440. ELECTIONS, Federal Interference
with.— Till the event of the [Presidential]
election is known, it is too soon for me to
say what should be done in such atrocious
cases as those you mention of Federal officers
obstructing the operation of the State govern
ments. One thing I will say, that as to the
future, interferences with elections, whether
of the State or General Government, by of
ficers of the latter, should be deemed cause of
removal ; because the constitutional remedy
bv the elective principle becomes nothing, if
it may be smothered by the enormous patron
age of the General Government. — To GOV
ERNOR THOMAS M'KEAN. iv. 350. FORD ED.,
vii, 486. (W., Feb. 1801.)
2441. — . I proposed soon after
coming into office to enjoin the executive of
ficers from intermeddling with elections, as
inconsistent with the true principles of our
Constitution. It was laid over for considera
tion ; but late occurrences prove the pro
priety of it, and it is now under consideration.
—To DE WITT CLINTON. FORD ED., viii 322
(W., Oct. 1804.)
Elections
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
280
2442. . I think the officers of the
Federal Government are meddling too much
with the public elections. Will it be best to
admonish them privately or by proclamation?
—To ALBERT GALLATIN. iv, 559. FORD ED.,
viii, 320. (M., Sep. 1804.)
2443. . You mention that " Dr.
Logan had informed the person that he had
just received a letter from you [me], exhort
ing him to use all his influence to procure the
reelection of Governor McKean, for that to
displace him would be extremely injurious to
the republican cause." Whatever may be the
personal esteem I entertain for Governor Mc
Kean, and the harmony with which we acted
when members of the same bodv, I never con
ceived that that would justify my taking sides
against Mr. Snyder, or endeavoring in any
way to influence the free choice of the State.
I, therefore, have never written any such let
ter, nor a letter of such import to any
mortal. And further, my long and intimate
acquaintance with Dr. Logan, and my knowl
edge of his strict honor, leave the fullest con
viction in my mind that there has been some
mistake in the hearing, understanding, or
quoting his words.— To THOMAS LIET. FORD
ED., viii, 354- (M., Aug. 1805.)
2444. ELECTIONS, Intermeddling with.
—From a very early period of my life I de
termined never to intermeddle with elections
of the people, and have invariably adhered to
this determination. In my own country,
where there have been so many elections in
which my inclinations were enlisted, I yet
never interfered. I could the less do it in
the present instance, your people so very dis
tant from me, utterly unknown to me, and to
whom I also am unknown; and above all, I
a stranger, to presume to recommend one
who is well known to them. The people could
not but put this question to me, " who are
you, pray"?— To CHARLES CLAY, iii, 469.
FORD ED., vi, HI. (M., 1792.)
2445. ELECTIONS, Patronage and.—
Every officer of the government may vote at
elections according to his conscience; but we
should betray the cause committed to our
care, were we to permit the influence of official
patronage to be used to overthrow that cause.
— To LEVI LINCOLN, iv, 451. FORD ED., viii,
176. (W., October 1802.) See PATRONAGE.
2446. ELECTIONS (Presidential, 1796),
Candidature of Jefferson. — My name was
brought forward, without concert or expecta
tion on my part, on my salvation I declare
it. — To EDWARD RUTLEDGE. iv, 151. FORD
ED., vii, 93. (M., Dec. 1796.)
2447. . I had neither claims nor
wishes on the subject, though I know it will
be difficult to obtain belief of this. When I
retired from the office of Secretary of State,
it was in the firmest contemplation of never
more returning to Philadelphia. There had
indeed been suggestions in the public papers,
that I was looking towards a succession to the
President's chair, but feeling a consciousness of
their falsehood, and observing that the sugges
tions came from hostile quarters, I considered
them as intended merely to excite public odium
against me. I never in my life exchanged a
word with any person on the subject, till I
found my name brought forward generally, in
competition with that of Mr. Adams. Those
with whom I then communicated could say, if
it were necessary, whether I met the call with
desire, or even with a ready acquiescence, and
whether from the moment of my first acquies
cence, I did not devoutly pray that the very
thing might happen which has happened. — To
ELBRIDGE GERRY, iv, 170. FORD ED., vii, 119.
(Pa., May I797-)
2448. . The first wish of my
heart was that you should have been proposed
for the administration of the government. On
your declining it, I wish anybody rather than
myself. — To JAMES MADISON, iv, 150. FORD
ED., vii, 91. (M., Dec. 17, 1796.)
2449. ELECTIONS (Presidential, 1796),
Dispute over.— It seems possible, that the
Representatives may be divided. This is a dif
ficulty from which the Constitution has pro
vided no issue. It is both my duty and inclina
tion, therefore, to relieve the embarrassment,
should it happen : and in that case, I pray you,
and authorize you fully, to solicit on my behalf
that Mr. Adams may be preferred. He has al
ways been my senior, from the commencement
of my public life, and the expression of the
public will being equal, this circumstance ought
to give him the preference. And when so
many motives will be operating to induce some
of the members to change their vote, the ad
dition of my wish may have some effect to pre
ponderate the scale. — To JAMES MADISON, iv,
150. FORD ED., vii, 91. (M., Dec. 17, 1796.)
2450. ELECTIONS (Presidential, 1796),
Eastern States and.— I have no expectation
that the Eastern States will suffer themselves
to be so much outwitted, as to be made the
tools for bringing in Pinckney instead of
Adams. I presume they will throw away their
Second Vote. In this case, it begins to appear
possible, that there may be an equal division
where I had supposed the republican vote
would have been considerably minor. — To
JAMES MADISON, iv, 150. FORD ED., vii, 01.
(M., Dec. 17, 1796.)
245 1 . ELECTIONS (Presidential, 1796),
Jefferson's Vote.— I shall highly value, in
deed, the share which I may have had in the
late vote, as an evidence of the share I hold in
the esteem of my countrymen. But in this
point of view, a few votes more or less will be
little sensible, and in every other, the minor
will be preferred by me to the major vote. — To
EDWARD RUTLEDGE. iv, 152. FORD ED., vii, 94.
(M., Dec. 1796.)
2452. . I value highly, indeed,
the part my fellow-citizens gave me in their
late vote, as an evidence of their esteem, and
I am happy in the information you are so
kind as to give, that many in the Eastern
quarter entertain the same sentiment. — To
JAMES SULLIVAN, iv, 168. FORD ED., vii, 117.
(M., Feb. 1797.)
2453. . I value the late vote
highly ; but it is only as the index of the place
I hold in the esteem of my fellow citizens. In
this point of view, the difference between sixty-
eight and seventy-one votes is little sensible,
and still less that between the real vote, which
was sixty-nine and seventy ; because one real
elector in Pennsylvania was excluded from vo-
28l
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Elections
ting by the miscarriage of the votes, and one
who was not an elector was admitted to vote. —
To C. F. VOLNEY. iv, 158. (M., 1797.;
2454. ELECTIONS (Presidential, 1796),
A Pseudo-President and. — I observe doubts
are still expressed as to the validity of the
Vermont election. Surely, in so great a case,
substance, and not form, should prevail. I
cannot suppose that the Vermont constitution
has been strict in requiring particular forms of
expressing the legislative will. As far as my
disclaimer may have any effect, I pray you to
declare it on every occasion, foreseen or not
foreseen by me, in favor of the choice of the
people substantially expressed, and to prevent
the phenomenon of a Pseudo-President at so
early a day. — To JAMES MADISON. FORD EDV
vii, 105. (M., January 16, I797-)
2455. ELECTIONS (Presidential, 1796),
Result of. — I have never one moment doubted
the result. I knew it was impossible Mr.
Adams should lose a vote north of the Dela
ware, and that the free and moral agency of the
South would furnish him an abundant supple
ment. — To EDWARD RUTLEDGE. iv, 151. FORD
ED., vii, 93. (M., Dec. 27, 1796.)
2456. . The event of the election
has never been a matter of doubt in my mind.
I knew that the Eastern States were disci
plined in the schools of their town meetings
to sacrifice differences of opinion to the great
object of operating in phalanx, and that the
more free and moral agency practiced in the
other States would always make up the sup
plement of their weight. Indeed the vote
comes much nearer to an equality than I had
expected. — To JAMES MADISON, iv, 154. FORD
ED., vii, 98. (M., Jan. 1797.)
2457. ELECTIONS (Presidential, 1796),
Vice-Presidency. — On principles of public
respect I should not have refused [the Presi
dency] ; but I protest before my God, that I
shall, from the bottom of my heart, rejoice at
escaping. — To EDWARD RUTLEDGE. iv, 151.
FORD ED., vii, 93. (M., Dec. 1796.) See VICE-
PRESIDENCY.
2458. . There is nothing I so
anxiously hope as that my name may come out
either second or third. These would be indif
ferent to me ; as the last would leave me at
home the whole year, and the other two-thirds
of it. — To JAMES MADISON, iv, 150. FORD ED.,
vii, 91. (M., Dec. 1796.)
2459. . I have no ambition to
govern men ; no passion which would lead me
to delight to ride in a storm. Flumina amo,
sylvasque, inglorius. My attachment to my
home has enabled me to make the calculation
with rigor, perhaps with partiality, to the issue
which keeps me there. The newspapers will
permit me to plant my corn, peas, &c., in hills
or drills as I please (and my oranges, by-the-
bye, when you send them), while our eastern
friend will be struggling with the storm which
is gathering over us ; perhaps be shipwrecked
in it. This is certainly not a moment to covet
the helm. — To EDWARD RUTLEDGE. iv, 152.
FORD ED., vii, 94. (M., Dec. 1796.)
2460. . It is difficult to obtain
full credit to declarations of disinclination to
honors, and most so with those who still re
main in the world. But never was there a
more solid unwillingness, founded on rigorous
calculation, formed in the mind of any man.
short of peremptory refusal. No arguments,
therefore, were necessary to reconcile me to a
relinquishment of the first office, or acceptance
of the second. No motive could have in
duced me to undertake the first, but that of
putting our vessel upon her republican tack,
and preventing her being driven too far to
leeward of her true principles. And the sec
ond is the only office in the world about which
I cannot decide in my own mind, whether I
had rather have it or not have it. Pride does
not enter into the estimate. For I think with
the Romans of old, that the General of to-day
should be a common soldier to-morrow, if
necessary. But as to Mr. Adams, particularly,
I would have no feelings which would revolt at
being placed in a secondary station to him. I
am his junior in life, I was his junior in Con
gress, his junior in the diplomatic line, and
lately his junior in our civil government. — To
JAMES MADISON, iv, 154. FORD ED., vii, 98.
(M., Jan. 1797.) See 74.
2461. ELECTIONS (Presidential, 1800),
Action of Adams. — Mr. Adams embarrasses
us. He keeps the offices of State and War
vacant, but has named Bayard, Minister Pleni
potentiary to France, and has called an unor
ganized Senate to meet the fourth of March. —
To JAMES MADISON, iv, 356. FORD ED., vii,,
495- (W., Feb. 18, 1801.)
2462. ELECTIONS (Presidential, 1800),
Appointments and.— If the [choice] falls on
me, I shall be embarrassed by finding the of
fices vacant, which cannot be even temporarily
filled but with the advice of the Senate, and
that body is called on the fourth of March,
when it is impossible for the new members of
Kentucky, Georgia, and South Carolina to re
ceive notice in time to be here. * * * If
the difficulties of the election, therefore, are
got over, there are more and more behind, until
new elections shall have regenerated the consti
tuted authorities. — To TENCH COXE. iv, 352.
FORD ED., vii, 488. (W., Feb. 1801.)
2463. . Should [the federalists]
yield the election, I have reason to expect, in
the outset, the greatest difficulties as to nomi
nations. The late incumbents, running away
from their offices and leaving them vacant, will
prevent my filling them without the previous
advice of the Senate. How this difficulty is
to be got over I know not. — To JAMES MONROE.
iv, 355. FORD ED., vii, 491. (W., Feb. 1801.)
2464. ELECTIONS (Presidential, 1800),
Balloting in House.— This is the morning of
the election by the House of Representatives.
For some time past, a single individual had
declared he would, by his vote, make up the
ninth State. On Saturday last he changed, and
it stands at present eight one way, six the
other, and two divided. Which of the two
will be elected, and whether either, I deem
perfectly problematical ; and my mind has long
been equally made up for any one of the three
events. * * * The defects of our Constitu
tion under circumstances like the present, ap
pear very great. — To TENCH COXE. iv, 352.
FORD ED., vii, 488. (W., Feb. n, 1801.)
2465. . This is the fourth day of
the ballot, and nothing done ; nor do I see
any reason to suppose the six and a half States
here will be less firm, as they call it. than your
thirteen Senators ; if so, and the Government
should expire on the 3d of March, by the loss
of its head, there is no regular provision for
reorganizing it, nor any authority but in the
people themselves. They may authorize a con-
Elections
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
282
vention to reorganize and even amend the ma
chine. There are ten individuals in the House
of Representatives, any one of whom, changing
his vote, could save us this troublesome opera
tion. — To DR. B. S. BARTON, iv, 353. FORD ED.,
vii, 490. (W., Feb. 1801.)
2466. . Four days of balloting
have produced not a single change of a vote.
Yet it is confidently believed by most that to
morrow there is to be a coalition. I know of
no foundation for this belief. To JAMES MON
ROE, iv, 354. FORD ED., vii, 490. (W., Feb.
15, 1801.)
2467. . After exactly a week's
balloting there at length appeared ten States
for me, four for Burr, and two voted blanks.
This was done without a single vote coming
over. Morris, of Vermont, withdrew, so that
Lyon's vote became that of the State. The
four Maryland federalists put in blanks, so that
the vote of the four republicans became that
of their State. Mr. Hager, of South Carolina
(who had constantly voted for me) withdrew
by agreement, his colleagues agreeing in that
case to put in blanks. Bayard, the sole mem
ber of Delaware, voted blank. They had be
fore deliberated whether they would come over
in a body, when they saw they could not force
Burr on the republicans, or keep their body
entire and unbroken to act in phalanx on such
ground of opposition as they shall hereafter be
able to conjure up. Their vote showed what
they had decided on, and is considered as a
declaration of perpetual war ; but their conduct
has completely left them without support. — To
T. M. RANDOLPH, iv, 358. FORD ED., vii, 497.
(W., Feb. 19, 1801.)
2468. ELECTIONS (Presidential, IS'OO),
Burr and. — The federalists were confident, at
first, they could debauch Colonel Burr from
his good faith by offering him their vote to
be President, and having seriously proposed it
to him. His conduct has been honorable and
decisive, and greatly embarrasses them. — To
MARY JEFFERSON EPPES. FORD EDV vii, 478.
(W., Jan. 1801.)
2469. . Had the election ter
minated in the elevation of Mr. Burr, every
republican would, I am sure, have acquiesced
in a moment ; because, however it might have
been variant from the intentions of the voters,
yet it would have been agreeable to the Consti
tution. No man would more cheerfully have
submitted than myself, because I am sure the
administration would have been republican,
and the chair of the Senate permitting me to
be at home eight months in the year, would, on
that account, have been much more consonant
to my real satisfaction. — To THOMAS McKEAN.
iv, 368. FORD ED., viii, 12. (W., March 1801.")
2470. ELECTIONS (Presidential, 1800),
Demanding Terms.— Many attempts have
been made to obtain terms and promises from
me. I have declared to them unequivocally,
that I would not receive the government on
capitulation, that I would not go into it with
my hands tied. — To JAMES MONROE, iv, 354.
FORD ED., vii, 491. (W., Feb. 1801.) See 78.
2471. . Aaron Burr, in a suit
between him and Cheetham, has had a deposi
tion of Mr. Bayard taken which seems to have
no relation to the suit nor to any other object
but to calumniate me. Bayard pretends to
have addressed to me during the pending of
the Presidential election in Feb. 1801. through
General Samuel Smith, certain conditions on
which my election might be obtained, and that
General Smith after conversing with me gave
answers from me. This is absolutely false.
No proposition of any kind was ever made to
me on that occasion by General Smith, nor
any answer authorized by me. And this fact
General Smith affirms at this moment. '* * *
But the following transactions took place
about the same time, that is to say, while the
Presidential election was in suspense in Con
gress, which, though I did not enter at the
time [in the Anas], made such an impression
on my mind that they are now as fresh as to
their principal circumstances as if they had
happened yesterday. Coming out of the Senate
chamber one day I found Gouverneur Morris
on the steps. He stopped me and began a con
versation on the strange and portentous state
of things then existing, and went on to ob
serve that the reasons why the minority of
States were so opposed to my being elected
were that they apprehended that, i. I should
turn all federalists out of office. 2. Put down
the Navy. 3. Wipe off the public debt and 4.*
* * * . That I need only to declare, or au
thorize my friends to declare, that I would not
take these steps, and instantly the event of
the election would be fixed. I told him that I
should leave the world to judge of the course
I meant to pursue by that which I had pursued
hitherto ; believing it to be my duty to be pas
sive and silent during the present scene ; that
I should certainly make no terms, should never
go into the office of President by capitulation,
nor with my hands tied by any conditions
which should hinder me from pursuing the
measures which I should deem for the public
good. It was understood that Gouverneur
Morris had entirely the direction of the vote
of Lewis Morris of Vermont, who by coming
over to Matthew Lypn would have added an
other vote and decided the election. About
the same time, I called on Mr. Adams. We
conversed on the state of things. I observed
to him, that a very dangerous experiment was
then in contemplation, to defeat the Presiden
tial election by an act of Congress declaring
the right of the Senate to name a President of
the Senate, to devolve on him the government
during any interregnum ; that such a measure
would probably produce resistance by force,
and incalculable consequences, which it would
be in his power to prevent by negativing such
an act. He seemed to think such an act justi
fiable, and observed it was in my power to
fix the election by a word in an instant, by
declaring I would not turn out the federal
officers, nor put down the Navy, nor spunge the
national debt. Finding his mind made up as
to the usurpation of the government by the
President of the Senate, I urged it no further,
observed the world must judge as to myself of
the future by the past, and turned the con
versation to something else. About the same
time, Dwight Foster of Massachusetts called on
me in my room one night, and went into a very
long conversation on the state of affairs, the
drift of which was to let me understand that
the fears above-mentioned were the only obsta
cle to my election, to all of which I avoided
giving any answer the one way or the other.
From this moment he became most bitterly and
personally opposed to me, and so has ever con
tinued. I do not recollect that I ever had any
particular conversation with General Samuel
Smith on this subject. Very possibly I had,
however, as the general subject and all its
parts were the constant themes of conversation
in the private tete a tetes with our friends.
* MS. cut out.— FORD EDITION NOTE.
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Elections
But certain I am, that neither he, nor any other
republican, ever uttered the most distant hint
to me about snbmitting to any conditions, or
giving any assurance to anybody ; and still
more certainly, was neither he nor any other
person ever authorized by me to say what I
would or would not do. — ANAS, ix, 209. FORD
ED., i, 312. (April 1806.)
2472. ELECTIONS (Presidential, 1800),
Doubt Concerning. — South Carolina (the
only State about which there was uncertainty),
has given a republican vote, and saved us from
the consequences of the annihilation of Penn
sylvania. — To JOHN BRECKENRIDGE. iv, 342.
FORD ED., vii, 469. (W., Dec. 1800.)
2473. . The election in South
Carolina has in some measure decided the great
contest. Though as yet we do not know the
actual votes of Tennessee, Kentucky and Ver
mont, yet we believe the votes to be on the
whole, J. 73, B. 73, A. 65, P. 64. Rhode Island
withdrew one from P. There is a possibility
that Tennessee may withdraw one from B., and
Burr writes that there may be one vote in Ver
mont for J. But I told the latter impossible,
and the former not probable ; and that there
will be an absolute parity between the two
Republican candidates. — To JAMES MADISON.
iv, 342. FORD ED., vii, 470. (W., Dec. 19,
1800.)
2474. ELECTIONS (Presidential, 1800),
Efforts to Defeat.— A strong portion in the
House of Representatives will prevent an elec
tion if they can. I rather believe they will not
be able to do it, as there are six individuals of
moderate character, any one of whom coming
over to the republican vote will make a ninth
State. — To THOMAS M'KEAN. iv, 350. FORD
ED., vii, 486. (W., Feb. 1801.)
2475. ELECTIONS (Presidential, 1800),
Federalists yield.— The minority in the
House of Representatives, after seeing the im
possibility of electing Burr, the certainty that
a legislative usurpation would be resisted by
arms, and a recourse to a convention to re
organize and amend the government, held a
consultation on this dilemma, whether it
would be better for them to come over in a
body and go with the tide of the times, or by
a negative conduct suffer the election to be
made by a bare majority, keeping their body
entire and unbroken, to act in phalanx on such
ground of opposition as circumstances shall
offer ; and I know their determination on this
question only by their vote of yesterday. [Feb.
17.] Morris, of Vermont, withdrew, which
made Lyon's vote that of his State. The
Maryland federalists put in four blanks, which
made the positive ticket of their colleagues the
vote of the State. South Carolina and Dela
ware put in six blanks. So there were ten
States for one candidate, four for another,
and two blanks. We consider this, therefore,
as a declaration of war, on the part of this
band. But their conduct appears to have
brought over to us the whole body of federal
ists, who, being alarmed with the danger of a
dissolution of the government, had been made
most anxiously to wish the very administration
they had opposed, and to view it, when ob
tained, as a child of their own. They [illegi
ble] too their quondam leaders separated fairly
from them, and themselves relegated under
other banners. Even Hamilton and Higginson
have been partisans for us. This circumstance,
with the unbounded confidence which will at
tach to the new ministry, as soon as known,
will start us on right ground.* — To JAMES
MADISON, iv, 355. FORD ED., vii, 494. (W.,
Feb. 1 8, 1 80 1.)
2476. ELECTIONS (Presidential, 1800),
Military Force and.— How happy that our
army had been disbanded ! What might have
happened otherwise seems rather a subject of
reflection than explanation. — To NATHANIEL
NILES REGISTER, iv, 377. FORD ED., viii, 24.
(W., March 1801.)
2477. ELECTIONS (Presidential, 1800),
National Convention and. — I have been
above all things, solaced by the prospect which
opened on us, in the event of a non-election
of a President ; in which case, the Federal Gov
ernment would have been in the situation of a
clock or watch run down. There was no idea
of force, nor of any occasion for it. A con
vention, invited by the republican members of
Congress, with the virtual President and Vice-
President, would have been on the ground in
eight weeks, would have repaired the Constitu
tion where it was defective, and wound it up
again. This peaceable and legitimate resource,
to which we are in the habit of implicit obedi
ence, superseding all appeal to force, and being
always within our reach, shows a precious
principle of self-preservation in our composi
tion, till a change of circumstances shall take
place, which is not within prospect at any defi
nite period. — To DR. JOSEPH PRIESTLEY, iv,
374. FORD ED., viii, 22. (W., March 1801.)
2478. . There was general alarm
during the pending of the election in Congress,
lest no President should be chosen, the gov
ernment be dissolved, and anarchy ensue. But
the cool determination of the really patriotic
to call a convention in that case, which might
be on the ground in eight weeks, and wind up
the machine again which had only run down,
pointed out to my mind a perpetual and peace
able resource against [force?] 1 in
whatever extremity might befall us ; and I am
certain a convention would have commanded
immediate and universal obedience. — To NA
THANIEL NILES. iv, 377. FORD ED., viii, 24.
(W., March 1801.)
2479. ELECTIONS (Presidential, 1800),
Parity of Vote. — [The prospect of a parity
between the two republican candidates] has
produced great dismay and gloom on the re
publican gentlemen here, and exultation in the
federalists, who openly declare they will pre
vent an election, and will name a President of
the Senate pro tern, by what they say would
only be a stretch of the Constitution. — To
JAMES MADISON, iv, 343. FORD ED., vii, 470.
(W., Dec. 19, 1800.)
2480. . We are brought into
dilemma by the probable equality of the two Re
publican candidates. The federalists in Congress
mean to take advantage of this, either to prevent
an election altogether, or reverse what has been
understood to have been the wishes of the
people as to the President and Vice-President ;
wishes which the Constitution did not permit
them specially to designate. The latter alter
native still gives us a Republican administra
tion. The former, a suspension of the Federal
Government, for want of a head. This opens to
us an abyss, at which every sincere patriot
* The last two sentences are omitted in the Con
gress edition. — EDITOR.
t Writing faded in MS.— EDITOR.
Elections
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
284
must shudder. — To JOHN BRECKENRIDGE. iv,
342. FORD ED., vii, 469. (W., Dec. 1800.)
2481. . Although we have not
official information of the votes for President,
and cannot have until the first week in February,
yet the state of the votes is given on such evi
dence, as satisfies both parties that the two re
publican candidates stand highest. From South
Carolina we have not even heard of the actual
vote ; but we have learned who were appointed
electors, and with sufficient certainty how
they would vote. It is said they would
withdraw from yourself one vote. It has
also been said that a General Smith, of
Tennessee, had declared that he would give
his second vote to Mr. Gallatin, not from
any indisposition towards you, but extreme
reverence to the character of Mr. Galla
tin. It is also surmised that the vote of
Georgia will not be entire. Yet nobody pre
tends to know these things of a certainty, and
we know enough to be certain that what it is
surmised will be withheld, will still leave you
four or five votes at least above Mr. Adams.
However, it was badly managed not to have
arranged with certainty what seems to have
been left to hazard. It was the more material,
because I understand several of the high-fly
ing federalists have expressed their hope that
the two republican tickets may be equal, and
their determination, in that case, to prevent a
choice by the House of Representatives (which
they are strong qnough to do), and let the gov
ernment devolve on a President of the Senate.
Decency required that I should be so entirely
passive during the late contest that I never
once asked whether arrangements had been
made to prevent so many from dropping votes
intentionally, as might frustrate half the repub
lican wish ; nor did I doubt, till lately, that
such had been made. — To AARON BURR, iv,
340. FORD ED., vii, 466. (W., Dec. 1800.)
2482. . It seems tolerably well
ascertained (though not officially) that the two
republican candidates * * * have a de
cided majority; probably of 73 to 65, but
equally probable that they are even between
themselves, and that the federalists are dis
posed to make the most of the embarrassment
this occasions, by preventing any election by
the House of Representatives. It is far from
certain that nine representatives in that House
can be got to vote for any candidate. What
the issue of such a dilemma may be cannot be
estimated. — To CAESAR RODNEY. FORD ED.,
vii, 472. (W., Dec. 1800.)
2483. ELECTIONS (Presidential, 1800),
Party Amalgamation and.— The suspension
of public opinion [pending the election in the
House of Representatives], the alarm into
which it threw all the patriotic part of the
federalists, the danger of the dissolution of
our Union, and unknown consequences of that,
brought over the great body of them to wish
with anxiety and solicitude for a choice to
which they had before been strenuously op
posed. In this state of mind, they separated
from their congressional leaders, and came over
to us ; and the manner in which the last ballot
was given has drawn a fixed line of separation
between them and their leaders. When the
election took effect, it was the most desirable of
events to them. This made it a thing of their
choice, and finding themselves aggregated with
us accordingly, they are in a state of mind to
be consolidated with us, if no intemperate
measures on our part revolt them again. I am
persuaded that weeks of ill-judged conduct
here, has strengthened us more than years of
prudent and conciliatory administration could
have done. — To THOMAS LOMAX. iv, 361.
FORD ED., vii, 500. (W., Feb. 1801.)
2484. . Our information from all
quarters is that the whole body of federalists
concurred with the republicans in the last
elections, and with equal anxiety. They had
been made to interest themselves so warmly
for the very choice, which while before the
people they opposed, that when obtained it
came as a thing of their own wishes, and they
find themselves embodied with the republicans,
and their quondam leaders separated from
them ; and I verily believe they will remain
embodied with us, so that this conduct of the
minority has done in one week what very
probably could hardly have been effected by
years of mild and impartial administration. —
To T. M. RANDOLPH, iv, 359. FORD ED., vii,
359. (W., Feb. 1801.)
2485. ELECTIONS (Presidential, 1800),
The People and.— The order and good sense
displayed * * * in the momentous crisis
which lately arose, really bespeak a strength of
character in our nation which augurs well for
the duration of our Republic ; and I am much
better satisfied now of its stability than I was
before it was tried. — To DR. JOSEPH PRIESTLEY.
iv, 374. FORD ED., viii, 2.2. (W., March 1801.)
2486. . The character which pur
fellow citizens have displayed on this occasion,
gives us everything to hope for the permanence
of our government. — To GENERAL WARREN, iv,
376. (W., 1801.)
2487. ELECTIONS (Presidential, 1800),
A President pro tern.— The federalists ap
pear determined to prevent an election, and
to pass a bill giving the government to Mr.
Jay, appointed Chief Justice, or to Marshall as
Secretary of State. Yet I am rather of opinion
that Maryland and Jersey will give the seven
republican majorities. — To JAMES MADISON.
iv, 344. FORD ED., vii, 473. (W., Dec. 1800.)
2488. . The prospect of prevent
ing [the Senate from naming a President pro
tern.'} is as follows : Georgia, North Carolina,
Tennessee, Kentucky, Vermont, Pennsylvania,
and New York can be counted on for their
vote in the House of Representatives, and it
is thought by some that Baer of Maryland, and
Linn, of New Jersey, will come over. Some
even count on Morris, of Vermont. But you
must know the uncertainty of such a depend
ence under the operation of caucuses and other
federal engines. The month of February,
therefore, will present us storms of a new
character. Should they have a particular is
sue, I hope you will be here a day or two, at
least, before the 4th of March. I know that
your appearance on the scene before the de
parture of Congress, would assuage the mi
nority, and inspire in the majority confidence
and joy unbounded, which they would spread
far and wide on their journey home. Let me
beseech you, then, to come with a view of stay
ing perhaps a couple of weeks, within which
time things might be put into such a train, as
would permit us both to go home for a short
time, for removal. — To JAMES MADISON. iv»
343. FORD ED., vii, 470. (W., Dec. 1800.)
2489. . We do not see what is
to be the issue of the present difficulty. The
federalists, among whom those of the repub
lican section are not the strongest, propose tc
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Elections
prevent an election in Congress, and to trans
fer the government by an act to the C. J.
(Jay) or Secretary of State, or to let it, devolve
on the President pro tern, of the Senate, till
next December, which gives them another
year's predominance, and the chances of future
events. — To TENCH COXE. iv, 345. FORD ED.,
vii, 475- (W., Dec. 1800.)
2490. . If the federalists could
have been permitted to pass a law for putting
the government into the hands of an officer,
they would certainly have prevented an elec
tion. But we thought it best to declare openly
and firmly, one and all, that the day such an
act passed, the middle States would arm, and
that no such usurpation, even for a single day,
should be submitted to. This first shook them ;
and they were completely alarmed at the re
source for which we declared, to wit, a con
vention to reorganize the Government and to
amend it. The very word " convention " gives
them the horrors, as in the present democrat-
ical spirit of America, they fear they should
lose some of the favorite morsels of the Con
stitution. — To JAMES MONROE, iv, 354. FORD
ED., vii, 490. (W., Feb. 1801.)
2491. ELECTIONS (Presidential, 1800),
The Republic and.— The storm [Presiden
tial election] we have passed through proves our
vessel indestructible. — To M. DE LAFAYETTE.
iv, 363. (W., March 1801.)
2492. . We have passed through
an awful scene in this country. * * * A
few hardy spirits stood firm to their posts, and
the ship has breasted the storm. — To M. DE LA
FAYETTE, iv, 363. (W., March 1801.)
2493. . The late chapter of our
history furnishes a lesson to man perfectly
new. The times have been awful, but they
have proved an useful truth, that the good
citizen must never despair of the common
wealth. How many good men abandoned the
deck, and gave up the vessel as lost. — To NA
THANIEL NILES. iv, 376. FORD ED., viii, 24.
(W., March 1801.)
2494. ELECTIONS (Presidential, 1800),
Republicans and.— The republicans propose
to press forward to an election. If they fail
in this, a concert between the two higher can
didates may prevent the dissolution of the
government and danger of anarchy, by an
operation, bungling indeed and imperfect, but
better than letting the Legislature take the
nomination of the Executive entirely from the
people. — To TENCH COXE. iv, 345. FORD ED.,
vii, 475. (W., Dec. 1800.)
2495. ELECTIONS (Presidential, 1800),
Usurpation and. — In the event of an usurpa
tion, I was decidedly with those who were
determined not to permit it. Because that
precedent once set, would be artificially repro
duced, and end soon in a dictator. Virginia
was bristling up, I believe. I shall know the
particulars from Governor Monroe, whom I ex
pect to meet in a short visit I must make home.
— To THOMAS McKEAN. iv, 369. FORD ED.,
viii, 12. (W., March 1801.)
2496. ELECTIONS (Presidential, 1804),
Appeal to country.— The abominable slan
ders of my political enemies have obliged me
to call for that verdict [on my conduct] from
my country in the only way it can be obtained,
and if obtained, it will be my sufficient vouch-
ei to the rest of the world and to posterity,
and leave me free to seek, at a definite time,
the repose I sincerely wished to have retired to
now. I suffer myself to make no inquiries
as to the persons who are to be placed on the
rolls of competition for the public favor. Re
spect for myself, as well as for the public, re
quires that I should be the silent and passive
subject of their consideration. — To THOMAS
McKEAN. FORD ED., viii, 293. (W., Jan. 1804.)
2497. ELECTIONS (Presidential, 1804),
Non-interference with.— [I said to Colonel
Burr] that in the election now coming on, I
was observing the same conduct [as in 1800] ;
held no councils with anybody respecting it,
nor suffered anyone to speak to me on the sub
ject, believing it my duty to leave myself to
the free discussion of the public ; that I do not
at this moment know, nor have ever heard, who
were to be proposed as candidates for the pub
lic choice, except so far as could be gathered
from the newspapers. — THE ANAS. ix, 205.
FORD ED., i, 302. (January 1804.)
2498. . I never interfered di
rectly or indirectly, with my friends or any
others, to influence the election either for him
[Aaron Burr] or myself. I considered it as
my duty to be merely passive, except that in
Virginia I had taken some measures to procure
for him the unanimous vote of that State, be
cause I thought any failure there might be
imputed to me. — THE ANAS, ix, 205. FORD ED.,
i, 302. (1804.)
2499. ELECTIONS (Presidential, 1808),
Neutrality of Jefferson.— I see with infinite
grief a contest arising between yourself and
another, who have been very dear to each
other, and equally so to me. I sincerely pray
that these dispositions may not be affected be
tween you; with me I confidently trust they
will not. For independently of the dictates of
public duty, which prescribe neutrality to me,
my sincere friendship for you both will en
sure its sacred observance. I suffer no one
to converse with me on the subject. I already
perceive my old friend Clinton, estranging him
self from me. No doubt lies are carried to him,
as they will be to the other two candidates,
under forms which, however false, he can
scarcely question. Yet, I have been equally
careful as to him also, never to say a word on
this subject. The object of the contest is a fair
and honorable one, equally open to you all ;
and I have no doubt the personal conduct of all
will be so chaste, as to offer no ground of dis
satisfaction with each other. But your friends
will not be as delicate. I know too well from
experience the progress of political controversy,
and the exacerbation of spirit into which it
degenerates, not to fear the continuance of your
mutual esteem. One piquing thing said draws
on another, that a third, and always with in
creasing acrimony, until all restraint is thrown
off, and it becomes difficult for yourselves to
keep clear of the toils in which your friends
will endeavor to interlace you, and to avoid the
participation in their passions which they will
endeavor to produce. A candid recollection of
what you know of each other will be the true
corrective. With respect to myself, I hope they
will spare me. My longings for retirement are
so strong, that I with difficulty encounter the
daily drudgeries of my duty. But my wish for
retirement itself is not stronger than that of
carrying into it the affections of all my friends.
I have ever ^viewed Mr. Madison and yourself
as two principal pillars of my happiness. Were
either to be withdrawn, I should consider it as
among the greatest calamities which could assail
my future peace of mind. I have great con-
Elections
Kin bargo
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
286
fidence that the candor and high understanding
of both will guard me against this misfortune,
the bare possibility of which has so far weighed
on my mind, that I could not be easy without
unburthening it. — To JAMES MONROE, v, 247.
FORD ED., ix, 177- (W., Feb. 1808.)
2500. . In the present contest in
which you are concerned I feel no passion, I
take no part, I express no sentiment. Which
ever of my friends is called to the supreme
cares of the nation, I know that they will be
wisely and faithfully administered, and as far
as my individual conduct can influence, they
shall be cordially supported. — To JAMES MON
ROE, v, 255. (March 1808.)
2501. . The Presidential question
is clearly up daily, and the opposition subsi
ding. It is very possible that the suffrage of the
nation may be undivided. But with this ques
tion it is my duty not to intermeddle. — To
MERI WETHER LEWIS, v, 321. FORD ED., ix,
200. (W., July 1808.)
2502. ELECTIONS (Presidential, 1816),
Good Feeling in. — I have been charmed to
see that a Presidential election now produces
scarcely any agitation. On Mr. Madison's elec
tion there was little, on Monroe's all but none.
In Mr. Adams's time and mine, parties were so
nearly balanced as to make the struggle fearful
for our peace. But since the decided ascend
ency of the republican body, federalism has
looked on with silent but unresisting anguish.
In the middle, southern and western States, it is
as low as it ever can be ; for nature has made
some men monarchists and tories by their con
stitution, and some, of course, there always
will be. — To ALBERT GALLATIN. vii, 80. FORD
ED., x, 92. (M., 1817.)
2503. ELECTIONS (Presidential, 1824),
Constitutional Construction and. — I hope
the choice [of the next President] will fall on
some real republican, who will continue the
administration on the express principles of the
Constitution, unadulterated by constructions re
ducing it to a blank to be filled with what every
one pleases, and what never was intended. — To
SAMUEL H. SMITH. FORD ED., x, 264. (M., Dec.
1823.)
2504. . On the question of the
next Presidential election, I am a mere looker-
on. I never permit myself to express an opin
ion, or to feel a wish on the subject. I indulge
a single hope only, that the choice may fall on
one who will be a friend of peace, of economy,
of the republican principles of our Constitution,
and of the salutary distribution of powers made
by that between the general and the local gov
ernments. — To SAMUEL SMITH, vii, 286. FORD
EI>., x, 253. (M., 1823.)
2505. ELECTIONS (Presidential, 1824),
Lafayette's visit and. — The eclat of Lafay
ette's visit has almost merged the Presidential
question on which nothing scarcely is said
in our papers. That question will lie ultimately
between Crawford and Adams ; but, at the same
time, the vote of the people will be so dis
tracted by subordinate candidates, that possibly
they may make no election, and let it go to the
House of Representatives. There, it is thought,
Crawford's chance is best. — To RICHARD RUSH.
vii, 380. FORD ED., x, 322. (M., October
1824.)
2506. ELECTIONS (Presidential, 1824),
Militarism and. — This Presidential election
has given me few anxieties. With you this
must have been impossible, independently of the
question, whether we are at last to end our days
under a civil or a military government. — To
JOHN ADAMS, vii, 387. (M., 1825.)
2507. ELECTIONS (Presidential, 1824),
Passiveness of Jefferson.— [n the Presiden
tial election I am entirely passive. * * * Both
favorites are republican, both will administer
the government honestly. — To THOMAS LEIPER.
FORD ED., x, 299. (M., 1824.)
2508. ELECTIONS (Presidential, 1824),
Sectionalism in.— Who is to be the next
President? * * * The question will be ulti
mately reduced to the northernmost and south
ernmost candidate. The former will get every
federal vote in the Union, and many repub
licans ; the latter, all of those denominated of
the old school; for you are not to believe that
these two parties are amalgamated, that the lion
and the lamb are lying down together. — To
MARQUIS LAFAYETTE, vii, 325. FORD ED. x,
280. (M., 1823.)
— ELECTORAL COLLEGE.— See PRESI
DENCY.
- ELECTRICITY.— See VEGETATION.
2509. ELLSWORTH (Oliver), Resigna
tion. — Ellsworth remains in France for the
benefit of his health. He has resigned his of
fice of Chief Justice. Putting these two things
together, we cannot misconstrue his views. He
must have had great confidence in Mr. Adams's
continuance to risk such a certainty as he
held. — To JAMES MADISON, iv, 343. FORD ED.,
vii, 471. (W., Dec. 1800.)
2510. ELOQUENCE, Models of.— In a
country and government like ours, eloquence is
a powerful instrument, well worthy of the
special pursuit of our youth. Models, indeed,
of chaste and classical oratory are truly too
rare with us ; nor do I recollect any remarkable
in England. Among the ancients the most
perfect specimens are perhaps to be found in
Livy, Sallust and Tacitus. Their pith and
brevity constitute perfection itself for an au
dience of sages, on whom froth and fancy
would be lost in air. But in ordinary cases,
and with us particularly, more development is
necessary. For senatorial eloquence, Demos
thenes is the finest model ; for the bar, Cicero.
The former had more logic, the latter more
imagination. Of the eloquence of the pen, we
have fine samples in English. Robertson,
Sterne, Addison, are of the first merit in the
different characters of composition. Hume, in
the circumstance of style, is equal to any ; but
his tory principles spread a cloud over his many
and great excellences. The charms of his style
and matter have made tories of all England,
and doubtful republicans here. — To G. W.
SUMMERS, vii, 231. (M., 1822.)
— EMANCIPATION.— See COLONIES,
SLAVERY.
2511. EMBARGO, Action advised.— The
commu-ications * now made [to Congress]
showing the great and increasing dangers with
which our vessels, our seamen, and merchan
dise, are threatened on the high seas, and else
where, from the belligerent powers of Europe,
and it being of great importance to keep in
* The decrees of the French government of Novem
ber 21, 1806, and of Spain, February iq, 1807, with
the orders of the British government of January and
November, 1807.— EDITOR.
287
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Embargo
safety these essential resources, I deem it my
duty to recommend the subject to the consid
eration of Congress, who will doubtless per
ceive all the advantages which may be ex
pected from an inhibition of the departure of
our vessels from the ports of the United States.
Their wisdom will also see the necessity of
making every preparation for whatever events
may grow out of the present crisis. — SPECIAL
MESSAGE, viii, 89. FORD ED., ix, 169. (Dec.
18, 1807.)
2512. . Although the decree of
the French government of November 21
[1807] comprehended, in its literal terms, the
commerce of the United States, yet the prompt
explanation by one of the ministers of that
government that it was not so understood, and
that our treaty would be respected, the prac
tice which took place in the French ports con
formably with that explanation, and the recent
interference of that government to procure in
Spain a similar construction of a similar decree
there, had given well-founded expectation tha£
it would not be extended to us ; and this was
much strengthened by the consideration of their
obvious interests. But the information from
our minister at Paris * * * is, that it is
determined to extend the effect of that decree
to us ; and it is probable that Spain and the
other Atlantic and Mediterranean States of
Europe will cooperate in the same measure.
The British regulations had before reduced us
to a direct voyage to a single port of their ene
mies, and it is now believed they will interdict
all commerce whatever with them. A procla
mation, too, of that government (not officially,
indeed, communicated to us, yet so given out
to the public as to become a rule of action with
them) seems to have shut the door on all ne
gotiation with us, except as to the single ag
gression on the Chesapeake. The sum of these
mutual enterprises on our national rights is
that France, and her allies, reserving for
further consideration the prohibiting our car
rying anything to the British territories, have
virtually done it, by restraining our bringing
a return cargo from them ; and Great Britain,
after prohibiting a great proportion of our com
merce with France and her allies, is now be
lieved to have prohibited the whole. The
whole world is thus laid under interdict by
these two nations, and our vessels, their car
goes and crews, are to be taken by the one or
the other, for whatever place they may be des
tined, out of our own limits. If, therefore, on
leaving our harbors we are certainly to lose
them, is it not better, as to vessels, cargoes,
and seamen, to keep them at home? This is
submitted to the wisdom of Congress, who
alone are competent to provide a remedy. — To
JOHN MASON, v, 217. (Dec. 1807.)
2513. . These decrees and or
ders,* taken together, want little of amounting
to a declaration that every neutral vessel found
on the high seas, whatsoever be her cargo, and
whatsoever foreign port be that of her de
parture or destination, shall be deemed law-
fnl prize ; and they prove, more and more,
the expediency of retaining our vessels, our
seamen, and property, within our own harbors,
until the dangers to which they are exposed
can be removed or lessened. — SPECIAL MES
SAGE, viii, 100. FORD ED., ix, 185. (March
1808.)
• Jefferson sent with this message an additional
decree of Bonaparte, dated December 17, 1807, and a
similar decree of the King of Spain, dated January
3, 1808.— EDITOR.
— EMBARGO, Adams (J. Q.) and.— See
2587-
2514. EMBARGO, Alternative of war.
— The alternative was between that and war,
and, in fact, it is the last card we have to play,
short of war.* — To LEVI LINCOLN, v, 265.
(W., March 1808.)
2515. _. Could the alternative ot
war, or the Embargo, have been presented to
the whole nation, as it occurred to their repre
sentatives, there could have been but the one
opinion that it was better to take the chance
of one year by the Embargo, with'in which the
orders and decrees producing it may be re
pealed, or peace take place in Europe, which
may secure peace to us. — To BENJAMIN SMITH.
v, 293. FORD ED., ix, 194. (M., May 1808.)
2516. . All regard to the rights
of others having been thrown aside, the bellig
erent powers have beset the highway of com
mercial intercourse with edicts which, taken
together, expose our commerce and mariners,
under almost every destination, a prey to their
fleets and armies. Each party, indeed, would
admit our commerce with themselves, with a
view of associating us in their war against the
other. But we have wished war with neither.
Under these circumstances were passed the laws
of which you complain, by those delegated to
exercise the powers of legislation for you, with
every sympathy of a common interest in exer
cising them faithfully. In reviewing these
measures, therefore, we should advert to the
difficulties out of which a choice was of ne
cessity to be made. To have submitted our
rightful commerce to prohibitions and tributary
exactions from others, would have been to
surrender our independence. To resist them
by armies was war, without consulting the state
of things or the choice of the nation. The
alternative preferred by the Legislature of
suspending a commerce placed under such
unexampled difficulties, besides saving to our
citizens their property, and our mariners to
their country, has the peculiar advantage of
giving time to the belligerent nations to re
vise a conduct as contrary to their interests
as it is to our rights. — REPLY TO A BOSTON
REPEAL REQUEST, viii, 134. (Aug. 1808.)
2517. . We have to choose be-
between the alternatives of Embargo and war.
There is indeed one and only one other, that
is submission and tribute. For all the fed
eral propositions for trading to the places per
mitted by the edicts of the belligerents, result
in fact in submission, although they do not
choose to pronounce the naked word. — To MR
LETUE. v, 384. (W., Nov. 1808.)
2518. . The measures respecting
our intercourse with foreign nations were the
result of a choice between two evils, either to
call and keep at home our seamen and property,
or suffer them to be taken under the edicts of
the belligerent powers. How a difference of
opinion could arise between these alternatives
is still difficult to explain on any acknowledged
ground ; and I am persuaded that when the
storm and agitation characterizing the present
* " The Embargo," says Morse in his Life of Jeffer
son," was a civilized policy, worthy of respect. More
over, it was a sensible policy. Jefferson alone un
derstood in that time the truth, which is now more
generally appreciated, that by sheer growth in pop
ulation, wealth and industry, a nation gains the
highest degree of substantial power and authority
-EDITOR.
JEmfoargo
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
288
prejudice shall have yielded to reason its
usurped place, and especially when posterity
shall pass its sentence on the present times,
justice will be rendered to the course which has
been pursued. To the advantages derived from
the choice which v/as made will be added the
improvements and discoveries made and ma
king in the arts, and the establishments in do
mestic manufacture, the effects whereof will
be permanent and diffused through our wide-
extended continent. — R. TO A. MARYLAND CITI
ZENS, viii, 164. (1809.)
2519. EMBARGO, Amendments to law.
— If, on considering the doubts I shall sug
gest, you shall still think your draft of a sup
plementary Embargo law sufficient, in its pres
ent form, I shall be satisfied, i. Is not the
first paragraph against the Constitution, which
says no preference shall be given to the ports
of one State over those of another? You
might put down those ports as ports of entry,
if that could be made to do. 2. Could not your
second paragraph be made to answer by ma
king it say, that no clearance shall be furnished
to any vessel laden with provisions or lumber,
to go from one port to another of the United
States, without special permission, &c. In that
case, we might lay down rules for the neces
sary removal of provisions and lumber, inland,
which should give no trouble to the citizens,
but refuse licenses for all coasting transporta
tion of those articles but on such applications
from a Governor as may ensure us against
any exportation but for the consumption of his
State. Portsmouth, Boston, Charleston, and
Savannah, are fhe only ports which cannot be
supplied inland. I should like to prohibit col
lections, also, made evidently for clandestine
importation. 3. I would rather strike out the
words, " in conformity with treaty," in order
to avoid any express recognition at this day
of that article of the British treaty. It has
been so flagrantly abused as to excite the In
dians to war against us, that I should have no
hesitation in declaring it null, as soon as we
see means of supplying the Indians ourselves.
I should have no objections to extend the
exception to the Indian furs purchased by
our traders and sent into Canada. — To ALBERT
GALLATIN. v, 267. FORD ED., ix, 189. (W.,
March 1808.)
2520. EMBARGO, Approval of.— It is a
circumstance of great satisfaction that the pro
ceedings of the government are approved by
the respectable Legislature of Massachusetts,,
and especially the late important measure of
the Embargo. The hearty concurrence of the
States in that measure, will have a great effect
in Europe. — To JAMES SULLIVAN, v, 252.
(W., March 1808.)
2521. . Through the body of
our country generally our citizens appear
heartily to approve and support the Embargo.
— To BENJ. SMITH, v, 294. FORD ED., ix,
195. (M., May 1808.)
2522. . I see with satisfaction
that this measure of self-denial is approved
and supported by the great body of our real
citizens, that they meet with cheerfulness the
temporary privations it occasions. — R. TO A.
NEW HAMPSHIRE LEGISLATURE. viii, 131.
(1808.)
2523. - — . The Embargo appears to
be approved, even by the federalists of every
quarter except yours. [Massachusetts.] To
LEVI LINCOLN, v, 265. (W., March 1808.)
2524. . That the Embargo is ap
proved by the body of republicans through
the Union, cannot be doubted. It is equally
known that a great proportion of the federal
ists approve of it; but as they think it an
engine which may be used advantageously
against the republican system, they counte
nance the clamors against it. — To D. C.
BRENT, v, 305. (W., June 1808.)
2525. . While the opposition to
the late laws of Embargo has in one quarter
amounted almost to rebellion and treason, it
is pleasing to know that all the rest of the
nation has approved of the proceedings of the
constituted authorities. The steady union
* * * of our fellow citizens of South
Carolina, is entirely in their character. They
have never failed in fidelity to their country
and the republican spirit of the Constitution.
Never before was that union more needed or
more salutary than under our present crisis. —
To MR. LETUE. v, 384. (W., Nov. 1808.)
2526. EMBARGO, Authority to sus
pend.— The decrees and orders of the bellig
erent nations having amounted nearly to decla
rations that they would take our vessels
wherever found, Congress thought it best, in
the first instance, to break off all intercourse
with them. They * * * passed an act au
thorizing me to suspend the Embargo when
ever the belligerents should revoke their de
crees or orders as to us. The Embargo must
continue, therefore, till they meet again in No
vember, unless the measures of the belligerents
should change. When they meet again, if these
decrees and orders still continue, the question
which they will have to decide will be, whether
a continuance of the Embargo or war will be
preferable. — To WILLIAM LYMAN. v, 279.
(W., April 1808.)
2527. . If they repeal their or
ders, we must repeal our Embargo. If they
make satisfaction for the Chesapeake, we must
revoke our proclamation and generalize its
operation by a law. If they keep up impress
ments, we must adhere to non-intercourse,
manufacturer's and a navigation act. — To
JAMES MADISON, v, 361. FORD ED., ix, 208.
(M., Sep. 1808.)
2528. EMBARGO, Averts war.— The
immediate danger * * * of a rupture with
England, is postponed for this year. This is
effected by the Embargo, as the question was
simply between that and war. — To CHARLES
PINCKNEY. v, 266. (W., March 1808.)
2529.
. The Embargo, keeping at
home our vessels, cargoes and seamen, saves
us the necessity of making their capture the
cause of immediate war ; for, if going to Eng
land, France had determined to take them, if
to any other place, England was to take them.
Till they return to some sense of moral duty,
therefore, we keep within ourselves. This
gives time. Time may produce peace in Eu
rope ; peace in Europe removes all causes of
difference, till another European war ; and by
that time our debt may be paid, our revenues
clear, and our strength increased. — To JOHN
TAYLOR, v, 227. (W., Jan. 1808.)
2530. EMBARGO, Belligerent Powers
and. — I take it to be an universal opinion that
war will become preferable to a continuance
Thomas Jefferson
Aye about .//" years
. From tin1 fresco painting by Hrumidi. It \v:is painted, at the tinie Jefferson was Secretary
of State, ort the wall in the President 's room of the Tinted States Capitol. Bnimidi, the
artist, is renowned for his fine ii^ure fresco work. Specimens of his art are to be found in
many of tin- rooms, corridors, and halls of the I'niled States Capitol.
L4J
289
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Embargo
of the Embargo after a certain time. Should
we not, then, avail ourselves of the inter
vening period to procure a retraction of the
obnoxious decrees peaceably, if possible? An
opening is given us by both parties, sufficient
to form a basis for such a proposition. I wish
you, therefore, to consider the following course
of proceeding, to wit : To instruct our min
isters at Paris and London to propose imme
diately to both those powers a declaration on
both sides that these decrees and orders shall
no longer be extended to vessels of the United
States, in which case we shall remain faith
fully neutral ; but, without assuming the air
of menace, to let them both perceive that if
they do not both withdraw these orders and de
crees, there will arrive a time when our in
terests will render war preferable to a continu
ance of the Embargo; that when that time
arrives, if one has withdrawn and the other
not, we must declare war against that other ;
if neither shall have withdrawn, we must take
our choice of enemies between them. This, it
will certainly be our duty to have ascertained
by the time Congress shall meet in the fall
or beginning of winter ; so that taking off the
Embargo, they may decide whether war must
be declared, and against whom. — To JAMES
MADISON, v, 257. FORD ED., ix, 179. (W.,
March 1808.) See 2558.
2531. EMBARGO, Benefits of.— It has
rescued from capture an important capital, and
our seamen from the jails of Europe. It has
given time to prepare for defence, and has
shown to the aggressors of Europe that evil,
as well as good actions, recoil on the doers. — R.
TO A. PlTTSBURG REPUBLICANS, viil, 141. (1808.)
2532. . I have been highly grati
fied with the late general expressions of public
sentiment in favor of a measure which alone
could have saved us from immediate war, and
give time to call home eighty millions of prop
erty, twenty or thirty thousand seamen, and
two thousand vessels. These are now nearly
at home, and furnish a great capital, much of
which will go into manufactures, and seamen
to man a fleet of privateers, whenever our citi
zens shall prefer war to a longer continuance
of the Embargo. Perhaps, however, the whole
of the ocean may be tired of the solitude it has
made on that element, and return to honest
principles ; and his brother robber on the land
may see that, as to us, the grapes are sour. —
To JOHN LANGDON. FORD ED., ix, 201. (M.,
Aug. 1808.)
2533. . It alone could have saved
us from immediate war, and give time to call
home eighty millions of property, twenty or
thirty thousand seamen, and two thousand
vessels. These are now nearly at home, and
furnish a great capital, much of which will go
into manufactures and remain to man a fleet
of privateers, whenever our citizens shall pre
fer war to a longer continuance of the Em
bargo. Perhaps, however, the whole of the
ocean may be tired of the solitude it has made
on that element, and return to honest princi
ples, and that his brother robber on the land
may see that, as to us, the grapes are sour. —
To GOVERNOR JOHN LANGDON. viii, 132. FORD
ED., ix, 201. (M., Aug. 1808.)
2534. . We have the satisfaction,
to reflect that in return for the privations by the
measure, and which our fellow citizens in gen
eral have borne with patriotism, it has had the
important effects of saving our mariners and our
vast mercantile property, as well as of affording
time for prosecuting the defensive and provi
sional measures called for by the occasion. It
has demonstrated to foreign nations the mod
eration and firmness which govern our coun
cils, and to our citizens the necessity of uniting
in support of the laws and the rights of their
country, and has thus long frustrated those
usurpations and spoliations which, if resisted,
involve war; if submitted to, sacrificed a
vital principle of our national independence. —
EIGHTH ANNUAL MESSAGE, viii. 105. FORD
ED., ix, 219. (1808.)
2535. e By withdrawing a while
from the ocean we have suffered some loss ;
but we have gathered home our immense capi
tal, exposed to foreign depredation, we have
saved pur seamen from the jails of Europe,
and gained time to prepare for the defence of
our country. — R. TO A. CONNECTICUT REPUB
LICANS, viii, 140. (Nov. 1808.)
2536. . The edicts of the two
belligerents, forbidding us to be seen on the
ocean, we met by an Embargo. This gave us
time to call home our seamen, ships and prop
erty, to levy men and put our seaports into a
certain state of defence. — To DUPONT DE NE
MOURS, v, 432. (W., March 1809.)
— EMBARGO, Bonaparte's views on.—
See 861.
2537. EMBARGO, Coasting trade and.
—With respect to the coasting trade, my wish
is only to carry into full effect the intentions
of the Embargo laws. I do not wish a single
citizen in any of the States to be deprived
of a meal of bread, but I set down the exercise
of commerce, merely for profit, as nothing when
it carries with it the danger of defeating the
objects of the Embargo. — To ALBERT GALLATIN.
v, 297. (M., May 1808.)
2538. EMBARGO, Coercion of Europe.—
The resolutions of the republican citizens of
Boston are worthy of the ancient character of
the sons of Massachusetts, and of the spirit of
concord with her sister States, which, and
which alone, carried us successfully through
the Revolutionary war, and finally placed us
under that national government, which con
stitutes the safety of every part, by uniting for
its protection the powers of the whole. The
moment for exerting these united powers, to
repel the injuries of the belligerents of Europe,
seems likely to be pressed upon us. — To WILL
IAM EUSTIS. v, 410. FORD ED., ix, 235. (W.,
Jan. 1809.)
2539. EMBARGO, Congress and.— The
House of Representatives passed last night a
bill for the meeting of Congress on the 22d of
May. This substantially decides the course
they mean to pursue; that is, to let the Em
bargo continue till then, when it will cease,
and letters of marque and reprisal be issued
against such nations as shall not then have
repealed their obnoxious edicts. The great ma
jority seem to have made up their minds on
this, while there is considerable diversity of
opinion on the details of preparation ; to wit,
naval force, volunteers, army, non-intercourse.
— To THOMAS LIEPER. v, 417. FORD ED., ix,
238. (W., January 21, 1809.)
2540. EMBARGO, Duration of. — The em
bargo may go on a certain time, perhaps
through the year, without the loss of property
to our citizens, but only its remaining unem
ployed on their hands. A time would come,
Embargo
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
290
however, when war would be preferable to a
continuance of the Embargo. — To CHARLES
PINCKNEY. v, 266. (W., March 1808.)
2541. . The absurd opinion has
been propagated, that this temporary and neces
sary arrangement was to be a permanent sys
tem, and was intended for the destruction of
commerce. The sentiments expressed in the
paper you were so kind as to enclose to me^
[address of Boston republicans] show that
those who have concurred in them have judged
with more candor the intentions of their gov
ernment, and are sufficiently aware of the tend
ency of the excitements and misrepresentations
which have been practiced on this occasion. —
To DR. WILLIAM EUSTIS. v, 410. FORD ED.,
ix, 235. (W., January 1809.)
2542. EMBARGO, Effect on industry.—
Of the several interests composing those of the
United States, that of manufactures would, of
course, prefer to war a state of non-intercourse,
so favorable to their rapid growth and pros
perity. Agriculture, although sensibly feeling
the loss of market for its produce, would find
many aggravations in a state of war. Com
merce and navigation, or that portion which is
foreign, in the inactivity to which they are
reduced by the present state of things, certainly
experience their full share in the general in
convenience ; but whether war would to them
be a preferable alternative, is a question their
patriotism would never hastily propose. It is
to be regretted, however, that overlooking the
real sources of the sufferings, the British and
French edicts which constitute the actual
blockade of our foreign commerce and naviga
tion, they have, with too little reflection, im
puted them to laws which have saved them
from greater, and have preserved for our own
use our vessels, property and seamen, instead
of adding them to the strength of those with
whom we might eventually have to contend.
The Embargo, giving time to the belligerent
powers to revise their unjust proceedings, and
to listen to the dictates of justice, of interest
and reputation, which equally urge the correc
tion of their wrongs, has availed our country
of the only honorable expedient for avoiding
war; and should a repeal of these edicts su
persede the cause for it, our commercial breth
ren will become sensible that it has consulted
their interests, however against their own will.
It will be unfortunate for their country if, in
the meantime, these their expressions of im
patience, should have the effect of prolonging
the very sufferings which have produced them,,
by exciting a fallacious hope that we may,,
under any pressure, relinquish our equal right
of navigating the ocean, go to such ports only
as others may prescribe, and there pay the trib
utary exactions they may impose ; an abandon
ment of national independence and of essen
tial rights, revolting to every manly sentiment.
While these edicts are in force, no American
can ever consent to a return of peaceable in
tercourse with those who maintain them. —
To THE CITIZENS OF BOSTON, viii, 136. (Aug.
1808.)
2543. EMBARGO, Enforcing.-— I am for
going substantially to the object of the law,
and no further ; perhaps a little more earnestly
because it is the first expedient, and it is of
great importance to know its full effect. — To
ALBERT GALLATIN. v, 292. (M., May 1808.)
2544. . We have such complaints
of the breach of Embargo by fraud and force
on our northern water line, that I must pray
your cooperation with the Secretary of the
Treasury by rendezvousing as many new re
cruits as you can in that quarter. — To HENRY
DEARBORN, v, 322. (W., July 1808.)
2545. m i am cleariy of opinion
this law ought to be enforced at any expense,
which may not exceed our appropriation — To
ALBERT GALLATIN. v, 336. (M., Aug. 1808.)
2546. . jn the support of the
Embargo laws, our only limit should be that
ot the appropriations of the department.— To
ROBERT SMITH, v, 337. (M., Aug. 1808.)
2547. . The great leading object
of the Legislature was, and ours in execution of
it ought to be, to give complete effect to the
Embargo laws. They have bidden agriculture,
commerce, navigation, to bow before that ob
ject, to be nothing when in competition with it.
Finding all their endeavors at general rules to
be evaded, they finally gave us the power of
detention as the panacea, and I am clear we
ought to use it freely that we may, by a fair ex
periment, know the power of this great weapon,
the Embargo. — To ALBERT GALLATIN. v, 287.
(May 1808.)
2548. . It is important to crush
every example of forcible opposition to the law.
— To ALBERT GALLATIN. v, 271. (1808.)
2549. . The pressure of the Em
bargo, although sensibly felt by every descrip
tion of our fellow citizens, has yet been cheer
fully borne by most of them, under the con
viction that it was a temporary evil, and a
necessary one to save us from greater and more
permanent evils, — the loss of property and sur
render of rights. But it would have been more
cheerfully borne, but for the knowledge that,
while honest men were religiously observing
it, the unprincipled along our sea-coast and
frontiers were fraudulently evading it ; and that
in some ^ parts they had even dared to break
through it openly, by an armed force too pow
erful to be opposed by the collector and his
assistants. To put an end to this scandalous
insubordination to the laws, the Legislature
has authorized the President to empower proper
persons to employ militia, for preventing or
suppressing armed or riotous assemblages of
persons resisting the custom-house officers in
the exercise of their duties, or opposing or
violating the Embargo laws. He sincerely
hopes that, during the short time which these
restrictions are expected to continue, no other
instances will take place of a crime of so deep
a dye. But it is made his duty to take the
measures necessary to meet it. He, therefore,
requests you, as commanding officer of the
militia of your State, to appoint some officer
of the militia, of known respect for the laws,
in or near to each port of entry within your
State, with orders, when applied to by the col
lector of the district, to assemble immediately
a sufficient force of his militia, and to employ
them efficaciously to maintain the authority of
the laws respecting the Embargo. * * *
He has referred this appointment to your Ex
cellency because your knowledge of characters
or means of obtaining it, will enable you to
select one who can be most confided in to ex
ercise so serious a power, with all the discre
tion, the forbearance, the kindness even, which
the enforcement of the law will possibly admit
— ever to bear in mind that the life of a citi
zen, is never to be endangered, but as the last
melancholy effort for the maintenance of order
291
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Embargo
and obedience to the laws. — To THE GOVERNORS
OF THE STATES, v, 413. FORD ED., ix, 237.
(W., Jan. 1809.)
2550. EMBARGO, Evasions of.— The
evasions of the preceding Embargo laws went
so far towards defeating their objects, and
chiefly by vessels clearing out coast-wise, that
Congress, by their act of April 25th, authorized
the absolute detention of all vessels bound
coast-wise with cargoes exciting suspicions of
an intention to evade those laws. There being
few towns on our sea-coast which cannot be
supplied with flour from their interior country,
shipments of flour become generally suspicious
and proper subjects of detention. Charleston
is one of the few places on our seaboard which
need supplies of flour by sea for its own con
sumption. That it may not suffer by the cau
tions we are obliged to use, I request of your
Excellency, whenever you deem it necessary
that your present or any future stock should
be enlarged, to take the trouble of giving your
certificate in favor of any merchant in whom
you have confidence, directed to the collector
of any port, usually exporting flour, from which
he may choose to bring it, for any quantity
which you may deem necessary for consump
tion beyond your interior supplies, enclosing to
the Secretary of the Treasury at the same time
a duplicate of the certificate as a check on the
falsification of your signature. In this way
we may secure a supply of the real wants of
our citizens, and at the same time prevent those
wants from being made a cover for the crimes
against their country which unprincipled ad
venturers are in the habit of committing.* — To
THE GOVERNOR OF SOUTH CAROLINA, v, 286.
(W., May 1808.)
2551. . Should these reasonable
Srecautions [to insure adequate^ supplies of
our] be followed, as is surmised in your letter,
by an artificial scarcity, with a view to pro
mote turbulence of any sort or on any pretext,
I trust for an ample security against this
danger to the character of my fellow citizens of
Massachusetts, which has, I think, been em
phatically marked by obedience to law, and a
love of order. And I have no doubt that whilst
we do our duty, they will support us in it. The
Maws enacted by the General Government, have
made it our duty to have the Embargo strictly
enforced, for the general good; and we are
sworn to execute the laws. If clamor ensue,
it will be from the few only, who will clamor
whatever we do. — To JAMES SULLIVAN, v,
341. FORD ED., ix, 206. (M., Aug. 1808.)
2552. . The belligerent edicts
rendered our Embargo necessary to call home
our ships, our seamen and property. We ex
pected some effect too from the coercion of
interest. Some it has had ; but much less on
account of evasions, and domestic opposition
to it. — To GENERAL ARMSTRONG, v, 433. (W.,
March 1*809. )
2553. EMBARGO, Exports and. — After
fifteen months' continuance it is now discontin
ued, because, losing $50,000,000 of exports an
nually by it, it costs more than war, which
might be carried on for a thiro of that, besides
what might be got by reprisal. War, therefore,
must follow if the edicts are not repealed be
fore the meeting of Congress in May. — To
GENERAL ARMSTRONG, v, 433. (W., March
1809.)
* A similar notification was sent to the Governors
of New Orleans, Georgia, Massachusetts and New
Hampshire. — EDITOR.
2554. EMBARGO, Fair trial of.— My
principle is that the convenience of our citizens
shall yield reasonably, and their taste greatly
to the importance of giving the present ex
periment so fair a trial that on future oc
casions our legislators may know with certainty
how far they may count on it as an engine for
national purposes. — To ALBERT GALLATIN. v,
309. (W., July 1808.)
2555. EMBARGO, Federalists and.—
The federalists during their short-lived ascend
ency have, by forcing us from the Embargo,
inflicted a wound on our interests which can
never be cured, and on our affections which
will require time to cicatrize. I ascribe all
this to one pseudo-republican, Story. He came
on (in place of Crowningshield, I believe) and
stayed only a few days ; long enough, however,
to get complete hold of Bacon, who, giving in
to his representations, became panic-struck,
and communicated his panic to his colleagues,
and they to a majority of the sound members
of Congress. They believed in the alternative
of repeal or civil war, and produced the fatal
measure of repeal. — To HENRY DEARBORN, v,
529. FORD EDV ix, 277. (M., July 1810.) See
2568, 2587.
2556. EMBARGO, Foreign subjects
and. — The principle of our indulgence of ves
sels to foreign ministers was, that it was fair
to let them send away all their subjects caught
here by the Embargo, and who had no other
means of getting away. — To ALBERT GALLATIN.
v, 347. (M., Aug. 1808.)
2557. EMBARGO, Foreign trade and.—
The Embargo laws will have hastened the day
when an equilibrium between the occupations
of agriculture, manufactures and commerce,
shall simplify our foreign concerns to the ex
change only of that surplus which we cannot
consume for those articles of reasonable com
fort, or convenience, which we cannot produce.
— R. TO A. PENNSYLVANIA CITIZENS, viii, 163.
(1809.)
2558. EMBARGO, France, England and.
— Our ministers at London and Paris were
instructed to explain to the respective govern
ments there, our disposition to exercise the au
thority in such manner as would withdraw the
pretext on which the aggressions were origi
nally founded, and open a way for a renewal
of that commercial intercourse which it was
alleged on all sides had been reluctantly ob
structed. As each of those governments had
pledged its readiness to concur in renouncing a
measure which reached its adversary through
the incontestable rights of neutrals only, and
as the measure had been assumed by each as a
retaliation for an asserted acquiescence in the
aggressions of the other, it was reasonably ex
pected that an occasion would have been seized
by both for evincing the sincerity of their
profession, and for restoring to the commerce
of the United States its legitimate freedom.
The instructions to our ministers with respect
to the different belligerents were necessarily
modified with reference to their different cir
cumstances, and to the condition annexed by
law to the Executive power of suspension,
requiring a degree of security to our commerce
which would not result from a repeal of the
decrees of France. Instead of a pledge, there
fore, of a suspension of the Embargo as to
her in case of such a repeal, it was presumed
that a sufficient inducement might be found in
other considerations, and particularly in the
change produced by a compliance with our
Embargo
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
292
just demands by one belligerent, and a refusal
by the other, in the relations between the other
and the United States. To Great Britain, whose
power on the ocean is so ascendant, it was
deemed not inconsistent with that condition to
state explicitly, that on her rescinding her or
ders in relation to the United States their trade
would be opened with her, and remain shut to
her enemy, in case of his failure to rescind his
decrees also. From France no answer has been
received, nor any indication that the requested
change in her decrees is contemplated. The fa
vorable reception of the proposition to Great
Britain was the less to be doubted, as her or
ders of council had not only been referred for
their vindication to an acquiescence on the part
of the United States no longer to be pretended,
but as the arrangement proposed, while it re
sisted the illegal decrees of France, involved,
moreover, substantially, the precise advantages
professedly aimed at by the British orders. The
arrangement has, nevertheless, been rejected.
This candid and liberal experiment having thus
failed, and no other event having occurred on
which a suspension of the Embargo by the Ex
ecutive was authorized, it necessarily remains
in the extent originally given to it. — EIGHTH
ANNUAL MESSAGE, viii, 103. FORD ED., ix,
214. (Nov. 1808.)
2559. EMBARGO, Frauds under.— The
Embargo law is certainly the most embarrassing
one we have ever had to execute. I did not ex
pect a crop of so sudden and rank growth of
fraud, and open opposition by force could have
grown up in the United States. — To ALBERT
GALLATIN. v, 336. (M., Aug. 1808.)
2560. . If the whole quantity of
[flour and corn] had been bond fide landed and
retained in Massachusetts, I deemed it certain
there could not be a real want for a consider
able time, and, therefore, desired the issues of
certificates might be discontinued. If, on the
other hand, a part has been carried to foreign
markets, it proves the necessity of restricting
reasonably this avenue to abuse. This is my
sole object, and. not that a real want of a single
individual should be one day unsupplied. In
this I am certain we shall have the concurrence
of all the good citizens of Massachusetts, who
are too patriotic and too just to desire, by call
ing for what is superfluous, to open a door for
the frauds of unprincipled individuals who
trampling on the laws, and forcing a commerce
shut to all others, are enriching themselves on
the sacrifices of their honester fellow citizens :
— sacrifices to which these are generally sub
mitting, as equally necessary whether to avoid
or prepare for war. — To JAMES SULLIVAN, v,
340. FORD ED., ix, 205. (M., Aug. 1808.)
2561. EMBARGO, Manufactures and.
— The Embargo laws will * * * produce the
inestimable advantage of turning the attention
and enterprise of our fellow citizens, and the
patronage of our State Legislatures, to the es
tablishment of useful manufacture in our coun
try. — R. TO A. PENNSYLVANIA CITIZENS, viii,
163. (M., March 1809.)
2562. EMBARGO, Mitigation of.— I
shall be ready to consider any propositions you
may make for mitigating the Embargo law of
April 25th, but so only as not to defeat the ob
ject of the law. — To ALBERT GALLATIN. v, 292.
(M., May 1808.)
2563. EMBARGO, Necessity for.— We
live in an age of affliction, to which the history
of nations presents no parallel. We have for
years been looking on Europe covered with
blood and violence, and seen rapine spreading
itself over the ocean. On this element it has
reached us, and at length in so serious a de
gree, that the Legislature of the nation has
thought it necessary to withdraw our citizens
and property from it, either to avoid, or to pre
pare for engaging in the general contest. — To
CAPTAIN MCGREGOR, v, 356. (M., 1808.)
2564. . During the delirium of
the warring powers, the ocean having become a
field of lawless violence, a suspension of our
navigation for a time was equally necessary to
avoid contest, or to enter it with advantage. —
R. TO A. viii, 128. (May 1808.)
2565. . Those moral principles
and conventional usages which have heretofore
been the bond of civilized nations, which have
so often preserved their peace by furnishing
common rules for the measure of their rights
have now given way to force, the law of bar
barians, and the nineteenth century dawns with
the vandalism of the fifth. Nothing has been
spared on our part to preserve the peace of
our country during this distempered state of
the world. — R. TO A. KETOCTON BAPTISTS, viii,
138. (1808.)
2566. . Assailed in our essential
rights by two of the most powerful nations on
the globe, we have remonstrated, negotiated,
and at length retired to the last stand, in the
hope of peaceably preserving our rights. In this
extremity I have entire confidence that no part
of the people in any section of the Union, will
desert the banners of their country, and co
operate with the enemies who are threatening
its existence. — R. TO A. MASSACHUSETTS MIL
ITIA, viii, 151. (1809.)
2567. . The belligerent powers
of Europe [France and England] have inter
dicted our commerce with nearly the whole
world. They have declared it shall be carried
on with such places, in such articles, and in
such measure only, as they shall dictate : thus
prostrating all the principles of right which
have hitherto protected it. After exhausting
the cup of forbearance and of conciliation to
its dregs, we found it necessary, on behalf of
that commerce, to take time to call it home into*
a state of safety, to put the towns and harbors
which carry it on into a condition of defence,
and to make further preparation for enforcing
the redress of its wrongs, and restoring it to its
rightful freedom. This required a certain
measure of time, which, although not admitting
specific limitation, must, from its avowed ob
jects, have been obvious to all ; and the prog
ress actually made towards the accomplishment
of these objects, proves it now to be near its
term. — To DR. WILLIAM EUSTIS. v, 410. FORD
ED., ix, 235. (W., January 1809.)
— EMBARGO, New England and. — See
2587.
2568. EMBARGO, Opposition to.— I am
sorry that in some places, chiefly on our north
ern frontier, a disposition even to oppose the
law by force has been manifested. In no coun
try on earth is this so impracticable as in one
where every man feels a vital interest in main-
tainly the authority of the laws, and instantly
engages in it as in his own personal cause.
Accordingly, we have experienced this spon
taneous aid of our good citizens in the neigh
borhoods where there has been occasion, as I
am persuaded we ever shall on such occasions.
Through the body of our country generally our
293
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Embargo
citizens appear heartily to approve and support
the Embargo. — To BENJAMIN SMITH, v, 293.
FORD ED., ix, 195- (M., May 1808.)
2569.
Massachusetts]
— . That the federalists [of
may attempt insurrection is
possible, and also that the Governor would sink
before it. But the republican part of the State,
and that portion of the federalists who approve
the Embargo in their judgments, and at any
rate would not court mob-law, would crush it
in embryo. I have some time ago written to
General Dearborn to be on the alert on such an
occasion, and to take direction of the public
authority on the spot. Such an incident will
rally the whole body of republicans of every
shade to a single point, — that of supporting the
public authority. — To ALBERT GALLATIN. v,
347. (M., Aug. 1808.)
2570. . The case of opposition to
the Embargo laws on the Canada line, I take it
to be that of distinct combinations of a number
of individuals to oppose by force and arms the
execution of those laws, for which purpose they
go armed, fire upon the public guards, in one
instance at least have wounded one danger
ously, and rescue property held under these
laws. This may not be an insurrection in the
popular sense of the word, but being arrayed in
warlike manner, actually committing acts of
war, and persevering systematically in defiance
of the public authority, brings it s6 fully within
the legal definition of an insurrection, that I
should not hesitate to issue a proclamation
were I not restrained by motives of which your
Excellency seems to be apprized. But as by the
laws of New York an insurrection can be acted
on without a previous proclamation, I should
conceive it perfectly correct to act on it as such,
and I cannot doubt it would be approved by
every good citizen. Should you think proper
to do so, I will undertake that the neces
sary detachments of militia, called out in support
of the laws, shall be considered as in the service
of the United States, and at their expense.
* * * I think it so important in example to
crush these audacious proceedings, and to make
the offenders feel the consequences of individ
uals daring to oppose a law by force, that no
effort should be spared to compass this object.
— To GOVERNOR TOMPKINS. v, 343. (M., Aug.
1808.)
2571. — — . The tories of Boston
openly threaten insurrection if their importa
tion of flour is stopped. The next post will
stop it. I fear your Governor is not up to the
tone of these parricides, and I hope, on the
first symptom of an open opposition to the law
by force, you will fly to the scene, and aid in
suppressing any commotion. — To HENRY DEAR
BORN, v, 334. FORD ED., ix, 201. (M., Aug.
1808.)
2572. . I have some apprehen
sion the tories of Boston, &c., with so poor a
head of a Governor, may attempt to give us
trouble. I have requested General Dearborn to
be on the alert, and fly to the spot where any
open and forcible opposition shall be com
menced, and to crush it in embryo. I am not
afraid but that there is sound matter enough in
Massachusetts to prevent an opposition of the
laws by force. — To ROBERT SMITH, v, 335.
(M., Aug. 1808.)
2573. EMBARGO, Peace and.— An Em
bargo had, by the course of events, become the
only peaceable card we had to play. — To JAMES
BOWDOIN. v, 299. (M., May 1808.)
2574. . There never has been a
situation of the world before, in which such
endeavors as we have made would not have se
cured our peace. It is probable there never will
be such another. If we go to war now, I fear
we may renounce forever the hope of seeing an
end of our national debt. If we can keep at
peace eight years longer, our income, liberated
from debt, will be adequate to any war, without
new taxes or loans, and our position and
increasing strength put us hors d'insulte from
any nation. — To JAMES MONROE, v, 420. FORD
LD., ix, 243. (W., Jan. 1809.)
2575. EMBARGO, Political effects.—
Our Embargo has worked hard. It has in fact
federalized three of the New England States. —
To WILLIAM SHORT, v, 436. FORD ED., ix, 249.
(W., March 1809.)
2576. EMBARGO, Proclamation sus
pending. — I never doubted the chicanery of
the Anglomen on whatever measures you should
take in consequence of the disavowal of Ers-
kine ; yet I am satisfied that both the proclama
tions have been sound. The first has been
sanctioned by universal approbation; and al
though it was not literally the case foreseen by
the Legislature, yet it was a proper extension
of their provision to a case similar, though not
the same. It proved to the whole world our
desire of accommodation, and must have satis
fied every candid federalist on that head. It
was not only proper on the well-grounded con
fidence that the arrangement would be honestly
executed, but ought to have taken place even
had the perfidy of England been foreseen.
Their dirty gain is richly remunerated to us by
our placing them so shamefully in the wrong,
and by the union it must produce among our
selves. The last proclamation admits of quib
bles, of which advantage will doubtless be en
deavored to be taken, by those for whom gain is
their God, and their country nothing. But it is
soundly defensible. The British minister as
sured us, that the orders of council would be
revoked before the loth of June. The Execu
tive, trusting in that assurance, declared by
proclamation that the revocation was to take
place, and on that event the law was to be sus
pended. But the event did not take place, and
the consequence, of course, could not follow.
This view is derived from the former non-inter
course law only, having never read the latter
one. I had doubted whether Congress must not
be called ; but that arose from another doubt,
whether their second law had not changed the
ground, so as to require their agency to give
operation to the law. — To PRESIDENT MADISON
v, 463. (M., Aug. 1809.)
2577. EMBARGO, Repeal.— I thought
Congress had taken their ground firmly for con
tinuing their Embargo until June and then war.
But a sudden and unaccountable revolution of
opinion took place the last week, chiefly among
the New England and New York members,
and in a kind of panic they voted the 4th of
March for removing the Embargo, and by such
a majority as gave all reason to believe they
would not agree either to war or non-inter
course. This, too, after we had become satis
fied that the Essex Junto had found their ex
pectation desperate, of inducing the people
there to either separation or forcible opposition.
The majority of Congress, however, has now
rallied to the removing the Embargo on the 4th
of March, non-intercourse with France and
Great Britain, trade everywhere else, and con
tinued war preparations. — To T. M. RANDOLPH.
v, 424. FORD ED., ix, 244. (W., Feb. 7, 1809.)
Embargo
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
294
2578. . The House of Represent
atives passed yesterday, by a vote of 81 to
40, the bill from the Senate repealing the Em
bargo the 4th of March, except against Great
Britain and France and their dependencies, es
tablishing a non-intercourse with them, and
having struck out the clause for letters of
marque and reprisal, which it is thought the
Senate will still endeavor to reinstate. — To T.
M. RANDOLPH, v, 430. FORD ED., ix, 248. (W.,
Feb. 28, 1809.)
2579. . We have taken off the
Embargo, except as to France and England and
their territories, because fifty millions of ex
ports, annually sacrificed, are the treble of what
war would cost us : besides, that by war we
should take something, and lose less than at
present. — To DUPONT DE NEMOURS, v, 432. (W.,
March 2, 1809.)
2580. . The repeal of the Em
bargo is the immediate parent of all our present
evils, and has reduced us to a low standing in
the eyes of the world. I should think that even
the federalists themselves must now be made,
by their feelings, sensible of their error. The
wealth which the Embargo brought home safely,
has now been thrown back into the laps of our
enemies, and our navigation completely crushed,
and by the unwise and unpatriotic conduct of
those engaged in it. — To HENRY DEARBORN, v,
529. FORD EDV ix, 277. (M., July 1810.)
2581. . Our business certainly
was to be still. ' But a part of our nation chose
to declare against this, in such a way as to con
trol the wisdom of the government. I yielded
with others, to avoid a greater evil. But from
that moment, I have seen no system which could
keep us entirely aloof from these agents of de
struction. [France and England.] — To DR.
WALTER JONES, v, 511. FORD ED., ix, 274.
(M., 1810.)
2582. EMBARGO, Salutary.— That the
Embargo laws were salutary and indispensably
necessary to meet the obstructions [of our com
merce], are truths as evident to every candid
man, as it is worthy of every good citizen to de
clare his reprobation of that system of opposi
tion which goes to an avowed and practical re
sistance of these laws. — R. TO A. ANNAPOLIS
CITIZENS, viii, 150. (1809.)
2583. EMBARGO, Seamen and.— The
difficulties of the crisis will certainly fall with
greater pressure on some descriptions of citizens
than on others ; and on none perhaps with
greater than our seafaring brethren. Should
any means of alleviation occur within the range
of my duties, I shall with certainty advert to the
situation of the petitioners, and, in availing the
nation of their services, aid them with a substi
tute for their former occupations. — To CAPTAIN
MCGREGOR, v, 357. (M., 1808.)
2584. EMBARGO, Submission, or War?
— The questions of submission, of war, or Em
bargo, are now before our country as unem
barrassed as at first. Submission and tribute, if
they be our choice, will be no baser now than
at the date of the Embargo. But if, as I trust,
that idea be spurned, we may now decide on
the other alternatives of war and Embargo,
with the advantage of possessing all the means
which have been rescued from the grasp of
capture. — R. TO A. CONNECTICUT REPUBLICANS.
viii, 141. (Nov. 1808.)
2585. . The congressional cam
paign is just opening. Three alternatives alone
are to be chosen from. i. Embargo. 2. War.
3. Submission and tribute. And, wonderful to
tell, the last will not want advocates. The real
question, however, will lie between the two first,
on which there is considerable division. As yet,
the first seems most to prevail ; but opinions
are by no means yet settled down. Perhaps the
advocates of the second may, to a formal dec
laration of war, prefer general letters of marque
and reprisal, because, on a repeal of their edicts
by the belligerent, a revocation of the letters
of marque restores peace without the delay, diffi
culties, and ceremonies of a treaty. On this oc
casion, I think it is fair to leave to those who
are to act on them, the decisions they prefer,
being to be myself but a spectator. I should not
feel justified in directing measures which those
who are to execute them would disapprove. Our
situation is truly difficult. We have been pressed
by the belligerents to the very wall, and all fur
ther retreat is impracticable. — To LEVI LINCOLN.
v, 387. FORD ED., ix, 227. (W., Nov. 1808.)
2586. . Under a continuance of
the belligerent measures which, in defiance of
laws which consecrate the rights of neutrals,
overspread the ocean with danger, it will rest
with the wisdom of Congress to decide on the
course best adapted to such a state of things ;
and bringing with them, as they do, from every
part of the Union, the sentiments of our con
stituents, my confidence is strengthened, that in
forming this decision they will, with an uner
ring regard to the essential rights and interests
of the nation, weigh and compare the painful
alternatives out of which a choice is to be made.
Nor should I do justice to the virtues which on
other occasions have marked the character of
our fellow citizens, if I did not cherish an equal
confidence that the alternative chosen, whatever
it may be, will be maintained with all the forti
tude and patriotism which the crisis ought to in
spire. — EIGHTH ANNUAL MESSAGE, viii, 105.
FORD EDV ix, 220. (Nov. 1808.)
2587. EMBARGO, The Union and.— Mr.
John Quincy Adams called on me pending the
Embargo, and while endeavors were making to
obtain its repeal. He made some apologies for
the call, on the ground of our not being then in
the habit of confidential communications, but
that that which he had then to make, involved
too seriously the interest of our country not to
overrule all other considerations with him, and
make it his duty to reveal it to myself particu
larly. I assured him there was no occasion for
any apology for his visit ; that, on the contrary,
his communications would be thankfully re
ceived, and would add a confirmation the more
to my entire confidence in the rectitude and
patriotism of his conduct and principles. He
spoke then of the dissatisfaction of the Eastern
portion of our confederacy with the restraints
of the Embargo then existing, and their rest
lessness under it ; that there was nothing which
might not be attempted, to rid themselves of it.
That he had information of the most unques
tionable certainty, that certain citizens of the
Eastern States (I think he named Massachusetts
particularly) were in negotiation with agents of
the British government, the object of which was
an agreement that the New England States
should take no further part in the war then
going on ; that, without formally declaring their
separation from the Union of the States, they
should withdraw from all aid and obedience to
them ; that their navigation and commerce should
be free from restraint and interruption by the
British ; that they should be considered and
treated by them as neutrals, and as such might
conduct themselves towards both parties ; and,
295
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Embargo
at the close of the war, be at liberty to rejoin
the confederacy. He assured me that there was
imminent danger that the convention would take
place ; that the temptations were such as might
debauch many from their fidelity to the Union ;
and that, to enable its friends to make head
against it, the repeal of the Embargo was abso
lutely necessary. I expressed a just sense of
the merit of this information, and of the im
portance of the disclosure to the safety and even
the salvation of our country ; and however re
luctant I was to abandon the measure (a meas
ure which persevered in a little longer, we
had subsequent and satisfactory assurance
would have effected its object completely);
from that moment, and influenced by that in
formation, I saw the necessity of abandoning
it, and instead of effecting our purpose by
this peaceable weapon, we must fight it out,
or break the Union. I then recommended to
yield to the necessity of a repeal of the Em
bargo, and to endeavor to supply its place by
the best substitute, in which they could pro
cure a general concurrence. — To WILLIAM B.
GILES, vii, 424. FORD ED., x, 353. (M., Dec.
1825.)
2588. . Far advanced in my eighty-
third year, worn down with infirmities which
have confined me almost entirely to the house
for seven or eight months past, it afflicts me
much to receive appeals to my memory for
transactions so far back as that which is the
subject of your letter. My memory is, indeed,
become almost a blank, of which no better proof
can probably be given you than by my solemn
protestation, that I have not the least recollec
tion of your intervention between Mr. John Q.
Adams and myself, in what passed on the sub
ject of the Embargo. Not the slightest trace of
it remains in my mind. Yet I have no doubt of
the exactitude of the statement in your letter.
And the less, as I recollect the interview with
Mr. Adams, to which the previous communica
tions which had passed between him and your
self were probably and naturally the preliminary.
That interview I remember well ; not, indeed,,
in the very words which passed between us,
but in their substance, which was of a character
too awful, too deeply engraved in my mind,
and influencing too materially the course I had
to pursue, ever to be forgotten. * * * I cannot
too often repeat that this statement is not pre
tended to be in the very words which passed ;
that it only gives faithfully the impression re
maining on my mind. The very words of a con
versation are too transient and fugitive to be so
long retained in remembrance. But the substance
was too important to be forgotten, not only
from the revolution of measures it obliged me
to adopt, but also from the renewals of it in
my memory on the frequent occasions I have
had of doing justice to Mr. Adams, by repeat
ing this proof of his fidelity to his country,
and of his superiority over all ordinary con
siderations when the safety of that was brought
into question. — To WILLIAM B. GILES, vii,
424. FORD ED., x, 351. (M., 1825.)
2589. . You ask my opinion of
the propriety of giving publicity to what is
stated in your letter, as having passed between
Mr. John Quincy Adams and yourself. Of
this no one can judge but yourself. It is one
of those questions which belong to the forum
of feeling. This alone can decide on the de
gree of confidence implied in the disclosure ;
whether under no circumstances it was to be
communicated to others? It does not seem to
be of that character, or at all to wear that as
pect. They are historical facts which belong
to the present, as well as future times. I
doubt whether a single fact, known to the
world, will carry as clear conviction to it, of
the correctness of our knowledge of the trea
sonable views of the federal party of that day,
as that disclosed by this, the most nefarious
and daring attempt to dissever the Union, of
which the Hartford Convention was a subse
quent chapter ; and both of these having failed,
consolidation becomes the fourth chapter of
the next book of their history. But this opens
with a vast accession of strength from their
younger recruits, who, having nothing in them
of the feelings or principles of '76, now look
to a single and splendid government of an
aristocracy, founded on banking institutions,
and moneyed incorporations under the guise
and cloak of their favored branches of manu
factures, commerce and navigation, riding and
ruling over the plundered ploughman and beg
gared yeomanry. This will be to them a next
best blessing to the monarchy of their first
aim, and perhaps the surest stepping-stone to
it. — To WILLIAM B. GILES, vii, 428. FORD
ED., x, 356. (M., 1825.)
2590. . During the continuance
of the Embargo Mr. John Quincy Adams informed
me of a combination (without naming any one
concerned in it), which had for its object a sev
erance of the Union, for a time at least. Mr.
Adams and myself not being then in the habit
of mutual consultation and confidence, I con
sidered it as the stronger proof of the purity
of his patriotism, which was able to lift him
above all party passions when the safety of
his country was endangered. — To .
vii, 431. (M., 1826.)
2591. EMBARGO, War preferable.— If
peace does not take place in Europe, and if
France and England will not consent to with
draw the operation of their decrees and orders
from us, when Congress shall meet in Decem
ber, they will have to consider at what point
of time the Embargo, continued, becomes a
greater evil than war. — LEVI LINCOLN, v, 265.
(W., March 1808.)
2592. . Should neither peace,
nor a revocation of the decrees and orders in
Europe take place, the day cannot be distant
when the Embargo will cease to be preferable
to open hostility. Nothing just or temperate
has been omitted on our part, to retard or avoid
this unprofitable alternative. — To JAMES Bow-
DOIN. v, 299. (M., May 1808.)
2593. . How long the continu
ance of the Embargo may be preferable to
war, is a question we shall have to meet, if
the decrees and orders and war continue. — To
BENJAMIN SMITH, vii, 293. FORD ED., ix, 195.
(M., May 1808.)
2594. EMBARGO, War of 1812 and.—
That a continuance of the Embargo for two
months longer would have prevented our war,
* * * I have constantly maintained. — To
THOMAS LEIPER. vi, 465. FORD ED., ix, 521.
(M., 1815.)
2595. EMBARGO (Virginian), Power to
lay. — The Administrator [of Virginia] shall
not possess the prerogative * * * of lay
ing embargoes, or prohibiting the exportation
of any commodity for a longer space than forty
days. — PROPOSED VA. CONSTITUTION. FORD ED.,
ii, 19. (June 1776.)
2596. EMBARGO (Virginian), Procla
mation of. — Whereas, the exportation of
Emigration
Knemy goods
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
296
provisions from the State [of Virginia] will be
attended with manifest injury to the United
States, by supplying the enemy, and by render
ing it difficult for the public agents and con
tractors to procure supplies for the American
troops, and will, moreover, give encourage
ment to engrossers and monopolizers to prose
cute their baneful practices, I have thought fit
by and with the advice and consent of the Coun
cil of State, to issue this, my proclamation,,
for laying an embargo on provisions :
to continue until the first of May next. —
EMBARGO PROCLAMATION. FORD ED., ii, 281.
(Nov. I779-)
2597. EMIGRATION, The Colonies and.
— These [emigration and settlement] were
effected at the expense of our own blood and
treasure, unassisted by the wealth or the
strength of Great Britain.*— DECLARATION OF
INDEPENDENCE AS DRAWN BY JEFFERSON.
2598. . Our emigration from
England to this country gave her no more
rights over us, than the emigrations of the
Danes and Saxons gave to the present author
ities of the mother country over England. —
AUTOBIOGRAPHY. i, 8. FORD ED., i, 12.
(1774.) See EXPATRIATION.
2599. EMIGRATION, Eastern.— The
emigrations from the Eastern States are what
I have long counted on. The religious and
political tyranny of those in power with you,
cannot fail to drive the oppressed to milder
associations of men, where freedom of mind
is allowed in fact as well as in pretense. — To
DR. B. WATERHOUSE. FORD ED., ix, 533. (M.,
1815.)
_ EMIGRATION (European).— See IM
MIGRATION.
2600. ENEMIES, Bias of.— An enemy
generally says and believes what he wishes. —
To C. W. F. DUMAS, ii, 367- (A., 1788.)
2601. ENEMIES, Distinction and.—
That you have enemies, you must not doubt,
when you reflect that you have made yourself
eminent.— To JAMES STEPTOE. i, 324. FORD
ED., iii, 63. (1782.)
2602. ENEMIES, Injured friends as.—
An injured friend is the bitterest of foes. —
FRENCH TREATIES OPINION, vii, 618. FORD
ED., vi, 225. (I793-)
2603. ENEMIES, National.— We must
endeavor to forget our former love for them,
[the English people], and hold them as we
hold the rest of mankind, enemies in war, in
peace friends. — DECLARATION OF INDEPEND
ENCE AS DRAWN BY JEFFERSON.
2604. ENEMIES, Official and private.
—I hail the day which is to relieve me from
being viewed as an official enemy. In private
life, I never had above one or two. — To
WILLIAM SHORT. FORD ED., ix, 51. (W.,
May 1807.)
2605. ENEMIES, Patronage and.— We
do not mean to leave arms in the hands of
active enemies. — To ALBERT GALLATIN. iv,
544. (FORD ED., viii, 304. (1804.)
* Congress struck it out. — EDITOR.
2606. ENEMIES, Political.— Men of en
ergy of character must have enemies; be
cause there are two sides to every question,
and taking one with decision, and acting on
it with effect, those who take the other will
of course be hostile in proportion as they feel
that effect— To JOHN ADAMS, vii, 62. (M.,
1817.)
2607. . Dr. Franklin had many
political enemies, as every character must,
which, with decision enough to have opinions,
has energy and talent to give them effect on
the feelings of the adversary opinion. — To
ROBERT WALSH, vii, 108. FORD ED., x, 116.
(M., 1818.)
2608. . in public life, a pan
whose political principles have any decided
character, and who has energy enough to give
them effect, must always expect to encounter
political hostility from those of adverse prin
ciples. — To RICHARD M. JOHNSON, v, 256.
(W., 1808.)
2609. ENEMY GOODS, Right to seize.
— I believe it cannot be doubted, but that by
the general laws of nations, the goods of a
friend found in the vessel of an enemy are
free, and the goods of an enemy found in the
vessel of a friend are lawful prize. Upon
this principle, I presume, the British armed
vessels have taken the property of French
citizens found in our vessels, in the cases
mentioned,* and I confess I should be at a
loss on what principle to reclaim it. It is
true that sundry nations, desirous of avoiding
the inconveniences of having their vessels
stopped at sea, ransacked, carried into port,
and detained, under pretense of having enemy
goods aboard, have, in many instances, intro
duced by their special treaties another prin
ciple between them, that enemy bottoms shall
make enemy goods, and friendly bottoms
friendly goods; a principle much less em
barrassing to commerce, and equal to all
parties in point of gain and loss. But this
is altogether the effect of particular treaty,
controlling in special cases the general prin
ciple of the law of nations, and therefore
taking effect between such nations only as
have so agreed to control it. England has
generally determined to adhere to the rigor
ous principle, having, in no instance, as far
as I can recollect, agreed to the modification of
letting the property of the goods follow that
of the vessel, except in the single one of her
treaty with France. We have adopted this
modification in our treaties with France, the
United Netherlands and Russia; and there
fore, as to them, our vessels cover the goods
of their enemies, and we lose our goods w^en
in the vessels of their enemies. * * * With
England, Spain, Portugal, and Austria, we
have no treaties; therefore, we have nothing
to oppose to their acting according to the
general law of nations, that enemy goods are
lawful prize though found in the bottom of
* The capture of French citizens, with their slaves
and merchandise, while on their way, in merchant
vessels of the United States, from the French West
Indies to the United States.— EDITOR.
297
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Enemy g
England
oods
a friend.— To E. C. GENET, iv, 24. FORD ED.,
vi, 356. (Pa., July 1793.)
2610. . I believe I may safely
affirm * * * that France is the gainer,
and we the loser bvthe principle of our treaty.
Indeed, we are the losers in every direction of
that principle ; for when it works in our favor,
it is to save the goods of our friends; when
it works against us, it is to lose our own;
and we shall continue to lose while the rule
is only partially established. When we shall
have established it with all nations, we shall
be in a condition neither to gain nor lose,
but shall be less exposed to vexatious searches
at sea. To this condition we are endeavor
ing to advance ; but as it depends on the
will of other nations as well as our own, we
can only obtain it when they shall be ready to
concur.— To E. C. GENET, iv, 25. FORD ED.,
vi, 357. (Pa., July 1793.) See FREE SHIPS,
FREE GOODS.
_ ENERGY OF GOVERNMENT.— See
GOVERNMENT.
_- ENGINE, The Steam.— See STEAM.
2611. ENGLAND, American antago
nism. — The war between France and Eng
land seems to be producing an effect not
contemplated. All the old spirit of 1776, re
kindling the newspapers from Boston to
Charleston, proves this; and even the mon-
ocrat papers are obliged to publish the most
furious philippics against England. A French
frigate took a British prize off the capes of
Delaware the other day, and sent her up here
[Philadelphia]. Upon her coming into sight,
thousands and thousands of the yeomanry of
the city crowded and covered the wharves.
Never before was such a crowd seen there;
and when the British colors were seen re
versed, and the French flying above them,
they burst into peals of exultation. To
JAMES MONROE, iii, 548. FORD ED., vi, 238.
(Pa., May 1793.)
_ ENGLAND, American colonies and.
—See COLONIES.
2612. ENGLAND, Amity with.— No two
nations on earth can be so helpful to each
other as friends, nor so hurtful as enemies
And in spite of their insolence, I have ever
wished for an honorable and cordial amity
with them as a nation.— To ROBERT WALSH
FORD ED., x, 155. (M., 1820.)
_ ENGLAND, Anglo-Saxon language.
— See LANGUAGES.
2613. ENGLAND, Aristocratic Gov
ernment. — The English government never
dies because their King is no part of it ; he is
a mere formality and the real government is
the aristocracy of the country, for the House
of Commons is of that class. — To DOCTOR
SAMUEL BROWN, vi, 165. (M., 1813.)
2614. ENGLAND, Bonaparte and.— Th
events which have taken place in France hav
lessened in the American mind the motive
of interest which it felt in that Revolution
and its amity towards that country now rest
>n its love of peace and commerce. We see,
t the same time, with g«*eat concern, the po-
ition in which Great 'Britain is placed, and
hould be sincerely afflicted were any disaster
o deprive mankind of the benefit of such a
mlwark against the torrent which has for
ome time been bearing down all before it.
But her power and powers at sea seem to
render everything safe in the end. — To SIR
[OHN SINCLAIR, iv, 491. (W., June 1803.)
See BONAPARTE.
_ ENGLAND, Burning of U. S. Capitol
by. — See CAPITOL.
— ENGLAND, Canada and.— See CAN
ADA.
2615. ENGLAND, Commerce with.—
Our people and merchants must consider
their business as not yet settled with Eng-
and. After exercising the self denial which
was requisite to carry us through the war,
they must push it a little further to obtain
proper peace arrangements with them. They
can do it the better as all the world is open to
them ; and it is very extraordinary if the
whole world besides cannot supply them with
what they may want.— To JAMES MONROE.
FORD ED., iv, 40. (P., 1785.)
2616. . If we can obtain from
Great Britain reasonable conditions of com
merce (which, in my idea, must forever in
clude an admission into her [West India]
islands), the freest ground between these two
nations would seem to be the best. But if
we can obtain no equal terms from her, per
haps Congress might think it prudent, as Hol
land has done, to connect us unequivocally
with France. Holland has purchased the pro
tection of France. The price she pays, is aid
in time of war. It is interesting for us to pur
chase a free commerce with the French is
lands. But whether it is best to pay for it
by aids in war, or by privileges in commerce,
or not to purchase it at all, is the question. —
REPORT TO CONGRESS, ix, 244. FORD ED., iv,
130. (P., 1785.)
2617. . Nothing will bring the
British to reason but physical obstruction, ap
plied to their bodily senses. We must show
that we are capable of foregoing commerce
with them, before they will be capable of con
senting to an equal commerce. We have all
the world besides open to supply us with gew-
.gaws, and all the world to buy our tobacco. —
To JAMES MADISON. FORD ED., iv, 36. (P.,
1785.)
2618. . I know nothing which
would act more powerfully as a sumptuary
law with our people than an inhibition of
commerce with England. They are habituated
to the luxuries of that country and will have
them while they can get them. They are un
acquainted with those of other countries; and
therefore will not very soon bring them so
far into fashion as that it shall bethought
disreputable not to have them in one's house,
or on their table.— To JAMES MADISON. FORD
ED., iv, 37. (P-, 1785.)
England
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
298
2619. . England declines all ar
rangements with us. They say their com
merce is so necessary to us, that we shall not
deny it to ourselves for the sake of the carry
ing business, as the only trade they leave us
is that with Great Britain immediately, and
that is a losing one. I hope we shall show
them we have sense and spirit enough to sup
press that, or at least to exclude them from
any share in the carriage of our commodities.
Their spirit towards us is deeply hostile and
they seem as if they did not fear a war with
us.— To DAVID HUMPHREYS, i, 559. (P., 1786.)
2620. . With respect to a com
mercial treaty with this country, be assured
that the government not only has it not in
contemplation at present to make any, but that
they do not conceive that any circumstances
will arise which shall render it expedient for
them to have any political connection with us.
They think we shall be glad of their com
merce on their own terms. — To RICHARD
HENRY LEE. i, 541. FORD ED., iv, 206. (L.,
April 1786.)
2621. . The English think we
cannot prevent our countrymen from bringing
our trade into their laps. A conviction of
this determines them to make no terms of
commerce with us. They say they will
pocket our carrying trade as well as their
own. Our overtures of commercial arrange
ments have been treated with a derision,
which shows their firm persuasion that we
shall never unite to suppress their commerce,
or even to impede it. — To JOHN PAGE, i,
550. FORD ED., iv, 214. (P., 1786.)
2622. . That no commercial ar
rangements between Great Britain and the
United States have taken place, cannot be
imputed to us. The proposition has surely
been often enough made, perhaps too often. —
To SIR JOHN SINCLAIR, iii, 283. (Pa., 1791-)
2623. . The bill lately passed in
England, prohibiting the business of this
country with France from passing through
the medium of England, is a temporary em
barrassment to our commerce, from the un
happy predicament of its all hanging on the
pivot of London. It will be happy for us,
should it be continued till our merchants may
establish connections in the countries in
which our produce is consumed, and to
which it should go directly.— To GOUVERNEUR
MORRIS, iii, 580. FORD ED., vi, 300. (Pa.,
June I793-)
2624. . My opinion of the Brit
ish government is, that nothing will force
them to do us justice but the loud voice of
their people, and that this can never be ex
cited but by distressing their commerce. — To
PRESIDENT WASHINGTON, iv, 106. FORD ED.,
vi, 510. (M., 1794.) See DUTIES, EMBARGO,
NAVIGATION and TREATIES.
2625. ENGLAND, Conciliation with.—
I look upon all cordial conciliation with Eng
land as desperate during the life of the present
King.— To PRESIDENT MADISON, v, 465. (M.,
Aug. 1809.)
2626. ENGLAND, Corruption of gov
ernment. — We know that the government of
England, maintaining itself by corruption at
home, uses the same means in other countries
of which she has any jealousy, by subsidizing
agitators and traitors among themselves to
distract and paralyze them. She sufficiently
manifests that she has no disposition to spare
ours. — To GOVERNOR PLUMER. vi, 415. (1815.)
See HARTFORD CONVENTION.
2627. ENGLAND, Crisis in.— I believe
with you that the crisis of England is come.
What will be its issue it is vain to prophesy ;
so many thousand contingencies may turn up
to affect its direction. Were I to hazard a
guess, it would be that they will become a
military despotism. Their recollections of the
portion of liberty they have enjoyed will ren
der force necessary to retain them under
pure monarchy. Their pressure upon us has
been so severe and so unprincipled, that we
cannot deprecate their fate, though we might
wish to see their naval power kept up to the
level of that of the other principal powers
separately taken. — To WILLIAM DUANE. v,
552. FORD ED., ix, 286. (M., 1810.)
2628. . What England is to be
come on the crush of her internal structure,
now seeming to be begun, I cannot foresee.
Her moneyed interests, created by her paper
system, and now constituting a baseless mass
of wealth equal to that of the owners of the
soil, must disappear with that system, and the
medium for paying great taxes thus failing,
her navy must be without support. That it
shall be supported by permitting her to claim
dominion of the ocean, and to levy tribute on
every flag traversing that, as lately attempted
and not yet relinquished, every nation must
contest, even ad internecionem. And yet,
that retiring from this enormity, she should
continue able to take a fair share in the
necessary equilibrium of power on that ele
ment, would be the desire of every nation. —
To THOMAS LAW. v, 557. FORD ED., ix, 293.
(M., 1811.)
2629. . The approach of this
crisis is, I think, visible, in the departure of
her precious metals, and depreciation of her
paper medium. We, who have gone through
that operation, know its symptoms, its course,
and consequences. In England, they will be
more serious than elsewhere, because half the
wealth of her people is now in that medium,
the private revenue of her money-holders, or
rather of her paper-holders, being, I believe,
greater than that of her land-holders. Such
a proportion of property, imaginary and
baseless as it is, cannot be reduced to vapor
but with great explosion. She will rise out
of its ruins, however, because her lands, her
houses, her arts will remain, and the greater
part of her men. And these will give her
again that place among nations which is pro
portioned to her natural means, and which we
all wish her to hold. — To JAMES MAURY. vi,
52. FORD ED., ix, 349. (M., April 1812.)
— ENGLAND, Debts to citizens of.—
See DEBTS DUE BRITISH.
299
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
England
2630. ENGLAND, Detested.— The Count
de Moustier [French Minister] will find the
affections of the Americans with France, but
their habits with England. Chained to that
country by circumstances, embracing what
they loathe, they realize the fable of the liv
ing and the dead bound together. — To COMTE
DE MOUSTIER. ii, 295. (P., 178?-)
2631. ENGLAND, Dread of United
States. — Great Britain, in her pride and as
cendency, has certainly hated and despised us
beyond every earthly object. Her hatred may
remain, but the hour of her contempt is passed
and is succeeded by dread ; not a present, but
a distant and deep one. It is the greater as
she feels herself plunged into an abyss of
ruin from which no human means point out
an issue. We also have more reason to hate
her than any nation on earth. — To JAMES
MONROE, vii, 41. FORD ED., x, 66. (M.,
1816.) See HARTFORD CONVENTION.
— ENGLAND, Embargo and. — See EM
BARGO.
2632. ENGLAND, Flagitious govern
ment. — The regeneration of the British gov
ernment will take a longer time than I have
to live. * * * I shall make my exit with
a bow to it, as the most flagitious of govern
ments I leave among men. — To WILLIAM
DUANE. vi, 77. FORD ED., ix, 367. (M.,
Aug. 1812.)
2633. — . I consider [the British]
government as the most flagitious which has
existed since the days of Philip of Macedon,
whom they make their model. It is not only
founded in corruption itself, but insinuates
the same poison into the bowels of every
other, corrupts its councils, nourishes fac
tions, stirs up revolutions, and places its own
happiness in fomenting commotions and civil
wars among others, thus rendering itself truly
the hostis humani generis. — To JOHN ADAMS.
vii, 46. (P. F., 1816.)
2634. ENGLAND AND FRANCE, Ban
ditti. — Our lot happens to have been cast in
an age when two nations to whom circum
stances have given a temporary superiority
over others, the one by land, the other by sea,
throwing off all restraints of morality, all
pride of national character, forgetting the
mutability of fortune, and the inevitable doom
which the laws of nature pronounce against
departure from justice, individual or national,
have declared to treat her reclamations with
derision, and to set up force instead of reason
as the umpire of nations. Degrading them
selves thus from the character of lawful so
cieties into lawless bands of robbers and
pirates, they are abusing their brief ascend
ency by desolating the world with blood and
rapine. Against such a banditti, war had be
come less ruinous than peace, for then peace
was a war on one side only. — To J. W. EPPES.
vi, 195. FORD ED., ix, 396. (P.F., Sep. 1813.)
2635. . How much to be la
mented that the world cannot unite and de
stroy these two land and sea monsters. The
one drenching the earth with human gore, the
other ravaging the ocean with lawless pi
racies and plunder. — To DR. SAMUEL BROWN.
vi, 165. (M., July 1813.)
2636. ENGLAND, Friendly advances
of. — Our successors have deserved well of
their country in meeting so readily the first
friendly advance ever made to us by England.
I hope it is the harbinger of a return to the
exercise of common sense and common good
humor, with a country with which mutual
interests would urge a mutual and affection
ate intercourse. But her conduct hitherto has
been towards us so insulting, so tyrannical
and so malicious, as to indicate a contempt
for our opinions or dispositions respecting
her. I hope she is now coming over to a
wiser conduct, and becoming sensible how
much better it is to cultivate the good will
of the government itself, than of a faction
hostile to it ; to obtain its friendship gratis
than to purchase its enmity by nourishing at
great expense a faction to embarrass it, to
receive the reward of an honest policy rather
than of a corrupt and vexatious one. I trust
she has at length opened her eyes to federal
falsehood and misinformation, and learned, in
the issue of the Presidential election, the folly
of believing them. Such a reconciliation to
the government, if real and permanent, will
secure the tranquillity of our country, and
render the management of our affairs easy
and delightful to our successors, for whom
I feel as much interest as if I were still in
their place. Certainly all the troubles and
difficulties in the government during our
time proceeded from England; at least all
others were trifling in comparison with them.
— To HENRY DEARBORN, v, 455. (M., June
1809.)
— ENGLAND, Friendship with United
States. — See FRIENDSHIP.
— ENGLAND, George III.— See GEORGE
III.
2637. ENGLAND, Governing princi
ples. — Great Britain's governing principles
are conquest, colonization, commerce, monop
oly. — To WILLIAM CARMICHAEL. ix, 414.
FORD ED., v, 229. (1790.)
2638. ENGLAND, Growth of United
States and. — Have you no statesmen who can
look forward two or three score years? It
is but forty years since the battle of Lexing
ton. One-third of those now living saw that
day, when we were about two millions of peo
ple, and have lived to see this, when we are
ten millions. One-third of those now living
who see us at ten millions, will live another
forty years, and see us forty millions ; and
looking forward only through such a portion
of time as has passed since you and I were
scanning Virgil together (which I believe
is near three score years), we shall be seen to
have a population of eighty millions, and of
not more than double the average density of
the present. What may not such a people be
worth to England as customers and friends?
And what might she not apprehend from
such a nation as enemies ? — To JAMES MAURY.
vi, 467. (M., 1815.)
England
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
300
2639. . Our growth is now so
well established * * * that we may safely
call ourselves * * * forty millions in
forty years. * * * Of what importance
then to Great Britain must such a nation be,
whether as friends or foes? To SIR JOHN
SINCLAIR, vii, 22. (M., 1816.)
2640. ENGLAND, Hatred of United
States. — In spite of treaties, England is still
our enemy. Her hatred is deep rooted and
cordial, and nothing is wanting with her
but the power, to wipe us and the land we
live in out of existence. Her interest, how
ever, is her ruling passion ; and the late
American measures have struck at that so
vitally, and with an energy, too, of which she
had thought us quite incapable, that a possi
bility seems to open of forming some arrange
ment with her. When they shall see de
cidedly, that, without it, we shall suppress
their commerce with us, they will be agitated
by their avarice on the one hand, and their
hatred and their fear of us, on the other.
The result of this conflict of dirty passions is
yet to be awaited.— To JOHN LANGDON. i,
429. (R, 1785.)
2641. . That nation [England]
hates us, their ministers hate us, and their
King, more than all other men, hates us.
They have the impudence to avow this;
though they acknowledge our trade impor
tant to them * * * I think their hostility
towards us is much more deeply rooted at
present, than during the war. — To JOHN PAGE.
i, 550. FORD ED., iv, 214. (P., 1786.)
2642. . The English hate us be
cause they think our prosperity niched from
theirs.— To WILLIAM DUANE. v, 553. FORD
ED., ix, 287. (M., 1810.)
2643. . England would prefer
losing an advantage over her enemy to giving
one to us It is an unhappy state of mind for
her, but I am afraid it is the true one. — To
JAMES RONALDSON. v, 553. (M., 1810.)
2644. . A friendly, a just, and a
reasonable conduct on the part of the British
might make us the main pillar of their pros
perity and existence. But their deep-rooted
hatred to us seems to be the means which
Providence permits to lead them to their final
catastrophe. " Nullam enim in terns gentem
esse, nullum infestiorem populum, nomini
Romani" said the General who erased Capua
from the list of powers. What nourishment
and support would not England receive from
an hundred millions of industrious descend
ants, whom some of her people now born will
live to see here? What their energies are,
she has lately tried. And what has she not
to fear from an hundred millions of such men,
if she continues her maniac course of hatred
and hostility to them ? I hope in God she will
change. — To OESAR A. RODNEY, vi, 448.
(M., March 1815.)
2645. ENGLAND, Hostility of .—I think
the King, ministers, and nation are more bit
terly hostile to us at present, than at any
period of the late war. A like disposition
on our part has been rising for some time.
In what events these things will end, we
cannot foresee. Our countrymen are eager in
their passions and enterprises, and not dis
posed to calculate their interests against these.
Our enemies (for such they are, in fact),
have for twelve years past followed but one
uniform rule, that of doing exactly the con
trary of what reason points out. Having,
early during our contest, observed this in the
British conduct, I governed myself by it in
all prognostications of their measures ; and I
can say, with truth, it never failed me but
in the circumstance of their making peace
with us.* — To WILLIAM CARMICHAEL. i, 552.
(P., May 1786.) See TREATIES.
2646. . The spirit of hostility to
us has always existed in the mind of the
King, but it has now extended itself through
the whole mass of the people, and the major
ity in the public councils. In a country,
where the voice of the people influences so
much the measures of administration, and
where it coincides with the private temper of
the Kinsr, there is no pronouncing on
future events. It is true they have nothing
to gain, and much to lose by a war with us.
But interest is not the strongest passion in
the human breast.— To JAMES Ross, i, 561.
FORD ED., iv, 217. (P., 1786.)
2647. . The Marquis of Lans-
downe is thoroughly sensible of the folly
of the present measures of this country, as
are a few other characters about him. Dr.
Price is among these, and is particularly dis
turbed at the present prospect. He acknowl
edges, however, that all change is desperate;
which weighs more, as he is intimate with
Mr. Pitt. This small band of friends, favor
able as it is, does not pretend to say one word
in public on our subject.— To JOHN JAY. i,
544- (L., 1786.)
2648. . There is no party in our
favor here [London] either in power or out
of power. Even the opposition concur with
the ministry and the nation in this. I can
scarcely consider as a party the Marquis of
Landsdowne, and a half dozen characters
about him, such as Dr. Price, &c., who are
impressed with the utility of a friendly con
nection with us. The former does not ven
ture this sentiment in parliament, and the lat
ter are not in situations to be heard. * * *
Were the Marquis to come into the ministry
(of which there is not the most distant pros
pect), he must adopt the King's system, or
go out again, as he did before, for daring to
depart from it. — To RICHARD HENRY LEE.
i, 541. FORD ED., iv, 206. (L., 1786.)
2649. _. The English are still our
enemies. The spirit existing there, and rising
in America, has a very lowering aspect. To
what events it may give birth, I cannot fore
see. We are young and can survive them;
but their rotten machine must crush under
the trial.— To C. W. F. DUMAS, i, 553. (P.,
1786.)
* This was written immediately after Adams and
Jefferson had reported to Congress their failure to ne
gotiate a commercial treaty with England.— EDITOR.
3oi
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
England
_ ENGLAND, Impressment of Ameri
can sailors. — See IMPRESSMENT.
2650. ENGLAND, Influence in United
States. — The English can do us, as enemies,
more harm than any other nation; and in
peace and in war, they have more means of
disturbing us internally. Their merchants
established among us, the bonds by which
our own are chained to their feet, and the
banking combinations interwoven with the
whole, have shown the extent of their control,
even during a war with her. They are the
workers of all the embarrassments our finan
ces have experienced during the war. De
claring themselves bankrupt, they have been
able still to chain the government to a de
pendence on them, and had the war continued,
they would have reduced us to the inability
to command a single dollar. They dared to
proclaim that they would not pay their ob
ligations, yet our government could not ven
ture to avail themselves of this opportunity
of sweeping their paper from the circulation,
and substituting their own notes bottomed on
specific taxes for redemption, which every one
would have eagerly taken and trusted, rather
than the baseless trash of bankrupt com
panies ; our government, I say, have still been
overawed from a contest with them, and has
even countenanced and strengthened their in
fluence, by proposing new establishments, with
authority to swindle yet greater sums from
our citizens. This is the British influence to
which I am an enemy, and which we must
subject to our government, or it will subject
us to that of Britain.— To CESAR A. RODNEY.
vi, 449. (M., March 1815.)
2651. ENGLAND, Insolence.— Of all na
tions on earth, the British require to be
treated with the most hauteur. They require
to be kicked into common good manners. — To
COLONEL W. S. SMITH, ii, 284. (P., 1787.)
_ ENGLAND, Intrigues to destroy
U. S. Government. — See 1097.
_ ENGLAND, Jay's treaty.— See JAY
TREATY.
2652. ENGLAND, Jefferson and.— As a
political man, the English shall never find any
passion in me either for or against them.
Whenever their avarice of commerce will let
them meet us fairly half way, I should meet
them with satisfaction, because it would be
for our benefit. — To FRANCIS KINLOCH. iii,
197. FORD ED., v, 248. (Pa., 1790-)
2653. . I told [Mr. Erskine] I
was going out of the Administration and,
therefore, might say to him things which I
would not do were I to remain in. I wished
to correct an error which I, at first, thought
his Government above being led into from
newspapers, but I apprehend they had
adopted it. This was the supposed partiality
of the Administration and particularly myself
in favor of France and against England. I
observed that when I came into the Adminis
tration, there was nothing I so much desired
as to be on a footing of intimate friendship
with England; that I knew as long as she
was our friend no enemy could hurt ; that
I would have sacrificed much to have effected
it, and, therefore, wished Mr. King to have
continued there as a favorable instrument;
that if there had been an equal disposition on
their part, I thought it might have been ef
fected : for although the question of impress
ments was difficult on their side and insuper
able with us, yet had that been the sole ques
tion, we might have shoved along in the hope
of some compromise ; that indeed there was a
ground of accommodation which his ministry
had on two occasions yielded to for a short
time, but retracted ; that during the adminis
tration of Mr. Addington and the short one
of Mr. Fox, I had hoped such a friendship
practicable, but that during all other admin
istrations, I had seen a spirit so adverse to us
that I now despaired of any change. That he
might judge from the communications now
before Congress whether there had been any
partiality to France to whom, he would see,
we had never made the proposition to revoke
the Embargo immediately, which we did to
England, and, again, that we had remon
strated strongly to them on the style of Mr.
Champagny's letter, but had not to England
on that of Canning, equally offensive; that
the letter of Canning, now reading to Con
gress, was written in the high ropes and
would be stinging to every American breast
—ANAS. FORD ED., i, 336. (Nov. 1808.)
2654. — — . With respect to myself
I saw great reason to believe their ministers
were weak enough to credit the newspaper
trash about a supposed personal enmity in
myself towards England. This wretched party
imputation was beneath the notice of wise
men. England never did me a personal in
jury, other than in open war; and for numer
ous individuals there, I have great esteem
and friendship. And I must have had a mind
far below the duties of my station, to have
felt either national partialities or antipa
thies in conducting the affairs confided to me.
My affections were first for my own country,
and then, generally, for all mankind ; and
nothing but minds placing themselves above
the passions, in the functionaries of this coun
try, could have preserved us from the war to
which their provocations have been constantly
urging us. — To THOMAS LAW. v, 556. FORD
ED., ix, 292. (M., 1811.)
2655. . The English newspa
pers suppose me the personal enemy of their
nation. I am not so. I am the enemy to its
injuries, as I am to those of France. If I
could permit myself to have national partial
ities, and if the conduct of England would
have permitted them to be directed towards
her, they would have been so. * * Had
I been personally hostile to England, and
biased in favor of either the character or
views of her great antagonist, the affair of
the Chesapeake put war into my hand. I
had only to open it and let havoc loose. But
if ever I was gratified with the possession of
power, and of the confidence of those who had
entrusted me with it, it was on that occasion
when I was enabled to use both for the pre-
England
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
302
vention of war, towards which the torrent of
passion here was directed almost irresistibly,
and when not another person in the United
States, less supported by authority and favor,
could have resisted it. And now that a defin
itive adherence to her impressments and Or
ders of Council renders war no loneer un
avoidable, my earnest prayer is that our gov
ernment may enter into no compact of com
mon cause with the other belligerent, but keep
us free to make a separate peace, whenever
England will separately give us peace and fu
ture security. But Lord Liverpool is our wit
ness that this can never be but by her re
moval from our neighborhood. — To JAMES
MAURY. vi, 53. FORD ED., ix, 349. (M.,
April, 1812.)
2656. ENGLAND, Kindred ties.— Were
the English people under a government which
should treat us with justice and equity, I
should myself feel with great strength the ties
which bind us together, of origin, language,
laws, and manners; and I am persuaded the
two people would become in future, as it was
with the ancient Greeks, among whom it was
reproachful for Greek to be found fighting
against Greek in a foreign army.* — To JOHN
ADAMS, vii, 45. (M., 1816.)
2657. ENGLAND, Loss of America.—
The object of the present ministry is to buoy
up the nation with flattering calculations of
their present prosperity, and to make them
believe they are better without us than with
us. This they seriously believe: for what
is it men cannot be made to believe ! * * *
The other day * * * a General Clark, a
Scotchman and ministerialist * * * in
troduced the subject of American affairs, and
in the course of the conversation told me that
were America to petition Parliament to be
again received on their former footing, the
petition would be very generally rejected.
He was serious in this, and I think it * * *
is the sentiment perhaps of the nation. In
this they are wise, but for a foolish reason.
They think they lost more by suffering us
to participate of their commercial privileges,
at home and abroad, than they lose by our po
litical severance. The true reason, however,
why such an application should be rejected
is. that in a very short time, we should oblige
them to add another hundred millions to their
debt in unsuccessful attempts to retain the
subjection offered to them. They are at pres
ent in a frenzy, and will not be recovered
from it till they shall have leaped the preci
pice they are now so boldly advancing to. —
To RICHARD HENRY LEE. i, 541. FORD ED.,
iv, 207. (L., 1786.)
2658. ENGLAND, Madison, Jefferson
and. — Her ministers have been weak enough
to believe from the newspapers that Mr.
Madison and myself are personally her ene
mies. Such an idea is unworthy a man of
sense; as we should have been unworthy our
* Adams wrote in reply: "Britain will never be
our friend until we are her master. This will happen
in less time than you and I have been struggling
with her power, provided we remain united." —
EDITOR.
trusts could we have felt such a motive of
public action. No two men in the United
States have more sincerely wished for cordial
friendship with her; not as her vassals or
dirty partisans, but as members of coequal
States, respecting each other, and sensible of
the good as well as the harm each is capable
of doing the other. On this ground, there
was never a moment we did not wish to em
brace her. But repelled by their aversions,
feeling their hatred at every point of contact,
and justly indignant at its supercilious mani
festations, that happened which has happened,
that will follow which must follow, in pro
gressive ratio, while such dispositions con
tinue to be indulged. I hope they will see
this, and do their part towards healing the
minds and cooling the temper of both na
tions. — To MR. MAURY. vi, 468. (M., 1815.)
See FRIENDSHIP WITH ENGLAND.
2659. ENGLAND, Maritime rivalry.—
The only rivalry that can arise is on the ocean.
England may, by petty larceny, thwartings,
check us on that element a little, but nothing
she can do will retard us one year's growth.
We shall be supported there by other nations,
and thrown into their scale to make a part
of the great counterpoise to her navy. If,
on the other hand, she is just to us, concilia
tory, and encourages the sentiment of family
feelings and conduct, it cannot fail to befriend
the security of both. We have the seamen
and materials for fifty ships of the line, and
half that number of frigates ; and were France
to give us the money and England the dis
positions to equip them, they would give to
England serious proofs of the stock from
which they are sprung, and the school in
which they have been taught; and added to
the efforts of the immensity of seacoast lately
united under one power, would leave the state
of the ocean no longer problematical. Were,
on the other hand, England to give the
money, and France the dispositions to place
us on the sea in all pur force, the whole
world, put of the continent of Europe, might
be our joint monopoly. We wish for neither
of these scenes. We ask for peace and jus
tice from all nations; and we will remain
uprightly neutral in fact, though leaning in
belief to the opinion that an English ascend
ency on the ocean is safer for us than that
of France. — To JAMES MONROE, v, 12. FORD
ED., viii, 449. (W., May 1806.)
2660. ENGLAND, Mendacity of Press.
— The British government * * * have it
much at heart to reconcile their nation to
the loss of America. This is essential to the
repose, perhaps even to the safety of the King
and his ministers. The most effectual engines
for this purpose are the public papers. You
know well that that government always kept
a kind of standing army of news-writers,
who, without any regard to truth, or to what
should be like truth, invented and put into the
papers whatever might serve the ministers.
This suffices with the mass of the people, who
have no means of distinguishing the false
from the true paragraphs of a newspaper.
303
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
England
When forced to acknowledge our independ
ence, they were forced to redouble their ef
forts to keep the nation quiet. Instead of a
few of the papers formerly engaged, they
now engage every one. No paper, therefore,
comes out without a dose of paragraphs
against America. These are calculated for
a secondary purpose also, that of preventing
the emigrations of their people to America.
— To COUNT VAN HOGENDORP. i. 464. FORD
ED., iv, 103. (P., 1785.)
2661. ENGLAND, Morality of govern
ment. — It may be asked, what, in the nature
of her government, unfits England for the ob
servation of moral duties? In the first place,
her King is a cipher ; his only function being
to name the oligarchy which is to govern her.
The parliament is, by corruption, the mere
instrument of the will of the administration.
The real power and property in the govern
ment is in the great aristocratical families of
the nation. The nest of office being too small
for all of them to cuddle into at once, the
contest is eternal, which shall crowd the
other out. For this purpose, they are divided
into two parties, the " Ins " and the " Outs,"
so equal in weight that a small matter turns
the balance. To keep themselves in, when
they are in, every stratagem must be prac
ticed, every artifice used which may flatter
the pride, the passions or power of the na
tion. Justice, honor, faith, must yield to the
necessity of keeping themselves in place. The
question whether a measure is moral, is never
asked ; but whether it will nourish the avarice
of their merchants, or the piratical spirit of
their navy, or produce any other effect which
may strengthen them in their places. As to
engagements, however positive, entered by
the predecessors of the " Ins," why, they
were their enemies : they did everything
which was wrong ; and to reverse everything
which they did, must, therefore, be right.
This is the true character of the English gov
ernment in practice, however different its
theory ; and it presents the singular phenom
enon of a nation, the individuals of which
are as faithful to their private engagements
and duties, as honorable, as worthy, as those
of any nation on earth, and whose govern
ment is yet the most unprincipled at this day
known. In an absolute government there can
be no such equiponderant parties. The des
pot is the government. His power suppress
ing all opposition, maintains his ministers
firm in their places. What he has contracted,
therefore, through them, he has the power to
observe with good faith ; and he identifies his
own honor and faith with that of his nation.
— To JOHN LANGDON. v. 513. CM.. March
1810.)
2662. . England presents a sin
gular phenomenon of an honest people whose
constitution, from its nature, must render
their government forever dishonest ; and ac
cordingly, from the time that Sir Robert
WalpoTe gave the constitution that direction
which its defects permitted, morality has been
expunged from their political code. — To
JAMES RONALDSON. v, 554. (M., 1810.)
2663. . I consider the govern
ment of England as totally without morality,
insolent beyond bearing, inflated with vanity
and ambition, aiming at the exclusive do
minion of the sea, lost in corruption, of deep-
rooted hatred towards us, hostile to liberty
wherever it endeavors to show its head, and
the eternal disturber of the peace of the
world. — To THOMAS LEIPER. vi, 463. FORD
ED., ix, 510. (M., June 1815.)
2664. ENGLAND, National debt.—
George the Third and his minister, Pitt, and
successors, have spent the fee simple of the
kingdom under pretense of governing it;
their sinecures, salaries, pensions, priests,
prelates, princes and eternal wars, have mort
gaged to its full value the last foot of their
soil. They are reduced to the dilemma of a
bankrupt spendthrift, who, having run
through his whole fortune, now asks himself
what he is to do? It is in vain he dismisses
his coaches and horses, his grooms, liveries,
cooks and butlers. This done, he still finds
he has nothing to eat. What was his prop
erty is now that of his creditors; if still in
his hands, it is only as their trustee. To
them it belongs, and to them every farthing
of its profits must go. The reformation of
extravagance comes too late. All is gone.
Nothing is left for retrenchment or frugality
to go on. The debts of England, however,
being due from the whole nation to one-half
of it, being as much the debt of the creditor
as debtor, if it could be referred to a court of
equity, principles might be devised to adjust
it peaceably. Dismiss their parasites, ship
off their paupers to this country, let the land
holders give half their lands to the money
lenders, and these last relinquish one-half of
their debts. They would still have a fertile
island, a sound and effective population to
labor it, and would hold that station among
political powers, to which their natural re
sources and faculties entitle them. They
would no longer, indeed, be the lords of the
ocean and paymasters of all the princes of the
earth. They would no longer enjoy the lux
uries of pirating and plundering everything
by sea, and of bribing and corrupting every
thing by land; but they might enjoy the more
safe and lasting luxury of living on terms of
equality, justice and good neighborhood with
all nations. As it is, their first efforts will
probably be to quiet things awhile by the
palliatives of reformation; to nibble a little
at pensions and sinecures, to bite off a bit
here, and a bit there to amuse the people;
and to keep the government agoin? by en
croachments on the interest of the public debt,
one per cent, of which, for instance, withheld,
gives them a spare re 'enue of ten millions for
present subsistence, and spunges, in fact, two
hundred millions of the debt. This remedy
they may endeavor to administer in broken
doses of a small pill at a time. The first may
not occasion more than a strong nausea in the
money lenders; but the second will probably
produce a revulsion of the stomach, barba
risms, and spasmodic calls for fair settlement
and compromise. But it is not in the char-
England
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
304
acter of man to come to any peaceable com
promise of such a state of things. The
princes and priests will hold to the flesh-pots,
the empty bellies will seize on them, and
these being the multitude, the issue is ob
vious, civil war, massacre, exile as in France,
until the stage is cleared of everything but
the multitude, and the lands get into their
hands by such processes as the revolution will
engender.* — To JOHN ADAMS, vii, 43. (M.,
1816.)
2665. . I have long considered
the present crises of England, and the origin
of the evils which are lowering over her. as
produced by enormous excess of her expendi
tures beyond her income. To pay even the
interest of the debt contracted, she is obliged
to take from the industrious so much of their
earnings as not to leave them enough for
their backs and bellies. They are daily,
therefore, passing over to the pauper-list, to
subsist on the declining means of those still
holding up, and when these shall also be ex
hausted, what next? Reformation cannot
remedy this. It could only prevent its recur
rence when once relieved from the debt. To
effect that relief I see but one possible and
just course. Considering the funded and real
property as equal, and the debt as much of the
one as the other, for the holder of property
to give up one-half to those of the funds, and
the latter to the nation the whole of what
it owes them. But this the nature of man
forbids us to expect without blows, and blows
will decide it by a promiscuous sacrifice of
life and property. The debt thus, or other
wise extinguished, a real representation in
troduced into the government of either prop
erty or people, or of both, renouncing eter
nal war, restraining future expenses to future
income, and breaking up forever the consu
ming circle of extravagance, debt, insolvency,
and revolution, the island would then again
be in the degree of force which nature has
measured out to it in the scale of nations,
but not at their head. I sincerely wish she
could peaceably get into this state of being,
as the present prospects of southern Europe
seem to need the acquisition of new weights
in their balance, rather than the loss of old
ones. — To EDWARD EVERETT, vii, 232. (M.,
1822.)
2666. ENGLAND, Natural enemies of
United States.— I consider the British as our
natural enemies, and as the only nation on
earth who wish us ill from the bottom of their
souls. And I am satisfied that, were our con
tinent to be swallowed up by the ocean, Great
Britain would be in a bonfire from one end
to the other. — To WILLIAM CARMICHAEL. ii,
323. FORD ED., iv, 469. (P., 1787.)
_ ENGLAND, Neutral rights and.—
See NEUTRALITY.
— ENGLAND, Parliament of.— See
PARLIAMENT.
*The debt of Great Britain amounted at this period
to eight hundred millions of pounds sterling. " It
was in truth," says- Macaulay (Hist, of England,
c. 19) " a gigantic, a fabulous, debt ; and we can
hardly wonder that the cry of despair should have
been louder than ever." — EDITOR.
2667. ENGLAND, People of.— The indi
viduals of the [British] nation I have ever
honored and esteemed, the basis of their char
acter being essentially worthy. — To JOHN
ADAMS, vii, 46. (P.F., 1816.)
2668. ENGLAND, Perversity of Court.
— The British conduct, hitherto, has been
most successfully prognosticated by reversing
the conclusions of right reason. — To GEN
ERAL WASHINGTON, i, 237. (1779.)
2669. . Ever since the accession
of the present King of England, that court
has unerringly done what common sense
would have dictated not to do. — To WILLIAM
CARMICHAEL. FORD ED., iv, 453. (P., 1787.)
2670. . I never yet found any
other general rule for foretelling what the
British will do, but that of examining what
they ought not to do. — To JOHN ADAMS.
ii, 283. FORD EDV iv, 456. (P., 1787.)
2671. — - . We, I hope, shall be left
free to avail ourselves of the advantages of
neutrality ; and yet, much I fear the English,
or rather their stupid King, will force us
out of it. For thus I reason. By forcing us
into the war against them, they will be en
gaged in an expensive land war, as well as
a sea war. Common sense dictates, there
fore, that they should let us remain neuter:
ergo, they will not let us remain neuter. —
To JOHN ADAMS, ii, 283. FORD ED., iv, 456.
(P., 1787.)
2672. ENGLAND, Piratical policy of.—
A pirate spreading misery and ruin over the
face of the ocean. — To DR. WALTER JONES.
v, 511. FORD ED., ix, 274. (M., 1810.)
2673. . As for France and Eng
land, with all their preeminence in science,
the one is a den of robbers, and the other of
pirates. — To JOHN ADAMS, vi. 37. FORD ED.,
ix, 333. (M., 1812.)
2674. . A nation of buccaneers,
urged by sordid avarice, and embarked in the
flagitious enterprise of seizing to itself the
maritime resources and rights of all other na
tions.— To HENRY MIDDLETON. vi, 91. (M.,
Jan. 1813.)
2675. . The principle that force
is right, is become the principle of the nation
itself. They would not permit an honest
minister, were accident to bring such an one
into power, to relax their system of lawless
piracy. — To CESAR A. RODNEY, v, 501. FORD
ED., ix, 272. (M., 1810.)
2676. ENGLAND, Policy towards United
States. — England has steadily endeavored to
make us her natural enemies. — To JOHN
ADAMS, vi, 459. (M., 1815.)
2677. ENGLAND, Prototype of.— The
modern Carthage. — To WILLIAM DUANE.
v, 552. FORD ED., ix, 287. (M., 1810.)
2678. ENGLAND, Punic faith of .—What
is to be our security, that when embarked for
her [Great Britain! in the war [with Bona
parte], she will not make a separate peace,
305
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
England
and leave us in the lurch ? Her good faith !
The faith of a nation of merchants! The
Punica fides of modern Carthage! Of the
friend and protectress of Copenhagen! Of
the nation who never admitted a chapter of
morality into her political code ! And is now
boldly avowing that whatever power can
make hers, is her's of right. Money, and
not morality, is the principle of commerce and
commercial nations. — To JOHN LANGDON. v,
513. (M., March 1810.)
2679. ENGLAND, Punished.— England
is now a living example that no nation how
ever powerful, any more than an individual,
can be unjust with impunity. Sooner or later
public opinion, an instrument merely moral
in the beginning, will find occasion physically
to inflict its sentences on the unjust. Nothing
else could have kept the other nations of
Europe from relieving her under her present
crisis. The lesson is useful to the weak as
well as the strong. — To JAMES MADISON.
FORD ED., viii, 300. (M., April 1804.)
2680. ENGLAND, Beconquest of United
States. — Monroe's letter is of an awful com
plexion, and I do not wonder the communica
tion it contains made some impression on
him. To a person placed in Europe, sur
rounded by the immense resources of the na
tions there, and the greater wickedness of
their courts, even the limits which nature
imposes on their enterprises are scarcely
sensible. It is impossible that France and
England should combine for any purpose;
their mutual distrust and deadly hatred of
each other admit no cooperation. It is impos
sible that England should be willing to see
France repossess Louisiana, or get a footing
on our continent, and that France should
willingly see the United States reannexed to
the British dominions. That the Bourbons
should be replaced on their throne and agree
to any terms of restitution, is possible; but
that they and England joined, could recover
us to British dominion, is impossible. If
these things are not so. then human reason is
of no aid in conjecturing the conduct of na
tions. Still, however, it is our unquestion
able interest and duty to conduct ourselves
with such sincere friendship and impartiality
towards both nations, as that each may see
unequivocally, what is unquestionably true,
that we may be very possibly driven into her
scale by unjust conduct in the other. — To
JAMES MADISON, iv, 557. FORD ED., viii, 314.
(M., Aug. 1804.)
2681. ENGLAND, Reduction of.— If, in
deed. Europe has matters to settle which may
reduce this hostis humani generis to a state
of peace and moral order, I shall see that
with pleasure, and then sing, with old Sim
eon, mine dimittas Domine. — To M. COR-
REA. vi, 407. (M., 1814.)
2682. . While it is much our in
terest to see this power reduced from its
towering and borrowed height, to within the
limits of its natural resources, it is by no
means our interest that she should be brought
below that, or lose her competent place among
the nations of Europe.— To JOHN ADAMS.
vii, 45. (P.F., 1816.)
2683. ENGLAND, Reform.— I am in
hopes a purer nation will result, and a purer
government be instituted, one which, instead
of endeavoring to make us their natural ene
mies, will see in us, what we really are, their
natural friends and brethren, and more in
terested in a fraternal connection with them
than with any other nation on earth. — To
JOHN ADAMS, vii, 46. (P.F., 1816.)
2684. ENGLAND, As a republic.—
Probably the old hive will be broken up by
a revolution, and a regeneration of its prin
ciples render intercourse with it no longer
contaminating. A republic there like ours,
and a reduction of their naval power within
the limits of their annual facilities of pay
ment, might render their existence even in
teresting to us. It is the construction of their
government, and its principles and means of
corruption, which make its continuance in
consistent with the safety of other nations.
A change in its form might make it an honest
one, and justify a confidence in its faith and
friendship. — To WILLIAM DUANE. vi, 76.
FORD ED., ix, 366. (M., Aug. 1812.)
2685. ENGLAND, Reunion witK.— I am
sincerely one of those who still wish for re
union with their parent country, and would
rather be in dependence on Great Britain,
properly limited, than on any nation on earth,
or than on no nation. — To JOHN RANDOLPH.
i, 201. FORD ED., i, 484. (M., August 1775.)
2686. ENGLAND, Self-interest and.—
England is a nation which nothing but views
of interest can govern. — To JAMES MADISON.
i, 414- (P-, 1785.)
2687. . Her interest is her rul
ing passion ; and the late American measures
have struck at that so vitally, and with an
energy, too, of which she had thought us
quite incapable, that a possibility seems to
open of forming some arrangement with
her. When they shall see decidedly, that
without it, we shall suppress their commerce
with us, they will be agitated by their ava
rice, on the one hand, and their hatred and
their fear of us on the other. The result of
this conflict of dirty passions is yet to be
awaited. — To JOHN LANGDON. i, 429. (P.,
1785.)
2688. . The administration of
Great Britain are governed by the people,
and the people by their own interested wishes
without calculating whether they are just or
capable of being effected. — To JAMES MADI
SON. FORD ED., iv, 36. (P., 1785.)
2689. ENGLAND, Selfishness of.— Eng
land's selfish principles render her incapable
of honorable patronage or disinterested co
operation. — To MARQUIS LAFAYETTE, vii, 68.
FORD ED., x, 85. (M.. 1817.)
2690. ENGLAND, Subjugation of.—
The subjugation of England would, indeed,
England
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
306
be a general calamity. But happily it is im
possible. Should it end in her being only re-
publicanized, I know not on what principle
a true republican of our country could la
ment it, whether he considers it as extending
the blessings of a purer government to other
portions of mankind, or strengthening the
cause of liberty in our own country by the
influence of that example. I do not, indeed,
wish to see any nation have a form of gov
ernment forced on them ; but if it is to be
done, I should rejoice at its being a freer
one.* — To PEREGRINE FITZHUGH. iv, 217.
FORD ED., vii, 211. (Pa., Feb. 1798.)
2691. ENGLAND, Tory principles of.—
To judge from what we see published [in
England], we must believe that the spirit of
toryism has gained nearly the whole of the
nation ; that the whig principles are utterly
extinguished except in the breasts of certain
descriptions of dissenters. This sudden change
in the principles of a nation would be a
curious morsel in the history of man. — To
BENJAMIN VAUGHAN. FORD ED., v, 333.
(Pa., 1791.)
2692. ENGLAND, Tyrant of ocean. —
Great Britain has certainly * * * de
clared to our government by an official
paper, that the conduct of France towards
her during this war has obliged her to take
possession of the ocean, and to determine
that no commerce shall be carried on with the
nations connected with France ; that, how
ever, she is disposed to relax in this deter
mination so far as to permit the commerce
which may be carried on through the British
ports. I have, for three or four years been
confident that, knowing that he/ own re
sources were not adequate to the maintenance
of her present navy, she meant with it to
claim the conquest of the ocean, and to per
mit no nation to navigate it, but on payment
of a tribute for the maintenance of the fleet
necessary to secure that dominion. A thou
sand circumstances brought together left me
without a doubt that that policy directed all
her conduct, although not avowed. This is
the first time she has thrown of! the mask. —
To ARCHIBALD STUART, v, 606. FORD ED.,
ix, 326. (M., Aug. 1811.)
2693. - I own, that while I re
joice, for the good of mankind, in the deliv
erance of Europe from the havoc which would
never have ceased while Bonaparte should
have lived in power, I see with anxiety the
tyrant of the ocean remaining in vigor, and
even participating in the merit of crushing
his brother tyrant.— To JOHN ADAMS, vi,
353. FORD ED., ix, 461. (M., July 1814.) See
OCEAN.
2694. ENGLAND, Unfaithful to alli
ances. — The nature of the English govern
ment forbids, of itself, reliance on her en
gagements ; and it is well known she has been
the least faithful to her alliances of any na
tion of Europe, since the period of her his
tory wherein she has been distinguished for
•Jefferson was writing on the meditated invasion
of England by France.— EDITOR.
her commerce and corruption, that is to say,
under the houses of Stuart and Brunswick.
To Portugal alone she has steadily adhered,
because, by her Methuin treaty, she had made
it a colony, and one of the most valuable to
her.— To JOHN LANGDON. v, 313. (M., 1810.)
2695. ENGLAND, United States and.—
These two nations [the United States and
Great Britain], holding cordially together,
have nothing to fear from the united world.
They will be the models for regenerating the
condition of man, the sources from which
representative government is to flow over the
whole earth. — To J. EVELYN DENISON. vii,
415. (M., 1825.)
2696. ENGLAND, United States and
Colonies of.— It is the policy of Great Britain
to give aliment to that bitter enmity between
her States [in America] and ours, which may
secure her against their ever joining us. But
would not the existence of a cordial friend
ship between us and them, be the best bridle
we could possibly put into the mouth of Eng
land? — To JOHN ADAMS, i, 489. (P., 1785.)
2697. ENGLAND, United States, France
and. — We learn that Thornton thinks we are
not as friendly now to Great Britain as be
fore our acquisition of Louisiana. This is
totally without foundation. Our friendship
to that nation is cordial and sincere. So is
that with France. We are anxious to see
England maintain her standing, only wish
ing she would use her power on the ocean
with justice. If she had done this hereto
fore, other nations would not have stood
by and looked on with unconcern on a con
flict which endangers her existence. We are
not indifferent to its issue, nor should we
be so on a conflict on which the existence of
France should be in danger. We consider each
as a necessary instrument to hold in check
the disposition of the other to tyrannize over
other nations. — To JAMES MONROE. FORD
ED., viii, 291. (W., Jan. 1804.)
_ ENGLAND, War of 1812.— See WAR.
2698. ENGLAND, War with.— England
is not likJy to offer war to any nation, un
less perhaps to ours. This would cost us our
whole shipping, but in every other respect we
might flatter ourselves with success. — To
EDMUND RANDOLPH, i, 435. (P., 1785.)
2699. . I judge that a war with
America would be a popular war in England.
Perhaps the situation of Ireland may deter
the ministry from hastening it on. — To R.
IZARD. i, 442. (P., 1785.)
2700. . I observed to Mr. Ers-
kine [British Minister] that if we wished
war with England, as the federalists charged
us, and I feared his government might be
lieve, nothing would have been so easy when
the Chesapeake was attacked, and when even
the federalists themselves would have con
curred ; but, on the contrary, that our en
deavors had been to cool down our country
men, and carry it before their government. —
ANAS. FORD ED., i, 337. (Nov. 1808.)
307
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
England
Epicurus
2701. - . During the eight years
of my administration, there was not a year
that England did not give us such cause as
would have provoked a war from any Euro
pean government. But I always hoped that
time and friendly remonstrances would bring
her to a sounder view of her own interests,
and convince her that these would be pro
moted by a return to justice and friendship
towards us. — To DR. GEORGE LOGAN, vi, 215.
FORD ED., ix, 421. (M., Oct. 1813.)
_ ENGLAND, Western Posts.— See
POSTS.
2702. ENGRAVING, New method.—
One new invention in the arts is worth men
tioning. It is a mixture of the arts of engra
ving and printing, rendering both cheaper.
Write or draw anything on a plate of brass
with the ink of the inventor, and in half an
hour he gives you engraved copies of it, so
perfectly like the original that they could not
be suspected to be copies. His types for print
ing a whole page are all in one solid piece. An
author, therefore, only prints a few copies of his
work, from time to time, as they are called for.
This saves the loss of printing more copies
than may possibly be sold, and prevents an
edition from being ever exhausted. — To JAMES
MADISON, i, 534. FORD ED., iv, 197. (P.,
1786.)
2703. . There is a person here
[Paris] who has hit on a new method of en-
graying. He gives you an ink of his own com
position. Write on copper plates anything of
which you would wish to take several copies,
and, in an hour, the plate will be ready to strike
them off ; so of plans, engravings, &c. This
art will be amusing to individuals, if he should
make it known. — To DAVID KITTEN HOUSE, i.
516. (P., 1786.)
2704. ENTAIL IN VIRGINIA, Aboli
tion.— -On the 1 2th of October, 1776, I ob
tained leave (in the Virginia Legislature) to
bring in a bill declaring tenants in tail to
hold their lands in fee-simple. In the earlier
times of the colony, when lands were to be
obtained for little or nothing, some provident
individuals procured large grants; and, de
sirous of founding great families for them
selves, settled them on their descendants in
fee-tail. The transmission of this property
from generation to generation, in the same
name, raised up a distinct set of families, who,
being privileged by law in the perpetuation
of their wealth, were thus formed into a
Patrician order, distinguished by the splen
dor and luxury of their establishments. From
this order, too. the King habitually selected
his Counsellors of State ; the hope of which
distinction devoted the whole corps to the
interests and will of the crown. To annul
this privilege, and instead of an aristocracy of
wealth, of more harm and danger, than bene
fit, to society, to make an opening for the ar
istocracy of virtue and talent, which nature
has wisely provided for the direction of the
interests of Society, and scattered with equal
hand through all its conditions, was deemed
essential to a well-ordered republic. To ef
fect it, no violence was necessary, no depriva
tion of natural right, but rather an enlarge
ment of it by a repeal of the law. For this
would authorize the present holder to divide
the property among his children equally, as
his affections were divided ; and would place
them, by natural generation on the level of
their fellow citizens. But this repeal was
strongly opposed by Mr. Pendleton, who was
zealously attached to ancient establishments.
* * * Finding that the general principle
of entails could not be maintained, he took
his stand on an amendment which he pro
posed, instead of an absolute abolition, to
permit the tenant in tail to convey in fee-
simple, if he chose it ; and he was within a
few votes of saving so much of the old law.
But the bill passed finally for entire abolition.
— AUTOBIOGRAPHY, i, 36. FORD ED., i, 49.
(1821.)
2705. . The repeal of the laws
of entail would prevent the accumulation and
perpetuation of wealth, in select families, and
preserve the soil of the country from being
daily more and more absorbed in mortmain.*
— AUTOBIOGRAPHY, i, 49. FORD ED., i, 69.
(1821.)
2706. ENTAIL IN VIRGINIA, Pre
amble to Bill.— Whereas the perpetuation of
property in certain families by means of gifts
made to them in fee-simple is contrary to
good policy, tends to deceive fair traders who
give credit on the visible possession of such
estates, discourages the holder thereof from
taking care and improving the same, and some
times does injury to the morals of youth by
rendering them independent of, and disobedient
to, their parents ; and whereas the former
method of docking such estates tail by special
act of assembly, formed for every particular
case, employed very much the time of the
legislature, was burthensome to the public, and
also to the individual who made application
for such acts, Be it enacted &c.t — BILL TO
ABOLISH ENTAILS. FORD ED., ii, 103. (1776.)
See 477, 478, 479, 480.
_ ENTANGLING ALLIANCES.— See
ALLIANCES.
2707. ENTHUSIASM vs. MONEY.—
The glow of one warm thought is to me
worth more than money. — To CHARLES Mc-
PHERSON. i, 196. FORD ED., i, 414. (A.,
I773-)
2708. EPICURUS, Doctrines of.— The
doctrines of Epicurus, notwithstanding the cal
umnies of the Stoics and caricatures of Cicero.,
is the most rational system remaining of the
*The bill for the abolition of entails was one of the
measures of which Jefferson wrote in his Autobiog
raphy (i, 4Q,) as follows : " I considered four of these
bills [of the Revised Code of Va.], passed or re
ported, as forming a system by which every fibre
would be eradicated of ancient or future aristoc
racy ; and a foundation laid for a government
truly republican ; and all this would be effected with-
out the violation of a single natural right of any one
individual citizen." The other three bills were those
abrogating the right of Primogeniture, establishing
Religious Freedom, and providing a system of
general education. — EDITOR.
tin his Life of Jefferson, Parton, (210) says: "It
was the earliest and quickest of Jefferson's triumphs,
though he did not live long enough to outlast the
enmity his victory engendered. Some of the old
Tories found it in their hearts to exult that he, who
had disappointed so many fathers, lost his only son
before it was a month old."— EDITOR.
Epicurus
Equal Bights
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
308
philosophy of the ancients, as frugal of vicious
indulgence, and fruitful of virtue as the hy
perbolical extravagances of his rival sects. — To
CHARLES THOMPSON, vi, 518. FORD ED., x, 6.
(M., 1816.)
2709. . I am an Epicurean. I
consider the genuine (not the imputed) doc
trines of Epicurus as containing everything ra
tional in moral philosophy which Greece and
Rome have left us. Epictetus indeed, has
given us what was good of the Stoics ; all be
yond, of their dogmas, being hypocrisy and
grimace. Their great crime was in their cal
umnies of Epicurus and misrepresentations of
his doctrines ; in which we lament to see the
candid character of Cicero engaging as an ac
complice. — To WILLIAM SHORT. vii, 138.
FORD ED., x, 143. (M., 1819.)
2710. EPICURUS, Syllabus of Doc
trines.— [I send you] a syllabus of the doc
trines of Epicurus :
Physical. — The Universe eternal.
Its parts, great and small, interchangeable.
Matter and Void alone.
Motion inherent in matter which is weighty
and declining.
Eternal circulation of the elements of bodies.
Gods, an order of beings next superior to
man, enjoying in their sphere, their own fe
licities ; but not meddling with the concerns
of the scale of beings below them.
Moral. — Happiness the aim of life.
Virtue the foundation of happiness.
Utility the test of virtue.
Pleasure active and In-do-lent.
In-do-lence is the absence of pain, the true
felicity.
Active, consists in agreeable motion; it is
not happiness, but the means to produce it.
Thus the absence of hunger is an article of
felicity ; eating the means to obtain it.
The summum bonum is to be not pained in
body, nor troubled in mind. — i. e. In-do-lence
of body, tranquillity of mind.
To procure tranquillity of mind we must
avoid desire and fear, the two principal dis
eases of the mind.
Man is a free agent.
Virtue consists in, i. Prudence. 2. Temper
ance. 3. Fortitude. 4. Justice.
To which are opposed, i. Folly. 2. Desire.
3. Fear. 4. Deceit. — To WILLIAM SHORT, vii,
141. FORD ED., x, 146. (M., 1819.) See
SHORT.
2711. EPITAPH, Written by Jeffer
son. —
HERE WAS BURIED
THOMAS JEFFERSON
AUTHOR
OF THE DECLARATION OF
AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE,
OF
THE STATUTE OF VIRGINIA
FOR RELIGIOUS FREEDOM, AND
FATHER OF THE UNIVERSITY
OF VIRGINIA.
BORN APRIL zd
1743. O. S.
DIED [JULY 4]
[1826]
FORD ED., x, 396.
2712. EQUALITY, America and.— In
America no other distinction between man
and man had ever been known but that of
persons in office, exercising powers by au
thority of the laws, and private individuals.
Among these last, the poorest laborer stood
on equal ground with the wealthiest million
aire, and generally on a more favored one
whenever their rights seemed to jar. It has
been seen that a shoemaker, or other ar
tisan, removed by the voice of his country
from his work bench into a chair of office,
has instantly commanded all the respect and
obedience which the laws ascribe to his of
fice. But of distinction by birth or badge,
they had no more idea than they had of
the mode of existence in the moon or planets.
They had heard only that there were such,
and knew that they must be wrong. — To M.
DE MEUNIER. ix, 270. FORD ED., iv, 174.
(P., 1786.) See ARISTOCRACY.
2713. EQUALITY, Constitutions and.—
The foundation on which all [our constitu
tions] are built is the natural equality of
man, the denial of every preeminence but
that annexed to legal office, and particu
larly the denial of a preeminence by birth. —
To GENERAL WASHINGTON, i, 334. FORD
ED., iii, 466. (A., 1784.) See GOVERNMENT.
2714. EQUALITY, Law and.— An equal
application of law to every condition of man
is fundamental. — To GEORGE HAY. vii, 175.
FORD ED., ix, 62. (M., 1807.)
2715. EQUALITY, Political.— All men
are created equal. — DECLARATION OF INDE
PENDENCE AS DRAWN BY JEFFERSON. See
EQUAL RIGHTS and RIGHTS OF MAN.
2716. EQUALITY, Privileges.— To un
equal privileges among members of the same
society the spirit of our nation is, with one
accord, adverse. — REPLY TO ADDRESS.
iv, 394- (W., May 1801.) See PRIVILEGES.
2717. EQUAL BIGHTS, Aggression on.
— No man has a natural right to commit ag
gression on the equal rights of another ; and
this is all from which the laws ought to re
strain him. — To F. W. GILMER. vii, 3. FORD
ED., x, 32. (M., 1816.)
2718. EQUAL BIGHTS, Government
and. — The true foundation of republican gov
ernment is in the equal right of every citizen,
in his person and property, and in their man
agement. — To SAMUEL KERCHIVAL. vii, n.
FORD ED., x, 39. (M., 1816.)
2719. . The equal rights of man,
and the happiness of every individual, are
now acknowledged to be the only legitimate
objects of government. — To M. CORAY. vii,
319. (M., 1823.)
2720. EQUAL BIGHTS, Immovable.—
The immovable basis of equal rights and rea
son. — To JAMES SULLIVAN, iv, 169. FORD
ED., vii, 118. (M., 1797.)
2721. EQUAL BIGHTS, Perversion of.
— To special legislation we are generally
averse, lest a principle of favoritism should
creep in and pervert that of equal rights. —
To GEORGE FLOWER, vii, 83. (P.F., 1817.)
309
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Equal Bights
Error
2722. EQUAL BIGHTS, Political.— The
basis of our [Virginia] Constitution is in op
position to the principle of equal political
rights, refusing to all but freeholders any
participation in the natural right of self-
government. * * * However nature may
by mental or physical disqualifications have
marked infants and the weaker sex for the
protection rather than the direction of gov
ernment, yet among the men who either pay
or fight for their country, no line of right
can be drawn. — To JOHN HAMBDEN PLEAS-
ANTS, vii, 345. FORD ED., x, 303. (M.,
1824.)
2723. . Even among our citizens
who participate in the representative priv
ilege, the equality of political rights is en
tirely prostrated by our [Virginia] Consti
tution. Upon which principle of right or
reason can any one justify the giving to
every citizen of Warwick as much weight
in the government as to twenty-two equal
citizens in London, and similar inequalities
among the other counties? If these funda
mental principles are of no importance in
actual government, then no principles are
important, and it is as well to rely on the
dispositions of administration, good or evil,
as on the provisions of a constitution. — To
JOHN HAMBDEN PLEASANTS. vii, 344. FORD
ED., x, 303. (M., 1821.) See RIGHTS.
_ EQUITY.— See CHANCELLORS.
2724. ERROR, Correcting.— There is
more honor and magnanimity in correcting
than persevering in an error. — BATTURE
CASE, viii, 598. (1812.)
2725. . We have always a right
to correct ancient errors, and to establish
what is more conformable to reason and con
venience. This is the ground we must take.
— To JAMES MADISON. FORD ED., viii, 82.
(M., 1801.)
2726. . It is better to correct
error while new, and before it becomes in
veterate by habit and custom. — CONGRESS
REPORT. FORD ED., ii, 136. (1777.)
2727. ERROR, Deplored.—- When I em
barked in the government, it was with a
determination to intermeddle not at all with
the Legislature, and as little as possible with
my co-departments. The first and only in
stance of variance from the former part of
my resolution, I was duped into by the Sec
retary of the Treasury [Hamilton] and
made a tool for forwarding his schemes, not
then sufficiently understood by me ; and of
all the errors of my political life, this has oc
casioned me the deepest regret.* — To PRESI
DENT WASHINGTON, iii, 460. FORD ED., vi,
102. (M., 1792.) See ASSUMPTION.
2728. ERROR, Evils of.— Error bewilders
us in one false consequence after another
in endless succession. — To JOHN ADAMS.
vii, 149. FORD ED., x. 153. (M., 1819.)
2729. ERROR, Human Nature and.—
The weakness of human nature, and the
* The assumption of the State debts.— EDITOR.
limits of my own understanding, will pro
duce errors of judgment sometimes injurious
to your interests. — SECOND INAUGURAL AD
DRESS, viii, 45. FORD ED., viii, 347. (1805.)
2730. . I have no pretensions to
exemption from error. In a long course of
public duties, I must have committed many.
And I have reason to be thankful that, pass
ing over these, an act of duty has been se
lected as a subject of complaint, which the
delusions of self interest alone could have
classed among them, and in which, were
there error, it has been hallowed by the bene
dictions of an entire province, an interest
ing member of our national family, threat
ened with destruction by the bold enterprise
of one individual.* — THE BATTURE CASE.
viii, 601. (1812.)
2731. . I cannot have escaped
error. It is incident to our imperfect nature.
But I may say with truth, my errors have
been of the understanding, not of intention;
and that the advancement of [the people's]
rights and interests has been the constant
motive of every measure. — EIGHTH ANNUAL
MESSAGE. viii, no. FORD ED., ix, 225.
(1808.)
2732. . I may have erred at
times. No doubt I have erred. This is the
law of human nature.f — SPEECH TO THE U.
S. SENATE, iv, 362. FORD ED., vii, 501.
(1801.)
2733. ERROR, Ignorance and. — Igno
rance is preferable to error ; and he is
less remote from the truth who believes noth
ing, than he who believes what is wrong. —
NOTES ON VIRGINIA, viii, 277. FORD ED.,
iii, 119. (1782.)
2734. ERROR, Indulgence to honest.—
For honest errors, indulgence may be hoped.
— SPEECH TO THE U. S. SENATE, iv, 362.
FORD ED., vii, 501. (1801.)
2735. . I shall often go wrong,
through defect of judgment. When right,
I shall often be thought wrong by those
whose positions will not command a view of
the whole ground. I ask your indulgence
for my own errors, which will never be in
tentional ; and your support against the er
rors of others, who may condemn what they
would not if seen in all its parts. — FIRST IN-
AUGURAL ADDRESS, viii, 5. FORD ED., viii,
5. (1801.)
2736. ERROR, Judges and.— If, indeed,
a judge goes against law so grossly, so pal
pably, as no imputable degree of folly can
account for. and nothing but corruption, mal
ice or wilful wrong can explain, and espe
cially if circumstances prove such motives, he
may be punished for the corruption, the mal
ice, the wilful wrong; but not for the error.
— THE BATTURE CASE, viii, 602. (1812.)
* Edward Livingston in the New Orleans Batture
suit against Jefferson. — EDITOR.
+ From a short speech read to the Senate on retir
ing from the Vice-Presidency. — EDITOR.
Error
ISrskine (William)
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
310
2737. . I repeat that I dp not
charge the judges with wilful and ill-inten
tioned error, but honest error must be ar
rested where its toleration leads to public
ruin. — AUTOBIOGRAPHY, i, 82. FORD ED., i,
113. (1821.)
2738. ERROR, Officials and.— Our Con
stitution has wisely distributed the admin
istration of the Government into three dis
tinct and independent departments. To each
of these it lelongs to administer law within
its separate jurisdiction. The judiciary in
cases of meum and tuum, and of public
crimes; the Executive, as to laws executive
in their nature ; the Legislature in various
cases which belong to itself, and in the im
portant function of amending and adding to
the system. Perfection in wisdom, as well
as in integrity, is neither required, nor ex
pected in these agents. It belongs not to
man. Were the judge who, deluded by soph
istry, takes the life of an innocent man, to
repay it with his own ; were he to replace,
with his own fortune, that which his judg
ment has taken from another, under the be-
guilement of false deductions ; were the Ex
ecutive, in the vast mass of concerns of first
magnitude, which he must direct, to place
his whole fortune on the hazard of every
opinion ; were the members of the Legislature
to make good' from their private substance
every law productive of public or private in
jury ; in short, were every man engaged in
rendering service to the public bound in his
body and goods to indemnification for all his
errors, we must commit our public affairs
to the paupers of the nation, to the sweep
ings of hospitals and poor houses, who, hav
ing nothing to lose, would have nothing to
risk. The wise know their weakness too
-well to assume infallibility ; and he who
knows most, knows how little he knows.
The vine and the fig tree must withdraw,
and the brier and bramble assume their
places. But this is not the spirit of our law.
It expects not impossibilities. It has con
secrated the principle that its servants are not
answerable for honest error of judgment. —
BATTURE CASE, viii, 602. (1812.)
2739. . If a functionary of the
highest trust, acting under every sanction
which the Constitution has provided for his
aid and guide, and with the approbation, ex
pressed or implied, of its highest councils,
still acts on his own peril, the honors and
offices of his country would be but snares to
ruin him.* — BATTURE CASE, viii, 603. (1812.)
2740. ERROR, The people and. — The
people will err sometimes and accidentally,
but never designedlv and with a systematic
and persevering purpose of overthrowing the
free principles of the government. — To M.
CORAY. vii, 319. (M., 1823.)
2741. . Do not be too severe
upon the errors of the people, but reclaim
* Jefferson for his action in the New Orleans Bat-
ture Case, while President, was sued by Edward
Livingston, who asked damages in the sum of $100,-
TOO.— EDITOR.
them by enlightening them. — To EDWARD
CARRINGTON. ii, 100. FORD ED., iv, 360. (P.,
1787.)
2742. ERROR, Pointing out.— I would
be glad to know when any individual member
[of Congress] thinks I have gone wrong in
any instance. If I know myself, it would
not excite ill blood in me, while it would
assist to guide my conduct, perhaps to jus
tify it, and to keep me to my duty, alert. —
To JAMES MADISON, ii, 327. FORD ED., iv,
474- (P., 1787-)
2743. ERROR, Political enemies and.—
The best indication of error which my ex
perience has tested, is the approbation of the
federalists. Their conclusions necessarily fol
low the false bias of their principles. — To
WILLIAM DUANE. v, 592. FORD ED., ix, 316.
(M., 1811.)
2744. ERROR, Reason and.— The same
facts impress us differently. This is enough
to make me suspect an error in my process of
reasoning, though I am not able to detect
it— To JOHN ADAMS, i, 593. (P., 1786.)
2745. ERROR, Reason vs.— Error of
opinion may be tolerated where reason is
left free to combat it. — FIRST INAUGURAL AD
DRESS, viii, 3. FORD ED., viii, 3. (1801.)
2746. ERROR, Suppression of.— It Is
safer to suppress an error in its first con
ception than to trust to any after-correction.
— CIRCULAR TO FOREIGN MINISTERS, iii, 509.
FORD ED., vi, 180. (Pa., 1793.)
2747. ERROR, Time, truth and.— Time
and truth will at length correct error. — To
C. F. VOLNEY. iv, 572. (W., 1805.)
2748. ERROR, Toleration of.— Here,
[the University of Virginia] we are not
afraid to follow truth wherever it may lead,
nor to tolerate any error so long as reason
is left free to combat it. — To MR. ROSCOE.
vii, 196. (M., 1820.")
2749. ERROR, Triumphant.— Error has
often prevailed by the assistance of power
or force. Truth is the proper and sufficent
antagonist to error. — NOTES ON RELIGION.
FORD ED., ii, 102. (1776?)
2750. ERROR, Truth vs. — Truth is the
proper and sufficient antagonist to error, and
has nothing to fear from the conflict, unless,
by human interposition, disarmed of her nat
ural weapons, free argument and debate, er
rors ceasing to be dangerous when it is per
mitted freely to contradict them. — STATUTE
OF RELIGIOUS FREEDOM, viii, 455. FORD ED., ii,
239. (I779-)
2751. . It is error alone which
needs the support of government. Truth can
stand by itself. — NOTES ON VIRGINIA, viii,
401. FORD ED., iii, 264. (1782.)
2752. ERSKINE (William), Charac
ter. — I hope and doubt not that Erskine will
justify himself. My confidence is founded in
a belief of his integrity, and in the of
Canning. — To PRESIDENT MADISON, v, 465.
(M., Aug. 1809.)
311
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Escheat
Etiquette
2753. ESCHEAT, Bank charter and.—
The bill for establishing a National Bank
undertakes * * * to form the subscri
bers into a corporation [and] to enable them
in their corporate capacities, to put the lands
[they are authorized to hold] out of the
reach of forfeiture or escheat; and so far is
against the laws of Forfeiture and Escheat.
—NATIONAL BANK OPINION, vii, .555- FORD
ED., v, 284. (1791.)
2754. . All the property, real
and personal, within the Commonwealth [of
Virginia], belonging * * * to any British
subject, * * * shall be deemed to be
vested in the Commonwealth, the real estate
by way of escheat, and the personal estate by
forfeiture. — ESCHEATS AND FORFEITURES BILL.
FORD ED., ii, 184. (May I779-)
2755. ESCHEAT, Bill concerning.—
During the connection which subsisted be
tween the now United States of America and
the other parts of the British empire, and their
subjection to one common Prince the inhabit
ants of either part had all the rights of nat
ural born subjects in the other, and so might
lawfully take and hold real property, and trans
mit the same by descent to their heirs in fee-
simple, which could not be done by mere
aliens ; * * * and, in like manner, had ac
quired personal property which, by their com
mon laws, might be possessed by any other
than an alien enemy, and transmitted to ex
ecutors and administrators ; but when, by the
tyrannies of that Prince, and the open hostili
ties committed by his armies and subjects, in
habitants of the other parts of his dominions,
on the good people of the United States, they
are obliged to wage war in defence of their
rights, and finally to separate themselves from
the rest of the British empire, to renounce all
subjection to their common Prince, and to
become sovereign and independent States, the
said inhabitants of the other parts of the
British empire become aliens and enemies to
the said States, and as such incapable of hold
ing the property, real or personal, so acquired
therein, and so much thereof as was within
this Commonwealth became by the laws vested
in the Commonwealth. — ESCHEATS AND FOR
FEITURES BILL. FORD ED., ii, 182. (May
I779-)
2756. . The General Assembly
[of Virginia], though provoked by the example
of their enemies to a departure from that gen
erosity which so honorably distinguishes the
civilized nations of the present age, yet desirous
to conduct themselves with moderation and tem
per, by an act passed * * in 1777, took
measures for preventing the property
of British subjects in this Commonwealth from
waste and destruction, by putting * * * [it]
into the hands and under the management of
commissioners, * * * so that it might be
in their power, if reasonable at some future day,
to restore to the former proprietors * * *
[its] full value. — ESCHEATS AND FORFEITURES
BILL. FORD ED., ii, 183. (May 1779.)
- ESQUIRE.— See TITLES.
2757. ESTAING (Count d>), Land-grant
t°- — The State of Georgia has given twenty
thousand acres of land to the Count d'Estaing.
This gift is considered here [France] as very
honorable to him, and it has gratified him much.
— To JAMES MADISON, i, 533. FORD ED., iv,
195- (P., 1786.)
2758. ESTEEM, Basis of. — Integrity of
views more than their soundness, is the basis
of esteem.-t-To ELBRIDGE GERRY, iv, 273.
FORD ED., vii, 335. (Pa., 1799.)
2759. ETHICS, Law and.— I consider
ethics, as well as religion, as supplements
to law in the government of man.— To MR.
WOODWARD, vii, 339. (M., 1824.)
2760. ETHICS, System of.— -I have but
one system of ethics for men and for na
tions,— to be grateful, to be faithful to all en
gagements and under all circumstances, to
be open and generous, promoting in the long
run even the interests of both: and I am
sure it promotes their happiness. — To LA
DUCHESSE D'AUVILLE. iii, 135. FORD ED.,
v, 153. (N.Y., 1790.)
— ETHNOLOGY.— See ABORIGINES and
INDIANS.
2761. ETIQUETTE, Disputed points.—
I am sorry that your first impressions [of the
United States] have been disturbed by matters of
etiquette. * These disputes are the most
insusceptible of determination, because they have
no foundation in reason. Arbitrary and sense
less in their nature, they are arbitrarily decided
by every nation for itself. These decisions are
meant to prevent disputes, but they produce ten
where they prevent one. It would have been
better, therefore, in a new country to have ex
cluded etiquette altogether; or if it must be
admitted in some form or other, to have it
depend on some circumstance founded in nature,
such as the age or stature of the parties. — To
COMTE DE MOUSTIER. ii, 388. FORD ED., V, IO.
(P., 1788.)
2762. ETIQUETTE, Liberation from.—
The distance of our nation [from Europe] and
difference of circumstances liberate [it], in some
degree, from an etiquette, to which it is a
stranger at home as well as abroad. — To M. DE
PINTO, iii, 175. (N.Y., 1790.)
2763. ETIQUETTE, Rules of.— I. In or
der to bring the members of society together in
the first instance, the custom of the country has
established that residents shall pay the first visit
to strangers, and, among strangers, first comers
to later comers, foreign and domestic ; the char
acter of stranger ceasing after the first visits.
To this rule there is a single exception. For
eign ministers, from the necessity of making
themselves known, pay the first visit to the
ministers of the nation, which is returned. II.
When brought together in society, all are per
fectly equal, whether foreign or domestic, titled
or untitled, in or out of office. All other ob
servances are but exemplifications of these two
principles. I. ist. The families of foreign min
isters, arriving at the seat of government, re
ceive the first visit from those of the national
ministers, as from all other residents, zd.
Members of the Legislature and of the Judi
ciary, independent of their offices, have a right
as strangers to receive the first visit. II. ist.
No title being admitted here, those of foreigners
give no precedence. 2d. Differences of grade
among diplomatic members, give no precedence.
3d. At public ceremonies, to which the Govern
ment invites the presence of foreign ministers
and their families, a convenient seat or station
will be provided for them, with any other
strangers invited and the families of the na
tional ministers, each taking place as they ar
rive, and without any precedence. 4th. To
Europe
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
312
maintain the principle of equality, or of pele
mele, and prevent the growth of precedence out
of courtesy, the members of the Executive will
practice at their own houses, and recommend an
adherence to the ancient usage of the country,
of gentlemen in mass giving precedence to the
ladies in mass, in passing from one apartment
* * * into another.* — JEFFERSON PAPERS, ix,
454. FORD EDV viii, 276. (1803.)
2764. EUROPE, America and.— With
all the defects of our constitutions, whether
general or particular, the comparison of our
governments with those of Europe, are like
a comparison of heaven and hell. England,
like the earth, may be allowed to take the
intermediate station. — To JOSEPH JONES, ii,
249. FORD ED., iv, 438. (P., 1787.)
2765. EUROPE, Antagonism to Amer
ica. — What is the whole system of Europe
towards America but an atrocious and in
sulting tyranny? One hemisphere of the
earth, separated from the other by wide seas
on both sides, having a different system of in
terests flowing from different climates, differ
ent soils, different productions, different
modes of existence, and its own local rela
tions and duties, is made subservient to all
the petty interests of the other, to their laws,
their regulations, their passions and wars, and
interdicted from social intercourse, from the
interchange of miitual duties and comforts
with their neighbors, enjoined on all men by
the laws of nature. Happily these abuses of
human rights are drawing to a close on both
our continents, and are not likely to survive
the present mad contest of the lions and tigers
of the other. — To CLEMENT CAINE. yi, 13.
FORD ED., ix, 329. (M., 1811.)
2766. EUROPE, Balance of power in.—
We especially ought to pray that the powers
of Europe may be so poised and counter
poised among themselves, that their own
safety may require the presence of all their
force at home, leaving the other quarters of
the globe in undisturbed tranquillity. — To DR.
CRAWFORD, vi, 33. (M., Jan. 1812.)
2767. EUROPE, Estimate of.— Behold
me at length on the vaunted scene of Europe !
* You are curious perhaps to know
how this new scene has struck a savage of
the mountains of America. Not advanta
geously, I assure you. I find the general fate
of humanity here most deplorable. The
truth of Voltaire's observation offers itself
perpetually, that every man here must be
either the hammer or the anvil. It is a true
picture of that country to which they say we
shall pass hereafter, and where we are to see
God and his angels in splendor, and crowds
of the damned trampled under their feet.
While the great mass of the people are thus
suffering under physical and moral oppres
sion, I have endeavored to examine more
nearly the condition of the great, to appre
ciate the true value of the circumstances in
their situation, which dazzle the bulk of
spectators, and, especially, to compare it with
* Jefferson indorsed this paper as follows: "This
rough paper contains what was agreed upon." That
is by the cabinet.— EDITOR.
that degree of happiness which is enjoyed in
America by every class of people. Intrigues
of love occupy the younger, and those of
ambition, the elder part of the great. Con
jugal love having no existence among them,
domestic happiness, of which that is the basis,
is utterly unknown. In lieu of this, are sub
stituted pursuits which nourish and invig
orate all our bad passions, and which offer
only moments of ecstacy amidst days and
months of restlessness and torment. Much,
very much inferior, this, to the tranquil,
permanent felicity with which domestic so
ciety in America blesses most of its inhabit
ants ; leaving them to follow steadily those
pursuits which health and reason approve,
and rendering truly delicious the intervals of
those pursuits. In Science, the mass of the
people are two centuries behind ours; their
literati, half a dozen years before us. Books,
really good, acquire just reputation in that
time, and so become known to us, and com
municate to us all their advances in knowl
edge. Is not this delay compensated by our
being placed out of the reach of that swarm
of nonsensical publications which issue daily
from a thousand presses, and perish almost
in issuing? With respect to what are termed
polite manners, without sacrificing too much
the sincerity of language, I would wish my
countrymen to adopt just so much of Eu
ropean politeness, as to be ready to make
all those little sacrifices of self, which really
render European manners amiable, and re
lieve society from the disagreeable scenes to
which rudeness often subjects it. Here, it
seems that a man might pass a life without
encountering a single rudeness. In the
pleasures of the table, they are far before us,
because, with good taste they unite temper
ance. They do not terminate the most so
ciable meals by transforming themselves into
brutes. I have never yet seen a man drunk
in France, even among the lowest of the peo
ple. Were I to proceed to tell you how
much I enjoy their architecture, sculpture,
painting, music, I should want words. It is
in these arts they shine. The last of them,
particularly, is an enjoyment, the deprivation
of which with us, cannot be calculated. — To
MR. BELLINI, i, 444. (P., 1785.)
2768. EUROPE, Exclusion from Amer
ica. — We consider the interests of Cuba,
Mexico and ours as the same, and that the
object of both must be to exclude all Euro
pean influence from this hemisphere. — To
GOVERNOR CLAIBORNE. v, 381. (W., Oct.
1808.) See MONROE DOCTRINE.
2769. EUROPE, Governments of. — Ex
perience declares that man is the only
animal which devours his own kind, for I
cap apply no milder term to the governments
of Europe, and to the general prey of the rich
on the poor. — To EDWARD CARRINGTON. ii,
100. FORD ED., iv, 360. (P., 1787.)
2770. EUROPE, Ignorance in.— Igno
rance, superstition, poverty, and oppression of
body and mind, in every form, are so firmly
settled on the mass of the people, that their
313
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Kurope
Excise JLaw
redemption from them can never be hoped.
If all the sovereigns of Europe were to set
themselves to work to emancipate the minds
of their subjects from their present igno
rance and prejudices, and that, as zealously
as they, now endeavor the contrary, a thou
sand years would not place them on that high
ground, on which our common people are now
setting out. Ours could not have been so
fairly placed under the control of the common
sense of the people had they not been sep
arated from their parent stock, and kept from
contamination, either from them, or the other
people of the old world, by the intervention
of so wide an ocean. To know the worth
of this, one must see the want of it here. — To
GEORGE WYTHE. ii, 7. (P., 1786.)
2771. EUROPE, Intercourse with.—
During the present paroxysm of the insanity
of Europe, we have thought it wisest to
break off all the intercourse with her. — To
GENERAL ARMSTRONG, v, 280. FORD ED., ix,
194- (W., 1808.)
— EUROPE, Kings of.— See KINGS.
2772. EUROPE, Pretensions of.— In Eu
rope, nothing but Europe is seen, or sup
posed to have any right in the affairs of
nations. — To M. DUPONT DE NEMOURS, iv,
436. (W., April 1802.)
2773. EUROPE, Republican Govern
ment in. — Whether the state of society in
Europe can bear a republican government, I
doubted, you know, when with you, and I
do now. A hereditary chief, strictly limited,
the right of war vested in the legislative body,
a rigid economy of the public contributions,
and absolute interdiction of all useless ex
penses, will go far towards keeping the gov
ernment honest and unoppressive. — To MAR
QUIS LAFAYETTE, vii, 325. FORD ED., x, 280.
(M., 1823.)
2774. EUROPE, A world apart.— I con
sider Europe, at present, as a world apart
from ys, about which it is improper for us
even to form opinions, or to indulge any
wishes but the general one, that whatever is
to take place in it, may be for its happiness.*
— To JULIAN V. NIEMCEWIEZ. v, 69. (M.,
Aoril 1807.)
2775. EUSTIS (William), Character.—
Whether the head of the War Department is
equal to his charge, I am not qualified to de
cide. I knew him only as a pleasant gentle
manly man in Society ; and the indecision of his
character added to the amenity of his conversa
tion. — To WILLIAM DUANE. vi, 81. FORD ED.,
ix, 368. (M., Oct. 1812.)
2776. EVILS, Choice of .—It is the melan
choly law of human societies to be com
pelled sometimes to choose a great evil in
order to ward off a greater.— To WILLIAM
SHORT, vi, 399. (M., 1814.)
2777. EVILS, Cure of .—It is a happy cir
cumstance in human affairs that evils which
are not cured in one way will cure themselves
* Niemcewiez was the assumed name of Kosciusko
Em left the United States for Europe in 1807.—
in some other. — To SIR JOHN SINCLAIR, iii,
283. (Pa., 1791.)
2778. EVILS, Good from.— When great
evils happen, I am in the habit of looking
out for what good may arise from them as
consolations to us, and Providence has in fact
so established the order of things, as that most
evils are the means of producing some good. —
To DR. BENJAMIN RUSH, iv, 335. FORD ED.,
vii, 458. (M., 1800.)
2779. EXAMPLE, Good and bad.— I
have ever deemed it more honorable and more
profitable, too, to set a good example than to
follow a bad one. — To M. CORREA. vi, 405.
(M., 1814.)
2780. EXCISE, Defined.— Impost is a
duty paid on an imported article, in the mo
ment of its importation, and of course it is
collected in the seaports only. Excise is a
duty on an article, whether imported or raised
at home, and paid in the hands of the con
sumer or retailer. * * * These are the
true definitions of these words as used in
England, and in the greater part of the United
States. But in Massachusetts, they have
perverted the word excise to mean a tax on
all liquors, whether paid in the moment of
importation or at a later moment, and on
nothing else. So that on reading the debates
of the Massachusetts convention, you must
give this last meaning to the word excise. —
To J. SARSFIELD. iii, 17. (P., 1798.)
2781. EXCISE LAW, Enactment.— It is
proposed to provide additional funds, to
meet the additional debt [created by the
Assumption], by a tax on spirituous liquors,
foreign and home-made, so that the whole
interest will be paid by taxes on consump
tion. — TO GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. V, 198. FORD
ED., v, 250. (Pa., Nov. 1790.)
2782. EXCISE LAW, Infernal.— The ex
cise law is an infernal one. The first error
was to admit it by the Constitution ; the sec
ond, to act on that admission; the third and
last will be, to make it the instrument of dis
membering the Union, and setting us all
afloat to choose which part of it we will ad
here to. — To JAMES MADISON, iv, 112. FORD
ED., vi, 518. (M., Dec. 1794.)
2783. EXCISE LAW, Objectionable.—
Congress * * * have passed an excise
bill, which, considering the present circum
stances of the Union, is not without objec
tion. — To NICHOLAS LEWIS. FORD ED., v, 282.
(Feb. 1791.)
2784. - — . The excise law I have
condemned uniformly from its first concep
tion. — To JAMES MADISON, iii, 563. FORD
ED., vi, 261. (Pa., May 1793.)
2785. EXCISE LAW, Odious.— The ac
cumulation of debt * * * [created by
the Assumption] has obliged [us] * * *
to resort to an excise law, of odious character
with the people, partial in its operation, unpro
ductive unless enforced by arbitrary and vex
atious means, and committing the authority
Excise !Law
JExecutive
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
of the government in parts where resistance
is most probable, and coercion least prac
ticable. — To PRESIDENT WASHINGTON. iii,
361. FORD ED., vi, 2. (Pa., May 1702.)
2786. EXCISE LAW, Resisted.— The
people in the western parts of this State
[Pennsylvania] have been to the excise of
ficer, and threatened to burn his house, &c.
They were blackened and otherwise disguised,
so as to be unknown. He has resigned, and
H [amilton] says there is no possibility of
getting the law executed there, and that prob
ably the evil will spread. A proclamation is
to be issued, and another instance of my be
ing forced to appear to approve what I have
condemned uniformly from its first concep
tion.— To JAMES MADISON, iii, 563. FORD
ED., vi, 261. (Pa., May I793-)
2787. EXCISE LAW, Riots and.— With
respect to the transactions against the excise
law, it appears to me that you are all swept
away in the torrent of governmental opinions,
or that we do not know what these transac
tions have been. We know of none which,
according to the definitions of the law, have
been anything more than riotous. There was
indeed a meeting to consult about a separa
tion. But to consult on a question does not
amount to a determination of that question
in the affirmative, still less to the acting on
such a determination; but we shall see, I
suppose, what the court lawyers, and courtly
judges and would-be ambassadors will make
Of it— To JAMES MADISON, iv, in. FORD
ED., vi, 517. (M., Dec. 1794.)
2788. EXCISE LAW Tea-act and.—
Make friends with the trans-Alleganians.
They are gone if you do not. Do not let
false pride make a tea-act of your excise law.
—To W. B. GILES. FORD ED., vi, 516. (Dec.
I794-)
2789. EXCISE LAW, Unnecessary.—
The excise system, which I considered as pre
maturely and unnecessarily introduced, I was
* * * glad to see fall. It was evident that
our existing taxes were then equal to our
existing debts. It was clearly foreseen also
that the surplus from excise would only be
come aliment for useless offices, and would
be swallowed in idleness by those whom it
would withdraw from useful industry. — To
SAMUEL SMITH, vii, 284. FORD ED., x, 251.
(M., 1823.)
2790. EXCISE LAW, Unpopular.— The
excessive unpopularity of the excise and bank
bills in the South I apprehend will produce a
stand against the Federal Government. — To
WILLIAM SHORT. FORD ED., v, 296. (May
1791.)
2791. EXECUTIVE, Appointment of.—
The Executive powers shall be exercised in
manner following: One person, to be called
the [Administrator], shall be annually ap
pointed by the House of Representatives, on
the second day of their first session, who,
after having acted [one] year, shall be in
capable of being again appointed to that office
until he shall have been out of the same
[three] years.*— PROPOSED VA. CONSTITUTION.
FORD ED., ii, 17. (June 1776.)
2792. . The Executive powers
shall be exercised by a Governor, who shall
be chosen by joint ballot of both houses of
Assembly, and * * * shall remain in
office five years, and be ineligible a second
time. — PROPOSED VA. CONSTITUTION, viii, 446.
FORD ED., iii, 325. (1783.)
2793. — _. Render the Executive
[of Virginia] a more desirable post to men of
abilities by making it more independent of
the Legislature. To wit, let him be chosen
by other electors, for a longer time, and in
eligible forever after. Responsibility is a tre
mendous engine in a free government. Let
him feel the whole weight of it then, by taking
away the shelter of his Executive Council.
Experience both ways has already established
the superiority of this measure. — To ARCHI
BALD STUART, iii, 315. FORD ED., v, 410.
(Pa., 1791.)
2794. . Submit the members of
the Legislature to approbation or rejection at
short intervals. Let the Executive be chosen
in the same way, and for the same term,
by those whose agent he is to be; and leave
no screen of a Council behind which to skulk
from responsibility. — To SAMUEL KERCHI-
VAL. vii, ii. FORD ED., x, 39. (M., 1816.)
2795. . Under the Administra
tor shall be appointed by the same House
[Representatives] and at the same time, a
Deputy-Administrator, to assist his principal
in the discharge of his office, and to succeed,
in case of his death before the year shall have
expired, to the whole powers thereof during
the residue of the year. — PROPOSED VA. CON
STITUTION. FORD ED., ii, 18. (June 1776.)
2796. . The Deputy- Administra
tor shall have session and suffrage with the
Privy Council. — PROPOSED VA. CONSTITUTION.
FORD ED., ii, 20. (June 1776.)
2797. EXECUTIVE, Authority of .—The
Administrator shall possess the power for
merly held by the King; save only that he
shall be bound by acts of the legislature,
though not expressly named. — PROPOSED VA.
CONSTITUTION. FORD ED., ii, 18. (June
1776.)
2798. . The Administrator shall
not possess the prerogative * * * of rais
ing or introducing armed forces, building
armed vessels, forts or strongholds. — PRO
POSED VA. CONSTITUTION. FORD ED., ii, 19.
(June 1776.)
2799. The Administrator [of
Virginia] shall not possess the prerogative
* * * of retaining or recalling a member
of the State, but by legal process pro delicto
vel contractu. — PROPOSED VA. CONSTITUTION.
FORD ED., ii, 19. (June 1776.)
* The brackets are in the text of the instrument as
drawn by Jefferson. The quotation, with those that
immediately follow it, marks the development of
Jefferson's ideas on the subject of State executive
power. — EDITOR.
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Executive
2800. . All other* officers, civil
and military, shall be appointed by the Ad
ministrator; but such appointment shall be
subject to the negative of the Privy Council,
saving, however, to the Legislature a power
of transferring to any other persons the ap
pointment of such officers, or any of them. —
PROPOSED VA. CONSTITUTION. FORD ED., ii, 21.
June 1776.)
2801. EXECUTIVE, Authority over.—*
The Administrator shall be liable to action,
though not to personal restraint, for private
duties or wrongs. — PROPOSED VA. CONSTITU
TION. FORD EDV ii, 18. (June 1776.)
2802. EXECUTIVE, The Confederation
and. — As the Confederation had made no
provision for a visible head of the govern
ment during vacations of Congress, and such
a one was necessary to superintend the ex
ecutive business, to receive and communicate
with foreign ministers and nations, and to as
semble Congress on sudden and extraordinary
emergencies, I proposed early in April, 1784,
the appointment of a committee to be called
the " Committee of the States," to consist
of a member from each State, who should
remain in session during the recess of Con
gress : that the functions of Congress should
be divided into Executive and Legislative, the
latter to be reserved, and the former, by a
general resolution, to be delegated to that
Committee. This proposition was afterwards
agreed to ; a Committee appointed, who en
tered on duty on the subsequent adjourn
ment of Congress, quarrelled very soon, split
into two parties, abandoned their post, and
left the government without any visible head
until the next meeting in Congress. We have
since seen the same thing take place in the
Directory of France ; and I believe it will for
ever take place in any Executive consisting of
a plurality. Our plan, best, I believe, com
bines wisdom and practicability, by providing
a plurality of counsellors, but a single Arbiter
for ultimate decision. — AUTOBIOGRAPHY. i,
54. FORD ED., i, 75. (1820.)
2803. . I was in France when
we heard of this schism and separation of our
Committee, and, speaking with Dr. Franklin of
this singular disposition of men to quarrel and
divide into parties, he gave his sentiments, as
usual, by way of apologue. He mentioned the
Eddystone lighthouse in the British channel, as
being built on a rock in the mid-channel, totally
inaccessible in winter from the boisterous char
acter of that sea, in that season ; that, therefore,
for the two keepers, employed to keep up the
lights, all provisions for the winter were neces
sarily carried to them in autumn, as they could
never be visited again till the return of the
milder season ; that, on the first practicable day
in the spring a boat put off to them with fresh
supplies. The boatmen met at the door one of
the keepers and accosted him with a " How
goes it, friend "? " Very well ''. " How is your
companion"? "I do not know". "Don't
know ? Is he not here " ? "I can't tell ". " Have
not you seen him to-day"? "No". "When
did you see him " ? " Not since last fall ".
* Except members of the Privy Council, delegates
to Congress, treasurer of the Colony, attorney-
general, high sheriffs and coroners.— EDITOR.
" You have killed him " ? " Not I, indeed ".
They were about to lay hold of him, as having
certainly murdered his companion : but he de
sired them to go upstairs and examine for them
selves. They went up, and there found the
other keeper. They had quarrelled, it seems,
soon after being left there, had divided into two
parties, assigned the cares below to one, and
those above to the other, and had never spoken
to, or seen one another since. — AUTOBIOGRAPHY.
i, 54. FORD ED., i, 76. (1820.)
2804. . The idea of separating
the executive business of the Confederacy
from Congress, as the Judiciary is already in
some degree, is just and necessary. I had
frequently pressed on the members individ
ually, while in. Congress, the doing this by
a resolution of Congress for appointing an
Executive committee to act during the ses
sions of Congress, as the Committee of the
States was to act during their vacations. But
the Deferring to this Committee all executive
business, as it should present itself, would re
quire a more persevering self-denial than I
suppose Congress to possess. It will be much
better to make that separation by a Federal
act. — To JAMES MADISON, ii, 152. FORD ED.,
iv, 390. (P., June 1787.)
2805. EXECUTIVE, Control over.— The
Executive [branch of the government], pos
sessing the rights of self-government from
nature, cannot be controlled in the exercise
of them but by a law, passed in the forms
of the Constitution. — OFFICIAL OPINION, vii,
499. FORD ED., v, 209. (1790.)
2806. EXECUTIVE, Corruption of a
plural.— All executive directories become
mere sinks of corruption and faction. — To
JAMES MADISON, vii, 190. FORD ED., x, 169.
(P.F., 1820.)
2807. EXECUTIVE, French Consulate.
— Without much faith in Bonaparte's heart, I
have so much in his head, as to indulge an
other train of reflection. The republican
world has been long looking with anxiety on
the two experiments going on of a single
elective Executive here, and a plurality there.
Opinions have been considerably divided on
the event in both countries. The greater
opinion there has seemed to be heretofore
in favor of a plurality; here it has been very
generally, though not universally, in favor of
a single elective Executive. After eight or
nine years' experience of perpetual broils and
factions in their Directory, a standing divi
sion (under all changes) of three against two,
which results in a government by a single
opinion, it is possible they may think the ex
periment decided in favor of our form, and
that Bonaparte may be for a single executive,
limited in time and power, and flatter him
self with the election to that office; and that
to this change the nation may rally itself ; per
haps it is the only one to which all parties
could be rallied. In every case it is to be
feared and deplored that that nation has yet
to wade through half a century of disorder
and convulsions. — To HENRY INNES. iv, 315.
FORD ED., vii, 412. (Pa., Jan. 1800.)
Executive
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
316
2808. EXECUTIVE, French Directory.
— I fear the oligarchical Executive of the
French will not do. We have always seen a
small council get into cabals and quarrels,
the more bitter and relentless the fewer they
are. We saw this in our Committee of the
States; and that they were from their bad
passions, incapable of doing the business of
their country. I think that for the prompt,
clear and consistent action so necessary in
an Executive, unity of person is necessary as
with us. I am aware of the objection to
this, that the office becoming more important
may bring on serious discord in elections. In
our country, I think it will be long first; not
within our day, and we may safely trust to
the wisdom of our successors the remedies of
the evils to arise in theirs.— To JOHN ADAMS.
FORD ED., vii, 56. (M., Feb. 1796.)
2809. . I had formerly looked
with great interest to the experiment which
was going on in France of an Executive Di
rectory, while that of a single elective Exec
utive was under trial here. I thought the issue
of them might fairly decide the question be
tween the two modes. But the untimely fate
of that establishment cut short the experi
ment. I have not, however, been satisfied
whether the dissensions of that Directory
(and which I fear are incident to a plurality)
were not the most effective cause of the suc
cessful usurpations' which overthrew them.
It is certainly one of the most interesting
questions to a republican, and worthy of great
consideration.— To JUDGE WOODWARD, v, 449.
(M., May 1809.)
2810. EXECUTIVE, Jealousy of the.—
The Executive in our governments is not the
sole, it is scarcely the principal object of my
jealousy. The tyranny of the legislatures is
the most formidable dread at present and will
be for many years. That of the Executive
will come in its turn, but it will be at a
remote period.— To JAMES MADISON, iii, 5.
FORD ED., v, 83. (P., 1789-)
2811. EXECUTIVE, The people and.—
The people are not qualified to exercise them
selves the Executive department ; but they are
qualified to name the person who shall ex
ercise it. With us, therefore, they choose
this officer every four years. — To M. L'ABBE
ARNOND. iii, 81. FORD ED., v, 103. (P.,
1789.)
2812. . In times of peace the
people look most to their representatives ; but
in war, to the Executive solely. — To CESAR
A. RODNEY, v, 501. FORD EDV ix, 272. (M.,
1810.)
2813. EXECUTIVE, Republican and
monarchical. — A monarchical head should
confide the execution of its will to depart
ments consisting each of a plurality of hands,
who would warp that will as much as possible
towards wisdom and moderation, the two
qualities it generally wants. But a republican
head, founding its decrees, originally, in these
two qualities, should commit them to a single
hand for execution, giving them, thereby, a.
promptitude which republican proceedings
generally want. — ANSWERS TO M. DE MEU-
NIER. ix, 247. FORD EDV iv, 151. (P., 1786.)
2814. EXECUTIVE, Single and plural.
— When our present government was first es
tablished, we had many doubts on this ques
tion, and many leanings towards a supreme
executive council. It happened that at that
time the experiment of such an one was com
menced in France, while a single Executive
was under trial here. We watched the
motions and effects of these two rival plans,
with an interest and anxiety proportioned to
the importance of a choice between them.
The experiment in France failed after a short
course, and not from any circumstances pe
culiar to the times or nation, but from those
internal jealousies and dissensions in the
Directory, which will ever arise among men
equal in power, without a principal to decide
and control their differences. We had tried
a similar experiment in 1784, by establishing
a Committee of the States, composed of a
member from every State, then thirteen, to
exercise the executive functions during the
recess of Congress. They fell immediately
into schisms and dissensions, which became at
length so inveterate as to render all coopera
tion among them impracticable ; they dis
solved themselves, abandoning the helm of
government, and it continued without a head,
until Congress met the ensuing winter. This
was then imputed to the temper of two or
three individuals ; but the wise ascribed it to
the nature of man. The failure of the French
Directory, and from the same cause, seems to
have authorized a belief that the form of a
plurality, however promising in theory, is im
practicable with men constituted with the or
dinary passions. While the tranquil and
steady tenor of our single Executive, during
a course of twenty-two years of the most
tempestuous times the history of the world
has ever presented, gives a rational hope that
this important problem is at length solved.
Aided by the counsels of a cabinet of heads of
departments, originally four, but now five, with
whom the President consults, either singly or
altogether, he has the benefit of their wisdom
and information, brings their views to one
centre, and produces an unity of action and
direction in all the branches of the govern
ment. The excellence of this construction of
the executive power has already manifested
itself here under very opposite circumstances.
During the administration of our first Presi
dent, his cabinet of four members was equally
divided by as marked an opposition of princi
ple as monarchism and republicanism could
bring into conflict. Had that cabinet been a
Directory, like positive and negative quanti
ties in algebra, the opposing wills would have
balanced each other and produced a state of
absolute inaction. But the President heard
with calmness the opinions and reasons of
each, decided the course to be pursued, and
kept the government steadily in it, unaffected
by the agitation. The public knew well the
dissensions of the cabinet, but never had an
uneasy thought on their account, because they
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Executive
knew also they had provided a regulating
power which would keep the machine in
steady movement. I speak with an intimate
knowledge of these scenes, quorum pars fui;
as I may of others of a character entirely
opposite. The third administration, which
was of eight years, presented an example of
harmony in a cabinet of six persons, to which
perhaps history has furnished no parallel.
There never arose, during the whole time, an
instance of an unpleasant thought or word
between the members. We sometimes met
under differences of opinion, but scarcely ever
failed, by conversing and reasoning, so to
modify each other's ideas, as to produce an
unanimous result. Yet, able and amicable as
these members were, I am not certain this
would have been the case, had each possessed
equal and independent powers. Ill-defined
limits of their respective departments, jeal
ousies, trifHing at first, but nourished and
strengthened by repetition of occasions, in
trigues without doors of designing persons to
build an importance to themselves on the
divisions of others, might from small begin
nings, have produced persevering oppositions,
But the power of decision in the President
left no object for internal dissension, and ex
ternal intrigue was stifled in embryo by the
knowledge which incendiaries possessed, that
no division they could foment would change
the course of the executive power. I am not
conscious that my participations in executive
authority have produced any bias in favor of
the single Executive; because the parts I
have acted have been in the subordinate, as
well as superior stations, and because, if I
know myself, what I have felt, and what I
have wished, I know that I have never been
so well pleased, as when I could shift power
from my own, on the shoulders of others ; nor
have I ever been able to conceive how any
rational being could propose happiness to
himself from the exercise of power over
others. I am still, however, sensible of the
solidity of your principle, that, to insure the
safety of the public liberty, its depository
should be subject to be changed with the
greatest ease possible, and without suspend
ing or disturbing for a moment the move
ments of the machine of government. You
apprehend that a single Executive, with emi
nence of talent, and destitution of principle,
equal to the object, might, by usurpation, ren
der his powers hereditary. Yet I think his
tory furnishes as many examples of a single
usurper arising out of a government by a
plurality, as of temporary trusts of power
in a single hand rendered permanent by usur
pation. I do not believe, therefore, that this
danger is lessened in the hands of a plural
Executive. Perhaps it is greatly increased,
by the state of inefficiency to which they are
liable from feuds and divisions among them
selves. The conservative body you propose
might be so constituted, as, while it would be
an admirable sedative in a variety of smaller
cases, might also be a valuable sentinel and
check on the liberticide views of an ambitious
individual. I am friendly to this idea. But
the true barriers of our liberty in this country
are our State governments; and the wisest
conservative power ever contrived by man. is
that of which our Revolution and present
government found us possessed. Seventeen
distinct States, amalgamated into one as to
their foreign concerns, but single and inde
pendent as to their internal administration,
regularly organized with a legislature and
governor resting on the choice of the people,
and enlightened by a free press, can never be
so fascinated by the arts of one man, as to
submit voluntarily to his usurpation. Nor
can they be constrained to it by any force he
can possess. While that may paralyze the
single State in which it happens to be en
camped, sixteen others, spread over a country
of two thousand miles diameter, rise up on
every side, ready organized for deliberation by
a constitutional legislature, and for action by
their governor, constitutionally the com
mander of the militia of the State, that is to
say, of every man in it able to bear arms ; and
that militia, too, regularly formed into regi
ments and battalions, into infantry, cavalry
and artillery, trained under officers general
and subordinate, legally appointed, always in
readiness, and to whom they are already in
habits of obedience. The republican govern
ment of France was lost without a struggle
because the party of " un et indivisible " had
prevailed; no provisional organization exist
ed to which the people might rally under
authority of the laws, the seats of the Di
rectory were virtually vacant, and a small
force sufficed to turn the legislature out of
their chamber, and to salute its leader chief
of the nation. But with us, sixteen out of
seventeen States rising in mass, under regu
lar organization, and legal commanders,
united in object and action by their Congress,
or, if that be in duresse, by a Special Conven
tion, present such obstacles to an usurper as
forever to stifle ambition in the first con
ception of that object. Dangers of another
kind might more reasonably be apprehended
from this perfect and distinct organization,
civil and military, of the States ; to wit, that
certain States from local and occasional dis
contents, might attempt to secede from the
Union. This is certainly possible ; and would
be befriended by this regular organization.
But it is not probable that local discon
tents can spread to such an extent, as to be
able to face the sound parts of so extensive
an Union ; and if ever they should reach the
majority, they would then become the regu
lar government, acquire the ascendency in
Congress, and be able to redress their own
grievances by laws peaceably and constitu
tionally passed. And even the States in
which local discontents might engender a
commencement of fermentation, would be
paralyzed and self-checked by that very divi
sion into parties into which we have fallen,
into which all States must fall wherein men
are at liberty to think, speak, and act freely,
according to the diversities of their individ
ual conformations, and which are, perhaps,
essential to preserve the purity of the gov-
Executive
Exercise
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
318
eminent, by the censorship which these
parties habitually exercise over each other. —
To M. DESTUTT TRACY, v, 567. FORD ED.,
ix, 306. (M., Jan. 1811.)
2815. . If experience has ever
taught a truth, it is that a plurality in the
Supreme Executive will forever split in the
discordant factions, distract the nation, an
nihilate its energies, and force the nation, to
rally under a single head, generally an usurp
er. We have, I think, fallen on the hap
piest of all modes of constituting the Execu
tive, that of easing and aiding our President,
by permitting him to choose Secretaries of
State, of Finance, of War, and of the Navy,
with whom he may advise, either separately
or all together, and remedy their divisions
by adopting or controlling their opinions at
his discretion ; this saves the nation from the
evils of a divided will, and secures to it a
steady march in the systematic course which
the President may have adopted for that of
his administration. — To M. CORAY. vii, 321.
(M., 1823.) See PRESIDENT.
2816. EXERCISE, Amount of.— Not less
than two hours a day should be devoted to ex
ercise. — To T. M. RANDOLPH, JR. FORD ED., iv,
294. (P., 1786.)
2817. . Give about two hours
every day, to exercise ; for health must not be
sacrificed to learning. A strong body makes
the mind strong.* — To PETER CARR. i, 397. (P.,
17850
2818. . I give more time to ex
ercise of the body than of the mind, believing it
wholesome to both. — To DAVID HOWELL. v, 535.
(M., 1810.)
2819. EXERCISE, Carriage.— A carriage
is no better than a cradle. — To T. M. RANDOLPH,
JR. FORD ED., iv, 293. (P., 1786.)
2820. EXERCISE, The gun and.— As to
the species of exerc;se, I advise the gun. While
this gives a moderate exercise to the body, it
gives boldness, enterprise, and independence to
the mind. Games played with ball, and others
of that nature, are too violent for the body,
and stamp no character on the mind. Let your
gun, therefore, be the constant companion of
your walks. — To PETER CARR. i, 397. (P.,
1785-)
2821. EXERCISE, Health and.— You
are not to consider yourself as unemployed while
taking exercise. That is necessary for your
health, and health is the first of all objects. — To
MARTHA JEFFERSON. FORD ED., iv, 372. (1787.)
2822. . Exercise and recreation
are as necessary as reading : I will say rather
more necessary, because health is worth more
than learning. — To JOHN GARLAND JEFFERSON.
FORD ED., v, 180. (N.Y., 1790.)
2823. EXERCISE, Horseback.— A horse
gives but a kind of half exercise. — To T. M.
RANDOLPH, JR. FORD ED., iv, 293. (P., 1786.)
See HORSES.
2824. EXERCISE, Invigoration by.—
The sovereign invigorator of the body is exer
cise. — To T. M. RANDOLPH, JR. FORD ED., iv,
293- (P., 1786.)
* Peter Carr was Jefferson's nephew.— EDITOR.
2825. EXERCISE, Love of.— The loss of
the power of taking exercise would be a sore
affliction to me. It has been the delight of my
retirement to be in constant bodily activity,
looking after my affairs. It was never damped
as the pleasures of reading are, by the question
cui bono? * * * Your works show that of
your mind. The habits of exercise which your
calling has given to both, will tend long to pre
serve them. The sedentary character of my
occupations sapped a constitution naturally
strong and vigorous, and draws it to an earlier
close. — To DR. BENJAMIN RUSH, vi, 4. FORD
ED., ix, 328. (P.P., 1811.)
2826. EXERCISE, Reading and.— Never
think of taking a book with you. The object of
walking is to relax the mind. You should, there
fore, not permit yourself even to think while you
walk ; but divert yourself by the objects sur
rounding you. — To PETER CARR. i, 398. (P.,
1785-)
2827. EXERCISE, Time for.— I would
advise you to take your exercise in the after
noon ; not because it is the best time for exer
cise, for certainly it is not, but because it is the
best time to spare from your studies ; and habit
will soon reconcile it to health, and render it
nearly as useful as if you gave to that the more
precious hours of the day. — To PETER CARR. i,
398. (P., 1785.)
2828. . When you shall find
yourself strong,* you may venture to take your
walks in the evening, after the digestion of the
dinner is pretty well over. This is making a
compromise between health and study. The lat
ter would be too much interrupted were you to
take from it the early hours of the day, and
habit will soon render the evening's exercise as
salutary as that of the morning. I speak this
from my own experience, having, from an early
attachment to study, very early in life, made this
arrangement of my time, having ever observed
it, and still observing it, and always with perfect
success. — To T. M. RANDOLPH, JR. FORD ED.,
iv, 294. (P., 1786.)
2829. EXERCISE, Walking.— Of all ex
ercises walking is the best. * * * No one
knows, till he tries, how easily a habit, of walk
ing is acquired. A person who never walked
three miles will in the course of a month be
come able to walk fifteen or twenty without
fatigue. I have known some great walkers, and
had particular accounts of many more; and I
never knew or heard of one who was not healthy
and long lived. — To T. M. RANDOLPH, JR. FORD
ED., iv, 293. (P., 1786.)
2830. . Walking is the best pos
sible exercise. Habituate yourself to walk very
far. The Europeans value themselves on hav
ing subdued the horse to the uses of man ; but I
doubt whether we have not lost more than we
have gained, by the use of this animal. No one
has occasioned so much the degeneracy of the
human body. An Indian goes on foot nearly as
far in a day, for a long journey, as an enfeebled
white does on his horse : and he will tire the
best horses. There is no habit you will value so
much as that of walking far without fatigue. —
To PETER CARR. i, 398. (P., 1785.)
2831. . Take a great deal of ex
ercise and on foot. — To PETER CARR. ii, 241.
FORD ED., iv, 433. (P., 1787-)
* Randolph was in feeble health, and while in that
condition Jefferson recommended the middle of the
day for walking.— EDITOR.
319
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Exercise
Expatriation
2832. EXERCISE, Weather and.— The
weather should be little regarded. A person not
sick will not be injured by getting wet. It is
but taking a cold bath which never gives a
cold to any one. Brute animals are the most
healthy, and they are exposed to all weather
and, of men, those are healthiest who are the
most exposed. The recipe of these two descrip
tions of beings is simple diet, exercise and the
open air, be its state what it will : and we may
venture to say that this recipe will give health
and vigor to every other description. — To T.
M. RANDOLPH, JR. FORD ED., iv, 294. (P., 1786.)
2833. EXILE, Punishment by.— Exile
[isl the most rational of all punishments for
meditated treason. — To LEVI LINCOLN, vi, 8.
(M., 1811.)
2834. EXPANSION, Safety in.— I know
that the acquisition of Louisiana has been
disapproved by some, from a candid appre
hension that the enlargement of territory
would endanger its Union. But who can
limit the extent to which the federative prin
ciple may operate effectively? The larger
our association, the less will it be shaken
by local passions. — SECOND INAUGURAL AD
DRESS, viii, 41. FORD ED., viii, 344. (1805.)
See TERRITORY.
2835. EXPATRIATION, Assertion of
the right. — Our ancestors, before their emi
gration to America, were the free inhabitants
of the British dominions in Europe, and pos
sessed a right, which nature has given to all
men, of departing from the country in which
chance, not choice, has placed them, of going
in quest of new habitations, and of there es
tablishing new societies, under such laws and
regulations as, to them, shall seem most
likely to promote public happiness. Their
Saxon ancestors had, under this universal
law, in like manner, left their native wilds
and woods in the North of Europe, had pos
sessed themselves of the Island of Britain,
then less charged with inhabitants, and had
established there that system of laws which
has so long been the glory and protection of
that country. Nor was ever any claim of
superiority or dependence asserted over them
by that mother country from which they had
migrated; and were such a claim made, it
is believed his Majesty's subjects in Great
Britain have too firm a feeling of the rights
derived to them from their ancestors, to
bow down the sovereignty of their State be
fore such visionary pretensions. And it is
thought that no circumstance has occurred
to distinguish, materially, the British from
the Saxon emigration.* — RIGHTS OF BRITISH
AMERICA, i, 125. FORD ED., i, 429. (1774.)
* Rayner in his Life of Jefferson (c. 3) says : u The
correct definition and answer of the great question
which formed the hinge of the American Revolu
tion, to wit, of the right of taxation without repre
sentation, were original with Mr. Jefferson. lie,
following out the right of expatriation into all its
legitimate consequences, advanced at once, to the
necessary conclusion, and the only one which he
deemed orthodox or tenable — that there was no
political connection whatever between the Parlia
ment of Great Britain and the Colonies : and conse
quently, that it had no right to tax them in any case
— not e'ven for the regulation of commerce. The
other patriots, either not admitting the right of ex
patriation, or, which is most likely, not having pur-
2836. EXPATRIATION, Great Britain
and. — Every attempt of Great Britain to en
force her principle of " Once a subject, al
ways a subject", beyond the case of her own
subjects ought to be repelled. — To ALBERT
GALLATIN. FORD ED., viii, 251. (1803.)
2837. EXPATRIATION, A natural
right. — I hold the right of expatriation to be
inherent in every man by the laws of nature,
and incapable of being rightfully taken from
him even by the united will of every other per
son in the nation. If the laws have provided
no particular mode by which the right of ex
patriation may be exercised, the individual
may do it by any effectual and unequivocal
act or declaration. The laws of Virginia
have provided a mode; Mr. Cooper is said
to have exercised his right solemnly and
exactly according to that mode, and to have
departed from the commonwealth ; where
upon the law declares that " he shall hence
forth be deemed no citizen ". Returning af
terwards he returns an alien, and must pro
ceed to make himself a citizen if he desires
it, as every other alien does. At present, he
can hold no lands, receive nor transmit any
inheritance, nor enjoy any other right pe
culiar to a citizen. The General Government
has nothing to do with this question. Con
gress may, by the Constitution, " establish
an uniform rule of naturalization ", that is,
by what rule an alien may become a citizen;
but they cannot take from a citizen his nat
ural right of divesting himself of the char
acter of a citizen by expatriation. — To AL
BERT GALLATIN. FORD ED., viii, 458. (W.,
June 1806.)
2838. . My opinion on the right
of expatriation has been, so long ago as the
year 1776, consigned to record in the act
of the Virginia code, drawn by myself, rec
ognizing the right expressly, and prescribing
the mode of exercising it. The evidence
of this natural right, like that of our right
to life, liberty, the use of our faculties, the
pursuit of happiness, is not left to the feeble
and sophistical investigations of reason, but
is impressed on the sense of every man. We
dp not claim these under the charters of
kings or legislators, but under the King of
kings. If he has made it a law in the nature
of man to pursue his own happiness, he has
left him free in the choice of place as well as
mode; and we may safely call on the whole
body of English jurists to produce the map
on which nature has traced, for each indi
vidual, the geographical line which she for
bids him to cross in pursuit of happiness.
It certainly does not exist in his mind.
Where, then, is it? I believe, too, I might
safely affirm, that there is not another nation,
civilized or savage, which has ever denied
this natural right. I doubt if there is an
other which refuses its exercise. I know it
is allowed in some of the most respectable
countries of continental Europe, nor have I
sued to the same extent, its necessary results, con
ceded the authority of Parliament over the Colonies,
for the purposes of commercial regulation, though
not of raising revenue." -EDITOR.
Expatriation
Faction
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
320
ever heard of one in which it was not. How
it is among our savage neighbors, who have
no law but that of Nature, we all know. —
To DR. JOHN MANNERS, vii, 73. FORD ED.,
x, 87. (M., 1817.)
2839. . Expatriation [is] a natu
ral right,* * * acted on as such by all
nations, in all ages. — AUTOBIOGRAPHY, i, 8.
FORD ED., i, 13. (1821.)
2840. . Early in the session [of
the Virginia Assembly] of May, 1799, I pre
pared and obtained leave to bring in a bill
declaring who should be deemed citizens,
asserting the natural right of expatriation,
and prescribing the mode of exercising it.
This, when I withdrew from the House, on
the ist of June following, I left in the hands
of George Mason, and it was passed on the
26th of that month.* — AUTOBIOGRAPHY, i,
40. FORD ED., i, 55. (1821.)
2841. EXPERIENCE, Governmental.—
Forty years of experience in government is
worth a century of book-reading. — To SAM
UEL KERCHIVAL. vii, 15. FORD ED., x, 42.
(M., 1816.)
2842. EXPERIMENT, Trying.— The
precept is wise which directs us to try all
things, and hold fast that which is good. —
To WILLIAM DRAYTON. ii, 347. (P., 1788.)
— EXPLORATION, Lewis and Clark.—
See LEWIS AND CLARK, and LEDYARD.
2843. EXPORTS, Taxation of.— Your
pamphlet is replete with sound views, some
of which will doubtless be adopted. Some
may be checked by difficulties. None more
likely to be so than the proposition to amend
the Constitution, so as to authorize Congress
to tax exports. The provision against this
in the framing of that instrument, was a
sine qua non with the States of peculiar pro
ductions, as rice, indigo, cotton and tobacco,
to which may now be added sugar. A jealousy
prevailing that to the few States producing
these articles, the justice of the others might
not be a sufficient protection in opposition to
their interest, they moored themselves to this
anchor. Since the hostile dispositions lately
manifested by the Eastern States, they would
be less willing than before to place them
selves at their mercy; and the rather, as
the Eastern States have no exports which
can be taxed equivalently. It is possible,
however, that this difficulty might be got
over; but the subject looking forward be
yond my time, I leave it to those to whom
its burdens and benefits will belong, adding
only my prayers for whatever may be best
for our country. — To ANDREW G. MITCHELL.
vi, 483- (M., 1815.)
2844. EXTRAVAGANCE, Deplored.—
All my letters [from America] are filled with
details of our extravagance. From these ac
counts, I look back to the time of the war
as a time of happiness and enjoyment, when
*This act is of constitutional and historical im
portance as the first enactment placing the doctrine
of expatriation on a legal basis. — EDITOR.
amidst the privation of many things not es
sential to happiness, we could not run in debt,
because nobody would trust us ; when we
practiced by necessity the maxim of buying
nothing but what we had money in our pock
ets to pay for ; a maxim which, of all others,
lays the broadest foundation for happiness.
—To MR. SHIPWITH. ii, 191. (P., 1787.)
2845. EXTRAVAGANCE, Discontent
and. — A continuation of inconsiderate ex
pense seems to have raised the [French]
nation to the highest pitch of discontent. —
To M. DE CREVECCEUR. ii, 234. (P., 1787.)
2846. EXTRAVAGANCE, Evil of.— I
consider the extravagance which has seized
[my countrymen] as a more baneful evil than
toryism was during the war. It is the more
so, as the example is set by the best and
most amiable characters among us. — To
JOHN PAGE, i, 550. FORD ED., iv, 214. (P.,
1786.)
2847. EXTRAVAGANCE, Govern
mental. — If we can prevent the government
from wasting the labors of the people, under
the pretence of taking care of them, they
must become happy.— To THOMAS COOPER.
iv, 453. FORD ED., viii, 178. (W., 1802.)
2848. . Private fortunes are de
stroyed by public as well as by private ex
travagance. — To SAMUEL KERCHIVAL. vii,
14. FORD ED., x, 42. (M., j8i6.)
2849. . The increase of expense
beyond income is an indication soliciting the
employment of the pruning knife. — To SPEN
CER ROANE. vii, 212. FORD ED., x, 188. (M.,
1821.)
2850. EXTRAVAGANCE, Wanton.—
Our predecessors, in order to increase ex
pense, debt, taxation, and patronage, tried
always how much they could give. — To
JAMES MONROE, iv, 445. FORD ED., viii, 191.
(W., 1803.)
2851. FACTION, Baleful.— In the pres
ent factions division of your State [Pennsyl
vania] an angel from heaven could do no
good.— To W. T. FRANKLIN, i, 555. (P.,
1786.)
2852. FACTION, Government and.—
With respect to the schism among the repub
licans of your State [Pennsylvania] I have
ever declared to both parties that I consider
the General Government as bound to take no
part in it, and I have carefully kept both my
judgment, my affections, and my conduct,
clear of all bias to either. — To THOMAS
COOPER, v, 182. (M., 1807.)
2853. FACTION, Violent.— I have seen
with regret the violence of the dissensions
in your quarter [Mississippi]. We have the
same in the Territories of Louisiana and
Michigan. It seems that the smaller the so
ciety the bitterer the dissensions into which
it breaks. Perhaps this observation answers
all the objections drawn by Mr. [John] Adams
from the small republics of Italy. I believe
321
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Faith (Good)
Family
ours is to owe its permanence to its great ex
tent, and the smaller portion comparatively,
which can ever be convulsed at one time by
local passions. — To GOVERNOR ROBERT WILL
IAMS, v, 209. FORD ED., ix, 1 66. (Nov. 1807.)
2854. FAITH (Good), Adherence to.— It
is a great consolation to me that our govern
ment, as it cherishes most its duties to its
own citizens, so is it the most exact in its
moral conduct towards other nations. I do
not believe that in the four Administrations
which have taken place, there has been a
single instance of departure from good faith
towards other nations. We may sometimes
have mistaken our rights, or made an erro
neous estimate of the actions of others, but
no voluntary wrong can be imputed to us. —
To GEORGE LOGAN. FORD ED., x, 68. (P.F.,
Nov. 1816.)
2855. FAITH (Good), Rule of.— Good
faith ought ever to be the rule of action in
public as well as in private transactions. —
SIXTH ANNUAL MESSAGE, viii, 64. FORD ED.,
viii, 489. (1806.)
2856. FAITH (Good), The surest guide.
— Good faith is every man's surest guide.* —
PEACE PROCLAMATION. FORD ED., iii, 377.
(1784.)
2857. FAITH (Public), Breach of im
possible. — The separation of these troops
(British prisoners in Virginia) would be a
breach of public faith, therefore, I suppose it
is impossible. — To GOVERNOR HENRY, i, 221.
FORD ED., ii, 179. (1779.)
2858. FAITH (Public), Cherishing.— I
think it very certain that a decided majority
of the next Congress will be actuated by a
very different spirit from that which governed
the two preceding Congresses. Public faith
will be cherished equally, I would say more,
because it will be on purer principles; and
the tone and proceedings of the government
will be brought back to the true spirit of the
Constitution, without disorganizing the ma
chine in its essential parts. — To THOMAS
PINCKNEY. FORD ED., vi, 214. (Pa., April
I793-)
2859. FAITH (Public), Preservation of.
— [The] sacred preservation of the public
faith, I deem [one of the] essential principles
of our government and, consequently [one]
which ought to shape its administration. —
FIRST INAUGURAL ADDRESS, viii, 4. FORD ED.,
viii, 5. (1801.)
2860. . To preserve the faith of
the nation by an exact discharge of its debts
and contracts * * * [is one of] the land
marks by which we are to guide ourselves in
all our proceedings. — SECOND ANNUAL MES
SAGE, viii, 21. FORD ED., viii, 187. (Dec.
1802.)
2861. . There can never be a
fear but that the paper which represents the
*The proclamation announcing the ratification of
the definitive treaty of peace with Great Britain. —
EDITOR.
public debt will be ever sacredly good. The
public faith is bound for this, and no change
of system will ever be permitted to touch this ;
but no other paper stands on ground equally
sure. — To WILLIAM SHORT, iii, 343. FORD
ED., v, 460. (Pa., March 1792.)
2862. FAITH (Public), Respect for.— A
respect for public faith, though it was engaged
by false brethren, must protect the funding
phalanx. — To C. D. EBELING. FORD ED., vii,
47- (1795.)
2863. FALSEHOOD, Truth and.— He
who knows nothing is nearer the truth than
he whose mind is filled with falsehoods and
errors. — To JOHN NORVELL. v, 92. FORD ED.,
ix, 73. (W., 1807.)
2864. FAMILY, Affection.— The circle
of pur nearest connections is the only one in
which a faithful and lasting affection can be
found, one which will adhere to us under all
changes and chances. It is, therefore, the
only soil on which it is worth while to bestow
much culture. Of this truth you will become
more convinced every day you advance into
life. — To MARY JEFFERSON EPPES. D. L. J.
255. (Pa., 1799.)
2865. FAMILY, Complications in.— If
the lady has anything difficult in her dispo
sition, avoid what is rough, and attach her
good qualities to you.* Consider what are
otherwise as a bad stop in your harpsichord,
and do not touch on it, but make yourself
happy with the good ones. Every human
being must thus be viewed, according to what
it is good for; for none of us, no not one, is
perfect; and were we to love none who had
imperfections, this world would be a desert
for our love. All we can do is to make the
best of pur friends, love and cherish what
is good in them, and keep out of the way of
what is bad; but no more think of rejecting
them for it, than of throwing away a piece of
music for a flat passage or two. Your situ
ation will require peculiar attentions and re
spect to both parties. Let no proof be too
much for either your patience or acquiescence.
Be you the link of love, union, and peace
for the whole family. The world will give
you the more credit for it, in proportion to
the difficulty of the task, and your own hap
piness will be the greater as you perceive that
you promote that of others. — To MARTHA
JEFFERSON RANDOLPH. D. L. J. 187. (N.Y.,
1790.)
2866. FAMILY, A happy.— I now see
our fireside formed into a group no one mem
ber of which has a fibre in their composition
which can ever produce any jarring or jeal
ousies among us. No irregular passions, no
dangerous bias, which may render problemat
ical the future fortunes and happiness of
our descendants. We are quieted as to their
condition for at least one generation more. —
To MARTHA JEFFERSON RANDOLPH. D. L. J.
245. (Pa., 1797.)
* Jefferson was advising his daughter respecting
her demeanor towards a young wife whom her
father-in-law had married. — EDITOR.
Family
Farmers
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
2867. FAMILY, Love of.— It is in the
love of one's family only that heartfelt hap
piness is known.— To MARY JEFFERSON EPPES.
D. L. J. 281. (W., 1801.)
2868. FAMILY, Society.— When I look
to the ineffable pleasure of my family society.
I become more and more disgusted with the
jealousies, the hatred, and the rancorous and
malignant passions of this scene [the Capital],
and lament my having ever again been drawn
into public view. Tranquillity is now my ob
ject. — To MARTHA JEFFERSON RANDOLPH. D.
L. J. 245- (Pa., 1797.)
2869. FAMILY, Thoughts of.— Envi
roned here in scenes of constant torment,
malice, and obloquy, worn down in a station
where no effort to render service can avail
anything, I feel not that existence is a bless
ing, but when something recalls my mind
to my family or farm.— To MARY JEFFERSON
EPPES. D. L. J. 256. (Feb. I799-)
2870. FAMILY TIES.— I find myself de
taching very fast, perhaps too fast, from
everything but yourself, your sister, and those
who are identified with you. These form the
last hold the world will have on me, the cords
which will be cut only when I am loosened
from this state of being.— To MARTHA JEF
FERSON RANDOLPH. D. L. J. 248. (Pa.,
1798.)
2871. . My attachments to the
world, and whatever it can offer, are daily
wearing off; but you are one of the links
which hold to my existence, and can only
break off with that.— To MARY JEFFERSON
EPPES. D. L. J. 263. (Pa., 1800.)
2872. FAMILY, Unhappiness without.
— By a law of our nature, we cannot be
happy without the endearing connections of a
family.— To W. CLARKE, v, 468. (M., 1809.)
2873. FAMINE, Anarchy and.— The first
thing to be feared for the French Republic
is famine. This will infallibly produce an
archy. Indeed, that joined to a draft of sol
diers, has already produced some serious in
surrections.— To T. M. RANDOLPH, iii, 570.
(Pa., June 1793.)
2874. FAMINE, Insurrection and.— We
are in danger of hourly insurrection [in Paris]
for want of bread ; and an insurrection once
begun for that cause, may associate itself
with those discontented for other causes, and
produce incalculable events. — To E. RUTLEDGE.
iii, in. (P., Sep. 1789-)
2875. FANATICISM, Education and.—
The atmosphere of our countrv is unquestion
ably charged with a threatening cloud of fa
naticism, lighter in some parts, denser in
others, but too heavy in all. * * * The
diffusion of instruction * * * will be the
* * * remedy for this fever of fanaticism.
— To THOMAS COOPER, vii, 266. FORD ED.,
x, 242. (M., 1822.)
2876. FANATICISM, Growth and de
cline. — I hope and believe you are mistaken
in supposing the reign of fanaticism to be on
the advance. I think it certainly declining.
It was first excited artificially by the sover
eigns of Europe as an engine of opoosition to
Bonaparte and to France. It rose to a great
height there, and became, indeed, a powerful
engine of loyalism, and of support to their
governments. But that loyalism is giving way
to very different dispositions, and its
prompter, fanaticism, is vanishing with it. In
the meantime, it had been waf ed across the
Atlantic, and chiefly from England, with their
other fashions, but it is here also on the wane.
— To THOMAS COOPER, vii, 170. (M., 1820.)
2877. FANEUIL HALL, Sedition and.
— What mischief is this which is brewing
anew between Faneuil Hall and the nation of
God-dem-mees? Will that focus of sedition
be never extinguished? — To MRS. JOHN
ADAMS. FORD ED., iv, 68. (P., July 1785.)
2878. FARMER, Jefferson as a.— When
I first entered on the stage of public life (now
twenty-four years ago), I came to a resolu
tion never " * * to wear any other char
acter than that of a farmer. — To
iii, 527. '(Pa., 1793.)
2879. . To keep a Virginia es
tate together requires in the owner both skill
and attention. Skill, I never had, and atten
tion I could not have ; and, really, when I re
flect on all circumstances, my wonder is that
I should have been so long as sixty years in
reaching the result to which I am now re
duced. — To JAMES MONROE. FORD ED., x.
383. (M., 1826.)
2880. FARMERS, Americanism of. —
[Farmers, whose interests are entirely agricul
tural, are the true representatives of the great
American interests, and are alone to be re
lied on for expressing the proper American
sentiments. — To ARTHUR CAMPBELL, iv, 198.
FORD ED., vii, 170. (M., 1797.)
2881. FARMERS, Barter and. — The truth
is that farmers, as we all are, have no
command of money. Our necessaries are all
supplied, either from oui* farms, or a neigh
boring store. Our produce, at the end of the
year, is delivered to the merchant, and thus
the business of the year is done by barter,
without the intervention of scarcely a dollar ;
and thus, also, we live with a plenty of every
thing except money. — To WILLIAM DUANE.
v, 576. FORD ED., ix, 312. (M., 1811.)
2882. FARMERS, As citizens.— Cul
tivators of the earth are the most valuable
citizens. They are the most vigorous, the
most independent, the most virtuous, and they
are tied to their country, and wedded to its
liberty and interests, by the most lasting
bonds. As long, therefore, as they can find
employment in this line, I would not convert
them into mariners, artisans, or anything else.
—To JOHN JAY. 1,403. FORD ED., iv, 88. -(P.,
1785.)
2883. . Cultivators of the earth
are the most virtuous citizens and possess
most of the amor patria. — To M. DE MEU-
NIER. ix, 288. FORD ED., iv, 143. (P., 1786.)
323
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Farmers
Fast-day
2884. . The proportion which the
aggregate of the other classes of citizens bears
in any State to that of its husbandmen, is,
generally speaking, the proportion of its un
sound to its healthy parts, and is a good
enough barometer whereby to measure its
degree of corruption. — NOTES ON VIRGINIA.
viii, 405. FORD ED., iii, 269. (1782.)
2885. . Cultivators of the earth
are the most virtuous and independent citi
zens. — NOTES ON VIRGINIA, viii, 413. FORD
ED., iii, 279. (1782.)
2886. FARMERS, Education of.— The
agriculturist needs ethics, mathematics, chem
istry and natural philosophy. To them the lan
guages are but ornament and comfort. — To
JOHN BRAZIER, vii, 133. (P.F., 1819.)
2887. FARMERS, Happiness of Vir
ginia. — I know no condition happier than
that of a Virginia farmer might be, conduct
ing himself as he did during the war [of the
Revolution]. His estate supplies a good table,
clothes himself and his family with their or
dinary apparel, furnishes a small surplus to
buy salt, sugar, coffee, and a little 'finery for
his wife and daughters, enables him to re
ceive and to visit his friends and furnishes
him pleasing and healthy occupation. To se
cure all this, he needs the one act of self-de
nial, to put off buying anything till he has the
money to pay for it. — To DR. CURRIE. ii, 219.
(P., 1787.)
2888. FARMERS, Morals of.— Corrup
tion of morals in the mass of cultivators is a
phenomenon of which no age nor nation has
furnished an example. It is the mark set on
those, who, not looking up to heaven, to their
own soil and industry, as does the husband
man, for their subsistence, depend for it on
casualties and caprice of customers. — NOTES
ON VIRGINIA, viii, 405. FORD ED., iii, 268.
(1782.)
2889. FARMERS, Neglected.— Here
[Philadelphia, the seat of government], the
unmoneyed farmer, as he is termed, his cattle
and crops, are no more thought of than if
they did not feed us. Scrip and stock are
food and raiment here. — To T. M. RANDOLPH.
FORD ED., v, 455. (Pa., 1792.)
— FARMERS, Plundered.— See 2589.
2890. FARMERS, Prices and.— Our
farmers are cheerful in the expectation of a
good price for wheat in autumn. Their pulse
will be regulated by this, and not by the suc
cesses or disasters of the war. — To PRESIDENT
MADISON, vi, 78. (M., Aug. 1812.)
2891. FARMERS, Sacrificing.— Shall the
whole mass of our farmers be sacrificed to
the class of shipwrights? — OPINION ON SHIP
PASSPORTS, vii, 625. (May, 1793.)
2892. FARMERS, Virtues of.— Those
who labor in the earth are the chosen people
ol God, if He ever had a chosen people,
whose breasts He has made His peculiar de
posit for substantial and genuine virtue. It
is the focus in which he keeps alive that sa
cred fire, which otherwise might escape from
the face of the earth. — NOTES ON VIRGINIA.
viii, 405. FORD ED., iii, 268. (1782.)
— FARMERS GENERAL OF FRANCE.
— See MONOPOLY.
2893. FARMING, Absorbed in.— If you
visit me as a farmer, it must be as a co-dis
ciple; for I am but a learner; an eager one
indeed, but yet desperate, being too old now to
learn a new art. However, I am as much de
lighted and occupied with it, as if I was the
?reatest adept. I shall talk with you about it
rom morning till night, and out you on very
short allowance as to political aliment. Now
and then a pious ejaculation for the French
and Dutch republicans, returning with due
dispatch to clover, potatoes, wheat, &c. — To
W. B. GILES, iv, 118. FORD ED., vii, 12. (M.,
I795-)
2894. FARMING, Ardor for.— I return
to farming with an ardor which I scarcely
knew in my youth, and which has got the
better entirely of my love of study. — To JOHN
ADAMS, iv, 103. FORD ED., vi, 505. (M.,
April 1794.)
2895. FARMING, Beauty and.— In Vir
ginia we are all farmers, but not in a pleas
ing style. We have so little labor in propor
tion to our land that, although perhaps we
make more profit from the same labor, we can
not give to our grounds that style of beauty
which satisfies the eye of the amateur. — To C.
W. PEALE. vi, 6. (P.F., 1811.)
2896. FARMING, Delight in.— No oc
cupation is so delightful to me as the cul
ture of the earth.— To C. W. PEALE. vi, 6.
(P.F., 1811.)
2897. FARMING, Management.— A
farm, however large, is not more difficult to
direct than a garden, and does not call for
more attention or skill. — To J. B. STUART.
vii, 64. (M., 1817.)
2898. FARMING, Theory and practice.
— Attached to agriculture by inclination, as
well as by a conviction that it is the most
useful of the occupations of man, my course
of life has not permitted me to add to its
theories the lessons of practice. — To M. SIL-
VESTRE. v, 83. (W., 1807.)
2899. FASHION, Revolution and.— I
have hopes that the majority of the nobles
are already disposed to join the Tiers Etat in
deciding that the vote [in the States General]
shall be by persons. This is the opinion a
la mode at present, and mode has acted a
wonderful part in the present instance. All
the handsome young women, for example,
are for the Tiers Etat, and this is an army
more powerful in France, than the 200,000
men of the King. — To DAVID HUMPHREYS.
iii, ii. FORD ED., v, 87. (1789.)
2900. FAST-DAY, Appointment of a.—
[After the promulgation of the Boston Port-
bill in 1774] we [the young leaders in the
Virginia House of Burgesses] were under the
conviction of the necessity of arousing our peo-
Fast-days
Favors
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
324
pie from the lethargy into which they had fallen
as to passing events ; and thought that the ap
pointment of a day of general fasting and
prayer would be most likely to call up and alarm
their attention. No example of such a solem
nity had existed since the days of our dis
tresses in the war of 1755, since which a new
feneration had grown up. With the help, there-
ore, of Rushworth, whom we rummaged over
for the revolutionary precedents and forms of
the Puritans of that day, preserved by him,
we cooked up a resolution, somewhat modern
izing their phrases, for appointing the ist
day of June, on which the Port-bill was to com
mence, for a day of fasting, humiliation and
prayer, to implore Heaven to avert from us the
evils of civil war, to inspire us with firmness in
support of our rights, and to turn the hearts of
the King and Parliament to moderation and
justice. To give greater emphasis to our prop
osition, we agreed to wait the next morning
on Mr. [Robert Carter] Nicholas, whose
grave and religious character was more in
unison with the tone of our resolution, and to
solicit him to move it. We accordingly went
to him in the morning. He moved it the same
day; the ist of June was proposed; and it
passed without opposition. The Governor dis
solved us as usual. * * * We returned
home, and in our several counties invited the
clergy to meet assemblies of the people on the
ist of June, to perform the ceremonies of the
day, and to address to them discourses suited to
the occasion. The people met generally, with
anxiety and alarm in their countenances., and
the effect of the day through the whole Colony,
was like a shock of electricity, arousing every
man, and placing him erect and solidly on his
centre. — AUTOBIOGRAPHY, i, 6. FORD ED., i, 9.
(1820.)
2901. FAST-DAYS, Federal Government
and. — I consider the government of the
United States as interdicted by the Constitu
tion from intermeddling in religious institu
tions, their doctrines, discipline, or exercises.
This results not only from the provision that
no law shall be made respecting the estab
lishment or free exercise of religion, but from
that also which reserves to the States the
powers not delegated to the United States.
Certainly, no power to prescribe any religious
exercise, or to assume authority in religious
discipline, has been delegated to the General
Government. It- must, then, rest with the
States, so far as it can be in any human au
thority. But it is only proposed that I should
recommend, not prescribe, a day of fasting
and prayer. That is, that I should indirectly
assume to the United States an authority over
religious exercises, which the Constitution
has directly precluded them from. It must
be meant, too, that this recommendation is to
carry some authority, and to be sanctioned
by some penalty on those who disregard it;
not indeed of fine and imprisonment, but of
some degree of proscription perhaps in public
opinion. And does the change in the nature
of the penalty make the recommendation less
a law of conduct for those to whom it is di
rected? I do not believe it is for the interest
of religion to invite the civil magistrate to di
rect its exercises, its discipline, or its doc
trines ; nor of the religious societies, that the
General Government should be invested with
the power of effecting any uniformity of time
or matter among them. Fasting and prayer
are religious exercises; the enjoining them an
act of discipline. Every religious society has
a right to determine for itself the times for
these exercises, and the objects proper for
them, according to their own particular tenets ;
and this right can never be safer than in their
own hands, where the Constitution has de
posited it. I am aware that the practice of
my predecessors may be quoted. But I have
ever believed that the example of State ex
ecutives led to the assumption of that author
ity by the General Government, without due
examination, which would have discovered
that what might be a right in a State govern
ment, was a violation of that right when as
sumed by another. Be this as it may, every
one must act according to the dictates of his
own reason, and mine tells me that civil
powers alone have been given to the President
of the United States, and no authority to di
rect the religious exercises of his constituents.
— To REV. SAMUEL MILLER, v, 236. FORD
ED., ix2 174. (W., 1808.)
2902. . In matters of religion, I
have considered that its free exercise is placed
by the Constitution independent of the power
of the General Government. I have, there
fore, undertaken on no occasion to prescribe
the religious exercises suited to it ; but have
left them as the Constitution found them,
under the direction and discipline of State or
Church authorities acknowledged by the sev
eral religious societies. — SECOND INAUGURAL
ADDRESS, viii, 42. FORD ED., vm, 344. (1805.)
2903. FAUQUIER (Francis), Ability.—
The ablest man who had ever filled that of
fice [Governor of Virginia].* — AUTOBIOG
RAPHY, i, 3. FORD ED., i, 4. (1821.)
2904. FAVORITISM, Equal rights
vs. — To special legislation we are generally
averse, lest a principle of favoritism should
creep in and pervert that of equal rights. — To
GEORGE FLOWER, vii, 83. (1817.)
2905. FAVORITISM, Justice and.— Deal
out justice without partiality or favoritism. — To
HUGH WILLIAMSON. FORD ED., v, 492. (Pa.,
1792.)
2906. FAVORITISM, Regal.— The sin
gle interposition of an interested individual
against a law was scarcely ever known to fail
of success, though in the opposite scale were
placed the interests of a whole country. —
RIGHTS OF BRITISH AMERICA, i, 135. FORD
ED., i, 440. (I774-)
2907. FAVORS, Personal.— In these coun
tries [France and Holland] personal fa
vors weigh more than public interest. — To
JAMES MONROE, i, 569. FORD ED., iv, 226.
(P., 1786.)
2908. FAVORS, Solicitation of.— Those
who have had, and who may yet have, occa-
* Jefferson, while a student at William and Mary
College, was introduced to Governor Fauquier.
" With him, and at his table," says Jefferson (Auto
biography, i, 3), " Dr. Small and Mr. Wythe, his
amtci omnium horarum, and myself, formed a
par tie quarrel, and to the habitual conversations on
these occasions lowed much instruction.'1 — EDITOR.
325
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Federal City
Federal Government
sion to ask great favors, should never ask
small ones.— To M. DE LAFAYETTE, i, 579.
(P, 1786.)
_ FEDERAL CITY.— See WASHINGTON
CITY.
_ FEDERAL COURTS.— See JUDICIARY
and SUPREME COURT.
2909. FEDERAL GOVERNMENT, Birth
of. — The new government has ushered itself
to the world, as honest, »masculine and dig
nified. — To JAMES MADISON, iii, 100. FORD
ED., v, 112. (P., 1789.)
— FEDERAL GOVERNMENT, Central
ization. — See CENTRALIZATION.
2910. FEDERAL GOVERNMENT, Ex
pansion and. — Who can limit the extent to
which the federative principle may operate
effectively? The larger our association, the
less will it be shaken by local passions. —
SECOND INAUGURAL ADDRESS, viii, 41. FORD
ED., viii, 344. (1805.)
2911. - — . I still believe that the
Western extension of our confederacy will en
sure its duration, by overruling local factions,
which might shake a smaller association. —
To HENRY DEARBORN, vii, 215. FORD ED.,
x, 192. (M., 1821.) See TERRITORY.
2912. FEDERAL GOVERNMENT,
Formation of.— I find by the public papers,
that your commercial convention [at Annap
olis] failed in point of representation. If it
should produce a full meeting in May, and a
broader reformation, it will still be well. To
make us one nation, as to foreign concerns,
and keep us distinct in domestic ones, gives
the outline of the proper division of powers
between the general and particular govern
ments. But, to enable the federal head to ex
ercise the powers given it to best advantage,
it should be organized, as the particular ones
are, into legislative, executive and judiciary.
The first and last are already separated. The
second should also be. When last with Con
gress, I often proposed to members to do
this, by making of the Committee of the
States, an Executive Committee during the
recess, of Congress, and, during its sessions,
to appoint a committee to receive and despatch
all executive business, so that Congress itself
should meddle only with what should be legis
lative. But I question if any Congress (much
less all successively) can have self-denial
enough to go through with this distribution.
The distribution, then, should be imposed on
them.* — To JAMES MADISON, ii, 65. FORD
EDv iv, 332. (P., Dec. 1 6, 1786.)
2913. - — . I think it very material
to separate in the hands of Congress the ex-
* Alexander H. Stephens, in commenting on this
passage in his History of the United States, page
278, says : " This, as far as the author has been able
to discover, after no inconsiderable research, is the
first embodied conception of the general outline of
those proper changes of the old Constitution, or
Articles or Confederation, which were subsequently
actually and in fact ingrafted on the old system of
confederations ; and which make the most marked
difference between ours, and all other like systems."
—EDITOR.
ecutive and legislative powers, as the judiciary
already are in some degree. * * * The
want of it has been the source of more evil
than we have experienced from any other
cause. Nothing is so embarrassing nor so
mischievous in a great assembly as the de
tails of execution. The smallest trifle of that
kind occupies as long as the most important
act of legislation, and takes place of every
thing else. Let any man recollect, or look over
the files of [the Confederation] Congress;
he will observe the most important proposi
tions hanging over, from week to week, and
month to month, till the occasions have passed
them, and the thing never done. I have ever
viewed the executive details as the greatest
cause of evil to us, because they, in fact, place
us as if we had no federal head, by diverting
the attention of that head from great to small
objects; and should this division of power
not be recommended by the convention, it is
my opinion Congress should make it itself,
by establishing an Executive Committee. —
To E. CARRINGTON. ii, 218. FORD ED., iv, 424.
(P., Aug. 1787.)
2914. — _. To give the Federal head
some peaceable mode of enforcing its just au
thority, [and] to organize that head into legis
lative, executive and judiciary departments,
are great desiderata in our Federal constitu
tion. — To GENERAL WASHINGTON, ii, 250.
(P., Aug. 1787.)
2915. . To make our States one
as to all foreign concerns, [and] preserve
them several as to all merely domestic * * *
are great desiderata in our Federal constitu
tion. — To GENERAL WASHINGTON. ii, 250.
(P., Aug. 1787.)
2916. - . You ask me what
amelioration I think necessary in our Federal
constitution. * * My own general idea
is that the States should severally preserve
their sovereignty in whatever concerns them
selves alone, and that whatever may concern
another State, or any foreign nation, should
be made a part of the Federal sovereignty ;
that the exercise of the Federal sovereignty
should be divided among three several bodies,
legislative, executive and judiciary, as the
State sovereignties are; and that peaceable
means should be contrived for the Federal
head to enforce compliance on the part of the
State. — To GEORGE WYTHE. ii, 267. FORD ED.,
iv, 445. (P., Sep. 1787.)
2917. - — . My idea is that we
should be made one nation in every case con
cerning foreign affairs, and separate ones in
whatever is merely domestic. — To J. BLAIR.
ii, 249. (P., 1787.)
2918. - My idea is that the Fed
eral government should be organized into
legislative, executive, and judiciary, as are
the State governments, and some peaceable
means of enforcement devised for the Federal
head over the States. — To J. BLAIR, ii, 249.
(P., 1787.)
2919. . My general plan would
be to make the States one as to everything
Federal Government THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
326
connected with foreign nations, and several as
to everything purely domestic. — To E. CAR-
RINGTON. ii, 217. FORD ED., iv, 424. (P.,
1787-)
2920. FEDERAL GOVERNMENT, A
frugal. — I am for a government rigorously
frugal. — To ELBRIDGE GERRY, iv, 268. FORD
ED., vii, 327. (Pa., 1799.)
2921. . Kindly separated by na
ture and a wide ocean from the extermi
nating havoc of one quarter of the globe;
too high-minded to endure the degrada
tions of the others; possessing a chosen
country, with room enough for our descend
ants to the hundredth and thousandth genera
tion; entertaining a due sense of our equal
right to the use of our own faculties, to the
acquisitions of our industry, to honor and
confidence from our fellow citizens, resulting,
not from birth, but from our actions, and
their sense of them ; enlightened by a benign
religion, professed, indeed, and practiced in
various forms, yet all of them inculcating
honesty, truth, temperance, gratitude, and the
love of man ; acknowledging and adoring an
overruling Providence, which, by all its dis
pensations, proves that it delights in the happi
ness of man here and his greater happiness
hereafter, — with all these blessings, what more
is necessary to make us a happy and prosper
ous people? Still one thing more, fellow-citi
zens — a wise and frugal government, which
shall restrain men from injuring one another,
which shall leave them otherwise free to regu
late their own pursuits of industry and im
provement, and shall not take from the mouth
of labor the bread it has earned. This is the
sum of good government, and this is neces
sary to close the circle of our felicities. —
FIRST INAUGURAL ADDRESS, viii, 3. FORD ED.,
viii, 3. (1801.)
2922. FEDERAL GOVERNMENT,
Functions. — To draw around the whole na
tion the strength of the General Govern
ment, as a barrier against foreign foes, to
watch the borders of every State, that no ex
ternal hand may intrude, or disturb the exer
cise of self-government reserved to itself, to
equalize and moderate the public contribu
tions, that while the requisite services are
invited by due remuneration, nothing beyond
this may exist to attract the attention of our
citizens from the pursuits of useful industry,
nor unjustly to burthen those who continue
in those pursuits — these are functions of the
General Government on which you have a
right to call * * * These shall be faith
fully pursued according to the plain and can
did import of the expressions in which they
were announced [in the first inaugural ad
dress]. — REPLY TO VERMONT ADDRESS, iv, 418.
(W., 1801.)
2923. FEDERAL GOVERNMENT, Hap
piness under. — That the [Federal] Govern
ment is calculated to produce general hap
piness, when administered in its true repub
lican spirit, I am thoroughly persuaded. — To
DAVID CAMPBELL. FORD ED., v, 489. (Pa.,
1792.)
— FEDERAL GOVERNMENT, Ju
diciary. — See JUDICIARY and SUPREME COURT.
_ FEDERAL GOVERNMENT, Offices.
— See OFFICES.
2924. FEDERAL GOVERNMENT, Pow
ers of. — If the three powers [of our govern
ment] maintain their mutual independence on
each other it may last long, but not so if
either can assume the authorities of the other.
— To WILLIAM C. JA^VIS. vii, 179. FORD ED.,
x, 161. (M., 1820.) See POWER.
2925. FEDERAL GOVERNMENT, Pres
ervation of.— The fate of this country,
whether it shall be irretrievably plunged into
a form of government rejected by the makers
of the Constitution, or shall get back to the
true principles of that instrument, depends on
the turn which things may take within a
short period of time ensuing the present mo
ment. — To EDMUND PENDLETON. iv, 287.
FORD ED., vii, 355. (Pa., Feb. 1799.)
2926. . The preservation of the
General Government in its whole constitution
al vigor, as the sheet anchor of our peace at
home and safety abroad, I deem [one of the]
essential principles of our government, con
sequently [one] which ought to shape its ad
ministration. — FIRST INAUGURAL ADDRESS.
viii, 4. FORD ED., viii, 4. (1801.)
2927. FEDERAL GOVERNMENT, Prin
ciples of. — About to enter, fellow citizens, on
the exercise of duties which comprehend
everything dear and valuable to you, it is
proper that you should understand what I
deem the essential principles of our govern
ment, and consequently those which ought
to shape its administration. I will compress
them within the narrowest compass they will
bear, stating the general principle, but not
all its limitations. Equal and exact justice
to all men, of whatever state or persuasion,
religious or political ; peace, commerce and
honest friendship with all nations, entangling
alliances with none ; the support of the State
governments in all their rights, as the most
competent administrations for our domestic
concerns, and the surest bulwark against anti-
republican tendencies ; the preservation of the
General Government in its whole constitu
tional vigor, as the sheet anchor of our peace
at home and safety abroad; a jealous care of
the right of election by the people — a mild
and safe corrective of abuses, which are lopped
by the sword of revolution, where peaceable
remedies are unprovided ; absolute acquies
cence in the decisions of the majority — the
vital principle of republics, from which there
is no appeal but to force, the vital principle
and immediate parent of despotism ; a well-
disciplined militia — our best reliance in peace
and for the first moments of war, till regulars
may relieve them ; the supremacy of the civil
over the military authority; economy in the
public expense, that labor may be lightly
burdened; the honest payment of our debts
and sacred preservation of the public faith ;
encouragement of agriculture, and of com
merce as its handmaid : the diffusion of infor-
327
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA Federal Government
mation, and the arraignment of all abuses
at the bar of public reason; freedom of re
ligion ; freedom of the press : freedom of per
son, under the protection of the habeas cor
pus; and trial by juries impartially selected.
These principles form the bright constellation
which has gone before us, and guided our
steps through an age of revolution and ref
ormation. The wisdom of our sages and the
blood of our heroes have been devoted to their
attainment. They should be the creed of our
political faith; the text of civil instruction;
the touchstone by which to try trje services
of those we trust; and should we wander
from them in moments of error or alarm, let
us hasten to retrace our steps, and to regain
the road which alone leads to peace, liberty,
and safety. — FIRST INAUGURAL ADDRESS, viii,
4. FORD ED., viii, 4. (1801.)
2928. - — . The fundamental prin
ciple of the government is that the will of the
majority is to prevail. — To WILLIAM EUSTIS.
v, 411. FORD ED., ix, 236. (W., Jan. 1809.)
2929. FEDERAL GOVERNMENT,
Safety under. — The national government
constitutes the safety of every part, by uniting
for its protection the powers of the whole. —
To DR. WILLIAM EUSTIS. v, 410. FORD ED.,
ix, 235. (W., 1809.)
2930. FEDERAL GOVERNMENT,
Shield of. — Although under the pressure of
serious evils at this moment, the governments
of the other hemisphere cannot boast a more
favorable situation. We certainly do not wish
to exchange our difficulties for the sanguinary
distresses of our fellow men beyond the
water. In a state of the world unparalleled in
times past, and never again to be expected,
according to human probabilities, no form of
government has, so far, better shielded its
citizens from the prevailing afflictions. — R. To
A. CONNECTICUT REPUBLICANS. viii, 140.
(Nov. 1808.)
2931. FEDERAL GOVERNMENT, Sim
plicity. — I am for a government rigorously
* * * simple. — To ELBRIDGE GERRY. iv,
268. FORD ED., vii, 327. (Pa., 1799.)
2932. FEDERAL GOVERNMENT,
Strength of.— I know, indeed, that some
honest men fear that a republican government
cannot be strong ; that this government is not
strong enough. But would the honest pa
triot, in the full tide of successful experiment,
abandon a government which has so far kept
us free and firm, on the theoretic and vision
ary fear that this government, the world's
best hope, may by possibility want energy
to preserve itself? I trust not. I believe
this, on the contrary, the strongest govern
ment on earth. I believe it is the only
one where every man, at the call of the laws,
would fly to the standard of the law, and
would meet invasions of the public order as
his own personal concern. — FIRST INAUGURAL
ADDRESS, viii, 3. FORD ED., viii, 3. (1801.)
2933. FEDERAL GOVERNMENT,
State Governments and. — It is the duty of
the General Government to guard its subor
dinate members from the encroachments of
each other, even when they are made through
error or inadvertence, and to cover its citizens
from the exercise of powers not authorized by
the law. — OFFICIAL OPINION, vii, 515. FORD
ED., v, 260. (1790.)
2934. - _ The several States com
posing the United States of America, are not
united on the principle of unlimited submis
sion to their General Government ; but * * *
by a compact under the style and title of a
Constitution for the United States, and of
Amendments thereto, they constituted a Gen
eral Government for special purposes, — dele
gated to that government certain definite
powers, reserving, each State to itself, the
residuary mass of right to their own self-gov
ernment ; and * * * whensoever the Gen
eral Government assumes undelegated powers,
its acts are unauthoritative, void, and of no
force. * * * To this compact each State
acceded as a State and is an integral party, its
co- States forming, as to itself, the other party.
* * * The Government created by this compact
was not made the exclusive or final judge of
the extent of the powers delegated to itself;
since that would have made its discretion, and
not the Constitution the measure of its pow
ers, but * * as in all cases of compact
among powers having no common judge, each
party has an equal right to judge for itself,
as well of infractions as of the mode and
measure of redress. — KENTUCKY RESOLU
TIONS, ix, 464. FORD ED., vii. 289. (1798.)
2935. Foreign relations are our
province ; domestic regulations and institu
tions belong in every State, to itself. — To
CESAR RODNEY. FORD ED., vii, 473. (W.,
Dec. 1800.)
2936. pur citizens have wisely
formed themselves into one nation as to
others, and several States as among them
selves. To the united nation belong our ex
ternal and mutual relations ; to each State,
severally, the care of our persons, our prop
erty, our reputation and religious freedom.
This wise distribution, if carefully preserved,
will prove, I trust from example, that while
smaller governments are better adapted to
the ordinary objects of society, larger con
federations more effectually secure independ
ence, and the preservation of republican gov
ernment. — To THE RHODE ISLAND ASSEMBLY.
iv, 398. (W., May 1801.)
2937. - — . It is a fatal heresy to sup
pose that either our State governments are
superior to the Federal, or the Federal to the
States. The people, to whom all authority
belongs, have divided the powers of govern
ment into two distinct departments, the lead
ing characters of which are foreign and do
mestic ; and they have appointed for each a
distinct set of functionaries. These they have
made coordinate, checking and balancing each
other, like the three cardinal departments in
the individual States ; each equally supreme as
to the powers delegated to itself, and neither
authorized ultimately to decide what belongs
to itself, or to its coparcener in government.
Federal Government
Federalism
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
328
As independent, in fact, as different nations,
a spirit of forbearance and compromise, there
fore, and not of encroachment and usurpation,
is the healing balm of such a Constitution ;
and each party should prudently shrink from
all approach to the line of demarcation, in
stead of rashly overleaping it, or throwing
grapples ahead to haul to hereafter. But,
finally, the peculiar happiness of our blessed
system is, that in differences of opinion be
tween these different sets of servants, the ap
peal is to neither, but to their employers
peaceably assembled by their representatives
in convention. This is more rational than the
jus fortioris, or the cannon's mouth, the ul
tima et sola ratio regum. — To SPENCER
ROANE. vii, 213. FORD ED., x, 190. (M.,
1821.)
2938. Maintain the line of power
marked by the Constitution between the two
coordinate governments, each sovereign and
independent in its department; the States as
to everything relating to themselves and their
State; the General Government as to every
thing relating to things or persons out of a
particular State. The one may be strictly
called the domestic branch of government,
which is sectional but sovereign; the other,
the foreign branch of government, coordinate
with the other domestic, and equally sover
eign on its own side of the line. — To SAMUEL
H. SMITH. FORD ED., x, 263. (M., 1823.)
2939. The best general key for
the solution of questions of power between our
governments, is the fact that " every foreign
and federal power is given to the Federal
Government, and to the States every power
purely domestic." I recollect but one in
stance of control vested in the Federal, over
the State authorities, in a matter purely do
mestic, which is that of metallic tenders. The
Federal is, in truth, our foreign government,
which department alone is taken from the sov
ereignty of the separate States. — To ROBERT
J. GARNETT. vii, 336. FORD ED., x, 295. (M.,
1824.)
2940. The radical idea of the
character of the Constitution of our govern
ment, which I have adopted as a key in cases
of doubtful construction, is, that the whole
field of government is divided into two de
partments, domestic and foreign (the States
in their mutual relations being of the latter) ;
that the former department is reserved exclu
sively to the respective States within their
own limits, and the latter assigned to a sep
arate set of functionaries, constituting what
may be called the foreign branch, which, in
stead of a federal basis, is established as a
distinct government quoad hoc, acting as the
domestic branch does on the citizens directly
and coercively ; that these departments have
distinct directories, coordinate and equally
independent and supreme, each in its own
sphere of action. Whenever a doubt arises
to which of these branches a power belongs,
I try it by this test. I recollect no case where
a question simply between citizens of the
same State, has been transferred to the foreign
department, except that of inhibiting tenders
but of metallic money, and ex post facto legis
lation. — To EDWARD LIVINGSTON, vii, 342.
FORD ED., x, 300. (M., 1824.)
2941. With respect to our State
and Federal governments, I do not think
their relations correctly understood by for
eigners.* They generally suppose the former
subordinate to the latter. But this is not the
case. They are coordinate departments of
one simple and integral whole. To the State
governments are reserved all legislation and
administration, in affairs which concern their
own citizens only, and to the Federal Govern
ment is given whatever concerns foreigners,
or the citizens of other States; these func
tions alone being made Federal. The one is
the domestic, the other the foreign branch of
the same government; neither having control
over the other, but within its own department.
There are one or two exceptions only to this
partition of power. — To JOHN CARTWRIGHT.
vii, 358. (M., 1824.)
2942. FEDEBAL GOVERNMENT, Suc
cess of. — Our experience so far, has satisfac
torily manifested the competence of a repub
lican government to maintain and promote the
best interests of its citizens ; and every future
year, I doubt not, will contribute to settle a
question on which reason, and a knowledge of
the character and circumstances of our fellow
citizens, could never admit a doubt, and much
less condemn them as fit subjects to be con
signed to the dominion of wealth and force.
— R. To A. CONNECTICUT REPUBLICANS, viii,
140. (1808.)
2943. FEDEBAL GOVERNMENT,
Watchfulness over.— Our political machine
is now pretty well wound up, but are the
spirits of our people sufficiently wound down
to let it work glibly. I trust it is too soon
for that, and that we have many centuries
to come yet before my countrymen cease to
bear their government hard in hand. — To W.
S. SMITH, ii, 448. (P., 1788.)
2944 We, I hope, shall adhere
to our republican government, and keep it to
its original principles by narrowly watching
it.— To . iii, 527. (Pa., 1793. )
2945. FEDEBALISM, Consolidation.—
Consolidation is the form in which federalism
now arrays itself, and is the present principle
of distinction between republicans and the
pseudo-republicans but real federalists. — To
WILLIAM JOHNSON, vii, 278. FORD ED., x,
248. (M., 1823.) See CENTRALIZATION.
2946. FEDEBALISM, Dead.— Excepting
in the north-eastern and your south-western
corner of the Union, monarchism, which has
been so falsely miscalled federalism, is dead
and buried, and no dav of resurrection will
ever dawn upon it. It has retired to the two
extreme and opposite angles of our land,
whence it will have ultimately and shortly to
take its final flight. — To GOVERNOR CLAIBORNE.
iv, 488. (W., 1803.)
* Cartwright was an Englishman.— EDITOR.
329
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Federalism
Federalists
2947. — Federalism is dead, with
out even the hope of a day of resurrection.
The quondam leaders, indeed, retain their ran
cor and principles ; but their followers are
amalgamated with us in sentiment, if not in
name. — To RICHARD M. JOHNSON, v, 257.
(W., March 1808.)
2948. FEDERALISM, Judiciary and.—
It is unfortunate that federalism is still
predominant in our Judiciary department,
which is consequently in opposition to the
Legislative and Executive branches, and is
able to baffle their measures often. — To JAMES
BOWDOIN. v, 65. FORD ED., ix, 41. (W.,
1807.)
2949. FEDERALISM, Monarchism and,
— Federalism, stripped as it now nearly is,
of its landed and laboring support, is mon-
archism and Anglicism, and whenever our
own dissensions shall let these in upon us,
the last ray of free government closes on the
horizon of the world. — To WILLIAM DUANE.
v, 602. (M., 1811.) See MONARCHY.
2950. FEDERALISM, 0 d i o u s.— The
name of federalism is become so odious that
no party can rise under it. — To JOEL BARLOW.
iv, 438. FORD ED., viii, 150. (W., May 1802.)
2951. FEDERALISM, Prostrated.— The
Hartford Convention, the victory of Orleans,
the peace of Ghent, prostrated the name of
federalism. Its votaries abandoned it through
shame and mortification and now call them
selves republicans. But the name alone is
changed, the principles are the same. * * *
The line of division now, is the preservation
of State rights as reserved in the Constitu
tion, or by strained constructions of that in
strument, to merge all into a consolidated
government. — To MARQUIS LAFAYETTE, vii,
325. FORD ED., x, 281. (M., 1823.)
2952. FEDERALISM, Virginia and.—
There is so little federalism in Virginia that it
is not feared, nor attended to, nor a principle
of voting. What little we have is in the string
of Presbyterian counties in the valley between
the Blue Ridge and North Mountain, where
the clergy are as bitter as they are in Con
necticut. — To GIDEON GRANGER. FORD ED.,
viii, 233. (W., May 1803.)
2953. FEDERALISTS, Anglomaniacs.
— A party has risen among us, or rather has
come among us, which is endeavoring to sep
arate us from all friendly connection with
France, to unite our destinies with those of
Great Britain, and to assimilate our govern
ment to theirs. Our lenity in permitting the
return of the old tories, gave the first body to
this party ; they have increased by large im
portations of British merchants and factors,
by American merchants dealing on British
capital, and by stock dealers and banking com
panies, who. by the aid of a paper system,
are enriching themselves to the ruin of the
country, and swaying the government by
their possession of the printing presses, which
their wealth commands, and by other means,
not always honorable to the character of our
countrymen. Hitherto, their influence and
their system have been irresistible, and they
have raised up an Executive power which is
too strong for the Legislature. But I flatter
myself they have passed their zenith. The
people, while these things were doing, were
lulled into rest and security from a cause
which no longer exists. No prepossessions
now will shut their ears to truth. They begin
to see to what part their leaders were steering
during their slumbers, and there is yet time
to haul in, if we can avoid a war with France.
— To ARTHUR CAMPBELL, iv, 197. FORD ED.,
vii, 169. (M., Sep. 1797.)
— FEDERALISTS, Callender and.— See
1063.
2954. FEDERALISTS, Centralization
and. — Consolidation becomes the fourth chap
ter of the next book of their history. But
this opens with a vast accession of strength
from their younger recruits, who, having
nothing in them of the feelings or principles,
of '76, now look to a single and splendid gov
ernment of an aristocracy, founded on bank
ing institutions, and moneyed incorporations
under the guise and cloak of their favored
branches of manufactures, commerce and
navigation, riding and ruling over the plun
dered ploughman and beggared yeomanry.
This will be to them a next best blessing to the
monarchy of their first aim, and perhaps the
surest stepping stone to it. — To WILLIAM B.
GILES, vii, 428. FORD ED., x, 356. (M., Dec.
1825.) See CENTRALIZATION.
2955. FEDERALISTS, Defeated.— Tell
my old friend, Governor Gerry, that I give
him glory for the rasping with which he
rubbed down his herd of traitors. Let them
have justice and protection against personal
violence, but no favor. Powers and preem
inences conferred on them are daggers put
into the hands of assassins, to be plunged into
our own bosoms in the moment the thrust can
go home to the heart. Moderation can never
reclaim them. They deem it timidity, and
despise without fearing the tameness from
which it flows. Backed by England, they never
lose the hope that their day is to come, when
the terrorism of their earlier power is to be
merged in the more gratifying system of
deportation and the guillotine. — To HENRY
DEARBORN, v, 608. (P.F., Aug. 1811.)
2956. FEDERALISTS, Divisions among.
— Among that section of our citizens called
federalists, there are three shades of opinion.
Distinguishing between the leaders and people
who compose it, the leaders consider the Eng
lish constitution as a model of perfection, some,
with a correction of its vices, others, with all
its corruptions and abuses. This last was
Alexander Hamilton's opinion, which others,
as well as myself, have often heard him de
clare, and that a correction of what are called
its vices, would render the English an im
practicable government. This government
they wished to have established here, and only
accepted and held fast at first, to the present
Constitution, as a stepping stone to the final
Federalists
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
330
establishment of their favorite model. This
party has, therefore, always clung to England
as their prototype, and great auxiliary in pro
moting and effecting this change. A weighty
MINORITY, however, of these leaders, consider
ing the voluntary conversion of our govern
ment into a monarchy as too distant, if not
desperate, wish to break off from our Union
its eastern fragment, as being, in truth, the
hotbed of American monarchism, with a view
to a commencement of their favorite govern
ment, from whence the other States, may
gangrene by degrees, and the whole be thus
brought finally to the desired point. For
Massachusetts, the prime mover in this enter
prise, is the last State in the Union to mean
a final separation, as being of all the most de
pendent on the others. Not raising bread for
the sustenance of her own inhabitants, not
having a stick of timber for the construction
of vessels, her principal occupation, nor an
article to export in them, where would she
be, excluded from the ports of the other
States, and thrown into dependence on Eng
land, her direct, and natural, but now insid
ious rival? At the head of this MINORITY is
what is called the Essex Junto of Massachu
setts. But the MAJORITY of these leaders do
not aim at separation. In this, they adhere to
the known principle of General Hamilton,
never, under any views, to break the Union.
Anglomany, monarchy and separation, then,
are the principles of the Essex federalists.
Anglomany and monarchy, those of the Ham-
iltonians, and Anglomany alone, that of the
portion among the people who call them
selves federalists. These last are as good
republicans as the brethren whom they op
pose, and differ from them only in their
devotion to England and hatred of France,
which they have imbibed from their leaders.
The moment that these leaders should avow
edly propose a separation of the Union, or the
establishment of regal government, their
popular adherents would quit them to a man,
and join the republican standard; and the
partisans of this change, even in Masschu-
setts, would thus find themselves an army of
officers without a soldier. The party called
republican is steadily for the support of the
present Constitution. They obtained at its
commencement, all the amendments to it
they desired. These reconciled them to it
perfectly, and if they have any ulterior view,
it is only, perhaps, to popularize it further, by
shortening the senatorial term, and devising
a process for the responsibility of judges,
more practicable than that of impeachment.
They esteem the people of England and
France equally, and equally detest the gov
erning powers of both. This I verily believe,
after an intimacy of forty years with the pub
lic councils and characters, is a true state
ment of the grounds on which they are at
present divided, and that it is not merely an
ambition for power. — To JOHN MELLISH. vi,
95. FORD ED., ix, 374. (M., Jan. 1813.)
— FEDERALISTS, Embargo and.— See
EMBARGO.
2957. FEDERALISTS, Extinguishment
of. — The Hartford Convention and the battle
of New Orleans extinguished the name of
federalists. — To HENRY DEARBORN. FORD ED..
x, 237. (M., Oct. 1822.)
2958. — . The name of federalist
was extinguished in the battle of New Or
leans; and those who wear it now [1822] call
themselves republicans. Like the fox pursued
by the dogs, they take shelter in the midst of
the sheep. They see that monarchism is a
hopeless wish in this country, and are rallying
anew to the next best point, a consolidated
government. They are, therefore, endeavor
ing to break down the barriers of the State
rights, provided by the Constitution against
a consolidation. — To MARQUIS LAFAYETTE.
FORD EDV x, 233. (M., 1822.)
2959. FEDERALISTS, Impotent.— The
federalists have not been able to carry a sin
gle strong measure in the lower House the
whole session [of Congress]. When they
met, it was believed they had a majority of
twenty ; but many of these were new and
moderate men, and soon saw the true char
acter of the party to which they had been well
disposed while at a distance. The tide, too,
of public opinion sets so strongly against the
federal proceedings, that this melted off
their majority, and discouraged the heroes of
the party. — To JAMES MADISON, iv, 329. FORD
ED., vii, 446. (Pa., May 1800.)
2960. FEDERALISTS, Jay's Treaty
and. — Though the Anglomen have in the end
got their treaty through, and so far tri
umphed over the cause of republicanism, yet
it has been to them a dear-bought victory.
It has given the most radical shock to their
party it has ever received ; and there is no
doubt, they would be glad to be replaced on
the ground they possessed the instant before
Jay's nomination extraordinary. They see
that nothing can support them but the colos
sus of the President's merits with the people,
and the moment he retires, that his successor,
if a monocrat, will be overborne by the re
publican sense of his constituents ; if a repub
lican, he will, of course, give fair play to
that sense, and lead things into the channel
of harmony between the governors and
governed. In the meantime, patience. — To
JAMES MONROE, iv, 148. FORD ED., vii, 89.
(M., July 1796.) See JAY TREATY.
2961. FEDERALISTS, Judiciary and.—
They have retired into the judiciary as a
stronghold. There the remains of federalism
are to be preserved and fed from the treas
ury, and from that battery all the works of re
publicanism are to be beaten down and
erased. By a fraudulent use of the Constitu
tion, which has made judges irremovable,
they have multiplied useless judges merely to
strengthen their phalanx. — To JOHN DICKIN
SON, iv, 424. (W., 1801.) See JUDICIARY.
2962. FEDERALISTS, Justice to.— I
never did them an act of injustice, nor failed
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Federalists
in any duty to them imposed by my office. —
To WILLIAM SHORT. FORD ED., ix, 51. (W.,
May 1807.)
2963. FEDERALISTS. Leaders of.—
The quondam leaders of the people infuri
ated with the sense of their impotence, will
soon be seen or heard only in the newspapers,
which serve as chimneys to carry off noxious
vapors and smoke.— To GENERAL Kosciusco.
iv, 430. (W., April 1802.)
2964. . There are some charac
ters who have been too prominent to retract,
too proud and impassioned to relent, too
greedy after office and profit to relinquish
their longings, and who have covered their
devotion to monarchism under the mantle of
federalism, who never can be cured of their
enmities. These are incurable maniacs, for
whom the hospitable doors of Bedlam are
ready to open, but they are permitted to walk
abroad while they refrain from personal as
sault. — To TIMOTHY BLOODWORTHY. iv, 524.
(W., Jan. 1804.)
2965. . Though the people in
mass have joined us, their leaders had com
mitted themselves too far to retract. Pride
keeps them hostile; they brood over their
angry passions, and give them vent in the
newspapers which they maintain. They still
make as much noise as if they were the whole
nation. Unfortunately, these being the mer
cantile papers, published chiefly in the sea
ports, are the only ones which find their way
to Europe, and make very false impressions
there.— To C. F. VOLNEY. iv, 573. (W.,
1805.)
2966. . I hope that my retire
ment will abate some of their [federalists']
disaffection to the government of their
country. — To RICHARD M. JOHNSON, v, 257.
(W., 1808.)
2967. . Contented with our gov
ernment, elective as it is in three of its prin
cipal branches, I wish not, on Hamilton's
plan, to see two of them for life; and still
less, hereditary, as others desire. I believe
that the yeomanry of the federalists think
on this subject with me. They are substan
tially republican. But some of their leaders,
who get into the public councils, would prefer
Hamilton's government, and still more the
hereditary one. Hinc ilia lachryma. I wish
them no harm, but that they may never
get into power, not for their harm, but for
the good of our country. — To W. D. G.
WORTHINGTON. V, 504. (M., l8lO.)
2968. FEDERALISTS, Madness of.— I
am entirely confident that ultimately the great
body of the people are passing over from the
federalists. * * * The madness and ex
travagance of their career are what ensure it
— To E. LIVINGSTON, iv, 328. FORD ED., vii,
443. (Pa., April 1800.)
2969. . A little more prudence
and moderation in those [federal leaders]
who had mounted themselves on the fears [of
the people], and it would have been long and
difficult to unhorse them. Their madness had
done in three years what reason alone, acting
against them, would not have effected in
many ; and the more, as they might have gone
on forming new entrenchments for themselves
from year to year. — To JOHN DICKINSON, iv,
424. (W., 1801.)
2970. FEDERALISTS, Objects of.— I
have been ever opposed to the party so falsely
called federalists, because I believe them
desirous of introducing into our government
authorities, hereditary or otherwise, inde
pendent of the national will. — To DAVID
Ho WELL, v, 554. (M., 1810.)
2971. . The original objects of
the federalists were, ist, to warp our govern
ment more to the form and principles of mon
archy ; and 2d, to weaken the barriers of the
State governments as coordinate powers. In
the first they have been so completely foiled
by the universal spirit of the nation that they
have abandoned the enterprise, shrunk from
the odium of their old appellation, taken to
themselves a participation of ours, and under
the pseudo-republican mask, are now aiming
at their second object, and strengthened by
unsuspecting or apostate recruits from our
ranks, are advancing fast towards an ascend
ency. — To WILLIAM JOHNSON, vii, 293. FORD
ED., x, 228. (M., 1823.) See MONARCHY.
2972. FEDERALISTS, Opposition of.—
Though we may obtain, and I believe shall
obtain, a majority in the Legislature of the
United States, attached to the preservation of
the Federal Constitution according to its ob
vious principles, and those on which it was
known to be received ; attached equally to the
preservation to the States of those rights un
questionably remaining with them ; friends to
the freedom of religion, freedom of the press,
trial by jury, and to economical government;
opposed to standing armies, paper systems,
war, and all connection, other than commerce,
with any foreign nation; in short, a majority
firm in all those principles which we have
espoused and the federalists have opposed
uniformly; still, should the whole body of
New England continue in opposition to these
principles of government, either knowingly or
through delusion, our government will be a
very uneasy one. It can never be harmonious
and solid, while so respectable a portion of its
citizens support principles which go directly to
a change of the Federal Constitution, to sink
the State governments, consolidate them into
one and monarchize that. — To GIDEON GRAN
GER, iv, 330. FORD ED., vii, 450. (M., Aug.
1800.)
2973. FEDERALISTS, Proposed coali
tion. — In our last conversation you mentioned
a federal scheme afloat, of forming a coalition
between the federalists and republicans, of
what they called the seven eastern States.
The idea was new to me, and after time for
reflection I had no opportunity of conversing
with you again. The federalists know, that,
eo nomine, they are gone forever. Their ob
ject, therefore, is, how to return into power
Federalists
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
332
under some other form. Undoubtedly they
have but one means, which is to divide the
republicans, join the minority, and barter with
them for the cloak of their name. I say, join
the minority; because the majority of the re
publicans not needing them, will not buy
them. The minority, having no other means
of ruling the majority, will give a price for
auxiliaries, and that price must be principle.
It is true that the federalists, needing their
numbers also, must also give a price, and prin
ciple is the coin they must pay in. Thus a bas
tard system of federo-republicanism will rise
on the ruins of the true principles of our
revolution. And when this party is formed,
who will constitute the majority of it, which
majority is then to dictate? Certainly the
federalists. Thus their proposition of putting
themselves into gear with the republican
minority, is exactly like Roger Sherman's
proposition to add Connecticut to Rhode Is
land. The idea of forming seven eastern
States is moreover clearly to form the basis
of a separation of the Union. Is it possible
that real republicans can be gulled by such a
bait? And for what? What do they wish
that they have not? Federal measures?
That is impossible. Republican measures?
Have they them not? Can any one deny, that
in all important questions of principle, re
publicanism prevails,? But do they want that
their individual will shall govern the major
ity? They may purchase the gratification of
this unjust wish, for a little time, at a great
price ; but the federalists must not have the
passions of other men, if, after getting thus
into the seat of power, they suffer themselves
to be governed by their minority. This
minority may say, that whenever they relapse
into their own principles, they will quit them,
and draw the seat from under them. They
may quit them, indeed, but, in the meantime,
all the venal will have become associated with
them, and will give them a majority sufficient
to keep them in place, and to enable them to
eject the heterogeneous friends by whose aid
they get again into power. I cannot believe
any portion of real republicans will enter into
this trap ; and if they do, I do not believe they
can carry with them the mass of their States,
advancing' so steadily as we see them, to an
union of principle with their brethren. It will
be found in this, as in all other similar cases,
that crooked schemes will end by over
whelming their authors and coadjutors in dis
grace, and that he alone who walks strict and
upright, and who, in matters of opinion, will
be contented that others should be as free
as himself, and acquiesce when his opinion
is freely overruled, will attain his object in
the end. — To GIDEON GRANGER, iv, 542. FORD
ED., viii, 298. (M., April 1804.)
2974. FEDERALISTS, Pusillanimous.
— The federalists * * * wish to rub through
this fragment of a year as they have through
the four preceding ones, opposing patience to
insult, and interest to honor. * * * This
is, indeed, a most humiliating state of things,
but it commenced in 1793. Causes have been
adding to causes, and effects accumulating on
effects, from that time to this. We had, in
!/93> the most respectable character in the
universe. What the neutral nations think of
us now, I know not; but we are low indeed
with the belligerents. Their kicks and cuffs
prove their contempt. — To EDWARD RUTLEDGE.
iv, 191. FORD ED., vii, 154. (Pa., June 1797.)
2975. FEDERALISTS, Republicans
and. — My hope is that the distinction be
tween republican and federalist will be soon
lost, or at most that it will be only of repub
lican and monarchist ; that the body of the
nation, even that part which French excesses
forced over to the federal side, will rejoin the
republicans, leaving only those who were pure
monarchists, and who will be too few to form
a sect. — To DR. B. S. BARTON, iv, 353. FORD
ED., vii, 489. (W., Feb. 1801.)
2976. . I entertain real hope that
the whole body of pur citizens (many of
whom had been carried away by the X. Y.
Z. business), will shortly be consolidated
* * * . When they examine the real prin
ciples of both parties, I think they will find
little to differ about. I know, indeed, that
there are some of their leaders who have so
committed themselves, that pride, if no other
passion, will prevent their coalescing:. We
must be easy with them.— To MOSES ROBIN
SON, iv, 379. (March 1801.)
2977. . The manoeuvres of the
year X. Y. Z. carried over from us a great
body of the people, real republicans, and
honest men under virtuous motives. The de
lusion lasted a while. At length the poor
arts of tub plots, &c., were repeated till the
designs of the party became suspected. From
that moment those who had left us began to
come back. It was by their return to us that
we gained the victory in November, 1800,
which we should not have gained in No
vember, 1799. But during the suspension of
the public mind, from the nth to the i7th
of February [last], and the anxiety and
alarm lest there should be no election,
and anarchy ensue, a wonderful effect was
produced on the mass of federalists who had
not before come over. Those who had be
fore become sensible of their error in the
former change, and only wanted a decent
excuse for coming back, seized that occa
sion for doing so. Another body, and a
large one it is, who from timidity of constitu
tion had gone with those who wished for a
strong executive, were induced by the same
timidity to come over to us rather than risk
anarchy: so that, according to the evidence
we receive from every direction, we may say
that the whole of that portion of the people
which were called federalists, were made to
desire anxiously the very event they had just
before opposed with all their energies, and to
receive the election which was made, as an
object of their earnest wishes, a child of their
own. These people (I always exclude their
leaders) are now aggregated with us. They
look with a certain degree of affection and
confidence to the administration, ready to be
come attached to it, if it avoids in the outset
333
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Federalists
acts which might revolt and throw them off.
To give time for a perfect consolidation seems
prudent. — To JAMES MONROE, iv, 367. FORD
ED., viii, 9. (W., March 1801.)
2978. . The revolutionary move
ments in Europe had, by industry and artifice,
been wrought into objects of terror even to
this country, and had really involved a great
portion of our well-meaning citizens in a panic
which was perfectly unaccountable, and dur
ing the prevalence of which they were led
to support measures the most insane. They
are now pretty thoroughly recovered from it,
and sensible of the mischief which was done,
and preparing to be done, had their minds
continued a little longer under that derange
ment. The recovery bids fair to be complete,
and to obliterate entirely the line of party
division which had been so strongly drawn.
Not that their late leaders have come over,
or even can come over. But they stand, at
present, almost without followers. The prin
cipal of them have retreated into the judiciary
as a stronghold, the tenure of which renders
it difficult to dislodge them. To JOEL BAR
LOW, iv, 369. (W., March 1801.)
2979. — . I was always satisfied that
the great body of those called federalists
were real republicans as well as federalists. —
To GENERAL HENRY KNOX. iv, 386. FORD
ED., viii, 36. (W., March 1801.)
2980. . The federal sect of re
publicans * * * differ from us only in the
shades of power to be given to the Executive,
being, with us attached to republican govern
ment. The Essex junto and their associate
monocrats in every part of the Union, wish
to sap the Republic by fraud, if they cannot
destroy it by force, and to erect an English
monarchy in its place; some of them (as Mr.
Adams) thinking its corrupt parts should be
cleansed away, others (as Hamilton) think
ing that it would make it an impracticable
machine.— To LEVI LINCOLN, iv, 398. FORD
ED., viii, 67. (W., July 1801.)
2981. - — . My idea is that the mass
of our countrymen, even of those who call
them federalists, are republicans. They differ
from us but in a shade of more or less of
power to be given to the Executive or Legis
lative organ. They were decoyed into the net
of monarchists by the X. Y. Z. contrivance,
but they are come or are coming back. So
much moderation in our proceedings as not
to revolt them, while doubting or newly
joined with us, and they will coalesce and
grow to us as one flesh. But any violence
against their quondam leaders before they are
thoroughly weaned from them, would carry
them back again.— To THOMAS McKEAN.
FORD ED., viii, 78. (W., July 1801.)
2982. . I consider the pure fed
eralist as a republican who would prefer a
somewhat stronger Executive ; and the re
publican as one more willing to trust the
legislature as a broader representation of the
people, and a safer deposit of power for many
reasons. But both sects are republican, en
titled to the confidence of their fellow citizens.
Not so their quondam leaders, covering under
the mask of federalism hearts devoted to
monarchy. The Hamiltonians, the Essex-
men, the Revolutionary tories, &c. They have
a right to tolerance, but neither to confidence
nor power. — To JOHN DICKINSON. FORD ED.,
viii, 76. (W., July 1801.)
2983. FEDERALISTS, Republican
schisms and. — I consider the federalists as
completely vanquished, and never more to
take the field under their own banners. They
will now reserve themselves to profit by the
schisms among republicans, and to earn favors
from minorities, whom they will enable to
triumph over their more numerous antago
nists. So long as republican minorities barely
accept their votes, no great harm will be
done ; because it will only place in power one
shade of republicanism, instead of another.
But when they purchase the votes of the
federalists, by giving them a participation of
office, trust and power, it is a proof that
anti-monarchism is not their strongest pas
sion. — To JAMES SULLIVAN, v, 101. FORD
ED., ix, 77. (W., June 1807.)
2984. FEDERALISTS, Self-govern
ment and. — The leaders of federalism say
that man cannot be trusted with his own gov
ernment. We must do no act which shall re
place them in the direction of the experiment.
— To GOVERNOR HALL. FORD ED., viii, 157.
(W., 1802.)
2985. FEDERALISTS, States' rights
and.— The federalists, baffled in their schemes
to monarchize us, have given up their name,
which the Hartford Convention had made
odious, and have taken shelter among us
and under our name. But they have only
changed the point of attack. On every ques
tion of the usurpation of State powers by the
Foreign or General Government, the same
men rally together, force the line of demar
cation and consolidate the government. The
judges are at their head as heretofore, and
are their entering wedge. The true old re
publicans stand to the line, and will I hope
die on it if necessary. — To SAMUEL H. SMITH.
FORD ED., x, 263. (M., Aug. 1823.)
2986. FEDERALISTS, Terrorism and
treason. — When General Washington was
withdrawn, these energumeni of royalism,
[the federal leaders], kept in check hitherto
by the dread of his honesty, his firmness, his
patriotism, and the authority of his name,
now mounted on the car of State and free
from control, like Phaeton on that of the
sun, drove headlong and wild, looking neither
to right nor left, nor regarding anything
but the objects they were driving at; until,
displaying these fully, the eyes of the nation
were opened, and a general disbandment of
them from the public councils took place.
* * * But no man who did not witness it
can form an idea of their unbridled madness,
and the terrorism with which they surrounded
themselves. The horrors of the French Rev
olution, then raging, aided them mainly, and
Federalists
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
334
using that as a rawhead and bloody-bones,
they were enabled by their stratagems of X.
Y. Z. in which this historian [Judge Mar
shall] was a leading mountebank, their tales
of tub-plots, ocean massacres, bloody buoys,
and pulpit lyings, and slanderings, and ma
niacal ravings of their Gardiners, their Os-
goods and Parishes, to spread alarm into
all but the firmest breasts. Their Attorney-
General had the impudence to say to a re
publican member, that deportation must be
resorted to, of which, said he, " you repub
licans have set the example," thus daring to
identify us with the murderous Jacobins of
France. These transactions, now [1818]
recollected, but as dreams of the night, were
then sad realities; and nothing rescued us
from their liberticide effect, but the unyield
ing opposition of those firm spirits who sternly
maintained their post, in defiance of terror,
until their fellow citizens could be aroused
to their own danger, and rally, and rescue the
standard of the Constitution. This has been
happily done. Federalism and monarchism
have languished from that moment until their
treasonable combinations with the enemies of
their country during the late war, their plots
of dismembering the Union, and their Hart
ford Convention, have consigned them to the
tomb of the dead ; and I fondly hope we may
now truly say, " we are all republicans, all fed
eralists," and that the motto of the standard
to which our country will forever rally, will
be " Federal Union and Republican Govern
ment " ; and sure I am we may say that, we
are indebted for the preservation of this point
of ralliance, to that opposition of which so in
jurious an idea is so artfully insinuated
and excited in this history [MARSHALL'S
LIFE OF WASHINGTON]. — THE ANAS, ix, 97.
FORD ED., i, 166. (1818.)
2987. FEDERALISTS, TJnprogressive.—
What a satisfaction have we in the contem
plation of the benevolent effects of our efforts,
compared with those of the leaders on the
other side, who have discountenanced all ad
vances in science as dangerous innovations,
have endeavored to render philosophy and re
publicanism terms of reproach, to persuade us
that man cannot be governed but by the rod.
I shall have the happiness of living and dying
in the contrary hope.— To JOHN DICKINSON.
iv, 366. FORD ED., viii, 8. (W., March 1801.)
2988. FEDERALISTS, Violations of
Constitution. — Their usurpations and viola
tions of the Constitution at that period [the
administration of John Adams] and their ma
jority in both Houses of Congress, were so
great, so decided, and so daring, that after
combating their aggressions, inch by inch,
without being able in the least to check their
career, the republican leaders thought it would
be best for them to give up their useless ef
forts there, go home, get into their respective
Legislatures, embody whatever of resistance
they could be formed into, and if ineffectual,
to perish there as in the last ditch. All, there
fore, retired, leaving Mr. Gallatin alone in the
House of Representatives, and myself in the
Senate, where I then presided as Vice-Presi-
dent. Remaining at our posts, and bidding
defiance to the brow-beatings and insults by
which they endeavored to drive us off also,
we kept the mass of republicans in phalanx
together, until the Legislature could be
brought up to the charge ; and nothing on
earth is more certain, than that if myself par
ticularly, placed by my office of Vice-Presi-
dent at the head of the republicans, had given
way and withdrawn from my post, the re
publicans throughout the Union would have
?iven up in despair, and the cause would have
been lost forever. By holding on, we obtained
time for the Legislatures to come up with
their weight; and those of Virginia and Ken
tucky particularly, but more especially the
former, by their celebrated resolutions, saved
the Constitution at its last gasp. No person
who was not a witness of the scenes of that
gloomy period, can form any idea of the af
flicting persecutions and personal indignities
we had to brook. They saved our country
however. The spirits of the people were so
much subdued and reduced to despair by the
X. Y. Z. imposture, and other stratagems
and machinations, that they would have sunk
into apathy and monarchy, as the only form
of government which could maintain itself.* —
MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS, ix, 507. FORD ED.,
x, 368. (1826.)
2989. FEDERALISTS, Worthy and un
worthy. — With respect to the federalists, I
believe we think alike; for when speaking of
them, we never mean to include a worthy
portion of our fellow citizens, who consider
themselves as in duty bound to support the
constituted authorities of every branch, and to
reserve their opposition to the period of elec
tion. Those having acquired the appellation
of federalists, while a federal administration
was in place, have not cared about throwing
off their name, but adhering to their principle,
are the supporters of the present order of
things. The other branch of the federalists,
those who are so in principle as well as in
name, disapprove of the republican principles
and features of our Constitution, and would, I
believe, welcome any public calamity (war
with England excepted) which might lessen
the confidence of our country in those prin
ciples and forms. I have generally considered
them rather as subjects for a madhouse. But
they are now playing a game of the most mis
chievous tendency, without perhaps being
themselves aware of it. They are endeavor
ing to convince England that we suffer more
by the Embargo than they do, and that if
they will but hold out awhile, we must aban
don it. It is true, the time will come when
we must abandon it. But if this is before the
repeal of the orders of council, we must aban
don it only for a state of war. The day is
not distant, when that will be preferable to
a longer continuance of the Embargo. But
we can never remove that, and let our vessels
* Jefferson said, in the same paper, that he con
sidered this action on his part "the most important,
in its consequences, of any transaction in any por
tion of his life ".—EDITOR.
335
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Fenner (James)
Filibuslerisrn
go out and be taken under these orders, with
out making reprisal. Yet this is the very
state of things which these federal monarch
ists are endeavoring to bring about ; and in
this it is but too possible they may succeed.
But the fact is, that if we have war with Eng
land it will be solely produced by their
manoeuvres. — To DR. THOMAS LEIB. v, 304.
FORD ED., ix, 196. (W., June 1808.) See
PARTIES, REPUBLICANISM and REPUBLICANS.
2990. FENNER ( James), Character of.—
No one was more sensible than myself, while
Governor Fenner was in the senate, of the
soundness of his political principles, and recti
tude of h's conduct. Among those of my fel
low laborers of whom I had a distinguished
opinion, he was one. — To DAVID HOWELL. v,
554. (M., 1810.)
2991. FENNO (John), Gazette of.—
[Fenno's Gazette] is a paper of pure toryism,
disseminating the doctrines of monarchy, aris
tocracy, and the exclusion of the influence of
the people. — To T. M. RANDOLPH. FORD ED.,
v, 334. (Pa., 1791-)
2992. . The tory paper of Fenno
rarely admits anything which defends the pres
ent form of government in opposition to his
desire of subverting it to make way for a
king, lords and commons. — To WILLIAM SHORT.
FORD ED., v, 361. (1791.)
_ FEVER,.— See YELLOW FEVER.
2993. FICTION, Education and.— A
great obstacle to good education is the in
ordinate passion prevalent for novels, and the
time lost in that reading which should be
instructively employed. When this poison in
fects the mind, it destroys its tone and re
volts it against wholesome reading. Reason
and fact, plain and unadorned, are rejected.
Nothing can engage attention unless dressed
in all the figments of fancy, and nothing so
bedecked comes amiss. The result is a
bloated imagination, sickly judgment, and
disgust towards all the real businesses of
life.* — To N. BURWELL. vii, 102. FORD ED.,
x, 104. (M., 1818.)
2994. FICTION, Value of sound.— A
little attention to the nature of the human
mind evinces that the entertainments of fic
tion are useful as well as pleasant. That they
are pleasant when well written, every person
feels who reads. But wherein is its utility,
asks the reverend sage, big with the notion
that nothing can be useful but the learned
lumber of Greek and Roman reading with
which his head is stored? I answer every
thing is useful which contributes to fix in the
principles and practices of virtue. When any
original act of charity or of gratitude, for
instance, is presented either to our sight or
imagination, we are deeply impressed with
its beauty and feel a strong desire in our
selves of doing charitable and grateful acts
also. On the contrary, when we see or read
of any atrocious deed, we are disgusted with
its deformity, and conceive an abhorrence of
vice. Now every emotion of this kind is
* Jefferson made an exception in favor of Maria
Edgeworth and others whose works inculcated a
so and morality. — EDITOR.
an exercise of our virtuous dispositions, and
dispositions of the mind, like limbs of the
body, acquire strength by practice. But ex
ercise produces habit, and in the instance
of which we speak, the exercise being of the
moral feelings, produces a habit of thinking
and acting virtuously. We never reflect
whether the story we read be truth or fic
tion. If the painting be lively, and a toler
able picture of nature, we are thrown into
a reverie, from which if we awaken it is
the fault of the writer. I appeal to every
reader of feeling and sentiment whether the
fictitious murder of Duncan by Macbeth, in
Shakespeare, does not excite in him as great
a horror of villainy, as the real one of Henry
IV. by Ravaillac. as related by Davila? And
whether the fidelity of Nelson and generosity
of Blandford, in Marmontel, do not dilate his
breast and elevate his sentiments as much as
any similar incident which real history can
furnish? Does he not in fact feel himself a
better man while reading them, and privately
covenant to copy the fair example? We
neither know nor care whether Laurence
Sterne really went to France, whether he was
there accosted by the Franciscan, at first re
buked him unkindly, and then gave him a
peace offering ; or whether the whole be not
fiction. In either case, we equally are sor
rowful at the rebuke, and secretly resolve we
will never do so: we are pleased with the
subsequent atonement, and view with emula
tion a soul candidly acknowledging its fault
and making a just reparation. Considering
history as a moral exercise, her lessons would
be too infrequent if confined to real life. Of
those recorded by historians few incidents
have been attended with such circumstances
as to excite in any high degree this sympa
thetic emotion of virtue. We are, therefore,
wisely framed to be as warmly interested for
a fictitious as for a real personage. The field
of imagination is thus laid open to our use
and lessons may be formed to illustrate and
carry home to the heart every moral rule
of life. Thus a lively and lasting sense of
filial duty is more effectually impressed on
the mind of a son or daughter by reading
King Lear, than by all the dry volumes of
ethics and divinity that ever were written.
This is my idea of well written Romance, of
Tragedy, Comedy and Epic poetry. — To ROB
ERT SKIPWITH. FORD ED., i, 396. (M., 1771.)
2995. FILIBUSTEBJSM, Prevention.—
If you will * * * give me such informa
tion as to persons and places as may indicate
to what points the vigilance of the officers is
to be directed, proper measures will be im
mediately taken for preventing every attempt
to make any hostile expedition from these
States against any of the dominions of
France. The stronger the proofs you can
produce, and the more pointed as to persons,
the stronger will be the means of coercion
which the laws will allow to be used. — To
E. C. GENET. FORD ED., vi, 426. (Pa., Sep.
I793-)
2996. FILIBUSTEE-ISM, Punishment
of. — Let it be our endeavor * * '* to re-
Filibusterism
Finances
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
336
strain our citizens from embarking individ
ually in a war* in which their country takes
no part; to punish severely those persons,
citizen or alien, who shall usurp the coyer
of our flag for vessels not entitled to it, in
fecting thereby with suspicion those of real
Americans, and committing us into contro
versies for the redress of wrongs not our
own. — THIRD ANNUAL MESSAGE, viii, 28.
FORD ED., viii, 272. (1803.)
2997. . I am sorry to learn that
a banditti from our country are taking part
in the domestic contests of the country ad
joining you; and the more so as from the
known laxity of execution in our laws, they
cannot be punished. It will give a wrongful
hue to a rightful act of taking possession of
Mobile, and will be imputed to the national
authority, as Miranda's enterprise was, be
cause not punished by it. — To DR. SAMUEL
BROWN, vi, 165. (M., 1813.)
2998. FILIBUSTEHISM, Restraining.—
That individuals should undertake to wage
private war, independently of the authority of
their country, cannot be permitted in a well
ordered society. Its tendency to produce ag
gression on the laws and rights of other
nations, and to endanger the peace of pur own
is so obvious, that I doubt not you will adopt
measures for restraining it effectually in
future. — FOURTH ANNUAL MESSAGE, viii, 34.
FORD ED., viii, 326. (1804.)
2999. FILIBUSTERISM, Suppression.—
Having received information that a great
number of private individuals were combi
ning together, arming and organizing them
selves contrary to law, to carry on military
expeditions against the territories of Spain, I
thought it necessary, by proclamations, as well
as by special orders, to take measures for
preventing and suppressing this enterprise, for
seizing the vessels, arms, and other means
provided for it, and for arresting and bring
ing to justice its authors and abettors. It
was due to that good faith which ought ever
to be the rule of action in public as well as
in private transactions; it was due to good
order and regular government, that while the
public force was strictly on the defensive and
merely to protect our citizens from aggres
sion, the criminal attempts of private individ
uals to decide for their country the question
of peace or war, by commencing active and
unauthorized hostilities, should be promptly
and efficaciously suppressed.— SIXTH ANNUAL
MESSAGE, viii, 63. FORD ED., viii, 489. (Dec.
1806.)
3000. . The late piratical depre
dations which your commerce has suffered as
well as ours, and that of other nations, seem
to have been committed by renegade rovers of
several nations, French, English, American,
which they as well as we have not been care
ful enough to suppress. I hope our Congress
* * * will strengthen the measures of sup
pression. Of their disposition to do it there
can be no doubt; for all men of moral prin
ciple must be shocked at these atrocities. I
* Between England and France.— EDITOR.
had repeated conversations on this subject
with the President * * * . No man can
abhor these enormities more deeply. I trust
it will not have been in the power of aban
doned rovers, nor yet of negligent function
aries, to disturb the harmony of two nations
so much disposed to mutual friendship, and
interested in it. — To J. CORREA. vii, 184.
FORD ED., x, 164. (M., 1820.)
3001. FINANCES, Disordered.— I do not
at all wonder at the condition in which the
finances of the United States are found.
Hamilton's object from the beginning, was to
throw them into forms which should be ut
terly undecipherable. I ever said he did not
understand their condition himself, nor was
able to give a clear view of the excess of our
debts beyond our credits, nor whether we
were diminishing or increasing the debt. My
own opinion was, that from the commence
ment of this government to the time I ceased
to attend to the subject, we had been increas
ing our debt about a million of dollars an
nually. If Mr. Gallatin would undertake to
reduce this chaos to order, present us with
a clear view of our finances, and put them
into a form as simple as they will admit, he
will merit immortal honor. The accounts of
the United States ought to be, and may be
made as simple as those of a common farmer,
and capable of being understood by common
farmers. — To JAMES MADISON, iv, 131. FORD
ED., vii, 61. (M., March 1796.)
3002. _. The finances are said to
have been left by the late financier in the ut
most derangement, and his tools are urging
the funding the new debts they have con
tracted. Thus posterity is to be left to pay
the ordinary expenses of our government in
time of peace. — To JAMES MONROE. FORD ED.,
vii, 60. (M., March 1796.)
3003. . I had always conjec
tured, from such facts as I could get hold of,
that our public debt was increasing about a
million of dollars a year. You will see by
Gallatin' s speeches that the thing is proved.—
To JAMES MONROE, iv, 140. FORD ED., vii,
80. (M., June 1796.)
3004. FINANCES, Misapplied.— The
finances are now under such a course of ap
plication as nothing could derange but war
or federalism. The gripe of the latter has
shown itself as deadly as have the jaws of
the former. Our adversaries say we are in
debted to their providence for the means of
paying the public debt. We never charged
them with the want of foresight in providing
money, but with the misapplication of it after
they had levied it. We say they raised not
only enough, but too much; and that, after
giving back the surplus, we do more with a
part than they did with the whole. — To
THOMAS COOPER, iv, 453. FORD ED., viii, 178.
(W., 1802.)
3005. FINANCES, Simplification of.— I
think it an object of great importance. * * *
to simplify our system of finance, and
bring it within the comprehension of every
337
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Finances
Fisheries
member of Congress. — To ALBERT GALLATIN.
iv, 428. FORD ED., viii, 139. (W., April
1802.) See 39.
3006. FINANCES, Sound system of.—
The other great and indispensable object [in
prosecuting the war] is to enter on such a
system of finance, as can be permanently pur
sued to any length of time whatever. Let us
be allured by no projects of banks, public or
private, or ephemeral expedients, which, en
abling us to gasp and flounder a little longer,
only increase, by protracting the agonies of
death. — To JAMES MONROE, vi, 395. FORD
ED., ix, 492. (M., Oct. 1814.)
3007. . The British ministers
found some hopes [of success in the war]
on the state of our finances. It is true that
the excess of our banking institutions, and
their present discredit, have shut us out from
the best source of credit we could ever com
mand with certainty. But the foundations of
credit still remain to us, and need but skill
which experience will soon produce, to mar
shal them into an order which may carry us
through any length of war. — To MARQUIS DE
LAFAYETTE, vi, 425. FORD ED., ix, 508. (M.,
1815.) See BANKS and DEBT.
3008. FISHERIES, British acts against.
— To show they [Parliament] mean no dis
continuance of injury, they pass acts, at the
very time of holding out this proposition, for
restraining * * * the fisheries of the prov
ince of New England. — REPLY TO LORD
NORTH'S PROPOSITION. FORD ED., i, 480.
(July 1775.)
3009. FISHERIES, British rivalry in.
— England fears no rivals in the whale fishery
but America ; or rather, it is the whale fishery
of America, of which she is endeavoring to
possess herself. It is for this object she is
making the present extraordinary efforts, by
bounties and other encouragements ; and her
success, so far, is very flattering. Before the
war, she had not one hundred vessels in the
whale trade, while America employed three
hundred and nine. In 1786, Great Britain
employed one hundred and fifty-one vessels;
in 1787, two hundred and eighty-six; in
1788, three hundred and fourteen, nearly the
ancient American number; while the latter
has fallen to about eighty. They have just
changed places then; England having gained
exactly what America has lost. France, by
her ports and markets, holds the balance be
tween the two contending parties, and gives
the victory, by opening and shutting them,
to which she pleases. — To COMTE MONT-
MORIN. ii, 523. (P., 1788.)
3010. FISHERIES, Competition in.—
There is no other nation in present condition
to maintain a competition with Great Britain
in the whale fishery. The expense at which
it is supported on her part seems enormous.
Two hundred and fifty-five vessels, of seven
ty-five thousand four hundred and thirty-six
tons, employed by her this year in the north
ern fishery, at forty-two men each ; and fifty-
nine in the southern at eighteen men each,
make eleven thousand seven hundred and
seventy-two men. These are known to have
cost the government fifteen pounds each, or
one hundred and seventy-six thousand five
hundred and eighty pounds, in the whole ; and
that, to employ the principal part of them,
from three to four months only. The north
ern ships have brought home twenty, and the
southern sixty tons of oil, on an average;
making eighty-six hundred and forty tons.
Every ton of oil, then, has cost the govern
ment twenty pounds in bounty. Still, if
they can beat us out of the field and have it
to themselves, they will think their money
well employed. — To COMTE DE MONTMORIN
ii, 524- (P., 1788.)
3011. FISHERIES, Distresses of.— Of
the disadvantages opposed to us [in the Fish
eries] those which depend on ourselves, are:
Tonnage and naval duties on the vessels em
ployed in the fishery; impost duties on salt;
on tea, rum, sugar, molasses, hooks, lines
and leads, duck, cordage and cables, iron,
hemp and twine, used in the fishery; coarse
woollens, worn by the fishermen, and the poll
tax levied by the State on their persons.
* * The amount of these, exclusive of the
State tax and drawback on the fish exported
. [is] $5.25 per man, or $57.75 per
vessel of sixty-five tons. When a business is
so nearly in equilibrio that one can hardly
discern whether the profit be sufficient to con
tinue it or not, smaller sums than these suf
fice to turn the scale against it. To these
disadvantages, add ineffectual duties on the
importation of foreign fish. In justification of
these last, it is urged that the foreign fish
received, is in exchange for the produce of
agriculture. To which it may be answered,
that the thing given, is more merchantable
than that received in exchange, and agricul
ture has too many markets to be allowed
to take away those of the fisheries.— REPORT
ON THE FISHERIES, vii, 543. (1791.)
3012. FISHERIES, Encouragement of .
—The encouragement of our fishery abridges
that of a rival nation, whose power on the
ocean has long threatened the loss of all bal
ance on that element. — REPORT ON THE FISH
ERIES, vii, 541. (1791.)
3013. FISHERIES, Fostering.— To fos
ter our fisheries and nurseries of navigation
and for the nurture of man * * * [is one
of] the landmarks by which we are to guide
ourselves in all our proceedings.— SECOND AN
NUAL MESSAGE, viii, 21. FORD ED., viii, 187
(Dec. 1802.)
3014. FISHERIES, Massachusetts and.
—I fear there is foundation for the design
intimated in the public papers, of demand
ing a cession of our rights in the fisheries.
What will Massachusetts say to this ? I mean
her majority, which must be considered as
speaking through the organs it has appointed
itself, as the index of its will. She chose to
sacrifice the liberties of our sea-faring citi
zens, in which we were all interested, and
with them her obligations to the co-States,
Fisheries
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
33S
rather than war with England. Will she now
sacrifice the fisheries to the same partialities?
This question is interesting to her alone; for
to the middle, the southern and western
States, they are of no direct concern; of no
more than the culture of tobacco, rice and
cotton, to Massachusetts. I am really at a
loss to conjecture what our refractory sister
will say on this occasion. I know what, as a
citizen of the Union, I would say to her.
" Take this question ad referendum. It con
cerns you alone. If you would rather give
up the fisheries than war with England,
we give them up. If you had rather fight
for them, we will defend your interests to
the last drop of our blood, choosing rather
to set a good example than follow a bad one."
And I hope she will determine to fight for
them.— To JOHN ADAMS, vi, 353. FORD ED.,
ix, 462. (M., July 1814.)
3015. FISHERIES, Preservation of. —
As to the fisheries, England was urgent to
retain them exclusively, France neutral, and
I believe, that had they been ultimately made
a sine qua non, our commissioners (Mr.
Adams excepted) would have relinquished
them, rather than have broken off the treaty.
[Of peace with Great Britain.] To Mr.
Adams's perseverance alone, on that point, I
have always understood we were indebted for
their reservation.— To ROBERT WALSH, vii,
108. FORD ED., x, 117. (M., 1818.)
3016. FISHERIES, Prostrated.— The
fisheries of the United States, annihilated dur
ing the war [of the Revolution], their ves
sels, utensils, and fishermen destroyed; their
markets in the Mediterranean and British
America lost, and their produce dutied in
those of France ; their competitors enabled by
bounties to meet and undersell them at the
few markets remaining open, without any
public aid, and, indeed paying aids to the pub
lic; — such were the hopeless auspices under
which this important business was to be re
sumed. — REPORT ON THE FISHERIES, vii, 542.
3017. FISHERIES, Protection of.— It
will rest with the wisdom of the Legislature
to decide, whether prohibition should not be
opposed to prohibition, and high duty to high
duty, on the fish of other nations ; whether any,
and which, of the naval and other duties may
be remitted, or an equivalent given to the fish
erman, in the form of a drawback, or bounty ;
and whether the loss of markets abroad, may
not, in some degree.be compensated, by creat
ing markets at home ; to which might con
tribute the constituting fish a part of the
military ration, in stations not too distant
from navigation, a part of the necessary sea
stores of vessels, and the encouraging private
individuals to let the fishermen share with
the cultivator, in furnishing the supplies of the
table. A habit introduced from motives of
patriotism, would soon be followed from
motives of taste; and who will undertake to
fix the limits to this demand, if it can be
once excited, with a nation which doubles,
and will continue to double, at very short
periods.— REPORT ON FISHERIES, vii, 544.
3018. . The ex parte regulations
which the English have begun for mounting
their navigation on the ruins of ours, can only
be opposed by counter regulations on our
part. And the loss of seamen, the natural
consequence of lost and obstructed markets
for our fish and oil, calls in the first place,
for serious and timely attention. It will be
too late when the seaman shall have changed
his vocation, or gone over to another in
terest. If we cannot recover and secure for
him these important branches of employ
ment, it behooves us to replace them by
others equivalent.— REPORT ON FISHERIES
vii, 552. (1791.)
3019. FISHERIES, Relief of.— What re
lief does the condition of the whale fishery
require? i. A remission of duties on the ar
ticles used for their calling. 2. A retaliating
duty on foreign oils, coming to seek a com
petition with them in or from our ports. 3.
Free markets abroad. * * * The only
nation whose oil is brought hither for compe
tition with our own, makes ours pay a duty of
about eighty-two dollars the ton, in their ports.
Theirs is brought here, too, to be reshipped
fraudulently, under our flag, and ought not
to be covered by ours, if we mean to pre
serve our own admission into them. — REPORT
ON THE FISHERIES, vii, 551. (1791.)
3020. . The historical view we
have taken of these fisheries, proves they are
so poor in themselves, as to come to noth
ing with distant nations, who do not sup
port them from their own treasury. We have
seen that the advantages of our position place
our fisheries on a ground somewhat higher,
such as to relieve our treasury from giving
them support; but not to permit it to draw
support from them, nor to dispense the gov
ernment from the obligation of effectuating
free markets for them; that, from the great
proportion of our salted fish, for our common
oil, and a part of our spermaceti oil, markets
may perhaps be preserved, by friendly ar-
ra-ngements towards those nations whose ar
rangements are friendly to us, and the residue
be compensated by giving to the seamen,
thrown out of business, the certainty of em
ployment in another branch, of which we have
the sole disposal (the carrying trade). — RE
PORT ON THE FISHERIES, vii, 538. (1791.)
3021. FISHERIES, Whale.— In 1715, the
Americans began their whale fishery. They
were led to it at first by the whales which
presented themselves on their coasts. They
attacked them there in small vessels of forty
tons. As the whale, being infested, retired
from the coast, they followed him farther and
farther into the ocean, still enlarging their
vessels with their adventures, to sixty, one
hundred, and two nundred tons. Having ex
tended their pursuit to the Western Islands,
they fell in, accidentally, with the spermaceti
whale, of a different species from that of
339
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Flag
Florida
Greenland, which alone had hitherto been
known in commerce; more fierce and active,
and whose oil and head matter were found to
be more valuable, as it might be used in the
interior of houses without offending the smell.
The distinction now first arose between the
Northern and Southern fisheries; the object of
the former being the Greenland whale,
which frequents the Northern coasts and seas
of Europe and America ; that of the latter
being the spermaceti whale, which was found
in the Southern seas, from the Western Is
lands and coast of Africa, to that of Brazil,
and still on to the Falkland Islands. Here,
again, within soundings, on the coast of
Brazil, they found a third species of whale,
which they called the black or Brazil whale,
smaller than the Greenland, yielding a still
less valuable oil, fit only for summer use, as
it becomes opaque at 50 degrees of Fahren
heit's thermometer, while that of the sper
maceti whale is limpid to 41, and of the Green
land whale to 36, of the same thermometer.
It is only worth taking, therefore, when it falls
in the way of the fishermen, but not worth
seeking, except when they have failed of suc
cess against the spermaceti whale, in which
case, this kind, easily found and taken, serves
to moderate their loss.— REPORT ON FISH
ERIES, vii. 545. (1791-)
3022. FLAG, Neutrality of.— The neu
trality of onr flag would render the carriage
for belligerents an incalculable source of
profit.— REPORT ON FISHERIES. vii, 554.
(1791.) See NAVIGATION and NEUTRALITY.
3023. FLAG, Usurpation of. — It will be
necessary for all our public agents to exert
themselves with vigilance * * to pre
vent the vessels of other nations from usurp
ing our flag. This usurpation tends to com
mit us with the belligerent powers, to draw
on those vessels truly ours, vigorous visita
tions to distinguish them from the counter
feits, and to take business from us. — To C.
W. F. DUMAS, iii, 535. (Pa., I793-)
3024. . Present appearances in
Europe render a general war there probable.
* * * In the * * * event * * * give
no countenance to the usurpation of our flag
by foreign vessels, but ": * * aid in detect
ing it, as without bringing to us any advan
tage, the usurpation will tend to commit us
with the belligerent powers, and to subject
those vessels, which are truly ours, to harass
ing scrutinies in order to distinguish them
from the counterfeits. — To SAMUEL SHAW.
iii, 530. (Pa., March 1793.)
3025. — . It is impossible to detest
more than I do the fraudulent and injurious
practice of covering foreign vessels and car
goes under the American flag ; and I sincerely
wish a systematic and severe course of pun
ishment could be established. — To MR. GAL-
LATIN, v, 223. FORD ED ., x, 170. (W., 1807.)
3026. FLAG, Reception of.— If British
officers set the example of refusing to receive
a flag, let ours then follow it by never send
ing or receiving another. — To W. H. CABELL.
v, 201. (W., Oct. 1807.)
3027. . In answering [Minister
Erskine's] last [letter], should he not be re
minded how strange it is lie should consider
as a hostility our refusing to receive but un
der a flag, persons from vessels remaining
and acting in our waters in defiance of the
authority of the country? — To JAMES MAD
ISON, v, 197. FORD ED., ix, 141. (M., Sep.
1807.)
3028. FLATTERY, Un-American.— Let
those flatter who fear: it is not an American
art. — RIGHTS OF BRITISH AMERICA, i, 141.
FORD ED., i, 446. (1774.)
3029. . According to the ideas
of our country, we do not permit ourselves
to speak even truths, when they may have the
air of flattery. — To MARQUIS DE LAFAYETTE.
ii, 136. (1787.)
3030. FLETCHER OF SALTOUN, Prin
ciples of. — The political principles of that
patriot were worthy of the purest periods of
the British constitution ; They are those which
were in vigor at the epoch of the American
emigration. Our ancestors brought them
here, and they needed little strengthening to
make us what we are. But in the weakened
condition of English whigism at this day, it
requires more firmness to publish and ad
vocate them than it then did to act on them.
This merit is peculiarly your Lordships; and
no one honors it more than myself. — To EARL
OF BUCHAN. iv, 493. (W., 1803.)
3031. FLORIDA, Acquisition of.— Gov
ernor Quesada, by order of his court, is in
viting foreigners to go and settle in Florida.
This is meant for our people. * * * I wish
a hundred thousand of our inhabitants would
accept the invitation. It will be the means of
delivering to us peaceably what may otherwise
cost us a war. In the meantime, we may
complain of this seduction of our inhabitants
just enough to make them believe we think
it very wise policy for them, and confirm them
in it. — To PRESIDENT WASHINGTON, iii, 235.
FORD ED., v, 316. (Pa., 1791.)
3032. FLORIDA, Buying.— It was
agreed at a cabinet meeting that] Monroe be in
structed to endeavor to purchase both Flor-
idas if he can; West [Florida] if he cannot
East, at the prices before agreed on ; but if
neither can be procured, then to stipulate a
plenary right to use all the rivers rising within
our limits and passing through theirs.
We are more indifferent about pressing the
purchase of the Floridas, because of the money
we have to provide for Louisiana, and because
we think they cannot fail to fall into our hands.
— THE ANAS. FORD ED., i, 300. (Oct. 1803.)
3033. . The extension of the
war in Europe leaving us without danger of a
sudden peace, depriving us of the chance of
an ally, I proposed [in cabinet] that we should
address ourselves to France, informing her
it was a last effort at amicable settlement with
Spain, and offer to her or through her, i. a
sum of money for the rights of Spain east of
Iberville, say the Floridas. 2. To cede the
part of Louisiana from the Rio Bravo to the
Guadaloupe. 3. Spain to pay within a certain
time spoliations under her own flag, agreed to
Florida
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
340
by the convention (which we guess to be one
hundred vessels worth two million dollars) ;
and those subsequent (worth as much more),
and to hypothecate to us for those payments
the country from Guadaloupe to Rio Bravo.
Armstrong was to be employed. The ist was
to be the exciting motive with France to whom
Spain is in arrears for subsidies, and who
will be glad also to secure us from going into
the scale of England. The 2d. the soothing
motive with Spain, which France would press
bona fide, because she claimed to the Rio
Bravo. The 3d. to quiet our merchants. It
was agreed to unanimously, and the sum to be
offered fixed not to exceed five million dollars.
Mr. Gallatin did not like purchasing Florida
under an apprehension of war, lest we should
be thought, in fact, to purchase peace. We
thought this over-weighed by taking advantage
of an opportunity, which might not occur again,
of getting a country essential to our peace,
and to the security of the commerce of the
Mississippi. — ANAS. FORD ED., i, 308. (Nov.
12, 1805.)
3034. . Since our [the Cabinet's]
last meeting, we have received a letter from
General Armstrong, containing Talleyrand's
propositions, which are equivalent to ours
nearly, except as to the sum, he requiring seven
million dollars. He advises that we alarm the
fears of Spain by a vigorous language and
conduct, in order to induce her to join us in
appealing to the interference of the Emperor.
We now agree to modify our propositions, so as
to accommodate them to his as much as possi
ble. We agree to pay five million dollars for the
Floridas as soon 'as the treaty is ratified by
Spain, a vote of credit obtained from Congress,
and orders delivered us for the surrender of
the country. We agree to his proposition that
the Colorado shall be our Western boundary,
and a belt of thirty leagues on each side of it
be kept unsettled. We agree that joint com
missioners shall settle all spoliations, and to
take payment from Spain by bills on her col
onies. We agree to say nothing about the
French spoliators in Spanish ports which broke
off the former convention. We propose to pay
the five millions, after a simple vote of credit,
by stock redeemable in three years, within
which time we can pay it. — ANAS. FORD ED.,
i, 309. (Nov. 19, 1805.)
3035. . If you can succeed in pro
curing us Florida, and a good Western bound
ary, it will fill the American mind with joy.
It will secure to our fellow citizens one of their
most ardent wishes, a long peace with Spain
and France. For be assured, the object of
war with them and alliance with England,
which, at the last session of Congress, drew off
from the republican band about half a dozen
of its members, is universally reprobated by our
native citizens from north to south. I have
never seen the nation stand more firmly to its
principles, or rally so firmly to its constituted
authorities, and in reprobation of the opposi
tion to them. — To TAMES BOWDOIN. v, 18.
(W., 1806.)
3036. FLORIDA, England and.— Eng
land will immediately seize on the Floridas as
a point d'appui to annoy us. What are we to
do in that case ? I think she will find that there
is no nation on the globe which can gall her so
much as we can. — To JOHN ARMSTRONG, v, 135.
FORD ED., ix, 117. (W., July 1807.) See 298.
3037. FLORIDA, France and.— That
Bonaparte would give us the Floridas to with
hold intercourse with the residue of the
[Spanish] colonies cannot be doubted. But
that is no price ; because they are ours in the
first moment of the first war; and until a war
they are of no particular necessity to us. — To
PRESIDENT MADISON, v, 444. (M., April 1809.)
3038. FLORID A, Reprisal and.— As soon
as we have all the proofs of the Western in
trigues [of Spain], let us make a remonstrance
and demand of satisfaction, and, if Congress
approves, we may in the same instant make
reprisals on the Floridas, until satisfaction for
that and for spoliations, and until a settlement
of boundary. — To JAMES MADISON, v, 164. FORD
ED., ix, 124. (M., Aug. 1807.)
3039. . If England should be
disposed to continue peace with us, and Spain
gives to Bonaparte the occupation she prom
ises, will not the interval be favorable for our
reprisals on the Floridas for the indemnifica
tions withheld? — To HENRY DEARBORN, v, 335.
(M., Aug. 1808.)
3040. . The situation of affairs
in Spain * * * may produce a favorable
occasion of doing ourselves justice in the South.
WTe must certainly so dispose of our southern
recruits and armed vessels as to be ready for
the occasion. — To ALBERT GALLATIN. v, 336.
(M., Aug. 1808.)
3041. . Should England get to
rights with us, while Bonaparte is at war with
Spain, the moment may be favorable to take
possession of our own territory held by Spain,
and so much more as may make a proper re
prisal for her spoliations. We ought, there
fore, to direct the rendezvous of our southern
recruits and gunboats so as to be in proper
position for striking * * * in an instant,
when Congress shall will it. — To ROBERT SMITH.
v, 337- (M., Aug. 1808.)
3042. . Should England make
up with us, while Bonaparte continues at war
with Spain, a moment may occur when we may
without danger of commitment with either
France or England seize to our own limits of
Louisiana as of right, and the residue of the
Floridas as reprisal for spoliations. It is our
duty to have an eye to this in rendezvousing
and stationing our new recruits and our armed
vessels, so as to be ready, if Congress author
izes it, to strike in a moment. — To HENRY
DEARBORN, v, 338. (M., Aug. 1808.)
3043. . Should the conference
[with Canning] announced in Mr. Pinckney's
letter of June sth, settle friendship between
England and us, and Bonaparte continue at war
with Spain, a moment may occur favorable,
without compromitting us with either France
or England, for seizing our own from the Rio
Bravo to Perdido, as of right, and the residue
of Florida, as a reprisal for spoliations. I
have thought it proper to suggest this possibility
to General Dearborn and Mr. Smith, and to rec
ommend an eye to it in their rendezvousing and
stationing the new southern recruits and gun
boats, so that we may strike in a moment when
Congress says so. — To JAMES MADISON. v,
339. FORD ED., ix, 204. (M., Aug. 1808.)
3044. FLORIDA, Right to.— Florida,
moreover, is ours. Every nation in Europe con
siders it such a right. We need not care for its
occupation in time of peace and, in war, the
first cannon makes it ours without offence to
anybody. * * The cession of the Floridas
in exchange for Techas imports an acknowl
edgment of our right to it. This province,
moreover, the Floridas and possibly Cuba, will
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Florida
Foutaiiibleau
join us on the acknowledgment of their inde
pendence, a measure to which their new govern
ment will probably accede voluntarily. — To
PRESIDENT MONROE, vii, 160. FORD ED., x, 159.
(M., 1820.)
3045. FLORIDA, Seizure of.— I wish
you [Congress] would authorize the President
to take possession of East Florida immediately.
The seizing West Florida will be a signal to
England to take Pensacola and St. Augustine;
and be assured it will be done as soon as the
order can return after they hear of our taking
Baton Rouge, and we shall never get it from
them but by a war, which may be prevented by
anticipation. There never was a case where the
adage was more true, " in for a penny, in for a
pound " ; and no more offence will be taken by
France and Spain at our seizure of both than
of one. — To J. W. EPPES. FORD ED., ix, 290.
(M., Jan. 1811.)
3046. . The English will take
East Florida, pretendedly for Spain. We
should take it with a declaration ; i, that it is
a reprisal for indemnities Spain has acknowl
edged due to us ; 2, to keep it from falling into
hands in which it would essentially endanger
our safety ; 3, that in our hands it will still
be held as a subject of negotiation. The lead
ing republican members should come to an un
derstanding, close the doors, and determine not
to separate till the vote is carried, and all the
secrecy you can enjoin should be aimed at un
til the measure is executed. — To J. W. EPPES.
FORD ED., ix, 291. (M., Jan. 1811.)
3047. - — . We are in a state of
semi-warfare with your adjoining colonies, the
Floridas. We do not consider this as affecting
our peace with Spain, or any other of her for
mer possessions. We wish her and them well ;
and under her present difficulties at home, and
her doubtful future relations with her colonies,
both wisdom and interest will, I presume, induce
her to leave them to settle themselves the quar
rels they draw on themselves from their neigh
bors. The commanding officers in the Floridas
have excited and armed the neighboring sav
ages to war against us, and to murder and scalp
many of our women and children as well as
men, taken by surprise — poor creatures ! They
have paid for it with the loss of the flower of
their strength, and have given us the right, as
we possess the power, to exterminate or to ex
patriate them beyond the Mississippi. This con
duct of the Spanish officers will probably oblige
us to take possession of the Floridas, and the
rather as we believe the English will other
wise seize them, and use them as stations to
distract and annoy us. But should we possess
ourselves of them, and Spain retain her other
colonies in this hemisphere, I presume we shall
consider them in our hands as subjects of
negotiation. — To DON V. TORANDA CORUNA. vi,
274. (M., Dec. 1813.)
3048. FLORIDA, Spain and.— Some fear
our envelopment in the wars engendering from
the unsettled state of our affairs with Spain,
and therefore are anxious for a ratification of
our treaty with her. I fear no such thing, and
hope that if ratified by Spain it will be rejected
here. We may justly say to Spain, " when this
negotiation commenced, twenty years ago, your
authority was acknowledged by those you are
selling to us. That authority is now renounced,
and their right of self-disposal asserted. In
buying them from you, then, we buy but a war-
title, a right to subdue them, which you can
neither convey nor we acquire. This is a fam
ily quarrel in which we have no right to med
dle. Settle it between yourselves, and we will
then treat with the party whose right is ac
knowledged." With whom that will be, no
doubt can be entertained. And why should we
revolt them by purchasing them as cattle,
rather than receiving them as fellow-men ?
Spain has held off until she sees they are lost
to her, and now thinks it better to get some
thing than nothing for them. When she shall
see South America equally desperate, she will
be wise to sell that also. — To M. DE LAFAYETTE.
vii, 194. FORD ED., x, 179. (M., 1820.)
3049. . I am not Sorry for the
non-ratification of the Spanish treaty. Our as
sent to it has proved our desire to be on friendly
terms with Spain ; their dissent, the imbecility
and malignity of their government towards us,
have placed them in the wrong in the eyes of
the world, and that is well ; but to us the prov
ince of Techas will be the richest State of our
Union, without any exception. Its southern
part will make more sugar than we can con
sume, and the Red River, on its North, is the
most luxuriant country on earth. Florida,
moreover, is ours. Every nation in Europe
considers it such a right. We need not care
for its occupation in time of peace, and, in war,
the first cannon makes it ours without offence
to anybody. The friendly advisements, too, of
Russia and France, as well as the change of
government in Spain, now ensured, require a
further and respectful forbearance. While their
request will rebut the plea of prescriptive pos
session, it will give us a right to their approba
tion when taken in the maturity of circum
stances. I really think, too, that neither the
state of our finances, the condition of our coun
try, nor the public opinion, urges us to precip
itation into war. The treaty has had the val
uable effect of strengthening our title to the
Techas, because the cession of the Floridas in
exchange for Techas imports an acknowledg
ment of our right to it. This province more
over, the Floridas and possibly Cuba, will join
us on the acknowledgment of their independ
ence, a measure to which their new govern
ment will probably accede voluntarily. — To
PRESIDENT MONROE, vii, 160. FORD ED., x, 158.
(M., May 1820.) See LOUISIANA, MONROE DOC
TRINE, and SPAIN.
3050. FOLLY, National.— We, too, shall
encounter follies ; out if great, they will be
short; if long, they will be light, and the
vigor of our country will get the better of
them.— To MR. DIGGES. v, 14. (W., 1806.)
3051. . We shall have our fol
lies without doubt. Some one or more of
them will always be afloat. But ours will be
the follies of enthusiasm, not of bigotry
* * * — To JOHN ADAMS, vii, 27.
(M., 1816.)
3052. FONTAINBLEAU, Description.—
This is a village of about 5000 inhabitants
when the Court is not here, and 20.000 inhab
itants when they are ; occupying a valley
through which runs a brook, and on each side
of it a ridge of small mountains most of which
are naked rock. The King comes here, in the
fall always, to hunt. His court attend him, as
do also the foreign diplomatic corps. But as
this is not indispensably required, and my fi
nances do not admit the expense of a continued
residence here, I propose to come occasionally
to attend the King's levees, returning again to
Paris, distant forty miles. — To REV. JAMES
MADISON. FORD ED., vii, 33. (P., 1785.)
Foppery
Foreign agents
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
342
3053. FOPPERY, Admiration of.— As
tor admiration, I am sure the man who pow
ders most, perfumes most, embroiders most,
and talks most nonsense, is most admired.
Though to be candid, there are some who have
too much good sense to esteem such monkey-
like animals as these, in whose formation, as the
saying is, the tailors and barbers go halves with
God Almighty. * — To JOHN PAGE, i, 183. FORD
ED., i, 344- (1762.)
3054. FORCE, Despotism and. — Force
[is] the vital principle and immediate parent of
despotism. — FIRST INAUGURAL ADDRESS, viii,
4. FORD ED., viii, 4. (1801.)
3055. FORCE, Government and.— That
nature has formed man insusceptible of any
other government than that of force, is a con
clusion not founded in truth nor experience. —
To JAMES MADISON, ii, 104. FORD ED., iv,
362. (P., 1787.)
3056. FORCE, Money and.— The want of
money cramps every effort. This will be sup
plied by the most unpalatable of all substitutes,
force. — To GENERAL WASHINGTON, i, 242.
FORD ED., ii, 309. (Wg., 1780.)
3057. FORCE, Politics and.— Force is not
the kind of opposition the American people
will permit. — To EDMUND PENDLETON. iv, 287.
FORD ED., vii, 356. (Pa., 1799.)
3058. FORCE, Reason vs. — The friends
of reform, while they 'remain firm, [should]
avoid every act and threat against the peace
of the Union. That would check the favorable
sentiments of the middle States, and rally
them again around the measures which are
ruining us. Reason, not rashness, is the only
means of bringing our fellow citizens to their
true minds. — To N. LEWIS, iv, 278. (1799.)
3059. FORCE, Right and.— Force cannot
give right. — RIGHTS OF BRITISH AMERICA, i,
141. FORD ED., i, 445. (1774.)
3060. - _. With respect to Amer
ica, Europeans in general, have been too long
in the habit of confounding force with right.
— To WILLIAM SHORT, iii, 276. FORD ED., v,
364. (Pa., 1791-)
3061. . Force cannot change
right. — To JOHN CART WRIGHT, vii, 355. (M.,
1824.)
3062. FORCE, Wisdom and. — It is the
multitude which possesses force, and wisdom
must yield to that. — To DUPONT DE NEMOURS.
vi, 592. FORD ED., x, 25. (P.F., 1816.)
3063. FOREIGN AGENTS, Authoriza
tion. — The sending an agent within our lim
its, we presume has been done without the
authority or knowledge of the Spanish gov
ernment. It has certainly been the usage,
where one nation has wished to employ agents
of any kind within the limits of another, to
obtain the permission of that other, and even
to regulate by convention, and on principles
of reciprocity, the functions to be exercised by
such agents. f — To THE SPANISH COMMISSION
ERS. FORD ED., vi, 99. (Pa., 1792.)
* Jefferson was 19 years of age in 1762. — EDITOR.
t The Goyernment of West Florida had established
an agent within the Creek territory. — EDITOR.
3064. . I consider the keeping
by Spain of an agent in the Indian Country
as a circumstance which requires serious in
terference on our part; and I submit to your
decision whether it does not furnish a proper
occasion to us to * * * insist on a mutual
and formal stipulation to forbear employing
agents, or pensioning any persons, within each
other's limits; and if this be refused, to pro
pose the contrary stipulation, to wit, that each
party may freely keep agents within the In
dian territories of the other, in which case we
might soon sicken them of the license. — To
PRESIDENT WASHINGTON. FORD ED., vi, 101.
(M., 1792.)
3065. . It is a general rule, that
no nation has a right to keep an agent within
the limits of another, without the consent of
that other, and we are satisfied it would be
best for both Spain and us, to abstain from
having agents or other persons in our employ,
or pay, among the savages inhabiting our re
spective territories, whether as subjects or in
dependent. You are, therefore, desired to pro
pose and press a stipulation to that effect.
Should they absolutely decline it, it may be
proper to let them perceive, that as the right
of keeping agents exists on both sides, or on
neither, it will rest with us to reciprocate their
own measures. — To CARMICHAEL AND SHORT.
iii, 475. FORD ED., vi. 119. (Pa., 1792.)
3066. FOREIGN AGENTS, Conciliation
of. — I think it of real value to produce favor
able dispositions in the agents of foreign
nations here. Cordiality among nations de
pends very much on the representations of
their agents mutually, and cordiality once es
tablished, is of immense value, even counted
in money, from the favors it produces in com
merce, and the good understanding it pre
serves in matters merely political. — To PRESI
DENT WASHINGTON. FORD ED., vi, 152. (Pa.,
1 793-)
3067. FOREIGN AGENTS, Duty of.—
The President of the United States being
the only channel of communication between
this country and foreign nations, it is from
him alone that foreign nations or their agents
are to learn what is or has been the will of
the nation, and whatever he communicates as
such, they have a right and are bound to con
sider as the expression of the nation, and no
foreign agent can be allowed to question it,
to interpose between him and any other
branch of government, under the pretext of
cither's transgressing their functions, nor to
make himself the umpire and final judge be
tween them. I am, therefore, not authorized
to enter into any discussions with you on the
meaning of our Constitution in any part of it,
or to prove to you that it has ascribed to him
alone the admission or interdiction of foreign
agents. I inform you of the fact by authority
from the President.— To EDMOND CHARLES
GENET, iv, 84. FORD ED., vi, 451. (G., Nov.
I793-)
3068. FOREIGN AGENTS, Intermed
dling. — For a foreign agent, addressed to the
Executive, to embody himself with the law-
343
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Foreign agents
Foreign influence
yers of a faction whose sole object is to
embarrass and defeat all the measures of the
country, and by their opinions, known to be
always in opposition, to endeavor to influence
our proceedings, is a conduct not to be per
mitted. — To ALBERT GALLATIN. v, 368. (M.,
1808.)
3069. FOREIGN AGENTS, Secret.— We
want an intelligent, prudent native, who will
go to reside at New Orleans, as a secret cor
respondent, for $1000 a year. He might do
a little business, merely to cover his real office.
Do point out such a one. Virginia ought to of
fer more loungers equal to this, and ready for
it, than any other State. — To JAMES MADI
SON. FORD ED., vi, 269. (Pa., 1793.)
3070. FOREIGN INFLUENCE, De
plored. — I do sincerely wish that we could
take our stand on a ground perfectly neutral
and independent towards all nations. It has
been my constant object through my public
life; and with respect to the English and
French, particularly, I have too often expressed
to the former my wishes, and made to them
propositions, verbally and in writing, officially
and privately, to official and private characters,
for them to doubt of my views, if they would
be content with equality. Of this they are
in possession of several written and formal
proofs, in my own hand-writing. But they
have wished a monopoly of commerce and
influence with us; and they have in fact ob
tained it. When we take notice that theirs
is the workshop to which we go for all we
want; that with them centre either immedi
ately or ultimately all the labors of our hands
and lands ; that to them belongs, either openly
or secretly, the great mass of our navigation ;
that even the factorage of their affairs here,
is kept to themselves by factitious citizen
ships; that these foreign and false citizens
now constitute the great body of what are
called our merchants, fill our seaports, are
planted in 'every little town and district of
the interior country, sway everything in the
former places, by their own votes, and those
of their dependents, in the latter, by their in
sinuations and the influence of their ledgers;
that they are advancing rapidly to a monopoly
of our banks and public funds, and thereby
placing our public finances under their con
trol ; that they have in their alliance the most
influential characters in and out of office;
when they have shown that by all these bear
ings on the different branches of the govern
ment, they can force it to proceed in whatever
direction they dictate, and bend the interests
of this country entirely to the will of another ;
when all this, I say, is attended to, it is im
possible for us to say we stand on independent
ground, impossible for a free mind not to
see and to groan under the bondage in which
it is bound. If anything after this could
excite surprise, it would be that they have
been able so far to throw dust in the eyes of
our own citizens, as to fix on those who
wish merely to recover self-government the
charge of observing one foreign influence
because they resist submission to another.
But they possess our printing presses, a
powerful engine in their government of us.
At this very moment they would have drawn
us into a war on the side of England, had it
not been for the failure of her bank. Such
was their open and loud cry, and that of
their gazettes, till this event. After plunging
us in all the broils of the European nations,
there would remain but one act to close our
tragedy, that is, to break up our Union- and
even this they have ventured seriously and
solemnly to propose and maintain by argu
ments in a Connecticut paper. I have been
happy, however, in believing from the stifling
of this effort, that that dose was found too
strong, and excited as much repugnance there
as it did horror in other parts of our country,
and that whatever follies we may be led into
as to foreign nations, we shall never give up
our Union, the last anchor of our hope, and
that alone which is to prevent this heavenly
country from becoming an arena of gladi
ators. Much as I abhor war, and view it as
the greatest scourge of mankind, and anx
iously as I wish to keep out of the broils of
Europe, I would yet go with my brethren into
these, rather than separate from them. But
I hope we may still keep clear of them, not
withstanding our present thraldom, and that
time may be given us to reflect on the awful
crisis we have passed through, and to find
some means of shielding ourselves in future
from foreign influence, political, commercial, or
in whatever other form it may be attempted. I
can scarcely withhold myself from joining in
the wish of Silas Deane, that there were an
ocean of fire between us and the old world.* — •
To ELBRIDGE GERRY, iv, 172. FORD ED., vii,
121. (Pa., May 1797.)
3071. FOREIGN INFLUENCE, Eng
lish. — The proof England exhibited on that
occasion [the repeal of the Embargo] that
she can exercise such an influence in this
country as to control the will of its govern
ment and three-fourths of its people, and
oblige the three-fourths to submit to one-
fourth, is to me the most mortifying circum
stance which has occurred since the establish
ment of our government. The only prospect
I see of lessening that influence, is in her own
conduct, and not from anything in our power.
—To HENRY DEARBORN, v, 530. FORD ED.,
ix, 278. (M., July 1810.)
3072. FOREIGN INFLUENCE, Exclu
sion. — Our countrymen have uivided them
selves by such strong affections, to the French
and the English, that nothing will secure us
* In the draft of the letter this paragraph was
changed to the form above printed. Before the
alteration it read : " I shall never forget the predic
tion of the Count de Vergennes, that we shall exhibit
the singular phenomenon of a fruit rotten before it
is ripe, nor cease to join in the wish of Silas Deane,
that there were an ocean of fire between us and the
old world. Indeed, my dear friend, I am so dis
gusted with this entire subjection to a foreign
power, that if it were in the end to appear to be the
wish of the body of my countrymen to remain in
that vassalage, I should feel my unfitness to be an
agent in their affairs, and seek in retirement that
personal independence without which this world has
nothing I value. I am confident you set the same
store by it which I do ; but perhaps your situation
may not give you the same conviction of its exist
ence."— FORD ED., vii, 123.
Foreign influence
Formalities
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
344
internally but a divorce from both nations. —
To ELBRIDGE GERRY, iv, 188. FORD ED., vii,
149. (Pa., 1797.)
3073.- — . We consider their [Cuba's
and Mexico's] interests and ours as the same,
and that the object of both must be to exclude
all European influence from this hemisphere.
— To GOVERNOR CLAIBORNE. v, 381. FORD
ED., ix, 213. (W., October 1808.)
3074. FOREIGN INFLUENCE, French.
— Foreign influence is the present and just
object of public hue and cry, and, as often
happens, the most guilty are foremost and
loudest in the cry. If those who are truly
independent, can so trim our vessel as to
beat through the waves now agitating us, they
will merit a glory the greater as it seems less
possible. — To THOMAS PINCKNEY. iv, 176.
FORD ED., vii, 128. "(Pa., May I797-)
3075. - — . Those [members of Con
gress] who have no wish but for the peace of
their country, and its independence of all for
eign influence, have a hard struggle indeed,
overwhelmed by a cry as loud and imposing
as if it were true, of being under French
influence, and this raised by a faction com
posed of English subjects residing among us,
or such as are English in all their relations
and sentiments. However, patience will bring
all to rights, and we shall both live to see the
mask taken from their faces, and our citizens
sensible on which side true liberty and in
dependence are sought. — To HORATIO GATES.
iv, 178. FORD ED., vii, 131. (Pa., May I797-)
3076. FOREIGN INFLUENCE, Mer
cantile. — The commerce of England has
spread its roots over the whole face of our
country. This is the real source of all the
obliquities of the public mind. — To A. H.
ROWAN, iv, 257. FORD ED., vii, 280. (M.,
1798.)
3077. FOREIGN INTERVENTION,
Evils of. — Wretched, indeed, is the nation in
whose affairs foreign powers are once per
mitted to intermeddle. — To B. VAUGHAN. ii,
167. (P., 1787.)
3078. FOREIGN INTERVENTION,
Exclude.— What a crowd of lessons do the
present miseries of Holland teach us ? * * *
Never to call in foreign nations to settle do
mestic differences; * * * . — To JOHN
ADAMS, ii, 283. FORD ED., iv, 455. (P.,
1787.) See ALLIANCES, HEREDITARY BODIES,
WAR.
3079. - — . Our young Republic
* * * should never call on foreign powers
to settle their differences. — To COLONEL
HUMPHREYS, ii, 253. (P., 1787.)
3080. FOREIGN INTERVENTION,
United States and.— We wish not to meddle
with the internal affairs of any country, nor
with the general affairs of Europe. — To C.
W. F. DUMAS, iii, 535. (Pa., 1793.)
— FOREIGNERS.— See ALIEN AND SE
DITION LAWS, ALIENS, ASYLUM, CITIZENS and
EXPATRIATION.
3081. FORMALITIES, Business and.—
I have ever thought that forms should yield
to whatever should facilitate business.— To
JAMES MONROE, iv, 401. FORD ED., viii, 59.
(W., 1801.)
3082. FORMALITIES, Dispensing
with. — There are situations when form must
be dispensed with. A man attacked by as
sassins will call for help to those nearest him,
and will not think himself bound to silence
till a magistrate may come to his aid. — To
WILLIAM SHORT, iii, 305. FORD ED., v, 306
(Pa., 1791.)
3083. FORMALITIES, Insisting upon.
— I noticed to you * * * that the com
mission of consul to M. Dannery ought to
have been addressed to the President of the
United States. * * * [As] we were per
suaded * * * that the error in the address
had proceeded from no intention in the Exec
utive Council of France to question the func
tions of the President, * * * no difficulty
was made in issuing the commission. We are
still under the same persuasion. But in your
letter of the I4th instant, you personally ques
tion the authority of the President, and, in
consequence of that, have not addressed to
him the commission of Messrs. Pennevert and
Chervi. Making a point of this formality on
your part, it becomes necessary to make a
point of it on ours also ; and I am therefore
charged to return you those commissions, and
to inform you, that bound to enforce respect
to the order of things established by our
Constitution, the President will issue no
exequatur to any consul or vice-consul, not
directed to him in the usual form, after the
party from whom it comes, has been apprised
that such should be the address. — To E. C.
GENET, iv, 84. FORD ED., vi, 451. (G., Nov.
I793-)
3084. FORMALITIES, International.
— I am of opinion that all communications
between nations should pass through the
channels of their Executives. However, in
the instance of condolence on the death of
Dr. Franklin, the letter from our General
Government was addressed to the President
of the National Assembly; so was a letter
from the Legislature of Pennsylvania, con
taining congratulations on the achievement
of liberty to the French nation. I have not
heard that, in either instance, their Executive
took it amiss that they were not made the
channel of communication. — To GOVERNOR
LEE. iii, 456. (M., 1792.)
3085. FORMALITIES, Jefferson and.
—General Phillips * * * having * * *
taken great offence at a [recent] threat of
retaliation in the treatment of prisoners, en
closed his answer to my letter [with respect
to a passport for a supply vessel] under this
address, " To Thomas Jefferson, Esq., Amer
ican Governor of Virginia ". I paused on re
ceiving the letter, and for some time would not
open it ; however, when the miserable condi
tion of our brethren in Charleston occurred
to me, I could not determine that they should
be left without the necessaries of life, while
a punctilio should be discussing between the
345
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Formalities
Fortifications
British General and myself ; and, knowing that
I had an opportunity of returning the compli
ment to Mr. Phillips in a case perfectly cor
responding, I opened the letter. Very shortly
after, I received, as I expected, the permis
sion of the Board of War for the British ves
sel, then in Hampton Roads with clothing and
refreshments, to proceed to Alexandria, I en
closed and addressed it, " To William Phillips,
Esq., commanding the British forces in the
Commonwealth of Virginia ". Personally know
ing Phillips to be the proudest man of the
proudest nation on earth, I well know he will
not open this letter ; but having occasion at
the same time, to write to Captain Gerbach. the
flag-master, I informed him that the Conven
tion troops in this State should perish for want
of necessaries, before any should be carried to
them through this State, till General Phillips
either swallowed this pill of retaliation, or
made an apology for his rudeness. And in this,
should the matter come ultimately to Con
gress, we hope for their support. * — To THE
VIRGINIA DELEGATION IN CONGRESS, i, 308. (R.,
1781.)
3086. FORMALITIES, Principles and.
— No government can disregard formalities
more than ours. But when formalities are
attacked with a view to change principles,
* * * it becomes material to defend for
malities. They would be no longer trifles,
if they could, in defiance of the national will,
continue a foreign agent among us whatever
might be his course of action. — To E. C
GENET, iv, 92. FORD ED., vi, 464. (Pa.,
I793-)
3087. FORTIFICATIONS, The Admin
istration of Washington and. — [Among]
the heads of the [President's] speech [con
sidered in cabinet] was a proposition to Con
gress to fortify the principal harbors. I op
posed the expediency of the General Govern
ment's undertaking it. and the expediency of
the President's proposing it. It was amended,
by substituting a proposition to adopt means'
for enforcing respect to the jurisdiction of
the United States within its waters. * * *
The President acknowledged he had doubted
the expediency of undertaking it. * * *
The clause recommending the fortifications
was left out of the speech. — ANAS, ix, 182.
FORD ED., i, 269. (Nov. 1793.)
3088. - — . The putting the several
harbors of the United States into a state of
defence, having never yet been the subject
of deliberation and decision with the Legis
lature, and consequently, the necessary
moneys not having been appropriated or
levied, the President does not find himself
* General Howe, in June 1776, sent a letter under a
flag of truce to General Washington addressed to
"George Washington, Esq." It was returned, un
opened. Howe sent a second letter, and it also was
sent back. A third one addressed to "George
Washington, Esq., &c., &c., &c.," was also refused.
The fourth one was addressed to General George
Washington and accepted. General Washington, in
writing to Congress on the subject said: "I would
not, on any occasion, sacrifice essentials to punctilio ;
but, in this instance, I deemed it my duty to my
country, and to my appointment, to insist upon that
respect, which, in any other than a public view, I
would willingly have waived." General Howe said
that he had adopted this style of address to save
himself from censure by his own government.—
EDITOR.
in a situation competent to comply with the
proposition on the subject of Norfolk. — To
THE GOVERNOR OF VIRGINIA, iii, 564. (Pa.,
May 1793.)
3089. FORTIFICATIONS, Adequate.—
Some of [the injuries of the belligerent
powers] are of a nature to be met by
force only, and all of them may lead to
it. I cannot, therefore, but recommend
such preparations as circumstances call for.
The first object is to place our seaport towns
out of the danger of insult. Measures have
been already taken for furnishing them with
heavy cannon for the service of such land bat
teries as may make a part of their defence
against armed vessels approaching them. In
aid of these it is desirable that we should
have a competent number of gun-boats ; and
the number, to be competent, must be con
siderable. — FIFTH ANNUAL MESSAGE, viii, 49.
FORD ED., viii, 391. (1805.)
3090. — . I think it would make an
honorable close of your term as well as mine,
to leave our country in a state of substantial
defence, which we found quite unprepared
for it. Indeed, it would for me be a joyful
annunciation to the next meeting of Congress,
that the operations of defence are all complete.
— To HENRY DEARBORN, v, 295. FORD ED.,
ix, 171. (M., May 1808.)
3091. FORTIFICATIONS, New York.
— I wish you would stay long enough at New
York to settle * * * the plan of defence
for that place ; and I am in hopes you will
also see Fulton's [torpedo] experiments tried,
and see how far his means may enter into
your plan. — To GENERAL DEARBORN, v, 117.
FORD ED., ix, 101. (W., July 1807.)
3092. Among the objects of our
care, New York stands foremost in the points
of importance and exposure; and if per
mitted we shall provide such defences for it
as, in our opinion, will render it secure
against attacks by sea. — To GOVERNOR TOMP-
KINS. v, 283. (W., 1808.)
3093. . The Legislature of New
York may be assured that every exertion will
be used to put the United States in the best
condition of defence, that we may be fully
prepared to meet the dangers which menace
the peace of our country. — To GOVERNOR
TOMPKINS. viii, 154. (1809.)
3094. FORTIFICATIONS, St. Law
rence. — Should our present differences [with
England] be amicably settled, it will be
a question for consideration whether we
should not establish a strong post on the
St. Lawrence, as near our northern bound
ary as a good position can be found. To do
this at present would only nroduce a greater
accumulation of hostile force in that quarter.
— To GOVERNOR TOMPKINS. v, 239. (W ,
Jan. 1808.)
3095. . It appears to me that it
would be well to have a post on the St. Law
rence, as near our line as a commanding po
sition could be found, that it might afford
Fortifications
Fourth of July
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
346
some cover for our most advanced inhab
itants. — To GOVERNOR TOMPKINS. v, 284.
(W., 1808.)
3096. FORTIFICATIONS, Sites for.—
I do not see that we can avoid agreeing to
estimates made by worthy men of our own
choice for the sites of fortifications, or that
we could leave an important place undefended
because too much is asked for the site. And,
therefore, we must pay what the sites at Bos
ton have been valued at. At the same time,
I do not know on what principles of reason
ing it is that good men think the public
ought to pay more for a thing than they
would themselves if they wanted it. — To
HENRY DEARBORN, v, 293. (M., 1808.)
3097. In proceeding to carry
into execution the act [providing for the pub
lic defence], it is found that the sites most
advantageous for the defence of our harbors
and rivers, and sometimes the only sites com
petent to that defence, are in some cases the
property of minors, incapable of giving a
valid assent to their alienation ; in others be
long to persons who on no terms will alienate ;
and in others the proprietors demand such ex
aggerated compensation as, however liberally
the public ought to compensate in such cases,
would exceed all bounds of justice or liberal
ity. From this cause the defence of our sea
board, so necessary to be pressed during the
present session will in various parts be de
feated, unless the national Legislature can ap
ply a constitutional remedy. The power of re
pelling invasions, and making laws necessary
for carrying that power into execution, seem
to include that of occupying those sites
which are necessary to repel an enemy; ob
serving only the amendment to the Constitu
tion which provides that private property
shall not be taken for public use without just
compensation. I submit, therefore, to the
consideration of Congress, where the neces
sary sites cannot be obtained by the joint and
valid consent of parties, whether provision
should be made by a process of ad quod dam-
num, or any other eligible means for author
izing the sites which are necessary for the
public defence to be appropriated to that pur
pose. I am aware that as the consent of the
Legislature of the State to the purchase of the
site moy not, in some instances have been
previously obtained, exclusive legislation can
not be exercised therein by Congress until
that consent is given. But, in the meantime, it
will be held under the same laws which pro
tect the property of individuals in that State,
and other property of the United States, and
the Legislatures at their next meetings will
have opportunities of doing what will be so
evidently called for by the interest of their
own State. — MESSAGE ON PUBLIC DEFENCE.
FORD ED., ix, 187. (March 1808.)
3098. FORTIFICATIONS, System of.
— Whether we have peace or war. I think the
present Legislature will authorize a complete
system of defensive works, on such a scale
as they think they ought to adopt. The state
of our finances now permits this. — To W. H.
CABELL. v, 208. FORD ED., ix, 97. (W.,
Nov. 1807.)
3099. The surplus may partly,
indeed, be applied towards completing the de
fence of the exposed points of our country,
on such a scale as shall be adapted to our
principles and circumstances. This object is
doubtless among the first entitled to attention,
in such a state of our finances, and it is one
which, whether we have peace or war, will
provide security where it is due. — SEVENTH
ANNUAL MESSAGE, viii, 88. FORD ED., ix,
165. (1807.)
3100. . I hope, that this summer
we shall get our whole seaports put into that
state of defence, which Congress has thought
proportioned to our circumstances and situ
ation ; that is to say, put hors d'insulte from a
maritime attack, by a moderate squadron. —
To CHARLES PINCKNEY. v, 266. (W., March
1808.) See DEFENCE.
3101. FORTITUDE, Virtue of.— Forti
tude teaches us to meet and surmount diffi
culties ; not to fly from them, like cowards;
and to fly, too, in vain, for they will meet and
arrest us at every turn of our road. Forti
tude is one of the four cardinal virtues of
Epicurus. — To WILLIAM SHORT, vii, 140. FORD
ED., x, 145. (M., 1819.)
3102. FORTUNE, Injured.— I should
have been much wealthier had I remained in
that private condition which renders it law
ful and even laudable to use proper efforts
to better it.— To . iii, 527. (Pa., 1793.)
3103. FORTUNE, Public Service and.
— When I first entered on the stage of public
life (now twenty-four years ago), I came to a
resolution never to engage while in public
office in any kind of enterprise for the im
provement of my fortune, [and] I have never
departed from it in a single instance. — To
iii, 527. (Pa., I793-)
3104. I have the consolation of
having added nothing to my private fortune,
during my public service, and of retiring with
hands as clean as they are empty. — To COMTE
DIODATI. v, 62. (W., 1807.) See DISIN
TERESTEDNESS.
3105. FORTUNES, Imperilled.— Pri
vate fortunes, in the present state of our cir
culation, are at the mercy of those self-
created money-lenders, and are prostrated by
the floods of nominal money with which their
avarice deluges us. — To J. W. EPPES. vi,
142. FORD ED., ix, 394. (M., 1813.)
3106. FORTUNES, Pledge of.— For the
support of this, Declaration,* we mutually
pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes,
and our sacred honor. — DECLARATION OF IN
DEPENDENCE AS DRAWN BY JEFFERSON.
3107. FOURTH OF JULY, Despotism
and. — The flames kindled on the Fourth of
* Congress inserted after Declaration, " with a
firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence."
—EDITOR.
347
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Fourth of July
France
July, 1776, have spread over too much of the
globe to be extinguished by the feeble en
gines of despotism ; on the contrary, they will
consume these engines and all who work
them. — To JOHN ADAMS, vii, 218. (M., Sep.
1821.)
3108. FOURTH OF JULY, Europe and.
— The Fourth of July * * * divorced us
from the follies and crimes of Europe. — To
MR. DIGGES. v, 14. (W., 1806.) See
BIRTHDAY and DECLARATION OF INDEPEND
ENCE.
3109. . The light which has been
shed on the mind of man through the civ
ilized world, has given it a new direction
from which no human power can divert it.
The sovereigns of Europe who are wise, or
have wise counsellors, see this, and bend to
the breeze which blows; the unwise alone
stiffen and meet its inevitable crush. — To
MARQUIS LAFAYETTE, vii, 193. FORD EDV x,
179. (1820.)
3110. FOX (Charles James), Character.
— In Mr. Fox, personally, I have more confi
dence than in any man in England, and it is
founded in what, through unquestionable chan
nels, I have had opportunities of knowing of
his honesty and his good sense. While he shall
be in the administration, my reliance on that
government will be solid. — To JAMES MONROE.
v, ii. FORD ED., viii, 449. (W., May 1806.)
3111. FOX (Charles James), States
manship. — His sound judgment saw that
political interest could never be separated in
the long run from moral right, and his frank
and great mind would have made a short busi
ness of a just treaty with you. — To JAMES MON
ROE. FORD ED., viii, 477. (W., Oct. 1806.)
3112. FRANCE, Affection for.— It is
very much our interest to keep up the affec
tion of this country [France] for us, which
is considerable. — To JAMES MONROE, i, 346.
FORD ED., iv, 50. (P., 1785.)
3113. . A sincere affection be
tween the two peoples is the broadest basis
on which their peace can be built. — To COMTE
DE VERGENNES. i, 456. (P., 1785.)
3114. . Nobody [is] more sensi
ble than you are of the motives, both moral
and political, which should induce us to bind
the two countries together by as many ties
as possible of interest and affection. — To DR.
RAMSAY, ii, 49. (P., 1786.)
3115. e I am happy in concur
ring with you * * * in the sentiment,
that as the principles of our governments
become more congenial, the links of af
fection are multiplied between us. It is
impossible that they should multiply beyond
our wishes. — To J. B. TERNANT. iii, 516.
FORD ED., vi, 189. (Pa., 1793.)
3116. - . Mutual good offices,
mutual affection, and similar principles of
government seem to destine the two nations
for the most intimate communion. — To Gou-
VERNEUR MORRIS, iii. 522. FORD ED., vi, 200.
(Pa., 1793.) See PEOPLE (FRENCH).
3117. FRANCE, Affronted by Adams.
— Mr. Adams's speech to Congress in May
[1798] is deemed such a national affront, that
no explanation on other topics can be entered
on till that, as a preliminary, is wiped away
by humiliating disavowals or acknowledg
ments. This working hard with our En
voys, and indeed seeming impracticable for
want of that sort of authority, submission to
a heavy amercement (upwards of a million
sterling) was, * * , suggested as an
alternative, which might be admitted if pro
posed by us. These overtures had been
through informal agents; and both the al
ternatives bringing the Envoys to their ne
plus, they resolve to have no more communi
cation through inofficial characters, but to
address a letter directly to the government,
to bring forward their pretensions. — To
JAMES MADISON, iv, 232. FORD ED., vii, 234.
(Pa., April 1798.) See X. Y. Z. PLOT.
3118. FRANCE, The Allied Powers
and. — The sufferings of France, I sincerely
deplore, and what is to be their term? The
will of the Allies. There is no more moder
ation, forbearance, or even honesty in theirs,
than in that of Bonaparte. They have proved
that their object, like his, is plunder. They,
like him, are shuffling nations together, or
into their own hands, as if all were right
which they feel a power to do. In the ex
hausted state in which Bonaparte has left
France, I see no period to her sufferings,
until this combination of robbers fall to
gether by the ears. The French may then
rise up and choose their side. And I trust
they will finally establish for themselves a
government of rational and well-tempered
liberty. So much science cannot be lost; so
much light shed over them can never fail
to produce to them some good, in the end.—
To ALBERT GALLATIN. vi, 500. (M., Oct. 1815.)
3119. FRANCE, American politics and.
— It is still a comfort to see by the address of
Dumouriez * * * that the constitution
of 1791 is the worst thing which is to be
forced on the French. But even the falling
back to that would give wonderful vigor to
our monocrats, and unquestionably affect the
tone of administering our government. In
deed. I fear that if this summer should prove
disastrous to the French, it will damp that
energy of republicanism in our new Congress,
from which I had hoped so much reforma
tion.— To T. M. RANDOLPH, iii, 571. (Pa.,
June 1793- )
3120. FRANCE, Attraction of.— France,
freed from that monster, Bonaparte, must
again become the most agreeable country on
earth. It would be the second choice of all
whose ties of family and fortune give a
preference to some other one, and the first
choice of all not under those ties. — To WILL
IAM SHORT, vi, 402. (M., 1814.)
_ FRANCE, Bill of Rights for.— See
BILL OF RIGHTS (FRENCH).
— FRANCE, Bonaparte and. — See BONA
PARTE.
France
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
343
3121. FRANCE, Cabinet o2 Washing
ton and. — The doubts I entertained that the
offers of the French republic would be de
clined, will pretty certainly be realized. One
person [Hamilton] represents them as a
snare into which he hopes we shall not fall.
His second [Knox] is of the same sentiment
of course. He [Randolph] whose vote for
the most part, or say always, is casting, has
by two or three private conversations or
rather disputes with me, shown his opinion
to be against doing what would be a mark
of predilection to one of the parties, though
not a breach of neutrality in form. And an
opinion of still more importance is still in
the same way. I do not know what line will
be adopted, but probably a procrastination,
which will be immediately seen through. — To
JAMES MADISON. FORD ED., vi, 268. (Pa.,
May 1793.) See NEUTRALITY.
— FRANCE, Cherbourg. — See CHER
BOURG.
3122. FRANCE, Commerce with. — The
mutual extension of their commerce was
among the fairest advantages to be derived
to France and the United States, from the
independence of the latter. An exportation
of eighty millions, chiefly in raw materials, is
supposed to constitute the present limits of
the commerce of the United States with the
nations of Europe ; limits, however, which ex
tend as their population increases. To draw
the best proportion of this into the ports of
France, rather than of any other nation, is
believed to be the wish and interest of both.
— To COUNT DE MONTMORIN. ii, 186. (P.,
1787-)
3123. - . The French [in their re
cent treaty with England] have clearly re
served a right of favoring, specially, any
nation not European ; and there is no nation
out of Europe, who could so probably have
been in their eye at that time, as ours.
They are wise. They must see it probable, at
least, that any concert with England, will be
but of short duration; and they could hardly
propose to sacrifice for that, a connection
with us, which may be perpetual. — To JOHN
JAY. ii, 112. (P., 1787.)
3124. — . The system of the United
States is to use neither prohibitions nor
premiums. Where a government finds itself
under the necessity of undertaking that regu
lation, it would seem that it should conduct
it as an intelligent merchant would ; that is
to say, invite customers to purchase by
facilitating their means of payment, and by
adapting goods to their taste. If this idea
be just, government here [France] has two
operations to attend to with respect to the
commerce of the United States: I. to do
away, or to moderate, as much as possible,
the prohibitions and monopolies of their ma
terials for payment; 2. to encourage the in
stitution of the principal manufactures,
which the necessities or the habits of their
new customers call for.— To COUNT DE MONT
MORIN. ii, 529. (P., 1788.)
3125. . I am happy to learn that
the [people of Alexandria, Va.] have felt a
benefit from the encouragements to our com
merce, which have been given by an allied
nation. But truth and candor oblige me, at
the same time, to declare you are indebted
for these encouragements solely to the
friendly dispositions of that nation, which
has shown itself ready on every occasion to
adopt all arrangements which might strength
en our ties of mutual interest and friendship.
— REPLY TO ADDRESS, iii, 127. FORD ED., v,
146. (1790.)
3126. . With respect to the ref
ormation of the unfriendly restrictions on
our commerce and navigation, we cannot be
too pressing for its attainment, as every
day's continuance gives it additional firmness,
and endangers its taking root in their habits
and constitution. Indeed, I think the French
government should be told, that as soon as
they are in a condition to act, if they do not
revoke the late innovations, we must lay ad
ditional and equivalent burthens on French
Ships, by name. — To GOUVERNEUR MORRIS.
iii, 489. FORD ED., vi, 131. (Nov. 1792.)
3127. . I cannot too much press
it on you, to improve every opportunity * * *
for placing our commerce with France and
its dependencies, on the freest and most en
couraging footing possible. — To GOUVERNEUR
MORRIS, iii, 522. FORD ED., vi, 200. (Pa.,
I793-)
3128. . I was a sincere well-
wisher to the success of the French Revolu
tion, * * * but I have not been insensible
under the atrocious depredations they have
committed on our commerce. — To ELBRIDGE
GERRY, iv, 269. FORD ED., vii, 329. (Pa.,
I799-)
3129. . [In the negotiation of
commercial treaties with France] I must say,
in justice, that I found the government
entirely disposed to befriend us on all oc
casions, and to yield us every indulgence not
absolutely injurious to themselves. — AUTO
BIOGRAPHY, i, 64. FORD ED., i, 90. (1821.)
See TREATIES.
3130. FRANCE, The Consulate.— They
have established Bonaparte, Sieyes, and Du-
cos into an executive, or rather Dictatorial
Consulate, [and] given them a committee of
between twenty and thirty from each council.
Thus the Constitution of the Third year,
which was getting consistency and firmness
from time, is demolished in an instant, and
nothing is said about a new one. How the
nation will bear it is yet unknown. — To JOHN
BRECKENRIDGE. FORD ED., vii, 417. (Pa.,
Jan. 1800.)
_ FRANCE, Consuls of.— See CONSULS.
3131. FRANCE, Debt to.— Besides en
deavoring on all occasions to multiply the
points of contact and connection with
France, * * * I have had it much at
heart to remove from between us every sub
ject of misunderstanding or irritation. Our
349
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
France
debts to the King, to the Officers, to the
Farmers, are of this description. The hav
ing complied with no part of our engage
ments in these, draws on us a great deal of
censure, and occasioned a language in the
Assemblee des Notables very likely to pro
duce dissatisfaction between us. — To JOHN
ADAMS, ii, 163. FORD ED., iv, 398. (P.,
1787.)
3132. . I told [President Wash
ington] I had meant on that day to take his
orders for removing the suspension of pay
ments to France, which had been imposed by
my last letter to Gouverneur Morris, but was
meant, as I supposed, only for the interval
between the abolition of the late constitution
by the dethronement of the King, and the
meeting of some other body, invested by the
will of the nation with powers to transact
their affairs; that I considered the National
Convention, then assembled, as such a body ;
and that, therefore, we ought to go on with
the payments to them, or to any government
they should establish.* — THE ANAS, ix, 128.
FORD ED., i, 213. (Dec. 27, 1792.) See DEBTS
(FRENCH).
3133. FRANCE, Den of Bobbers.— As
for France and England, with all their pre
eminence in science, the one is a den of rob
bers, and the other of pirates. — To JOHN
ADAMS, vi, 37. FORD ED., ix, 333. (M.,
1812.)
- FRANCE, Directory.— See EXECU
TIVES.
3134. FRANCE, Errors of.— The French
have been guilty of great errors in their con
duct towards other nations, not only in in
sulting uselessly all crowned heads, but in en
deavoring to force liberty on their neigh
bors in their own form. — To T. M. RAN
DOLPH. FORD ED., vi, 318. (Pa., June 1793.)
3135. FRANCE, Federalist Hostility
to. — Nothing less than the miraculous string
of events which have taken place, to wit, the
victories of the Rhine and Italy, peace with
Austria, bankruptcy of England, mutiny in
her fleet, and King's writing letters recom
mending peace, could have cooled the fury
of the British faction. Even that will not
* There had been a consultation at the President's
(about the first week in November) on the expe
diency of suspending payments to France under her
present situation. I had admitted that the late con
stitution was dissolved by the dethronement of the
King ; and the management of affairs surviving to
the National Assembly only, this was not an integral
legislature, and, therefore, not competent to give a
legitimate discharge for our payments: that I
thought, consequently, that none should be made
till some legitimate body came into place, and that I
should consider the National Convention called, but
not met as we had yet heard, to be a legitimate
body. Hamilton doubted whether it would be a
legitimate body, and whether, if the King should be
reestablished, he might not disallow such payments
on good grounds. Knox, for once, dared to differ
from Hamilton, and to express, very submissively,
an opinion that a convention named by the whole
body of the nation, would be competent to do any
thing. It ended by agreeing that I should write to
Gouverneur Morns, to suspend payment generally,
till further orders.— NOTE BY JEFFERSON, ix, 125.
FORD ED., i, 208. (1792.)
prevent considerable efforts still in both
Houses to show our teeth to France. — To
JAMES MADISON. FORD ED., vii, 143. (Pa.,
June 1797.)
3136. . The inflammatory com
position of the [President's] speech* excited
[in Congress] sensations of resentment which
had slept under British injuries, threw the
wavering into the war scale, and produced
the war address. Bonaparte's victories and
those on the Rhine, the Austrian peace, Brit
ish bankruptcy, mutiny of the [British] sea
men, and Mr. King's exhortations to pacific
measures [towards France], have cooled
them down again, and the scale of peace
preponderates. — To AARON BURR, iv, 185.
FORD ED., vii, 146. (Pa., June 1797.)
3137. . The threatening proposi
tions founded in the address [of Congress
to the President], are abandoned one by one,
and the cry begins now to be that we have
been called together to do nothing. The
truth is, there is nothing to do, the idea of
war being scouted by the events of Europe ;
but this only proves that war was the ob
ject for which we were called. It proves that
the Executive temper was for war; and that
the convocation of the Representatives was
an experiment of the temper of the nation,
to see if it was in unison. Efforts at nego
tiation indeed were promised ; but such a
promise was as difficult to withhold, as easy
to render nugatory. If negotiation alone had
been meant, that might have been pursued
without so much delay, and without calling
the Representatives; and if strong and ear
nest negotiation had been meant, the ad
ditional nomination would have been of per
sons strongly and earnestly attached to the
alliance of 1778. War then was intended. —
To AARON BURR, iv, 185. FORD ED., vii, 146.
(Pa., June 1797.)
3138. - — . President [Adams] has
appointed, and the Senate approved Rufus
King, to enter into a treaty of commerce with
the Russians, at London, and William Smith
(Phocian) Envoy Extraordinary and Minis
ter Plenipotentiary, to go to Constantinople
to make one with the Turks. So that as
soon as there is a coalition of Turks, Rus
sians and English, against France, we seize
that moment to countenance it as openly as
we dare by treaties, which we never had with
them before. All this helps to fill up the
measure of provocation towards France, and
to get from them a declaration of war, which
we are afraid to be the first in making. — To
EDMUND PENDLETON. iv, 289. FORD ED., vii,
358. (Pa., Feb. 1799.)
_ FRANCE, Free Ports.— See FREE
PORTS.
3139. FRANCE, Friendship. — I cannot
pretend to affirm that this country will stand
by us on every just occasion, but I am sure,
if this will not, there is no other that will. —
To DR. RAMSAY, ii, 49. (P., 1786.)
* President Adams's message to Congress at the
special session in May 1797.— EDITOR.
France
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
350
3140. . Nothing should be spared
on our part to attach this country to us.
It is the only one on which we can rely for
support under every event. Its inhabitants
love us more, I think, than they do any other
nation on earth. This is very much the
effect of the good dispositions with which
the French officers returned. — To JAMES
MADISON. ii, 109. FORD ED., iv, 367.
(P., 1787.)
3141. . I consider France as our
surest mainstay under every event. — To
JOHN ADAMS. ii, 163. FORD ED., iv, 398.
(P., 1787.)
3142. . Among the circumstan
ces which will reconcile me to my new
position [Secretary of State] the most power
ful are the opportunities it will give me of
cementing the friendship between our two
nations.— To LA DUCHESSE D'AUVILLE. iii,
135. FORD ED., iii, 153. (N.Y., 1790.)
3143. . May this union of inter
ests forever be the patriot's creed in both
countries. — To COUNT DE MONTMORIN. iii,
137. (M., 1790.)
3144. — — . There is a fund of friend
ship and attachment between the mass of the
two nations * * * . The present ad
ministration of this country have these feel
ings of their constituents, and will be true
to them. We shall act steadily on the desire
of cementing our interests and affections ;
and of this you cannot go too far in assur
ing them. — To ROBERT R. LIVINGSTON. FORD
ED., viii, 138. (W., March 1802.)
— FRANCE, Genet.— See GENET.
3145. FRANCE, Government.— France
is the wealthiest but worst governed country
on earth.— To JOSEPH JONES, i, 353. (P.,
1785.) See GOVERNMENT (FRENCH) and GOV
ERNMENT (RECOGNITION).
3146. FRANCE, Gratitude to.— Every
American owes her gratitude, as our sole
ally during the war of Independence. — To M.
DE NEUVILLE. vii, 110. (M., 1818.)
3147. FRANCE, Honesty of. — A wise
man, if nature has not formed him honest, will
yet act as if he were honest; because he will
find it the most advantageous and wise part
in the long run. I have believed that this
Court possesses this high species of wisdom
even if its new faith be ostensible only. If
they trip on any occasion it will be warning
to us. I do not expect they will, but it is
our business to be on the watch. — To JAMES
MONROE. FORD ED., iv, 40. (P., 1785.)
3148. . There are great numbers
of well enlightened men in this nation. The
ministry is such. The King has an, honest
heart. The line of policy hitherto pursued
by them has been such as virtue would dic
tate and wisdom approve. Relying on their
wisdom only, I think they would not accept
the bribe suppose it would be to relinquish
that honorable character of disinterestedness
and new faith which they have acquired by
many sacrifices and which has put in their
hands the government, as it were, of Europe.
— To JAMES MONROE. FORD ED., iv, 39. (P.,
1785.)
3149. FRANCE, Influence of.— This
summer is of immense importance to the
future condition of mankind all over the
earth, and not a little so to ours. For though
its issue should not be marked by any direct
change in our Constitution, it will influence
the tone and principles of its administration
so as to lead it to something very different
in the one event from what it would be in
the other. — To H. INNES. FORD ED., vi, 266.
(Pa., May 1793.)
3150. FRANCE, Injuries by.— Nobody
denies but that France has given just cause
of war, but so has Great Britain, and she
is now capturing our vessels as much as
France, but the question was one merely of
prudence, whether seeing that both powers in
order to injure one another, bear down
everything in their way, without regard to
the rights of others, spoliating equally
Danes, Swedes and Americans, it would not
be more prudent in us to bear with it as the
Danes and Swedes do, curtailing our com
merce, and waiting for the moment of peace,
when it is probable both nations would for
their own interest and honor retribute for
their wrongs. — To ARCHIBALD STUART. FORD
ED., vii, 270. (Pa., June 1798.)
- FRANCE, Jacobins.— See JACOBINS.
— FRANCE, Louisiana Purchase. — See
LOUISIANA.
3151. FRANCE, Manufactures of.— It is
the interest of France as well a^ our interest
to multiply the means of payment [for her
manufactures]. These must be found in the
catalogue of our exports, and among these
will be seen neither gold nor silver. We have
no mines of either of these metals. Produce,
therefore, is all we can offer. Some articles
of our produce will be found very convenient
to France for her own consumption. Others
will be convenient, as being more com-
merciable in her hands than those she will
give in exchange for them. — To MARQUIS
LAFAYETTE, i, $96. FORD ED., iv, 256. (P.,
1786.)
3152. . A century's experience
has shown that we double our numbers every
twenty or twenty-five years. No circum
stance can be foreseen, at this moment, which
will lessen our rate of multiplication for cen
turies to come. For every article of the
productions and manufactures of France,
then, which can be introduced into the habit
there, the demand will double every twenty
or twenty-five years. And to introduce the
habit, we have only to let the merchants alone.
—To COUNT DE MONTMORIN. ii, 190. (1787.)
See MANUFACTURES.
_ FRANCE, Monarchy.— See Louis
XVI. and MARIE ANTOINETTE.
— FRANCE, Monopoly of Tobacco.— See
MONOPOLY.
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
France
3153. FRANCE, Murray's Mission.—
The President [John Adams] nominated to
the Senate yesterday William Vans Murray,
Minister Plenipotentiary to the French Re
public, and added, that he shall be instructed
not to go to France, without direct and un
equivocal assurances from the French gov
ernment that he shall be received in charac
ter, enjoy the due privileges, and a minister
of equal rank, title and power, be appointed
to discuss and conclude our controversy by
a new treaty. This had evidently been kept
secret from the federalists of both Houses,
as appeared by their dismay. The Senate
have passed over this day without taking it
up. It is said they are gravelled and divided ;
some are for opposing, others do not know
what to do. But, in the meantime, they have
been permitted to go on with all the measures
of war and patronage, and when the close of
the session is at hand, it is made known.
However, it silences all arguments against
the sincerity of France, and renders desper
ate every further effort towards war. — To
JAMES MADISON, iv, 292. FORD ED., vii, 362.
(Pa., Feb. 19, 1799.)
3154. - — . We were for a moment
flattered with the hope of a friendly accommo
dation of our differences with France, by the
President's nomination of Mr. Murray, our
Minister at the Hague, to proceed to Paris
for that purpose. But our hopes have been
entirely dashed by his revoking that, and
naming Air. Ellsworth, Mr. Patrick Henry
and Murray. * * * The effect of the new
nomination is completely to parry the ad
vances made by France towards a reconcil
iation. — To BISHOP JAMES MADISON, iv, 299.
FORD ED., vii, 372. (Pa., Feb. 1799.)
3155. _ — . The face the federalists
will put on this business is that they have
frightened France into a respectful treatment.
Whereas, in truth, France has been sensible
that her measures to prevent the scandalous
spectacle of war between the two republics,
from the known impossibility of our injuring
her, would not be imputed to her as a
humiliation. — To EDMUND PENDLETON. iv,
294. FORD ED., vii, 365. (Pa., Feb. 1799.)
— FRANCE, Navigation and.— See
NAVIGATION.
3156. FRANCE, Neutral rights and.—
The French have behaved atrociously to
wards neutral nations, and us particularly;
and though we might be disposed not to
charge them with all the enormities com
mitted in their name in the West Indies, yet
they are to be blamed for not doing more
to prevent them. A just and rational cen
sure ought to be expressed on them, while
we disapprove the constant billingsgate
poured on them officially. — To EDMUND
PENDLETON. iv, 289. FORD ED., vii, 358. (Pa.,
Feb. 1799.) See NEUTRALITY.
3157. - — . You ha,ve seen that the
French Directory had published an arret de
claring they would treat as pirates any neu
trals they should take in the ships of their
enemies. The President [Adams] com
municated this to Congress as soon as he re
ceived it. A bill was brought into the Senate
reciting that arret, and authorizing retal
iation. The President received information
almost the same instant that the Directory
had suspended the arret (which fact was
privately declared by the Secretary of State
to two of the Senate), and, though it was
known we were passing an act founded on
that arret, yet the President has never com
municated the suspension. — To ARCHIBALD
STUART, iv, 286. FORD ED., vii, 353. (Pa.,
Feb. 1799.)
3158. FRANCE, Peace with.— It was
with infinite joy to me, that you [Elbridge
Gerry] were yesterday announced to the Sen
ate, as Envoy Extraordinary, jointly with
General [Charles Cotesworth] Pinckney and
Mr. [John] Marshall, to the French Republic.
It gave me certain assurance that there would
be a preponderance in the mission, sincerely
disposed to be at peace with the French gov
ernment and nation. Peace is undoubtedly at
present the first object of our nation. Interest
and honor are also national considerations.
But interest, duly weighed, is in favor of peace
even at the expense of spoliations past and
future; and honor cannot now be an object.
The insults and injuries committed on us by
both the belligerent parties, from the begin
ning of 1793 to this day. and still continuing,
cannot now be wiped off by engaging in war
with one of them. As there is great reason to
expect this is the last campaign in Europe, it
would certainly be better for us to rub through
this year, as we have done through the four
preceding ones, and hope that on the restora
tion of peace, we may be able to establish
some plan for our foreign connections more
likely to secure our peace, interest and honor
in future. Our countrymen have divided
themselves by such strong affections, to the
French and the English, that nothing will
secure us internally but a divorce from both
nations; and this must be the object of every
real American, and its attainment is practi
cable without much self-denial. But for this,
peace is necessary. Be assured of this, that
if we engage in a war during our present pas
sions, and our present weakness in some quar
ters, our Union runs the greatest risk of
not coming out of that war in the shape in
which it enters it. My reliance for our pres
ervation is in your acceptance of this mis
sion. I know the tender circumstances which
will oppose themselves to it. But its dura
tion will be short, and its reward long. You
have it in your power, by accepting and de
termining the character of the mission, to se
cure the present peace and eternal union of
your country. If you decline, on motives of
private pain, a substitute may be named who
has enlisted his passions in the present con
test, and by the preponderance of his vote in
the mission may entail on us calamities, your
share in which, and your feelings, will far
outweigh whatever pain a temporary absence
from your family could give you. The sacri
fice will be short, the remorse would be never-
France
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
352
ending. Let me, then, conjure your accept
ance, and that you will, by this act, seal the
mission with the confidence of all parties.
Your nomination has given a spring to hope,
which was dead before.— To ELBRIDGE GERRY.
iv, 187. FORD ED., vii, 149- (Pa., June 21, I797-)
3159. . I know that both France
and England have given, and are daily giving,
sufficient cause of war ; that in defiance of the
laws of nations, they are every day trampling
on the rights of the neutral powers, whenever
they can thereby do the least injury, either to
the other. But, as I view a peace between
France and England the ensuing winter to be
certain, I have thought it would have been
better for us to continue to bear from France
through the present summer, what we have
been bearing both from her and England
these four years, and still continue to bear
from England, and to have required indemni
fication in the hour of peace, when I verily
believe it would have been yielded by both.
This seems to have been the plan of the other
neutral nations ; and whether this, or the com
mencing war on one of them, as we have
done, would have been wiser, time and events
must decide.— To SAMUEL SMITH, iv, 254.
FORD ED., vii, 277. (M., Aug. 1798.)
3160. . All which the advocates
of peace can now .attempt, is to prevent war
measures externally, consenting to every ra
tional measure of internal defence and prepa
ration. Great expenses will be incurred ; and
it will be left to those whose measures render
them necessary, to provide to meet them.—
To JAMES MADISON, iv, 234. FORD ED., vii,
237. (Pa., April 1798.)
3161. . I have not been insensi
ble under the atrocious depredations they [the
French] have committed on our commerce.
* * * But though deeply feeling the in
juries of France, I did not think war the
surest means of redressing them. _ I did be
lieve, that a mission sincerely disposed to
preserve peace, would obtain for us a peace
able and honorable settlement and restitution ;
and I appeal to you to say, whether this might
not have been obtained, if either of your col
leagues had been of the same sentiment with
yourself.— To ELBRIDGE GERRY, iv, 269. FORD
ED., vii, 329- (P-, I799-)
3162. . The people now see that
France has sincerely wished peace, and their
seducers [federalists] have wished war, as
well for the loaves and fishes which arise out
of war expenses, as for the chance of chang
ing the Constitution, while the people should
have time to contemplate nothing but the
levies of men and money. — To T. LOMAX. iv
300. FORD ED., vii, 374. (M., I799-)
_ FRANCE, People of .—See PEOPLE.
3163. FRANCE, Policy towards.— We
stand completely corrected of the error, that
either the government or the nation of France
has any remains of friendship for us. The
portion of that country which forms an ex
ception, though respectable in weight, is weak
n numbers. On the contrary, it appears evi
dent, that an unfriendly spirit prevails in the
most important individuals of the govern
ment, towards us. In this state of things,
we shall so take our distance between the two
rival nations, as, remaining disengaged till
necessity compels us, we may haul finally to
the enemy of that which shall make it neces
sary. We see all the disadvantageous con
sequences of taking a side, and shall be
forced into it only by a more disagreeable
alternative; in which event, we must counter
vail the disadvantages by measures which will
give us splendor and power, but not as much
happiness as our present system. We wish,
therefore, to remain well with France. But
we see that no consequences, however ruinous
to them, can secure us with certainty against
the extravagance of her present rulers. I
think, therefore, that while we do nothing
which the first nation on earth would deem
crouching, we had better give to all our com
munications with them a very mild, complais
ant, and even friendly complexion, but always
independent. Ask no favors, leave small and
irritating things to be conducted by the indi
viduals interested in them, interfere ourselves
but in the greatest cases, and then not push
them to irritation. No matter at present ex
isting between them and us is important
enough to risk a breach of peace ; peace being
indeed the most important of all things for us,
except the preserving an erect and independ
ent attitude.— To ROBERT R. LIVINGSTON, iv,
448. FORD ED., viii, 173. (W., Oct. 1802.)
— FRANCE, Privateers of.— See PRIVA
TEERS.
3164. FRANCE, Punishment of.— She
deserves much punishment, and her successes
and reverses will be a wholesome lesson to
the world hereafter; but she has now had
enough, and we may lawfully pray for her
resurrection, and I am confident the day is
not distant. No one who knows that people,
and the elasticity of their character, can be
lieve they will long remain crouched on the
earth as at present. They will rise by accla
mation, and woe to their riders. What havoc
are we not yet to see ! — To MRS. TRIST. D.
L. J. 363- (P.P., April 1816.)
3165. FRANCE, Reconciliation over
tures. — The event of events was announced
in the Senate yesterday. It is this : It seems
that soon after Gerry's departure, overtures
must have been made by Pichon, French
Charge d' Affaires at the Hague, to Murray.
They were so soon matured, that on the 28th
of September, 1798, Talleyrand writes to
Pichon, approving what had been done, and
particularly of his having assured Murray
that whatever Plenipotentiary the govern
ment of the United States should send to
France to end our differences would undoubt
edly be received with the respect due to the
representative of a free, independent and
powerful nation; declaring that the Presi
dent's instructions to his envoys at Paris, if
they contain the whole of the American gov-
353
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
France
ernment's intentions, announce dispositions
which have been always entertained by the
Directory ; and desiring him to communicate
these expressions to Murray, in order to con
vince him of the sincerity of the French gov
ernment, and to prevail on him to transmit
them to his government. This is dated Sep
tember the 28th, and may have been received
by Pichon October ist: and nearly five
months elapse before it is communicated. — To
JAMES MADISON, iv, 292. FORD ED., vii, 362.
(Pa., Feb. 19 I799-)
3166. . Mr. Gerry's communica
tions, with other information, prove * *
that France is sincere in her wishes for recon
ciliation; and a recent proposition from that
country, through Mr. Murray, puts the matter
out of doubt.— To GENERAL KOSCIUSKO. iv,
294. (Pa., Feb. 1799.)
3167. FRANCE, Reformation of.—
France is advancing to a change of constitu
tion. The young desire it, the middle-aged
are not averse, the old alone oppose it. They
will die. The provincial assemblies will chalk
out the plan; and the nation, ripening fast,
will execute it.— To M. DE CREVECCEUR. ii,
234- (P-, 1787.)
3168. FRANCE, Reliance on.— President
Washington observed [that] there was no na
tion on whom we could rely, at all times, but
France; and that, if we did not prepare in
time some support, in the event of rupture
with Spain and England, we might be charged
with a criminal negligence. I was much
pleased with the tone of these observations.
It was the very doctrine which had been my
polar star, and I did not need the successes of
the republican arms in France, lately an
nounced to us. to bring me to these sentiments
* * * I, therefore, expressed to the Presi
dent my cordial approbation of these ideas. —
ANAS, ix, 128. FORD ED., i, 212. (Decem
ber 1792.)
3169. FRANCE, Republican Govern
ment. — I look with great anxiety for the firm
establishment of the new government in
France, being perfectly convinced that if it
takes place there, it will spread sooner or
later all over Europe. On the contrary, a
check there would retard the revival of lib
erty in other countries. — To GEORGE MASON.
iii, 209. FORD ED., v, 274. (Pa., 1791-)
3170. . With respect to the French
government, we are under no call to express
opinions which might please or offend any
party, and, therefore, it will be best to avoid
them on all occasions, public or private.
Could any circumstances require unavoidably
such expressions, they would naturally be in
conformity with the great mass of our coun
trymen, who, having first in modern times,
taken the ground of government founded on
the will of the people, cannot but be delighted
on seeing so distinguished and so esteemed
a nation arrive on the same ground, and plant
their standard by our side. — To GOUVERNEUR
MORRIS, iii. 325. FORD ED., v, 428. (Pa.,
Jan. 1792.)
3171. — . It accords with our prin
ciples to acknowledge any government to be
rightful, which is formed by the will of the
nation substantially declared. The late gov
ernment was of this kind, and was accord
ingly acknowledged in like manner. With
such a government every kind of business
may be done. — To GOUVERNEUR MORRIS, iii,
489. FORD ED., vi, 131. (Pa., Nov. 1792.)
3172. . You express a wish in
your letter to be generally advised as to the
tenor of your conduct, in consequence of the
late revolution in France, the questions rela
tive to which, you observe, incidentally pre
sent themselves to you. It is impossible to
foresee the particular circumstances which
may require you to decide and act on that
question. But. principles being understood,
their application will be less embarrassing.
We certainly cannot deny to other nations
that principle whereon our government is
founded, that every nation has a right to
govern itself internally under what form it
pleases, and to change these forms at its own
will; and, externally, to transact business
with other nations through whatever organ it
chooses, whether that be a King, Convention,
Assembly, Committee, President, or whatever
it be. The only thing essential is the will of
the nation. Taking this as your polar star,
you can hardly err. — To THOMAS PINCKNEY.
iii, 500. (Pa., Dec. 1792.)
3173. FRANCE, Republic recognized.—
I have laid before the President of the United
States your notification of the i/th instant.
in the name of the Provisory Executive
Council, charged with the administration of
your Government, that the French nation
has constituted itself into a Republic. The
President receives, with great satisfaction,
this attention of the Executive Council and
the desire they have manifested of making
known to us the resolution entered into by
the National Convention, even before a defin
itive regulation of their new establishment
could take place. Be assured, Sir, that the
Government and the citizens of the United
States view with the most sincere pleasure
every advance of your nation towards its
happiness, an object essentially connected
with its liberty, and they consider the union
of principles and pursuits between our two
countries as a link which binds still closer
their interests and affections. The genuine
and general effusions of joy which you saw
overspread our country on their seeing the
liberties of yours rise superior to foreign in
vasion and domestic trouble, have proved to
you that our sympathies are great and sincere,
and we earnestly wish on our part that these,
our mutual dispositions, may be improved to
mutual good, by establishing our commercial
intercourse on principles as friendly to nat
ural right and freedom as are those of our
Government.— To J. B. TERNANT. iii, 518.
FORD ED., vi, 189. (Pa., Feb. 23, I793-)
3174. FRANCE, Restoration of.— It is
impossible that France should rest under her
present oppressions and humiliations. She
France
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
354
will rise in that gigantic strength which can
not be annihilated, and will fatten her fields
with the blood of her enemies. I only wish
she may exercise patience and forbearance
until divisions among [the Allies] may give
her a choice of sides. — To M. DUPONT DE
NEMOURS, vi, 508. (M., 1815.)
3175. . France is too highminded,
has too much innate force, intelligence and
elasticity, to remain under its present com
pression. Samson will arise in his strength,
as of old, and as of old, will burst asunder
the withes and the cords, and the webs of the
Philistines. But what are to be the scenes
of havoc and horror, and how widely they
may spread between brethren of the same
house, our ignorance of the interior feuds
and antipathies of the country places beyond
our ken. It will end, nevertheless, in a rep
resentative government, in a government in
which the will of the people will be an effec
tive ingredient. — To BENJAMIN AUSTIN, vi,
520. FORD EDV x, 8. (M., 1816.)
3176. — . In the desolation of Eu
rope, to gratify the atrocious caprices of
Bonaparte, France sinned much ; but she has
suffered more than retaliation. Once re
lieved from the incubus of her j late oppres
sion, she will rise like a giant from her slum
bers. Her soil and climate, her arts and
eminent sciences, her central position and free
constitution, will soon make her greater than
she ever was. — To M. DE NEUVILLE. vii, 109.
(M., 1818.)
— FRANCE., Revolution. — See REVOLU
TION (FRENCH).
3177. FRANCE, Self -Government in. —
What government France can bear, depends
not on the state of science, however exalted,
in a select band of enlightened men, but on
the condition of the general mind. * * *
The last change of government was fortunate,
inasmuch as the new will be less obstructive
to the effects of that advancement. — To MAR
QUIS LAFAYETTE, vii, 66. FORD ED., x, 82.
(M., 1817.)
3178. . Whether the state of so
ciety in Europe can bear a republican govern
ment, I doubted, you know, when with you,
and I do now. A hereditary chief, strictly
limited, the right of war vested in the legis
lative body, a rigid economy of the public
contributions, and absolute interdiction of all
useless expenses, will go far towards keeping
the government honest and unoppressive. — To
MARQUIS LAFAYETTE, vii, 325. FORD EDV x,
280. (M., 1823.)
3179. FRANCE, Strength.— As long as
the French can be tolerably unanimous in
ternally, they can resist the whole world.
The laws of nature render a large country
unconquerable if they adhere firmly together,
and to their purpose. — To H. INNES. FORD
ED., vi, 266. (Pa., 1793.)
3180. FRANCE, Sufferings of.— I grieve
for France ; although it cannot be denied that
by the afflictions with which she wantonly
and wickedly overwhelmed other nations, she
has merited severe reprisals. For it is no ex
cuse to lay the enormities to the wretch who
led to them. — To ALBERT GALLATIN. vi, 499.
(M., Oct. 1815.)
3181. FRANCE, Supplies to St. Do
mingo. — [Alexander] Hamilton called on me
to speak about our furnishing supplies to the
French colony of St. Domingo. He ex
pressed his opinion, that we ought to be
cautious, and not to go too far in our applica
tion of money to their use, lest it should not
be recognized by the mother country. He did
not even think that some kinds of govern
ment they might establish could give a suf
ficient sanction. I observed that the National
Convention was now met, and would cer
tainly establish a form of government; that
as we had recognized the former government
because established by the authority of the
nation, so we must recognize any other which
should be established by the authority of the
nation. He said had recognized the
former, because it contained an important
member of the ancient, to wit ; the King, and
wore the appearance of his consent; but if,
in any future form, they should omit the
King, he did not know that we could with
safety recognize it, or pay money to its order.
— THE ANAS. ix, 125. FORD ED., i, 208.
(Nov. 1792.)
3182. FRANCE, Sympathy with.— The
yeomanry of the city (not the fashionable
people nor paper men), showed prodigious joy
when, flocking to the wharves, they saw the
British colors reversed, and the French flying
above them. — To T. M. RANDOLPH. FORD EDV
vi, 241. (Pa., 1793.)
3183. . The [French forces]
have lately sustained some severe checks.
* * * Their defeats are as sensibly felt
at Philadelphia as at Paris, and I foresee we
are to have a trying campaign of it. — To
JAMES MONROE, iii, 549. FORD ED., vi, 240.
(Pa., May 1793.)
— FRANCE, Talleyrand's Propositions.
—See X. Y. Z. PLOT.
— FRANCE, Treaties with.— See TREA
TIES.
3184. FRANCE, Union with.— We wish
to omit no opportunity of convincing [the
French nation] how cordially we desire the
closest union with them. Mutual good of
fices, mutual affection^ and similar principles
of government seem to have destined the two
peoples for the most intimate communion,
and even for a complete exchange of citizen
ship among the individuals composing them.
—TO GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. FORD EDV vi, IS I.
(Pa., Dec. 1792.)
3185. FRANCE, United States, Eng
land and. — Our interest calls for a perfect
equality in our conduct towards these two
nations [France and England] ; but no pref
erence anywhere. If, however, circumstances
should ever oblige us to show a preference,
a respect for our character, if we had no
355
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
France
Franklin (Benjamin)
better motive, would decide to which it should
be given. — To JOHN ADAMS, i, 436. (P.,
1785.)
3186. . When of two nations,
the one has engaged herself in a ruinous war
for us, has spent her blood and money to save
us, has opened her bosom to us in peace, and
received us almost on the footing of her own
citizens, while the other has moved heaven,
earth, and hell to exterminate us in war, has
insulted us in all her councils in peace, shut
her doors to us in every port where her in
terests would admit it, libelled us in foreign
nations, endeavored to poison them against
the reception of our most precious com
modities ; to place these two nations on a
footing, is to give a great deal more to one
than to the other, if the maxim be true, that
to make unequal quantities equal, you must
add more to one than the other. To say. in
excuse, that gratitude is never to enter into
the motives of national conduct, is to revive
a principle which has been buried for cen
turies with its kindred principles of the law
fulness of assassination, poison, perjury, &c.
All of these were legitimate principles in the
dark ages, which intervened between ancient
and modern civilization, but exploded and
held in just horror in the eighteenth century.
I know but one code of morality for men.
whether acting singly or collectively. He
who says I will be a rogue when I act in com
pany with a hundred others, but an honest
man when I act alone, will be believed in
the former assertion, but not in the latter.
I would say with the poet " hie niger est, hunc
til Romane caveto." If the morality of one
man produces a just line of conduct in him,
acting individually, why should not the mor
ality of one hundred men produce a just line
of conduct in them, acting together? But I
indulge myself in these reflections, because
my own feelings run me into them ; with
you they were always acknowledged. Let us
hope that our new government will take
some other occasions to show that they mean
to proscribe no virtue from the canons of
their conduct with other nations. In every
other instance, the new government has
ushered itself to the world as honest, mascu
line, and dignified. — To JAMES MADISON. Hi,
99. FORDED., v, in. (P., Aug. 1789.)
3187. FRANCE, War with England.—
How the mighty duel is to end between Great
Britain and France, is a momentous question.
The sea which divides them makes it a game
of chance ; but it is narrow, and all the
chances are not on one side. Should they
make peace, still our fate is problematical.—
To HORATIO GATES, iv, 213. FORD ED., vii,
204. (Pa., Feb. 1798.)
— TRANCE, West Indies.— See WEST
INDIES.
— FRANCE, X. Y. Z. Plot.— See X. Y. Z.
PLOT.
3188. FRANKING PRIVILEGE, Jef
ferson and. — The law making my letters post
free goes to those to me only, not those from
me. The bill had got to its passage before this
war was observed. * * * As the privilege
of freedom was given to the letters from as
well as to both my predecessors, I suppose no
reason exists for making a distinction. And in
so extensive a correspondence as I am subject
to, and still considerably on public matters, it
would be a sensible convenience to myself, as
well as to those who have occasion to receive
letters from me. * * * I state this matter
to you as being my representative, which must
apologize for the trouble of it. — To W. C.
NICHOLAS, v, 454. FORD ED., ix, 254. (M.,
1809.)
3189. FRANKLIN (Benjamin), Amer
ica's Ornament. — The ornament of our coun
try and, I may say, of the world. — To M.
GRAND, iii, 140. (N.Y., 1790.)
3190. . The greatest man and
ornament of the age and country in which he
lived. — To SAMUEL SMITH, iv, 253. FORD
ED., vii, 276. (M., 1798.)
3191. . America's Reception
of. — At a large table where I dined the other
day, a gentleman from Switzerland expressed
his apprehensions for the fate of Dr. Franklin,
as he said he had been informed that he would
be received with stones by the people, who were
generally dissatisfied with the Revolution, and
incensed against all those who had assisted in
bringing it about. I told him nis apprehen
sions were just, and that the people of America
would probably salute Dr. Franklin with the
same stones they had thrown at the Marquis
Lafayette. The reception of the Doctor is an
object of very general attention, and will
weigh in Europe as an evidence of the satis
faction or dissatisfaction of America with their
Revolution. To JAMES MONROE, i, 407. FORD
ED., iv, 87. (P., 1785.)
3192. . Europe fixes an attentive
eye on your reception of Doctor Franklin. He
is infinitely esteemed. Do not neglect any
mark of your approbation which you think
* * proper. It will honor you here. — To
JAMES MONROE. FORD ED., iv, 65. (P., 1785.)
3193. FRANKLIN (Benjamin), Ar-
gand's lamp. — A little before my arrival in
France, Argand had invented his celebrated
lamp, in which the flame is spread into a hol
low cylinder, and thus brought into contact
with the air within as well as without. Dr.
Franklin had been on the point of the same
discovery. The idea had occurred to him ; but
he had tried a bulrush as a wick, which did not
succeed. His occupations did not permit him
to repeat and extend his trials to the introduc
tion of a larger column of air than could pass
through the stem of a bulrush. — To REV. WILL
IAM SMITH, iii, 213. FORD ED., v, 291. (Pa.,
1791.)
3194. FRANKLIN (Benjamin), Be
loved.— The venerable and beloved Franklin.
— i, 108. FORD ED., i, 150. (1821.)
3195. FRANKLIN (Benjamin), De
fence of. — I have seen, with extreme indigna
tion, the blasphemies lately vended against the
memory of the father of American philosophy. —
To JONATHAN WILLIAMS, iv, 147. FORD ED.,
vii, 87. (M., 1796.)
3196. . As to the charge of sub
servience to France, besides the evidence of
his friendly colleagues [Silas Deane and Mr.
Laurens], two years of my own service with
Franklin (Benjamin) THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
356
him at Paris, daily visits, and the most friendly
and confidential conversation convince me it
had not a shadow of foundation. — To ROBERT
WALSH, vii, 109. FORD ED., x, 117. (M.,
1818.)
3197. FRANKLIN (Benjamin), Diplo
matic methods. — He possessed the confi
dence of the French government in the highest
degree, insomuch, that it may truly be said, that
they were more under his influence, than he
under theirs. The fact is, that his temper was
so amiable and conciliatory, his conduct so
rational, never urging impossibilities, or even
things unreasonably inconvenient to them, in
short, so moderate and attentive to their diffi
culties, as well as our own, that what his ene
mies called subserviency, I saw was only that
reasonable disposition, which, sensible that ad
vantages are not all to be on one side, yielding
what is just and liberal, is the more certain of
obtaining liberality and justice. Mutual con
fidence produces, of course, mutual influence,
and this was all which subsisted between Dr.
Franklin and the government of France. — To
ROBERT WALSH, vii, 109. FORD ED., x, 117.
(M., 1818.)
3198. FRANKLIN (Benjamin), Discov
eries of. — In physics we have produced a
Franklin, than whom no one of the present
age has made more important discoveries, nor
has enriched philosophy with more, or more
ingenious solutions of the phenomena of na
ture. — NOTES ON VIRGINIA, viii, 313. FORD
ED., iii, 168. (1782.)
3199. FRANKLIN (Benjamin), En
during fame.— Time will be making him
greater while it is spunging us from its rec
ords. — To REV. WILLIAM SMITH, iii, 214.
FORD ED., v, 293. (Pa., 1791.)
3200.
-. His memory will be pre-
served and venerated as long as the thunder of
heaven shall be heard or feared. — To JONATHAN
EDWARDS, iv, 148. FORD ED., vii, 87. (M.,
1796.)
3201. FRANKLIN (Benjamin), French
admiration. — No greater proof of his es
timation in France can be given than the late
letters of condolence on his death, from the
National Assembly of that country, and the
community of Paris, to the President of the
United States and to Congress, and their public
mourning on that event. It is, I believe, the
first instance of that homage having been paid
by a public body of one nation to a private citi
zen of another. — To REV. WILLIAM SMITH, iii,
213. FORD ED., v, 292. (Pa., 1791.)
3202. . I have it in charge from
the President * * * to communicate to the
National Assembly * * * the peculiar sen
sibility of Congress to the tribute paid to the
memory of Benjamin Franklin. * c That
the loss of such a citizen should be lamented
by us, among whom he lived, whom he so
long and eminently served, and who feel their
country advanced and honored by his birth,
life and labors, was to be expected. But it
remained for the National Assembly of France,
to set the first example of the representative of
one nation, doing homage, by a public act, to
the private citizen of another, and by with
drawing arbitrary lines of separation, to reduce
into one fraternity the good and the great,
wherever they have lived or died. That these
separations may disappear between us in all
times and circumstances, and that the union of
sentiment which mingles our sorrows on this
occasion may continue long to cement the
friendships of our two nations, is our constant
prayer. — To THE PRESIDENT OF THE NATIONAL
ASSEMBLY, iii, 218. (Pa., 1791.)
3203. . When he left Passy*
[for America], it seemed as if the village had
lost its patriarch. On taking leave of the
court, which he did by letter, the King ordered
him to be handsomely complimented, and fur
nished him with a litter and mules of his own,
the only kind of conveyance the state of his
health could bear. — To REV. WILLIAM SMITH.
iii, 213. FORD ED., v, 292. (Pa., 1791.)
3204. . There appeared to me
more respect and veneration attached to the
character of Dr. Franklin in France, than to
that of any other person in the same country,
foreign or native. — To REV. WILLIAM SMITH.
iii, 212. FORD ED., v, 213. (Pa., 1791.)
3205. FRANKLIN (Benjamin), Great
ness of. — The succession to Doctor Franklin,
at the court of France, was an excellent school
of humility. On being presented to any one
as the minister of America, the commonplace
question used in such cases was " c'est vous,
Monsieur, qui remplace le Docteur Franklin " ?
" It is you, sir, who replace Doctor Franklin " ?
I generally answered, " no one can replace him,
sir ; I am only his successor ". — To REV. WIL
LIAM SMITH, iii, 213. FORD ED., v, 293. (Pa.,
1791.)
3206. FRANKLIN (Benjamin), Lon
gevity.-— His death was an affliction which
was to happen to us at some time or other. We
have reason to be thankful he was so long
spared ; that the most useful life should be the
longest also; that it was protracted so far be
yond the ordinary span allotted to man, as
to avail us of his wisdom in the establishment
of our own freedom, and to bless him with a
view of its dawn in the East, where they
seemed, till now, to have learned everything,
but how to be free. — To REV. WILLIAM SMITH.
iii, 213. FORD ED., v, 292. (Pa., 1791.)
3207. FRANKLIN (Benjamin), Loy
alty. — That Dr. Franklin would have waived
the formal recognition of our Independence, I
never heard on any authority worthy notice. —
To ROBERT WALSH, vii, 108. FORD ED., x,
117. (M., 1818.)
3208. FRANKLIN (Benjamin), Mes
merism unveiled. — The animal magnetism of
the maniac Mesmer, * * * received its death
wound from his hand in conjunction with his
brethren of the learned committee appointed to
unveil that compound of fraud and folly. — To
REV. WILLIAM SMITH, iii, 212. FORD ED., v,
291. (Pa., 1791-)
3209. FRANKLIN (Benjamin), Phil
osophy's loss.— [In his death] Philosophy
has to deplore one of its principal luminaries
extinguished. — To REV. WILLIAM SMITH, iii,
212. FORD ED., v, 290. (Pa., 1791.)
3210. FRANKLIN (Benjamin), Presi
dency and.— Had I had a vote for the Presi
dentship, I doubt whether I should not have
withheld it from you, that you might have lei
sure to collect and digest the papers you have
written from time to time, and which the
world will expect to be given them. — To DR.
FRANKLIN, i, 525. (P., Jan. 1786.)
* Franklin lived in Passy, a suburb of Paris.— EDI
TOR.
357
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Franklin (Benjamin)
Freedom of person
3211. FRANKLIN (Benjamin), Re
spected. — Mr. Jay, Silas Deane, Mr. Laurens,
his colleagues also, ever maintained towards
him unlimited confidence and respect. — To
ROBERT WALSH, vii, 108. FORD ED., x, 117.
(M., 1818.)
3212. FRANKLIN (William Temple),
Diplomatic Desires. — I wish with all my
heart Congress may call you into the diplomatic
line, as that seems^ to have attracted your own
desires. It is not* one in which you can do
anything more than pass the present hour
agreeably, without any prospect of future pro
vision.— To W. T. FRANKLIN, i, 555. (P.,
1786.)
3213. FRANKLIN (William Temple),
Office-seeking.— Can nothing be done for
young Franklin ? He is sensible, discreet, po
lite, and good-humored, had fully qualified as
a Secretaire d' Ambassade. His grandfather
has none annexed to his legation at this Court
[Versailles]. He is most sensibly wounded at
his grandson's being superseded. — To JAMES
MONROE. FORD ED., iv, 8. (P., 1784.)
3214. FRANKLIN (William Temple),
Estimate of.— I have never been with Master
Franklin enough to unravel his character with
certainty. He seems to be good in the main.
I see sometimes an attempt to keep himself
unpenetrated, which perhaps is the effect of
the old lesson of his grandfather. His un
derstanding is good enough for common use,
but not great enough for uncommon ones. *
* * The Doctor is extremely wounded by
the inattention of Congress to his application
for him. He expects something to be done as
a reward for his service. He will present
* * * a determined silence on this subject
in future. — To JAMES MONROE. FORD ED., iv,
65. (P., 1785.)
3215. FRANKLIN, State of.— North
Carolina, by an act of their Assembly, ceded
to Congress all their lands westward of the
Alleghany. The people inhabiting that terri
tory, thereon declared themselves independent,
called their State by the name of Franklin, and
solicited Congress to be received into the
Union. But before Congress met, North Caro
lina (for what reasons I could never learn)
resumed their Session. The people, however,
persist ; Congress recommended the State to
desist from their opposition, and I have no
doubt they will do it. — To DAVID HARTLEY, i,
424. FORD ED., iv, 93. (P., 1785.)
3216. FRANKNESS, Complete.— My
dispositions are * * * against mysteries,
innuendos and half-confidences. — To JOHN
TAYLOR, iv, 259. FORD ED., vii, 309. (M.,
1798.)
3217. - — . Half-confidences are not
in my character. — To ELBRIDGE GERRY, iv,
273. FORD ED., vii, 335. (Pa., I799-)
3218. - . I cannot say things by
halves. — To SAMUEL KERCHIVAL. vii, 17. FORD
ED., x, 44. (M., 1816.)
3219. FRANKS (David), Office for.—
Franks will doubtless be asking some appoint
ment. I wish there may be one for which he
is fit. He is light, indiscreet, active, honest,
affectionate. — To JAMES MADISON. ii, 108.
FORD ED., iv, 365. (P., 1787.)
3220. FREDERICK THE GREAT, Pos
thumous influence.— His kingdom, like a
machine, will go on for some time with the
winding up he has given it. — To JAMES MONROE.
i, 587. FORD ED., iv, 245. (P., July 1786.)
3221. . The death of the King
of Prussia will employ the pens, if not the
swords, of politicians. — To EZRA STILES. FORD
ED., iv, 300. (P., 1786.)
3222. FREDERICK THE GREAT,
Treaty with. — Without urging, we* sounded
the ministers of the several European nations
at the Court of Versailles, on their dispositions
towards mutual commerce, and the expediency
of encouraging it by the protection of a treaty.
Old Frederick, of Prussia, met us cordially and
without hesitation, and appointing the Baron
de Thulemeyer, his minister at the Hague, to
negotiate with us, we communicated to him
our projet, which, with little alteration by
the King was soon concluded. — AUTOBI
OGRAPHY, i, 62. FORD ED., i, 87. (1820.)
See TREATIES.
3223. FREDERICK WILLIAM II.,
Bulldog of tyranny.— If foreign troops
should be furnished, it would be most probably
by the King of Prussia, who seems to offer
himself as the bulldog of tyranny to all his
neighbors. — To JOHN JAY. iii, 118. (P., Sep.
1789-)
3224. FREDERICK WILLIAM II.,
Weakness of.— The King of Prussia does not
seem to take into account the difference be
tween his head and the late King's. This may
be equal, perhaps, to half his army. — To C. W.
F. DUMAS, ii, 492. (P., 1788.)
3225. FREEDOM, Birth.— Freedom,— the
first-born daughter of science. — To M. D'lvER-
NOIS. iv, 113. FORD ED., vii, 3. (M., Feb.
I795-)
3226. FREEDOM, Gaining.— It is un
fortunate, that the efforts of mankind to re
cover the freedom of which they have been so
long deprived, will be accompanied with
violence, with errors, and even with crimes.
But while we weep over the means, we must
pray for the end. — To M. D'IVERNOIS. iv,
115. FORD ED., vii, 5. (M., Feb. 1795.)
3227. FREEDOM, Solicitude for.— My
future solicitude will be * * * to be in
strumental to the happiness and freedom of
all. — FIRST INAUGURAL ADDRESS. viii, 5.
FORD ED., viii, 6. (1801.) See GOVERNMENT,
LIBERTY and TYRANNY.
— FREEDOM OF OPINION.— See OPIN
ION.
3228. FREEDOM OF PERSON, Federal
Constitution and. — The imprisonment of a
person under the laws of * * [Ken
tucky], on his failure to obey the simple order
of the President to depart out of the United
States, as is undertaken by the act entitled
" An Act concerning Aliens ", is contrary to
the Constitution, one amendment to which
has provided that " no person shall be de
prived of liberty without due process of law " ;
and that another having provided that " in
all criminal prosecutions the accused shall en-
* Franklin, Adams and Jefferson, appointed by
Congress to negotiate commercial treaties. — EDITOR.
Freedom of person
Jfc'ree ports
THE JEFFERSON1AN CYCLOPEDIA
358
joy the right to be tried by an impartial jury,
to be informed of the nature and cause of
the accusation, to be confronted with the
witnesses against him, to have compulsory
process for obtaining witnesses in his favor,
and to have the assistance of counsel for his
defense ", the same act, undertaking to au
thorize the President to remove a person out
of the United States, who is under the pro
tection of the law, on his own suspicion, with
out accusation, without jury, without public
trial, without confrontation of the witnesses
against him, without hearing witnesses in
his favor, without defence, without counsel, is
contrary to the provision also of the Constitu
tion, is therefore not law, but utterly void,
and of no force; * * * [and the] trans
ferring the power of judging any person, who
is under the protection of the laws, from the
courts to the President of the United States,
as is undertaken by the same act concerning
aliens, is against the article of the Constitu
tion which provides that " the judicial power
of the United States shall be vested in courts,
the judges of which shall hold their offices
during good behavior " ; and * * * the
said act is void for that reason also. And
it is further to be noted, that this transfer
of judiciary power is to that magistrate of the
General Government who already possesses all
the executive, and a negative on all legislative
powers. — KENTUCKY RESOLUTIONS, ix, 467.
FORD ED., vii. 297. (1798-)
3229. FREEDOM OF PERSON, Federal
Government and. — Freedom of the person
under the protection of the habeas corpus,
I deem [one of the] essential principles of
our government and, consequently, [one]
which ought to shape its administration. —
FIRST INAUGURAL ADDRESS, viii, 4. FORD ED.,
viii, 5. (1801.)
3230. FREEDOM OF PERSON, State
Constitutions and. — There are certain prin
ciples in which the constitutions of our sev
eral States all agree, and which all cherish
as vitally essential to the protection of the
life, liberty, property and safety of the citizen.
[One is] Freedom of Person, securing every
one from imprisonment, or other bodily re
straint, but by the laws of the land. This is
effected by the well-known law of habeas
corpus. — To M. CORAY. vii, 323. (M., 1823.)
See HABEAS CORPUS.
— FREEDOM OF THE PRESS.— See
PRESS.
_ FREEDOM OF RELIGION.— See RE
LIGION.
3231. FREEDOM OF SPEECH, The
Constitution and. — One of the amendments
to the Constitution * * * expressly de
clares, that " Congress shall make no law re
specting an establishment of religion, or pro
hibiting the free exercise thereof, or abridging
the freedom of speech, or of the press " ;
thereby guarding in the same sentence, and
under the same words, the freedom of re
ligion, of speech, and of the press ; insomuch,
that whatever violates either, throws down
the sanctuary which covers the others. — KEN
TUCKY RESOLUTIONS, ix, 466. FORD ED., vii,
295- (1798.) See 820.
3232. FREEDOM OF SPEECH, Error
and. — Truth is the proper and sufficient an
tagonist to error, and has nothing to fear
from the conflict, unless, by human interposi
tion, disarmed of her natural weapons, free
argument and debate. — STATUTE OF RELIGIOUS
FREEDOM. FORD ED., ii, 239. (1779.)
3233. FREEDOM OF SPEECH, Govern
ment invasion of.— There are rights which
it is useless to surrender to the government,
and which governments have yet always been
found to invade. [Among] these are the
rights of thinking, and publishing our
thoughts by speaking or writing. — To DAVID
HUMPHREYS, iii, 13. FORD ED., v, 89. (P.,
1789.)
3234. FREEDOM OF SPEECH, Guard
to liberty. — The liberty of speaking and
writing guards our other liberties. — REPLY TO
ADDRESS, viii, 129. (1808.)
3235. FREEDOM OF SPEECH, Opin
ion and. — Differences of opinion, when per
mitted * * * to purify themselves by free
discussion, are but as * * * clouds over
spreading our land transiently, and leaving
our horizon more bright and serene. — To
BENJAMIN WARING.— iv, 378. (W., March
1801.)
3236. FREEDOM OF SPEECH,
Shackled. — Nor should we wonder at * * *
[the] pressure [for a fixed constitution in
1788-9] when we consider the monstrous
abuses of power under which * * * [the
French] people were ground to powder ; when
we pass in review the shackles on :
the freedom of thought and of speech. — AUTO
BIOGRAPHY, i, 86. FORD ED., i, 118. (1821.)
3237. FREE PORTS, Honfleur. — Mon
sieur Famin called on me on the subject of
making Honfleur a free port, and wished me
to solicit it. I told him it was for our interest,
as for that also of all the world, that every port
of France, and of every other country, should
be free ; * * * but that I could not solicit
it, as I had no instructions to do so. — To M. DE
LAFAYETTE, i, 579. (P., 1786.)
3238. . Some late regulations of
the King and Council in favor of the commerce
of the United States having given us room to
hope that our endeavors may be successful to
remove a good part of it from Great Britain to
France, Honfleur presents itself as a more im
portant instrument for this purpose than it
had heretofore appeared. We are, therefore,
now pressing more earnestly its establishment
as a free port, and such other regulations in
its favor as may invite the commerce to it. —
To M. FAMIN. ii, 53. (P., 1786.)
3239. . The enfranchising the
port of Honfleur at the mouth of the Seine for
multiplying the connections with us, is at pres
ent an object. It meets with opposition in the
ministry but I am in hopes that it will prevail.
If natural causes operate uninfluenced by acci
dental circumstances, Bourdeaux and Honfleur
or Havre, must ultimately take the greatest part
of our commerce. The former by the Garonne
359
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Free ports
Free ships
and canal of Languedoc opens the Southern
provinces to us ; the latter, the northern ones
and Paris. Honfleur will be peculiarly advan
tageous for our rice and whale oil, of which
the principal consumption is at Paris. Being
free, they can be reexported when the market
here shall happen to be overstocked. — To JOHN
JAY. ii, 92. (P., 1787.)
3240. FREE PORTS, St. Bartholomew.
—The island of St. Bartholomew, lately ceded
to Sweden, is, if I am rightly informed, capable
of furnishing little of its own productions to
that country. It remains, then, to make it the
instrument for obtaining through its interme
diation such American productions as Sweden
can consume or dispose of, and for finding in
return a vent for the native productions of
Sweden. Let us suppose it, then, made a free
port without a single restriction. These conse
quences will follow: i. It will draw to itself
that tide of commerce which at present sets
towards the Dutch and Danish islands, because
vessels going to these are often obliged to ne
gotiate a part of their cargoes at St. Eustatius,
and to go to St. Thomas to negotiate the resi
due ; whereas when they shall know that there
is a port where all articles are free for both im
portation and exportation, they will go to
that port which e.iables them to perform by one
voyage the exchanges which hitherto they could
only effect by two. 2. Every species of Ameri
can produce, whether of the precious metals or
commodities, which Sweden may want for its
own consumption, or as aliment for its own
commerce with other nations, will be collected
either fairly or by contraband into the maga
zines of St. Bartholomew. 3. All the produc
tions which Sweden can furnish from within
itself, or obtain to advantage from other na
tions, will in like manner be deposited in the
magazines of St. Bartholomew, and will be
carried to the several ports of America in pay
ment for what shall be taken from them. — To
BARON STAKE. FORD ED., iv, 240. (P., 1786.}
3241. . The interest of the United
States is that St. Bartholomew be made a
port of unlimited freedom, and such, too, is
evidently the interest of Sweden. If it be
freed by halves, the free ports of other nations,
at present in possession of the commerce, will
retain it against any new port offering no su
perior advantages. The situation of St. Bar
tholomew is very favorable to these views, as
it is among the most windward, and therefore
the most accessible of the West Indian Islands.
— To BARON STAHE. FORD ED., iv, 242. (P.,
1786.)
3242. FREE PORTS, St. Eustatius.— St.
Eustatius is by nature a rock, barren and un
productive in itself, but its owners became sen
sible that what nature had denied it, policy
could more than supply. It was conveniently
situated for carrying on contraband trade with
both the continents, and with the islands of
America. They made it, therefore, an entrepot
for all nations. Hither are brought the pro
ductions of every other port of America, and
the Dutch give in exchange such articles as,
in the course of their commerce, they can most
advantageously gather up. And it is a ques
tion, on which they will not enable us to de
cide, whether by furnishing American produc
tions to the commerce of Holland,, and by
rinding vent for such productions of the old
world as the Dutch merchants obtain to advan
tage, the barren rock of St. Eustatius does not
give more activity to their commerce, and leave
with them greater profits, than their more fer
tile possessions on the continent of South
America. — To BARON STAHE. FORD ED., iv,
239. (P., 1786.)
3243. FREE PORTS, San Juan.— Free
ports in the Spanish possessions in America,
and particularly at the Havana, San Domingo,
in the island of that name, and St. John of
Porto Rico, are more to be desired than ex
pected. It can, therefore, only be recom
mended to the best endeavors of the commis
sioners to obtain them. — MISSISSIPPI RIVER IN
STRUCTIONS, vii, 589. FORD ED., v, 478.
(March 1792.)
3244. FREE SHIPS, Free goods, his
tory of principle.— When Europe assumed
the general form in which it is occupied by the
nations now composing it, and turned its at
tention to maritime commerce, we found
among its earliest practices, that of taking the
goods of an enemy from the ship of a friend ;
and that into this practice every maritime
State went sooner or later, as it appeared on
the theatre of the ocean. If, therefore, we are
to consider the practice of nations as the sole
and sufficient evidence of the law of nature
among nations, we should unquestionably place
this principle among those of natural laws. But
its inconveniences, as they affected neutral
nations peaceably pursuing their commerce, and
its tendency to embroil them with the powers
happening to be at war, and thus to extend the
flames of war, induced nations to introduce
by special compacts, from time to time, a
more convenient rule : " that free ships should
make free goods " ; and this latter principle
has by every maritime nation of Europe been
established, to a greater or less degree, in its
treaties with other nations ; insomuch, that all
of them have, more or less frequently, assented
to it, as a rule of action in particular cases.
Indeed, it is now urged, and I think with great
appearance of reason, that this is the genuine
principle dictated by national morality ; and
that the first practice arose from accident,
and the particular convenience of the States
(Venice and Genoa) which first figured on the
water, rather than from well digested reflec
tions of the relations of friend and enemy, on
the rights of territorial jurisdiction, and on the
dictates of moral law applied to these. Thus
it had never been supposed lawful, in the terri
tory of a friend to seize the goods of an enemy.
On an element which nature has not subjected
to the jurisdiction of any particular nation, but
has made common to all for the purposes to
which it is filled, it would seem that the partic
ular portion of it which happens to be occupied
by the vessel of any nation, in the course of its
voyage, is for the moment, the exclusive prop
erty of that nation, and, with the vessel, is
exempt from intrusion by any other, and from
its jurisdiction, as much as if it were lying in
the harbor of its sovereign. In no country, we
believe, is the rule otherwise, as to the sub
jects of property common to all. Thus the
place occupied by an individual in a highway, a
church, a theatre, or other public assembly, can
not be intruded on, while its occupant holds it
for the purposes of its institution. The per
sons on board a vessel traversing the ocean,
carrying with them the laws of their nation,
have among themselves a jurisdiction, a police,
not established by their individual will, but by
the authority of their nation, of whose territory
their vessel still seems to compose a part, so
long as it does not enter the exclusive terri
tory of another. No nation ever pretended
a right to govern by their laws the ship of an
other nation navigating the ocean. By what
Free ships
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
360
law, then, can it enter that ship while in peace
able and orderly use of the common element?
We recognize no natural precept for submis
sion to such a right; and perceive no distinc
tion between the movable and immovable juris
diction of a friend, which would authorize the
entering the one and not the other, to seize the
property of an enemy. It may be objected that
this proves too much, as it proves you cannot
enter the ship of a friend to search for contra
band of war. But this is not proving too
much. We believe the practice of seizing what
is called contraband of war, is an abusive
practice, not founded in natural right. War
between two nations cannot diminish the rights
of the rest of the world remaining at peace.
The doctrine that the rights of nations remain
ing quietly in the exercise of moral and social
duties, are to give way to the convenience of
those who prefer plundering and murdering
one another, is a monstrous doctrine; and
ought to yield to the more rational law, that
" the wrong which two nations endeavor to
inflict on each other, must not infringe on the
rights or conveniences of those remaining at
peace ". And what is contraband, by the law
of nature? Either everything which may aid
or comfort an enemy, or nothing. Either all
commerce which would accommodate him is un
lawful, or none is. The difference between
articles of one or another description, is a dif
ference in degree only. No line between them
can be drawn. Either all intercourse must
cease between neutrals and belligerents, or
all be permitted. Can the world hesitate to
say which shall be the rule ? Shall two nations
turning tigers, break up in one instant the
peaceable relations of the whole world? Rea
son and nature clearly pronounce that the
neutral is to go on in the enjoyment of all its
rights, that its commerce remains free, not
subject to the jurisdiction of another, nor
consequently its vessels to search, or to en
quiries whether their contents are the property
of an enemy, or are of those which have been
called contraband of war. Nor does this doc
trine contravene the right of preventing ves
sels from entering a blockaded port. This
right stands on other ground. When the fleet
of any nation actually beleaguers the port of its
enemy, no other has a right to enter their line,
any more than their line of battle in the open
sea, or their lines of circumvallation, or of en
campment, or of battle array on land. The
space included within their lines in any of those
cases, is either the property of their enemy,
or it is common property assumed and pos
sessed for the moment, which cannot be in
truded on, even by a neutral, without com
mitting the very trespass we are now consider
ing, that of intruding into the lawful possession
of a friend.* — To ROBERT R. LIVINGSTON, iv,
408. FORD ED., viii, 88. (M., Sep. 1801.)
3245. FREE SHIPS, Free goods, Inter
national Law and. — On the question whether
the principle of " free bottoms making free
goods, and enemy bottoms enemy goods ", is
now to be considered as established in the law
of nations, I will state to you a fact within my
own knowledge, which may lessen the weight
of our authority as having acted in the war of
France and England on the ancient principle
" that the goods of an enemy in the bottom of
a friend are lawful prize ; while those of a
friend in an enemy bottom are not so ". Eng-
*These principles were set forth by Jefferson in an
opinion on " Neutral Trade " in 1793. (ix, 443. FORD
ED., 485.)— EDITOR
land became a party in the general war against
France on the ist of February, 1793. We took
immediately the stand of neutrality. We were
aware that our great intercourse with these two
maritime nations would subject us to harass
ment by multiplied questions on the duties of
neutrality, and that an important and early one
would be which of the two principles above
stated should be the law of action with us?
We wished to act on the new one of " free bot
toms, free goods " ; and we had established it
in our treaties with other nations, but not with
England. We determined, therefore, to avoid,
if possible, committing ourselves on this ques
tion until we could negotiate with England her
acquiescence in the new principle. Although
the cases occurring were numerous, and the
ministers. Genet and Hammond, eagerly on the
watch, we were able to avoid any declaration
until the massacre of St. Domingo. The
whites, on that occasion, took refuge on board
our ships, then in their harbor, with all the
property they could find room for ; and on their
passage to the United States, many of them
were taken by British cruisers, and their car
goes seized as lawful prize. The inflammable
temper of Genet kindled at once, and he wrote,
with his usual passion, a letter reclaiming an
observance of the principle of " free bottoms,
free goods ", as if already an acknowledged law
of neutrality. I pressed him in conversation
not to urge this point ; that although it had
been acted on by convention, by the armed
neutrality, it was not yet become a principle of
universal admission ; that we wished indeed to
strengthen it by our adoption, and were ne
gotiating an acquiescence on the part of Great
Britain : but if forced to decide prematurely,
we must justify ourselves by a declaration of
the ancient principle, and that no general con
sent of nations had as yet changed it. He was
immovable, and on the 25th of July wrote a
letter, so insulting, that nothing but a deter
mined system of justice and moderation would
have prevented his being shipped home in the
first vessel. I had the day before answered his
of the Qth, in which I - ad been obliged in our
own justification, to declare that the ancient
was the established principle, still existing and
authoritative. Our denial, therefore, of the
new principle, and action on the old one, were
forced upon us by the precipitation and intem
perance of Genet, against our wishes, and
against our aim ; and our involuntary practice,
therefore, is of less authority against the new
rule. — To EDWARD EVERETT, vii, 271. (M.,
Feb. 1823.)
3246. FREE SHIPS, Free goods, trea
ties and. — By the former usage of nations,
the goods of a friend were safe though taken
in an enemy bottom, and those of an enemy
were lawful prize though found in a free bot
tom. But in our treaties with France, &c., we
have established the simpler rule, that a free
bottom makes free goods, and an enemy bot
tom, enemy goods. The same rule has been
adopted by the treaty of armed neutrality be
tween Russia, Sweden, Denmark, Holland and
Portugal, and assented to by France and Spain.
Contraband goods, however, are always ex-
cepted, so that they may still be seized ; but
the same powers have established that naval
stores are not contraband goods ; and this may
be considered now as the law of nations.
Though England acquiesced under this during
the late war, rather than draw on herself the
neutral powers, yet she never acceded to the
new principle. — To MR. CAIRNES. ii, 280. (P.,
1787.)
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Free ships
Free trade
3247. . In our treaties with
France, the United Netherlands, Sweden and
Prussia, the principle of free bottoms, free
goods, was uniformly maintained. In the in
structions of 1784, given by Congress to their
ministers appointed to treat with the nations of
Europe generally, the same principle, and the
doing away contraband of war, were enjoined,
and were acceded to in the treaty signed with
Portugal. In the late treaty with England,
indeed, that power perseveringly refused the
principle of free bottoms, free goods ; and it
was avoided in the late treaty with Prussia, at
the instance of our then administration, lest it
should seem to take side in a question then
threatening decision by the sword. At the
commencement of the war between France and
England, the representative of the French Re
public then residing in the United States
[Genet], complaining that the British armed
ships captured French property in American
bottoms, insisted that the principle of " free
bottoms, free goods ", was of the acknowledged
law of nations ; that the violation of that prin
ciple by the British was a wrong committed on
us, and such an one as we ought to repel by
joining in the war against that country. We
denied his position, and appealed to the uni
versal practice of Europe, in proof that the
principle of " free bottoms, free goods ", was
not acknowledged as of the natural law of na
tions, but only of its conventional law. And
I believe we may safely affirm, that not a single
instance can be produced where any nation of
Europe, acting professedly under the law of
nations alone, unrestrained by treaty, has,
either by its executive or judiciary organs, de
cided on the principle of " free bottoms, free
goods ". Judging of the law of nations by
what has been practiced among nations, we
were authorized to say that the contrary prin
ciple was their rule, and this but an exception
to it, introduced by special treaties in special
cases only ; that having no treaty with England
substituting this instead of the ordinary rule,
we had neither the right nor the disposition
to go to war for its establishment. But though
we would not then, nor will we now, engage in
war to establish this principle, we are neverthe
less sincerely friendly to it. We think that
the nations of Europe have originally set out
in error ; that experience has proved the error
oppressive to the rights and interests of the
peaceable part of mankind; that every nation
but one has acknowledged this, by consenting
to the change, and that one has consented in
particular cases; that nations have a right to
correct an erroneous principle, and to establish
that which is right as their rule of action ; and
if they should adopt measures for effecting this
in a peaceable way, we shall wish them success
and not stand in the way to it. But should it
become, at any time, expedient for us to co
operate in the establishment of this principle,
the opinion of the executive on the advice of
its constitutional counsellors, must then be
given ; and that of the Legislature, an inde
pendent and essential organ in the operation,
must also be expressed ; in forming which, they
will be governed, every man by his own judg
ment, and may, very possibly, judge differently
from the Executive. With the same honest
views, the most honest men often form differ
ent conclusions. As far, however, as we can
judge, the principle of " free bottoms, free
goods", is that which would carry the wishes
of our nation. — To ROBERT R. LIVINGSTON, iv,
411. FORD ED., viii, qi. (M., Sep. 1801.)
3248. FREE TRADE, Alliance for.— I
think nothing can bring the security of our
continent and its cause into danger, if we can
support the credit of our paper. To do that,
I apprehend, one of two steps must be taken.
Either to procure free trade by alliance with
some naval power able to protect it; or, if
we find there is no prospect of that, to shut
our ports totally, to all the world, and turn
our Colonies into manufactories. The former
would be most eligible, because most conform
able to the habits and wishes of our people. —
To BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, i, 205. FORD ED.,
ii, 132. (I777-)
3249. FREE TRADE, Appeal for. — Our
interest will be to throw open the doors of
commerce, and to knock off all its shackles,
giving perfect freedom to all persons for the
vent of whatever they may choose to bring
into our ports, and asking the same in theirs.
— NOTES ON VIRGINIA, viii, 412. FORD ED.,
iii, 279- (1782.)
3250. FREE TRADE, Benefit of.— I
think all the world would gain by setting com
merce at perfect liberty.— To JOHN ADAMS,
i, 371. FORD ED., iv, 81. (July 1785.)
3251. FREE TRADE, Confederation
Congress and.— Congress had, in the year
1784, made up their minds as to the system of
commercial principles they wished to pursue.
These were very free. They proposed them to
all the powers of Europe. All declined ex
cept Prussia. To this general opposition they
may now find it necessary to present a very
different general system to which their treaties
will form cases of exception. — To C. W. F.
DUMAS, ii, 321. (P., 1787.)
3252. FREE TRADE, Desire for.— I take
for granted, that the commercial system,
wished for by Congress, was such a one as
should leave commerce on the freest footing
possible. This was the plan on which we
prepared our general draft for treating with
all nations.— To JOHN ADAMS, i, 487. (P.,
1785-)
3253. . Would even a single na
tion begin with the United States this system
of free commerce, it would be advisable to be
gin it with that nation ; since it is one by one
only that it can be extended to all.— FOREIGN
COMMERCE REPORT, vii, 646. FORD ED., vi,
479- (I793-)
3254. . I am for free commerce
with all nations.— To ELBRIDGE GERRY, iv,
268. FORD ED., vii, 328. (Pa., 1799.)
3255. FREE TRADE, Encouragement. —
The permitting an exchange of industries
with other nations is a direct encouragement
of your own, which without that, would bring
you nothing for your comfort, and would of
course cease to be produced. — To SAMUEL
SMITH, vii, 286. FORD ED., x, 253. (M.,
1823.)
3256. FREE TRADE, France and.—
Merchandise received [in France] from the
other nations of Europe takes employment
from the poor of France; ours gives it.
Their' s is brought in the last stage of manu-
-Free trade
Freneau (Philip)
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
362
facture; ours in the first. We bring our to
baccos to be manufactured into snuff, our flax
and hemp into linen and cordage, our furs
into hats, skins into saddlery, shoes and
clothing. We take nothing till it has received
the last hand.* — To COUNT DE MONTMORIN. ii,
173. FORD ED., iv, 400. (P., 1787.)
3257. FREE TRADE, Great Britain and.
— The system into which the United States
wished to go, was that of freeing commerce
from every shackle. A contrary conduct in
Great Britain will occasion them to adopt
the contrary system, at least as to that is
land.— To W. W. SEWARD. i, 479. (P.,
1785-)
3258. . I had persuaded myself
[in 1804] that a nation, distant as we are
from the contentions of Europe, avoiding all
offences to other powers, and not over-hasty
in resenting offence from them, doing jus
tice to all, faithfully fulfilling the duties of
neutrality, performing all offices of amity, and
administering to their interests by the bene
fits of our commerce, that such a nation, I
say, might expect to live in peace, and con
sider itself merely as a member of the great
family of mankind; that in such case it
might devote itself to whatever it could best
produce, secure of a peaceable exchange of
surplus for what could be more advan
tageously furnished by others, as takes place
between one country and another of France.
But experience has shown that continued
peace depends not merely on our own jus
tice and prudence, but on that of others also ;
that when forced into war, the interception of
exchanges which must be made across a wide
ocean, becomes a powerful weapon in the
hands of an enemy domineering over that ele
ment, and to the other distresses of war adds
the want of all those necessaries for which
we have permitted ourselves to be dependent
on others, even arms and clothing. This
fact, therefore, solves the question by reduc
ing it to its ultimate form, whether profit or
preservation is the first interest of a State?
We are consequently become manufacturers
to a degree incredible to those who do not
see it, and who only consider the short period
of time during which we have been driven to
them by the suicidal policy of England. — To
J. B. SAY. vi, 430. (M., March 1815.)
3259. FREE TRADE, Human happi
ness and.— Could each [country] be free to
exchange with others mutual surpluses for
mutual wants, the greatest mass possible
would then be produced of those things
which contribute to human life< and human
happiness ; the numbers of mankind would be
increased, and their condition bettered. —
FOREIGN COMMERCE REPORT, vii, 646. FORD
ED., vi. 479. (Dec. I793-)
3260. FREE TRADE, Natural right of.
— The exercise of a free trade with all parts of
the world, possessed by the American Col
onists, as of natural right, and which no law
* Jefferson was arguing in favor of the free impor
tation of American productions into France.— EDI
TOR.
of their own had taken away or abridged,
was next the object of unjust encroach
ment. — RIGHTS OF BRITISH AMERICA, i, 127.
FORD ED., i, 432. (i774.)
3261. FREE TRADE, Neighbor nations
and. — An exchange of surpluses and wants
between neighbor nations, is both a right
and a duty under the moral law. — To WILL
IAM SHORT, iii, 275. FORD ED., v, 364. (Pa.,
1791.) See AGRICULTURE, COMMERCE, MANU
FACTURES, NAVIGATION, PROTECTION and TAR
IFF.
3262. FRENEAU (Philip), Clerkship.—
The clerkship for foreign languages in my
office is vacant. The salary, indeed, is very
low, being but two hundred and fifty dollars a
year ; but also, it gives so little to do as not to
interfere with any other calling the person may
choose, which would not absent him from the
seat of government. I was told a few days
ago, that it might perhaps be convenient to
you to accept it. If so, it is at your service.
It requires no other qualification than a mod
erate knowledge of the French. — To PHILIP
FRENEAU. iii, 215. (Pa., 1791.)
3263. FRENEAU (Philip), Gazette of.—
Freneau has come here [Philadelphia] to set up
a national gazette, to be published twice a
week, and on whig principles. — To DAVID
HUMPHREYS. FORD ED., v, 373. (Pa., 1791-)
3264. . Freneau' s paper is getting
into Massachusetts under the patronage of
Hancock and Sam Adams ; and Mr. Ames, the
Colossus of the monocrats and paper men, will
either be left out or hard run. The people of
that State are republican ; but hitherto they have
heard nothing but the hymns and lauds chanted
by Fenno. — To T. M. RANDOLPH, iii, 491.
FORD ED., vi, 134. (Pa., i792-)
3265. . As to the merits or de
merits of his paper, they certainly concern me
not. He and Fenno are rivals for the public
favor. The one courts them by flattery, the
other by censure ; and I believe it will be ad
mitted that the one has been as servile, as the
other severe. — To PRESIDENT WASHINGTON.
iii, 466. FORD ED., vi, 108. (M., 1792.)
3266. FRENEAU (Philip), Jefferson's
relations to. — While the government was at
New York I was applied to in behalf of Fre
neau to know if there was any place within my
Department to which he could be appointed.
I answered there were but four clerkships, all
of which I found full, and continued without
any change. "When we removed to Philadel
phia, Mr. Pintard, the translating clerk, did not
choose to remove with us. His office then be
came vacant. I was again applied to there for
Freneau, and had no hesitation to promise the
clerkship for him. I cannot recollect whether
it was at the same time, or afterwards, that I
was told he had a thought of setting up a
newspaper there. But whether then, or after
wards, I considered it a circumstance of some
value, as it might enable me to do, what I had
long wished to have done, that is, to have the
material parts of the Leyden Gazette brought
under your eye, and that of the public, in order
to possess yourself and them of a juster view
of the affairs of Europe than could be obtained
from any other public source. This I had in
effectually attempted through the press of Mr.
Fenno, while in New York, selecting and trans
lating passages myself at first, then having it
363
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Friends
Friendship
done through Mr. Pintard, the translating clerk,
but they found their way too slowly into Mr.
Fenno's papers. Mr. Bache essayed it for me
in Philadelphia, but his being a daily paper, did
not circulate sufficiently in the other States.
He even tried, at my request, the plan of a
weekly paper of recapitulation from his daily
paper, in hopes that that might go into the
other States, but in this, too, we failed. Fre-
neau, as translating clerk, and the printer of a
periodical paper likely to circulate through the
States (uniting in one person the parts of
Pintard and Fenno), revived my hopes that the
thing could at length be effected. On the es
tablishment of his paper, therefore, I furnished
him with the Leyden gazettes, with an expres
sion of my wish that he could always translate
and publish the material intelligence they con
tained, and have continued to furnish them
from time to time, as regularly as I received
them. But as to any further direction or in
dication of my wish how his press should be
conducted, what sort of intelligence he should
give, what essays encourage, I can protest, in
the presence of Heaven, that I never did by
myself, or any other, or indirectly, say a sylla
ble, nor attempt any kind of influence. I can
further protest, in the same awful presence,
that I never did, by myself, or any other, di
rectly or indirectly, write, dictate, or procure
any one sentence or sentiment to be inserted
in his, or any other gazette, to which my name
was not affixed or that of my office. * * *
Freneau's proposition to publish a paper, hav
ing been about the time that the writings of
" Publicola ", and the discourses on Davila, had
a good deal excited the public attention, I
took for granted from Freneau's character,
which had been marked as that of a good whig,
that he would give free place to pieces written
against the aristocratical and monarchical prin
ciples these papers had inculcated. This hav
ing been in my mind, it is likely enough I may
have expressed it in conversation with others;
though I do not recollect that I did. To Fre-
neau I think I could not, because I had still seen
him but once, and that was at a public table,
* * as I passed through New York the
last year. And I can safely declare that my
expectations looked only to the chastisement
of the aristocratical and monarchical writers,
and not to any criticisms on the proceed'ngs of
government. — To PRESIDENT WASHINGTON.
iii, 464. FORD ED., vi, 106. (M., 1792.)
3267. FRIENDS, College.— Friends we
have, if we have merited them. Those of our
earliest years stand nearest in our affections.
Our college friends are the dearest. — To
JOHN PAGE, iv, 547. (W., 1804.)
3268. FRIENDS, Inconstant.— During
the whole of the Revolutionary war, which
was trying enough. I never deserted a friend
because he had taken an opposite side: and
those of my own State, who joined the Brit
ish government, can attest my unremitting
zeal in saving their property, and can point
out the laws in our statute book which I
drew, and carried through in their favor.
However, I have seen during the late po
litical paroxysm here [Philadelphia] numbers
whom I had highly esteemed, draw off from
me insomuch as to cross the street to avoid
meeting me. The fever is abating, and doubt
less some of them will correct the momentary
wanderings of their heart, and return again.
If they do, they will meet the constancy of
my esteem, and the same oblivion of this as
of any other delirium which might happen
to them. — To WILLIAM HAMILTON. FORD ED.,
vii, 441. (Pa., 1800.)
3269. FRIENDS, Political.— Of one thing
I am certain, that they will not suffer per
sonal dissatisfactions to endanger the re
publican cause. Their principles, I know, are
far above all private considerations. And
when we reflect that the eyes of the virtuous
all over the earth are turned with anxiety
on us, as the only depositories of the sacred
fire of liberty, and that our falling into an
archy would decide forever the destinies of
mankind, and seal the political heresy that
man is incapable of self-government, the
only contest between divided friends should
be who will dare farthest into the ranks of
the common enemy. — To JOHN HOLLINS. v,
596. (M., 1811.)
3270. FRIENDS, Separation of .—No one
feels more painfully than I do, the separation
of friends, and especially when their sen
sibilities are to be daily harrowed up by
cannibal newspapers. In these cases, how
ever, I claim from all parties the privilege
of neutrality, and to be permitted to esteem
all as I ever did. The harmony which made
me happy while at Washington, is as dear
to me now as then, and I should be equally
afflicted, were it, by any circumstance, to be
impaired as to myself. — To ALBERT GALLATIN.
v, 588. (M., April 1811.)
3271. . Near friends, falling out,
never reunite cordially. — To A. DONALD, ii,
356. (P., 1788.)
3272. FRIENDS, Wounded.— Sincerely
the friend of all the parties, I ask of none
why they have fallen out by the way, and
would gladly infuse the oil and wine of the
Samaritan into all their wounds. I hope
that time, the assuager of all evils, will heal
these also ; and I pray for them all a contin
uance of their affection, and to be permitted
to bear to all the same unqualified esteem. —
To JOHN HOLLINS. v. 596. (M., 1811.)
3273. FRIENDSHIP, Affectionate.—
The happiest moments my heart knows are
those in which it is pouring forth its af
fections to a few esteemed characters. —
To MRS. TRIST. D. L. J., 84. (1786.)
3274. FRIENDSHIP, Ambition and.—
I had rather be shut up in a very modest cot
tage, with my books, my family and a few
old friends, dining on simple bacon, and
letting the world roll on as it liked than to
occupy the most splendid post which any
human power can give. — To A. DONALD, ii,
356. (P., 1788.)
3275. FRIENDSHIP, Ancient.— I enjoy,
in recollection, my ancient friendships, and
suffer no new circumstances to mix alloy
with them.— To DAVID HOWELL. v, 555.
(M., 1810.)
3276. FRIENDSHIP, Broken.— The late
misunderstandings at Washington have been
Friendship
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
364
a subject of real concern to me. I know that
the dissolutions of personal friendship are
among the most painful occurrences in
human life. I have sincere esteem for all who
have been affected by them, having passed
with them eight years of great harmony and
affection. These incidents are rendered
more distressing in our country than else
where, because our printers ravin on the
agonies of their victims, as wolves do on
the blood of the lamb. — To JAMES MONROE.
v, 598. FORD ED., ix, 323. (M., May 1811.)
3277. FRIENDSHIP, Comforts of.—
What an ocean is life ! And how our barks
get separated in beating through it ! One of the
greatest comforts of the retirement to which
I shall soon withdraw will be its rejoining
me to my earliest and best friends, and ac
quaintances.— To ST. GEORGE TUCKER. FORD
ED., vi, 425. (Pa., 1793.)
3378. . The only thing wanting
to make me completely happy, is the more
frequent society of my friends. It is the more
wanting, as I am become more firmly fixed
to the glebe.— To W. B. GILES, iv, 118.
FORD ED., vii, 12. (M., 1795.)
3279. . So long a time has
elapsed since we have been separated by
events, that your favor was like a letter from
the dead, and recalled to my memory very
dear recollections. My subsequent journey
through life has offered nothing which, in
comparison with those, is not cheerless and
dreary. It is a rich comfort sometimes to
look back on them. — To T. LOMAX. iv,
300. FORD ED., vii, 373. (M., 1799.)
3280. FRIENDSHIP, Early.— As I grow
older, I set a higher value on the intimacies
of my youth, and am more afflicted by what
ever loses one of them to me. — To A. DON
ALD, ii, 193. FORD ED., iv, 413. (P., 1787.)
3281. - — . I find as I grow older,
that I love those most whom I loved first. —
To MRS. BOWLING. FORD ED., iv, 412.
(1787.)
3282. . The fond recollections of
ancient times are much dearer to me than
anything I have known since. * * * No
attachments soothe the mind so much as
those contracted in early life. — To A. DON
ALD, ii, 356. (P., 1788.)
3283. FRIENDSHIP, Enduring.— I
never considered a difference of opinion in
politics, in religion, in philosophy, as cause
for withdrawing from a friend. — To WILL
IAM HAMILTON. FORD ED., vii, 441. (Pa.,
1800.)
3284. . Difference of opinion
was never, with me, a motive of separation
from a friend. In the trying times of Fed
eralism, I never left a friend. Many left
me, have since returned, and been received
with open arms.— To PRESIDENT MONROE.
FORD ED., x, 298. (M., 1824.)
3285. FRIENDSHIP, False national.—
No circumstances of morality, honor, in
terest, or engagement are sufficient to author
ize a secure reliance on any nation, at all
times, and in all positions. A moment of
difficulty, or a moment of error, may render
forever useless the most friendly dispositions
in the King, in the major part of his minis
ters, and the whole of his nation. — To JOHN
JAY. ii, 304. (P., 1787.)
3286. FRIENDSHIP, Honest national.
— Honest friendship with all nations, entan
gling alliances with none, I deem [one of
the] essential principles of our government
and, consequently, [one] which ought to
shape its administration. — FIRST INAUGU
RAL ADDRESS, viii, 4. FORD ED., viii, 4.
(1801.)
3287. . We have endeavored to
cultivate the friendship of all nations. —
SECOND INAUGURAL ADDRESS, viii, 40. FORD
ED., viii, 343. (1805.)
3288. FRIENDSHIP, Precious.— Friend
ship is precious, not only in the shade,
but in the sunshine of life; and thanks to a
benevolent arrangement of things, the greater
part of life is sunshine. — To MRS. COS-
WAY, ii, 39. FORD ED., iv, 319. (P.)
3289. FRIENDSHIP, Private.— I de
clare to you that I have never suffered po
litical opinion to enter into the estimate of
my private friendships; nor did I ever ab
dicate the society of a friend on that account
till he had first withdrawn from mine. Many
have left me on that account, but with many
I still preserve affectionate intercourse, only
avoiding to speak on politics, as with a
Quaker or Catholic I would avoid speaking
on religion.— To J. F. MERCER, iv, 563. (W.,
1804.)
3290. FRIENDSHIP, Qualities of.—
Wealth, title, office are no recommendations
to my friendship. On the contrary, great
good qualities are requisite to make amends
for their having wealth, title and office. —
To MRS. COSWAY. ii, 41. FORD ED., iv, 321.
(P., 1786.)
3291. FRIENDSHIP, Value of.— That
is a miserable arithmetic which could estimate
friendship at nothing, or at less than nothing.
— To MRS. COSWAY. ii, 39. FORD ED., iv,
319. (P., 1786.)
3292. FRIENDSHIP, Like wine.— I find
friendship to be like wine, raw when new,
ripened with age, the true old man's milk
and restorative cordial. — To DR. BENJAMIN
RUSH, vi, 4. FORD ED., ix, 329. (P.F., 1811.)
3293. FRIENDSHIP, Youthful.— The
friendships of my youth are those which ad
here closest to me, and in which I most con
fide.— To JOHN PAGE, i, 399. (P., 1785.)
3294. . I find in old age that the
impressions of youth are the deepest and
most indelible. Some friends, indeed, have
left me by the way, seeking by a different
political path, the same object, their country's
good, which I pursued with the crowd along
the common highway. It is a satisfaction. to
365
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Friendship
me that I was not the first to leave them. I
have never thought that a difference in polit
ical, any more than in religious opinions,
should disturb the friendly intercourse of so
ciety. There are so many other topics on
which friends may converse and be happy,
that it is wonderful they would select, of
preference, the only one on which they cannot
agree. — To DAVID CAMPBELL, v, 499. (M.,
1810.)
3295. FRIENDSHIP WITH ENG
LAND, Advantages.— -Both the United
States and England ought to wish for peace
and cordial friendship ; we, because you can
do us more harm than any other nation ; and
you, because we can do you more good than
any other. Our growth is now so well es
tablished by regular enumerations through a
course of forty years, and the same grounds
of continuance so likely to endure for a much
longer period, that, speaking in round num
bers, we may safely call ourselves twenty
millions in twenty years, and forty millions
in forty years. Many of the statesmen now
living saw the commencement of the first
term, and many now living will see the end
of the second. It is not then a mere concern
of posterity ; a third of those now in life will
see that day. Of what importance, then, to
you must such a nation be, whether as
friends or foes. — To SIR JOHN SINCLAIR, vii,
22. (M., 1816.)
3296. FRIENDSHIP WITH ENG
LAND, Advocates and antagonists. — That
[friendly] dispositions [towards Great Brit
ain] have been strong on our part in every
administration from the first to the present
one, that we would at any time have gone
our full half way to meet them, if a single
step in advance had been taken by the other
party, I can affirm of my own intimate
knowledge of the fact. During the first year
of my own administration, I thought I dis
covered in the conduct of Mr. Addington
some marks of comity towards us. and a
willingness to extend to us the decencies and
duties observed towards other nations. My
desire to catch at this, and to improve it for
the benefit of my own country, induced me,
in addition to the official declarations from
the Secretary of State, to write with my own
hand to Mr. King, then our Minister Pleni
potentiary at London, in the following words :
[See 3299.] My expectation was that Mr.
King would show this letter to Mr. Adding
ton. and that it would be received by him as
an overture towards a cordial understanding
between the two countries. He left the min
istry, however, and I never heard more of
it. and certainly never perceived any good
effect from it. I know that in the present
temper, the boastful, the insolent, and the
mendacious newspapers, on both sides, will
present serious impediments. Ours will be in
sulting your public authorities, and boasting
of victories; and yours will not be sparing
of provocations and abuse of us. But if those
at our helms could not place themselves
above these pitiful notices, and throwing aside
all personal feelings, look only to the in
terest of their nations, they would be un
equal to the trusts confided to them. I am
equally confident, on our part, in the adminis
tration now in place, as in that which will
succeed it; and that if friendship is not here
after sincerely cultivated, it will not be their
fault. * * * Although what I write is
from no personal privity with the views or
wishes of our government, yet believing
them to be what they ought to be, and con
fident in their wisdom and integrity, I am
sure I hazard no deception in what I have
said of them, and I shall be happy indeed
if some good shall result to both our coun
tries. — To SIR JOHN SINCLAIR, vii, 23. (M.,
1816.)
3297. FRIENDSHIP WITH ENG
LAND, Common interest. — No two coun
tries upon earth have so many points of com
mon interest and friendship; and the rulers
must be great bunglers indeed, if, with such
dispositions, they break them asunder. — To
JAMES MONROE, v, 12. FORD ED., viii, 449.
(W., May 1806.)
3298. FRIENDSHIP WITH ENG
LAND, Cultivation of.— As to the duties of
your office [Minister to England], I shall only
express a desire that they be constantly exer
cised in that spirit of sincere friendship which
we bear to the English nation, and that in all
transactions with the minister, his good dis
positions be conciliated by whatever in lan
guage or attentions may tend to that effect. —
To THOMAS PINCKNEY. iii, 441. FORD ED.,
vi, 75. (Pa., 1792.)
3299. - — . I hope that through your
agency we may be able to remove everything
inauspicious to a cordial friendship between
this country and the one in which you are
stationed; a friendship dictated by too many
considerations not to be felt by the wise and
the dispassionate of both nations. It is,
therefore, with the sincerest pleasure I have
observed on the part of the British govern
ment various manifestations of just and
friendly disposition towards us.* We wish
to cultivate peace and friendship with all na
tions, believing that course most conducive to
the welfare of our own. It is natural that
these friendships should bear some propor
tion to the common interests of the parties.
The interesting relations between Great
Britain and the United States are certainly
of the first order ; and as such are estimated,
and will be faithfully cultivated by us.
These sentiments have been communicated to
you from time to time in the official corre
spondence of the Secretary of State; but I
have thought it might not be unacceptable to
*In the Ford edition, it is noted that in the draft
of the letter to Mr. King, the following paragraph is
stricken out : "These seeds are not sown in barren
ground. I have too high an opinion of the under
standing of those at the helm of British affairs to sup
pose they judge of the dispositions of this adminis
tration from the miserable trash of the public papers ;
and I trust they have more respect for our under
standings than to suppose we are Gallomen or An-
glomen, or anything but Americans and the friends
of our friends, Peace and friendship are essential
with all other nations."— EDITOR
Friendship
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
366
be assured that they perfectly concur with
my own personal convictions, both in relation
to yourself and the country in which you are.
To RUFUS KING, iv, 444. FORD ED., viii,
163. (W., July 1802.)
3300. FRIENDSHIP WITH ENG
LAND, Desired. — Would to God that nation
[England] would so far be just in her con
duct, as that we might with honor give her
that friendship it is so much our interest to
bear her.— To JAMES MADISON. FORD ED.,
viii, 300. (M., April 1804.)
3301. . Instead of fearing and
endeavoring to crush our prosperity, had the
British cultivated it in friendship, it might
have become a bulwark instead of a breaker
to them. There has never been an adminis
tration in this country which would not
gladly have met them more than half way on
the road to an equal, a just and solid con
nection of friendship and intercourse. And
as to repressing our growth, they might as
well attempt to repress the waves of the
ocean.— To JOHN MELISH. vi, 403. (M., 1814.)
3302. . No one feels more indig
nation than myself when reflecting on the
insults and injuries of that country to this.
But the interests of both require that these
should be left to history, and in the meantime
be smothered in the living mind. I have,
indeed, little personal concern in it. Time
is drawing her curtain on me. But I should
make my bow with more satisfaction, if I
had more hope of seeing our countries shake
hands together cordially.— To JAMES MAURY.
vi, 469. (M., June 1815.)
3303. FRIENDSHIP WITH ENG
LAND, Her advantage. — If the British
adopt a course of friendship with us, the com
merce of one hundred millions of people,
which some now born will live to see, will
maintain them forever as a great unit of the
European family. But if they go on check
ing, irritating, injuring, and hostilizing us,
they will force on us the motto " Carthago de-
Icnda est ". And some Scipio Americanus will
leave to posterity the problem of conjecturing
where stood once the ancient and splendid
city of London. * * * I hope the good
sense of both parties will concur in travelling
rather the paths of peace, of affection, and
reciprocations of interests. — To C. F. GRAY.
vi, 439- (M., 1815.)
3304. FRIENDSHIP WITH ENG
LAND, How obtained. — But is their friend
ship to be obtained by the irritating policy of
fomenting among us party discord, and a teas
ing opposition ; by bribing traitors, whose sale
of themselves proves they would sell their
purchasers also, if their treacheries were
worth a price? How much cheaper would it
be, how much easier, more honorable, more
magnanimous and secure, to gain the gov
ernment itself by a moral, a friendly and re
spectful course of conduct, which is all they
would ask for a cordial and faithful re
turn.— To SIR JOHN SINCLAIR, vii, 22. (M.
1816.)
3305. FRIENDSHIP WITH ENG
LAND, Influence of George III. — Circum
stances have nourished between our kindred
countries angry dispositions which both
ought long since to have banished from their
bosoms. I have ever considered a cordial af
fection as the first interest of both. No nation
on earth can hurt us so much as yours, none
be more useful to you than ours. The obstacle,
we have believed, was in the obstinate and
unforgiving temper of your late King, and
a continuance of his prejudices kept up from
habit, after he was withdrawn from power.
I hope I now see symptoms of sounder views
in your government ; in which I know it will
be cordially met by purs, as it would have
been by every administration which has ex
isted under our present Constitution. None
desired it more cordially than myself, what
ever different opinions were impressed on
your government by a party who wishes to
have its weight in their scale as its exclusive
friends. — To MR. ROSCOE. vii, 196. (M.,
1820.)
3306. FRIENDSHIP WITH ENG
LAND, Mr. Merry and.— I thought that in
the administration of Mr. Addington, I dis
covered some dispositions towards justice,
and even friendship and respect for us, and
began to pave the way for cherishing these
dispositions, and improving them into ties of
mutual good-will. But we had then a Fed
eral minister there, whose dispositions to be
lieve himself, and to inspire others with a
belief in our sincerity, his subsequent con
duct has brought into doubt ; and poor Merry,
the English minister here, had learned noth
ing of diplomacy but its suspicions, without
head enough to distinguish when they were
misplaced. Mr. Addington and Mr. Fox
passed away too soon to avail the two coun
tries of their dispositions. — To JAMES MAURY.
vi, 53. FORD ED., ix, 350. (M., April 1812.)
3307. FRIENDSHIP WITH ENG
LAND, Mutual interest. — Time and pru
dence on the part of the two governments
may get over these [irritations, produced by
the war of 1812]. Manifestations of cor
diality between them, friendly and kind offices
made visible to the people on both sides, will
mollify their feelings, and second the wishes
of their functionaries to cultivate peace and
promote mutual interest. — To SIR JOHN SIN
CLAIR, vii, 23. (M., 1816.)
3308. FRIENDSHIP WITH ENG
LAND, Obstacles to.— The war interests in
England include a numerous and wealthy
part of their population ; and their influence
is deemed worth courting by ministers wish
ing to keep their places. Continually en
dangered by a powerful opposition, they find
it convenient to humor the popular passions
at the expense of the public good. The ship
ping interest, commercial interest, and their
janizaries of the navy, all fattening on war,
will not be neglected by ministers of ordi
nary minds. Their tenure of office is so in
firm that they dare not follow the dictates of
wisdom, justice, and the well-calculated in-
367
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Friendship
Fugitives
terests of their country. This vice in the
English constitution, renders a dependence on
that government very unsafe. The feelings
of their King, too, fundamentally adverse to
us, have added another motive for unfriendli
ness in his ministers. This obstacle to friend
ship, however, seems likely to be soon re
moved ; and I verily believe the successor will
come in with fairer and wiser dispositions
towards us; perhaps on that event their con
duct may be changed. — To THOMAS LAW. v,
556. FORD ED., ix, 293. (M., 1811.)
3309. - — . Instead of cultivating the
government itself, whose principles are those
of the great mass of the nation, they [the
British Ministry] have adopted the miserable
policy of teasing and embarrassing it, by al
lying themselves with a faction here [the
monarchical Federalists], not a tenth of the
people, noisy and unprincipled, and which can
never come into power while republicanism is
the spirit of the nation, and that must con
tinue to be so, until such a condensation of
population shall have taken place as will re
quire centuries. Whereas, the good will of
the government itself would give them, and
immediately, every benefit which reason or
justice would permit it to give. — To THOMAS
LAW. v, 556. FORD ED., ix, 292. (M., 1811.)
3310. FRIENDSHIP WITH ENG
LAND, Price of.— What is the price we ask
for our friendship? Justice, and the comity
usually observed between nation and nation.
Would there not be more of dignity in this,
more character and satisfaction, than in her
teasings and harrassings, her briberies and in
trigues, to sow party discord among us, which
can never have more effect here than the
opposition within herself has there; which
can never obstruct the begetting children, the
efficient source of growth ; and by nourishing
a deadly hatred, will only produce and hasten
events which both of us, in moments of sober
reflection, should deplore and deprecate ? One
half of the attention employed in decent ob
servances towards our Government, would be
worth more to her than all the Yankee duper
ies played off upon her, at a great expense
on her part of money and meanness, and of
nourishment to the vices and treacheries of
the Henrys and Hulls of both nations. — To
JAMES MAURY. vi. 468. (M., 1815.)
3311. FRIENDSHIP WITH ENG
LAND, Sacrifices for.— There is not a na
tion on the globe with whom I have more
earnestly wished a friendly intercourse on
equal conditions. On no other would I hold
out the hand of friendship to any. I know
that their creatures represent me as person
ally an enemy to England. But fools only
can believe this, or those who think me a
fool. I am an enemy to her insults and in
juries. I am an enemy to the flagitious princi
ples of her administration, and to those which
govern her conduct towards other nations.
But would she give to morality some place
in her political code, and especially should
she exercise decency, and at least neutral
passions towards us, there is not, I repeat
it, a people on earth with whom I would sac
rifice so much to be in friendship. — To
CESAR A. RODNEY, vi, 449. (M., March
1815-)
3312. FRIENDSHIP WITH ENG
LAND, Value of. — No man was more sensi
ble than myself of the just value of the
friendship of Great Britain. There are be
tween us so many of those circumstances
which naturally produce and cement kind dis
positions, that if they could have forgiven
our resistance to their usurpations, our con
nections might have been durable, and have
insured duration to both our governments.
I wished, therefore, a cordial friendship with
them, and I spared no occasion of manifest
ing this in our correspondence and inter
course with them; not disguising, however,
my desire of friendship with their enemy
also. During the administration of Mr. Ad-
dington, I thought I discovered some friendly
symptoms on the part of that government;
at least, we received some marks of respect
from the administration, and some of regret
at the wrongs we were suffering from
their country. So, also, during the short in
terval of Mr. Fox's power. But every other
administration since our Revolution has been
equally wanton in their injuries and insults,
and have manifested equal hatred and aver
sion. — To THOMAS LAW. v, 555. FORD ED.,
ix, 292. (M., 1811.)
3313. . I reciprocate congratula
tions with you sincerely on the restoration of
peace between our two nations. * * *
Let both parties now count soberly the value
of mutual friendship. I am satisfied both
will find that no advantage either can derive
from any act of injustice whatever will be
of equal value with those flowing from
friendly intercourse. — To SIR JOHN SINCLAIR.
vii, 22. (M., 1816.)
3314. FRUGALITY, Advocated.— Would
a missionary appear, who would make
frugality the basis of his religious system,
and go through the land preaching it up as
the only road to salvation, I would join his
school, though not generally disposed to seek
my religion out of the dictates of my own
reason, and feelings of my own heart. — To
JOHN PAGE, i, 550. FORD ED., iv, 214. (P.,
1786.)
3315. FRUGALITY, Government and. —
What more is necessary to make us a happy
and prosperous people? Still one thing
more: a wise and frugal Government, which
shall restrain men from injuring one another,
which shall leave them otherwise free to reg
ulate their own pursuits of industry and im
provement, and shall not take from the
mouth of labor the bread it has earned. This
is the sum of good government, and this is
necessary to close the circle of our felicities.
— FIRST INAUGURAL ADDRESS, viii, 3. FORD
ED., viii, 4. (1801.)
3316. FUGITIVES, Debtors.— In the case
of fugitive debtors and criminals, it is always
well that coterminous States should under-
Fugitives
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
368
stand one another, as far as their ideas on
the rightful powers of government can be
made to go together. When they separate,
the cases may be left unprovided for. — To
MESSRS. CARMICHAEL AND SHORT, iii, 349.
(Pa., 1792.)
3317. FUGITIVES, England and.— Eng
land has no such convention with any nation,
and their laws have given no power to their
Executive to surrender fugitives of any de
scription ; they are accordingly constantly re
fused, and hence England has been the
asylum of the Paolis, the La Mottes, the
Calonnes, in short, of the most atrocious of
fenders as well as the most innocent victims,
who have been able to get there. — To PRESI
DENT WASHINGTON, iii, 299. FORD ED., v,
386. (Pa., 1791.)
3318. FUGITIVES, Exile and.— Does the
fugitive from his country avoid punishment?
He incurs exile, not voluntary, but under a
moral necessity, as strong as physical. Exile,
in some countries, has been the highest pun
ishment allowed by the laws. To most minds
it is next to death ; to many beyond it. The
fugitive, indeed, is not of the latter : he must
estimate it somewhat less than death. It may
be said that to some, as foreigners, it is no
punishment. — REPORT ON SPANISH CONVEN
TION, iii, 353. FORD ED., v, 483. (1792.)
3319. FUGITIVES, Mariners.— When
the consular convention with France was
under consideration, this subject was attended
to; but we could agree to go no further than
is done in the ninth article of that instru
ment, when we agree mutually to deliver
up " captains, officers, mariners, sailors, and
all other persons being part of the crews of
vessels ", &c. Unless, therefore, the persons
before named* be part of the crew of some
vessel of the French nation, no person in
this country is authorized to deliver them up ;
but, on the contrary, they are under the
protection of the laws. — To E. C. GENET.
FORD ED., vi, 426. (Pa., Sep. 1793.)
3320. FUGITIVES, Murderers.— Any
person having committed murder of malice
prepense, not of the nature of treason, within
the United States or the Spanish provinces
adjoining thereto, and fleeing from the jus
tice of the country, shall be delivered up by
the government where he shall be found, to
that from which he fled, whenever demanded
by the same. — PROJECT OF A SPANISH CON
VENTION, iii, 350. FORD ED., v, 485. (1792.)
3321. . Murder is one of the ex
treme crimes justifying a denial of habitation,
arrest and redelivery. It should be care
fully restrained by definition to homicide of
malice prepense, and not of the nature of
treason. * * * The only rightful subject
then of arrest and delivery, for which we
have need [to provide by convention], is
murder. — REPORT ON SPANISH CONVENTION.
iii, 352. FORD ED., v, 482. (1792.)
* M. Genet had requested the delivery of several
persons u escaped from the ship Jupiter, and from
the punishment of crime committed against the Re
public of France ".—EDITOR.
3322. FUGITIVES, Political.— However
desirable it be that the perpetrators of crimes,
acknowledged to be such by all mankind,
should be delivered up to punishment, yet it is
extremely difficult to draw the line between
those and acts rendered criminal by tyran
nical laws only; hence the first step always,
is a convention defining the cases where a
surrender shall take place. — To PRESIDENT
WASHINGTON, iii, 300. FORD ED., v, 386.
(Pa., 1791.)
3323. FUGITIVES, Protection of .—The
laws of this country take no notice of crimes
committed out of their jurisdiction. The
most atrocious offender coming within their
pale, is received by them as an innocent man,
and they have authorized no one to seize or
deliver him. The evil of protecting malefac
tors of every dye is sensibly felt here, as in
other countries ; but until a reformation of
the criminal codes of most nations, to deliver
fugitives from them, would be to become
their accomplices ; the former, therefore, is
viewed as the lesser evil. — To EDMOND
CHARLES GENET. FORD ED., vi, 426. (Pa.,
Sep. 1793.)
3324. FUGITIVES, Punishment of .—All
excess of punishment is a crime. To remit
a fugitive to excessive punishment, is to be
accessory to the crime. Ought we to wish for
the obligation, or the right to do it? Better
on the whole, to consider these crimes as
sufficiently punished by the exile. — REPORT ON
SPANISH CONVENTION, iii, 354. FORD ED., v,
484. (1792.)
3325. FUGITIVES, Rights of.— Has a
nation a right to punish a person who has
not offended itself? Writers on the law of
nature agree that it has not; that on the
contrary, exiles and fugitives are to them
as other strangers, and have a right of resi
dence, unless their presence would be nox
ious; e. g., infectious persons. One writer,
(Vattel, L. I. 5, 233.) extends the exception
to atrocious criminals, too imminently dan
gerous to society ; namely, to pirates, murder
ers, and incendiaries. — REPORT ON SPANISH
CONVENTION, iii, 352. FORD ED., v, 481.
(1792.)
3326. FUGITIVES, Slaves.— Complaint
has been made by the representatives of
Spain that certain individuals of Georgia en
tered the State of Florida, and without any
application to the Government, seized and
carried into Georgia, certain persons, whom
they claimed to be their slaves. This aggres
sion was thought the more of, as there exists
a convention between that government and
the United States against receiving fugitive
slaves. The minister of France has com
plained that the master of an American ves
sel, while lying within a harbor of St. Do
mingo, having enticed some negroes on
board his vessel, under pretext of employ
ment, brought them off, and sold them in
Georgia as slaves. I. Has the General Gov
ernment cognizance of these offences? 2. If
it has, is any law already provided for try-
369
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Fugitives
Fur trade
ing and punishing them? i. The Constitu
tion says *' Congress shall have power to lay
and collect taxes, duties, imposts and excises,
to pay the debts, &c., provide for the common
defence and general welfare of the United
States ". I do not consider this clause as
reaching the point. * * * The Constitu
tion says further, that Congress shall have
power to " define and punish piracies and
felonies committed on the high seas, and of
fences against the law of nations ". These
offences were not committed on the high
seas, and consequently not within that
branch of the clause. Are they against the
law of nations, taken as it may be in its whole
extent, as founded, ist, in nature; 2d, usage;
3d, convention. So much may be said in the
affirmative, that the legislators ought to send
the case before the judiciary for discussion ;
and the rather, when it is considered that
unless the offenders can be punished under
this clause, there is no other which goes di
rectly to their case, and consequently our
peace with foreign nations will be constantly
at the discretion of individuals. 2. Have the
legislators sent this question before the
Courts by any law already provided? The
act of 1789, chapter 20, section 9, says the
district courts shall have cognizance con
current with the courts of the several States,
or the circuit courts, of all causes, where an
alien sues for a tort only, in violation of
the law of nations; but what if there be no
alien whose interest is such as to support
an action for the tort? — which is precisely
the case of the aggression on Florida. If
the act in describing the jurisdiction of the
Courts, had given them cognizance of pro
ceedings by way of indictment or information
against offenders under the law of nations, for
the public wrong, and on the public behalf,
as well as to an individual for the special tort,
it would have been the thing desired. The
same act, section 13, says, the " Supreme
Court shall have exclusively all such jurisdic
tion of suits or proceedings against am
bassadors, or other public ministers, or their
domestics or domestic servants, as a court of
law can have or exercise consistently, with
the law of nations ". Still this is not the case,
no ambassador, &c., being concerned here. I
find nothing else in the law applicable to this
question, and therefore presume the case is
still to be provided for, and that this may be
done by enlarging the jurisdiction of the
courts, so that they may sustain indictments
and informations on the public behalf, for
offences against the law of nations.* — OPIN
ION ON FUGITIVE SLAVES, vii, 601. FORD ED.,
vi, 141. (1792.)
3327. FUGITIVES, Treaties Respect
ing. — Two neighboring and free governments,
with laws equally mild and just, would find
* Jefferson added at a later period: " On further
examination it does appear that the nth section of
the Judiciary Act, above cited, gives to the circuit
courts exclusively, cognizance or all crimes and of
fences cognizable under the authority of the United
States, and not otherwise provided for. This removes
the difficulty, however, but one step further; for ques
tions then arise, ist: What is the peculiar character
of the offence in question ; to wit, treason, felony,
no difficulty in forming a convention for the
interchange of fugitive criminals. Nor
would two neighboring despotic governments,
with laws of equal severity. The latter wish
that no door should be opened to their sub
jects flying from the oppression of their
laws. The fact is^ that most of the govern
ments on the continent of Europe have such
conventions; but England, the only free one
till lately, has never yet consented to enter
into a convention for this purpose, or to give
up a fugitive. The difficulty between a free
government and a despotic one, is indeed
great. — To GOVERNOR PINCKNEY. iii, 346.
FORD ED., v, 492. (1792.)
3328. FUNDING, Posterity and.— The
principle of spending money to be paid by
posterity, under the name of funding, is but
swindling futurity on a large scale. — To JOHN
TAYLOR, vi, 608. FORD ED., x, 31. (M.,
1816.)
3329. FUNDING, Redemption and.—
Funding I consider as limited, rightfully, to
a redemption of the debt within the lives of a
majority of the generation contracting it;
every generation coming equally, by the laws
of the Creator of the world, to the free
possession of the earth He made for their sub
sistence, unincumbered by their predecessors,
who, like them, were but tenants for life. — To
JOHN TAYLOR, vi, 605. FORD ED., x, 28.
(M., May 1816.) See ASSUMPTION OF
STATE DEBTS, DEBT, GENERATIONS, and HAM
ILTON.
3330. FUR TRADE, Aid to Astor.— I
learn with great satisfaction the disposition of
our merchants to form into companies for un
dertaking the Indian trade within our own
territories. I have been taught to believe it
an advantageous one for the individual adven
turers, and I consider it as highly desirable to
have that trade centered in the hands of our
own citizens. * * * All beyond the Missis
sippi is ours exclusively, and it will be in our
own power to give our own traders great advan
tages over their foreign competitors on this
side the Mississippi. You may be assured that
in order to get the whole of this business
passed into the hands of our own citizens, and
to oust foreign traders, who so much abuse
their privilege by endeavoring to excite the In
dians to war on us, every reasonable patronage
and facility in the power of the Executive will
be afforded. — To JOHN JACOB ASTOR. v, 269.
(W., 1808.)
3331. — — .A powerful company is
at length forming for taking up the Indian
commerce on a large scale. They will employ
a capital the first year of $.300,000, and raise it
afterwards to a million. The English Macki-
nac company will probably withdraw from the
competition. It will be under the direction of
a most excellent man, a Mr. Astor, merchant of
New York, long engaged in the business, and
perfectly master of it. He has some hope of
seeing you at St. Louis, in which case I recom
mend him to your particular attention. Noth
ing but the exclusive possession of the Indian
commerce can secure us their peace. — To MERI-
WF.THER LEWIS. V, 321. FORD ED., IX, IQO.
(W., July 1808.)
misdemeanor, or trespass ? ad. What is its specific
punishment, capital or what? sd. Whence is the venue
to come ? "—EDITOR.
Fur trade
Gage (General Thomas)
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
370
3332. FUR TRADE, Difficulties in.— I
am sorry your enterprise for establishing a fac
tory on the Columbia river, and a commerce
through the line of that river and the Missouri,
should meet with the difficulties stated in your
letter. I remember well having invited your
proposition on that subject, and encouraged it
with the assurance of every facility and pro
tection which the government could properly
afford. I considered as a great public acqui
sition the commencement of a settlement on
that point of the Western coast of America,
and looked forward with gratification to the
time when its descendants should have spread
themselves through the whole length of that
coast, covering it with free and independent
Americans, unconnected with us but by the ties
of blood and interest, and employing like us
the rights of self-government. I hope the
obstacles you state are not insurmountable ;
that they will not endanger, or even delay the
accomplishment of so great a public purpose. —
To JOHN JACOB ASTOR. vi, 55. FORD ED., ix,
351. (M., May 1812.)
3333. FUR TRADE, Great Britain and.
— In the present state of affairs between Great
Britain and us, the government is justly jeal
ous of the contraventions of those commercial
restrictions which have been deemed necessary
to exclude the use of British manufactures in
these States, and to promote the establishment
of similar ones among ourselves. The in
terests, too, of the revenue require particular
watchfulness. But in the non-importation
of British manufactures, and the revenue
raised on foreign goods, the Legislature
could only have in view the consumption
of our own citizens, and the revenue to be
levied on that. We certainly did not mean to
interfere with the consumption of nations for
eign to us, as the Indians of the Columbia and
Missouri are, or to assume a right of levying
an impost on that consumption ; and if the
words of the laws take in their supplies in
either view, it was probably unintentional, and
because their case not being under the con
templation of the Legislature, has been inad
vertently embraced by it. The question with
them would be not what manufactures these
nations should use, or what taxes they should
pay us on them, but whether we would give a
transit for them through our country. We
have a right to say we will not let the British
exercise that transit. But it is our interest,
as well as a neighborly duty, to allow it when
exercised by our own citizens only. To guard
against any surreptitious introduction of Brit
ish influence among those nations, we may
justifiably require that no Englishman be per
mitted to go with the trading parties, and
necessary precautions should also be taken to
prevent this covering the contravention of our
own laws and views. But these once securely
guarded, our interest would permit the transit
free of duty. — To JOHN JACOB ASTOR. vi, 5^.
FORD ED., ix, 351. (M., May 1812.)
3334. FUTURE, Dreams of.— I like the
dreams of the future better than the history of
the past. — To JOHN ADAMS, vii, 27. (M..
1816.)
3335. FUTURE LIFE, Belief in.— Your
son found me in a retirement I doat on, liv
ing like an antediluvian patriarch among my
children and grandchildren, and tilling my soil.
As he had lately come from Philadelphia,
Boston, &c., he was able to give me a great deal
of information of what is passing in the world,
and I pestered him with questions pretty much
as our friends Lynch, Nelson, &c., will [pester]
us, when we step across, the Styx, for they will
wish to know what has been passing above
ground since they left us. — To EDWARD RUT-
LEDGE, iv, 124. FORD ED., vii, 39. (M., Nov.
I795-)
3336. . Your letter was like the
joy we expect in the mansions of the blessed,
when received with the embraces of our fa
thers, we shall be welcomed with their blessing
as having done our part not unworthily of
them. — To JOHN DICKINSON, iv, 365. FORD
ED., viii, 7. (W., March 1801.)
3337. FUTURE LIFE, Felicity of .—Per
haps one of the elements of future felicity is
to be a constant and unimpassioned view of
what is passing here. — To MRS. JOHN ADAMS.
vii, 53. FORD ED., x, 71. (M., 1817.)
3338. - . But these are specula
tions which we may as will deliver over to
those who are to see their development. We
shall only be lookers on, from the clouds above,
as now we look down on the laborers, the hurry
and bustle of the ants and bees. Perhaps in
that super-mundane region, we may be amused
with seeing the fallacy of our own guesses, and
even the nothingness of those labors, which
have filled and agitated our own time here. —
To JOHN ADAMS, vii, 105. FORD ED., x, 109.
(M., 1818.)
3339. FUTURE LIFE, Reunion.— Your
age of eighty-four and mine of eighty-one years
insure us a speedy meeting. We may then
commune at leisure, and more fully, on the
good and evil which, in the course of our long
lives, we have both witnessed. — To JOHN CART-
WRIGHT, vii, 361. (M., 1824.)
3340. GAGE (General Thomas), Ap
pointment.— The substitution of Gage for
Hutchinson was not intended as a favor, but,
by putting the civil government into military
hands, was meant to show they would enforce
their measures by arms. — NOTES ON M. SOULES'S
WTORK. ix, 300. FORD ED., iv, 307. (P., 1786.)
3341. GAGE (General Thomas), Op
pressor.— General Gage, by proclamation
bearing date the I2th day of June, after re
citing the grossest falsehoods and calumnies
against the good people of these Colonies,
proceeds to declare them all, either by name
or description, to be rebels and traitors, to
supersede the exercise of the common law of
the said province [Massachusetts], and to
proclaim and order instead thereof the use
and exercise of the law martial. This
bloody edict issued, he has proceeded to com
mit further ravages and murders in the same
province, burning the town of Charlestown,
attacking and killing great numbers of the
people residing or assembled therein; and is
now going on in an avowed course of mur
der and devastation, taking every occasion to
destroy the lives and properties of the in
habitants. To oppose his arms we also have
taken up arms. We should be wanting to
ourselves, we should be perfidious to pos
terity, we should be unworthy that free an
cestry from which we derive our descent,
should we submit with folded arms to mili
tary butchery and depredation, to gratify the
lordly ambition, or sate the avarice of a British
ministry. We do, then, most solemnly, be-
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Gallatin (Albert)
fore God and the world declare that, regard
less of every consequence, at the risk of
every distress, the arms we have been com
pelled to assume we will use with per
severance, exerting to their utmost energies
all those powers which our Creator hath
given us, to preserve that liberty which he
committed to us in sacred deposit and to pro
tect from every hostile hand our lives and our
properties. — DECLARATION ON TAKING UP
ARMS. FORD ED., i, 473- (July 1775- )
3342. GALLATIN (Albert), Ability.—
The ablest man except the President [Madison]
who was ever in the administration. — To WILL
IAM WIRT. v, 595. FORD ED., ix, 319. (Mv
May 1811.)
3343. , Our worthy, our able,
and excellent minister [to France]. — To F. H.
ALEXANDER VON HUMBOLDT. vii, 75. FORD ED.,
x, 89. (M., 1817.)
3344. GALLATIN (Albert), Advertis
ing for.— The minister for Geneva has desired
me to have enquiries made after the Mr. Gal
latin named in the within paper. I will pray
you to have the necessary advertisements in
serted in the papers, and to be so good as to
favor me with the result. — To JOHN JAY. i,
525. (P., 1786.)
3345. . I am to thank you on the
part of the minister of Geneva for the intelli
gence it contained on the subject of Gallatin,
whose relations will be relieved by the receipt
of it. — To JOHN JAY. i, 602. (P., 1786.)
3346. GALLATIN (Albert), Ark of
safety. — There is no truer man than Mr. Gal
latin, and after the President he is the ark of
our safety. — To DABNEY CARR. FORD ED., ix,
317. (M., 1811.)
3347. GALLATIN (Albert), Cabinet dis
sensions. — In the earlier part of the adminis
tration, you witnessed the malignant and
long continued efforts which the Federalists
exerted in their newspapers, to produce mis
understanding between Mr. Madison and my
self. Those failed completely. A like attempt
was afterwards made, through other channels,
to effect a similar purpose between General
Dearborn and myself, but with no more suc
cess. The machinations of the last session
to put you at cross purposes with us all, were
so obvious as to be seen at the first glance of
every eye. In order to destroy one member of
the administration, the whole were to be set to
loggerheads to destroy one another. I observe
in the papers lately, new attempts to revive
this stale artifice, and that they squint more
directly towards you and myself. I cannot,
therefore, be satisfied, till I declare to you ex
plicitly, that my affections and confidence in
you are nothing impaired, and that they cannot
be impaired by means so unworthy the notice
of candid and honorable minds. I make the
declaration, that no doubts or jealousies, which
often beget the facts they fear, may find a mo
ment's harbor in either of our minds. — To AL
BERT GALLATIN. v, 23. FORD ED., viii. 475. (W.,
Oct. 1806.)
3348. . I have reflected much
and painfully on the change of dispositions
which has taken place among the members of
the cabinet * * * . It would be, indeed, a
great public calamity were it to fix you in the
purpose you seemed to think possible [resig
nation]. I consider the fortunes of our repub
lic as depending, in an eminent degree, on the
extinguishment of the public debt before we
engage in any war : because, that done, we shall
have revenue enough to improve our country
in peace and defend it in war, without recur
ring either to new taxes or loans. But if the
debt should once more be swelled to a formid
able size, its entire discharge will be despaired
oi, and we shall be committed to the English
career of debt, corruption and rottenness, clos
ing with revolution. The discharge of the
debt, therefore, is vital to the destinies of our
government, and it hangs on Mr. Madison and
yourself alone. We shall never see another
President and Secretary of the Treasury ma
king all other objects subordinate to this. Were
either of you to be lost to the public, that great
hope is lost. I had always cherished the idea
that you would fix on that object the measure
of your fame, and of the gratitude which our
country will owe you. Nor can I yield up this
prospect to the secondary considerations which
assail your tranquillity. For, sure I am, they
never can produce any other serious effect.
Your value is too justly estimated by our fel
low citizens at large, as well as their func
tionaries, to admit any remissness in their sup
port of you. My opinion always was, that none
of us ever occupied stronger ground in the
esteem of Congress than yourself, and I am
satisfied there is no one who does not feel your
aid to be still as important for the future as
it has been for the past. You have nothing,
therefore, to apprehend in the dispositions of
Congress, and still less of the President, who,
above all men, is the most interested and affec
tionately disposed to support you. I hope, then,
you will abandon entirely the idea you ex
pressed to me, and that you will consider the
eight years to come as essential to your po
litical career. I should certainly consider any
earlier^ day of your retirement, as the most
inauspicious day our new government has ever
seen. In addition to the common interest in
this question, I feel particularly for myself the
considerations of gratitude which I personally
owe you for your valuable aid during my ad
ministration of public affairs, a just sense of
the large portion of the public approbation
which was earned by your labors and belongs
to you, and the sincere friendship and attach
ment which grew out of our joint exertions to
promote the common good. — To ALBERT GAL-
I.ATIN. v, 477. FORD ED., ix, 264. (M. Oct. 1809.)
3349. . The newspapers pretend
that Mr. Gallatin will go out [of the cabinet].
That indeed would be a day of mourning for
the United States. — To DR. WALTER JONES, v,
510. FORD ED., ix, 273. (M., 1810.)
3350. GALLATIN (Albert), Courage.— I
believe Mr. Gallatin to be of a pure integrity,
and as zealously devoted to the liberties and
interests of our country as its most affectionate
native citizen. Of this his courage in Con
gress in the days of terror, gave proofs which
nothing can obliterate from the recollection of
those who were witnesses of it. * * * An
intercourse, almost daily, of eight years with
him, has given me opportunities of knowing his
character more thoroughly than perhaps any
other man living. — To WILLIAM DUANE. v,
574. FORD ED., ix, 311. (M., 1811.)
3351. GALLATIN (Albert), Newspaper
attacks. — I have seen with infinite grief the
set which is made at you in the public papers,
and with the more as my name has been so
much used in it. I hope we both know one an
other too well to receive impression from
circumstances of this kind. A twelve years'
intimate and friendly intercourse must be bet-
Gallatin (Albert)
Generals
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
372
ter evidence to each of the dispositions of the
other than the letters of foreign ministers to
their courts, or tortured inferences from facts
true or false. I have too thorough a convic
tion of your cordial good will towards me, and
too strong a sense c t the faithful and able as
sistance I received from you, to relinquish
them on any evidence but of my own senses. —
To ALBERT GALLATIN. v, 538. (M., 1810.)
3352. GALLATIN (Albert), Support of
the bank. — Mr. Gallatin's support of the bank
has, I believe, been disapproved by many. He
was not in Congress when that was establishedj
and therefore had never committed himself,
publicly, on the constitutionality of that insti
tution, nor do I recollect ever to have heard
him declare himself on it. I know he derived
immense convenience from it, because they
gave the effect of ubiquity to his money wher
ever deposited. * * * He was, therefore,
cordial to the bank. I often pressed him to
divide the public deposits among all the re
spectable banks, being indignant myself at the
open hostility of that institution to a govern
ment on whose treasuries they were fattening.
But his repugnance to it prevented my per
sisting. And if he was in favor of the bank,
what is the amount of that crime or error in
which he had a majority, save one, in each
House of Congress as participators ? — To WILL
IAM WIRT. v, 595. FORD ED., ix, 318. (Ml,
May 1811.)
3353. GALLATIN (Albert), Tribute to.
— They say Mr. Gallatin was hostile to me.
This is false. I .was indebted to nobody for
more cordial aid [during my administration]
than to Mr. Gallatin, nor could any man more
solicitously interest himself in behalf of an
other than he did of myself. — To WILLIAM
WIRT. v, 594. FORD ED., ix, 318. (M., 1811.)
3354. GALLATIN (Albert), Usefulness.
— I congratulate you sincerely on your safe
return to your own country, and without know
ing your own wishes, mine are that you would
never leave it again. I know you would be use
ful to us at Paris, and so you would anywhere ;
but nowhere so useful as here. — To ALBERT
GALLATIN. vi, 498. (M., 1815.)
3355. GAMBLING, Evils of.— Gaming
corrupts our dispositions, and teaches us a
habit of hostility against all mankind. — To
MARTHA JEFFERSON. FORD ED., iv, 389.
(1787.)
— GARDENING.— See HORTICULTURE.
3356. GASTRONOMY, English.— I fancy
it must be the quantity of animal food eaten
by the English which renders their character
insusceptible of civilization. I suspect it is
in their kitchens, and not in their churches
that their reformation must be worked, and
that missionaries of that description from
hence [Paris] would avail more than those
who should endeavor to tame them by precepts
of religion or philosophy. — To MRS. JOHN AD
AMS. FORD ED., iv, 100. (P., 1785.)
3357. GASTRONOMY, French.— In the
pleasures of the table they [the French] are
far before us, because, with good taste they
unite temperance. They do not terminate the
most sociable meals by transforming themselves
into brutes. — To MR. BELLINI, i, 445. (P.,
1785.)
3358. GATES (General Horatio), Bat
tle of Camden. — Good dispositions and ar
rangements will not do without a certain de
gree of bravery and discipline in those who are
to carry them into execution. This, the men
whom you commanded, or the greater part of
them at least, unfortunately wanted on that
particular occasion. * I have not a doubt but
that, on a fair enquiry, the returning justice
of your countrymen will remind them of Sara
toga, and induce them to recognize your merits.
— To GENERAL GATES, i, 314. FORD ED., iii, 52.
(M., 1781.)
3359. GATES (General Horatio), Civil
office for.— General Gates would supply
Short's place in the Council very well, and
would act. — To JAMES MADISON. FORD ED iii
403. (A., Feb. 1784.)
3360. GEISMER (Baron), Friendship
for.— From a knowledge of the man I am
become interested in his happiness f To
RICHARD HENRY LEE. FORD EDV ii, 181. (M.
I779-)
3361. . Whether fortune means
to allow or deny me the pleasure of ever see
ing you again, be assured that the worth which
gave birth to my attachment, and which still
animates it, will continue to keep it up while
we both live. — To BARON GEISMER. i 428
(P., 1785.)
3362. GEM (Doctor), Solicitude for.— I
must ask you to see for me * * * and pre
sent my affectionate remembrances to him, Dr.
Gem, an old English physician in the Fau
bourg St. Germains, who practiced only for
his friends, and would take nothing, one of the
most sensible and worthy men I have ever
known. — To JAMES MONROE. FORD ED. vii
19. (M., 1795-)
3363. GENERALS, Brave.— Our militia
are heroes when they have heroes to lead
them.— To W. H. CRAWFORD, vi, 420. (FoRD
ED., ix, 504. (M., 1815.)
3364. GENERALS, Costly.— The seeing
whether our untried generals will stand proof
is a very dear operation. Two of them have
cost us a great many men. — To PRESIDENT
MADISON. FORD ED., ix, 370. (M. Nov
1812.)
3365. . The Creator has not
thought proper to mark those in the forehead
who are of stuff to make good generals. We
are first, therefore, to seek them blindfold,
and let them learn the trade at the expense
of great losses. — To GENERAL BAILEY, vi
100. (M., Feb. 1813.)
3366. . Our only hope is that
these misfortunes will at length elicit by trial
the characters qualified by nature from those
unqualified, to be entrusted with the destinies
of their fellow citizens. — To GENERAL ARM
STRONG. FORD ED., ix, 380. (M., Feb. 1813.)
3367. GENERALS, Discipline and.—
Good dispositions and arrangements will not
do without a certain degree of bravery and
discipline in those who are to carry them
into execution. — To GENERAL GATES, i, 314.
FORD ED., iii, 52. (1781.)
* Battle of Camden.— EDITOR.
t From a letter recommending Geismer's exchange
as a prisoner of war. He was one of the Hessian
generals. — EDITOR.
373
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Generals
3368. GENERALS, Discovering.— Our
war on the land has commenced most in-
auspiciously. I fear we are to expect re
verses until we can find out who are quali
fied for command, and until these can learn
their profession. — To WILLIAM DUANE. vi,
99. (M., Jan. 1813.)
3369. . It is unfortunate that
heaven has not set its stamp on the fore
heads of those whom it has qualified for
military achievement; that it has left us to
draw for them in a lottery of so many blanks
to a prize, and where the blank is to be man
ifested only by the public misfortunes. If
nature had planted the fccnuni in cornu on
the front of treachery, of cowardice, of im
becility, the unfortunate debut we have made
on the theatre of war would not have sunk
our spirits at home, and our character
abroad. — To GENERAL JOHN ARMSTRONG, vi,
103. (M., Feb. 1813.)
3370. . These experiments will
at least have the good effect of bringing for
ward those whom nature has qualified for
military trust. — To PRESIDENT MADISON.
FORD ED., ix, 380. (M., Feb. 1813.)
3371. GENERALS, Good.— Whenever we
have good commanders, we shall have good
soldiers, and good successes. — To PRESIDENT
MADISON. FORD ED., ix, 380. (1813.)
3372. GENERALS, Incompetent.— On
the land, indeed, we have been most unfortu
nate; so wretched a succession of generals
never before destroyed the fairest expecta
tions of a nation, counting on the bravery
of its citizens, which has proved itself on all
these trials.— To DR. BENJAMIN RUSH, vi,
106. (M., March 1813.)
3373. — . I am happy to observe
the public mind not discouraged, and that
it does not associate its government with
these unfortunate agents. — To PRESIDENT
MADISON. FORD ED., ix, 380. (M., Feb.
1813.)
3374. . Will not [General] Van
Rensselaer be broke for cowardice and in
capacity? To advance such a body of men
across a river without securing boats to bring
them off in case of disaster, has cost 700
men; and to have taken no part himself in
such an action, and against such a general
would be nothing but cowardice. — To PRESI
DENT MADISON. FORD ED., ix, 370. (M., Nov.
1812.)
3375. . No campaign is as yet
opened. No generals have yet an interest in
shifting their own incompetence on you.* —
To JAMES MONROE, vi, 410. FORD ED., ix,
499- (M., 1815.)
3376. GENERALS, Lack of.— During
the first campaign [in the war of 1812] we
suffered several checks, from the want of
capable and tried officers ; all the higher ones
of the Revolution having died off during an
* Monroe had been recently appointed Secretary
of War.— EDITOR.
interval of thirty years of peace. — To DON
V. T. CORUNA. vi, 275- (M., 1813.)
3377. . Perhaps we ought to
expect such trials after deperdition of all
military science consequent on so long a
peace. — To PRESIDENT MADISON. FORD ED..
ix, 380. (M., Feb. 1813.)
3378. GENERALS, Losses through.—
Three frigates taken by our gallant navy, do
not balance in my mind three armies lost by
the treachery, cowardice, or incapacity of
those to whom they were intrusted. I see
that our men are good, and only want gen
erals. — To WILLIAM DUANE. vi, no. (M.,
April 1813.)
3379. GENERALS, Plumage of.— We
can tell by his plumage whether a cock is
dunghill or game. But with us cowardice and
courage wear the same plume. — To PRESIDENT
MADISON. FORD ED., ix, 370. (M., Nov. 1812.)
3380. GENERALS, Proving.— The proof
of a general, to know whether he will stand
fire, costs a more serious price than that of a
cannon; these proofs have already cost us
thousands of good men, and deplorable deg
radation of reputation, and as yet have
elicited but a few negative and a few positive
characters. But we must persevere till we
recover the rank we are entitled to. — To
WILLIAM DUANE. vi, 99. (M., 1813.)
3381. GENERALS, Self-sacrificing.— I
think with the Romans of old, that the gen
eral of to-day should be a common soldier
to-morrow, if necessary. — To JAMES MADISON.
iv, 155. FORD ED., vii, 99. (1797.)
3382. GENERALS, Seniority and.— We
are doomed * * * to sacrifice the lives of
our citizens by thousands to this blind prin
ciple [seniority], for fear the peculiar in
terest and responsibility of our Executive
should not be sufficient to guard his selection
of officers against favoritism. — To GENERAL
ARMSTRONG. FORD ED., ix, 380. (M., 1813.)
3383. GENERALS, Talents and.— We
may yet hope that the talents which always
exist among men will show themselves with
opportunity, and that it will be found that this
age also can produce able and honest de
fenders of their country, at what further ex
pense, however, of blood and treasure is yet
to be seen. — To WILLIAM DUANE. vi, no.
(M., April 1813.)
3384. - — . Experience had just be
gun to elicit those among our officers who
had talents for war, and under the guidance
of these one campaign would have planted
our standard on the walls of Quebec, and
another on those of Halifax. — To F. C. GRAY.
vi, 438. (M., 1815.)
3385. - — . Our second and third
campaigns * * * more than redeemed the
disgraces of the first, and proved that al
though a republican government is slow to
move, yet, when once in motion, its momen
tum becomes irresistible. — To F. C. GRAY.
vi, 438. (M., 1815.)
Generals
General welfare
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
374
3386. GENERALS, Unqualified.—
Another general, it seems, has given proof
of his military qualifications by the loss of
another thousand men; for there cannot be a
surprise but through the fault of the com
manders, and especially by an enemy who has
given us heretofore so many of these lessons.
— To PRESIDENT MADISON. FORD EDV ix, 379.
(M., Feb. 1813.)
3387. . Our men are good, but
our generals unqualified. Every failure we
have incurred has been the fault of the gen
eral, the men evincing courage in every in
stance. — To DR. SAMUEL BROWN, vi, 165.
(M., July 1813.)
3388. . Our men are good, but
force without conduct is easily baffled. — To
GENERAL BAILEY, vi, 100. (M., 1813.)
3389. GENERALS, Usages of war and.
— I would use any powers I have [as Gov
ernor of Virginia] for the punishment of any
officer of our own, who should be guilty of
excesses unjustifiable under the usages of
civilized nations. — To COLONEL MATTHEWS, i,
234. FORD ED., ii, 263. (I779-)
3390. . The confinement and
treatment of our officers, soldiers and seamen,
have been so rigorous and cruel, that a very
great portion of the whole of those captured
in the course of 'this war, and carried to
Philadelphia while in possession of the Brit
ish army, and to New York, have perished
miserably from that cause alone. — To SIR
GUY CARLETON. FORD ED., ii, 249. (Wg.,
I779-)
3391. GENERAL WELFARE CLAUSE,
Interpretation.— To lay taxes to provide for
the general welfare of the United States, that
is to say, " to lay taxes for the purpose of
providing for the general welfare ". For
the laying of taxes is the power, and the
general welfare the purpose for which the
power is to be exercised. They are not to
lay taxes ad libitum for any purpose they
please; but only to pay the debts or pro
vide for the welfare of the Union. In like
manner, they are not to do anything they
please to provide for the general welfare, but
only to lay taxes for that purpose. To con
sider the latter phrase, not as describing the
purpose of the first, but as giving a distinct
and independent power to do any act they
please, which might be for the good of the
Union, would render all the preceding and
subsequent enumerations of power completely
useless. It would reduce the whole instru
ment to a single phrase, that of instituting
a Congress with power to do whatever would
be for the good of the United States; and as
they would be the sole judges of the good or
evil, it would be also a power to do whatever
evil they please. It is an established rule of
construction where a phrase will bear either
of two meanings, to give it that which will
allow some meaning to the other parts 'of the
instrument, and not that which would render
all the others useless. Certainly no such
universal power was meant to be given them.
It was intended to lace them up strictly
within the enumerated powers, and those
without which, as means, these powers could
not be carried into effect.— NATIONAL BANK
OPINION, vii, 557. FORD ED., v, 286. (1791.)
3392. . The Constitution says,
" Congress shall have power to lay and col
lect taxes, duties, imposts, and excises, to pay
the debts, &c., provide for the common de
fence and general welfare of the United
States ". I suppose the meaning of this
clause to be, that Congress may collect taxes
for the purpose of providing for the gen
eral welfare, in those cases wherein the Con
stitution empowers them to act for the gen
eral welfare. To suppose that it was meant
to give them a distinct substantive power, to
do any act which might tend to the general
welfare, is to render all the enumerations
useless, and to make their powers unlimited.
— OPINION ON FUGITIVE SLAVES, vii, 602.
FORD ED., vi, 141. (Dec. 1792.)
3393. . The construction applied
by the General Government (as is evidenced
by sundry of their proceedings) to those
parts of the Constitution of the United States
which delegate to Congress a power " to lay
and collect taxes, duties, imposts, and excises,
to pay the debts and provide for the common
defence and general welfare of the United
States ", and " to make all laws which shall
be necessary and proper for carrying into
execution the powers vested by the Constitu
tion in the government of the United States,
or in any department or officer thereof ",
goes to the destruction of all limits prescribed
to their power by the Constitution. * * *
Words meant by the instrument to be sub
sidiary only to the execution of limited
powers, ought not to be so construed as
themselves to give unlimited powers, nor a
part to be so taken as to destroy the whole
residue of that instrument. — KENTUCKY RES
OLUTIONS, ix, 468. FORD ED., vii, 299. (1798.)
3394. GENERAL WELFARE CLAUSE,
Manu.factures.--I told the President [Wash
ington] that they [the Hamilton party in
Congress] had now brought forward a propo
sition, far beyond every one ever yet ad
vanced, and to which the eyes of many were
turned as the decision which was to let us
know, whether we live under a limited or
an unlimited government, * * * [to wit]
that in the Report on Manufactures which,
under color of giving bounties for the en
couragement of particular manufactures,
meant to establish the doctrine, that the
power given by the Constitution to collect
taxes to provide for the general welfare of
the United States, permitted Congress to
take everything under their management
which they should deem for the public wel
fare, and which is susceptible of the applica
tion of money ; consequently, that the subse
quent enumeration of their powers was not
the description to which resort must be had,
and did not at all constitute the limits of
their authority ; that this was a very different
question from that of the Bank [of the United
375
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
General welfare
Generations
States], which was thought an incident to an
enumerated power; that, therefore, this de
cision was expected with great anxiety ; that,
indeed, I hoped the proposition would be re
jected, believing there was a majority in both
Houses against it, and that if it should be,
it would be considered as a proof that things
were returning into their true channel. — THE
ANAS, ix, 104. FORD ED., i, 177. (Feb.
1792.)
3395. . In a Report on the sub
ject of manufactures, it was expressly as
sumed that the General Government has a
right to exercise all powers which may be for
the general welfare, that is to say, all the
legitimate powers of government; since no
government has a legitimate right to do what
is not for the welfare of the governed. There
was, indeed, a sham limitation of the uni
versality of this power to cases where money
is to be employed. But about what is it that
money cannot be employed? — To PRESIDENT
WASHINGTON, iii, 461. FORD ED., vi, 103.
(M., 1792.)
3396. GENERAL WELFARE CLAUSE,
Universal power.— An act for internal im
provement, after passing both houses, was
negatived by the President. The act was
founded, avowedly, on the principle that the
phrase in the Constitution which authorizes
Congress " to lay taxes, to pay the debts and
provide for the general welfare ", was an ex
tension of the powers specifically enumerated
to whatever would promote the general wel
fare; and this, you know, was the federal
doctrine. Whereas, our tenet ever was, and,
indeed, it is almost the only landmark which
now divides the federalists from the republic
ans, that Congress had not unlimited powers
to provide for the general welfare, but were re
strained to those specifically enumerated; and
that, as it was never meant they should provide
for that welfare but by the exercise of the
enumerated powers, so it could not have been
meant they should raise money for purposes
which the enumeration did not place under
their action; consequently, that the specifica
tion of powers is a limitation of the purposes
for which they may raise money. * * *
This phrase * * * by a mere grammatical
quibble, has countenanced the General Gov
ernment in a claim of universal power. For
in the phrase, " to lay taxes, to pay the debts
and provide for the general welfare ", it is
a mere question of syntax, whether the two
last infinitives are governed by the first or
are distinct and coordinate powers ; a ques
tion unequivocally decided by the exact
definition of powers immediately following. —
To ALBERT GALLATIN. vii, 78. FORD ED., x,
91. (M., June 1817.)
3397. . I hope our courts will
never countenance the sweeping pretensions
which have been set up under the words
" general defence and public welfare ". These
words only express the motives which in
duced the Convention to give to the ordinary
legislature certain specified powers which
they enumerate, and which they thought
might be trusted to the ordinary legislature,
and not to give them the unspecified also ;
or why any specification? They could not be
so awkward in language as to mean, as we
say, " all and some ". And should this con
struction prevail, all limits to the Federal
Government are done away. This opinion,
formed on the first rise of the question, I
have never seen reason to change, whether in
or out of power ; but, on the contrary, find it
strengthened and confirmed by five and twenty
years of additional reflection and experience :
and any countenance given to it by any regu
lar organ of the government, I should consider
more ominous than anything which has yet
occurred. — To SPENCER ROANE. vi, 494.
FORD ED., ix, 531. (M., 1815.)
3398. GENERATIONS, Binding power.
— The question whether one generation of
men has a right to bind another, seems never
to have been started either on this or our side
of the water. Yet it is a question of such con
sequences as not only to merit decision, but
place also, among the fundamental principles
of every government. The course of reflection
in which we are immersed here [Paris], on
the elementary principles of society, has pre
sented this question to my mind ; and that no
such obligation can be transmitted, I think
very capable of proof. I set out on this ground,
which I suppose to be self-evident, that the
earth belongs in iisufruct to the living; that
the dead have neither powers nor rights over it.
The portion occupied by an individual ceases
to be his when himself ceases to be, and re
verts to the society. If the society has formed
no rules for the appropriation of its lands in
severalty, it will be taken by the first occu
pants, and these will generally be the wife and
children of the decedent. If they have formed
rules of appropriation, those rules may give it
to the wife and children, or to some one of
them, or to the legatee of the deceased. So
they may give it to its creditor. But the child,
the legatee or creditor, takes it, not by natural
right, but by a law of the society of which he
is a member, and to which he is subject.
Then, no man can, by natural right, oblige the
lands he occupied, or the persons who succeed
Kim in that occupation, to the payment of debts
contracted by him. For if he could, he might
during his own life, eat up the usufruct of the
lands for several generations to come ; and
then the lands would belong to the dead, and
not to the living, which is the reverse of our
principle. What is true of every member of
the society, individually, is true of them all
collectively ; since the rights of the whole can
be no more than the sum of the rights of the
individuals. To keep our ideas clear when ap
plying them to a multitude, let us suppose a
whole generation of men to be born on the
same day, to attain mature age on the same
day, and to die on the same day, leaving a suc
ceeding generation in the moment of attaining
their mature age, all together. Let the ripe
age be supposed of twenty-one years, and their
period of life thirty-four years more, that be
ing the average term given by the bills of
mortality to persons of twenty-one years of age.
Each successive generation would, in this way,
come and go off the stage at a fixed moment,
as individuals do now. Then I say, the earth
belongs to each of these generations during its
course, fully, and in its own right. The second
generation receives it clear of the debts and
incumbrances of the first, the third of the sec-
Generations
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
376
ond, and so on. For if the first could charge it
with a debt, then the earth would belong to the
dead and not to the living generation. Then,
no generation can contract debts greater than
may be paid during the course of its own ex
istence. At twenty-one years of age, they may
bind themselves and their lands for thirty-four
years to come ; at twenty-two, for thirty-three ;
at twenty-three, for thirty-two ; and at fifty-
four, for one year only ; because these are the
terms of life which remain to them at the re
spective epochs. But a material difference
must be noted between the succession of
an individual and that of a whole generation.
Individuals are parts only of a society, sub
ject to the laws of a whole. These laws may
appropriate the portion of land occupied by a
decedent to his creditor rather to any other, or
to his child, on condition he satisfies the cred
itor. But when a whole generation, that is,
the whole society dies, as in the case we have
supposed, and another generation or society
succeeds, this forms a whole, and there is no
superior who can give their territory to a third
society, who may have lent money to their
predecessors beyond their faculties of paying.
What is true of a generation all arriving to
self-government on the same day, and dying
all on the same day, is true of those on a con
stant course of decay and renewal, with this
only difference. A generation coming in and
going out entire, as in the first case, would
have a right in the first year of their self-do
minion to contract a debt for thirty-three
years ; in the tenth, for twenty-four ; in the
twentieth, for fourteen; in the thirtieth, for
four ; whereas generations changing daily, by
daily deaths and births, have one constant term
beginning at the date of their contract, and
ending when a majority of those of full age
at that date shall be dead. The length of that
term may be estimated from the tables of mor
tality, corrected by the circumstances of cli
mate, occupation, &c., peculiar to the country
of the contractors. Take, for instance, the
table of M. de Buffon wherein he states that
23,994 deaths, and the ages at which they
happened. Suppose a society in which 23,994
persons are born every year, and live to the
ages stated in this table. The conditions of
that society will be as follows. First, it will
consist constantly of 617,703 persons of all
ages ; secondly, of those living at any one in
stant of time, one-half will be dead in twenty-
four years, eight months; thirdly, 10,675 will
arrive every year at the age of twenty-one
years complete ; fourthly, it will constantly
have 348,417 persons of all ages above twenty-
one years ; fifthly, and the half of those of
twenty-one years and upwards, living at any
one instant of time, will be dead in eighteen
years, eight months, or say nineteen years as
the nearest integral number. Then nineteen
years is the term beyond which neither the
representatives of a nation, nor even the whole
nation itself assembled, can validly extend a
debt.
To render this conclusion palpable by ex
ample, suppose that Louis XIV. and XV. had
contracted debts in the name of the French
nation to the amount of ten thousand milliards
of livres, and that the whole had been con
tracted in Genoa. The interest of this sum
would be five hundred milliards, which is
said to be the whole rent-roll, or net proceeds
of the territory of France. Must the present
generation of men have retired from the terri
tory in which nature produced them, and ceded
it to the Dutch creditors ? No ; they have the
same rights over the soil on which they were
produced, as the preceding generations had.
They derive these rights not from their prede
cessors, but from nature. They, then, and
their soil, are by nature clear of the debts of
their predecessors. Again, suppose Louis XV.
and his contemporary generation had said to
the money lenders of Holland, give us money
that we may eat, drink, and be merry in our
day ; and on condition you will demand no
interest till the end of nineteen years, you shall
then forever after receive an annual interest
of 12.5 per cent. The money is lent on these
conditions, is divided among the living, eaten,
drunk, and squandered. Would the present
generation be obliged to apply the produce of
the earth, and of their labor to replace their
dissipations? Not at all.
I suppose that the received opinion, that the
public debts of one generation devolve on the
next, has been suggested by our seeing habitu
ally in private life that he who succeeds to
lands is required to pay the debts of his an
cestor or testator., without considering that this
requisition is municipal only, not moral, flow
ing from the will of the society, which has
found it convenient to appropriate the lands be
come vacant by the death of their occupant on
the condition of a payment of his debts; but
that between society and society, or generation
and generation, there is no municipal obliga
tion, no umpire but the law of nature. We
seem not to have perceived that, by the law of
nature, one generation is to another as one in
dependent nation to another.
The interest of the national debt of France
being in fact but a two thousandth part of its
rent-roll, the payment of it is practicable
enough ; and so becomes a question merely of
honor or of expediency. But with respect to
future debts, would it not be wise and just for
that nation to declare in the constitution they
are forming that neither the legislature, nor the
nation itself can validly contract more debt
than they may pay within their own age, or
within the term of nineteen years. And that
all future contracts shall be deemed void as to
what shall remain unpaid at the end of nineteen
years from their date? This would put the
lenders, and the borrowers also, on their guard.
By reducing, too, the faculty of borrowing
within its natural limits, it would bridle the
spirit of war, to which too free a course has
been procured by the inattention of money
lenders to this law of nature, that succeeding
generations are not responsible for the pre
ceding.
On similar ground, it may be proved that no
society can make a perpetual constitution, or
even a perpetual law. The earth belongs al
ways to the living generation. They may man
age it, then, and what proceeds from it, as they
please, during their usufruct. They are mas
ters, too, of their own persons, and conse
quently may govern them as they please. But
persons and property make the sum of the ob
ject of government. The constitution and the
laws of their predecessors are extinguished,
then, in their natural course, with those whose
will gave them being. This could preserve that
being till it ceased to be itself, and no longer.
Every constitution, then, and every law, natur
ally expire at the end of nineteen years. If it
be enforced longer, it is an act of force and
not of right.
It may be said that the succeeding generation
exercising in fact the power of repeal, this
leaves them as free as if the constitution or law
had been expressly limited to nineteen years
only. In the first place, this objection ad
mits the right, in proposing an equivalent. But
377
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Generations
the power of repeal is net an equivalent. It
might be, indeed, if every form of government
were so perfectly contrived that the will of the
majority could always be obtained fairly and
without impediment. But this is true of no
form. The people cannot assemble themselves ;
their representation is unequal and vicious.
Various checks are opposed to every legislative
proposition. Factions get possession of the
public councils. Bribery corrupts them. Per
sonal interests lead them astray from the gen
eral interests of their constituents ; and other
impediments arise so as to prove to every prac
tical man that a law of limited duration is
much more manageable than one which needs a
repeal.
This principle that the earth belongs to the
living and not to the dead, is of very extensive
application and consequences in every country,
and most especially in France. It enters into
the resolution of the questions, whether the
nation may change the descent of lands holden
in tail ; whether they may change the appro
priation of lands given anciently to the church,
to hospitals, colleges, orders of chivalry, and
otherwise in perpetuity ; whether they may
abolish the charges and privileges attached on
lands, including the whole catalogue, ecclesias
tical and feudal ; it goes to hereditary orders,
distinctions and appellations, to perpetual mo
nopolies in commerce, the arts or sciences,
with a long train of et ceteras ; and it renders
the question of reimbursement a question of
generosity and not of right. In all these cases,
the legislature of the day could authorize such
appropriations and establishments for their own
time, but no longer, and the present holders,
even where they or their ancestors have pur
chased, are in the case of bona fide purchasers
of what the seller had no right to convey.
Turn this subject in your mind, and particu
larly as to the power of contracting debts, and
develop it with that perspicuity and cogent
logic which is so peculiarly yours. Your sta
tion in the public councils of pur country gives
you an opportunity of forcing it into discussion.
At first blush it may be rallied as a theoretical
speculation ; but examination will prove it to be
solid and salutary. It would furnish matter for
a fine preamble to our first law for appropria
ting the public revenue ; and it will exclude, at
the threshold of our new government, the con
tagious and ruinous errors of this quarter of
the globe, which have armed despots with
means not sanctioned by nature for binding in
chains their fellow men. We have already
given, in example, one effectual check to the
dog of war, by transferring the power of letting
him loose from the Executive to the Legislative
body, from those who are to spend to those who
are to pay. I should be pleased to see this sec
ond obstacle held out also in the first instance.
No nation can make a declaration against the
validity of long-contracted debts so disinterest
edly as we, since we do not owe a shilling
which will not be paid with ease, principal and
interest, within the time of our own lives. Es
tablish the principle also in the new law to
be passed for protecting copyrights and new
inventions, by securing the exclusive right for
nineteen instead of fourteen years [a line en
tirely faded], an instance the more of our ta
king reason for our guide instead of English
precedents, the habit of which fetters us with
all the political heresies of a nation, equally
remarkable for its excitement from some er
rors, as long slumbering under others.* — To
* The hurry in which I wrote * * * to Mr. Madi
son * * *, occasioned an inattention to the difference
between generations succeeding- each other at fixed
JAMES MADISON, iii, 103. FORD EDV v, 115.
(P., Sep. 1789.)
3399. . Can one generation of
men, by any act of theirs, bind those which are
to follow them ? I say, by the laws of nature,
there being between generation and generation,
as between nation and nation, no other obliga
tory law. — To JOSEPH W. CABELL. vi 200.
(M., 1814.)
3400. GENERATIONS, The Earth and.
— Every generation comes equally, by the laws
of the Creator of the world, to the free posses
sion of the earth which He made for their sub
sistence, unincumbered by their predecessors,
who, like, them, were but tenants for life. — To
JOHN TAYLOR, vi, 605. FORD ED., x, 28. (M
May 1816.)
3401. . That our Creator made
the earth for the use of the living and not of
t*. dead; that those who exist not can have no
use nor right in it, no authority or power over
it ; that one generation of men cannot foreclose
or burthen its use to another, which comes to it
in its own right and by the same divine benefi
cence ; that a preceding generation cannot
bind a succeeding o: e by its laws or contracts ;
these deriving their obligation from the will of
the existing majority, and that majority being
removed by death, another comes in its place
with a will equally free to make its own Iaw3
and contracts ; these are axioms so self-evident
that no explanation can make them plainer ;
for he is not to be reasoned with who says
that non-existence can control existence, or
that nothing can move something. They are
axioms also pregnant with salutary conse
quences. The laws of civil society, indeed, for
the encouragement of industry, give the prop
erty of the parent to his family on his death,
and in most civilized countries permit him
even to give it, by testament, to whom he
pleases. And it is also found more convenient
to suffer the laws of our predecessors to stand
on our implied assent, as if positively reen-
acted, until the existing majority positively re
peals them. But this does not lessen the right
of that majority to repeal whenever a change
of circumstances or of will calls for it. Habit
alone confounds what is civil practice with
natural right. — To THOMAS EARLE. vii, 310.
(M., 1823.)
3402. . Can one generation bind
another, and all others, in succession forever?
I think not. The Creator has made the earth
for the living, not the dead. Rights and
ep9chs, and generations renewed daily and hourly.
It is true that in the former case the generation, when
at 21 years of age, may contract a debt for 34 years,
because a majority of them will live so long. But a
generation consisting of all ages, and which legislates
by all its members above the age of 21 years, cannot
contract for so long a time, because their majority
will be dead much sooner. Buffon gives us a table of
23,994 deaths, stating the ages at which they hap
pened. To draw from these the result I have occa
sion for, I suppose a society in which 23,994 persons
are born every year and live to the ages stated in
Buffon's table. Then the following inferences may
be drawn. Such a society will consist constantly of
617,703 persons of all ages. Of those living at one
instant of time, one-half will be dead in 24 years 8
months. In such a society, 10,675 will arrive every
year at the age of 21 years complete. It will con
stantly have 348,417 persons of all ages above 21 years,
and the half of those of 21 years and upwards living
at anv one instant of time will be dead in 18 years, 8
months, or say 19 years. " Then, the contracts, con
stitutions and laws of every such society become
void in 19 years from their date." — To DR. GEM iii
I08.. FORD ED., v, 124. (P., 1789,)
Generations
Genet (E. C.)
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
378
powers can only belong to persons, not to
things, not to mere matter, unendowed with
will. The dead are not even things. The par
ticles of matter which composed their bodies,
make part now of the bodies of other animals,
vegetables, or minerals, of a thousand forms.
To what, then, are attached the rights and
powers they held while in the form of men ? A
generation may bind itself as long as its ma
jority continues in life; when that has disap
peared, another majority is in place, holds all
the rights and powers their predecessors once
held, and may change their laws and institu
tions to suit themselves. Nothing, then, is
unchangeable but the inherent and unalienable
rights of man. — To JOHN CART WRIGHT. vii:
359. (M., 1824.)
3403. GENERATIONS, Government
and. — Let us * * * not weakly believe
that one generation is not as capable as another
of taking care of itself, and of ordering its own
affairs. Let us, as our sisters have done, avail
ourselves of our reason and experience, to cor
rect the crude essays of our first and unexperi
enced, although wise, virtuous, and well-
meaning councils. And lastly, let us provide
in our constitution for its revision at stated
periods. What these periods should be, nature
herself indicates. By the European tables of
mortality, of the adults living at any one mo
ment of time, a majority will be dead in
about nineteen years. At the end of that
period, then, a new majority is come into
place ; or, in other words, a new generation.
Each generation is as independent of the one
preceding as that was of all which had gone
before. It has, then, like them, a right to
choose for itself the form of government it
believes most promotive of its own happiness ;
consequently, to accommodate to the circum
stances in which it finds itself, that received
from its predecessors ; and it is for the peace
and good of mankind, that a solemn opportu
nity of doing this every nineteen or twenty
years, should be provided by the constitution ;
so that it may be handed on, with periodical re
pairs, from generation to generation, to the end
of time, if anything human can so long endure.
It is now forty years since the constitution of
Virginia was formed. The same tables inform
us that, within that period, two-thirds of the
adults then living are now dead. Have, then,
the remaining third, even if they had the
wish, the right to hold in obedience to their
will, and to the laws heretofore made by them,
the other two-thirds, who, with themselves,
compose the present mass of adults? If they
have not, who has? The dead? But the dead
have no rights. They are nothing and nothing
cannot own something. Where there is no sub
stance, there can be no accident. This cor
poreal globe, and everything upon it, belong to
its present corporeal inhabitants, during their
generation. They alone have a right to direct
what is the concern of themselves alone, and to
declare the law of that direction ; and this dec
laration can only be made by their majority. —
To SAMUEL KERCHIVAL. vii, 15. FORD ED., x,
43. (M., 1816.)
3404. . My wish is * * * to
leave to those who are to live under it the set
tlement of their own constitution, and to pass
in peace the remainder of my time. — To SAM
UEL KERCHIVAL. vii, 35. FORD ED., x, 45.
(M., 1816.)
3405. . I willingly acquiesce in
the institutions of my country, perfect or im
perfect ; and think it a duty to leave their
modifications to those who are to live under
them, and are to participate of the good or
evil they may produce. The present generation
has the same right of self-government which
the past one has exercised for itself. — To JOHN
H. PLEASANTS. vii, 346. FORD ED., x, 303.
(M., 1824.)
3406. . I willingly leave to the
present generation to conduct their affairs as
they please. — To WILLIAM SHORT, vii, 392.
FORD ED., x, 335. (M., 1825.)
3407. GENERATIONS, Succession of.—
It is a law of nature that the generations of
men should give way, one to another, and I
hope that the one now on the stage will pre
serve for their sons the political blessings de
livered into their hands by their fathers. — To
SPENCER ROANE. vii, 211. FORD ED., x, 188.
(M., 1821.)
3408. . I yield the concerns of
the world with cheerfulness to those who are,
appointed in the order of nature to succeed to
them. — To GENERAL BRECKENRIDGE. vii, 2oS.
(M., 1821.)
3409. GENERATIONS, Wisdom and.—
Those who will come after us will be as wise
as we are, and as able to take care of them
selves as we have been. — To DUPONT DE NE
MOURS, v, 584. FORD ED., ix, 322. (M.,
1811.)
3410. . I withdraw from all con
tests of opinion, and resign everything cheer
fully to the generation now in place. They are
wiser than we were, and their successors will
be wiser than they, from the progressive ad
vance of science. — To SPENCER ROANE. vii,
136. FORD ED., x, 142. (P.F., 1819.)
3411. - — . The daily advance of
science will enable the existing generation to
administer the commonwealth with increased
wisdom. — To MARQUIS LAFAYETTE, vii, 327.
FORD ED., x, 283. (M., 1823.)
3412. GENEROSITY, Pleasures of.—
Take more pleasure in giving what is best
to another than in having it yourself, and
then all the world will love you, and I more
than all the world. — To MARY JEFFERSON. D.
L. J., 181. (N.Y., 1790.)
3413. GENET (E. C.), Arrival.— We ex
pect M. Genet in Philadelphia within a few
days. It seems as if his arrival would furnish
occasion for the people to testify their affec
tions without respect to the cold caution of
their government. — To JAMES MADISON. FORD
ED., vi, 232. (Pa., April 1793.)
3414. GENET (E. C.), Calamitous ap
pointment. — Never, in my opinion, was so
calamitous an appointment made as that of the
present minister of France here. Hot-headed,
all imagination, no judgment, passionate, dis
respectful, and even indecent towards the Pres
ident, in his written as well as verbal communi
cations, talking of appeals from him to Con
gress, from them to the people, urging the
most unreasonable and groundless propositions,
and in the most dictatorial style, &c., &c., &c.
If ever it should be necessary to lay his com
munications before Congress or the public, they
will excite universal indignation. He renders
my position immensely difficult. He does me
justice personally, and, giving him time to
vent himself, and then cool, I am on a footing
to advise him freely, and he respects it ; but he
379
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Genet (E. C.)
breaks out again on the very first occasion,
so as to show that he is incapable of correcting
himself. To complete our misfortune, we have
no channel of our own through which we can
correct the irritating representations he may
make. — To JAMES MADISON. FORD ED., vi, 338.
(July I793-)
3415. . Mr. Genet had been then
but a little time with us ; and but a little more
was necessary to develop in him a character
and conduct so unexpected, and so extraordi
nary, as to place us in the most distressing
dilemma, between our regard for his nation,
which is constant and sincere, and a regard for
our laws, the authority of which must be main
tained, which the Executive Magistrate is
charged to preserve ; for its honor, offended in
the person of that Magistrate ; and for its char
acter grossly traduced in the conversations and
letters of this gentleman. — To GOUVERNEUR
MORRIS, iv, 31. FORD ED., vi, 372. (Pa., Aug.
I793-)
3416. GENET, Correspondence with.—
We have kept the correspondence with Genet
merely personal, convinced his nation will dis
approve him. To them we have with the ut
most assiduity given every proof of inviolate
attachment.* — To THOMAS PINCKNEY. iv, 86.
(G., Nov. 1793-)
3417. GENET, Functions.— Your func
tions as the missionary of a foreign nation
here, are confined to the transactions of the af
fairs of your nation with the Executive of the
United States ; and the communications which
are to pass between the Executive and Legis
lative branches, cannot be a subject for your
interference. The President must be left to
judge for himself what matters his duty or the
public good may require him to propose to the
deliberations of Congress.t — To E. C. GENET.
iv, 100. FORD ED., vi, 496. (Pa., Dec. 1793.)
3418. GENET, Ignorance of.— Genet has
been fully heard on his most unfounded pre
tensions under the treaty. His ignorance of
everything written on the subject is astonish
ing. I think he has never read a book of any
sort in that branch of science. — To JAMES
MADISON. FORD ED., vi, 362. (Aug. 1793.)
3419. GENET (E. C.), Impetuosity.— I
do not augur well of the mode of conduct of the
new French minister ; I fear he will enlarge the
circle of those disaffected to his country. I am
doing everything in my power to moderate the
impetuosity of his movements, and to destroy
the dangerous opinion which has been excited
in him. that the people of the United States
will disavow the acts of their Government, and
that he has an appeal from the Executive to
Congress, and from both to the people. — To
JAMES MONROE, iv, 7. FORD ED., vi, 323. (Pa.,
June I793-)
* Marshall, in his Life of Washington says: "The
partiality for France that was conspicuous through
the whole of the correspondence, detracted nothing
from its merit in the opinion of the friends of the Ad
ministration, because, however decided their deter
mination to support their own Government in any
controversy with any nation whatever, they felt all
the partialities for that Republic which the corre
spondence expressed. The hostility of his [Jeffer
son's] enemies, therefore, was, for a time, considera
bly lessened, without a corresponding diminution of
the attachment of his friends. — EDITOR.
t Genet had sent to Jefferson translations of the
instructions given him by the Executive Council of
France with a request that they should be laid be
fore Congress by the President. Jefferson returned
the papers to Genet.— EDITOR.
3420. GENET (E. C.), Indefensible con
duct. — His conduct is indefensible by the most
furious Jacobin. — To JAMES MONROE, iv, 20.
FORD ED., vi, 348. (^a., July 1793.)
3421. . His conduct has given
room for the enemies of liberty and of France,
to come forward in a style of acrimony against
that nation, which they never would have dared
to have done. The disapprobation of the agent
mingles with the reprehension of his nation,
and gives a toleration to that which it never
had before. He has still some defenders in
Freneau, and Greenleaf's paper, who they are
I know not; for even Hutcheson and Dallas
give him up. * * * Hutcheson says that
Genet has totally overturned the republican in
terest in Philadelphia. However, the people
going right themselves, if they always see their
republican advocates with them, an accidental
meeting with the monocrats will not be a coal
escence. — To JAMES MADISON, iv, 53. FORD
EDV vi, 402. (Pa., Sep. 1793.)
3422. GENET (E. C.), Instructions.— It
is impossible for anything to be more affection
ate, more magnanimous than the purport of [M.
Genet's] mission. " We know that under pres
ent circumstances we have a right to call upon
you for the guarantee of our Islands. But we
do not desire it. We wish you to do nothing
but what is for your own good, and we will
do all in our power to promote it. Cherish
your own peace and prosperity. You have
expressed a willingness to enter into a more
liberal treaty of commerce with us ; I bring full
powers (and he produced them) to form such
a treaty, and a preliminary decree of the Na
tional Convention to lay open our country and
its Colonies to you for every purpose of utility,
without your participating the burthens of
maintaining and defending them. We see in
you the only person on earth who can love us
sincerely, and merit to be so loved." In short,
he offers everything, and asks nothing. Yet I
know the offers will be opposed, and suspect
they will not be accepted. In short, it is im
possible for you to conceive what is passing in
our conclave ; and it is evident that one or two
at least, under pretence of avoiding war on
the one side have no great antipathy to run foul
of it on the other, and to make a part in the
confederacy of princes against human liberty. —
To JAMES MADISON, iii, 563. FORD ED., vi,
260. (Pa., May 1793.)
3423. GENET, Libelous attack on.—
The Minister Plenipotentiary of France has en
closed to me the copy of a letter * * *
which he addressed to you, stating that some
libelous publications had been made against
him by Mr. Jay. Chief- Justice of the United
States, and Mr. King, one of the Senators for
the State of New York, and desiring that they
might be prosecuted. This letter has been laid
before the President, according to the re
quest of the Minister ; and the President, never
doubting your readiness on all occasions to
perform the functions of your office, yet thinks
it incumbent on him to recommend it specially
on the present occasion, as it concerns a pub
lic character peculiarly entitled to the protec
tion of the laws. On the other hand, as our
citizens ought not to be vexed w'th ground
less prosecutions, duty to them requires it to be
added, that if you judge the prosecution in
question to be of that nature, you consider
this recommendation as not extending to it ; its
only object being to engage you to proceed in
this case according to the duties of your office
Genet (E. C.)
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
380
[Attorney General], the laws of the land, and
the privileges of the parties concerned. — To
EDMUND RANDOLPH, iv, 97. FORD ED., vi, 484.
(Pa., Dec. I793-)
3424. GENET (E. C.), Opposition to
Law.— Genet has, at New York, forbidden a
marshal to arrest a vessel, and given orders to
the French squadron to protect her by force.
Was there ever an instance before of a diplo
matic man overawing and obstructing the
course of the law in a country by an armed
force? — TO JAMES MADISON, iv, 64. FORD ED.,
vi, 418. (Sep. I793-)
3425. GENET, Recall of.— [At a cabinet
meeting] to consider what was to be done with
Mr. Genet, * * * the following proposi
tions were made: i. That a full statement of
Mr. Genet's conduct be made in a letter to G.
Morris, and be sent with his correspondence, to
be communicated to the Executive Council of
France ; the letter to be so prepared, as to serve
for the form of communication to the Council.
Agreed unanimously. 2. That in that letter his
recall be required. Agreed by all, although I
expressed a preference of expressing that de
sire with great delicacy; the others were for
peremptory terms. 3. To send him off. This
was proposed by Knox ; but rejected by every
other. 4. To write a letter to Mr. Genet, the
same in substance with that written to G.
Morris, and let him know we had applied for
his recall. I was against this, because I
thought it would render him extremely active
in his plans, and endanger confusion. But I
was overruled by 'the other three gentlemen
and the President. 5. That a publication of
the whole correspondence, and statement of the
proceedings, should be made by way of appeal
to the people. Hamilton made a jury speech of
three-quarters of an hour, as inflammatory and
declamatory as if he had been speaking to a
jury. E. Randolph opposed it. I chose to
leave the contest between them. — THE ANAS.
ix, 162. FORD ED., i, 252. (Aug. I793-)
3426. . The renvoi of Genet was
proposed [in cabinet] by the President. I op
posed it on these topics. France, the only na
tion on earth sincerely our friend. The meas
ure so harsh a one, that no precedent is pro
duced where it has not been followed by war.
Our messenger has now been gone eighty-four
days ; consequently, we may hourly expect the
return, and to be relieved by their revocation
of him. Were it now resolved on, it would be
eight or ten days before the matter on which
the order should be founded, could be selected,
arranged, discussed, and forwarded. This
would bring us within four or five days of
the meeting of Congress. Would it not be bet
ter to wait and see how the pulse of that body,
new as it is, would beat? They are with us
now probably, but such a step as this may carry
many over to Genet's side. Genet will not
obey the order, &c., &c. The President asked
me what I would do if Genet sent the accusa
tion to us to be communicated to Congress,
as he threatened in a letter to Moultrie?
said I would not send it to Congress ; but either
put it in the newspapers, or send it back to him
to be published if he pleased.*— THE ANAS, ix,
179. FORD ED., i, 267- (Nov. I793-)
3427. . We have decided unani
mously to require the recall of Genet. He
* Hamilton and Knox were for dismissal. Ran
dolph thought Genet was dead m public opinion, and
the measure might restore his popularity ^de
termination was arrived at.— MEMORANDUM BY JEI
PERSON.
will sink the republican interest if they do
not abandon him. — To JAMES MADISON. FORD
ED., vi, 361. (Aug. 1703.)
3428. . Lay the case * * *
immediately before his government. Accom
pany it with assurances, which cannot be
stronger than true, that our friendship for the
nation is constant and unabating ; that, faith
ful to our treaties, we have fulfilled them in
every point to the best of our understanding;
that if in anything, however, we have construed
them amiss, we are ready to enter into candid
explanations, and to do whatever we can be
convinced is right ; that in opposing the ex
travagances of an agent, whose character they
seem not sufficiently to have known, we have
been urged by motives of duty to ourselves
and justice to others, which cannot but be
approved by those who are just themselves;
and finally, that after independence and self-
government, there is nothing we more sincerely
wish than perpetual friendship with them.* —
To GOUVERNEUR MORRIS, iv, SO. FORD ED.,
vi, 393- (P-, Aug. 16, I793-)
3429. . It is with extreme con
cern I have to inform you that the proceedings
of the person, whom the [French government]
have unfortunately appointed their Minister
Plenipotentiary here, have breathed nothing of
the friendly spirit of the nation which sent
him. Their tendency, on the contrary, has
been to involve us in a war abroad, and dis
cord and anarchy at home. So far as his acts,
or those of his agents, have threatened our
immediate commitment in the war, or flagrant
insult to the authority of the laws, their effect
has been counteracted by the ordinary cogni
zance of the laws, and by an exertion of the
powers confided to me. Where their danger
was not imminent, they have been borne with,
from sentiments of regard to his nation, and
from a sense of their friendship towards us,
from a conviction that they would not suffer
us to remain long exposed to the action of a
person who has so little respected our mutual
dispositions, and, I will add, from a firm reli
ance on the firmness of my fellow citizens in
their principles of peace and order. — DRAFT OF
PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE. FORD ED., vi, 437.
(Nov. 1793.)
3430. GENET (E. C.), Beception of.— It
was suspected that there was not a clear mind
in the President's counsellors to receive Genet.
The citizens, however, determined to receive
him. Arrangements were taken for meeting him
at Gray's Ferry in a great body. He escaped
that by arriving in town with the letters which
brought information that he was on the road.
* * * The citizens determined to address
Genet. Rittenhouse, Hutcheson, Dallas, Sar
gent, &c., were at the head of it. Though a
select body of only thirty was appointed to pre
sent it, yet a vast concourse of people attended
them. I have not seen it ; but it is understood
to be the counter address to the one presented
to the President on the neutrality proclaimed,
by the merchants, i. e., Fitzsimmons & Co. It
contained much wisdom but no affection. — To
JAMES MADISON, iii, 562. FORD ED., vi, 260.
(Pa., May 1793-)
3431. GENET (E. C.), Treachery.— I
sometimes cannot help seriously believing
Genet to be a Dumouriez, endeavoring to draw
us into the war against France as Dumouriez,
* This quotation is the closing paragraph of the in
structions to Gouverneur Morris, respecting the re
call of Genet.— EDITOR.
THE JEFFERSON1AN CYCLOPEDIA
Genet (£. C.)
George III.
while a minister, drew on her the war of the
empire. — To JAMES MADISON. FORD ED., vi, 419.
(i793.)
3432. GENET (E. C.), Washington and.
— His inveteracy against the President leads
him to meditate the embroiling him with Con
gress. — To JAMES MADISON, iv, 75. FORD
ED., vi, 439. (Nov. 1793.)
3433. . Genet, by more and more
denials of powers to the President and ascri
bing them to Congress, is evidently endeavoring
to sow tares between them, and at any event to
curry favor with the latter, to whom he means
to turn his appeal, finding it was not likely to
be well received by the people. — To JAMES
MADISON, iv, 83. FORD ED., vi, 450. (Gv
Nov. I793-)
3434. . Genet has thrown down
the gauntlet to the President by the publication
of his letter and my answer, and is himself
forcing that appeal to the people, and risking
that disgust which I had so much wished should
have been avoided. The indications from dif
ferent parts of the continent are already suffi
cient to show that the mass of the republican
interest has no hesitation to disapprove of this
intermeddling by a foreigner, and the more
readily as his object was evidently, contrary to
his professions, to force us into the war. I
am not certain whether some of the more
furious republicans may not schismatize with
him. — To JAMES MADISON, iv, 52. FORD ED.,
vi, 397- (Pa., Aug. 1793-)
3435. GENIUS, Encouraging.— For pro
moting the public happiness, those persons
whom nature has endowed with genius and
virtue, should be rendered by liberal educa
tion worthy to receive, and able to guard the
sacred deposit of the rights and liberties of
their fellow citizens; and they should be
called to that charge without regard to
wealth, birth, or other accidental condition
or circumstance. — DIFFUSION OF KNOWLEDGE
BILL. FORD ED., ii, 221. (1779.)
3436. GENIUS, Higher.— Though * *' *
I am duly impressed with a sense of the
arduousness of government, and the obliga
tion those are under who are able to conduct
it, yet I am also satisfied there is an order
of geniuses above that obligation, and, there
fore, exempted from it. Nobody can conceive
that nature ever intended to throw away a
Newton upon the occupations of a crown.
* * Cooperating with nature in her or
dinary economy, we should dispose of and
employ the geniuses of men according to
their several orders and degrees. — To DAVID
RlTTENHOUSE. FORD ED., ii, 163. (M., 1778.)
3437. GEOGRAPHICAL LINES, Di
visions on. — A geographical division * * *
is a most fatal of all divisions, as no authority
will submit to be governed by a majority
acting merely on a geographical principle. —
To SAMUEL H. SMITH. FORD ED., x, 191.
(M., 1821.) See MISSOURI.
3438. GEORGE III., Appeal to.— No
longer persevere in sacrificing the rights of one
part of the empire to the inordinate desires of
the other ; but deal out to all equal and im
partial right. Let no act be passed by any one
legislature, which may infringe on the rights
and liberties of another. This is the important
post in which fortune has placed you, holding
the balance of a great, if a well-poised em
pire. This, Sire, is the advice of your great
American council, on the observance of which
may perhaps depend your felicity and future
fame, and the preservation of that harmony
which alone can continue, both to Great Britain
and America, the reciprocal advantages of their
connection. It is neither our wish nor our
interest to separate from her. We are willing,
on our part, to sacrifice everything which reason
can ask to the restoration of that tranquillity
for which all most wish. On their part, let them
be ready to establish union on a generous plan.
Let them name their terms, but let them be just.
* The God who gave us life, gave us lib
erty at the same time : the hand of force may
destroy but cannot disjoin them. This, Sire,
is our last, our determined resolution. And
that you will be pleased to interpose with that
efficacy which your earnest endeavors may in
sure to procure redress of these our great griev
ances, to quiet the minds of your subjects in
British America against any apprehensions of
future encroachment, to establish fraternal love
and harmony through the whole empire, and
that that may continue to the latest ages of
time, is the fervent prayer of all British Amer
ica. — RIGHTS OF BRITISH AMERICA, i, 141.
FORD ED., i, 446. (1774.)
3439. GEORGE III., Bitterness of.— His
obstinacy of character we know ; his hostility
we have known, and it is embittered by ill suc
cess. If ever this nation, during his life, enter
into arrangements with us, it must be in conse
quence of events of which they do not at pres
ent see a possibility. — To RICHARD HENRY LEE.
i, 541. FORD ED., iv, 207. (L., 1786.)
3440. GEORGE IH., Control of.— His
[George III.] minister is able, and that satisfies
me that ignorance or wickedness, somewhere,
controls him [the King]. * — To JOHN RAN
DOLPH, i, 203. FORD ED., i, 493. (Pa., 1775.)
3441. GEORGE III., Deposed.-— Be it en
acted by the authority of the people that George
Guelf be, and he hereby is, deposed from
the kingly office within this government [of
Virginia], and absolutely divested of all its
rights, powers, and prerogatives: and that he
and his descendants and all persons acting by
or through him, and all other persons whatso
ever shall be, and forever remain, incapable of
the same : and that the said office shall hence
forth cease and never more, either in name or
substance, be reestablished within this Col
ony. — PROPOSED VIRGINIA CONSTITUTION. FORD
ED., ii, 12. (June 1776.)
3442. . George Guelf has for
feited the kingly office, and has rendered it
necessary for the preservation of the people that
he should be immediately deposed from the
same, and divested of all its privileges, powers
and prerogatives. — PROPOSED VIRGINIA CONSTI
TUTION. FORD ED., ii, 12. (June 1776.)
3443. GEORGE in., Early reign of.—
The following is an epitome of the first sixteen
years of his reign : The Colonies were taxed
internally and externally ; their essential inter
ests sacrificed to individuals in Great Britain :
their legislatures suspended ; charters annulled ;
* Parton in his Life of 'Jefferson* p. 180, says: lt This
remark is interesting, as showing that Jefferson, at a
time when the fact was not generally known, felt
that a man of the calibre of Lord North was out of
place in the cabinet of George III., and did not in his
heart approve the King's policy." — EDITOR.
George III.
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
382
trials by jury taken away; their persons sub
jected to transportation across the Atlantic,
and to trial before foreign judicatories ; their
supplications for redress thought beneath an
swer ; themselves published as cowards in the
councils of their mother country and courts of
Europe ; armed troops sent among them to en
force submission to these violences ; and actual
hostilities commenced against them. No al
ternative was presented but resistance, or un
conditional submission. Between these could
be no hesitation. They closed in the appeal to
arms. They declared themselves independent
States. They confederated together into one
great republic ; thus securing to every State the
benefit of an union of their whole force. —
NOTES ON VIRGINIA, viii, 358. FORD ED., iii,
221. (1782.)
3444. GEORGE III., History and.—
Open your breast, Sire, to liberal and expanded
thought. Let not the name of George the
Third be a blot on the page of history. —
RIGHTS OF BRITISH AMERICA, i, 141. FORD
ED., i, 446. (I774-)
3445. GEORGE IH., Injuries and usur
pations. — The history of the present King of
Great Britain is a history of [unremitting]* in
juries and usurpations [among which appears
no solitary fact to contradict the uniform tenor
of the rest, but all have] in direct object
the establishment of an absolute tyranny over
these States. To prove this, let facts be sub
mitted to a candid world [for the truth of which
we pledge a faith yet unsullied by falsehood]. —
DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE AS DRAWN BY
JEFFERSON.
3446. GEORGE III., Lunacy.— The lu
nacy of the King of England is a decided fact,
notwithstanding all the stuff the English papers
publish about his fevers, delirium, &c. The
truth is that the lunacy declared itself almost at
once, and with as few concomitant complaints
as usually attend the first development of that
disorder. — To GENERAL WASHINGTON, ii, 534.
(P., Dec. 1788.)
3447. GEORGE III., Ministers of.— You
are surrounded by British counsellors, but re
member that they are parties. You have no
ministers for American affairs, because you
have none taken from among us, nor amenable
to the laws on which they are to give you ad
vice. It behooves you, therefore, to think and
to act for yourself and your people. — RIGHTS
OF BRITISH AMERICA, i, 141. FORD ED., i,
446. (1774-)
3448. GEORGE in., Our bitterest en
emy. — It is an immense misfortune to the
whole empire, to have a King of such a disposi
tion at such a time. We are told, and every
thing proves it true, that he is the bitterest en
emy we have. His minister is able, and that
satisfies me that ignorance or wickedness, some
where, controls him. In an earlier part of this
contest, our petitions told him, that from our
King there was but one appeal. The admoni
tion was despised, and that appeal forced on
us. To undo his empire, he has but one truth
more to learn ; that, after the Colonies have
drawn the sword, there is but one step more
they can take. That step is now pressed upon
us, by the measures adopted, as if they were
afraid we would not taice it. — To JOHN RAN
DOLPH, i, 203. FORD ED., i, 492. (Pa., No
vember 1775.)
* Congress struck out the words in brackets and
substituted u repeated " for " unremitting", and
"having" for " have".— EDITOR.
3449. GEORGE IH., Perversity of.—
Our friend George is rather remarkable for
doing exactly what he ought not to do. — To
DR. RAMSAY, ii, 217. (P., 1787.)
3450. . Has there been a better
rule of prognosticating what he would do than
to examine what he ought not to do ? — To
JOHN JAY. ii, 291. (P., 1787.)
3451. GEORGE III., Policy of.— I am
pleased to see the answer of the King. It bears
the marks of suddenness and surprise, and as he
seems not to have had time for reflection, we
may suppose he was obliged to find his answer
in the real sentiments of his heart, if that heart
has any sentiment. I have no doubt, however,
that it contains the real creed of an Englishman,
and that the word which he has let escape, is
the true word of the enigma. " The moment
I see such sentiments as yours prevail, and a
disposition to give this country the preference,
I will, &c." All this I stead ly believe. But
the condition is impossible. Our interest calls
for a perfect equality in our conduct towards
these two nations ; but no preference anywhere.
If, however, circumstances should ever oblige
us to show a preference, a respect for our
character, if we had no better motive, would
decide to which it should be given. — To JOHN
ADAMS, i, 436. (P., September 1785.)
3452. GEORGE III., Ruinous rule of.—
It is a subject of deep regret to see a great na
tion reduced from an unexampled height of
prosperity to an abyss of ruin, by the long-con
tinued rule of a single chief. — To MR. RODMAN.
vi, 54. (M., April 1812.)
3453. GEORGE III., Rumored death of.
— We have a rumor that the King of England
is dead. As this would ensure a general peace,
I do not know that it would be any misfortune
to humanity. — To HARRY INNES. iv, 315.
FORD ED., vii, 412. (Pa., Jan. 1800.)
3454. GEORGE IH., Services to Amer
ica. — We have a blind story here [Paris] of
somebody attempting to assassinate your*
King. No man upon earth has my prayers for
his continuance in life more sincerely than he.
He is truly the American Messias, the most
precious life that ever God gave. And may
God continue it. Twenty long years has he
been laboring to drive us to our good, and he
labors and will labor still for it, if he can be
spared. We shall have need of him for twenty
more. The Prince of Wales on the throne,
Lansdowne and Fox in the ministry and we are
undone ! We become chained by our habits
to the tails of those who hate and despise us.
I repeat it, then, that my anxieties are all
alive for the health and long life of the King.
He has not a friend on earth who would lament
his loss as much and so long as I should. — To
MRS. JOHN ADAMS. FORD ED., iv, 261. (P.,
1786.)
3455. GEORGE III., Tyranny of.— He
[George III.] has endeavored to pervert the
exercise of the Kingly office in Virginia into a
detestable and insupportable tyranny * *
by abandoning the helm of government and
declaring us out of his allegiance and protec
tion. — PROPOSED VIRGINIA CONSTITUTION. FORD
EDV ii, 12. (June 1776.)
3456. GEORGE III., TJnfit to rule.—
A prince whose character is thus marked by
every act which may define a tyrant, is unfit
to be the ruler of a people who mean to be
* Mrs. Adams was then living in London. — EDITOR.
3*3
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
George IT.
Gerry (Elbridge)
free. Future ages will scarcely believe that
the hardiness of one man adventured within
the short compass of twelve years only, to lay
a foundation, so broad and undisguised for
tyranny over a people fostered and fixed in
principles of freedom.* — DECLARATION OF IN
DEPENDENCE AS DRAWN BY JEFFERSON.
3457. GEORGE IV., Character of.— As
the character of the Prince of Wales is becom
ing interesting, I have endeavored to learn
what it truly is. This is less difficult in his case
than in that of other persons of rank, because
he has taken no pains to hide himself from the
world. * * * The total of his education
was the learning a little Latin, but he speaks
French without the slightest foreign accent,
from the circumstance that, when very young,
his father had put only French servants about
him. He has not a single element of mathe
matics, of natural or moral philosophy, or of
any other science on earth, nor has the society
he has kept been such as to supply the void of
education. It has been of the lowest, the most
illiterate and profligate persons of the Kingdom,
without choice of rank or mind, and with whom
the subjects of conversation are only horses,
drinking-matches, bawdy houses, and in terms
the most vulgar. The young nobility, who be
gin by associating with him, soon leave him,
disgusted with the insupportable profligacy of
his society ; and Mr. Fox, who has been sup
posed his favorite, and not over-nice in the
choice of company, would never keep him com
pany habitually. In fact, he never associated
with a man of sense. He has not a single idea
of justice, morality, religion, or of the rights of
men, or any anxiety for the opinion of the
world. He carries that indifference for fame
so far, that he would probably be hurt were he
to lose his throne, provided he could be assured
of having always meat, drink, horses and wo
men. * * * He had a fine person, but it is
becoming coarse. He possesses good native
common sense, is affable, polite and very good-
humored. * * * The Duke of York, who
was for some time cried up as the prodigy of
the family, is as profligate, and of less under
standing. — To JOHN JAY. ii, 559. FORD ED.,
v, 60. (P., 1789.)
3458. GEOLOGY, Imperfect knowledge
of. — I have not much indulged myself in geo
logical inquiries, from a belief that the skin-
deep scratches which we can make or find on
the surface of the earth, do not repay our time
with as certain and useful deductions as our
pursuits in some other branches. — To C. F. VOL-
NEY. iv, 569. (W., 1805.)
3459. . I could not offer myself
as geological correspondent in this State, be
cause of all the branches of science it was the
one I had the least cultivated. Our researches
into the texture of our globe could be but so
superficial, compared with its vast interior con
struction, that I saw no safety of conclusion
from the one, as to the other ; and therefore
have pointed my own attentions to other ob
jects in preference, as far as a heavy load of
business would permit me to attend to anything
else. — To THOMAS COOPER, v, 531. (M.,
1810.)
3460. GEOLOGY, Limited usefulness.—
To learn * * * the ordinary arrangement
of the different strata of minerals in the earth,
* The first sentence was changed so as to read, UA
prince whose character is thus marked by every act
which may define a tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of
a free people ", and the second one was struck out.—
EDITOR.
to know from their habitual collocations and
proximities where we find one mineral ; whether
another, for which we are seeking, may be ex
pected to be in its neighborhood, is useful. But
the dreams about the modes of creation, in
quiries whether our globe has been formed by
the agency of fire or water, how many millions
of years it has cost Vulcan or Neptune to pro
duce what the fiat of the Creator would effect
by a single act of will, is too idle to be worth
a single hour of any man's life. — To DR. JOHN
P. EMMETT. vii, 443. (M., 1826.)
3461. GEOLOGY, Man's reason defied.
— The several instances of trees, &c., found
far below the surface of the earth * * *
seem to set the reason of man at defiance. — To
JAMES MADISON, ii, 67. FORD ED., iv, 335.
(P., 1786.)
3462. GEOLOGY, Theories of.— With re
spect to the inclination of the strata of rocks,
I had observed them between the Blue Ridge
and North Mountains in Virginia, to be parallel
with the pole of the earth. I observed the
same thing in most instances in the Alps, be
tween Cette and Turin ; but in returning along
the precipices of the Apennines, where they
hang over the Mediterranean, their direction
was totally different and various. You men
tion that in our Western country they are hori
zontal. This variety proves they have not been
formed by subsidence, as some writers of the
theories of the earth have pretended; for then
they should always have been in circular strata,
and concentric. It proves, too, that they have
not been formed by the rotation of the earth
on its axis, as it might have been suspected,
had all these strata been parallel with that axis.
They may, indeed, have been thrown up by
explosions, as Whitehurst supposes, or have
been the effect of convulsions. But there can
be no proof of the explosion, nor is it probable
that convulsions have deformed every spot of
the earth. It is now generally agreed that rock
grows, and it seems that it grows in layers in
every direction, as the branches of trees grow
in all directions. Why seek further the solu
tion of this phenomenon ? Everything in na
ture decays. If it were not reproduced then
by growth there should be a chasm. — To
CHARLES THOMSON, ii, 276. FORD ED., iv,
448. (P., 1787.)
3463. GERRY (Elbridge), Federalist
hatred of. — As soon as it was known that
you had consented to stay in Paris, there was
no measure observed in the execrations of the
war party. They openly wished you might be
guillotined, or sent to Cayenne, or anything
else. — To ELBRIDGE GERRY, iv, 273. FORD ED.,
vii, 335- (Pa., Jan. I799-)
3464. . The people will support
you, notwithstanding the bowlings of the rav
enous crew from whose jaws they are escaping.
— To ELBRIDGE GERRY, iv, 390. FORD ED..
viii, 41. (W., March 1801.)
3465. GERRY (Elbridge), French nego
tiations. — You suppose that you have been
abused by both parties. As far as has come to
my knowledge, you are misinformed. I have
never seen or heard a sentence of blame uttered
against you by the republicans ; unless we were
so to construe their wishes that you had more
boldly cooperated in a project of a treaty, and
would more explicitly state, whether there was
in your colleagues [Marshall and Pinckney]
that flexibility, which persons earnest after
peace would have practiced? Whether, on the
contrary, their demeanor was not cold, re-
Gerry (Elbridge)
Government
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
384
served, and distant, at least, if not backward?
And whether, if they had yielded to those in
formal conferences which Talleyrand seems to
have courted, the liberal accommodation you
suppose might not have been effected, even with
their agency? Your fellow citizens think they
have a right to full information in a case of
such great concernment to them. It is their
sweat which is to earn all the expenses of the
war, and their blood which is to flow in expia
tion of the causes of it. It may be in your
power to save them from these miseries by
full communications and unrestrained details,
postponing motives of delicacy to those of
duty. It rests with you to come forward inde
pendently ; to make your stand on the high
ground of your own character; to disregard
calumny, and to be borne above it on the
shoulders of your grateful fellow citizens; or
to sink into the humble oblivion, to which the
federalists (self-called) have secretly con
demned you ; and even to be happy if they will
indulge your oblivion, while they have beamed
on your colleagues meridian splendor. — To EL-
BRIDGE GERRY, iv, 272. FORD ED., vii, 333-
(Pa., Jan. I799-)
3466. GERRY (Elbridge), Vice-Presi
dency. — The resolution of the republicans of
Connecticut to propose you as Vice-President,
* * * is a stamp of double proof. It is an
indication to the factionaries that their nay is
the yea of truth and its best test. — To ELBRIDGE
GERRY, vi, 64. FORD ED., ix, 361. (M., 1812.)
3467. GILES (William B.), Hamilton
resolutions. — Mr. Giles and one or two
others were sanguine enough to believe that the
palpableness of these resolutions rendered it
impossible the House could reject them. Those
who knew the composition of the House, i, of
bank directors ; 2, holders of bank stock ; 3,
stock jobbers; 4, blind devotees; 5, ignorant
persons who did not comprehend them ; 6,
lazy and good-humored persons, who compre
hended and acknowledged them, yet were too
lazy to examine, or unwilling to pronounce cen
sure. The persons who knew these characters,
foresaw that the three first descriptions making
one-third of the House, the three latter would
make one-half of the residue; and, of course,
that they would be rejected by a majority of
two to one. But they thought that even this re
jection would do good, by showing the public
the desperate and abandoned dispositions with
which their affairs were conducted. The reso
lutions were proposed, and nothing spared to
present them in the fulness of demonstration.
There were not more than three or four who
voted otherwise than had been expected.* — THE
ANAS, ix, 139. FORD ED., i, 222. (March
I793-)
3468. GLORY, Undying.— The road to
that glory which never dies is to use power
for the support of the laws and liberties of
our country, not for their destruction. — To
EARL OF BUCK AN. iv, 494- (W., 1803.)
3469. GOD, Gifts of.— The God who gave
us life gave us liberty at the same time.—
RIGHTS OF BRITISH AMERICA, i, 142. FORD
ED., i, 447. (1774.) See DEITY and PROVI
DENCE.
_ GOLD.— See DOLLAR and MONEY.
* The resolutions, moved in the House of Repre
sentatives on February 28th, against Hamilton.
They were negatived by a majority ranging between
40 to 33, to a minority varying from 15 to 7.— NOTE IN
FORD EDITION.
3470. GOODRICH (Elizur), Removal of.
— There is one [case] in your State [Connecti-
cutl which calls for decision, and on which
Judge Lincoln will ask yourself and some others
to consult and advise us. It is the case of Mr.
Goodrich, whose being a recent appointment,
made a few days only before Mr. Adams went
out of office, is liable to the general nullification
I affix to them. Yet, there might be reason for
continuing him ; or if that would dp more harm
than good, we should enquire who is the person
in the State who, superseding Mr. Goodrich,
would from his character and standing in
society, most effectually silence clamor, and
justify the Executive in a comparison of the two
characters. For though I consider Mr. Good-
rich's appointment as a nullity in effect, yet
others may view it as a possession and removal,
and ask if that removal has been made to put
in a better man? I pray you to take a broad
view of this subject, consider it in all its bear
ings, local and general, and communicate to
me your opinion. — To GIDEON GRANGER. FORD
ED., viii, 44. (W., March 1801.) See BISHOP.
3471. GOVERNMENT, Abdication.—
He has abdicated government here, with
drawing his governors, and declaring us out
of his allegiance and protection.* — DECLARA
TION OF INDEPENDENCE AS DRAWN BY JEFFER
SON.
3472. GOVERNMENT, Abolition of de
structive.— We hold these truths to be self
evident : that all men are created equal ; that
they are endowed by their Creator with in
herent andf inalienable rights; that among
these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of
happiness ; that to secure these rights, gov
ernments are instituted among men, deriving
their just powers from the consent of the
governed ; that whenever any form of govern
ment becomes destructive of these ends, it
is the right of the people to alter or to abolish
it, and to institute new government, laying
its foundation on such principles, and organ
izing its powers in such form, as to them
shall seem most likely to effect their safety
and happiness. — DECLARATION OF INDEPEND
ENCE AS DRAWN BY JEFFERSON.
3473. GOVERNMENT, Altering.— The
proposition [of Lord North] is altogether un
satisfactory * * ;: because it does not pro
pose to repeal the * * * acts of Parliament
altering the form of government of the East
ern Colonies. — REPLY TO LORD NORTH'S PROP
OSITION. FORD ED., i, 480. (July 1775.)
3474. . He has combined, with
others, * * * for altering, fundamentally,
the forms of our governments. — DECLARATION
OF INDEPENDENCE AS DRAWN BY JEFFERSON.
— GOVERNMENT, Ancient.— See ARIS
TOTLE.
3475. GOVERNMENT, Arbitrary.— He
has combined, with others, * * * for abol
ishing the free system of English laws in
a neighboring Province, establishing therein
an arbitrary government, and enlarging its
* Congress struck out the words in italics, and in
serted " by declaring us out of his protection, and
waging war against us."— EDITOR.
t The words " inherent and " were struck out by
Congress and the word u certain " was inserted — ED
ITOR.
Thomas Jefferson
Age about 55 years
Bronze statue by David d 'Angers (Pierre Jean David).
This statue was presented to the government of the United States in 1834 by Lieut. Uriah
P. Levy (late commodore) of the Unil o<l St-ifos Navy. It stands in the rotunda of the United
States Capitol.
[5]
385
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Government
boundaries, so as to render it at once an
example and fit instrument for introducing
the same absolute rule into these States.* —
DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE AS DRAWN BY
JEFFERSON.
3476. GOVERNMENT, Art of.— The
whole art of government consists in the art
of being honest. — RIGHTS OF BRITISH AMER
ICA, i, 141. FORD ED., i, 446. (1774.)
3477. GOVERNMENT, Censors.— No
government ought to be without censors ; and
where the press is free, no one ever will. —
To PRESIDENT WASHINGTON, iii, 467. FORD
ED., vi, 108. (M., 1792.)
3478. . If virtuous, the govern
ment need not fear the fair operation of at
tack and defence. Nature has given to man
no other means of sifting out the truth, either
in religion, law, or politics. — To PRESIDENT
WASHINGTON, iii, 467. FORD ED., vi, 108.
(M., 1792.)
3479. . I think it is as honor
able to the government neither to know, nor
notice, its sycophants or censors, as it would
be undignified and criminal to pamper the
former and persecute the latter. — To PRESI
DENT WASHINGTON, iii, 467. FORD ED., vi,
108. (M., 1792.)
— GOVERNMENT, Centralization.— See
CENTRALIZATION.
3480. GOVERNMENT, Changing.— Pru
dence, indeed, will dictate that governments
long established, should not be changed for
light and transient causes; and, accordingly,
all experience hath shown, that mankind are
more disposed to suffer, while evils are suf-
ferable, than to right themselves by abolishing
the forms to which they are accustomed. —
DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE AS DRAWN BY
JEFFERSON.
3481. GOVERNMENT, Consent of gov
erned. — Governments derivef their just pow
ers from the consent of the governed. — DEC
LARATION OF INDEPENDENCE AS DRAWN BY
JEFFERSON.
3482. . He has kept among us
in times of peace standing armies and ships
of war without the consent of our Legisla
tures. — DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE AS
DRAWN BY JEFFERSON.
3483. . Civil government being
the sole object of forming societies, its ad
ministration must be conducted by common
consent. — NOTES ON VIRGINIA. viii, 331.
FORD ED., iii, 189. (1782.)
3484. — . The General Assembly
of Virginia, at their session in 1785, passed
an act declaring that the district, called Ken
tucky shall be a separate and independent
State, on these conditions, i. That the peo
ple of that district shall consent to it. — To
M. DE MEUNIER. ix, 258. FORD ED., iv, 162.
(P., 1786.)
* Congress inserted "Colonies" instead of "States ".
—EDITOR.
t" Deriving" in the Declaration.— EDITOR
3485. . [We] first in modern
times [took] the ground of government
founded on the will of the people. — To
GOUVERNEUR MORRIS, iii, 325. FORD ED., v,
428. (Pa., 1792.)
3486. . I do not indeed wish to
see any nation have a form of government
forced on them; but if it is to be done, I
should rejoice at its being a freer one. — To
PEREGRINE FITZHUGH. * iv, 218. FORD ED., vii,
211. (Pa., 1798.)
3487. . The will of the people
is the only legitimate foundation of any gov
ernment. — To BENJAMIN WARING, iv, 379.
(W., March 1801.)
3488. . There is only one pas
sage in President Monroe's message which I
disapprove, and which I trust will not be ap
proved by our Legislature. It is that which
proposes to subject the Indians to our laws
without their consent. A little patience and
a little money are so rapidly producing their
voluntary removal across the Mississippi, that
I hope this immorality will not be permitted
to stain our history. He has certainly been
surprised into this proposition, so little in
concord with our principles of government. —
To ALBERT GALLATIN. FORD ED., x, 115. (M.,
Nov. 1818.)
3489. . The will [of the nation
is] the only legitimate basis [of government].
—To . vii, 414. (M., 1825.)
3490. GOVERNMENT, Control of.—
Unless the mass retains sufficient control
over those entrusted with the powers of their
government, these will be perverted to their
own oppression, and to the perpetuation of
wealth and power in the individuals and their
families selected for the trust. Whether our
Constitution has hit on the exact degree of
control necessary, is yet under experiment ;
and it is a most encouraging reflection that
distance and other difficulties securing us
against the brigand governments of Europe,
in the safe enjoyment of our farms and fire
sides, the experiment stands a better chance
of being satisfactorily made here than on
any occasion yet presented by history. — To
M. VAN DER KEMP, vi, 45. (M., 1812.)
3491. GOVERNMENT, Corruption and.
— In every government on earth is some trace
of human weakness, some germ of corruption
and degeneracy, which cunning will discover,
and wickedness insensibly open, cultivate and
improve. — NOTES ON VIRGINIA. viii, 390.
FORD ED., iii, 254. ( 1782. )
3492. GOVERNMENT, De Facto.— There
are some matters which, I conceive, might be
transacted with a government de facto; such,
for instance, as the reforming the unfriendly
restrictions on our commerce and navigation.
— To GOUVERNEUR MORRIS, iii, 489. FORD
ED., vi, 131. (Pa., Nov. 1792.)
3493. GOVERNMENT, Despotic.— All
the powers of government, legislative, execu-
Government
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
386
tive and judiciary, result to the legislative
body [under the first Virginia Constitution].
The concentrating these in the same hands is
precisely the definition of despotic govern
ment. It will be no alleviation that these
powers will be exercised by a plurality of
hands, and not by a single one. One hun
dred and seventy-three despots would surely
be as oppressive as one. Let those who doubt
it turn their eyes on the. Republic of Venice. —
NOTES ON VIRGINIA, viii, 361. FORD ED., iii,
223. (1782.)
3494. . I think the government
• in France is a pure despotism in theory, but
moderated in practice by the respect which
the public opinion commands. But the na
tion repeats, after Montesquieu, that the dif
ferent bodies of magistracy, of priests and
nobles, are barriers between the King and the
people. It would be easy to prove that these
barriers can only appeal to public opinion,
and that neither these bodies, nor the peo
ple, can oppose any legal check to the will
of the monarch. — To MR. CUTTING, ii, 438.
(P, 1788.)
3495. GOVERNMENT, Elective.— Elect
ive government is * * * the best perma
nent corrective of the errors or abuses of
those entrusted with power. — REPLY TO AD
DRESS, iv, 387. (W., March 1801.)
3496. GOVERNMENT, Energetic.—
American reputation in Europe is not such as
to be flattering to its citizens. Two circum
stances are particularly objected to us, — the
non-payment of our debts and the want of
energy in our government. These discourage
a connection with us. — To ARCHIBALD STUART.
i, 518. FORD ED., iv, 188. (P., 1786.)
3497. . I am not a friend to a
very energetic government. It is always op
pressive. — To JAMES MADISON, ii, 331. FORD
ED., iv, 479. (P., 1787.)
3498. . A free government is of
all others the most energetic. — To JOHN
DICKINSON, iv, 366. FORD ED., viii, 8. (W.,
March 1801.)
3499. - — . The energy of the gov
ernment depends mainly on the confidence of
the people in the Chief Magistrate. — To
DR. HORATIO TURPIN. v, 90. (W., 1807.)
— GOVERNMENT, English.— See ENG
LAND.
3500. GOVERNMENT, Experiments in.
—This I hope will be the age of experiments
in government, and that their basis will be
founded in principles of honesty, not of mere
force. We have seen no instance of this since
the days of the Roman Republic, nor do we
read of any before that. — To JOHN ADAMS.
FORD ED., vii, 56. (M., 1796.)
_ GOVERNMENT, Extensive terri
tory and. — See TERRITORY.
3501. GOVERNMENT, Extremes of.
— We are now vibrating between too much
and too little government, and the pendulum
will rest finally in the middle.— To WILLIAM
STEPHENS SMITH. FORD ED., v •? (P
1788.)
3502. GOVERNMENT, Fallibility.—
— Was the government to prescribe to us our
medicine and diet, our bodies would be in
such keeping as our souls are now. Thus in
France the emetic was once forbidden as
a medicine, and the potato as an article of
food. Government is just as infallible, too.
when it fixes systems in physics. Galileo was
sent to the Inquisition for affirming that the
earth was a sphere; the government had de
clared it to be as flat as a trencher, and
Galileo was obliged to abiure his error. This
error, however, at length prevailed, the earth
became a globe, and Descartes declared it
was whirled round its axes by a vortex. The
government in which he lived was wise
enough to see that this was no question of
civil jurisdiction, or we should all have been
involved by authority in vortices. In fact,
vortices have been exploded, and the Newton
ian principle of gravitation is now more
firmly established, on the basis of reason,
than it would be were the government to step
in, and to make it an article of necessary
faith. Reason and experiment have been
indulged, and error has fled before them. It
is error alone which needs the support of
government. Truth can stand by itself. —
NOTES ON VIRGINIA, viii, 400. FORD ED iii
264. (1782.)
3503. GOVERNMENT, Tear and.— No
government can be maintained without the
principle of fear as well as of duty. Good
men will obey the last, but bad ones the
former only. If our government ever fails
it will be from this weakness. — To J. W.
EPPKS. FORD ED., ix, 484. (M., 1814.)
- GOVERNMENT, The federal.— See
FEDERAL GOVERNMENT.
3504. GOVERNMENT, Field for.—
Never was a finer canvas presented to work
on than our countrymen. All of them en
gaged in agriculture, or in the pursuits of
honest industry, independent in their circum
stances, enlightened as to their rights, and
firm in their habits of order and obedience
to the laws. — To JOHN ADAMS. FORD ED.,
vii, 56. (M., 1796.)
3505. GOVERNMENT, Forms of.— So
cieties exist under three forms, sufficiently
distinguishable, i. Without government, as
among our Indians. 2. Under governments,
wherein the will of every one has a just in
fluence; as is the case in England, in a slight
degree, and in our States, in a great one. 3.
Under governments of force; as is the case
in all other monarchies, and in most of the
other republics. To have an idea of the
curse of existence under these last, they must
be seen. It is a government of wo^es over
sheep. It is a problem, not clear in my mind,
that the first condition is not the best. But
I believe it to be inconsistent with any great
degree of population. The second state has
a great deal of good in it. The mass of man-
387
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Government
kind under that, enjoys a precious degree of
liberty and happiness'J It has its evils, too;
the principle of wrften is the turbulence to
which it is subject. But weigh this against
the oppressions of monarchy, and it becomes
nothing. Malo periculosam libertatem quant
quictem scrvitutcm. Even this evil is pro
ductive of good. It prevents the degeneracy
of government, and nourishes a general at
tention to the public affairs. I hold it that a
little rebellion, now and then, is a good thing,
and as necessary in the political world as
storms are in the physical. Unsuccessful re
bellions, indeed, generally establish the en
croachments on the rights of the people,
which have produced them. An observation
of this truth should render honest republican
governors so mild in their punishment of re
bellions, as not to discourage them too much.
It is a medicine necessary for the sound
health of government. — To JAMES MADISON.
ii, 105. FORD ED., iv, 362. (P., 1787.)
3506. GOVERNMENT, Foundation of.
— The will of the people is the only legitimate
foundation of any government, and to pro
tect its free expression should be our first
object. — To BENJAMIN WARING. iv, 379.
(W., March 1801.)
3507. - — . The true foundation of
republican government is the equal right of
every citizen, in his person and property, and
in their management. — To SAMUEL KERCHI-
VAL. vii, n. FORD ED., x, 39. (M., 1816.)
3508. GOVERNMENT, Frugality.— I
am for a government rigorously frugal. — To
ELBRIDGE GERRY. iv, 268. FORD ED., vii,
327. (Pa., 1799.)
3509. GOVERNMENT, Good.— The first
principle of a good government is certainly
a distribution of its powers into executive,
judiciary and legislative, and a subdivision of
the latter into two or three branches. — To
JOHN ADAMS, ii, 282. FORD ED., iv, 454.
(P, 1787.)
3510. . A single good govern
ment is a blessing to the whole earth. — To
GEORGE FLOWER, vii, 84. (P.F., 1817.)
3511. — . No government can con
tinue good, but under the control of the peo
ple. — To JOHN ADAMS, vii, 149. FORD ED., x,
153- (M., 1819.)
3512. GOVERNMENT, Harmony and.—
It is for the happiness of those united in
society to harmonize as much as possible in
matters which they must of necessity trans
act together. — NOTES ON VIRGINIA, viii, 331.
FORD ED., iii, 189. (1782.)
3513. GOVERNMENT, Hereditary
branches of. — Experience has shown that
the hereditary branches of modern govern
ments are the patrons of privilege and pre
rogative, and not of the natural rights of
the people, whose oppressors they generally
are. — To GENERAL WASHINGTON. i, 335.
FORD ED., iii, 467. (A., 1784.)
3514. — — . What a crowd of les
sons do the present miseries of Holland
3515.
teach us! Never to have an hereditary of
ficer of any sort * * * . — To JOHN
ADAMS, ii, 283. FORD ED., iv, 455. (P.,
1787.)
- . Our young Republic
should guard against hereditary
magistrates. — To DAVID HUMPHREYS, ii, 2W
(P., 1787.)
3516. - . - . We have chanced to live
in an age which will probably be distinguished
in history for its experiments in government
on a larger scale than has yet taken place.
But we shall not live to see the result.
The grosser absurdities, such as hereditary
magistracies, we shall see exploded in our day,
long experience having already pronounced
condemnation against them. But what is to
be the substitute? This our children or
frandchildren will answer. We may be satis-
ed with the certain knowledge that none
can ever be tried, so stupid, so unrighteous,
so oppressive, so destructive of every end for
which honest men enter into government, as
that which their forefathers had established,
and their fathers alone venture to tumble
headlong from the stations they have so long
abused. — To M. D'IVERNOIS. iv, 115. FORD
ED., vii, 5. (M., Feb. 1795.)
3517. -- . The principles of our
Constitution are wisely opposed * * * to
every practice which may lead to hereditary
establishments. — REPLY TO ADDRESS. v, 473.
(M., 1809.)
3518. - - . Hereditary authorities
always consume the public contributions, and
oppress the people with labor and poverty. —
To DAVID HOWELL. v, 554. (M., 1810.)
3519. -- . Hereditary bodies, al
ways existing, always on the watch for their
own aggrandizement, profit of every oppor
tunity of advancing the privileges of their
order, and encroaching on the rights of the
people. — To M. CORAY. vii, 319. (M.,
1823.)
3520. GOVERNMENT, Inattention to.
— If once the people become inattentive to the
public affairs, you and I, and Congress and
Assemblies, Judges and Governors, shall all
become wolves. It seems to be the law of
our general nature, in spite of individual e^
ceptions ; and experience declares that man is
the only animal which devours his own kind ;
for I can apply no milder term to the gov
ernments of Europe, and to the general prey
of the rich on the poor. — To EDWARD CAR-
RINGTON. ii, 100. FORD ED., iv, 360. (P.,
1787-)
3521. GOVERNMENT, Liberty and.—
The natural progress of things is for liberty
to yield and government to gain ground. — To
E. CARRINGTON. ii, 404. FORD ED., v, 20.
(P., 1788.)
3522. GOVERNMENT, Monarchical.—
Blessed effect of a kingly government, where
a pretended insult to the sister of a king,
is to produce the wanton sacrifice of a
hundred or two thousand of the people who
Government
THE JEFFERSQNIAN CYCLOPEDIA
ass
have entrusted themselves to his govern
ment, and as many of his enemies ! And
we think ours a bad government. — To GOV
ERNOR RUTLEDGE. ii, 234. (P., 1787.)
3523. . It is a government of
wolves over sheep. — To JAMES MADISON, ii,
105. FORD ED., iv, 362. (P., 1787.)
3524. GOVERNMENT, Moral princi
ples. — If ever the morals of a people could
be made the basis of their own government,
it is our case; and who could propose to
govern such a people by the corruption of
a Legislature, before he could have one night
of quiet sleep, must convince himself that the
human soul, as well as body, is mortal. — To
JOHN ADAMS. FORD ED., vii, 57. (M., 1796.)
3525. . When we come to the
moral principles on which the government is
to be administered, we come to what is proper
for all conditions of society. I meet you
there in all the benevolence and rectitude of
your native character; and I love myself al
ways most where I concur most with you.
Liberty, truth, probity, honor, are declared to
be the^four cardinal principles of your So
ciety. :' I believe with you that morality, com
passion, generosity, are innate elements of the
human constitution; that there exists a right
independent of force ; that a right to property
is founded in our .natural wants, in the means
with which we are endowed to satisfy these
wants, and the right to what we acquire by
those means without violating the similar
rights of other sensible beings ; that no one
has a right to obstruct another, exercising his
faculties innocently for the relief of sensibil
ities made a part of his nature; that justice
is the fundamental law of society; that the
majority, oppressing an individual, is guilty
of a crime, abuses its strength, and by acting
on the law of the strongest breaks up the
foundations of society;' that action by the
citizens in person, in affairs within their reach
and competence, and in all others by repre
sentatives, chosen immediately, and removable
by themselves, constitutes the essence of a
republic ; that all governments are more or
less republican in proportion as this principle
enters more or less into their composition;
and that a government by representation is
capable of extension over a greater surface
of country than one of any other form. These
are the essentials in which you and I agree;
however in our zeal for their maintenance,
we may be perplexed and divaricate, as to the
structure of society most likely to secure them.
— To DUPONT DE NEMOURS, vi, 591. FORD
ED., x, 24. (P.F., 1816.)
3526. GOVERNMENT, Objects of.-^Eer^
sons and property make the sum of the ob
jects of government.— To JAMES MADISON.
Hi, *e6r~FoiiD ED., v, 121. (P., 1789.) See
GENERATIONS.
3527. . The care of human life
and happiness, and not their destruction, is
the first and only legitimate object of good
government— R. TO A. MARYLAND REPUB
LICANS, viii, 165. (1809.)
3528. . The freedom and happi
ness of man * * * are the sole objects
of all legitimate government. — To GENERAL
KOSCIUSKO. v, 509. (M., 1810.)
3529. . The only orthodox ob
ject of the institution of government is to
secure the greatest degree of happiness pos
sible to the general mass of those associated
under it. — To M. VAN DER KEMP, vi, 45.
(M., 1812.)
3530 . The equal rights of
man, and the happiness of every individual,
are now acknowledged to be the only legiti
mate objects of government. Modern times
have the signal advantage, too, of having
discovered the only device by which these
rights can be secured, to wit : government by
the people, acting not in person, but by rep
resentatives chosen by themselves, that is to
say, by every man of ripe years and sane
mind, who either contributes by his purse or
person to the support of his country. — To
M. CORAY. vii, 319. (M., 1823.)
3531. GOVERNMENT, Origin of. —There
is an error into which most of the specu
lators on government have fallen, and which
the well-known state of society of our Indians
ought, before now, to have corrected. In
their hypothesis of the origin of government,
they suppose it to have commenced in the
patriarchal or monarchical form. Our In
dians are evidently in that state of nature
which has passed the association of a single
family ; and not yet submitted to the author
ity of positive laws, or of any acknowledged
magistrate. Every man, with them, is per
fectly free to follow his own inclinations.
But if, in doing this, he violates the rights
of another, if the case be slight, he is punished
by the disesteem of his society, or, as we say,
by public opinion ; if serious, he is toma
hawked as a dangerous enemy. Their leaders
conduct them by the influence of their char
acter only; and they follow, or not, as they
please, him of whose character for wisdom or
war they have the highest opinion. Hence
the origin of the parties among them, adher
ing to different leaders, and governed by
their advice, not by their command. The
Cherokees, the only tribe I know to be con
templating the establishment of regular laws,
magistrates, and government, propose a gov
ernment of representatives, elected from
every town. But, of all things, they least
think of subjecting themselves to the will of
one man. This, the only instance of actual
fact within our knowledge, will be then a
beginning by republican, and not by pa
triarchal or monarchical government, as spec
ulative writers have generally conjectured. —
To F. W. GILMER. vii, 4. FORD ED., x, 32.
(M., 1816.)
3532. GOVERNMENT, Participation in.
— Those who bear equally the burdens of gov
ernment should equally participate of its ben
efits. — ADDRESS TO LORD DUNMORE. FORD ED.,
i, 457. (I775-)
389
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Government
3533. -- . No Englishman will pre
tend that a right to participate in government
can be derived from any other source than a
personal right, or a right of property. The
conclusion is inevitable that he, who had
neither his person nor property in America,
could rightfully assume a participation in its
government.— NOTES ON M. SOULES'S WORK.
ix, 299. FORD ED., iv, 306. (P., 1786.)
3534. GOVERNMENT, The people and.
— Every government degenerates when trusted
to the~ruTers'__Ql-tfie' IJeopte'' atone. The people
themselves, therefore, are its only safe de-
And to^ render even them safe,
jrr|proven t a
VIRGINIA. vmT ago. FORD
ED., Ill, 254. (17C>2.)
3535. . The influence over gov
ernment must be shared among all the people.
If every individual which composes their mass
participates of the ultimate authority, the gov
ernment will be safe ; because the corrupting
the whole mass will exceed any private re
sources of wealth ; and public ones cannot
be provided but by levies on the people. In
this case, every man would have to pay his
own price. The government of Great Britain
has been corrupted, because but one man in
ten has a right to vote for members of Par
liament. The sellers of the government, there
fore, get nine-tenths of their price clear. —
NOTES ON VIRGINIA, viii, 390. FORD ED., iii,
\ 254- (1782.)
3536. . Were I called upon to
decide whether the people had best be omitted
in the Legislative or Judiciary department, I
would say it is better to leave them out of the
Legislative. The execution of the laws is more
important than the making them. However,
it is best to have the people in all the three
departments, where that is possible. — To M.
L'ABBE ARNOND. iii, 82. FORD ED., v, 104.
(P, 1789.)
3537. GOVERNMENT, Perversion.—
[While] certain forms of government are
better calculated than others to protect in
dividuals in the free exercise of their natural
rights, and are at the same time themselves
better guarded against degeneracy, yet ex
perience hath shown that, even under the best
forms, those entrusted with power have, in
time, and by slow operations, perverted it
into tyranny. — DIFFUSION OF KNOWLEDGE
BILL. FORP ED., ii, 220. (1779.)
3538. GOVERNMENT, Powers of.— The
Legislative, Executive and Judiciary offices
shall be kept forever separate ; no person ex
ercising the one shall be capable of appoint
ment to the others, or to either of them. —
PROPOSED VA. CONSTITUTION. FORD ED., ii, 13.
(June 1776.)
jf^ 3539. . The legitimate powers of
government extend to such acts only as are
injurious to others. — NOTES ON VIRGINIA.
, viii, 400. FORD ED., iii, 263. (1782.)
3540. . The powers of govern
ment shall be divided into three distinct de-
partments, each of them to be confided to a
separate body of magistracy; to wit, those
which are legislative to one, those which
are judiciary to another, and those which are
executive to another. No person, or collec
tion of persons, being of one of these de
partments, shall exercise any power properly
belonging to either of the others, except in
the instances hereinafter expressly permitted.
— PROPOSED CONSTITUTION FOR VIRGINIA, viii,
442. FORD ED., iii, 322. (1783.)
3541. GOVERNMENT, Principles of
modern. — Either force or corruption has been
the principle of every modern government,
unless the Dutch perhaps be excepted, and
I am not well enough informed to accept them
absolutely. — To JOHN ADAMS. FORD ED., vii,
57- (1796.)
3542. GOVERNMENT, Public welfare
and. — No government has a legitimate right
to do what is not for the welfare of the gov
erned. — To PRESIDENT WASHINGTON, iii, 461.
FORD ED., vi, 103. (M., 1792.)
3543. GOVERNMENT, Purchases "by.—
I do not know on what principles of reason
ing it is that good men think the public ought
to pay more for a thing than they would
themselves if they wanted it. — To HENRY
DEARBORN, v, 293. (M., 1808.)
3544. GOVERNMENT, Purity.— A gov
ernment regulating itself by what is wise and
just for the many, uninfluenced by the local
and selfish views of the few who direct their
affairs, has not been seen, perhaps, on earth.
Or if it existed, for a moment, at the birth of
ours, it would not be easy to fix the term of
its continuance. Still, I believe it does exist
here in a greater degree than anywhere else;
and for its growth and continuance, * * *
I offer sincere prayers. — To WILLIAM CRAW
FORD, vii, 8. FORD ED., x, 36. (M., 1816.)
3545. GOVERNMENT, Recognition of.
— With what kind of government [in France]
may you do business? It accords with our
principles to acknowledge any government to
be rightful, which is formed by the will of
the nation substantially declared. The late
government was of this kind, and was ac
cordingly acknowledged by all the branches
of ours. So, any alteration of it which shall
be made by the will of the nation substantially
declared, will doubtless be acknowledged in
like manner. With such a government every
kind of business may be done. — To GOUVER-
NEUR MORRIS, iii, 489. FORD ED., vi, 131.
(Pa., Nov. 1792.)
3546. . You express a wish * * *
to be generally advised as to the tenor of your
conduct in consequence of the late revolu
tion in France. * * * We certainly can
not deny to other nations that principle
whereon our government is founded, that
every nation has a right to govern itself in
ternally under what forms it pleases, and to
change these forms at its own will; and ex
ternally to transact business with other na
tions through whatever organ it chooses,
Government
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
390
whether that be a king, convention, assem
bly, committee, president, or whatever it be.
The only thing essential is, the will of the
nation. Taking this as your polar star, you
can hardly err. — To THOMAS PINCKNEY. iii,
500. (Pa., Dec. 1792.)
3547. . I am apprehensive that
your situation must have been difficult dur
ing the transition from the late form of gov
ernment to the reestablishment of some
other legitimate authority, and that you may
have been at a loss to determine with whom
business might be done. Nevertheless when
principles are well understood their applica
tion is less embarrassing. We surely cannot
deny to any nation that right whereon our
own government is founded, that every one
may govern itself under whatever forms it
pleases, and change these forms _ at its own
will ; and that it may transact its business
with foreign nations through whatever organ
it thinks proper, whether king, convention,
assembly, committee, president, or whatever
else it may choose. The will of the nation
is the only thing essential to be regarded. —
TO GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. FORD ED., VI, I4Q.
(Pa., Dec. 1792.)
3548. . On the dissolution of the
late constitution in France, by the removal of
so integral a part of it as the King, the
National Assembly, to whom a part only of
the public authority had been delegated, sen
sible of the incompetence of their powers to
transact the affairs of the nation legiti
mately, incited their fellow citizens to ap
point a national convention during this de
fective state of the national authority. Duty
to our constituents required that we should
suspend payment of the moneys yet unpaid
of our debt to that country, because there
was no person, or persons, substantially au
thorized by the nation of France to receive
the moneys and give us a good acquittal. On
this ground my last letter desired you to
suspend payments till further orders, with an
assurance, if necessary, that the suspension
should not be continued a moment longer
than should be necessary for us to see the
reestablishment of some person, or body ^ of
persons, with authority to receive and give
us a good acquittal. Since that we learn that
a convention is assembled, invested with full
powers by the nation to transact its affairs.
Though we know that from the public
papers only, instead of waiting for a formal
annunciation of it. we hasten to act upon it
by authorizing you, if the fact be true, to
consider the suspension of payment, *
as now taken off, and to proceed as if it had
never been imposed; considering the con
vention, or the government they shall have
established, as the lawful representative of
the nation, and authorized to act for them.
Neither the honor nor inclination of our
country would justify our withholding our
payment under a scrupulous attention to
forms. On the contrary, they lent us that
money when we were under their circum
stances, and it seems providential that we can
not only repay them the same sum, but under
the same circumstances. — To GOUVERNEUR
MORRIS. FORD ED., vi, 150. (Pa., Dec. 1792.)
3549. . I am sensible that your
situation must have been difficult during the
transition from the late form of government
[in France] to the reestablishment of some
other legitimate authority, and that you may
have been at a loss to determine with whom
business might be done. Nevertheless, when
principles are well understood, their appli
cation is less embarrassing. We surely can
not deny to any nation that right whereon our
own government is founded, that every one
may govern itself according to whatever form
it pleases, and change these forms at its own
will ; and that it may transact its business
with foreign nations through whatever or
gan it thinks proper, whether king, conven
tion, assembly, committee, president, or any
thing else it may choose. The will of the
nation is the only thing essential to be re
garded. — To GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. iii, 521.
FORD ED., vi, 199. (Pa., Mar. 1793.)
3550. . If the nation of France
shall ever reestablish such an officer as Regent
(of which there is no appearance at present),
I should be for receiving a minister from
him ; but I am not for doing it from any
Regent, so christened, and set up by any other
authority. — To PRESIDENT WASHINGTON.
FORD ED., vi, 219. (Pa., April 1793.)
3551. GOVERNMENT, Representative.
— A representative government, responsible at
short periods of election, * * * produces
the greatest sum of happiness to mankind. —
R. TO A. VERMONT LEGISLATURE, viii, 121.
(1807.)
3552. . A government by repre
sentation is capable of extension over a
greater surface of country than one of any
other form. — To DUPONT DE NEMOURS, vi,
591. FORD ED., x, 24. (P.F., 1816.)
3553. . The advantages of repre
sentative government exhibited in England
and America, and recently in other countries,
will procure its establishment everywhere in
a more or less perfect form ; and this will in
sure the amelioration of the condition of the
world. It will cost years of blood, and be
well worth them. — To ALBERT GALLATIN.
FORD ED., x, 262. (M., 1823.)
3554. GOVERNMENT, Republican.—
The republican is the only form of govern
ment which is not eternally at open or secret
war with the rights of mankind. — REPLY TO
ADDRESS, iii, 128. FORD ED., v, 147. (1790.)
3555. . A just and solid repub
lican government maintained here, will be a
standing monument and example for the
aim and imitation of the people of other
countries. — To JOHN DICKINSON, iv, 366.
FORD ED., viii, 8. (W., March 1801.)
3556. . Governments are more
or less republican as they have more or less
of the element of popular election and con-
391
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Government
trol in their composition. — To JOHN TAYLOR.
vi, 608. FORD ED., x, 31. (M., 1816.)
3557. . Governments are repub
lican only in proportion as they embody the
will of the people and execute it. — To
SAMUEL KERCHIVAL. vii, 9. FORD ED., x,
37. (M., 1816.)
3558. . A government is repub
lican in proportion as every member com
posing it has his equal voice in the direction
of its concerns (not indeed in person, which
would be impracticable beyond the limits of a
city, or small township, but) by represen
tatives chosen by himself, and responsible to
him at short periods.— To SAMUEL KERCHI
VAL. vii, 10. FORD ED., x, 38. (M., 1816.)
3559. . It is a misnomer to call
a government republican, in which a branch
of the supreme power is independent of the
nation. — To JAMES PLEASANTS. FORD ED., x,
199. (M., 1821.)
3560. GOVERNMENT, Rights and.—
To secure these rights (life, liberty, and the
pursuit of happiness), governments are in
stituted among men, deriving their just
powers from the consent of the governed. —
DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE AS DRAWN BY
JEFFERSON.
3561. . It is to secure our rights
that we resort to government at all. — To M.
D'IVERNOIS. iv, 114. FORD ED., vii, 4. (M.,
Feb. 1795.)
3562. GOVERNMENT, Safety of.— I
deem no government safe which is under the
vassalage of any self-constituted authorities,
or any other authority than that of the na
tion, or its regular functionaries. — To ALBERT
GALLATIN. iv, 519. FORD ED., viii, 285. (W.,
1803.)
3563. GOVERNMENT, Scandalizing.—
Few think there is any immorality in scan
dalizing governments or ministers. — To
MADAME NECKER. ii, 570. (P., 1789.)
3564. GOVERNMENT, Simplicity.— I
am for a government rigorously frugal and
simple. — To ELBRIDGE GERRY, iv, 268. FORD
ED., vii, 327. (Pa., 1799.) See SIMPLICITY.
3565. GOVERNMENT, Strongest.— The
government which can wield the arm of the
people must be the strongest possible. — To
MR. WEAVER, v, 89. (W., 1807.)
3566. . That government is the
strongest of which every man feels himself a
part.— To GOVERNOR H. D. TIFFIN, v, 38.
FORD ED., ix, 21. (W., 1807.)
3567. GOVERNMENT, Suitability of.—
The excellence of every government is its
adaptation to the state of those to be gov
erned by it. — To DUPONT DE NEMOURS, vi,
589. FORD ED., x, 22. (P.P., 1816.)
3568. . The laws which must
effect [their happiness] must flow from their
own habits, their own feelings, and the re
sources of their own minds. No stranger to
these could possibly propose regulations
adapted to them. Every people have their own
particular habits, ways of thinking, manners,
&c., which have grown up with them from
their infancy, are become a part of their na
ture, and to which the regulations which are
to make them happy must be accommodated.
No member of a foreign country can have a
sufficient sympathy with these. The institu
tions of Lycurgus, for example, would not
have suited Athens, nor those of Solon,
Lacedaemon. The organizations of Locke
were impracticable for Carolina, and those of
Rousseau and Mably for Poland. Turning
inwardly on myself from these eminent il
lustrations of the truth of my observation, I
feel all the presumption it would manifest,
should I undertake to do what this respectable
society is alone qualified to do suitably for
itself.*— To WILLIAM LEE. vii, 56. (M., 1817.)
3569. . The forms of govern
ment adapted to the age [of the classical
writers of Greece] and [their] country are
[not] practicable or to be imitated in our day.
* * * The circumstances of the world are
too much changed for that. The government
of Athens, for example, was that of the peo
ple of one city, making laws for the whole
country subjected to them. That of Lace-
daemon was the rule of military monks over
the laboring class of the people, reduced to
abject slavery. These are not the doctrines of
the present age. The equal rights of man,
and the happiness of every individual, are now
acknowledged to be the only legitimate ob
jects of government. Modern times have the
signal advantage, too, of having discovered
the only device by which these rights can be
secured, to wit : government by the people,
acting not in person, but by representatives
chosen by themselves, that is to say, by every
man of ripe years and sane mind, who
either contributes by his purse or person to
the support of his country. — To M. CORAY.
vii, 318. (M., 1823.)
— GOVERNMENT, Territory and.—
See TERRITORY.
3570. GOVERNMENT, Too much.— The
only condition on earth to be compared with
ours, in my opinion, is that of the Indian,
where they have still less law than we. — To
GOVERNOR RUTLEDGE. ii, 234. (P., 1787.)
3571. — . I think, myself, that we
have more machinery of government than is
necessary, too many parasites living on the
labor of the industrious. I believe it might
be much simplified to the relief of those who
maintain it.— To WILLIAM LUDLOW. vii, 378.
(M., 1824.)
3572. GOVERNMENT, Usurpation of.
— The government of a nation may be usurped
by the forcible intrusion of an individual into
* In 1817, a French society, organized for the pur
pose of applying to Congress for a grant of two hun
dred and fifty thousand acres of land on theTombig-
bee Riyer, requested Jefferson " to trace for them
the basis of a social pact for their local regulations ".
He declined on the grounds set forth in the quota
tion.— EDITOR.
Government
Governments
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
392
the throne. But to conquer its will, so as to
rest the right on that, the only legitimate
basis, requires long acquiescence and cessation
of all opposition. — To . vii, 413. (M.,
1825.)
3573. GOVERNMENT, Works on.— In
political economy, I think SMITH'S Wealth of
Nations the best book extant. — To T. M. RAN
DOLPH, iii, 145. FORD ED., v, 173. (N.Y.,
1790.)
3574 . Locke's little book on
government is perfect as far as it goes. — To T.
M. RANDOLPH, iii, 145. FORD ED., v, 173. (N.
Y., 1790.)
3575. . Descending from theory
to practice, there is no better book than the
Federalist. — To T. M. RANDOLPH, iii, 145.
FORD ED., v, 173. (N.Y., 1790.)
3576. . In the science of gov
ernment, MONTESQUIEU'S Spirit of Laws is gen
erally recommended. It contains, indeed, a
great number of political truths ; but also an
equal number of heresies ; so that the reader
must be constantly on his guard. — To T. M.
RANDOLPH, iii, 145. FORD ED., v, 173. (N.
Y., 1790.)
3577. . I think there does not
exist a good elementary work on the organiza
tion of society into civil government ; I mean a
work which presents in one full and compre
hensive view the system of principles on which
such an organization should be founded, ac
cording to the rights of nature. For want of
a single work of that character, I should rec
ommend LOCKE on Government, SIDNEY,
PRIESTLEY'S Essay on the First Principles of
Government, CHIPMAN'S Principles of Govern
ment, and the Federalist; adding, perhaps,
BECCARIA on Crimes and Punishments, be
cause of the demonstrative manner in which he
has treated that branch of the subject. If your
views of political inquiry go further, to the sub
jects of money and commerce, SMITH'S Wealth
of Nations is the best book to be read, unless
SAY'S Political Economy can be had, which
treats the same subjects on the same principles,
but in a shorter compass and more lucid man
ner. — To JOHN NORVELL. v, 90. FORD ED., ix,
71. (W., 1807.) See ARISTOTLE.
3578. GOVERNMENTS (American),
Blessed. — My God ! how little do my coun
trymen know what precious blessings they are
in possession of, and which no other people
on earth enjoy. — To JAMES MONROE, i, 352.
FORD ED., iv, 59. (1785.)
3579. GOVERNMENTS (American),
Contented.— There are not, on the face of the
earth, more tranquil governments than ours,
nor a happier and more contented people. — To
BARON GEISMER. i, 427. (P., 1785.)
3580. GOVERNMENTS (American),
Energy of. — It has been said that our gov
ernments, both Federal and particular, want
energy; that it is difficult to restrain both
individuals and States from committing
wrong. This is true, and it is an inconve
nience. On the other hand, that energy which
absolute governments derive from an armed
force, which is the effect of the bayonet con
stantly held at the breast of every citizen, and
which resembles very much the stillness of
the grave, must be admitted also to have its
inconveniences. We weigh the two together,
and like best to submit to the former. Com
pare the number of wrongs committed with im
punity by citizens among us with those com
mitted by the sovereign in other countries,
and the last will be found most numerous,
most oppressive on the mind, and most de
grading of the dignity of man.— To M. DE
MEUNIER. ix, 292. FORD ED., iv, 147. (P.,
1786.)
3581. GOVERNMENTS (American),
Happy.— With all its defects, and with all
those of our particular governments, the in
conveniences resulting from them are so
slight in comparison with those existing in
every other government on earth, that our
citizens may certainly be considered as in the
happiest political situation which exists.— To
GENERAL WASHINGTON, ii, 250. (P., Aug.
1787.)
3582 . With all the defects of
our constitutions, whether general or partic
ular, the comparison of our governments with
those of Europe, is like a comparison of
heaven and hell. England, like the earth, may
be allowed to take an intermediate station.—
To JOSEPH JONES, ii, 249. FORD ED., iv, 438.
(P., 1787.)
3583. GOVERNMENTS (American),
People and.— We think in America that it is
necessary to introduce the people into every
department of government, as far as they are
capable of exercising it; and that this is the
only way to ensure a long-continued and
honest administration of its powers. To M.
L'ABBE ARNOND. iii, 81. FORD ED., v, 103.
(P, 1789.)
3584. GOVERNMENTS (American),
Powers. — An elective despotism was not the
government we fought for, but one which
should not only be founded on true free princi
ples, but in which the powers of government
should be so divided and balanced among
general bodies of magistracy, as that no one
could transcend their legal limits without
being effectually checked and restrained by
the others. — NOTES ON VIRGINIA, viii, 361.
FORD ED., iii, 224. (1782.)
3585. GOVERNMENTS (American),
Principles. — Every species of government has
its specific principles. Ours perhaps are more
peculiar than those of any in the universe.
It is a composition of the freest principles of
the English constitution, with others derived
from natural right and natural reason. To
these nothing can be more opposed than the
maxims of absolute monarchies. — NOTES ON
VIRGINIA, viii, 331. FORD ED., iii, 189.
(1782.)
3586. - — . We, of the United States,
are constitutionally and conscientiously demo
crats. We consider society as one of the natural
wants with which man has been created ; that
he has been endowed with faculties and quali
ties to effect its satisfaction by concurrence of
others having the same want ; that when, by
the exercise of these faculties, he has procured
r
393
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Government s
a state of society, it is one of his acquisitions
which he has a right to regulate and control,
jointly, indeed, with all those who have con
curred in the procurement, whom he cannot
exclude from its use or direction more than
they him. We think experience has proved
it safer, for the mass of individuals composing
the society, to reserve to themselves person
ally the exercise of all rightful powers to
which they are competent, and to delegate those
to which they are not competent to deputies
named, and removable for unfaithful conduct,
by themselves immediately. Hence, with us, the
people (by which is meant the mass of individ
uals composing the society), being competent
to judge of the facts occurring in ordinary life,
they have retained the functions of judges of
facts, under the name of jurors ; but being un
qualified for the management of affairs requir
ing intelligence above the common level, yet
competent judges of human character, they
choose, for their management, representatives,
some by themselves immediately, others by elec
tors chosen by themselves. Thus our President
is chosen by ourselves directly in practice, for
we vote for A as elector only on the condition
he will vote for B ; our representatives by our
selves immediately ; our Senate and judges of
law through electors chosen by ourselves.
And we believe that this proximate choice and
power of removal is the best security which
experience has sanctioned for ensuring an
honest conduct in the functionaries of society.
Your three or four alembications have indeed a
seducing appearance. We should conceive,
prima facie, that the last extract would be the
pure alcohol of the substance, three or four
times rectified. But in proportion as they are
more and more sublimated, they are also farther
and farther removed from the control of the so
ciety ; and the human character, we believe, re
quires in general constant and immediate con
trol, to prevent its being biased from right by
the seductions of self-love. Your process pro
duces, therefore, a structure of government from
which the fundamental principle of ours is
excluded. You first set down as zeros all
individuals not having lands, which are the
greater number in every society of long stand
ing. Those holding lands are permitted to
manage in person the small affairs of their
commune or corporation, and to elect a deputy
for the canton ; in which election, too, every
one's vote is to be an unit, a plurality, or a
fraction, in proportion to his landed possessions.
The assemblies of cantons, then, elect for the
districts ; those of districts for circles ; and
those of circles for the national assemblies.
Some of these highest councils, too, are in a
considerable degree self-elected, the regency
partially, the judiciary entirely, and some are
for life. Whenever, therefore, an esprit de
corps, or of party, gets possession of them,,
which experience shows to be inevitable, there
are no means of breaking it up, for they will
never elect but those of their own spirit.
Juries are allowed in criminal cases only. I
acknowledge myself strong in affection to our
own form, yet both of us act and think from
the same motive ; we both consider the people as
our children, and love them with parental af
fection. But you love them as infants whom
you are afraid to trust without nurses ; and I
as adults whom I freely leave to self-govern
ment. And you are right in the case referred
to you ; my criticism being built on a state of
society not under your contemplation. It is,
in fact, like a critic on Homer by the laws of
the Drama. — To DUPONT DE NEMOURS, vi,
589. FORD ED., x, 22. (P.P., 1816.)
3587. GOVERNMENTS (American), Re
forming.— We can surely boast of having set
the world a beautiful example of a govern
ment reformed by reason alone without
bloodshed. But the world is too far op
pressed to profit by the example.— To E.
RUTLEDGE. ii, 435. FORD ED., v, 42. (P.,
1788.)
3588. . The example we have
given to the world is single, that of chang
ing our form of government under the au
thority of reason only, without bloodshed.—
To RALPH IZARD. ii, 429. (P., 1785.)
3589. GOVERNMENTS (American), Re
publican.— The governments [of the pro
posed new States] shall be in republican
forms.— WESTERN TERRITORY REPORT. FORD
ED., iii, 409. (1784.)
3590. . From the moment that to
preserve our rights a change of government
became necessary, no doubt could be enter
tained that a republican form was most con
sonant with reason, with right, with the free
dom of man, and with the character and sit
uation of our fellow citizens. To the sincere
spirit of republicanism are naturally associated
the love of country, devotion to its liberty,
its rights an-d its honor. Our preference to
that form of government has been so far
justified by its success, and the prosperity
with which it has blessed us.— R. TO A
VIRGINIA LEGISLATURE, viii, 148. (1809.)
3591. GOVERNMENTS (American),
Virtuous.— I think our governments will re
main virtuous for many centuries ; as long as
[the people] are chiefly agricultural,
and this will be as long as there shall be
vacant lands in any part of America. When
they get piled upon one another in large
cities, as in Europe, they will become cor
rupt as in Europe.*— To JAMES MADISON, ii,
332. FORD ED., iv, 479. (P., ^87. )
3592. GOVERNMENTS (American),
Ward administration.— The elementary re
publics of the wards, the county republics,
the State republics, and the Republic of the
Union, would form a gradation of author
ities, standing each on the basis of law, hold
ing every one its delegated share of powers,
and constituting truly a system of funda
mental balances and checks for the govern
ment. Where every man is a sharer in the
direction of his ward-republic, or of some
of the higher ones, and feels that he is a
participator in the government of affairs, not
merely at an election one day in the year, but
every day; when there shall not be a man
in the State who will not be a member of
some one of its councils, great or small, he
will let the heart be torn out of his body
sooner than his power be wrested from him
by a Caesar or a Bonaparte. — To JOSEPH C.
CABELL. vi, 543. (M., 1816.)
* The text of the Congress edition is : " When we
get piled upon one another in large cities, as in Eu
rope, we shall become corrupt as in Europe, and go
to eating one another as they do there." — EDITOR.
Ooveriiments
Greene (Nathaniel)
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
394
3593. . How powerfully did we
feel the energy of this organization in the
case of the Embargo? I felt the founda
tions of the Government shaken under my
feet by the New England townships. There
was not an individual in their States whose
body was not thrown with all its momentum
into action; and although the whole of the
other States were known to be in favor of
the measure, yet the organization of this little
selfish minority enabled it to overrule the
Union. What would the unwieldy counties
of the middle, the south and the west do?
Call a county meeting, and the drunken
loungers at and about the court houses
would have collected, the distances being too
great for the good people and the industrious
generally to attend. The character of those
who really met would have been the measure
of the weight they would have had in the
scale of public opinion. — To JOSEPH C. CA-
BELL. vi, 544. (M., 1816.)
3594. GOVERNMENTS (European), Op
pressive. — The European are governments of
kites over pigeons. — To GOVERNOR RUTLEDGE.
ii, 234. (P-, 1787.)
3595. GRAMMAR, Rigor of.— Where
strictness of grammar does not weaken ex
pression, it should be attended to * * * .
But where, by small grammatical negligences,
the energy of an idea is condensed, or a word
stands for a sentence, I hold grammatical rigor
in contempt.* — To JAMES MADISON. FORD
ED., viii, 108. (W., 1801.) See LANGUAGES.
3596. GRANGER (Gideon), Burr's en
emy. — In the winter of 1803-4, another train
of events took place which, * * * I think
it but justice to yourself that I should state.
I mean the intrigues which were in agitation,
and at the bottom of which we believed Colonel
Burr to be ; to form a coalition of the five East
ern States, with New York and New Jersey,
under the appellation of the seven Eastern
States ; either to overawe the Union by the
combination of their power and their will, or by
threats of separating themselves from it. Your
intimacy with some of those in the secret gave
you opportunities of searching into their pro
ceedings, of which you made me daily and
confidential reports. This intimacy to which I
had such useful recourse, at the time, rendered
you an object of suspicion with many as being
yourself a partisan of Colonel Burr, and en-
?aged in the very combination which you were
aithfully employed in defeating. I never failed
to justify you to all those who brought their
suspicions to me, and to assure them of my
knowledge of your fidelity. Many were the in
dividuals, then members of the Legislature, who
received these assurances from me, and whose
apprehensions were thereby quieted. This first
project of Burr having vanished in smoke, he
directed his views to the Western country. —
To GIDEON GRANGER, vi, 330. FORD ED., ix,
455. (M., 1814.)
3597. GRANGER (Gideon), Supreme
Court. — I shall be perfectly happy if either
you or [Levi] Lincoln is named, as I consider
the substituting, in the place of [Judge] Gush
ing, a firm unequivocating republican, whose
principles are born with him, and not an oc
casional ingraftment, as necessary to complete
* From a note enclosing draft of first annual mes
sage and requesting suggestions thereon.— EDITOR.
that great reformation in our Government to
which the nation gave its fiat ten years ago. —
To GIDEON GRANGER. FORD ED., ix, 286. (M.,
1810.)
3598. GRATITUDE, Happiness and.— I
have but one system of ethics for men and
for nations — to be grateful, to be faithful to
all engagements, under all circumstances, to
be open and generous, promoting in the long
run the interests of both, and I am sure it
promotes their happiness. — To LA DUCHESSE
D'AUVILLE. iii, 135. FORD ED., v, 153. (N.
Y. 1790.)
3599. GRATITUDE, National.— I think
* * * that nations are to be governed with
regard to their own interest, but I am con
vinced that it is their interest, in the long
run, to be grateful, faithful to their engage
ments even in the worst of circumstances,
and honorable and generous always. — To M.
DE LAFAYETTE, iii, 132. FORD ED., v, 152.
(N.Y., 1790.)
3600. GRATITUDE, Principles of.— To
say that gratitude is never to enter into the
motives of national conduct is to revive a
principle which has been buried for centuries
with its kindred principles of the lawfulness
of assassination, poison, perjury, &c. All of
these were legitimate principles in the dark
ages, which intervened between ancient and
modern civilization, but exploded and held in
just horror in the eighteenth century. — To
JAMES MADISON, iii, 99. FORD ED., v, in.
(P., 1789.)
_ GREEK LANGUAGE.— See LAN
GUAGES.
3601. GREEKS, Ancient.— Should these
thoughts * on the subject of national govern
ment furnish a single idea which may be use
ful to them [the Greeks], I shall fancy it a
tribute rendered to the manes of your Homer,
your Demosthenes, and the splendid constella
tion of sages and heroes, whose blood is still
flowing in your veins, and whose merits are still
resting, as a heavy debt, on the shoulders of
the living, and the future races of men. — To
M. CORAY. vii, 324. (M., 1823.)
3602. GREEKS, Government of. — Greece
was the first of civilized nations which pre
sented examples [in government] of what man
should be. — To M. CORAY. vii, 318. (M., 1823.)
3603. GREEKS, Sympathy for.— No peo
ple sympathize more feelingly than ours with
the sufferings of your countrymen, none offer
more sincere and ardent prayers to heaven for
their success. And nothing indeed but the fun
damental principle of our government, never
to entangle us with the broils of Europe, could
restrain our generous youth from taking some
part in this holy cause. Possessing ourselves
the combined blessing of liberty and order, we
wish the same to other countries, and to none
more than yours, which, the first of civilized
nations, presented examples of what man should
be.— To M. CORAY. vii, 318. (M.. 1823.)
3604. GREENE. (Nathaniel), Estimate
of. — Greene was truly a great man. He had
not, perhaps, all the qualities which so peculiarly
rendered General Washington the fittest man
* Jefferson, at the reqiiest of M. Coray, wrote a
paper outlining a system of government for Greece.
—EDITOR.
395
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Grief
Hamilton (Alexander)
on earth for directing so great a contest under
so great difficulties. But Greene was
second to no one in enterprise, in resource, in
sound judgment, promptitude of decision, and
in every other military talent. — To WILLIAM
JOHNSON. FORD EDV x, 222. (M., 1822.)
3605. GRIEF, Stupefying.— Your letter
found me a little emerging from the stupor of
mind which had rendered me as dead to the
world as was she whose loss occasioned it. * —
To THE CHEVALIER DE CHATTELLUX. i, 322.
FORD ED., iii, 64. (Am., 1782.)
3606. GRIEF, Value of.— When we put
into the same scale the abuses [of grief] with
the afflictions of soul which even the uses of
grief cost us, we may consider its value in the
economy of the human being, as equivocal at
least. Those afflictions cloud too great a por
tion of life to find a counterpoise in any bene
fits derived from its uses. For setting aside its
paroxysms on the occasions of special bereave
ments, all the latter years of aged men are over
shadowed with its gloom. Whither, for in
stance, can you and I look without seeing the
graves of those we have known? And whom
can we call up, of our early companions, who
has not left us to regret his loss ? This, in
deed, may be one of the salutary effects of
grief. — To JOHN ADAMS, vii, 37. (M., 1816.)
3607. GRIMM (Baron de), Genius.— A
man of genius, of taste, of point, an acquaint
ance, the measure and traverses of whose mind
I know. — To JOHN ADAMS, vii, 27. (M., 1816.)
— GULF STREAM.— See CANAL, 1116.
3608. GUNBOATS, Naval views.— On
this subject professional men were consulted
as far as we had opportunity. General Wilkin
son, and the late General Gates, gave their
opinions in writing, in favor of the system, as
will be seen by their letters now communicated.
The higher officers of the navy gave the same
opinions in separate conferences, as their ap
pearance at the seat of government offered oc
casions of consulting them, and no difference
of judgment appeared on the subjects. Those
of Commodore Baron and Captain Tingley,
* * * are * * * transmitted herewith to
the Legislature. — SPECIAL MESSAGE, viii, 80.
FORD ED., ix, 23. (Feb. 1807.)
3609. HABEAS CORPUS, Bill of Rights
and. — I like the declaration of rights as far as
it goes, but I should have been for going fur
ther. For instance, the following alterations
and additions would have pleased me : * * *
Article 8. " No person shall be held in con
finement more than — days after he shall
have demanded and been refused a writ of
habeas corpus by the judge appointed by law,
nor more than — days after such a writ
shall have been served on the person holding
him in confinement ; and no order given on
due examination for his remandment or dis
charge; nor more than — hours in any place
at a greater di fance than — miles from the
usual residence of some judge authorized to
issue the writ of habeas corpus; nor shall
such writ be suspended for any term ex
ceeding one year, nor in any place more than
— miles distant from the station or encamp
ment of enemies or of insurgents." — To
JAMES MADISON, iii, 100. FORD ED., v, 112.
(P., Aug. 1789.)
* The death of Mrs. Jefferson.— EDITOR.
3610. HABEAS CORPUS IN ENG
LAND. — Examine the history of England.
See how few of the cases of the suspension
of the habeas corpus law have been worthy
of that suspension. They have been either
real treason, wherein the parties might as
well have been charged at once, or sham
plots, where it was shameful they should
ever have been suspected. Yet for the few
cases wherein the suspension of the habeas cor
pus has done real good, that operation is now
become habitual, and the minds of the nation
almost prepared to live under its constant sus
pension. — To JAMES MADISON, ii, 446. FORD
EDV v, 46. (P., July 1788.)
3611. HABEAS CORPUS, Force of.— I
do not like [in the new Federal Constitution]
the omission of a bill of rights, providing
clearly and without the aid of sophisms for
* * * the eternal and unremitting force of
the habeas corpus laws. — To JAMES MADISON.
ii, 329. FORD ED., iv, 476. (P., Dec. 1787.)
3612. HABEAS CORPUS, Suspension.
— By a declaration of rights, I mean one
which shall stipulate * * * no suspensions
of the habeas corpus * * * . — To A. DON
ALD, ii, 355. (P., 1788.) See8i8.
3613. . I sincerely rejoice at the
acceptance of our new Constitution by nine
States. It is a good canvas, on which some
strokes only want retouching. What these
are, I think, are sufficiently manifested by the
general voice from north to south, which
calls for a bill of rights. It seems pretty gen
erally understood that this should go to
* * * habeas corpus. * * * Why sus
pend the habeas corpus in insurrections and
rebellions? The parties who may be arrested
may be charged instantly with a well de
fined crime; of course, the judge will re
mand them. If the public safety requires
that the Government should have a man im
prisoned on less probable testimony in those
than in other emergencies, let him be taken
and tried, retaken and retried, while the
necessity continues, only giving him redress
against the Government for damages. — To
JAMES MADISON, ii, 445. FORD ED., v, 45.
(P., 1788.)
— HAMILTON (Alexander), Accounts
of .—See 36.
3614. HAMILTON (Alexander), Alli
ance with England.— Hamilton [at a meet
ing of the cabinet] thought that if we were
unequal to the contest [with Spain] ourselves,
it behooved us to provide allies for our aid.
That in this view, two nations could be named,
France and England. France was too intimately
connected with Spain in other points, and of
too great mutual value, ever to separate for
us. * * * England alone, then, remained.
It would not be easy to effect it with her ; how
ever, he was for trying it. and for sounding
them on the proposition of a defensive treaty of
alliance. * The President sa d the remedy
would be worse than the disease. — THE ANAS.
ix, 124. FORD ED., i, 206. (Oct. 1792.)
» The difficulty arose out of the execution of the
treaty between the United States and the Creek In
dians, and the contention as to boundaries between
the United States and Spain.— EDITOR.
Hamilton (Alexander) THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
396
3615. HAMILTON (Alexander), Anglo-
maniac. — His mind was really powerful, but
chained by native partialities to everything
English. He had formed exaggerated ideas of
the superior perfection of the English constitu
tion, the superior wisdom of their government,
and sincerely believed it for the good of this
country to make them its model in everything;
without considering that what might be wise
and good for a nation essentially commercial,
and entangled in complicated intercourse with
numerous and powerful neighbors, might not be
so for one essentially agricultural, and in
sulated by nature from the abusive governments
of the old world. — To WILLIAM H. CRAWFORD.
vii, 6. FORD ED., x, 34. (M., 1816.)
3616. HAMILTON (Alexander), Anti-
Bepublican Colossus.— Hamilton is really a
Colossus to the anti-republican party. Without
numbers, he is an host within himself. They
have got themselves into a defile where they
might be finished ; but too much security on
the republican part will give time to his talents
and indefatigableness to extricate them. We
have had only middling performances to oppose
to him. In truth, when he comes forward, there
is nobody but yourself who can meet him. His
adversaries having begun the attack, he has the
advantage of answering them, and remains un
answered himself. * * * For God's sake
take up your pen, and give a fundamental
reply to " Curtius " and " Camillus." — To
JAMES MADISON, iv, 121. FORD ED., vii, 32.
(M., Sept. 1795-)
3617. HAMILTON (Alexander), Coal
escence with Jefferson.— He [President
Washington] proceeded to express his earnest
wish that Hamilton and myself could coalesce
in the measures of the government, and urged
the general reasons for it which he had done
to me in two former conversations. He said
he had proposed the same thing to Hamilton,
who expressed his readiness, and he thought
our coalition would secure the general ac
quiescence of the public. I told him my concur
rence was of much less importance than he
seemed to imagine ; that I kept myself aloof
from all cabal and correspondence on the sub
ject of the government, and saw and spoke
with as few as I could. That as to a coalition
with Mr. Hamilton, if by that was meant that
either was to sacrifice his general system to the
other, it was impossible. We had both, no
doubt, formed our conclusions after the most
mature consideration ; and principles conscien
tiously adopted, could not be given up on either
side. — THE ANAS, ix, 131. ~^ORD ED., i, 215.
/• T~» t \ ' " V
(Feb. 1793-)
3618. HAMILTON (Alexander), Cor-
ruption and. — Hamilton was indeed a sin
gular character. Of acute understanding, dis
interested, honest, and honorable in all private
transactions, amiable in society, and duly valu
ing virtue in private life, yet so bewitched and
perverted by the British example, as to be under
thorough conviction that corruption was es
sential to the government of a nation. — THE
ANAS, ix, 97. FORD ED., i, 166. (1818.)
3619. HAMILTON (Alexander), De
fence of bank. — In Fenno's newspaper you
will discover Hamilton's pen in defence of the
bank, and daring to call the republican party
a faction. — To JAMES MADISON. FORD ED., vi,
95. (Pa., 1792.)
3620. HAMILTON (Alexander), Eng
lish mission and. — I learn by your letters
and Mr. Madison's that a special mission to
England is meditated, and Hamilton the mis
sionary. A more degrading measure could not
have been proposed. And why is Pinckney to be
recalled ? For it is impossible he should remain
after such a testimony that he is not confided
in ? I suppose they think him not thorough fraud
enough. I suspect too the mission, besides the
object of placing the aristocracy of this coun
try under the patronage of that government,
has in view that of withdrawing Hamilton from
the disgrace, and the public execrations which
sooner or later must fall on the man who, partly
by erecting fictitious debt, partly by volunteering
in the payment of the debts of others, who could
have paid them so much more conveniently
themselves, has alienated forever all our ordi
nary and easy resources, and will oblige us
hereafter to extraordinary ones for every little
contingency out of the common line; and who
has lately brought the President forward with
manifestations that the business of the Treasury
had got beyond the limits of his comprehen
sion. — To JAMES MONROE. FORD ED., vi, 504.
(M., April 1794.)
3621. HAMILTON (Alexander), Fund
ing jobbery.— It is well known that, during
the [Revolutionary] war, the greatest difficulty
we encountered was the want of money or
means to pay our soldiers who fought, or our
farmers, manufacturers and merchants, who fur
nished the necessary supplies of food and cloth
ing for them. After the expedient of paper
money had exhausted itself, certificates of debt
were given to the individual creditors, with as
surance of payment, so soon as the United
States should be able. But the distresses of the
people often obliged them to part with these for
the half, the fifth, and even a tenth of their
value; and speculators had made a trade of
cozening them from the holders by the most
fraudulent practices, and persuasions that they
would never be paid. In the bill for funding
and paying these, Hamilton made no difference
between the original holders and the fraudulent
purchasers of this paper. Great and just re
pugnance arose at putting these two classes of
creditors on the same footing, and great exer
tions were used to pay the former the full
value, and to the latter, the price only which
they had paid, with interest. But this would
have prevented the game which was to be
played, and for which the minds of greedy
members were already tutored and prepared.
When the trial of strength on these several
efforts had indicated the form in which the bill
would finally pass, this being known within
doors sooner than without, and especially, than
to those who were in distant parts of the Union,
the base scramble began. Couriers and relay
horses by land, and swift-sailing pilot boats by
sea, were flying in all directions. Active part
ners and agents were associated and employed
in every State, town and country neighborhood,
and this paper was bought up at five shillings,
and often as low as two shillings in the pound,
before the holder knew that Congress had al
ready provided for its redemption at par. Im
mense sums were thus filched from the poor and
ignorant, and fortunes accumulated by those
who had themselves been poor enough before.
Men thus enriched by the dexterity of a
leader, would follow of course the chief who
was leading them to fortune, and become the
zealous instruments of all his enterprises. — THE
ANAS, ix, 91. FORD ED., i, 160. (1818.)
3622. HAMILTON (Alexander), Giles
resolutions and. — You have for some time
past seen a number of reports from the Sec-
397
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA Hamilton (Alexander)
retary of the Treasury on enquiries instituted
by the House of Representatives. When these
were all come in, a number of resolutions were
prepared by Mr. Giles, expressing the truths
resulting from the reports. Mr. Giles and
one or two others were sanguine enough to
believe that the palpableness of the truths ren
dered a negative of them impossible, and forced
them on. Others contemplating the character
of the present House, one-third of which is
understood to be made up of bank directors
and stock jobbers who would be voting on
the case of their chief ; and another third of
persons blindly devoted to that party, of persons
not comprehending the papers, or persons com
prehending them, but too indulgent to pass a
vote of censure, foresaw that the resolutions
would be negatived by a majority of two to
one. Still they thought that the negative of
palpable truth would be of service, as it would
let the public see how desperate and abandoned
were the hands in which their interests were
placed. The vote turned out to be what was
expected, not more than three or four varying
from what had been conceived of them. The
public will see from this the extent of their
danger, and a full representation at the ensu
ing session will doubtless find occasion to
revise the decision, and take measures for en
suring the authority of the laws over the cor
rupt maneuvers of the heads of departments
under the pretext of exercising discretion in
opposition to law. — To T. M. RANDOLPH. FORD
ED., vi, 194. (Pa., I793-)
3623. HAMILTON (Alexander), Hon
esty. — Hamilton was honest as a man, but,
as a politician, believing in the necessity of
either force or corruption to govern men. —
To DR. BENJAMIN RUSH, v, 560. FORD ED.,
ix, 296. (M., 1811.)
_ HAMILTON (Alexander), A Mon
archist.-— See MONARCHY.
3624. HAMILTON (Alexander), The
Republic and.— I mentioned to [Alexander]
Hamilton a letter received from John Adams,
disavowing " Publicola* ", and denying that he
ever entertained a wish to bring this country
under a hereditary Executive, or introduce an
hereditary branch of legislature, &c. Hamilton,
condemning Mr. Adams's writings and most
particularly " Davilai ", as having a tendency
to weaken the present government, declared in
substance as follows : " I own it is my opinion,
though I do not publish it in Dan or Beersheba,
that the present government is not that which
will answer the ends of society, by giving
stability and protection to its rights, and that
it will probably be found expedient to go into
the British form. However, since we have
undertaken the experiment, I am for giving it
a fair course, whatever my expectations may be.
The success, indeed, so far, is greater than I had
expected, and therefore, at present, success
seems more possible than it had done hereto
fore, and there are still other and other stages
of improvement which, if the present does not
succeed, may be tried, and ought to be tried be
fore we give up the republican form altogether;
for that mind must be really depraved, which
would not prefer the equality of political rights,
which is the foundation of pure republicanism,
•Over the signature "Publicola," John Quincy
Adams wrote a series of articles against Thomas
Paine in the Massachusetts Centinel. It was believed
at first that his father was the author of them.— ED
ITOR.
t John Adams used this signature in a series of
articles in the Gazette of the United States.— ED
ITOR.
if it can be obtained consistently with order.
Therefore, whoever by his writings disturbs the
present order of things, is really blamable, how
ever pure his intentions may be, and he was
sure Mr. Adams's were pure." This is the
substance of a declaration made in much more
lengthy terms, and which seemed to be more
formal than usual for a private conversation
between two, and as if intended to qualify some
less guarded expressions which had been
dropped on former occasions. — THE ANAS, ix,
99- FORD ED., i, 169. (Aug. 1791.)
3625. HAMILTON (Alexander), Sub
servient to England.— Hamilton is panic-
struck, if we refuse our breach to every kick
which Great Britain may choose to give it.
He is for proclaiming at once the most abject
principles, such as would invite and merit habit
ual insults ; and indeed every inch of ground
must be fought in our councils to desperation,
in order to hold up the face of even a sneaking
neutrality, for our votes are generally two and
a half against one and a half. Some proposi
tions have come from him which would astonish
Mr. Pitt himself with their boldness. If we
preserve even a sneaking neutrality, we shall
be indebted for it to the President, and not to
his counsellors. — To JAMES MONROE, iii, 548.
FORD ED., vi. 238. (Pa., May 1793.)
3626. HAMILTON (Alexander), Treas
ury management.— Alexander Hamilton's
[Treasury] system flowed from principles ad
verse to liberty, and was calculated to under
mine and demolish the Republic, by creating
an influence of his Department over the mem
bers of the Legislature. I saw this influence
actually produced, and its first fruits to be the
establishment of the great outlines of his proj
ect by the votes of the very persons who, hav
ing swallowed his bait, were laying themselves
out to profit by his plans ; and that had these
persons withdrawn, as those interested in a
question ever should, the vote of the disinter
ested majority was clearly the reverse of what
they had made it. These were no longer the
votes then of the representatives of the people,
but of deserters from the rights and interests
of the people ; and it was impossible to consider
their decisions, which had nothing in view but
to enrich themselves, as the measures of the
fair majority, which ought always to be re
spected. — To PRESIDENT WASHINGTON, iii, 461.
FORD ED., vi, 102. (M., 1792.)
3627. . The most prominent
suspicion excited by the Report of the Secretary
of the Treasury of January 3, 1793, is that the
funds raised in Europe, and which ought to
have been applied to the payment of our debts
there, in order to stop interest, have been drawn
over to this country, and lodged in the Bank, to
extend the speculations and increase the profits
of that institution.* — No ADDRESS. FORD ED.,
vi, 165. (Feb. 1793.)
3628. . I do not at all wonder
at the condition in which the finances of the
United States are found. Hamilton's object
from the beginning, was to throw them into
forms which should be utterly undecipherable.
I ever said he did not understand their con
dition himself, nor was able to give a clear
view of the excess of our debts beyond our
credits, nor whether we were diminishing or
increasing the debt. — To JAMES MADISON, iv,
131. FORD ED., vii, 61. (M., 1796.)
* This paper contains an analysis of the receipts
and disbursements of the Treasury in Europe.— ED
ITOR.
Hamilton (Alexander)
Happiness
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
398
3629. . Hamilton's financial sys
tem * * * had two objects: first, as a
puzzle, to exclude popular understanding and
inquiry ; secondly, as a machine for the corrup
tion of the Legislature. — THE ANAS, ix, 91.
FORD ED., i, 160. (1818.) See ASSUMPTION OF
STATE DEBTS and BANK.
3630. HAMILTON (Henry), Cruelties.
— The indiscriminate murder of men, women
and children., with the horrid circumstances
of barbarity practiced by the Indian savages,
was the particular task of Governor Hamilton's
employment ; and if anything could have aggra
vated the acceptance of such an office, and
have made him personally answerable in a
high degree, it was that eager spirit with which
he is said to have executed it ; and which, if
the representations before the [Virginia] Coun
cil are to be credited, seems to have shown that
his own feelings and disposition were in unison
with his employment.* — To THEODORICK BLAND,
JR. FORD ED., ii, 191. (W., 1779.)
3631. HAPPINESS, Attainment.— Be
assiduous in learning, take much exercise for
your health, and practice much virtue.
Health, learning and virtue will insure your hap
piness; they will give you a quiet conscience,
private esteem and public honor. Beyond
these, we want nothing but physical neces
saries, and they are easily obtained. — To
PETER CARR. ii, 409. (P., 1788.)
3632. HAPPINESS, Conditions of.— Our
greatest happiness * * * does not depend
on the condition of life in which chance has
placed us, but is always the result of a good
conscience, good health, occupation, and free
dom in all just pursuits.— NOTES ON VIRGINIA.
viii, 389. FORD ED., iii, 253. (1782.)
3633. HAPPINESS, Conjugal love and.
—Conjugal love is the basis of domestic hap
piness.— To MR. BELLINI, i, 444. (1785.)
3634. HAPPINESS, Conservators of.—
If anybody thinks that kings, nobles, or
priests are good conservators of the public
happiness, send him here [France]. It is
the best school in the world to cure him of
that folly.— To GEORGE WYTHE. ii, 7. FORD
ED., iv, 268. (P., 1786.)
3635. HAPPINESS, Domestic.— The
happiest moments of my life have been the
few which I have passed at home in the
bosom of my family.— To FRANCIS WILLIS.
FORD ED., v, 157- (N.Y., 1790.)
3636. HAPPINESS, Education and.— In
the present spirit of extending to the great
mass of mankind the blessings of instruction,
I see a prospect of great advancement in the
happiness of the human race. — To C. C.
BLATCHLY. vii, 263. (M., 1822.)
3637. HAPPINESS, Freedom and.— My
future solicitude will be * * * to be in
strumental to the happiness and freedom of
all. — FIRST INAUGURAL ADDRESS. (1801.)
3638. . The freedom and happi-
< ness of man * * * are the sole objects of
* Lieutenant Governor Hamilton was a British
official who had been forced to surrender to the Vir
ginia troops while Jefferson was Governor of Vir
ginia.— EDITOR.
all legitimate government. — To GENERAL i
KOSCIUSKO. v, 509. (M., 1810.)
3639. HAPPINESS, God and.— The
Giver of life * * * gave it for happiness '
and not for wretchedness. — To JAMES MON-
ROE. i, 319. FORD ED., iii, 59. (M., 1782.)
3640. HAPPINESS, Government and.—
The only orthodox object of the institution ?
of government is to secure the greatest de- !
gree of happiness possible to the general mass <
of those associated under it. — To M. VAN
DER KEMP, vi, 45. (M., 1812.)
3641. HAPPINESS, Guardians of.— For
promoting the public happiness, those persons,
whom nature has endowed with genius and
virtue, should be rendered by liberal educa
tion worthy to receive, and able to guard
the sacred deposit of the rights and liberties
of their fellow citizens; and they should be
called to that charge without regard to wealth,
birth, or other accidental condition or cir
cumstance. — DIFFUSION OF KNOWLEDGE BILL.
FORD ED., ii, 221. (1779.)
3642. HAPPINESS, High office and.—
No slave is so remote from happiness as
the minister of a commonwealth.— To
MARQUIS DE LAFAYETTE, i, 312. FORD ED.,
iii, 49. (M., 1781.)
3643. HAPPINESS, Laws and.— The
laws which must affect the happiness of
every people must flow from their own habits,
their own feelings, and the resources of their
own minds. No stranger to these could
possibly propose regulations adapted to them.
Every people have their own particular
habits, ways of thinking, manners, &c., which
have grown up with them from their infancy,
are become a part of their nature, and to
which the regulations which are to make
them happy must be accommodated. — To
WILLIAM LEE. vii, 56. (M., 1817.)
3644. HAPPINESS, Mature.— The mo
tion of my blood no longer keeps time with
the tumult of the world. It leads me to seek
for happiness in the lap and love of my
family, in the society of my neighbors and
my books, in the wholesome occupations of
my farm and my affairs, in an interest or
affection in every bud that opens, in every
breath that blows around me, in an entire
freedom of rest, of motion, of thought, ow
ing account to myself alone of my hours and
actions. — To JAMES MADISON. iii, 578.
FORD ED., vi, 291. (June 1793.)
3645. HAPPINESS, No perfect.— Per- ,
feet happiness, I believe, was never in
tended by the Deity to be the lot of one of
His creatures in this world ; but that He has
very much put in our power the nearness of 5
our approaches to it, is what I have stead
fastly believed. — To JOHN PAGE, i, 187. FORD
ED., i, 349. (1763-)
3646. HAPPINESS, Peace and.— The
happiness of mankind is best promoted by the ?
useful pursuits of peace. — R. TO A. viii, 142-
(1808.)
399
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Happinesg
Harmon.}
3647. HAPPINESS, Primitive.— I am
> convinced that those societies (as the In
dians) which live without government, enjoy
in their general mass an infinitely greater
degree of happiness than those who live under
the European governments. — To EDWARD CAR-
RINGTON. ii, 100. FORD ED., iv, 360. (P.,
1787.)
3648. HAPPINESS, Public.— That peo
ple will be happiest whose laws are best, and
are best administered. — DIFFUSION OF KNOWL
EDGE BILL. FORD ED., ii, 221. (1779.)
3649. HAPPINESS, Public approba
tion and. — The anxieties you express to ad
minister to my happiness, do, of themselves,
confer that happiness, and the measure will
be complete, if my endeavors to fulfil my
duties in the several public stations to which
I have been called, have obtained for me the
approbation of my country. — To THE INHAB
ITANTS OF ALBEMARLE COUNTY, VA. v, 439.
FORD ED., ix, 250. (M., April 1809.)
3650. HAPPINESS, Public servants
and. — To the sacrifice of time, labor, fortune,
a public servant must count upon adding that of
peace of mind, and even reputation. — To DR.
JAMES CURRIE. iv, 132. (P., 1786.)
3651. HAPPINESS, Purchased by
bloodshed. — If the happiness of the mass of
mankind can be secured at the expense of a
little tempest* now and then, or even of a
I little blood it will be a precious purchase. — To
EZRA STILES, ii, 77. (P., 1786.)
3652. HAPPINESS, Retrospective.— My
principal happiness is now in the retrospect of
life.— To JOHN PAGE, i, 399. (P., 1785.)
3653. HAPPINESS, Bight to.— We hold
these truths to be self-evident; that all men are
f created equal ; that they are endowed by their
Creator with inherent! and inalienable rights ;
that among these, are life, liberty, and the
, pursuit of happiness. — DECLARATION OF INDE
PENDENCE AS DRAWN BY JEFFERSON.
3654. HAPPINESS, Simple.— This friend
[Dabney Carr] of ours, in a very small house,
with a table, half a dozen chairs, and one or
two servants, is the happiest man in the uni
verse. * * * He speaks, thinks, and
dreams of nothing but his young son. Every
incident in life he so takes as to render it a
source of pleasure. With as much benevo
lence as the heart of man will hold, but
with an utter neglect of the costly apparatus
of life, he exhibits to the world a new phe
nomenon in philosophy — the Samian sage in
the tub of the cynic.— To JOHN PAGE. i,
195. FORD ED., i, 373. (1770.)
3655. HAPPINESS, Tranquillity and.—
It is neither wealth nor splendor, but tran
quillity and occupation, which give happiness.
—To MRS. A. S. MARKS. D. L. J., 135. (P.,
1788.)
* Jefferson was referring to Shays's rebellion. — ED
ITOR.
t Congress struck out " inherent and " and inserted
44 certain ".—EDITOR.
3656. HAPPINESS, Virtue and.— With
out virtue, happiness cannot be. — To AMOS
J. COOK, vi, 532. (M., 1816.)
3657. HARMONY, Affection and.— Let
us restore to social intercourse that har
mony and affection without which liberty and
even life itself are but dreary things. — FIRST
INAUGURAL ADDRESS, viii, 2. FORD ED., viii,
2. (1801.)
3658. HARMONY, Blessings of.— The
evanition of party discussions has harmonized
intercourse, and sweetened society beyond
imagination. — To MARQUIS DE LAFAYETTE.
vii, 67. FORD ED., x, 84. (M., 1817.)
3659. HARMONY vs. DISSENSION.— I
hope * * * the good sense and patriotism
of the friends of free government of every
shade will spare us the painful, the deplorable
spectacle of brethren sacrificing to small pas
sions the great, the immortal and immutable
rights of men. — To JOHN DICKINSON. FORD
ED., viii, 77. (W., July 1801.)
3660. HARMONY, Inaugural address
and. — I am made very happy by learning that
the sentiments expressed in my inaugural ad
dress gave general satisfaction, and holds out a
ground on which our fellow citizens can once
more unite. I am the more pleased, because
these sentiments have been, long and radically
mine, and therefore will be pursued honestly
and conscientiously. — To DR. BENJAMIN
RUSH, iv, 382. FORD ED., viii, 30. (W.,
March 1801.)
3661. - — . It is with the greatest
satisfaction I learn from all quarters that my
inaugural address is considered as holding out
a ground for conciliation and union. I am
the more pleased with this, because the
opinion therein stated as to the real ground of
difference among us (to wit: the measures
rendered most expedient by the French
enormities), is that which I have long en
tertained. — To GENERAL HENRY KNOX. iv,
385. FORD ED., viii, 35. (W., March 1801.)
3662. HARMONY, Incumbent on all.
— The times do certainly render it incumbent
on all good citizens, attached to the rights and
honor of their country, to bury in oblivion
all internal differences, and rally around
the standard of their country in opposition to
the outrages of foreign nations. All attempts
to enfeeble and destroy the exertions of the
General Government, in vindication of our
national rights, or to loosen the bands of
union by alienating the affections of the peo
ple, or opposing the authority of the laws
at so eventful a period, merit the discounte
nance of all. — To GOVERNOR TOMPKINS. viii,
153- (1809.)
3663. HARMONY, Love of country
and. — My earnest prayers to all my friends
[are] to cherish mutual good will, to promote
harmony and conciliation, and above all things
to let the love of our country soar above all
minor passions. — To JOHN ROLLINS, v, 597.
(M., 1811.)
Harmony
Hartford Convention
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
400
3664. HARMONY, Measures for.— The
measures we shall pursue, and propose for
the amelioration of the public affairs, will be
so confessedly salutary as to unite all men
not monarchists in principle. — To LEVI LIN
COLN, iv, 407. FORD ED., viii, 85. (M., 1801.)
3665. HARMONY, Monarchists and.—
Of the monarchical federalists I have no ex
pectations. They are incurables, to be taken
care of in a mad-house, if necessary, and on
motives of charity. — To LEVI LINCOLN, iv,
406. FORD ED., viii, 84. (M., Aug. 1801.)
3666. HARMONY, National.— The mo
ment which should convince me that a healing
of the nation into one is impracticable, would
be the last moment of my wishing to remain
where I am. — To LEVI LINCOLN, iv, 406.
FORD ED., viii, 84. (M., Aug. 1801.)
3667. . Every wish of my heart
will be completely gratified when that portion
of my fellow citizens which has been misled
as to the character of our measures and prin
ciples, shall, by their salutary effects, be cor
rected in their opinions, and joining with
good will the great mass of their fellow citi
zens, consolidate an Union, which cannot be
too much cherished. — REPLY TO ADDRESS, viii,
114. (1802.) See SECOND INAUGURAL AD
DRESS in Appendix.
3668. HARMONY, In New England.—
In the New England States union will be
slower than elsewhere * * *. But we will
go on attending with the utmost solicitude
to their interests, doing them impartial jus
tice, and I have no doubt they will in time
do justice to us. — To HENRY KNOX. iv, 387.
FORD ED., viii, 37. (W., March 1801.)
3669. HARMONY, Obstacles to.— [The
federalists] now find themselves with us. and
separated from their quondam leaders. If we
can * * * avoid shocking their feelings
by unnecessary acts of severity against their
late friends, they will in a little time cement
and form one mass with us, and by these
means harmony and union be restored to
our country, which would be the greatest
good we could effect. It was a conviction
that these people did not differ from us in
principle, which induced me to define the prin
ciples which I deemed orthodox, and to urge
a reunion on those principles ; and I am in
duced to hope it has conciliated many. I do
not speak of the desperadoes of the quondam
faction in and out of Congress. These I
consider as incurables, on whom all atten
tions would be lost, and therefore will not
be wasted. But my wish is to keep their
flock from returning to them. — To WILLIAM
B. GILES, iv, 381. FORD ED., viii, 26. (W.,
March 1801.)
3670. . I know there is an ob
stacle which very possibly may check the con
fidence which would otherwise have been more
generally reposed in my observance of these
principles. This obstacle does not arise from
the measures to be pursued, as to which I am
in no fear of giving satisfaction, but from
appointments and disappointments as to of
fice. — To DR. BENJAMIN RUSH, iv, 382.
FORD ED., viii, 30. (W., March 1801.) See
OFFICE.
36T1. HARMONY, Political and per
sonal. — I never suffered a political to become
a personal difference. I have been left on
this ground by some friends whom I dearly
loved, but I was never the first to separate.
With some others, of politics different from
mine, I have continued in the warmest friend
ship to this day, and to all, and to yourself
particularly, I have ever done moral justice.—
To TIMOTHY PICKERING, vii, 210. (M
1821.)
3672. . I feel extraordinary
gratification in addressing this letter to you,
with whom shades of difference in political
sentiment have not prevented the inter
change of good opinion, nor cut off the
friendly offices of society and good corre
spondence. This political tolerance is the more
valued by me, who considers social harmony
as the first of human felicities, and the hap
piest moments those which are given to the
effusions of the heart. — To . (1798.)
RAYNER, p. 545.
3673. HARMONY, Principles and.— I
hope to see shortly a perfect consolidation, to
effect which, nothing shall be spared on my
part, short of the abandonment of the prin
ciples of our Revolution. — To JOHN DICKIN
SON, iv, 366. FORD ED., viii, 7. (W., March
1801.)
3674. . I hope we shall once
more see harmony restored among our citi
zens, and an entire oblivion of past feuds.
Some of the leaders who have most committed
themselves cannot come into this. But I
hope the great body of our fellow citizens will
do it. I will sacrifice everything but prin
ciple to procure it. — To SAMUEL ADAMS, iv,
389. FORD ED., viii, 39. (W., March 1801.)
3675. HARMONY, Public good.— The
greatest good we can do our country is to
heal its party divisions, and make them one
people. — To JOHN DICKINSON. FORD ED., viii,
76. (W., July 1801.)
3676. HARMONY, Restoration of.— To
restore that harmony which our predecessors
so wickedly made it their object to break up,
to render us again one people, acting as one na
tion, should be the object of every man really
a patriot. I am satisfied it can be done, and
I own that the day which should convince
me of the contrary would be the bitterest of
my life. — To THOMAS MCKJEAN. FORD ED.,
viii, 78. (W., July 1801.)
3677. HARMONY, Sacrifices for.— I see
the necessity of sacrificing our opinions some
times to the opinions of others for the sake
of harmony. — To FRANCIS EPPES. FORD ED.,
v, 194- (N.Y., 1790.)
3678. HARTFORD CONVENTION,
American maratists. — I do not say that all
who met at Hartford were under the same
motive of money, nor were those of France.
401
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Hartford Convention
Hastings (Warren)
Some of them are " Outs " and wish to be
" Ins " ; some were mere dupes of the agitators,
or of their own party passions, while the Mara-
tists alone are in the real secret ; but they have
very different materials to work on. The yeo
manry of the United States are not the canaille
of Paris. We might safely give them leave to
go through the United States recruiting their
ranks, and I am satisfied they could not raise
one single regiment (gambling merchants and
silk-stocking clerks excepted) who would sup
port them in any effort to separate from the
Union. The cement of this Union is in the
heart-blood of every American. I do not be
lieve there is on earth a government established
on so immovable a basis. Let them, in any
State, even in Massachusetts itself, raise the
standard of separation, and its citizens will
rise in mass, and do justice themselves on their
own incendiaries. — To MARQUIS LAFAYETTE, vi.,
425. FORD ED., ix, 509. (M., 1815.)
3679. HARTFORD CONVENTION,
Anarchy and.— -The paradox with me is how
any friend to the union of our country can, in
conscience, contribute a cent to the mainte
nance of any one who perverts the sanctity of
his desk to the open inculcation of rebellion,
civil war, dissolution of the government, and
the miseries of anarchy. — To GOVERNOR PLU-
MER. vi, 414. (M., 1815.)
3680. HARTFORD CONVENTION,
British agitators.— The troubles in the East
have been produced by English agitators, opera
ting on the selfish spirit of commerce, which
knows no country, and feels no passion or prin
ciple but that of gain. — To LARKIN SMITH, v,
441. (M., April 1809.)
3681. HARTFORD CONVENTION,
Contempt for. — If they could have induced
the government to some effort of suppression,
or even to enter into discussion with them, it
would have given them some importance, have
brought them into some notice. But they have
not been able to make themselves even a sub
ject of conversation, either of public or private
societies. A silent contempt has been the sole
notice they excite ; consoled, indeed, some of
them, by the palpable favors of Philip [Eng
land]. — To MARQUIS LAFAYETTE, vi, 426. FORD
ED., ix, 509. (M., 1815.)
3682. HARTFORD CONVENTION,
Crime of.— When England took alarm lest
France, become republican, should recover
energies dangerous to her, she employed emis
saries with means to engage incendiaries and
anarchists in the disorganization of all govern
ment here. These, assuming exaggerated zeal
for republican government and the rights of
the people, crowded their inscriptions into the
Jacobin societies, and overwhelming by their
majorities the honest and enlightened patriots
of the original institution, distorted its objects,
pursued its genuine founders under the name
of Brissotines and Girondists unto death, in
trigued themselves into the municipality of
Paris, controlled by terrorism the proceedings
of the legislature, in which they were faithfully
aided by their costipendaries there, the Dan-
tons and Marats of the Mountain, murdered
their King, septembrized the nation, and thus
accomplished their stipulated task of de
molishing liberty and government with it.
England now fears the rising force of this re
publican nation, and by the same means is en
deavoring to effect the same course of miseries
and destruction here ; it is impossible where
one sees like courses of events commence, not
to ascribe them to like causes. We know that
the government of England, maintaining itself
by corruption at home, uses the same means
in other countries of which she has any jeal
ousy, by subsidizing agitators and traitors
among ourselves to distract and paralyze them.
She sufficiently manifests that she has no
disposition to spare ours. We see in the pro
ceedings of Massachusetts, symptoms which
plainly indicate such a course, and we know
as far as such practices can ever be dragged
into light, that she has practiced, and with suc
cess, on leading individuals of that State. Nay,
further, we see those individuals acting on
the very plan which our information had
warned us was settled between the parties.
These elements of explanation history cannot
stantly subject to his own will. The crime,
of combining with the oppressors of the earth
to extinguish the last spark of human hope,
that here, at length, will be preserved a model
government, securing to man his rights and
the fruits of his labor, by an organization con
stantly subject to his own will. The crime
indeed, if accomplished, would immortalize its
perpetrators, and their names would descend in
history with those of Robespierre and his asso
ciates, as the guardian genii of despotism, and
demons of human liberty. — To GOVERNOR PLU-
MER. vi, 414. (M., 1815.)
3683. HARTFORD CONVENTION,
English bribery.— But the British ministers
hoped more in their Hartford convention [than
in the disordered condition of our finances].
Their fears of republican France being now
done away, they are directed to republican
America, and they are playing the same game
for disorganization here, which they played in
your country. The Marats, the Dantons and
Robespierres of Massachusetts are in the same
pay, under the same orders, and making the
same efforts to anarchise us, that their proto
types in France did there. — To MARQUIS DE
LAFAYETTE, vi, 425. FORD ED., ix, 508. (M.,
1815.)
3684. HARTFORD CONVENTION,
Laughing stock.— No event, more than this,
has shown the placid character of our Consti
tution. Under any other, their treasons would
have been punished by the halter. We let them
live as laughing stocks for the world, and
punish them by the torment of eternal con
tempt. — To DR. B. WATERHOUSE. FORD ED., ix,
532. (M., 1815.)
3685. HARTFORD CONVENTION,
Unpopular.— I dp not mean to say that all
who are acting with these men are under the
same motives. I know some of them personally
to be incapable of it. Nor was that the case
with the disorganizers and assassins of Paris.
Delusions there, and party perversions here,
furnish unconscious assistants to the hired
actors in these atrocious scenes. But I have
never entertained one moment's fear on this
subject. The people of this country enjoy too
much happiness to risk it for nothing; and
I have never doubted that whenever the in
cendiaries of Massachusetts should venture
openly to raise the standard of separation, its
citizens would rise in mass and do justice
themselves to their own parricides. — To GOV
ERNOR PLUMER. vi, 415. (M., 1815.)
3686. HASTINGS (Warren), Trial of.—
I presume you will remain at London to see the
trial of Hastings. Without suffering yourself
to be imposed on by the pomp in which it w;11
be enveloped, I would recommend to you
consider and decide for yourself these qu
Hawkins (Benjamin)
Henry (Patrick)
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
402
tions. If his offense is to be decided by the
law of the land, why is he not tried in that
court in which his fellow-citizens are tried, that
is, the King's Bench? If he is cited before an
other court that he may be judged, not ac
cording to the law of the land, but by the
discretion of his judges, is he not disfranchised
of his most precious right, the benefit of the
laws of his country in common with his other
fellow-citizens? I think you will find on in
vestigating this subject that every solid argu
ment is against the extraordinary court, and
that every one in its favor is specious only. It
is a transfer from a judicature of learning and
integrity to one, the greatness of which is both
illiterate and unprincipled. Yet such is the
force of prejudice with some, and of the want
of reflection in others, that many of our con
stitutions have copied this absurdity, without
suspecting it to be one. — To WILLIAM RUT-
LEDGE, ii, 349. FORD ED., v, 4. (P., 1788.)
3687. HAWKINS (Benjamin), Influ
ence with Indians.— Towards the attain
ment of our two objects of peace and lands,
it is essential that our agent acquire that sort
of influence over the Indians which rests on
confidence. In this respect, I suppose, that
no man has ever obtained more influence than
Colonel Hawkins. Towards the preservation
of peace, he is omnipotent ; in the encourage
ment he is indefatigable and successful. — To
GENERAL ANDREW JACKSON, iv, 464. (W.,
1803.)
3688. HEALTH vs. LEARNING.—
Health must not 'be sacrificed to learning. A
strong body makes the mind strong. — To PETER
CARR. i, 397. (P., 1785.)
3689. . Knowledge indeed is a
desirable possession, * * * but health is
more so. — To T. M. RANDOLPH, JR. FORD ED.,
iv, 293. (P., 1786.)
3690. - — . Health is worth more
than learning. — To JOHN GARLAND JEFFERSON.
FORD ED., v, 181. (N.Y., 1790.)
3691. HEALTH, Morality and.— Health
is the first requisite after morality. — To PETER
CARR. ii, 241. FORD ED., iv, 433. (P., 1787.)
3692. HEALTH, TJnhappiness without.
— Without health there is no happiness. An
attention to health, then, should take place of
every other object. The time necessary to
secure this by active exercises, should be de
voted to it in preference to every other pur
suit. I know the difficulty with which a stu
dious man tears himself from his studies, at
any given moment of the day ; but his happi
ness, and that of his family depend on it. The
most uninformed mind, with a healthy body,
is happier than the wisest valetudinarian. —
To T. M. RANDOLPH, JR. ii, 177. FORD ED.,
iv, 406. (P., 1787-)
3693. HEAVEN, Blessings of. — Retiring
from the charge of their affairs, I carry with
me the consolation of a firm persuasion that
Heaven has in store for our beloved country
long ages to come of prosperity and happiness.
— EIGHTH ANNUAL MESSAGE, viii, in. FORD
ED., ix, 225. (Nov. 1808.)
3694. HENRY (Patrick), Ambitious.—
Your character of Patrick Henry is precisely
agreeable to the idea I had formed of him. I
take him to be of unmeasured ambition. — To
JAMES MADISON. FORD ED., iv, 35. (P.,
1785.)
3695. HENRY (Patrick), Apostate.—
His apostasy must be unaccountable to those
who do not know all the recesses of his heart. —
To ARCHIBALD STUART. FORD ED., vii, 378.
(M., May 1799.)
3696. HENRY (Patrick), Avaricious.—
Mr. Henry's ravenous avarice was the only pas
sion paramount to his love of popularity. — To
WILLIAM WIRT. FORD ED., ix, 339. (M
1812.)
3697. HENRY (Patrick), Brilliant but
illogical.— In ordinary business [in the House
of Burgesses] he was a very inefficient mem
ber. He could not draw a bill on the most
simple subject which would bear legal criticism,
or even the ordinary criticism which looks to
correctness of style and ideas, for indeed there
was no accuracy of idea in his head. His
imagination was copious, poetical, sublime, but
vague also. He said the strongest things in
the finest language, but without logic, without
arrangement, desultorily. — To WILLIAM WIRT.
FORD ED., ix, 341. (M., 1812.)
3698. HENRY (Patrick), Declined
office. — The office of Secretary of State was
offered to P. H. [Patrick Henry] in order to
draw him over, and gain some popularity ; but
not till there was a moral certainty that he
would not accept it. — To JAMES MONROE. FORD
ED., vii, 59. (M., March 1796.)
3699. . Most assiduous court is
paid to Patrick Henry. He has been offered
everything which they knew he would not ac
cept. Some impression is thought to be made,
but we do not believe it is radical. If they
thought they could count upon him, they would
run him for their Vice- President ; their first
object being to produce a schism in this State.
— To JAMES MONROE, iv, 148. FORD ED vii
89. (M., July 1796.)
3700. HENRY (Patrick), Early man
hood.— -You ask some account of Mr. Henry's
mind, information and manners in 1759-60,
when I first became acquainted with him. We
met at Nathan Dandridges, in Hanover, about
the Christmas of that winter, and passed per
haps a fortnight together at the revelries of the
neighborhood and season. His manners had
something of the coarseness of the society he
had frequented ; his passion was fiddling, danc
ing and pleasantry. He excelled in the last
and it attached every one to him. The oc
casion perhaps, as much as his idle disposition,
prevented his engaging in any conversation
which might give the measure either of his
mind or information. Opportunity was not
wanting, because Mr. John Campbell was there,
who had married Mrs. Spotswood, the sister
of Colonel Dandridge. He was a man of
science, and often introduced conversations on
scientific subjects. Mr. Henry had a little be
fore broke up his store, or rather it had broken
him up, and within three months after he came
to Williamsburg for his license, and told me, I
think, he had read law not more than six
weeks. — To WILLIAM WIRT. vi, 487. FORD ED.
ix, 475. (M., 1815.)
3701. HENRY (Patrick), Eloquence.—
When the famous resolutions of 1765, against
the Stamp Act, were proposed, I was yet a
student of law in Williamsburg. I attended the
debate, however, at the door of the lobby of
the House of Burgesses and heard the splendid
display of Mr. Henry's talents as a popular
orator. They were great, indeed; such as I
403
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Henry (Patrick)
have never heard from any other man. He ap
peared to me to speak as Homer wrote.* —
AUTOBIOGRAPHY, i, 4. FORD ED., i, 6. (1821.)
3702. . Another of the great oc
casions on which he exhibited examples of elo
quence such as probably had never been ex
ceeded, was on the question of adopting the
new Constitution in 1788. To this he was
most violently opposed. To WILLIAM WIRT.
FORD ED., ix, 344. (M., 1811?)
3703. HENRY (Patrick), Foe of Consti
tution. — Henry is the avowed foe of the new
Constitution. He stands higher in public esti
mation [in Virginia] than he ever did, yet he
was so often in the minority in the present
assembly that he has quitted it, never more to
return, unless an opportunity offers to overturn
the new Constitution. — To WILLIAM SHORT.
FORD ED., v, 136. (Dec. 1789.)
3704. HENRY (Patrick), Force of ora
tory. — Mr. Henry's first remarkable exhibi
tion [in the House of Burgesses] was on the
motion for the establishment of an office for
lending money on mortgages of real property.
* * * I can never forget a particular excla
mation of his in the debate in which he electri
fied his hearers. It had been urged that from
certain unhappy circumstances of the Colony,
men of substantial property had contracted
debts, which, if exacted suddenly, must ruin
them and their families, but, with a little in
dulgence of time, might be paid with ease.
" What, Sir ! " exclaimed Mr. Henry in animad
verting on this, " is it proposed then to re
claim the spendthrift from his dissipation and
extravagance, by filling his pockets with
money? ' * * * He laid open with so much
energy the spirit of favoritism on which the
proposition was founded, and the abuses to
which it would lead, that it was crushed in
its birth. — To WILLIAM WIRT. vi, 364. FORD
ED., ix, 466. (M., 1814.)
3705. HENRY (Patrick), Gerryman
dering. — Mr. Henry is omnipotent in Vir
ginia. Mr. Madison was left out as a Senator
by eight or nine votes ; and Henry has so
modelled the districts for Representatives, as to
tack Orange to counties where himself has
great influence, that Madison may not be elect
ed into the lower Federal House, which was
the place he had wished to serve in. and not the
Senate. — To WILLIAM SHORT, ii, 574. FORD
ED., v, 70. (P., 1789.)
3706. HENRY (Patrick), Influence.— I
have understood that Mr. Henry has always
been opposed [to a new constitution for Vir
ginia] : and I confess that I consider his talents
and influence such as that, were it decided that
we should call a convention for the purpose of
amending, I should fear he might induce that
convention either to fix the thing as at present,
or change it for the worse. Would it not.
therefore, be well that means should be adopted
for coming at his ideas of the changes he would
agree to, and for communicating to him those
which we should propose? Perhaps he might
find ours not so distant from his, but that some
mutual sacrifices might bring them together. —
To ARCHIBALD STUART, iii, 314. FORD ED., v,
408. (Pa., 1791.)
* Tetferson !n speaking of Patrick Henry to Daniel
Webster (FORD ED., x, 327) said : u He was far before
all in maintaining the spirit of the Revolution. His
influence was most extensive with the members from
the upper counties, and his boldness and their votes
overawed and controlled the more cool or the more
timid aristocratic gentlemen in the lower part of the
State."— EDITOR.
3707. HENRY (Patrick), Innate love of
liberty. — No man ever more undervalued
chartered titles than himself. He drew all nat
ural rights from a purer source — the feelings of
his own breast. — To WILLIAM WIRT. FORD ED..
x, 60. (M., 1816.)
3708. HENRY (Patrick), Intrigue.—
Our Legislature is filled with too great a mass
of talents and principle to be now swayed by
Mr. Henry. He will experience mortifications
to which he has been hitherto a stranger. Still,
I fear something from his intriguing and
cajoling talents, for which he is still more re
markable than for his eloquence. As to the
effect of his name among the people, I have
found it crumble like a dried leaf, the moment
they become satisfied of his apostasy. — To
TENCH COXE. FORD ED., vii, 381. (M., May
I799-)
3709. HENRY (Patrick), Literary in
dolence. — He was the laziest man in reading
I ever knew. — AUTOBIOGRAPHY, i, 8. FORD ED.,
i, 13. (1821.)
3710. HENRY (Patrick), Mysterious.—
Henry, as usual, is involved in mystery. Should
the popular tide run strongly in either direction
he will fall in with it. Should it not, he will
have a struggle between his enmity to the
Lees, and his enmity to everything which may
give influence to Congress. — To JAMES MAD
ISON. FORD ED., iii, 318. (T., May 1783.)
3711. HENRY (Patrick), Philips case.
— The censure of Mr. E. Randolph on Mr.
Henry in the case of Philips, was without
foundation. I remember the case, and took my
part in it. Philips was a mere robber, who
availing himself of the troubles of the times.,
collected a banditti, retired to the Dismal
Swamp, and from thence sallied forth, plun
dering and maltreating the neighboring inhab
itants, and covering himself, without authority,
under the name of a British subject. Mr.
Henry, then Governor, communicated the case
to me. We both thought the best proceeding
would be by bill of attainder, unless he delivered
himself up for trial within a given time. Phil
ips was afterwards taken ; and Mr. Randolph
being Attorney General, and apprehending he
would plead that he was a British subject,
taken in arms, in support of his lawful sov
ereign, and as a prisoner of war entitled to the
protection of the law of nations, he thought
the safest proceeding would be to indict him at
common law as a felon and robber. Against
this I believe Philips urged the same plea ;
he was overruled and found guilty. — To WILL
IAM WIRT. vi, 369. FORD ED., ix, 470. (M.,
1814.)
3712. HENRY (Patrick), Political alert
ness. — The people of Virginia are beginning
to call for a new constitution for their State.
This symptom of their wishes will probably
bring over Mr. Henry to the proposition. He
has been the great obstacle to it hitherto ; but
you know he is always alive to catch the first
sensation of the popular breeze, that he may
take the lead of that which in truth leads him.
— To WILLIAM SHORT. FORD ED., vi, 122. (Pa.,
1792.)
3713. HENRY (Patrick), Political fall.—
[Alexander] Hamilton * * * became his idol,
and, abandoning the republican advocates of
the Constitution, the Federal Government on
federal principles became his political creed. *
* * His apostasy sunk him to nothing in the
estimation of his country. He lost at once all
Henry (Patrick)
History
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
404
that influence which federalism had hoped, by
cajoling him, to transfer with him to itself,
and a man who through a long and active life
had been the idol of his country beyond any one
that ever lived, descended to the grave with
less than its indifference, and verified the
saying of the philosopher, that no man must be
called happy till he is dead. — To WILLIAM
WIRT. FORD ED., ix, 344. (M., 1811?)
3714. HENRY (Patrick), Speculator.—
The States of Virginia and North Carolina are
peculiarly dissatisfied with the assumption of
the State debts by the General Government.
I believe, however, that it is harped on by many
to mask their disaffection to the Govern
ment on other grounds. Its great foe in Vir
ginia is an implacable one. He avows it himself,
but does not avow all his motives for it. The
measures and tone of the Government threaten
abortion to some of his speculations ; most par
ticularly to that of the Yazoo territory. But
it is too well nerved to be overawed by individ
ual opposition. — To GOUVERNEUR MORRIS, iii,
198. FORD ED., v, 250. (Pa., 1790.)
3715. HENRY (Patrick), Virginia Con
stitution. — While Mr. Henry lives another
bad constitution would be formed and forever
on us. — To JAMES MADISON. FORD ED., iv, 16.
(P., Dec. 1784.)
— HEREDITARY OFFICERS.— See
GOVERNMENT.
3716. HERESY, False religion and.—
Heresy and false religion are withheld from
the cognizance of Federal tribunals. — KEN
TUCKY RESOLUTIONS, ix, 466. FORD ED., vii,
295- (1798.)
3717. HERESY, Political.— Establish
Principles and examples which * * *
shall] fence us against future heresies,
preached now, to be practiced hereafter. — To
COLONEL INNES. iii, 224. FORD ED., v, 300.
3718. HERSCHEL (Sir William), The
ories of. — Herschel's volcano in the moon you
have doubtless heard of, and placed among the
other vagaries of a head, which seems not or
ganized for sound induction. The wildness of
the theories hitherto proposed by him, on his
own discoveries, seems to authorize us to con
sider his merit as that of a good optician only.
— To REV. JAMES MADISON, ii, 429. (P., 1788.)
3719. HESSIANS, Employment of. —
His Britannic Majesty, in order to destroy our
freedom and happiness, * * * commenced
against us a cruel and unprovoked war, and
unable to engage Britons sufficient to execute
his sanguinary measures, * * * applied for aid
to foreign princes who were in the habit of
selling, the blood of their people for money,
and from them * * * procured and transported
hither, a considerable number of foreigners. —
PROCLAMATION. FORD ED., ii, 445. (1781.) See
ARMY (DESERTERS), and IMMIGRATION.
3720. HISTORY, Ancient vs. Modern. —
I feel a much greater interest in knowing what
passed two or three thousand years ago than in
what is passing now. I read nothing, there
fore, but of the heroes of Troy, of the wars of
Lacedaemon and Athens, of Pompey and Caesar,
and of Augustus, too, the Bonaparte and par
ricide scoundrel of that day. — To NATHANIEL
MACON. vii, in. FORD ED., x, 120. (M., 1819.)
3721. . I am happier while read
ing the history of ancient than of modern times.
The total banishment of all moral principle
from the code which governs the intercourse
of nations, the melancholy reflection that after
the mean, wicked and cowardly cunning of the
cabinets of the age of Machiavelli had given
place to the integrity and good faith which
dignified the succeeding one of a Chatham
and Turgot, that this is to be swept away again
by the daring profligacy and avowed destitution
of all moral principle of a Cartouche and a
Blackbeard, sicken my soul unto death. I
turn from the contemplation with loathing, and
take refuge in the histories of other times,
where, if they also furnished their Tarquins,
their Catalines and Caligulas, their stories are
handed to us under the brand of a Livy, a Sal-
lust and a. Tacitus., and we are comforted with
the reflection that the condemnation of all suc
ceeding generations has confirmed the sentence
of the historian, and consigned their memories
to everlasting infamy, a solace we cannot have
with the Georges and Napoleons but by antici
pation. — To WILLIAM DUANE. vi, 109. (M.,
April 1813.)
3722. HISTORY, Authors and compi
lers. — In all cases, I prefer original authors to
compilers. For a course of ancient history,
therefore [in the University of Virginia], of
Greece and Rome especially, I should advise
the usual suite of Herodotus, Thucydides,
Xenophon, Diodorus, Livy, Caesar, Suetonius,
Tacitus and Dion, in their originals if under
stood, and in translations, if not. For its con
tinuation to the final destruction of the Em
pire we must then be content with Gibbon, a
compiler, and with Segur, for a judicious re
capitulation of the whole. After this general
course, there are a number of particular his
tories filling up the chasms, which may be read
at leisure in the progress of life. Such is
Arrian, Q. Curtius, Polybius, Sallust, Plutarch,
Dionysius, Halicarnassus, Micasi, &c. The
ancient Universal History should be on our
shelves as a book of general reference, the
most learned and most faithful perhaps that
ever was written. Its style is very plain but
perspicuous. — To . vii, 411. (M.,
1825.)
3723. HISTORY, Bad government and.
—History, in general, only informs us what
bad government is. — To JOHN NARVELL. v, 91.
FORD ED., ix, 72. (W., 1807.)
3724. HISTORY, Genuine.— A morsel of
genuine history is a thing so rare as to be al
ways valuable. — To JOHN ADAMS. vii, 82.
(P.F., 1817.)
3725. HISTORY, False.— Man is fed with
fables through life, leaves it in the belief he
knows something of what has been passing,
when in truth he has known nothing but what
has passed under his own eye. — To THOMAS
COOPER. FORD ED., x, 286. (M., 1823.)
3726. HISTORY, Lawyers and.— His-
tory, especially, is necessary to form a lawyer.
— To JOHN GARLAND JEFFERSON. FORD ED., v,
180. (N.Y., 1790.)
3727. HISTORY, Neglected Material.—
It is truly unfortunate that those engaged in
public affairs so rarely make notes of transac
tions passing within their knowledge. Hence
history becomes fable instead of fact. The
great outlines may be true, but the incidents
and coloring are according to the faith or fancy
of the writer. Had Judge Marshall taken half
your pains in sifting and scrutinizing facts, he
405
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
History
would not have given to the world, as true his
tory a false copy of a record under his eye.
Burke again has copied him, and being a sec
ond writer, doubles the credit of the copy.
When writers are so indifferent as to the cor
rectness of facts, the verification of which lies
at their elbow, by what measure shall we esti
mate their relation of things distant, or of
those given to us through the obliquities of
their own vision ? Our records it is true in
the case under contemplation, were destroyed
by the malice and Vandalism of the British
military, perhaps of their government, under
whose orders they committed so much useless
mischief. But printed copies remained, as
your examination has proved. Those which
were apocryphal, then, ought not to have been
hazarded without examination. — To WILLIAM
WIRT. vi, 370. FORD ED., ix, 471. (M., 1814.)
3728. HISTORY, Panegyric and.— You
have certainly practiced vigorously [in the Life
of Patrick Henry] the precept of " de mortins
nil nisi bonum." This presents a very diffi
cult question, — whether one only or both sides
of the medal shall be presented. It constitutes,
perhaps, the distinction between panegyric and
history. — To WILLIAM WIRT. FORD ED., x, 61.
(P. F., 1816.)
3729. HISTORY, Peace and.— Wars and
contentions, indeed, fill the pages of history
with more matter. But more blessed is that
nation whose silent course of happiness fur
nishes nothing for history to say. — To COUNT
DIODATI. v, 62. (W., 1807.)
3730. HISTORY, Private letters and.—
History may distort truth, and will distort it for
a time, by the superior efforts at justification
of those who are conscious of needing it most.
The opening scenes of our present government
will not be seen in their true aspect until the
letters of the day, now held in private hoards,
shall be broken up and laid open to public
view. — To WILLIAM JOHNSON, vii, 292. FORD
ED., x, 228. (M., 1823.)
3731. . Although I decline all
newspaper controversy, yet when falsehoods
have been advanced, within the knowledge of
no one so much as myself, I have sometimes
deposited a contradiction in the hands of a
friend, which, if worth preservation, may, when
I am no more, nor those whom I might offend,
throw light on history, and recall that into the
path of truth. — To MARTIN VAN BUREN. vii,
372. FORD ED., x, 315. (M., 1824.)
3732. HISTORY, Records of.— Time and
accident are committing daily havoc on the
originals of the valuable historical and State
papers deposited in our public offices. The
late war has done the work of centuries in this
business. The last cannot be recovered, but let
us save what remains ; not by vaults and locks
which fence them from the public eye and use
in consigning them to the waste of time, but
by such a multiplication of copies, as shall
place them beyond the reach of accident. — To
MR. HAZARD, iii, 211. (Pa., 1791.)
3733. HISTORY, Truthful.— We who
are retired from the business of the world,
are glad to catch a glimpse of truth, here and
there as we can, to guide our path through
the boundless field of fable in which we are
bewildered by public prints, and even by those
calling themselves histories. A word of truth
to us is like the drop of water supplicated
from the tip of Lazarus's finger. It is as an
observation of latitude and longitude to the
mariner Jong enveloped in clouds, for correcting
the ship's way. — To JOHN QUINCY ADAMS, vii,
87. (M., 1817.)
3734. . True history, in which
all will be believed, is preferable to unqualified
panegyric, in which nothing is believed. — To
JOSEPH DELAPLAINE. vii. 21. FORD ED. x, 56".
(M., 1816.)
3735. HISTORY, Value of.— The most
effectual means of preventing the perversion of
power into tyranny are to illuminate, as far as
practicable, the minds of the people at large,
and more especially to give them knowledge of
those facts, which history exhibits, that pos
sessed thereby of the experience of other ages
and countries, they may be enabled to know am
bition under all its shapes, and prompt to ex
ert their natural powers to defeat its purposes.
— DIFFUSION OF KNOWLEDGE BILL. FORD ED.,
ii, 221. (1779.)
3736. . History, by apprising
the people of the past, will enable them to
judge of the future; it will avail them of the
experience of other times and other nations ;
it will qualify them as judges of the actions
and designs of men; it will enable them to
know ambition under every disguise it may
assume; and knowing it, to defeat its views. —
NOTES ON VIRGINIA, viii, 390. FORD ED., iii,
254. (1782.)
3737. HISTORY, Writing.— You say I
must go to -writing history. While in. public
life I had not time., and now that I am retired,
I am past the time. To write history requires
a whole life of observation, of inquiry, of labor
and correction. Its materials are not to be
found among the ruins of a decayed memory.
—To J. B. STUART, vii, 65. (M., 1817.)
3738. HISTORY (American), Collect
ing. — While I was in Europe, I purchased
everything I could lay my hands on which re
lated to any part of America, and particularly
had a pretty full collection of the English,
French, and Spanish authors on the subject of
Louisiana. — To WILLIAM DUNBAR. iv, «no.
(W., 1804.)
3739. HISTORY (American), Criti
cisms on. — It is impossible to read thoroughly
such writings as those of Harper and Otis,
who take a page to say what requires but a
sentence, or rather, who give you whole pages
of what is nothing to the purpose. A cursory
race over the ground is as much as they can
claim. It is easy for them, at this day, to
endeavour to whitewash their party, when the
greater part are dead of those who witnessed
what passed, others old and become indiffer
ent to the subject, and others indisposed to
take the trouble of answering them. As to Otis,
his attempt is to prove that the sun does not
shine at midday ; that that is not a fact which
every one saw. He merits no notice. It is well
known that Harper had little scruple about
facts where detection was not obvious. By
placing in false lights whatever admits it, and
passing over in silence what does not, a plaus
ible aspect may be presented of anything. — To
WILLIAM SHORT, vii, 389. FORD ED., x, 328.
(M., 1825.)
3740. HISTORY (American), Inaccura
cies. — Botta * * * has put his own spec
ulations and reasonings into the mouths of
persons whom he names, but who, you and I
know, never made such speeches. In this he
has followed the example of the ancients, who
History
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
406
made their great men deliver long speeches, all
of them in the same style, and in that of the au
thor himself. The work is nevertheless a good
one, more judicious, more chaste, more classical,
and more true than the party diatribe of
Marshall. Its greatest fault is in having taken
too much from him. To JOHN ADAMS, vi, 489.
FORD ED., ix, 527. (M., 1815.)
3741. HISTORY (American), Naval.—
Why omit all mention of the scandalous cam
paigns of Commodore Morris? A two years'
command of an effective squadron, with discre
tionary instructions, wasted in sailing from port
to port of the Mediterranean, and a single half
day before the port of the enemy against which
he was sent. All this can be seen in the pro
ceedings of the court on which he was dis
missed ; and it is due to the honorable truths
with which the book abounds, to publish those
which are not so. — To MATTHEW CARR. vi, 132.
(M., 1813.)
3742. HISTORY (American), Preserva
tion of. — It is the duty of every good citizen
to use all the opportunities which occur to him,
for preserving documents relating to the history
of our country. — To HUGH P. TAYLOR, vii,
313. (M., 1823-)
3743. HISTORY (American), Revolu
tionary. — On the subject of the history of the
American Revolution, you ask who shall write
it? Who can write it? And who will ever be
able to write it ? Nobody ; except merely its ex
ternal facts ; all its councils, designs, and dis
cussions having . been conducted by Congress
with closed doors, and with no members, as
far as I know, having even made notes of
them. These, which are the life and soul of
history, must forever be unknown. — To JOHN
ADAMS, vii, 489. FORD ED., ix, 527. (M.,
1815.)
3744. . I am now reading Botta's
History of our own Revolution. Bating the
ancient practice which he has adopted of put
ting speeches into mouths which never made
them, and fancying motives of action which we
never felt, he has given that history with more
detail, precision and candor, than any writer I
have yet met with. It is, to be sure, compiled
from those writers ; but it is a good secretion of
their matter, the pure from the impure, and
presented in a just sense of right in opposition
to usurpation. — To JOHN ADAMS, vii, 63. (M.,
1817.)
3745. HISTORY (English), Distorted.—
Hume's [History], were it faithful, would be
the finest piece of history which has ever been
written by man. Its unfortunate bias may be
partly ascribed to the accident of his having
written it backwards. His maiden work was
the History of the Stuarts. It was a first essay
to try his strength before the public. And
whether as a Scotchman he had really a par
tiality for that family, or thought that the lower
their degradation, the more fame he should ac
quire by raising them up to some favor, the
object of his work was an apology for them.
He spared nothing, therefore, to wash them
white, and to palliate their misgovernment.
For this purpose he suppressed truths, ad
vanced falsehoods, forged authorities and falsi
fied records. All this is proved on him un
answerably by Brodie. But so bewitching was
his style and manner, that his readers were un
willing to doubt anything, swallowed everything,,
and all England became tories by the magic
of his art. His pen revolutionized the public
sentiment of that country more completely than
the standing armies could ever have done, which
were so much dreaded and deprecated by the
patriots of that day. Having succeeded so emi
nently in the acquisition of fortune and fame
by this work, he undertook the history of the
two preceding dynasties, the Plantagenets and
Tudors. It was all important in this second
work, to maintain the thesis of the first, that
" it was the people who encroached on the sov
ereign, not the sovereign who usurped on the
rights of the people ". And, again, chapter 5 3d,
" the grievances under which the English la
bored [to wit: whipping, pillorying, cropping,
imprisoning, fining, &c.], when considered in
themselves, without regard to the constitution,
scarcely deserve the name, nor were they either
burthensome on the people's properties, or any
wise shocking to the natural humanity of man
kind ". During the constant wars, civil and
foreign, which prevailed while those two fam
ilies occupied the throne, it was not difficult to
find abundant instances of practices the most
despotic, as are wont to occur in times of vio
lence. To make this second epoch support the
third, therefore, required but a little garbling of
authorities. And it then remained, by a third
work, to make of the whole a complete history
of England on the principles on which he had
advocated that of the Stuarts. This would
comprehend the Saxon and Norman Conquests,
the former exhibiting the genuine form and
political principles of the people constituting
the nation, and founded in the rights of man ;
the latter built on conquest and physical force,
not at all affecting moral rights, nor even as
sented to by the free will of the vanquished.
The battle of Hastings, indeed, was lost, but
the natural rights of the nation were not staked
on the event of a single battle. Their will
to recover the Saxon constitution continued
unabated, and was at the bottom of all the
unsuccessful insurrections which succeeded in
subsequent times. The victors and vanquished
continued in a state of living hostility, and
the nation may still say, after losing the battle
of Hastings,
" What though the field be lost ?
All is not lost ; the unconquerable will
And study of revenge, immortal hate
And courage never to submit or yield."
The government of a nation may be usurped
by the forcible intrusion of an individual into
the throne. But to conquer its will, so as to
rest the right on that, the only legitimate basis,
requires long acquiescence and cessation of all
opposition. The whig historians of England,
therefore, have always gone back to the Saxon
period for the true principles of their constitu
tion, while the tories and Hume, their Cory
phaeus, date it from the Norman Conquest, and
hence conclude that the continual claim by the
nation of the good old Saxon laws, and the
struggles to recover them, were " encroach
ments of the people on the crown, and not
usurpations of the crown on the people ". — To
. vii, 412. (M., 1825.)
3746. HISTORY (English), Faithful
authors. — Of England there is as yet no gen
eral history so faithful as Rapin's. He may be
followed by Ludlow, Fox, Belsham, Hume and
Brodie. — To . vii, 412. (M., 1825.)
3747. HISTORY (English), Hume's.—
There is no general history of Great Britain
which can be recommended. The elegant one
of Hume seems intended to disguise and dis
credit the good principles of the government,
and is so plausible and pleasing in its style
and manner, as to instil its errors and heresies
407
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
History
Holland
insensibly into the minds of unwary readers.
Baxter has performed a good operation on it.
He has taken the text of Hume as his ground
work, abridging it by the omission of some de
tails of little interest, and wherever he has
found him endeavoring to mislead, by either
the suppression of a truth, or by giving it a
false coloring, he has changed the text to what
it should be, so that we may properly call it
Hume's history republicanized. He has more
over continued the history (but indifferently)
from where Hume left it, to the year 1800.
The work is not popular in England, because it
is republican. Adding to this Lud-
low's Memoirs, Mrs. McCauley's and Belknap's
histories, a sufficient view will be presented of
the free principles of the English constitution.
— To JOHN NORVELL. v, 91. FORD ED., ix, 72.
(W., 1807.)
3748. . Every one knows that
judicious matter and charms of style have ren
dered Hume's History the manual of every stu
dent. I remember well the enthusiasm with
which I devoured it when young, and the length
of time, the research and reflection which were
necessary to eradicate the poison it had in
stilled into my mind. It was unfortunate that
he first took up the history of the Stuarts, be
came their apologist, and advocated all their
enormities. To support his work, when done.
he went back to the Tudors, and so selected
and arranged the materials of their history as
to present their arbitrary acts only, as the genu
ine samples of the const'tutional power of the
crown, and, still writing backwards, he then
reverted to the early history, and wrote the
Saxon and Norman periods with the same
perverted view. Although all this is known, he
still continues to be put into the hands of all
our young people, and to infect them with the
poison of his own principles of government.
It is this book which has undermined the free
principles of the English government, has
persuaded readers of all classes that there were
usurpations on the legitimate and salutary rights
of the crown, and has spread universal toryism
over the land. — To WILLIAM DUANE. v, 533.
(M., 1810.)
3749. . This single book [Hume's
History of England] has done more to sap the
free principles of the English constitution than
the largest standing army of which their pa
triots have been so jealous. It is like the
portraits of our countryman Wright, whose eye
was so unhappy as to seize all the ugly features
of his subject, and to present them faithfully,,
while it was entirely insensible to every linea
ment of beauty. So Hume has concentrated, in
his fascinating style, all the arbitrary proceed
ings of the English Kings, as true evidences
of the constitution, and glided over its Whig
principles as the unfounded pretensions of
factious demagogues. He even boasts, in his
life written by himself, that of the numerous
alterations suggested by the readers of his work,
he had never adopted one proposed by a Whig.
— To JOHN ADAMS, vii, 46. (P.P., 1816.)
3750. HISTORY (English), Part of
American. — Our laws, language, religion,
politics and manners are so deeply laid in Eng
lish foundations, that we shall never cease to
consider their history as a part of ours, and to
study ours in that as its origin. — To WILLIAM
DUANE. v, 533. (M., 1810.)
3751. HISTORY (English), Value of.—
As we have employed some of the best materials
of the British constitution in the construction of
our own government, a knowledge of British
history becomes useful to the American poli
tician. — To JOHN NORVELL. v, 91. FORD ED.,
ix, 72. (W., 1807.)
3752. HISTORY, Roman.—! have been
* * * delighted with reading a work, the
title of which did not promise much useful
information or amusement — L'ltalia Avanti il
Dominis dei Romani dal Micali." * * *
Micali has given the counterpart of the Roman
history for the nations over which they ex
tended their dominion. For this he has gleaned
up matter from every quarter, and furnished
materials for reflection and digestion to those
who, thinking as they read, have perceived
that there was a great deal of matter behind
the curtain, could that be fully withdrawn.
He certainly gives new ideas of a nation whose
splendor has masked and palliated their bar
barous ambition. — To JOHN ADAMS, vii, 63.
(M., 1817.)
3753. HOGENDORP (Count Van), Abil
ity- — A very particular acquaintance with M.
de Hogendorp * * * has led me to con
sider him as the best informed man of his
age I have ever seen. — To GEORGE WASHING
TON. FORD ED., iii, 445. (A., 1784.)
3754. HOLLAND, America and.— Con
nected with Holland by the earliest ties of
friendship, and maintaining with them uninter
rupted relations of peace and commerce, no
event which interests their welfare can be in
different to us. It is, therefore, with great
pleasure, I receive the assurances of your
Majesty that you will continue to cherish these
ancient relations ; and we shall, on our part,
endeavor to strengthen your good will by a
faithful observance of justice, and by all the
good offices which occasion shall permit. — To
THE KING OF HOLLAND, v, 47. (W., 1807.)
3755. HOLLAND, Prince of Orange and.
— The treasonable perfidy of the Prince of
Orange, Stadtholder and Captain General of the
United Netherlands, in the war which England
waged against them, for entering into a treaty
of commerce with the United States, is known
to all. As their executive officer, charged with
the conduct of the war, he contrived to baffle
all the measures of the States General, to dislo
cate all their military plans, and played false
into the hands of England against his own
country on every possible occasion, confident
in her protection, and in that of the King of
Prussia, brother to his Princess. The States
General, indignant at this patricidal conduct,
applied to France for aid, according to the
stipulations of the treaty concluded with her
in 1785. It was assured to them readily and
in cordial terms. * * * The object of the
Patriots was to establish a representative and
republican government. The majority of the
States General were with them, but the ma
jority of the populace of the towns was with
the Prince of Orange; and that populace ^ was
played off with great effect by the triumvirate
of [Sir James] Harris, the English ambassador,
afterwards Lord Malmesbury, the Prince of
Orange, a stupid man, and the Princess as
much a man as either of her colleagues, in
audaciousness, in enterprise and in the thirst
of domination. By these the mobs of the
Hague were excited against the members of the
States General ; their persons were insulted and
endangered in the streets ; the sanctuary of
their houses was violated and the Prince, whose
function and duty it was to repress and punish
these violations of order, took no steps for that
purpose. The States General for their own
Holland
Holy Alliance
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
408
protection were, therefore, obliged to place their
militia under the command of a committee.
The Prince filled the courts of London and
Berlin with complaints at this usurpation of
his prerogatives and, forgetting that he was
but the first servant of a republic, marched
his regular troops against the city of Utrecht,
where the States were in session. They were
repulsed by the militia. His interests now be
came marshalled with those of the public enemy
and against his own country. The States,
therefore, exercising their rights of sover
eignty, deprived him of all his powers. The
great Frederic had died in August, 1786. He
had never intended to break with France in
support of the Prince of Orange. During the
illness of which he died, he had, through the
Duke of Brunswick, declared to the Marquis
de Lafayette, * * * that he meant not to
support the English interest in Holland ; that he
might assure the government of France his only
wish was that some honorable place in the
Constitution should be reserved for the Stadt-
holder and his children, and that he would take
no part in the quarrel unless an entire abolition
of the Stadtholderate should be attempted.
But his place was now occupied by Frederic
William, his great nephew, a man of little un
derstanding, much caprice and very inconsider
ate ; and the Princess, his sister, although her
husband was in arms against the legitimate au
thorities of the country, attempting to go to
Amsterdam for the purpose of exciting the
mobs of that place, and being refused permis
sion to pass a military post on the way, he put
the Duke of Brunswick at the head of twenty
thousand men, and made demonstrations of
marching on Holland. The King of France
hereupon declared, by his Charge des Affaires
in Holland, that if the Prussian troops con
tinued to menace Holland with an invasion, his
Majesty, in quality of Ally, was determined to
succor that province. In answer to this Eden
gave official information to Count Montmorin,
that England must consider as at an end, its
convention with France relative to giving no
tice of its naval armaments and that she was
arming generally. War being now imminent,
Eden, since Lord Auckland, questioned me on
the effect of our treaty with France in the case
of a war, and what might be our dispositions.
I told him frankly and without hesitation that
our dispositions would be neutral, and that I
thought it would be the interest of both these
powers that we should be so ; because it would
relieve both from all anxiety as to feeding their
West India islands; that England, too, by suf
fering us to remain so, would avoid a heavy
land war on our continent, which might very
much cripple her proceedings elsewhere ; that
our treaty, indeed, obliged us to receive into
our ports the armed vessels of France, with
their prizes, and to refuse admission to the
prizes made on her by her enemies ; that there
was a clause also by which we guaranteed to
France her American possessions, which might
perhaps force us into the war, if these were
attacked. " Then it will be war/' said he,
" for they will assuredly be attacked." Listen,
at Madrid, about the same time, made the same
inquiries of Carmichael. The government of
France then declared a determination to form
a camp of observation at Givet, commenced
arming her marine, and named the Bailli de
Suffrein their generalissimo on the ocean. She
secretly engaged also in negotiations with Rus
sia, Austria and Spain to form a quadruple
alliance. The Duke of Brunswick, having ad
vanced to the confines of Holland, sent some
of his officers to Givet to reconnoitre the state
of things there, and report them to him. * * *
Finding that there was not a single com
pany there, he boldly entered the country, took
their towns as fast as he presented himself be
fore them, and advanced on Utrecht. The
States had appointed the Rhingrave of Salm
their Commander-in-Chief, a Prince without
talents, without courage and without princi
ple. He might have held out in Utrecht for
a considerable time, but he surrendered the
place without firing a gun, literally ran away
and hid himself, so that for months it was not
known what had become of him. Amsterdam
was then attacked and capitulated. In the
meantime the negotiations for the quadruple alli
ance were proceeding favorably, but the secrecy
with which they were attempted to be con
ducted was penetrated by Fraser, Charge des
Affaires of England at St. Petersburg, who in
stantly notified his court, and gave the alarm
to Prussia. The King saw at once what would
be his situation between the jaws of France,
Austria and Russia. In great dismay he be
sought the court of London not to abandon
him, sent Alvensleben to Paris to explain and
soothe, and England, through the Duke of
Dorset and Eden, renewed her conferences for
accommodation. The Archbishop, who shud
dered at the idea of war, and preferred a peace
ful surrender of right to an armed vindication
of it, received them with open arms, entered
into cordial conferences and a declaration and
counter-declaration were cooked up at Versailles
and sent to London for approbation. They
were approved there, reached Paris at one
o'clock of the 27th, and were signed that night
at Versailles. It was said and believed at
Paris that M. de Montmorin literally " pi em alt
comme nn enfant " when obliged to sign this
counter-declaration, so distressed was he by the
dishonor of sacrificing the Patriots after as
surances so solemn of protection and absolute
encouragement to proceed. The Prince of
Orange was reinstated in all his powers, now
become regal. A great emigration of the Pa
triots took place ; all were deprived of office,
many exiled, and their property confiscated.
They were received in France and subsisted for
some time on her bounty. Thus fell Holland,
by the treachery of her Chief, from her honor
able independence to become a province of
England ; and so, also, her Stadtholder from
the high station of the first citizen of a free
Republic, to be the servile Viceroy of a
foreign sovereign. And this was effected by a
mere scene of bullying and demonstration ; not
one of the parties, France, England or Prussia
having ever really meant to encounter actual
war for the interest of the Prince of Orange.
But it had all the effect of a real and decisive
war. — AUTOBIOGRAPHY, i, 73. FORD ED., i,
101. (1821.)
3756. HOLY ALLIANCE, Despotism.—
What are we to think of this northern trium
virate, arming their nations to dictate des
potisms to the rest of the world? — To JOHN
ADAMS, vii, 217. (M., 1821.)
3757. . With respect to the Eu
ropean combinations against the rights of
man, I join an honest Irishman of my neigh
borhood in his Fourth of July toast : " The
Holy Alliance,— to Hell the whole of them."
— To THOMAS LEIPER. FORD ED., x, 298.
(M., 1824.)
3758. HOLY ALLIANCE, Napoleon and.
— Had Bonaparte reflected that such is the
moral construction of the world that no
national crime passes unpunished in the long
409
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Holy Alliance
Home
run, he would not now be in the cage of St.
Helena; and were your present oppressors to
reflect on the same truth, they would spare to
their own countries the penalties on their
present wrongs which will be inflicted on
them in future times. The seeds of hatred
and revenge which they are now sowing with
a large hand will not fail to produce their
fruits in time. Like their brother robbers on
the highway, they suppose the escape of the
moment a final escape, and deem infamy and
future risk countervailed by present gain. — To
M. DE MARBOIS. vii, 76. (M., 1817.)
3759. HOLY ALLIANCE, Policy of.—
During the ascendency of Bonaparte, the word
among the herd of kings, was sauve qui pent.
Each shifted for himself, and left his brethren
to squander and do the same as they could.
After the battle of Waterloo, and the military
possession of France, they rallied and com
bined in common cause, to maintain each
other against any similar and future danger.
And in this alliance, Louis, now avowedly,
and George, secretly but solidly, were of the
contracting parties; and there can be no
doubt that the allies are bound by treaty to
aid England with their armies, should in
surrection take place among her people. The
coquetry she is now playing off between her
people and her allies is perfectly understood
by the latter, and accordingly gives no ap
prehensions to France, to whom it is all ex
plained. The diplomatic correspondence she
is now displaying, these double papers fabri
cated merely for exhibition, in which she
makes herself talk of morals and principle, as
if her qualms of conscience would not permit
her to go all lengths with her Holy Allies,
are all to gull her own people. It is a
theatrical farce, in which the five powers are
the actors, England the Tartuffe, and her peo
ple the dupes. — To PRESIDENT MONROE, vii,
289. FORD ED., x, 258. (M., June 1823.)
See ALLIANCES and MONROE DOCTRINE.
3760. HOME, Better than honors.— In
truth, I wish for neither honors nor offices. I
am happier at home than I can be elsewhere. —
To JOHN LANGDON. iv, 164. FORD ED., vii,
112. (M., 1797.)
3761. HOME, Companions.— Monroe is
buying land almost adjoining me. Short will
do the same. What would I not give [if] you
could fall into the circle. With such a society.,
I could once more venture home, and lay my
self up for the residue of life, quitting all its
contentions which grow daily more and more
insupportable. Think of it. To render it
practicable only requires you to think it so.
Life is of no value but as it brings us gratifi
cations. Among the most valuable of these is
rational society. It informs the mind, sweetens
the temper, cheers our spirits, and promotes
health. There is a little farm of 140 acres
adjoining mine, and within two miles, all of
good land, though old, with a small indifferent
house on it, the whole not worth more than
£250. Such a one might be a farm of experi
ment, and support a little table and household.
It is on the road to Orange, and so much nearer
than I am. * * * Once .more think of it.—
To JAMES MADISON. FORD ED., iii, 406. (A.,
1784.)
3762. . I once hinted to you the
project of seating yourself in the neighbor
hood of Monticello, and my sanguine wishes
made me look on your answer as not absolutely
excluding the hope. Monroe is decided in set
tling there, and is actually engaged in the en
deavor to purchase. Short is the same. Would
you but make it a " par tie quarree" I should
believe that life had still some happiness in
store for me. Agreeable society is the first es
sential in constituting the happiness, and, of
course, the value of our existence. And it is
a circumstance worthy great attention when we
are making first our choice of a residence.
Weigh well the value of this against the dif
ference in pecuniary interest, and ask yourself
which will add most to the sum of your felicity
through life. I think that, weighing them in
this balance, your decision will be favorable to
all our prayers. Looking back with fondness
to the moment when I am again to be fixed in
my own country, I view the prospect of this
society as inestimable. — To JAMES MADISON.
FORD ED., iv, 17. (P., Dec. 1784.)
3763. HOME, in France. — The domestic
bonds here [France] are absolutely done away,
and where can their compensation be found?
Perhaps they may catch some moments of trans
port above the level of the ordinary tranquil
joy we experience, but they are separated by
long intervals, during which all the passions
are at sea without rudder or compass. Yet,
fallacious as the pursuits of happiness are, they
seem on the whole to furnish the most ef
fectual abstraction from a contemplation of the
hardness of their government. — To MRS. TRIST.
i, 394. (P., 1785.)
3764. HOME, Happy.— I employ my leis
ure moments in repassing often in my mind our
happy domestic society when together at Monti-
cello, and looking forward to the renewal of it.
No other society gives me now any satisfaction,
as no other is founded in sincere affection. — •
To MARY JEFFERSON EPPES. FORD ED., vii, 405.
(1800.)
3765. . I look forward with hope
to the moment when we are all to be reunited
again. — To MARTHA JEFFERSON RANDOLPH.
FORD ED., vii, 416. (Pa., 1800.)
3766. . My habits are formed to
those of my own country. I am past the time
of changing them, and am, therefore, less happy
anywhere else than there. — To DR. CURRIE. ii,
220. (P., I787.)
3767. HOME, No happiness elsewhere.
— Abstracted from home, I know no happi
ness in this world. — To LIEUT. DE UNGER. i,
279. FORD ED., ii, 374. (R., 1780.)
3768. HOME, Independence.— I am sav
age enough to prefer the woods, the wilds, and
the independence of Monticello, to all the bril
liant pleasures of this gay capital [Paris]. —
To BARON GEISMER. i, 427. (P., 1785.)
3769. HOME, Longing for.— I am never
a day without wishing to be with you, and more
and more as the fine sunshine comes on, which
was made for all the world but me. — To
NICHOLAS LEWIS, iii, 348. FORD EDV v, 504.
(Pa., 1792-)
3770 - . When I indulge myself
in these [agricultural] speculations, I feel with
redoubled ardor my desire to return home to
the pursuit of them, and to the bosom of my
Home
Honor
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
410
family, in whose love alone I live or wish to
live, and in that of my neighbors. To T. M.
RANDOLPH. I^ORD ED., v, 417- (Pa., Jan. 1792.)
3771. HOME, Pleasures of. — Having no
particular subject for a letter, I find none more
soothing to my mind than to indulge itself in
expressions of the love I bear you, and the
delight with which I recall the various scenes
through which we have passed together in our
wanderings over the world. These reveries al
leviate the toils and inquietudes of my present
situation [Secretary of State] and leave me
always impressed with the desire of being at
home once more, and of exchanging labor, envy,
and malice for ease, domestic occupation, and
domestic love and society ; where I may once
more be happy with you, with Mr. Randolph,
and dear little Anne, with whom even Socrates
might ride on a stick without being ridiculous.
— To MARTHA JEFFERSON RANDOLPH. FORD
ED., v, 422. (P., 1792.)
3772. HONESTY, Common sense and. —
Let common sense and common honesty have
fair play and they will soon set things to
rights. — To EZRA STILES, ii, 77. (P., 1786.)
3773. HONESTY, Consciousness of.— Of
you, my neighbors, I may ask, in the face of
the world, " whose ox have I taken, or whom
have I defrauded? Whom have I oppressed,
or of whose hand have I received a bribe to
blind mine eyes therewith " ? On your ver
dict I rest with conscious security. — To THE
INHABITANTS OF ALBEMARLE COUNTY, VA. v,
439. FORD ED., ix, 251. (M., April 1809.)
3774. HONESTY, Examples of. — It can
give no great claims to any one to manage
honestly and disinterestedly the concerns of
others trusted to him. Abundant examples
of this are always under our eye. — To MR.
WEAVER, v, 88. (W., 1807.)
3775. HONESTY, Government and.—
The whole art of government consists in the
art of being honest. — RIGHTS OF BRITISH
AMERICA. 1,141. FORD ED., i, 446. (1774.)
3776. HONESTY, Individual.— I know
but on.e code of morality for men, whether
acting singly or collectively. He who says
I will be a rogue when I act in company with
a hundred others, but an honest man when
I act alone, will be believed in the former
assertion, but not in the latter. I would say
with the poet, " hie niger est, hunc tu Romane
cavato ". If the morality of one man pro
duces a just line of conduct in him, acting
individually, why should not the morality of
one hundred men produce a just line of con
duct in them, acting together? — To JAMES
MADISON, iii, 99. FORD ED., v, in. (P.
1789.)
3777. HONESTY, Interest and.— Hon
esty and interest are as intimately connected
in the public as in the private code of mor
ality.— To MR. MAURY. vi, 468. (M., 1815.)
3778. HONESTY, Opportunity and.—
Men are disposed to live honestly, if the
means of doing so are open to them. — To M
DE MARBOIS. vii, 77. (M., 1817.)
3779. HONESTY, Riches and.— I have
not observed men's honesty to increase with
their riches. — To JEREMIAH MOOR. FORD ED.,
/ii, 454. (M., 1800.)
3780. HONESTY, Roguery and.— Every
country is divided between the parties of hon
est men and rogues. — To WILLIAM B. GILES.
iv, 126. (I79S-)
3781. HONESTY, Statesmen and.— The
nan who is dishonest as a statesman, would
be a dishonest man in any station. — To
GEORGE LOGAN. FORD ED., x, 68. (P.F., 1816.)
3782. HONESTY, Wisdom and.— A wise
man, even if nature has not formed him
honest, will yet act as if he were honest ; be
cause he will find it the most advantageous
and wise part in the long run. — To JAMES
MONROE. FORD ED., iv, 40. (P., 1785.)
3783. . An honest heart being
the first blessing, a knowing head is the
second.— To PETER CARR. i, 397. (P., 1785.)
3784. . Honesty is the first chap
ter in the book of wisdom. — To NATHANIEL
MACON. vii, 112. FORD ED., x, 122. (M.,
1819.)
3785. HONOR, False. — Peace and happi
ness are preferable to that false honor which,
by eternal wars, keeps the [European] peo
ple in eternal labor, want and wretchedness.
— To PRESIDENT MADISON, vi, 452. FORD ED.,
ix, 511. (M., 1815.)
3786. HONOR, Infraction. — As an Amer
ican, I cannot help feeling a thorough morti
fication, that our Congress should have per
mitted an infraction of our public honor ; as
a citizen of Virginia, I cannot help hoping
and confiding, that our Supreme Executive,
whose acts will be considered as the acts of
the Commonwealth, estimate that honor too
highly to make its infraction their own act.* —
To GOVERNOR PATRICK HENRY, i, 214. FORD
ED., ii, 169. (Alb., 1 779.)
3787. HONOR, Integrity and.— When
your mind shall be well improved with
science, nothing will be necessary to place
you in the highest points of view, but to pur
sue the interests of your country, the in
terests of your friends, and your own interests
also, with the purest integrity, the most chaste
honor. The defect of these virtues can never
be made up by all the other acquirements of
body and mind. Make these, then, your first
object. f— To PETER CARR. i, 395. (P., 1785.)
3788. HONOR, Pledge of.— And for the
support of this Declaration, we mutually
pledge to each other our * * * sacred
honor, t — DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE AS
DRAWN BY JEFFERSON.
3789. HONOR, Wounded.— It seems much
the general opinion here [Virginia] that our
honor has been too much wounded not to
* Refers to separation of British prisoners in Vir
ginia.— EDITOR.
t Peter Carr was the young nephew of Jefferson. —
EDITOR.
$ Congress inserted after Declaration, •' with a firm
reliance on the protection of Divine Providence ".—
EDITOR.
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Honors
Hospitality
require reparation, and to seek it even in war,
if that be necessary. — To TENCH COXE. iv,
105. FORD ED., vi, 508. (M., May 1794.)
3790. HONORS, Hostile to happiness. —
There are minds which can be pleased by
honors and preferments ; but I see nothing in
them but envy and enmity. It is only neces
sary to possess them, to know how little they
contribute to happiness, or rather how hostile
they are to it. — To A. DONALD, ii, 356. (P.,
1788.)
3791. HONORS, Political.— I have seen
enough of political honors to know that they
are but splendid torments. — To MARTHA JEF
FERSON RANDOLPH. D. L. J., 245. (Pa., 1797.)
See HOME.
3792. HONORS, Public approbation. —
It is our happiness that honorable distinctions
flow only from public approbation; and that
finds no object in titled dignitaries and
pageants. — REPLY TO ADDRESS. viii, 163.
(1809.)
3793. HONORS, Undeserved.— I have
never ceased, nor can I cease to feel that I
am holding honors without yielding requital,
and justly belonging to others. — To DR.
ROBERT M. PATTERSON, vi, 397. (M., 1814.)
3794. - — . I cannot be easy in hold
ing, as a sinecure, an honor* so justly due to
the talents and services of others. — To DR.
ROBERT M. PATTERSON, vi, 396. (M., 1814.)
3795. HOPE vs. DESPAIR.— My theory
has always been, that if we are to dream, the
flatteries of hope are as cheap, and pleasanter
than the gloom of despair. — To M. DE MAR-
BOIS. vii, 77. (M., 1817.)
3796. - — . Hope is sweeter than
despair. — To MRS. COSWAY. ii, 41. FORD ED.,
iv, 321. (P., 1786.)
3797. HOPKINSON (Francis), Genius
of. — He is a man of genius, gentility, and great
merit * * * and as capable of [filling] the
office [of Director, or Master of the Mint], as
any man I know. The appointment would give
general pleasure, because he is generally es
teemed. — To JAMES MONROE. FORD ED., iii,
496. (Pa., 1784.)
3798. HORSES, Arabian.— The culture
of wheat by enlarging our [Virginia's] pasture^
will render the Arabian horse an article of
very considerable profit. Experience has shown
that ours is the particular climate of America
where he may be raised without degeneracy.
Southwardly the heat of the sun occasions a
deficiency of pasture, and northwardly the
winters are too cold for the short and fine hair,
the particular sensibility and constitution of
that race. Animals transplanted into unfriendly
climates, either change their nature and acquire
new senses against the new difficulties in
which they are placed, or they multiply poorly
and become extinct. * * * Their patience
of heat without injury, their superior wind, fit
them better in this and the more southern cli
mate even for the drudgeries of the plough and
wagon. Northwardly they will become an ob
ject only to persons of taste and fortune, for
the saddle and light carriages. — NOTES ON
VIRGINIA, viii, 408. FORD ED., iii, 272. (1782.)
* Presidency of Philosophical Society. — EDITOR.
3799. HORSES, Effect on man.— The Eu
ropeans value themselves on having subdued
the horse to the uses of man ; but I doubt
whether we have not lost more than we have
gained by the use of this animal. No one
has occasioned so much the degeneracy of
the human body. An Indian goes on foot nearly
as far in a day, for a long journey, as an en
feebled white does on his horse; and he will
tire the best horses. — To PETER CARR. i, 308.
(P., 1785.)
3800. HORSES, Tax on.— The proposed
tax on horses, besides its partiality, is infinitely
objectionable as foisting in a direct tax under
the name of an indirect one. — To T. M. RAN
DOLPH. FORD ED., vi, 149. (1792.)
3801. HORTICULTURE, American.—
Gardens [are] peculiarly worth the attention of
an American [when travelling], because it is
the country of all others where the noblest
gardens may be made without expense. We
have only to cut out the superabundant plants.
— TRAVELLING HINTS, ix, 404. (1788.)
3802. HORTICULTURE, English.— The
pleasure gardening in England is the article in
which it surpasses all the earth. — To JOHN
PAGE, i, 549. FORD ED., iv, 214. (P., 1786.)
3803. HORTICULTURE, Love of.— I
have often thought that if Heaven had given me
choice of my position and calling, it should
have been on a rich spot of earth, well watered,
and near a good market for the productions
of the garden. No occupation is so delightful
to me as the culture of the earth, and no cul
ture comparable to that of the garden. * * *
Under a total want of demand except for our
family table, I am still devoted to the garden.
But though an old man, I am but a young
gardener.— To C. W. PEALE. vi, 6. (P.F., 1811.)
3804. HOSPITALITY, Natural laws
of. — Among the first of the laws of nature is
that which bids us to succor those in distress.
For an obedience to this law, Don Bias Gon
zalez* appears to have suffered ; and we are
satisfied, it is because his case has not been
able to penetrate to his Majesty's ministers,
at least in its true colors. We would not
choose to be committed by a formal solicitation,
but we would wish you to avail yourself of any
good opportunity of introducing the truth to
the ear of the minister, and of satisfying him,
that a redress of this hardship on the governor
would be received here with pleasure, as a
proof of respect to those laws of hospitality
which we would certainly observe in a like case,
as a mark of attention towards us, and of
justice to an individual for whose sufferings we
cannot but feel. — To WILLIAM CARMICHAEL.
ii;, 139. FORD ED., iii, 155. (N.Y., 1790.)
3805. HOSPITALITY, Practice of .—You
know our practice of placing our guests at their
ease, by showing them we are so ourselves, and
that we follow our necessary vocations, in
stead of fatiguing them by hanging unremit
tingly on their shoulders. — To F. W. GILMER.
vii, 5. FORD ED., x, 33. (M., 1816.)
3806. HOSPITALITY, Social.— Call on
me * * * whenever you come to town, and
if it should be about the hour of three, I shall
rejoice the more. You will find a bad dinner,
a good glass of wine, and a host thankful for
your favor, and desirous of encouraging repe-
*A Spanish governor who had been punished by his
government for having succored an American ship
in the island of Juan Fernandez.— EDITOR.
Houdon (Jean Antoine)
Idleness
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
412
titions of it without number, form or ceremony.
— To RICHARD PETERS. FORD ED., v, 347.
(Pa., 1791.)
3807. HOUDON (Jean Antoine), Abil
ity. — He is among the foremost, or, perhaps,
the foremost artist in the world. — To F. HOP-
KINSON. i, 504. (P., 1786.)
3808. HOUDON (Jean Antoine), Life
insurance. — Monsieur Houdon has agreed
to go to America to take the figure of General
Washington. In case of his death, between his
departure from Paris and his return to it, we
may lose twenty thousand livres. I ask the
favor of you to enquire what it will cost to
insure that sum on his life, in London, and
to give me as early an answer as possible, that
I may order the insurance if I think the terms
easy enough. He is, I believe, between thirty
and thirty-five years of age, healthy enough,
and will be absent about six months. — To JOHN
ADAMS, i, 361. (P., 1785.)
3809. HOUDON (Jean Antoine), Statue
of Washington.— M. Houdon is returned [to
Paris] with the necessary moulds and measures
for General Washington's statue. I fear the
expenses of his journey have been considerably
increased by the unlucky accident of his toolSj
materials, clothes, &c., not arriving at Havre in
time to go with him to America, so that he
had to supply himself there. — To GOVERNOR
HENRY, i, 513. FORD ED., iv, 134. (P., 1786.)
3810. HOWE (Lord William), Friendly
to America. — Lord Howe seems to have been
friendly to America, and exceedingly anxious
to prevent a rupture.* — At OBIOGRAPHY. i, no.
(1821.)
3811. HOWE (Lord William), Invasion
of Virginia.— What upon earth can Howe
mean by the manoeuvre he is now practicing?
There seems to me no object in this country
which can be either of utility or reputation to
his cause. I hope it will prove of a piece with
all the other follies they have committed. The
forming a junction with the northern army up
the Hudson River, or taking possession of
Philadelphia might have been a feather in his
cap, and given them a little reputation in Eu
rope — the former as being the design with
which they came, the latter as being a place of
the first reputation abroad, and the residence of
Congress. Here, he may destroy the little
hamlet of Williamsburg, steal a few slaves, and
lose half his army among the fens and marshes
of our lower country, or by the heat of the
climate. — To JOHN ADAMS, i, 207. FORD ED.,
ii, 134. (Alb., 1777.)
3812. HULL (William), Bravery.— The
detestable treason of Hull, has excited a deep
anxiety in all breasts. * * * His treachery, like
that of Arnold, cannot be a matter of blame on
our government. His character, as an officer of
skill and bravery, was established on the trials
of the last war, and no previous act of his life
had led to doubt his fidelity. — To WILLIAM
DUANE. vi, 80. FORD ED., ix, 368. (M., Oct.
1812.)
3813. HULL (William), Suspected trea
son. — Hull will of course be shot for cow
ardice and treachery, t — To PRESIDENT MAD
ISON. FORD ED., ix, 370. (M., Nov. 1812.)
* Mr. Jefferson formed this opinion from a paper
which Benjamin Franklin, a short time before his
death, had given him to read.— EDITOR.
t General Hull's character is now free from all
stain.— EDITOR.
3814. HUMBOLDT (Baron von), Es
teemed. — The receipt of your Distributio
Geographica Plantarum, with the duty of thank
ing you for a work which sheds so much new
and valuable light on botanical science, excites
the desire, also, of presenting myself to your
recollection, and of expressing to you those
sentiments of high admiration and esteem,
which, although long silent, have never slept. —
To F. H. ALEXANDER VON HUMBOLDT. vii, 74.
FORD ED., x, 88. (M., 1817.)
3815. HUMBOLDT (Baron von), Trib
ute to. — We shall bear to you the honorable
testimony that you have deserved well of the
republic of letters. * * * You have wisely lo
cated yourself in the focus of the science of
Europe. I am held by the cords of love to my
family and country, or I should certainly join
you. — To BARON VON HUMBOLDT. v, 435. (W.,
1809.)
3816. HUMPHREYS (David), Attacks
on. — Colonel Humphreys is attacked in the
[American] papers for his French airs, for
bad poetry, bad prose, vanity, &c. It is said his
dress, in so gay a style, gives general disgust
against him. * * * He seems fixed with Gen
eral Washington. * — To WILLIAM SHORT, ii,
574. FORD ED., v, 71. (P., 1789.)
3817. HUMPHREYS (David), Minis
ter. — The President has nominated you Min
ister Resident * * * at the Court of Lisbon,
which was approved by the Senate. You will
consequently receive herewith your commission.
— To DAVID HUMPHREYS. FORD ED., v, 301.
(Pa., 1791.)
3818. HUMPHREYS (David), Talents.
—Colonel Humphreys is sensible, prudent, and
honest, and may be firmly relied on, in any
office which requires these talents. — To EL-
BRIDGE GERRY, i, 557. (P., 1786.)
3819. . He is an excellent man,
an able one, and in need of some provision. —
To JAMES MONROE, i, 568. FORD ED., iv, 226.
(P., 1786.)
3820. IDEAS, Erroneous. — It is always
better to have no ideas than false ones; to
believe nothing than to believe what is wrong.
— To REV. JAMES MADISON, ii, 430. (P.,
1788.)
— IDEAS, Property in.— See INVENTIONS
and PATENTS.
3821. IDLENESS, Evils of.— Nothing
can contribute more to your future happiness
(moral rectitude always excepted), than the
contracting a habit of industry and activity.
Of all the cankers of human happiness none
corrodes with so silent, yet so baneful an in
fluence as indolence. Body and mind both
unemployed, our being becomes a burden, and
every object about us loathsome, even the
dearest. Idleness begets ennui, ennui the
hypochondriac, and that a diseased body. — To
MARTHA JEFFERSON. FORD ED., iv, 372.
(1787.)
3822 IDLENESS, Needless.— In a world
which furnishes so many employments which
are so useful, so many which are amusing,
it is our own fault if we ever know what
* Washington made him his private secretary. —
EDITOR.
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Idleness
Immigrants
ennui is, or if we are driven to the miserable
resources of gaming, which corrupts our dis
positions, and teaches us a habit of hostility
against all mankind. — To MARTHA JEFFERSON.
FORD EDV iv, 389. (1787.)
3823. IDLENESS, Time-destroyer. —
Determine never to be idle. No person will
have occasion to complain of the want of time
who never loses any. It is wonderful how
much may be done if we are always doing. —
To MARTHA JEFFERSON. FORD ED., iv, 387.
(M., 1787.)
3824. IDLENESS, Wretchedness and.—
A mind always employed is always happy.
This is the true secret, the grand recipe for
felicity. The idle are * * * the wretched.
— To MARTHA JEFFERSON. FORD ED., iv, 389.
(Mar. 1787.)
3825. IGNORANCE, Barrier against.—
We are destined to be a barrier against the
return of ignorance and barbarism. — To JOHN
ADAMS, vii, 27. (M., 1816.)
3826. IGNORANCE, Bigotry and.— Ig
norance and bigotry, like other insanities, are
incapable of self-government. — To MARQUIS
LAFAYETTE, vii, 67. FORD ED., x, 84. (M.,
1817.)
3827. IGNORANCE, Honest.— If science
produces no better fruits than tyranny, mur
der, rapine and destitution of national moral
ity, I would rather wish our country to be
ignorant, honest and estimable, as our neigh
boring savages are.— To JOHN ADAMS, vi,
37. FORD ED., ix, 334. (M., 1812.)
3828. IGNORANCE, Misgovernment
and. — Preach a crusade against ignorance.
Establish and improve the law for educating
the common people. Let our countrymen
know that the people alone can protect us
against these evils, and that the tax which
will be paid for this purpose, is not more than
the thousandth part of what will be paid to
kings, priests and nobles, who will rise up
among us, if we leave the people in ignorance.
— To GEORGE WYTHE. ii, 8. FORD ED., iv,
269. (R, 1786.)
— ILLINOIA, Proposed State.— See
WESTERN TERRITORY.
3829. ILLUMINATI, Order of.— I have
lately by accident got a sight of a single vol
ume (the 3d) of the Abbe Barruel's Antisocial
Conspiracy " , which gives me the first idea I
have ever had of what is meant by the Illu-
minatism against which " Illuminate Morse ",
as he is now called, and his ecclesiastical and
monarchical associates have been making such
a hue and cry. Barruel's own parts of the
book are perfectly the ravings of a Bedlamite.
But he quotes largely from Wishaupt whom he
considers as the founder of what he calls the
order. As you may not have had an opportunity
of forming a judgment of this cry of " mad
dog ", which has been raised against his doc
trines, I will give you the idea I have formed
from only an hour's reading of Barruel's quo
tations from him, which, you may be sure, are
not the most favorable. Wishaupt seems to be
an enthusiastic philanthropist. He is among
those (as you know the excellent Price and
Priestley also are) who believe in the infinite
perfectability of man. He thinks he may in
time be rendered so perfect that he will be able
to govern himself in every circumstance, so as
to injure none, to do all the good he can, to
leave government no occasion to exercise their
powers over him, and, of course, to render po
litical government useless. This, you know, is
Godwin's doctrine, and this is what Robinson,
Barruel, and Morse had called a conspiracy
against all government. Wishaupt believes that
to promote this perfection of the human char
acter was the object of Jesus Christ. That his
intention was simply to reinstate natural re
ligion, and by diffusing the light of his morality,
to teach us to govern ourselves. His precepts
are the love of God, and love of our neighbor.
And by teaching innocence of conduct, he ex
pected to place men in their natural state of
liberty and equality. He says, no one ever
laid a surer foundation for liberty than our
grand master, Jesus of Nazareth. He believes
the Free Masons were originally possessed of
the true principles and objects of Christianity,
and have still preserved some of them by tradi
tion, but much disfigured. The means he
proposes to effect this improvement of human
nature are " to enlighten men, to correct their
morals and inspire them with benevolence ".
As Wishaupt lived under the tyranny of a
despot and priests, he knew that caution was
necessary even in spreading information, and
the principles of pure morality. He proposed,
therefore, to lead the Free Masons to adopt this
object, and to make the objects of their insti
tution the diffusion of science and virtue. He
proposed to initiate new members into his body
by gradations proportioned to his fears of the
thunderbolts of tyranny. This has given an air
of mystery to his views, was the foundation of
his banishment, the subversion of the Masonic
Order, and is the color for the ravings against
him of Robinson, Barruel, and Morse, whose
real fears are that the craft would be endan
gered by the spreading of information, reason,
and natural morality among men. This subject
being new to me, I imagine that if it be so to
you also, you may receive the same satisfaction
in seeing, which I have had in forming the
analysis of it ; and I believe you will think with
me that if Wishaupt had written here, where
no secrecy is necessary in our endeavours to
render men wise and virtuous, he would not
have thought of any secret machinery for that
purpose ; as Godwin, if he had written in Ger
many, might probably also have thought se
crecy and mysticism prudent. — To BISHOP
JAMES MADISON. FORD ED., vii, 419. (Pa., Jan.
1800.)
3830. IMBECILITY, Insensibility to.
— Nothing betrays imbecility so much as the
being insensible of it. — To DR. BENJAMIN
RUSH, vi, 4. FORD ED., ix, 328. (P.F., 1811.)
3831. IMMIGRANTS, Aged.— That it
may be for the benefit of your children and
their descendants to remove to a country
where, for enterprise and talents, so many
avenues are open to fortune and fame, I
have little doubt. But I should be afraid to
affirm that, at your time of life, and with
habits formed on the state of society in
France, a change for one so entirely dif
ferent would be for your personal happiness.
— To JEAN BAPTISTE SAY. vi, 436. (M.,
1815.)
3832. IMMIGRANTS, Assisted.— With
respect to the German redemptioners, I can do
Immigrants
Immigration
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
414
nothing unless authorized by law. It would
be made a question in Congress, whether any
of the enumerated objects to which the Con
stitution authorizes the money of the Union to
be applied, would cover an expenditure for
importing settlers to Orleans. — To THOMAS
PAINE, iv, 582. FORD ED., viii, 360. (W.,
1805.)
3833. IMMIGRANTS, Colonized.— As to
other [than English] foreigners, it is thought
better to discourage their settling together in
large masses, wherein, as in our German set
tlements, they preserve for a long time their
own languages, habits and principles of gov
ernment, and that they should distribute them
selves sparsely among the natives for quicker
amalgamation. English emigrants are with
out this inconvenience. They differ from us
little but in their principles of government,
and most of those (merchants excepted) who
come here, are sufficiently disposed to adopt
ours. — To GEORGE FLOWER, vii, 84. (P.F.,
1817-)
3834. IMMIGRANTS, Indentured.— In
dentured servants formed a considerable supply.
These were poor Europeans, who went to
America to settle themselves. If they could pay
their passage, it was well. If not, they must
find means of paying it. They were at liberty,
therefore, to make, an agreement with any per
son they chose, to serve him such a length of
time as they agreed on, upon condition that he
would repay to the master of the vessel the
expenses of their passage. If, being foreigners,
unable to speak the language, they did not know
how to make a bargain for themselves, the
captain of the vessel contracted for them with
such persons as he could. This contract was
by deed indented, which occasioned them to be
called indented servants. * * * with the
master of the vessel, they could redeem them
selves from his power by paying their passage,
which they frequently effected by hiring them
selves on their arrival. In some States I know
that these people had a right of marrying
themselves without their masters' leave, and I
did suppose they had that right every
where. I did not know that in any of the
States they demanded so much as a week for
every day's absence without leave. I suspect
this must have been at a very early period,
while the governments were in the hands of the
first emigrants, who, being mostly laborers,
were narrow-minded and severe. I know that
in Virginia the laws allowed their servitude to
be protracted only two days for every one they
were absent without leave. So mild was this
kind of servitude, that it was very frequent for
foreigners, who carried to America money
enough, not only to pay their passage, but to buy
themselves a farm, it was common I say for
them to indent themselves to a master for three
years, for a certain sum of money with a view
to learn the husbandry of the country. I will
here make a general observation. So desirous
are the poor of Europe to get to America, where
they may better their condition, that being un
able to pay their passage, they will agree to
serve two or three years on their arrival there,
rather than not go. — To M. DE MEUNIER. ix,
254. FORD ED., iv, 159. (P., 1786.)
3835. IMMIGRANTS, Irish and Ger
man. — By the close of 1785, there had prob
ably passed over 50,000 emigrants. Most of
these .were Irish. The greatest number of the
residue were Germans. Philadelphia received
most ot them, and next to that Baltimore and
New York.— To M. DE MEUNIER. ix, 284
toRD ED., iv, 140. (P., 1786.)
3836. . The best tenants are for
eigners, who do not speak the language. Unable
to communicate with the people of the country,
they confine themselves to their farms and fam
ilies, compare their present state to what it was
jn Europe, and find great reason to be contented.
Of all foreigners, I should prefer Germans.
1 hey are the easiest got, the best for their land
lords, and do best for themselves. — To COLONEL
R. CLAIBORNE. ii, 235. (P., 1787.)
3837. IMMIGRANTS, Protection of.— It
has been the wise policy of these States to
extend the protection of their laws to all
those who should settle among them of what
soever nation or religion, they might be, and
to admit them to a participation of the ben
efits of civil and religious freedom; and the
benevolence of this practice, as well as its
salutary effects renders it worthy of being
continued in future times.— PROCLAMATION
CONCERNING FOREIGNERS. FORD ED , ii 44 q
(R-, 1781.)
3838. IMMIGRATION, Free.— Our coun
try is open to all men, to come and go peace
ably, when they choose.— To E. C. GENET, iv,
87. FORD ED., vi, 459. (Pa., Nov. 1793.)
3839. . The session of the first
Congress, convened since republicanism has
recove/ed its ascendency, * * * are open
ing the doors of hospitality to fugitives from
the oppressions of other countries. — To GEN
ERAL KOSCIUSKO. iv, 430. (W., April 1802.)
3840. IMMIGRATION, Negro.— The pa
pers from the free people of color in Grenada
I apprehend it will be best to take
no notice of. They are parties in a domestic
quarrel, which, I think, we should leave to
be settled among themselves. Nor should I
think it desirable, were it justifiable, to draw
a body of sixty thousand free blacks and
mulattoes into our country. — To PRESIDENT
WASHINGTON. FORD ED., v, 342. (Pa., 1791.)
3841. IMMIGRATION, Obstructions to.
— He has endeavored to prevent the popula
tion of these States ; for that purpose ob
structing the laws for naturalization of for
eigners, refusing to pass others to encourage
their migrations hither ; and raising the con
ditions of new appropriations of lands. —
DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE AS DRAWN BY
JEFFERSON.
3842. IMMIGRATION, Regulation of.
—The American governments are censured
for permitting this species of servitude [In
denture], which lays the foundation of the
happiness of these people. But what should
these governments do? Pay the passage of
all who choose to go into their country?
They are not able; nor, were they able, do
they think the purchase worth the price?
Should they exclude these people from their
shores? Those who know their situations in
Europe and America would not say that this
is the alternative which humanity dictates. It
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Immigration
is said that these people are deceived by those
who carry them over. But this is done in
Europe. How can the American governments
prevent it? * * * The individuals are gen
erally satisfied in America with their ad
venture, and very few of them wish not to
have made it. I must add that the Congress
have nothing to do with this matter. It be
longs to the legislatures of the several States.
— To M. DE MEUNIER. ix, 255. FORD ED., iv,
160. (P., 1786.)
3843. . I had often thought on
the subject you propose as to the mode of
procuring German emigrants to take the place
of our blacks. To this, however, the State
Legislatures are alone competent, the General
Government possessing no powers but those
enumerated in the Constitution, and that of
obtaining emigrants at the general expense not
being one of the enumerated powers. With
respect to the State governments, I not only
doubt, but despair, of their taking up this
operation, till some strong pressure of cir
cumstance shall force it on them. — To J. P.
REIBELT. FORD ED., viii, 402. (W., Dec.
1805.)
3844. IMMIGRATION, Revolution
and. — My means of being useful to you [in
founding a colony of English farmers] are
small, [but] they shall be freely exercised for
your advantage, and that, not on the selfish
principle of increasing our own population at
the expense of other nations, * * but to
consecrate a sanctuary for those whom the
misrule of Europe may compel to seek hap
piness in other climes. This refuge once
known will produce reaction on the happiness
even of those who remain there, by warning
their task-masters that when the evils of
Egyptian opposition become heavier than
those of the abandonment of country, another
Canaan is open where their subjects will be
received as brothers, and secured against like
oppressions by a participation in the right of
self-government. If additional motives could
be wanting with us to the maintenance of
this right, they would be found in the ani
mating consideration that a single good gov
ernment becomes thus a blessing to the whole
earth, its welcome to the oppressed restrain
ing within certain limits the measure of
their oppressions. But should even this be
counteracted by violence on the right of ex
patriation, the other branch of our example
then presents itself for imitation, to rise on
their rulers and do as we have done. You
have set to your own country a good ex
ample, by showing them a peaceable mode
of reducing their rulers to the necessity of be
coming more wise, more moderate, and more
honest, and I sincerely pray that the example
may work for the benefit of those who cannot
follow it, as it will for your own. — To
GEORGE FLOWER, vii, 84. (P.F., 1817.)
3845. IMMIGRATION, Too rapid.—
The present desire of America is to produce
rapid population by as great importations of
foreigners as possible. But is this founded in
good policy? The advantage proposed is the
multiplication of numbers. Now let us sup
pose (for example only) that, in this State,
[Virginia] we could double our numbers in one
year by the importation of -foreigners ; and this
is a greater accession than the most sanguine
advocate for immigration has a right to ex
pect. Then I say, beginning with a double
stock, we shall attain any given degree of pop
ulation only twenty-seven years and three
months sooner than if we proceed on our single
stock. If we propose four millions and a half
as a competent population for this State, we
should be fifty-four and a half years attaining
it, could we at once double our numbers ; and
eighty-one and three-quarter years, if we rely
on natural propagation, as may be seen by the
following table :
Proceeding Proceeding
on our present on a double
stock. stock.
r?8i 567^614 1,135,228
iSoSjtf 1,135,228 2,270,456
i&35% 2,270,456 4,540,912
1862^ 4*540,912
In the first column are stated periods of
twenty-seven and a quarter years ; in the second
are our numbers at each period, as they will
be if we proceed on our actual stock ; and in
the third are what they would be, at the same
periods, were we to set out from the double
of our present stock. I have taken the term
of four million and a half of inhabitants for
example's sake only. Yet I am persuaded it
is a greater number than the country spoken of,
considering how much inarable land it contains,
can clothe and feed without a material change
in the quality of their diet. But are there no
inconveniences to be thrown into the scale
against the advantage expected from a multipli
cation of numbers by the importation of for
eigners? It is for the happiness of those united
in society to harmonize as much as possible
in matters which they must of necessity trans
act together. Civil government being the sole
object of forming societies, its administration
must be conducted by common consent. Every
species of government has its specific principles.
Ours perhaps are more peculiar than those of
any other in the universe. It is a composition
of the freest principles of the English con
stitution, with others derived from natural right
and natural reason. To these nothing can be
more opposed than the maxims of absolute mon
archies. Yet from such we are to expect the
greatest number of emigrants. They will
bring with them the principles of the govern
ments they leave, imbibed in their early youth ;
or, if able to throw them off, it will be in ex
change for an unbounded licentiousness, pass
ing, as is usual, from one extreme to another.
It would be a miracle were they to stop pre
cisely at the point of temperate liberty. These
principles, with their language, they will trans
mit to their children. In proportion to their
numbers, they will share with us the legislation.
They will infuse into it their spirit, warp and
bias its directions, and render it a heteroge
neous, incoherent, distracted mass. I may ap
peal to experience, during the present contest,
for a verification of these conjectures. But, if
they be not certain in event, are they not
possible, are they not probable ? Is it not safer
to wait with patience twenty-seven years and
three months longer, for the attainment of any
degree of population desired or expected? May
not our government be more homogeneous, more
peaceable, more durable? Suppose twenty mil
lions of republican Americans thrown all of a
sudden into France, what would be the condi
tion of that kingdom? If it would be more
turbulent, less happy, less strong, we may be-
Immortality
Impeachment
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
416
lieve that the addition of half a million of for
eigners to our present numbers would produce
a similar effect here. If they come of them
selves they are entitled to all the rights of citi
zenship ; but I doubt the expediency of inviting
them by extraordinary encouragements. I
mean not that these doubts should be extended
to the importation of useful artificers. The
policy of that measure depends on very differ
ent considerations. Spare no expense in ob
taining them. They will after a while go to the
plough and the hoe ; but, in the meantime, they
will teach us something we do not know. It is
not so in agriculture. The indifferent state of
that among us does not proceed from a want
of knowledge merely ; it is from our having
such quantities of land to waste as we please.
In Europe the object is to make the most of
their land, labor being abundant ; here it is
to make the most of our labor, land being
abundant. — NOTES ON VIRGINIA, viii, 330.
FORD ED., iii, 188. (1782.)
3846. IMMOBTALITY, Belief in.— The
term is not very distant, at which we are to
deposit in the same cerement, our sorrows
and suffering bodies, and to ascend in es
sence to an ecstatic meeting with the friends
we have loved and lost, and whom we shall
still love and never lose again. — To JOHN
ADAMS, vii, 108. FORD ED., x, 114. (M.,
1818.)
3847. IMPEACHMENT, Abuse of.—
History shows that in England impeachment
has been an engine more of passion than jus
tice.* — To JAMES MADISON, iv, 212. FORD
ED., vii, 203. (Pa., 1798.)
3848. IMPEACHMENT, Contempt for.
Impeachment is scarcely a scarecrow. — To C.
HAMMOND, vii, 216. (M., 1821.)
3849. . Impeachment is a bugbear
which they [Judiciary] fear not at all. — To
JAMES PLEASANTS. FORD ED., x, 199. (M.,
1821.)
3850. . Experience has already
shown that the impeachment the Constitution
has provided is not even a scarecrow. — To
SPENCER ROANE. vii, 134. FORD ED., x, 141.
(P.F., 1819.)
3851. IMPEACHMENT, Courts of.—
For misbehavior, the grand inquest of the
Colony, the House of Representatives, should
impeach them before the Governor and Coun
cil, when they should have time and oppor
tunity to make their defence; and if con
victed, should be removed from their offices,
and subjected to such other punishment as
shall be thought proper.— To GEORGE WYTHE.
FORD ED., ii, 60. (1776.)
3852. . There shall be a Court of
Impeachments, to consist of three members of
the Council of State, one of each of the
superior courts of Chancery, Common Law,
and Admiralty, two members of the House
of Delegates and one of the Senate, to be
chosen by the body respectively of which they
are. Before this Court any member of the
three branches of government, that is to say,
* A sketch of some of the principles and practices
of England with respect to impeachments is given in
the Parliamentary Manual, ix, 82.— EDITOR.
the governor, any member of the Council, of
the two houses of legislature, or of the
superior courts, may be impeached by the
governor, the Council, or either of the said
houses or courts, and by no other, for such
misbehavior in office as would be sufficient to
remove him therefrom ; and the only sentence
they shall have authority to pass shall be that
of deprivation and future incapacity of of
fice. Seven members shall be requisite to
make a court, and two-thirds of those present
must concur in the sentence. The offences
cognizable by this court shall be cognizable
by no other, and they shall be triers of the
fact as well as judges of the law. — PROPOSED
CONSTITUTION FOR VIRGINIA, viii, 449. FORD
ED., iii, 329. (1783.)
3853. IMPEACHMENT, Faction and.—
I see nothing in the mode of proceeding by
impeachment but the most formidable weapon
for the purposes of dominant faction that
ever was contrived. It would be the most ef
fectual one for getting rid of any man whom
they consider as dangerous to their views. —
To JAMES MADISON, iv, 211. FORD ED., vii,
202. (Pa., Feb. 1798.)
3854. IMPEACHMENT, A farce.— Im
peachment is a farce which will not be tried
again. — To W. B. GILES, v, 68. FORD ED., ix,
46. (M., 1807.)
3855. IMPEACHMENT, Inefficient-
Experience has proved that impeachment in
our forms is completely inefficient. — To ED
WARD LIVINGSTON, vii, 404. (M., 1825.)
3856. IMPEACHMENT, The judiciary
and. — Having found from experience that im
peachment is an impracticable thing, a mere
scarecrow, they [the Judiciary] consider them
selves secure for life. — To THOMAS RITCHIE.
vii, 192. FORD ED., x, 170. (M., 1820.)
3857. - . . In the General Govern
ment in this instance, we have gone even be
yond the English caution, by requiring a vote
of two-thirds, in one of the Houses, for re
moving a Judge ; a vote so impossible, where
any defence is made, before men of ordinary
prejudices and passions, that our Judges are
effectually independent of the nation. But
this ought not to be. — AUTOBIOGRAPHY, i, 81.
FORDED., i, 112. (1821.)
3858. - — . Our different States have
differently modified their several judiciaries
as to the tenure of office. Some ap
point their judges for a given term of
time; some continue them during good
behavior, and that to be determined on
by the concurring vote of two-thirds of
each legislative house. In England they are
removable by a majority only of each house.
The last is a practicable remedy; the second
is not. The combination of the friends and
associates of the accused, the action of per
sonal and party passions, and the sympathies
of the human heart, will forever find means
of influencing one-third of either the one or
the other house, will thus secure their im
punity, and establish them in fact for life.
The first remedy is the better, that of appoint-
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Impeachment
Impressment
ing for a term of years only, with a capacity
of reappointment if their conduct has been
approved. — To M. CORAY. vii, 321. (M.,
1823.)
3859. IMPEACHMENT, Juries and.—
The Senate have before them a bill for regu
lating proceedings in impeachment. This will
be made the occasion of offering a clause for
the introduction of juries into these trials.
(Compare the paragraph in the Constitution
which says, that all crimes, except in cases
of impeachment, shall be by jury, with the
eighth amendment, which says, that in all
criminal prosecutions the trial shall be by
jury. ) There is no expectation of carrying this ;
because the division in the Senate is of two to
one, but it will draw forth the principles of
the parties, and concur in accumulating proofs
on which side all the sound principles are to
be found. — To JAMES MADISON, iv, 208.
FORD ED., vii, 192. (Pa., Jan. 1798.)
3860. . You mentioned that some
of your Committee admitted that the introduc
tion of juries into trials by impeachment under
the Vlllth amendment depended on the ques
tion whether an impeachment for a misde
meanor be a criminal prosecution ? I devoted
yesterday evening to the extracting passages
from the law authors, showing that in law-
language, the term crime is in common use
applied to misdemeanors, and that impeach
ments, even when for misdemeanors only are
criminal prosecutions. Those proofs were so
numerous that my patience could go no fur
ther than two authors, Blackstone and Wood-
deson. They show that you may meet that
question without the danger of being contra
dicted. The Constitution closes the proofs by
explaining its own meaning when speaking of
impeachments, crimes, and misdemeanors. —
To HENRY TAZEWELL. FORD ED., vii, 194.
(Pa., Jan. 1798.)
3861. . The object in supporting
this engraftment into impeachments is to
lessen the dangers of the court of impeach
ment under its present form, and to induce
dispositions in all parties in favor of a better
constituted court of impeachment, which I
own I consider as an useful thing, if so com
posed as to be clear of the spirit of faction. —
To HENRY TAZEWELL. FORD ED., vii, 195.
(Pa., 1798.)
3862. IMPEACHMENT, Law Courts
vs. — I know of no solid purpose of punish
ment which the courts of law are not equal
to. — To JAMES MADISON, iv, 212. FORD ED.,
vii, 203. (Pa., 1798.)
3863. IMPEACHMENT, Power of.— An
opinion [has been] declared, that not only
officers of the State governments, but every
private citizen of the United States, are im-
peachable. Whether ^they think this the time
to make the declaration, I know not; but if
they bring it on, I think there will not be
more than two votes north of the Potomac
against the universality of the impeaching
power. — To JAMES MADISON, iv, 215. FORD
ED., vii, 207. (Pa., Feb. 1798.)
3864. IMPEACHMENT, The Senate
an(i. — The articles of impeachment against
Blount have been received by the Senate.
Some great questions will immediately arise,
i. Can they prescribe their own oath, the
forms of pleadings, issue process against per
son or goods by their own orders, without
the formality of a law authorizing it? Has
not the 8th amendment of the Constitution
rendered a trial by jury necessary? Is a
Senator impeachable? — To JAMES MONROE.
FORD ED., vii, 198. (Pa., Feb. 1798.)
- IMPOST.— See EXCISE.
3865. IMPRESSMENT, Certificates
and.— From the debates on the subject of our
seamen, I am afraid as much harm as good
will be done by our endeavors to arm our
seamen against impressments. It is proposed
to register them and give them certificates
of citizenship to protect them. But these
certificates will be lost in a thousand ways;
a sailor will neglect to take his certificate;
he is wet twenty times in a voyage; if he
goes ashore without it, he is impressed; if
with it, he gets drunk; it is lost, stolen from
him, taken from him, and then the want of it
gives authority to impress, which does not
exist now. — To WILLIAM B. GILES, iv, 133.
FORD ED., vii, 65. (M., March 1796.)
3866. IMPRESSMENT, Embargo and.—
The stand which has been made on behalf
of our seamen enslaved and incarcerated in
foreign ehips, and against the prostration of
our rights on the ocean under laws of nature
acknowledged by all civilized nations, was
an effort due to the protection of our com
merce, and to that portion of our fellow
citizens engaged in the pursuits of navigation.
The opposition of the same portion to the
vindication of their peculiar rights, has been
as wonderful as the loyalty of their agricul
tural brethren in the assertion of them has
been disinterested and meritorious. — R. TO A.
MASSACHUSETTS CITIZENS, viii, 160. (1809.)
3867. . Enough of the non-im
portation law should be reserved to pinch the
English into a relinquishment of impress
ments. — To PRESIDENT MADISON, v, 442.
FORD ED., ix, 251. (M., April 1809.)
3868. IMPRESSMENT, George III. and.
— He has constrained our fellow citizens,
taken captive on the high seas, to bear arms
against their country, to become the execu
tioners of their friends and brethren, or to
fall themselves by their hands. — DECLARA
TION OF INDEPENDENCE AS DRAWN BY JEF
FERSON.
3869. IMPRESSMENT, Pretexts for.—
You are desired to persevere till you obtain
a regulation to guard our vessels from hav
ing their hands impressed, and to inhibit the
British navy-officers from taking them under
the pretext of their being British subjects. —
To THOMAS PINCKNEY. iii, 552. FORD ED.,
vi, 243. (Pa., May 1793. )
3870. IMPRESSMENT, Protection
against. — We entirely reject the mode [of
Impressment
Incorporation
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
418
protecting our seamen from impressment]
which was the subject of conversation be
tween Mr. [Gouverneur] Morris and the
British minister, which was, that our seamen
should always carry about them certificates of
their citizenship. This is a condition never
yet submitted to by any nation, one with
which seamen would never have the precau
tion to comply. The casualties of their call
ing would expose them to the constant
destruction or loss of this paper evidence,
and thus, the British government would be
armed with legal authority to impress the
whole of our seamen. The simplest rule will
be, that the vessel being American, shall be
evidence that the seamen on board her are
such. If they apprehend that our vessels
might thus become asylums for the fugitives
of their own nation from impress-gangs, the
number of men to be protected by a vessel
may be limited by her tonnage, and one or
two officers only be permitted to enter the
vessel in order to examine the numbers on
board; but no press-gang should be allowed
ever to go on board an American vessel, till
after it shall be found that there are more than
their stipulated number on board, nor till
after the master shall have refused to deliver
the supernumeraries (to be named by him
self) to the press-officer who has come on
board for that purpose ; and even then, the
American consul should be called in. — To
THOMAS PINCKNEY. iii, 443. FORD ED., vi,
76. (Pa., June 1792.)
3871. IMPRESSMENT, Remonstrances
against. — On the impressment of our seamen,
our remonstrances have never been inter
mitted. A hope existed at one moment of
an arrangement which might have been sub
mitted to, but it soon passed away, and the
practice, though relaxed at times in the dis
tant seas, has been constantly pursued in
those in pur neighborhood. — SPECIAL MES
SAGE, viii, 58. FORD ED., viii, 417. (Jan.
1806.)
3872. IMPRESSMENT, Renunciation
of. — Nothing will be deemed security but a
renunciation of the practice of taking per
sons out of our vessels, under the pretence of
their being English. — To JOHN ARMSTRONG.
v, 134. FORD ED., ix, 116. (W., 1807.)
3873. IMPRESSMENT, Resistance to.—
Our particular and separate grievance is
only the impressment of our citizens. We
must sacrifice the last dollar and drop of
blood to rid us of that badge of slavery. — To
W. H. CRAWFORD, vi, 418. FORD ED., ix,
502. (M., Feb. 1815.)
3874. IMPRESSMENT, Treaty of Peace
and. — No provision being made [in the treaty
of peace] against the impressment of our sea
men, it is in fact but an armistice, to be
terminated by the first act of impressment
committed on an American citizen. — To W.
H. CRAWFORD, vi, 420. FORD ED., ix, 504.
(M., 1815.)
3875. . I presume that, having
spared to the pride of England her formal
acknowledgment of the atrocity of impress
ment in an article of the treaty, she will con
cur in a convention for relinquishing it.
Without this, she must understand that the
present is but a truce, determinable on the
first act of impressment of an American
citizen, committed by an officer of hers. — To
PRESIDENT MADISON, vi, 453. FORD ED., ix,
512. (M., March 1815.)
3876. IMPRESSMENT, War against.—
Continued impressments of our seamen by
her naval commanders, whose interest it was
to mistake them for theirs, her innovations
on the law of nations to cover real piracies,
could illy be borne; and perhaps would not
have been borne, had not contraventions of
the same law by France, fewer in number but
equally illegal, rendered it difficult to single
the object of war. England, at length, singled
herself, and took up the gauntlet, when the
unlawful decrees of France being revoked as
to us, she, by the proclamation of her Prince
Regent, protested to the world that she would
never revoke hers until those of France
should be removed as to all nations. Her min
ister, too, about the same time, in an official
conversation with our Charge, rejected our
substitute for her practice of impressment;
proposed no other; and declared explicitly
that no admissible one for this abuse could
be proposed. Negotiation being thus cut
short, no alternative remained but war, or
the abandonment of the persons and property
of our citizens on the ocean. The last one,
I presume, no American would have pre
ferred. War was therefore declared, and
justly declared; but accompanied with im
mediate offers of peace on simply doing us
justice. — To DR. GEORGE LOGAN, vi, 215.
FORD ED., ix, 422. (M., Oct. 1813.)
3877. . On that point [impress
ment] we have thrown away the scabbard,
and the moment an European war brings
England back to this practice, adds us again
to her enemies. — To MR. MAURY. vi, 467.
(M., 1815.)
— INAUGURAL ADDRESSES, Text of.
— See APPENDIX.
- INCOME TAX.— See TAXATION.
3878. INCORPORATION, Enumerated
powers and. — [It has been] proposed to Con-
fress to incorporate an Agricultural Society,
am against that, because I think Congress
cannot find in all the enumerated powers any
one which authorizes the act, much less the
giving the public money to that use. I be
lieve, too, if they had the power, it would
soon be used for no other purpose than to
buy with sinecures useful partisans. — To
ROBERT R. LIVINGSTON. FORD ED., vii, 493.
(W., Feb. 1801.)
3879. INCORPORATION, Executive
and. — The Administrator shall not possess
the prerogative * * * of erecting corpora
tions. — PROPOSED VA. CONSTITUTION. FORD
ED., ii, 19. (June 1776.)
3880. INCORPORATION, Federal Con
vention and.— Baldwin of Kentucky, men-
419
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Incorporation
Indemnification
tions at table the following fact: When the
Bank bill was under discussion in the House
of Representatives, Judge Wilson came in,
and was standing by Baldwin. Baldwin re
minded him of the following fact which
passed in the grand Convention. Among the
enumerated powers given to Congress was one
to erect corporations. It was on debate struck
out. Several particular powers were then pro
posed. Among others, Robert Morris pro
posed to give Congress a power to establish
a National Bank. Gouverneur Morris op
posed it, observing that it was extremely
doubtful whether the Constitution they were
framing could ever be passed at all by the
people of America; that to give it its best
chance, however, they should make it as
palatable as possible, and put nothing into it
not very essential which might raise up
enemies; that his colleague, Robert Morris,
well knew that " a bank " was in their
State (Pennsylvania) the very watchword of
party ; that a bank had been the great bone of
contention between the two parties of the
State from the establishment of their constitu
tion, having been erected, put down and
erected again as either party preponderated ;
that, therefore, to insert this power would in
stantly enlist against the whole instrument the
whole of the anti-bank party in Pennsylvania ;
whereupon, it was rejected, as was every
other special power except that of giving
copyrights to authors and patents to invent
ors, the general power of incorporation being
whittled down to this shred. Wilson agreed
to the fact.— THE ANAS, ix, 191. FORD ED., i,
278. (1798.)
3881. . A proposition was made
to the Convention which formed the [Federal]
Constitution to open canals, and an amenda
tory one to empower them to incorporate.
But the whole was rejected, and one of the
reasons for rejection urged in debate was,
that then they would have power to erect
a bank, which would render the great cities,
where there were prejudices and jealousies on
the subject, adverse to the reception of the
Constitution. — NATIONAL BANK OPINION, vii,
558. FORD ED., v, 287. (1791-)
3882. INCORPORATION, General wel
fare clause and. — We are here [Philadel
phia] engaged in improving our Constitution
by construction, so as to make it what the
[federal] majority think it should have been.
The Senate received yesterday a bill from
the Representatives incorporating a company
for Roosevelt's copper mines in Jersey. This
is under the sweeping clause of the Constitu
tion, and supported by the following pedigree
of necessities : Congress are authorized to de
fend the country ; ships are necessary for that
defence; copper is necessary for ships; mines
are necessary to produce copper; companies
are necessary to work mines ; and " this is
the house that Jack built ".—To ROBERT R.
LIVINGSTON. FORD ED., vii, 445. (Pa., April
1800.)
3883. . The House of Represent
atives sent [to the Senate] yesterday a bill
for incorporating a company to work Roose
velt's copper mines in New Jersey. I do not
know whether it is understood that the Leg
islature of Jersey was incompetent to this, or
merely that we have concurrent legislation
under the sweeping clause. Congress are
authorized to defend the nation. Ships arc
necessary for defence; copper is necessary for
ships ; mines necessary for copper ; a company
necessary to work mines; and who can doubt
this reasoning who has ever played at " This
is the House that Jack built ". Under such
a process of filiation of necessities the sweeping
clause makes clea work. — To E. LIVINGSTON.
iv, 329. FORD ED., vii, 444. (Pa., April 1800.)
3884. INCORPORATION, Republican
party and. — It has always been denied by the
republican party in this country, that the Con
stitution had given the power of incorporation
to Congress. On the establishment of the
Bank of the United States, this was the great
ground on which that establishment was corn-
batted ; and the party prevailing supported it
only on the argument of its being an incident
to the power given them for raising money.
On this ground it has been acquiesced in, and
will probably be acquiesced in, as subsequently
confirmed by public opinion. But in no other
instance have they ever exercised this power
of incorporation out of this District, of which
they are the ordinary Legislature. — To DR.
MAESE. v, 412. (W., Jan. 1809.) See BANK
(U. S.), CONSTITUTIONALITY OF, GENERAL
WELFARE and MONOPOLY.
3885. INDEMNIFICATION, Adequate.
— To demand satisfaction beyond what is ade
quate is a wrong. — OFFICIAL OPINION, vii,
628. FORD ED., vi, 258. (1793.)
3886. INDEMNIFICATION, Effectual.
— One thousand ships taken, six thousand
seamen impressed, savage butcheries of our
citizens, and incendiary machinations against
our Union, declare that they and their allies,
the Spaniards, must retire from the Atlantic
side of our continent as the only security or
indemnification which will be effectual. — To
THOMAS LETRE. vi, 79. (M., Aug. 1812.)
3887. INDEMNIFICATION, Frigate
Chesapeake and.— We now send a vessel to
call upon the British government for repa
ration for the past outrage [attack on the
Chesapeake] and security for the future. — To
JOHN ARMSTRONG, v, 134. FORD ED., ix, 116.
(W., 1807.)
3888. . Reparation for the past
and security for the future is our motto. — To
DUPONT DE NEMOURS, v, 127. FORD ED., ix,
in. (W., July 1807.)
3889. . An armed vessel of the
United States was dispatched with instruc
tions to our ministers at London to call on
that government for the satisfaction and se
curity required by the outrage. [Attack on
the Chesapeake.] — SEVENTH ANNUAL MES
SAGE, viii, 84. FORD ED., ix, 153. (1807.)
Indemnification
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
42O
3890. INDEMNIFICATION, National
retribution. — That retribution which the
laws of every country mean to extend to
those who suffer unjustly. — To COUNT DE
VERGENNES. i, 486. (P., 1785.)
3891. INDEMNIFICATION, National
usage. — The usage of nations requires that we
shall give the offender an opportunity of
making reparation and avoiding war. — To
VICE-PRESIDENT CLINTON, v, 116. FORD ED.,
ix. 100. (W., 1807.)
3892. INDEMNIFICATION, Principle
of. — I take the true principle to be, that " for
violations of jurisdiction, with the consent of
the sovereign, or his voluntary sufferance, in
demnification is due; but that for others he is
bound only to use all reasonable means to ob
tain indemnification from the aggressor,
which must be calculated on his circum
stances, and these endeavors bond fide made;
and failing, he is no further responsible ". It
would be extraordinary, indeed, if we were
to be answerable for the conduct of bellig
erents through our whole coasts, whether in
habited or not. — To JAMES MADISON, v, 69.
FORD ED., ix, 47. (M., April 1807.)
3893. INDEMNIFICATION, Security
and. — The sword once drawn, full justice
must be done. " Indemnification for the past
and security for the future" should be
painted on our banners. — To MR. WRIGHT, vi,
78. (M., Aug. 1812.)
3894. INDEMNIFICATION, For
slaves. — The President * * * authorized
Mr. Gouverneur Morris to enter into confer
ence with the British ministers in order to dis
cover their sentiments on the * * * indemnifi
cation for the negroes carried off against the
stipulations of the treaty of peace. The letters
of Mr. Morris * * * [to the President] state
the communications, oral and written, which
have passed between him and the ministers ,
and from these the Secretary of State draws the
following inference : That as to indemnification
for the negroes, their measures for concealing
them were in the first instance so efficacious, as
to reduce our demand for them, so far as we
can support it by direct proof, to be very small
indeed. Its smallness seems to have kept it out
of discussion. Were other difficulties removed,
they would probably make none of this article.
* * * The Secretary of State is of opinion
* * * that the demands * * * of indemnifica
tion should not be again made till we are in
readiness to do ourselves the justice which may
be refused. — REPORT ON BRITISH NEGOTIATIONS.
vii, 517. FORD ED., v, 261. (1790.)
3895. INDEPENDENCE, First idea of
American. — In July 1775, a separation from
Great Britain and establishment of republican
government had never yet entered into any
person's mind. * * * Independence, and
the establishment of a new form of govern
ment, were not even the objects of the people
at large. One extract from the pamphlet
called " Common Sense " had appeared in the
Virginia papers in February, and copies of the
pamphlet itself had got in a few hands. But
the idea had not been opened to the mass of
the people in April, much less can it be said
that they had made up their minds in its
favor.* — NOTES ON VIRGINIA, viii, 363. FORD
ED., iii, 225. (1782.) See COLONIES, DECLARA
TION OF INDEPENDENCE, PARLIAMENT and
REVOLUTION (AMERICAN).
3896. INDIANS, Agriculture and.— The
decrease of game rendering their subsistence by
hunting insufficient, we wish to draw them to
agriculture, to spinning and weaving. The lat
ter branches they take up with great readiness,
because they fall to the women, who gain by
quitting the labors of the field for those which
are exercised within doors. — To GOVERNOR HAR
RISON, iv, 472. (W., 1803.)
3897. . I consider the business of
hunting as already become insufficient to fur
nish clothing and subsistence to the Indians.
The promotion of agriculture, therefore, and
household manufacture, are essential in their
preservation, and I am disposed to aid and en
courage it liberally. — To BENJAMIN HAWKINS.
iv, 467. FORD ED., viii, 213. (1803.)
3898. INDIANS AS ALLIES.— They are
a useless, expensive, ungovernable ally. — To
JOHN PAGE. FORD ED., ii, 88. (Pa., 1776.)
3899. INDIANS, Amalgamation.— The
ultimate point of rest and happiness for them
is to let our settlements and theirs meet and
blend together, to intermix, and become one
people. Incorporating themselves with us as
citizens of the United States, this is what the
natural progress of things will of course bring
on, and it will be better to promote than to
retard it. — To BENJAMIN HAWKINS, iv, 467.
FORD ED., viii, 214. (1803.)
3900. - — . Our settlements will
gradually circumscribe and approach the In
dians, and they will in time either incorporate
with us as citizens of the United States, or
remove beyond the Mississippi. The former is
certainly the determination of their history most
happy for themselves ; but, in the whole course
of this it is essential to cultivate their love. — To
GOVERNOR HARRISON, iv, 472. (W., 1803.)
3901. . I shall rejoice to see the
day when the red men, our neighbors, become
truly one people with us, enjoying all the
rights and privileges we do, and living in peace
and plenty as we do, without any one to make
them afraid, to injure their persons, or to take
their property without being punished for it
according to fixed laws. — To THE CHEROKEE
CHIEFS, viii, 214. (1808.)
3902. INDIANS, American Nations
and. — [It is] an established principle of public
law; among the white nations of America^ that
while the Indians included within their limits
retain all other natural rights, no other white
nations can become their patrons, protectors or
mediators, nor in any shape intermeddle be
tween them and those within whose limits they
are. — ANAS. ix, 433. FORD ED., i, 210.
(1792.)
3903. — . We consider it as estab
lished by the usage of different nations into a
* In the FORD EDITION (iii, 226) attention is called to
a letter written by Jefferson from Philadelphia, May,
16, 1776, to Thomas Nelson, in which he said : " I wish
much to see you here, yet hope you will contrive
to bring on as early as you can in convention the
great questions of the session. I suppose they will
tell us what to say on the subject of Independence,
but hope respect will be expressed to the right opin
ion in other Colonies who may happen to differ from
them. When at home I took great pains to enquire
into the sentiments of the people on that head, in the
upper counties I think I may safely say nine out of
ten are for it."— EDITOR.
421
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Indians
kind of Jus gentium for America, that a white
nation settling down and declaring that such
and such are their limits, makes an invasion of
those limits by any other white nation an act of
war, but gives no right of soil against the native
possessors. — THE ANAS, ix, 429. FORD ED., i,
197. (1792.)
3904. INDIAN'S, Brotherhood of.— Made
by the same Great Spirit, and living in the same
land with our brothers, the red men, we consider
ourselves as of the same family ; we wish to live
with them as one people, and to cherish their
interests as our own. — ADDRESS TO INDIANS.
viii, 184. (1802.)
3905. INDIANS, Catherine of Russia
and. — What Professor Adelung mentions of
the Empress Catherine's having procured many
vocabularies of our Indians, is correct. She
applied to M. de Lafayette, who, through the
aid of General Washington, obtained several;
but I never learnt of what particular tribes. —
To MR. DUPONCEAU. vii, 96. (M., 1817.)
3906. INDIANS, Citizenship and.— We
have already had an application from a settle
ment of Indians to become citizens of the
United States. It is possible, perhaps probable,
that this idea may be so novel as that it might
shock the Indians, were it even hinted to them.
Of course, you will keep it for your own re
flection ; but, convinced of its soundness, I feel
it consistent with pure morality to lead them
towards it, to familiarize them to the idea that
it is for their interest to cede lands at times to
the United States, and for us to procure grat
ifications to our citizens, from time to time, by
new acquisitions of land. — To BENJAMIN HAW
KINS, iv, 468. FORD ED., viii, 215, (W., 1803.)
3907. INDIANS, Civilizing.— It is evi
dent that your society has begun at the right
end for civilizing the Indians. Habits of in
dustry, easy subsistence, attachment to prop
erty, are necessary to prepare their minds for
the first elements of science, and afterwards for
moral and religious instruction. To begin with
the last has ever ended either in effecting noth
ing, or ingrafting bigotry on ignorance, and
setting them to tomahawking and burning old
women and others as witches, of which we
have seen a commencement among them. — To
JAMES PEMBERTON. v, 212. (W., 1807.)
3908. . They are our brethren,
our neighbors ; they may be valuable friends,
and troublesome enemies. Both duty and inter
est enjoin, that we should extend to them the
blessings of civilized life, and prepare their
minds for becoming useful members of the
American family. — R. TO A. viii, 118. (1807.)
3909. — . The plan of civilizing the
Indians is undoubtedly a great improvement
on the ancient and totally ineffectual one of be
ginning with religious missionaries. Our ex
perience has shown that this must be the last
step of the process. The following is what
has been successful : ist, to raise cattle, &c., and
thereby acquire a knowledge of the value of
property ; 2d, arithmetic, to calculate that
value ; 3d, writing, to keep accounts, and here
they begin to enclose farms, and the men to
labor, the women to spin and weave ; 4th, to
read " Aesop's Fables " and " Robinson Crusoe "
are their first delight. The Creeks and Chero-
kees are advanced thus far, and the Cherokees
are now instituting a regular government. — To
JAMES JAY. v, 440. (M., April 1809.)
3910. — . The civilization and im
provement of the Indian tribes * * * I have
ever had much at heart, and never omitted an
occasion of promoting while I have been in sit
uations to do it with effect ; and nothing, even
now, in the calm of age and retirement, would
excite in me a more lively interest than an ap-
provable plan of raising that respectable and
unfortunate people from the state of physical
and moral abjection, to which they have been
reduced by circumstances foreign to them. — To
JEDEDIAH. MORSE, vii, 233. FORD ED., x, 203.
(M., 1822.) See CIVILIZATION.
3911. INDIANS, Coercing.— Nothing
ought more to be avoided than the embarking
ourselves in a system of military coercion on the
Indians. If we do this, we shall have general
and perpetual war. — To MERIWETHER LEWIS.
v, 350. (M., 1808.)
3912. INDIANS, Commiseration.— In
the early part of my life, I was very familiar
with the Ind'ans, and acquired impressions of
attachment and commiseration for them which
have never been obliterated. — To JOHN ADAMS.
vi, 61. FORD ED., ix, 358. (M., 1812.)
3913. INDIANS, Controlling.— The In
dians can be kept in order only by commerce or
war. The former is the cheaper. — To ALBERT
GALLATIN. v, 227. (W., 1808.)
3914. INDIANS, Descent of.— Moreton's
deduction of the origin of our Indians from
the fugitive Trojans, * * * and his manner
of accounting for the sprinkling of their Latin
with Greek, is really amusing. Adair makes
them talk Hebrew. Reinold Foster derives them
from the soldiers sent by Kouli Khan to conquer
Japan. Brerewood, from the Tartars, as well
as our bears, wolves, foxes, &c., which, he says,
" must of necessity fetch their beginning from
Noah's ark, which rested, after the deluge in
Asia, seeing they could not proceed by the
course of nature, as the imperfect sort of living
creatures do, from putrefaction ". Bernard
Romans is of opinion that God created an
original man and woman in this part of the
globe. Doctor Barton thinks they are not
specifically different from the Persians ; but,
taking afterwards a broader range, he thinks,
" that in all the vast countries of America, there
is but one language, nay, that it may be proven,
or rendered highly probable, that all the lan
guages of the earth bear some affinity together ".
This reduces it to a question of definition, in
which every one is free to use his own : to wit,
what constitutes identity, or difference in two
things, in the common acceptation of sameness.
All languages may be called the same, as be
ing all made up of the same primitive sounds,
expressed by the letters of the different alpha
bets. But, in this sense, all things on earth are
the same as consisting of matter. This gives
up the useful distribution into genera and
species, which we form, arbitrarily indeed, for
the relief of our imperfect memories. To aid
the question, from whence our Indian tribes
are descended, some have gone into their re
ligion, their morals, their manners, customs,
habits, and physical forms. By such helps it
may be learnedly proved, that our trees and
plants of every kind are descended from those
of Europe ; because, like them, they have no
locomotion, they draw nourishment from the
earth, they clothe themselves with leaves in
spring, of which they divest themselves in au
tumn for the sleep of winter, &c. Our animals,
too, must be descended from those of Europe,
because our wolves eat lambs, our deer are
gregarious, our ants hoard, &c. But, when for
convenience we distribute languages, accord
ing to common understanding, into classes orig-
Indians
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
422
inally different, as we choose to consider them,
as the Hebrew, the Greek, the Celtic, the
Gothic ; and these again into genera, or families,
as the Icelandic, German, Swedish, Danish,
English ; and these last into species, or dialects,
as English, Scotch, Irish, we then ascribe other
meanings to the terms " same " and " differ
ent ". In some of these senses, Barton, and
Adair, and Foster, and Brerewood, and Mor
ton, may be right, every one according to his
own definition of what constitutes " identity ".
Romans, indeed, takes a higher stand, and sup
poses a separate creation. On the same un-
scriptural ground, he had but to mount one
step higher, to suppose no creation at all, but
that all things have existed without beginning
in time, as they now exist, and may forever ex
ist, producing and reproducing in a circle,
without end. This would very summarily dis
pose of Mr. Moreton's learning, and show that
the question of Indian origin, like many others,
pushed to a certain height, must receive the
same answer, " Ignoro ". — To JOHN ADAMS, vi,
121. (M., May 1813.) See ABORIGINES.
3915. INDIANS, Driven westward.— I
am sorry to hear that the Indians have com
menced war, but greatly pleased you have been
so decisive on that head. Nothing will re
duce those wretches so soon as pushing the
war into the heart of their country. But I
would not stop there. I would never cease pur
suing them while one of them remained on this
side the Mississippi. — To JOHN PAGE. FORD ED.,
ii, 73. (Pa., 1776.)
3916. — - —.The Indians backward
[in civilization] will yield, and be thrown
further back. They will relapse into barbarism
and misery, lose numbers by war and want, and
we shall be obliged to drive them with the
beasts of the forest into the stony mountains. —
To JOHN ADAMS, vi, 62. FORD ED., ix, 358.
(M., 1812.)
3917. INDIANS, Fire-hunting by.—
You ask if the usage of hunting in circles has
ever been known among any of our tribes of
Indians ? It has been practiced by them all ;
And is to this day, by those still remote from
the settlements of the whites. But their num
bers and enabling them like Genghis Khan's
seven hundred thousand, to form themselves
into circles of one hundred miles diameter,
they make their circle by firing the leaves fallen
on the ground, which gradually forcing the
animals to a centre, they there slaughter them
with arrows, darts and other missiles. — To
JOHN ADAMS, vi, 122. (M., 1813.)
3918. INDIANS, Fortifications.— I be
lieve entirely with you that the remains of forti
fications, found in the western country, have
been the works of the natives. — To HARRY IN-
NES. iii, 217. FORD ED., v, 294. (Pa., 1791.)
3919. INDIANS, Friendship.— It is on
their interests we must rely for their friendship,
and not on their fears. — To HENRY DEARBORN.
v, 349- (M., 1808.)
3920. INDIANS, Genius.— It is in North
America we are to seek their [the Indians']
original character. And I am safe in affirming,
that the proofs of genius given by the Indians
of North America place them on a level with
whites in the same uncultivated state. The
North of Europe furnishes subjects enough for
comparison with them, and for a proof of their
equality, I have seen some thousands myself,
and conversed much with them, and have found
in them a masculine, sound understanding.
* * * I believe the Indian to be in body and
mind equal to the white man. — To GENERAL
CHASTELLUX. i, 341. FORD ED., iii, 137. (P.,
1785.)
3921. INDIANS, Government.— The
practice [of dividing themselves into small so
cieties] results from the circumstance of their
having never submitted themselves to any laws,
any coercive power, any shadow of government.
Their only controls are their manners, and that
moral sense of right and wrong, which, like
the sense of tasting and feeling in every man,
makes a part of his nature. An offence against
these is ^punished by contempt, by exclusion
from society, or, where the case is serious, as
that of murder, by the individuals whom it con
cerns. Imperfect as this species of coercion may
seem, crimes are very rare among them ; in
somuch that were it made a question, whether
no law, as among the savage Americans, or too
much law, as among the civilized Europeans,
submits man to the greatest evil, one who has
seen both conditions of existence would pro
nounce it to be the last ; and that the sheep
are happier of themselves, than under the care
of the wolves. It will be said that great socie
ties cannot exist without government. The
savages, therefore, break them into small ones.
— NOTES ON VIRGINIA, viii, 338. FORD ED., iii,
195. (1782.)
3922. INDIANS, Great Britain and.—
You know the benevolent plan we were pur
suing here for the happiness of the aboriginal
inhabitants in our vicinities. We spared noth
ing to keep them at peace with one another.
To teach them agriculture and the rudiments
of the most necessary arts, and to encourage
industry by establishing among them separate
property. In this way they would have been
enabled to subsist and multiply on a moderate
scale of landed possession. They would have
mixed their blood with ours, and been amal
gamated and identified with us within no distant
period of time. On the commencement of the
present war [with Great Britain], we pressed
on them the observance of peace and neutrality,
but the interested and unprincipled policy of
England has defeated all our labors for the
salvation of these unfortunate people. They
have seduced the greater part of the tribes
within our neighborhood, to take up the hatchet
against us, and the cruel massacres they have
committed on the women and children of our
frontiers taken by surprise will oblige us now
to pursue them to extermination, or drive
them to new seats beyond our reach. * * *
The confirmed brutalization, if not the extermi
nation of this race in our America, is there
fore to form an additional chapter in the Eng
lish history of the same colored man in Asia,
and of the brethren of their own color in Ire
land, and wherever else Anglo-mercantile cu
pidity can find a two-penny interest in delu
ging the earth with human blood. — To BARON DE
HUMBOLDT. vi, 269. FORD ED., ix, 431. (Dec.
1813.)
3923. INDIANS, Justice to.— The two
principles on which our conduct towards the
Indians should be founded are justice and fear.
After the injuries we have done them, they
cannot love us, which leaves us no alternative
but that of fear to keep them from attacking
us. But justice is what we should never lose
sight of and, in time, it may recover their
esteem. — To MR. HAWKINS, ii, 3. (P., 1786.)
3924. . Nothing must be spared
to convince the Indians of the justice and lib
erality we are determined to use towards thern,
and to attach them to us indissolubly. — To DR.
SIBLEY. iv, 581. (W., 1805.)
423
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Indians
3925. INDIANS, Lands of.— It may be
regarded as certain, that not a foot of land will
ever be taken from the Indians, without their
own consent. The sacredness of their rights is
felt by all thinking persons in America as much
as in Europe. — To M. DE MEUNIER. ix, 260.
FORD ED., iv, 166. (P., 1786.)
3926. . When they withdraw
themselves to the culture of a small piece of
land, they will perceive how useless to them
are their extensive forests, and will be willing
to pare them off from time to time in ex
change for necessaries for their farms and fam
ilies. — To GOVERNOR HARRISON, iv, 472. (W.,
1803.)
3927. . To promote the disposi
tion to exchange lands, which they have to
spare and we want, for necessaries, which we
have to spare and they want, we shall push our
trading uses, and be glad to see the good and in
fluential individuals among them run in debt,
because we observe that when these debts get
beyond what the individuals can pay, they be
come willing to lop them off by a cession of
lands. At our trading houses, too, we mean
to sell so low as merely to repay us cost and
charges, so as neither to lessen nor enlarge our
capital. — To GOVERNOR HARRISON, iv, 472. (W.,
1803.)
3928. . I am myself alive to the
obtaining lands from the Indians by all honest
and peaceable means, and I believe that the
honest and peaceable means adopted by us will
obtain them as fast as the expansion of our
settlements with due regard to compactness, will
require. — To ANDREW JACKSON, iv, 464. (Wu
1803.)
— INDIANS, Languages of. — See AB
ORIGINES.
3929. INDIANS, Outacite.— Before the
Revolution, the Indians were in the habit of
coming often and in great numbers to the seat
of government [in Virginia], where I was verv
much with them. I knew much the great
Outacite, the warrior and orator of the Chero-
kees ; he was always the guest of my father.
on his journeys to and from Williamsburg. I
was in his camp when he made his great fare
well oration to his people the evening before
his departure for England. The moon was
in full splendor, and to her he seemed to ad
dress himself in his prayers for his own safety
on the voyage, and that of his people during
his absence ; his sounding voice, distinct artic
ulation, animated action, and the solemn silence
of his people at their several fires, filled me
with awe and veneration, although I did not
understand a word he uttered. — To JOHN AD
AMS, vi, 61. FORD ED., ix, 358. (M., 1812.)
3930. INDIANS, Peace with.— Our sys
tem is to live in perpetual peace with the In
dians, to cultivate an affectionate attachment
from them, by everything just and liberal which
we can do for them within the bounds of reason,
and by giving them effectual protection against
wrongs from our own people. — To GOVERNOR
HARRISON, iv, 472. (W., 1803.)
— INDIANS, Policy respecting.— See
SECOND INAUGURAL ADDRESS, in APPENDIX.
3931. INDIANS, Priesthood.— You ask
if the Indians have any order of priesthood
among them, like the Druids, Bards or Min
strels of the Celtic nations? Adair alone, de
termined to see what he wished to see in every
object, metamorphoses their conjurers into an
order of priests, and describes their sorceries
as if they were the great religious ceremonies
of the nation. Lafitau called them by their
proper names, Jongleurs, Devins, Sortileges;
De Bry, praestigiatores ; Adair himself some
times Magi, Archimagi, cunning men, Seers,
rain-makers ; and the modern Indian interpre
ters call them conjurers and witches. They
are persons pretending to have communications
with the devil and other evil spirits, to foretell
future events, bring down rain, find stolen
goods, raise the dead, destroy some and heal
others by enchantment, lay spells, &c. And
Adair, without departing from his parallel of
the Jews and Indians, might have found their
counterpart much more aptly among the sooth
sayers, sorcerers and wizards of the Jews, their
Cannes and Gambres, their Simon Magus, Witch
of ^Endor, and the young damsel whose sor
ceries disturbed Paul so much ; instead of
placing them in a line with their high-priest,
their chief-priests, and their magnificent hier
archy generally. In the solemn ceremonies of
the Indians, the persons who direct or officiate,
are their chiefs, elders and warriors, in civil
ceremonies or in those of war ; it is the head of
the cabin in their private or particular feasts
or ceremonies ; and sometimes the matrons, as
in their corn feasts. And even here, Adair might
have kept up his parallel, without ennobling his
conjurers. For the ancient patriarchs, the
Noahs, the Abrahams, Isaacs and Jacobs, and
even after the consecration of Aaron, the Sam
uels and Elijahs, and we may say further,
every one for himself offered sacrifices on the
altars. The true line of distinction seems to be,
that solemn ceremonies, whether public or pri
vate, addressed to the Great Spirit, are con
ducted by the worthies of the nation, men or
matrons, while conjurers are resorted to only
for the invocation of evil spirits. The present
state of the Indian tribes, without any public
order of priests, is proof sufficient that they
never had such an order. Their steady habits
permit no innovations, not even those which
the progress of science offers to increase the
comforts, enlarge the understanding, and im
prove the morality of mankind. Indeed, so
little idea have they of a regular order of
priests, that they mistake ours for their con
jurers, and call them by that name. — To JOHN
ADAMS, vi, 60. FORD ED., ix, 357. (M., 1812.)
3932. INDIANS, Protection of.— It is a
leading object of our present government to
guarantee the Indians in their present posses
sions, and to protect their persons with the
same fidelity which is extended to its own citi
zens.— To C. W. F. DUMAS, iii, 260. (Pa.,
1791.)
3933. INDIANS, The Revolution and.—
At the commencement of the war [of the Revo
lution], the United States laid it down as a
rule of their conduct, to engage the Indian tribes
within their neighborhood to remain strictly
neutral. They accordingly strongly pressed it
on them, urging that it was a family quarrel
with which they had nothing to do, and in
which we wished them to take no part ; and
we strengthened these recommendations by
doing them every act of friendship and good
neighborhood, which circumstances left in our
power. With some, these solicitations pre
vailed ; but the greater part of them suffered
themselves to be drawn into the war against us.
They waged it in their usual cruel manner,
murdering and scalping men, women and chil
dren, indiscriminately, burning their houses, and
desolating the country. They put us to vast
expense, as well by the constant force we were
obliged to keep up in that quarter, as by the
Indians
Industry
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
424
expeditions of considerable magnitude which
we were under the necessity of sending into
their country from time to time. — To CAR-
MICHAEL AND SHORT, iv, 9. FORD ED., vi, 331.
/ pp T <7Q O \
3934. . Peace being at length
concluded with England, we had it also to con
clude with them. They had made war on us
without the least provocation or pretence of
injury. They had added greatly to the cost of
that war. They had insulted our feelings b.v
their savage cruelties. They were by our arms
completely subdued and humbled. Under all
these circumstances, we had a right to demand
substantial satisfaction and indemnification.
We used that right, however, with real mod
eration. Their limits with us under the former
government were generally ill defined, ques
tionable, and the frequent cause of war. Sin
cerely desirous of living in their peace, of cul
tivating it by every act of justice and friend
ship, and of rendering them better neighbors by
introducing among them some of the most
useful arts, it was necessary to begin by a pre
cise definition of boundary. Accordingly, at
the treaties held with them, our mutual bound
aries were settled ; and notwithstanding our just
right to concessions adequate to the circum
stances of the case, we required such only as
were inconsiderable ; and for even these, in
order that we might place them in a state of
perfect conciliation, we paid them a valuable
consideration, and granted them annuities in
money which have been regularly paid, and
were equal to the prices for which they have
usually sold their lands. — To CARMICHAEL AND
SHORT, iv, 10. FORD ED., vi, 331. (Pa., 1793.)
3935. INDIANS, Bights of.— The want
of attention to their rights is a principal source
of dishonor to the American character. — To MR.
HAWKINS, ii, 3- (P-, 1786.)
3936. INDIANS, Schools for.— The
teaching the Indian boys and girls to read and
write, agriculture and mechanic trades to the
former, spinning and weaving to the latter, may
perhaps be acceded to by us advantageously for
the Indians. — To HENRY DEARBORN, vii, 278.
(1808.)
3937. INDIANS, Sioux.— On the Sioux
nation we wish most particularly to ^make a
friendly impression, because of their immense
power, and because we learn that they are very
desirous of being on the most friendly terms
with us. — To CAPTAIN MERIWETHER LEWIS.
iv, 522. (W., 1804.)
3938. INDIANS, Temperance.— Our en
deavors are to impress on them all profoundly,
temperance, peace and agriculture ; and I am
persuaded they begin to feel profoundly the
soundness of the advice. — To DR. LOGAN, v,
404. (W., 1808.)
3939. INDIANS, Trade vs. Armies.—
As soon as our factories on the Missouri and
Mississippi can be in activity, they will have
more powerful effects than so many armies. —
To MERIWETHER LEWIS, v, 351. (M., 1808.)
3940. . Have you thought of the
Indian drawback? The Indians can be kept
in order only by commerce or war. The former
is the cheaper. Unless we can induce in
dividuals to employ their capital in that trade.,
it will require an enormous sum of capital from
the public treasury, and it will be badly man
aged. A drawback for four or five years is the
cheapest way of getting that business off our
hands. — To ALBERT GALLATIN. v, 227. (Wv
1808.)
3941. INDIANS, Traditions.— Some
scanty accounts of the traditions of the In
dians, but fuller of their customs and char
acters, are given us by most of the early travel
ers among them ; these you know were mostly
French. Lafitau, among them, and Adair an
Englishman, have written on this subject.
* * * But unluckily Lafitau had in his head
a preconceived theory on the mythology, man
ners, institutions, and government of the an
cient nations of Europe, Asia, and Africa, and
seems to have entered on those of America
only to fit them into the same frame, and to
draw from them a confirmation of his general
theory. He keeps up a perpetual parallel, in
all those articles, between the Indians of Amer
ica and the ancients of the other quarters of
the globe. He selects, therefore, all the facts
and adopts all the falsehoods which favor his
theory, and very gravely retails such absurdities
as zeal for a theory could alone swallow. He
was a man of much classical and scriptural
reading, and has rendered h'is book not unenter-
taining. He resided five years among the
northern Indians as a missionary, but collects
his matter much more from the writings of
others, than from his own observation. Adair.
too, had his kink. He believed all the Indians
of America to be descended from the Jews ; the
same laws, usages, rites and ceremonies, the
same sacrifices, priests, prophets, fasts and
festivals, almost the same religion, and that
they all spoke Hebrew. For, although he writes
particularly of the southern Indians only, the
Catawbas, Creeks, Cherokees. Chickasaws and
Choctaws, with whom alone he was personally
acquainted, yet he generalizes whatever he
found among them, and brings himself to be
lieve that the hundred languages of America,
differing fundamentally every one from every
other, as much as Greek from Gothic, yet have
all one common prototype. He was a trader,
a man of learning, a self-taught Hebraist, a
strong religionist, and of as sound a mind as
Don Quixote in whatever did not touch his
religious chivalry. His book contains a great
deal of real instruction on its subject, only re
quiring the reader to be constantly on his guard
against the wonderful obliquities of his theory.
— To JOHN ADAMS, vi, 59. FORD ED., ix, 355.
(M., 1812.)
3942. INDUSTBY, Fruits of.— Our wish
is that * * * [there be] maintained that
state of property, equal or unequal, which re
sults to every man from his own industry, or
that of his fathers. — SECOND INAUGURAL AD
DRESS, viii, 44. FORD EDV viii, 347. (1805.)
3943. - — . The rights of the people
to the exercise and fruits of their own in
dustry, can never be protected against the
selfishness of rulers not subject to their con
trol at short periods. — To ISAAC H. TIFFANY.
vii, 32. (M., 1816.)
3944. . To take from one, be
cause it is thought that his own industry and
that of his father's has acquired too much,
in order to spare to others, who, or whose
fathers have not exercised equal industry and
skill, is to violate arbitrarily the first principle
of association — the guarantee to every one of
a free exercise of his industry, and the fruits
acquired by it. — NOTE IN DESTUTT TRACY'S
POLITICAL ECONOMY, vi, 574. (1816.)
3945. - — . The Republican party be
lieved that men, enjoying in ease and security
425
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Industry
Injury
the full fruits of their own industry, enlisted
by all their interests on the side of law and
order, habituated to think for themselves, and
to follow their reason as their guide, would
be more easily and safely governed, than with
minds nourished in error, and vitiated and
debased, as in Europe, by ignorance, indigence
and oppression. — To WILLIAM JOHNSON, vii,
292. FORD ED., x, 227. (M., 1823.)
3946. INDUSTRY, Gambling and.— I
told the President [Washington] that a sys
tem had there [in the Treasury Department]
been contrived for deluging the States with
paper money instead of gold and silver, for
withdrawing our citizens from the pursuits of
commerce, manufactures, buildings, and other
branches of useful industry, to occupy them
selves and their capitals in a species of
gambling, destructive of morality, and which
had introduced its poison into the govern
ment itself. — THE ANAS, ix, 104. FORD ED.,
i, 177. (Feb. 1792.)
3947. INDUSTRY, Goodness and.— Be
food and be industrious and you will be what
most love in the world. — To MARTHA JEF
FERSON. FORD ED. , iv, 389. (1787.)
3948. INDUSTRY, Improvement and.—
Restrain men from injuring one another,
* * * [but] leave them otherwise free to
regulate their own pursuits of industry and
improvement. — FIRST INAUGURAL ADDRESS.
viii, 3. FORD ED., viii, 4. (1801.)
3949. INDUSTRY, Shackles on.— Nor
should we wonder at * * * [the] pressure
[for a fixed constitution in 1788-9] when we
consider the monstrous abuses of power un
der which * * * [the French] people were
ground to powder; when we pass in review
the * * * shackles on industry by guilds
and corporations. — AUTOBIOGRAPHY. i, 86.
FORDED., i, 118. (1821.)
3950. INDUSTRY, Taxing.— Sound prin
ciples will not justify our taxing the industry
of our fellow citizens to accumulate treasure
for wars to happen we know not when, and
which might not perhaps happen but from the
temptations offered by that treasure. — FIRST
INAUGURAL MESSAGE, viii, 9. FORD ED., viii,
119. (1801.)
- INFLATION.— See BANKS, and PAPER
MONEY.
3951. INFORMATION, Essential to Ex
ecutive. — It is essential for the public interest
that I should receive all the information
possible respecting either matters or persons
connected with the public. To induce people
to give this information, they must feel as
sured that when deposited with me it is
secret and sacred. Honest men might justi
fiably withhold information, if they expected
the communication would be made public, and
commit them to war with their neighbors and
friends. This imposes the duty on me of con
sidering such information as mere sugges
tions for inquiry, and to put me on my guard ;
and to injure no man by forming any opinion
until the suggestion be verified. Long ex
perience in this school has by no means
strengthened the disposition to believe too
easily. On the contrary, it has begotten an
incredulity which leaves no one's character
in danger from any hasty conclusion. — To
JOHN SMITH, v, 77. (M., 1807.) See PUB
LICITY.
3952. INJURY, Accumulated.— The In
dian chief said he did not go to war for every
petty injury by itself, but put it into his pouch,
and when that was full, he then made war.
Thank Heaven, we have provided a more
peaceable and rational mode of redress. — To
WILLIAM JOHNSON, vii, 295. FORD ED., x,
230. (M., 1823.)
3953. INJURY, The Colonies and.—
[During] the reigns which preceded his
Majesty's [George III.], the violations of our
rights were less alarming, because repeated at
more distant intervals than that rapid and
bold succession of injuries which is likely
to distinguish the present from all other
periods of American history. Scarcely have
our minds been able to emerge from the as
tonishment into which one stroke of parlia
mentary thunder had involved us, before an
other more heavy, and more alarming, is
fallen on us. — RIGHTS OF BRITISH AMERICA.
i, 130. FORD ED., i, 435. (1774.) See COL
ONIES.
3954. . Our complaints were
either not heard at all, or were answered with
new and accumulated injuries. — REPLY TO
LORD NORTH'S PROPOSITION. FORD ED., i, 481.
(July I775-)
3955. - — . The rapid and bold suc
cession of injuries, which, during a course of
eleven years, have been aimed at the Colonies.
— REPLY TO LORD NORTH'S PROPOSITION. FORD
ED., i, 481. (July 1775.)
3956. INJURY, By George III.— He,
[George III.], has endeavored to pervert the
exercise of the kingly office in Virginia into
a detestable and insupportable tyranny * * *
by answering our repeated petitions for re
dress with a repetition of injuries. — PROPOSED
VA. CONSTITUTION. FORD ED., ii, 12. (June
1776.)
3957. INJURY, Peaceable Remedy.—
Some of these injuries may perhaps admit a
peaceable remedy. Where that is competent,
it is always the most desirable. — FIFTH AN
NUAL MESSAGE, viii, 49. FORD ED., viii, 391.
(1805.)
3958. INJURY, Private.— An individual,
thinking himself injured, makes more noise
than a state. — To GEORGIA DELEGATES IN
CONGRESS, i, 501. (1785.)
3959. INJURY, Redressed by war.— I
did not think war the surest means of re
dressing the French injuries. — To ELBRIDGE
GERRY, iv, 269. FORD ED., vii, 329. (Pa.,
I799-)
3960. . If nations go to war for
every degree of injury, there would never be
peace on earth. — To MADAME DE STAEL. v,
133- (W., 1807.)
iDjury
Insult
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
426
3961. INJURY, Unceasing. — To show
they [Parliament] mean no discontinuance of
injury, they pass acts, at the very time of
holding out this proposition, for restraining
the commerce and fisheries of the province
of New England, and for interdicting the
trade of the other colonies with all
foreign nations. — REPLY TO LORD NORTH'S
PROPOSITION. FORD ED., i, 480. (July 1775.)
3962. . The history of the pres
ent King of Great Britain is a history of
unremitting* injuries * * * . — DECLARA
TION OF INDEPENDENCE AS DRAWN BY JEFFER
SON.
3963. INHERITANCES, Equal.— If the
overgrown wealth of an individual be deemed
dangerous to the State, the best corrective
is the law of equal inheritance to all in equal
degree; and the better, as this enforces a law
of nature, while extra taxation violates it. —
NOTE TO TRACY'S POLITICAL ECONOMY, vi,
575- (1816.)
3964. . Equal partition of in
heritances [is] the best of all agrarian laws. —
AUTOBIOGRAPHY, i, 49. FORD ED., i, 69. (1821.)
3965. INHERITANCES, Legislation.—
The General Government is incompetent to
legislate on the subject of inheritances. — To
PRESIDENT WASHINGTON. FORD ED., vi, 133.
(1792.) See ENTAIL IN VIRGINIA.
3966. INNES (Henry), Ability.— I wish
you would come forward to the Federal Leg
islature, and give your assistance on a larger
scale than that on which you are acting at
present. I am satisfied you could render es
sential service, and I have such confidence in
the purity of your republicanism, that I know
your efforts would go in a right direction.
Zeal and talents added to the republican scale
will do no harm in Congress. — To HENRY
INNES. iii, 224. FORD ED., v, 300. (Pa.,
1791-)
3967. INNOVATION, Forced.— Great in
novations should not be forced on slender
majorities.— To GENERAL KOSCIUSKO. v, 282.
(1808.)
3968. INNOVATION, Opposition to.—
Innovation in England is heresy and treason.
— To JOHN QUINCY ADAMS, vii, 89. (M.,
1817.)
3969. INNOVATION, Reasonable.— lam
not myself apt to be alarmed at innovations
recommended by reason. That dread belongs
to those whose interests or prejudices shrink
from the advance of truth and science. — To
DR. JOHN MANNERS, vi, 323. (M., 1814.)
3970. INSTITUTIONS, Flexibility.—
Time indeed changes manners and notions
and so far we must expect institutions to bend
to them. — To SPENCER ROANE. vii, 211. FORD
ED., x, 188. (M., 1821.)
3971. INSTRUCTIONS, Congress and.
— Congress, as a body, if left to themselves,
will in my opinion say nothing on the subject
* Congress struck out " unremitting " and inserted
" repeated ".—EDITOR.
[Society of the Cincinnati]. They may, how
ever, be forced into a declaration by instruc
tions from some of the States. — To GENERAL
WASHINGTON, i, 335. FORD ED., iii, 467. (A.,
1784.)
3972. INSTRUCTIONS, Principles and.
— I am in great pain for the Marquis de
Lafayette. His principles * * * are clearly
with the people; but having been elected for
the Noblesse of Auvergne, they have laid him
under express instructions to vote for the de
cision by orders and not persons. This would
ruin him with the Tiers Etat, and it is not
possible he could continue long to give satis
faction to the noblesse. I have not hesitated
to press on him to burn his instructions, and
follow his conscience as the one sure clew,
which will eternally guide a man clear of
all doubts and inconsistencies. — To GENERAL
WASHINGTON, iii, 31. FORD ED., v, 96.
(1789.)
3973. INSTRUCTIONS, Representatives
and. — [Your book*] settles unanswerably the
right of instructing representatives, and their
duty to obey. — To JOHN TAYLOR, vi, 605.
FORD ED., x, 28. (M., 1816.)
3974. INSULT, Acquiescence under.—
It is an eternal truth that acquiescence under
insult is not the way to escape war. — To H.
TAZEWELL. iv, 121. FORD ED., vii, 31. (M.,
I795-)
3975. INSULT, National character and.
— It should ever be held in mind, that insult
and war are the consequences of a want of
respectability in the national character. — To
JAMES MADISON, i, 531. FORD ED., iv, 192.
(P., 1786.)
3976. INSULT, Pocketing.— One insult
pocketed soon produces another. — To PRESI
DENT WASHINGTON, vii, 510. FORD ED., v,
239. (1790.)
3977. INSULT, Punishing.— I think it to
our interest to punish the first insult ; because
an insult unpunished is the parent of many
others. — To JOHN JAY. i, 405. FORD ED., iv,
89. (P., 1785.)
3978. INSULT, Reparation for.— Both
reason and the usage of nations required we
should give Great Britain an opportunity of
disavowing and repairing the insult of their
officers. It gives us at the same time an op
portunity of getting home our vessels, our
property and our seamen, — the only means of
carrying on the kind of war we should at
tempt. — To THOMAS COOPER, v, 121. FORD
ED., ix, 102. (W., July 1807.)
3979. INSULT, Resenting.— It is incon
sistent for a nation which has been patiently
bearing for ten years the grossest insults and
injuries from their late enemies [the British]
to rise at a feather against their friends and
benefactors [the French].— OPINION ON LIT
TLE SARAH, ix, 154. FORD ED., vi, 342. (1793.)
3980. INSULT, War and.— Let it be our
endeavor to * * * maintain the character
* " Enquiry into the Principles of our Government,"
—EDITOR.
427
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Insurrection
Intemperance
of an independent nation, preferring every
consequence to insult and habitual wrong. —
THIRD ANNUAL MESSAGE, viii, 28. FORD ED.,
viii, 272. (1803.)
3981. INSURRECTION, American peo
ple and. — My long and intimate knowledge of
my countrymen satisfies me, that let there be
occasion to display the banners of the law,
and the world will see how few and pitiful
are those who shall array themselves in op
position. — To JAMES BROWN, v, 379. FORD
ED., ix, 211. (W., 1808.)
3982. . In no country on earth is
[forcible opposition to the law] so imprac
ticable as in one where every man feels a
vital interest in maintaining the authority of
the laws, and instantly engages in it as in his
own personal cause. — To BENJAMIN SMITH.
v, 293. FORD EDV ix, 195. (M., 1808.)
3983. INSURRECTION, George III.
and. — He [George III.] has endeavored to
pervert the exercise of the Kingly office in
Virginia into a detestable and insupportable
tyranny ^ by inciting insurrections
of our fellow subjects with the allurements
of forfeiture and confiscation. — PROPOSED VA.
CONSTITUTION. FORDED., ii, 11. (June 1776.)
3984. — . He has incited treason
able insurrections of our fellow citizens, with
the allurements of forfeiture and confiscation
of our property.* — DECLARATION OF INDEPEND
ENCE AS DRAWN BY JEFFERSON.
3985. . He has [excited domestic
insurrection among us and has] endeavoured
to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers the
merciless Indian savages, whose known rule
of warfare is an undistinguished destruc
tion of all ages, sexes and conditions of ex
istence, t — DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE AS
DRAWN BY JEFFERSON.
3986. INSURRECTION, Precautions
against. — In a country whose Constitution is
derived from the will of the people, directly
expressed by their free suffrages ; where the
principal executive functionaries, and those of
the legislature, are renewed by them at short
periods; where under the character of jurors,
they exercise in person the greatest portion of
the judiciary powers ; where the laws are con
sequently so framed and administered as to
bear with equal weight and favor on all, re
straining no man in the pursuits of honest
industry, and securing to every one the prop
erty which that acquires, it would not be sup
posed that any safeguards could be needed
against insurrection or enterprise on the pub
lic peace or authority. The laws, however,
aware that these should not be trusted to
moral restraints only, have wisely provided
punishments for these crimes when com
mitted. But would it not be salutary to give
also the means' of preventing their commis
sion? Where an enterprise is meditated by
private individuals against a foreign nation in
* Struck out by Congress.— EDITOR.
t Congress inserted the words in brackets and
struck out the words " of existence ".—EDITOR.
amity with the United States, powers of pre
vention to a certain extent are given by the
laws; would they not be as reasonable and
useful were the enterprise preparing against
the United States? While adverting to this
branch of the law, it is proper to observe,
that in enterprises meditated against foreign
nations, the ordinary process of binding to
the observance of the peace and good be
havior, could it be extended to acts to be
done out of the jurisdiction of the United
States, would be effectual in some cases
where the offender is able to keep out of
sight every indication of his purpose which
could draw on him the exercise of the powers
now given by law. — SIXTH ANNUAL MES
SAGE, viii, 65. FORD ED., viii, 490. (Dec.
1806.)
3987. INSURRECTION, Provoking.—
An exasperated people, who feel that they
possess power, are not easily restrained
within limits strictly regular. — RIGHTS OF
BRITISH AMERICA, i, 132. FORD ED., i, 437.
(I774-)
3988. INSURRECTION, Punishing.—
Where to stay the hand of the executioner
is an important question. Those who have
escaped from the immediate danger, must
have feelings which would dispose them to
extend the executions. Even here, where
everything has been perfectly tranquil, but
where a familiarity with slavery, and a possi
bility of danger from that quarter prepare
the general mind for some severities, there
is a strong sentiment that there has been
hanging enough. The other States, and the
world at large will forever condemn us if we
indulge a principle of revenge, or go one step
beyond absolute necessity. They cannot lose
sight of the rights of the two parties, and the
object of the unsuccessful one. Our situation
is, indeed, a difficult one ; for I doubt whether
these people can ever be permitted to go at
large among us with safety. To reprieve
them and keep them in prison till the meeting
of the Legislature will encourage efforts for
their release. Is there no fort or garrison of
the State or of the Union, where they could
be confined, and where the presence of the
garrison would preclude all ideas of attempt
ing a rescue ? Surely the Legislature would
pass a law for their exportation, the proper
measure on this and all similar occasions. —
To JAMES MONROE. FORD ED., vii, 457. (M.,
Sep. 1800.)
3989. INSURRECTION, Suppressing.—
I hope, on the first symptom of an open op
position to the law [Embargo] by force, you
will fly to the scene and aid in suppressing
any commotion. — To HENRY DEARBORN, v,
334. (M., Aug. 1808.) See REBELLION.
3990. INTEMPERANCE, Greatest ca
lamity. — Of all calamities this is the greatest.
— To MARY JEFFERSON EPPES. D. L. J., 246.
(Pa., 1798.)
3991. INTEMPERANCE, Havoc by.—
Spirituous liquors, the small pox, war, and an
abridgment of territory to a people who
Intemperance
Interest
THE JEFFERSON I AN CYCLOPEDIA
428
lived principally on the spontaneous pro
ductions of nature, committed terrible havoc
among the Virginia Indians.— NOTES ON VIR
GINIA, viii, 339. FORD ED., iii, 196. (1782.)
3992. INTEMPERANCE, Restriction.—
The drunkard, as much as the maniac, re
quires restrictive measures to save him from
the fatal infatuation tinder which he is des
troying his health, his morals, his family,
and his usefulness to society. One powerful
obstacle to his ruinous self-indulgence would be
a price beyond his competence.— To SAMUEL
SMITH, vii, 285. FORD ED., x, 252. (M.,
1823.)
3993. INTEREST, Government and.—
Alexander Hamilton avowed the opinion that
man could be governed by one of two motives
only _force or interest. Force, he observed,
in this country was out of the question; and
the interests, therefore, of the members must
be laid hold of to keep the Legislature in
unison with the Executive. And with grief
and shame it must be acknowledged that his
machine was not without effect; that even in
this, the birth of our government, some mem
bers were found sordid enough to bend
their duty to their interests, and to look after
personal rather than public good.— THE ANAS.
ix, 91. FORD ED., i,.i6o. (1818.)
3994. INTEREST, Judgment
is not enough that
plicable to our case, that I shall cite it as a
text, and apply it to the circumstances of
our case. It is laid down in Vin. Abr. In
terest, c. 7, and 2 Abr. Eq. 5293, and else-
lands which are assigned for payment of in
terest, it ought not to run on during the time
of such calamity." This is exactly the case
in question. Can a more general national
calamity be conceived than that universal dev
astation which took place in many of these
States during the war? Was it ever more ex
actly the case anywhere, that nothing was
made out of the lands which were to pay
the interest? The produce of those lands, for
want of the opportunity of exporting it safely,
was down to almost nothing in real money.
For example, tobacco was less than a dollar
the hundred weight. Imported articles of
clothing or consumption were from four to
eight times their usual price. A bushel of
salt was usually sold for 100 Ibs. of tobacco.
At the same time, these lands, and other
property, in which the money of the British
creditor was vested, were paying high taxes
for their own protection, and the debtor, as
nominal holder, stood ultimate insurer of
their value to the creditor, who was the real
proprietor, because they were bought with his
money. And who will estimate the value of
i, 81.
(1821.)
3995. INTEREST, Motives of.— The
known bias of the human mind from motives
of interest should lessen the confidence of
each party in the justice of their reasoning.—
To JAMES Ross, i, 562. FORD ED., iv, 218.
(P., 1786.)
3996. INTEREST, The passions and. —
Interest is not the strongest passion in the
human breast.— To JAMES Ross, i, 561. FORD
ED., iv, 217. (P., 1786.)
3997. INTEREST, Private.— In selecting
persons for the management of affairs, I am
influenced by neither personal nor family in
terests.— To DR. HORATIO TURPIN. v, 90.
(W., 1807.)
3998. . Bringing into office no
desires of making it subservient to the ad
vancement of my own private interests, it
has been no sacrifice, by postponing them, to
strengthen the confidence of my fellow citi
zens _TO DR. HORATIO TURPIN. v, 90. (W.,
1807.)
3999. INTEREST, Virtue and.— Virtue
and interest are inseparable.— To GEORGE LO
GAN. FORD ED., x, 69. (P.P., 1816.)
4000. INTEREST (Money), Forfeited.—
There is one rule of your [the English]
and our law, which, while it proves that every
title of debt is liable to a disallowance of in
terest under special circumstances, is so ap-
Gen-
of profit. The creditor says, indeed, he has
laid out of his money; he has, therefore, lost
the use of it. The debtor replies, that, if
the creditor has lost, he has not gained it;
that this may be a question between two par
ties, both of whom have lost. In that case,
the courts will not double the loss of the one,
to save all loss from the other. That is a rule
of natural as well as municipal law, that in
questions " de damno evitando melior est con-
ditio possidentis". If this maxim be just,
where each party is equally innocent, how
much more so, where the loss has been pro
duced by the act of the creditor? For, a
nation, as a society, forms a moral person,
and every member of it is personally re
sponsible for his society. It was the act of
the lender, or of his nation, which annihilated
the profits of the money lent ; he cannot then
demand profits which he either prevented
from coming into existence, or burned, or
otherwise destroyed, after they were pro
duced. If, then, there be no instrument, or
title of debt so formal and sacred as to give
right to interest under all possible circum
stances, and if circumstances of exemp
tion stronger than in the present case,
cannot possibly be found, then no in
strument or title of debt, however for
mal or sacred, can give right to interest
under the circumstances of our case. Let us
present the question in another point of view.
Your own law forbade the payment of in-
429
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Interest
Interim! Improvements
terest, when it forbade the receipt of Ameri
can produce into Great Britain, and made
that produce fair prize on its way from the
debtor to the creditor, or to any other, for
his use of reimbursement. All personal ac
cess between creditor and debtor was made
illegal; and the debtor who endeavored to
make a remitment of his debt, or interest,
must have done it three times, to ensure its
getting once to hand; for two out of three
vessels were generally taken by the creditor
nation, and, sometimes, by the creditor him
self, as many of them turned their trading
vessels into privateers. — To GEORGE HAM
MOND, iii, 418. FORD ED., vi, 58. (Pa., 1792.)
4001. INTEREST (Money), Law and
custom. — Nothing is said [in the treaty of
peace] of interest on these debts; and the
sole question is, whether, where a debt is
given, interest thereon flows from the general
principles of the law ? Interest is not a part
of the debt, but something added to the debt
by way of damage for the detention of it.
This is the definition of the English lawyers
themselves, who say, " Interest is recovered
by way of damages ratione detentionis de-
biti". 2 Salk. 622, 623. Formerly, all inter
est was considered as unlawful, in every
country of Europe. It is still so in Roman
Catholic countries, and countries little com
mercial. From this, as a general rule, a few
special cases are excepted. In France, par
ticularly, the exceptions are those of minors,
marriage portions, and money, the price of
lands. So thoroughly do their laws con
demn the allowance of interest, that a party
who has paid it voluntarily may recover it
back again whenever he pleases. Yet this
has never been taken up as a gross and fla
grant denial of justice, authorizing national
complaint against those governments. In
England, also, all interest was against law,
till the stat. 37, H. 8, c. 9. The growing
spirit of commerce, no longer restrained by
the principles of the Roman Church, then
first began to tolerate it. The same causes
produced the same effect in Holland, and,
perhaps, in some other commercial and Catho
lic countries. But, even in England, the al
lowance of interest is not given by express
law, but rests on the discretion of judges and
juries, as the arbiters of damages. — To GEORGE
HAMMOND, iii, 416. FORD ED., vi, 57. (Pa.,
1792.)
4002. INTEREST (Money), Right to.—
There is not a single title to debt so formal
and sacred as to give a right to interest
under all possible circumstances either in
England or America. — To MR. HAMMOND, iii,
426. (1792.)
4003. INTEREST (Money), Sacred obli
gation. — A sacred payment of interest is the
only way to make the most of our resources,
and a sense of that renders your income
from our funds more certain than mine from
lands.— To WILLIAM SHORT, vi, 402. (M.,
1814-)
4004. INTEREST (Money), Tax for.—
The new government should by no means be
left by the old, to the necessity of borrowing
a stiver, before it can tax for its interest.
This will be to destroy the credit of the new
government in its birth. — To JAMES MADISON.
ii, 378. (P., 1788.)
4005. INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS,
Advocated. — I experience great satisfaction
at seeing my country proceed to facilitate the
intercommunications of its several parts, by
opening rivers, canals and roads. How much
more rational is this disposal of public money,
than that of waging war. — To JAMES Ross, i,
560. FORD ED., iv, 216. (P., 1786.)
4006. INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS,
Constitutional Amendment. — For authority
to apply the surplus [taxes imposed for the
support of the government and the payment
of the Revolutionary debt] to objects of [in
ternal] improvement, an amendment of the
Constitution would have been necessary. — To
J. W. EPPES. vi, 195. FORD ED., ix, 395.
(P.F., Sep. 1813.)
4007. . Supposing that it might
be for the good of the whole, as some of its
co-States seem to think, that this power of
making roads and canals should be added to
those directly given to the Federal branch,
as more likely to be systematically and bene
ficially directed, than by the independent ac
tion of the several States, this Common
wealth [Virginia], from respect to these opin
ions, and a desire of conciliation with its
co-States, will consent, in concurrence with
them, to make this addition, provided it be
done regularly by an amendment of the com
pact, in the way established by that instru
ment, and provided, also, it be sufficiently
guarded against abuses, compromises, and
corrupt practices, not only of possible, but o£
probable occurrence. — VIRGINIA PROTEST. ixt
499. FORD ED., x, 352. (1825.)
4008. INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS,
Demand for. — I have for some time con
sidered the question of internal improvement
as desperate. The torrent of general opinion
sets so strongly in favor of it as to be ir
resistible. — To JAMES MADISON, vii, 422.
FORD ED., x, 348. (M., 1825.)
4009. INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS,
Provision for.— I am a great friend to the
improvement of roads, canals, and schools.
But I wish I could see some provision for the
former as solid as that of the latter, — some
thing better than fog.— To CHARLES YANCEY.
vi, 517. FORD ED., x, 4. (M., 1816.)
4010. INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS,
Reserved Powers.— [The Federal author-
ties] claim and have commencel the exercise
of the right to construct roads, open canals,
and effect other internal improvements within
the territories and jurisdictions exclusively be
longing to the several States, which this As
sembly [Virginia] does declare has not been
given to that branch by the constitutional
compact, but remains to each State among its
Internal Improvements THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
430
domestic and unalienated powers, exercisable
within itself and by its domestic authorities
alone. — VIRGINIA PROTEST, ix, 497. FORD ED.,
x, 350. (1825.)
4011. INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS,
State rights and. — When we consider the
extensive and deep-seated opposition to this
assumption [power of Internal Improve
ments], the conviction entertained by so
many, that this deduction of powers by elab
orate construction prostrates the rights re
served to the States, the difficulties with
which it will rub along in the course of its
exercise; that changes of majorities will be
changing the system backwards and forwards,
so that no undertaking under it will be safe;
that there is not a State in the Union which
would not give the power willingly, by way
of amendment, with some little guard, per
haps, against abuse; I cannot but think it
would be the wisest course to ask an ex
press grant of the powers. * * * This
would render its exercise smooth and accept
able to all and insure to it all the facilities
which the States could contribute, to prevent
that kind of abuse which all will fear, because
all know it is so much practiced in public
bodies, I mean the bartering of votes. It
would reconcile everyone, if limited by the
proviso, that the* federal proportion of each
State should be expended within the State.
With this single security against partiality
and corrupt bargaining, I suppose there is not
a State, perhaps not a man in the Union, who
would not consent to add this to the powers
of the General Government. — To EDWARD LIV
INGSTON, vii, 343. FORD ED., x, 300. (M.,
1824.)
4012. INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS,
Surplus taxes and. — The fondest wish of
my heart ever was that the surplus portion of
these taxes, destined for the payment of that
[Revolutionary] debt, should, when that ob
ject was accomplished, be continued by an
nual or biennial reenactments, and applied,
in time of peace, to the improvement of our
country by canals, roads and useful institu
tions, literary or others; and in time of war
to the maintenance of the war. — To J. W.
EPPES. vi, 195. FORD ED., ix, 395. (P.F.,
1813.)
4013. . We consider the employ
ment [in public improvements] of the con
tributions which our citizens can spare, after
feeding, and clothing, and lodging themselves
comfortably, as more useful, more moral, and
even more splendid, than that preferred by
Europe, of destroying human life, labor, and
happiness. — To BARON VON HUMBOLDT. vii,
75. FORD ED., x, 89. (M., 1817.)
4014. INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS,
Veto of Bill for. — An act for internal im
provement, after passing both Houses, was
negatived by the President. The act was
founded, avowedly, on the principle that the
phrase in the Constitution which authorizes
Congress " to lay taxes, to pay the debts and
provide for the general welfare ", was an ex
tension of the powers specifically enumerated
to whatever would promote the general welfare ;
and this, you know, was the federal doctrine.
Whereas, our tenet ever was, and, indeed, it
is almost the only landmark which now
divides the federalists from the republicans,
that Congress had not unlimited powers to
provide for the general welfare, but were re
strained to those specifically enumerated ; and
that, as it was never meant they should pro
vide for that welfare but by the exercise of
the enumerated powers, so it could not have
been meant they should raise money for pur
poses which the enumeration did not place
under their action; consequently, that the
specification of powers is a limitation of the
purposes for which they may raise money. I
think the passage and rejection of this bill a
fortunate incident. Every State will certainly
concede the power; and this will be a national
confirmation of the grounds of appeal to
them, and will settle forever the meaning of
this phrase, which, by a mere grammatical
quibble, has countenanced the General Gov
ernment in a claim of universal power. For
in the phrase, " to lay taxes, to pay the
debts and provide for the general welfare ",
it is a mere question of syntax, whether the
two last infinitives are governed by the first
or are distinct and coordinate powers ; a ques
tion unequivocally decided by the exact def
inition of powers immediately following. It
is fortunate for another reason, as the States,
in conceding the power, will modify it, either
by requiring the Federal ratio of expense in
each State, or otherwise, so as to secure us
against its partial exercise. Without this
caution, intrigue, negotiation, and the barter
of votes might become as habitual in Con
gress, as they are in those Legislatures which
have the appointment of officers, and which,
with us, is called " logging ", the term of
the farmers for their exchanges of aid in roll
ing together the logs of their newly-cleared
grounds. — To ALBERT GALLATIN. vii, 78.
FORD ED., x, 91. (M., 1817.)
4015. INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS,
War and. — Farewell, then [should war with
England take place], all our useful improve
ments of canals and roads, reformation of
laws, and other rational employments. — To
JAMES Ross, i, 563. FORD ED., iv, 219. (P.,
1786.)
4016. . Give us peace till our
revenues are liberated from debt, and then,
if war be necessary, it can be carried on with
out a new tax or loan, and during peace we
may chequer our whole country with canals,
roads, &c. This is the object to which all
our endeavors should be directed. — To MR.
LIEPER. v, 296. (M., May 1808.)
4017. . The late pacification with
England gives us a hope of eight years of
peaceable and wise administration, within
which time our revenue will be liberated from
debt, and be free to commence that splendid
course of public improvement and wise ap
plication of the public contributions, of which
it remains for us to set the first example. — To
DR. E. GRIFFITH, v, 451. (M., May 1809.)
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Internal Improvements
Inventions
4018. INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS,
Western people and.— A majority of the
people are against us on this question. The
Western States have especially been bribed by
local considerations to abandon their ancient
brethren, and enlist under banners alien to
them in principles and interest. — To WILLIAM
F. GORDON. FORD ED., x, 338. (M., Jan. 1826.)
4019. INTOLERANCE, Defiance of.— I
never will, by any word or act, bow to the
shrine of intolerance, or admit a right of in
quiry into the religious opinions of others. —
To EDWARD DOWSE, iv, 478. (1803.)
4020. INTOLERANCE, Delusion
through. — Your part of the Union, though as
absolutely republican as ours, had drunk
deeper of the delusion, and is, therefore,
slower in recovering from it. The aegis of
government, and the temples of religion and
of justice, have all been prostrated there to
toll us back to the times when we burned
witches. But your people will rise again.
They will awake like Samson from his
sleep, and carry away the gates and posts of
the city. — To ELBRIDGE GERRY, iv, 390. FORD
ED., viii, 41. (W., March 1801.)
4021. INTOLERANCE, Religious and
political. — Having banished from our land
that religious intolerance under which man
kind so long bled and suffered, we have yet
gained little if we countenance a political in
tolerance as despotic, as wicked, and capable
of as bitter and bloody persecutions. — FIRST
INAUGURAL ADDRESS, viii, 2. FORD EDV viii,
2. (1801.)
4022. INTOLERANCE, Victims.— I
have seen with great grief yourself and so
many other venerable patriots, retired and
weeping in silence over the rapid subversion
of those principles for the attachment of
which you had sacrificed the ease and com
forts of life; but I rejoice that you have
lived to see us revindicate our rights, and re
gain manfully the ground from which fraud,
not force, had for a moment driven us. — To
GENERAL WARREN, iv, 375. (W., 1801.)
4023. INTRIGUE, Abhorrence of.— I
meddled in no intrigues, pursued no concealed
object. — AUTOBIOGRAPHY, i, 65. FORD ED., i,
91. (1821.)
4024. INTRODUCTION (Letters of),
Apology for. — Solicitations, which cannot be
directly refused, oblige me to trouble you often,
with letters recommending and introducing to
you persons who go hence from America. I
will beg the favor of you to distinguish the let
ters wherein I appeal to recommendations from
other persons, from those which I write on my
own knowledge. In the former, it is never my
intention to compromit myself, nor you. In
both instances, I must beg you to ascribe the
trouble I give you to circumstances which do
not leave me at liberty to decline it. — To JAMES
MADISON, ii, 447. FORD ED., v, 48. (P., 1788.}
4025. INTRODUCTION (Letters of),
Refused. — I have been obliged to make it a
rule to give no letters of introduction while in
my present office. — To JAMES MONROE. FORD
ED., viii, 286. (W., 1804.)
4026. INTRODUCTION (Letters of),
Value of. — It is rendering mutual service to
men of virtue and understanding to make them
acquainted with one another. — To DR. PRICE
", 354- (P-, 1788.)
4027. INVASION, Not feared.— I as lit
tle fear foreign invasion [as domestic insur
rection]. I have indeed thought it a duty to
be prepared to meet even the most powerful,
that of a Bonaparte, for instance, by the only
means competent, that of a classification of
the militia, and placing the junior classes at
the public disposal ; but the lesson he receives
in Spain extirpates all apprehensions from my
mind. If, in a peninsula, the neck of which is
adjacent to him and at his command, where
he can march any army without the possibility
of interception or obstruction from any for
eign power, he finds it necessary to begin with
an army of three hundred thousand men,
to subdue a nation of five millions, brutalized
by ignorance, and enervated by long peace,
and should find constant reinforcements of
thousands after thousands, necessary to effect
at last a conquest as doubtful as deprecated,
what numbers would be necessary against
eight millions of free Americans, spread over
such an extent of country as would wear him
down by mere marching, by want of food,
autumnal diseases, &c. ? How would they be
brought, and how reinforced across an ocean
of three thousand miles, in possession of a
bitter enemy, whose peace, like the repose of
a dog, is never more than momentary? And
for what? For nothing but hard blows. If
the Orleanese Creoles would but contem
plate these truths, they would cling to the
American Union, soul and body, as their
first affection, and we would be as safe there
as we are everywhere else. — To DR. JAMES
BROWN, v, 379. FORD EDV ix, 211. (W.,
1808.)
4028. INVENTIONS, Air screw pro
peller. — I went some time ago to see a ma
chine which offers something new. A man
had applied to a light boat a very large screw,
the thread of which was a thin plate, two feet
broad, applied by its edge spirally around a
small axis. It somewhat resembled a bottle
brush, if you will suppose the hairs of the bottle
brush joining together, and forming a spiral
plane. This, turned on its axis in the air, car
ried the vessel across the Seine. It is, in fact,
a screw which takes hold of the air and draws
itself along by it; losing, indeed, much of its
effort by the yielding nature of the body it lays
hold of to pull itself on by. I think it may
be applied in the water with much greater ef
fect and to very useful purposes. Perhaps it
may be used also for the balloon. — To PROFES
SOR JAMES MADISON, i, 447. (P., 1785.)
4029. INVENTIONS, Copying press.—
When I was in England, I formed a portable
copying press on the principle of the large one
they make here [Paris] for copying letters.
I had a model made there, and it has answered
perfectly. A workman here has made several
from that model. * * * You must do me the
favor to accept of one. — To WILLIAM CAR-
MICHAEL, ii, 81. FORD ED., iv, 347. (P., 1786.)
4030. INVENTIONS, Essence d'Orient.
— The manner of curing the Essence d'Orient
Inventions
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
432
is, as you are apprised, kept secret here
[Paris]. There is no getting at it, there
fore, openly, A friend has undertaken to try
whether it can be obtained either by proposing
the partnership you mention, or by finding out
the process. — To FRANCIS HOPKINSON. FORD
ED., iv, 270. (P., 1786.)
4031. . Your two phials of Es
sence d'Orient * * * got separated from the
letters which accompanied them. * * * The
pearl merchant * * * said you had a very con
siderable knowledge in the manner of prepar
ing, but that there was still one thing wanting
which made the secret of the art ; that this is
not only a secret of the art, but of every in
dividual workman who will not communicate to
his fellows, believing his own method best;
that of ten different workmen, all will practice
different operations, and only one of the ten be
the right one ; that the secret consists only In
preparing the fish, all the other parts of the
process in the pearl manufactory being known.
That experience has provide it to be absolutely
impossible for the matter to cross the sea with
out being spoiled ; but that if you will send
some in the best state you can, he will make
pearls of it, and send to you that you may judge
of them yourself. — To FRANCIS HOPKINSON. ii,
202. (P., 1787.)
4032. INVENTIONS, Teller Hydrau-
lique. — I am thankful to you for the trouble
you have taken in thinking of the felier hy-
draulique. To be. put in motion by the same
power which was to continue the motion was
certainly wanting to that machine, as a better
name still is. I would not give you the trouble
of having a model made, as I have workmen
who can execute from the drawing. — To ROBERT
FULTON, v, 517. (M., 1810.)
4033. INVENTIONS, Government in
terposition.— Though the interposition of
government in matters of invention has its use,
yet it is in practice so inseparable from abuse
that the government of my country think it bet
ter not to meddle with it. — To M. HOMMANDE.
ii, 236. (P., 1787.)
4034. INVENTIONS, Hemp-brake.—
The braking and beating hemp, which has
been always done by hand, is so slow, so la
borious, and so much complained of by our la
borers, that I had given it up and purchased and
manufactured cotton for their shirting. The
advanced price of this, however, makes it a
serious item of expense ; and, in the meantime,
a method of removing the difficulty of prepar
ing hemp occurred to me, so simple and so
cheap, that I return to its culture and manu
facture. To a person having a threshing ma
chine, the addition of a hemp-brake will not
cost more than twelve or fifteen dollars. You
know that the first mover in that machine is a
horizontal horse-wheel with cogs on its upper
face. On these is placed a wallower and shaft,
which give motion to the threshing apparatus.
On the opposite side of this same wheel I place
another wallower and shaft, through which, and
near its outer end, I pass a cross-arm of suf
ficient strength, projecting on each side fifteen
inches in this form :
Nearly under the cross-arm is placed a very
strong hemp-brake, much stronger and heavier
than those for the hand. Its head block particu
larly is massive, and four feet high, and near its
upper end in front, is fixed a strong pin (which
we may call its horn) ; by this the cross-arm lifts
and lets fall the brake twice in every revolution
of the wallower. * * * Something of this kind
has been so long wanted by the cultivators of
hemp, that as soon as I can speak of its effect
with certainty I shall probably describe it
anonymously in the public papers, in order to
forestall the prevention of its use by some in
terloping patentee. — To GEORGE FLEMING, vi,
506. (M., 1815.)
— INVENTIONS, Patents for.— See
PATENTS.
4035. INVENTIONS, Pedometer.— I
send your pedometer. To the loop at the bottom
of it, you must sew a tape, and at the other
end of the tape, a small hook. * * * Cut a lit
tle hole in the bottom of your left watch pocket,
pass the hook and tape tnrough it, and down
between the breeches and drawers, and fix the
hook on the edge of your knee band, an inch
from the knee buckle ; then hook the instrument
itself by its swivel hook, on the upper edge of
the watch pocket. Your tape being well ad
justed in length. Your double steps will be ex
actly counted by the instrument. — To JAMES
MADISON, ii, 379. (P., 1788.)
4036. INVENTIONS, Polygraph.— A
Mr. Hawkins, of Frankford, near Philadelphia,
has invented a machine which he calls a poly
graph, and which carries two, three, or four
pens. That of two pens, is best ; and is so per
fect that I have laid aside the copying press,
for a twelve-month past, and write always with
the polygraph. I have directed one to be made,
of which I ask your acceptance. — To C. F.
VOLNEY. iv, 572. (W., 1805.)
4037. . It is for copying with
one pen while you write with the other, and
without the least additional embarrassment or
exertion to the writer. I think it the finest in
vention of the present age. * * * As a secre
tary which copies for us what we write without
the power of revealing it, I find it a most
precious possession to a. man in public busi
ness. — To JAMES BOWDOIN. vi, 17. (W., 1806.)
4038. INVENTIONS, Preserving flour.
— Every discovery which multiplies the sub
sistence of man must be a matter of joy to every
friend of humanity. As such, I learn with
great satisfaction, that you have found the
means of preserving flour more perfectly than
has been done hitherto. But I am not author
ized to avail my country of it, by making any
offer to its communication. Their policy is to
leave their citizens free, neither restraining
nor aiding them in their pursuits. — To MON
SIEUR L'HOMMANDE. ii, 236. (P., 1787.)
4039. INVENTIONS, Seed box.— The
seed-box described in the agricultural transac
tions of New York, reduces the expense of seed
ing from six shillings to two shillings and three
pence the acre, and does the business better
than is possible to be done by the human hand.
— To JAMES MADISON, iv, 117. FORD ED., vii,
n. (M., I795-)
4040. INVENTIONS, Stylograph.— The
apparatus for stylographic writing * * * is cer
tainly very ingenious. * * * I had never heard
of the invention till your letter announced it,
for these novelties reach us very late. — To
WILLIAM LYMAN. v, 270. (W., 1808.)
4041. INVENTIONS, Threshing ma
chine. — My threshing machine has arrived at
433
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Inventions
Ireland
New York. Mr. Pinckney writes me word that
the original from which this is copied threshes
one hundred and fifty bushels of wheat in eight
hours, with six horses and five men. It may be
moved either by water or horses. Fortunately
the workman who made it (a millwright) is
come in the same vessel to America. I have
written to persuade him to go on immediately
to Richmond, offering him the use of my model
to exhibit, and to give him letters to get him
into immediate employ in making them. — To
JAMES MADISON, iv, 54. FORD ED., vi, 403. (Pa.,
I793-)
4042. INVENTIONS, Useful.— I am not
afraid of new inventions or improvements, nor
bigoted to the practices of our forefathers.
* * * Where a new invention is supported by
well known principles, and promises to be use
ful, it ought to be tried. — To ROBERT FULTON.
v, 516. (M., 1810.) See TORPEDO.
4043. INVENTIONS, Wooden wheels.
— I was in Philadelphia when the first set of
wheels arrived from London, and were spoken
of by the gentleman (an Englishman) who
brought them as a wonderful discovery. The
idea of its being a new discovery was laughed
at by the Philadelphians, who, in their Sun
day parties across the Delaware, had seen every
farmer's cart mounted on such wheels. The
writer in the paper supposes the English work
man got his idea from Homer. But it is more
likely the Jersey farmer got his idea thence,
because ours are the only farmers who can read
Homer ; because, too, the Jersey practice is pre
cisely that stateu by Homer : the English prac
tice very different, homer's words are (com
paring a young hero killed by Ajax to a poplar
felled by a workman) literally thus : " He fell
on the ground, like a poplar, which has grown
smooth, in the west part of a great meadow :
with its branches shooting from its summit.
But the chariot maker, with the sharp axe
has felled it, that he may bend a wheel for a
beautiful chariot. It lies drying on the banks
of the river." Observe the circumstances which
coincide with the Jersey practice, i. It is a
tree growing in a moist place, full of juices and
easily bent. 2. It is cut while green. 3. It is
bent into the circumference of a wheel. 4. It
is left to dry in that form. You should write
a line for the Journal to reclaim the honor or
our farmers. — To M. DE CREVECOEUR. ii, 97.
(P., 1787-)
4044. . I see by the Journal that
they are robbing us of another of our inventions
to give it to the English. The writer, indeed,
only admits them to have revived what he
thinks was known to the Greeks, that is, the
making the circumference of a wheel of one
single piece. The farmers in New Jersey were
the first who practiced it commonly. Dr. Frank
lin, in one of his trips to London, mentioned
this practice to the man now in London, who
has the patent for making those wheels. The
idea struck him. The Doctor promised to go
to his shop, and assist him in trying to make
the wheel of one piece. The Jersey farmers
do it by cutting a young sapling, and bending
it, while green and juicy, into a circle; and
leaving it so until it becomes perfectly sea
soned. But in London there are no saplings.
The difficulty was, then, to give to old wood the
pliancy of young. The Doctor and the work
man labored together some weeks, and succeed
ed : and the man obtained a patent for it,
which has made his fortune. I was in his shop
in London : he told me the story himself, and
acknowledged, not onlv the origin of the idea,
but how much the assistance of Dr. Franklin
had contributed to perform the operation on
dry wood. He spoke of him with love and
gratitude. — To M. DE CREVECOEUR. ii, 97. (P.,
1787.)
4045. INVENTORS, Rights of.— It has
been pretended by some (and in England
especially) that inventors have a natural and
exclusive right to their inventions, and not
merely for their own lives, but inheritable to
their heirs. But while it is a moot question
whether the origin of any kind of property is
derived from nature at all., it would be sin
gular to admit a natural and even an hereditary
right to inventors. It is agreed by those who
have seriously considered the subject, that
no individual has, of natural right, a separate
property in an acre of land, for instance. By
an universal law, indeed, whatever, whether
fixed or movable, belongs to all men equally and
in common, is the property for the moment of
him who occupies it ; but when he relinquishes
the occupation, the property goes with it. Sta
ble ownership is the gift of social law, and \ci
given late in the progress of society. It would
be curious, then, if an idea, the fugitive
fermentation of an individual brain, could, of
natural right, be claimed in exclusive and sta
ble property. If nature has made any one thing
less susceptible than all others of exclusive
property, it is the action of the thinking power
called an idea, which an individual may ex
clusively possess as long as he keeps it to him
self ; but the moment it is divulged, it forces
itself into the possession of every one, and the
receiver cannot dispossess himself of it. Its
peculiar character, too, is that no one possesses
the less, because every other possesses the whole
of it. He who receives an idea from me, re
ceives instruction himself without lessening
mine ; as he who lights his taper at mine, re
ceives light without darkening mine. That
ideas should freely spread from one to another
over the globe, for the moral and mutual in
struction of man, and improvement of his con
dition, seems to have been peculiarly and
benevolently designed by nature. When she
made them like fire, expansible over all space,
without lessening their density in any point,
and like the air in which we breathe, move,
and have our physical being, incapable of con
finement or exclusive appropriation. Inventions
then cannot, in nature, be a subject of prop
erty. Society may give an exclusive right to the
profits arising from them, as an encourage
ment to men to pursue ideas which may produce
utility, but this may or may not be done ac
cording to the will and convenience of the
society, without claim or complaint from any
body. Accordingly, it is a fact, as far as I am
informed, that England was, until we copied
her the only country on earth which ever, by a
general law, gave a legal right to the exclusive
use of an idea. In some countries it is some
times done, in a great case, and by a special
and personal act, but generally speaking, other
nations have thought that these monopolies pro
duce more embarrassment than advantage to
society ; and it may be observed that the nations
which refuse monopolies of invention, are as
fruitful as England in new and useful de
vices. — To ISAAC MCPHERSON. vi, 180. (M.,
1813.)
4046. IRELAND, America and.— You
shall find me zealous in whatever may con
cern the interests of the two countries.
[United States and Ireland.]— To W. W.
SEWARD. i, 479. (P., 1785.)
4047. - — . The freedom of com
merce between Ireland and America is un-
Ireland
Jackson (Andrew)
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
434
doubtedly very interesting to both countries.
If fair play be given to the natural advan
tages of Ireland, she must come in for a
distinguished share of that commerce. She is
entitled to it from the excellence of some of
her manufactures, the cheapness of most of
them, their correspondence with the Ameri
can taste, a sameness of language, laws and
manners, a reciprocal affection between the
people, and the singular circumstance of her
being the nearest European land to the
United States.*— To W. W. SEWARD. i, 478.
(P., 1785.)
4048. . The defeat of the Irish
propositions is also in our favor. — To JAMES
MADISON, i, 414. (P., 1785.)
4049. IRELAND, Commerce.— It is to be
considered how far an exception in favor of
Ireland in our commercial regulations might
embarrass the councils of England on the one
hand, and on the other how far it might give
room to an evasion of the regulations. — To
JAMES MONROE. FORD ED., iv, 41. (P.,
1785.)
4050. . I am sure the United
States would be glad, if it should be found
practicable, to make that discrimination be
tween Great Britain and Ireland, which their
commercial principles, and their affection for
the latter, would dictate. — To W. W. SEWARD.
i, 479. (P., 1785.)
4051. . I am not at present so
well acquainted with the trammels of Irish com
merce, as to know what they are, partic
ularly, which obstruct the intercourse between
Ireland and America ; nor, therefore, ^ what
can be the object of a fleet stationed in the
western ocean, to intercept that intercourse.
Experience, however, has taught us to infer
that the fact is probable, because it is impo
lite.— To W. W. SEWARD. i, 478. (P., 1785.)
4052. IRELAND, Great Britain and.—
Bonaparte * * * seems to be looking
towards the East Indies, where a most for
midable cooperation has been prepared for de
molishing the British power. I wish the af
fairs of Ireland were as hopeful. — To JAMES
MADISON, iv, 280. FORD ED., vii, 341. (Pa.,
Jan. 1799-)
_ IRISH, The.— See 474 and 480.
4053. IRON, Indians and.— Nothing I
have ever yet heard of proves the existence of a
nation here who knew the use of iron. I have
never heard even of burnt bricks, though they
might be made without iron. The statue you
* * * send me would, because of the hardness
of the stone, be a better proof of the use of iron
than I ever yet saw ; but as it is a solitary
fact, and possible to have been made with im
plements of stone, and great patience, for
which the Indians are remarkable, I consider
it to have been so made. It is certainly the best
piece of workmanship I ever saw from their
hands. — To HARRY INNESS. iii, 217. FORD ED.,
v, 294- (Pa., 1791-)
4054. IRON, Swedish. — We cannot make
iron in competition with Sweden, or any other
* Mr. Seward, by direction of the associated com
pany of Irish merchants in London, had written to
Jefferson on the subject. — EDITOR.
nation of Europe, where labor is so much
cheaper. — To JOHN ADAMS, i, 493. (P., 1785.)
4055. — . The United States have
much occasion for the productions of Sweden,
particularly for its iron. — To BARON STAHE.
FORD ED., iv, 242. (P., 1786.)
4056. IVERNOIS (Francois d'), Patriot.
— M. d'lvernois is a Genevan of considerable
distinction for science and patriotism, and that,
too, of the republican kind, though he does not
carry it so far as our friends of the National
Assembly of France. While I was in Paris,
I knew him as an exile from his democratic
principles, the aristocracy having then the upper
hand in Geneva. He is now obnoxious to the
democratic party. — To WILSON NICHOLAS, iv,
109. FORD ED., vi, 513. (M., 1794.) See
ACADEMY, GENEVA.
4057. JACKSON (Andrew), Faithful.—
Be assured that Tennessee, and particularly
General Jackson are faithful. * — To GENERAL
WILKINSON, v, 25. FORD ED., ix, 2. (W.,
Jan. 1807.)
4058. JACKSON (Andrew), Invitation
to. — In your passages to and from Washing
ton, should your travelling convenience ever
permit a deviation to Monticello, I shall re
ceive you with distinguished welcome. * * *
I recall with pleasure the remembrance of our
joint labors while in Senate together in times
of great trial and of hard battling. Battles,
indeed, of words, not of blood, as those you
have since fought so much for your own glory,,
and that of your country. — To ANDREW JACK
SON. FORD ED., x, 286. (M., 1823.)
4059. JACKSON (Andrew), Life of.— I
have lately read, with great pleasure, Reid and
Eaton's Life of Jackson, if " Life " may be
called what is merely a history of his cam
paign of 1814. Reid's part is well written.
Eaton's continuation is better for its matter
than style. The whole, however, is valuable. —
To JOHN ADAMS, vii, 82. (P.P., 1817.)
4060. JACKSON (Andrew), Passionate.
— I feel much alarmed at the prospect of see
ing General Jackson President. He is one of
the most unfit men I know of for such a place.
He has had very little respect for laws or con
stitutions, and is, in fact, an able military chief.
His passions are terrible. When I was Presi
dent of the Senate he was a Senator ; and he
could never speak on account of the rashness
of his feelings. I have seen him attempt it
repeatedly, and as often choke with rage. His
passions are no doubt cooler now ; he has been
much tried since I knew him, but he is a dan
gerous man. — DANIEL WEBSTER'S INTERVIEW
WITH JEFFERSON. FORD ED., x, 331. (1824.)
4061. JACKSON (Andrew), Presiden
tial contest. — A threatening cloud has very
suddenly darkened [General Jackson's] horizon.
A letter has become public, written by him when
Colonel Monroe first came into office, advi
sing him to make up his administration without
regard to party. (No suspicion has been enter
tained of any indecision in his political prin
ciples, and this evidence of it threatens a revo
lution of opinion respecting him. t ) The solid
republicanism of Pennsylvania, his principal
support, is thrown into great fermentation by
* The reference is to Aaron Burr's enterprise.-—
EDITOR.
t This sentence was struck out.— NOTE IN FORD
EDITION.
435
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Jackson (Andrew)
Jay (John)
this apparent indifference to political principle.
— To RICHARD RUSH. FORD ED., x, 304.
(1824.)
4062. JACKSON (Andrew), Seminole
War and. — I observe Ritchie imputes to you
and myself opinions against Jackson's conduct
in the Seminole war. I certainly never doubted
that the military entrance into Florida, the tem
porary occupation of their posts, and the ex
ecution of Arbuthnot and Ambrister were all
justifiable. * * * I at first felt regret at the
execution ; but I have ceased to feel [manu
script torn] on mature reflection, and a belief
the example will save much blood. — To JAMES
MADISON. FORD ED., x, 124. (M., 1819.)
4063. JACOBINS, Battle for liberty.—
In the struggle which was necessary, many
guilty persons fell without the forms of trial,
and with them some innocent. These I deplore
as much as anybody, and shall deplore some of
them to the day of my death. But I deplore
them as I should have done had they fallen in
battle. It was necessary to use the arm of the
people, a machine not quite so blind as balls
and bombs, but blind to a certain degree. A
few of their cordial friends met at their hands
the fate of enemies. But time and truth will
rescue and embalm their memories, while their
posterity will be enjoying that very liberty for
which they would never have hesitated to offer
up their lives. The liberty of the whole earth
was depending on the issue of the contest, and
was ever such a prize won with so little innocent
blood? My own affections have been deeply
wounded by some of the martyrs to this cause,
but rather than it should have failed I would
have seen half the earth desolated ; were there
but an Adam and Eve left in every country,
and left free, it would be better than as it
now is. — To WILLIAM SHORT, iii, 502. FORD
ED., vi, 153. (Pa., January 1793-)
4064. JACOBINS, Censured.— The tone
of your letters had for some time given me pain,
on account of the extreme warmth with which
they censured the proceedings of the Jacobins
of France. I considered that sect as the same
with the republican patriots, and the Feuillants
as the monarchical patriots, well known in the
early part of the Revolution, and but little dis
tant in their views, both having in object the
establishment of a free constitution, differing
only on the question whether their chief Ex
ecutive should be hereditary or not. The Ja
cobins (as since called) yielded to the Feuil
lants, and tried the experiment of retaining
their hereditary Executive. The experiment
failed completely, and would have brought on
the reestablishment of despotism had it been
pursued. The Jacobins saw this, and that the
expunging that office was of absolute necessity.
And the nation was with them in opinion, for
however they might have been formerly for
the constitution framed by the first assembly,
they were come over from their hope in it,
and were now generally Jacobins. — To WILLIAM
SHORT, iii, 501. FORD ED., vi, 153. (Pa., Jan
uary 1793.)
4065. JACOBINS, Degeneration.— The
society of Jacobins was instituted on principles
and views as virtuous as ever kindled the hearts
of patriots. It was the pure patriotism of their
purposes which extended their association to
the limits of the nation, and rendered their
power within it boundless ; and it was this
power which degenerated their principles and
practices to such enormities as never before
could have been imagined. — To JEDEDIAH
MORSE, vii, 235, FORD ED., x, 205. (M., 1822.)
4066. JACOBINS, Favorable to Amer
ica. — The Jacobin party cannot but be favor
able to America. Notwithstanding the very
general abuse of the Jacobins, I begin to con
sider them as representing the true revolution-
spirit of the whole nation, and as carrying the
nation with them. — To JAMES MADISON. FORD
ED., vi, 96. (Pa., June 1792.)
4067. JACOBINS, Inexperience.— The
only things wanting with the Jacobins is more
experience in business, and a little more con
formity to the established style of communica
tion with foreign powers. The latter want will,
I fear, bring enemies into the field, who would
have remained at home. The former leads them
to domineer over their executive, so as to ren
der it unequal to its proper objects. — To JAMES
MADISON. FORD ED., vi, 96. (Pa., 1792.)
4068. JACOBINS, Kepublicanism.— The
reserve of President Washington had never per
mitted me to discover the light in which he
viewed [your censure of the Jacobins], and
as I was more anxious that you should satisfy
him than me, I had still avoided explanations
with you on the subject. But your letter in
duced him to break silence, and to notice the
extreme acrimony of your expressions. He
added that he had been informed the sentiments
you expressed in your conversations were equal
ly offensive to our allies, and that you should
consider yourself as the representative of your
country, and that what you say might be im
puted to your constituents. He desired me,
therefore, to write to you on this subject. He
added that he considered France as the sheet
anchor of this country, and its friendship as a
first object. There are in the United States
some characters of opposite principles ; some of
them are high in office, others possessing great
wealth, and all of them hostile to France, and
fondly looking to England as the staff of their
hope. * * * Their prospects have certainly not
brightened. Excepting them, this country is en
tirely republican, friends to the Constitution,
anxious to preserve it, and to have it adminis
tered according to its own republican principles.
The little party above mentioned have espoused
it only as a stepping-stone to monarchy, and
have endeavored to approximate it to that in
its administration in order to render its final
transition more easy. The successes of republic
anism in France have given the coup de grace
to their prospects, and I hope to their projects.
— To WILLIAM SHORT, iii, 502. FORD ED., vi, 154.
(Pa., Jan. 1793-)
4069. JAY (John), Chief Justice.— Jay
[has been] nominated Chief Justice. We were
afraid of something worse. — To JAMES MADISON.
iv, 343. FORD ED., vii, 471. (W., Dec. 1800.)
4070. JAY (John), Monarchical princi
ples. — Jay, covering the same [monarchical]
principles under the veil of silence, is rising
steadily on the ruins of his friends. — To JAMES
MONROE, iii, 268. FORD ED., v, 352. (Pa., 1791.)
4071. JAY (John), Newspaper attacks.
— I observe by the public papers that Mr.
Littlepage has brought on a very disagreeable
altercation with Mr. Jay. in which he has given
to the character of the latter a coloring which
does not belong to it. * * * In truth it is
afflicting that a man who has passed his life in
serving the public, who has served them in the
highest stations with universal approbation, and
with a purity of conduct which has silenced
even party opprobrium ; who, though poor, has
never permitted himself to make a shilling in
the public employ, should yet be liable to have
Jay (John)
Jay '.Treaty
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
436
his peace of mind so much disturbed by any
individual who shall think proper to arraign
him in a newspaper. It is, however, an evil
for which there is no remedy. Our liberty de
pends on the freedom of the press, and that
cannot be limited without being lost. To the
sacrifice of time, labor, fortune, a public servant
must count upon adding that of peace of mind
and even reputation. — To DR. JAMES CURRIE.
FORD ED., iv, 131. (P., 1786.)
4072. . It is really to be la
mented that after a public servant has passed a
life in important and faithful services, after
having given the most plenary satisfaction in
every station, it should yet be in the power of
every individual to disturb his quiet, by arraign
ing him in a gazette and by obliging him to
act as if he needed a defence, an obligation im
posed on him by unthinking minds which never
give themselves the trouble of seeking a reflec
tion unless it is presented to them. However
it is a part of the price we pay for our liberty,,
which cannot be guarded but by the freedom of
the press, nor that be limited without danger of
losing it. To the loss of time, of labor, of
money, then, must be added that of quiet, to
which those must offer themselves who are ca
pable of serving the public * * * . Your
quiet may have suffered for a moment on this
occasion, but you have the strongest of all sup
ports, that of the public esteem. — To JOHN JAY.
FORD ED., iv, 186. (P., 1786.)
4073. JAY (John), Treaty-foundered.
— Mr. Jay and his advocate, " Camillus ", are
completely treaty-foundered. — To JAMES MON
ROE, iv, 149. FORD ED., vii, 90. (M., July
1796.)
4074. JAY (John), Tribute to.— I can-
not take my departure without paying to your
self and your worthy colleague my homage for
the good work you have completed for us, and
congratulating you on the singular happiness of
having borne so distinguished a part both in the
earliest and latest transactions of this Revolu
tion. * * * I am in hopes you will continue
at some one of the European courts most agree
able to yourself, that we may still have the
benefit of your talents. — To JOHN JAY. i, 332.
FORD ED., iii, 316. (Pa., April 1783.)
4075. JAY TREATY, Bad.— No man in
the United States has had the effrontery to af
firm that the treaty with England was not
a very bad one except A. H. [Alexander
Hamilton] under the signature of " Camil
lus ". Its most zealous defenders only pre
tended that it was better than war, as if war
was not invited, rather than avoided, by un
founded demands. I have never known the
public pulse beat so full and in such universal
union on any subject since the Declaration of
Independence. — To JAMES MONROE. FORD
ED., vii, 58. (M., March 1796.)
4076. JAY TREATY, Dissatisfaction
with. — So general a burst of dissatisfaction
never before appeared against any transaction.
Those who understand the particular articles
of it, condemn these articles. Those who dp
not understand them minutely, condemn it
generally as wearing a hostile face to France.
This last is the most numerous class, compre
hending the whole body of the people, who
have taken a greater interest in this trans
action than they were ever known to do in
any other. It has, in my opinion, completely
demolished the monarchical party here. — To
JAMES MONROE. FORD ED., vii, 27. (M., Sep.
I795-)
4077. . A very slight notice of
[the Jay treaty] sufficed to decide my mind
against it. I am not satisfied we should not
be better without treaties with any nation.
But I am satisfied we should be better with
out such as this. The public dissatisfaction,
too, and dissension it is likely to produce,
are serious evils. — To H. TAZEWELL. iv, 120.
FORD EDV vii, 30. (M., Sep. 1795.)
4078. JAY TREATY, Execrable.— I join
with you in thinking the treaty an execrable
thing. But both negotiators must have un
derstood, that, as there were articles in it
which could not be carried into execution
without the aid of the Legislatures on both
sides, that therefore it must be referred to
them, and that these Legislatures being free
agents, would not give it their support if
they disapproved of it. I trust the popular
branch of our Legislature will disapprove of
it, and thus rid us of this infamous act, which
is really nothing more than a treaty of al
liance between England and the Anglomen of
this country, against the Legislature and peo
ple of the United States.— To EDWARD RUT-
LEDGE, iv, 124. FORD ED., vii, 40. (M.,
Nov. 1 795.)
4079. JAY TREATY, House of repre
sentatives and.— [John] Marshall's doctrine
that the whole commercial part of the [Jay]
treaty (and he might have added the whole
unconstitutional part of it), rests in the power
of the House of Representatives, is certainly
the true doctrine ; and as the articles which
stipulate what requires the consent of the
three branches of the Legislature, must be re
ferred to the House of Representatives for
their concurrence, so they, being free agents,
may approve or reject them, either by a vote
declaring that, or by refusing to pass acts.
I should think the former mode the most safe
and honorable. — To JAMES MADISON. FORD
ED., vii, 38. (Nov. 1795.)
4080. . It is, indeed, surprising
you [the House of Representatives] have not
yet received the British treaty in form. I
presume you would never receive it were
not your cooperation on it necessary. — To
JAMES MADISON, iv, 131. FORD ED., vii, 62.
(M., March 1796.)
4081. . The British treaty has
been formally, at length, laid before Congress.
All America is on tiptoe to see what the
House of Representatives will decide on it.
We conceive the constitutional doctrine to be,
that though the President and Senate have
the general power of making treaties, yet,
whenever, they include in a treaty matters
confided by the Constitution to the three
branches of the Legislature, an act of legis
lation will be requisite to confirm these ar
ticles, and that the House of Representatives,
as one branch of the Legislature, are perfectly
free to pass the act or to refuse it, governing
themselves by their own judgment whether
437
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Jay Treaty
it is for the good of their constituents to let
the treaty go into effect or not. On the
precedent now to be set will depend the
future construction of our Constitution, and
whether the powers of legislation shall be
transferred from the President. Senate, and
House of Representatives, to the President
and Senate, and Piamingo or any other Indian,
Algerine, or other chief. It is fortunate that the
first decision is to be in a case so palpably
atrocious, as to have been predetermined by
all America. — To JAMES MONROE, iv, 134.
FORD ED., vii, 67. (M., March 1796.)
4082. . The House of Repre
sentatives has manifested its disapprobation
of the treaty. We are yet to learn whether
they will exercise their constitutional right of
refusing the means which depend on them
for carrying it into execution. Should they
be induced to lend their hand to it, it will be
hard swallowing with their constituents ; but
will be swallowed from the habits of order
and obedience to the laws which so much
distinguish our countrymen. — To JAMES
MONROE. FORD ED., vii, 59. (M., March 1796.)
4083. - — . Randolph seems to have
hit upon the true theory of our Constitution;
that when a treaty is made, involving matters
confided by the Constitution to the three
branches of the Legislature conjointly, the
Representatives are as free as the President
and Senate were, to consider whether the na
tional interest requires or forbids, their giv
ing the forms and force of law to the ar
ticles over which they have a power. — To
WM. B. GILES, iv, 125. FORD ED., vii, 41.
(M., Nov. 1795.)
4084. - — . I am well pleased with
the manner in which your House have tes
tified their sense of the treaty. While their
refusal to pass the original clause of the re
ported answer proved their condemnation of
it, the contrivance to let it disappear silently
respected appearances in favor of the Presi
dent, who errs as other men do, but errs with
integrity. — To W. B. GILES, iv, 125. FORD
ED., vii, 41. (M., Dec. 1795.)
4085. JAY TREATY, The Merchants
and. — The Chamber of Commerce in New
York, against the body of the town ; the mer
chants in Philadelphia, against the body of
their town, also, and our town of Alexandria
have come forward in its support. Some in
dividual champions also appear. Marshall,
Carrington, Harvey, Bushrod Washington,
Doctor Stewart. A more powerful one Is
Hamilton, under the signature of " Camil-
lus ". Adams holds his tongue with an
address above his character. — To JAMES MON
ROE. FORD ED., vii, 27. (M., Sep. 1795.)
4086. . The merchants were
certainly (except those of them who are
English) as open mouthed at first against the
treaty, as any. But the general expression of
indignation has alarmed them for the strength
of the Government. They have feared the
shock woul 1 be too great, and have chosen
to tack about and support both treaty and
Government, rather than risk the Govern
ment. Thus it is, that Hamilton, Jay, &c.,
in the boldest act they ever ventured on to
undermine the government, have the address
to screen themselves, and direct the hue and
cry against those who wish to drag them into
light. A bolder party-stroke was never
struck. For it certainly is an attempt of
a party, who find they have lost their majority
in one branch of the Legislature, to make a
law by the aid of the other branch and of
the Executive, under color of a treaty,
which shall bind up the hands of the adverse
branch from ever restraining the commerce
of their patron nation. There appears a pause
at present in the public sentiment, which may
be followed by a revulsion. This is the effect
of the desertion of the merchants, of the Pres
ident's chiding answer to Boston and Rich
mond, of the writings of " Curtius " and
" Camillus ", and of the quietism into which
the people naturally fall after first sensations
are over. — To JAMES MADISON, iv, 122. FORD
ED., vii, 32. (M., Sep. I795-)
4087. JAY TREATY, A millstone.—
Jay's treaty [should never] be quoted, or
looked at, or even mentioned. That form
will forever be a millstone round our necks
unless we now rid ourselves of it once for
all. — To PRESIDENT MADISON, v, 444. (M.,
April 1809.) ,
4088. JAY TREATY, Political effects
of. — The British treaty produced a schism
that went on widening and rankling till the
years '98 and '99. when a final dissolution of
all bonds, civil and social, appeared imminent.
In that awful crisis, the people awakened
from the frenzy into which they had been
thrown, began to return to their sober and
ancient principles, and have now become five-
sixths of one sentiment, to wit, for peace,
economy, and a government bottomed on
popular election in its legislative and execu
tive branches. — To BENJAMIN HAWKINS, iv,
465. FORD ED., viii, 212. (W., Feb. 1803.)
4089. JAY TREATY, Publication of.—
The treaty is now known here by a bold act
of duty in one of our Senators. — To JAMES
MONROE. FORD ED., vii, 28. (M., 1795.)
4090. JAY TREATY, Ratification.—
The campaign in Congress has closed. Though
the Anglomen,* have in the end got their
treaty through, and so have triumphed over
the cause of republicanism, yet it has been
to them a dear bought victory. It has given
* William Cobbett, who was then in the United
States, was one of the newspaper and pamphleteer
ing advocates of the ratification of the Jay treaty,
and against Jefferson and his followers. Cobbett,
after his return to England, writing to William Pitt,
:'n 1804, said with respect to the Jay treaty : " The im
portance of that victory to England it would, per
haps, be difficult to render intelligible to the mind of
Lord Melville, without the aid of a comparison • and,
therefore, it may be necessary to observe, that it was
infinitely more important than all his victories in the
West Indies put together, which latter victories cost
England thirty thousand men, and fifty millions of
money." Mr. Windham, in the House of Commons,
referring to this service of Cobbett, said that Cob
bett had u rendered in America such service to his
country as entitled him to a statue of gold". — ED
ITOR.
Jealousy
Jefferson (Thomas)
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
438
the most radical shock to their party which
it has ever received; and there is no doubt,
they would be glad to be replaced on the
ground they possessed the instant before Jay's
nomination extraordinary. They see that
nothing can support them but the Colossus of
the President's merits with the people, and the
moment he retires, that his successor, if a
monocrat, will be overborne by the republic
an sense of his constituents; if a republican,
he will, of course, give fair play to that
sense, and lead things into the channel of
harmony between the governors and the gov
erned. In the meantime, patience. — To JAMES
MONROE, iv, 148. (July 1796.)
4091. JEALOUSY, Doubt and.— Doubts
and jealousies often beget the facts they fear.
—To ALBERT GALLATIN. v, 23. FORD EDV
viii, 476. (W., 1806.)
4092. JEALOUSY, Government and. —
Free government is founded in jealousy, and
not in confidence; it is jealousy, and not con
fidence, which prescribes limited Constitu
tions, to bind down those whom we are
obliged to trust with power.— KENTUCKY
RESOLUTIONS, ix, 470. FORD ED., vii, 304.
(1798.)
_ JEFFERSON (Thomas), Ancestry.—
See ANCESTRY.
_ JEFFERSON (Thomas), Birthday.—
See BIRTHDAY.
4093. JEFFERSON (Thomas), Educa
tion.— My father placed me at the English
school at five years of age; and at the Latin
at nine, where I continued until his death
[in 1757]. My teacher, Mr. Douglas, a
clergyman from Scotland, with the rudi
ments of the Latin and Greek languages,
taught me the French; and on the death of
my father, I went to the Reverend M.
Maury, a correct classical scholar, with whom
I continued two years; and then, to wit, in
the spring of 1760, went to William and Mary
College where I continued two years. — AU
TOBIOGRAPHY, i, 2. FORD ED., i, 3. (1821.)
See CONDUCT, SMALL (WILLIAM ), and WYTHE
(GEORGE).
_ JEFFERSON (Thomas), Epitaph of.
— See EPITAPH.
4094. JEFFERSON (Thomas), Family
of.— In Colonel Peter Jefferson's Prayer
Book, in the handwriting of Thomas Jeffer
son, are the following entries :
Tane Jefferson, born 1740, June 17 ; died 1765, Oct. i.
Mary Jefferson, born 1741, Oct. i ; married 1760,
June 24.
Thomas Jefferson, born 1743, Apr. 2 ; married, 1772,
Jan. i.
Elizabeth Jefferson, born 1744, Nov. 4 ; died 1773,
Martha Jefferson, born 1746, May 29 ; married, 1765,
Tu-lv 20.
Peter Field Jefferson, born 1748, Oct. 16 ; died 1748,
A son, born 1750, March 9 ; died 1750, March 9.
Lucy Jefferson, born 1752, Oct. 10; married, 1769,
6Anna Scott Randolph Jefferson, born 1755, Oct. i ;
married, 1788, October.
—NOTE IN FORD EDITION, i, 3. (I743-) See
ANCESTRY and ARMS.
4095. JEFFERSON (Thomas), Farm-
ing"' — I am indeed an unskillful manager of
my farms, and sensible of this from its ef
fects, I have now committed them to better
hands.*— To JOHN W. EPPES. D. L. J.,
364. (1816.) See AGRICULTURE, FARMER,
FARMERS and FARMING.
4096. JEFFERSON (Thomas), Father
of.— My father's education had been quite
neglected ; but being of a strong mind, sound
judgment, and eager after information, he
read much and improved himself,, insomuch
that he was chosen, with Joshua Fry, Pro
fessor of Mathematics in William and Mary
College, to continue the boundary line be
tween Virginia and North Carolina, which
had been begun by Colonel Byrd; and was
afterwards employed with the same Mr. Fry,
to make the first map of Virginia which had
ever been made, that of Captain Smith being
merely a conjectured sketch. They possessed
excellent materials for so much of the country
as is below the Blue Ridge; little being then
known beyond that ridge. He was the third
or fourth settler, about the year 1737, of
the part of the country in which I live. He
died, August 17, 1757, leaving my mother a
widow, who lived till 1776, with six daughters
and two sons, myself the elder. To my
younger brother he left his estate on James
River, called Snowdpn, after the supposed
birthplace of the family; to myself the lands
on which I was born and live. — AUTOBIOG
RAPHY, i, 2. FORD ED., i, 2. (1821.)
— JEFFERSON (Thomas), Habits of
life.— See LIFE.
4097. JEFFERSON (Thomas), Har
vard's honors. — I have been lately honored
with your letter of September 24th, 1788, ac
companied by a diploma for a Doctorate of
Laws, which the University of Harvard has
been pleased to confer on me. Conscious
how little I merit it, I am the more sensible
of their goodness and indulgence to a
stranger, who has had no means of serving
or making himself known to them. I beg you
to return them my grateful thanks, and to
assure them that this notice from so eminent
a seat of science is very precious to me. —
To DR. WILLARD. iii, 14. (P., 1789.)
4098. JEFFERSON (Thomas), History
and. — Nothing is so desirable to me, as that
after mankind shall have been abused by such
gross falsehoods as to events while passing,
their minds should at length be set to rights
by genuine truth. And I can conscientiously
declare that as to myself, I wish that not only
no act but no thought of mine should be
unknown. — To JAMES MAIN, v, 373. (W.,
Oct. 1808.)
4099. . As to what is to be said
of myself, I of course am not the judge. But
my sincere wish is that the faithful historian,
like the able surgeon, would consider me in
his hands, while living, as a dead subject, that
the same judgment may now be expressed
* His grandson, Thomas Jefferson Randolph.— ED
ITOR.
439
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Jefferson (Thomas)
which will be rendered hereafter, so far as
my small agency in human affairs may at
tract future notice; and I would of choice
now stand as at the bar of posterity, " cum
semel occidaris, et de ultima Minos fecerit
arbitria " . The only exact testimony of a
man is his actions, leaving the reader to
pronounce on them his own judgment. In
anticipating this, too little is safer than too
much; and I sincerely assure you that you
will please me most by a rigorous suppres
sion of all friendly partialities. This can
did expression of sentiments once delivered,
passive silence becomes the future duty. — To
L. H. GIRARDIN. vi, 455. (M., 1815.)
4100. — _. Of the public transac
tions in which I have borne a part, I have
kept no narrative with a view of history. A
life of constant action leaves no time for re
cording. Always thinking of what is next to
be done, what has been done is dismissed,
and soon obliterated from the memory. — To
MR. SPAFFORD. vii, 118. (M., 1819.) See
HISTORY.
_ JEFFERSON (Thomas), Home of.—
See MONTICELLO.
4101. JEFFERSON (Thomas), Lawyer.
—In 1767, Mr. [George] Wythe led me into
the practice of the law at the bar of the
General Court, at which I continued until the
Revolution shut up the courts of justice. —
AUTOBIOGRAPHY. 1,3. FORD ED., i, 4. (1821.)
See WYTHE (GEORGE).
4102. JEFFERSON (Thomas), Letters
of« — Selections from my letters, after my
death, may come out successively as the
maturity of circumstances may render their
appearance seasonable. — To WILLIAM JOHN
SON, vii, 277. FORD ED., x, 248. (M., 1823.)
— JEFFERSON (Thomas), Library of.
— See LIBRARY.
4103. JEFFERSON (Thomas), Mar
riage. — On the ist of January, 1772, I was
married to Martha Skelton, widow of
Bathurst Skelton, and daughter of John
Wayles, then twenty-three years old. Mr.
Wayles was a lawyer of much practice, to
which he was introduced more by his great
industry, punctuality and practical readiness
than by eminence in the science of his pro
fession. He was a most agreeable compan
ion, full of pleasantry and good humor, and
welcomed in every society. He acquired a
handsome fortune, and died in May, 1773,
leaving three daughters: the portion which
came on that event to Mrs. Jefferson, after
the debts should be paid, which were very
considerable, was about equal to my own
patrimony, and consequently doubled the ease
of our circumstances. — AUTOBIOGRAPHY, i, 4.
FORD ED., i, 5. (1821.)
4104. JEFFERSON (Thomas), Mrs.
Jefferson's death.— Your letter found me a
little emerging from the stupor of mind
which had rendered me as dead to the world
as she whose loss occasioned it. * * *
Before that event my scheme of life had been
determined. I had folded myself in the arms
of retirement, and rested all prospects of
future happiness on domestic and literary ob
jects. A single event wiped away all my
plans and left me a blank which I had not the
spirits to fill up. In this state of mind an
appointment from Congress [mission to
France] found me, requiring me to cross the
Atlantic.— To CHEVALIER DE CHASTELLUX i
322. FORD ED., iii, 64. (A., Nov. 1782.)
4105. JEFFERSON (Thomas), A Nail-
maker. — In our private pursuits it is a great
advantage that every honest employment is
deemed honorable. I am myself a nail-maker,
On returning home after an absence of ten
years, I found my farms so much deranged
that I saw evidently they would be a burden
to me instead of a support till I could re
generate them ; and, consequently, that it was
necessary for me to find some other resource
in the meantime. I thought for a while of
taking up the manufacture of potash, which
requires but small advances of money. I con
cluded at length, however, to begin a manu
facture of nails, which needs little or no
capital, and I now employ a dozen little
boys from ten to sixteen years of age, over
looking all the details of their business my
self, and drawing from it a profit on which I
can get along till I can put my farms into a
course of yielding profit. My new trade of
nail-making is to me in this country what
an additional title of nobility or the ensigns
of a new order are in Europe. — To M. DE
MEUNIER. FORD ED., vii, 14. (M., 1795.)
4106. JEFFERSON (Thomas), Offices
held by.— In 1769, I became a member of the
[Virginia] Legislature by the choice of the
county [Albemarle] in which I live, and con
tinued in that until it was closed by the Revo
lution.— AUTOBIOGRAPHY, i, 3. FORD ED., i, 5.
(1821.)
4107.-- . The Virginia Conven
tion, at their * * * session of March,
I77S, * * * added me * * * to the del
egation [to Congress]. * * * I took my
seat with them [Congress] on the 2ist of
June. — AUTOBIOGRAPHY, i, 9. FORD ED., i, 14
(1821.)
4108. — - . Soon after my leaving
Congress, in September, '76, to wit, on
the last day of that month*, I had been ap
pointed, with Dr. Franklin, to go to France,
as a Commissioner, to negotiate treaties of
alliance and commerce with that government.
Silas Deane, then in France, acting as
agent for procuring military stores, was
joined with us in commission. But such was
the state of my family that I could not leave
it, nor could I expose it to the dangers of
the sea, and of capture by the British ships,
then covering the ocean. I saw, too, that the
laboring oar was really at home, where much
was to be done of the most permanent in
terest, in new moodelling our governments,
and much to defend our fanes and firesides
* According to a note in the FORD EDITION, the Se
cret Journal of Congress shows that Jefferson was
appointed on Sept. 26.— EDITOR.
Jefferson (Thomas)
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
440
from the desolations of an invading enemy,
pressing on our country in every point. I
declined, therefore, and Dr. Lee was ap
pointed in my place. — AUTOBIOGRAPHY, i, 51.
FORD ED., i, 70. (1812.)
4109. . On the ist of June, 1779,
I was appointed Governor of the Common
wealth, and retired from the Legislature. —
AUTOBIOGRAPHY, i, 50. FORD ED., i, 69.
(1821.)
4110. - — . On the i5th of June,*
1781, I had been appointed, with Mr. Adams,
Dr. Franklin, Mr. Jay, and Mr. Laurens, a
Minister Plenipotentiary for negotiating
peace, then expected to be effected through
the mediation of the Empress of Russia. The
same reasons obliged me still to decline ;
and the negotiation was in fact never entered
on. — AUTOBIOGRAPHY, i, 51. FORD ED., i, 71.
(1821.)
4111. . In the autumn of * * *
1782, Congress receiving assurances that a
general peace would be concluded in the
winter and spring, they renewed my ap
pointment on the I3th of November of that
year. I had, two months before that, lost
the cherished companion of my life, in whose
affections, unabated on both sides, I had
lived the last ten years in unchequered hap
piness. With the public interests, the state of
my mind concurred in recommending the
change of scene proposed ; and I accepted the
appointment, and left Monticello on the I9th
of December, 1782, for Philadelphia, where I
arrived on the 27th. The Minister of
France, Luzerne, offered me a passage in
the Romulus frigate, which I accepted ; but
she was then a few miles below Baltimore,
blocked up in the ice. I remained, therefore,
a month in Philadelphia, looking over the
papers in the office of State, in order to
possess myself of the general state of our
foreign relations, and then went to Balti
more, to await the liberation of the frigate
from the ice. After waiting there nearly a
month, we received information that a Pro-
visional Treaty of Peace had been signed by
our Commissioners on the 3d of September,
1782, to become absolute on the conclusion of
peace between France and Great Britain.
Considering my proceeding to Europe as now
of no utility to the public, I returned im
mediately to Philadelphia, to take the orders
of Congress, and was excused by them from
further proceeding. I, therefore, returned
home, where I arrived on the i5th of May,
1783. — AUTOBIOGRAPHY, i, 51. FORD ED., i, 71.
(1821.)
4112. - — . On the 6th of June,
1783, I was appointed by the [Virginia] Leg
islature a Delegate to Congress, the appoint
ment to take place on the ist of November
ensuing, when that of the existing delegation
would expire. I, accordingly, left home on
the i6th of October, arrived at Trenton, where
Congress was sitting, on the 3d of November,
and took my seat on the 4th, on which day
* The Secret Journal of Congress gives the date as
June 14.— NOTE IN FORD EDITION.
Congress adjourned, to meet at Annapolis on
the 26th. — AUTOBIOGRAPHY, i, 52. FORD ED.,
i, 72. (1821.)
4113. . In July, 1785, Dr. Frank
lin returned to America, and I was appointed
his successor at Paris. — AUTOBIOGRAPHY, i,
63. FORD ED., i, 88. (1821.)
4114. . On the i4th of May,
(1785) I communicated to the Count de Ver-
gennes my appointment as Minister Plenipo
tentiary * * * on the 1 7th delivered my
letter of credence to the King at a private
audience, and went through the other cere
monies usual on such occasions. — To JOHN
JAY. i, 344. (P., 1785.)
4115. . I had been more than a
year soliciting leave to go home, with a
view to place my daughters in the society
and care of their friends, and to return for a
short time to my station in Paris. But the
metamorphosis through which our govern
ment was then passing from its chrysalid to
its organic form suspended its action in a
great degree; and it was not till the last of
August, 1789, that I received the permission
I had asked. * * * On the 26th of
September, I left Paris for Havre, where I
was detained by contrary winds until the 8th
of October. On that day, and the 9th, I
crossed o.er to Cowes, where I had engaged
the Clermont, Capt. Colley, to touch for me.
She did so, but here again we were detained
by contrary winds, until the 22nd, when we
embarked, and landed at Norfolk on the 23rd
of November. On my way home, I passed
some days at Eppington, in Chesterfield, the
residence of my friend and connection, Mr.
Eppes, and while there, I received a letter
from the President, General Washington, by
express, covering an appointment to be Sec
retary of State. — AUTOBIOGRAPHY. i, 107.
FORD ED., i, 148. (1821.)
4116. . I received it [appoint
ment as Secretary of State] with real regret.
My wish had been to return to Paris, where
I had left my household establishment, as if
there myself, and to see the end of the Revo
lution, which I then thought would be cer
tainly and happily closed in less than a year.
I then meant to return home, to withdraw
from political life, into which I had been im
pressed by the circumstances of the times, to
sink into the bosom of my family and friends,
and devote myself to studies more congenial
to my mind. In my answer of December
1 5th, I expressed these dispositions candidly
to the President, and my preference of a re
turn to Paris; but assured him that if it was
believed I could be more useful in the ad
ministration of the government, I would sac
rifice my own inclinations, without hesitation
and repair to that destination ; this I left to
his decision. I arrived at Monticello on the
23rd of December, where I received a second
letter from the President, expressing his con
tinued wish that I should take my station
there, but leaving me still at liberty to con
tinue in my former office, if I could not rec
oncile myself to that now proposed. This si-
441
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Jefferson (Thomas)
lenced my reluctance, and I accepted the new
appointment. — AUTOBIOGRAPHY, i, 108. FORD
ED., i, 149. (1821.)
4117. - — . The President [Wash
ington] observed, that though I had unfixed
the day on which I had intended to resign,
yet I appeared fixed in doing it at no great
distance of time; that in this case,* he could
not but wish that I would go to Paris ; that
the moment was important; I possessed the
confidence of both sides, and might do great
good ; that he wished I could do it, were it
only to stay there a year or two. I told him
that my mind was so bent on retirement that
I could not think of launching forth again in
a new business; that I could never again
cross the Atlantic; and that as to the oppor
tunity of doing good, this was likely to be
the scene of action, as Genet was bringing
powers to dp the business here; but that I
could not think of going abroad. He replied
that I had pressed him to remain in the pub
lic service, and refused to do the same my
self. I said the case was very different; he
united the confidence of all America, and
was the only person who did so ; his services,
therefore, were of the last importance; but
for myself, my going out would not be noted
or known. A thousand others could supply
my place to equal advantage, therefore I felt
myself free. — THE ANAS, ix, 133. FORD ED.,
i, 217. (Feb. 20, 1793.)
4118. - _. [President Washington]
returned to the difficulty of naming my suc
cessor. * * * He said if I would only
stay in till the end of another quarter (the
last of December) it would get us through
the difficulties of this year, and he was sat
isfied that the affairs of Europe would be
settled with this campaign; for that either
France would be overwhelmed by it, or the
confederacy would give up the contest. By
that time, too, Congress would have mani
fested its character and view. I told him that
I had set my private affairs in motion in a
line which had powerfully called for my
presence the last spring, and that they had
suffered immensely from my not going home ;
that I had now calculated them to my re
turn in the fall, and to fail in going then,
would be the loss of another year, and
prejudicial beyond measure. * * * He
asked me whether I could not arrange my
affairs by going home. I told him I did not
think the public business would admit of it;
that there never was a day now in which the
absence of the Secretary of State would not
be inconvenient to the public. And he con
cluded by desiring that I would take two or
three days to consider whether I could not
stay in till the end of another quarter, for that
like a man going to the gallows, he was
willing to put it off as long as he could ; but if
I persisted, he must then look about him and
make up his mind to do the best he could. —
* The French government was then complaining of
the unfriendliness of Gouverneur Morris, and Wash
ington deemed a change of ministers advisable.— ED
ITOR.
THE ANAS, ix, 167. FORD ED., i, 257. (Aug.
1793.) See ELECTIONS (PRESIDENTIAL).
4119. JEFFEBSON (Thomas), Offices
refused. — No circumstances will ever more
tempt me to engage in anything public. I
thought myself perfectly fixed in this de
termination when I left Philadelphia, but
every day and hour since has added to its
inflexibility. It is a great pleasure to me to
retain the esteem and approbation of the Pres
ident, and this forms the only ground of any
reluctance at being unable to comply with
every wish of his.* — To EDMUND RANDOLPH.
iv, 108. FORD ED., vi, 512. (M., Sep. 1794.)
4120. - — . President [John] Adams
said he was glad to find me alone, for that
he wished a free conversation with me. He
entered immediately on an explanation of the
situation of our affairs in France, and the
danger of rupture with that nation, a rupture
which would convulse the attachments of this
country; that he was impressed with the
necessity of an immediate mission to the
Directory; that it would have been the first
wish of his heart to have got me to go
there, but that he supposed it was out of the
question, as it did not seem justifiable for
him to send away the person destined to take
his place in case of accident to himself, nor
decent to remove from competition one who
was a rival in the public favor. * * * I
told him I concurred in the opinion of the im
propriety of my leaving the post assigned me,
and that my inclinations, moreover, would
never permit me to cross the Atlantic again. —
THE ANAS. ix, 185. FORD ED., i, 272.
(March 2, 1797.)
4121. . You wish to see me
again in the Legislature, but this is impos
sible; my mind is now so dissolved in tran
quillity, that it can never again encounter a
contentious assembly. The habits of think
ing and speaking off-hand, after a disuse of
five and twenty years, have given place to
the slower process of the pen. — To JOHN TY
LER, v, 525. FORD ED., ix, 277. (M., 1810.)
4122. - — . The assurance * * *
that my aid in the councils of our government
would increase the public confidence in them ;
because it admits an inference that they have
approved of the course pursued, when I
heretofore bore a part in those councils.
* * * But I am past service. The hand of
age is upon me. The debility of bodily fac
ulties apprizes me that those of the mind
cannot be unimpaired, had I not still better
proofs.— To WILLIAM DUANE. vi, 79. FORD
ED., ix, 367. (M., Oct. 1812.)
4123. JEFFEBSON (Thomas), Paine
and. — A writer, under the name of " Pub-
licola" [John Quincy Adams], in attacking
all [Thomas] Paine's [political] principles, is
very desirous of involving me in the same
censure with the author. I certainly merit
the same, for I profess the same principles ;
but it is equally certain I never meant to have
* Washington wished to send Jefferson to France-
—EDITOR.
Jefferson (Thomas)
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
442
entered as a volunteer into the cause. — To
JAMES MONROE, iii, 267. FORD ED., v, 351.
(Pa., 1791.) See PAINE.
4124. JEFFERSON (Thomas), Portrait.
— I am duly sensible of the honor proposed
of giving to my portrait a place among the
benefactors of our nation, and of the estab
lishment of West Point in particular. :
Mr. Sully, I fear, however, will consider the
trouble of the journey [to Monticello], and
the employment of his fine pencil, as illy
bestowed on an atomy of 78. — To JARED
MANSFIELD, vii, 203. (M., 1821.)
— JEFFERSON (Thomas), Principles
of. — See PRINCIPLES.
— JEFFERSON (Thomas), Retirement
of. — See RETIREMENT.
4125. JEFFERSON (Thomas), Scien
tific Societies. — Being to remove within a
few months from my present residence
[Washington] to one still more distant from
the seat of the meetings of the American
Philosophical Society [Philadelphia], I feel it
a duty no longer to obstruct its service by
keeping from the chair members whose posi
tion as well as qualifications, may enable
them to discharge its duties with so much
more effect.*— To THE VICE-PRESIDENT OF
THE A. P. S. v, 392. (W., Nov. 1808.)
4126. . I am duly sensible of the
honor done me by the first class of the
Royal Institute of Sciences, of Literature, and
of Fine Arts [Holland], in associating me to
their class, and by the approbation which his
Majesty, the King of Holland, has conde
scended to give to their choice. — To G.
VOOLIF. v, 517. (M., 1810.)
4127. . I recieved with much
gratification the diploma of the Agronomic
Society of Bavaria, conferring on me the dis
tinction of being honorary member of their
societyt — To BARON DE MOLL, v, 363. (M.,
1814.)
4128. JEFFERSON (Thomas), Services
of. — I have sometimes asked myself, whether
my country is the better for my having lived
at all? I do not know that it is. I have been
the instrument of doing the following things;
but they would have been done by others;
some of them, perhaps, a little better:
The Rivanna had never been used for nav
igation; scarcely an empty canoe had ever
passed down it. Soon after I came of age,
I examined its obstructions, set on foot a
subscription for removing them, got an act of
Assembly passed, and the thing effected, so
* Franklin was the first President of the American
Philosophical Society. He was succeeded by David
Rittenhouse, who died in 1796, and after him came
Jefferson. In accepting the office Jefferson said : " I
feel no qualification for this distinguished post, but a
sincere zeal for all the objects of our institution, and
an ardent desire to see knowledge so disseminated
through the mass of mankind, that it may, at length,
reach even the extremes of society, beggars and
kings."— EDITOR.
t Jeff erson was an active or honorary member of
nearly every literary and scientific society existing
in his day.— EDITOR.
as to be used completely and fully for carry
ing down all our produce.
The Declaration of Independence.
I proposed the demolition of the Church
Establishment, and the Freedom of Religion.
It could only be done by degrees; to wit, the
Act of 1776, c. 2, exempted dissenters from
contributions to the Church, and left the
Church clergy to be supported by voluntary
contributions of their own sect; was contin
ued from year to year, and made perpetual
I779> c. 36. I prepared the Act for Religious
Freedom in 1777, as part of the Revisal,
which was not reported to the Assembly till
1779, and that particular law not passed till
1785, and then by the efforts of Mr. Madison.
The Act putting an end to Entails.
The Act prohibiting the Importation of
Slaves.
The Act concerning Citizens and establisft-
ing the natural right of man to expatriate
himself, at will.
The Act changing the course of Descents,
and giving the inheritance to all the children,
&c., equally, I drew as part of the Revisal.
The Act for Apportioning Crimes and Pun
ishments, part of the same work, I drew.
When proposed to the Legislature, by Mr.
Madison, in 1785, it failed by a single vote.
G. K. Taylor afterwards, in 1796, proposed the
same subject; avoiding the adoption of any
part of the diction of mine, the text of which
had been studiously drawn in the technical
terms of the law, so as to give no occasion
for new questions by new expressions. When
I drew mine, public labor was thought the
best punishment to be substituted for death.
But, while I was in France, I heard of a
society in England, who had successfully in
troduced solitary confinement, and saw the
drawing of a prison at Lyons, in France,
formed on the idea of solitary confinement.
And, being applied to by the Governor of
Virginia for the plan of a Capitol and
Prison, I sent him the Lyons plan, accom
panying it with a drawing on a smaller scale,
betted adapted to our use. This was in June,
1786. Mr. Taylor very judiciously adopted
this idea (which had now been acted on in
Philadelphia, probably from the English
model), and substituted labor in confinement,
for the public labor proposed by the Com
mittee of Revisal; which themselves would
have done, had they been to act on the sub
ject again. The public mind was ripe for
this in 1796, when Mr. Taylor proposed it,
and ripened chiefly by the experiment in
Philadelphia; whereas, in 1785, when it had
been proposed to our Assembly, they were
not quite ripe for it.
In 1789 and 1790, I had a great number of
olive plants, of the best kind, sent from
Marseilles to Charleston, for South Carolina
and Georgia. They were planted, and are
flourishing; and, though not yet multiplied,
they will be the germ of that cultivation in
those States.
In 1790, I got a cask of heavy upland rice,
from the river Denbigh, in Africa, about
Latitude 9° 30' North, which I sent to
443
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA Jefferson (Thomas)
Charleston, in hopes it might supersede the
culture of the wet rice, which renders South
Carolina and Georgia so pestilential through
the summer. It was divided and a part sent
to Georgia. I know not whether it has been
attended to in South Carolina; but it has
spread in the upper parts of Georgia, so as to
have become almost general, and is highly
prized. Perhaps it may answer in Tennessee
and Kentucky. The greatest service which
can be rendered any country is, to add an
useful plant to its culture; especially a
bread grain; next in value to bread is oil.
Whether the Act for the more General Dif
fusion of Knowledge will ever be carried into
complete effect, I know not. It was received
by the Legislature with great enthusiasm at
first; and a small effort was made in 1796,
by the act to establish public schools, to
carry a part of it into effect, viz., that for the
establishment of free English schools : but the
option given to the courts has defeated the
intention of the act.* — JEFFERSON PAPERS, i,
174. FORD ED., vii, 475. (1800.)
4129. . I came of age in 1764,
and was soon put into the nomination of jus
tice of the county in which I lived, and, at
the first election following, I became one of
its representatives in the Legislature. I was
thence sent to the old Congress. Then em
ployed two years with Mr. Pendleton and Mr'.
Wythe, on the revisal and reduction to a
single code of the whole body of the British
Statutes, the acts of our Assembly, and cer
tain parts of the common law. Then elected
Governor. Next, to the Legislature, and to
Congress again. Sent to Europe as Minister
Plenipotentiary. Appointed Secretary of State
to the new Government. Elected Vice-Presi-
dent, and President. And lastly, a Visitor
and Rector of the University [of Virginia].
In these different offices, with scarcely any
interval between them, I have been in the
public service now sixty-one years ; and dur
ing the far greater part of the time, in for
eign countries or in other States. * * *
If it were thought worth while to specify
any particular services rendered, I would
refer to the specification of them made
by the [Virginia] Legislature itself in their
Farewell Address/f on my retiring from the
Presidency, February, 1809. There is one,
however, not therein specified the most im
portant in its consequences, of any transaction
in any portion of my life ; to wit, the head I
personally made against the federal principles
and proceedings during the Administration of
Mr. Adams. Their usurpations and viola
tions of the Constitution at that period, and
their majority in both Houses of Congress,
were so great, so decided, and so daring,
that after combating their aggressions, inch
by inch, without being able in the least to
check their career, the republican leaders
* It appears from a blank space at the bottom of
this paper, that a continuation had been intended.
Indeed, from the loose manner in which the above
notes are written, it may be inferred that they were
originally intended as memoranda only, to be used
in some more permanent form. — NOTE IN CONGRESS
EDITION.
t Printed in the APPENDIX to this work.— EDITOR.
thought it would be best for them to give up
their useless efforts there, go home, get into
their respective Legislatures, embody what
ever of resistance they could be formed into,
and if ineffectual, to perish there as in the
last ditch. All, therefore, retired leaving Mr.
Gallatin alone in the House of Representa
tives, and myself in the Senate, where I
then presided as Vice-President. Remaining
at our posts, and bidding defiance to the
browbeatings and insults by which they en
deavored to drive us off also, we kept the
mass of republicans in phalanx together, until
the Legislature could be brought up to the.
charge; and nothing on earth is more cer
tain, than that if myself particularly, placed
by my office of Vice-President at the head
of the republicans, had given way and with
drawn from my post, the republicans through
out the Union would have given up in
despair, and the cause would have been lost
forever. By holding on, we obtained time for
the Legislature to come up with their weight ;
and those of Virginia and Kentucky partic
ularly, but more especially the former, by
their celebrated resolutions, saved the Con
stitution at its last gasp. No person who was
not a witness of the scenes of that gloomy
period, can form any idea of the afflicting
persecutions and personal indignities we had
to brook. They saved our country, however.
The spirits of the people were so much sub
dued and reduced to despair by the X. Y. Z.
imposture, and other stratagems and machi
nations, that they would have sunk into
apathy and monarchy, as the only form of
government which could maintain itself.
If Legislative services are worth mention
ing, and the stamp of liberality and equality,
which was necessary to be imposed on our
laws in the first crisis of our birth as a na
tion, was of any value, they will find that
the leading and most important laws of that
day were prepared by myself, and carried
chiefly by my efforts; supported, indeed, by
able and faithful coadjutors from the ranks
of the house, very effective as seconds, but
who would not have taken the field as
leaders. The prohibition of the further im
portation of slaves was the first of these
measures in time. This was followed by the
abolition of entails, which broke up the hered
itary and high-handed aristocracy, which, by
accumulating immense masses of property in
single lines of families, had divided our
country into two distinct orders, of nobles
and plebeians. But further to complete the
equality among our citizens so essential to the
maintenance of republican government, it
was necessary to abolish the principle of
primogeniture. I drew the law of descents,
giving equal inheritance to sons and daugh
ters, which made a part of the Revised Code.
The attack on the establishment of a domi
nant religion was first made by myself. It
could be carried at first only by a suspension
of salaries for one year, by battling it again
at the next session for another year, and so
from year to year, until the public mind was
ripened for the bill for establishing religious
Jefferson (Thomas)
Johnson (Joshua)
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
444
freedom, which I had prepared for the Re
vised Code also. This was at length estab
lished permanently, and by the efforts chiefly
of Mr. Madison, being myself in Europe at
the time that work was brought forward.
To these particular services, I think I might
add the establishment of our University, as
principally my work, acknowledging at the
same time, as I do, the great assistance re
ceived from my able colleagues of the Visi
tation. But my residence in the vicinity
threw, of course, on me the chief burthen of
the enterprise, as well of the buildings as of
the general organization and care of the
whole. The effect of this institution on the
future fame, fortune and prosperity of our
country, can as yet be seen but at a distance.
But an hundred well-educated youth, which it
will turn out annually, and ere long, will fill
all its offices with men of superior qualifica
tions, and raise it from its humble state to an
eminence among its associates which it has
never yet known; no, not in its brightest
days. That institution is now qualified to
raise its youth to an order of science un
equalled in any other State; and this supe
riority will be the greater from the free range
of mind encouraged there, and the restraint
imposed at other seminaries by the shackles
of a domineering hierarchy, and a bigoted ad
hesion to ancient habits. Those now on the
theatre of affairs will enjoy the ineffable hap
piness of seeing themselves succeeded by sons
of a grade of science beyond their own ken.
Our sister States will also be repairing to the
same fountains of instruction, will bring
hither their genius to be kindled at our fire,
and will carry back the fraternal affections
which, nourished by the same Alma Mater,
will knit us to them by the indissoluble bonds
of early personal friendships. The good Old
Dominion, the blessed mother of us all,
will then raise her head with pride among
the nations, will present to them that splen
dor of genius which she has ever possessed,
but has too long suffered to rest uncultivated
and unknown, and will become a centre of
ralliance to the States whose youth she has
instructed, and, as it were, adopted. I claim
some share in the merits of this great work
of regeneration. My whole labors, now for
many years, have been devoted to it, and I
stand pledged to follow it up through the
remnant of life remaining to me. And what
remuneration do I ask? Money from the
treasury? Not a cent. I ask nothing from
the earnings or labors of my fellow citizens.
I wish no man's comforts to be abridged for
the enlargement of mine. For the services
rendered on all occasions, I have been always
paid to my full satisfaction. I never wished a
dollar more than what the law had fixed on.
My request is, only to be permitted to sell my
own property freely to pay my own debts.
To sell it, I say, and not to sacrifice it, not
to have it gobbled up by speculators to make
fortunes for themselves, leaving unpaid those
who have trusted to my good faith, and my
self without resource, in the last and most
helpless stage of life. If permitted to sell it
in a way which will bring me a fair price,
all will be honestly and honorably paid, and
a competence left for myself, and for those
who look to me for subsistence. To sell it in
a way which will offend no moral principle.
and expose none to risk but the willing, and
those wishing to be permitted to take the
chance of gain. To give me, in short, that
permission which you often allow to others
for purposes not more moral.* — THOUGHTS ON
LOTTERIES, ix, 506. FORD ED., x, 368. (M.,
1826.)
4130. JEFFERSON (Thomas), Univer
sity of Virginia and.— Against this tedium
vita, I am fortunately mounted on a hobby,
which, indeed, I should have better managed
some thirty or forty years ago ; but whose
easy amble is still sufficient to give exercise
and amusement to an octogenary rider. This
is the establishment of a University. — To
JOHN ADAMS, vii, 313. FORD ED., x. 272.
(M., 1823.) See UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA.
— JEFFERSON (Thomas), Views on
religion.— See RELIGION.
4131. JEFFERSON (Thomas), Weary of
office. — The motion of my blood no longer
keeps time with the tumult of the world.
It leads me to seek for happiness in the lap
and love of my family, in the society of my
neighbors and my books, in the wholesome
occupations of my farm and my affairs, in an
interest or affection in every bud that opens,
in every breath that blows around me, in an
entire freedom of rest, of motion, of thought,
owing account to myself alone of my hours
and actions. What must be the principle of
that calculation which should balance against
these the circumstances of my present ex
istence [Secretaryship of State], worn down
with labors from morning to night, and
day to day; knowing them as fruitless to
others as they are vexatious to myself; com
mitted singly in desperate and eternal con
test against a host who are systematically un
dermining the public liberty and prosperity;
even the rare hours of relaxation sacrificed to
the society of persons in the same intentions,
of whose hatred I am conscious even in those
moments of conviviality when the heart
wishes most to open itself to the effusions of
friendship and confidence; cut off from my
family and friends, my affairs abandoned to
chaos and derangement; in short, giving
everything I love in exchange for every
thing I hate, and all this without a single
gratification in possession or prospect, in
present enjoyment or future wish.— To
JAMES MADISON, iii, 578. FORD ED., vi, 291.
(June I793-)
4132. JOHNSON (Joshua), Consul at
London. — The President of the United States,
desirous of availing his country of the talents
of its best citizens, in their respective lines, has
thought proper to nominate you consul for the
* Jefferson wrote the paper of which the foregoing
is an extract in February, 1826, less than five months
before his death. Oppressed by age and harassed
by debt, he asked the Legislature of Virginia to pass
a law enabling him to dispose of his property by a
lottery. The act was passed.— EDITOR.
445
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Jones (John Paul)
United States at the port of London. The ex
tent of our commercial and political connections
with that country marks the importance of the
trust he confides to you, and the more, as we
have no diplomatic character at that court. — To
JOSHUA JOHNSON, iii, 176. (N.Y., 1790.)
4133. JONES (John Paul), Disinterest
edness. — Captain John Paul Jones refuses to
accept any indemnification for his expenses
[connected with Peyrouse's expedition], which
is an additional proof of his disinterested spirit,
and of his devotion to the service of America. —
To JOHN JAY. i, 454. (P., 1785-)
4134. JONES (John Paul), Justice for.
— Nobody can wish more that justice be done
you, nor is more ready to be instrumental in do
ing whatever may insure it. — To COMMODORE
JONES, i, 594. (P., 1786.)
4135. JONES (John Paul), Mission to
Algiers.— The President having thought
proper to appoint you commissioner for treating
with the Dey and government of Algiers, on the
subjects of peace and ransom of our captives,
I have the honor to enclose you the commission,
of which Mr. Thomas Pinckney, now on his
way to London as our Minister Plenipotentiary
there, will be the bearer. Supposing that there
exists a disposition to thwart our negotiations
with the Algerines, and that this would be
very practicable, we have thought it advisable
that the knowledge of this appointment should
rest with the President, Mr. Pinckney and my
self ; for which reason you will perceive that the
commissions are all in my own handwriting.
For the same reason, entire secrecy is recom
mended to you, and that you so cover from the
public your departure and destination, as that
they may not be conjectured or noticed. — To
JOHN PAUL JONES, iii, 431. (Pa., June 1792.)
4136. JONES (John Paul), Newspaper
attacks. — What the English newspapers said
of remonstrances against Paul Jones being re
ceived into the service, as far as I can learn
from those who would have known it, and
would have told it to me, was false, as is every
thing those papers say, ever did say, and ever
will say. — To MR. CUTTING, ii, 437. (P.,
1788.)
4137. JONES (John Paul), Prize money.
— I consider Captain Jones as agent from the
citizens of the United States, interested in the
prizes taken in Europe under his command, and
that he is properly authorized to receive the
money due to them, having given good security
to transmit it to the treasury office of the United
States, whence it will be distributed, under the
care of Congress, to the officers and crews
originally entitled, or to their representatives. —
To M. DE CASTRIES, i, 361. (P., 1785.)
4138. — — . I have had the honor of
enclosing to Mr. Jay, Commodore Jones's re
ceipts for one hundred and eighty-one thousand
and thirty-nine livres, one sol and ten deniers,
prize money, which (after deducting his own
proportion) he is to remit to you, for the officers
and soldiers who were under his command. I
take the liberty of suggesting whether the ex
pense and risk of double remittances might not
be saved, by ordering it into the hands of Mr.
Grand, immediately, for the purposes of the
Treasury in Europe, while you could make pro
vision at home for the officers and soldiers,
whose demands will come in so slowly, as to
leave the use of a great proportion of this
money for a considerable time, and some of it
forever. We could, then, immediately quiet
the French officers. — To THE TREASURY COM
MISSIONERS, i, 522. (P., 1786.)
4139. JONES (John Paul), Russian
services. — The war between the Russians and
the Turks has made an opening for our Commo
dore Paul Jones. The Empress has invited him
into her service. She insures to him the rank
of rear admiral ; will give him a separate com
mand, and, it is understood, that he is never to
be commanded. I think she means to oppose
him to. the Captain Pacha, on the Black Sea.
He has made it a condition, that he
shall be free at all times to return to the orders
of Congress, * * * and also, that he shall
not in any case be expected to bear arms against
France. I believe Congress had it in contem
plation to give him the grade of admiral, from
the date of his taking the Serapis. Such a
measure would now greatly gratify him, sec
ond the efforts of fortune in his favor, and
better the opportunity of improving him for our
service, whenever the moment may come in
which we shall want him. — To GENERAL WASH
INGTON, ii, 372. (1788.)
4140. . Paul Jones is invited into
the service of the Empress [of Russia], with the
rank of rear admiral, and to have a separate
command. I wish it corresponded with the
views of Congress to give him that rank from
the taking of the Serapis. I look to this officer
as our great future dependence on the sea,
where alone we should think of ever having
a force. He is young enough to see the day
when we shall be more populous than the whole
British dominions, and able to fight them ship
to ship. We should procure him, then, every
possible opportunity of acquiring experience. —
To E. CARRINGTON. ii, 405. FORD ED., v, 22.
(P., 1788.)
4141. . You have heard of the
great victory [in the Black Sea] obtained by
the Russians under command of Admiral Paul
Jones, over the Turks commanded by the Cap
tain Pacha. — To M. LIMOZIN. ii, 443. (P.,
1788.)
4142. . I am pleased with the
promotion of our countryman, Paul Jones. He
commanded the right wing, in the first engage
ment between the Russian and Turkish galleys ;
his absence from the second proves his superior
ity over the Captain Pacha, as he did not choose
to bring his ships into the shoals in which the
Pacha ventured, and lost those entrusted to him.
I consider this officer as the principal hope of
our future efforts on the ocean. — To WILLIAM
CARMICHAEL. ii, 466. (P., 1788.)
4143. . I understand, in a general
way, that some persecution on the part of his
officers occasioned his being recalled to St.
Petersburg, and that though protected against
them by the Empress, he is not yet restored to
his station. — To JAMES MADISON, iii, 101.
FORD ED., v, 113. (P., 1789.)
4144. JONES (John Paul), St. Anne
Decoration. — In answer to your request to
obtain and transmit the proper authority of the
United States for your retaining the Order of
St. Anne, conferred on you by the Empress [of
Russia]. The Executive are not authorized
either to grant or refuse the permission you ask,
and consequently cannot take on themselves to
do it. Whether the Legislature would under
take to do it or not, I cannot say. In general,
there is an aversion to meddle with anything of
that kind here. And the event would be so
Joseph II.
Judges
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
446
doubtful that the Executive would not commit
themselves by making the proposition to the
Legislature. — To ADMIRAL PAUL JONES, iii, 294.
(Pa., 1791.)
4145. JOSEPH II., Ambitious.— We
have here under our contemplation the future
miseries of human nature, like to be occasioned
by the ambition of a young man, who has been
taught to view his subjects as his cattle. The
pretensions he sets up to the navigation of the
Scheldt would have been good, if natural right
had been left uncontrolled, but it is impossible
for express compact to have taken away a right
more effectually than it has the Emperor's. —
To HORATIO GATES. FORD ED., iv, 23. (P., Dec.
1784.)
4146. . He is a restless am
bitious character, aiming at everything, perse
vering in nothing, taking up designs without cal
culating the force which will be opposed to hirn,
and dropping them on the appearance of a firm
opposition. He has some just views and much
activity. — To JOHN PAGE, i, 400. (P., 1785.)
4147. JOSEPH II., Capricious.— The en
terprising, unpersevering, capricious, thrasonic
character of their sovereign renders it probable
he will avail himself of this little condescendence
in the Brabantines to recede from all his inno
vations. — To EDMUND RANDOLPH, ii, 212. (P.,
1787.)
4148. JOSEPH II., Eccentric.— The pub
lic acts of the Emperor speak him much above
the common level. Those who expect peace say
that they have in view the Emperor's character
which they represent as whimsical and eccen
tric, and that he is especially affected in the
dog days. — To JAMES MONROE. FORD ED., iv, 21.
(P., Dec. 1784.)
4149. JOSEPH II., Foreign complica
tions. — The league formed by the King of
Prussia against the Emperor [of Austria] is a
most formidable obstacle to his ambitious de
signs. It certainly has defeated his views on
Bavaria, and will render doubtful the election of
his nephew to be King of tne Romans. Matters
are not yet settled between him and the Turk.
In truth, he undertakes too much. At home he
has made some good regulations. — To R. IZARD.
i, 442. (P., 1785.)
4150. JOSEPH II., Innovations.—
Weighing the fondness of the Emperor for inno
vation, against his want of perseverance, it is
difficult to calculate what he will do with his dis
contented subjects in Brabant and Flanders. If
those provinces alone were concerned he would
probably give them back ; but this would induce
an opposition to his plan in all his other do
minions. — JOHN JAY. ii, 158. (P., 1787.)
4151. . The Emperor's reforma
tions have occasioned the appearance of in
surrection in Flanders, and he, according to
character, will probably tread back his steps. —
To J. BANNISTER, JR. ii, 150. (P., 1787.)
4152. JOSEPH II., And Holland.— The
Emperor [of Austria] seems to prefer the glory
of terror to that of justice ; and, to satisfy this
tinsel passion, plants a dagger in the heart of
every Dutchman which no time will extract. —
To JAMES MONROE, i, 358. FORD ED., iv. 64.
(1785.)
4153. JOSEPH II., Unprincipled.— The
Emperor has a head too combustible to be quiet.
He is an eccentric character, all enterprise,
without calculation, without principle, without
feelings. Ambitious in the extreme but too un
steady to surmount difficulties. He had in view
at one time to open the Scheldt, to get Mae-
stricht from the Dutch, to take a large district
from the Turks, to exchange some of his Aus
trian dominions for Bavaria, to create a ninth
electorate, to make his nephew King of the
Romans, and to change totally the constitution
of Hungary. Any one of these was as much
as a wise prince would have undertaken at
any one time. To JAMES MONROE. FORD ED.,
iv, 44. (P., 1785.)
The Emperor [has] un-
4154.
measurable ambition, and his" total " want of
moral principle and honor is suspected. A
great share of Turkey, the recovery of Silesia,,
the consolidation of his dominions by the Ba
varian exchange, the liberties of the Germanic
body, all occupy his mind together, and his
head is not well enough organized, to pursue
so much only of all this as is practicable. — To
GENERAL WASHINGTON, ii, 371. (P., 17,88.)
4155. JUDGES, Biased.— It is better to
toss up cross and pile in a cause, than to refer
it to a judge whose mind is warped by any
motive whatever, in that particular case. —
NOTES ON VIRGINIA, viii, 372. FORD ED iii,
236. (1782.)
4156. . We all know that per
manent judges acquire an esprit de corps;
that being known, they are liable to be
tempted by bribery; that they are misled by
favor, by relationship, by a spirit of party,
by a devotion to the Executive or Legisla
tive power; that it is better to leave a cause
to the decision of cross and pile, than to that
of a judge biased to one side. — To M. L'ABBE
ARNOND. iii, 81. FORD ED., v, 103. (P.,
1789.)
4157. - — . As, for the safety of so
ciety, we commit honest maniacs to Bedlam,
so judges should be withdrawn from their
bench, whose erroneous biases are leading us
to dissolution. It may, indeed, injure them
in fame or in fortune ; but it saves the Repub
lic, which is the first and supreme law. —
AUTOBIOGRAPHY, i, 82. FORD ED., i, 114.
(1821.)
4158. JUDGES, Compensation. — Their
salaries [should be] ascertained and estab
lished by law. — To GEORGE WYTHE. FORD ED.,
ii, 60. (1776.)
4159. JUDGES, Election.-—! hope to see
the time when the election of judges of the
Supreme Courts [of Virginia] shall be re
strained to the bars of the General Court and
High Court of Chancery. — To GEORGE
WYTHE. i, 212. FORD ED., ii, 167. (F., 1779.)
4160. JUDGES, Executive and. — I was
against writing letters to judiciary officers. I
thought them independent of the Executive,
not subject to its coercion, and therefore not
obliged to attend to its admonitions. — ANAS.
ix, 175. FORD ED., i, 265. (1793.)
4161. JUDGES, Fallibility of.— When a
cause has been adjudged according to the
rules and forms of the country, its justice
ought to be presumed. Even error in the
highest court which has been provided as
4A7
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Judges
the last means of correcting the errors of
others, and whose decrees are, therefore, sub
ject to no further revisal, is one of those in
conveniences flowing from the imperfection of
our faculties, to which every society must
submit; because there must be somewhere a
last resort, wherein contestations may end.
Multiply bodies of revisal as you please, their
number must still be finite, and they must
finish in the hands of fallible men as judges.
— To GEORGE HAMMOND, iii, 415. FORD ED.,
vi, 56. (Pa., 1792.)
4162. JUDGES, George III. and.— He
has made our* judges dependent on his will
alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the
amount and payment of their salaries. — DEC
LARATION OF INDEPENDENCE AS DRAWN BY
JEFFERSON.
4163. JUDGES, Impeachment of.— Our
different States have differently modified their
several judiciaries as to the tenure of office.
Some appoint their judges for a given term of
time ; some continue them during good beha
vior, and that to be determined on by the con
curring vote of two-thirds of each legislative
house. In England they are removable by a
majority only of each house. The last is a
practicable remedy ; the second is not. The
combination of the friends and associates of
the accused, the action of personal and party
passions, and the sympathies of the human
heart, will forever find means of influencing
one-third of either the one or the other house,
will thus secure their impunity, and establish
them in fact for life. The first remedy is the
better, that of appointing for a term of years
only, with a capacity of reappointment if their
conduct has been approved. — To A. CORAY.
vii, 321. (M., 1823.)
4164. JUDGES, Independent.— The
judges should not be dependent upon any
man, or body of men. — To GEORGE WYTHE.
FORD ED., ii, 60. (1776.)
4165. JUDGES, Interested.— It is not
enough that honest men are appointed judges.
All know the influence of interest on the mind
of man, and how unconsciously his judgment
is warped by that influence. To this bias add
that of the esprit de corps, of their peculiar
maxim and creed, that " it is the office of a
good judge to enlarge his jurisdiction ", and
the absence of responsibility, and how can we
expect impartial decision between the General
Government, of which they are themselves so
eminent a part, and an individual State, from
which they have nothing to hope or fear? —
AUTOBIOGRAPHY, i, 81. FORD ED., i, 112.
(1821.)
4166. JUDGES, Life tenure.— The
judges should hold estates for life in their
offices, or, in other words, their commissions
should be made during good behavior. — To
GEORGE WYTHE. FORD ED., ii, 60. (1776.)
4167. JUDGES, Power of. — Whatever of
the enumerated objects [in the Constitution]
is to be done by a judicial sentence, the
* Congress struck out u our". — EDITOR.
judges may pass the sentence. — To WILSON
C. NICHOLAS, iv, 506. FORD ED., viii, 248.
(M., 1803.)
4168. . We have seen, too, that,
contrary to all correct example, the judges are
in the habit of going out of the question be
fore them, to throw an anchor ahead, and
grapple further hold for future advances of
power. — AUTOBIOGRAPHY, i, 82. FORD ED., i,
113. (1821.)
4169. JUDGES, Prejudices of old.—
Knowing that religion does not furnish
grosser bigots than law, I expect little from
old judges. Those now at the bar may be
bold enough to follow reason further than
precedent, and may bring that principle on
the bench when promoted to it; but I fear
this effort is not for my day. — To THOMAS
COOPER, v, 532. (M., 1810.)
4170. JUDGES, Qualifications.— The
judges should always be men of learning and
experience in the laws, of exemplary morals,
great patience, calmness and attention; their
minds should not be distracted with jarring
interests. — To GEORGE WYTHE. FORD ED., ii,
59. (1776.)
4171. JUDGES, Seats in State Senate.—
The judges of the General Court and of the
High Court of Chancery [of Virginia] shall
have session and deliberative voice, but not
suffrage, in the House of Senators.— PRO
POSED VA. CONSTITUTION. FORD ED., ii, 16.
(June 1776.)
4172. JUDGES, Superfluous.— By a
fraudulent use of the Constitution, which has
made judges irremovable, the [federalists]
have multiplied useless judges merely to
strengthen their phalanx.— To JOHN DICKIN
SON, iv, 425. (W., 1 80 1.)
4173. . I should greatly prefer
* * * four judges to any greater num
ber. Great lawyers are not over abundant,
and the multiplication of judges only enables
the weak to out-vote the wise, and three con
current opinions put of four give a strong
presumption of right.— To WILLIAM JOHN
SON, vii, 278. FORD ED., x, 249. (M., 1823.)
4174. JUDGES, Usurpation by.— One
single object, if your provision [in the
Louisiana Code] attains it, will entitle you to
the endless gratitude of society; that of re
straining judges from usurping legislation.
And with no body of men is this restraint
more wanting than with the judges of what is
commonly called our General Government,
but what I call our Foreign Department. — To
EDWARD LIVINGSTON, vii, 403- (M., 1825.)
4175. JUDGES, Venality of French.—
Nor should we wonder at * * * [the]
pressure [for a fixed constitution in 1788-9]
when we consider the monstrous abuses of
power under which * * * [the French]
people were ground to powder ; when we pass
in review * * * the venality of the judges
and their partialities to the rich. — AUTOBIOG
RAPHY, i, 86. FORD ED., i, 118. (1821.)
Judgment
Judiciary
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
448
4176. JUDGMENT, Errors of.— I fear
not that any motives of interest may lead me
astray; I am sensible of no passion which
could seduce me knowingly from the path of
justice; but the weaknesses of human nature,
and the limits of my own understanding, will
produce errors of judgment sometimes in
jurious to your interests. I shall need, there
fore, all the indulgence which I have here
tofore experienced.— SECOND INAUGURAL AD
DRESS, viii, 45. FORD ED., viii, 347. (1805.)
4177. JUDGMENT, Warped.— All know
the influence of interest on the mind of man,
and how unconsciously his judgment is
warped by that influence.— AUTOBIOGRAPHY, i,
81. FORD ED., i, 112. (1821.)
4178. JUDICIARY (Federal), Central
ization and. — We already see the power, in
stalled for life, responsible to no authority
(for impeachment is not even a scare-crow),
advancing with a noiseless and steady pace to
the great object of consolidation. The founda
tions are already deeply laid by their deci
sions, for the annihilation of constitutional
State rights, and the removal of every check,
every counterpoise to the ingulphing power of
which themselves are to make a sovereign
part. * * * Let the future appointments
of judges be for four or six years, and re
movable by the President and Senate. This
will bring their conduct, at regular periods,
under revision and probation, and may keep
them in equipoise between the general and
special governments. We have erred in this
point, by copying England, where certainly it
is a good thing to have the judges independ
ent of the King. But we have omitted to
copy their caution also, which makes a judge
removable on the address of both legislative
houses. That there should be public func
tionaries independent of the nation, whatever
may be their demerit, is a solecism in a re
public, of the first order of absurdity and
inconsistency.— To WM. T. BARRY, vii, 256.
(M., 1822.) See CENTRALIZATION.
4179. JUDICIARY (Federal), Coercion
of. — In the General Government, * * * the
Judiciary is independent of the nation, their
coercion by impeachment being found nuga
tory.— To JOHN TAYLOR, vi, 607. FORD ED.,
x, 30. (M., 1816.)
4180. JUDICIARY (Federal), Confi
dence in. — The Judiciary, if rendered inde
pendent, and kept strictly to their own de
partment, merits great confidence for their
learning and integrity.— To JAMES MADISON.
iii, 3. FORD ED., v, 81. (P., 1789.)
4181. JUDICIARY (Federal), Control
over. — The Judiciary [branch of the Govern
ment] possessing the rights of self-govern
ment from nature, cannot be controlled in the
exercise of them but by a law, passed in the
forms of the Constitution.— OFFICIAL OPIN
ION, vii, 499. FORD ED., v, 209. (1790.)
4182. JUDICIARY (Federal), Curbing.
—You will have a * * * difficult task in
curbing the Judiciary in their enterprises on
the Constitution. I doubt whether the erec
tion of the Senate into an appellate court on
constitutional questions would be deemed an
unexceptionable reliance ; because it would en
able the Judiciary, with the representatives in
Senate of one-third only of our citizens, and
that in a single house, to make by construction
what they should please of the Constitution,
and thus bind in a double knot the other two-
thirds; for I believe that one-third of our
citizens choose a majority of the Senate, and
these, too, of the smaller States whose in
terests lead to lessen State influence, and
strengthen that of the General Government.
A better remedy I think, and indeed the best
I can devise would be to give future com
missions to judges for six years (the sen
atorial term) with a reappointability by the
President with the approbation of both
houses. That of the House of Representa
tives imports a majority of citizens, that of
the Senate a majority of States, and that
of both a majority of the three sovereign de
partments of the existing government, to wit,
of its Executive and Legislative branches. If
this would not be independence enough, I
know not what would be such, short of the
total irresponsibility under which we are act
ing and sinning now. The independence of
the judges in England on the King alone is
good; but even there they are not independ
ent on the Parliament, being removable on
the joint address of both houses, by a vote
of a majority of each, but we require a
majority of one house and two-thirds of the
other, a concurrence which, in practice, has
been and ever will be found impossible; for
the judiciary perversions of the Constitution
will forever be protected under the pretext of
errors of judgment, which by princiole are
exempt from punishment. Impeachment,
therefore, is a bugbear which they fear not
at all. But they would be under some awe of
the canvass of their conduct which would be
open to both houses regularly every sixth
year. It is a misnomer to call a government
republican, in which a branch of the supreme
power is independent of the nation. By this
change of tenure a remedy would be held up
to the States, which, although very distant,
would probably keep them quiet. In aid of
this a more immediate effect would be pro
duced by a joint protestation of both houses
of Congress, that the doctrines of the judges
in the case of Cohens, adjudging a State ame
nable to their tribunal, and that Congress can
authorize a corporation of the District of
Columbia to pass any act which shall have
the force of law within a State, are contrary
to the provisions of the Constitution of the
United States. This would be effectual; as
with such an avowal of Congress, no State
would permit such a sentence to be carried
into execution within its limits. If, by the
distribution of the sovereign powers among
three branches, they were intended to be
checks on one another, the present case calls
loudly for the exercise of that duty, and such
a counter declaration, while proper in form,
449
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Judiciary
would be most salutary as a precedent. — To
JAMES PLEASANTS. FORD ED., x, 198. (M.,
Dec. 1821.)
4183. . There was another
amendment [to the Federal Constitution] of
which none of us thought at the time [when
the Constitution was framed], and in the
omission of which lurks the germ that is to
destroy this happy combination of national
powers in the General Government for
matters of national concern, and independent
powers in the States, for what concerns the
States severally. In England, it was a great
point gained at the Revolution, that the com
missions of the judges, which had hitherto
been during pleasure, should thenceforth be
made during good behavior. A Judiciary,
dependent on the will of the king, had proved
itself the most oppressive of all tools in the
hands of that magistrate. Nothing then could
be more salutary than a change there to the
tenure of good behavior; and the question of
good behavior, left to the vote of a simple
majority in the two Houses of Parliament.
Before the Revolution we were all good Eng
lish Whigs, cordial in their free principles,
and in their jealousies of their Executive
Magistrate. These jealousies are very ap
parent in all our State constitutions; and, in
the General Government in this instance, we
have gone even beyond the English caution,
by requiring a vote of two-thirds in one of
the houses, for removing a Judge ; a vote so
impossible, where* any defence is made, be
fore men of ordinary prejudices and passions,
that our judges are effectually independent
of the nation. But this ought not to be. I
would not, indeed, make them dependent on
the Executive authority, as they formerly
were in England ; but I deem it indispensable
to the continuance of this Government that
they should be submitted to some practical
and impartial control ; and that this, to be
impartial, must be compounded of a mixture
of State and Federal authorities. — AUTOBIOG
RAPHY, i, 80. FORD ED., i, in. (1821.)
4184. JUDICIARY (Federal), Danger
ous Decisions. — At the establishment of our
Constitutions, the judiciary bodies were sup
posed to be the most helpless and harmless
members of the government. Experience,
however, soon showed in what way they were
to become the most dangerous; that the in
sufficiency of the means provided for their re
moval gave them a freehold and irrespon
sibility in office ; that their decisions, seem
ing to concern individual suitors only, pass
silent and unheeded by the public at large ;
that these decisions, nevertheless, become
law by precedent, sapping, by little and little,
the foundations of the Constitution, and
working its change by construction, before
any one has perceived that that invisible and
helpless worm has been busily employed in
consuming its substance. In truth, man is
* In the impeachment of Judge Pickering of New
Hampshire, a habitual and maniac drunkard, no de
fence was made. Had there been, the party vote of
more than one-third of the Senate would have ac
quitted him.— NOTE BY JEFFERSON.
not made to be trusted for life, if secured
against all liability to account— To A. CORAY.
vii, 322. (M., 1823.)
4185. JUDICIARY (Federal), Legisla
tive, Executive and.— The dignity and sta
bility of government in all its branches, the
morals of the people, and every blessing of
society, depend so much upon an upright and
skillful administration of justice, that the
judicial power ought to be distinct from
both the legislative and executive, and inde
pendent upon both, that so it may be a check
upon both, as both should be checks upon
that. — To GEORGE WYTHE. FORD ED., ii, 59.
(July 1776.)
4186. JUDICIARY (Federal), Sappers
and miners. — The Judiciary of the United
States is the subtle corps of sappers and
miners constantly working under ground to
undermine the foundations of our confeder
ated fabric. They are construing our Con
stitution from a coordination of a general and
special government to a general and supreme
one alone. This will lay all things at their feet,
and they are too well versed in English law to
forget the maxim, " boni judicis est ampliare
jurisdictionem ". * * * Having found from
experience, that impeachment is an imprac
ticable thing, a mere scare-crow, they con
sider themselves secure for life ; they skulk
from responsibility to public opinion, the only
remaining hold on them, under a practice first
introduced into England by Lord Mansfield.
An opinion is huddled up in conclave, per
haps by a majority of one, delivered as if
unanimous, and with the silent acquiescence
of lazy or timid associates, by a crafty chief
judge, who sophisticates the law to his mind,
by the turn of his own reasoning. A judi
ciary law was once reported by the Attorney
General to Congress, requiring each judge to
deliver his opinion seriatim and openly, and
then to give it in writing to the clerk to be
entered in the record. A. judiciary independ
ent of a king or executive alone, is a good
thing; but independence of the will of the
nation is a solecism, at least in a republican
government.— To THOMAS RITCHIE, vii, 192.
FORD ED., x, 170. (M., 1820.)
4187. . The judges are, in fact,
the corps of sappers and miners, steadily work
ing to undermine the independent rights of
the States, and to consolidate all power in the
hands of that government in which they have
so important a freehold estate. — AUTOBIOGRA
PHY, i, 82. FORD ED., i, 113. (1821.)
4188. . This member of the Gov
ernment was at first considered as the most
harmless and helpless of all its organs. But
it has proved that the power of declaring what
the law is, ad libitum, by sapping and mining,
slyly, and without alarm, the foundations of
the Constitution, can do what open force
would not dare to attempt. — To EDWARD
LIVINGSTON, vii, 404. (M., 1825.)
4189. JUDICIARY (Federal), The Sen
ate and. — The Constitution has vested the Ju
diciary power in the courts of justice, with
Judiciary
Jury (Trial by)
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
450
certain exceptions in favor of the Senate. —
OPINION ON THE POWERS OF THE SENATE, vii,
465. FORD ED., v, 161. (1790.)
4190. JUDICIARY (Federal), Suprem
acy. — The courts of justice exercise the sov
ereignty of this country, in judiciary matters,
are supreme in these, and liable neither to
control nor opposition from any other branch
of the government. — To E. C. GENET, iv, 68.
FORD ED., vi, 421. (Pa., Sep. 1793.) See
CONSTITUTION, MARSHALL and SUPREME
COURT.
4191. JUDICIARY (State), Elevate.—
Render the judiciary [of the State] respect
able by every means possible, to wit, firm
tenure in office, competent salaries, and reduc
tion of their numbers. — To ARCHIBALD
STUART, iii, 315. FORD ED., v, 410. (Pa.,
1791.)
4192. JURISDICTION, Foreign.— He
has combined with others to subject us to a
jurisdiction foreign to our constitutions and
unacknowledged by our laws; giving his as
sent to their acts of pretended legislation
* * * for protecting them [bodies of
armed troops], by a mock trial, from punish
ment, for any murders which they should
commit on the inhabitants of these States. —
DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE AS DRAWN BY
JEFFERSON.
4193. JURISDICTION", Unwarrantable.
— We have warned them [our British breth
ren] from time to time of attempts by their
legislature to extend an unwarrantable juris
diction over these our States. We have re
minded them of the circumstances of our
emigration and settlement here, no one of
which could warrant so strange a pretension.*
— DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE AS DRAWN
BY JEFFERSON.
4194. JURY (Grand), Federal Judges
and. — The proceedings in the Federal court
of Virginia, to overawe the communications
between the people and their representatives,
excite great indignation. Probably a great
fermentation will be produced by it in that
State. Indeed it is the common cause of the
confederacy, as it is one of their courts
which has taken the step. The charges of the
Federal judges have for a considerable time
been inviting the grand juries to become in
quisitors on the freedom of speech, of writing,
and of principle of their fellow citizens. Per
haps the grand juries in the other States, as
well as in that of Virginia, may think it in
cumbent in their next presentment to enter
protestations against this perversion of their
institution from a legal to a political machine,
and even to present those concerned in it. —
To PEREGRINE FITZHUGH. FORD ED., vii, 137.
(Pa., June 1797.)
4195. JURY (Trial by), Anchor of Gov
ernment. — I consider trial by jury as the only
* Congress changed so as to read : " We have
warned them, from time to time, of attempts by their
legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction
over us. We have reminded them of the circum
stances of our emigration and settlement here."—
EDITOR.
anchor ever yet imagined by man, by which a
government can be held to the principles of
its constitution. — To THOMAS PAINE, iii, 71.
(P., 1789.)
— JURY (Trial by), In Chancery
Courts. — See COURTS OF CHANCERY.
4196. JURY (Trial by), Common sense
of Jurors. — It is better to toss up cross and
pile in a cause than to refer it to a judge
whose mind is warped by any motive what
ever, in that particular case. But the common
sense of twelve honest men gives a still better
chance of just decision, than the hazard of
cross and pile. — NOTES ON VIRGINIA, viii,
372. FORD ED., iii, 236. (1782.)
4197. JURY (Trial by), Denied by par
liament.— They [Parliament] have deprived
us of the inestimable privilege of trial by a
jury of the vicinage in cases affecting both
life and property. — DECLARATION ON TAKING
UP ARMS. FORD ED., i, 468. (July 1775.)
4198. - — . The proposition [of Lord
North] is altogether unsatisfactory * * *
because it does not propose to repeal the
several acts of Parliament * * * taking
from us the right of a trial by jury of the
vicinage, in cases affecting both life and prop
erty. — REPLY TO LORD NORTH'S PROPOSITION.
FORD ED., i, 480. (July 1775.)
4199. JURY (Trial by), Lack of Uni
form Laws.— I do not like [in the new Fed
eral Constitution] the omission of a bill of
rights, providing clearly and without the aid
of sophisms for * * * trials by jury in all
matters of fact triable by the laws of the
land, and not by the law of nations.
It was a hard conclusion to say, because
there has been no uniformity among the
States as to the cases triable by jury, because
some have been so incautious as to abandon
this mode of trial, therefore, the more prudent
States shall be reduced to the same level of
calamity. It would have been much more just
and wise to have concluded the other way
that, as most of the States had judiciously
preserved this palladium, those who had
wandered should be brought back to it, and
to have established general right instead of
general wrong.— To JAMES MADISON, ii, 329.
FORD ED., iv, 476. (P., Dec. 1787.)
4200. JURY (Trial by), Essential prin
ciple. — Trial by juries impartially selected, I
deem [one of the] essential principles of
our government and, consequently, [one]
which ought to shape its administration. —
FIRST INAUGURAL ADDRESS, viii, 4. FORD ED.,
viii, 5. (1801.)
4201. JURY (Trial by), In France.— I
doubt whether France will obtain [in its pro
posed Constitution] the trial by jury, because
they are not sensible of its value. — To DR.
PRICE, ii, 557. (P., Jan. 1789.)
4202. JURY (Trial by), Fundamental
right. — There are instruments for adminis
tering the government, so peculiarly trust
worthy, that we should never leave the leg-
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Jury (Trial by)
islature at liberty to change them. The new
Constitution has secured these in the exec
utive and legislative departments; but not in
the judiciary. It should have established
trials by the people themselves, that is to say,
by jury. — To DAVID HUMPHREYS, iii, 13.
FORD ED., v, 90. (P., 1789.)
4203. JURY (Trial by), George III.
and. — He [George III.] has endeavored to
pervert the exercise of the kingly office in
Virginia into a detestable and insupportable
tyranny * * * by combining with others
to subject us to a foreign jurisdiction, giving
his assent to their pretended acts of legisla
tion * * for depriving us of the benefits
of trial by jury. — PROPOSED VA. CONSTITU
TION. FORD ED., ii, n. (June 1776.)
4204. - . He has combined, with
others, * * * for depriving us* of the ben
efits of trial by jury. — DECLARATION OF IN
DEPENDENCE AS DRAWN BY JEFFERSON.
4205. JURY (Trial by), Law and fact.
— The people are not qualified to judge ques
tions of law ; but they are very capable of
judging questions of fact. In the form of
juries, therefore, they determine all matters
of fact, leaving to the permanent judges to
decide the law resulting from those facts.
* * * It is left to the juries, if they think
permanent judges are under any bias whatever
in any cause, to take on themselves to
judge the law as well as the fact. They
never exercise this power but when they sus
pect partiality in the judges; and by the ex
ercise of this power they have been the firmest
bulwarks of English liberty. — To L'ABBE AR-
NOND. iii. 81. FORD ED., v, 103. (P., 1789.)
4206. . If the question [before
justices of the peace] relate to any point of
public liberty, or if it be one of those in
which the judges may be suspected of bias,
the jury undertake to decide both law and
fact. — NOTES ON VIRGINIA, viii, 372. FORD
ED., iii, 236. (1782.)
4207. . The people * * * be
ing competent to judge of the facts occurring
in ordinary life, have retained the functions
of judges of facts, under the name of jurors.
— To DUPONT DE NEMOURS, vi, 590. FORD
ED., x, 22. (P.F., 1816.)
4208. JURY (Trial by), Medietas Lin
guae. — I sincerely rejoice at the acceptance of
our new Constitution by nine States. It is
a good canvas, on which some strokes only
want retouching. What these are, I think
are sufficiently manifested by the general voice
from north to south which calls for a bill of
rights. It seems pretty generally understood
that this should go to juries * * . In
disputes between a foreigner and a native, a
trial by jury may be improper. But if this
exception cannot be agreed to, the remedy
will be to model the jury by giving the
mcdietas lingua, in civil as well as criminal
cases. — To JAMES MADISON, ii, 445. FORD
ED., v, 45- (P., July 1788.)
* Congress inserted after
many cases". — EDITOR.
us " the words u in
4209. JURY (Trial by), Safeguard.—
Trial by jury is the best of all safeguards
for the person, the property, and the fame of
every individual. — To M. CORAY. vii. 323.
(M., 1823.)
4210. JURY (Trial by), Scope.— I like
the declaration of rights as far as it goes, but
I should have been for going further. For
instance, the following alterations and addi
tions would have pleased me. * * * Ar
ticle 7. All facts put in issue before any ju
dicature, shall be tried by jury, except: i,
in cases of admiralty jurisdiction, wherein a
foreigner shall be interested; 2, in cases cog
nizable before a court-martial, concerning
only the regular officers and soldiers of the
United States, or members of the militia in
actual service in time of war or insurrection ;
3, in impeachments allowed by the Constitu
tion. — To JAMES MADISON, iii, 100. FORD
ED., v, 112. (P., Aug. 1789.)
4211. JURY (Trial by), Selection of
Jurors.— An officer * * * who selects
judges for principles which necessarily lead to
condemnation, might as well lead his culprits
to the scaffold at once without the mockery
of trial. — To MRS. SARAH MEASE. FORD ED.,
viii, 35. (W., March 1801.)
4212. . An. officer who is en
trusted by the law with the sacred duty of
naming judges of life and death for his fellow
citizens, and who selects them exclusively
from among his political and party enemies,
ought never to have in his power a second
abuse of that tremendous magnitude. — To
MRS. SARAH MEASE. FORD ED., viii, 35. (W.,
March 1801.)
4213. - — . It will be worthy your
consideration whether the protection of the
inestimable institution of juries has been ex
tended to all the cases involving: the security
of our persons and property. Their impartial
selection also being essential to their value,
we ought further to consider whether that is
sufficiently secured in those States where they
are named by a marshal depending on Exec
utive will, or designated by the court or by
officers dependent on them. — FIRST ANNUAL
MESSAGE, viii, 14. FORD ED., viii, 123. (Dec.
1801.)
4214. — — . I enclose you a petition
for a reformation in the manner of appointing
our juries, and a remedy against the jury of
all nations. * * * I know it will require
but little ingenuity to make objections to the
details of its execution ; but do not be dis
couraged by small difficulties ; make it as per
fect as you can at a first essay, and depend on
amending its defects as they develop them
selves in practice. * * * It is the only thing
which can yield us a little present protection
against the dominion of a faction, while cir
cumstances are maturing for bringing and
keeping the government in real unison with
the spirit of their constituents. — To JOHN
TAYLOR, iv, 260. FORD ED., vii, 311. (M.,
1798.)
Jury (Trial by)
Justice
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
452
4215. JURY (Trial by), Powers of Ju
rors. — All fines, or amercements, shall be as
sessed, and terms of imprisonment for con
tempts and misdemeanors shall be fixed by
the verdict of a jury. — PROPOSED VA. CON
STITUTION. FORD ED., ii, 24. (June 1776.)
4216. JURY (Trial by), Universal.— By
a declaration of rights, I mean one which
shall stipulate * * * trial by juries in
all cases * * * .—To A. DONALD, ii, 355.
(P., 1788.)
4217. JUSTICE, Administration of.—
He has suffered* the administration of jus
tice totally to cease in some of these States,
refusing his assent to laws for establishing
judiciary powers. — DECLARATION OF INDE
PENDENCE AS DRAWN BY JEFFERSON.
4218. . Justice is administered
in all the States with a purity and integrity
of which few countries can afford an ex
ample. — To COUNT DE VERGENNES. ix, 241.
FORD ED., iv, 127. (P., 1785.)
4219. JUSTICE, Courts of.— Courts of
justice, all over the world, are held by the
laws to proceed according to certain forms,
which the good of the suitors themselves re
quires they should not be permitted to depart
from. — To CHARLES HELLSTEDT. iii, 210.
(Pa, 1791.)
4220. . No nation can answer
for perfect exactitude of proceedings in all
their inferior courts. It suffices to provide a
supreme judicature, where all error and par
tiality will be ultimately corrected.— To
GEORGE HAMMOND, iii, 414. FORD ED., vi, 55.
(Pa., 1792.)
4221. JUSTICE, Deaf to.— They, too
[the British people], have been deaf to the
voice of justice and of consanguinity. —
DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE AS DRAWN BY
JEFFERSON.
4222. JUSTICE, Equal and exact.—
Equal and exact justice to all men, of what
ever state or persuasion, religious or political,
I deem [one of the] essential principles of our
government and, consequently [one] which
ought to shape its administration. — FIRST IN
AUGURAL ADDRESS, viii, 4. FORD ED., viii, 4.
(1801.)
4223. JUSTICE, Foundation of. — I be
lieve that justice is instinct and innate, that
the moral sense is as much a part of our con
stitution as that of feeling, seeing, or hear
ing; as a wise Creator must have seen to be
necessary in an animal destined to live in so
ciety; that every human mind feels pleasure
in doing good to another; that the non-ex
istence of justice is not to be inferred from
the fact that the same act is deemed virtuous
and right in one society which is held vicious
and wrong in another; because, as the cir
cumstances and opinions of different societies
vary, so the acts which may do them right or
wrong must vary also; for virtue does not
* For " suffered", Congress substituted " ob
structed" ; struck out the words in italics and in
serted u by".— EDITOR.
consist in the act we do, but in the end it is
to effect. If it is to effect the happiness of him
to whom it is directed, it is virtuous, while in
a society under different circumstances and
opinions, the same act might produce pain,
and would be vicious. The essence of virtue
is in doing good to others, while what is good
may be one thing in one society, and its con
trary in another.— To JOHN ADAMS, vii, 39.
(M., 1816.)
4224. JUSTICE, Fundamental Law.—
Justice is the fundamental law of society.-^
To DUPONT DE NEMOURS, vi, 591. FORD ED.,
x, 24. (P.F., 1816.)
4225. JUSTICE, Government and.— The
most sacred of the duties of a government is
to do equal and impartial justice to all its
citizens. — NOTE IN TRACY'S POLITICAL ECON
OMY, vi, 574. (1816.)
4226. JUSTICE, Impartial.— Deal out
justice without partiality or favoritism. — To
HUGH WILLIAMSON. FORD ED., v, 492. (Pa.,
1792.)
4227. . The sword of the law
should never fall but on those whose guilt is
so apparent as to be pronounced by their
friends as well as foes. — To MRS. SARAH
MEASE. FORD ED., viii, 35. (W., March
1801.)
4228. . When one undertakes to
administer justice, it must be with an even
hand, and by rule ; what is done for one, must
be done for every one in equal degree. — To
DR. BENJAMIN RUSH, iv, 507. FORD ED., viii,
264. (W., 1803.)
4229. JUSTICE, International.— We
must make the interest of every nation stand
surety for their justice, and their own loss
to follow injury to us, as effect follows its
cause. — To EDWARD RUTLEDGE. iv, 191.
FORD ED., vii, 154. (Pa., 1797.)
4230. - — . We think that peaceable
means may be devised of keeping nations in the
path of justice towards us, by making justice
their interest, and injuries to react on them
selves. — To MR. CABANIS. iv, 497. (W.,
1803.)
4231. . We are firmly convinced,
and we act on that conviction, that with na
tions, as with individuals, our interests
soundly calculated, will ever be found insep
arable from our moral duties ; and history
bears witness to the fact, that a just nation
is trusted on its word, when recourse is had
to armaments and wars to bridle others. —
SECOND INAUGURAL ADDRESS, viii, 40. FORD
ED., viii, 343. (1805.)
4232. . A just nation is taken on
its word, when recourse is had to armaments
and wars to bridle others. — SECOND INAUGURAL
ADDRESS. viii, 40. FORD ED., viii, 343.
(1805.)
4233. . We ask for peace and
justice from all nations. — To JAMES MONROE.
v, 12. FORD ED., viii, 450. (W., May 1806.)
453
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Justice
Kentucky
4234. JUSTICE, National and indi
vidual. — A character of justice is valuable to
a nation as to an individual. — To REV. MR.
WORCESTER, vi, 540. (1816.)
4235. JUSTICE, Partial.— The public se
curity against a partial dispensation of jus
tice depends on its being dispensed by cer
tain rules. The slightest deviation in one
circumstance becomes a precedent for an
other, that for a third, and so on without
bounds. A relaxation in a case where it is
certain no fraud is intended, is laid hold of by
others, afterwards, to cover fraud. — To
GEORGE JOY. iii, 130. (N.Y., 1790.)
4236. JUSTICE, Peace and. — Peace and
justice [should] be the polar stars of the
American Societies. — To J. CORREA. vii, 184.
FORD ED., x, 164. (M., 1820.)
4237. JUSTICE, Pre-Revolutionary.—
Before the Revolution, a judgment could not
be obtained under eight years in the Supreme
Court [in Virginia] where the suit was in
the department of the common law, which
department embraces about nine-tenths of the
subject of legal contestation. In that of the
Chancery, from twelve to twenty years were
requisite. This did not proceed from any vice
in the laws, but from the indolence of the
judges appointed by the King; and these
judges holding their office during his will
only, he could have reformed the evil at
any time. This reformation was among the
first works of the Legislature after our In
dependence. A judgment can now be ob
tained in the Supreme Court in one year at
the common law, and in about three years in
the Chancery.* — REPORT TO CONGRESS, ix, 240.
FORD ED., iv, 126. (P., 1785.)
4238. JUSTICE, Procurement of.— [It
is my] belief that a just and friendly con
duct on our part will procure justice and
friendship from others. — To EARL OF BUCHAN.
iv, 494- (W., 1803.)
4239. JUSTICE, Safeguard.— The pro
visions we have made [for our government]
are such as please ourselves ; they answer the
substantial purposes of government and of
justice, and other purposes than these should
not be answered. — REPLY TO LORD NORTH'S
PROPOSITION. FORD ED., i, 479. (July I775-)
4240. JUSTICE, Sense of .— Destutt Tracy
promises a work on morals, in which I la
ment to see that he will adopt the principles
of Hobbes, or humiliation to human nature;
that the sense of justice and injustice is not
derived from our natural organization, but
founded on convention only. * * As
suming the fact, that the earth has been
created in time, and consequently the dogma
of final causes, we yield, of course, to this
short syllogism: Man was created for so
cial intercourse; but social intercourse cannot
be maintained without a sense of justice; then
man must have been created with a sense
of justice.— To F. W. GILMER. vii, 4. FORD
ED., x, 32. (M., 1816.)
* Report of Conference with Count de Vergennes
on Commerce.— EDITOR.
4241. JUSTICE, Universal.— Justice is
to be denied to no man.— To E. C. GENET.
iii, 585. FORD ED., vi, 311. (Pa., 1793.)
4242. JUSTICE, Unswerving.— I am
sensible of no passion which could seduce me
knowingly from the path of justice.— SECOND
INAUGURAL ADDRESS, viii, 45. FORD ED., viii,
347- (1805.)
4243. JUSTICE, Views of.— All our pro
ceedings have flowed from views of justice. —
SPECIAL MESSAGE, viii, 70. FORD ED. viii,
496. (Dec. 1806.)
4244. KAMES, Writings of Lord.— Your
objection to Lord KameSj that he is too meta
physical, is just, and it is the chief objection to
which his writings are liable. It is to be ob
served, also, that though he has given us what
should be the system of equity, yet it is not the
one actually established, at least not in all its
parts. — To PETER CARR. iii, 452. FORD ED., vi,
92. (Pa., 1792.)
4245. KENTUCKY, Asks separation.—
We have transmitted a copy of a petition
from the people of Kentucky to Congress
praying to be separated from Virginia. Con
gress took no notice of it. We [delegates]
sent the copy to the Governor desiring it to
be laid before the Assembly. Our view was
to bring on the question. It is for the interest
of Virginia to cede so far immediately, be
cause the people beyond that will separate
themselves, because they will be joined by all
our settlements beyond the Alleghany if they
are the first movers. Whereas if we draw
the line, those at Kentucky having their end,
will not interest themselves for the people of
Indiana, Greenbriar, &c., who will of course
be left to our management, and I can with cer
tainty almost say that Congress would ap
prove of the meridian of the mouth of the
Kanawha, and will consider it as the ultimate
point to be desired from Virginia. I form
this opinion from conversation with many
members. Should we not be the first
movers, and the Indianians and Kentuckians
take themselves off and claim to the Alle
ghany, I am afraid Congress would secretly
wish them well. — To JAMES MADISON. FORD
ED., iii, 401. (A., Feb. 1784.)
4246. KENTUCKY, Danger of seces
sion. — I fear, from an expression in your
letter, that the people of Kentucky think of
separating, not only from Virginia (in which
they are right), but also from the confed
eracy. I own I should think this a most cal-
amitious event, and such a one as every good
citizen should set himself against. — To ARCH
IBALD STUART, i, 518. FORD ED., iv, 188. (P.,
Jan. 1786.)
4247. KENTUCKY, Independence de
clared.— The General Assembly of Virginia,
at their session in 1785, passed an act de
claring that the district, called Kentucky,
shall be a separate and independent State, on
these conditions, i. That the people of that
district shall consent to it. 2. That Congress
shall consent to it, and shall receive them
into the Federal Union. 3. That they shall
Kentucky
Kentucky Resolutions
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
454
take on themselves a proportionable part of
the public debt of Virginia. 4. That they
shall confirm all titles to lands within their
district, made by the State of Virginia, be
fore their separation. — To M. DE MEUNIER.
ix, 258. FORD ED., iv, 162. (P., 1786.)
4248. . Virginia has declared
Kentucky an independent State, provided its
inhabitants consent to it, and Congress will
receive them into a union. — To WILLIAM
CARMICHAEL. FORD ED., iv, 244. (P., 1786.)
4249. KENTUCKY, Statehood.— I wish
to see that country in the hands of people
well disposed, who know the value of the
connection between that and the maritime
States, and who wish to cultivate it. I con
sider their happiness as bound up together,
and that every measure should be taken which
may draw the bands of union tighter. It will
be an efficacious one to receive them into
Congress, as I perceive they are about to de
sire. If to this be added an honest and dis
interested conduct in Congress, as to every
thing relating to them, we may hope for a
perfect harmony. — To JOHN BROWN, ii, 395.
FORD ED., v. 1 6. (P., May 1788.)
4250. . There are now 100,000
inhabitants at Kentucky. They have ac
cepted the offer of independence on the terms
proposed by Virginia, and they have decided
that their independent government shall be
gin on the ist day of the next year. In the
meantime, they claim admittance into Con
gress. — To WILLIAM CARMICHAEL. FORD ED.,
v, 23. (P., June 1788.)
4251. KENTUCKY, Union and.— Faith
ful to the Federal compact, according to the
plain intent and meaning in which it was un
derstood and acceded to by the several par
ties, * * * Kentucky is sincerely anxious
for its preservation.— KENTUCKY RESOLU
TIONS, ix, 468. FORD ED., vii, 300. (1798.)
4252. . This Commonwealth
continues in the same esteem of their [the
States] friendship and union which it has
manifested from that moment at which a
common danger first suggested a common
union. — KENTUCKY RESOLUTIONS. ix, 468.
FORD ED., vii, 300. (1798.)
4253. KENTUCKY, Vermont and.—
Congress referred the decision as to the in
dependence of Kentucky to the new govern
ment. Brown ascribes this to the jealousy of
the northern States, who want Vermont to
be received at the same time, in order to pre
serve a balance of interests in Congress.
He was just setting out for Kentucky, dis
gusted, yet disposed to persuade to an ac
quiescence, though doubting they would im
mediately separate from the Union. The
principal obstacle to this, he thought, would
be the Indian war. — To WILLIAM SHORT, ii,
480. FORD ED., v, 50. (P., Sep. 1788.)
4254. KENTUCKY, Virginia and.—
I am deeply impressed with the importance of
Virginia and Kentucky pursuing the same
track at the ensuing sessions of their Legis
latures. — To WILSON C. NICHOLAS, iv, 304.
FORD ED., vii, 389. (M., Aug. 26, 1799.)
4255. KENTUCKY RESOLUTIONS
(1798), Draft of.— I enclose you a copy of
the draft* of the Kentucky resolves. I think
we should distinctly affirm all the important
principles they contain, so as to hold to that
ground in future, and leave the matter in such
a train as that we may not be committed abso
lutely to push the matter to extremities, and yet
may be free to push as far as events will render
prudent. — To JAMES MADISON, iv, 258. FORD
ED., vii, 288. (M., Nov. 17, 1798-)
4256. KENTUCKY RESOLUTIONS
(1798), History of.— At the time when the
Republicans of our country were so much
alarmed at the proceedings of the Federal as
cendency in Congress, in the Executive and
the Judiciary departments, it became a matter
of serious consideration how head could be
made against their enterprises on the Constitu
tion. The leading Republicans in Congress
found themselves of no use there, browbeaten,
as they were, by a bold and overwhelming ma
jority. They concluded to retire from that field,
take a stand in the State Legislatures, and en
deavor there to arrest their progress. The
Alien and Sedition laws furnished the particu
lar occasion. The sympathy between Virginia
and Kentucky was more cordial, and more in
timately confidential, than between any other
two States of Republican policy. Mr. Madi
son came into the Virginia Legislature. I was
then in the Vice-Presidency, and could not leave
my station. But your father. Colonel W. C.
Nicholas, and myself happening to be together,
the engaging the cooperation of Kentucky in
an energetic protestation against the constitu
tionality of those laws, became a subject of
consultation. Those gentlemen pressed me
strongly to sketch resolutions for that purpose,
your father undertaking to introduce them to
that Legislature, with a solemn assurance, which
I strictly required, that it should not be known
from what quarter they came. I drew and de
livered them to him, and in keeping their origin
secret, he fulfilled his pledge of honor. Some
years after this, Colonel Nicholas asked me if I
would have any objection to its being known
that I had drawn them. I pointedly enjoined
that it should not. Whether he had unguard
edly intimated it before to any one, I know
not; but I afterwards observed in the papers
repeated imputations of them to me ; on which,
as has been my practice on all occasions of
imputation, I have observed entire silence.
The question, indeed, has never before been
put to me, nor should I answer it to any other
than yourself ; seeing no good end to be pro
posed by it, and the desire of tranquillity indu
cing with me a wish to be withdrawn from pub
lic notice, t — To NICHOLAS, vii, 229. (M.,
Dec. 1821.)
4257. KENTUCKY RESOLUTIONS
(1798), Phrasing of.— The more I have re
flected on the phrase in the paper you showed
me, the more strongly I think it should be
altered. Suppose you were instead of the
invitation to cooperate in the annulment of the
acts, to make it an invitation " to concur with
this commonwealth in declaring, as it does
hereby declare, that the said acts are, and were
* The Resolutions are printed in the Appendix to
this volume. The principles, &c., declared in them
are arranged under appropriate titles. — EDITOR.
t In the FORD EDITION, vii, ago, but addressed to
John Cabel Breckenridge. — EDITOR,
455
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Kentucky Resolutions
Kings
ab initio, null, void, and of no force, or effect ',
I should like it better.— To W. C. NICHOLAS.
FORD ED., vii, 312. (Nov. 1798.)
4258. KENTUCKY RESOLUTIONS
(1798), Presentation of. — I entirely approve
of the confidence you have reposed in Mr.
Breckenridge, as he possesses mine entirely.
1 had imagined it better these resolutions should
have originated with North Carolina. But per
haps the late changes in their representation
may indicate some doubt whether they could
have passed. In that case, it is better they
should come from Kentucky. I understand you
intend soon to go as far as Mr. Madison's. You
know of course I have no secrets from him. I
wish him, therefore, to be consulted as to these
resolutions. — To W. C. NICHOLAS. FORD EDV
vii, 281. (M., Oct. 5, 1798.)
4259. KENTUCKY RESOLUTIONS
(1799), Outlines of. — I thought something
essentially necessary to be said, in order to
avoid the inference of acquiescence ; that a reso
lution or declaration should be passed: i. An
swering the reasonings of such of the States
as have ventured into the field of reason, and
that of the Committee of Congress, taking some
notice, too, of those States who have either
not answered at all, or answered without rea
soning. 2, Making firm protestation against the
precedent and principle, and reserving the right
to make this palpable violation of the Federal
Compact the ground of doing in future what
ever we might now rightfully do, should repeti
tions of these and other violations of the com
pact render it expedient. 3. Expressing in
affectionate and conciliatory language our warm
attachment to union with our sister States,
and to the instrument and principles by which
we are united ; that we are willing to sacrifice
to this everything but the rights of self-govern
ment in those important points which we have
never yielded, and in which alone we see lib
erty, safety and happiness ; that not at all
disposed to make every measure of error or of
wrong a cause of scission, we are willing to look
on with indulgence, and to wait with patience
till those passions and delusions shall have
passed over, which the Federal Government
have artfully excited to cover its own abuses
and conceal its designs, fully confident that
the good sense of the American people, and their
attachment to those very rights which we are
now vindicating, will, before it shall be too late,
rally with us round the true principles of our
Federal compact. This was only meant to give
a general idea of the complexion and topics of
such an instrument. Mr. Madison * * * does
not concur in the reservation proposed above ;
and from this I recede readily, not only in def
erence to his judgment, but because, as we
should never think of separation but for re
peated and enormous violations, so these, when
they occur, will be cause enough of them
selves. To these topics, however, should be
added animadversions on the new pretensions
to a common law of the United States. * * *
As to the preparing anything, I must decline it,
to avoid suspicions (which were pretty strong
in some quarters on the late occasion), and be
cause there remains still (after their late loss)
a mass of talents in Kentucky sufficient for
every purpose. The only object of the present
communication is to procure a concert in the
general plan of action [as it is extremely de
sirable that Virginia and Kentucky should pur
sue the same track on this occasion *]. Be-
* Part in brackets not in letter-press copy.— FORD
sides, how could you better while away the road
from hence to Kentucky, than in meditating
this very subject, and preparing something
yourself, than whom nobody will do it better.
— To WILSON C. NICHOLAS, iv, 305. FORD ED.,
vii, 390. (M., Sep. 5, 1799.)
— KENTUCKY RESOLUTIONS, Text
of. — See APPENDIX.
4260. KINGS, Abhorrence of.— Let us
turn with abhorrence from these sceptered
scelerats, and disregarding our own petty
differences of opinion about men and meas
ures, let us cling in mass to our country and
to one another, and bid defiance, as we can if
united, to the plundering combinations of the
old world. — To DR. GEORGE LOGAN, vii, 20.
(M., 1816.)
4261. KINGS, Absolutism and.— There
is no king, who, with sufficient force, is not
always ready to make himself absolute. — To
GEORGE WYTHE. ii, 8. FORD ED., iv, 270. (P.,
1786.)
4262. KINGS, American.— It is lawful to
wish to see no emperor or king in our hemi
sphere. — To JAMES MONROE. FORD ED., x, 244.
(M., 1822.)
4263. KINGS, Bourbon.— France has now
a family of fools at its head, from whom,
whenever it can shake off its foreign riders,
it will extort a free constitution, or dismount
them, and establish some other on the solid
basis of national right. — To BENJAMIN AUS
TIN, vi, 554. FORD ED., x, n. (M., Feb.
1816.)
4264. KINGS, Breeding.— When I ob
served that the King of England was a
cipher, I did not mean to confine the observa
tion to the mere individual [George III.] now
on that throne. The practice of kings marry
ing only in the families of kings, has been
that of Europe for some centuries. Now,
take any race of animals, confine them in idle
ness and inaction, whether in a sty, a stable or
a state-room, pamper them with high diet,
gratify all their sexual appetites, immerse
them in sensualities, nourish their passions, let
everything bend before them, and banish
whatever might lead them to think, and in a
few generations they become all body, and no
mind ; and this, too, by a law of nature, by
that very law by which we are in the constant
practice of changing the characters and pro
pensities of the animals we raise for our own
purposes. Such is the regimen in raising
kings, and in this way they have gone on for
centuries. — To JOHN LANGDON. v, 514. (M.,
1810.)
— KINGS, Cannibal. — See 1123.
4265. KINGS, Character of European.—
While in Europe, I often amused myself
with contemplating the characters of the then
reigning monarchs of Europe. Louis XVI.
was a fool, of my own knowledge, and in
despite of the answers made for him at his
trial. The King of Spain was a fool, and
of Naples the same. They passed their lives
in hunting, and despatched two couriers a
week, one thousand miles, to let each other
Kings
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
456
know what game they had killed the preceding
days. The King of Sardinia was a fool. All
these were Bourbons. The Queen of Portu
gal, a Braganza, was an idiot by nature. And
so was the King of Denmark. Their sons,
as regents, exercised the powers of govern
ment. The King of Prussia, successor to the
great Frederick, was a mere hog in body as
well as in mind. Gustavus of Sweden, and
Joseph of Austria, were really crazy, and
George of England, you know, was in a
straight waistcoat. There remained, then,
none but old Catherine, who had been too
lately picked up to have lost her common
sense. In this state Bonaparte found Europe;
and it was this state of its rulers which lost
it with scarce a struggle. These animals had
become without mind and powerless; and so
will every hereditary monarch be after a few
generations. Alexander, the grandson of
Catherine, is as yet an exception. He is able
to hold his own. But he is only of the third
generation. His race is not yet worn out.
And so endeth the Book of Kings, from all
of whom the Lord deliver us. — To JOHN
LANGDON. v, 514. (M., 1810.)
4266. KINGS, Common sense and. — No
race of kings has ever presented above one
man of common sense in twenty generations.
— To BENJAMIN HAWKINS, ii, 221. FORD
ED., iv, 426. (P., 1787.)
4267. KINGS, Confederacy of .—I am not
* * * for joining in the confederacy of
kings to war against the principles of liberty.
— To ELBRIDGE GERRY, iv, 268. FORD ED., vii,
328. (Pa, I799-)
4268. KINGS, Enemies to happiness. —
These descriptions of men [kings, nobles, and
priests] are an abandoned confederacy
against the happiness of the mass of the peo
ple. — To GEORGE WYTHE. ii, 7. FORD ED., iv,
269. (P., 1786.)
4269. KINGS, Evil passions of.— The
pride, the dissipations, and the tyranny of
kings, keep this hemisphere constantly em
broiled in squabbles. — To MR. BELLINI, ii,
440. (P., 1788.)
4270. KINGS, Extirpation of.— Our
young Republic * * * should besiege the
throne of Heaven wit'h eternal prayers, to ex
tirpate from creation this class of human
lions, tigers and mammoths called Kings ;
from whom, let him perish who does not say,
" Good Lord deliver us ". — To DAVID HUM
PHREYS, ii, 253. (P., 1787.)
4271. KINGS, Lessons from. — If any
body thinks that kings, nobles, or priests are
good conservators of the public happiness,
send them here [France]. It is the best
school in the universe to cure them of that
folly. They will see with their own eyes that
these descriptions of men are an abandoned
confederacy against the happiness of the mass
of the people. — To GEORGE WYTHE. ii, 7. FORD
ED., iv, 268. (P., i?86.)
4272. KINGS, Ministers of.— No race of
kings has ever presented above one man of
common sense in twenty generations. The
best they can do is to leave things to their
ministers; and what are their ministers but a
committee badly chosen? If the king ever
meddles it is to do harm. — To BENJAMIN
HAWKINS, ii, 221. FORD ED., iv, 426 (P
1787.)
4273. KINGS, Bepresentative Govern
ment and. — Representative government is
now well understood to be a necessary check
on kings, whom they will probably think it
more prudent to chain and tame, than to
exterminate. — To JOHN ADAMS, vii, 307.
FORD ED., x, 270. (M., 1823.)
4274. KINGS, Republicanism.— If all
the evils which can arise among us from the
republican form of our government, from this
day to the day of judgment, could be put into
a scale against what this country [France]
suffers from its monarchical form in a week,
or England in a month, the latter would pre
dominate. — To BENJAMIN HAWKINS, ii, 221.
FORD ED., iv, 426. (P., 1787.)
4275. KINGS, Scaffolds for.— Over the
foreign powers I am convinced the French
will triumph completely, and I cannot but
hope that that triumph, and the consequent
disgrace of the invading tyrants, is destined,
in the order of events, to kindle the wrath of
the people of Europe against those who have
dared to embroil them in such wickedness,
and to bring at length kings, nobles, and
priests to the scaffolds which they have been
so long deluging with human blood. I am
still warm whenever I think of those scoun
drels, though I do it as seldom as I can, pre
ferring infinitely to contemplate the tranquil
growth of my lucerne and potatoes. I have
so completely withdrawn myself from these
spectacles of usurpation and misrule, that I do
not take a single newspaper, nor read one a
month ; and I feel myself infinitely the hap
pier for it. — To TENCH COXE. iv, 104. FORD
ED., vi, 507. (M., May 1794.)
— KINGS, Self-government and. — See
SELF-GOVERNMENT.
4276. KINGS, Servants of the People.—
Kings are the servants, not the proprietors of
the people. — RIGHTS OF BRITISH AMERICA, i,
141. FORD ED., i, 446. (1774.)
4277. KINGS, Stupidity of.— There is
not a crowned head in Europe, whose talents
or merits would entitle him to be elected a
vestryman by the people of any parish in
America. — To GENERAL WASHINGTON. ii,
375. FORD ED., v, 8. (P., 1788.)
4278. KINGS, Vicious.— I am much in
debted to you for the memoirs of the Mar
grave of Bayreuth. This singular morsel of
history has given us a certain view of kings,
queens and princes, disrobed of their formali
ties. It is a peep into the state of the Egyp
tian God Apis. It would not be easy to find
grosser manners, coarser vices, or more mean
ness in the poorest huts of our peasantry. The
princess shows herself the legitimate sister of
457
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Kin ITS
Knox (Henry)
Frederick, cynical, selfish and without a heart.
— To MADAME DE TESSE. vi, 271. FORD ED.,
ix, 437. (M., 1813.)
4279. KINGS, Vulgarity.— The memoirs
of Mrs. Clarke and of her darling prince, and
the book, emphatically so called, because it is
the Biblia Sacra Deorum et Diarum sub-
c&lestium,the Prince Regent, his Princess and
the minor deities of his sphere, form a worthy
sequel to the memoirs of Bayreuth; instead
of the vulgarity of the court of Berlin, giving
us the vulgarity and profusion of that of
London, and the gross stupidity and profligacy
of the latter, in lieu of the genius and mis-
anthropism of the former. The whole might
be published as a supplement to M. de Buffon,
under the title of the "Natural History of
Kings and Princes", or as a separate work
and called " Medicine for Monarchists " .
The 'Intercepted Letters", a later English
publication of great wit and humor, has put
them to their proper use by holding them up
as butts for the ridicule and contempt of
mankind. Yet by such worthless beings is a
great nation to be governed and even made to
deify their old king because he is only a fool
and a maniac, and to forgive and forget his
having lost to them a great and flourishing
empire, added nine hundred millions sterling
to their debt, for which the fee simple of the
whole island would not sell, if offered farm
by farm at public auction, and increased
their annual taxes from eight to seventy
millions sterling, more than the whole rent-
roll of the island. What must be the dreary
prospect from the son when such a father is
deplored as a national loss? But let us drop
these odious beings and pass to those of an
higher order, the plants of the field. — To
MADAME DE TESSE. vi, 271. FORD ED., ix,
437- (M., 1813.)
4280. KINGS, Wishing for.— If any of
our countrymen wish for a king, give them
jiEsop's fable of the frogs who asked a king ;
if this does not cure them, send them to Eu
rope. They will go back good republicans.—
To DAVID RAMSAY, ii, 217. (P., 1787.)
— KING'S MOUNTAIN, Battle of.— See
1085.
4281. KNOWLEDGE, Diffusion of.—
The most important bill in our whole [Vir
ginia] code is that for the diffusion of
knowledge among the people. No other sure
foundation can be devised for the preserva
tion of freedom and happiness. — To GEORGE
WYTHE. ii, 7. FORD ED., iv, 268. (P., 1786.)
4282. KNOWLEDGE, Honesty and.—
An honest heart being the first blessing, a
knowing head is the second. — To PETER CARR.
i, 397- (P., 1785.)
4283. KNOWLEDGE, Pursuit of.— A
patient pursuit of facts, and cautious combina
tion and comparison of them, is the drudgery
to which man is subjected by his Maker, if
he wishes to attain sure knowledge. — NOTES
ON VIRGINIA, viii, 314. FORD ED., iii, 170.
(1782.) See EDUCATION and SCIENCE.
4284. KNOX (Henry), Cabinet opin
ions. — We [the Cabinet] determined unani
mously that Congress should not be called.
* * * I believe Knox's opinion was never
thought worth offering or asking for. — THE
ANAS, ix, 143. FORD ED., i, 227. (1793.)
4285. KNOX (Henry), Financial fail
ure. — General Knox has become bankrupt for
$400,000, and has resigned his military com
mission. He took in General Lincoln for $150,-
000, which breaks him. Colonel Jackson also
sunk with him. — To JAMES MADISON, iv, 262.
FORD ED., vii, 314. (Pa., Jan. 1799.)
4286. KNOX (Henry), Gossip of.—
Knox [at a Cabinet meeting] told some little
stories to aggravate the President, to wit, that
Mr. King had told him, that a lady had told
him, that she had heard a gentleman say that
the President was as great a tyrant as any of
them, and that it would soon be time to chase
him out of the city [Philadelphia]. — THE
ANAS. FORD ED., i, 247. (i793-)
4287. KNOX (Henry), Hamilton and.—
Knox, for once, dared to differ from Hamilton,
and to express, very submissively, an opinion,
that a convention named by the whole body of
the [French] nation, would be competent to dp
anything. — THE ANAS, ix, 126. FORD ED., i,
209. (1792.)
4288. . Knox joined Hamilton
in everything. — THE ANAS, ix, 184. FORD ED.,
1, 271. (1793.)
4289. . Knox subscribed at once
to Hamilton's opinion* that we ought to de
clare the [French] treaty void, acknowledging
at the same time, like a fool that he is, that
he knew nothing about it. — THE ANAS, ix, 143.
FORD ED., i, 227. (1793.)
4290. . Knox, according to cus
tom, jumped plump into all Hamilton's opinions.
— THE ANAS, ix, 169. FORD ED., i, 259.
(I793-)
4291. KNOX (Henry), Indiscreet.—
Knox [at a Cabinet meeting] said we [the Ad
ministration] should have had fine work if
Congress had been sitting these last two months.
The fool thus let out the secret. Hamilton en
deavored to patch up the indiscretion of this
blabber by saying " he did not know ; he rather
thought they would have strengthened the Ex
ecutive arm ". — THE ANAS, ix, 165. FORD ED.,
i, 255. (Aug. 1793.)
4292. KNOX (Henry), Naval opinions.
— I think General Washington approved of
building vessels of war to the extent of a force
sufficient to keep the Barbary States in order.
General Knox, I know, did. t — To JOHN ADAMS.
vii, 264. FORD ED., x, 240. (M., 1822.)
4293. KNOX (Henry), View of Federal
Government. — In the course of our [the Cabi
net] conversation [with respect to the manner
and place of swearing in the President], Knox,
stickling for parade, got into great warmth, and
* Though the question whether this treaty was not
terminated by the French Revolution was discussed
in the Cabinet, it was unanimously agreed that it
was still in force. Jefferson is, therefore, in error in
stating that Hamilton declared it void, as all he ar
gued for was whether it " ought not to be deemed
temporarily and provisionally suspended". Cf. HAM
ILTON'S Works of Hamilton^ iii, 574, iv, 392, 394.—
NOTE IN FORD EDITION.
t Jefferson advocated this measure while he was
Minister to France, and, subsequently, when he be
came Secretary of State.— EDITOR.
Kosciusko
.Labor
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
458
swore that our Government must either be
entirely new modeled, or it would be knocked
to pieces in less than ten years ; and that as it
is at present, he would not give a copper for it ;
that it is the Presidents character, and not
the written Constitution, which keeps it to-
? ether. — THE ANAS, ix, 139. FORD ED., i, 222.
Feb. 1793.)
4294. KOSCIUSKO (General), Affec
tion for. — For yourself, personally, I may
express with safety as well as truth, my great
esteem, and the interest I feel for your welfare.
From the same principles of caution, I do not
write to my friend Kosciusko. I know he is
always doing what he thinks is right, and he
knows my prayers for his success in whatever
he does. Assure him of my constant affection
* * * m — To JULIAN V. NIEMCEWICZ.* v,
72. (April 1807.)
4295. KOSCIUSKO (General), Disinter
ested patriot. — May heaven have in store for
your country a restoration of the blessings of
freedom and order, and you be destined as the
instrument it will use for that purpose. But
if this be forbidden by fate, I hope we shall be
able to preserve here an asylum where your love
of liberty and disinterested patriotism will be
forever protected and honored, and where you
will find, in the hearts of the American people,
a good portion of that esteem and affection
which glow in the bosom of the friend who
writes this * * ' * . — To GENERAL KOSCIUS
KO. iv, 295. (Pa., Feb. 1799.)
4296. KOSCIUSKO (General), Emanci
pation for slaves. — The brave auxiliary of
my country in its struggle for liberty, and from
the year 1797, when our particular acquaintance
began, my most intimate and much beloved
friend. On his last departure from the United
States in 1798, he left in my hands an instru
ment appropriating after his death all the prop
erty he had in our public funds, the price of his
military services here, to the education and
emancipation of as many of the children of
bondage in this country as it should be adequate
to. — To M. JULIEN. vii, 107. (M., 1818.)
4297.
You have seen the death
of General Kosciusko announced in the papers.
He had in the funds of the United States a
very considerable sum of money on the inter
est of which he depended for subsistence. On
his leaving the United States, in 1798, he placed
it under my direction by a power of attorney,
which I executed entirely through Mr. Barnes,
who regularly remitted his interest. But he
left also in my hands an autograph will, dis
posing of his funds in a particular course of
charity, and making me his executor. — To
WILLIAM WIRT. vii, 98. FORD ED., x, 96. (M.,
1818.)
4298. KOSCIUSKO (General), Hopes for
Poland. — General Kosciusko has been disap
pointed by the sudden peace between France
and Austria. A ray of hope seemed to gleam
on his mind for a moment, that the extension
of the revolutionary spirit through Italy and
Germany might so have occupied the remnants
of monarchy there, as that his country might
have risen again. — To HORATIO GATES, iv, 213.
FORD ED., vii, 205. (Pa., 1798).
4299. KOSCIUSKO (General), Son of
liberty. — He is as pure a son of liberty as I
have ever known, and of that liberty which is to
* Kosciusko returned to Europe under the assumed
name of Niemcewicz. — EDITOR.
go to all, and not to the few or the rich alone. —
To HORATIO GATES, iv. 212. FORD ED., vii, 304.
(Pa., 1798.)
4300. KOSCIUSKO (General), Tribute
to- — Your principles and dispositions were
made to be honored, revered and loved. True
to a single object, the freedom and happiness
of man, they have not veered about with the
changelings and apostates of our acquaintance.
— To GENERAL KOSCIUSKO. iv, 249. (1798.)
4301. LABOR, Destroying.— All the en
ergies [of European nations] are expended in
the destruction of the labor, property and
lives of their people.— To PRESIDENT MONROE.
vii, 288. FORD ED., x, 257. (M., 1823.)
4302. LABOR, Distribution.— In Europe,
the best distribution of labor is supposed to
be that which places the manufacturing hands
alongside the agricultural; so that the one
part shall feed both, and the other part fur
nish both with clothes and other comforts.
Would that be best here? Egoism and first
appearances say yes. Or would it be better
that all our laborers should be employed in
agriculture? In this case a double or treble
portion of fertile lands would be brought into
culture; a double or treble creation of food
be produced, and its surplus go to nourish the
now perishing births of Europe, who in re
turn would manufacture and send us in ex
change our clothes and other comforts. — To
M. SAY. iv, 527. (W., Feb. 1804.)
4303. . I was once a doubter
whether the labor of the cultivator, aided by
the creative powers of the earth itself, would
not produce more value than that of the man
ufacturer, alone and unassisted by the dead
subject on which he acted. In other words,
whether the more we could bring into action
of the energies of our boundless territory, in
addition to the labor of our citizens, the more
would not be our gain ? But the inventions of
later times, by labor-saving machines, do as
much now for the manufacturer, as the earth
for the cultivator. Experience, too, has proved
that mine was but half the question. The other
half is whether dollars and cents are to be
weighed in the scale against real independ
ence? The whole question then is solved; at
least as far as respects our wants. — To
WILLIAM SAMPSON. FORD ED., x, 73. (M.,
1817.) See MANUFACTURES.
4304. LABOR, Earnings of.— Take not
from the mouth of labor the bread it has
earned. — FIRST INAUGURAL ADDRESS, viii, 4.
FORD ED., viii, 4. (1801.)
4305. LABOR, Economy and.— Economy
in the public expense, that labor may be
lightly burdened, I deem [one of the] es
sential principles of our government and, con
sequently [one] which ought to shape its ad
ministration. — FIRST INAUGURAL ADDRESS.
viii, 4. FORD ED., viii, 5. (1801.) See
ECONOMY.
4306. LABOR, European governments
and. — To constrain the brute force of the peo
ple, the European governments deem it nee-
459
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Labor
Laborers
essary to keep them down by hard labor,
poverty and ignorance, and to take from
them, as from bees, so much of their earn
ings, as that unremitting labor shall be nec
essary to obtain a sufficient surplus to sustain a
scanty and miserable life. — To WILLIAM
JOHNSON, vii, 291. FORD ED., x, 226. (M.,
1823.)
4307. LABOR, Fruits of.— The rights of
the people to the exercise and fruits of their
own industry can never be protected against
the selfishness of rulers not subject to their
control at short periods. — To ISAAC H. TIF
FANY, vii, 32. (M., 1816.)
4308. LABOR, Government and.— It be
hooves us to avail ourselves of every occa
sion * * * for taking off the surcharge [of
offices and expense] that it may never be seen
here that, after leaving t'o labor the smallest
portion of its earnings on which it can sub
sist, government shall itself consume the res
idue of what it was instituted to guard. —
FIRST ANNUAL MESSAGE. viii, 10. FORD
ED., viii, 120. (Dec. 1801.)
4309. LABOR, Land and.— Where land
is cheap, and rich, and labor dear, the same
labor, spread in a slighter culture over 100
acres, will produce more profit than if con
centrated by the highest degree of cultivation
on a small portion of the lands. When the
virgin fertility of the soil becomes exhausted,
it becomes better to cultivate less, and well.
The only difficulty is to know at what point
of deterioration in the land, the culture should
be increased, and in what degree.* — NOTES ON
ARTHUR YOUNG'S LETTER. FORD ED., vi, 85.
(1792.)
4310. LABOR, Manufactures, Commerce
and. — Too little reliance is to be had on a
steady and certain course of commerce with the
countries of Europe to permit us to depend
more on that than we cannot avoid. Ouf
best interest would be to employ our principal
labor in agriculture, because to the profits of
labor, which is dear, this adds the profits of
our lands, which are cheap. But the risk of
hanging our prosperity on the fluctuating
counsels and caprices of others renders it
wise in us to turn seriously to manufactures,
and if Europe will not let us carry our pro
visions to their manufactures, we must en
deavor to bring their manufactures to our
provisions. — To DAVID HUMPHREYS. FORD
ED., v, 344. (Pa., June 1791.) See COMMERCE
and MANUFACTURES.
4311. LABOR, Nobility of.— My new
trade of nail-making is to me in this country
what an additional title of nobility is, or the
ensigns of a new order are in Europe. — To
M. DE MEUNIER. FORD ED., vii, 14. (M.,
I795-) See JEFFERSON.
4312. LABOR, Parasites on.— I think
we have more machinery of government than
is necessary, too many parasites living on the
* Arthur Young, an English writer on agriculture,
wrote to President Washington respecting American
lands and their cultivation. Jefferson was consulted
on the subject by Washington.— EDITOR.
labor of the industrious.— To WILLIAM LUD-
LOW. vii, 378. (M., 1824.) See ECONOMY.
4313. LABOR, Plundering.— No other
depositories of power [but the people them
selves] have ever yet been found, which did
not end in converting to their own profit the
earnings of those committed to tjieir charge.
To SAMUEL KERCHIVAL. vii, 36. FORD ED x
45- (M., 1816.)
4314. LABOR, Prosperity, Agriculture
and.— A prosperity built on the basis of agri
culture is that which is most desirable to us,
because to the efforts of labor it adds the
efforts of a greater proportion of soil.—
CIRCULAR TO CONSULS, iii, 431. (pa., 1792.)
See AGRICULTURE.
4315. LABOR, Protecting.— If we can
prevent the government from wasting the
labors of the people, under the pretence of
taking care of them, they must become happy.
— To THOMAS COOPER, iv, 453. FORD ED., viii,
178. (W., 1802.) See PROTECTION.
4316. LABOR, Rioting on.— I may err in
my measures, but never shall deflect from the
intention to fortify the public liberty by every
possible means, and to put it out of the power
of the few to riot on the labors of the many.
—To JUDGE TYLER, iv, 548. (W., 1804.)
4317. LABOR, War and.— It is [the peo
ple's] sweat which is to earn all the expenses
of the war, and their blood which is to flow
in expiation of the causes of it— To EL-
BRIDGE GERRY, iv, 272. FORD ED., vii, 334.
(Pa., 1799.)
4318. LABORERS, America settled by.
—Our ancestors who migrated hither were
laborers, not lawyers. — RIGHTS OF BRITISH
AMERICA, i, 139. FORD ED., i, 444. (1774.)
4319. LABORERS, American.— The great
mass of our population is of laborers; our
rich, who can live without labor, either man
ual or professional, being few. and of moder
ate wealth. Most of the laboring class
possess property, cultivate their own lands,
have families, and from the demand for their
labor are enabled to exact from the rich
and the competent such prices as enable them
to be fed abundantly, clothed above mere
decency, to labor moderately and raise their
families. They are not driven to the ultimate
resources of dexterity and skill, because their
wares will sell although not quite so nice as
those of England. The wealthy, on the other
hand, ai.l those at their ease, know nothing
of what the Europeans call luxury. They
have only somewhat more of the comforts
and decencies of life than those who furnish
them. Can any condition of life be more de
sirable than this? — To THOMAS COOPER, vi,
377- (M., 1814.)
4320. LABORERS, Encouraging for
eign. — If foreigners come of themselves they
are entitled to all the rights of citizenship;
but I doubt the expediency of inviting them
by extraordinary encouragements. I mean not
that these doubts should be extended to the
Laborers
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
460
importation of useful artificers. The policy of
that measure depends on very different con
siderations. Spare no expense in obtaining
them. They will after a while go to the plow
and the hoe; but, in the meantime, they will
teach us something we do not know. — NOTES
ON VIRGINIA, viii, 332. FORD ED., iii, 190.
(1782.)
4321. LABORERS, English aristocracy
and. — In the hands of the [English] aristoc
racy, the paupers are used as tools to main
tain their own wretchedness, and to keep
down the laboring portion by shooting them
whenever the desperation produced by the
cravings of their stomachs drives them into
riots. Such is the happiness of scientific Eng
land. — To THOMAS COOPER, vi, 377. (M.,
1814.)
4322. . The aristocracy of Eng
land, which comprehends the nobility, the
wealthy commoners, the high grades of priest
hood, and the officers of government, have the
laws and government in their hands [and]
have so managed them as to reduce the
eleemosynary class, or paupers, who are
about one-fifth of the whole, below the
means of supporting life, even by labor.
[They] have forced the laboring class,
whether employed in agriculture or the arts,
to the maximum of labor which the construc
tion of the human body can endure, and to
the minimum of food, and of the meanest
kind, which will preserve it in life, and in
strength sufficient to perform its functions.
To obtain food enough, and clothing, not
only their whole strength must be unremit
tingly exerted, but the utmost dexterity also,
which they can acquire ; and those of great
dexterity only can keep their ground, while
those of less must sink into the class of
paupers. Nor is it manual dexterity alone,
but the acutest resources of the mind also,
which are impressed into this struggle for
life; and such as have means a little above
the rest, as the master-workman, for instance,
must strengthen themselves by acquiring as
much of the philosophy of their trade as will
enable them to compete with their rivals, and
keep themselves above ground. Hence, the
industry and manual dexterity of their
journeymen and day-laborers, and the science
of their master-workmen, keep them in the
foremost ranks of competition with those of
other nations ; and the less dexterous individ
uals, falling into the eleemosynary ranks,
furnish materials for armies and navies to
defend their country, exercise piracy on the
ocean, and carry conflagration, plunder and
devastation to the shores of all those who
endeavor to withstand their aggressions. — To
THOMAS COOPER, vi, 376. (M., 1814.)
4323. . No earthly consideration
could induce my consent to contract such a
debt as England has by her wars for com
merce ; to reduce our citizens by taxes to
such wretchedness, as that laboring sixteen
of the twenty-four hours, they are still un
able to afford themselves bread, or barely to
earn as much oatmeal or potatoes as will keep
soul and body together. And all this to feed
the avidity of a few millionary merchants,
and to keep up one thousand ships of war for
the protection of their commercial specula
tions.— To WILLIAM H. CRAWFORD, vii, 7.
FORD EDV x, 35. (M., 1816.)
4324. LABOBEBS, Federal taxes and.—
The poor man in this country who uses noth
ing but what is made within his own farm or
family, or within the United States, pays not
a farthing of tax to the General Govern
ment but on his salt; and should we go into
that manufacture, as we ought to do, we will
pay not one cent. — To DUPONT DE NEMOURS.
v, 584. FORD ED., ix, 321. (M., 1811.)
4325. LABOBEBS, French.— The en
croachments [in France] by the men on the
offices proper for the women, is a great de
rangement in the order of things. Men are
shoemakers, tailors, upholsterers, staymakers,
mantuamakers, cooks, housekeepers, house-
cleaners [and] bedmakers. The women,
therefore, to live, are obliged to undertake the
offices which they abandon. They become
porters, carters, reapers, sailors, lock-keepers,
smiters on the anvil, cultivators of the earth,
&c. — TRAVELS IN FRANCE, ix, 351. (1787.)
4326. . I set out * * * to
take a view of Fontainbleau. For this pur
pose I shaped my course towards the high
est of the mountains in sight, to the top of
which was about a league. As soon as I
had got clear of the town I fell in with a
poor woman walking at the same rate with
myself, and going in the same course. Wish
ing to know the condition of the laboring
poor, I entered into conversation with her,
which I began by enquiries for the path which
would lead me into the mountain ; and thence
proceeded to enquiries into her vocation, con
dition and circumstances. She told me she
was a day laborer, at eight sous, or four
pence sterling the day; that she had two
children to maintain, and to pay a rent of
thirty livres for her house (which would con
sume the hire of seventy-five days), that often
she could get no employment, and of course
was without bread. As we had walked to
gether near a mile, and she had so far served
me as a guide, I gave her, on parting, twenty-
four sous. She burst into tears of a gratitude
which I could perceive was unfeigned because
she was unable to utter a word. She had
probably never before received so great an
aid. — To REV. JAMES MADISON. FORD ED., vii,
34. (Pa., 1785.)
4327. . The laboring people in
France are poorer than in England. They pay
about one-half their produce in rent; the
English, in general, about a third. — To JOHN
PAGE, i, 549. FORD ED., iv, 213. (P., 1786.)
4328. LABOBEBS, Importing. — Do you
not think it would be expedient to take meas
ures for importing a number of Germans and
Highlanders? This need not be to such an
extent as to prevent the employment of
eastern laborers, which is eligible for par
ticular reasons. If you approve of the im-
46 1
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Laborers
Lafayette (Marquis de)
portation of Germans, and have a good
channel for it, you will use it, of course. If
you have no channel, I can help you to one.*
— To MESSRS. JOHNSON, CARROLL, AND STEW
ART, iii, 337. (Pa., 1792.)
4329. LABORERS, Imprisoned—Of
fenders, even under a course of correction,
might be rendered useful in various labors for
the public, and would be living and long-con
tinued spectacles to deter others from com
mitting the like offences. — CRIMES BILL, i,
148. FORD ED., ii, 204. (1779.)
4330. . Exhibited as a public spec
tacle, with shaved heads and mean clothing,
working on the high roads, produced in the
criminals such a prostration of character, such
an abandonment of self-respect, as, instead of
reforming, plunged them into the most des
perate and hardened depravity of morals and
character. — AUTOBIOGRAPHY, i, 45. FORD ED.,
i, S3- (1820.)
4331. LABORERS, Jefferson and.— I
made a point of paying my workmen in pref
erence to all other claimants. I never parted
with one without settling with him, and giv
ing him either his money or my note. Every
person that ever worked for me can attest
this, and that I always paid their notes pretty
soon. — To NICHOLAS LEWIS. FORD EDV v, 34.
(P., 1788.)
4332. LABORERS, Skilled.— While we
have land to labor, let us never wish to see
our citizens occupied at a work-bench or
twirling a distaff. Carpenters, masons,
smiths, are wanting in husbandry ; but, for
the general operations of manufacture, let our
workshops remain in Europe. It is better to
carry provisions and materials to workmen
there, than bring them to the provisions and
materials, and with them their manners and
principles. — NOTES ON VIRGINIA, viii, 405.
FORD ED., iii, 269. (1782.) See ARTISANS
and MANUFACTURERS.
4333. LABORERS, Slave vs. English.—
Nor in the class of laborers do I mean to
withhold from the comparison that portion
whose color has condemned them, in certain
parts of our Union, to a subjection to the will
of others. Even these are better fed in these
States, warmer clothed, and labor less than
the journeymen or day-laborers of England.
They have the comfort, too, of numerous
families, in the midst of whom they live with
out want, or fear of it ; a solace which few
of the laborers of England possess. They are
subject, it is true, to bodily coercion ; but are
not the hundreds of thousands of British
soldiers and seamen subject to the same, with
out seeing, at the end of their career, when
age and accident shall have rendered them
unequal to labor, the certainty, which the
other has, that he will never want? And
has not the British seaman, as much as the
African, been reduced to this bondage by
force, in flagrant violation of his own con
sent, and of his natural right in his own per-
* Johnson, Carroll, and Stewart were the Commis
sioners of Washington City.— EDITOR.
son? And with the laborers of England gen
erally, does not the moral coercion of want
subject their will as despotically to that of
their employer, as the physical constraint does
the soldier, the seaman or the slave? But
do not mistake me. I am not advocating
slavery. I am not justifying the wrongs we
have committed on a foreign people, by the
example of another nation committing equal
wrongs on their own subjects. On the con
trary, there is nothing I would not sacrifice
to a practicable plan of abolishing every ves
tige of this moral and political depravitv. But
I am, at present, comparing the condition and
degree of suffering to which oppression has
reduced the man of one color, with the con
dition and degree of suffering to which op
pression has reduced the man of another
color ; equally condemning both. — To THOMAS
COOPER, vi, 378. (M., 1814.)
4334. LABORERS, Treatment of slave.
— My first wish is that the [colored] laborers
may be well treated; the second that they
may enable me to have that treatment con
tinued by making as much as will admit it. —
To T. M. RANDOLPH. FORD ED., v, 508. (Pa.,
1792.)
4335. LABORERS, White vs. Black.—
The negro does not perform quite as much
work [as the white man performs] nor with
as much intelligence. — NOTES ON ARTHUR
YOUNG'S LETTER. FORD ED., vi, 84. (1792.)
4336. LAFAYETTE (Marquis de), At
las of Patriot Party.— He was the head and
Atlas of the Patriot party [of the French
Revolution], — AUTOBIOGRAPHY. i, 106. FORD
ED., i, 147. (1821.)
4337. LAFAYETTE (Marquis de), Busts
of. — The Commonwealth of Virginia, in grati
tude for the services of Major General, the
Marquis de Lafayette, have determined to erect
his bust in their Capitol. Desirous to place a
like monument of his worth, and of their sense
of it, in the country to which they are indebted
for his birth, they have hoped that the city of
Paris will consent to become the depository of
this second testimony of their gratitude. Being
charged by them with the execution of their
wishes, I have the honor to solicit of Messieurs
Le Prevot des Marchands et Echevins, on be
half of the city, their acceptance of a bust of
this gallant officer, and that they will be pleased
to place it where, doing most honor to him,
it will most gratify the feelings of an allied
nation. It is with true pleasure that I obey the
call of that Commonwealth to render just hom
age to a character so great in its first develop
ments, that they would honor the close of any
other. Their country, covered by a small army
against a great one, their exhausted means sup
plied by his talents, their enemies finally forced
to that spot whither their allies and confederates
were collecting to receive them, and a war
which had spread its miseries into the four
quarters of the earth, thus reduced to a single
point where one blow should terminate it, and
through the whole, an implicit respect paid to
the laws of the land ; these are facts which
would illustrate any character, and which fully
justify the warmth of those feelings, of which
I have the honor on this occasion to be the
organ. — To THE PREVOT DES MARCHANDS ET
ECHEVINS DE PARIS, ii, 29. (P., 1786.)
Lafayette (Marquis de) THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
462
4338.
The first of the busts of
the Marquis de Lafayette will be finished next
month. I shall present that one to the city of
Paris, because the delay has been noticed by
some.* — To GOVERNOR HENRY, i, 514. FORD
ED., iv, 135. (Pa., 1786.)
4339. . The inauguration of the
bust of the Marquis de Lafayette has been at
tended with a considerable but a necessary de
lay. The principle that the King is the sole
fountain of honor in this country opposed a
barrier to our desires, which threatened to be
insurmountable. No instance of a similar prop
osition from a foreign power had occurred in
their history. The admitting it in this case,
is a singular proof of the King's friendly dis
position towards the States of America, and
of his personal esteem for the Marquis de
Lafayette. — To GOVERNOR RANDOLPH, ii, 118.
(P., 1787.)
4340. LAFAYETTE (Marquis de), Dis
honored. — The Marquis de Lafayette, for
signing the prayer which the deputies from
Bretagne were to present, * * * has been dis
graced in the old-fashioned language of the
country ; that is to say, the command in the
South of France this summer, which [the gov
ernment] had given him, is taken away. This
dishonors him at Court, * * * but It will prob
ably honor him in the eyes of the nation. — To
MRS. CUTTING, ii, 439. (P., 1788.)
4341. —. The disgrace of the Mar
quis de Lafayette, which at any other period of
their history would have had the worst conse
quences for him, will on the contrary, mark
him favorably to the nation, at present. During
the present administration he can expect noth
ing ; but perhaps it may serve him with their
successors. — To JAMES MADISON, ii, 443. FORD
ED., v, 43. (P., 1788.)
4342. . He is disgraced, in the
ancient language of the court, but in truth
honorably marked in the eyes of the nation. The
ministers are so sensible of this, that they have
had, separately, private conferences with him,
to endeavor through him to keep things quiet.
—To JOHN JAY. ii, 452. (P., 1788.)
4343. . The Marquis de Lafay
ette is out of favor with the Court, but in high
favor with the nation. I once feared for his
personal liberty, but I hope he is on safe ground
at present. — To GENERAL WASHINGTON, ii, 538.
FORD ED., v, 60. (P., 1788.)
4344. . There has been a little
foundation for the reports and fears relative to
the Marquis de Lafayette. He has from the
beginning taken openly part with those who
demand a constitution ; and there was a mo
ment that we apprehended the Bastile ; but
they ventured on nothing more than to take
from him a temporary service on which he
had been ordered ; and this, more to save ap
pearances for their own authority than any
thing else; for at the very moment they pre
tended that they had put him into disgrace, they
were constantly conferring and communicating
* Jefferson, in behalf of the Commonwealth of Vir
ginia, presented a bust of Lafayette to the City of
Paris in September, 1786. Carlyle, in his history of
the French Revolution (Book v, chapter 8) refers to
this bust as follows : " But surely, for one thing, the
National Guard should have a General ! Moreau de
Saint-Mery, he of the ' three thousand orders', casts
one of his significant glances on the Bust of Lafay
ette, which has stood there ever since the American
War of Liberty. Whereupon, by acclamation, La
fayette is nominated." — EDITOR.
with him. Since this, he has stood on safe
ground, and is viewed as among the foremost ot
the Patriots. — To JAMES MADISON, ii, 563.
FORD ED., v, 64. (P., 1789.)
4345. LAFAYETTE (Marquis de),
Doyen of heroes. — Among the few survivors
of our Revolutionary struggles, you are as
distinguished in my affections, as in the eyes of
the world, and especially in those of this coun
try. You are now, I believe, the doyen of our
military heroes, and may I not say of the sol
diers of liberty in the world? — To MARQUIS
LAFAYETTE. FORD ED., x, 228. (M., 1822.)
4346. LAFAYETTE (Marquis de),
Fame. — Of him we may truly say, as was said
of Germanicus, " fruitur famd sui ". — To ED
WARD EVERETT, vii, 381. (M., 1824.)
4347. LAFAYETTE (Marquis de),
Foibles.— He has a great deal of sound
genius, is well remarked by the King, and ri
sing in popularity. He has nothing against him
but the suspicion of republican principles. I
think he will one day be of the ministry. His
foible is a canine appetite for popularity and
fame ; but he will get above this. — To JAMES
MADISON, ii, 108. FORD ED., iv, 366. (P., 1787.)
4348. LAFAYETTE (Marquis de),
France and America.— Teach your children
to be, as you are, a cement between our two
nations. — To MARQUIS DE LAFAYETTE, iii, 132.
FORD ED., v, 153. (N.Y., 1790.)
4349. . The Marquis de Lafay
ette stands in such a relation between America
and France, that I should think him perfectly
capable of seizing what is just [commercially]
as to both. Perhaps on some occasion of free
conversation, you might find an opportunity of
impressing these truths [respecting commerce
with the West Indies] on his mind, and that
from him, they might be let out at a proper mo
ment, as matters meriting consideration and
weight, when [the National Assembly] shall be
engaged in the work of forming a constitution
for our neighbors. — To WILLIAM SHORT, iii,
276. FORD ED., v, 364. (Pa., 1791.)
4350. . I think the return of La
fayette to Paris insures a reconciliation between
them and us. He will so entwist himself with
the envoys that they will not be able to draw off.
— To T. M. RANDOLPH, iv, 320. FORD ED., vii,,
423. (Pa., Feb. 1800.)
4351. LAFAYETTE (Marquis de), And
French liberty. — Behold you, then, my dear
friend, at the head of a great army, establish
ing the liberties of your country against a for
eign enemy. May heaven favor your cause,
and make you the channel through which it may
pour its favors. — To GENERAL LAFAYETTE, iii,
450. FORD ED., vi, 78. (Pa., June 1792.)
4352. LAFAYETTE (Marquis de),
Friendship for. — I have never ceased to cher
ish a sincere friendship for you, and to take
a lively interest in your sufferings and losses.
It would make me happy to learn that they are
to have an end. — To MARQUIS DE LAFAYETTE, iv,
363. (W., March 1801.)
4353. . Old men do not easily
contract new friendships, but neither do they
forget old ones. Yours and mine., commenced
in times too awful, has continued through times
too trying and changeful to be forgotten at the
moment when our chief solace is in our recol
lections. — To MARQUIS LAFAYETTE. FORD ED.,
ix, 302. (M., 1811.)
463
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA Lafayette (Marquis de)
4354. LAFAYETTE (Marquis de),
Gifts of Land. — I am persuaded, that a gift
of lands by the State of Virginia to the Mar
quis de Lafayette would give a good opinion
here [France] of our character, and would re
flect honor on the Marquis. Nor, am I sure
that the day will not come when it might be an
useful asylum to him. The time of life at
which he visited America was too well adapted
to receive good and lasting impressions to per
mit him ever to accommodate himself to the
principles of monarchical government ; and it
will need all his own prudence, and that of his
friends, to make this country a safe residence
for him. How glorious, how comfortable in re
flection, will it be, to have prepared a refuge
for him in case of a reverse. In the meantime,
he could settle it with tenants from the freest
part of this country, Bretagne. I have never
suggested the smallest idea of this kind to him ;
because the execution of it should convey the
first notice. If the State has not a right to give
him lands with their own officers, they could
buy up at cheap prices the shares of others. — To
JAMES MADISON, i, 533. FORD ED., iv, 195.
(P., 1786.)
4355. . The acquisition of Lou
isiana * * * has enabled us to do a handsome
thing for Lafayette. He had received a grant
of between eleven and twelve thousand acres
north of Ohio, worth, perhaps, a dollar an acre.
We have obtained permission of Congress to
locate it in Louisiana. Locations can be found
adjacent to the city of New Orleans, in the
island of New Orleans and in its vicinity, the
value of which cannot be calculated. — To
PHILIP MAZZEI. iv, 554. (W., 1804.)
4356. . I wrote in April to Gov
ernor Claiborne in these words : " Congress has
permitted lots to be taken for M. de Lafayette
as low as five hundred acres. This secures to
us the parcel on the canal of Carondelet ; but
at the same time cuts off those similar locations
proposed by M'. Duplantier. Indeed, it would
not be for the interest of the General to let his
claim get into collision with any public interest.
Were it to lose its popularity, it might excite an
apparition neither agreeable to his feelings nor
interest." This may already have produced
some effect towards abating the expectations of
M. Duplantier and the fears of the city. Still,
I think it better that Mr. Madison should write
explicitly to him. Indeed, I think we had better
have a consultation, and determine on the
proper limits of the public reservation. For,
however justifiably desirous we may be to re
lieve a man who stands so high in the public
affection as Lafayette, still, it should be only by
granting to him such lands as would be granted
to others if not located by him. — To ALBERT
GALLATIN. FORD ED., viii, 454. (M., June
1806.)
4357. . M. Duplantier's zeal had,
in one instance, led us to fear you would be in
jured by it. He had comprehended in his
location not only the grounds vacant of all
title in the vicinity of New Orleans, which had
been a principal object in my eye to enable you
speedily to raise a sum of money, but also
grounds which had been reserved and were
necessary for the range of the forts, which had
been left open as a common for the citizens.
Knowing this would excite reclamations danger
ous to your interests, and threatening their
popularity both there and here, I wrote imme
diately to Governor Claiborne to get him to
withdraw to a certain extent (about point blank
shot) from the fort, the grounds within that
being necessary for the public. But, in the
meantime, an alarm was excited in the town,
and they instructed their representative in Con
gress to claim, for the use of the town and
public, the whole of the vacant lands in its
vicinity. Mr. Gallatin, however, effected a com
promise with him by ceding the grounds next
to the fort, so as to leave your claim clear to all
the lands we originally contemplated for you. —
To MARQUIS DE LAFAYETTE. FORD ED., ix, 65.
(W., May 1807.)
4358. — . I hope Congress is pre
pared to go through with their compliment [to
Lafayette] worthily ; that they do not mean to
invite him merely to dine ; that provision should
be made for his expenses here, which you know
he cannot afford, and that they will not send
him back empty-handed. This would place
us under indelible disgrace in Europe. Some
three or four good townships in Missouri, or
Louisiana or Alabama, &c., should be in readi
ness for him, and may restore his family to the
opulence which his virtues have lost to them. —
To PRESIDENT MONROE. FORD ED., x, 294. (M.,
1824.)
4359. LAFAYETTE (Marquis de), Ham
pered by instructions.— As it becomes more
and more possible that the Noblesse will go
wrong, I become uneasy for you. Your prin
ciples are decidedly with the Tiers Etat, and
your instructions against them. A complaisance
to the latter on some occasions, and an ad
herence to the former on others, may give
an appearance of trimming between the two
parties, which may lose you both. You will
in the end go over wholly to the Tiers Etat, be
cause it will be impossible for you to live in
a constant sacrifice of your own sentiments to
the prejudices of the Noblesse. But you would
be received by the Tiers Etat at any future day,
coldly, and without confidence. This appears
to me the moment to take at once that honest
and manly stand with them which your prin
ciples dictate. This will win their hearts for
ever, be approved by the world, which marks
and honors you as the man of the people, and
will be an eternal consolation to yourself. The
Noblesse, and especially the Noblesse of
Auvergne, will always prefer men who will do
their dirty work for them. You are not made
for that. They will, therefore, soon drop you,
and the people in that case will perhaps not take
¥3U up. Suppose a scission should take place,
he priests and Nobles will secede, the nation
will remain in place, and, with the King, will
do its own business. If violence should be at
tempted, where will you be? You cannot then
take side with the people in opposition to your
own vote, that very vote which will have helped
to produce the scission. Still less can you array
yourself against the people. That is impossible.
Your instructions are indeed a difficulty. But
to state this at its worst, it is only a single dif
ficulty, which a single effort surmounts. Your
instructions can never embarrass you a second
time, whereas an acquiescence under them will
reproduce greater difficulties every day. and
without end. Besides, a thousand circumstances
offer as many justifications of your departure
from your instructions. Will it be impossible
to persuade all parties that (as for good legisla
tion two houses are necessary) the placing the
privileged classes together in one house, and
the unprivileged in another, would be better
than a scission ? I own, I think it would.
People can never agree without some sacrifices ;
and it appears but a moderate sacrifice in each
party, to meet on this middle ground. The
attempt to bring this about might satisfy your
JLafayette (Marquis de) THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
464
instructions, and a failure in it would justify
your siding with the people, even to those who
think instructions are laws of conduct. Forgive
me, my dear friend, if my anxiety for you
makes me talk of things I know nothing about.
You must not consider this as advice. I know
you and myself too well to presume to offer
advice. — To MARQUIS DE LAFAYETTE, iii, 20.
FORD ED., v, 91. (P., May 1789.)
4360. . I am in great pain for
the Marquis de Lafayette. His principles, you
know, are clearly with the people ; but having
been elected for the Noblesse of Auvergne,
they have laid him under express instructions
to vote for the decision by orders and not per
sons. This would ruin him with the Tiers Etat,
and it is not possible he could continue long
to give satisfaction to the Noblesse. I have not
hesitated to press on him to burn his instruc
tions, and follow his conscience as the only
sure clue, which will eternally guide a man
clear of all doubts and inconsistencies. If he
cannot effect a conciliatory plan, he will surely
take his stand manfully at once with the Tiers
Etat. He will in that case be what he pleases
with them, and I am in hopes that base is now
too solid to render it dangerous to be mounted
on it. — To GENERAL WASHINGTON. iii, 31.
FORD ED., v, 96. (P., 1789.)
4361. . Forty-eight of the Nobles
have joined the Tiers Etat. * * * The Marquis
de Lafayette could not be of the number, be
ing restrained by his instructions. He is wri
ting to his constituents to change his instruc
tions, or to accept his resignation. — To JOHN
JAY. iii, 62. (P., June 1789.)
4362. LAFAYETTE (Marquis de), Hap
pier in France. — Measuring happiness by
the American scale, and sincerely wishing that
of yourself and family, we had been anxious
to see them established on this side of the great
water. But I am not certain that any equiva
lent can be found for the loss of that species
of society, to which our habits have been formed
from infancy. — To MARQUIS DE LAFAYETTE, v,
129. FORD ED., ix, 113. (W., 1807.)
4363. LAFAYETTE, Imprisoned.— No
one has wished with more anxiety to see him
once more in the bosom of a nation, who, know
ing his works and his worth, desire to make
him and his family forever their own. * — To M.
DE LAFAYETTE, iv, 145. (1796.)
4364. LAFAYETTE (Marquis de), Im
prudent but innocent. — From what I learn
from Viscount Noailles, Lafayette has been
more imprudent than I expected, but certainly
innocent. — To JAMES MONROE, iii, 550. FORD
ED., vi, 240. (Pa., May 1793.)
4365. LAFAYETTE (Marquis de), Lou
isiana and. — I very much wished your pres
ence in New Orleans during the late conspiracy
of Burr. * * * It would have been of value^ as
a point of union and confidence, for the ancient
inhabitants, American as well as Creole. — To
MARQUIS DE LAFAYETTE. FORD ED., ix, 665. (W.,
May 1807.)
4366. . Had you been, as I
wished, at the head of the government of Or
leans, Burr would never have given me one
* M. de Lafayette was the son of Marquis de La
fayette, and in the United States when Jefferson
wrote to him. The Washington Administration in
terceded in behalf of Lafayette and secured his re
lease.— EDITOR.
moment's uneasiness. * — To MARQUIS DE LA
FAYETTE, v, 129. FORD ED., ix, 113. (W.,
1807.)
4367. LAFAYETTE (Marquis de), A
Notable. — Lafayette's name was placed on the
list of Notables originally. Afterwards his
name disappeared, but finally was reinstated.
This shows that his character here is not con
sidered as an indifferent one, and that it excites
agitation. His education in our school has
drawn on him a very jealous eye from a court
whose principles are the most absolute despot
ism. * * * The King, who is a good man, is
favorably disposed towards him, and he is sup
ported by powerful family connections, and by
the public good will. He is the youngest
man of the Notables except one whose office
placed him on the list. — To EDWARD CARRING-
TON. ii, 99. FORD ED., iv, 358. (P., 1787.)
4368. LAFAYETTE (Marquis de), In
peace and war. — I joy, my friends, in your
joy, inspired by the visit of this our ancient and
distinguished leader and benefactor. His deeds
in the War of Independence you have heard
and read. They are known to you and em
balmed in your memories and in the pages of
faithful history. His deeds in the peace which
followed that war, are perhaps not known to
you ; but I can attest them. When I was sta
tioned in his country, for the purpose of cement
ing its friendship with ours and of advancing
our mutual interests, this friend of both was
my most powerful auxiliary and advocate. He
made our cause his own, as in truth it was that
of his native country also. His influence and
connections there were great. All doors of all
departments were open to him at all times ; to
me only formally and at appointed times. In
truth I only held the nail, he drove it. Honor
him, then, as your benefactor in peace as well
as in war. — SPEECH AT CHARLOTTESVILLE DIN
NER. D. L. J., 391. (1824.)
4369. LAFAYETTE (Marquis de), Pro
moter of commerce. — The assistance of M.
de Lafayette in the whole of this business [pro
moting commerce] has been so earnest and so
efficacious, that I am in duty bound to place
it under the eye of Congress, as worthy their
notice on this occasion. Their thanks, or such
other notice as they think proper, would be
grateful to him without doubt. He has richly
deserved and will continue to deserve it, when
ever occasions shall arise of rendering services
to the United States. — To JOHN JAY. ii, 47.
(P., 1786.)
4370. . The Marquis de Lafay
ette is a most valuable auxiliary to me. His
zeal is unbounded, and his weight with those in
power great. His education having been
merely military, commerce was an unknown
field to him. But his good sense enabling him
to apprehend perfectly whatever is explained
to him, his agency has been very efficacious. —
To JAMES MADISON, ii, 108. FORD ED., iv, 366.
(P., 1787.)
4371. . The Marquis de Lafay
ette goes hand in hand with me in all these
[commercial treaty] transactions, and is an in
valuable auxiliary to me. I hope it will not be
imputed either to partiality or affection, my
naming this gentleman so often in my dis
patches. Were I not to do it, it would be a sup
pression of truth, and the taking to myself the
whole merit where he has the greatest share. —
To JOHN JAY. ii, 228. (P., 1787.)
* Lafayette was Jefferson's first choice for Gov
ernor of Orleans after its acquisition. See CLAI-
BORNE.— EDITOR.
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Lafayette (Marquis de)
Land
4372. . I was powerfully aided
by all the influence and the energies of the
Marquis de Lafayette [in the commercial nego
tiations with France], who proved himself
equally zealous for the friendship and welfare
of both nations. — AUTOBIOGRAPHY, i, 64. FORD
ED., i, 90. (1821.)
4373. LAFAYETTE (Marquis de), Rem
iniscences. — What a history have we to run
over from the evening that yourself, Monsieur
Berman, and other patriots settled, in my house
in Paris, tht outlines of the constitution you
wished ! And to trace it through all the dis
astrous chapters of Robespierre, Barras, Bona
parte, and the Bourbons ! These things, how
ever, are for pur meeting. — To MARQUIS DE
LAFAYETTE, vii, 378. FORD ED., x, 320. (M.,
1824.)
4374. LAFAYETTE (Marquis de), Re
visiting America.— I have received * * *
your letter * * * giving the welcome assurance
that you will visit the neighborhood which, dur
ing the march of our enemy near it, was covered
by his shield from his robberies and ravages.
In passing the line of your former march you
will experience pleasing recollections of the
good you have done. My neighbors of our
academical village have expressed to you * * *
their hope that you will accept manifestations
of their feelings, simple indeed, but as cordial
as any you will have received. It will be an
additional honor to the University of the State
that you will have been its first guest. — To MAR
QUIS DE LAFAYETTE, vii, 378. FORD ED., x, 320.
(M., 1824.)
4375. . You will have seen by
our papers the delirium into which our citizens
are thrown by a visit from General Lafayette.
He is making a triumphant progress through the
States, from town to town, with acclamations
of welcome, such as no crowned head ever
received. It will have a good effect in favor
of the General with the people in Europe, but
probably a different one with their sovereigns.
Its effect here, too, will be salutary as to our
selves, by rallying us together and strengthen
ing the habit of considering our country as one
and indivisible, and I hope we shall close it with
something more solid for him than dinners and
balls. The eclat of this visit has almost merged
the presidential question, on which nothing
scarcely is said in our papers. — To RICHARD
RUSH, vii, 380. FORD ED., x, 322. (M., Octo
ber 1824.)
4376. LAFAYETTE (Marquis de), Value
to France.— Take care of yourself, * * *
for though I think your nation would in any
event work out her salvation, I am persuaded
were she to lose you, it would cost her oceans
of blood, and years of confusion and anarchy. —
To MARQUIS DE LAFAYETTE, iii, 132. FORD ED.,
v, 153- (N.Y., April 1790.)
4377. LAFAYETTE (Marquis de),
Washington and.— The President has seen
with satisfaction that the Ministers of the
United States in Europe, while they have
avoided an useless commitment of their nation
on the subject of the Marquis de Lafayette, have
nevertheless shown themselves attentive to his
situation. The interest which the President
himself, and pur citizens in general take in the
welfare of this gentleman, is great and sincere,
and will entirely justify all prudent efforts
to save him. I am, therefore, to desire that
you will avail yourself of every opportunity of
sounding the way towards his liberation, of
finding out whether those in whose power he is
are very tenacious of him, of insinuating
through such channels as you shall think suit
able, the attentions of the government and peo
ple of the United States to this object, and
the interest they take in it, and of procuring his
liberation by informal solicitations, if possible.
But if formal ones be necessary, and the mo
ment should arrive when you shall find that
they will be effectual, you are authorized to
signify, through such channels as you shall find
suitable, that our government and nation, faith
ful in their attachments to this gentleman for
the services he has rendered them, feel a lively
interest in his welfare, and will view his libera
tion as a mark of consideration and friendship
for the United States, and as a new motive for
esteem, and a reciprocation of kind offices to
wards the power to whom they shall be indebted
for this act. A like letter being written to Mr.
Pinckney, you will of course take care, that
however you may act through different chan
nels, there be still a sufficient degree of concert
in your proceedings. — To GOUVERNEUR MORRIS.
iii, 524. FORD ED., vi, 202. (Pa., March 1793.)
4378. . For Lafayette my heart
has been constantly bleeding. The influence of
the United States has been put into action, as
far as it could be either with decency or effect.
But I fear that distance and difference of prin
ciple give little hold to General Washington on
the jailers of Lafayette. However, his friends
may be assured that our zeal has not been in
active. — To MRS. CHURCH. FORD ED., vi, 454.
(G., Nov. I793-)
4379. LAFAYETTE (Marquis de), Zeal
of. — He offered his services with that zeal
which commands them on every occasion re
specting America. — To JAMES MONROE, i, 567.
FORD ED., iv, 224. (P., 1786/1 See FRANCE,
JEFFERSON and REVOLUTION (FRENCH).
— LAFITATT (Joseph Francis), Views
on Indians.— See INDIANS.
4380. LAKE GEORGE, Beauties of.—
Lake George is, without comparison, the most
beautiful water I ever saw ; formed by a con
tour of mountains into a basin thirty-five miles
long, and two or four miles broad, finely in
terspersed with islands, its waters limpid as
crystal, and the mountain sides covered with
rich groves of thuja, silver fir, white pine,
aspen, and paper birch down to the water-edge ;
here and there precipices of rock to checker
the scene and save it from monotony. * * *
Lake Champlain, though much larger, is a far
less pleasant water. It is muddy, turbulent, and
yields little game. — To MARTHA JEFFERSON RAN
DOLPH. FORD ED., v, 337. (1791.)
4381. LAMPS, Improvement in. — There
has been a lamp called the cylinder lamp * lately
invented here. It gives a light equal, as is
thought, to that of six or eight candles. It re
quires olive oil, but its consumption is not great.
The improvement is produced by forcing the
wick into a hollow cylinder, so that there is a
passage for the air through the hollow. The
idea had occurred to Dr. Franklin a year or two
before, but he tried his experiment with a
rush, which not succeeding he did not prosecute
it. The fact was the rush formed too small
a cylinder ; the one used is of an inch diameter,
— To CHARLES THOMSON. FORD ED., iv, 13.
(P., 1784.)
4382. LAND, Allodial and Feudal ten
ures. — An error in the nature of our land
* Argand's lamp.— EDITOR.
Land
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
466
holdings * * * crept in at a very early period
of our settlement. The introduction of the
Feudal tenures into the Kingdom of England,
though ancient, is well enough understood to
set this matter in a proper light. In the earlier
ages of the Saxon settlement, Feudal hold
ings were certainly altogether unknown, and
very few, if any, had been introduced at the
time of the Norman Conquest. Our Saxon
ancestors held their lands, as they did their per
sonal property, in absolute dominion, disencum
bered with any superior, answering nearly to
the nature of those possessions which the
Feudalists term Allodial. William, the Nor
man, first introduced that system generally.
The land which had belonged to those who fell
in the Battle of Hastings, and in the subsequent
insurrections of his reign, formed a considerable
proportion of the lands of the whole Kingdom.
These he granted out, subject to Feudal duties,
as did he also those of a great number of his
new subjects, who, by persuasions or threats,
were induced to surrender them for that pur
pose. But still, much was left in the hands of
his Saxon subjects, held of no superior, and
not subject to Feudal conditions. These, there
fore, by express laws, enacted to render uni
form the system of military defence, were
made liable to the same military duties as if
they had been Feuds; and the Norman lawyers
soon found means to saddle them, also, with all
the other Feudal burthens. But still they had
not been surrendered to the King, they were
riot derived from his grant, and therefore they
were not holden of him. A general principle
indeed, was introduced, that " all lands in Eng
land were held either mediately or immediately
of the Crown " ; but this was borrowed from
those holdings which were truly Feudal, and
only applied to others for the purposes of illus
tration. Feudal holdings were therefore but ex
ceptions out of the Saxon laws of possession,
under which all lands were held in absolute
right. These, therefore, still form the basis, or
groundwork, of the Common law, to prevail
wheresoever the exceptions have not taken
place. America was not conquered by William,
the Norman, nor were its lands surrendered to
him or any of his successors. Possessions there
are, undoubtedly, of the Allodial nature. Our
ancestors, however, who emigrated hither, were
laborers, not lawyers. The fictitious principle,
that all lands belong originally to the King,
they were early persuaded to believe real ; and
accordingly took grants of their own lands
from the Crown. And while the Crown con
tinued to grant for small sums, and on reason
able rents, there was no inducement to arrest
the error, and lay it open to the public view.
But his Majesty has lately taken on him to ad
vance the terms of purchase, and of holding to
the double of what they were, by which means
the acquisition of lands being rendered difficult.,
the population of our country is likely to be
checked. It is time, therefore to lay this mat
ter before his Majesty, and to declare, that he
has no right to grant lands of himself. — •
RIGHTS OF BRITISH AMERICA, i, 138. FORD ED.,
i, 443. (1774.)
4383. . The opinion that our
lands were Allodial possessions is one which
I have very long held, and had in my eye dur
ing a pretty considerable part of my law read
ing which, I found, always strengthened it.
* * * This opinion I have thought and still
think to prove if ever I should have time to
look into books again. But this is only meant
with respect to the English law as transplanted
here. How far our acts of Assembly, or ac
ceptance of grants, may have converted lands
which were Allodial into Feuds, I have never
considered. This matter is now become a mere
speculative point ; and we have it in our power
to make it what it ought to be for the public
good. — To . FORD ED., ii, 78. (Pa., 1776.)
4384. . [The question of the
public lands] may be considered in the two
points of view, ist, as bringing a revenue into
the public treasury. 2d, as a tenure. * * *
First, is it consistent with good policy or free
government to establish a perpetual revenue?
Is it not against the practice of our wise Brit
ish ancestors? Have not the instances in
which we have departed from this, in Virginia,
been constantly condemned by the universal
voice of our country? Is it safe to make the
governing power, when once seated in office, in
dependent of its revenue? Should we not have
in contemplation and prepare for an event
(however deprecated) which may happen in the
possibility of things ; I mean a reacknowledg-
ment of the British tyrant as our King, and pre
viously strip him of every prejudicial posses
sion? Remember how universally the people
ran into the idea of recalling Charles II., after
living many years under a republican govern
ment. As to the second, was not the separation
of the property from the perpetual use of lands
a mere fiction? Is not its history well known,
and the purposes for which it was introduced,
to wit, the establishment of a military sys
tem of defence? Was it not afterwards made
an engine of immense oppression? Is it want
ing with us for the purpose of military defence ?
May not its other legal effects (such of them
at least as are valuable) be performed in other
more simple ways ? Has it not been the practice
of all other nations to hold their lands as their
personal estate in absolute dominion ? Are we
not the better for what we have hitherto abol
ished of the Feudal system ? Has not every
restitution of the ancient Saxon laws had happy
effects ? Is it not better now that we return at
once into that happy system of our ancestors,
the wisest and most perfect ever yet devised by
the wit of man, as it stood before the 8th
century?— To . FORD ED., ii, 79. (Pav
1776.) See COLONIES.
4385. LAND, Allotment.— From the na
ture and purpose of civil institutions, all the
lands within the limits which any particular
society has circumscribed around itself are as
sumed by that society, and subject to their
allotment. This may be done by themselves
assembled collectively, or by their legislature,
to whom they may have delegated sovereign
authority; and if they allotted in neither of
these ways, each individual of the society, may
appropriate to himself such lands as he finds
vacant, and occupancy will give him title. —
RIGHTS OF BRITISH AMERICA, i, 139. FORD ED.
i, 444. (1774-)
4386. LAND, Appropriation.— Unappro
priated, or forfeited lands, shall be appropriated
by the Administrator with the consent of the
Privy Council. — PROPOSED VA. CONSTITUTION.
FORD ED., ii, 25. (June 1776.)
4387. . Lands heretofore holden
of the crown in fee simple, and those hereafter
to be appropriated, shall be holden in full and
absolute dominion, of no superior whatever. —
PROPOSED VA. CONSTITUTION. FORD ED., ii, 25.
(June 1776.)
4388. . Every person, of full age,
neither owning nor having owned fifty acres
of land, shall be entitled to an appropriation of
fifty acres, or to so much as shall make up what
467
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Land Tax
he owns, or has owned in full and absolute
dominion. And no other person shall be capable
of taking an appropriation. — PROPOSED VA. CON
STITUTION. FORD ED., ii, 25. (June 1776.)
4389. LAND, Colonial conquest.— Amer
ica was conquered, and her settlements made
and firmly established at the expense of in
dividuals, and not of the British public. Their
own blood was spilt in acquiring lands for their
settlement, their own fortunes expended in
making that settlement effectual. — RIGHTS OF
BRITISH AMERICA, i, 126. FORD ED., i, 430.
(I774-)
4390. LAND, George III. and.— He has
endeavored to prevent the population of these
States; for that purpose * * * raising the
conditions of new appropriations of lands. —
DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE AS DRAWN BY
JEFFERSON.
4391. LAND, People and.— It is too soon
yet in our country to say that every man, who
cannot find employment, but who can find Un
cultivated land, shall be at liberty to cultivate it,
paying a moderate rent. But it is not too soon
to provide, by every possible means, that as few
as possible shall be without a little portion of
land. — To REV. JAMES MADISON. FORD ED., vii,
36. (Pa., 1785.)
4392. — . The small landholders
are the most precious part of a State. — To REV.
JAMES MADISON. FORD ED., vii, 36. (P., 1785.)
4393. LAND, Sovereignty.— That the
lands within the limits assumed by a nation
belong to the nation as a body, has probably
been the law of every people on earth at some
period of their history. A right of property in
movable things is admitted before the estab
lishment of government. A separate property
in lands not till after that establishment. The
right to movables is acknowledged by all the
hordes of Indians surrounding us. Yet by no
one of them has a separate property in lands
been yielded to individuals. He who plants a
field keeps possession till he has gathered the
produce, after which one has as good a right
as another to occupy it. Government must be
established and laws provided, before lands can
be separately appropriated, and their owner pro
tected in his possession. Till then the property
is in the body of the nation, and they, or their
chief as trustee, must grant them to individ
uals, and determine the conditions of the grant.
— BATTURE CASE, viii, 539. (1812.)
4394. LAND, Valuation.— The Confed
eration, in its eighth article, decides that the
quota of money to be contributed by the several
States shall be proportioned to the value of
landed property in the State. Experience has
shown it impracticable to come at that value.
— ANSWERS TO M. DE MEUNIER. ix, 286. FORD
ED., iv, 141. (P., 1786.)
4395. . It seems * * * to be
a principle of universal law that the lands of a
country belong to its sovereign as trustee for
the nation. — BATTURE CASE, viii, 541. (1812.)
4396. LAND COMPANIES, Early west
ern. — During the regal government, two com
panies, called the Loyal and the Ohio Com
panies, had obtained grants from the crown for
800,000 or 1,000,000 of acres of land, each, on
the Ohio, on condition of settling them in a
given number of years. They surveyed some
and settled them ; but the war of 1755 came on
and broke up the settlements. After it was
over, they petitioned for a renewal. Four other
arge companies then formed themselves, called
the Mississippi, the Illinois, the Wabash, and
the Indiana companies, each praying for im
mense quantities of land, some amounting to
200 miles square ; so that they proposed to cover
the whole country north between the Ohio
and Mississippi, and a great portion of what
is south. All these petitions were depending
without any answer whatever from the crown,
when the Revolution war broke out. The peti
tioners had associated to themselves some of
the nobility of England, and most of the char
acters in America of great influence. When
Congress assumed the government, they took
some of their body in as partners, to obtain
their influence ; and I remember to have heard,
at the time, that one of them took Mr. Gerard
as a partner, expecting by that to obtain the in
fluence of the French Court, to obtain grants
of those lands which they had not been able to
obtain from the British government. All these
lands were within the limits of Virginia and
that State determined, peremptorily that they
never should be granted to large companies, but
left open equally to all ; and when they passed
their land law (which I think was in 1778),
they confirmed only so much of the lands of the
Loyal company, as they had actually surveyed,
which was a very small proportion, and an
nulled every other pretension. And when that
State conveyed the lands to Congress (which
was not till 1784), so determined were they to
prevent their being granted to these or any
other large companies, that they made it an
express condition of the cession, that they
should be applied first towards the soldiers'
bounties, and the residue sold for the payment
of the national debt, and for no other purpose.
This disposition has been, accordingly, rigor
ously made, and is still going on ; and Congress
considers itself as having no authority to dis
pose of them otherwise. — To J. M. G. DE RAY-
NEVAL. iv, 371. FORD ED., viii, 19. (W., March
1801.)
4397. LAND TAX, Postponed.— The af
fluence of the Treasury has made it possible to
go on a year longer without a land tax. — To
JOHN TAYLOR. FORD ED., vii, 181. (Pa., 1797.)
4398. . The land tax will not be
brought on. The Secretary of the Treasury says
he has money enough. No doubt * * * [this]
may be taken up more boldly at the next session,
when most of the elections will be over. — To
JAMES MADISON, iv, 205. FORD ED., vii, 189.
(Pa., 1798.)
4399. LAND TAX, Proposed.— They [the
federalists] already talk * * * of a land Tax.
[This] will probably not be opp9sed. The
only question will be how to modify it. On
this there may be great diversity of sentiment.
One party will want to make it a new course of
patronage and expense. — To JAMES MADISON.
iv, 234. FORD ED., vii, 237. (Pa., 1798.)
4400. . If the expenses should
exceed three millions they [the federalists]
will undertake a land tax. Indeed a land tax
is the decided resource of many, perhaps of a
majority. There is an idea of some of the Con
necticut members to raise the whole money
wanted by a tax on salt ; so much do they dread
a land tax. — To JAMES MADISON. FORD ED., vii,
243. (1798.)
4401. . The land tax is now on
the carpet to raise two millions of dollars ; yet
I think they must at least double it. * * * I
presume, therefore, the tax on lands, houses
Lands (Indian)
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
468
and negroes, will be a dollar a head on the
population of each State. — To JAMES MONROE.
iv, 242. FORD ED., vii, 256. (Pa., May 1798.)
4402. . The land tax was yes
terday [May 30] debated, and a majority of six
struck out the i3th section of the classification
of houses, and taxing them by a different scale
from the lands. Instead of this, is to be pro
posed a valuation of the houses and lands to
gether. — To JAMES MADISON, iv, 244. FORD
ED., vii, 261. (Pa., May 1798.)
4403. LANDS (Indian), Acquirement of
title to.— The State of Georgia, having
granted to certain individuals a tract of country,
within their chartered limits, whereof the In
dian right has never yet been acquired; with
a proviso in the grants, which implies that
those individuals may take measures for ex
tinguishing the Indian rights under the au
thority of that Government, it becomes a
question how far this grant is good ? A society,
taking possession of a vacant country, and
declaring they mean to occupy it, does thereby
appropriate to themselves as prime occupants
what was before common. A practice intro
duced since the discovery of America, author
izes them to go further, and to fix the limits
which they assume to themselves ; and it seems,
for the common good, to admit this right to a
moderate and reasonable extent. If the coun
try, instead of being altogether vacant, is
thinly occupied by another nation, the right of
the native forms an exception to that of the
newcomers ; that is to say, these will only have
a right against all other nations except the na
tives. Consequently, they have the exclusive
privilege of acquiring the native right by pur
chase or other just means. This is called the
right of preemption, and is become a prin
ciple of the law of nations, fundamental with
respect to America. There are but two means
of acquiring the native title. First, ^ war ; for
even war may, sometimes, give a just title.
Second, contracts or treaty. The States of
America before their present Union possessed
completely, each within its own limits, the ex
clusive right to use these two means of acquir
ing the native title, and, by their act of Union,
they have as completely ceded both to the Gen
eral Government. Art. 2d, Section ist, " The
President shall have power, by and with the
advice and consent of the Senate, to make
treaties, provided two-thirds of the Senators
present concur ". Art. ist, Section 8th, " The
Congress shall have power to declare war, to
raise and support armies". Section loth, "No
State shall enter into any treaty, alliance, or
confederation. No State shall, without the con
sent of Congress, keep troops or ships of war
in time of peace, enter into any agreement or
compact with another State or with a foreign
power, or engage in war, unless actually in
vaded, or in such imminent danger as will not
admit of delay ". These paragraphs of the Con
stitution, declaring that the General Govern
ment shall have, and that the particular ones
shall not have, the right of war and treaty, are
so explicit that no commentary can explain them
further, nor can any explain them away. Con
sequently, Georgia, possessing the exclusive
right to acquire the native title, but having re
linquished the means of doing it to the General
Government, can only have put her grantee into
her own condition. She could convey to them
the exclusive right to acquire ; but she could
not convey what she had not herself, that is,
the means of acquiring. For these they must
come to the General Government, in whose
hands they have been wisely deposited for the
purposes both of peace and justice. What is to
be done ? The right of the General Govern
ment is, in my opinion, to be maintained. The
case is sound, and the means of doing it as prac
ticable as can ever occur. But respect and
friendship should, I think, mark the conduct of
the General towards the particular government,
and explanations should be asked and time and
color given them to tread back their steps be
fore coercion is held up to their view. I am
told there is already a strong party in Georgia
opposed to the act of their government. I should
think it better, then, that the first measures,
while firm, be yet so temperate as to secure
their alliance and aid to the General Govern
ment. Might not the eclat of a proclamation
revolt their pride and passion, and throw them
hastily into the opposite scale? It will be
proper, indeed, to require from the government
of Georgia, in the first moment, that while the
General Government shall be expecting and
considering her explanations, things shall re
main in s tat 11 quo, and not a move be made to
wards carrying what they have begun into
execution. — OPINION ON GEORGIA LAND GRANTS.
vii, 467. FORD ED., v, 165. (May 1790.)
4404. . No lands shall be appro
priated until purchased of the Indian native
proprietors ; nor shall any purchases be made
of them but on behalf of the public, by authority
of acts of the General Assembly, to be passed
for every purchase specially. — PROPOSED VA.
CONSTITUTION. FORD ED., ii, 25. (June 1776.)
4405. LANDS (Indian), Buying.— We,
indeed, are always ready to buy land ; but we
will never ask but when you wish to sell ; and
our laws, in order to protect you against im
position, have forbidden individuals to pur
chase lands from you ; and have rendered it
necessary, when you desire to sell, even to a
State, that an agent from the United States
should attend the sale, see that your consent
is freely given, a satisfactory price paid, and
report to us what has been done, for your ap
probation. * — To BROTHER HANDSOME LAKE.
viii, 188. (1802.)
4406. LANDS (Indian), Intrusions on.
— Knowing your disposition to have these
people [the Cherokee Indians] protected in the
possession of their unpurchased lands, I take
the liberty of mentioning to you that the 9ld
Tassel, in a late message to me, complains
of intrusions on their lands, and particularly
of some attempts to take from them the great
island. This, by the late extension of our
[Virginia] boundary, falling, as I understand,
within your State [North Carolina], removes
the application for protection to your Excel
lency, whose power alone can extend to the
removal of intrusions from thence. As to so
much of their lands as lie within our latitudes,
as well as the lands of other Indians generally,
our Assembly, now sitting, has in contempla
tion authorized the Executive to send patrols
of the military through them from time to time
to destroy the habitations which shall be erected
in them by intruders. — To THE GOVERNOR OF
NORTH CAROLINA. FORD ED., ii, 275. (Wg.,
I779-)
4407. LANDS (Indian), Surrendering.—
You have it peculiarly in your power to
promote among the Indians a sense of the
superior value of a little land, well cultivated,
over a great deal unimproved, and to encourage
* The extent of territory to which the native In
dian title was extinguished under Jefferson, by pur
chase, embraced nearly one hundred millions of
acres.— EDITOR.
469
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Lands (Indian)
Lands (Public)
them to make this estimate truly. The wisdom
of the animal which amputates and abandons to
the hunter the parts for which he is pursued
should be theirs, with this difference, that the
former sacrifices what is useful, the latter what
is not. — To BENJAMIN HAWKINS, iv, 467. FORD
ED., viii, 214. (W., 1803.)
4408. LANDS (Indian), Virginia and.—
That the lands of this colony [Virginia] were
taken from the Indians by conquest, is not so
general a truth as is supposed. I find in our
histories and records, repeated proofs of pur
chase, which cover a considerable part of the
lower country ; and many more would doubt
less be found on further search. The upper
country, we know, has been acquired altogether
by purchases made in the most unexceptionable
form. — NOTES ON VIRGINIA, viii, 339. FORD
ED., iii, 196. (1782.)
4409. LANDS (Public), Disposition of.—
The new plan of opening our land office, by
dividing the lands among the States, and sell
ing them at vendue, * * * separates still more
the interests of the States, which ought to be
made joint in every possible instance, in order
to cultivate the idea of our being one nation,
and to multiply the instances in which the peo
ple shall look to Congress as their head. And
when the States get their portions, they will
either fool them away, or make a job of it to
serve individuals. Proofs of both these prac
tices have been furnished, and by either of them
that invaluable fund is lost, which ought to
pay pur public debt. To sell them at vendue, is
to give them to the bidders of the day, be they
many or few. It is ripping up the hen which
lays golden eggs. If sold in lots at a fixed price,
as first proposed, the best lots will be sold first ;
as these become occupied, it gives a value to the
interjacent ones, and raises them, though of
inferior quality, to the price of the first. — To
JAMES MONROE, i, 347. FORD ED., iv, 52. (P.,
1785.)
4410. LANDS (Public), Monopolies in.—
Vast grants of land are entirely against the
policy of our government. They have ever set
their faces most decidedly against such monop
olies. — To T. M. RANDOLPH. FORD ED., x, 202.
(M., j82i.)
_ LANDS (Public), Plan of land office.
— See WESTERN TERRITORY.
4411. LANDS (Public), Sale.— I am
against selling the lands at all. The people who
will migrate to the westward, whether they
form part of the old or of a new colony, will be
subject to their proportion of the Continental
debt then unpaid. They ought not to be sub
ject to more. They will be a people little able
to pay taxes. There is no equity in fixing upon
them the whole burthen of this war, or any
other proportion than we bear ourselves. By
selling the lands to them, you will disgust them,
and cause an avulsion of them from the com
mon union. They will settle the lands in spite
of everybody. — To . FORD ED., ii, 80. (Pa.,
1776.)
4412. - - . The idea of Congress
selling out unlocated lands has been sometimes
dropped, but we have always met the hint with
such determined opposition that I believe it will
never be proposed. — To . FORD ED., ii, 80.
(Pa., 1776.)
4413. . Congress have * * *
passed an ordinance for disposing of their lands
and, I think, a very judicious one. They pro
pose to sell them at auction for not less than
a dollar an acre, receiving their own certificates
of debt as money. — To WILLIAM CARMICHAEL.
i, 393- (P., 1785-)
4414. . I am much pleased with
your land ordinance, and think it improved from
the first, in the most important circumstances.
I had mistaken the object of the division of the
lands among the States. I am sanguine in my
expectations of lessening our debts by this
fund, and have expressed my expectations to
the minister and others here. — To JAMES MON
ROE, i, 407. FORD ED., iv, 86. (P., 1785.)
4415. . Congress have purchased
a very considerable extent of country from the
Indians, and have passed an ordinance laying
down rules for disposing of it. These admit
only two considerations for granting lands : first,
military service rendered during the late war ;
and secondly, money to be paid at the time of
granting, for the purpose of discharging their
national debt. — To MARQUIS DE PONCENS. i,
430. (P., 1785.)
4416. . A provision for the sale
of the vacant lands of the United States is par
ticularly urged by the important considerations
that they are pledged as a fund for reimburs
ing the public debt; that, if timely and ju
diciously applied, they may save the necessity
of burthening our citizens with new taxes for
the extinguishment of the principal ; and that
being free to pay annually but a limited propor
tion of that principal, time lost in beginning the
payments cannot be recovered however pro
ductive the resource may prove in event. —
PARAGRAPH FOR PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE. FORD
ED., v, 384. (1791-)
4417. LANDS (Public), Settlers.— It is
said that wealthy foreigners will come in great
numbers, and they ought to pay for the liberty
we shall have provided for them. True, but make
them pay in settlers. A foreigner who brings
a settler for every one hundred or two hundred
acres of land, to be granted him, pays a better
price than if he had put into the public treasury
five shillings, or five pounds. That settler will
be worth to the public twenty times as much
every year, as on our old plan he would have
paid in one payment. — To . FORD ED., ii, 80.
(Pa., 1776.)
4418. . I am clear that the lands
should be appropriated in small quantities. — To
. FORD ED., ii, 80. (Pa., 1776.)
4419. - — . I sincerely wish that
your proposition to " purchase a tract of land
in the Illinois on favorable terms, for introdu
cing a colony of English farmers ", may en
counter no difficulties from the established rules
of pur land department. The general -law pre
scribes an open sale, where all citizens may
compete on an equal footing for any lot of
land which attracts their choice. To dispense
with this in any particular case, requires a
special law of Congress, and to special legis
lation we are generally averse, lest a principle
of favoritism should creep in and pervert that
of equal rights. It has, however, been done
on some occasions where a special national
advantage has been expected to overweigh that
of adherence to the general rule. The promised
introduction of the culture of the vine procured
a special law in favor of the Swiss settlement
on the Ohio. That of the culture of oil, wine
and other southern productions, did the same
lately for the French settlement on the Tom-
bigbee. It remains to be tried whether that of
Lands (Public)
Language
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
470
an improved system of farming, interesting to
so great a proportion of our citizens, may not
also be thought worth a dispensation with the
general rule. — To GEORGE FLOWER, vii, 83.
(P.P., 1817.)
4420. LANDS (Public), Squatting.— The
Virginia Assembly finding that, in defiance of
their endeavors to discourage and prevent the
settling our western country, people were re
moving thither in great numbers, appropriating
lands of their own authority, and meditating to
hold them by force, after propositions, made
and rejected at several sessions for legalizing
those settlements, at length found it necessary
to give way to the torrent, and by their act of
May, 1779, to establish a land office. The ir
regular claims and settlements which, in the
meantime, had covered that country, were be
come so extensive that no prudent man could
venture to locate a new claim, and so numer
ous that, in the common administration of jus
tice, it would have engrossed the whole time of
our ordinary courts for many years to have
adjusted them. So multifarious were they, at
the same time, that no established principles of
law or equity could be applied for their determi
nation ; many of them being built on customs
and habits which had grown up in that country,
being founded on modes of transmission peculiar
to themselves, and which, having entered almost
into every title, could not be absolutely neg
lected. This impressed on the minds of the
Assembly the necessity of sending special com
missioners to settle, on the spot, and without
delay, those virious claims, which being once
cleared away would leave the residuary country
open to the acquisition of other adventurers.
The western Counties were accordingly laid off
into Districts for this purpose, and the arrange
ment being general, included the territory on
the waters of the Ohio claimed by the State of
Pennsylvania. Whether the Assembly did not
advert to this circumstance, or took for granted
that the commissioners would never consider a
law of this State as meant to be applied to
those who professed themselves the citizens of
another, and had been freely admitted so to
profess themselves by our Government, or
whether they relied that the term of one year,
within which they provided that no grant should
issue on any judgment of the commissioners,
would give them time for the settlement of our
disputed territory, or at least to provide for the
peace of their citizens within it, is not within
my province or power to say. This, however,
I can say, that from an intimate knowledge of
their cordial desire to settle^ this claim with
them amicably, no motive inconsistent with
that entered into the transaction. In fact the
execution of this commission, guarded as its ef
fects are by a twelve months' delay of the grants,
appears to be as peaceable and inoffensive as
the mission of so many astronomers to take
the longitude or latitude of the several farms.
— To THE PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS. FORD ED.,
ii, 293. (Wg., 1780.)
4421. . There is indeed a clause
in the act of Assembly which might, on first
view, be thought to leave an opening for the
introduction of force. It is that which says that
judgment be rendered, if possession be forcibly
detained by the party against whom it is,
restitution may be made by the commissioners,
or by any justice, in like manner as might be
done in the case of lands holden by grant act
ually issued ; a clause very necessary in our
other western country, but not at all applicable
to that part of it claimed by the State of Penn
sylvania. By the laws of this Commonwealth
(the same in this instance with the English
Law), even in the case of lands holden under
actual grant, no restitution can be made after
three years peaceable possession, a term much
shorter than that of any bona fide possessions
in the disputed territory. The latest of these
must be of six or seven years' continuance, the
present dispute having so long subsisted. The
expediency and necessity, therefore, of the gen
eral measure of establishing this temporary
Court, I doubt not but Congress will perceive
and though it is to be wished that the disputed
territory had been excerpted from this jurisdic
tion, in order to avoid everything which might
give jealousy or uneasiness to a sister State, or
which might lead them into an apprehension
that we meant to do any act which should
wound the amity between us ; yet I hope when
Congress contemplates its effects, they will be
sensible that it only amounts to a settlement on
paper of the rights of individuals derived
from this State, and that no man's possession or
quiet can be disturbed in consequence of any
proceedings under it, until our Legislature
shall have had time to settle finally
with them this unfortunate dispute, or other
wise to provide against the evils they have
apprehended. — To THE PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS.
FORD ED., ii, 294. (Wg., 1780.) See EARTH,
GENERATIONS, WESTERN TERRITORY.
4422. LANGDON (John), Patriot.— We
were fellow laborers from the beginning of the
first to the accomplishment of the second revo
lution in our government, of the same zeal and
the same sentiments, and I shall honor his mem
ory while memory remains to me. — To MARK
LANGDON HILL, vii, 154. (M., 1820.)
4423. LANGUAGE, Distorting.— When
we see inspired writings made to speak whatever
opposite. controversialists wish them to say, we
cannot ourselves expect to find language in
capable of similar distortion. My expressions
were general ; their perversion is in their mis
application to a particular case. — To C. HAM
MOND, vii, 216. (M., 1821.)
— LANGUAGE, Neology.— See NEOLOGY.
— LANGUAGE (English), Improve
ment of.— See NEOLOGY.
4424. LANGUAGE, Purists and.— I con
cur entirely with you in opposition to purists,
who would destroy all strength and beauty of
style, by subjecting it to a rigorous compliance
with their rules. Fill up all the ellipses and
syllepses of Tacitus, Sallust, Livy, &c., and the
elegance and force of their sententious brevity
are extinguished. " Auferre, trucidare, rapere,
falsis nominibus, imperium appellant ". " De-
orum injurias, diis curae ". " Alieni appetens,
sui profusus ; ardens in cupiditatibus ; satis
loquentiae, sapientiae parum ". " Annibal, peto
pacem ". " Per diem Sol non uret te, neque Luna
per noctem ". Wire-draw these expressions by
filling up the whole syntax and sense, and
they become dull paraphrases on rich senti
ments. We may say then truly with Quintil-
ian, " Aliud est Grammatice, aliud Latine lo-
qui ". I am no friend, therefore, to what is
called purism. — To JOHN WALDO, vi, 184.
(M., 1813.)
4425. . I am not a friend to a
scrupulous purism of style. I readily sacrifice
the niceties of syntax to euphony and strength.
It is by boldly neglecting the rigorisms of
grammar that Tacitus has made himself the
strongest writer in the world. The hyperesthet-
ics call him barbarous ; but I should be sorry
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Language
Language (English)
to exchange his barbarisms for their wire-drawn
purisms. Some of his sentences are as strong
as language can make them. Had he scrupu
lously filled up the whole of their syntax, they
would have been merely common. To explain
my meaning by an English example, I will quote
the motto of one, I believe, of the regicides of
Charles L, " Rebellion to tyrants is obedience
to God ". Correct its syntax, " Rebellion
against tyrants is obedience to God ", it has
lost all the strength and beauty of the antithesis.
— To EDWARD EVERETT, vii, 273. (M., 1823.)
4426. LANGUAGE, Science and.— I do
not pretend that language is science. It is
only an instrument for the attainment of
science. — NOTES ON VIRGINIA, viii, 389. FORD
ED., iii, 253. (1782.)
4427. LANGUAGE, Style.— Style, in wri
ting or speaking, is formed very early in life,
while the imagination is warm, and impressions
are permanent. — To J. BANNISTER, i, 468.
(P., 1785.)
4428. LANGUAGE (Anglo-Saxon),
Study of.— I learn from you with great pleas
ure that a taste is reviving in England for the
recovery of the Anglo-Saxon dialect of our lan
guage ; for a mere dialect it is, as much as those
of Piers Plowman, Gower, Douglas, Chaucer,
Spenser, Shakspeare, Milton, for even much of
Milton is already antiquated. The Anglo-Saxon
is only the earliest we possess of the many
shades of mutation by which the language has
tapered down to its modern form. Vocabularies
we need for each of these stages from Somner
to Bailey, but not grammars for each or any of
them. The grammar has changed so little, in
the descent from the earliest to the present
form, that a little observation suffices to under
stand its variations. We are greatly indebted
to the worthies who have preserved the Anglo-
Saxon form, from Dr. Hickes down to Mr. Bos-
worth. Had they not given to the public what
we possess through the press, that dialect would
by this time have been irrecoverably lost. I
think it, however, a misfortune that they have
endeavored to give it too much of a learned
form, to mount it on all the scaffolding of the
Greek and Latin, to load it with their genders,
numbers, cases, declensions, conjugations, &c.
Strip it of these embarrassments, vest it in the
Roman type which we have adopted instead of
our English black letter, reform its uncouth
orthography, and assimilate its pronunciation,
as much as may be, to the present English,
just as we do in reading Piers Plowman or
Chaucer, and with the contemporary vocabulary
for the few lost words, we understand it as
we do them. For example, the Anglo-Saxon
text of the Lord's Prayer, as given to us 6th
Matthew, ix., is spelt and written thus, in
the equivalent Roman type : Faeder ure thec
the eart in heafenum, si thin nama ychalgod.
To becume thin rice. Gerrurthe thin willa on
eartham, swa swa on heafenum. Ume doeghw
amti can hlaf syle us to doeg. And forgyfus
ure gyltas, swa swa we forgifath urum gylten-
dum. And ne ge-lcedde thu us on costmunge,
ae alys us of yfele." I shotild spell and pro
nounce thus : " Father our, thou tha art in
heavenum, si thine name y-hallowed. Come
thin ric-y-wurth thine will on eartham, so so
on heavenum : ourn daynhamlican loaf sell us
to-day, and forgive us our guilts so so we for-
giveth ourum guiltendum. And no y-lead thou
us on costnunge, ac a-lease us of evil ". And
here, it is to observed by-the-bye, that there
is but the single word " temptation " in our
present version of this prayer that is not Anglo-
Saxon ; for the word " trespasses " taken from
the French ( ocpeityjuara in the original),
might as well have been translated by the Anglo-
Saxon " guilts ".
The learned apparatus in which Dr. Hickes
and his successors have muffled our Anglo-
Saxon, is what has frightened us from en
countering it. The simplification I propose
may, on the contrary, make it a regular part of
our common English education. So little read
ing and writing was there among our Anglo-
Saxon ancestors of that day, that they had no
fixed orthography. To produce a given sound,
every one jumbled the letters together, accord
ing to his unlettered notion of their power, and
all jumbled them differently, just as would be
done at this day, were a dozen peasants, who
have learnt the alphabet, but have never read,
desired to write the Lord's Prayer. Hence the
varied modes of spelling by which the Anglo-
Saxons meant to express the same sound. The
word many, for example, was spelt in twenty
different ways ; yet we cannot suppose they
were twenty different words, or that they
had twenty different ways of pronouncing the
same word. The Anglo-Saxon orthography,
then, is not an exact representation of the
sounds meant to be conveyed. We must drop
in pronunciation the superfluous consonants,
and give to the remaining letters their present
English sound ; because, not knowing the true
one. the present enunciation is as likely to be
right as any other, and indeed more so, and
facilitates the acquisition of the language.* —
To J. EVELYN DENISON. vii, 415. (M., 1825.)
4429. - — . [The cultivation of the
Anglo-Saxon] is a hobby which too often runs
away with me where I meant not to give up
the rein. Our youth seem disposed to mount
it with me, and to begin their course where
mine is ending. — To J. EVELYN DENISON. vii,
418. (M., 1825.)
4430. . In a letter * * * to
Mr. Crofts who sent * * * me a copy of
his treatise on the English and German lan
guages, as preliminary to an etymological dic
tionary he meditated, I went into explanations
with him of an easy process for simplifying
the study of the Anglo-Saxon, and lessening the
terrors and difficulties presented by its rude
alphabet, and unformed orthography. — To JOHN
ADAMS, vii, 173. (M., 1820.)
4431. LANGUAGE (English), Dia
lects. — It is much to be wished that the pub
lication of the present county dialects of Eng
land should go on. It will restore to us our
language in all its shades of variation. It will
incorporate into the present one all the riches
of our ancient dialects ; and what a store this
will be, may be seen by running the eye over
the county glossaries, and observing the words
we have lost by abandonment and disuse,
which in sound and sense are inferior to noth
ing we have retained. When these local vo
cabularies are published and digested together
into a single one, it is probable we shall find
that there is not a word in Shakspeare which
is not now in use in some of the counties in
England, and from whence we may obtain its
true sense. And what an exchange will their
recovery be for the volumes of idle commen
taries and conjectures with which that divine
poet has been masked and metamorphosed. We
shall find in him new sublimities which we had
never tasted before, and find beauties in our
* Jefferson, first of all in America, suggested that
the study of Anglo-Saxon be made a part of college
education.— EDITOR.
language (English)
Language (Greek)
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
472
ancient poets which are lost to us now. It is
not that I am merely an enthusiast for Palae-
ology. I set equal value on the beautiful en-
graftments we have borrowed from Greece and
Rome, and I am equally a friend to the en
couragement of a judicious neology; a language
cannot be too rich. — To J. EVELYN DENISON.
vii, 417. (M., 1825.)
4432. LANGUAGE (English), History
of. — We want an elaborate history of the
English language. — To J. EVELYN DENISON.
vii, 418. (M., 1825.)
4433. LANGUAGE (French), Indis
pensable. — The French language is an indis
pensable part of education for both sexes. — To
N. Burwell, vii, 102. FORD ED., x, 105. (M.,
1818.)
4434. LANGUAGE (French), Learning.
— You will learn to speak it [French] better
from women and children in three months,
than from men in a year. — To T. M. RANDOLPH,
JR. ii, 176. FORD ED., iv, 404. (P., 1787-)
_ LANGUAGE (Gtelic), Desire to learn.
— See OSSIAN.
4435. LANGUAGE (Greek), Ablative
case in. — I owe you particular thanks for the
copy of your translation of Buttman's Greek
Grammar. * * * A cursory view of it
promises me a rich mine of valuable criticism.
I observe he goes with the herd of grammarians
in denying an Ablative case to the Greek lan
guage. I cannot concur with him in that, but
think with the Messrs, of Port Royal who admit
an Ablative. And why exclude it? Is it be
cause the Dative and Ablative in Greek are
always of the same form ? Then there is no
Ablative to the Latin plurals, because in them,
as in Greek, these cases are always in the same
form. The Greeks recognized the Ablative
under the appellation of the TCTGoats acpai-
pETtxi?) which I have met with and noted from
some of the scholiasts, without recollecting
where. Stephens, Scapula, Hederic acknowledge
it as one of the significations of the word
a<patpejuavKo$. That the Greeks used it can
not be denied. For one of multiplied examples
which may be produced take the following from
the Hippolytus of Euripides: " Elite, too Tportw,
dtKij^ EitaicTEv avrov portrpov," " dice
quo modo justitia; clava percussit eum " " Quo
modo " are Ablatives, then why not TGO rpOTtoo?
And translating it into English, should we use
the Dative* or Ablative preposition? It is not
perhaps easy to define very critically what con
stitutes a case in the declension of nouns. All
agree as to the Nominative that it is simply
the name of the thing. If we admit that a dis
tinct case is constituted by any accident or
modification which changes the relation which
that bears to the actors or action of the sen
tence, we must agree to the six cases at least;
because for example, to a thing, and from a
thing are very different accidents to the thing.
It may be said that if every distinct accident or
change of relation constitutes a different case,
then there are in every language as many cases
as there are prepositions ; for this is the peculiar
office of the preposition. But because we do
not designate by special names all the cases to
which a noun is liable, is that a reason why we
should throw away half of those we have, as is
* See BUTTMAN'S DATIVES, p. 230, every one of
which I should consider as under the accident or rela
tion called Ablative, having no signification of ap
proach according to his definition of the Dative. —
NOTE BY JEFFERSON.
done by those grammarians who reject all
cases, but the Nominative, Genitive, and Ac
cusative, and in a less degree by those also
who reject the Ablative alone? As pushing
the discrimination of all the possible cases to
extremities leads us to nothing useful or practi
cable, I am contented with the old six cases,
familiar to every cultivated language, ancient
and modern, and well understood by all. I
acknowledge myself at the same time not an
adept in the metaphysical speculations of Gram
mar. By analyzing too minutely we often re
duce pur subject to atoms, of which the mind
loses its hold. — To EDWARD EVERETT, vii, 272.
(M., 1823.)
4436. LANGUAGE (Greek), Accent.—
Against reading Greek by accent, instead of
quantity, as Mr. Ciceitira, proposes, I raise both
my hands. What becomes of the sublime meas
ure of Homer, the full sounding rhythm of
Demosthenes, if, abandoning quantity, you
chop it up by accent ? What ear can hesitate in
its choice between the two following rhythms ?
( ' Tbv, d'aitajuEifibjuEvos TtpocrEtpr)
and
Tor
the latter noted according to prosody, the
former by accent, and dislocating our teeth in
its utterance ; every syllable of it, except the
first and last, being pronounced against quan
tity. And what becomes of the art of prosody?
Is that perfect coincidence of its rules with the
structure of their verse, merely accidental? or
was it of design, and yet for no use? — To
JOHN ADAMS, vii, 114. (M., 1819.)
4437. -- . Of the origin of accentua
tion, I have never seen satisfactory proofs.
But I have generally supposed the accents were
intended to direct the inflections and modula
tions of the voice; but not to affect the quan
tity of the syllables. — To JOHN ADAMS, vii,
115. (M., 1819.)
4438. LANGUAGE (Greek), Pronuncia
tion. — Mr. Pickering's pamphlet on the pro
nunciation of the Greek, for which I am in
debted to you, I have read with great pleasure.
Early in life, the idea occurred to me that the
people now inhabiting the ancient seats of the
Greeks and Romans, although their languages
in the intermediate ages had suffered great
changes, and especially in the declension of
their nouns, and in the terminations of their
words generally, yet having preserved the body
of the word radically the same, so they would
preserve more of its pronunciation. That, at
least, it was probable that a pronunciation,
handed down by tradition, would retain, as the
words themselves do, more of the original than
that of any other people whose language has
no affinity to that original. For this reason I
learned, and have used the Italian pronuncia
tion of the Latin. But that of the modern
Greeks I had no opportunity of learning until
I went to Paris. There I became acquainted
with two learned Greeks, Count Carberri, and
Mr. Paradise, and with a lady, a native Greek,
the daughter of Baron de Tott, who did not
understand the ancient language. Carberri and
Paradise both spoke it. From these instruct
ors I learned the modern pronunciation, and in
general trusted to its orthodoxy. I say, in
general, because sound being more fugitive than
the written letter, we must, after such a lapse
of time, presume in it some degeneracies, as we
see there are in the written words. We may
473
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Language (Greek)
Language (Latin)
not, indeed, be able to put our finger on them
confidently, yet neither are they entirely be
yond the reach of all indication. For example,
in a language so remarkable for the euphony
of its sounds, if that euphony is preserved in
particular combinations of its letters, by an
adherence to the powers ordinarily ascribed to
them, and is destroyed by a change of these
powers, and the sound of the word, thereby,
rendered harsh, inharmonious, and inidiomatic-
al, here we may presume some degeneracy
has taken place.
While, therefore, I gave in to the modern
pronunciation generally, I have presumed, as
an instance of degeneracy, their ascribing the
same sound to the six letters, or combinations
of letters, c, i, V9 si, 01, vt, to all of which
they give the sound of our double e in the
word meet. This useless equivalence of three
vowels and three diphthongs did not probably
exist among the ancient Greeks ; and the less
probably as, while this single sound, ee, is
overcharged by so many different representative
characters, the sounds we usually give to
these characters and combinations would be left
without any representative signs. This would
imply either that they had not these sounds
in their language, or no signs for their expres
sion. Probability appears to me, therefore,
against the practice of the modern Greeks of
giving the same sound to all these different
representatives, and to be in favor of that of
foreign nations, who, adopting the Roman
characters, have assimilated to them, in a con
siderable degree, the powers of the correspond
ing Greek letters. I have, accordingly, ex-
cepted this in my adoption of the modern pro
nunciation.
I have been more doubtful in the use of the
avy EV, rjv, GOVj sounding the v, upsilon, as
our f or v, because I find traces of that power of
v, or of v, in some modern languages. To go
no further than our own, we have it in laugh,
cough, trough, enough. The county of Louisa,
adjacent to that in which I live, was, when I
was a boy, universally pronounced Lovisa.
That it is not the gh which gives the sound of
f or v, in these words, is proved by the orthog
raphy of plough, trough, thought, fraught,
caught. The modern Greeks themselves, too,
giving up v, upsilon, in ordinary, the sound of
our ee, strengthens the presumption that its
anomalous sound of f or v, is a corruption.
The same may be inferred from the cacophony
of shacprs (elavne) for sXavvE (elawne.)
AxiA-hecpg (Achillefs) for AxtA.A.ev$ (Achi-
lleise,) «<pg (eves) for svg (ee-use,) ocpK (ovk)
for SK (ouk,) oocpiog (ovetos) for covrog (o-u-
tos,) Zeps (zevs) for Zsv<5 (zese,) of which
all nations have made their Jupiter ; and the use-
lessness of the v in evqx&na, which would
otherwise have been spelt Ecpaovia. I, therefore,
except this also from what I consider as approv-
able pronunciation. — To JOHN ADAMS, vii, 112.
(M., 1819.)
4439. . Should Mr. Pickering
ultimately establish the modern pronunciation
of the letters without any exception, I shall
think it a great step gained, and giving up my
exceptions, shall willingly rally to him. — To
JOHN ADAMS, vii, 115. (M., 1819.)
4440. . If we adhere to the
Erasmian pronunciation we must go to Italy
for it, as we must do for the most probably
correct pronunciation of the language of the
Romans, because rejecting the modern, we must
argue that the ancient pronunciation was prob
ably brought from Greece, with the language
itself ; and, as Italy was the country to which
it was brought, and from which it emanated to
other nations, we must presume it better pre
served there than with the nations copying from
them, who would be apt to affect its pronuncia
tion with some of their own national peculiari
ties. And in fact, we find that no two nations
pronounce it alike, although all pretend to the
Erasmian pronunciation. But the whole sub
ject is conjectural, and allows, therefore, full
and lawful scope to the vagaries of the human
mind. I am glad, however, to see the question
stirred here; because it may excite among our
young countrymen a spirit of enquiry and criti
cism, and lead them to more attention to this
most beautiful of all languages. — To MR. MOORE.
vii, 137. (M., 1819.)
4441. . I have little hope of the
recovery of the ancient pronunciation of that
finest of human languages, but still I rejoice at
the attention the subject seems to excite
with you, because it is an evidence that our
country begins to have a taste for something
more than merely as much Greek as will pass
a candidate for clerical ordination. — To JOHN
BRAZIER, vii, 131. (P.F., 1819.)
4442. LANGUAGE (Greek), Revival of.
—The modern Greek is not yet so far de
parted from its ancient model, but that we
might still hope to see the language of Homer
and Demosthenes flow with purity from the lips
of a free and ingenious people. — To JOHN PAGE.
i, 400. (P., 1785.)
4443. . I cannot help looking
forward * * * to the language of Homer
becoming again a living language, as among
possible events. — To GEORGE WYTHE. ii, 267.
FORD ED., iv, 444. (P., 1787.)
4444. . I enjoy Homer in his
own language infinitely beyond Pope's transla
tion of him, and both beyond the dull narrative
of the same events by Dares Phrygius ; and it
is an innocent enjoyment.* — To JOSEPH PRIEST
LEY, iv, 317. FORD ED., vii, 414. (Pa., 1800.)
See LANGUAGE (LATIN).
4445. LANGUAGE (Italian), French,
Spanish and. — I fear the learning of Italian
will confound your French and Spanish. Being
all of them degenerated dialects of the Latin,
they are apt to mix in conversation. I have
never seen a person speaking the three lan
guages, who did not mix them. It is a delight
ful language, but late events having rendered
the Spanish more useful, lay it aside to prose
cute that. — To PETER CARR. ii, 237. FORD ED.,
iv, 428. (P., 1787.)
4446. . To a person who would
make a point of reading and speaking French
and Spanish, I should doubt the utility of learn
ing Italian. These three languages, being all
degeneracies from the Latin, resemble one an
other so much, that I doubt the probability of
keeping in the head a distinct knowledge of
them all. I suppose that he who learns them
all, will speak a compound of the three, and
neither perfectly. — To T. M. RANDOLPH, JR.
ii, 177. FORD ED., iv, 405. (P., 1787.)
4447. LANGUAGE (Latin), A luxury.
— To read the Latin and Greek authors in
their original^, is a sublime luxury ; and I deem
luxury in science to be at least as justifiable
* Jefferson scarcely passed a day without reading
a portion of the classics.— RAYNER'S Life of Jeffer
son p. 22.
Language (Latin)
Languages
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
474
as in architecture, painting, gardening, or the
other arts. — To JOSEPH PRIESTLEY, iv, 316.
FORD ED., vii, 414. (Pa., 1800.)
4448. . I thank on my knees,
him who directed my early education, for hav
ing put into my possession this rich source of
delight ; and I would not exchange it for any
thing which I could then have acquired, and
have not since acquired. — To JOSEPH PRIESTLEY.
iv, 317. FORD ED., vii, 414. (Pa., 1800.)
4449. LANGUAGE (Latin), Models of
composition.— I think the Greeks and Ro
mans have left us the present [purest?] models
which exist of fine composition, whether we ex
amine them as works of reason, or of style and
fancy ; and to them we probably owe these
characteristics of modern composition. I
know of no composition of any other ancient
people, which merits the least regard as a model
for its matter or style. — To JOSEPH PRIESTLEY.
iv, 316. FORD ED., vii, 414. (Pa., 1800.)
4450. . The utilities we derive
from the remains of the Greek and Latin lan
guages are, first as models of pure taste in wri
ting. To these we are certainly indebted for the
natural and chaste style of modern composition,
which so much distinguishes the nations to
whom these languages are familiar. Without
these models we should probably have continued
the inflated style of our northern ancestors, or
the hyperbolical and vague one of the East. —
To JOHN BRAZIER. _ vii, 131. (1819.)
4451. LANGUAGE (Latin), Reading.—
We [University of Virginia] must get rid of
this Connecticut Latin, of this barbarous con
fusion of long and short syllables, which renders
doubtful whether we are listening to a reader of
Cherokee, Shawnee, Iroquois, or what. — To
WM. B. GILES, vii, 429. FORD ED., x, 357.
(M., 1825.)
4452. LANGUAGE (Latin), Study of.—
The learning of Greek and Latin, I am told,
is going into disuse in Europe. I know not
what their manners and occupations may call
for ; but it would be very ill-judged in us to
follow their example in this instance. — NOTES
ON VIRGINIA, viii, 389. FORD ED., iii, 253.
(1782.)
4453. LANGUAGE (Latin), Utility of.
— To whom are they [the classical languages]
useful? Certainly not to all men. There are
conditions of life to which they must be for
ever estranged. * * * To the moralist they
are valuable, because they furnish ethical wri
tings highly and justly esteemed; although in
my own opinion the moderns are far advanced
beyond them in this line of science ; the divine
finds in the Greek language a translation of his
primary code, of more importance to him than
the original because better understood ; and, in
the same language, the newer code, with the
doctrines of the earliest fathers. * * * The
lawyer finds in the Latin language the system
of civil law most conformable with the princi
ples of justice of any which has ever yet been
established among men, and from which much
has been incorporated into our own. The phy
sician as good a code of his art as has been
given us to this day. * * * The statesman
will find in these languages history, politics,
mathematics, ethics, eloquence, love of country,
to which he must add the sciences of his own
day, for which of them should be unknown to
him? And all the sciences must recur to the
classical languages for the etymon, and sound
understanding of their fundamental terms.
* * * To sum the whole, it may truly be
said that the classical languages are a solid
basis for most, and an ornament to all the
sciences. — To JOHN BRAZIER, vii, 131. (P.F.,
1819.)
4454. LANGUAGE (Spanish), Impor
tant to know. — Our future connection with
Spain renders that the most necessary of the
modern languages, after the French. When
you become a public man, you may have occa
sion for it, and the circumstance of your
possessing that language, may give you a prefer
ence over other candidates.* — To PETER CARR.
i, 399- (P., 1785.)
4455. . Bestow great attention
on the Spanish language, and endeavor to
acquire an accurate knowledge of it. Our
future connections with Spain and Spanish
America, will render that language a valuable
acquisition. The ancient history of a great
part of America, too, is written in that lan
guage. — To PETER CARR. ii, 238. FORD ED.,
iv, 428. (P., I787.)
4456. . Next to French, the
Spanish [language] is most important to an
American. Our connection with Spain is al
ready important, and will become daily more
so. Besides this, the ancient part of American
history is written chiefly in Spanish. — To T. M.
RANDOLPH, JR. ii, 177. FORD ED., iv, 405. (P.,
1787.)
4457. . Apply yourself to the
study of the Spanish language with all the as
siduity you can. It and the English covering
nearly the whole face of America, they should
be well known to every inhabitant, who means
to look beyond the limits of his farm. — To
PETER CARR. ii, 409. (P., 1788.)
4458. LANGUAGES, Filiation of.— I
have long considered the filiation of languages
as the best proof we can ever obtain of the
filiation of nations. — To JOHN S. VATER. v,
599. (M., 1812.)
4459. LANGUAGES, Learning.— In gen-
eral, I am of opinion, that till the age of about
sixteen, we are best employed on languages :
Latin, Greek, French, and Spanish. * * *
I think Greek the least useful. — To J. W. EPPES.
ii, 192. (P., 1787.)
4460. . I suppose there is a por
tion of life during which our faculties are ripe
enough for [learning languages], and for noth
ing more useful. — To JOSEPH PRIESTLEY, iv,
316. FORD ED., vii, 413. (Pa., 1800.)
4461. LANGUAGES, Perfect Knowl
edge of. — No instance exists of a person's
writing two languages perfectly. That will al
ways appear to be his native language, which
was most familiar to him in his youth. — To J.
BANNISTER, i, 468. (P., 1785.)
4462. . I am of opinion that
there never was an instance of a man's writing
or speaking his native tongue with elegance,
who passed from fifteen to twenty years of age
out of the country where it was spoken. — To J.
BANNISTER i, 468. (P., 1785.)
4463. . Did you ever know an
instance of one who could write in a foreign
language with the elegance of a native ? Cicero
wrote Commentaries of his own Consulship in
Greek ; they perished unknown, while his native
* Peter Carr was Jefferson's nephew.— EDITOR.
475
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Languages
Latitude and Longitude
compositions have immortalized him with them
selves — To DUPONT DE NEMOURS, vi, 509.
(M., 1815.)
4464. LANGUAGES, Utility.— I omitted
to say anything of the languages as part of our
proposed [Virginia] University. It was not
that I think, as some do, that they are useless.
I am of a very different opinion. I do not
think them very essential to the obtaining emi
nent degrees of science ; but I think them very
useful towards it.— To JOSEPH PRIESTLY, iv,
316. FORD ED., vii, 413- (Pa., 1800.)
4465. LANGUAGES (Indian), Cherokee.
—Your Cherokee grammar * * * I have
gone over with attention and satisfaction. We
generally learn languages for the benefit of read
ing the books written in them. But here our
reward must be the addition made to the phil
osophy of language. In this point of view
your analysis of the Cherokee adds valuable
matter for reflection and strengthens our de
sire to see more of these languages as scientificr
ally elucidated. Their grammatical devices for
the modification of their words by a syllable pre
fixed to, or inserted in the middle, or added to
its end, and by other combinations so different
from ours, prove that if man came from one
stock, his languages did not. A late gramma
rian has said that all words were originally
monosyllables. The Indian languages disprove
this. I should conjecture that the Cherokees,
for example, have formed their language not
by single words, but by phrases. I have known
some children learn to speak, not by a word at
a time, but by whole phrases. Thus the Chero
kee has no name for " father " in the abstract,
but only as combined with some one of his
relations. A complex idea being a fasciculus of
simple ideas bundled together, it is rare that
different languages make up their bundles alike,
and hence the difficulty of translating from
one language to another. European nations
have so long had intercourse with one an
other, as to have approximated their complex
expressions much towards one another. But
I believe we shall find it impossible to translate
our language into any of the Indian, or any of
theirs into ours. I hope you will pursue your
undertaking, and that others will follow your
example with other of their languages. It
will open a wide field for reflection on the
grammatical organization of languages, their
structure and character. I am persuaded that
among the tribes on our two continents a great
number of languages, radically different, will
be found. It will be curious to consider how
so many, so radically different, have been pre
served by such small tribes in coterminous set
tlements of moderate extent. I had once col
lected about thirty vocabularies formed of the
same English words, expressive of such simple
objects only as must be present and familiar
to every one under these circumstances. They
were unfortunately lost. But I remember that
on a trial to arrange them into families or
dialects, I found in one instance that about half
a dozen might be so classed, in another per
haps three or four. But I am sure that a third,
at least, if not more, were perfectly insulated
from each other. Yet this is the only index
by which we can trace their filiation. — To
. vii, 399. (M., 1825.)
4466. LANGUAGES (Indian), Vocabu
laries of. — I had through the course of my
life availed myself of every opportunity of pro
curing vocabularies of the languages of every
[Indian] tribe which either myself or my
friends could have access to. They amounted
to about forty, more or less perfect. But in
their passage from Washington to Monticello
the trunk in which they were was stolen and
plundered, and some fragments only of the
vocabularies were recovered. Still, however,
they were such as would be worth incorporation
with a larger work, and shall be at the service
of the historical committee, if they can make
any use of them. — To MR. DUPONCEAU. vii,
92. (M., 1817.) See ABORIGINES and IN
DIANS.
4467. LATITUDE AND LONGITUDE,
Astronomy and. — Measures and rhombs
taken on the special surface of the earth, cannot
be represented on a plain surface of paper with
out astronomical corrections ; and paradoxical
as it may seem, it is nevertheless true, that we
cannot know the relative position of two places
on the earth, but by interrogating the sun, moon
and stars. — To GOVERNOR NICHOLAS, vi, 587.
(P.P., 1816.)
4468. LATITUDE AND LONGITUDE,
Chronometers and. — Fine time-keepers have
been invented, but not equal to what is requi
site, all of them deriving their motion from a
spring, and not from a pendulum. Indeed these
pursuits have lost much of their consequence
since the improvement of the lunar tables has
given the motion of the moon so accurately, as
to make that a foundation for estimating the
longitude by her relative position at a given mo
ment with the sun or fixed stars. — To CAPTAIN
GROVE, v, 374. (W., 1808.)
4469. LATITUDE AND LONGITUDE,
Jupiter's Eclipses.— To get the longitude at
sea by observation of the eclipses of Jupiter's
satellites, two desiderata are wanting: ist, a
practicable way of keeping the planet and satel
lite in the field of a glass magnifying sufficiently
to show the satellites ; 2nd, a time-piece whicn
will give the instant of time with sufficient ac
curacy to be useful. The bringing the planet
and satellite to the horizon does not sensibly
facilitate the observation, because the planet in
his ascending and descending course is at such
heights as admit the direct observation with en
tire convenience. On the other hand, so much
light is lost by the double reflection as to dim
the objects and lessen the precision with which
the moment of ingress and egress may be
marked. This double reflection also introduces
a new source of error from the inaccuracy of
the instrument; 3d, the desideratum of a time
piece which, notwithstanding the motion of the
ship, shall keep time during a whole voyage
with sufficient accuracy for these observations,
has not yet been supplied. — To CAPTAIN GROVE.
v, 374. (W., 1808.)
4470. LATITUDE AND LONGITUDE,
Lunar observations.— While Captain Lew
is's mission was preparing, as it was under
stood that his reliance for his longitudes must
be on the lunar observations taken, as at sea,
with the aid of a time-keeper, and I knew that
a thousand accidents, might happen to that in
such a journey as his,. and thus deprive us of
the principal object of fee expedition, to wit,
the ascertaining the geography of that river,
I set myself to consider whether in making ob
servations at land, that furnishes no resource
which may dispense with the time-keeper, so
necessary at sea. It occurred to me that we
can always have a meridian at land that would
furnish what the want of it at sea obliges us to
supply by the time-keeper. Supposing Captain
Lewis then furnished with a meridian, and hav
ing the requisite tables and nautical almanac
Latitude and Longitude THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
476
with him, — first, he might find the right ascen
sion of the moon, when on the meridian of
Greenwich, on any given day ; then find by ob
servation when the moon should attain that
right ascension (by the aid of a known star),
and measure her distance in that moment from
his meridian. This distance would be the differ
ence of longitude between Greenwich and the
place of obervation. Or secondly, observe the
moon's passage over his meridian, and her right
ascension at that moment. See by the tables at
Greenwich when she had that right ascension.
That gives her distance from the meridian of
Greenwich, when she was on his meridian. Or
thirdly, observe the moon's distance from his
meridian at any moment, and her right ascen
sion at that moment ; and find from the tables
her distance from the meridian of Greenwich,
when she had that right ascension, which will
give the distance of the two meridians. This
last process will be simplified by taking, for
the moment of observation, that of an appulse
of the moon and a known star, or when the
moon and a known star are in the same verti
cal. I suggested this to Mr. Briggs, who con
sidered it as correct and practicable, and pro
posed communicating it to the Philosophical
Society ; but I observed that it was too obvious
not to have been thought of before, and sup
posed it had not been adopted in practice,
because of no use at sea, where a meridian
cannot be had, and where alone the nations of
Europe had occasion for it. Before his con
firmation of the idea, however, Captain Lewis
was gone. In conversation afterwards with
Baron von Humbold^ he observed that the idea
was correct, but not new ; that I would find it
in the third volume of Delalande. I received,
two days ago, the third and fourth volumes of
Montucla's History of Mathematics, finished and
edited by Delalande ; and find, in fact, that
Morin and Vanlangren, in the Seventeenth
Century, proposed observations of the moon on
the meridian, but it does not appear whether
they meant to dispense with the time-keeper.
But a meridian at sea being too impracticable,
their idea was not pursued. — To MR. DUNBAR.
iv, 578. (W., 1805.)
4471. LATITUDE AND LONGITUDE,
Magnetic needle. — Among other projects
with which we begin to abound in America,
is one for finding the latitude by the variation
of the magnetic needle. The author supposes
two points, one near each pole, through the
northern of which pass all the magnetic merid
ians of the northern hemisphere, and through
the southern those of the southern hemisphere.
He determines their present position and period
ical revolution. — To B. VAUGHAN. ii, 166. (P..
1787.)
4472. . As far as we can conjec
ture your idea here [Paris], we imagine you
make a table of variations of the needle, for all
the different meridians. To apply this table
to use, in the voyage between America and
Europe. Suppose the variation to increase a
degree in every one hundred and sixty miles.
Two difficulties occur: i, a ready and accurate
method of finding the variation of the place ;
2, an instrument so perfect as that (though the
degree on it shall represent one hundred and
sixty miles) it shall give the parts of the de
gree so minutely as to answer the purpose of the
navigator. * * * I make no question you have
provided against the doubts entertained here,
and I shall be happy that our country may have
the honor of furnishing the old world what it
has so long sought in vain. — To JOHN CHURCH
MAN, ii, 236. (P., 1787.)
4473. LATITUDE AND LONGITUDE,
Without chronometer*. — If two persons, at
different points of the same hemisphere (as
Greenwich and Washington, for example), ob
serve the same celestial phenomenon, at the
same instant of time, the difference of the times
marked by their respective clocks is the differ
ence of their longitudes, or the distance of their
meridians. * To catch with precision the same
instant of time for these simultaneous observa
tions, the moon's motion in her orbit is the best
element; her change of place (about a half
second of space in a second of time) is rapid
enough to be ascertained by a good instrument
with sufficient precision for the object. But
suppose the observer at Washington, or in a
desert, to be without a timekeeper; the equa
torial is the instrument to be used in that case.
Again, we have supposed a contemporaneous
observer at Greenwich. But his functions may
be supplied by the nautical almanac, adapted to
that place, and enabling us to calculate for
any instant of time the meridian distances there
of the heavenly bodies necessary to be observed
for this purpose. The observer at Washington,
choosing the time when their position is suit
able, is to adjust his equatorial to his merid
ian, to his latitude, and to the plane of his
horizon ; or if he is in a desert where neither
meridian nor latitude is yet ascertained, the
advantages of this noble instrument are that
it enables him to find both in the course of a
few hours. Thus prepared, let him ascertain by
observation the right ascension of the moon
from that of a known star, or their horary dis
tance ; and, at the same instant, her horary
distance from his meridian. Her right ascen
sion at the instant thus ascertained, enter with
that of the nautical almanac, and calculate, by
its tables, what was her iiorary distance from
the meridian of Greenwich at the instant she
had attained that point of right ascension, or
that horary distance from the same star. The
addition of these meridian distances, if the
moon was between the two meridians, or the
subtraction of the lesser from the greater, if
she was on the same side of both, is the differ
ence of their longitudes. This general theory
admits different cases, of which the observer
may avail himself, according to the particular
position of the heavenly bodies at the moment
of observation. Case ist. When the moon is
on his meridian, or on that of Greenwich. Sec
ond. When the star is on either meridian.
Third. When the moon and star are on the same
side of his meridian. Fourth. When they are
on different sides. For instantaneousness of
observation, the equatorial has great advantage
over the circle or sextant ; for being truly placed
in the meridian beforehand, the telescope may
be directed sufficiently in advance of the moon's
motion, for time to note its place on the equa
torial circle, before she attains that point.
Then observe, until her limb touches the cross
hairs ; and in that instant direct the telescope
to the star ; that completes the observation, and
the place of the star may be read at leisure.
The apparatus for correcting the effects of re
fraction and parallax, which is fixed on the
eye-tube of the telescope, saves time by ren
dering the notation of altitudes unnecessary,
and dispenses with the use of either a time
keeper or portable pendulum. I have observed
that, if placed in a desert where neither
meridian nor latitude is yet ascertained, the
equatorial enables the observer to find both in
a few hours. For the latitude, adjust by the
cross-levels the azimuth plane of the instrument
* Jefferson called this paper "A method of finding
the longitude of a place at land, without a time
keeper ".—EDITOR.
477
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Latrobe (B. H.)
Law
to the horizon of the place. Bring down the
equatorial plane to an exact parallelism with it,
its pole then becoming vertical. By the nut
and pinion commanding it, and by that of the
semi-circle of declination, direct the telescope
to the sun. Follow its path with the telescope
by the combined use of these two pinions, and
when it has attained its greatest altitude, cal
culate the latitude as when taken by a sextant.
For finding the meridian, set the azimuth circle
to the horizon, elevate the equatorial circle to
the complement of the latitude, and fix it by
the clamp and tightening screw of the two
brass segments of arches below. By the dec
lination semicircle set the telescope to the
sun's declination of the moment. Turn the in
strument towards the meridian by guess, and by
the combined movement of the equatorial and
azimuth circles direct the telescope to the sun,
then by the pinion of the equatorial alone, fol
low the path of the sun with the telescope. If
it swerves from that path, turn the azimuth
circle until it shall follow the sun accurately.
A distant stake or tree should mark the merid
ian, to guard against its loss by any accidental
jostle of the instrument. The 12 o'clock line
will then be in the true meridian, and the axis
of the equatorial circle will be parallel with that
of the earth. The instrument is then in its true
position for the observations of the night. — To
. vii, 226. (M., 1821.) See LEWIS
AND CLARK EXPEDITION.
4474. LATROBE (B. H.), Building of
U. S. Capitol. — My memory retains no trace
of the particular conversations alluded to [by
you*], nor enables me to say that they are or
are not correct. The only safe appeal for me
is to the general impressions received at the
time, and still retained with sufficient dis
tinctness. These were that you discharged the
duties of your appointment with ability, dili
gence and zeal, but that in the article of expense
you were not sufficiently guarded. You must
remember my frequent cautions to you on this
head, the measures I took, by calling for fre
quent accounts of expenditures and contracts,
to mark to you, as well as to myself, when
they were getting beyond the limits of the ap
propriations, and the afflicting embarrassments
on a particular occasion where these limits had
been unguardedly and greatly transcended.
These sentiments I communicated to you freely
at the time, as it was my duty to do. An
other principle of conduct with me was to admit
no innovations on the established plans, but on
the strongest grounds. When, therefore, I
thought first of placing the floor of the Repre
sentative chamber on the level of the basement
of the building, and of throwing into its height
the cavity of the dome, in the manner of the
Halle aux Bleds at Paris, I deemed it due to
Dr. Thornton, author of the plan of the Capitol,
to consult him on the chanere. He not only
consented, but appeared heartily to approve of
the alteration. For the same reason, as well as
on motives of economy, I was anxious^ in
converting the Senate chamber into a Judiciary
room, to preserve its original form, and to leave
the same arches and columns standing. On
your representation, however, that the columns
were decayed and incompetent to support the
incumbent weight, I acquiesced in the weight
you proposed, only striking out the addition
which would have made part of the middle
building, and would involve a radical change
in that which had not been sanctioned. I have
* Latrobe was the architect of the Capitol at Wash
ington. The quotation is interesting, showing as it
does the impress of Jefferson's taste in architecture.
—EDITOR.
no reason to doubt but that in the execution of
the Senate and Court rooms, you have adhered
to the plan communicated to me and approved.
* * * On the whole, I do not believe any one
has ever done more justice to your professional
abilities than myself. Besides constant com
mendations of your taste in architecture, and
science in execution, I declared on many and all
occasions that I considered you as the only per
son in the United States who could have exe
cuted the Representative Chamber, or who
could execute the middle buildings on any of
the plans proposed. — To BENJAMIN H. LATROBE.
v, 578. (M., 1811.) See ARCHITECTURE.
4475. LATROBE (B. H.), Burr's Trea
son and.— I believe we shall send on Latrobe
as a witness. He will prove that Aaron Burr
endeavored to get him to engage several thou
sand men, chiefly Irish emigrants, whom he had
been in the habit of employing in the works
he directs, under pretence of a canal opposite
Louisville, or of the Washita, in which, had he
succeeded, he could with that force alone have
carried everything before him, and would not
have been where he now is. He knows, too, of
certain meetings of Burr, Bollman, Yrnjo, and
one other whom we have never named yet, but
have him not the less in our view. — To GEORGE
HAY. v, 99. FORD ED., ix, 58. (W., June
1807.)
4476. . I have had a conversa
tion with Latrobe. He says it was five hundred
men he was desired to engage. The pretexts
were, to work on the Ohio canal, and be paid
in Washita lands. Your witnesses will some
of them prove that Burr had no interest in the
Ohio canal, and that consequently this was a
mere pretext to cover the real object from the
men themselves, and all others. — To GEORGE
HAY. v, 100. FORD ED., ix, 59. (W., June
1807.)
4477. LAW, Administration.— Laws will
be * * * honestly administered, in pro
portion as those who * * * administer
them are wise and honest. — DIFFUSION OF
KNOWLEDGE BILL. FORD ED., ii, 221. (1779.)
4478.- _. That people will be hap
piest whose laws are best, and are best ad
ministered. — DIFFUSION OF KNOWLEDGE BILL.
FORD ED., ii, 221. (1779.)
4479. LAW, Agrarian.— Equal partition
of inheritances [is] the best of all agrarian
laws. — AUTOBIOGRAPHY, i, 49. FORD ED., i, 69.
(1821.)
— LAW, Alien and Sedition. — See ALIEN
AND SEDITION LAWS.
— LAW, The Common.— See COMMON
LAW.
4480. LAW, Construing.— Constructions
which do not result from the words of the
Legislator, but lie hidden in his breast, till
called forth, ex post facto, by subsequent
occasions, are dangerous and not to be justi
fied by ordinary emergencies. — REPORT TO
CONGRESS. FORD ED., ii, 138. (1778.)
4481. . Constructions must not
be favored which go to defeat instead of
furthering the principal object of the law and
to sacrifice the end to the means. — To W.
H. CABELL. v, 159. FORD ED., ix, 94. (M.,
1807.)
Law
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
478
4482. . Ingenuity ever should
be exercised [in executive cases] in devising
constructions which may save to the public
the benefit of the law. Its intention is the im
portant thing; the means of attaining quite
subordinate. — To W. H. CABELL. v, 159,
FORD ED., ix, 94. (M., 1807.)
4483. . In the construction of a
law, even in judiciary cases of meum et tuum
where the opposite parties have a right and
counter-right in the very words of the law,
the judge considers the intention of the law
giver as his true guide, and gives to all the
parts and expressions of the law, that mean
ing which will effect, instead of defeating, its
intention. But in laws merely executive,
where no private right stands in the way, and
the public object is the interest of all, a
much freer scope of construction, in favor of
the intention of the law, ought to be taken,
and ingenuity ever should be exercised in
devising constructions, which may save to the
public the benefit of the law. Its intention is
the important thing: the means of attaining
it quite subordinate. It often happens that,
the Legislature prescribing the details of exe
cution, some circumstance arises unforeseen
or unattended to by them, which would
totally frustrate their intention, were their
details scrupulously adhered to, and deemed
exclusive of all others. But constructions must
not be favored which go to defeat instead of
furthering the principal object of the law, and
to sacrifice the end to the means. It being as
evidently their intention that the end shall be
attained as that it should be effected by any
given means, if both cannot be observed, we
are equally free to deviate from the one as
the other, and more rational in postponing
the means to the end. * * * It is further
to be considered that the Constitution gives
the Executive a general power to carry the
laws into execution. If the present law had
enacted that the service of 30,000 volunteers
should be accepted, without saying anything
of the means, those means would, by the Con
stitution, have resulted to the discretion of
the Executive. So if means specified by an
act are impracticable, the constitutional power
remains and supplies them. Often the means
provided specially are affirmative merely, and,
with the constitutional powers, stand well to
gether; so that either may be used, or the
one supplementary to the other. This apt
itude of means to the end of a law is
essentially necessary for those which are ex
ecutive; otherwise the objection that our gov
ernment is an impracticable one, would really
be verified.— To W. H. CABELL. v, 158. FORD
ED., ix, 94. (M., Aug. 1807.)
4484. . The true key for the con
struction of everything doubtful in a law, is the
intention of the law givers. This is most
safely gathered from the words, but may be
sought also in extraneous circumstances, pro
vided they do not contradict the express
words of the law. — To ALBERT GALLATIN. v,
291. (M, 1808.)
4485.
The omission of a cau
tion which would have been right, does not
justify the doing what is wrong. Nor ought
it to be presumed that the Legislature meant
to use a phrase in an unjustifiable sense, if
by rules of construction it can be ever strained
to what is just. — To ISAAC MCPHERSON. vi,
176. (M., 1813.)
4486. . The question whether
the judges are invested with exclusive author
ity to decide on the constitutionality of a law,
has been heretofore a subject of consideration
with me in the exercise of official duties. Cer
tainly there is not a word in the Constitution
which has given that power to them more than
to the Executive or Legislative branches.
Questions of property, of character and of
crime being ascribed to the judges, through a
definite course of legal proceeding, laws in
volving such questions belong, of course, to
them ; and as they decide on them ultimately
and without appeal, they of course decide for
themselves. The constitutional validity of the
law or laws again prescribing Executive ac
tion, and to be administered by that branch
ultimately and without appeal, the Executive
must decide for themselves also, whether, un
der the Constitution, they are valid or not.
So also as to laws governing the proceedings
of the Legislature, that body must judge for
itself the constitutionality of the law, and
equally without appeal or control from its co
ordinate branches. And, in general, that
branch which is to act ultimately, and with
out appeal, on any law, is the rightful ex
positor of the validity of the law, uncon
trolled by the opinions of the other coordinate
authorities. — To W. H. TORRANCE. vi, 461.
FORD ED., ix, 517. (M., 1815.)
4487. - — . It may be said that con
tradictory decisions may arise in such case,
and produce inconvenience. This is possible,
and is a necessary failing in all human pro
ceedings. Yet the prudence of the public
functionaries, and authority of public opinion,
will generally produce accommodation. Such
an instance of difference occurred between the
judges of England (in the time of Lord Holt)
and the House of Commons, but the prudence
of those bodies prevented inconvenience from
it. So in the cases of Duane and of William
Smith, of South Carolina, whose characters of
citizenship stood precisely on the same
ground, the judges in a question of meum and
tuum which came before them, decided that
Duane was not a citizen ; and in a question of
membership, the House of Representatives,
under the same words of the same provision,
adjudged William Smith to be a citizen. This
is what I believe myself to be sound. — To W.
H. TORRANCE. vi, 462. FORDED., ix, 518. (M.,
1815.)
4488. . There is another opinion
entertained by some men of such judgment
and information as to lessen my confidence in
my own. That is, that the Legislature alone
is the exclusive expounder of the sense of the
Constitution, in every part of it whatever.
And they allege in its support, that this
479
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Law
branch has authority to impeach and punish
a member of either of the others acting con
trary to its declaration of the sense of the
Constitution. It may, indeed, be answered
that an act may still be valid although the
party is punished for it, right or wrong.
However, this opinion which ascribes exclu
sive exposition to the Legislature, merits re
spect for its safety, there being in the body
of the nation a control over them, which, if
expressed by rejection on the subsequent ex
ercise of their elective franchise, enlists public
opinion against their exposition, and encour
ages a judge or executive on a future oc
casion to adhere to their former opinion. Be
tween these two doctrines, every one has a
right to choose, and I know of no third merit
ing any respect.— To W. H. TORRANCE. vi,
462. FORD ED., ix, 518. (M., 1815.)
4489. LAW, Cruel French.— Nor should
we wonder at * * * [the] pressure [for
a fixed constitution in 1788-9] when we con
sider the monstrous abuses of power under
which they [the French] people were ground
to powder ; when we pass in review the * * *
cruelty of the criminal code. — AUTOBIOGRAPHY.
i, 86. FORD ED., i, 118. (1821.)
4490. LAW, Enacting.— Laws will be
wisely formed * * *• in proportion as those
who form * * * them are wise and honest.
— DIFFUSION OF KNOWLEDGE BILL. FORD ED.,
ii, 221. (I779-)
4491. LAW, Enforcing.— Laws made by
common consent must not be trampled on
by individuals. — To COLONEL VANNETER.
FORD ED., Hi, 24. (R., 1781.)
4492. . I hope, on the first symp
tom of an open opposition to the [Embargo]
law by force, you will fly to the scene, and
aid in suppressing any commotion. — To
HENRY DEARBORN, v, 334. (M., 1808.)
4493. LAW, Equality before the.— An
equal application of law to every condition of
man is fundamental. — To GEORGE HAY. v,
175. FORD ED., ix, 62. (M., 1807.)
4494. LAW, Execution of.— The execu
tion of the laws is more important than the
making them.— To M. L'ABBE ARNOND. iii,
82. FORD ED., v, 104. (P., 1789.)
4495. LAW, Executive discretion and. —
There are cases in the books where the word
"may" has been adjudged equivalent to
" shall ", but the term " is authorized " un
less followed by " and required " was, I
think, never so considered. On the contrary,
I believe it is the very term which Congress
always use towards the Executive when they
mean to give a power to him, and leave the
use of it to his discretion. It is the very
phrase on which there is now a difference
in the House of Representatives, on the bill
for raising 6,000 regulars, which says, " there
shall be raised ", and some desire it to say,
" the President is authorized to raise ", leav
ing him the power with a discretion to use it
or not. — To ALBERT GALLATIN. v, 259. (W.,
March 1808.)
4496. LAW, Federal, State and Com-
nion. — Of all the doctrines which have ever
been broached by the Federal Government,
the novel one, of the common law being in
force and cognizable as an existing law in
their courts, is to me the most formidable.
All their other assumptions of tm-given powers
have been in the detail. The bank law, the
treaty doctrine, the Sedition act, Alien act,
the undertaking to change the State laws of
evidence in the State courts by certain parts
of the Stamp act, &c., &c., have been solitary,
unconsequential, timid things, in comparison
with the audacious, bare-faced and sweeping
pretension to a system of law for the United
States, without the adoption of their Legis
lature, and so infinitely beyond their power to
adopt. If this assumption be yielded to, the
State courts may be shut up, as there will then
be nothing to hinder citizens of the same State
suing each other in the Federal courts in every
case, as on a bond for instance, because the
common law obliges payment of it, and the
common law they say is their law. I am
happy you have taken up the subject; and I
have carefully perused and considered the
notes you enclosed, and find but a single
paragraph which I do not approve. It is that
wherein you say, that laws being emanations
from the legislative department, and, when
once enacted, continuing in force from a pre
sumption that their will so continues, that that
presumption fails and the laws of course fall,
on the destruction of that legislative depart
ment. I do not think this is the true bottom
on which laws and the administering them
rest. The whole body of the nation is the
sovereign legislative, judiciary, and executive
power for itself. The inconvenience of meeting
to exercise these powers in person, and their
inaptitude to exercise them, induce them to
appoint special organs to declare their legisla
tive will, to judge and to execute it. It is
the will of the nation which makes the law
obligatory ; it is their will which vacates or
annihilates the organ which is to declare and
announce it. They may do it by a single per
son, as an Emperor of Russia (constituting
his declarations evidence of their will), or by
a few persons, as the aristocracy of Venice,
or by an application of councils, as in our
former regal government, or our present re
publican one. The law being law because it
is the will of the nation, is not changed by
their changing the organ through which they
choose to announce their future will ; no more
than the acts I have done by one attorney
lose their obligation by my changing or dis-
contihuing that attorney. This doctrine has
been, in a certain degree, sanctioned by the
Federal Executive. For it is precisely that
on which the continuance of obligation from
our treaty with France was established, and
the doctrine was particularly developed in a
letter to Gouverneur Morris, with the appro
bation of President Washington and his Cabi
net. Mercer once prevailed on the Virginia
Assembly to declare a different doctrine in
some resolutions. These met universal dis
approbation in this, as well as the other
Law
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
480
States, and if I mistake not, a subsequent
Assembly did something to do away the au
thority of their former unguarded resolutions.
In this case, as in all others, the true prin
ciple will be quite as effectual to establish the
just deductions. Before the Revolution, the
nation of Virginia had, by the organs they
then thought proper to constitute, established
a system of laws, which they divided into
three denominations of I, common law; 2,
statute law; 3, chancery; or, if you please,
into two only of i, common law; 2, chancery.
When, by the Declaration of Independence,
they chose to abolish their former organs of
declaring their will, the acts of will already
formally and constitutionally declared, re
mained untouched. For the nation was not
dissolved, was not annihilated ; its will, there
fore, remained in full vigor, and on the es
tablishing the new organs, first of a conven
tion, and afterwards a more complicated leg
islature, the old acts of national will con
tinued in force, until the nation should, by
its new organs, declare its will changed. The
common law, therefore, which was not in
force when we landed here, nor till we had
formed ourselves into a nation, and had man
ifested by the organs we constituted that the
common law was to be our law, continued
to be our law, because the nation continued
in being, and because though it changed the
organs for the future declarations of its will,
yet it did not change its former declarations
that the common law was its law. Apply
these principles to the present case. Before
the Revolution there existed no such nation as
the United States; they then first associated
as a nation, but for special purposes only.
They had all their laws to make, as Virginia
had on her first establishment as a nation.
But they did not, as Virginia had done, pro
ceed to adopt a whole system of laws ready
made to their hand. As their association as
a nation was only for special purposes, to
wit, for the management of their concerns
with one another and with foreign nations,
and the States composing the association
chose to give to it powers for those purposes
and no others, they could not adopt any gen
eral system, because it would have embraced
objects on which this association had no right
to form or declare a will. m It was not the or
gan for declaring a national will in these
cases. In the cases confided to them, they
were free to declare the will of the nation,
the law ; but until it was declared there could
be no law. So that the common law did not
become, ipso facto, law on the new associa
tion; it could only become so by a positive
adoption, and so far only as they were au
thorized to adopt. I think it will be of great
importance when you come to the proper part,
to portray at full length the consequences
of this new doctrine, that the common law is
the law of the United States, and that their
courts have, of course, jurisdiction coexten
sive with that law, that is to say, general over
all cases and persons. But, great heavens!
Who could have conceived in 1789, that
within ten years we should have to combat
such windmills? — To EDMUND RANDOLPH, iv,
301. FORD ED., vii, 383. (M., Aug. 1799.)
4497. . Though long estranged
from legal reading and reasoning, and little
familiar with the decisions of particular
judges, I have considered that respecting the
obligation of the common law in this country
as a very plain one, and merely a question of
document. If we are under that law, the
document which made us so can surely be
produced; and as far as this can be pro
duced, so far we are subject to it, and far
ther we are not. Most of the States did, I
believe, at an early period of their legisla
tion, adopt the English law, common and
statute, more or less in a body, as far as
localities admitted of their application. In
these States, then, the common law, so far
as adopted, is the lex-loci. Then comes the
law of Congress, declaring that what is law in
any State, shall be the rule of decision in
their courts, as to matters arising within
that State, except when controlled by their
own statutes. But this law of Congress has
been considered as extending to civil cases
only ; and that no such provision has been
made for criminal ones. A similar provision,
then, for criminal offences, would, in like
manner, be an adoption of more or less of the
common law, as part of the lex-loci, where the
offence is committed; and would cover the
whole field of legislation for the General Gov
ernment. — To DR. JOHN MANNERS, vii, 73.
FORD ED., x, 87. (M., 1817.) See COMMON
LAW.
4498. LAW, George III. vs.— His Maj
esty has permitted our laws to be neglected
in England for years, neither confirming them
by his assent, nor annulling them by his neg
ative : so that such of them as have no sus
pending clause we hold on the most pre
carious of all tenures, his Majesty's will ; and
such of them as suspend themselves till his
Majesty's assent be obtained, we have feared,
might be called into existence at some future
and Distant period, when the time and change
of circumstances shall have rendered them de
structive to his people here. And to render
this grievance still more oppressive, his Maj
esty by his instructions has laid his Governors
under such restrictions, that they can pass no
law of any moment unless it have such sus
pending clause: so that, however immediate
may be the call for legislative interposition,
the law cannot be executed till it has twice
crossed the Atlantic, by which time the evil
may have spent its whole force. — RIGHTS OF
BRITISH AMERICA, i, 136. FORD ED., i, 440.
(I774-)
4499 . He [George III.] has
endeavored to pervert the exercise of the
kingly office in Virginia into a detestable and
insupportable tyranny * * * by denying
to his governors permission to pass laws of
immediate and pressing importance, unless
suspended in their operations for his assent,
and, when so suspended, neglecting to attend
to them for many years. — PROPOSED VA. CON
STITUTION. FORD ED., i, 9. (June 1776.)
Thomas Jefferson
nhont ti years
From u painting by (iill.crt Stu.-irt in the ])osscssion of lion, T. .1 clVcrsou Coolidgo. .Mr.
Jefferson's family IIMVC ;il\\avs considered this portrait the liest likeness
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Law
4500. . He has forbidden his
governors to pass laws of immediate and
pressing importance, unless suspended in their
operation till his assent should be obtained ;
and, when so suspended, he has utterly ne
glected to attend to them. — DECLARATION OF
INDEPENDENCE AS DRAWN BY JEFFERSON.
4501. . He has combined, with
others, * * * for abolishing our most valu
able laws. — DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE AS
DRAWN BY JEFFERSON.
4502. - — . He has [suffered] the
administration of justice [totally to cease in
some of these States], refusing his assent to
laws for establishing judiciary powers.* —
DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE AS DRAWN BY
JEFFERSON.
4503. . He has refused his as
sent to laws the most wholesome and neces
sary for the public good. — DECLARATION OF
INDEPENDENCE AS DRAWN BY JEFFERSON.
4504. - — . He has refused to pass
other laws for the accommodation of large
districts of people, unless those people would
relinquish the right of representation in the
legislature * * * . — DECLARATION OF IN
DEPENDENCE AS DRAWN BY JEFFERSON.
4505. LAW, Ignorance.— Ignorance of
the law is no excuse in any country. If it
were, the laws would lose their effect, be
cause it can be always pretended. — To M.
LIMOZIN. ii, 338. (P., 1787.)
4506. LAW, Instability.— The instability
of our laws is really an immense evil. I
think it would be well to provide in our con
stitutions that there shall always be a twelve
month between the engrossing a bill and pass
ing it; that it should then be offered to its
passage without changing a word ; and that
if circumstances should be thought to require
a speedier passage, it should take two-thirds
of both Houses, instead of a bare majority. —
To JAMES MADISON, ii, 333. FORD ED., iv,
480. (P., 1787.)
4507. LAW, Intention of.— Whenever
the words of a law will bear two meanings,
one of which will give effect to the law, and
the other will defeat it, the former must be
supposed to have been intended by the Legis
lature, because they could not intend that
meaning, which would defeat their intention,
in passing that law ; and in a statute, as in a
will, the intention of the party is to be sought
after. — To ALBERT GALLATIN. v, 328. (M.,
July 1808.)
4508. . Anciently before the im
provement, or, perhaps, the existence of the
Court of Chancery, the judges did not
restrain themselves to the letter of the
law. They allowed themselves greater lati
tude, extending the provisions of every law,
not only to the cases within its letter, but to
those also which came within the spirit and
reason of it. This was called the equity of the
law, but it is now very long since certainty
* Congress struck out the words in brackets,
changed "suffered" to "obstructed" and inserted
" by " before " refusing ".—EDITOR.
in the law has become so highly valued by
the nation, that the judges have ceased to ex
tend the operation of laws beyond those cases
which are clearly within the intention of the
legislators. This intention is to be collected
principally from the words of the law ; only
where these are ambiguous they are permitted
to gather further evidence from the history
of the times when the law was made, and the
circumstances which produced it. — To PHIL
LIP MAZZEI. FORD ED., iv, 109. (P., 1785.)
— LAW, International.— See BELLIGER
ENTS, CONTRABAND, ENEMY GOODS, FREE
SHIPS, NEUTRALITY, PRIVATEERS, and TREA
TIES.
4509. LAW, Lex Talionis.— The Lex
talionis, although a restitution of the Com
mon Law, * * * [is] revolting to the
humanized feelings of modern times. An eye
for an eye, and a hand for a hand, will ex
hibit spectacles in execution whose moral ef
fect would be questionable ; and even the
mcmbrum pro membra of Bracton, or the
punishment of the offending member, al
though long authorized by our law, for the
same offence in a slave, has been not long
since repealed, in conformity with public sen
timent. This needs reconsideration.* — To
GEORGE WYTHE. i, 146. FORD ED., ii, 204.
(M., 1778.)
4510. LAW, Lynch.— It is more danger-
pus that even a guilty person should be pun
ished without the forms of law, than that he
should escape. — To WILLIAM CARMICHAEL. ii,
399. FORD ED., v, 26. (P., 1788.)
4511. . There is no country
which is not sometimes subject to irregular
interpositions of the people. There is no
country able, at all times, to punish them.
There is no country which has less of this to
reproach itself with than the United States,
nor any, where the laws have more regular
course, or are more habitually and cheerfully
acquiesced in. — To GEORGE HAMMOND, iii,
413. FORD ED., vi, 54. (Pa., May 1792.)
- LAW, Moral.— See MORALITY.
4512. LAW, Obedience to.— He is a bad
citizen who can entertain a doubt whether the
law will justify him in saving his country, or
who will scruple to risk himself in support
of the spirit of a law, where unavoidable ac
cidents have prevented a literal compliance
with it. — LETTER TO COUNTY MAGISTRATES.
FORD ED., ii, 431. (R., 1781.)
4513. . While the laws shall be
obeyed all will be safe. — FROM JEFFERSON'S
MSS. FORD ED., viii, i. (1801?)
4514. - — . That love of order and
obedience to the laws, which so remarkably
characterize the citizens of the United States,
are sure pledges of internal tranquillity. — To
BENJAMIN WARING, iv, 378. (W., March
1801.)
— LAW, Patent. — See PATENTS.
* From Jefferson's letter to George Wythe enclosing
the draft of the bill for " Proportioning Crimes and
Punishments in cases heretofore capital ". — EDITOR.
taw
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
482
4515. LAW, Protests against.— While
the principles of our Constitution give just
latitude to inquiry, every citizen faithful to it
will deem embodied expressions of discontent,
and open outrages of law and patriotism, as
dishonorable as they are injurious. — R. TO A.
LEESBURG CITIZENS, viii, 161. (1809.)
4516. LAW, Reason and. — Sound reason
should constitute the law of every country. —
BATTURE CASE, viii, 531. (1812.)
4517. LAW, Retrospective. — I agree in
an almost unlimited condemnation of retro
spective laws. The few instances of wrong
which they redress are so overweighed by the
insecurity they draw over all property and
even over life itself, and by the atrocious vio
lations of both to which they lead, that it is
better to live under the evil than the remedy. —
OFFICIAL OPINION, vii, 470. FORD ED., v, 176.
(1790.)
4518. . The sentiment that ex
post facto laws are against natural right, is so
strong in the United States, that few, if any,
of the State Constitutions have failed to pro
scribe them. The Federal Constitution, in
deed, interdicts them in criminal cases only;
but they are equally unjust in civil as in crim
inal cases, and the omission of a caution
which would have been right, does not jus
tify the doing what is wrong. — To ISAAC
McPnERSON. vi, 1:76. (M., 1813.)
4519. . Every man should be
protected in his lawful acts, and be certain
that no ex post facto law shall punish or en
danger him for them. — To ISAAC MCPHERSON.
vi, 175. (M., Aug. 1813.)
4520. . Nature and reason, as
well as all our constitutions, condemn retro
spective conditions as mere acts of power
against right. — To CHARLES YANCEY. vi, 515.
FORD ED., x, 2. (M., 1816.)
4521. LAW, Roman vs. Feudal.— The
French code, like all those of middle and
southern Europe, was originally Feudal, with
some variations in the different provinces, for
merly independent, of which the kingdom of
France had been made up. But as circum
stances changed, and civilization and com
merce advanced, abundance of new cases and
questions arose, for which the simple and un
written laws of Feudalism had made no pro
vision. At the same time, they had at hand
the legal system of a nation highly civilized,
a system carried to a degree of conformity
with natural reason attained by no other.
The study of this system, too, was become
the favorite of the age, and offering ready
and reasonable solutions of all the new cases
presenting themselves, was recurred to by a
common consent and practice; not, indeed, as
laws, formally established by the legislator of
the country, but as a Ratio Scripta, the dictate,
in all cases, of that sound reason which should
constitute the law of every country. Over
both of these systems, however, the occasional
edicts of the monarch are paramount, and
amend and control their provisions whenever
he deems amendment necessary; on the gen
eral principle that " leges posteriores priores
abrogant ". Subsequent laws abrogate those
which are prior. — BATTURE CASE. viii, 530.
(1812.)
4522. . The following instances
will give some idea of the steps by which the
Roman gained on the Feudal laws. A law
of Burgundy provided "Si quis post hoc
barbarus vel testari voluerit, vel donare, aut
Romanam consuetudinem, aut barbaricam,
esse^ servandam, sciat ". " If any barbarian
subject hereafter shall desire to dispose by leg
acy or donation, let him know that either the
Roman or barbarian law is to be observed."
And one of Lotharius II. of Germany, going
still further, gives to every one an election
of the system under which he chose to live,
" Volumus ut cunctus populus Romanus in-
terrogatur quali lege vult vivere; ut tali
lege, quali professi sunt vivere vivant; il-
lisque denuntiatur, ut hoc unus-quis-que,
tarn judices, quam judices, vel reliquus
populus sciat, quod si offensionem contra
eandem legem fecerint, eidem legi, qua pro-
fitentur vivere, subjaceant ". " We will that
all the Roman people shall be asked by what
law they wish to live; that they may live
under such law as they profess to live by;
and that it be published, that every one,
judges, as well as generals, or the rest of
the people, may know that if they commit
offence against the said law, they shall be
subject to the same law by which they pro
fess to live." Ency. Method. Jurisprudence.
Coutume. 399. Presenting the uncommon
spectacle of a jurisdiction attached to persons,
instead of places. Thus favored, the Roman
became an acknowledged supplement to the
Feudal or customary law ; but still, not under
any act of the legislature, but as " raison
ecrite ", " written reason " : and the cases to
which it is applicable, becoming much the
most numerous, it constitutes in fact the mass
of their law. — NOTE IN BATTURE CASE, viii,
531- (1812.)
4523. LAW, Sanguinary. — The experi
ence of all ages and countries has shown that
cruel and sanguinary laws defeat their own
purpose, by engaging the benevolence of man
kind to withhold prosecutions, to smother
testimony, or to listen to it with bias, and
by producing in many instances a total dis
pensation and impunity under the names of
pardon and privilege of clergy ; when, if the
punishment were only proportioned to the in
jury, men would feel it their inclination, as
well as their duty, to see the laws observed. —
CRIMES BILL, i, 148. FORD EDV ii, 204. (1779.)
— LAW, The Sedition.— See ALIEN AND
SEDITION LAWS, and SEDITION LAW.
4524. LAW, Simplicity.— Laws are made
for men of ordinary understanding, and
should therefore, be construed by the ordinary
rules of common sense. Their meaning is
not to be sought for in metaphysical subtle
ties, which may make anything mean every
thing or nothing, at pleasure. It should be
left to the sophisms of advocates, whose trade
it is, to prove that a defendant is a plaintiff,
4*3
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Law
though dragged into court, torto collo, like
Bonaparte's volunteers, into the field in
chains, or that a power has been given be
cause it ought to have been given, et alia
talia. — To WILLIAM JOHNSON, vii, 297. FORD
ED., x, 231. (M., 1823.)
— LAW, Study of.— See LAWYERS.
4525. LAW, Style of.— In its [the bill
" proportioning crimes and punishments ", in
the Virginia Revised Code] style I have
aimed at accuracy, brevity, and simplicity,
preserving, however, the very words of the
established law, wherever their meaning had
been sanctioned by judicial decisions, or ren
dered technical by usage. The same matter,
if couched in the modern statutory language,
with all its tautologies, redundancies, and
circumlocutions, would have spread itself over
many pages, and been unintelligible to those
whom it most concerns. Indeed, I wished to
exhibit a sample of reformation in the bar
barous style into which modern statutes have
degenerated from their ancient simplicity. —
To GEORGE WYTHE. i, 146. FORD ED., ii, 203.
(M, 1778.) See 4531-
4526. . In the execution of my
part [of the revision of the Virginia laws],
I thought it material not to vary the diction
of the ancient statutes by modernizing it,
nor to give rise to new questions by new ex
pressions. The text of these statutes had been
so fully explained and defined by numerous
adjudications, as scarcely ever now to produce
a question in our courts. — AUTOBIOGRAPHY, i,
44. FORD ED., i, 60. (1821.)
4527. . I am pleased with the
style and diction of your laws [in Louisiana
Code]. Plain and intelligible as the ordinary
writings of common sense, I hope it will pro
duce imitation. Of all the countries on earth
of which I have any knowledge, the style
of the acts of the British parliament is the
most barbarous, uncouth and unintelligible.
It can be understood by those alone who are
in the daily habit of studying such tautolo-
gous, involved and parenthetical jargon.
Where they found their model, I know not.
Neither ancient nor modern codes, nor even
their own early statutes, furnish any such ex
ample. And, like faithful apes, we copy it
faithfully. — To EDWARD LIVINGSTON, vii, 404.
(M., 1825.)
4528. LAW, Transcending.— The ques
tion you propose, whether cicumstances do not
sometimes occur, which make it a duty in
officers of high trust, to assume authorities
beyond the law, is easy of solution in princi
ple, but sometimes embarrassing in practice.
A strict observance of the written laws is
doubtless one of the high duties of a good
citizen, but it is not the highest. The laws
of necessity, of self-preservation, of saving
our country when in danger, are of higher ob
ligation. To lose our country by a scrupulous
adherence to written law, would be to lose the
law itself, with life, liberty, property, and all
those who are enjoying them with us; thus
absurdly sacrificing the end to the means.
When in the battle of Germantown, General
Washington's army was annoyed from Chew's
house, he did not hesitate to plant his cannon
against it, although the property of a citizen.
When he besieged Yorktown, he levelled the
suburbs, feeling that the laws of property
must be postponed to the safety of the nation.
While the army was before York, the Gov
ernor of Virginia [Jefferson] took horses, car
riages, provisions, and even men by force, to
enable that army to stay together till it could
master the public enemy; and he was justified.
A ship at sea in distress for provisions, meets
another having abundance, yet refusing a sup
ply; the law of self-preservation authorizes
the distressed to take a supply by force. In
all these cases, the unwritten laws of neces
sity, of self-preservation, and of the public
safety, control the written laws of meum and
tuum. Further to exemplify the principle, I
will state an hypothetical case. Suppose it
had been made known to the Executive of
the Union in the autumn of 1805, that we
might have the Floridas for a reasonable sum,
that that sum had not indeed been so ap
propriated by law, but that Congress were to
meet within three weeks, and might ap
propriate it on the first or second day of their
session. Ought he, for so great an advantage
to his country, to have risked himself by
transcending the law and making the pur
chase? The public advantage offered, in this
supposed case, was indeed immense, but a
reverence for law and the probability that the
advantage might still be legally accomplished
by a delay of only three weeks, were power
ful reasons against hazarding the act. But
suppose it foreseen that a John Randolph
would find means to protract the proceeding
on it by Congress, until the ensuing spring,
by which time new circumstances would
change the mind of the other party. Ought
the Executive, in that case, and with that fore
knowledge, to have secured the good to his
country, and to have trusted to their justice
for the transgression of the law ? I think he
ought, and that the act would have been ap
proved. After the affair of the Chesapeake,
we thought war a very possible result. Our
magazines were illy provided with some nec
essary articles, nor had any appropriations
been made for their purchase. We ventured,
however, to provide them, and to place our
country in safety; and stating the case to
Congress, they sanctioned the act. To pro
ceed to the conspiracy of Burr, and particu
larly to General Wilkinson's situation in New
Orleans. In judging this case, we are bound
to consider the state of the information, cor
rect and incorrect, which he then possessed.
He expected Burr and his band from above,
a British fleet from below, and he knew there
was a formidable conspiracy within the city.
Under these circumstances, was he justifiable,
first, in seizing notorious conspirators? On
this there can be but two opinions ; one, of the
guilty and their accomplices ; the other, that
of all honest men. Secondly, in sending them
to the seat of government, when the written
law gave them a right to trial in the territory ?
Law
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
484
The danger of their rescue, of their con
tinuing their machinations, the tardiness and
weakness of the law, apathy of the judges,
active patronage of the whole tribe of lawyers,
unknown disposition of the juries, an hourly
expectation of the enemy, salvation of the
city, and of the Union itself, which would
have been convulsed to its centre, had that
conspiracy succeeded ; all these constituted a
law of necessity and self-preservation, and
rendered the salus populi supreme over the
written law. The officer who is called to act
on this superior ground, does indeed risk him
self on the justice of the controlling powers of
the Constitution, and his station makes it his
duty to incur that risk. But those controlling
powers, and his fellow citizens generally, are
bound to judge according to the circum
stances under which he acted. They are not
to transfer the information of this place or
moment to the time and place of his action ;
but to put themselves into his situation. We
knew here [Washington] that there never was
danger of a British fleet from below, and
that Burr's band was crushed before it reached
the Mississippi. But General Wilkinson's in
formation was very different, and he could act
on no other. From these examples and prin
ciples you may see what I think on the ques
tion proposed. They do not go to the case
of persons charged with petty duties, where
consequences are trifling, and time allowed for
a legal course, nor to authorize them to take
such cases out of the written law. In these,
the example of over-leaping the law is of
greater evil than a strict adherence to its im
perfect provisions. It is incumbent on those
only who accept of great charges, to risk
themselves on great occasions, when the
safety of the nation, or some of its very
high interests are at stake. An officer is
bound to obey orders ; yet he would be a bad
one who should do it in cases for which they
were not intended, and which involved the
most important consequences. The line of
discrimination between cases may be difficult ;
but the good officer is bound to draw it at his
own peril, and throw himself on the justice
of his country and the rectitude of his mo
tives.— To J. B. COLVIN. v, 542. FORD ED.,
ix, 279. (M., Sep. 1810.)
4529. . On great occasions every
good officer must be ready to risk himself in
going beyond the strict line of law, when the
public preservation requires it ; his motives
will be a justification as far as there is any
discretion in his ultra-legal proceedings, and
no indulgence of private feelings. — To GOV
ERNOR CLAIBORNE. v, 40. (W., 1807.)
4530. . Should we have ever
gained our Revolution, if we had bound our
hands by manacles of the law, not only in the
beginning, but in any part of the revolution
ary conflict?— To JAMES BROWN, v, 379.
FORD ED., ix, 211. (W., 1808.) See 1852.
4531. LAW, Virginia's Revised Code.—
The [Revision] Committee was appointed in
the latter part of 1776, and reported in the
spring or summer of 1779. At the first and
only meeting of the whole committee (of five
persons), the question was discussed whether
we would attempt to reduce the whole body of
the law into a code, the text of which should be
come the law of the land? We decided against
that, because every word and phrase in that text
would become a new subject of criticism and
litigation, until its sense should have been set
tled by numerous decisions, and that, in the
meantime, the rights of property would be in
the air. We concluded not to meddle with the
common law, i. c., the law preceding the ex
istence of the Statutes, further than to accom
modate it to our new principles and circum
stances ; but to take up the whole body of stat
utes and Virginia laws, to leave out everything
obsolete or improper, insert what was wanting,
and reduce the whole within as moderate a
compass as it would bear, and to the plain
language of common sense, divested of the
verbiage, the barbarous tautologies and redun
dancies which render the British statutes unin
telligible. From this, however, were excepted
the ancient statutes, particularly those com
mented on by Lord Coke, the language of which
is simple, and the meaning of every word so
well settled by decisions, as to make it safest
not to change words where the sense was to be
retained. After setting our plan^ Colonel Mason
declined undertaking the execution of any part
of it, as not being sufficiently read in the law.
Mr. Lee very soon afterwards died, and the
work was distributed between Mr. Wythe, Mr.
Pendleton and myself. To me was assigned the
common law (so far as we thought of altering
it) and the statutes down to the Reformation,
or the end of the reign of Elizabeth ; to Mr.
Wythe, the subsequent body of the statutes, and
to Mr. Pendleton the Virginia laws. This dis
tribution threw into my part the laws concerning
crimes and punishments, the law of descents,
and the laws concerning religion. After com
pleting our work separately, we met (Mr. W.,
Mr. P., and myself) in Williamsburg, and held
a long session, in which we went over the first
and second parts in the order of time, weighing
and correcting every word, and reducing them
to the form in which they were afterwards re
ported. When we proceeded to the third part,
we found that Mr. Pendleton had not exactly
seized the intentions of the committee,, which
were to reform the language of the Virginia
laws, and reduce the matter to a simple style
and form. He had copied the acts verbatim,
only omitting what was disapproved ; and some
family occurrence calling him indispensably
home, he desired Mr. Wythe and myself to
make it what we thought it ought to be, and
authorized us to report him as concurring in
the work. We accordingly divided the work,
and reexecuted it entirely so as to assimilate
its plan and execution to the other parts, as well
as the shortness of the time would admit, and
we brought the whole of the British Statutes
and laws of Virginia into 127 acts, most of
them short. This is the history of that work
as to its execution. * * * Experience has con
vinced me that the change in the style of the
laws was for the better, and it has sensibly
reformed the style of our laws from that time
downwards, insomuch that they have obtained,
in that respect, the approbation of men of con
sideration on both sides of the Atlantic.
Whether the change in the style and form of
the criminal law, as introduced by Mr. Taylor,
was for the better, is not for me to judge. The
digest of that act employed me longer than I
believe all the rest of the work, for it rendered
it necessary for me to go with great care over
Bracton, Britton, the Saxon statutes, and the
works of authority on criminal law ; and it
gave me great satisfaction to find that, in gen-
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
law
Law of Waste
eral, I had only to reduce the law to its ancient
Saxon condition, stripping it of all the innova
tions and rigorisms of subsequent times, to
make it what it should be. The substitution of
the penitentiary, instead of labor on the high
road, and of some other punishments truly ob
jectionable, is a just merit to be ascribed to Mr.
Taylor's law. When our report was made, the
idea of a penitentiary had never been suggested ;
the happy experiment of Pennsylvania we had
not then the benefit of. — To SKELTON JONES.
v, 459. (M., 1809.)
4532. . When I left Congress in
1776, it was in the persuasion that our whole
code (of Virginia) must be reviewed, adapted
to our republican form of government ; and
now that we had no negatives of Councils,
Governors, and Kings to restrain us from do
ing right, that it should be corrected, in all its
parts, with a single eye to reason, and the good
of those for whose government it was framed.
Early, therefore, in the session of '76, to which
I returned, I moved and presented a bill for the
revision of the laws which was passed on the
24th of October ; and on the 5th of November,
Mr. Pendleton, Mr. Wythe, George Mason,
Thomas L. Lee, and myself, were appointed a
committee to execute the work. We agreed to
meet at Fredericksburg to settle the plan of
operation, and to distribute the work. We
met there accordingly on the i3th of January,
1777. The first question was, whether we
should propose to abolish the whole existing
system of laws, and prepare a new and complete
Institute, or preserve the general system, and
only modify it to the present state of things.
Mr. Pendleton, contrary to his usual disposi
tion in favor of ancient things, was for the
former proposition, in which he was joined by
Mr. Lee. To this it was objected, that to
abrogate our whole system would be a bold
measure, and probably far beyond the views
of the legislature ; that they had been in the
practice of revising from time to time the laws
of the Colony, omitting the expired, the re
pealed, and the obsolete, amending only those
retained, and probably meant we should now
do the same, only including the British statutes
as well as our own ; that to compose a new In
stitute, like those of Justinian and Bracton, or
that of Blackstone, which was the model pro
posed by Mr. Pendleton, would be an arduous
undertaking, of vast research, of great con
sideration and judgment; and when reduced to
a text, every word of that text, from the imper
fections of human language, and its incom
petence to express distinctly every shade of
idea, would become a subject of question and
chicanery, until settled by repeated adjudica
tions ; and this would involve us for ages in liti
gation, and render property uncertain until,
like the statutes of old, every word had been
tried and settled by numerous decisions, and by
new volumes of reports and commentaries ; and
that no one of us, probably, would undertake
such a work which, to be systematical, must be
the work of one hand. This last was the
opinion of Mr. Wythe, Mr. Mason, and myself.
When we proceeded to the distribution of the
work, Mr. Mason excused himself, as, being no
lawyer, he felt himself unqualified for the work,
and he resigned soon after. Mr. Lee excused
himself on the same ground, and died, indeed,
in a short time. The other two gentlemen,
therefore, and myself divided the work among
us. The common law and statutes to the
4 James I. (when our separate legislature was
established) were assigned to me; the British
statutes, from that period to the present day, to
Mr. Wythe; and the Virginia laws to Mr. Pen
dleton. — AUTOBIOGRAPHY, i, 42. FORD ED. i, 57.
(1821.)
4533. . In giving this account of
the laws of which I was myself the mover and
draughtsman, I, by no means, mean to claim to
myself the merit of obtaining their passage. I
had many occasional and" strenuous coadjutors
in debate, and one, most steadfast, able and
zealous; who was himself a host. This was
George Mason. — AUTOBIOGRAPHY, i, 40. FORD
ED., i, 56. (1821.)
4534. . We were employed in
this work (revising Virginia laws) from Jan
uary, 1777, to February, 1779, when we met at
Williamsburg, that is to say, Mr. Pendleton,
Mr. Wythe and myself ; and meeting day by day,
we examined critically our several parts, sen
tence by sentence, scrutinizing and amending,
until we had agreed on the whole. We then
returned home, had fair copies made of our
several parts, which were reported to the Gen
eral Assembly, June 18, 1779, by Mr. Wythe
and myself, Mr. Pendleton's residence being
distant, and he having authorized us by letter
to declare his approbation. We had, in this
work, brought so much of the Common Law as
it was thought necessary to alter, all the British
statutes from Afagna Charta to the present day,
and all the laws of Virginia, from the estab
lishment of our Legislature, in the 4th Jac. i. to
the present time, which we thought should be
retained, within the compass of one hundred
and twenty-six bills, making a printed folio of
ninety pages only. Some bills were taken out,
occasionally, from time to time, and passed ;
but the main body of the work was not entered
on by the Legislature until after the general
peace, in 1785, when, by the unwearied exer
tions of Mr. Madison, in opposition to the
endless quibbles, chicaneries, perversions, vexa
tions and delays of lawyers and demi-lawyers,
most of the bills were passed by the Legislature,
with little alteration. — AUTOBIOGRAPHY, i, 44.
FORD ED., i, 61. (1821.)
4535. LAW, Voluntary support of.—
The voluntary support of laws, formed by
persons of their own choice, distinguishes pe
culiarly the minds capable of self-government.
The contrary spirit is anarchy, which of ne
cessity produces despotism. — R. TO A. PHILA
DELPHIA CITIZENS, viii, 145. (1809.)
4536. LAW OF WASTE, Explained.—
The main objects of the law of Waste in
England are : i, to prevent any disguise of the
lands which might lessen the reversioner's
evidence of title, such as the change of
pasture into arable, &c. ; 2, to prevent any
deterioration of it, as the cutting down forest,
which in England is an injury. So careful is
the law there against permitting a deteriora
tion of the land, that though it will permit
such improvements in the same line, as
manuring arable lands, leading water into
pasture lands, &c., yet it will not permit im
provements in a different line, such as erect
ing buildings, converting pasture into arable,
&c., lest these should lead to a deterioration.
Hence we might argue in Virginia, that
though the cutting down of forest in Virginia
is, in our husbandry, rather an improvement
generally, yet it is not so always, and there
fore it is safer never to admit it. Consequently,
there is no reason for adopting different rules
Laws of England
Laws of Nature
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
486
of waste here from those established in Eng
land. — To PETER CARR. iii, 452. FORD ED., vi,
91. (Pa., 1792.)
4537. LAWS OF ENGLAND, History.—
The laws of England, in their progress from
the earliest to the present times, may be
likened to the road of a traveller, divided into
distinct stages or resting places, at each of
which a review is to be taken of the ground
passed over so far. The first of these was
Bracton's De Legibus Anglia; the second
Coke's Institutes; the third the Abridgment
of the Law by Matthew Bacon; and the
fourth, Blackstone's Commentaries. Doubtless
there were others before Bracton which have
not reached us. Alfred, in the preface to his
laws, says they were compiled from those of
Ina, Offa, and ^Ethelbert, into which, or
rather preceding them, the clergy have inter
polated the 20th, 2 ist, 22d, 23d and 24th chap
ters of Exodus, so as to place Alfred's pref
ace to what was really his, awkwardly
enough in the body of the work. An inter
polation, the more glaring, as containing laws
expressly contradicted by those of Alfred.
This pious fraud seems to have been first
noted by Howard, in his Coutumes Anglo
Normandes, and the pious judges of England
have had no inclination to question it. * * *
This digest of Alfred of the laws of the
Heptarchy into a 'single code, common to the
whole Kingdom, by him first reduced into
one, was probably the birth of what is called
the Common law. He has been styled, " Mag
nus Juris Anglicani Conditor " ; and his code,
the Dom-Dec, or Doom-Book. That which
was afterwards under Edward the Confessor,
was but a restoration of Alfred's with some
intervening alterations. And this was the code
which the English so often, under the Nor
man princes, petitioned to have restored to
them. But, all records previous to the Magna
Charta, having been early lost, Bracton's is
the first digest of the whole body of law
which has come down to ui entire. What
materials existed for it in his time we know
not, except the unauthoritative collections of
Lambard and Wilkins, and the treatise of
Glanville, tempore H. 2. Bracton's is the
more valuable, because being written a very
few years after the Magna Charta, which
commences what is called the statute law, it
gives us the state of the common law in its
ultimate form, and exactly at the point of
division between the Common and Statute
law. It is a most able work, complete in its
matter and luminous in its method. The stat
utes which introduced changes began now to
be preserved ; applications of the law to new
cases by the courts, began soon after to be
reported in the Year-Books, these to be
methodized and abridged by Fitzherbert,
Broke, Rolle, and others; individuals contin
ued the business of reporting; particular
treatises were written by able men, and all
these, by the time of Lord Coke, had formed
so large a mass of matter as to call for a
new digest, to bring it within reasonable com
pass. This he undertook in his Institutes,
harmonizing all the decisions and opinions
which were reconcilable, and rejecting those
not so. This work is executed with so much
learning and judgment, that I do not recollect
that a single position in it has ever been judi
cially denied. And although the work loses
much of its value by its chaotic form it may
still be considered as the fundamental code of
the English law. The same processes recom
mencing of statutory changes, new divisions,
multiplied reports, and special treatises, a new
accumulation had formed, calling for new re
duction, by the time of Matthew Bacon. His
work, therefore, although not pretending to
the textual merit of Bracton's, or Coke's, was
very acceptable. His alphabetical arrange
ment, indeed, although better than Coke's
jumble, was far inferior to Bracton's. But
it was a sound digest of the materials exist
ing on the several alphabetical heads under
which he arranged them. His work was not
admitted in Westminster Hall ; yet it was the
manual of every judge and lawyer, and, what
better proves its worth, has been its daily
growth in the general estimation. A succeed
ing interval of changes and additions of
matter produced Blackstone's Commentaries,
the most lucid in arrangement which had yet
been written, correct in its matter, classical
in style, and rightfully taking its place by
the side of the Justinian Institutes. But, like
them, it was only an elementary book. It did
not present all the subjects of the law in all
their details. It still left it necessary to recur
to the original works of which it was the sum
mary. The great mass of law books from
which it was extracted, was still to be con
sulted on minute investigations. It wanted,
therefore, a species of merit which entered
deeply into the value of those of Bracton,
Coke and Bacon. They had in effect swept
the shelves of all the materials preceding
them. To give Blackstone, therefore, a full
measure of value, another work is still want
ing, to wit: to incorporate with his principles
a compend of the particular cases subsequent
to Bacon, of which they are the essence. This
might be done by printing under his text a
digest like Bacon's, continued to Blackstone's
time. It would * * * increase its value
peculiarly to us, because just here we break
off from the parent stem of the English
law, unconcerned in any of its subsequent
changes or decisions. — To DR. THOMAS
COOPER, vi, 291. (M., 1814.)
4538. LAWS OF NATURE, Opposition
to. — It is not only vain, but wicked, in a legis
lator to frame laws in opposition to the laws
of nature, and to arm them with the terrors
of death. This is truly creating crimes in
order to punish them. — NOTE ON CRIMES BILL.
i, 159. FORD ED., ii, 218. (1779.)
4539. LAWS OF NATURE, Writers on.
— Those who write treatises of natural law,
can only declare what their own moral sense
and reason dictate in the several cases they
state. Such of them as happen to have feelings
and a reason coincident with those of the wise
and honest part of mankind, are respected and
quoted as witnesses of what is morally right
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Laws of Virginia
Lawyers
or wrong in particular cases. Grqtius, Puf-
fendorf, Wolf, and Vattel are of this number.
Where they agree their authority is strong;
but where they differ (and they often differ),
we must appeal to our own feelings and reason
to decide between them. — OPINION ON FRENCH
TREATIES, vii, 618. FORD ED., vi, 225. (1793.)
4540. LAWS OF VIRGINIA, Collection
of. — The only object I had in making my col
lection of the laws of Virginia, was to save all
those for the public which were not then al
ready lost, in the hope that at some future day
they might be republished. Whether this be by
public or private enterprise, my end will be
equally answered. * — To WILLIAM WALTER
HENNING. v, 31. FORD ED., ix, 10. (W., 1807.)
4541. LAWYERS, Antipathies and.—
No profession is open to stronger antipathies
than that of the law. — To WM. WIRT. v, 233.
(W., 1808.)
4542. LAWYERS, Blackstone.— I am
sure you join me in lamenting the general
defection of lawyers and judges from the free
principles of government. I am sure they do
not derive this degenerate spirit from the
father of our science, Lord Coke. But it
may be the reason why they cease to read
him, and the source of what are now called
" Blackstone Lawyers ".—To DR. THOMAS
COOPER, vi, 296. (M., 1814.)
4543. LAWYERS, Education of.— Carry
on the study of the law with that of politics
and history. Every political measure will,
forever, have an intimate connection with the
laws of the land ; and he, who knows nothing
of these, will always be perplexed and often
foiled by adversaries having the advantage of
that knowledge over him. Besides, it is a
source of infinite comfort to reflect, that under
chance of fortune, we have a resource in our
selves from which we may be able to derive
an honorable subsistence. — To T. M. RAN
DOLPH, JR. ii, 176. FORD ED., iv, 405. ( P.,
1787.)
4544. . I have long lamented the
depreciation of law science. The opinion
seems to be that Blackstone is to us what the
Alkoran is to the Mahometans, that every
thing which is necessary is in him; and what
is not in him is not necessary. I still lend my
counsel and books to such young students as
will fix themselves in the neighborhood.
Coke's Institutes and reports are their first,
and Blackstone their last book, after an in
termediate course of two or three years. It is
nothing more than an elegant digest of what
they will then have acquired from the real
fountains of the law. Now, men are born
scholars, lawyers, doctors ; in our day this was
confined to poets.— To JOHN TYLER, v, 524.
FORD ED., ix, 276. (M., 1810.)
4545. — . Begin with Coke's four
Institutes. These give a complete body of the
law as it stood in the reign of the First James,
an epoch the more interesting to us, as we
separated at that point from English legis
lation, and acknowledged no subsequent statu-
• They were published by Henning.— EDITOR.
tory alterations. Then passing over (for oc
casional reading as hereafter proposed) all the
reports and treatises to the time of Matthew
Bacon, read his abridgment, compiled about
one hundred years after Coke's, in which they
are all embodied. This gives numerous ap
plications of the old principles to new cases,
and gives the general state of the English law
at that period. Here, too, the student should
take up the Chancery branch of the law, by
reading the first and second abridgments of
the cases in Equity. The second is by the
same Matthew Bacon, the first having been
published some time before. The alphabetical
order adopted by Bacon, is certainly not as
satisfactory as the systematic. But the ar
rangement is under very general and leading
heads, and these, indeed, with very little dif
ficulty, might be systematically instead of al
phabetically arranged and read. Passing now
in like manner over all intervening reports and
tracts, the student may take up Blackstone's
Commentaries, published about twenty-five
years later than Bacon's abridgment, and giv
ing the substance of these new reports and
tracts. This review is not so full as that of
Bacon, by any means, but better digested.
Here, too, Wooddeson should be read as sup
plementary to Blackstone, under heads too
shortly treated by him. Fonblanque's edition
of Francis's Maxims of Equity, and Bridg-
man's Digested Index, into which the latter
cases are incorporated, are also supplementary
in the Chancery branch, in which Blackstone
is very short. This course comprehends about
twenty-six 8vo. volumes, and reading four or
five hours a day would employ about two
years. After these, the best of the reporters
since Blackstone should be read for the new
cases which have occurred since his time.
* * * By way of change and relief for an
other hour or two in the day, should be read
the law-tracts of merit which are many, and
among them all those of Baron Gilbert are of
the first order. In these hours, too, may be
read Bracton and Justinian's Institutes. The
method of these two last works is very much
the same, and their language often quite so.
Justinian is very illustrative of the doctrines
of Equity, and is often appealed to, and
Cooper's edition is the best on account of the
analogies and contrasts he has given of the
Roman and English law. After Bracton,
Reeves's History of the English Law may be
read to advantage. During this same hour or
two of lighter law reading, select and leading
cases of the reporters may be successively
read, which the several digests will have
pointed out and referred to. I have here
sketched the reading in Common Law and
Chancery which I suppose necessary for a
reputable practitioner in those courts. But
there are other branches of law in which, al
though it is not expected he should be an
adept, yet when it occurs to speak of them, it
should be understandingly to a decent degree.
These are the Admiralty law, Ecclesiastical
law, and the Law of Nations. I would name
as elementary books in these branches, Mol-
loy de Jure Maritimo; Brown's Compend of
Lawyers
L,ear (Tobias)
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
488
the Civil and Admiralty Law; the Jura Ec-
clesiastica, and Les Institutions du Droit de
la Nature et des Gens de Reyneval. Besides
these six hours of law reading, light and
heavy, and those necessary for the reports of
the day, for exercise and sleep, which suppose
to be ten or twelve, there will be six or eight
hours for reading history, ^ politics, ethics,
physics, oratory, poetry, criticism, &c., as
necessary as law to form an accomplished
lawyer. — To DABNEY TERRELL, vii, 207. (M.,
1821.)
4546. LAWYERS, Future Judges and.—
I think the bar of the General Court a proper
and excellent nursery for future judges, if it
be so regulated that science may be encour
aged and may live there. But this can never
be if an inundation of insects is permitted to
come from the county courts, and consume
the harvest. These people, traversing the
counties, seeing the clients frequently at their
own courts, or, perhaps, at their own houses,
must of necessity pick up all the ^business.
The convenience of frequently seeing their
counsel, without going from home, cannot be
withstood by the country people. Men of
science, then (if there were to be any), would
only be employed as auxiliary counsel in dif
ficult cases. But can they live by that?
Certainly not. The present members of that
kind therefore must turn marauders in the
county courts ; and in future none will have
leisure to acquire science. I should, therefore,
be for excluding the county court attorneys;
or rather for taking the General Court lawyers
from the incessant drudgery of the county
courts and confining them to their studies, that
they may qualify themselves as well to sup
port their clients, as to become worthy suc
cessors to the bench.— To GEORGE WYTHE. i,
211. FORD ED., ii, 166. (F., I779-)
4547. LAWYERS, History and.— His
tory, especially, is necessary to form a lawyer.
— To JOHN GARLAND JEFFERSON. FORD ED., v,
180. (N.Y., 1790.)
4548. LAWYERS, Monarchy and.— I
join in your reprobation of our
lawyers, for their adherence to England and
monarchy, in preference to their own country
and its Constitution. * * * They have,
in the mother country, been generally the
firmest supporters of the free principles of
their constitution. But there, too, they have
changed. I ascribe much of this to the sub
stitution of Blackstone for my Lord Coke, as
an elementary work. — To HORATIO G. SPAF-
FORD. vi, 334. (M., 1814.)
— LAWYERS, In office.— See CONGRESS.
4549. LAWYERS, Opinions of.— On
every question the lawyers are about equally
divided, and were we to act but in cases where
no contrary opinion of a lawyer can be had,
we should never act. — To ALBERT GALLATIN.
v, 369. (M., 1808.)
4550. LAWYERS, Politics and.— The
study of the law qualifies a man to be useful
to himself, to his neighbors, and to the public.
It is the most certain stepping stone to public
preferment in the political line. — To T. M.
RANDOLPH, iii, 144. FORD ED., v, 172. (N.
Y., 1790.)
4551. LAWYERS, Prosperity of.— Never
fear the want of business. A man who quali
fies himself well for his calling never fails of
employment in it. — To PETER CARR. iii, 452.
FORD ED., vi, 92. (Pa., 1792.)
4552. LAWYERS, Success of.— It is su
periority of knowledge which can alone lift
you above the heads of your competitors, and
insure you success. — To JOHN GARLAND JEF
FERSON. FORD ED., v, 182. (N.Y., 1790.)
4553. LAWYERS, Too many.— Law is
quite overdone. It is fallen to the ground,
and a man must have great powers to raise
himself in it to either honor or profit. The
mob of the profession get as little money and
less respect, than they would by digging the
earth. The followers of ^sculapius are also
numerous. Yet I have remarked that wher
ever one sets himself down in a good neigh
borhood, not preoccupied, he secures to him
self its practice, and if prudent, is not long in
acquiring whereon to retire and live in com
fort. The physician is happy in the attach
ment of the families in which he practices.
All think he has saved some one of them,
and he finds himself everywhere a welcome
guest, a home in every house. If, to the con
sciousness of haying saved some lives, he can
add that of having at no time, from want of
caution, destroyed the boon he was called on
to save, he will enjoy, in age, the happy re
flection of not having lived in vain; while
the lawyer has only to recollect how many, by
his dexterity, have been cheated of their right
and reduced to beggary. — To DAVID CAMP
BELL, v, 499. (M., 1810.)
4554. LAWYERS, Trade of .—Their trade
is to question everything, yield nothing and
talk by the hour. That one hundred and fifty
lawyers should do business together ought not
to be expected. — AUTOBIOGRAPHY, i, 58. FORD
ED., i, 82. (1821.)
— LEAGUE, The marine.— See 1335.
4555. LEANDER, Case of the.— Whereas,
satisfactory information has been received that
Henry Whitby, commanding a British armed
vessel called the Leander, did, on the 25th day
of the month of April [1806], within the waters
and jurisdiction of the United States, and near
to the entrance of the harbor of New York, by
a cannon shot fired from the said vessel, Lean
der, commit a murder on the body of John
Pearce, a citizen of the United States, * *
I do, hereby, especially enjoin, and require all
officers, having authority, civil or military.
* * * within the limits or jurisdiction of the
United States * * * to apprehend * * * the
said Henry Whitby, * * * and him * * * de
liver to the civil authority, * * * to be pro
ceeded against according to law. — PROCLAMA
TION. FORD ED., viii, 445. (May 1806.)
4556. LEAR (Tobias), Secretary of the
Navy. — If General Smith does not accept [the
Secretaryship of the Navy], there is no remedy
but to appoint Lear permanently. He is equal
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Learning
JL.ee (Richard H
enry)
to the office if he possessed equally the con
fidence of the public. — To JAMES MADISON.
FORD ED., viii, 14. (W., March 1801.)
4557. LEARNING, Classical.— For clas
sical learning I have ever been a zealous advo
cate. * * * I have not, however, carried so far
as you do my ideas of the importance of a
hypercritical knowledge of the Greek and Latin
languages. I have believed it sufficient to pos
sess a substantial understanding of their au
thors. — To THOMAS COOPER, vi, 390. (M.,
1814.)
4558. . Among the values of
classical learning, I estimate the luxury of read
ing the Greek and Roman authors in all the
beauties of their originals. And why should
not this innocent and elegant luxury take its
preeminent stand ahead of all those addressed
merely to the senses? I think myself more in
debted to my father for this than for all the
other luxuries his cares and affections have
placed within my reach ; and more now than
when younger, and more susceptible of delights
from other sources. When the decays of age
have enfeebled the useful energies of the mind,
the classic pages fill up the vacuum of ennui,
and become sweet composers to that rest of the
grave into which we are all sooner or later to
descend. — To JOHN BRAZIER, vii, 131. (P.F.,
1819.) See EDUCATION, LANGUAGES, SCIENCE,
and UNIVERSITY.
4559. LEDYARD (John), Explorer.— In
1786, while at Paris, I became acquainted with
John Ledyard, of Connecticut, a man of genius,
of some science, and of fearless courage and
enterprise. He had accompanied Captain Cook
in his voyage to the Pacific, had distinguished
himself on several occasions by an unrivalled
intrepidity, and published an account of that
voyage, with details unfavorable to Cook's de
portment towards the savages, and lessening our
regrets at his fate. Ledyard had come to Paris
in the hope of forming a company to engage
in the fur trade of the Western coast of Amer
ica. He was disappointed in this, and, being
out of business, and of a roaming, restless char
acter, I suggested to him the enterprise of
exploring the western part of our continent,
by passing through St. Petersburg to Kams
chatka, and procuring a passage thence in some
of the Russian vessels to Nootka Sound, whence
he might make his way across the continent to
the United States ; and I undertook to have the
permission of the Empress of Russia solicited.
He eagerly embraced the proposition, and M. de
Semoulin, the Russian Ambassador, and more
particularly Baron Grimm, the special corre
spondent of the Empress, solicited her permis
sion for him to pass through her dominions, to
the western coast of America. And here I
must correct a material error which I have
committed in another place, to the prejudice
of the Empress. In writing some notes of the
life of Captain Lewis, prefixed to his " Expedi
tion to the Pacific ", I stated that the Empress
gave the permission asked, and afterwards re
tracted it. This idea, after a lapse of twenty-
six years, had so insinuated itself into my
mind, that I committed it to paper, without the
least suspicion of error. Yet I find, on recur
ring to my letters of that date, that the Em
press refused permission at once, considering
the enterprise as entirely chimerical. But
Ledyard would not relinquish it, persuading
himself that, by proceeding to St. Petersburg,
he could satisfy the Empress of its practicabil
ity, and obtain her permission. He went ac
cordingly, but she was absent on a visit to some
distant part of her dominions [the Crimea], and
he pursued his course to within two hundred
miles of Kamschatka, where he was overtaken
by an arrest from the Empress, brought back to
Poland, and there dismissed. I must therefore,
in justice, acquit the Empress of ever having
for a moment countenanced, even by the in
dulgence of an innocent passage through her
territories, this interesting enterprise. — AUTO
BIOGRAPHY, i, 68. FORD ED., i, 94. (1821.)
4560. LEDYARD (John), Imaginative.
— He is a person of ingenuity and information.
Unfortunately, he has too much imagination. —
To CHARLES THOMSON, ii, 276. FORD ED., iv.
(1787.)
4561. LED YARD (John), Poverty.— I
had a letter from Ledyard lately, dated at St.
Petersburg. He had but two shirts, and yet
more shirts than shillings. Still he was deter
mined to obtain the palm of the first circum
ambulator of the earth. He says, that having
no money, they kick him from place to place,
and thus he expects to be kicked round the
globe. — To J. BANNISTER, JR. ii, 150. (Pf,
1787.)
4562. LEDYARD (John), Penetrating
Africa. — A countryman of ours, a Mr. Led
yard of Connecticut, set out from Paris, some
time ago, for St. Petersburg, to go thence to
Kamschatka, thence to cross over to the west
ern coast of America, and penetrate through the
continent to the other side of it. He had got
within a few days' journey of Kamschatka,
when he was arrested by order of the Empress
of Russia, sent back, and turned adrift in
Poland. He went to London ; engaged under
the auspices of a private society, formed there
for pushing discoveries into Africa ; passed by
Paris * * * for Marseilles, where he will em
bark for Alexandria and Grand Cairo ; thence
explore the Nile to its source, cross the head of
the Niger, and descend that to its mouth. He
promises me. if he escapes through his journey,
he will go to Kentucky, and endeavor to pene
trate westerly to the South Sea.— To REV.
JAMES MADISON, ii, 433. (P., 1788.)
4563. . My last accounts of Led
yard were from Grand Cairo. He was just been
plunging into the unknown regions of Africa,
probably never to emerge again. If he returns,
he has promised me to go to America and
penetrate from Kentucky to the western side
of the continent. — To WILLIAM CARMICHAEL.
FORD ED., v, 75. (P., 1789.)
4564. LEE (Arthur), In the Treasury. —
I am sorry to see a possibility of Arthur Lee's
being put into the Treasury. He has no tal
ents for the office, and what he has will be em
ployed in rummaging old accounts to involve
you in eternal war with Robert Morris ; and
he will, in a short time, introduce such dissen
sions into the commission as to break it up.
If he goes on the other appointment to Kas-
kaskia, he will produce a revolt of that settle
ment from the United States. — To JAMES MON
ROE, i, 348. FORD ED., iv, 53. (P., 1785.)
4565. LEE (Richard Henry), In Con
vention. — I shall return to Virginia after the
nth of August. I wish my successor may be
certain to come before that time ; in that case
I shall hope to see you and not Wythe, in con
vention, that the business of Government, which
is of everlasting concern, may receive your
aid. — To RICHARD HENRY LEE. i, 204. (1776.)
4566. LEE (Richard Henry), In the
Revolution. — I presume you have received a
copy of the Life of Richard H. Lee, from his
L,ee (Richard Henry)
Legislatures
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
490
grandson of the same name, author of the
work. You and I know that he merited much
during the Revolution. Eloquent, bold, and
ever watchful at his post, of which his biogra
pher omits no proof. I am not certain whether
the friends of George Mason, of Patrick Henry,
yourself, * and even of General Washington,
may not reclaim some feathers of the plumage
given him, noble as was his proper and original
coat. — To JOHN ADAMS, vii, 422. FORD ED., x,
347. (M., 1825.)
4567. LEE (Richard Henry), As a sol
dier. — I am glad to see the romance of Lee
removed from the shelf of history to that of
fable. Some small portion of the transactions
he relates were within my own knowledge ; and
of these I can say he has given more falsehood
than fact ; and I have heard many officers de
clare the same as to what had passed under
their eyes. — To WILLIAM JOHNSON. FORD ED.,
x, 222. (M., 1822.)
4568. LEE (Richard Henry), As a
Writer.— [John] Marshall, in the first volume
of his history [of Washington], chap. 3, p. 180.,
ascribes the petition to the King, of 1774 (i
Journ. Cong. 67) to the pen of Richard Henry
Lee. I think myself certain it was not written
by him, as well from what I recollect to have
heard, as from the internal evidence of style.
His was loose, vague, frothy, rhetorical. He
was a poorer writer than his brother Arthur ;
and Arthur's standing may be seen in his Mon
itor's letters, to insure the sale of which, they
took the precaution- of tacking to them a new
edition of the Farmers' letters like Mezentins,
who " Mortua jungebat corpora vivis ". — To
JOHN ADAMS, vi, 193. FORD ED., ix, 418. (Mv
1813.)
— LEGAL TENDER.— See MONEY.
4569. LEGISLATION, The colonists
. — To continue their [the Colonists] con
nection with the friends whom they had left,
they arranged themselves by charters of com
pact under the same common king, who thus
completed their powers of full and perfect leg
islation and became the link of union between
the several parts of the empire. — DECLARA
TION ON TAKING UP ARMS. FORD ED., i, 465.
(July 1775.)
4570. . The proposition [of Lord
North] is altogether unsatisfactory * * *
because they [Parliament] do not renounce
the power * * * of legislating for us them
selves in all cases whatsoever. — REPLY TO
LORD NORTH'S PROPOSITION. FORD ED., i, 480.
(July 1775.)
4571. LEGISLATION, Dignity of.— The
dignity of legislation admits not of changes
backwards and forwards. — To COUNT DE
MONTMORIN. ii, 531. (P., 1788.)
4572. LEGISLATION, Ex post facto.—
I recollect no case where a question simply
between citizens of the same State, has been
transferred to the foreign department, except
that of inhibiting tenders but of metallic
money, and ex post facto legislation. — To
EDWARD LIVINGSTON, vii, 342. FORD ED., x,
300. (M., 1824.)
* The address of this letter was lost.— EDITOR.
t By Johnson in his Life of General Nathaniel
Greene.— EDITOR.
4573. LEGISLATION, Indiscriminate.
— To show they [Parliament] mean no discon
tinuance of injury, they pass acts at the very
time of holding out this proposition, for re
straining the commerce and fisheries of the
province of New England, and for inter
dicting the trade of the other colonies with
all foreign nations. This proves unequivo
cally they mean not to relinquish the exercise
of indiscriminate legislation over us. — RE
PLY TO LORD NORTH'S PROPOSITION. FORD ED.,
i, 480. (July 1775.)
4574. LEGISLATION, Powers of .—From
the nature of things, every society must, at
all times, possess within itself the sovereign
powers of legislation. The feelings of human
nature revolt against the supposition of a state
so situated, as that it may not, in any emer
gency, provide against dangers which, per
haps, threaten immediate ruin. — RIGHTS OF
BRITISH AMERICA, i, 138. FORD ED., i, 443.
(I774-)
4575. LEGISLATION, Reform in.— They
will not be able to undo all which the two
preceding Legislatures * * * have done.
Public faith and right will oppose this. But
some parts of the system may be rightfully
reformed ; a liberation from the rest unre
mittingly pursued as fast as right will permit,
and the door shut in future against similar
commitments of the nation. — To PRESIDENT
WASHINGTON, iii, 362. FORD ED., vi, 4. (Pa.,
May 1792.)
4576. LEGISLATION, Self-government
and. — Rather than submit to the rights of
legislating for us, assumed by the British
Parliament, * * * I would lend my hand
to sink the whole Island in the ocean. — To
JOHN RANDOLPH, i, 201. FORD ED., i, 484.
(M., Aug. 1775.)
4577. LEGISLATURES, Conference
committees.— The House of Delegates has
desired [a] conference in order to preserve
that harmony and friendly correspondence
with the Senate, which is necessary for the
discharge of their joint duties of legislation,
and to prevent, both now and in future, the
delay of public business, and injury which
may accrue to individuals, should the two
Houses differ in opinion as to the distinct
office of each. — REPORT TO CONGRESS. FORD
ED., ii, 135. (I777-)
4578. LEGISLATURES, Convening.—
He [George III.] has endeavored to pervert
the exercise of the kingly office in Virginia
into a detestable and insupportable tyranny
* * * by refusing to call legislatures for a long
space of time, thereby leaving the political
system without any legislative head. — PRO
POSED VA. CONSTITUTION. FORD ED., ii, 10.
(June 1776.)
4579. . He has called together
legislative bodies at places unusual, uncom
fortable, and distant from the depositary of
their public records, for the sole purpose of
fatiguing them into compliance with his meas
ures. — DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE AS
DRAWN BY JEFFERSON.
491
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Legislatures
4580. LEGISLATURES, Credentials.—
The Legislature shall form one house only for
the verification of their credentials. — NOTES
FOR A VA. CONSTITUTION. FORD ED., vi, 521.
(1794-)
4581. LEGISLATURES, Despotism and.
— All the powers of government, legislative,
executive, and judiciary, result to the legisla
tive body. The concentrating these in the
same hands is precisely the definition of des
potic government. It will be no alleviation
that these powers will be exercised by a plu
rality of hands, and not by a single one. One
hundred and seventy-three despots would
surely be as oppressive as one. Let those
who doubt it turn their eyes on the republic
of Venice. — NOTES ON VIRGINIA, viii, 361.
FORD ED., iii, 223. (1782.)
4582. LEGISLATURES, Dissolution by
George III.— One of the articles of impeach
ment against Trestlain and the other Judges of
Westminster Hall, in the reign of Richard the
Second, for which they suffered death, as
traitors to their country, was, that they had
advised the king that he might dissolve his Par
liament at any time ; and succeeding kings have
adopted the opinion of these unjust Judges.
Since the reign of the Second William, however,
under which the British constitution was settled
on its free and ancient principles, neither his
Majesty, nor his ancestors, have exercised such
a power of dissolution in the Island of Great
Britain * ; and when his Majesty was petitioned,
by the united voice of his people there, to dis
solve the present Parliament, who had become
obnoxious to them., his Ministers were heard to
declare, in open Parliament, that his Majesty
possessed no such power by the constitution.
But how different their language, and his prac
tice, here ! To declare, as their duty required,
the known rights of their country, to oppose the
usurpations of every foreign judicature, to dis
regard the imperious mandates of a minister or
governor, have been the avowed causes of dis
solving Houses of Representatives in America.
But if such powers be really invested in his
Majesty, can he suppose they are there placed to
awe the members from such purposes as these?
When the representative body have lost the con
fidence of their constituents, when they have no
toriously made sale of their most valuable rights,
when they have assumed to themselves powers
which the people never put into their hands,
then, indeed, their continuing in office becomes
dangerous to the State, and calls for an exercise
of the power of dissolution. Such being the
causes for which the representative body should,
and should not be dissolved, will it not appear
strange to an unbiased observer, that that of
Great Britain was not dissolved, while those
of the Colonies have repeatedly incurred that
sentence? — RIGHTS OF BRITISH AMERICA, i,
137. FORD ED., i, 441. (1774-)
4583. . Your Majesty, or your
governors, have carried this power [to dissolve
* u Since this period the King has several times
dissolved the parliament a few weeks before its ex
piration, merely as an assertion of right."— NOTE BY
JEFFERSON.
" On further inquiry, I find two instances of disso
lutions before the Parliament would, of itself, have
been at an end : viz., the Parliament called to meet
August 24, 1698, was dissolved by King William, De
cember IQ, 1700, and a new one called to meet Febru
ary 6, 1701, which was also dissolved, November n,
1701, and a new one met December 30, 1701."— NOTE
BY JEFFERSON.
legislatures] beyond every limit known, or pro
vided for, by the laws. After dissolving one
House of Representatives, they have refused to
call another, so that, for a great length of time,
the legislature provided by the laws has been
out of existence. From the nature of things,
every society must at all times possess within
itself the sovereign powers of legislation. The
feelings of humanity revolt against the sup
position of a state so situated as that it may
not, in any emergency, provide against dan
gers which, perhaps, threaten immediate ruin.
While those bodies are in existence to whom the
people have delegated the powers of legislation,
they alone possess and may exercise those
powers. But when they are dissolved by the
lopping off of one or more of their branches,
the power reverts to the people, who may ex
ercise it to unlimited extent, either assembling
together in person, sending deputies, or in any
other way they may think proper. * We for
bear to trace consequences further ; the dangers
are conspicuous with which this practice is
replete. — RIGHTS OF BRITISH AMERICA, i, 137.
FORD ED., i, 442. (1774.)
4584. . When the representative
body have lost the confidence of their constitu
ents, when they have notoriously made sale of
their most valuable rights, when they have as
sumed to themselves powers which the people
never put into their hands, then, indeed, their
continuing in office becomes dangerous to the
State, and calls for an exercise of the power
of dissolution. — RIGHTS OF BRITISH AMERICA.
i, 137. FORD ED., i, 442. (1774.)
4585. . By one act they [Parlia
ment] have suspended the powers of one Amer
ican legislature, and by another have declared
they may legislate for us themselves in all
cases whatsoever. These two acts alone form
a basis broad enough whereon to erect a des
potism of unlimited extent. — DECLARATION ON
TAKING UP ARMS. FORD ED., i, 469. (July
I775-)
4586 . He [George III.] has
endeavored to pervert the exercise of the kingly
office in Virginia into a detestable and insup
portable tyranny * * * by dissolving legisla
tive assemblies, repeatedly and continually, for
opposing with manly firmness his invasions on
the rights of the people. — PROPOSED VIRGINIA
CONSTITUTION, ii, 10. (June 1776.)
4587. . He [George III.] has
dissolved Representative houses repeatedly and
continually t for opposing with manly firmness
his invasions on the rights of the people. —
DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE AS DRAWN BY
JEFFERSON.
4588. LEGISLATURES, Division of.—
The Legislature shall be separated by lot into
two chambers, which shall be called [a andw] ^
on the first day of their session in every week ;
which separation shall be effected by present
ing to the representatives from each county
separately a number of lots equal to their own
number, if it be an even one or to the next
even number above, if their number be odd,
* A note in Jefferson's pamphlet copy of the
"Rights," &c., reads: "Insert and the frame of
government, thus dissolved, should the people take
upon them to lay the throne of your Majesty pros
trate, or to discontinue their connection with the
British empire, none will be so bold as to decide
against the right or the efficacy of such avulsion '."
—EDITOR.
t Congress struck out " and continually".— EDITOR.
$ The brackets and enclosures are Jefferson's.—
EDITOR.
Legislatures
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
492
one half of which lots shall be distinctively
marked for the one chamber and the other
half for the other, and each member shall be,
for that week, of the chamber whose lot he
draws. Members not present at the first
drawing for the week shall draw on their
first attendance after. — NOTES FOR A CONSTI
TUTION. FORD ED., vi, 521. (1794-)
4589. . Each chamber shall ap
point a speaker for the session, and it shall be
weekly decided by lot between the two
speakers, of which chamber each shall be for
the ensuing week; and the chamber to which
he is allotted shall have one the less in the
lots presented to his colleagues for that week.
— NOTES FOR A CONSTITUTION. FORD ED., vi,
521. (I794-)
4590. . Our legislatures are com
posed of two houses, the Senate and Repre
sentatives, elected in different modes, and for
different periods, and in some States, with a
qualified veto in the Executive chief. But to
avoid all temptation to superior pretensions of
the one over the other house, and the possi
bility of either erecting itself into a privileged
order, might it not be better to choose at the
same time and in the same mode, a body suf
ficiently numerous to be divided by lot into
two separate houses, acting as independently
as the two houses in England, or in our gov
ernments, and to shuffle their names together
and redistribute them by lot, once a week for
a fortnight? This would equally give the ben
efit of time and separate deliberation, guard
against an absolute passage by acclamation,
derange cabals, intrigues, and the count of
noses, disarm the ascendency which a popular
demagogue might at any time obtain over
either house, and render impossible all dis
putes between the two houses, which often
form such obstacles to business. — To M.
CORAY. vii, 321. (M., 1823.)
4591. In the structure of our leg
islatures, we think experience has proved the
benefit of subjecting questions to two separate
bodies of deliberants; but in constituting
these, natural right has been mistaken, some
making one of these bodies, and some both,
the representatives of property instead of per
sons; whereas the double deliberation might
be as well obtained without any violation of
true principle, either by requiring a greater
age in one of the bodies, or by electing a
proper number of representatives of persons,
dividing them by lots into two chambers, and
renewing the division at frequent intervals, in
order to break up all cabals.— To JOHN CART-
WRIGHT, vii, 357- (M., 1824.)
4592. LEGISLATURES, Election of
members. — So many [representatives] only
shall be deemed elected as there are units
actually v ting on that particular election, add
ing one for any fraction of votes exceeding the
half unit. Nor shall more be deemed elected
than the number last apportioned. If a county
has not a half unit of votes, the Legislature
shall incorporate its votes with those of some
adjoining county. — NOTES FOR A VA. CONSTI
TUTION. FORD ED., vi, 520. (I794-)
4593. . Every elector may vote
for as many representatives as were appor
tioned by the Legislature to his county at the
last establishment of the unit. — NOTES FOR A
VA. CONSTITUTION. FORD ED., vi, 520.
(I794-)
4594. . There are parts of the
new constitution of Spain in which you would
expect, of course, that we should not concur.
* * * One of these is the aristocracy, quater
sublimata, of her legislators; for the ultimate
electors of these will themselves have been
three times sifted from the mass of the peo
ple, and may choose from the nation at large
persons never named by any of the electoral
bodies. — To CHEVALIER DE ONIS. vi, 342.
(M., 1814.)
4595. . Let every man who
fights or pays, exercise his just and equal
right in the election of the legislature.— To
SAMUEL KERCHIVAL. vii, n. FORD ED., x, 39.
(M., 1816.)
4596. LEGISLATURES, Freedom of ac
tion. — The House of Representatives, when
met, shall be free to act according to their
own judgment and conscience. — PROPOSED VA.
CONSTITUTION. FORDED., ii, 15. (June 1776.)
4597. LEGISLATURES, Interregnum
of. — He [George III.] has refused for a long
time after such dissolutions [of representative
houses] to cause others to be elected, where
by the legislative powers, incapable of an
nihilation, have returned to the people at large
for their exercise, the State remaining, in the
meantime, exposed to all the dangers of in
vasion from without and convulsions within.
— DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE AS DRAWN
BY JEFFERSON.
4598. LEGISLATURES, Officers of.—
The General Assembly shall have power to
appoint the speakers of their respective
houses, treasurer, auditors, attorney general,
register, all general offices of the military,
their own clerks and Serjeants, and no other
officers, except where, in other parts of this
constitution, such appointment is expressly
given them. — PROPOSED VA. CONSTITUTION.
viii, 446. FORD ED., iii, 325. (1783.)
4599. LEGISLATURES, The people and.
— The people are not qualified to legislate.
With us, therefore, they only choose the leg
islators. — To L'ABBE ARNOND. iii, 89. FORD
ED., v, 103. (P., 1789.)
4600. LEGISLATURES, Powers of.—
Our legislators are not sufficiently apprized of
the rightful limits of their power; that their
true office is to declare and enforce only our
natural rights and duties, and to take none of
them from us.— To F. W. GILMER. vii, 3.
FORD ED., x, 32. (M., 1816.)
4601. LEGISLATURES, Privileges.—
The members [of the General Assembly], dur
ing the attendance on the General Assembly,
and for so long a time before and after as
shall be necessary for travelling to and from
the same, shall be privileged from all personal
493
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Legislatures
restraint and assault, and shall have no other
privilege whatsoever. — PROPOSED CONSTITU
TION FOR VIRGINIA, viii, 444. FORD ED., iii,
324. (1783.)
4602. . The Legislature shall
form one house only for * * what re
lates to their privileges. — NOTES FOR A VA.
CONSTITUTION, vi, 521. (1794.)
4603. LEGISLATURES, Qualifications
of Members. — Any member of the * * *
Assembly accepting any office of profit under
this State, or the United States, or any of
them, shall thereby vacate his seat, but shall
be capable of being reelected. — PROPOSED VA.
CONSTITUTION, viii, 445. FORD ED., iii, 325.
(1783.)
4604. . Of this General Assem
bly, the treasurer, attorney general, register,
ministers of the gospel, officers of the regular
armies of this State, or of the United States,
persons receiving salaries or emoluments from
any power foreign to our confederacy, those
who are not resident in the county for which
they are chosen delegates, or districts for
which they are chosen senators, those who are
not qualified as electors, persons who shall
have committed treason, felony, or such other
crime as would subject them to infamous pun
ishment, or shall have been convicted by due
course of law of bribery or corruption, in
endeavoring to procure an election to the said
assembly, shall be incapable of being mem
bers. All others, not herein elsewhere ex
cluded, who may elect, shall be capable of be
ing elected thereto. — PROPOSED CONSTITUTION
FOR VIRGINIA, viii, 445. FORD ED., iii, 324.
(1783.)
4605. LEGISLATURES, Size of.— Is it
meant to confine the legislative body to their
present numbers, that they may be the
cheaper bargain whenever they shall become
worth a purchase? — RIGHTS OF BRITISH
AMERICA, i, 136. FORD ED., i, 441. (1774.)
4606. . Twelve hundred men in
one room are too many. — To THOMAS PAINE.
iii, 71. (P., 1789.)
4607. - — . The [National] Assem
bly [of France] proceeds slowly in the form
ing their constitution. The original vice of
their numbers causes this, as well as a tumul
tuous manner of doing business. — To JOHN
JAY. iii, 115. (P., 1789.)
4608. . Render the [Virginia]
legislature a desirable station by lessening the
number of representatives (say to 100) and
lengthening somewhat their term, and pro
portion them equally among the electors. — To
ARCHIBALD STUART, iii, 315. FORD ED., v, 410.
(Pa., 1791.)
4609. . Reduce the legislature to
a convenient number for full, but orderly dis
cussion. — To SAMUEL KERCHIVAL. vii, n.
FORD ED., x, 39. (M., 1816.)
4610. LEGISLATURES, Slothful.— The
sloth of the [French National] Assembly (un
avoidable from their number) has done the
most sensible injury to the public cause. The
patience of a people who have less of that
quality than any other nation in the world,
is worn threadbare. — To JOHN JAY. iii, 115.
(P., Sep. 1789.)
4611. LEGISLATURES, Suspension of.
— The act passed in the seventh year of the
reign of George III., having been a peculiar
attempt, must ever require peculiar mention.
It is entitled, " An Act for Suspending the
Legislature of New York ". One free and
independent legislature hereby takes upon it
self to suspend the powers of another, free
and independent as itself; thus exhibiting a
phenomenon unknown in nature, the creator
and creature of its own power. — RIGHTS OF
BRITISH AMERICA, i, 131. FORD ED., i, 435.
(I774-)
4612. . The proposition [of Lord
North] is altogether unsatisfactory * * *
because they (Parliament) do not renounce
the power of suspending our own legislatures.
— REPLY TO LORD NORTH'S PROPOSITION. FORD
ED., i, 480. (July 1775.)
4613. — — . He [George III.] has
endeavored to pervert the exercise of the
kingly office in Virginia into a detestable and
unsupportable tyranny * * * by combining
with others to subject us to a foreign juris
diction, giving his assent to their pretended
acts of legislation * * * for suspending
our own legislatures, and declaring them
selves invested with power to legislate for us
in all cases whatsoever. — PROPOSED VA. CON
STITUTION. FORD ED., ii, n. (June 1776.)
4614. LEGISLATURES, Two chambers.
— The purpose of establishing different houses
of legislation is to introduce the influence of
different interests or different principles.
Thus in Great Britain, it is said, their consti
tution relies on the House of Commons for
honesty, and the Lords for wisdom ; which
would be a rational reliance, if honesty were
to be bought with money, and if wisdom were
hereditary. In some of the American States,
the delegates and senators are so chosen, as
that the first represent the persons, and the
second the property of the State. But with
us, wealth and wisdom have equal chance for
admission into both houses. We do not,
therefore, derive from the separation of our
legislature into two houses, those benefits
which a proper complication of principles is
capable of producing, and those which alone
can compensate the evils which may be pro
duced by their dissensions. — NOTES ON VIR
GINIA, viii, 361. FORD ED., iii, 223. (1782.)
4615. . For good legislation two
houses are necessary. — To MARQUIS LAFAY
ETTE, iii, 20. FORD ED., v, 92. (P., 1789.)
4616. . I find my countrymen
* * * thinking with the National Assem
bly [of France] in all points except that of a
single house of legislation. They think their
own experience has so decidedly proved the
necessity of two Houses to prevent the tyranny
of one that they fear that this single error
will shipwreck your new constitution. I z,m
Legislatures
Letters
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
494
myself persuaded that theory and practice are
not at variance in this instance, and that you
will find it necessary hereafter to add another
branch. — To DUKE DE LA ROCHEFOUCAULD.
iii, 136. (N. Y., 1790.)
4617. LEGISLATURES, Tyranny of.—
The executive in our governments is not the
sole, it is scarcely the principal object of my
jealousy. The tyranny of the Legislatures is
the most formidable dread at present, and
will be for many years. — To JAMES MADISON.
iii, 5. FORD ED., v, 83. (P., 1789.)
4618. LEGISLATURES, Unit of repre
sentation.— The Legislature shall provide
that returns be made to themselves periodi
cally of the qualified voters in every county,
by their name and qualification ; and from the
whole number of qualified voters * * *
such an unit of representation shall be
* * * taken as will keep the number of rep
resentatives within the limits of 150 and 300,
allowing to every county a representative for
every unit and fraction of more than half an
unit it contains. — NOTES FOR A VA. CONSTI
TUTION. FORD ED., vi, 520. (1794.)
4619. LEGISLATURES, Usurpation of
power. — He has combined with others to
subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our con
stitutions and unacknowledged by our laws,
giving his assent • to their acts of pretended
legislation for * * * suspending our own
legislatures and declaring themselves invested
with power to legislate for us in all cases
whatsoever. — DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE
AS DRAWN BY JEFFERSON.
4620. LEGISLATURES, Vacancies.—
Vacancies in the House of Representatives,
by death or disqualification, shall be filled by
the electors, under a warrant from the
Speaker of the said house. — PROPOSED VA.
CONSTITUTION. FORD ED., ii, 14. (June 1776.)
4621. LEGISLATURES, Virginia.—
Legislation shall be exercised by two separate
houses, to wit, a House of Representatives,
and a House of Senators, which shall be
called the General Assembly of Virginia. —
PROPOSED VA. CONSTITUTION. FORD ED., ii, 13.
(June 1776.)
4622. . The House of Repre
sentatives shall be composed of persons
chosen by the people annually on the first
day of October, and shall meet in General
Assembly on the first day of November fol
lowing, and so, from time to time, on their
own adjournments, or at any time when sum
moned by the Administrator, and shall con
tinue sitting so long as they shall think the
public service requires. — PROPOSED VA. CON
STITUTION. FORD ED., ii, 14. (June 1776.)
4623. . The Senate shall consist
of not less than [15]* nor more than [50]
members, who shall be appointed by the
House of Representatives. One-third of them
shall be removed out of office by lot at the
end of the first [three] years, and their places
* The brackets and. figures within them are Jeffer-
eon's.— EDITOR.
be supplied by a new appointment ; one other
third shall be removed by lot, in like mariner,
at the end of the second [three] years and
their places be supplied by a new appoint
ment; after which one-third shall be re
moved annually at the end of every [three]
years according to seniority. When once re
moved, they shall be forever incapable of be
ing reappointed to that House. Their quali
fications shall be an oath of fidelity to the
State, and of duty in their office, the being
[31] years of age at the least, and the having
given no bribe, directly or indirectly, to ob
tain their appointment. While in the sen
atorial office, they shall be incapable of hold
ing any public pension, or post of profit, either
themselves, or by others for their use. — PRO
POSED VA. CONSTITUTION. FORD ED., ii, 15.
(June 1776.)
4624. L'ENFANT (Major), Dismissal of.
— It having been found impracticable to em
ploy Major L'Enfant about the Federal city, in
that degree of subordination which was lawful
and proper, he has been notified that his serv
ices are at an end. It is now proper that he
should receive the reward of his past services ;
and the wish that he should have no just cause
of discontent, suggests that it should be liberal.
The President thinks of two thousand five
hundred, or three thousand dollars ; but leaves
the determination to you. * — To MESSRS. JOHN
SON, CARROLL AND STEWART, iii, 336. (Pa.,
1792.)
4625. LETHARGY, Fatal to liberty.—
Lethargy is the forerunner of death to the
public liberty. — To W. S. SMITH, ii, 318.
FORD ED., iv, 467. (P., 1787.)
4626. LETTERS, Answering.— Instead
of writing ten or twelve letters a day, which I
have been in the habit of doing as a thing in
course, I put off answering my letters now
farmer-like, till a rainy day, and then find
them sometimes postponed by other necessary
occupations. — To JOHN ADAMS, iv, 103. FORD
ED., vi, 505. (M., April 1794-)
4627. LETTERS, Distorted. — Every word
which goes from me, whether verbally or in
writing, becomes the subject of so much
malignant distortion, and perverted construc
tion, that I am obliged to caution my friends
against admitting the possibility of my letters
getting into the public papers or a copy of them
to be taken under any degree of confidence. — To
EDWARD DOWSE, iv, 477. (W., 1803.)
4628. LETTERS, Gleams of light.— Your
letters * * * serve, like gleams of light, to cheer
a dreary scene ; where envy, hatred, malice, re
venge, and all the worst passions of men, are
marshalled to make one another as miserable
as possible. — To MARTHA JEFFERSON RANDOLPH.
D. L. J. 248. (Pa., Feb. 1798.)
4629. LETTERS, Private.— I have gener
ally great aversion to the insertion of my letters
in the public papers ; because of my passion for
quiet retirement, and never to be exhibited in
scenes on the public stage. — To JOHN ADAMS.
vii, 254. (M., 1822.)
4630. LETTERS, Sanctity of.— I should
wish never to put pen to paper ; and the more
* L'Enfant was a French engineer who was em
ployed in laying out the City of Washington.— ED-
ITOR.
495
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Betters
Lewis and Clark
because of the treacherous practice some people
have of publishing one's letters without leave.
Lord Mansfield declared it a breach of trust,
and punishable at law. I think it should be a
penitentiary felony. — To JOHN ADAMS, vii, 244.
FORD ED., x, 216. (M., 1822.)
4631. LETTERS, Unanswered.— The con
stant pressure of business has forced me to fol
low the practice of not answering letters which
do not necessarily require it. — To ROBERT WILL
IAMS, v, 209. FORD ED., ix, 166. (W., 1807.)
4632. LETTER- WRITING, Dangers of.
—The abuse of confidence by publishing my
letters has cost me more than all other pains,
and makes me afraid to put pen to paper in a
letter of sentiment. — To C. HAMMOND, vii, 217.
(M., 1821.)
4633. . I sometimes expressly
desire that my letter may not be published ; but
this is so like requesting a man not to steal
or cheat, that I am ashamed of it after I have
done it. — To NATHANIEL MACON. vii, 223. FORD
ED., x, 193. (M., 1821.)
4634. LETTER-WRITING, Drudgery
of. — From sunrise to one or two o'clock, and
often from dinner to dark, I am drudging at
the writing table. And all this to answer letters
into which neither interest nor inclination on
my part enters ; and often from persons whose
names I have never before heard. Yet, writing
civilly, it is hard to refuse them civil answers.
This is the burthen of my life, a very grievous
one indeed, and one which I must get rid of.
Delaplaine lately requested me to give him a
line on the subject of his book; meaning, as I
well knew, to publish it. This I constantly re
fuse ; but in this instance yielded, that in
saying a word for him I might say two for my
self. I expressed in it freely my sufferings
from this source ; hoping it would have the ef
fect of an indirect appeal to the discretion of
those, strangers and others, who, in the most
friendly dispositions, oppress me with their
concerns, their pursuits, their projects, inven
tions and speculations, political, moral, religious,
mechanical, mathematical, historical, &c., &c. I
hope the appeal will bring me relief, and that
I shall be left to exercise and enjoy correspond
ence with the friends I love, and on subjects
which they, or my own inclinations present. —
To JOHN ADAMS, vii, 54. FORD ED., x, 71. (M.,
1817.)
4635. LETTER- WRITING, Relief from.
—It occurs then, that my condition of exist
ence, truly stated in that letter, if better known,
might check the kind indiscretions which are
so heavily oppressing the departing hours of
life. Such a relief [from letter- writers] would,
to me, be an ineffable blessing. But yours,
* * * equally interesting and affecting, should
accompany that to which it is an answer. The
two, taken together, would excite a joint in
terest, and place before our fellow-citizens the
present condition of two ancient servants, who
having faithfully performed their forty or fifty
campaigns, stipendiis omnibus expletus, have a
reasonable claim to repose from all disturbance
in the sanctuary of invalids and superannuates.
— To JOHN ADAMS, vii, 254. FORD ED., x, 218.
(M., 1822.)
4636. LETTER- WRITING, Volumi
nous. — I do not know how far you may suffer,
as I do, under the persecution of letters, of
which every mail brings me a fresh load. They
are letters of enquiry, for the most part, always
of good will, sometimes from friends whom I
esteem, but much oftener from persons whose
names are unknown to me, but written kindly
and civilly, and to which, therefore, civility re
quires answers. * * * I happened to turn to
my letter-list some time ago, and a curiosity
was excited to count those received in a single
year. It was the year before the last. I found
the number to be one thousand two hundred and
sixty-seven, many of them requiring answers of
elaborate research, and all to be answered with
due attention and consideration. Take an aver
age of this number for a week or a day, and I
will repeat the question * * * is this life? At
best, it is but the life of a mill-horse, who sees
no end to his circle but in death. To such a
life, that of a cabbage is paradise. — To JOHN
ADAMS, vii, 254. FORD ED., x, 218. (M., 1822.)
4637. LETTER- WRITING vs. READ
ING. — The drudgery of letter writing often
denies me the leisure of reading a single page
in a week. — To EZRA STILES, vii, 127. (M.,
1819.)
4638. LEWIS AND CLARK EXPEDI
TION, Jefferson suggests.— The river Mis
souri, and the Indians inhabiting it, are not
as well known as is rendered desirable by their
connection with the Mississippi, and conse
quently with us. It is, however, understood,
that the country on that river is inhabited by
numerous tribes, who furnish great supplies of
furs and peltry to the trade of another nation,
carried on in a high latitude, through an in
finite number of portages and lakes, shut up
by ice through a long season. The commerce
on that line could bear no competition with that
of the Missouri, traversing a moderate climate,
offering, according to the best accounts, a con
tinued navigation from its source, and possibly
with a single portage, from the Western Ocean,
and finding to the Atlantic a choice of chan
nels through the Illinois or Wabash, the Lakes
and Hudson, through the Ohio and Susque-
hanna, or Potomac or James rivers, and through
the Tennessee and Savannah rivers. An intel
ligent officer, with ten or twelve chosen men,
fit for the enterprise, and willing to undertake
it, taken from our posts, where they may be
spared without inconvenience, might explore the
whole line, even to the Western Ocean ; have
conferences with the natives on the subject of
commercial intercourse ; get admission among
them for our traders, as others are admitted ;
agree on convenient deposits for an interchange
of articles ; and return with the information re
quired, in the course of two summers. Their
arms and accoutrements, some instruments of
observation, and light and cheap presents for the
Indians, would be all the apparatus they could
carry, and with an expectation of a soldier's por
tion of land on their return, would constitute
the whole expense. Their pay would be going
on, whether here or there. While other civilized
nations have encountered great expense to en
large the boundaries of knowledge, by underta
king voyages of discovery, and for other literary
purposes, in various parts and directions, our
nation seems to owe to the same object, as well
as to its own interests, to explore this, the only
line of easy communication across the conti
nent, and so directly traversing our own part
of it. The interests of commerce place the
principal object within the constitutional powers
and care of Congress, and that it should inci
dentally advance the geographical knowledge of
our continent, cannot be but an additional grat
ification. The nation claiming the territory, re
garding this as a literary pursuit, which it is in
the habit of permitting within its Dominions,
would not be disposed to view it with jealousy,
Lewis ami Clark
I.evees
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
496
even if the expiring state of its interests there
did not render it a matter of indifference. The
appropriation of two thousand five hundred dol
lars " for the purpose of extending the external
commerce of the United States '', while under
stood and considered by the Executive as giving
the legislative sanction, would cover the under
taking from notice, and prevent the obstructions
which interested individuals might otherwise
previously prepare in its way. — CONFIDENTIAL
MESSAGE, viii, 243. FORD ED., viii, 201. (Jan.
1803.)
4639. LEWIS AND CLARK EXPEDI
TION, Preparations.— I had long deemed it
incumbent on the authorities of our country to
have the great western wilderness beyond the
Mississippi explored, to make known its geogra
phy, its natural productions, its general char
acter and inhabitants. Two attempts which I
had myself made formerly, before the country
was ours, the one from west to east, the other
from east to west, had both proved abortive.
When called to the administration of the general
government, I made this an object of early
attention, and proposed it to Congress. They
voted a sum of five thousand dollars for its
execution, and I placed Captain Lewis at the
head of the enterprise. No man within the
range of my acquaintance united so many of
the qualifications necessary for its successful
direction. But he had not received such an
astronomical education as might enable him to
give us the geography of the country with the
precision desired. The Missouri and Columbia,
which were to constitute the tract of his jour
ney, were rivers which varied little in their
progressive latitudes, but changed their longi
tudes rapidly and at every step. To qualify him
for making these observations, so important to
the value of the enterprise, I encouraged him
to apply himself to this particular object, and
gave him letters to Doctor Patterson and Mr.
Ellicott, requesting them to instruct him in the
necessary processes. Those for the longitude
would, of course, be founded on the lunar dis
tances. But as these require essentially the aid
of a time-keeper, it occurred to me that during
a journey of two, three, or four years, exposed
to so many accidents as himself and the instru
ment would be, we might expect with certainty
that it would become deranged, and in a desert
country where it could not be repaired. I
thought it then highly important that some
means of observation should be furnished him
which should be practicable and competent to
ascertain his longitudes in that event. The equa
torial occurred to myself as the most promising
substitute. I observed only that Ramsden, in his
explanation of its uses, and particularly that of
finding the longitude at land, still required his
observer to have the aid of a time-keeper. But
this cannot be necessary, for the margin of the
equatorial circle of this instrument being
divided into time by hours, minutes and sec
onds, supplies the main functions of the time
keeper, and for measuring merely the interval
of the observations., is such as not to be neg
lected. A portable pendulum for counting, by
an assistant, would fully answer that purpose.
I suggested my fears to several of our best
astronomical friends, and my wishes that other
processes should be furnished him, if any could
be, which might guard us ultimately from dis
appointment. Several other methods were pro
posed, but all requiring the use of a time-keeper.
That of the equatorial being recommended by
none, and other duties refusing me time for
protracted consultations, I relinquished the idea
for that occasion. But, if a sound one, it should
not be neglected. Those deserts are yet to be
explored, and their geography given to the
world and ourselves with a correctness worthy
of the science of the age. The acquisition of
the country before Captain Lewis's departure
facilitated our enterprise, but his time-keeper
failed early in his journey. His dependence,
then, was on the compass and log-line, with the
correction of latitudes only ; and the longitudes
of the different points of the Missouri, of the
Stony Mountains, the Columbia and Pacific, at
its mouth, remain yet to be obtained by future
enterprise. — To . vii, 224. (M., 1821.)
See LATITUDE AND LONGITUDE.
4640. . In the journey you are
about to undertake * * * should you reach the
Pacific Ocean * * * and be * * * without
money * * * your resource * * * can only be
the credit of the United States ; for which pur
pose I hereby authorize you to draw on the
Secretaries of State, of the Treasury, of War,
and of the Navy of the United States, accord
ing as you may find your drafts will be most
negotiable, for the purpose of obtaining money
or necessaries for yourself and men ; and I
solemnly pledge the faith of the United States
that these drafts shall be paid punctually
* * * And to give more entire satisfaction
and confidence to those who may be disposed to
aid you, I, Thomas Jefferson, President of the
United States of America, have written this
letter of general credit for you with my own
hand, and signed it with my name. — To CAPTAIN
MERIWETHER LEWIS, iv, 492. (W., July 4, 1803.)
4641. LEWIS AND CLARK EXPEDI
TION, Success.— The expedition of Messrs.
Lewis and Clark, for exploring the river Mis
souri, and the best communication from that
to the Pacific ocean, has had all the success
which could have been expected. They have
traced the Missouri nearly to its source, de
scended the Columbia to the Pacific ocean,
ascertained with accuracy the geography of that
interesting communication across our continent,
learned the character of the country, of its com
merce, and inhabitants ; and it is but justice to
say that Messrs. Lewis and Clark, and their
brave companions, have by this arduous service
deserved well of their country. — SIXTH ANNUAL
MESSAGE, viii, 66. FORD ED., viii, 492. (Dec.
1806.)
4642. LEVEES, Presidential.— Edmund
Randolph tells James Madison and myself a
curious fact which he had from Lear. When
the President went to New York, he resisted
for three weeks the efforts to introduce levees.
At length he yielded, and left it to Humphreys
and some others to settle the forms. Accord
ingly, an antechamber and presence room were
provided, and when those who were to pay their
court were assembled, the President set out,
preceded by Humphreys. After passing through
the antechamber, the door of the inner room
was thrown open, and Humphreys entered first,
calling out with a loud voice, " the President
of the United States ". The President was so
much disconcerted with it, that he did not re
cover from it the whole time of the levee, and
when the company was gone, he said to Hum
phreys, " Well, you have taken me in once, but
by God you shall never take me in a second
time". — THE ANAS, ix, 132. FORD ED., i, 216.
(I793-)
4643. LEVEES, Washington's explana
tion. — President Washington [in conversa
tion with me] went lengthily into the late at
tacks on him for levees, &c., and explained
how he had been led into them by the persons
he consulted at New York ; and that if he could
497
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
L-iancourt (Duke <le)
Libels
but know what the sense of the public was, he
would most cheerfully conform to it. — THE
ANAS, ix, 132. FORD ED., i, 216. (Feb. I793-)
See CEREMONY, ETIQUETTE and FORMS.
4644. LIANCOURT (Duke de), Appeal
for. — I wish the present government would
permit M. de Liancourt's return. He is an hon
est man, sincerely attached to his country, and
very desirous of being permitted to live retired
in the bosom of his family. My sincere affec
tion for his connections at Rocheguyon * * *
would render it a peculiar felicity to me to be
any ways instrumental in having him restored
to them. I have no means, however, unless you
can interpose without giving offence. — To JAMES
MONROE. FORD ED., vii, 88. (M., 1796.)
4645. LIANCOURT (Duke de), Patriot.
— The bearer hereof is the Duke de Liancourt,
one of the principal noblemen of France, and
one of the richest. All this he has lost in the
revolutions of his country, retaining only his
virtue and good sense, which he possesses in a
high degree. He was President of the National
Assembly of France in its earliest stage, and
forced to fly from the proscriptions of Marat. —
To MR. KITE, iv, 145. (M., 1796.)
4646. LIBELS, Federal cognizance. —
Libels, falsehood, and defamation, equally
with heresy and false religion, are withheld
from the cognizance of Federal tribunals. —
KENTUCKY RESOLUTIONS, ix, 466. FORD ED.,
vii, 295. (1798.)
4647. LIBELS, Guarding against.— I
have seen in the New York papers a calumny
which I suppose will run through the Union,
that I had written by Doctor Logan letters
to Merlin and Talleyrand. On retiring from
the Secretary of State's office, I determined
to drop all correspondence with France,
knowing the base calumnies which would be
built on the most innocent correspondence. I
have not, therefore, written a single letter to
that country, within that period except to Mr.
Short on his own affairs merely which are
under my direction, and once or twice to
Colonel Monroe. By Logan, I did not write
even a letter to Mr. Short, nor to any other
person whatever. I thought this notice of
the matter due to my friends, though I do not
go into the newspapers with a formal declara
tion of it. — To AARON BURR. FORD ED., vii,
259. (M., Nov. 1798.)
4648. LIBELS, Jefferson and. — At this
moment my name is running through all the
city [Philadelphia] as detected in a criminal
correspondence with the French Directory,
and fixed upon me by the documents from our
Envoys, now before the two Houses. The
detection of this by the publication of the
papers, should they be published, will not
relieve all the effects of the lie, and should
they not be published, they may keep it
up as long and as successfully as they
did and do that of my being involved
in Blount's conspiracy. — To JAMES MONROE,
FORD ED., vii, 233. (Pa., April 1798.)
4649. . Party passions are indeec
high. Nobody has more reasons to know i
than myself. I receive daily bitter proofs o
it from people who never saw me. nor know
anything of me but through " Porcupine '
[William Cobbett] and Fenno.— To JAMES
LEWIS, JR. iv, 241. FORD ED., vii, 250. (Pa.,
May 1798.)
4650. . Our very long intimacy
as fellow laborers in the same cause, the
recent expressions of mutual confidence
which had preceded your mission [to France],
:he interesting course which that had taken,
and particularly and personally as it regarded
yourself, made me anxious to hear from you
* * . I was the more so, too, as I had my
self, during the whole of your absence, as well
as since your return, been a constant butt for
every shaft of calumny which malice and
Falsehood could form, and the presses, public
speakers, or private letters disseminate. One
of these, too, was of a nature to touch your
self; as if, wanting confidence in your efforts,
I had been capable of usurping powers com
mitted to you, and authorizing negotiations
private and collateral to yours. The real
truth is, that though Doctor Logan, the pre.-
tended missionary, about four or five days be
fore he sailed for Hamburg, told me he was
going there, and thence to Paris, and asked
and received from me a certificate of his
citizenship, character, and circumstances of
life, merely as a protection, should he be mo
lested on his journey, in the present turbu
lent and suspicious state of Europe, yet I
had been led to consider his object as relative
to his private affairs ; and though, from an in
timacy of some standing, he knew well enough
my wishes for peace and my political senti
ments in general, he nevertheless received
then no particular declaration of them, no
authority to communicate them to any mortal,
nor to speak to any one in my name, or in
anybody's name, on that, or on any other
subject whatever; nor did I write by him a
scrip of a pen to any person whatever. This
he has himself honestly and publicly declared
since his return ; and from his well-known
character and every other circumstance, every
candid man must perceive that his enterprise
was dictated by his own enthusiasm, without
consultation or communication with any one ;
that he acted in Paris on his own ground,
and made his own way. Yet to give some
color to his proceedings, which might impli
cate the republicans in general, and myself
particularly, they have not been ashamed to
bring forward a supposititious paper, drawn by
one of their own party in the name of Logan,
and falsely pretended to have been presented
by him to the government of France; count
ing that the bare mention of my name
therein, would connect that in the eye of the
public with this transaction. — To ELBRIDGE
GERRY, iv, 266. FORD ED., vii, 325. (Pa.,
Jan. I799-)
4651. . It is hardly necessary
for me to declare to you, on everything
sacred, that the part they assigned to me was
entirely a calumny. Logan called on me four
or five days before his departure, and asked
and received a certificate (in my private
capacity) of his citizenship and circumstances
of life, merely as a protection, should he be
Libels
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
498
molested in the present turbulent state of
Europe. I have given such to an hundred
others, and they have been much more fre
quently asked and obtained by tories than
whigs. I did not write a scrip of a pen by
him to any person. From long acquaintance
he knew my wishes for peace, and my political
sentiments generally, but he received no par
ticular declaration of them nor one word of
authority to speak in my name, or anybody's
name on that or any other subject. It was an
enterprise founded in the enthusiasm of his
own character. He went on his own ground,
and made his own way. His object was
virtuous, and the effect meritorious. — To
EDMUND PENDLETON. iv, 276. FORD ED., vii,
338. (Pa., I799-)
4652. LIBELS, Jurisdiction over. — Nor
does the [my] opinion of the unconstitu
tionally, and consequent nullity of that law,
[Sedition] remove all restraint from the over
whelming torrent of slander, which is con
founding all vice and virtue, all truth and
falsehood, in the United States. The power
to do that is fully possessed by the several
State Legislatures. It was reserved to them,
and was denied to the General Government,
by the Constitution, according to our construc
tion of it. While we deny that Congress have
a right to control the freedom of the press,
we have ever asserted the right of the States,
and their exclusive right, to do so. They
have accordingly, all of them, made provis
ions for punishing slander, which those who
have time and inclination, resort to for the
vindication of their characters. — To MRS.
JOHN ADAMS, iv, 561. FORD EDV viii, 311.
(M., 1804.)
4653. LIBELS, Newspaper.— Printers
shall be liable to legal prosecution for printing
and publishing false facts, injurious to the
party prosecuting; but they shall be under
no other restraint. — FRENCH CHARTER OF
RIGHTS, iii, 47. FORD ED ., v, 102. (P., 1789.)
4654. . In those States where
they do not admit even the truth of allega
tions to protect the printer, they have gone
too far. — To MRS. JOHN ADAMS. iv, 561.
FORD ED., viii, 311. (M., 1804.)
4655. . No inference is here in
tended, that the laws, provided by the States
against false and defamatory publications,
should not be enforced; he who has time,
renders a service to public morals and public
tranquillity, in reforming these abuses by the
salutary coercions of the law. — SECOND INAU
GURAL ADDRESS, viii, 44. FORD ED., viii, 346.
(1805.)
4656. . We have received from
your [Massachusetts] presses a very malevo
lent and incendiary denunciation of the ad
ministration, bottomed on absolute falsehood
from beginning to end. The author would
merit exemplary punishment for so flagitious
a libel, were not the torment of his own
abominable temper punishment sufficient for
even as base a crime as this. — To LEVI LIN
COLN, v, 264. (W., March 1808.)
4657. . Mr. Wagner's malignity,
like that of the rest of his tribe of brother
printers, who deal out calumnies for federal
readers, gives me no pain. When a printer
cooks up a falsehood, it is as easy to put it
into the mouth of a Mr. Fox, as of a smaller
man, and safer in that of a dead than a living
one. — To THOMAS LAW. v, 555. FORD ED.,
ix, 291. (M., 1811.)
4658. LIBELS, Prosecutions for.— While
a full range is proper for actions by individ
uals, either private or public, for slanders af
fecting them, I would wish much to see the ex
periment tried of getting along without public
prosecutions for libels. I believe we can do it.
Patience_ and well doing, instead of punish
ment, if it can be found sufficiently efficacious,
would be a happy change in the instruments
of government. — To LEVI LINCOLN. FORD ED.,
viii, 139. (March 1802.)
4659. LIBELS, Punishment for.— I might
have filled the courts of the United States
with actions for slanders, and have ruined,
perhaps many persons who are not innocent.
But this would be no equivalent for the loss
of character. I leave them, therefore, to the
reproof of their own consciences. If these do
not condemn them, there will yet come a
day when the false witness will meet a Judge
who has not slept over his slanders. — To
URIAH M'GREGORY. iv, 333. (M., 1800.)
4660. LIBELS, Sedition law and.— Mr.
Randolph has proposed an inquiry [in Congress]
into certain prosecutions at common law in
Connecticut, for libels on the government, and
not only himself but others have stated them
with such affected caution, and such hints at the
same time, as to leave on every mind the im
pression that they had been instituted either by
my^ direction, or with my acquiescence, at least.
This has not been denied by my friends, because
probably the fact is unknown to them. I shall
state it for their satisfaction, and leave it to
be disposed of as they think best. I had ob
served in a newspaper some dark hints of a
prosecution in Connecticut, but so obscurely
hinted that I paid little attention to it. Some
considerable time after, it was again men
tioned, so that I understood that some prosecu
tion was going on in the federal court there, for
calumnies uttered from the pulpit against me
by a clergyman. I immediately wrote to Mr.
Granger, who, I think, was in Connecticut at
the time, stating that I had laid it down as a
law to myself, to take no notice of the thousand
calumnies issued against me, but to trust my
character to my own conduct, and the good
sense and candor of my fellow citizens ; that I
had found no reason to be dissatisfied with that
course, and I was unwilling it should be broke
through by others as to any matter concerning
me ; and I, therefore, requested him to direct the
district attorney to dismiss the prosecution.
Some time after this, I heard of subpoenas being
served on General Lee, David M. Randolph,
and others, as witnesses to attend the trial. I
then for the first time conjectured the subject
of the libel. I immediately wrote to Mr. Gran
ger, to require an immediate dismission of the
prosecution. The answer of Mr. Huntington,
the district attorney, was that these subpoenas
had been issued by the defendant without his
knowledge, that it had been his intention to dis
miss all the prosecutions at the first meeting
499
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Libels
Liberty
of the court, and to accompany it with an
avowal of his opinion, that they could not be
maintained, because the federal court had no
jurisdiction over libels. This was accordingly
done. I did not till then know that there were
other prosecutions of the same nature, nor do I
now know what were their subjects. But all
went off together ; and I afterwards saw in the
hands of Mr. Granger, a letter written by the
clergyman, disavowing any personal ill will
towards me, and solemnly declaring he had
never uttered the words charged. I think Mr.
Granger either showed me, or said there were
affidavits of at least half a dozen respectable
men, who were present at the sermon and
swore no such expressions were uttered, and as
many equally respectable men who swore the
contrary. But the clergyman expressed his
gratification at the dismission of the prosecu
tion. * * * Certain it is, that the prosecu
tions had been instituted, and had made consid
erable progress, without my knowledge, that
they were disapproved by me as soon as
known, and directed to be discontinued. The
attorney did it on the same ground on which
I had acted myself in the cases of Duane, Cal-
lendar and others ; to wit, that the Sedition law
was unconstitutional and null, and that my obli
gation to execute what was law, involved that of
not suffering rights secured by valid laws to
be prostrated by what was no law. — To WILSON
C. NICHOLAS, v, 452. FORD EDV ix, 253. (Mv
1809.)
4661. LIBELS, Voltaire and. — I send you
yoltaire's legacy to the King of Prussia, — a
libel which will do much more injury to Voltaire
than to the King. Many of the traits in the
character of the latter to which the former gives
a turn satirical and malicious, are real virtues. —
To JAMES MONROE. FORD ED., iv, 44. (P.,
1785-)
4662. LIBERTY, America and.— The
last hope of human liberty in this world rests
on us. We ought, for so dear a stake, to sac
rifice every attachment and every enmity. — To
WILLIAM DUANE. v, 577. FORD ED., ix, 313.
(M., 1811.)
4663. . When we reflect that
the eyes of the virtuous all over the earth are
turned with anxiety on us, as the only de
positories of the sacred fire of liberty, and that
our falling into anarchy would decide forever
the destinies of mankind, and seal the polit
ical heresy that man is incapable of self-gov
ernment, the only contest between divided
friends should be who will dare farthest into
the ranks of the common enemy. — To JOHN
HOLLINS. v, 597. (M., 1811.) See 296.
4664. LIBERTY, Attachment to.— Our
attachment to no nation on earth should sup
plant our attachment to liberty. — DECLARATION
ON TAKING UP ARMS. FORD ED., i, 470.
(I775-)
4665. LIBERTY, Blood and.— The tree
of liberty must be refreshed from time to
time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.
It is its natural manure. — To W. S. SMITH.
ii, 319. FORD ED., iv, 467. (P., 1787.)
4666. . A warm zealot for the
attainment and enjoyment by all mankind of
as much liberty, as each may exercise without
injury to the equal liberty of his fellow citi
zens. I have lamented that in France the
endeavors to obtain this should have been at
tended with the effusion of so much blood. —
To M. DE MEUNIER. FORD ED., vii, 13. (M.,
April 1795.)
4667. LIBERTY, Concern for.— Affec
tionate concern for the liberty of my fellow
citizens will cease but with life to animate my
breast.— REPLY TO ADDRESS, v, 262. (1808.)
4668. LIBERTY, Contagious.— The dis
ease of liberty is catching. — To MARQUIS LA
FAYETTE, vii, 194. FORD ED., x, 179. (M.,
1820.)
4669. LIBERTY, Degeneracy and.— It
astonishes me to find such a change wrought
in the opinions of our countrymen since I
left them, as that three-fourths of them should
be contented to live under a system which
leaves to their governors the power of taking
from them the trial by jury in civil cases,
freedom of religion, freedom of the press,
freedom of commerce, the habeas corpus laws,
and of yoking them with a standing army.
This is a degeneracy in the principles of lib
erty to which I had given four centuries in
stead of four years. — To WILLIAM STEPHENS
SMITH. FORD ED., v, 3. (P., Feb. 1788.)
4670. LIBERTY, Degrees of.— I would
rather be exposed to the inconveniences at
tending too much liberty than to those at
tending too small a degree of it. — To ARCHI
BALD STUART, iii, 314. FORD ED., v, 409. (Pa.,
I79I-)
4671. LIBERTY, Despotism and.— The
agitations of the public mind advance its
powers, and at every vibration between the
points of liberty and despotism, something
will be gained for the former. — To THOMAS
COOPER, iv, 452. FORD ED., viii, 177. (W.,
Nov. 1802.)
4672. LIBERTY, European.— Heaven
send that the glorious example of France may
be but the beginning of the history of Euro
pean liberty, and that you may live many
years in health and happiness to see at length
that heaven did not make man in its wrath. —
To LA DUCHESSE D'AUVILLE. iii, 135. FORD
ED., v, 154. (N.Y., April 1790.)
4673. - — . God send that all the
nations who join in attacking the liberties of
France may end in the attainment of their
own. — To JOEL BARLOW, iii, 451. FORD ED.,
vi, 88. (Pa., 1792.)
4674. LIBERTY, First of all.— Postpone
to the great object of Liberty every smaller
motive and passion. — To THE PRESIDENT OF
CONGRESS. FORD ED., ii, 298. (Wg., 1780.)
4675. LIBERTY, France and.— The
atrocious proceedings of France towards this
country, had well nigh destroyed its liberties.
The Anglomen and monocrats had so art
fully confounded the cause of France with
that of freedom, that both went down in the
same scale. — To T. LOMAX. iv, 301. FORD
ED., vii, 374. (M., March 1799.)
4676. . May you see France re
established in that temperate portion of lib-
Liberty
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
500
erty which does not infer either anarchy or
licentiousness, in that high degree of pros
perity which would be the consequence of
such a government, in that, in short, which
the constitution of 1789 would have insured
it, if wisdom could have stayed at that point
the fervid but imprudent zeal of men, who
did not know the character of their own
countrymen. — To MADAME DE STAEL. vi, 120.
(May 1813.)
4677. LIBERTY, Free Press and.— The
functionaries of every government have pro
pensities to command at will the liberty and
property of their constituents. There is no
safe deposit for these but with the people
themselves; nor can they be safe with them
without information. Where the press is free,
and every man able to read, all is safe. — To
CHARLES YANCEY. vi, 517. FORD ED., x, 4.
(M., 1816.)
4678. LIBERTY, Trench Revolution
and. — The success of the French Revolution
will ensure the progress of liberty in Europe,
and its preservation here. — To EDMUND PEN-
DLETON. FORD EDV v, 358. (Pa., 1791.)
4679. . The liberty of the whole
earth was depending on the issue of the con
test, and was ever such a prize won with so
little innocent blood?— To WILLIAM SHORT.
iii, 502. FORD ED.; vi, 154. (Pa., 1793.)
4680. . I continue eternally at
tached to the principles of your [French]
Revolution. I hope it will end in the estab
lishment of some firm government, friendly
to liberty, and capable of maintaining it. If
it does, the world will become inevitably free.
— To J. P. BRISSOT DE WARVILLE. FORD ED.,
vi, 249. (Pa., 1793.)
4681. LIBERTY, Gift of God.— All men
* * * are endowed by their Creator with
inherent* and inalienable rights. Among
these * * * [is] liberty. — DECLARATION OF
INDEPENDENCE AS DRAWN BY JEFFERSON.
4682. . Can the liberties of a
nation be thought secure when we have re
moved their only firm basis, a conviction in
the minds of the people that these liberties
are of the gift of God?— NOTES ON VIRGINIA.
viii, 404. FORD ED., iii, 267. (1782.)
4683. LIBERTY, Government and. —
The natural progress of things is for liberty
to yield and government to gain ground. — To
EDWARD CARRINGTON. ii, 404. FORD ED., v,
20. (P., 1788.)
4684. . The policy of the Ameri
can government is to leave their citizens free,
neither restraining nor aiding them in their
pursuits.— To M. L'HOMMANDE. ii, 236. (P.,
1787.)
4685. . The freedom and happi
ness of man * * * are the sole objects of
all legitimate government. — To GENERAL
KOSCIUSKO. v, 50. (M., 1810.)
* Congress struck out
; certain".— EDITOR.
inherent" and inserted
4686. LIBERTY, Happiness and.— It is
pur glory that we first put the ball of liberty
into motion, and our happiness that, being
foremost, we had no bad examples to fol
low. — To TENCH COXE. FORD ED., vii, 22.
(M., 1795.)
4687. LIBERTY, Kosciusko and.— Gen
eral Kosciusko is as pure a son of liberty as
I have ever known, and of that liberty which
is to go to all, and not to the few or the rich
alone. — To HORATIO GATES, iv, 212. FORD ED.,
vii, 204. (Pa., 1798.)
4688. LIBERTY, Life and.— The God
who gave us life, gave us liberty at the same
time: the hand of force may destroy, but it
cannot disjoin them.* — RIGHTS OF BRITISH
AMERICA, i, 142. FORD ED., i, 447. (1774.)
4689. LIBERTY, Light and.— Light and
liberty go together. — To TENCH COXE. FORD
ED., vii, 22. (M., 1795.)
4690. . I will not believe our la
bors are lost. I shall not die without a hope
that light and liberty are on steady advance. —
To JOHN ADAMS, vii, 217. (M., 1821.)
4691. LIBERTY, Love of.— The commo
tions in Massachusetts! are a proof that the
people love liberty, and I could not wish
them less than they have. — To EZRA STILES.
ii, 77. (P., 1786.)
4692. LIBERTY, Napoleon and.— If the
hero [Napoleon] who has saved you from a
combination of enemies, shall also be the
means of giving you as great a portion of
liberty as the opinions, habits and character of
the nation are prepared for, progressive prep
aration may fit you for progressive portions
of that first of blessings, and you may in
time attain what we erred in supposing could
be hastily seized and maintained, in the
present state of political information among
your citizens at large. — To M. CABANIS. iv,
496. (W., 1803.)
4693. LIBERTY, Natural.— Under the
law of nature, we are all born free. — LEGAL
ARGUMENT. FORD ED., i, 380. (1770.)
4694. LIBERTY, No easy road to. —
We are not to expect to be translated from
despotism to liberty in a feather bed. — To
MARQUIS DE LAFAYETTE, iii, 132. FORD ED.,
v, 152. (N.Y., 1790.)
4695. . The ground of liberty is
to be gained by inches and we must be con
tented to secure what we can get, from time
to time, and eternally press forward for what
is yet to get. It takes time to persuade men
to do even what is for their own good. — To
REV. CHARLES CLAY, iii, 126. FORD ED., v, 142.
(M., 1790.)
4696. LIBERTY, Order and.— Possess
ing ourselves the combined blessing of liberty
and order, we wish the same to other coun
tries.— To M. CORAY. vii, 318. (M., 1823.)
* "Ab eo libertas, a quo spiritus" was the motto
on one of Jefferson's seals.— EDITOR.
t Shaysrs Rebellion.— EDITOR.
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Liberty
— LIBERTY, Personal. — See PERSONAL
LIBERTY.
4697. LIBERTY, Preservation of.— We
do then most solemnly, before God and the
world declare that, regardless of every con
sequence, at the risk of every distress, the
arms we have been compelled to assume we
will use with the perseverance, exerting to
their utmost energies all those powers which
our Creator hath given us, to preserve that
liberty which He committed to us in sacred
deposit and to protect from every hostile hand
our lives and our properties. — DECLARATION
ON TAKING UP ARMS. FORD ED., i, 474. (July
I775-)
4698. . I am convinced that, on
the good sense of the people, we may rely
with the most security for the preservation
of a due degree of liberty. — To JAMES MAD
ISON. FORD ED., iv, 480. (P., 1787.)
4699. - — . The people are the only
sure reliance for the preservation of our lib
erty.— To JAMES MADISON, ii, 332. (1787-)
4700. - — . The preservation of the
holy fire is confided to us by the world, and
the sparks which will emanate from it will
ever serve to rekindle it in other quarters
of the globe, Numinibus secundis. — To REV.
MR. KNOX. v, 503. (M., 1810.)
4701. LIBERTY, Preparation for.— A
full measure of liberty is not now perhaps
to be expected by your nation, nor am I con
fident they are prepared to preserve it. More
than a generation will be requisite, under the
administration of reasonable laws favoring
the progress of knowledge in the general mass
of the people, and their habituation to an
independent security of person and property,
before they will be capable of estimating the
value of freedom, and the necessity of a
sacred adherence to the principles on which
it rests for preservation. Instead of that lib
erty which takes root and growth in the
progress of reason, if recovered by mere
force or accident, it becomes, with an unpre
pared people, a tyranny still, of the many, the
few, or the one. — To MARQUIS LAFAYETTE.
vi, 421. FORD ED., ix, 505. (M., Feb. 1815.)
4702. LIBERTY, The Press and.— Our
liberty cannot be guarded but by the freedom
of the press, nor that be limited without
danger of losing it. — To JOHN JAY. FORD ED.,
iv, 186. (P., 1786.) See PRESS and NEWS
PAPERS.
4703. LIBERTY, Progress of.— I cor
dially wish well to the progress of liberty in
all nations, and would forever give it the
weight of our countenance. — To T. LOMAX.
iv, 301. FORD ED., vii, 374. (M., March 1799.)
4704. LIBERTY, Resistance and.—
What country can preserve its liberties if its
rulers are not warned from time to time that
the people preserve the spirit of resistance? —
To W. S. SMITH, ii, 318. FORD ED., iv, 467.
(P., 1787.) See REBELLION.
4705. LIBERTY, Restricted.— I had
hoped that Geneva was familiarized to such a
degree of liberty, that they might without
difficulty or danger fill up the measure to its
maximum; a term, which, though in the in
sulated man, bounded only by his natural
powers, must, in society, be so far restricted
as to protect himself against the evil passions
of his associates, and consequently, them
against him. — To M. D'!VERNOIS. iv, 114.
FORD ED., vii, 4. (M., Feb. 1795.)
4706. LIBERTY, Royalty and.— The
public liberty may be more certainly secured
by abolishing an office [royalty] which all ex
perience hath shown to be inveterately in
imical thereto. — PROPOSED VA. CONSTITUTION.
FORD ED., ii, 12. (June 1776.)
4707. . It is impossible for you
to conceive what is passing in our conclave,
and it is evident that one or two at least,
under pretence of avoiding war on the one
side, have no great antipathy to run foul of
it on the other, and to make a part in the
confederacy of princes against human liberty.
— To JAMES MADISON, iii, 563. FORD ED., vi,
261. (Pa., May 1793.)
4708. . I am not for * * *
joining in the confederacy of kings to war
against the principles of liberty. — To ELBRIDGE
GERRY, iv, 268. FORD ED., vii, 328. (Pa,
I799-)
4709. LIBERTY, Sacred.— For promoting
the public happiness, those persons whom na
ture has endowed with genius and virtue
should be rendered by liberal education
worthy to receive, and able to guard the
sacred deposit of the rights and liberties of
their fellow citizens; and they should be
called to that charge without regard to
wealth, birth, or other accidental condition or
circumstance. — DIFFUSION OF KNOWLEDGE
BILL. FORD ED., ii, 221. (1779.)
4710. . The most sacred cause
that ever man was engaged in.* — OPINION ON
THE " LITTLE SARAH ". ix, 155. FORD ED., vi,
344- (I793-)
4711. LIBERTY, Safeguards of.— I dis
approved from the first moment [in the new
Constitution] the want of a bill of rights, to
guard liberty against the legislative as well
as the executive branches of the government.
—To F. HOPKINSON. ii, 586. FORD ED., v,
76. (P., March 1789.)
4712. . To insure the safety of
the public liberty, its depository should be
subject to be changed with the greatest ease
possible, and without suspending or disturb
ing for a moment the movements of the
machine of government. — To M. DESTUTT
TRACY, v, 569. FORD ED., ix, 308. (M.,
1811.)
4713. LIBERTY, Science and virtue.—
Liberty is the great parent of science and of
virtue; and a nation will be great in both
in proportion as it is free.— To DR. WILLARD.
iii, 17. (P., 1789.)
* Jefferson was referring to the first French Re
public. —EDITOR.
Liberty
labrary
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
502
4714. . The general spread of the
light of science has already laid open to every
view the palpable truth, that the mass of man
kind has not been born with saddles on their
backs, nor a favored few booted and spurred,
ready to ride them legitimately, by the grace
of God.— To ROGER C. WEIGHTMAN. vii, 451.
FORD ED., x, 391. (M., 1826.)
4715. LIBERTY, Sea of.— The boisterous
sea of liberty is never without a wave. — To
RICHARD RUSH, vii, 182. (M., 1820.)
4716. LIBERTY, Security for.— We
agree particularly in the necessity of some
* * better security for civil liberty. — To
JOHN TAYLOR, iv, 259. FORD ED., vii, 309.
(M., 1798.)
4717. . Since, by the choice of
my constituents, I have entered on a second
term of administration, I embrace the oppor
tunity to give this public assurance, * * *
that I will zealously cooperate with you in
every measure which may tend to secure the
liberty, property, and personal safety of our
fellow citizens, and to consolidate the repub
lican forms and principles of our government.
— FIFTH ANNUAL MESSAGE, viii, 53. FORD
ED., viii, 396. (Dec. 1805.)
4718. LIBERTY, Subversion of. — The
moderation and .virtue of a single character
have probably prevented this Revolution from
being closed, as most others have been, by
a subversion of that liberty it was intended
to establish. — To GENERAL WASHINGTON, i,
335. FORD ED., iii, 467. (A., 1784.)
4719. LIBERTY, Universal.— The ball
of liberty is now so v/ell in motion that it
will roll round the globe. — To TENCH COXE.
FORD ED., vii, 22. (M., 1795.)
4720. . I sincerely pray that all
the members of the human family may, in
the time prescribed by the Father of us all,
find themselves securely established in the
enjoyment of * * * liberty. — REPLY TO AD
DRESS, viii, 119. (1807.)
4721. . That we should wish to
see the people of other countries free, is as
natural, and at least as justifiable, as that one
king should wish to see the kings of other
countries maintained in their despotism. — To
ALBERT GALLATIN. vii, 78. FORD EDV x, 90.
(M., 1817.)
4722. LIBERTY vs. WEALTH.— What
a cruel reflection that a rich country cannot
long be a free one. — TRAVELS IN FRANCE, ix,
319. (1787.)
4723. LIBRARY, Circulating.— Nothing
would do more extensive good at small ex
pense than the establishment of a small circu
lating library in every county. — To JOHN
WYCHE. v, 448. (M., 1809.)
4724. LIBERTY, Founding.— There
shall be paid out of the treasury [of Virginia]
every year the sum of two thousand pounds,
to be laid out in such books and maps as may
be proper to be preserved in a public library;
which library shall be established at the town
of Richmond. — PUBLIC LIBRARY BILL. FORD
ED., ii, 236. (I799-)
4725. LIBRARY, Free.— No person shall
remove any book or map out of the library;
but the same [may] be made use
ful by indulging the researches of the learned
and curious, within the said library, with
out fee or reward. — PUBLIC LIBRARY BILL.
FORD ED., ii, 236. (1799.)
4726. LIBRARY, Jefferson's.— You
know my collection, its condition and extent.
I have been fifty years making it, and have
spared^ no pains, opportunity or expense, to
make it what it is. While residing in Paris,
I devoted every afternoon I was disengaged,
for a summer or two, in examining all the
principal book stores, turning over every book
with my own hand, and putting by everything
which related to America, and indeed whatever
was rare and valuable in every science. Be
sides this, I had standing orders during the
whole time I was in Europe, on its principal
book-marts, particularly Amsterdam, Frankfort,
Madrid and London, for such works relating to
America as could not be found in Paris. So
that in that department particularly, such a col
lection was made as probably can never again
be effected, because it is "hardly probable that
the same opportunities, the same time, industry,
perseverance and expense, with some knowledge
of the bibliography of the subject, would again
happen to be in concurrence. During the same
period, and after my return to America, I was
led to procure, also, whatever related to the
duties of those in the high concerns of the na
tion. So that the collection, which I suppose
is of between nine and ten thousand volumes,
while it includes what is chiefly valuable in
science and literature generally, extends more
particularly to whatever belongs to the Ameri
can Statesman. In the diplomatic and parlia
mentary branches, it is particularly full. — To
S. H. SMITH, vi, 383. FORD ED., ix, 486.
(M., Sep. 1814.)
4727. LIBRARY, Sale to Congress. — It
is long since I have been sensible it ought not
to continue private property, and had provided
that at my death, Congress should have the
refusal of it at their own price. But the loss
they have now incurred, makes the present the
proper moment for their accommodation, with
out regard to the small remnant of time and
the barren use of my enjoying it. I ask of your
friendship, therefore, to make for me the tender
of it to the Library Committee of Congress, not
knowing myself of whom the Committee con
sists. Nearly the whole are well bound, abun
dance of them elegantly, and of the choicest
editions existing. They may be valued by
persons named by themselves, and the payment
made convenient to the public. * * * I do
not know that it contains any branch of science
which Congress would wish to exclude from
their collection ; there is, in fact, no subject to
which a member of Congress may not have oc
casion to refer. But such a wish would not
correspond with my views of preventing its dis
memberment. My desire is either to place it
in their hands entire, or to preserve it so
here.* — To S. H. SMITH, vi, 384. FORD ED.,
ix, 486. (M., Sep. 1814.) See 1133.
4728. . The arrangement [of the
library at Monticello] is as follows: i. Ancient
* Jefferson's library was purchased by the United
States Government for the use of Congress. The
price paid was $23,950. — EDITOR.
503
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Lies
Life
History. 2. Modern do. 3. Physics. 4. Nat.
Hist, proper. 5. Technical Arts. 6. Ethics.
7. Jurisprudence. 8. Mathematics. 9. Garden
ing, architecture, sculpture, painting, music,
poetry. 10. Oratory, n. Criticism. 12. Poly-
graphical. — To JAMES OGILVIE. FORD ED., viii,
418. (W., 1806.)
4729. LIES, Circulating.— There is an
enemy somewhere endeavoring to sow dis
cord among us. Instead of listening first,
then doubting, and lastly believing anile tales
handed round without an atom of evidence,
if my friends will address themselves to me
directly, as you have done, they shall be in
formed with frankness and thankfulness. — To
WILLIAM DUANE. iv, 590. FORD ED., viii, 431.
(W., 1806.)
4730. LIES, Fearless of.— The man who
fears no truths has nothing to fear from lies.
— To DR. GEORGE LOGAN. FORD ED., x, 27.
(M., 1816.)
4731. LIES, Tolly of.— It is of great
importance to set a resolution, not to be
shaken, never to tell an untruth. There is
no vice so mean, so pitiful, so contemptible;
and he who permits himself to tell a lie once,
finds it much easier to do it a second and
third time, till at length it becomes habitual;
he tells lies without attending to it, and
truths without the world's believing him.
This falsehood of the tongue leads to that of
the heart, and in time depraves all its good
dispositions. — To PETER CARR. i, 396. (P.,
1785.)
4732. LIES, Newspaper. — There was an
enthusiasm towards us all over Europe at
the moment of the peace. The torrent of lies
published unremittingly in every day's Lon
don papers first made an impression and pro
duced a coolness. The republication of these
lies in most of the papers of Europe (done
probably by authority of the governments to
discourage emigrations), carried them home
to the belief of every mind. They supposed
everything in America was anarchy, tumult
and civil war. The reception of the Marquis
Lafayette gave a check to these ideas. — To
JAMES MADISON, i, 413. (P., 1785.)
4733. . It has been so impossible
to contradict all their lies, that I have de
termined to contradict none; for while I
should be engaged with one, they would pub
lish twenty new ones. Thirty years of public
life have enabled most of those who read
newspapers to judge of one for themselves. —
To JAMES MONROE. FORD ED., vii, 448.
(Ep., May 1800.)
4734. LIES, Political.— Were I to buy off
every federal lie by a sacrifice of two or three
thousand dollars, a very few such purchases
would make me as bankrupt in reputation as
in fortune. To buy off one lie is to give a
premium for the invention of others. From
the moment I was proposed for my present
office, the volumes of calumny and falsehood
issued to the public, rendered impracticable
every idea of going into the work of finding
and proving. I determined, therefore, to go
straight forward in what was right, and to
rest my character with my countrymen not on
depositions and affidavits, but on what they
should themselves witness, the course of my
life. I have had no reason to be dissatisfied
with the confidence reposed in the public; on
the contrary, great encouragement to perse
vere in it to the end. — To WILLIAM A. BUR-
WELL. FORD ED., ix, 229. (W., 1808.)
4735. . Many of the [federal]
lies would have required only a simple de
nial, but I saw that even that would have led
to the infallible inference, that whatever I
had not denied was to be presumed true. I
have, therefore, never done even this, but to
such of my friends as happen to converse on
these subjects, and I have never believed that
my character could hang upon every two
penny lie of our common enemies.— To WILL
IAM A. BUR WELL. FORD ED., ix, 230. (W.,
1808.)
4736. . The federalists, instead
of lying me down, have lied themselves down.
— To WILLIAM A. BURWELL. FORD ED., ix,
230. (W., 1808.)
4737. LIES, Useless.— I consider it al
ways useless to read lies. — To DE WITT CLIN
TON, iv, 520. (W., 1803.)
4738. LIFE, Art of .—The art of life is the
art of avoiding pain ; and he is the best pilot
who steers clearest of the rocks and shoals
with which it is beset. — To MRS. COSWAY. ii,
37. FORD ED., iv, 317. (P., 1786.)
4739. LIFE, Chronicles of.— Fifteen vol
umes of anecdotes and incidents, within the
compass of my own time and cognizance,
written by a man of genius, of taste, of point,
an acquaintance, the measure and traverses of
whose mind I know, could not fail to turn the
scale in favor of life during their perusal. — To
JOHN ADAMS, vii, 27. (M., 1816.)
4740. LIFE, City.— A city life offers
: more means of dissipating time, but
more frequent also and more painful objects
of vice and wretchedness. New York, for ex
ample, like London seems to be a cloacina
of all the depravities of human nature. Phil
adelphia doubtless has its share. Here [Vir
ginia], on the contrary, crime is scarcely
heard of, breaches of order rare, and our
societies, if not refined, are rational, moral
and affectionate at least. — To WILLIAM
SHORT, vii, 310. (M., 1823.)
4741. LIFE, Declining.— I endeavor to
beguile the wearisomeness of declining life by
the delights of classical reading and of
mathematical truths, and by the consolations
of a sound philosophy, equally indifferent to
hope and fear. — To W. SHORT, vii, 140. FORD
ED., x, 145. (M., 1819.)
4742. LIFE, Enjoyment of.— I sincerely
pray that all the members of the human family
may, in the time prescribed by the Father of
us all, find themselves securely established in
the enjoyment of life, liberty and happiness. —
REPLY TO ADDRESS, viii, 119. (1807.)
Life
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
504
4743. LIFE, Government and. — The care
of human life and happiness, and not their
destruction, is the first and only legitimate
object of good government. — R. TO A. MARY
LAND CITIZENS, viii, 165. (1809.)
4744. LIFE, Happiness and.— The Giver
of life * * * gave it for happiness and not
for wretchedness. — To JAMES MONROE, i,
319. FORD ED., iii, 59. (M., 1782.)
4745. LIFE, Individual.— In a govern
ment bottomed on the will of all, the life
* * * of every individual citizen becomes
interesting to all. — FIFTH ANNUAL MESSAGE.
viii, 50. FORD ED., viii, 392. (1805.)
4746. LIFE, Jefferson's habits of.— I
am retired to Monticello, where, in the bosom
of my family, and surrounded by my books, I
enjoy a repose to which I have been long a
stranger. My mornings are devoted to cor
respondence. From breakfast to dinner, I am
in my shops, my garden, or on horseback among
my farms ; from dinner to dark, I give to so
ciety and recreation with my neighbors and
friends ; and from candle light to early bed
time, I read. My health is perfect ; and my
strength considerably reinforced by the activity
of the course I pursue ; perhaps it is as great as
usually falls to the lot of near sixty-seven years
of age. I talk of ploughs and harrows, of
seeding and harvesting, with my neighbors, and
of politics, too, if they choose, with as little re
serve as the rest of my fellow citizens, and
feel, at length, the blessing of being free to
say and do what I please, without being re
sponsible for it to any mortal. A part of my
occupation, and by no means the least pleasing,
is the direction of the studies of such young
men as ask it. They place themselves in the
neighboring village, and have the use of my
library and counsel, and make a part of my so
ciety. — To GENERAL KOSCIUSKO. v, 508. (M.,
1810.)
4747. . My present course of life
admits less reading than I wish. From break
fast, or noon at latest, to dinner, I am mostly
on horseback, attending to my farm or other
concerns, which I find healthful to my body.,
mind and affairs ; and the few hours I can pass
in my cabinet, are devoured by correspond
ences ; not those with my intimate friends,
with whom I delight to interchange sentiments,
but with others, who, writing to me on concerns
of their own in which I have had an agency,
or from motives of mere respect and approba
tion, are entitled to be answered with respect
and a return of good will. My hope is that
this obstacle to the delights of retirement, will
wear away with the oblivion which follows
that, and that I may at length be indulged in
those studious pursuits, from which nothing
but revolutionary duties would ever have called
me. — To DR. BENJAMIN RUSH, v, 558. FORD
ED., ix, 294. (M., 1811.)
4748. . I am on horseback three
or four hours of every day ; visit three or four
times a year a possession I have ninety miles
distant, performing the winter journey on
horseback. I walk little, however, a single mile
being too much for me, and I live in the midst
of my grandchildren, one of whom has lately
promoted me to be a great grandfather. — To
JOHN ADAMS, vi, 37. FORD ED., ix, 334. (M.,
1812.)
4749. . I have for fifty years
bathed my feet in cold water every morning,
and having been remarkably exempted from
colds (not having had one in every seven years
of my life on an average), I have supposed it
might be ascribed to that practice. — To MR.
MAURY. vi, 472. (M., 1815.)
4750. . The request of the his
tory of my physical habits would have puzzled
me not a little, had it not been for the model
with which you accompanied it, of Doctor
Rush's answer to a similar inquiry. I live so
much like other people, that I might refer to
ordinary life as the history of my own. *
I have lived temperately, eating little animal
food, and that not as an aliment, so much as a
condiment for the vegetables which constitute
my principal diet. I double, however, the Doc
tor's glass and a half of wine, and even treble
it with a friend ; but halve its effects by drink
ing the weak wines only. The ardent wines I
cannot drink, nor do I use ardent spirits in
any form. Malt liquors and cider are my table
drinks, and my breakfast is of tea and coffee.
I have been blest with organs of digestion
which accept and concoct, without ever mur
muring, whatever the palate chooses to con
sign to them, and I have not yet lost a tooth by
age. I was a hard student until I entered on
the business of life, the duties of which leave
no idle time to those disposed to fulfil them;
and now, retired, and at the age of seventy-
six, I am again a hard student. Indeed, my
fondness for reading and study revolts me from
the drudgery of letter writing. And a stiff
wrist, the consequence of an early dislocation,
makes writing both slow and painful. I am
not so regular in my sleep as the Doctor says
he was, devoting to it from five to eight hours,
according as my company or the book I am
reading interests me ; and I never go to bed
without an hour, or half hour's previous read
ing of something moral, whereon to ruminate
in the intervals of sleep. But whether I re
tire to bed early or late, I rise with the sun.
I use spectacles at night, but not necessarily in
the day, unless in reading small print. My
hearing is distinct in particular conversation,
but confused when several voices cross each
other, which unfits me for the society of the
table. I have been more fortunate than my
friend in the article of health. So free from
catarrhs that I have not had one (in the breast,
I mean) on an average of eight or ten years
through life. I ascribe this exemption partly
to the habit of bathing my feet in cold water
every morning, for sixty years past. A fever
of more than twenty-four hours I have not had
above two or three times in my life. A period
ical headache has afflicted me occasionally, once,
perhaps, i i six or eight years, for two or three
weeks at a time., which now seems to have left
me ; and except on a late occasion of indis
position, I enjoy good health ; too feeble, in
deed, to walk much, but riding without fatigue
six or eight miles a day, and sometimes thirty or
forty. I may end these egotisms, therefore, as
I began, by saying that my life has been so
much like that of other people^ that I might say
with Horace, to every one " nomine mutato,
de te fabula narratur". — To DOCTOR VINE
UTLEY. vii, 116. FORD ED., x, 125. (M.,
1819.)
4751. LIFE, Liberty and.— The God who
gave us life gave us liberty at the same time ;
the hand of force may destroy, but cannot
disjoin them.*— RIGHTS OF BRITISH AMERICA.
i, 142. FORD ED., i, 447. (i774-)
* "Ab eo liber tas, a quo spiritus ," was the motto on
one of Jefferson's seals.— EDITOR.
505
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Life
4752. LIFE, Order and.— The life of a
citizen is never to be endangered, but as the
last melancholy effort for the maintenance of
order and obedience to the laws.* — CIRCULAR
LETTER TO STATE GOVERNORS, v, 414. FORD EDV
ix, 238. (W., 1809.)
4753. LIFE, Outdoor.— During the pleas
ant season, I am always out of doors, em
ployed, not passing more time at my writing
table than will dispatch my current business.
But when the weather becomes cold, I shall
go out but little. — To JOEL BARLOW, v, 476.
FORD ED., ix, 263. (M., 1809.)
4754. LIFE, Pledge of.— And for the sup
port of this Declaration,! we mutually pledge
to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our
sacred honor. — DECLARATION OF INDEPEND
ENCE AS DRAWN BY JEFFERSON.
4755. . It is from the support
ers of regular government only that the pledge
of life, fortune and honor is worthy of con
fidence. — R. TO A. PHILADELPHIA CITIZENS.
viii, 145. (1809.)
— LIFE, Private.— See PRIVATE LIFE.
4756. LIFE, Prolonged.— My health has
been always so uniformly firm, that I have for
some years dreaded nothing so much as the
living too long. I think, however, that a flaw
has appeared which ensures me against that,
without cutting short any of the period during
which I could expect to remain capable of
being useful. It will probably give me as many
years as I wish, and without pain or debility.
Should this be the case, my most anxious
prayers will have been fulfilled by Heaven.
* * * My florid health is calculated to keep
my friends as well as foes quiet, as they should
be. — To DR. BENJAMIN RUSH, iv, 426. FORD
ED., viii, 128. (W., 1801.)
4757. - — . The most undesirable of
all things is long life ; and there is nothing I
have ever so much dreaded. — To DR. BENJAMIN
WATERHOUSE. FORD ED., x, 336. (M., 1825.)
4758. LIFE, Reliving.— You ask, if I
would agree to live my seventy or rather sev
enty-three years over again? To which I say,
yea. I think with you, that it is a good world
on the whole ; that it has been framed on a
principle of benevolence, and more pleasure
than pain dealt out to us. There are, indeed,
(who might say nay) gloomy and hypochondriac
minds, inhabitants of diseased bodies, disgusted
with the present, and despairing of the future ;
always counting that the worst will happen,
because it may happen. To these I say, how
much pain have cost us the evils which have
never happened ! My temperament is sanguine.
I steer my bark with Hope in the head, leaving
Fear in the stern. My hopes, indeed, sometimes
fail ; but not oftener than the forebodings of
the gloomy. There are, I acknowledge, even in
the happiest life, some terrible convulsions,
heavy set-offs against the opposite page of the
account. — To JOHN ADAMS, vi, 575. (Mv
April 1816.)
4759. . Putting to myself your
question, would I agree to live my seventy-
* The letter was in reference to the employment of
the militia to enforce the Embargo law. — EDITOR.
t Congress inserted after " Declaration " the words,
14 with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine
Providence ".—EDITOR.
three years over again forever? I hesitate to
say. With Chew's limitations from twenty-five
to sixty, I would say yes ; and I might go
further back^ but not come lower down. For,
at the latter period, with most of us, the powers
of life are sensibly on the wane ; sight becomes
dim, hearing dull, memory constantly enlarging
its frightful blank and parting with all we have
ever seen or known, spirits evaporate, bodily
debility creeps on palsying every limb, and so
faculty after faculty quits us, and where, then, is
life? If, in its full vigor, of good as well as
evil, your friend Vassall could doubt its value,
it must be purely a negative quantity when its
evils alone remain. Yet I do not go into his
opinion entirely. I do not agree that an age
of pleasure is no compensation for a moment
of pain. I think, with you, that life is a fair
matter of account, and the balance often, nay
generally, in its favor. It is not indeed easy,,
by calculation of intensity and time, to apply a
common measure, or to fix the par between
pleasure and pain ; yet it exists, and is measur
able. — To JOHN ADAMS, vii, 26. (M., Aug.
1816.)
4760. - _. You tell me my grand
daughter repeated to you an expression of mine,
that I should be willing to go again over the
scenes of past life. I should not be unwilling,
without, however wishing it; and why not? I
have enjoyed a greater share of health than
falls to the lot of most men ; my spirits have
never failed me except under those paroxysms
of grief which you, as well as myself, have ex
perienced in every form, and with good health
and good spirits, the pleasures surely outweigh
the pains of life. Why not, then, taste them
again, fat and lean together ? Were I indeed
permitted to cut off trom the train the last
seven years, the balance would be much in
favor of treading the ground over again. Being
at that period in the neighborhood of our warm
springs and well in health, I wished to be
better, and tried them. They destroyed, in a
great measure, my internal organism, and I
have never since had a moment of perfect
health. — To JOHN ADAMS, vii, 421. FORD ED.,
x, 347. (M., 1825.)
4761. LIFE, Bight to.— We hold these
truths to be self-evident: that all men are
created equal ; that they are endowed by their
Creator with inherent* and inalienable rights ;
that among these are life, liberty and the
pursuit of happiness. — DECLARATION OF INDE
PENDENCE AS DRAWN BY JEFFERSON.
4762. LIFE, Security of.— In no portion
of the earth were life, liberty and property
ever so securely held; and it is with infinite
satisfaction that withdrawing from the active
scenes of life, I see the sacred design of these
blessings committed to those who are sensi
ble of their value and determined to defend
them.— R. TO A. VIRGINIA ASSEMBLY, viii,
148. (1809.)
4763. LIFE, Social.— Life is of no value
but as it brings us gratifications. Among
the most valuable of these is rational society.
It informs the mind, sweetens the temper,
cheers our spirits, and promotes health. — To
JAMES MADISON. FORD ED., iii, 406. (A,
1784.)
4764. LIFE, Sunshine in.— Thanks to a
benevolent arrangement of things, the greater
* Congress struck out " inherent and " and inserted
" certain".— EDITOR.
Life
Livingston (Robert R.)
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
506
part of life is sunshine. — To MRS. COSWAY.
ii, 39. FORD ED., iv, 319. (P., 1786.)
4765. LIFE, Worthy.— I cannot be in
sensible to the partiality which has induced
several persons to think my life worthy of re
membrance. And towards none more than
yourself, who give me so much credit, more
than I am entitled to, as to what has been ef
fected for the safeguard of our republican Con
stitution. Numerous and able coadjutors have
participated in these efforts, and merit equal
notice. My life, in fact, has been so much
like that of others, that their history is my
history with a mere difference of feature. — To
MR. SPAFFORD. vii, 118. (M., 1819.)
4766. LIFE INT PARIS.— I often wish
myself among my lazy and hospitable country
men, as I am here [Paris] burning the candle
of life without present pleasure, or future ob
ject. A dozen or twenty years ago, this scene
would have amused me, but I am past the age
for changing habits. — To MRS. TRIST. FORD
ED., iv, 330. (P., 1786.)
4767. LINCOLN (Levi), Bar.— The pure
integrity, unimpeachable conduct, talents and
republican firmness of Lincoln* leave him now
entirely without a rival. He is not thought an
able common lawyer. But there is not and
never was an abler one in the New England
States. Their system is sui generis in which
the Common law is little attended to. Lincoln
is one of the ablest in their system, and it is
among them he is to exercise the great portion
of his duties. Nothing is more material than
to complete the reformation of the government
by this appointment which may truly be said
to be putting the keystone into the arch. — To
ATTORNEY GENERAL RODNEY, v, 547. (1810.)
4768. LINCOLN (Levi), Bench.— I was
overjoyed when I heard you were appointed to
the Supreme Bench of national justice, and as
much mortified when I heard you had declined
it. You are too young to be entitled to with
draw your services from your country. You
cannot yet number the quadraginta stipendia
of the veteran. — To LEVI LINCOLN, vi, 8.
(M., Aug. 1811.)
4769. LINCOLN (Levi), Congress.—
There is good reason to believe that Levi Lin
coln will be elected to Congress in Massachu
setts. He will be a host in himself ; being un
doubtedly the ablest and most respectable man
of the Eastern States. — To JAMES MADISON.
FORD ED., vii, 457. (M., Sep. 1800.)
4770. LITERARY MEN, Relief of.—
The efforts for the relief of literary men, made
by a society of private citizens, are truly laud
able ; but they are * * * but a palliation
of an evil, the cure of which calls for all the
wisdom and the means of the nation. — To
DAVID WILLIAMS, v, 512. (W., 1803.)
4771. LITERATURE, Growth of.— Lit
erature is not yet a distinct profession with us.
Now and then a strong mind arises, and at its
intervals of leisure from business, emits a flash
of light. But the first object of young societies
is bread and covering ; science is but secondary
and subsequent. — To j. EVELYN DENISON. vii,
418. (M., 1825.)
* Levi Lincoln, of Massachusetts, who was Attor
ney General in Jefferson's first Cabinet. The extract
is from a letter urging his appointment to the Su
preme Court Bench to succeed Judge Cushing. Lin
coln was nominated and confirmed, but declined.
John Quincy Adams was then nominated, but he de
clined. The vacancy was then filled by the appoint
ment of Judge Story.— EDITOR.
4772. LITTLEPAGE (Lewis), Polish
Off ice-holder.— Littlepage has succeeded well
in Poland. He has some office, it is said, worth
five hundred guineas a year. To DR. CURRIE.
ii, 219. (P., 1787.)
4773. LITTLEPAGE (Lewis), Russian
army officer.— Littlepage, who was in Paris
as a secret agent for the King of Poland, rather
overreached himself. He wanted more money.
The King furnished it more than once. Still
he wanted more, and thought to obtain a high
bid by saying he was called for in America,
and asking leave to go there. Contrary to his
expectation, he received leave ; but he went to
Warsaw instead of America, and thence to join
the Russian army. — To JAMES MADISON, ii,
444. FORD ED., v, 44. (P., 1788.)
4774. LIVINGSTON (Edward), Friend
ship for. — I receive Mr. Livingston's question
through you with kindness, and answer it with
out hesitation. He may be assured I have not
a spark of unfriendly feeling towards him. In
all the earlier scenes of life, we thought and
acted together. We differed in opinion after
wards on a single point. Each maintained his
opinion, as he had a right, and acted on it as
he ought. But why brood over a single differ
ence, and forget all our previous harmonies? —
To PRESIDENT MONROE. FORD ED., x, 298. (M..
1824.)
4775. LIVINGSTON (Edward), Louisi
ana Code. — Your work [Louisiana Code] will
certainly arrange your name with the sages of
antiquity. — To EDWARD LIVINGSTON, vii, 403.
(M., 1825.)
4776. LIVINGSTON (Edward), Res
toration. — It was with great pleasure I
learned that the good people of New Orleans
had restored you again to the councils of our
country. I did not doubt the aid it would
bring to the remains of our old school in
Congress, in which your early labors had been
so useful. — To EDWARD LIVINGSTON, vii, 342.
FORD ED., x, 299. (M., 1824.)
4777. LIVINGSTON (Robert R.), Chan
cellor. — A part of your [letter] gave me that
kind of concern which I fear I am destined
often to meet. Men possessing minds of the
first order, and who have had opportunities of
being known, and of acquiring the general con
fidence, do not abound in any country beyond
the wants of the country. In your case, how
ever, it is a subject of regret rather than of
complaint, as you are in fact serving the public
in a very important station. * — To ROBERT R.
LIVINGSTON. FORD ED., vii, 492. (W., Feb.
1801.)
4778. LIVINGSTON (Robert R.), Trench
Mission. — It has occurred to me that possibly
you might be willing to undertake the mission
as Minister Plenipotentiary to France. If so,
I shall most gladly avail the public of your
services in that office. Though I am sensible
of the advantages derived from your talent to
your particular State, yet I cannot suppress the
desire of adding them to the mass to be em
ployed on the broader scale of the nation at
large. — To ROBERT R. LIVINGSTON, iv, 360.
FORD ED., vii, 499. (W., 1801.)
4779. . You will find Chancellor
Livingston, named to the Senate the day after
I came into office as our Minister Plenipoten
tiary to France, * * * an able and honor-
Chancellor of New York.
507
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Loans
able man. He is, unfortunately, so deaf that
he will have to transact all his business by
writing. — To WILLIAM SHORT, iv, 415. FORD
ED., viii, 99. (W., 1801.)
4780. LOANS, Corruption and.—
[Among] the reasons against [a new loan] is
the apprehension that the [Hamilton] head
of the [Treasury] department means to pro
vide idle money to be lodged in the banks,
ready for the corruption of the next legisla
ture, as it is believed the late ones were cor
rupted, by gratifying particular members with
vast discounts for objects of speculation. —
LOAN OPINION, vii, 636. FORD ED., vi, 506.
(I793-)
4781. LOANS, Economy vs.— I learn
with great satisfaction that wholesome econ
omies have been found, sufficient to relieve
us from the ruinous necessity of adding an
nually to our debt by new loans. The deviser
of so salutary a relief deserves truly \ve\\ of
his country. — To SAMUEL SMITH, vii, 284.
FORD ED., x, 251. (M., 1823.)
4782. LOANS, Instructions respecting.
— I would take the liberty of suggesting the
insertion of some such clause as the following
into the instructions : " The agents to be em
ployed shall never open a loan for more than
one million of dollars at a time, nor open a
new loan till the preceding one has been filled,
and expressly approved by the President of
the United States." A new man, alighting
on the exchange of Amsterdam, with powers
to borrow twelve millions of dollars, will be
immediately beset with bankers and brokers,
who will pour into his ear, from the most
unsuspected quarters, such informations and
suspicions as may lead him exactly into their
snares. So wonderfully dexterous are they
in wrapping up and complicating their propo
sitions, that they will make it evident, even to
a clear-headed man (not in the habit of this
business), that two and two make five. The
agent, therefore, should be guarded, even
against himself, by putting it out of his power
to extend the effect of any erroneous calcula
tion beyond one million of dollars. Were he
able, under a delusive calculation, to commit
such a sum as twelve millions of dollars, what
would be said of the government? Our
bankers told me themselves that they would
not choose, in the conduct of this great loan,
to open for more than two or three millions
of florins at a time, and certainly never for
more than five. By contracting for only one
million of dollars at a time, the agent will
have frequent occasions of trying to better
the terms. I dare say that this caution,
though not expressed in the instructions, is
intended by the Secretary of the Treasury to
be carried into their execution. But, perhaps,
it will be desirable for the President, that his
sense of it also should be expressed in wri
ting. — OPINION ON FOREIGN DEBT, vii, 507.
FORD ED., v, 233. (1790.)
4783. LOANS, Limited.— Of the modes
which are within the limits of right, that of
raising within the year its whole expenses by
taxation, might be beyond the abilities of our
citizens to bear. It is, moreover, generally
desirable that the public contribution should
be as uniform as practicable from year to year,
that our habits of industry and expense may
become adapted to them; and that they may
be duly digested and incorporated with our
annual economy. There remains, then, for us
but the method of limited anticipation, the
laying taxes for a term of years within that
of our right, which may be sold for a present
sum equal to the expenses of the year; in
other words, to obtain a loan equal to the
expenses of the year, laying a tax adequate
to its interest, and to such a surplus as
will reimburse, by growing instalments, the
whole principle within the term. This is, in
fact, what has been called raising money on
the sale of annuities for years. In this way
a new loan, and of course a new tax, is req
uisite every year during the continuance of
the war; and should that be so long as to
produce an accumulation of tax beyond our
ability, in time of war the resource would
be an enactment of the taxes requisite to en
sure good terms, by securing the lender, with
a suspension of the payment of instalments
of principal and perhaps of interest also, until
the restoration of peace. This method of an
ticipating our taxes, or of borrowing on an
nuities for years, insures repayment to the
lender, guards the rights of posterity, pre
vents a perpetual alienation of the public con
tributions, and consequent destitution of every
resource even for the ordinary support of gov
ernment. — To J. W. EPPES. vi, 198. FORDED.,
ix, 398. (P.F., Sep. 1813.)
4784. LOANS, Negotiation of.— Dumas
has been in the habit of sending his letters
open to me, to be forwarded to Mr. Jay.
During my absence they passed through Mr.
Short's hands, who made extracts from them,
by which I see he has been recommending
himself and me for the money negotiations
in Holland. It might be thought, perhaps,
that I have encouraged him in this. Be as
sured that no such idea ever entered my
head. On the contrary, it is a business which
would be the most disagreeable to me of all
others, and for which I am the most unfit per
son living. I do not understand bargaining,
nor possess the dexterity requisite for the
purpose. On the other hand, Mr. Adams,
whom I expressly and sincerely recommend,
stands already on ground for that business
which I could not gain in years. Pray set me
to rights in the minds of those who may have
supposed me privy to this proposition. — To
JAMES MADISON, ii, 154. FORD ED., iv, 393.
(P., !;87.)
4785. LOANS, Power to negotiate.—
Though much an enemy to the system of bor
rowing, yet I feel strongly the necessity of
preserving the power to borrow. Without
this we might be overwhelmed by another na
tion, merely by the force of its credit. — To
THE TREASURY COMMISSIONERS, ii, 353. (P.,
1788.)
4786. . I wish it were possible
to obtain a single amendment to our Constitu-
Loans
Logarithms
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
508
tion. I would be willing to depend on that
alone for the reduction of the administration
of our government to the genuine principles
of its Constitution; I mean an additional
article, taking from the Federal Government
the power of borrowing. I now deny their
power of making paper money, or anything
else, a legal tender. I know that to pay all
proper expenses within the year, would, in
case of war, be hard on us. But not so hard
as ten wars instead of one. For wars could
be reduced in that proportion ; besides that the
State governments would be free to lend
their credit in borrowing quotas.— To JOHN
TAYLOR, iv, 260. FORD ED., vii, 310. (M.,
Nov. 1798.)
4787. LOANS, Redeeming taxes for.—
Our government has not, as yet, begun to act
on the rule of loans and taxation going hand
in hand. Had any loan taken place in my
time, I should have strongly urged a redeem
ing tax. For the loan which has been made
since the last session of Congress, we should
now set the example of appropriating some
particular tax, sufficient to pay the interest
annually, and the principal within a fixed
term, less than nineteen years. I hope your
self and your committee will render the im
mortal service of introducing this practice. —
To JOHN W. EPPES. vi, 138. FORD ED., ix,
391. (M., June 181-3.) See GENERATIONS.
4788. LOANS, Treasury Notes vs.— The
question will be asked and ought to be looked
at, what is to be the resource if loans cannot
be obtained ? There is but one, " Carthago
delenda est". Bank paper must be sup
pressed, and the circulating medium must be
restored to the nation to whom it belongs.
It is the only fund on which they can rely
for loans; it is the only resource which can
never fail them, and it is an abundant one
for every necessary purpose. Treasury bills,
bottomed on taxes, bearing or not bearing in
terest, as may be found necessary, thrown
into circulation will take the place of so much
gold and silver, which last, when crowded,
will find an efflux into other countries, and
thus keep the quantum of medium at its salu
tary level. — To J. W. EPPES. vi, 199. FORD
ED., ix, 399. (Sep. 1813.)
4789. LOANS, Unauthorized.— The ma
noeuvre of opening a loan of three millions
of florins, has, on the whole, been useful to
the United States, and though unauthorized,
I think should be confirmed.— OPINION ON
FOREIGN DEBT, vii, 507. FORD ED., v, 232.
(1790.)
— LOCKE (John). — See GOVERNMENT,
WORKS ON.
4790. LOGAN (George), France and.—
That your efforts did much towards preventing
declared war with France, I am satisfied. Of
those with England, I am not equally informed.
— To DR. GEORGE LOGAN, vi, 215. FORD ED.,
ix, 421. (M., Oct. 1813.)
4791. . Dr. Logan, about a
fortnight ago, sailed for Hamburg. Though
for a twelvemonth past he had been intending
to go to Europe as soon as he could get money
enough to carry him there, yet when he had
accomplished this, and fixed a time for going,
he very unwisely made a mystery of it ; so that
his disappearance without notice excited con
versation. This was seized by the war hawks,
and given out as a secret mission from the Ja
cobins here to solicit an army from France,-
instruct them as to their landing, &c. This
extravagance produced a real panic among the
citizens; and happening just when Bache pub
lished Talleyrand's letter, Harper * * *
gravely announced to the House of Representa
tives, that there existed a traitorous correspond
ence between the Jacobins here and the
French Directory ; that he had got hold of some
threads and clews of it, and would soon be able
to develop the whole. This increased the
alarm ; their libellists immediately set to work,
directly and indirectly to implicate whom they
pleased. " Porcupine " gave me a principal share
in it, as I am told, for I never read his papers.
— To JAMES MADISON, iv, 250. FORD ED., vii,
273. (Pa., June 1798.)
4792. LOGAN (Mingo Chief), Murder
of- — In the spring of the year 1774, a robbery
and murder _ were committed on an inhabitant
of the frontier of Virginia, by two Indians of
the Shawnee tribe. The neighboring whites,
according to their custom, undertook to punish
this outrage in a summary way. Col. [Michael]
Cresap, a man infamous for the many murders
he had committed on those much injured people,
collected a party and proceeded down the Ka-
nawha in quest of vengeance. Unfortunately a
canoe of women and children, with one man
only, was seen coming from the opposite shore,
unarmed, and unsuspecting a hostile attack from
the whites. Cresap and his party concealed
themselves on the bank of the river, and the
moment the canoe reached the shore, singled out
their objects, and at one fire, killed every person
in it. This happened to be the family of Logan,
who had long been distinguished as a friend
of the whites. This unworthy return provoked
his vengeance. He accordingly signalized him
self in the war which ensued. In the autumn
of the same year a decisive battle was fought
at the mouth of the Great Kanawha between
the collected forces of the Shawnees, Mingoes
and Delawares, and a detachment of the Vir
ginia militia. The Indians were defeated and
sued for peace. Logan, however, disdained to
be seen among the suppliants. But lest the
sincerity of a treaty should be distrusted, from
which so distinguished a chief absented him
self, he sent, by a messenger, the following
speech * to be delivered to Lord Dunmore
. — NOTES ON VIRGINIA, viii, 308.
FORD ED., iii, 156. (1782.)
4793. LOGAN (Mingo Chief), Speech
of. — I may challenge the whole orations of
Demosthenes and Cicero, and of any other emi
nent orator, if Europe has furnished more
eminent, to produce a single passage, superior
to the speech of Logan. — NOTES ON VIRGINIA.
viii, 308. FORD ED., iii, 155. (1782.)
- LOGARITHMS.— See MOUNTAINS.
* The speech referred to is the celebrated one be
ginning, " I appeal to any white man to say, if he
ever entered Logan's cabin hungry, and he gave him
not to eat ", &c. Jefferson cited it among other
proofs in refutation of the theories of Count de Buf-
fon, Raynal and others, respecting the degeneracy
of animals in America, not even excepting1 man.
Luther Martin, of Maryland, a son-in-law of Cresap,
severely attacked Jefferson in defence of the memory
of his relative, and questioned the authenticity of
Logan's speech. Jefferson made a careful investiga
tion of the whole case, and proved the speech to be
genuine.— EDITOR.
509
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
London
Louisiana
4794. LONDON, Beauty.— The city of
London, though handsomer than Paris, is not
so handsome as Philadelphia. — To JOHN PAGE.
i, 549. FORD ED., iv, 214. (P., 1786.)
4795. LONDON, Burning of.— She [Eng
land] may burn New York * * * by her
ships and congreve rockets, in which case we
must burn the city of London by hired in
cendiaries, of which her starving manufacturers
will furnish abundance. A people in such des
peration as to demand of their government
aut pattern, ant furcam. either bread or the gal
lows, will not reject the same alternative when
offered by a foreign hand. Hunger will make
them brave every risk for bread. — To GENERAL
KOSCIUSKO. vi, 68. FORD ED., ix, 362. (June 1812.)
4796. LONDON, Splendor of shops.— The
splendor of the shops is all that is worth look
ing at in London. — To MADAME DE CORNY, ii,
161. (P., 1787.)
_ LONGITUDE.— See LATITUDE AND LON
GITUDE.
- LOOMING.— See MIRAGE.
4797. LOTTERY, "[Inadvisable.— Having
myself made it a rule never to engage in a lot
tery or any other adventure of mere chance, I
can, with the less candor or effect, urge it on
others, however laudable or desirable its object
may be. — To HUGH L. WHITE, v, 521. (M.,
1810.) See 2005.
4798. LOUISIANA, Acquisition of.—
Congress witnessed, at their last session, the
extraordinary agitation produced in the pub
lic mind by the suspension of our right of
deposit at the port of New Orleans, no as
signment of another place having been made
according to treaty.* They were sensible
that the continuance of that privation would
be more injurious to our nation than any con
sequences which could flow from any mode
of redress, but reposing just confidence in the
good faith of the government whose officer
had committed the wrong, friendly and rea
sonable representations were resorted to, and
the right of deposit was restored. Previous,
however, to this period, we had not been un
aware of the danger to which our peace would
be perpetually exposed while so important a
key to the commerce of the western country
remained under foreign power. Difficulties,
too, were presenting themselves as to the nav
igation of other streams, which, arising with
in territories, pass through those adjacent.
Propositions had, therefore, been authorized
for obtaining, on fair conditions, the sover
eignty of New Orleans, and of other posses
sions in that quarter interesting to our quiet,
* Spain, on October i, 1800, ceded all Louisiana to
France, but the transaction was kept so secret that it
did not become known in the United States until the
spring of 1802. In October of that year, the Spanish
Intendant at New Orleans issued an order, in viola
tion of treaty stipulations, depriving the United
States of the right of deposit at that port. This act
so inflamed the Western people that they threatened
to march on New Orleans and settle the question by
force of arms. The federalists clamored for war. In
this perilous condition of affairs, Congress, in secret
session, placed two million dollars at the disposal of
the President, to be used as he saw fit, and left him
free to deal with the situation. He immediately-sent
James Monroe as Minister Plenipotentiary to Paris,
joining with him in a high Commission Robert R.
Livingston, Minister to France. The purchase of
Louisiana was negotiated by them.— EDITOR.
to such extent as was deemed practicable ;
and the provisional appropriation of two mil
lions of dollars, to be applied and accounted
for by the President of the United States,
intended as part of the price, was considered
as conveying the sanction of Congress to the
acquisition proposed. The enlightened Gov
ernment of France saw, with just discern
ment, the importance to both nations of such
liberal arrangements as might best and perma
nently promote the peace, friendship, and in
terests of both; and the property and sov
ereignty of all Louisiana, which had been re
stored to them, have on certain conditions
been transferred to the United States by in
struments bearing date the 3Oth of April last.
When these shall have received the constitu
tional sanction of the Senate, they will with
out delay be communicated to the Represent
atives also, for the exercise of their func
tions, as to those conditions which are within
the powers vested by the Constitution in
Congress. While the property and sover
eignty of the Mississippi and its waters se
cure an independent outlet for the produce
of the Western States, and an uncontrolled
navigation through their whole course, free
from collision with other powers and the
dangers to our peace from that source, the
fertility of the country, its climate and ex
tent, promise in due season important aids
to our treasury, an ample provision for our
posterity, and a wide-spread field for the
blessings of freedom and equal laws. With
the wisdom of Congress it will rest to take
those ulterior measures which may be neces
sary for the immediate occupation and tem
porary government of the country ; for its in
corporation into our Union ; for rendering the
change of government a blessing to our newly-
adopted brethren; for securing to them the
rights of conscience and of property ; for con
firming to the Indian inhabitants their occu
pancy and self-government, establishing
friendly and commercial relations with them,
and for ascertaining the geography of the
country acquired. — THIRD ANNUAL MESSAGE.
viii, 23. FORD ED., viii, 267. (October 17, 1803.)
4799. . The acquisition of Lou
isiana is a subject of mutual congratulation,
as it interests every man of the nation. — To
GENERAL HORATIO GATES, iv, 494. FORD ED.,
viii, 249. (W., 1803.)
4800. — — . This acquisition is seen
by our constituents in all its importance, and
they do justice to all those who have been in
strumental towards it. — To JAMES MONROE.
FORD ED., viii, 287. (W., Jan. 1804.)
4801. . On this important ac
quisition, so favorable to the immediate in
terests of our western citizens, so auspicious
to the peace and security of the nation in gen
eral, which adds to our country territories so
extensive and fertile, and to our citizens
new brethren to partake of the blessings of
freedom and self government, I offer to
Congress and the country, my sincere con
gratulations. — SPECIAL MESSAGE. viii, 33.
(Jan. 1804.)
Louisiana
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
510
4802. . Whatever may be the
merit or demerit of that acquisition, I divide
it with my colleagues, to whose councils I
was indebted for a course of administration
which, notwithstanding this late coalition of
clay and brass, will, I hope, continue to re
ceive the approbation of our country. — To
HENRY DEARBORN, vii, 215. FORD ED., x,
192. (M., 1821.)
4803. LOUISIANA, Area of United
States doubled.— The territory acquired, as
it includes all the waters of the Missouri and
Mississippi, has more than doubled the area
of the United States, and the new part is
not inferior to the old in soil, climate, pro
ductions and important communications. — To
GENERAL HORATIO GATES, iv, 494. FORD ED.,
viii, 249. (W., 1803.)
4804. LOUISIANA, Bonaparte and.— I
very early saw that Louisiana was indeed a
speck in our horizon which was to burst in
a tornado ; and the public are unapprized how
near this catastrophe was. Nothing but a
frank and friendly development of causes and
effects on our part, and good sense enough in
Bonaparte to see that the train was unavoid
able, and would change the face of the
world, saved us from that storm. I did not
expect he would yield till a war took place
between France and England, and my hope
was to palliate and endure, if Messrs. Ross,
Morris, &c. did not force a premature rupture,
until that event. I believed the event not very
distant, but acknowledge it came on sooner
than I had expected. Whether, however, the
good sense of Bonaparte might not see the
course predicted to be necessary and unavoid
able, even before a war should be imminent,
was a chance which we thought it our duty
to try; but the immediate prospect of rupture
brought the case to immediate decision. The
denouement has been happy; and I confess I
look to this duplication of area for the ex
tending a government so free and economical
as ours, as a great achievement to the mass
of happiness which is to ensue. — To DR.
JOSEPH PRIESTLEY, iv, 525. FORD ED., viii,
294. (W., Jan. 1804.)
4805. LOUISIANA, The Constitution
and. — There is no constitutional difficulty as
to the acquisition of territory, and whether,
when acquired, it may be taken into the
Union by the Constitution as it now stands,
will become a question of expediency. I think
it will be safer not to permit the enlargement
of the Union but by amendment of the Con
stitution. — To ALBERT GALLATIN. FORD ED.,
viii, 241. (Jan. 1803.)
4806. . There is a difficulty in
this acquisition which presents a handle to
the malcontents among us, though they have
not yet discovered it. Our confederation is
certainly confined to the limits established by
the Revolution. The General Government
has no powers but such as the Constitution
has given it ; and it has not given it a power
of holding foreign territory, and still less of in
corporating it into the Union. An amend
ment of the Constitution seems necessary for
this. In the meantime, we must ratify and
pay our money, as we have treated, for a
thing beyond the Constitution, and rely on
the nation to sanction an act done for its
great good, without its previous authority. —
To JOHN DICKINSON. FORD ED., viii, 262
(M., Aug. 1803.)
4807. . The Constitution has
made no provision for our holding foreign
territory, still less for incorporating foreign
nations into our Union. The Executive in
seizing the fugitive occurrence [Louisiana
purchase] which so much advances the good
of their country, have done an act beyond the
Constitution. The Legislature in casting be
hind them metaphysical subtleties, and risk
ing themselves like faithful servants, must
ratify and pay for it, and throw themselves on
their country for doing for them unauthorized,
what we know they would have done for
themselves had they been in a situation to do
it. It is the case of a guardian, investing the
money of his ward in purchasing an important
adjacent territory; and saying to him when
of age, I did this for your good; I pretend
to no right to bind you: you may disavow
me, and I must get out of the scrape as I
can: I thought it my duty to risk myself for
you. But we shall not be disavowed by the
nation, and their act of indemnity will confirm
and not weaken the Constitution, by more
strongly marking out its lines. — To JOHN C.
BRECKENRIDGE. iv, 500. FORD ED., viii, 244.
(M., Aug. 12, 1803.)
4808. LOUISIANA, Constitutional
amendments. —
The province of Lou
isiana is incorporated
with theUnited States,
and made part there
of. The rights of oc
cupancy in the soil,
and of self-govern
ment are confirmed to
the Indian inhabitants,
as they ^ now exist.
Preemption only of
the portions rightfully
occupied by them, and
a succession to the oc
cupancy of such as
they may abandon,
with the full rights of
possession as well as
of property and sover
eignty in whatever is
not or shall cease to be
so rightfully occupied
by them shall belong
to the United States.
The Legislature of the
Union shall have au
thority to exchange
the right of occupancy
in portions where the
United States have
full right for lands
possessed by Indians
within the United
States on the east side
Louisiana, as ceded
by France to the Uni
ted States is made a
part of the United
States. Its white in
habitants shall be citi
zens, and stand, as
to their rights and
obligations on the
same footing with
other citizens of the
United States in anal
ogous situations. Save
only that as to the por
tion thereof lying
north of an east and
west line drawn
through the mouth of
the Arkansas river, no
new State shall be
established, nor any
grants of land made,
other than to Indians
in exchange for equiv
alent portions of land
occupied by them, un
til authorized by fur-
ther subsequent
amendment to the
Constitution shall be
made for these pur
poses.
Florida, also, when
ever it may be right-
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Louisiana
of the Mississippi : to fully obtained, shall
exchange lands on the become a part of the
east side of the river United States. Its
for those of the white white inhabitants shall
inhabitants on the west thereupon be citizens,
side thereof and above and shall stand, as to
the latitude of 31 de- their rights and obliga-
grees : to maintain in tions, on the same
any part of the prov- footing with other
ince such military citizens of the United
posts as may be req- States, in analogous
uisite for peace or situations. —
safety : to exercise po
lice over all persons
therein, not being In
dian inhabitants: to
work salt springs, or
mines of coal, metals
and other minerals
within the possession
of the United States
or in any others with
the consent of the pos
sessors; to regulate
trade and intercourse
between the Indian
inhabitants and all
other persons; to ex
plore and ascertain the
geography of the prov
ince, its productions
and other interesting
circumstances ; to open
roads and navigation
therein where neces
sary for beneficial com
munication; and to
establish agencies and
factories therein for
the cultivation of com
merce, peace and good
understanding with
the Indians residing
there. The Legislature
shall have no author
ity to dispose of the
lands of the province
otherwise than as here
inbefore permitted, un
til a new amendment
of the Constitution
shall give that author
ity. Except as to that
portion thereof which
lies south of the lati
tude of 31 degrees;
which whenever they
deem expedient, they
may erect into a ter
ritorial government,
either separate or as
making part with one
on the eastern side of
the river, vesting the
inhabitants thereof
with all the rights
possessed by other ter
ritorial citizens of the
United States.
DRAFTS OF AN AMENDMENT TO THE CONSTITU
TION, iv, 503. FORD ED., viii, 241. (July 1803.)
4809. . I wrote you on the I2th
instant, on the subject of Louisiana, and the
constitutional provision which might be nec
essary for it. A letter received yesterday
shows that nothing must be said on that sub
ject, which may give a pretext for retracting;
but that we should do, sub silentio, what shall
be found necessary. Be so good as to con
sider that part of my letter as confidential. —
To JOHN C. BRECKENRIDGE. FORD EDV viii,
244. (Aug. 1 8 1803.)
4810. . Furthei reflection on the
amendment to the Constitution necessary in
the case of Louisiana, satisfies me it will be
better to give general powers, with specified
exceptions. — To JAMES MADISON, iv, 503.
FORD ED., viii, 246. (M., Aug. 1803.)
4811. . On further consideration
as to the amendment to our Constitution re
specting Louisiana, I have thought it better,
instead of enumerating the powers which
Congress may exercise, to give them the
same powers they have as to other portions of
the Union generally, and to enumerate the
special exceptions. * * * The less that is
said about any constitutional difficulty, the
better; and * * * it will be desirable for
Congress to do what is necessary, in silence.
— To LEVI LINCOLN, iv, 504. FORD ED., viii,
246. (M., Aug. 1803.)
4812. . Whatever Congress shall
think it necessary to do, should be done with
as little debate as possible, and particularly
so far as respects the constitutional difficulty.
I am aware of the force of the observations
you make on the power given by the Consti
tution to Congress, to admit new States into
the Union, without restraining the subject to
the territory then constituting the United
States. But when I considei that the limits
of the United States are precisely fixed by
the treaty of 1783, that the Constitution ex
pressly declares itself to be made for the
United States, I cannot help believing that
the intention was to permit Congress to admit
into the Union new States, which should be
formed out of the territory for which, and
under whose authority alone, they were then
acting. I dp not believe it was meant that they
might receive England, Ireland, Holland, &c.,
into it, which would be the case on your con
struction. When an instrument admits two
constructions, the one safe, the other danger
ous; the one precise, the ether indefinite, I
prefer that which is safe and precise. I had
rather ask an enlargement of power from
the nation, where it is found necessary, than
to assume it by a construction which would
make our powers boundless. Our peculiar
security is in the possession of a written
Constitution. Let us not make it a blank
paper by construction. I say the same as to
the opinion of those who consider the grant
of the treaty making power as boundless. If
it is, then we have no Constitution. If it
has bounds, they can be no others than the
definitions of the powers which that instru
ment gives. It specifies and delineates the
operations permitted to the Federal Govern-
Louisiana
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
512
ment, and gives all the powers necessary to
carry these into execution. Whatever of
these enumerated objects is proper for a law,
Congress may make the law ; whatever is
proper to be executed by way of a treaty, the
President and Senate may enter into the
treaty; whatever is to be done by a judicial
sentence, the judges may pass the sentence.
Nothing is more likely than that their enu
meration of powers is defective. This is the
ordinary case of all human works. Let us go
on, then, perfecting it, by adding, by way of
amendment to the Constitution, those powers
which time and trial show are still wanting.
But it has been taken too much forgranted, that
by this rigorous construction the treaty power
would be reduced to nothing. I had occasion
once to examine its effect on the French
treaty, made by the old Congress, and found
that out of thirty odd articles which that con
tained, there were one, two or three only
which could not now be stipulated under our
present Constitution. I confess, then, I
thought it important, in the present case, to
set an example against broad construction,
by appealing for new power to the people.
If, however, our friends shall think differ
ently, certainly I shall acquiesce with satis
faction; confiding, that the good sense of our
country will correct the evil of construction
whenever it shall produce ill effects. — To WIL
SON C. NICHOLAS, iv, 505. FORD ED., viii,
247. (M., Sep. 1803.)
4813. LOUISIANA, Defence of.— What
would you think of raising a force for the
defence of New Orleans in this manner?
Give a bounty of 50 acres of land, to be
delivered immediately, to every able-bodied
man who will immediately settle on it, and
hold himself in readiness to perform two
years' military service (on the usual pay) if
called on within the first seven years of his
residence? The lands to be chosen by him
self of any of those in the Orleans Territory,
* * * each to have his choice in the order
of his arrival on the spot, a proclamation to
be issued to this effect to engage as many as
will go on, and present themselves to the
officer there ; and, moreover, recruiting of
ficers to be sent into different parts of the
Union to raise and conduct settlers at the
public expense? When settled there, to be
well trained as militia by officers living among
them ? * — CIRCULAR LETTER TO CABINET OF
FICERS. FORD EDV viii, 425. (Feb. 1806.)
4814. . Satisfied that New Or
leans must fall a prey to any power which
shall attack it, in spite of any means we now
possess, I see no security for it but in plant
ing on the spot the force which is to defend
it. I therefore suggest to some members of
the Senate to add to the volunteer bill now
before them, as an amendment, some such
section as that enclosed, which is on the
principles of what we agreed on last year,
except the omission of the two years' service.
If, by giving one hundred miles square of
that country, we can secure the rest, and at
* Jefferson framed a bill on this subject. See FORD
ED., viii, 425.— EDITOR.
the same time create an American majority
before Orleans becomes a State, it will be the
best bargain ever made. — To ALBERT GALLA-
TIN. v, 36. (W., Jan. 1807.)
4815. . I propose to the members
of Congress in conversation, the enlisting
thirty thousand volunteers, Americans by
birth, to be carried at the public expense, and
settled immediately on a bounty of one hun
dred and sixty acres of land each, on the
west side of the Mississippi, on the condition
of giving two years of military service, if
that country should be attacked within seven
years. The defence of the country would
thus be placed on the spot, and the additional
number would entitle the Territory to be
come a State, would make the majority
American, and make it an American instead
of a French State. This would not sweeten the
pill to the French; but in making the ac
quisition we had some view to our own good
as well as theirs, and I believe the greatest
good of both will be promoted by whatever
will amalgamate us together. — To JOHN
DICKINSON, v, 30. FORD ED., ix, 9. (W.,
1807.)
4816. LOUISIANA, Expansion and.— I
know that the acquisition of Louisiana has
been disapproved by some, from a candid ap
prehension that the enlargement of our terri
tory would endanger its Union. But who can
limit the extent to which the federative prin
ciple may operate effectively? The larger our
association, the less will it be shaken by local
passions ; and, in any view, is it not better that
the opposite bank of the Mississippi should
be settled by our own brethren and children,
than by strangers of another family? With
which shall we be most likely to live in har
mony and friendly intercourse? — SECOND IN
AUGURAL ADDRESS, viii, 41. FORD ED., viii,
344. (1805.) See TERRITORY.
4817. LOUISIANA, Federalist opposi
tion. — The opposition caught it as a plank in
a shipwreck, hoping it would tack the western
people to them. They raised the cry of war,
were intriguing in all quarters to exasperate
the western inhabitants to arm and go down
on their own authority and possess them
selves of New Orleans, and in the meantime
were daily reiterating, in new shapes, in
flammatory resolutions for the adoption of the
House [of Representatives]. — To ROBERT R.
LIVINGSTON. iv, 460. FORD ED., viii, 209.
(W., Feb. 1803.)
4818. . These grumblers [the
opposition], too, are very uneasy lest the ad
ministration should share some little credit
for the acquisition, the whole of which they
ascribe to the accident of war. They would
be cruelly mortified could they see our files
from May, 1801 [April 1801 in Ford edition],
the first organization of the administration,
but more especially from April, 1802. They
would see, that though we could not say
when war would arise, yet we said with
energy what would take place when it should
arise. We did not, by our intrigues, produce
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Louisiana
the war; but we availed ourselves of it when
it happened. The other party saw the case
now existing, on which our representations
were predicted, and the wisdom of timely sac
rifice. But when these people make the war
give us everything, they authorize us to ask
what the war gave us in their day : They had
a war. What did they make it bring us?
Instead of making our neutrality the ground
of gain to their country, they were for plung
ing into the war. And if they were now in
place, they would now be at war against the
atheists and disorganizers of France. They
were for making their country an appendage
to England. We are friendly, cordially and
conscientiously friendly to England. We are
not hostile to France. We will be rigorously
just and sincerely friendly to both. I do not
believe we shall have as much to swallow
from them as our predecessors had. — To
GENERAL HORATIO GATES, iv, 495. FORD ED.,
viii, 250. (W., July 1803.)
4819. . These federalists [who
are raising objections against the vast ex
tent of our boundaries] see in this acquisition
[Louisiana] the formation of a new confed
eracy, embracing all the waters of the Mis
sissippi, on both sides of it, and a separation
of its eastern waters from us. These combi
nations depend on so many circumstances
which we cannot foresee, that I place little
reliance on them. We have seldom seen
neighborhood produce affection among na
tions. The reverse is almost the universal
truth. Besides, if it should become the great
interest of those nations to separate from
this, if their happiness should depend on it
so strongly as to induce them to go through
that convulsion, why should the Atlantic
States dread it? But especially why should
we, their present inhabitants, take side in
such a question? When I view the Atlantic
States, procuring for those on the Eastern
waters of the Mississippi friendly instead of
hostile neighbors on its western waters, I do
not view it as an Englishman would the pro
curing future blessings for the French nation,
with whom he has no relations of blood or
affection. The future inhabitants of the At
lantic and Mississippi States will be our sons.
We leave them in distinct but bordering es
tablishments. We think we see their happi
ness in their union, and we wish it. Events
may prove it otherwise; and if they see their
interest in separation, why should we take
side with our Atlantic rather than our Mis
sissippi descendants. It is the elder and the
younger son differing. God bless them both,
and keep them in union, if it be for their good,
but separate them, if it be better. — To JOHN
C. BRECKENRIDGE. iv, 499. FORD ED., viii,
243. (M., Aug. 1803.)
4820. . Objections are raising to
the eastward against the vast extent of our
boundaries, and propositions are made to ex
change Louisiana, or a part of it. for the
Floridas. But * * * we shall get the
Floridas without, and I would not give one
inch of the waters of the Mississippi to any
nation, because I see in a light very impor
tant to our peace the exclusive right to its
navigation, and the admission of no nation
into it, but as into the Potomac or Delaware,
with our consent and under our police. — To
JOHN C. BRECKENRIDGE. iv, 499. FORD ED.,
viii, 243. (M., Aug. 1803.)
4821. - _. Some inflexible federal
ists have still ventured to brave the public
opinion. It will fix their character with the
world and with posterity, who, not descend
ing to the other points of difference betwe.cn
us, will judge them by this fact, so palpable
as to speak for itself in all times and places.
—To DUPONT DE NEMOURS, iv, 508. (W.,
1803.)
4822. - . The federalists spoke
and voted against it, but they are now so re
duced in their numbers as to be nothing. — To
ROBERT R. LIVINGSTON, iv, 510. FORD ED.,
viii, 278. (W., Nov. 1803.)
4823. - . The federal leaders have
had the imprudence to oppose it pertinaciously,
which has given an occasion to a great pro
portion of their quondam honest adherents
to abandon them, and join the republican
standard. They feel themselves now irre
trievably lost. — To JAMES MONROE. FORD ED.,
viii, 287. (W., Jan. 1804.)
4824. LOUISIANA, French possession
of. — The exchange, which is to give us new
neighbors in Louisiana (probably the present
French armies when disbanded), has opened
us to a combination of enemies on that
side where we are most vulnerable. — To
THOMAS PINCKNEY. iv, 177. FORD ED., vii,
129. (Pa., May 1797.)
4825. . There is considerable rea
son to apprehend that Spain cedes Louisiana
and the Floridas to France. It is a policy
very unwise in both, and very ominous to us.
— To JAMES MONROE. FORD ED., viii, 58. (W.,
May 1801.)
4826. . The cession of Louisiana
and the Floridas by Spain to France, works
most sorely on the United States. On this
subject the Secretary of State has written to
you fully, yet I cannot forbear recurring to it
personally, so deep is the impression it makes
on my mind. It completely reverses all the
political relations of the United States, and
will form a new epoch in our political course.
Of all nations of any consideration, France
is the one, which hitherto, has offered the
fewest points on which we could have any
conflict of right, and the most points of a
communion of interests. From these causes,
we have ever looked to her as our natural
friend, as one with which we never could
have an occasion of difference. Her growth,
therefore, we viewed as our own, her mis
fortunes ours. There is on the globe one
single spot, tht possessor of which is our
natural and habitual enemy. It is New Or
leans, through which the produce of three-
eighths of our territory must pass to market,
and from its fertility it will ere long yield
more than half of our whole produce, and
contain more than half of our inhabitants.
Louisiana
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
France, placing herself in that door, assumes
to us the attitude of defiance. Spain might
have retained it quietly for years. Her pacific
dispositions, her feeble state, would induce
her to increase our facilities there, so that her
possession of the place would be hardly felt
by us, and it would not, perhaps, be very long
before some circumstance might arise, which
might make the cession of it to us the price
of something of more worth to her. Not so
can it ever be in the hands of France. The
impetuosity of her temper, the energy and
restlessness of her character, placed in a point
of eternal friction with us, and our character,
which, though quiet and loving peace and the
pursuit of wealth, is high-minded, despising
wealth in competition with insult or injury,
enterprising and energetic as any nation on
earth; these circumstances render it impossible
that France and the United States can con
tinue long friends, when they meet in so irri
table a position. They, as well as we, must be
blind if they do not see this; and we must
be very improvident if we do not begin to
make arrangements on that hypothesis. The
day that France takes possession of New Or
leans, fixes the sentence which is to restrain
her forever within her low-water mark. It
seals the union of two nations, who, in con
junction, can maintain exclusive possession of
the ocean. From that moment, we must
marry ourselves to the British fleet and na
tion. We must turn all our attention to a
maritime force, for which our resources place
us on very high ground; and having formed
and cemented together a power which may
render reinforcement of her settlements here
impossible to France, make the first cannon,
which shall be fired in Europe, the signal for
tearing up any settlement she may have made,
and for holding the two continents of Amer
ica in sequestration for the common purposes
of the united British and American nations.
This is not a state of things we seek or de
sire. It is one which this measure, if adopted
by France, forces on us, as necessarily as any
other cause, by the laws of nature, brings on
its necessary effect. It is not from a fear of
France that we deprecate this measure pro
posed by her. For, however greater her force
is than ours, compared in the abstract, it is
nothing in comparison of ours, when to be
exerted on our soil. But it is from a sincere
love of peace, and a firm persuasion that
bound to France by the interests and the
strong sympathies still existing in the minds
of pur citizens, and holding relative positions
which ensure their continuance, we are se
cure of a long course of peace. Whereas,
the change of friends, which will be rendered
necessary if France changes that position, em
barks us necessarily as a belligerent power in
the first war of Europe. In that case, France
will have held possession of New Orleans
during the interval of a peace, long or short,
at the end of which it will be wrested from
her. Will this short-lived possession have
been an equivalent to her for the transfer
of such a weight into the scale of her enemy?
Will not the amalgamation of a young, thri
ving, nation continue to that enemy the health
and force which are at present so evidently
on the decline? And will a few years' pos
session of New Orleans add equally to the
strength of France? She may say she needs
Louisiana for the supply of her West Indies.
She does not need it in time of peace, and in
war she could not depend on them, because
they would be so easily intercepted. I should
suppose that all these considerations might,
in some proper form, be brought into view
of the government of France. Though stated
by us, it ought not to give offence; because
we do not bring them forward as a menace,
but as consequences not controllable by us,
but inevitable from the course of things. We
mention them, not as things which we desire
by any means, but as things we deprecate;
and we beseech a friend to look forward and
to prevent them for our common interests.
If France considers Louisiana, however, as
indispensable for her views, she might perhaps
be willing to look about for arrangements
which might reconcile it to our interests. If
anything could do this, it would be the ceding
to us the island of New Orleans and the Flor-
idas. This would certainly, in a great degree,
remove the causes of jarring and irritation
between us, and perhaps for such a length of
time, as might produce other means of ma
king the measure permanently conciliatory to
our interests and friendships. It would, at
any rate, relieve us from the necessity of ta
king immediate measures for countervailing
such an operation by arrangements in another
quarter. But still we should consider New
Orleans and the Floridas as no equivalent for
the risk of a quarrel with France, produced
by her vicinage. — To ROBERT R. LIVINGSTON.
iv, 431. FORD ED., viii, 144. (April 1802.)
4827. . I believe * * * that
this measure will cost France, and perhaps
not very long hence, a war which will anni
hilate her on the ocean, and place that element
under the despotism of two nations, which I
am not reconciled to the more because my
own would be one of them. Add to this the
exclusive appropriation of both continents of
America as a consequence. I wish the present
order of things to continue, and with a view
to this I value highly a state of friendship
between France and us. You know, too well
how sincere I have ever been in these dis
positions to doubt them. You know, too,
how much I value peace, and how unwill
ingly I should see any event take place
which would render war a necessary re
source; and that all our movements should
change their character and object. I am thus
open with you, because I trust that you will
have it in your power to impress on that
government considerations, in the scale
against which the possession of Louisiana is
nothing. In Europe, nothing but Europe is
seen, or supposed to have any right in the
affairs of nations; but this little event, of
France's possessing herself of Louisiana,
which is thrown in as nothing, as a mere
make-weight in the general settlement of ac
counts, — this speck which now appears as an
5*5
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Louisiana
almost invisible point in the horizon, is the
embryo of a tornado which will burst on the
countries on both sides of the Atlantic, and
involve in its effects their highest destinies.
That it may yet be avoided is my sincere
prayer; and if you can be the means of in
forming the wisdom of Bonaparte of all its
consequences, you will have deserved well of
both countries. Peace and abstinence from
European interferences are our objects, and
so will continue while the present order of
things in America remains uninterrupted. —
To DUPONT DE NEMOURS. iv, 435. (W.,
April 1802.)
4828. . Whatever power, other
than ourselves, holds the country east of the
Mississippi becomes our natural enemy. Will
such a possession do France as much good,
as such an enemy may do her harm? And
how long would it be hers, were such an
enemy, situated at its door, added to Great
Britain? I confess, it appears to me as es
sential to France to keep at peace with us,
as it is to us to keep at peace with her; and
that, if this cannot be secured without some
compromise as to the territory in question, it
will be useful for both to make some sac
rifices to effect the compromise. — To DUPONT
DE NEMOURS, iv, 458. FORD ED., viii, 207.
(W., Feb. 1803.)
4829. LOUISIANA, Government for.-—
With respect to the territory acquired, I do
not think it will be a separate government,
as you imagine. I presume the island of New
Orleans, and the settled country on the op
posite bank, will be annexed to the Missis
sippi territory. We shall certainly endeavor
to introduce the American laws there, and
that cannot be done but by amalgamating the
people with such a body of Americans as may
take the lead in legislation and government.
Of course, they will be under the Governor of
Mississippi. The rest of the territory will
probably be locked up from American set
tlement, and under the self-government of
the native occupants.— To GENERAL HORATIO
GATES. FORD ED., viii, 250. (W., July 1803.)
4830. — — . I thought I perceived in
you the other day a dread of the job of pre
paring a constitution for the new acquisition.
With more boldness than wisdom I, therefore,
determined to prepare a canvas, give it a few
daubs of outline, and send it to you to fill
Up * * * jn communicating it to you I
must do it in confidence that you will never
let any person know that I have put pen to
paper on the subject. * * * My^time does
not permit me to go into explanation of the
enclosed by letter. I will only observe as to a
single feature of the Legislature, that the idea
of an Assembly of Notables came into my
head while writing, as a thing more familiar
and pleasing to the French, than a legislation
of judges. True it removes their dependence
from the judges to the Executive; but this
is what they are used to and would prefer.
Should Congress reject the nomination of
judges for four years, and make them during
good behavior, as is probable, then, should
the judges take a kink in their heads in favor
of leaving the present laws of Louisiana un
altered, that evil will continue for their lives,
unamended by us, and become so inveterate
that we may never be able to introduce the
uniformity of law so desirable. The making
the same persons so directly judges and leg
islators is more against principle, than to
make the same persons executive, and the
elector of the legislative members. The
former, too, are placed above all responsi
bility ; the latter is under a perpetual control
if he goes wrong. The judges have to act on
nine out of ten of the laws which are made ;
the governor not on one in ten. But* strike
it out, and insert the judges if you think it
better, as it was a sudden conceit to which I
am not attached. — To JOHN BRECKENRIDGE.
FORD EDV viii, 279. (W., Nov. 1803.)
4831. . Without looking at the
old Territorial Ordinance, I had imagined it
best to found a government for the territory
or territories of lower Louisiana on that
basis. But on examining it, I find it will not
do at all; that it would turn all their laws
topsy-turvy. Still, I believe it best to appoint
a governor and three judges, with legislative
powers; only providing that the judges shall
form the laws, and the governor have a neg
ative only, subject further to the negative of
a national legislature. The existing laws of
the country being now in force, the new leg
islature will, of course, introduce the trial
by jury in criminal cases, first; the habeas
corpus, the freedom of the press, freedom of
religion, &c., as soon as can be, and in general
draw their laws, and organizations to the
mould of ours by degrees, as they find prac
ticable, without exciting too much discon
tent. In proportion as we find the people
there riper for receiving these first principles
of freedom, Congress may from session to
session, confirm their enjoyment of them. —
To ALBERT GALLATIN. FORD ED., viii, 275.
(Nov. 1803.)
4832. . Although it is acknowl
edged that our new fellow citizens are as yet
as incapable of self-government as children,
yet some [in Congress] cannot bring them
selves to suspend its principles for a single
moment. The temporary or territorial gov
ernment of that country, therefore, will en
counter great difficulty [in Congress]. — To
DF WITT CLINTON. FORD ED., viii, 283. (W.,
Dec. 1803.)
4833. . Our policy will be to
form New Orleans, and the country on both
sides of it on the Gulf of Mexico, into a
State; and, as to all above that, to trans
plant our Indians into it, constituting them a
Marechausee to prevent emigrants crossing
the river, until we shall have filled up all the
vacant country on this side. This will se
cure both Spain and us as to the mines of
Mexico, for half a century, and we may safely
trust the provisions for that time to the
men who shall live in it. — To DUPONT DE
NEMOURS, iv, 509. (W., 1803.)
Louisiana
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
516
4834. . The inhabited part of
Louisiana, from Point Coupee to the sea,
will of course be immediately a territorial
government, and soon a State. But above
that, the best use we can make of the country
for some time, will be to give establishments
in it to the Indians on the East side of the
Mississippi, in exchange for their present
country, and open land offices in the last, and
thus make this acquisition the means of fill
ing up the eastern side, instead of drawing
off its population. When we shall be full
on this side, we may lay off a range of
States on the western bank from the head to
the mouth, and so, range after range, ad
vancing compactly as we multiply. — To JOHN
C. BRECKENRIDGE. iv, 500. FORD ED., viii, 244.
(M., Aug. 1803.)
4835.
-. In order to lessen the
causes of appeal to the Convention, I sin
cerely wish that Congress at the next session
may give to the Orleans Territory a legisla
ture to be chosen by the people, as this will
be advancing them quite as fast as the rules
of our government will admit ; and the evils
which may arise from the irregularities which
such a legislature may run into, will not be
so serious as leaving them the pretext of
calling in a foreign umpire between them
and us. — To JAMES MADISON. FORD ED., viii,
314. (M., Aug. 1804.)
4836. '.. We are now at work on
a * * * government for Louisiana. It will
probably be a small improvement of our
former territorial governments, or first grade
of government. The act proposes to give
them an assembly of Notables, selected by
the Governor from the principal characters of
the territory. This will, I think, be a better
legislature than the former territorial one,
and will not be a greater departure from
sound principle. — To THOMAS McKEAN.
FORD ED., viii, 293. (Jan. 1804.)
4837. . The Legislative Council
for the Territory of New Orleans, * * *
to be appointed by me, * * * ought to be
composed of men of integrity, of understand
ing, of clear property and influence among
the people, well acquainted with the laws, cus
toms, and habits of the country, and drawn
from the different parts of the Territory,
whose population is considerable.* — To GOV
ERNOR CLAIBORNE. iv, 551. (W., July 1804.)
See CLAIBORNE.
4838. . I am so much impressed
with the expediency of putting a termination
to the right of France to patronize the rights
of Louisiana, which will cease with their
complete adoption as citizens of the United
States, that I hope to see that take place on
the meeting of Congress. — To JAMES MADI
SON, iv, 557. FORD ED., viii, 315. (M., Aug.
1804.)
4839. . It is but too true that
great discontents exist in the Territory of
* Jefferson requested Governor Claiborne to send
him the names of proper persons for the council.—
EDITOR.
Orleans. Those of the French inhabitants
have for their sources, i, the prohibition of
importing slaves. This may be partly removed
by Congress permitting them to receive
slaves from the other States, which, by divi
ding that evil, would lessen its danger ; 2, the
administration of justice in our forms, prin
ciples, and language, with all of which they
are unacquainted, and are the more abhor
rent, because of the enormous expense,
greatly exaggerated by the corruption of
bankrupt and greedy lawyers, who have gone
there from the United States and engrossed
the practice; 3, the call on them by the land
commissioners to produce the titles of their
lands. The object of this is really to record
and secure their rights. But as many of them
hold on rights so ancient that the title papers
are lost, they expect the land is to be taken
from them whenever they cannot produce a
regular deduction of title in writing. In this
they will be undeceived by the final result,
which will evince to them a liberal disposition
of the government towards them. — To JOHN
DICKINSON, v, 29. FORD ED., ix, 8. (W.,
1807.)
4840. LOUISIANA, Mission to France
respecting. — The urgency of the case, as well
as the public spirit, induced us to make a
more solemn appeal to the justice and judg
ment of our neighbors, by sending a Minister
Extraordinary to impress them with the
necessity of some arrangement. Mr. Monroe
has been selected. His good dispositions
cannot be doubted. Multiplied conversations
with him, and views of the subject taken in
all the shapes in which it can present itself,
have possessed him with our estimates of
everything relating to it, with a minuteness
which no written communication to Mr.
Livingston could ever have attained. These
will prepare them to meet and decide on every
form of proposition which can occur, without
awaiting new instructions from hence, which
might draw to an indefinite length a dis
cussion where circumstances imperiously
oblige us to a prompt decision. For the oc
clusion of the Mississippi is a state of things
in which we cannot exist. He goes, therefore,
joined with Chancellor Livingston, to aid in
the issue of a crisis the most important the
United States have ever met since their In
dependence, and which is to decide their fu
ture character and career. — To DUPONT DE
NEMOURS, iv, 456. FORD ED., viii, 204. (W.,
Feb. 1803.) See MONROE.
4841. - — . The future destinies of
our country hang on the event of this ne
gotiation, and I am sure they could not be
placed in more able or more zealous hands.
On our parts we shall be satisfied that what
you do not effect, cannot be effected. — To
ROBERT R. LIVINGSTON, iv, 461. FORD ED.,
viii, 210. (W., Feb. 1803.)
4842. . It may be said, if this
object be so all-important to us, why do we
not offer such a sum as to ensure its pur
chase? The answer is simple. We are an
agricultural people, poor in money, and owing
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Louisiana
great debts. These will be falling due by
instalments for fifteen years to come, and re
quire from us the practice of a rigorous econ
omy to accomplish their payment ; and it is
our principle to pay to a moment whatever
we have engaged, and never to engage what
we cannot, and mean not faithfully to pay.
We have calculated our resources, and find
the sum to be moderate which they would
enable us to pay, and we know from late
trials that little can be added to it by borrow
ing. — To DUPONT DE NEMOURS. iv, 458.
FORD ED., viii, 206. (W., Feb. 1803.)
4843. . The country, too, which
we wish to purchase, except the portion al
ready granted, and which must be confirmed
to the private holders, is a barren sand, six
hundred miles from east to west, and from
thirty to forty and fifty miles from north
to south, formed by deposition of the sands
by the Gulf Stream in its circular course
round the Mexican Gulf, and which being
spent after performing a semicircle, has made
from its last depositions the sand bank of
East Florida. In West Florida, indeed, there
are on the borders of the rivers some rich
bottoms, formed by the mud brought from the
upper country. These bottoms are all possessed
by individuals. But the spaces between river
and river are mere banks of sand ; and in
East Florida there are neither rivers, nor
consequently any bottoms. We cannot, then,
make anything by a sale of the lands to in
dividuals. So that it is peace alone which
makes it an object with us, and which ought
to make the cession of it desirable to France.
— To DUPONT DE NEMOURS, iv, 458. FORD
ED., viii, 206. (W., Feb. 1803.)
4844. . You see with what frank
ness I communicate with you on this sub
ject; that I hide nothing from you, and that
I am endeavoring to turn our private friend
ship to the good of our respective countries.
And can private friendship ever answer a
nobler end than by keeping two nations at
peace, who, if this new position which one of
them is taking were rendered innocent, have
more points of common interest, and fewer
of collision, than any two on earth ; who be
come natural friends, instead of natural
enemies, which this change of position would
make them.— To DUPONT DE NEMOURS, iv,
459. FORD ED., viii, 207. (W., Feb. 1803.)
4845. . The measure was more
over proposed from another cause. We must
know at once whether we can acquire New
Orleans or not. We are satisfied nothing
else will secure us against a war at no dis
tant period ; and we cannot press this reason
without beginning those arrangements which
will be necessary if war is hereafter to re
sult. For this purpose it was necessary that
the negotiators should be fully possessed of
every idea we have on the subject, so as to
meet the propositions of the opposite party,
in whatever form they may be offered ; and
give them a shape admissible by us without
being obliged to wait new instructions hence.
With this view, we have joined Mr. Monroe
with yourself at Paris, and to Mr. Pinckney
at Madrid, although we believe it will be
hardly necessary for him to go to this last
place. Should we fail in this object of the
mission, a further one will be superadded for
the other side of the channel.— To ROBERT R.
LIVINGSTON, iv, 461. FORD ED., viii, 200.
(W., Feb. 1803.)
4846. LOUISIANA, Mississippi navi
gation secured.— The acquisition of New Or
leans would of itself have been a great thing,
as it would have ensured to our western
brethren the means of exporting their prod
uce; but that of Louisiana is inappreciable,
because, giving us the sole dominion of the
Mississippi, it excludes those bickerings with
foreign powers, which we know of a certainty
would have put us at war with France im
mediately; and it secures to us the course
of a peaceful nation. — To JOHN DICKINSON.
FORD ED., viii, 261. (M., Aug. 1803.)
4847. . The acquisition of Lou
isiana, although more immediately beneficial
to the western States, by securing for their
produce a certain market, not subject to in
terruptions by officers over whom we have
no control, yet is also deeply interesting to
the maritime portion of our country, inas
much as by giving the exclusive navigation
of the Mississippi, it avoids the burthens and
sufferings of a war, which conflicting inter
ests on that river would inevitably have pro
duced at no distant period. It opens, too, a
fertile region for the future establishments in
the progress of that multiplication so rapidly
taking place in all parts. — R. TO A. TENNES
SEE LEGISLATURE, viii, 115. (1803.)
— LOUISIANA, Monroe and.— See MON
ROE.
— LOUISIANA, New Orleans entrepot.
— See NEW ORLEANS.
4848. LOUISIANA, Payment for.— We
shall not avail ourselves of the three months'
delay after possession of the province, al
lowed by the treaty for the delivery of the
stock, but shall deliver it the moment that
possession is known here, which will be on
the eighteenth day after it has taken place. —
To ROBERT R. LIVINGSTON, iv, 512. FORD
ED., viii, 279. (W., Nov. 1803.)
4849. — . When we contemplate the
ordinary annual augmentation of imposts
from increasing population and wealth, the
augmentation of the same revenue by its ex
tension to the new acquisition, and the econ
omies which may still be introduced into our
public expenditures, I cannot but hope that
Congress in reviewing their resources will
find means to meet the intermediate interests
of this additional debt without recurring to
new taxes, and applying to this object only
the ordinary progression of our revenue. —
THIRD ANNUAL MESSAGE, viii, 27. FORD ED.,
viii, 271. (Oct. 1803.)
4850. — . [The acquisition] was so
far from being thought, by any party, a
breach of neutrality, that the British minister
Louisiana
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
518
congratulated Mr. King on the acquisition,
and declared that the King had learned it
with great pleasure ; and when Baring, the
British banker, asked leave of the minister to
purchase the debt and furnish the money to
France, the minister declared to him, that
so far from throwing obstacles in the way,
if there were any difficulty in the payment of
the money, it was the interest of Great Britain
to aid it.— To W. A. BUR WELL, v, 20. FORD
ED., viii, 469. (M., Sep. 1806.)
4851. LOUISIANA, Possession by Great
Britain. — I am so deeply impressed with the
magnitude of the dangers which will attend
our government, if Louisiana and the Flor-
idas be added to the British empire, that, in
my opinion, we ought to make ourselves
parties in the general war expected to take
place, should this be the only means of pre
venting the calamity. But I think we should
defer this step as long as possible; because
war is so full of chances, which may relieve
us from the necessity of interfering; and if
necessary, still the later we interfere, the
better we shall be prepared. It is often in
deed more easy to prevent the capture of a
place than to retake it. Should it be so in the
case in question, the difference between the
two operations of preventing and retaking,
will not be so costly as two, three, or four
years more of war. So that I am for pre
serving neutrality as long, and entering into
the war as late, as possible.— OFFICIAL OPIN
ION, vii, 509. FORD ED., v, 238. (August
1790.)
4852. . It is said that Arnold is
at Detroit reviewing the militia there. Other
symptoms indicate a general design on all
Louisiana and the two Floridas. What a
tremendous position would success in these
two objects place us in ! Embraced from the
St. Croix to the St. Mary's on one side by
their possessions, on the other by their fleet,
we need not hesitate to say that they would
soon find means to unite to them all the ter
ritory covered by the ramifications of the
Mississippi.— To JAMES MONROE. FORD ED.,
v, 199- (N.Y., July 1790.)
4853. LOUISIANA, Questions of bound
ary. — I suppose Monroe will touch on the
limits of Louisiana only incidentally, inasmuch
as its extension to Perdido curtails Florida, and
renders it of less worth. I am satis
fied our right to the Perdido is substantial, and
can be opposed by a quibble on form only ; and
our right westwardly to the bay of St. Bernard,
may be strongly maintained. — To JAMES MADI
SON, iv, 502. FORD ED., viii, 245. (M., Aug.
1803.)
4854. . We did not collect the
sense of our brethren the other day by regular
?uestions, but as far as I could understand
rom what was said, it appeared to be, — i. That
an acknowledgment of our right to the Perdido,
is a sine qua non, and no price to be given for
it. 2. No absolute and perpetual relinquishment
of right is to be made of the country east of the
Rio Bravo del Norte, even in exchange for
Florida. (I am not quite sure that this was the
opinion of all.) It would be better to lengthen
the term of years to any definite degree than to
cede in perpetuity. 3. That a country may be
laid off within which no further settlement shall
be made by either party for a given time, say
thirty years. This country to be from the North
river eastwardly towards the Rio Colorado, or
even to, but not beyond the Mexican or Sabine
river. To whatever river it be extended, it
might from its source run northwest, as the
most eligible direction ; but a due north line
would produce no restraint that we should feel
in twenty years. This relinquishment, and two
millions of dollars, to be the price of all the
Floridas east of the Perdido, or to be appor
tioned to whatever part they will cede. But on
entering into conferences, both parties should
agree that, during their continuance, neither
should strengthen their situation between the
Iberville, Mississippi, and Perdido, nor interrupt
the navigation of the rivers therein. If they
will not give such an order instantly, they
should be told that we have for peace's sake
only, forborne till they could have time to
give such an order, but that as soon as we re
ceive notice of their refusal to give the order,
we shall enter into the exercise of our right of
navigating the Mobile, and protect it, and In
crease our force there part passu with them. —
To JAMES MADISON, iv, 550. FORD ED., viii,
309. (July 1804.)
4855. . In conversation with Mr.
Gallatin as to what might be deemed the result
of our conference, he seemed to have under
stood the former opinion as not changed, to
wit, that for the Floridas east of the Perdido
might be given not only the two millions of
dollars and a margin to remain unsettled, but
an absolute relinquishment from the North
river to the Bay of St. Bernard and Colorado
river. This, however, I think should be the
last part of the price yielded, and only for an
entire cession of the Floridas, not for a part
only. — To JAMES MADISON. FORD ED., viii, 313.
(1804.)
4856. LOUISIANA, Spain and acquisi
tion. — At this moment a little cloud hovers
in the horizon. The government of Spain
has protested against the right of France to
transfer; and it is. possible she may refuse
possession, and that this may bring on acts
of force. But against such neighbors as
France there, and the United States here,
what she can expect from so gross a com
pound of folly and false faith, is not to be
sought in the book of wisdom. She is afraid
of her enemies in Mexico ; but not more than
we are. — To DUPONT DE NEMOURS, iv, 509.
(W., Nov. 1803.)
4857. . Spain entered with us a
protestation against our ratification of the
treaty, grounded, first, on the assertion that
the First Consul had not executed the con
ditions of the treaties of cession; and, sec
ondly, that he had broken a solemn promise
not to alienate the country to any nation.
We answered, that these were private ques
tions between France and Spain, which they
must settle together ; that we derived our title
from the First Consul, and did not doubt his
guarantee of it.— To ROBERT R. LIVINGSTON.
iv, 511. FORD ED., viii, 278. (W., Nov.
1803.) See SPAIN.
4858. LOUISIANA, Taking possession
of.— We * * * [have] sent off 9rders to
the Governor of the Mississippi Territory and
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Louisiana
General Wilkinson to move down with the
troops at hand to New Orleans, to receive
the possession from M. Laussat. If he is
heartily disposed to carry the order of the
[First] Consul into execution, he can prob
ably command a volunteer force at New Or
leans, and will have the aid of ours also, if
he desires it, to take the possession, and de
liver it to us. If he is not so disposed, we
shall take the possession, and it will rest with
the government of France, by adopting the
act as their own, and obtaining the confirma
tion of Spain, to supply the non-execution of
their stipulation to deliver, and to entitle
themselves to the complete execution of our
part of the agreements. — To ROBERT R. LIV
INGSTON, iv, 511. FORD ED., viii, 279. (W.,
Nov. 1803.)
4859. . I think it possible that
Spain, recollecting our former eagerness for
the island of New Orleans, may imagine she
can, by a free delivery of that, redeem the
residue of Louisiana ; and that she may with
hold the peaceable cession of it. In that case
no doubt force must be used. — To JAMES
MADISON. FORD ED., viii, 263. (M., Sep.
1803.)
4860. LOUISIANA, Treaty ratified.—
This treaty [Louisiana] must, of course, be
laid before both Houses [of Congress], be
cause both have important functions to ex
ercise respecting it. They, I presume, will see
their duty to their country in ratifying and
paying for it, so as to secure a good which
would otherwise probably be never again in
their power. But, I suppose, they must then
appeal to the nation for an additional article
to the Constitution, approving and confirm
ing an act which the nation had not pre
viously authorized.— To JOHN C. BRECKEN-
RIDGE. iv, 500. FORD ED., viii, 244. (M.,
Aug. 1803.)
4861. . Your treaty has obtained
nearly a general approbation. The
question on its ratification in the Senate was
decided by twenty-four against seven, which
was ten more than enough. The vote in the
House of Representatives for making provis
ion for its execution was carried by eighty-
nine against twenty-three, which was a ma
jority of sixty-six, and the necessary bills^re
going through the Houses by greater major
ities.— To ROBERT R. LIVINGSTON, iv, 510.
FORD ED., viii, 278. (W., Nov. 1803.)
4862. . You will observe in the
enclosed letter from Monroe a hint to do
without delay what we are bound to do [re
garding the treaty]. There is reason, in the
opinion of our ministers, to believe, that if
the thing were to do over again, it could not
be obtained, and that if we give the least
opening, they will declare the treaty void. A
warning amounting to that has been given
them, and an unusual kind of letter written
by their minister to our Secretary of State,
direct. — To WILSON C. NICHOLAS, iv, 505.
FORD ED., viii, 247. (M., Sep. 1803.)
4863. — . M. Pichon, according to
instructions from his government, proposed
to have added to the ratification a protesta
tion against any failure in time or other cir
cumstances of execution, on our part. He
was told, that in that case we should annex a
counter protestation, which would leave the
thing exactly where it was; that this trans
action had been conducted, from the com
mencement of the negotiation to this stage of
it. with a frankness and sincerity honorable to
both nations, and comfortable to the heart of
an honest man to review; that to annex to
this last chapter of the transaction such an
evidence of mutual distrust, was to change its
aspect dishonorably for us both, and, contrary
to truth, as to us; for that we had not the
smallest doubt that France would punctually
execute its part ; and I assured M. Pichon that
I had more confidence in the word of the First
Consul than in all the parchment we could
sign. He saw that we had ratified the treaty ;
that both branches had passed, by great ma
jorities, one of the bills for execution, and
would soon pass the other two; that no cir
cumstances remained that could leave a doubt
of our punctual performance; and like an
able and honest minister (which he is in the
highest degree), he undertook to do what he
knew his employers would do themselves,
were they here spectators of all the existing
circumstances, and exchanged the ratifica
tions purely and simply; so that this instru
ment goes to the world as an evidence of the
candor and confidence of the nations in each
other, which will have the best effects.— To
ROBERT R. LIVINGSTON, iv, 510. FORD ED.,
viii, 278. (W., Nov. 1803.)
4864. . The treaty which has so
happily sealed the friendship of our two
countries has been received here with general
acclamation. — To DUPONT DE NEMOURS, iv,
508. (W., 1803.)
4865. . For myself and my coun
try, I thank you for the aids you have given
in it ; and I congratulate you on having lived
to give those aids in a transaction replete
with blessings to unborn millions of men. and
which will mark the face of a portion on the
globe so extensive as that which now com
poses the United States of America. — To DU
PONT DE NEMOURS, iv, 509. (W., 1803.)
4866. . It is not true that the
Louisiana treaty was antedated, lest Great
Britain should consider our supplying her
enemies with money as a breach of neutrality.
After the very words of the treaty were fi
nally agreed to, it took some time, perhaps
some days, to make out all the copies in the
very splendid manner of Bonaparte's treaties.
Whether the 3Oth of April. 1803, the date ex
pressed, was the day of the actual compact,
or that on which it was signed, our memories
do not enable us to say. If the former, then
it is strictly conformable to the day of the
compact; if the latter, then it was postdated,
instead of being antedated.* — To W. A. BUR-
WELL, v, 20. FORD ED., viii, 469. (M., Sep.
1806.)
* This antedating of the treaty was one of the
charges made by John Randolph against the admin
istration of Jefferson.— EDITOR.
Louis XVI.
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
520
4867. LOUIS XVI., Character of.— He
had not a wish but for the good of the nation •
and for that object, no personal sacrifice would
ever have cost him a moment's regret ; but
his mind was weakness itself, his constitution
timid, his judgment null, and without sufficient
firmness even to stand by the faith of his word.
His Queen, too, haughty, and bearing no contra
diction, had an absolute ascendency over him ;
and around her were rallied the King's brother,
D'Artois, the court generally, and the aristo
cratic part of his ministers, particularly Breteuil,
Broglio, Vauguyon, Foulon, Luzerne, men whose
principles of government were those of the age
of Louis XIV. Against this host, the good
counsels of Necker, Montmorin, St. Priest, al
though in unison with the wishes of the King
himself, were of little avail. The resolutions
of the morning, formed under their advice,
would be reversed in the evening, by the in
fluence of the Queen and Court. — AUTOBI
OGRAPHY, i, 88. FORD ED., i, 121. (1821.)
4868. . The King is a good man.
To EDWARD CARRINGTON. ii, 99. FORD ED., iv,
359- (P-, 1787.)
4869. . Under a good and a
young King, as the present, I think good may
be made of the Assemblee des Notables. — To
LA COMTESSE DE TESSE. ii, 133. (N., March
1787.)
4870. . The model of royal ex
cellence. — To COUNT DE MONTMORIN. iii, 137.
(N.Y., 1790.)
4871. . The King loves business,
economy, order, and justice, and wishes sin
cerely the good of his people ; but he is irascible,
rude, very limited in his understanding, and re
ligious, bordering on bigotry. He * * *,
loves his Queen, and is too much governed by
her. * * * Unhappily the King shows a
propensity for the pleasures of the table. That
for drink has increased lately, or, at least, it
has become more known. — To JAMES MADISON.
ii, 153. FORD ED., iv, 393. (P., 1787.)
4872. LOUIS XVI., Execution.— We
have just received the news of the decapitation
of the King of France. Should the present fo
ment in Europe not produce republics every
where, it will at least soften the monarchical
governments by rendering monarchs amenable to
punishment like other criminals, and doing away
that rage of insolence and oppression, the in
violability of the King's person. — To .
iii, 527. (Pa., March 1793.)
4873. . It is certain that the la
dies of this city [Philadelphia], of the first
circle, are open-mouthed against the murderers
of a sovereign, and they generally speak those
sentiments which the more cautious husband
smothers. — To JAMES MADISON, iii, 520. FORD
ED., vi, 193. (i793.)
4874. . The death of the King
of France has not produced as open condemna
tions from the monocrats as I expected. — To
JAMES MADISON, iii, 519. FORD ED., vi, 192.
(March 1793.)
4875. . The deed which closed
the mortal course of these sovereigns [Louis
XVI. and Marie Antoinette], I shall neither
approve nor condemn. I am not prepared to
say that the first magistrate of a nation cannot
commit treason against his country, or is un
amenable to its punishment ; nor yet, that where
there is no written law, no regulated tribunal,
there is not a law in our hearts, and a power
in our hands, given for righteous employment
in maintaining right and redressing wrong. Of
those who judged the King, many thought him
wilfully criminal ; many that his existence would
keep the nation in perpetual conflict with the
horde of kings who would war against a re
generation which might come home to them
selves, and that it were better that one should
die than all. I should not have voted with this
portion of the legislature. I should have shut
up the Queen in a convent, putting harm out
of her power, and placed the King in his sta
tion, investing him with limited powers, which,
I verily believe, he would have honestly exer
cised according to the measure of his under
standing. In this way no void would have been
created, courting the usurpation of a military
adventurer, nor occasion given for those
enormities which demoralized the nations of
the world, and destroyed and are yet to destroy
millions and millions of its inhabitants. — AUTO
BIOGRAPHY, i, 101. FORD ED., i, 141. (1821.)
4876. LOUIS XVI., Friend to America.
—Our best and greatest friend.— To MARQUIS
DE LA LUZERNE. iii, 141. (N.Y., 1790.)
4877. LOUIS XVI., Good qualities.—
The King's dispositions are solidly good. He
is capable of great sacrifices. All he wants to
induce him to do a thing, is to be assured it
will be for the good of the nation. — To MR.
CUTTING, ii, 439. (P., 1788.)
4878. LOUIS XVI., Habits.— The King,
long in the habit of drowning his cares in
wine, plunges deeper and deeper. The Queen
cries, but sins on. — To JOHN ADAMS, ii, 258.
(P., 1787.)
4879. . The King goes for noth
ing. He hunts one half the day, is drunk the
other, and signs whatever he is bid [by the
Queen]. — To JOHN JAY. ii, 294. (P., 1787.)
4880. LOUIS XVI., Honesty.— The King
is the honestest man in his kingdom, and the
most regular and economical. He has no foible
which will enlist him against the good of his
people ; and whatever constitution will pro
mote this, he will befriend. But he will not
befriend it obstinately : he has given repeated
proofs of a readiness to sacrifice his opinion to
the wish of the nation. I believe he will con
sider the opinion of the States General, as the
best evidence of what will please and profit the
nation, and will conform to it. — To MR. CUT
TING, ii, 470. (P., Aug. 1788.)
4881. . He is an honest, unam
bitious man, who desires neither money nor
power for himself. — To JOHN JAY. iii, 28.
(P., 1789.)
4882. . The King is honest, and
wishes the good of his people ; but the expedi
ency of an hereditary aristocracy is too difficult
a question for him. On the contrary, his prej
udices, his habits and his connections, decide
him in his heart to support it. — To JOHN JAY.
iii, 51. (P., 1789.)
4883. . The King has an honest
heart. — To JAMES MONROE. FORD ED., iv, 39.
(P., 1785-)
4884. LOUIS XVI., Revenues.— It is
urged principally against the King that his
revenue is one hundred and thirty millions
more than that of his predecessor was, and yet
he demands one hundred and twenty millions
further. — To JOHN ADAMS, ii, 258. (P., 1787.)
521
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Louis XVI.
Luzerue (Marquis de la)
4885. LOUIS XVI., Sincerity.— I have
not a single doubt of the sincerity of the King.
— To MR. MASON, iii, 72. (P., July 1789.)
See MARIE ANTOINETTE and REVOLUTION
(FRENCH).
4886. LOUIS XVIII., Restoration of.—
I have received some information from an eye
witness of what passed on the occasion of the
second return of Louis XVIil. The Emperor
Alexander, it seems, was solidly opposed to
this. In the consultation of the allied sover
eigns and their representatives with the execu
tive council at Paris, he insisted that the
Bourbons were too incapable and unworthy of
being placed at the head of the nation ; de
clared he would support any other choice they
should freely make, and continued to urge
most strenuously that some other choice should
be made. The debates ran high and warm,
and broke off after midnight, every one re
taining his own opinion. He lodged * * *
at Talleyrand's. When they returned into
council the next day, his host had overcome his
firmness. Louis XVIII. was accepted, and
through the management of Talleyrand, ac
cepted without any capitulation, although the
sovereigns would have consented that he should
be first required to subscribe and swear to the
constitution prepared, before permission to en
ter the kingdom. It would seem as if Talley
rand had been afraid to admit the smallest in
terval of time, lest a change of mind would
bring back Bonaparte on them. But I observe
that the friends of a limited monarchy there
consider the popular representation as much
improved by the late alteration, and confident it
will in the end produce a fixed government in
which an elective body, fairly representative
of the people, will be an efficient element. — To
JOHN ADAMS, vii, 82. (P.F., 1817.)
4887. LUXURIES, The Republic and.—
I own it to be my opinion, that good will arise
from the destruction of our credit [in Eu
rope]. I see nothing else which can restrain
our disposition to luxury, and to the change
of those manners which alone can preserve
republican government. — To ARCHIBALD STU
ART, i, 518. FORD ED., iv, 188. (1786.)
4888. LUXURIES, Taxation of.— The
* * * revenue, on the consumption of for
eign articles, is paid cheerfully by those who
can afford to add foreign luxuries to domestic
comforts. — SECOND INAUGURAL ADDRESS, viii,
41. FORD ED., viii, 343. (1805.)
4889. . The great mass of the
articles on which impost is paid is foreign
luxuries, purchased by those only who are
rich enough to afford themselves the use of
them. — SIXTH ANNUAL MESSAGE, viii, 68.
FORD ED., viii, 494. (Dec. 1806.)
4890. — . The government which
steps out of the ranks of the ordinary articles
of consumption to select and lay under dis
proportionate burthens a particular one, be
cause it is a comfort, pleasing to the taste, or
necessary to health, and will therefore be
bought, is, in that particular, a tyranny. — To
SAMUEL SMITH, vii, 285. FORD ED., x, 252.
(M., 1819.) See TAXATION.
_ LYNCH-LAW.— See LAW.
4891. LUZERNE (Marquis de la), Dis
appointments. — We have, for some time, ex
pected that the Chevalier de la Luzerne would
obtain a promotion in the diplomatic line by
being appointed to some of the courts where this
country keeps an ambassador. But none of the
vacancies taking place, I think the present dis
position is to require his return to his station
in America. He told me himself lately that he
should return in the Spring. I have never
pressed this matter on the court, though I knew
it to be desirable and desired on our part ; be
cause, if the compulsion on him to return had
been the work of Congress, he would have re
turned in such ill temper with them, as to
disappoint them in the good they expected from
it. He would forever have laid at their door
his failure of promotion. I did not press it for
another reason, which is, that I have great rea
son to believe that the character of the Count de
Moustier, who would go, were the Chevalier
to be otherwise provided for, would give the
most perfect satisfaction in America. — To
JAMES MADISON, ii, 106. FORD ED., iv, 364.
(P, 1787.)
4892. LUZERNE (Marquis de la), Se
cret marriage.— The Marquis de la Luzerne
had been for many years married to his broth
er's wife's sister, secretly. She was ugly and
deformed, but sensible, amiable, and rather rich.
When he was named ambassador to London,
with ten thousand guineas a year, the marriage
was avowed, and he relinquished his cross of
Malta, from which he derived a handsome
revenue for life, and which was very open to
advancement. She stayed here [Paris] and
not long after died. His real affection for her,
which was great and unfeigned, and perhaps
the loss of his order for so short-lived a sat
isfaction, has thrown him almost into a state
of despondency. — To JAMES MADISON, ii, 445.
FORD EDV v, 44. (P., 1788.)
4893. LUZERNE (Marquis de la), Trib
ute to. — This government is now formed,
organized, and in action; and it considers
among its earliest duties, and assuredly among
its most cordial, to testify to you the regret
which the people and government of the United
States felt at your removal from among them ;
a very general and sincere regret, and tempered
only by the consolation of your personal ad
vancement, which accompanied it. You will re
ceive, Sir, by order of the President of the
United States, as soon as they can be prepared,
a medal and chain of gold, of which he desires
your acceptance in token of their esteem, and
of the sensibility with which they will ever
recall your recollection of their memory. But
as this compliment may, hereafter, be rendered
to other missions, from which yours was dis
tinguished by eminent circumstances, the Presi
dent of the United States wishes to pay you the
distinct tribute of an express acknowledgment
of your services, and our sense of them. You
came to us, Sir, through all the perils which
encompassed us on all sides. You found us
struggling and suffering under difficulties, as
singular and trying as our situation was new
and unprecedented. Your magnanimous nation
had taken side with us in the conflict, and
yourself became the centre of our common
councils, the link which connected our com
mon operations. In that position you labored
without ceasing, until all our labors were
crowned with glory to your nation, freedom to
ours, and benefit to both. During the whole,
we are constant evidence of your zeal, your
abilities and your good faith. We desire to
convey this testimony of it home to your breast,
and to that of your sovereign, our best and
greatest friend, and this I do, Sir, in the name,
tyon (Matthew)
Madison (James)
THE'JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
522
and by the express instruction of the President
of the United States. — To MARQUIS DE LA
LUZERNE. iii, 141. (N.Y., April 30, 1790.)
4894. LYON (Matthew), Prosecution
of.— You will have seen the disgusting pro
ceedings in the case of Lyon. If they would
have accepted even of a commitment to the
Serjeant, it might have been had. But to get
rid of his vote was the most material object.
These proceedings must degrade the General
Government, and lead the people to lean more
on their State governments, which have been
sunk under the early popularity of the former.
— To JAMES MADISON, iv, 211. FORD ED., vii,
202. (Pa., Feb. 1798.)
4895. MACDONOUGH (Commodore),
Victory of.— The success of Macdonough [in
the battle of Lake Champlain] has been happily
timed to dispel the gloom of your present meet
ing, and to open the present session of Congress
with hope and good humor. — To JAMES MONROE.
FORD ED., ix, 488. (M., 1814.)
4896. . I congratulate you on
the destruction of a second hostile fleet on the
Lakes by Macdonough. * * * While our ene
mies cannot but feel shame for their barbarous
achievements at Washington, they will be stung
to the soul by these repeated victories over them
on that element on which they wish the world
to think them invincible. We have dissipated
that error. They must now feel a conviction
themselves that we can beat them gun to gun,
ship to ship, and fleet to fleet, and that their
early successes on 'the land have been either
purchased from traitors, or obtained from raw
men entrusted of necessity with commands for
which no experience had qualified them., and
that every day is adding that experience to un
questioned bravery. — To PRESIDENT MADISON.
vi, 386. (M., 1814.)
4897. MACE, Design for.— I send you a
design for a Mace by Dr. Thornton, whose taste
and inspiration are both good. But I am not
satisfied with the introduction of the rattlesnake
into the design. There is in man as well as
brutes, an antipathy to the snake, which ren
ders it a disgusting object wherever it is pre
sented. I would myself rather adopt the Roman
staves and axe, trite as it is ; or perhaps a
sword, sheathed in a roll of parchment (that
is to say an imitation in metal of a roll of
parchment), written over, in the raised Gothic
letters of the law, with that part of the Con
stitution which establishes the House of
Representatives, for that house, or the Senate.
For the Senate, however, if you have that same
disgust for the snake, I am sure you will your
self imagine some better substitute ; or perhaps
you will find that disgust overbalanced by
stronger considerations in favor of the emblem.
— To GOVERNOR HENRY LEE. FORD ED., vi, 320.
(Pa., I793-)
4898. MACON (Nathaniel) Confidence
in. — Some enemy whom we know not, is sow
ing tares among us. Between you and myself
nothing but opportunities of explanation can
be necessary to defeat those endeavors. At
least on my part my confidence in you is so
unqualified that nothing further is necessary for
my satisfaction. I must, therefore, ask a con
versation with you. — To NATHANIEL MACON.
FORD ED., viii, 439. (W., 1806.)
4899. . While such men as your
self and your worthy colleagues of the legis
lature, and such characters as compose the ex
ecutive administration, are watching for us all,
I slumber without fear, and review in my
dreams the visions of antiquity. * — To NATHAN
IEL MACON. vii, in. FORD ED., x, 120. (M.,
1819.)
— MADEIRA, Climate of.— See CLI
MATE.
4900. MADISON (James), Ability of.—
Mr. Madison came into the House [Legislature
of Virginia] in 1776, a new member and young;
which circumstances, concurring with his ex
treme modesty, prevented his venturing himself
in debate before his removal to the Council
of State, in November, '77. From thence he
went to Congress, then consisting of few mem
bers. Trained in these successive schools, he
acquired a habit of self-possession, which placed
at ready command the rich resources of his
luminous and discriminating mind, and of his
extensive information, and rendered him the
first of every assembly afterwards, of which
he became a member. Never wandering from
his subject into vain declamation, but pursu
ing it closely, in language pure, classical and
copious, soothing always the feelings of his
adversaries by civilities and softness of expres
sion, he rose to the eminent station which he
held in the great National Convention of 1787 ;
and in that of Virginia which followed, he
sustained the new Constitution in all its parts,
bearing off the palm against the logic of George
Mason, and the fervid declamation of Mr.
[Patrick] Henry. With these consummate
powers, were united a pure and spotless virtue,
which no calumny has ever attempted to sully.
Of the powers and polish of his pen, and of
the wisdom of his administration in the highest
office of the nation, I need say nothing. They
have spoken, and will forever speak for them
selves. — AUTOBIOGRAPHY, i, 41. FORD ED., i,
56. (1821.)
4901. MADISON (James), Administra
tion of. — I leave everything in the hands of
men so able to take care of them, that if we
are destined to meet misfortunes, it will be be
cause no human wisdom could avert them. — To
DUPONT DE NEMOURS, v, 433. (W., 1809.)
4902. . If peace can be pre
served, I hope and trust you will have a smooth
administration. I know no government which
would be so embarrassing in war as ours. This
would proceed very much from the lying and
licentious character of our papers ; but much,
also, from the wonderful credulity of the mem
bers of Congress in the floating lies of the day.
And in this no experience seems to correct
them. I have never seen a Congress during
the last eight years, a majority of which I
would not implicitly have relied on in any
question, could their minds have been purged of
all errors of fact. The evil, too, increases
greatly with the protraction of the session, and
I apprehend, in case of war, their session would
have a tendency to become permanent. — To
PRESIDENT MADISON. v, 437. (W., March
1809.)
4903. . Any services which I
could have rendered will be more than supplied
by the wisdom and virtues of my successor.
— REPLY TO ADDRESS, v, 473. (M., 1809.)
* Nathaniel Macon was Speaker of the House of
Representatives from 1801 to 1806, and subsequently
United States Senator from North Carolina. John
Randolph of Roanoke made him one of the legatees
of his estate, and said of him in his will, "he is tho
best, the purest, and wisest man I ever knew". —
EDITOR.
523
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Madison (James)
4904. — . Mr. Madison is my sue
cessor. This ensures to us a wise and hones'
administration. — To BARON HUMBOLDT. v, 41 s
(W., 1809.)
4905. . I do not take the trouble
of forming opinions on what is passing among
[my successors], because I have such entire
confidence in their integrity and wisdom as to
be satisfied all is going right, and that every one
is best in the station confided to him. — To DA
VID HOWELL. v, 555. (M., 1810.)
4906. . Anxious, in my retire
ment, to enjoy undisturbed repose, my knowl
edge of my successor and late coadjutors, and
my entire confidence in their wisdom and in
tegrity, were assurances to me that I might
sleep in security with such watchmen at the
helm, and that whatever difficulties and dan
gers should assail our course, they would do
what could be done to avoid or surmount them.
In this confidence I envelop myself, and hope to
slumber on to my last sleep. And should dif
ficulties occur which they cannot avert,- if we
follow them in phalanx, we shall surmount them
without danger. — To WILLIAM DUANE. v, 533.
(M., 1810.)
4907. . If you will except the
bringing into power and importance those who
were enemies to himself as well as to the
principles of republican government, I do not
recollect a single measure of the President
which I have not approved. Of those under
him, and of some very near him, there have
been many acts of which we have all disap
proved, and he more than we. — To THOMAS
LEIPER. vi, 465. FORD ED., ix, 521. (M., 1815.)
4908. MADISON (James), Confidence
in. — In all cases I am satisfied you are doing
what is for the best, as far as the means put
into your hands will enable you, and this
thought quiets me under every occurrence. — To
PRESIDENT MADISON, vi, 114. FORD ED., ix, ^84
(M., May 1813.)
— MADISON (James), Election contest.
— See HENRY (PATRICK).
4909. MADISON (James), Federal Con-
vention debates. — In a society of members,
between whom and yourself are great mutual
esteem and respect, a most anxious desire is
expressed that you would publish your debates
of the [Federal] Convention. That these meas
ures of the army, navy and direct tax will
bring about a revolution of public sentiment
is thought certain, and that the Constitution
will then receive a different explanation. Could
those debates be ready to appear critically, their
effect would be decisive. I beg of you to turn
this subject in your mind. The arguments
against it will be personal ; those in favor of it
moral ; and something is required from you as
a set off against the sin of your retirement. —
To JAMES MADISON, iv, 263. FORD ED., vii, 318.
(Pa., Jan. 1799.)
4910. MADISON (James), Hamilton
and. — Hamilton is really a Colossus to the
anti-republican party. * * * When he comes
forward, there is nobody but yourself who can
meet him. — To JAMES MADISON, iv, 121. FORD
ED., vii, 32. (M., 1795.)
4911. . You will see in Fenno
two numbers of a paper signed " Marcellus ".
They promise much mischief, and are ascribed,
without any difference of opinion, to [Alexan
der] Hamilton. You must take your pen against
this champion. You know the ingenuity of his
talents; and there is not a person but yourself
who can foil him. For heaven's sake, then, take
up your pen, and do not desert the public cause
altogether. — To JAMES MADISON, iv, 231 FORD
EDV vii, 231. (Pa., April 1798.)
4912. . Let me pray and beseech
you to set apart a certain portion of every post
day to write what may be proper for the public
Send it to me while here [Philadelphia], and
when I go away I will let you know to whom
you may send, so that your name will be sa
credly secret. You can render such incalculable
services in this way, as to lessen the effect of
our loss of your presence here. — To JAMES MAD
ISON iv, 281. FORD ED., vii, 344. (Pa., Feb.
I799-)
4913. MADISON (James), Jefferson
and administration of.— The unwarrantable
ideas often expressed in the newspapers, and
by persons who ought to know better, that I
intermeddle in the Executive councils, and the
indecent expressions, sometimes, of a hope that
Mr. Madison will pursue the principles of my
administration, expressions so disrespectful to
his known abilities and dispositions, have ren
dered it improper in me to hazard suggestions
to him, on occasions even where ideas might
occur to me, that might accidentally escape him.
— To JAMES MONROE, vi, 123. (M., 1813.)
— MADISON (James), Jefferson, Presi
dency and.— See PRESIDENT.
4914. MADISON (James), Jefferson's
bequest to.— I give to my friend, James
Madison, of Montpelier, my gold-mounted walk
ing-staff of animal horn, as a token of the
cordial and affectionate friendship, which, for
nearly now an half-century, has united us
in the same principles and pursuits of what
we have deemed for the greatest good of our
country. — JEFFERSON'S WILL, ix, 514. FORD
ED., x, 395. (March 1826.)
4915. MADISON (James), Jefferson's
friendship for.— My friendship for Mr.
Madison, my confidence in his wisdom and
virtue, and my approbation of all his measures,
and especially of his taking up at length the
gauntlet against England, is known to all with
whom I have ever conversed or corresponded
on these measures.— To THOMAS LEIPER. vi
465. FORD ED., ix, 521. (M., 1815.)
4916. — _. The friendship which
has subsisted between us, now half a century,
and the harmony of our political principles and
pursuits, have been sources of constant happi
ness to me through that long period. And if
[ remove beyond the reach of attentions to the
University, or beyond the bourne of life itself,
as I soon must, it is a comfort to leave that
institution under your care, and an assurance
that it will not be wanting. It has also been
a great solace to me, to believe that you are en
gaged in vindicating to posterity the course we
have pursued for preserving to them, in all their
mrity, the blessings of self-government, which
we had assisted, too, in acquiring for them
If ever the earth has beheld a system of ad
ministration conducted with a single and stead-
"ast eye to the general interest and happiness
f those committed to it, one which, protected
)y truth, can never know reproach, it is that to
which our lives have been devoted. To my
self you have been a pillar of support through
ife. Take care of me when dead, and be
Madison (James)
Maine
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
524
assured that I shall leave with you my last
affections.* — To JAMES MADISON, vii, 434.
FORD ED., x, 377. (M., February 1826.)
4917. MADISON (James), John Adams
and. — Charles Lee consulted a member from
Virginia to know whether [John] Marshall
would be agreeable [as Minister to France]. He
named you, as more likely to give satisfaction.
The answer was, " nobody of Mr. Madison's
way of thinking will be appointed ". — To JAMES
MADISON, iv, 179. FORD ED., vii, 132. (Pa.,
June I797-)
4918. MADISON (James), Judgment
of. — There is no sounder judgment than his.
To J. W. EPPES. FORD ED., ix, 484. (M.,
1814.)
— MADISON (James), Marbury vs.—
See MARBURY vs. MADISON.
_ MADISON (James), Monroe and.—
See MONROE.
4919. MADISON (James), Opinions of.
— No man weighs more maturely than Mr.
Madison before he takes a side on any ques
tion. — To PEREGRINE FITZHUGH. iv, 170. (M.,
I797-)
4920. MADISON (James), Opposition
to. — With respect to the opposition threat
ened, although it may give some pain, no in
jury of consequence is to be apprehended. Du-
ane flying off from the government, may, for a
little while, throw confusion into our ranks as
John Randolph did. But, after a moment of
time to reflect and rally, and to see where he
is, we shall stand our ground with firmness. A
few malcontents will follow him, as they did
John Randolph, and perhaps he may carry off
some well-meaning Anti-Snyderites of Pennsyl
vania. The federalists will sing hosannas, and
the world will thus know of a truth what they
are. This new minority will perhaps bring
forward their new favorite, who seems already
to have betrayed symptoms of consent. They
will blast him in the bud, which will be no mis
fortune. They will sound the tocsin against the
ancient dominion, and anti-dominionism may
become their rallying point. And it is better
that all this should happen two than six years
hence. — To PRESIDENT MADISON. FORD ED., ix,
321. (M., April 1811.)
4921. MADISON (James), Pure princi
ples of. — I know them both [Mr. Madison
and Mr. Monroe] to be of principles as truly
republican as any men living. — To THOMAS
RITCHIE, vii, 191. FORD ED., x, 170. (M.,
1820.)
4922. MADISON (James), Reelection as
President. — I have known Mr. Madison from
1779, when he first came into the public councils,
and from three and thirty years' trial, I can
say conscientiously that I do not know in the
world a man of purer integrity, more dispassion
ate, disinterested, and devoted to genuine re
publicanism ; nor could I, in the whole scope
of America and Europe, point out an abler head.
He may be illy seconded by others, betrayed by
the Hulls and Arnolds of our country, for such
there are in every country, and with sorrow
and suffering we know it. But what man can
do will be done by Mr. Madison. I hope, there-
tore, there will be no difference among republic
ans as to his reelection; we shall know his
* The quotation is from the last letter written by
Jefferson to Madison.— EDITOR.
value when we have to give him up, and to
look at large for his successor. — To THOMAS C.
FLOURNEY. vi, 82. (M., Oct. 1812.)
4923. MADISON (James), Removal of
Armstrong. — If our operations have suffered
or languished from any want of injury in the
present head [of the War Department] which
directs them, I have so much confidence in
the wisdom and conscientious integrity of Mr.
Madison, as to be satisfied, that however tortur
ing to his feelings, he will fulfil his duty to the
public and to his own reputation, by making the
necessary change. — To WILLIAM DUANE. vi,
81. FORD ED., ix, 369. (M., Oct. 1812.)
4924. MADISON (James), Republican
ism of. — Our enemies may try their cajoleries
with my successor. They will find him as im
movable in his republican principles as him
whom they have honored with their peculiar
enmity. — To DR. E. GRIFFITH, v, 451. £M.,
1809.)
4925. MADISON (James), Services to
Jefferson. — Mr. Madison is entitled to his
full share of all the measures of my administra
tion. Our principles were the same, and we
never differed sensibly in the application of
them. — To W. C. NICHOLAS. FORD ED., ix, 252.
(M., !8o9.)
4926. MADISON (James), Statesman
ship. — Our ship is sound, the crew alert at
their posts, and our ablest steersman at its
helm. — To JOHN MELISH. v, 573. (M., 1811.)
4927. MADISON (James), University
of Virginia and. — I do not entertain your
apprehensions for the happiness of our brother
Madison in a state of retirement. Such a mind
as his, fraught with information and \yith matter
for reflection, can never know ennui. Besides,
there will always be work enough cut out for
him to continue his active usefulness to his
country. For example, he and Monroe (the
President) are now here (Monticello) on the
work of a collegiate institution to be established
in our neighborhood, of which they and my
self are three of six visitors. This, if it suc
ceeds, will raise up children for Mr. Madison
to employ his attention through life. — To JOHN
ADAMS, vii, 62. (M., 1817.)
4928. MADISON (James), Wisdom of.
— My successor, to the purest principles of re
publican patriotism, adds a wisdom and fore
sight second to no man on earth. — To GENERAL
KOSCIUSKO. v, 508. (M., 1810.)
— MAGNETIC NEEDLE.— See LATI
TUDE AND LONGITUDE.
4929. MAILS, Expediting.— The Presi
dent has desired me to confer with you on
the proposition I made the other day, of en
deavoring to move the posts at the rate of one
hundred miles a day. It is believed to be
practicable here, because it is practiced in
every other country. * * * I am anxious
that the thing should be begun by way of ex
periment, for a short distance, because I
believe it will so increase the income of the
post-office as to show we may go through
with it. — To COLONEL PICKERING, iii, 344.
(Pa., 1792.)
4930. MAINE, English encroachments.
— The English encroachments on the province
525
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Maine
Majority
of Maine become serious. They have seized
vessels, too, on our coast of Passamaquoddy,
thereby displaying a pretension to the exclusive
jurisdiction to the Bay of Fundy, which sepa
rates Nova Scotia and Maine, and belongs as
much to us as them. — To MARQUIS DE LAFAY
ETTE, ii, 21. (P., 1786.)
4931. MAINE, Independence of.— If I
do not contemplate this subject [the Missouri
question] with pleasure, I do sincerely [con
template] that of the independence of Maine,
and the wise choice they have made of General
King in the agency of their affairs. — To MARK
LANGDON HILL, vii, 155. (M., 1820.)
4932. MAJORITY, Abuses by.— The ma
jority, oppressing an individual, is guilty of
a crime; abuses its strength, and, by acting
on the law of the strongest, breaks up the
foundations of society. — To DUPONT DE
NEMOURS, vi, 591. FORD ED., x, 24. (P.F.,
1816.)
4933. MAJORITY, Dissent from.— It is
true that dissentients have a right to go over
to the minority, and to act with them. But
I do not believe your mind has contemplated
that course ; that it has deliberately viewed
the strange company into which it may be
led, step by step, unintended and unperceived
by itself. The example of John Randolph is
a caution to all honest and prudent men, to
sacrifice a little of self-confidence, and to go
with their friends, although they may some
times think they are going wrong. * *
As far as my good will may go ( for I can no
longer act), I shall adhere to my government,
Executive and Legislative, and, as long as
they are republican, I shall go with their
measures whether I think them right or
wrong; because I know they are honest, and
are wiser and better informed than I am. In
doing this, however, I shall not give up the
friendship of those who differ from me, and
who have equal right with myself to shape
their own course. — To WILLIAM DUANE. v,
592. FORDED., ix, 316. (M., 1811.)
4934. MAJORITY, Force vs.— Absolute
acquiescence in the decisions of the majority,
— the vital principle of republics, from which
is no appeal but to force, the vital principle
and immediate parent of despotism, I deem
[one of the] essential principles of our gov
ernment and, consequently, [one] which
ought to shape its administration. — FIRST IN
AUGURAL ADDRESS, viii, 4. FORD ED., viii, 4.
(1801.)
4935. MAJORITY, Generations and.—
This corporeal globe, and everything upon it,
belong to its present corporeal inhabitants,
during their generation. They alone have a
right to direct what is the concern of them
selves alone, and to declare the law of that
direction ; and this declaration can only be
made by their majority. — To SAMUEL KER-
CHIVAL. vii, 1 6. FORD ED., x, 44. (M.,
1816.)
4936. . A generation may bind
itself as long as its majority continues in life;
when that has disappeared, another majority
is in place, holds all the rights and powers
their predecessors once held, and may change
their laws and institutions to suit themselves.
—To JOHN CARTWKIGHT. vii, 359. M.,
824.) See GENERATIONS.
4937. MAJORITY, Law of.— Where the
law of the majority ceases to be acknowl
edged, there government ends ; the law of the
strongest takes its place, and life and prop
erty are his who can take them. — R. TO A.
ANNAPOLIS CITIZENS, viii, 150. (1809.)
4938. - — . The lex majoris partis
[is] founded in common law as well as com
mon right.— NOTES ON VIRGINIA, viii, 367.
FORD ED., iii, 229. (1782.)
4939. MAJORITY, Natural law.— The
lex majoris partis is the natural law of every
assembly of men, whose numbers are not
fixed by any other law. — NOTES ON VIRGINIA.
viii, 367. FORD ED., iii, 230. (1782.)
4940. - _. The law of the majority
is the natural law of every society of men. —
OFFICAL OPINION, vii, 496. FORD ED., v, 206.
1790.)
4941. . The lex majoris partis
is a fundamental law of nature, by which alone
self-government can be exercised by a so
ciety. — To JOHN BRECKENRIDGE. FORD ED., vii
417- (Pa., 1800.)
4942. MAJORITY, Oppressive.— I have
seen with deep concern the afflicting oppres
sion under which the republican citizens of
Connecticut suffer from an unjust majority.
The truths expressed in your letter have been
long exposed to the nation through the chan
nel of the public papers, and are the more
readily believed because most of the States
during the momentary ascendancy of kindred
majorities in them, have seen the same spirit
of oppression prevail. — To THOMAS SEYMOUR.
v, 43. FORD ED., ix, 29. (W., 1807.)
4943. MAJORITY, Reasonable.— Bear in
mind this sacred principle, that though the
will of the majority is in all cases to prevail,
that will, to be rightful, must be reasonable;
that the minority possess their equal rights,
which equal laws must protect, and to violate
would be oppression. — FIRST INAUGURAL AD
DRESS, viii. 2. FORD ED., viii, 2. (March
1801.)
4944. MAJORITY, Representatives of.
—Our Executive and Legislative authorities
are the choice of the nation, and possess the
nation's confidence. They are chosen because
they possess it, and the recent elections prove
it has not been abated by the attacks which
have for some time been kept up against them.
If the measures which have been pursued are
approved by the majority, it is the dutv of
the minority to acquiesce and conform. — To
WILLIAM DUANE. v, 592. FORD ED., ix, 315.
(M., 1811.)
4945. MAJORITY, Respect for.— The
measures of the fair majority * * * ought
always to be respected. — To PRESIDENT
WASHINGTON, iii, 461. FORD ED., vi, 103.
(M., 1792.)
Majority
Man
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
526
4946. MAJORITY, Slender.— After an
other election our majority will be two to one
in the Senate, and it would not be for the
public good to have it greater. — To JOEL BAR
LOW, iv, 437. FORD ED., viii, 149. (W., May
1802.)
4947. . The first principle of re
publicanism is that the lex majoris partis is
the fundamental law of every society of in
dividuals of equal rights; to consider the will
of the society enounced by the majority of a
single vote as sacred as if unanimous, is the
first of all lessons in importance, yet the last
which is thoroughly learnt. This law once
disregarded, no other remains but that of
force, which ends necessarily in military des
potism. This has been the history of the
French Revolution. — To F. H. ALEXANDER
VON HUMBOLDT. VU, 75- FORD ED., X, 89.
(M., 1817.)
4948. MAJORITY, Submission to.— If
we are faithful to our country, if we acquiesce,
with good will, in the decisions of the ma
jority, and the nation moves in mass in the
same direction, although it may not be that
which every individual thinks best, we have
nothing to fear from any quarter. — R. TO A.
VIRGINIA BAPTISTS, viii, 139. (1808.)
4949. . I readily suppose my
opinion wrong, when opposed by the major
ity. — To JAMES MADISON, ii, 447. FORD ED.,
v, 48. (P., 1788.)
4950. . The fundamental law of
every society is the lex majoris partis, to
which we are bound to submit. — To DAVID
HUMPHREYS, iii, 13. FORD ED., v, 90. (P.,
1789.)
4951. MAJORITY, Will of.— The will of
the majority honestly expressed should give
law. — ANAS, ix, 131. FORD ED., i, 215.
(I793-)
4952. . It is my principle that
the will of the majority should always pre
vail. — To JAMES MADISON, ii, 332. FORD ED.,
iv, 479- (P., 1787.)
4953. . It accords with our prin
ciples to acknowledge any government to be
rightful which is formed by the will of the
nation substantially declared. — To GOUVER-
NEUR MORRIS, iii, 489. (1792.)
4954. . We are sensible of the
duty and expediency of submitting our opin
ions to the will of the majority, and can
wait with patience till they get right, if they
happen to be at any time wrong. — To JOHN
BRECKENRIDGE. FORD ED., vii, 418. (Pa., Jan.
1800.)
4955. . The fundamental princi
ple of the government is that the will of the
majority is to prevail. — To DR. WILLIAM
EUSTIS. v, 411. FORD ED., ix, 236. (W.,
Jan. 1809.)
4956. MALESHEKBES (C. G. de la M.),
Eminence. — He is unquestionably the first
character in the kingdom for integrity, patriot
ism, knowledge and experience in business. —
To JOHN JAY. ii, 157. (P., 1787.)
4957. MALESHERBES (C. G. de la M.),
Integrity. — I am particularly happy at the
reentry of Malesherbes into the Council. His
knowledge, his integrity, render his value in
appreciable, and the greater to me, because,
while he had no views of office., we had estab
lished together the most unreserved intimacy.
— To JAMES MADISON, ii, 153. FORD ED., iv,
392. (P., 1787.)
4958. . No man's recommenda
tion merits more reliance than that of M. de
Malesherbes. — To . v, 381. (W
1808.)
4959. MALICE, Escape from. — If you
meant to escape malice, you should have con
fined yourself within the sleepy line of reg
ular duty. — To JAMES STEPTOE. i, 324. FORD
ED., iii, 63. (1782.)
4960. MALICE, Political.— You certainly
acted wisely in taking no notice of what the
malice of Pickering could say of you. Were
such things to be answered, our lives would be
wasted in the filth of fendings and provings,
instead of being employed in promoting the
happiness and prosperity of our fellow citi
zens. The tenor of your life is the proper
and sufficient answer. — To JOHN ADAMS, vii,
62. (M., 1817.)
4961. MALICE, Virtue and.— There is
no act, however virtuous, for which inge
nuity may not find some bad motive. — To
EDWARD DOWSE, iv, 477. (W., 1803.)
4962. . Malice will always find
bad motives for good actions. Shall we
therefore never do good? — To PRESIDENT
MADISON, v, 524. (M., 1810.)
4963. MAN", A curious animal.— Man
is in all his shapes a curious animal. — To MR.
VOLNEY. iv, 159. (M., 1797.)
4964. MAN, Destructive.— In the whole
animal kingdom I recollect no family but
man, steadily and systematically employed in
the destruction of itself. Nor does what is
called civilization produce any other effect,
than to teach him to pursue the principle of
the bellum omnium in omnia on a greater
scale, and instead of the little contest be
tween tribe and tribe, to comprehend all the
quarters of the earth in the same work of
destruction. If to this we add, that as to
other animals, the lions and tigers are mere
lambs compared with man as a destroyer,
we must conclude that nature has been able
to find in man alone a sufficient barrier
against the too great multiplication of other
animals and of man himself, an equilibrating
power against the fecundity of generation.
While in making these observations, mv sit
uation points my attention to the warfare of
man in the physical world, yours may pre
sent him as equally warring in the moral one.
—To JAMES MADISON, iv, 156. FORD ED.,
vii, 99- (I797-)
4965. . The greatest honor of a
man is in doing good to his fellow men, not
in destroying them. — ADDRESS TO INDIANS.
viii, 208. (1807.)
527
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Man
Manners
4966. . The Great Spirit did not
make men that they might destroy one an
other, but doing to each other all the good
in their power, and thus filling the land with
happiness instead of misery and murder. —
INDIAN ADDRESS, viii, 228. (1809.)
4967. MAN, Freedom and happiness
of. — The freedom and happiness of man
* * * are the sole objects of all legitimate
government.— To GENERAL KOSCIUSKO. v,
509. (M., 1810.)
— MAN, Future generations and.— See
GENERATIONS.
4968. MAN, Goodness in.— I am not yet
decided to drop Lownes, on account of his
being a good man, and I like much to be in
the hands of good men. There is great pleas
ure in unlimited confidence. — To JAMES MAD
ISON. FORD ED., vii, 62. (M., 1796.)
4969. MAN, Honesty of.— Men are dis
posed to live honestly, if the means of doing
so are open to them. — To M. DE MARBOIS.
vii, 77. (M., 1817.)
4970. . In truth man is not made
to be trusted for life, if secured against all
liability to account.— To M. CORAY. vii, 322.
(M., 1823.)
4971. MAN, Madness of.— What a Bed
lamite is man!— To JOHN ADAMS, vii, 200.
FORD ED., x, 186. (M., 1821.)
4972. MAN, Political equality of.— All
men are created equal. — DECLARATION OF IN
DEPENDENCE AS DRAWN BY JEFFERSON.
4973. MAN, A rational animal.— Man
is a rational animal, endowed by nature with
rights, and with an innate sense of justice. —
To WILLIAM JOHNSON, vii, 291. FORD ED.,
x, 227. (M., 1823.)
— MAN, Bights of.— See RIGHTS OF
MAN.
4974. MAN, Schoolboy through life.—
The bulk of mankind are schoolboys through
life. — NOTES ON A MONEY UNIT, i, 163.
(1784-)
4975. MANKIND, Government of.—
Men, enjoying in ease and security, the full
fruits of their own industry, enlisted by all
their interests on the side of law and order,
habituated to think for themselves, and to
follow their reason as their guide,
[are] more easily and safely governed than
with minds nourished in error, and vitiated
and debased, as in Europe, by ignorance, in
digence, and oppression. — To WILLIAM JOHN
SON, vii, 292. FORD ED., x, 227. (M., 1823.)
4976. MANKIND, Improvement of.—
The energies of the nation, as depends on
me, shall be reserved for the improvement
of the condition of man, not wasted in his
destruction. — REPLY TO ADDRESS, iv, 388.
(W., 1801.)
4977. . Although a soldier your
self, I am sure you contemplate the peaceable
employment of man in the improvement of his
condition, with more pleasure than his mur
ders, raperies and devastations. — To GENERAL
KOSCIUSKO. vi, 69. FORD ED., ix, 363. (M.,
June 1812.)
4978. . That every man shall be
made virtuous, by any process whatever, is,
indeed, no more to be expected, than that
every tree shall be made to bear fruit, and
every plant nourishment. The brier and
bramble can never become the vine and olive ;
but their asperities may be softened by cul
ture, and their properties improved to use
fulness in the order and economy of the
world. And I do hope that, in the present
spirit of extending to the great mass of man
kind the blessings of instruction, I see a pros
pect of great advancement in the happiness of
the human race; and that this may proceed
to an indefinite, although not to an infinite
degree. — To C. C. BLATCHLY. vii, 263. (M.,
1822.)
4979. MANKIND, Love for.— Loving
mankind in my individual relations with
them, I pray to be permitted to depart in
their peace. — To SPENCER ROANE. vii, 136.
FORD ED., x, 142. (P.F., 1819.)
4980. MANKIND, Relations with.—
During a long life, as much devoted to study
as a faithful transaction of the trusts com
mitted to me would permit, no subject has
occupied more of my consideration than our
relations with all the beings around us, our
duties to them, and our future prospects.
After reading and hearing everything which
probably can be suggested respecting them, I
have formed the best judgment I could as to
the course they prescribe, and in the due ob
servance of that course, I have no recollec
tions which give me uneasiness. — To WILL
IAM CANBY. vi, 210. (M., 1813.)
4981. . We must endeavor to
forget our former love for them, and hold
them as we hold the rest of mankind, enemies
in War, in Peace friends. — DECLARATION OF
INDEPENDENCE AS DRAWN BY JEFFERSON.
4982. MANNERS, American vs. French.
— I am much pleased with the people of this
country. The roughness of the human mind is
so thoroughly rubbed off with tnem that it seems
as if one might glide through a whole life among
them without a jostle. Perhaps, too, their man
ners may be the best calculated for happiness to
a people in their situation, but I am convinced
they fall far short of effecting a happiness so
temperate, so uniform and so lasting as is gen
erally enjoyed with us. — To MRS. TRIST. i, 394.
(P., 1785.)
4983. - — . Nourish peace with their
[the French] persons, but war against their
manners. Every step we take towards the
adoption of their manners is a step to perfect
misery. — To MRS. TRIST. i, 395. (P., 1785.)
4984. MANNERS, Institutions and.—
Time indeed changes manners and notions, and
so far we must expect institutions to bend
to them. — To SPENCER ROANE. vii, 211. FORD
ED., x, 188. (M., 1821.)
Manners
Manufactures
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
528
4985. MANNERS, National.— The man
ners of every nation are the standard of
orthodoxy within itself. But these standards
being arbitrary, reasonable people in all allow
free toleration for the manners, as for the
religion of others.— To JEAN BAPTISTE SAY.
vi, 433- (M., 1815.)
4986. MANSFIELD (Lord), Able and
eloquent.— A man of the clearest head, and
most seducing eloquence.— To PHILIP MAZZEI.
FORD ED., iv, 115. (P., 1785.)
4987. MANSFIELD (Lord), Decisions
of. — I hold it essential, in America, to forbid
that any English decision which has happened
since the accession of Lord Mansfield to the
bench, should ever be cited in a court ; be
cause, though there have come many good
ones from him, yet there is so much poison
instilled into a great part of them, that it is
better to proscribe the whole. — To MR. CUT
TING, ii, 487- (P-> 1788.)
4988. . The object of former
judges has been to render the law more and
more certain ; that of this personage to render it
more incertain under pretence of rendering it
more reasonable. — To PHILIP MAZZEI. FORD
ED., iv, 115. (P., 1785-)
4989. MANUFACTURES, Agriculture,
commerce and. — I trust the good sense of
our country will see that its greatest pros
perity depends on a due balance between ag
riculture, manufactures and commerce. — To
THOMAS LEIPER. v, 417. FORD EDV ix, 239.
(W., 1809.)
4990. . An equilibrium of agri
culture, manufactures and commerce, is cer
tainly become essential to our independence.
Manufactures sufficient for our own consump
tion, of what we raise the raw material (and
no more). Commerce sufficient to carry the
surplus produce of agriculture, beyond our
own consumption, to a market for exchanging
it for articles we cannot raise (and no more).
These are the true limits of manufactures and
commerce. To go beyond them is to increase
our dependence on foreign nations, and our
liability to war. These three important
branches of human industry will then grow
together, and be really handmaids to each
other.— To JAMES JAY. v, 440. (M., April
1809.) See AGRICULTURE and COMMERCE.
4991. MANUFACTURES, British pro
hibition of. — By an act passed in the fifth
year of the reign of his late Majesty, King
George II., an American subject is forbidden
to make a hat for himself, of the fur which
he has taken perhaps on his own soil ; an in
stance of despotism to which no parallel can
be produced in the most arbitrary ages of
British history.— RIGHTS OF BRITISH AMER
ICA, i, 129. FORD ED., i, 434- (I774-)
4992. . By an act passed in the
twenty-third year of King George II., the iron
which we make, we are forbidden to manufac
ture; and, heavy as that article is, and nec
essary in every branch of husbandry, besides
commission and insurance, we are to pay
freight for it to Great Britain, and freight
for it back again, for the purpose of sup
porting, not men, but machines in the island
of Great Britain.— RIGHTS OF BRITISH AMER
ICA, i, 129. FORD ED., i, 434. (1774.) See
TRADE.
- MANUFACTURES, Centralization
and. — See 1159.
4993. MANUFACTURES, The Colonies
and.— I think nothing can bring the security
of our continent and its cause into danger, if
we can support the credit of our paper. To
do that, I apprehend, one of two steps must
be taken. Either to procure free trade by
alliance with some naval power able to pro
tect it; or, if we find there is no prospect of
that, to shut our ports totally, to all the
world, and turn our Colonies into manufac
tories. The former would be most eligible,
because most conformable to the habits and
wishes of our people.— To BENJAMIN FRANK
LIN, i, 205. FORD ED., ii, 132. (1777.)
4994. . During the present con
test we have manufactured within our fam
ilies the most necessary articles of clothing.
Those of cotton will bear some comparison
with the same kinds of manufacture in Eu
rope; but those of wool, flax and hemp are
very coarse, unsightly, and unpleasant; and
such is our attachment to agriculture, and
such our preference for foreign manufactures,
that be it wise or unwise, our people will cer
tainly return as soon as they can, to the rais
ing raw materials, and exchanging them for
finer manufactures than they are able to ex
ecute themselves. — NOTES ON VIRGINIA, viii,
404. FORD ED., iii, 268. (1782.)
4995. MANUFACTURES, Cotton.—
Great advances are making in the establish
ment of manufactures. Those of cotton will,
I think, be so far proceeded on, that we shall
never again have to recur to the importation
of cotton goods for our own use. — To WILL
IAM LYMAN. v, 280. (W., 1808.)
4996. . I am much pleased to
find our progress in manufactures to be so
great. That of cotton is peculiarly interest
ing, because we raise the raw material in such
abundance, and because it may, to a great de
gree, supply our deficiencies both in wool and
linen.— To J. DORSEY. ¥,235. (W., 1808.)
4997. MANUFACTURES, The Em
bargo and.— The Embargo * * * prom
ises lasting good by promoting among our
selves the establishment of manufactures
hitherto sought abroad, at the risk of colli
sions no longer regulated by the laws of rea
son or morality. — R. TO A. PHILADELPHIA
DEMOCRATIC-REPUBLICANS, viii, 128. (1808.)
4998. . The suspension of our
foreign commerce, produced by the injustice
of the belligerent powers, and the consequent
losses and sacrifices of our citizens, are sub
jects of just concern. The situation into
which we have thus been forced, has impelled
us to apply a portion of our industry and
capital to internal manufactures and improve
ments. The extent of this conversion is daily
increasing, and little doubt remains that the
529
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Manufacture*
establishments formed and forming will,
under the auspices of cheaper materials and
subsistence, the freedom of labor from tax
ation with us, and of protecting duties and
prohibitions, become permanent. — EIGHTH
ANNUAL MESSAGE, viii, 109. FORD ED., ix,
223. (1808.)
4999. . AS a countervail to
our short-lived sacrifices [by the Embargo],
when these shall no longer be felt, we shall
permanently retain the benefit they have
prompted, of fabricating for our own use the
materials of our own growth, heretofore
carried to the work-houses of Europe, to be
wrought and returned to us. — R. TO A. BAL
TIMORE TAMMANY SOCIETY, viii, 170. (1809.)
5000. . It is true that the Em
bargo laws have not had all the effect in
bringing the powers of Europe to a sense of
justice which a more faithful observance of
them might have produced. Yet they have
had the important effects of saving our sea
men and property, of giving time to prepare
for defence; and they will produce the fur
ther inestimable advantage of turning the
attention and enterprise of our fellow cit
izens, and the patronage of our State
Legislatures to the establishment of use
ful manufactures in our country. They
will have hastened the day when an equi
librium between the occupations of agri
culture, manufactures, and commerce, shall
simplify our foreign concerns to the exchange
only of that surplus which we cannot con
sume for those articles of reasonable comfort
or convenience which we cannot produce. —
R. TO A. PENNA. DEMOCRATIC-REPUBLICANS.
viii, 163. (1809.)
5001. . Amidst the pressure of
evils with which the belligerent edicts [Ber
lin decrees, Orders of Council, &c.], have af
flicted us, some permanent good will arise;
the spring given to manufactures will have
durable effects. Knowing most of my own
State, I can affirm with confidence that were
free intercourse opened again to-morrow, she
would never again import one -half of the
coarse goods which she has done down to
the date of the edicts. These will be made in
our families. For finer goods we must resort
to the larger manufactories established in the
towns. — To DAVID HUMPHREYS. v, 415.
FORD ED., ix, 226. (W., 1809.)
5002. . The interruption of our
commerce with England, produced by our
Embargo and Non-Intercourse law, and the
general indignation excited by her bare-faced
attempts to make us accessories and tributa
ries to her usurpation on the high seas, have
generated in this country an universal spirit
for manufacturing for ourselves, and of re
ducing to a minimum the number of articles
for which we are dependent on her. The ad
vantages, too, of lessening the occasions of
risking our peace on the ocean, and of plant
ing the consumer in our own soil by the side
of the grower of produce, are so palpable,
that no temporary suspension of injuries on
her part, or agreements founded on that, will
now prevent our continuing in what we have
begun. The spirit of manufacturing has taken
deep root among us, and its foundations are
laid in too great expense to be abandoned. —
To DUPONT DE NEMOURS, v, 456. (M., June
1809.)
5003. . Nothing more salutary
for us has ever happened than the British ob
structions to our demands for their manufac
tures. Restore free intercourse when they
will, their commerce with us will have totally
changed its form, and the articles we shall
in future want from them will not exceed
their own consumption of our produce. — To
JOHN ADAMS, vi, 36. FORD ED., ix, 333. (M.,
Jan. 1812.)
5004. MANUFACTURES, Encourage
ment of. — The present aspect of our foreign
relations has encouraged here a general spirit
of encouragement to domestic manufactures.
The Merino breed of sheep is well established
with us, and fine samples of cloth are sent to
us from the North. Considerable manufac
tures of cotton are also commencing. Phila
delphia, particularly, is becoming more man
ufacturing than commercial.— To MR. MAURY.
v, 214. (W., Nov. 1807.)
5005. . My idea is that we
should encourage home manufactures to the
extent of our own consumption of every
thing of which we raise the raw material. — To
DAVID HUMPHREYS, v, 416. FORD ED., ix, 226.
(W., 1809.)
5006. . Every syllable uttered
in my name becomes a text for the federalists
to torment the public mind on by their para
phrases and perversions. I have lately incul
cated the encouragement of manufactures to
the extent of our own consumption at least,
in all articles of which we raise the raw ma
terial. On this the federal papers and meet
ings have sounded the alarm of Chinese pol
icy, destruction of commerce, &c. ; that is to
say, the iron which we make must not be
wrought here into plows, axes, hoes, &c., in
order that the ship-owner may have the
profit of carrying it to Europe, and bring
ing it back in a manufactured form, as if
after manufacturing our own raw materials
for our own use, there would not be a surplus
produce sufficient to employ a due propor
tion of navigation in carrying it to market
and exchanging it for those articles of which
we have not the raw material. Yet this ab
surd hue and cry has contributed much to
federalize New England. Their doctrine goes
to the sacrificing agriculture and manufac
tures to commerce ; to the calling off our peo
ple from the interior country to the sea shore
to turn merchants, and to convert this great
agricultural country into a city of Amster
dam. But I trust the good sense of our coun
try will see that its greatest prosperity de
pends on a due balance between agriculture,
manufactures and commerce, and not in this
protuberant navigation which has kept us in
hot water from the commencement of our
M ami factures
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
530
government, and is now engaging us in war.
— To THOMAS LEIPER. v, 417. FORD ED., ix,
239- (W., Jan. 1809.)
5007. . The government of the
United States, at a very early period, when
establishing its tariff on foreign importations,
were very much guided in their selection of
objects by a desire to encourage manufac
tures within themselves.— To . vii,
220. (M., 1821.)
5008. MANUFACTURES, Fear of Brit
ish competition. — I much fear the effect on
our infant establishments of the policy avowed
by Mr. Brougham. Individual British mer
chants may lose by their late immense impor
tations; but British commerce and manufac
tures, in the mass, will gain by beating down
the competition of ours, in our own markets.
Against this policy, our protecting duties are
as nothing, our patriotism less. — To WILLIAM
SAMPSON. FORD ED., x, 74. (M., 1817.)
5009. MANUFACTURES, Fostering.—
Enough of the non-importation law should be
reserved * * * to support those manufac
turing establishments which the British Orders
[of Council] and our interests forced us to
make. — To PRESIDENT MADISON. v, 442.
FORD ED., ix, 251. (M., April 1809.)
5010. MANUFACTURES, Great Brit
ain and American.— Radically hostile to our
navigation and commerce, and fearing its
rivalry, Great Britain will completely crush
it, and force us to resort to agriculture, not
aware that we shall resort to manufactures
also, and render her conquests over our navi
gation and commerce useless, at least, if not
injurious, to herself in the end, and perhaps
salutary to us, as removing out of our way
the chief causes and provocations to war. — To
HENRY DEARBORN, v, 530. FORD ED., ix, 278.
(M., 1810.)
5011. MANUFACTURES, Home.—
There can be no question, in a mind truly
American, whether it is best to send our cit
izens and property into certain captivity, and
then wage war for their recovery, or to keep
them at home, and to turn seriously to that
policy which plants the manufacturer and the
husbandman side by side, and establishes at
the door of every one that exchange of
mutual labors and comforts, which we have
hitherto sought in distant regions, and under
perpetual risk of broils with them. — R. TO A.
OF NEW YORK TAMMANY SOCIETY, viii, 127.
(Feb. 1808.)
5012. . I see with satisfaction
that our citizens * * * are pre
paring to provide for themselves those com
forts and conveniences of life, for which it
would be unwise evermore to recur to distant
countries.— R. TO A. NEW HAMPSHIRE LEG
ISLATURE, viii, 131. (1808.)
5013. . I have not formerly been
an advocate for great manufactories. I
doubted whether our labor, employed in ag
riculture, and aided by the spontaneous ener
gies of the earth, would not procure us more
than we could make ourselves of other neces
saries. But other considerations entering into
the question, have settled my doubts. — To
JOHN MELISH. vi, 94. FORD ED., ix, 373. (M.,
Jan. 1813.)
5014. . if the piracies of France
and England are to be adopted as the law of
nations, or should become their practice, it
will oblige us to manufacture at home all
the material comforts. This may furnish a
reason to check imports until necessary manu
factures are established among us. This of
fers the advantage, too, of placing the con
sumer of our produce near the producer. — To
WILLIAM SHORT, vi, 128. (M., 1813.)
5015. . We are become manu
facturers to a degree incredible to those who
do not see it, and who only consider the
short period of time during which we have
been driven to them by the suicidal policy of
England. — To JEAN BAPTISTE SAY. vi, 431.
(M., March 1815.)
5016. . The prohibiting duties
we lay on all articles of foreign manufacture
which prudence requires us to establish at
home, with the patriotic determination of every
good citizen to use no foreign article which
can be made within ourselves, without regard
to difference of price, secures us against a re
lapse into foreign dependency. — To JEAN
BAPTISTE SAY. vi, 431. (M., March 1815.)
5017. . It is our business to
manufacture for ourselves whatever we can,
to keep our markets open for what we can
spare or want. — To THOMAS LEIPER. vi, 465.
FORD ED., ix, 520. (M., 1815.) See MARKETS.
5018. . No one has been more
sensible than myself of the advantages of
placing the consumer by the side of the pro
ducer, nor more disposed to promote it by
example.— To MRS. K. D. MORGAN. FORD
ED., viii, 473. (M., 1822.) See PROTECTION
and TARIFF.
5019. MANUFACTURES, Homespun.—
Homespun is become the spirit of the times.
I think it an useful one, and, therefore> that
it is a duty to encourage it by example. The
best fine cloth made in the United States is,
I am told, at the manufacture of Colonel
Humphreys in your neighborhood [New Ha
ven], Could I get the favor of you to pro
cure me there as much of his best as would
make me a coat? I should prefer a deep blue,
but, if not to be had, then a black.— To
ABRAHAM BISHOP. FORD ED., ix, 225. (W.,
1808.)
5020. MANUFACTURES, Household.—
There is no manufacture of wire or of cotton
cards, or if any, it is not worth notice. No
manufacture of stocking-weaving, conse
quently none for making the machine; none
of cotton cloths of any kind for sale; though
in almost every family some is manufactured
for the use of the family, which is always
good in quality, and often tolerably fine. In
the same way, they make excellent stockings
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Manufactures
of cotton, weaving it in like manner, carried
on principally in the family way. Among
the poor, the wife weaves generally, and the
rich either have a weaver among their serv
ants, or employ their poor neighbors. — To
THOMAS DIGGES. ii, 412. FORD ED., v, 28.
(P., 1788.)
5021. . The checks which the
commercial regulations of Europe have given
to the sale of our produce, has produced a
very considerable degree of domestic manu
facture, which, so far as it is in the house
hold way, will doubtless continue ; and so far
as it is more public, will depend on the con
tinuance or discontinuance of this policy of
Europe. — To C. W. F. DUMAS. FORD ED., vi,
70. (Pa., 1792.)
5022. - —.1 shall be glad to hear
* * * any improvements in the arts ap
plicable to * * * household manufacture.
— To TENCH COXE. iv, 105. FORD ED., vi, 509.
(M., May 1794.)
5023. - — . The mass of household
manufacture, unseen by the public eye, and so
much greater than what is seen, is such at
present, that let our intercourse with England
be opened when it may, not one-half the
amount of what we have heretofore taken
from her will ever again be demanded. The
great call from the country has hitherto been
of coarse goods. These are now made in our
families, and the advantage is too sensible
ever to be relinquished. It is one of those
obvious improvements in our condition which
needed only to be forced on our attention,
never again to be abandoned. — To DUPONT DE
NEMOURS, v, 456. (M., June 1809.)
5024. . We are going greatly
into manufactures ; but the mass of them are
household manufactures of the coarse articles
worn by the laborers and farmers of the fam
ily. These I verily believe we shall succeed
in making to the whole extent of our neces
sities. But the attempts at fine goods will
probably be abortive. They are undertaken
by company establishments, and chiefly in the
towns; will have but little success and short
continuance in a country where the charms
of agriculture attract every being who can
engage in it. Our revenue will be less than
it would be were we to continue to import
instead of manufacturing our coarse goods.
But the increase of population and production
will keep pace with that of manufactures, and
maintain the quantum of exports at the
present level at least ; and the imports need
be equivalent to them, and consequently the
revenue on them be undiminished. — To DU
PONT DE NEMOURS, v, 583. FORD ED., ix, 317.
(M., 1811.)
5025. . The economy and thrifti-
ness resulting from our household manufac
tures are such that they will never again be
laid aside. — To JOHN ADAMS, vi, 36. FORD
ED., ix, 333. (M., Jan. 1812.)
5026. . Our manufacturers are
now very nearly on a footing with those of
England. She has not a single improvement
which we do not possess, and many of them
better adapted by ourselves to our ordinary
use. We have reduced the large and ex
pensive machinery for most things to the
compass of a private family, and every fam
ily of any size is now getting machines on a
small scale for their household purposes.
Quoting myself as an example, and I am
much behind many others in this business,
my household manufactures are just getting
into operation on the scale of a carding ma
chine costing $60 only, which may be worked
by a girl of twelve years old, a spinning ma
chine, which may be had for $10, carrying six
spindles for wool, to be worked by a girl also,
another which can be made for $25, carrying
twelve spindles for cotton, and a loom, with
a flying shuttle, weaving its twenty yards a
day. I need 2,000 yards of linen, cotton, and
woollen yearly, to clothe my family, which
this machinery, costing $150 only, and worked
by two women and two girls, will more than
furnish. — To GENERAL KOSCIUSKO. vi, 68.
FORD ED., ix, 362. (M., June 1812.)
5027. . I have hitherto myself
depended entirely on foreign manufactures ;
but I have now thirty-five spindles agoing, a
hand carding machine, and looms with the
flying shuttle, for the supply of my own
farms, which will never be relinquished in
my time. The continuance of the war will
fix the habit generally, and out of the evils of
impressment and of the Orders of Council, a
great blessing for us will grow. — To JOHN
MELISH. vi, 94. FORD ED., ix, 373. (M.,
Jan. 1813.)
5028. . Small spinning jennies
of from half a dozen to twenty spindles, will
soon make their way into the humblest cot
tages, as well as the richest houses [in the
South] ; and nothing is more certain, than
that the coarse and middling clothing for our
families, will forever hereafter continue to be
made within ourselves. — To JOHN MELISH.
vi, 94. FORD ED., ix, 373. (M., Jan. 1813.)
5029. . Household manufacture
is taking deep root with us. I have a card
ing machine, two spinning machines, and
looms with the flying shuttle in full operation
for clothing my own family ; and I verily be
lieve that by the next winter this State will
not need a yard of imported coarse or mid
dling cloth. I think we have already a sheep
for every inhabitant, which will suffice for
clothing; and one-third more, which a single
year will add, will furnish blanketing. — To
JAMES RONALDSON. vi, 92. FORD ED., ix, 371.
(M., Jan. 1813.)
5030. . The specimens of Mrs.
Mason's skill in manufactures excite the ad
miration of all. They prove she is really a
more dangerous adversary to our British foes
than all our generals. These attack the hos
tile armies only; she the source of their sub
sistence. What these do counts nothing, be
cause they take one day and lose another:
what she does counts double, because what
Manufactures
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
532
she takes from the enemy is added to us. I
hope, too, she will have more followers than
our generals, but few rivals, I fear. These
specimens exceed anything I saw during the
Revolutionary war: although our ladies of
that day turned their whole efforts to these
objects, and with great praise and success. —
To JOHN T. MASON. FORD ED., ix, 473. (M.,
1814.)
5031. . I presume, like the rest
of us in the country, you are in the habit of
household manufacture, and that you will not,
like too many, abandon it on the return of
peace, to enrich our late enemy, and to
nourish foreign agents in our bosom, whose
baneful influence and intrigues cost us so
much embarrassment and dissension. — To
GEORGE FLEMING, vi, 506. (M., Dec. 1815.)
5032. . The interruption of our
intercourse with England has rendered us one
essential service in planting, radically and
firmly, coarse manufactures among us. I
make in my family two thousand yards of
cloth a year, which I formerly bought from
England, and it only employs a few women,
children and invalids, who could do little on
the farm. The State generally does the same,
and allowing ten yards to a person, this
amounts to ten millions of yards; and if we
are about the medium degree of manufac
turers in the whole Union, as I believe we
are, the whole will amount to one hundred
millions of yards a year, which will soon re
imburse us the expenses of the war. — To MR.
MAURY. vi, 471. (M., 1815.)
5033. MANUFACTURES, Independ
ence, prosperity and.— The risk of hanging
our prosperity on the fluctuating counsels and
caprices of others renders it wise in us to
turn seriously to manufactures, and if Eu
rope will not let us carry our provisions to
their manufactures, we must endeavor to
bring their manufactures to our provisions. —
To DAVID HUMPHREYS. FORD ED., v, 344.
(Pa., 1791-)
5034. MANUFACTURES, Jefferson's
views in 1782.— The political economists of
Europe have established it as a principle, that
every State should endeavor to manufacture
for itself ; and this principle, like many others,
we transfer to America, without calculating
the difference of circumstance which should
often produce a difference of result. In Eu
rope, the lands are either cultivated, or locked
up against the cultivator. Manufacture must,
therefore, be resorted to of necessity, not of
choice, to support the surplus of their people.
But we have an immensity of land courting
the industry of the husbandman. Is it best
then that all our citizens should be employed
in its improvement, or that one half of them
should be called off from that to exercise
manufactures and handicrafts for the other?
Those who labor in the earth are the chosen
people of God, if ever He had a chosen peo
ple, whose breasts He has made His peculiar
deposit for substantial and genuine virtue.
It is the focus in which He keeps alive that
sacred fire, which otherwise might escape
from the face of the earth. Corruption of
morals in the mass of cultivators is a phe
nomenon of which no age nor nation has fur
nished an example. It is the mark set on
those, who, not looking up to heaven, to
their own soil and industry, as does the hus
bandman, for their subsistence, depend for
it on casualities and caprice of customers. De
pendence begets subservience and venality,
suffocates the germ of virtue, and prepares
fit tools for the designs of ambition. This,
the natural progress and consequence of the
arts, has sometimes perhaps been retarded by
accidental circumstances; but, generally
speaking, the proportion which the aggregate
of the other classes of citizens bears in any
State to that of its husbandmen, is the pro
portion of its unsound to its healthy parts,
and is a good barometer whereby to measure
its degree of corruption. While we have land
to labor, then, let us never wish to see our
citizens occupied at a work bench, or twirl
ing a distaff. Carpenters, masons, smiths,
are wanting in husbandry; but, for the gen
eral operations of manufacture, let our work
shops remain in Europe. It is better to carry
provisions and materials to workmen there,
than bring them to the provisions and ma
terials, and with them their manners and
principles. The loss by the transportation of
commodities across the Atlantic will be made
up in happiness and permanence of govern
ment. The mobs of great cities add just so
much to the support of pure government, as
sores do to the strength of the human body.
It is the manners and spirit of a people which
preserve a republic in vigor. A degeneracy
in these is a canker which soon eats to the
heart of its laws and constitution. — NOTES ON
VIRGINIA. viii, 405. FORD ED., iii, 268.
(1782.)
5035. MANUFACTURES, Jefferson's
views in 1816.— You tell me I am quoted by
those who wish to continue our dependence
on England for manufactures. There was a
time when I might have been so quoted with
more candor, but within the thirty years
which have since elapsed, how are circum
stances changed! We were then in peace.
Our independent place among nations was
acknowledged. A commerce which offered
the raw material in exchange for the same
material after receiving the last touch of in
dustry, was worthy of welcome to all nations.
It was expected that those especially to whom
manufacturing industry was important, would
cherish the friendship of such customers by
every favor, by every inducement, and, par
ticularly, cultivate their peace by every act of
justice and friendship. Under this prospect
the question seemed legitimate, whether, with
such an immensity of unimproved land, court
ing the hand of husbandry, the industry of
agriculture, or that of manufactures, would
add most to the national wealth? And the
doubt was entertained on this consideration
chiefly, that to the labor of the husbandman a
vast addition is made by the spontaneous
energies of the earth on which it is employed ;
for one grain of wheat committed to the earth,
533
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Manufactures
she renders twenty, thirty, and even fifty-
fold, whereas to the labor of the manufac
turer nothing is added. Pounds of flax, in
his hands, yield, on the contrary, but penny
weights of lace. This exchange, too, labo
rious as it might seem, what a field did it
promise for the occupations of the ocean ;
what a nursery for that class of citizens who
were to exercise and maintain our equal rights
on that element? This was the state of
things in 1785, when the " Notes on Vir
ginia " were first printed ; when, the ocean
being open to all nations, and their common
right in it acknowledged and exercised under
regulations sanctioned by the assent and
usage of all, it was thought that the doubt
might claim some consideration. But who, in
1785, could foresee the rapid depravity which
was to render the close of that century the
disgrace of the history of man? Who could
have imagined that the two most distin
guished in the rank of nations, for science
and civilization, would have suddenly de
scended from that honorable eminence, and
setting at defiance all those moral laws es
tablished by the Author of nature between
nation and nation, as between man and man,
would cover earth and sea with robberies and
piracies, merely because strong enough to do
it with temporal impunity; and that under
this disbandment of nations from social order,
we should have been despoiled of a thousand
ships, and have thousands of our citizens re
duced to Algerine slavery? Yet all this has
taken place. One of these nations [Great
Britain] interdicted to our vessels all harbors
of the globe without having first proceeded
to some one of hers, there paid a tribute pro
portioned to the cargo, and obtained her
license to proceed to the port of destination.
The other [France] declared them to be law
ful prize if they had touched at the port, or
been visited by a ship of the enemy nation.
Thus were we completely excluded from the
ocean. Compare this state of things with
that of 1785, and say whether an opinion
founded in the circumstances of that day can
be fairly applied to those of the present? We
have experienced what we did not then be
lieve, that there exists both profligacy and
power enough to exclude us from the field of
interchange with other nations ; that to be in
dependent for the comforts of life we must
fabricate them ourselves. We must now
place the manufacturer by the side of the
agriculturist. The former question is sup
pressed, or rather assumes a new form. Shall
we make our own comforts, or go without
them, at the will of a foreign nation? He,
therefore, who is now against domestic manu
facture, must be for reducing us either to de
pendence on that foreign nation, or to be
clothed in skins, and to live, like wild beasts,
in dens and caverns. I am not one of these;
experience has taught me that manufactures
are now as necessary to our independence as
to our comfort ; and if those who quote me as
of a different opinion, will keep pace with me
in purchasing nothing foreign where an equiv
alent of domestic fabric can be obtained, with
out regard to difference of price, it will not
be our fault if we do not soon have a supply
at home equal to our demand, and wrest that
weapon of distress from the hand which has
wielded it. If it shall be proposed to go be
yond our own supply, the question of 1785
will then recur, Will our surplus labor be then
most beneficially employed in the culture of
the earth, or in the fabrications of art? We
have time yet for consideration, before that
question will press upon us; and the maxim
to be applied will depend on the circumstances
which shall then exist; for in so complicated a
science as political economy, no one axiom
can be laid down as wise and expedient for all
times and circumstances, and for their con
traries. Inattention to this is what has called
for this explanation, which reflection would
have rendered unnecessary with the candid,
while nothing will do with those who use
the former opinion only as a stalking horse
to cover their disloyal propensities to keep us
in eternal vassalage to a foreign and un
friendly people.* — To BENJAMIN AUSTIN, vi,
521. FORD ED., x, 8. (M., Jan. 1816.)
5036. MANUFACTURES, Labor and.—
In general, it is impossible that manufactures
should succeed in America from the high
price of labor. This is occasioned by the
great demand of labor for agriculture. A
manufacturer, going from Europe, will turn
to labor of other kinds if he finds more to
be got by it, and he finds some employment
so profitable that he can soon lay up money
enough to buy fifty acres of land, to the cul
ture of which he is irresistibly tempted by the
independence in which that places him, and
the desire of having a wife and family around
him. If any manufactures can succeed there,
it will be that of cotton. — To THOMAS DIGGES.
ii, 412. FORD ED., v, 27. (P., 1788.)
5037. MANUFACTURES, Machinery
and. — The endeavors which Dr. Wallace in
formed you we were making in the line of
manufactures are very humble indeed. We
have not as yet got beyond the clothing of
our laborers. We hope, indeed, soon to be
gin finer fabrics, and for higher uses. But
these will probably be confined to cotton and
wool. * * * I have lately seen the im
provement of the loom by Janes, the most
beautiful machine I have ever seen. * * *
I am endeavoring to procure this improve
ment. These cares are certainly more pleas
ant than those of the state.— To JOHN T.
MASON. FORD ED., ix, 475. (M., 1814.)
5038. MANUFACTURES, National de
fence and. — The endeavors of five years,
aided with some internal manufacturers, have
* Mr. Austin asked Jefferson's permission to pub
lish the letter containing the foregoing extract. Jef
ferson wrote in reply : " I am, in general, extremely
unwilling to be carried into the newspapers, no mat
ter what the subject ; the whole pack of the Essex
[Junto] Kennel would open upon me. With respect,
however, to so much of my letter * * * as relates
to manufactures, I have less repugnance, because
there is, perhaps, a degree of duty to avow a change
of opinion called for by a change of circumstance,
and especially on a point now becoming peculiarly
interesting."— EDITOR.
Manufactures
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
534
not yet found a tolerable supply of arms. To
make these within ourselves, then, as well as
the other implements of war, is as necessary
as to make our bread within ourselves. — To
SPEAKER HOUSE OF DELEGATES. FORD ED., ii,
267. (Wg., I779-)
5039. . I suppose that the es
tablishing a manufacture of arms [in Vir
ginia] to go hand in hand with the purchase
of them from hence [France] is at present
opposed by good reasons. This alone would
make us independent for an article essential
to our preservation, and workmen could prob
ably be either got here, or drawn from England
to be embarked hence.— To GOVERNOR HENRY.
FORD EDV iv, 48. (P., 1785.)
5040. MANUFACTURES, Navigation
vs. — Some jealousy of this spirit of manu
facture seems excited among commercial men.
It would have been as just when we first
began to make our own plows and hoes.
They have certainly lost the profit of bring
ing these from a foreign country. * * *
I do not think it fair in the shipowners to say
we ought not to make our own axes, nails,
&c., here, that they may have the benefit of
carrying the iron to Europe, and bringing
back the axes, nails, &c. Our agriculture
will still afford surplus produce enough to
employ a due proportion of navigation. — To
DAVID HUMPHREYS, v, 415. FORD ED., ix,
226. (W., i8oQ.)
5041. MANUFACTURES, Protection
of. — To protect the manufactures adapted to
our circumstances * * * [is one of] the
landmarks by which we are to guide ourselves
in all our proceedings. — SECOND ANNUAL
MESSAGE. viii, 21. FORD ED., viii, 187.
(1802.) See PROTECTION and TARIFF.
5042. MANUFACTURES, Rivalry in
foreign markets. — We hope to remove the
British fully and finally from our continent.
And what they will feel more, for they value
their colonies only for the bales of cloth they
take from them, we have established manu
factures, not only sufficient to supersede our
demand from them, but to rivalize them in
foreign markets. — To MADAME DE TESSE. vi,
273. FORD ED., ix, 440. (Dec. 1813.)
5043. MANUFACTURES, Rooted.— Our
domestic manufactures * * * have taken
such deep root [that they] never
again can be shaken. — To MARQUIS LAFAY
ETTE, vi, 427. FORD ED., ix, 511. (M., 1815.)
5044. - — . We owe to the past fol
lies and wrongs of the British the incalculable
advantage of being made independent of them
for every material manufacture. These have
taken such root in our private families espe
cially, that nothing now can ever extirpate
them. — To W. H. CRAWFORD, vi, 420. FORD
ED., ix, 504. (M., Feb. 1815.)
5045. MANUFACTURES, State aid to.
—The House of Delegates of Virginia seemed
disposed to adventure £2,500 for the establish
ing a woollen manufactory in Virginia, but the
Senate did not concur. By their returning to
the subject, however, at a subsequent session,
and wishing more specific propositions, it is
probable they might be induced to concur, if
they saw a certain provision that their money
would not be paid for nothing. Some unsuc
cessful experiments heretofore may have sug
gested this caution. Suppose the propositions
brought into some such shape as this: The
undertaker is to contribute £1,000, the State
£2,500, viz. : the undertaker having laid out his
£1,000 in the necessary implements to be
brought from Europe, and these being landed
in Virginia as a security that he will proceed,
let the State pay for the first necessary pur
pose then to occur £ 1,000.
Let it pay him a stipend of .£100 a year for the
first three years
Let
st tree years
it give him a bounty (supp
every yard of woollen cloth
ose one-third)
on every yard of woollen cloth equal to good
plains, which he shall weave for five years,
not exceeding ^250 a year (20,000 yards) the
four first years, and £200 the fifth i,200
^2,500
To every workman whom he shall import, let
them give, after he shall have worked in the
manufactory five years, warrants for — acres
of land, and pay the expenses of survey, patents,
&c. (This last article is to meet the proposition
of the undertaker. I do not like it, because it
tends to draw off the manufacturer from his
trade. I should better like a premium to him
on his continuance in it; as, for instance, that
he should be free from State taxes as long as
he should carry on his trade.)
The President's intervention seems necessary
till the contracts shall be concluded. It is pre
sumed he would not like to be embarrassed
afterwards with the details of superintendence.
Suppose, in his answer to the Governor of Vir
ginia, he should say that the undertaker being
in Europe, more specific propositions cannot be
obtained from him in time to be laid before this
assembly ; that in order to secure to the State
the benefits of the establishment, and yet guard
them against an unproductive grant of money,
he thinks some plan like the preceding one
might be proposed to the undertaker. That as
it is not known whether he would accept it ex
actly in that form, it might disappoint the views
of the State were they to prescribe that or any
other form rigorously, consequently that a dis
cretionary power must be given to a certain
extent. That he would willingly cooperate with
their Executive in effecting the contract, and
certainly would not conclude it on any terms
worse for the State than those before explained,
and that the contracts being once concluded, his
distance and other occupations would oblige
him to leave the execution open to the Execu
tive of the State. — OFFICIAL OPINION, vii, 460.
(1790.)
5046. MANUFACTURES, Tariff on
foreign. — Where a nation imposes high du
ties on our productions, or prohibits them
altogether, it may be proper for us to do
the same by theirs ; first burdening or exclud
ing those productions which they bring here,
in competition with our own of the same
kind; selecting next, such manufactures as
we take from them in greatest quantity, and
which, at the same time, we could the soonest
furnish to ourselves, or obtain from other
countries ; imposing on them duties lighter at
first, but heavier and heavier, afterwards, as
other channels of supply open. Such duties,
having the effect of indirect encouragement
to domestic manufactures of the same kind,
535
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Manufactures
Marbury vs. Madison
may induce the manufacturer to come him
self into these States, where cheaper subsist
ence, equal laws, and a vent of his wares,
free of duty, may ensure him the highest
profits from his skill and industry. And
here, it would be in the power of the State
governments to cooperate essentially, by
opening the resources of encouragement
which are under their control, extending them
liberally to artists in those particular branches
of manufacture for which their soil, climate,
population and other circumstances have ma
tured them, and fostering the precious efforts
and progress of household manufacture, by
some patronage suited to the nature of its
objects, guided by the local informations they
possess, and guarded against abuse by their
presence and attentions. The oppressions on
our agriculture, in foreign ports, would thus
be made the occasion of relieving it from a
dependence on the councils and conduct of
others, and of promoting arts, manufactures
and population at home. — FOREIGN COMMERCE
REPORT, vii, 648. FORD ED., vi, 481. (Dec.
1793- ) See DUTIES, PROTECTION and TARIFF.
5047. MANUFACTURES, Virginia.—
In Virginia we do little in the fine way, but
in coarse and middling goods a great deal.
Every family in the country is a manufac
tory within itself, and is very generally able
to make within itself all the stouter and mid
dling stuffs for its own clothing and house
hold use. We consider a sheep for every
person in the family as sufficient to clothe it,
in addition to the cotton, hemp and flax which
we raise ourselves. For fine stuff we shall
depend on your northern manufactories. Of
these, that is to say, of company establish
ments we have none. We use little machin
ery. The spinning jenny, and loom with the
flying shuttle, can be managed in a family;
but nothing more complicated. — To JOHN
ADAMS, vi, 36. FORD ED., ix, 332. (M., Jan.
1812.)
5048. . For fine goods there are
numerous establishments at work in the large
cities, and many more daily growing up ; and
of merinos we have some thousands, and
these multiplying fast. We consider a sheep
for every person as sufficient for their woollen
clothing, and this State and all to the north
have fully that, and those to the south and
west will soon be up to it. In other articles,
we are equally advanced, so that nothing is
more certain than that, come peace when it
will, we shall never again go to England for a
shilling where we have gone for a dollar's
worth. Instead of applying to her manufac
turers there, they must starve or come here
to be employed.— To GENERAL KOSCIUSKO. vi,
69. FORD ED., ix, 363. (M., June 1812.)
— MAPLE SUGAR.— See SUGAR.
5049. MARBURY vs. MADISON, Case
of. — I observe that the case of Marbury vs.
Madison has been cited [in the trial of Aaron
Burr], and I think it material to stop at the
threshold the citing that case as authority and
to have it denied to be law. I. Because the
judges in the outset, disclaimed all cognizance
of the case, although they then went on to say
what would have been their opinion, had they
had cognizance of it. This, then, was confess
edly an extra-judicial opinion, and, as such of
no authority. 2. Because, had it been judi
cially pronounced, it would have been against
law; for to a commission, a deed, a bond,
delivery is essential to give validity. Until,
therefore, the commission is delivered out of
the hands of the Executive and his agents,
it is not his deed. He may withhold or can
cel it at pleasure, as he might his private
deed in the same situation. The Constitution
intended that the three great branches of the
government should be coordinate, and in
dependent of each other. As to acts, there
fore, which are to be done by either, it has
given no control to another branch. A
judge, I presume, cannot sit on a bench with
out a commission, or a record of a commis
sion ; and the Constitution having given to the
Judiciary branch no means of compelling the
Executive either to deliver a commission, or
to make a record of it, shows that it did not
intend to give the Judiciary that control over
the Executive, but that it should remain in
the power of the latter to do it or not. Where
different branches have to act in their re
spective lines, finally and without appeal, un
der any law, they may give to it different and
opposite constructions. Thus, in the case of
William Smith, the House of Representatives
determined he was a citizen ; and in the case
of William Duane (precisely the same in
every material circumstance), the judges de
termined he was no citizen. In the cases of
Callender and some others, the judges de
termined the Sedition Act was valid under the
Constitution, and exercised their regular pow
ers of sentencing them to fine and imprison
ment. But the Executive determined that the
Sedition Act was a nullity under the Con
stitution, and exercised his regular power of
prohibiting the execution of the sentence, or
rather of executing the real law, which pro
tected the acts of the defendants. From these
different constructions of the same act by
different branches, less mischief arises than
from giving to any one of them a control over
the others. The Executive and Senate act on
the construction, that until delivery from the
Executive department, a commission is in
their possession, and within their rightful
power; and in cases of commissions not re
vocable at will, where, after the Senate's ap
probation and the President's signing and
sealing, new information of the unfitness of
the person has come to hand before the de
livery of the commission, new nominations
have been made and approved, and new com
missions have issued. On this construction
I have hitherto acted; on this I shall ever
act, and maintain it with the powers of the
government, against any control which may
be attempted by the judges, in subversion of
the independence of the Executive and Sen
ate within their peculiar department. I pre
sume, therefore, that in a case where our de
cision is by the Constitution the supreme one,
Marie Antionette
Markets
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
536
and that which can be carried into effect, it is
.he constitutionally authoritative one, and that
nat by the judges was coram non judice, and
nauthoritative, because it cannot be carried
uito effect. I have long wished for a proper
occasion to have the gratuitous opinion in
Marbury vs. Madison brought before the pub
lic, and denounced as not law ; and I think the
present a fortunate one, because it occupies
such a place in the public attention. I should
be glad, therefore, if, in noticing that case,
you could take occasion to express the de
termination of the Executive, that the doc
trines of that case were given extra- judicially
and against law, and that their reverse will be
the rule of action with the Executive. — To
GEORGE HAY. v, 84. FORD ED., ix, 53. (W.,
June 1807.)
5050. MARIE ANTOINETTE, Charac
ter. — This angel, as gaudily painted in the
rhapsodies of the Rhetor Burke, with some
smartness of fancy, but no good sense, was
proud, disdainful of restraint, indignant at all
obstacles to her will, eager in the pursuit of
pleasure, and firm enough to hold to her de
sires, or perish in their wreck. — AUTOBIOGRA
PHY, i, 101. FORD ED., i, 140. (1821.)
5051. . She is capricious like
her brother, and governed by him ; devoted to
pleasure and expense ; and not remarkable for
any other vices or virtues. — To JAMES MADISON.
ii, 154. FORD ED., iv, 393. (P., 1787-)
5052. . It may be asked what is
the Queen disposed to do in the present situa
tion of things? Whatever rage, pride and fear
can dictate in a breast which never knew the
presence of one moral restraint. — To JOHN JAY.
iii, 118. (P., Sep. 1789.)
5053. MARIE ANTOINETTE, Extrava
gance.— Nor should we wonder at * * *
[the] pressure [for a fixed constitution in
1788-9] when we consider the monstrous abuses
of power under which * * * [the French]
people were ground to powder ; when we pass
in review * * * the enormous expenses of
the Queen, the princes and the Court. — AUTO
BIOGRAPHY, i, 86. FORD ED., i, 118. (1821.)
5054. MARIE ANTOINETTE, Gam
bling. — Her inordinate gambling and dissipa
tions, with those of the Count d'Artois and
others of her clique, had been a sensible item
in the exhaustion of the treasury. — AUTOBI
OGRAPHY, i, 101. FORD ED., i, 140. (1821.)
5055. MABIE ANTOINETTE, Beform
—The exhaustion of the treasury called into
action the reforming hand of the nation ; and
her opposition to it, her inflexible perverseness
and dauntless spirit, led herself to the guillotine
drew the King on with her, and plunged the
world into crimes and calamities which will
forever stain the pages of modern history. —
AUTOBIOGRAPHY, i, 101. FORD ED., i, 140
(1821.)
5056. MABIE ANTOINETTE, The
Bevolution and.— I have ever believed, that
had there been no Queen, there would have
been no Revolution. No force would have been
provoked, nor exercised. The King would have
gone hand in hand with the wisdom of his
sounder counsellors, who, guided by the in
creased lights of the age, wished only, with the
same pace, to advance the principles of their
social constitution. — AUTOBIOGRAPHY, i, 101.
FORD ED., i, 140. (1821.)
5057. MABINE HOSPITALS, Estab
lishment of. — With respect to marine hospi
tals, I presume you know that such establish
ments have been made by the General Govern
ment in the several States, that a portion of
seamen's wages is drawn for their support, and
the Government furnishes what is deficient.
Mr. Gallatin is attentive to them, and they will
grow with our growth. — To JAMES RONALDSON.
vi, 92. FORD ED., ix, 371. (M., Jan. 1813.)
_ MABINE LEAGUE.— See 1335.
5058. MABITIME LAW, Violation of.
—A statement of the conduct of Great Britain
towards this country, so far as respects the
violations of the Maritime Law of nations
[must be laid before Congress]. Here it would
be necessary to state each distinct principle
violated, and to quote the cases of violation,
and to conclude with a view of her vice-ad
miralty courts, their venality and rascality, in
order to show that however for conveniences
(and not of right) the court of the captor is
admitted to exercise the jurisdiction, yet that
in so palpable an abuse of that trust, some
remedy must be applied. — To CAESAR A. ROD
NEY, v, 200. FORD ED., ix, 144. (W., Oct.
1807.)
5059. MABKETS, Access to.— It is not
to the moderation and justice of others we are
to trust for fair and equal access to market
with our productions, or for our due share in
the transportation of them; but to our own
means of independence, and the firm will to
use them. — FOREIGN COMMERCE REPORT, vii,
650. FORD ED., vi, 483. (Dec. 1793.)
5060. MABKETS, British.— It is but too
true, that Great Britain furnishes markets for
three-fourths of the exports of the eight
northernmost States, — a truth not proper to
be spoken of, but which should influence our
proceedings with them. — To JAMES MONROE.
i, 406. FORD ED., iv, 85. (P., 1785.)
5061. MABKETS, Exclusion from.— Let
them [the British] not think to exclude us
from going to other markets to dispose of
those commodities which they cannot use, nor
to supply those wants which they cannot sup
ply. — RIGHTS OF BRITISH AMERICA, i, 142.
FORD ED., i, 446. (1774.)
5062. . Besides the duties * '* *
[the acts of Parliament] impose on our
articles of export and import they prohibit
our going to any markets northward of Cape
Finisterre, in the Kingdom of Spain, for the
sale of commodities which great Britain will
not take from us, and for the purchase of
others, with which she cannot supply us ; and
that, for no other than the arbitrary purpose
of purchasing for themselves, by a sacrifice of
our rights and interests, certain privileges in
their commerce with an allied State, who, in
confidence, that their exclusive trade with
America will be continued, while the prin
ciples and power of the British Parliament
be the same, have indulged themselves in
every exorbitance which their avarice could
dictate or our necessity extort; have raised
537
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Markets
their commodities called for in America, to
the double and treble of what they sold for,
before such exclusive privileges were given
them, and of what better commodities of the
same kind would cost us elsewhere ; and, at
the same time, give us much less for what
we carry thither, than might be had at more
convenient ports. — RIGHTS OF BRITISH
AMERICA, i, 128. FORD ED., i, 433. 0774-)
5063. . These acts [of Parlia
ment] prohibit us from carrying, in quest of
other purchasers, the surplus of our tobaccos,
remaining after the consumption of Great
Britain is supplied ; so that we must leave them
with the British merchant for whatever he
will please to allow us, to be by him re-
shipped to foreign markets, where he will reap
the benefits of making sale of them for full
value. — RIGHTS OF BRITISH AMERICA, i, 129.
FORD ED., i, 433. (I774-)
5064. MARKETS, Extension of.— The
mass of our countrymen being interested in
agriculture, I hope I do not err in supposing
that in a time of profound peace, as the
present, to enable them to adopt their pro
ductions to the market, to point out markets
for them, and endeavor to obtain favorable
terms of reception, is within the line of my
duty.— To JOHN JAY. ii, 139. FORD ED., iv,
378. (1787.)
5065. MARKETS, Fish oil.— The duty
on whale oil [in the British markets] amounts
to a prohibition. This duty was originally
laid on all foreign fish oil with a view to
favor the British and American fisheries.
When we became independent, and of course
foreign to Great Britain, we became subject
to the foreign duty. No duty, therefore,
which France may think proper to lay on this
article, can drive it to the English market.
It could only oblige the inhabitants of Nan-
tucket to abandon their fishery. But the
poverty of their soil, offering them no other
resource, they must quit their country, and
either establish themselves in Nova Scotia,
where, as British fishermen, they may par
ticipate of the British premium in addition
to the ordinary price of their whale oil, or
they must accept the conditions which this
government offers for the establishment they
have proposed at Dunkirk. Your Excellency
will judge what conditions may counterbal
ance in their minds the circumstances of the
vicinity of Nova Scotia, sameness of lan
guage, laws, religion, customs and kindred.
Remaining in their native country, to which
they are most singularly attached, excluded
from commerce with England, taught to look
to France as the only country from which they
can derive sustenance, they will in case of
war become useful rovers against its enemies.
Their position, their poverty, their courage,
their address, and their hatred will render
them formidable scourges on the British com
merce. — To COUNT DE MONTMORIN. ii, 312.
(P., 1787.)
5066. . You have heard of the
Arret of September 28th [1788] excluding
foreign whale oils from the ports of this
country [France]. I have obtained the
promise of an explanatory Arret to declare
that that of September 28th was not meant
to extend to us. Orders are accordingly
given in the ports to receive ours, and the
Arret will soon be published. This places
us on a better footing than ever, as it gives us
a monopoly of this market in conjunction
with the French fishermen. — To THOMAS
PAINE, ii, 549. (P., 1788.)
5067. - — . You recollect well the
Arret of December 29th, 1787, in favor of our
commerce, and which, among other things,
gave free admission to our whale oil, under
a duty of about two louis a ton. In con
sequence of the English treaty, their oils
flowed in and overstocked the market. The
light duty they were liable to under the treaty,
still lessened by false estimates and aided by
the high premiums of the British govern
ment, enabled them to undersell the French
and American oils. This produced an out
cry of the Dunkirk fishery. It was proposed
to exclude all European oils, which would
not infringe the British treaty. I could not
but encourage this idea, because it would give
to the French and American fisheries a
monopoly of the French market. The Arret
was so drawn up; but, in the very moment
of passing it, they struck out the word Eu
ropean, so that our oils became involved.
* * * As soon as it was known to me I
wrote to Monsieur de Montmorin, and had
conferences with him and the other ministers.
* * * An immediate order was given for the
present admission of our oils. * * * It
was observed that if our States would pro
hibit all foreign oils from being imported into
them, it would be a great safeguard, and an
encouragement to them to continue the ad
mission. — To JOHN ADAMS, ii, 538. (P.,
1788.)
5068. . The Arret of September
28th [1788], to comprehend us with the Eng
lish, in the exclusion of whale oil from their
ports * * * would be a sentence of banish
ment to the inhabitants of Nantucket, and
there is no doubt they would have removed
to Nova Scotia or England, in preference to
any other part of the world. — To WILLIAM
CARMICHAEL. ii, 551. (P., 1788.)
5069. . This branch of com
merce [whale oils] * * * will be on a
better footing than ever as enjoying jointly
with the French oil, a monopoly of the
French markets. — To JOHN JAY. ii, 513. (P.,
1788.)
5070. . The English began [in
1787] to deluge the markets of France with
their whale oils ; and they were enabled, by
the great premiums given by their govern
ment, to undersell the French fisherman,
aided by feebler premiums, and the American,
aided by his poverty alone. Nor is it certain
that these speculations were not made at the
risk of the British government, to suppress
the French and American fishermen in their
Markets
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
538
only market. Some remedy seemed neces
sary. Perhaps it would not have been a bad
one to subject, by a general law, the merchan
dise of every nation, and of every nature, to
pay additional duties in the ports of France,
exactly equal to the premiums and drawbacks
given on the same merchandise by their own
government. This might not only counteract
the effect of premiums in the instance of
whale oils, but attack the whole British sys
tem of bounties and drawbacks, five-eighths
of our whale oil, and two-thirds of our salted
fish, they take from us one-fourth of our
tobacco, three-fourths of our live stock, * * *
a considerable and growing portion of our
rice, great supplies, occasionally, of other
grain; in 1789, which, indeed, was extraor
dinary, four millions of bushels of wheat,
and upwards of a million of bushels of rye
and barley * * * and nearly the whole
carried in our own vessels. They are a free
market now, and will, in time, be a valuable
one for ships and ship timber, potash and
peltry. — REPORT ON THE FISHERIES, vii, 551.
(I7QI-)
5071. . France is the only coun
try which can take our surplus, and they take
principally of the common oil ; as the habit
is but commencing with them of a just value
to spermaceti whale. Some of this, how
ever, finds its vent there. There was, indeed,
a particular interest perpetually soliciting the
exclusion of our oils from their markets.
The late government there saw well that what
we should lose thereby would be gained by
others, not by themselves. And we are to
hope that the present government, as wise
and friendly, will also view us, not as rivals,
but as cooperatprs against a common rival
(England). Friendly arrangements with
them, and accommodation to mutual interest,
rendered easier by friendly dispositions exist
ing on both sides, may long secure to us this
important resource for our seamen. Nor is
it the interest of the fisherman alone which
calls for the cultivation of friendly arrange
ments with that nation; besides by the aid
of which they make London the centre of
commerce for the earth. A less general
remedy, but an effectual one, was to prohibit
the oils of all European nations ; the treaty
with England requiring only that she should
be treated as well as the most favored Eu
ropean nation. But the remedy adopted was
to prohibit all oils, without exception. — To
COUNT DE MONTMORIN. ii, 520. (P., 1788.)
5072. . England is the market
for the greatest part of our spermaceti oil.
They impose on all our oils a duty of eighteen
pounds five shillings sterling the ton, which,
as to the common kind, is a prohibition,
* * * and as to the spermaceti, gives a
preference of theirs over ours to that amount,
so as to leave, in the end, but a scanty benefit
to the fishermen ; and, not long since, by a
change of construction, without any change
of law, it was made to exclude our oils from
their ports, when carried in our vessels. On
some change of circumstance, it was con
strued back again to the reception of our oils,
on paying always, however, the same duty
of eighteen pounds five shillings. This serves
to show that the tenure by which we hold the
admission of this commodity in their markets,
is as precarious as it is hard. Nor can it
be announced that there is any disposition on
their part to arrange this or any other com
mercial matter to mutual convenience. — RE
PORT ON THE FISHERIES, vii, 552. (1791.)
5073. MARKETS, Fisheries.— Agricul
ture has too many markets to be allowed to
take away those of the fisheries. — REPORT ON
THE FISHERIES, vii, 544. (1791.)
5074. MARKETS, Foreign.— We have
hitherto respected the indecision of Spain
[with respect to the navigation of the Mis
sissippi], * * because our western citi
zen s have had vent at home for their pro
ductions. A surplus of production begins
now to demand foreign markets. Whenever
they shall say, " We cannot, we will not, be
longer shut up ", the United States will be
reduced to the following dilemma: i. To
force them to acquiescence. 2. To separate
from them rather than take part in a war
against Spain. 3. Or to preserve them in
our Union, by joining them in the war.
* * * The third is the alternative we must
adopt. — INSTRUCTIONS TO WILLIAM CARMI-
CHAEL. ix, 412. FORD ED., v, 226. (1790.)
5075. . Our commerce is cer
tainly of a character to entitle it to favor in
most countries. The commodities we offer
are either necessaries of life, or materials for
manufacture, or convenient subjects of rev
enue ; and we take in exchange, either manu
factures, when they have received the last
finish of art and industry, or mere luxuries.
Such customers may reasonably expect wel
come and friendly treatment at every market.
Customers, too, whose demands, increasing
with their wealth and population, must very
shortly give full employment to the whole
industry of any nation whatever, in any line
of supply they may get into the habit of call
ing for from it. — FOREIGN COMMERCE RE
PORT, vii, 646. FORDED.,, vi, 479. (Dec. 1793.)
5076. MARKETS, Fostering.— The way
to encourage purchasers is to multiply their
means of payment. — To COUNT DE MONT
MORIN. ii, 529. (P., 1788.)
5077. MARKETS, French. — No two
countries are better calculated for the ex
changes of commerce. France wants rice,
tobacco, potash, furs, and ship-timber. We
want wines, brandies, oils, and manufactures.
—To COUNT DE VERGENNES. i, 390. (P.,
1785.)
5078. . If American produce
can be brought into the ports of France, the
articles of exchange for it will be taken in
those ports; and the only means of drawing
it hither is to let the merchant see that he
can dispose of it on better terms here than
anywhere else. If the market price of this
country does not in itself offer this supe
riority, it may be worthy of consideration,
539
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Markets
whether it should be obtained by such abate
ments of duties, and even by such other en
couragements as the importance of the article
may justify. Should some loss attend this
in the beginning, it can be discontinued when
the trade shall be well established in this
channel. — To MARQUIS LAFAYETTE, i, 597.
FORD ED., iv, 256. (P., 1786.)
5079. — . I have laid my shoulder
to the opening the markets of France to our
produce, and rendering its transportation a
nursery for our seamen. — To GENERAL WASH
INGTON, ii, 536. FORD ED., v, 58. (P.,
1788.)
5080. . I very much fear that
France will experience a famine this summer.
The effects of this admit of no calculation.
Grain is the thing for us now to cultivate.
The demand will be immense, and the price
high. I think cases were shown us that to sell
it before the spring is an immense sacrifice. I
fear we shall experience a want of vessels
to carry our produce to Europe. In this case
the tobacco will be left, because bread is more
essential to them. — To T. M. RANDOLPH.
FORD ED., vi, 241. (Pa., May 1793.)
5081. MARKETS, French Asiatic.— Ar
ticle 13 of the Arret gives us the privilegesand
advantages of native subjects in all the
French possessions in Asia, and in the scales
leading thereto. This expression means at
present the Isles of France and Bourbon, and
will include the Cape of Good Hope, should
any future event put it into the hands of
France. It was with a view to this that I pro
posed the expression, because we were then
in hourly expectation of a war, and it was
suspected that France would take possession
of that place. It will, in no case, be con
sidered as including anything westward of the
Cape of Good Hope. I must observe further,
on this article, that it will only become valu
able on the suppression of their East India
Company; because as long as their monopoly
continues, even native subjects cannot enter
their Asiatic ports for the purposes of com
merce. It is considered, however, as certain
that this company will be immediately sup
pressed.— To JOHN JAY. ii, 343. (P., 1787.)
5082. MARKETS, Fur.— The fur trade is
an object of desire in this country [France].
London is at present their market for furs.
They pay for them there in ready money.
Could they draw their furs into their own
ports from the United States they would pay
us for them in productions. Nor should we
lose by the change of market, since, though
the French pay the London merchants in
cash, those merchants pay us with manufac
tures. A very wealthy and well connected
company is proposing here to associate them
selves with an American company, each to
'possess half the interest, and to carry on the
fur trade between the two countries. The
company here expect to make the principal
part of the advances; they also are solicit
ing considerable indulgences from this gov
ernment from which the part of the company
on our side of the water will reap half the
advantage. As no exclusive idea enters into
this scheme, it appears to me worthy of en
couragement. It is hoped the government
here will interest themselves for its success.
If they do, one of two things may happen :
either the English will be afraid to stop the
vessels of a company consisting partly of
French subjects, and patronized by the
Court; in which case the commerce will be
laid open generally; or if they stop the ves
sels, the French company, which is strongly
connected with men in power, will complain
in form to their government, who may thus
be interested as principals in the rectification
of this abuse. As yet, however, the propo
sition has not taken such a form as to assure
us that it will be prosecuted to this length. —
To JOHN JAY. FORD ED., iv, 231. (P., 1786.)
5083. MARKETS, Home.— There can be
no question, in a mind truly American,
whether it is best to send pur citizens and
property into certain captivity, and then
wage war for their recovery, or to keep them
at home, and to turn seriously to that policy
which plants the manufacturer and the hus
bandman side by side, and establishes at the
door of every one that exchange of mutual
labors and comforts, which we have hitherto
sought in distant regions, and under perpet
ual risk of broils with them. — R. TO A. N.
Y. TAMMANY SOCIETY, viii, 127. (Feb.
1808.)
5084. . The advantages * * *
of planting the consumer in our own soil by
the side of the grower of produce, are so pal
pable, that no temporary suspension of in
juries on England's part, or agreements
founded on that, will now prevent our con
tinuing in what we have begun [manufactur
ing]. — To DUPONT DE NEMOURS, v, 456.
(M., June 1809.)
5085. . The bringing our coun
trymen to a sound comparative estimate of
the vast value of internal commerce, and
the disproportionate importance of what is
foreign, is the most salutary effort which can
be made for the prosperity of these States,
which are entirely misled from their true in
terests by the infection of English prejudices,
and illicit attachments to English interests
and connections. — To DR. THOMAS COOPER.
vi, 294. (M., 1814.)
5086. MARKETS, Land. — The long suc
cession of years of stunted crops, of reduced
prices, the general prostration of the farming
business, under levies for the support of man
ufacturers, &c., with the calamitous fluctua
tions of value in our proper medium, have
kept agriculture in a state of abject depres
sion, which has peopled the Western States
by silently breaking up those on the Atlantic,
and glutted the land market, while it drew
off its bidders. In such a state of things,
property has lost its character of being a
resource for debts. Highland in Bedford,
which, in the days of our plethory, sold
readily for from fifty to one hundred dollars
Markets
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
540
the acre (and such sales were many then),
would not now sell for more than from ten
to twenty dollars, or one-quarter or one-
fifth of its former price. — To JAMES MADI
SON, vii, 434. FORD ED., x, 377. (M., Feb
ruary 1826.)
5087. MARKETS, Monopolized.— It is
contrary to the spirit of trade, and to the
dispositions of merchants, to carry a com
modity to any market where but one person
is allowed to buy it, and where, of course,
that person fixes its price, which the seller
must receive, or reexport his commodity, at
the loss of his voyage thither. Experience
accordingly shows, that they carry it to other
markets, and that they take in exchange
the merchandise of the place where they de
liver it.— To COUNT DE VERGENNES. i, 386.
(P, 1785.)
5088. MARKETS, Necessity and.— We
must accept bread from our enemies if our
friends cannot furnish it. — To COUNT DE
MONTMORIN. ii, 523. (P., 1788.)
5089. MARKETS, Neutrality and.— If
the new government wears the front which
I hope it will, I see no impossibility in the
availing ourselves of the wars of others to
open up the other parts [West India Is
lands] of America to our commerce as the
price of our neutrality. — To GENERAL WASH
INGTON, ii, 533. FORD ED., v, 57. (P., 1788.)
5090. MARKETS, Reciprocity and.— It
were to be wished that some positively favor
able stipulations respecting our grain, flour
and fish, could be obtained, even on our giv
ing reciprocal advantages to some other com
modities of Spain, say her wines and
brandies. But if we quit the ground of the
most favored nation, as to certain articles for
our convenience, Spain may insist on doing
the same for other articles for her con
venience. * * * If we grant favor to the
wines and brandies of Spain, then Portugal
and France will demand the same; and in
order to create an equivalent, Portugal may
lay a duty on our fish and grain, and France,
a prohibition on our whale oils, the removal
of which will be proposed as an equivalent.
This much, however, as to grain and flour,
may be attempted. There has, not long
since, been a considerable duty laid on them
in Spain. This was while a treaty on the
subject of commerce was pending between us
and Spain, as that Court considers the matter.
It is not generally thought right to change
the state of things pending a treaty concern
ing them. On this consideration, and on the
motive of cultivating our friendship, per
haps the Commissioners may induce them
to restore this commodity to the footing
on which it was on opening the con
ferences with Mr. Gardoqui, on the 26th
day of July, 1785. If Spain says, " do
the same by your tonnage on our ves
sels ", the answer may be, that our tonnage
affects Spain very little, and other nations
very much; whereas the duty on flour in
Spain affects us very much, and other na
tions very little. Consequently, there would
be no equality in reciprocal relinquishment,
as there had been none in the reciprocal in
novation ; and Spain, by insisting on this,
would, in fact, only be aiding the interests
of her rival nations, to whom we should be
forced to extend the same indulgence. At the
time of opening the conferences, too, we had
as yet not erected any system ; our govern
ment itself being not yet erected. Innova
tion then was unavoidable on our part, if it
be innovation to establish a system. We did
it on fair and general ground, on ground
favorable to Spain. But they had a system
and, therefore, innovation was avoidable on
their part. — MISSISSIPPI RIVER INSTRUCTIONS.
vii, 590. FORD ED., v, 479. (March 1792.)
5091. MARKETS, Salted provisions.— 1
wish that you could obtain the free introduc
tion of our salted provisions into France.
Nothing would be so generally pleasing from
the Chesapeake to New Hampshire. — To
WILLIAM SHORT. FORD ED., v, 168. (N.Y.,
1790.)
5092. . It gives great satisfaction
that the Arret du Conseil of December, 1787,
stands a chance of being saved. It is, in
truth, the sheet-anchor of our connection
with France, which will be much loosened
when that is lost. This Arret saved, a free
importation of salted meats into France, and
of provisions of all kinds into her colonies,
will bind our interests to that country more
than to all the world besides. — To WILLIAM
SHORT, iii, 225. (Pa., 1791.)
5093. MARKETS, Speculation and.— I
think the best rule is, never to sell on a rising
market. Wait till it begins to fall. Then,
indeed, one will lose a penny or two, but
with a rising market you never know what
you are to lose. — To FRANCIS EPPES. FORD
ED., vi, 163. (Pa., 1793.)
5094. MARKETS, Steady.— Sudden vi
cissitudes of opening and shutting ports do
little injury to merchants settled on the op
posite [British] coast, watching for the open
ing, like the return of a tide, and ready to
enter with it. But they ruin the adventurer
whose distance requires six months' notice. —
To COUNT DE MONTMORIN. ii, 525. (P.,
1788.)
5095. . A regular course of trade
is not quitted in an instant, nor constant
customers deserted for accidental ones. — To
MARQUIS DE LAFAYETTE, iii, 68. (P., 1789.)
5096. MARKETS, Sugar.— Evidence
grows upon us that the United States may
not only supply themselves with sugar for
their own consumption, but be great ex
porters. — To T. M. RANDOLPH. FORD ED., v,
325. (Pa., 1791-)
5097. MARKETS, Tobacco.— While the
navigating and provision States, who are the
majority, can keep open all the markets, or at
least sufficient ones for their objects, the
cries of the tobacco makers, who are the
minority, and not at all in favor, will hardly
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Markets
Marriage
be listened to. It is truly the fable of the
monkey pulling the nuts out of the fire with
the cat's paw; and it shows that George
Mason's proposition in the [Federal] Con
vention was wise, that on laws regulating
commerce, two-thirds of the votes should be
required to pass them. — To JAMES MADISON.
iv. 323. FORD ED., vii, 432. (Pa., March
1800.) See TOBACCO.
5098. MARKETS, Wheat and flour.—
We can sell them [the Portuguese] the flour
ready manufactured for much less than the
wheat of which it is made. In carrying to
them wheat, we carry also the bran, which
does not pay its own freight. In attempting
to save and transport wheat to them, much
is lost by the weavil, and much spoiled by
heat in the hold of the vessel. This loss must
be laid on the wheat which gets safe to
market, where it is paid for by the consumer.
Now, this is much more than the cost of
manufacturing it with us, which would pre
vent that loss. * * * Let them buy of us
as much wheat as will make a hundred
weight of flour. They will find that they
have paid more for the wheat than we should
have asked for the flour, besides having lost
the labor of their mills in grinding it. The
obliging us, therefore, to carry it to them in
the form of wheat, is a useless loss to both
parties. — To JOHN ADAMS, i, 492. (P.,
1785.)
5099. . It seems that so far from
giving new liberties to our corn trade, Por
tugal contemplates the prohibition of it, by
giving that trade exclusively to Naples. What
would she say should we give her wine trade
exclusive to France and Spain ? * * * Can
a wise statesman seriously think of risking
such a prospect as this? — To DAVID HUM
PHREYS, iii, 488. (Pa., 1792.)
5100. . I must forever repeat
that, instead of excluding our wheat, Portu
gal will open her ports to our flour. — To
DAVID HUMPHREYS. FORD ED., vi, 205. (Pa.,
I793-)
5101. MARQUE, Letters of.— The Ad
ministrator shall not possess the prerogative
* * * of issuing letters of marque, or re
prisal. — PROPOSED VA. CONSTITUTION. FORD
ED., ii, 19. (June 1776.)
5102. - — . Our delegates [to Con
gress] inform us that we might now obtain
letters of marque for want of which our peo
ple [in Virginia] have long and exceedingly
suffered. I have taken the liberty of desiring
them to apply for fifty. — To THE PRESIDENT
OF CONGRESS. FORD ED., ii, 241. (1799.)
5103. . I have to-day consulted
the other gentlemen [of the Cabinet] on the
question whether letters of marque were to
be considered as written within our inter
dict. We are unanimously of opinion they are
not. We consider them as essentially mer
chant vessels; that commerce is their main
object, and arms merely incidental and de
fensive. — To ALBERT GALL ATI N. v, 123. FORD
ED., ix, 104. (W., July 1807.)
5104. MARRIAGE, Congratulations on.
— It is customary in America to " wish joy "
to a new married couple, and this is generally
done by those present in the moment after
the ceremony. A friend of mine, however,
always delayed the wish of joy till one year
after the ceremony, because he observed they
had by that time need of it. I am entitled
fully then to express the wish to you as
you must now have been married at least
three years. I have no doubt, however, that
you have found real joy in the possession of
a good wife, and the endearments of a child.
—To PHILIP MAZZEI. FORD ED., viii, 15. (W.,
1801.)
5105. MARRIAGE, Happiness in.— I
* * * give you my sincere congratulations
on your marriage. Your own dispositions,
and the inherent comforts of that state, will
insure you a great addition of happiness. —
To JAMES MONROE, i, 590. FORD ED., iv,
250. (P., 1786.)
5106. - — . The happiness of your
life now depends on the continuing to please
a single person. To this all other objects
must be secondary, even your love for me,
were it possible that could ever be an obstacle.
But this it never can be. Neither of you can
ever have a more faithful friend than my
self, nor one on whom you can count for
more sacrifices. My own is become a sec
ondary object to the happiness of you both.
Cherish, then, for me, my dear child, the af
fection of your husband, and continue to
love me as you have done, and to render my
life a blessing by the prospect it may hold up
to me of seeing you happy. — To MARTHA
JEFFERSON RANDOLPH. D. L. J., 180. (N.
Y., 1790.)
5107. . I have one daughter
married to a man of science, sense, virtue,
and competence; in whom indeed I have
nothing more to wish. * * * If the other
shall be as fortunate, * * * I shall imagine
myself as blessed as the most blessed of the
patriarchs. — To MRS. CHURCH. FORD ED., vi,
455. (G., 1793.)
5108. MARRIAGE, Harmony in.— Har
mony in the married state is the very first
object to be aimed at. Nothing can preserve
affections uninterrupted but a firm resolution
never to differ in will, and a determination
in each to consider the love of the other as of
more value than any object whatever on
which a wish had been fixed. How light in
fact is the sacrifice of any other wish when
weighed against the affections of one with
whom we are to pass our whole life ! And
though opposition in a single instance will
hardly of itself produce alienation, yet every
one has their pouch into which all these
little oppositions are put; while that is filling
the alienation is insensibly going on, and
when filled it is complete. — To MARY JEF
FERSON EPPES. D. L. J., 246. (Pa., 1798.)
5109. MARRLAGE, Motherhood and.—
It [motherhood] is undoubtedly the key-
Marriage
Mason (J. M.)
THE JEFFEKSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
542
stone of the arch of matrimonial happiness. —
To MARTHA JEFFERSON RANDOLPH. D. L. J.,
192. (Pa., 1791.)
5110. MARRIAGE, Youthful.— I sin
cerely sympathize with you on the step which
your brother has taken without consulting
you, and wonder indeed how it could be done,
with any attention in the agents, to the laws
of the land. I fear he will hardly persevere
in the second plan of life adopted for him,
as matrimony illy agrees with study, espe
cially in the first stages of both. However,
you will readily perceive that, the thing be
ing done, there is now but one question, that
is what is to be done to make the best of it,
in respect both to his and your happiness?
A step of this kind indicates no vice, nor
other foible than of following too hastily the
movements of a warm heart. It admits,
therefore, of the continuance of cordial af
fection, and calls perhaps more indispensably
for your care and protection. To conciliate
the affection of all parties, and to banish all
suspicion of discontent, will conduce most to
your own happiness also. — To JAMES MON
ROE. FORD ED., v, 317. (Pa., 1791.)
5111. MARRIAGE WITH ROYALTY.
— Our young Republic * * * should pre
vent its citizens from becoming so established
in wealth and power, as to be thought worthy
of alliance by mafriage with the nieces, sis
ters, &c., of kings.— To COLONEL HUMPHREYS.
ii, 253- (P., 1787.)
5112. MARSHALL (John), Crafty.— A
crafty chief judge, who sophisticates the law to
his mind, by the turn of his own reasoning. — To
THOMAS RITCHIE, vii, 192. FORD ED., x, 171.
(M., 1820.)
5113. MARSHALL (John), Hamilton
and. — I learn that [Alexander] Hamilton has
expressed the strongest desire that Marshall
shall come into Congress from Richmond, de
claring that there is no man in Virginia whom
he wishes so much to see there ; and I am told
that Marshall has expressed half a mind to
come. Hence I conclude that Hamilton has
plied him well with flattery and solicitation, and
I think nothing better could be done than to
make him a judge. — To JAMES MADISON. FORD
ED., vi, 95. (Pa., 1792.)
5114. MARSHALL (John), Marbury
vs. Madison Case. — His twistifications in the
case of Marbury, in that of Burr, and the Yazoo
case show how dexterously he can reconcile law
to his personal biases. — To PRESIDENT MADI
SON. FORD ED., ix, 276. (M., 1810.)
5115. MARSHALL (John), Mischief-
maker.— Though Marshall will be able to
embarrass the republican party in the Assembly
a good deal, yet upon the whole, his having
gone into it will be of service. He has been
hitherto able to do more mischief acting under
the mask of republicanism than he will be able
to do throwing it plainly off. His lax lounging
manners have made him popular with the bulk
of the people of Richmond, and a profound
hypocrisy with many thinking men of our
country. But having come forth in the full
plenitude of his English principles, the latter
will see that it is high time to make him known.
— To JAMES MADISON. FORD ED., vii, 37. (Nov.
I79S-)
5116. MARSHALL (John), Moot cases
and. — The practice of Judge Marshall, of
travelling out of his case to prescribe what the
law would be in a moot case not before the
court, is very irregular and very censurable. —
To WILLIAM JOHNSON, vii, 295. FORD ED., x,
230. (M., 1823.)
5117. MARSHALL (John), Sophistry
of. — The rancorous hatred which Marshall
bears to the government of his country, and
: * * the cunning and sophistry within which
he is able to enshroud himself. — To PRESIDENT
MADISON. FORD ED., ix, 275. (M., 1810.) See ^
HISTORY, JUDICIARY, MAZZEI, and SUPREME
COURT.
5118. MARTIAL LAW, Recourse to.—
There are extreme cases where the laws be
come inadequate even to their own preserva
tion, and where the universal resource is a
dictator, or martial law. — To DR. JAMES
BROWN, v, 379. FORD ED., ix, 211. (W.,
1808.)
5119. MARTIN (Luther), Burr and.—
Shall we move to commit Luther Martin as
particeps criminis with Burr? Graybell will fix
upon him misprision of treason at least. And
at any rate, his evidence will put down this
unprincipled and impudent federal bull-dog, and
add another proof that the most clamorous de
fenders of Burr are all his accomplices. It will
explain why Luther Martin flew so hastily to
the " aid of his honorable friend ", abandoning
his clients and their property during a session of
a principal court in Maryland, now filled, as I
am told, with the clamors and ruin of his
clients. — To GEORGE HAY. v, 99. FORD ED., ix,
58. (W., June 1807.) See LOGAN.
5120. MASON (George), Ability of.—
George Mason [was] a man of the first order
of wisdom among those who acted on the thea
tre of the Revolution, of expansive mind, pro
found judgment, cogent in argument, learned in
the lore of our former constitution, and earnest
for the republican change on democratic princi
ples.* His elocution was neither flowing or
smooth ; but his language was strong, his man
ner most impressive, and strengthened by a
dash of biting cynicism when provocation made
it seasonable. — AUTOBIOGRAPHY, i, 40. FORD
ED., i, 56. (1821.)
5121. MASON (George), Virginia Con
stitution and. — What are George Mason's
sentiments as to the amendment of our Consti
tution? What amendment would he approve?
Is he determined to sleep on, or will he rouse
and be active? — To JAMES MADISON. FORD ED.,
iii, 347. (A., Dec. 1783-)
5122. . That George Mason was
the author of the Bill of Rights and of the
Constitution founded on it, the evidence of the
day established fully in my mind. — To HENRY
LEE. vii, 407. FORD ED., x, 342. (M., 1825.)
5123. . The fact is unquestion
able, that the Bill of Rights and the Constitution
of Virginia were drawn originally by George
Mason, one of our really great men, and of the
first order of greatness. — To A. B. WOODWARD.
vii, 405. FORD ED., x, 341. (M., 1825.)
5124. MASON (J. M.), Red-hot Feder
alist. — I do not know Dr. [John M.] Mason
* George Mason was one of the signers of the Dec
laration. u Mason," said James Madison, "possessed
the greatest talents for debate of any man I have ever
seen or heard speak." — EDITOR.
543
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Mason (J. T.)
Massachusetts
personally, but by character well. He is the
most red-hot federalist, famous, or rather in
famous for the lying and slandering which he
vomited from the pulpit in the political ha
rangues with which he polluted the place.
I was honored with much of it. He is a man
who can prove everything if you will take his
word for proof. Such evidence of Hamilton's
being a republican he may bring ; but Mr.
Adams, Edmund Randolph, and myself, could
repeat an explicit declaration of Hamilton's
against which Dr. Mason's proofs would weigh
nothing. — To JOEL BARLOW, v, 495. FORD EDV
ix, 269. (M., 1810.)
5125. MASON (J. T.), Meteoric.— John
Thompson Mason is a meteor whose path cannot
be calculated. All the powers of his mind seem
at present to be concentrated in one single ob
ject, the producing a convention to new model
the [State] Constitution. — To JAMES MADISON.
FORJD ED., iii, 318. (T., May 1783.)
5126. MASSACHUSETTS, Apostasy.—
Oh Massachusetts ! how have I lamented the
degradation of your apostasy ! Massachusetts,
with whom I went in pride in 1776, whose vote
was my vote on every public question, and
whose principles were then the standard of
whatever was free or fearless. But she was
then under the counsels of the two Adamses ;
while Strong, her present leader, was promoting
petitions for submission to British power and
British usurpation. While under her present
counsels, she must be contented to be nothing ;
as having a vote, indeed, to be counted, but
not respected. But should the State, once more,
buckle on her republican harness, we shall re
ceive her again as a sister, and recollect her
wanderings among the crimes only of the parri
cide party, which would have basely sold what
their fathers so bravely won from the same
enemy. Let us look forward, then, to the act
of repentance, which, by dismissing her venal
traitors, shall be the signal of return to the
bosom, and to the principles of her brethren ;
and, if her late humiliation can just give her
modesty enough to suppose that her southern
brethren are somewhat on a par with her In
wisdom, in information, in patriotism, in
bravery, and even in honesty, although not in
psalm-singing, she will more justly estimate her
own relative momentum in the Union. With
her ancient principles, she would really be
great, if she did not think herself the whole. —
To GENERAL DEARBORN, vi, 451. (M., March
1815.)
5127. MASSACHUSETTS, Defection of .
— Some apprehend danger from the defection
of Massachusetts. It is a disagreeable circum
stance but not a dangerous one. If they be
come neutral, we are sufficient for one enemy
without them, and in fact we get no aid from
them now. If their administration determines
to join the enemy, their force will be annihilated
by equality of division among themselves. Their
federalists will then call in the English army,
the republicans ours, and it will only be a trans
fer of the scene of war from Canada to Massa
chusetts ; and we can get ten men to go to Mas
sachusetts for one who will go to Canada.
Every one, too, must know that we can at any
moment make peace with England at the ex
pense of the navigation and fisheries of Massa
chusetts. But it will not come to this. Their
own people will put down these factionists as
soon as they see the real object of their oppo
sition ; and of this Vermont, New Hampshire,
and even Connecticut itself, furnish proofs. — To
WILLIAM SHORT, vi, 402. (M., Nov. 1814.)
_ MASSACHUSETTS, Federal Consti
tution and. — See CONSTITUTION (FEDERAL).
5128. MASSACHUSETTS, Federalism
in. — Massachusetts still lags; because most
deeply involved in the parricide crimes and
treasons of the war. But her gangrene is
contracting, the sound flesh advancing on it,
and all there will be well. — To MARQUIS DE
LAFAYETTE, vii, 66. FORD ED., x, 83. (M.,
1817.)
5129. MASSACHUSETTS, Justice to.—
So far as either facts or opinions have been
truly quoted from me, they have never been
meant to intercept the just fame of Massachu
setts for the promptitude and perseverance of
her early resistance. We willingly cede to her
the laud of having been (although not exclu
sively) "the cradle of sound principles", and,
if some of us believe she has deflected from
them in her course, we retain full confidence in
her ultimate return to them. — To SAMUEL A.
WELLS, i, 117. FORD ED., x, 129. (M., 1819.)
5130. MASSACHUSETTS, Patriotism
of People. — The progression of -sentiment in
the great body of our fellow citizens of Massa
chusetts, and the increasing support of their
opinion, I have seen with satisfaction, and was
ever confident I should see ; persuaded that an
enlightened people, whenever they should view
impartially the course we have pursued, could
never wish that our measures should have been
reversed ; could never desire that the expenses
of the government should have been increased,
taxes multiplied, debt accumulated, wars un
dertaken, and the tomahawk and scalping knife
left in the hands of our neighbors, rather than
the hoe and plough. In whatever tended to
strengthen the republican features of our Con
stitution, we could not fail to expect from
Massachusetts, the cradle of our Revolutionary
principles, an ultimate concurrence ; and cul
tivating the peace of nations, with justice and
prudence, we yet were always confident that,
whenever our rights would have to be vindi
cated against the aggression of foreign foes, or
the machinations of internal conspirators, the
people of Massachusetts, so prominent in the
military achievements which placed our country
in the right of self-government, would never be
found wanting in their duty to the calls of their
country, or the requisitions of their government.
— R. TO A. MASSACHUSETTS LEGISLATURE, via,
116. (Feb. 1807.)
5131. MASSACHUSETTS, Republican
ism in. — I sincerely congratulate you on the
triumph of republicanism in Massachusetts.
The hydra of federalism has now lost all its
heads but two [Connecticut and Delaware]. —
To MR. BIDWELL. v, 14. (W., 1806.)
5132. . I tender to yourself, to
Mr. Lincoln, and to your State, my sincere con
gratulations on the happy event of the election
of a republican Executive to preside over its
councils. The * * * just respect with which all
the States have ever looked to Massachusetts,
could leave none of them without anxiety, while
she was in a state of alienation from her family
and friends. — To JAMES SULLIVAN, v, 100. FORD
ED., ix, 75. (W., June 1807.)
5133. . Of the return of Massa
chusetts to sound principles I never had a
doubt. The body of her citizens has never
been otherwise than republican. Her would-be
dukes and lords, indeed, have been itching for
coronets ; her lawyers for robes of ermine, her
Massachusetts
Materialism
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
544
priests for lawn sleeves, and for a religious
establishment which might give them wealth,
power, and independence of personal merit.
But her citizens, who were to supply with the
sweat of their brow the treasures on which these
drones were to riot, could never have seen any
thing to long for in the oppressions and pauper
ism of England. After the shackles of aristoc
racy of the bar and priesthood have been burst
by Connecticut, we cannot doubt the return of
Massachusetts to the bosom of the republican
family. — To SAMUEL A. WELLS. FORD ED., x,
133. (M., 1819.)
5134. MASSACHUSETTS, Saddled by.
— We are completely under the saddle of
Massachusetts and Connecticut, and they
ride us very hard, cruelly insulting our feelings,
as well as exhausting our strength and sub
sistence. Their natural friends, the three other
eastern States, join them from a sort of family
pride, and they have the art to divide certain
other parts of the Union, so as to make use of
them to govern the whole. — To JOHN TAYLOR.
iv, 245. FORD ED., vii, 263. (Pa., June 1798.)
5135. MASSACHUSETTS, Selfishness
of. — Could the people of Massachusetts
emerge from the deceptions under which they
are kept by their clergy, lawyers, and English
presses, our salvation would be sure and easy.
Without that, I believe it will be effected; but
it will be uphill work. Nor can we expect
ever their cordial cooperation, because they will
not be satisfied longer than while we are sac
rificing everything, to navigation and a navy. —
To EDMUND PENDLETON. FORD ED., vii, 376.
(M., 1799-)
5136. MASSACHUSETTS, The Union
and. — The conduct of Massachusetts, which
is the subject of your address to Mr. Quincy
is serious, as embarrassing the operations of the
war, and jeopardizing its issue ; and is still more
so, as an example of contumacy against the
Constitution. One method of proving their pur
pose would be to call a convention of their
State, and to require them to declare themselves
members of the Union, and obedient to its de
terminations, or not members, and let them go.
Put this question solemnly to their people, and
their answer cannot be doubtful. One half of
them are republicans, and would cling to the
Union from principle. Of the other half, the
dispassionate part would consider, first, that
they do not raise bread sufficient for their own
subsistence, and must look to Europe for the
deficiency if excluded from our ports, which
vital interests would force us to do. Secondly,
that they are navigating people without a stick
of timber for the hull of a ship, nor a pound
of anything to export in it, which would be ad
mitted at any market. Thirdly, that they are
also a manufacturing people, and left by the
exclusive system of Europe without a market
but ours. Fourthly, that as rivals of England
in manufactures, in commerce, in navigation,
and fisheries, they would meet her competition
in everp point. Fifthly, that England would
feel no scruples in making the abandonment
and ruin of such a rival the price of a treaty
with the producing States ; whose interest too
it would be to nourish a navigation beyond the
Atlantic, rather than a hostile one at our own
door. And sixthly, that in case of war with
the Union, which occurrences between coter
minous nations frequently produce, it would
be a contest of one against fifteen. The re
maining portion of the federal moiety of the
State would, I believe, brave all these obstacles,
because they are monarchists in principle, bear
ing deadly hatred to their republican fellow
citizens, impatient under the ascendency of
republican principles, devoted in their attach
ment to England, and preferring to be placed
under her despotism, if they cannot hold the
helm of government here. I see, in their separa
tion, no evil but the example, and I believe
that the effect of that would be corrected by an
early and humiliating return to the Union, after
losing much of the population of their country,
insufficient in its own resources to feed her
numerous inhabitants, and inferior in all its
allurements to the more inviting soils, climates,
and governments of the other States. Whether
a dispassionate discussion before the public, of
the advantages and disadvantages of separation
to both parties, would be the best medicine of
this dialytic fever, or to consider it as a sac
rilege ever to touch the question, may be
doubted. I am, myself, generally disposed to
indulge, and to follow reason ; and believe that
in no case would it be safer than in the present.
Their refractory course, however, will not be
unpunished by the indignation of their co-
States, their loss of influence with them, the
censures of history, and the stain on the char
acter of their State. — To JAMES MARTIN, vi,
213. FORD ED., ix, 420. (M., Sep. 1813.) See
FEDERALISTS, HARTFORD CONVENTION, and PAR
TIES.
5137. MASTODON, Bones of. —Of the
bones you sent me, I reserved a very few for
myself. I got Dr. Wistar to select from the
rest every piece which could be interesting to
the Philosophical Society [of Philadelphia],
and sent the residue to the National Institute
of France. These have enabled them to de
cide that the animal was neither a mammoth
nor an elephant, but of a distinct kind, to which
they have given the name of Mastodont, from
the protuberance of its teeth. These, from
their forms, and the immense mass of their
jaws, satisfy me this animal must have been
arboriverous. Nature seems not to have pro
vided other food sufficient for him, and the
limb of a tree would be no more to him than a
bough of a cotton tree to a horse. — To GENERAL
WILLIAM CLARKE, v, 467. (M., 1809.) See
PALEONTOLOGY.
5138. MATCHES, Phosphoric.— I should
have sent you a specimen of the phosphoric
matches, but that I am told Mr. Rittenhouse
has had some of them. They are a beautiful
discovery and very useful, especially to heads
which, like yours and mine, cannot at all times
be got to sleep. The convenience of lighting a
candle without getting out of bed, of sealing
letters without calling a servant, of kindling a
fire without flint, steel, punk, &c., is of value.
— To CHARLES THOMSON. FORD ED., iv, 14.
(1/84.)
5139. MATERIALISM, Views on.— I
consider [Dugald] Stewart and [Destutt] Tracy
as the ablest metaphysicians living ; by which
I mean investigators of the thinking faculty
of man. Stewart seems to have given its nat
ural history from facts and observations ;
Tracy its modes of action and deduction, which
he calls Logic, and Ideology ; and Cabanis, in
his Physique et Morale de I'Homme, has investi
gated anatomically, and most ingeniously, the
particular organs in the human structure which
may most probably exercise that faculty. And
they ask, why may not the mode of action called
thought, have been given to a material organ
of peculiar structure, as that of magnetism is to
the needle, or of elasticity to the spring by a
particular manipulation of the steel. They ob-
545
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Materialism
Mazzei (Philip)
serve that on ignition of the needle or spring,
their magnetism and elasticity cease. So on
dissolution of the material organ by death, its
action of thought may cease also, and that no
body supposes that the magnetism or elasticity
retires to hold a substantive and distinct ex
istence. These were qualities only of particular
conformations of matter ; change the conforma
tion, and its qualities change also. Mr. Locke
and other materialists have charged with blas
phemy the spiritualists who have denied the
Creator the power of endowing certain forms
of matter with the faculty of thought. These,
however, are speculations and subtleties in
which, for my own part, I have little indulged
myself. When I meet with a proposition be
yond finite comprehension, I abandon it as
I do a weight which human strength cannot
lift, and I think ignorance in these cases is
truly the softest pillow on which I can lay my
head. Were it necessary, however, to form an
opinion, I confess I should, with Mr. Locke,
prefer swallowing one incomprehensibility
rather than two. It requires one effort only
to admit the single incomprehensibility of mat
ter endowed with thought, and two to believe,
first that of an existence called spirit, of which
we have neither evidence nor idea, and then,
secondly, how that spirit, which has neither
extension nor solidity, can put material organs
into motion. These are things which you and
I may perhaps know ere long. We have so lived
as to fear neither horn of the dilemma. — To
JOHN ADAMS, vii, 153. (M., 1820.)
5140. - The crowd of scepti
cisms in your puzzling letter on matter, spirit,
motion, &c., kept me from sleep. I read it and
laid it down ; read it, and laid it down, again
and again ; and to give rest to my mind, I was
obliged to recur ultimately to my habitual
anodyne, " I feel, therefore I exist ". I feel
bodies which are not myself : there are other
existences then. I call them matter. I feel
them changing place. This gives me motion.
Where there is an absence of matter, I call it
void, or nothing, or immaterial space. On the
basis of sensation, of matter, and motion, we
may erect the fabric of all the certainties we
can have or need. I can conceive thought to be
an action of a particular organization of mat
ter, formed for that purpose by its creator, as
well as that, attract ion is an action of matter,
or magnetism of loadstone. When he who de
nies to the Creator the power of endowing mat
ter with the mode of action called thinking.
shall show how He could endow the sun with
the mode of action called attraction, which
reins the planets in the track of their orbits,
or how an absence of matter can have a will,
and by that will put matter into motion, then
the materialist may be lawfully required to ex
plain the process by which matter exercises the
faculty of thinking. When once we quit the
basis of sensation, all is in the wind. To talk
of immaterial ex;stences, is to talk of nothings.
To say that the human soul, angels, God, are
immaterial, is to say, they are nothings, or that
there is no God, no angels, no soul. I cannot
reason otherwise ; but I believe I am supported
in my creed of materialism by the Lockes, the
Tracys, and the Stewarts. — To JOHN ADAMS.
vii, 175. (M., 1820.)
5141. MATHEMATICS, Favorite study.
—^•Having to conduct my grandson through
his course of mathematics, I have resumed that
study with great avidity. It was ever my fa
vorite one. We have no theories there, no
uncertainties remain on the mind ; all is demon
stration and satisfaction. I have forgotten
much, and recover it with more difficulty than
when in the vigor of my mind I originally ac
quired it. — To BENJAMIN RUSH, vi, 3. FORD
ED., ix, 328. (P.P., 1811.)
5142. MAZZEI (Philip), Book by.—
Mazzei will print soon two or three volumes
8vo., of Recherches Historiques and Politiques
sur les Etats d'Amerique, which are sen
sible.— To M. OTTO, ii, 95. (P., 1787.)
5143. MAZZEI (Philip), Consulship
ancit — An alarming paragraph in your letter
says Mazzei is coming to Annapolis. I tremble
at the idea. I know he will be worse to me
than a return of my double quotidian headache.
Ihere is a resolution, reported to Congress by a
committee, that they will never appoint to the
office of minister, charge des affaires, consul,
agent, &c., any but natives. To this I think
there will not be a dissenting voice; and it will
be taken up among the first things. Could you
not, by making him acquainted with this, divert
him from coming here? A consulate is his ob
ject, in which he will assuredly fail. But his
coming will be attended with evil. He is the
violent enemy of Franklin, having been some
time at Paris, and, from my knowledge of the
man, I am sure he will have employed himself
in collecting on the spot facts true or false to
impeach him. You know there are people here
who, on the first idea of this, will take him to
their bosom, and turn all Congress topsy-turvy.
For God's sake, then, save us from this con
fusion if you can. — To JAMES MADISON. FORD
ED., iii, 425. (A., 1784.)
5144. MAZZEI (Philip), Jefferson's
letter to.— [Respecting] the letter to Mazzei
imputed to me in the papers, the general sub
stance is mine, though the diction has been con
siderably varied in the course of its translations
from English into Italian, from Italian into
French, and from French into English. I first
met with it at Bladensburg, and for a moment
conceived I must take the field of the public
papers. I could not disavow it wholly, be
cause the greatest part of it was mine, in
substance though not in form. I could not
avow it as it stood, because the form was not
mine, and, in one place, the substance very
materially falsified. This, then, would render
explanations necessary; nay, it would render
proofs of the whole necessary, and draw me at
length into a publication of all (even the secret)
transactions of the administration [of Wash
ington] while I was of it; and embroil me per
sonally with every member of the Executive,
with the Judiciary, and with others still. I
soon decided in my own mind, to be entirely
silent. I consulted with several friends at Phil
adelphia, who, every one of them, were clearly
against my avowing or disavowing, and some
of them conjured me most earnestly to let noth
ing provoke me to it. I corrected, in conversa
tion with them, a substantial misrepresentation
in the copy published. The original has a senti
ment like this (for I have it not before me),
" they are endeavoring to submit us to the sub
stance, as they already have to the forms of the
British government " ; meaning by forms, the
birth-days, levees, processions to parliament, in
auguration pomposities, &c. But the copy pub
lished says, " as they have already submitted us
to the form of the British ", &c., making me
express hostility to the form of our goverri-
ment, that is to say, to the Constitution itself.
For this is really the difference of the word
form, used in the singular or plural, in that
phrase, in the English language. Now, it
would be impossible for me to explain this pub-
Mazzei (Philip)
Medicinal Springs
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
546
licly, without bringing on a personal difference
between General Washington and myself, which
nothing before the publication of this letter
has ever done. It would embroil me also with
all those with whom his character is still pop
ular, that is to say, nine-tenths of the people of
the United States ; and what good would be ob
tained by avowing the letter with the necessary
explanations ? Very little indeed, in my opin
ion, to counterbalance a good deal of harm.
From my silence in this instance, it can never
be inferred that I am afraid to own the gen
eral sentiments of the letter. If I am subject
to either imputation, it is to that of avowing
such sentiments too frankly both in private and
public, often when there is no necessity for it,
merely because I disdain everything like du
plicity. Still, however, I am open to convic
tion. Think for me, * * * advise me what to
do, and confer with Colonel Monroe. — To
JAMES MADISON, iv, 193. FORD ED., vii 164.
(M., Aug. I797-)
5145. . The letter to Mazzei has
been a precious theme of crimination for federal
malice. It was a long letter of business in
which was inserted a single paragraph only of
political information as to the state of our
country. In this information there was not
one word which would not then have been,
or would not now be approved by every repub
lican in the United States, looking back to
those times, as you will see by a faithful copy
now enclosed of the whole of what that letter
said on the subject of the United States, or
of its government. This paragraph, extracted
and translated, got- into a Paris paper at a
time when the persons in power there were
laboring under very general disfavor, and their
friends were eager to catch even at straws
to buoy them up. To them, therefore, I have
always imputed the interpolation of an entire
paragraph additional to mine, which makes me
charge my own country with ingratitude and
injustice to France. There was not a word in
my letter respecting France, or any of the pro
ceedings or relations between this country and
that. Yet this interpolated paragraph has been
the burden of federal calumny, has been con
stantly quoted by them, made the subject of
unceasing and virulent abuse, and is still
quoted, * * * as if it were genuine, and really
written by me. And even Judge Marshall makes
history descend from its dignity, and the
ermine from its sanctity, to exaggerate, to
record and to sanction this forgery. In the
very last note of his book [Life of Washing
ton} he says, " a letter from Mr. Jefferson to
Mr. Mazzei, an Italian, was published in Flor
ence, and republished in the Moniteur, with
very severe strictures on the conduct of the
United States ". And instead of the letter itself,
he copies what he says are the remarks of the
editor, which are an exaggerated commentary
on the fabricated paragraph itself, and silently
leaves to his reader to make the ready inference
that these were the sentiments of the letter.
Proof is the duty of the affirmative side. A
negative cannot be positively proved. But, in
defect of impossible proof of what was not in
the original letter, I have its press-copy still in
my possession. It has been shown to several
and is open to anyone who wishes to see it.
I have presumed only that the interpolation was
done in Paris. But I never saw the letter in
either its Italian or French dress, and it may
have been done here, with the commentary
handed down to posterity by the Judge. The
genuine paragraph, retranslated through Italian
and French into English, as it appeared here
in a federal paper, besides the mutilated hue
which these translations and retranslatipns of it
produced generally, gave a mistranslation of a
single word, which entirely perverted its mean
ing, and made it a pliant and fertile text of
misrepresentation of my political principles.
The original, speaking of an Anglican, mo
narchical and aristocratical party, which had
sprung up since he had left us, states their
object to be " to draw over us the substance,
as they had already done the forms of the Brit
ish Government ". Now the " forms " here
meant, were the levees, birthdays, the pompous
cavalcade to the State house on the meeting of
Congress, the formal speech from the throne,
the procession of Congress in a body to reecho
the speech in an answer, &c., &c. But the
translator here, by substituting form, in the sin
gular number, for forms in the plural, made it
mean the frame or organization of our govern
ment, or its form, of legislative, executive and
judiciary authorities, coordinate and inde
pendent ; to which form it was to be inferred
that I was an enemy. In this sense they al
ways quoted it, and in this sense Mr. Picker
ing still quotes it and countenances the infer
ence. — To MARTIN VAN BUREN. vii, 365. FORD
ED., x, 308. (1824.)
5146. MAZZEI (Philip), King of Po
land and.— The King of Poland sent an
ancient Secretary here [Paris], * * * to look
out for a correspondent, a mere letter writer for
him. A happy hazard threw Mazzei in his
way, * * * and he is appointed. He has no
diplomatic character whatever, but is to receive
eight thousand livres a year, as an intelligencer.
I hope this employment may have some per
manence. The danger is that he will overact
his part. — To JAMES MADISON, ii, 444. FORD
ED., v, 44. (P., 1788.)
5147. MAZZEI (Philip), Worth of.— An
intimacy of forty years had proved to me his
great worth, and a friendship which had begun
in personal acquaintance, was maintained after
separation, without abatement by a constant
interchange of letters. His esteem, too, in this
country was very general ; his early and zealous
cooperation in the establishment of our Inde
pendence having acquired for him here a great
degree of favor. — To GIOVANNI CARMIGIANI.
FORD ED., x, 49. (M., 1816.)
5148. . Your letter brought me
the first information of the death of my an
cient friend Mazzei, which I learn with sincere
regret. He had some peculiarities (and who
of us has not?), but he was of solid worth;
honest, able, zealous in sound principles, moral
and political, constant in friendship, and
punctual in all his undertakings. He was
greatly esteemed in this country, and some one
has inserted in our papers an account of his
death, with a handsome and just eulogy of
him, and a proposition to publish his life. — To
THOMAS APPLETON. FORD ED., x, 46. (M.
1816.)
— MEASURES, Standard of. — See
STANDARD OF MEASURES.
— MECKLENBURG DECLARATION.
— See DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE.
5149. MEDICINAL SPRINGS, France.
— I stayed at Aix [France] long enough to
5 rove the inefficiency of the waters. — To JOHN
AY. ii, 138. FORD ED., iv, 376. (1787.)
5150. MEDICINAL SPRINGS, Virgin
ian. — We [in Virginia] have taken too little
pains to ascertain the properties of our dif-
547
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Medicine
ferent mineral waters, the cases in which they
are respectively remedial, the proper process
in their use, and other circumstances necessary
to give us their full value. — To Miss WRIGHT.
vii, 408. (M., 1825.)
5151. MEDICINE, Moliere and.— Medi
cal science was demolished here [France] by
the blows of Moliere, and in a nation so ad
dicted to ridicule, I question if ever it rises
under the weight while his comedies continue
to be acted. It furnished the most striking
proof I have ever seen in ^y life of the injury
which ridicule is capable pf doing.— To DR.
JAMES CURRIE. FORD ED., ™J 132. (P., 1786.)
5152. MEDICINE, S^'gery vs.— While
surgery is seated in the f cnple of the exact
sciences, medicine has freely entered its
threshold. Her theories have passed in such
rapid succession as to prove the insufficiency
of all, and their fatal errors are recorded in
the necrology of man. — To DR. CRAWFORD, vi,
32. (M., 1812.)
5153. MEDICINE, Theories of.— Theo
ries and systems of medicine have been in per
petual change from the days of the good Hip
pocrates to the days of the good Rush, but
which of them is the true one? The present, to
be sure, as long as it is the present, but to
yield its place in turn to the next novelty, which
is then to become the true system, and is to
mark the vast advance of medicine since the
days of Hippocrates. Our situation is certainly
benefited by the discovery of some new and
very valuable medicines ; and substituting those
for some of his with the treasure of facts,
and of sound observations recorded by him
(mixed to be sure with anilities of his day),
we shall have nearly the present sum of the
healing art. — To JOHN BRAZIER, vii, 132. (P.
F., 1819.)
5154. . In his theory of bleed
ing and mercury I was ever opposed to my
friend Rush, whom I greatly loved. He did
much harm, in the sincerest persuasion that he
was preserving life and happiness to all around
him. — To THOMAS COOPER, vi, 390. (M., 1814.)
5155. MEDICINE, Views on Science of.
— We know from what we see and feel, that
the animal body is, in its organs and func
tions, subject to derangement, inducing pain,
and tending to its destruction. In this dis
ordered state, we observe nature providing for
the reestablishment of order, by exciting some
salutary evacuation of the morbific matter, or
by some other operation which escapes our
imperfect senses and researches. She brings on
a crisis, by stools, vomhV'ng, sweat, urine, ex
pectoration, bleeding, &c., which, for the most
part, ends in the restoration of healthy action.
Experience has taught us, also, that there are
certain substances, by which, applied to the liv
ing body, internally or externally, we can at will
produce these small evacuations, and thus do,
in a short time, what nature would do but
slowly, and do effectually, what perhaps she
would not have strength to accomplish. *
So far, I bow to the utility of medicine. It
goes to the well-defined forms of disease, and
happily, to those the most frequent. But the
disorders of the animal body, and the symp
toms indicating them, are as various as the
elements of which the body is composed. The
combinations, too, of these symptoms are so
infinitely diversified, that many associations of
them appear too rarely to establish a definite
disease : and to an unknown disease, there
cannot be a known remedy. Here, then, the
judicious, the moral, the humane physician
should stop. Having been so often a witness
to the salutary efforts which nature makes to
reestablish the disordered functions, he should
rather trust to their action, than hazard the in
terruption of that, and a greater derangement
of the system, by conjectural experiments on a
machine so complicated and so unknown as the
human body, and a subject so sacred as human
life. Or, if the appearance of doing something
be necessary to keep alive the hope and spirits
of the patient, it should be of the most innocent
character. One of the most successful physi
cians I have ever known, has assured me, that
he used more bread pills, drops of colored
water, and powders of hickory ashes, than of all
other medicines put together. It was certainly
a pious fraud. But the adventurous physician
goes on, and substitutes presumption for
knowledge. From the scanty field of what is
known, he launches into the boundless region
of what is unknown. He establishes for his
guide some fanciful theory of corpuscular at
traction, of chemical agency, of mechanical
powers, of stimuli, of irritability accumulated
or exhausted, of depletion by the lancet and
repletion by mercury, or some other ingenious
dream, which lets him into all nature's secrets
at short hand. On the principle which he thus
assumes, he forms his table of nosology, arrays
his diseases into families, and extends his cura
tive treatment, by analogy, to all the cases he
has thus arbitrarily marshalled together. I
have lived myself to see the disciples of Hoff
man, Boerhaave, Stalh, Cullen, Brown, succeed
one another like the shifting figures of a magic
lantern, and their fancies, like the dresses of
the annual doll-babies from Paris, becoming
from their novelty, the vogue of the day, and
yielding to the next novelty their ephemeral
favor. The patient, treated on the fashionable
theory, sometimes gets well in spite of the
medicine. The medicine, therefore, restored
him, and the young doctor receives new cour
age to proceed in his bold experiments on the
lives of his fellow creatures. I believe we may
safely affirm, that the inexperienced and pre
sumptuous band of medical tyros let loose upon
the world, destroys more of human life in one
year, than all the Robinhoods, Cartouches, and
Macheaths do in a century. It is in this part
of medicine that I wish to see a reform, an
abandonment of hypothesis for sober facts, the
first degree of value set on clinical observa
tion, and the lowest on visionary theories. I
would wish the young practitioner, especially,
to have deeply impressed on his mind, the real
limits of his art, and that when the state of his
patient gets beyond these, his office is to be
a watchful, but quiet spectator of the opera
tions of nature, giving them fair play by a well-
regulated regimen, and by all the aid they can
derive from the excitement of good spirits and
hope in the patient. I have no doubt, that
some diseases not yet understood may in time
be transferred to the table of those known.
But, were I a physician, I would rather leave
the transfer to the slow hand of accident, than
hasten it by guilty experiments on those who
put their lives into my hands. The only sure
foundations of medicine are, an intimate knowl
edge of the human body, and observation on the
effects of medicinal substances on that. The
anatomical and clinical schools, therefore, are
those in which the young physician should be
formed. If he enters with innocence that of
the theory of medicine, it is scarcely possible
he should come out untainted with error. His
mind must be strong indeed, if, rising above
juvenile credulity, it can maintain a wise in
fidelity against the authority of his instructors,
Mediterranean Trade
Mercier (James)
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
548
and the bewitching delusions of their theories.
You see that I estimate justly that portion of
instruction which our medical students derive
from your labors ; and, associating with it one
of the chairs which my old and able friend,
Dr. Rush, so honorably fills, I consider them
as the two fundamental pillars of the edifice.
Indeed, I have such an opinion of the talents
of the professors in the other branches which
constitute the school of medicine with you, as
to hope and believe, that it is from this side of
the Atlantic, that Europe, which has taught us
so many other things, will at length be led into
sound principles in this branch of science, the
most important of all others, being that to
which we commit the care of health and life.
I dare say, that by this time, you are suf
ficiently sensible that old heads as well as
young, may sometimes be charged with igno
rance and presumption. The natural course of
the human mind is certainly from credulity to
skepticism ; and this is perhaps the most favor
able apology I can make for venturing so far out
of my depth, and to one, too, to whom the strong
as well as the weak points of this science are so
familiar. But having stumbled on the subject
in my way, I wished to give a confession of my
faith to a friend ; and the rather, as I had per
haps, at times, to him as well as others, ex
pressed my skepticism in medicine, without de
fining its extent or foundation. At any rate, it
has permitted me, for a moment, to abstract
myself from the dry and dreary waste of pol
itics, into which I have been impressed by the
times on which I happened, and to indulge in
the rich fields of nature, where alone I should
have served as a volunteer, if left to my nat
ural inclinations and partialities. — To DR. CAS
PAR WISTAR. v, 105. FORD ED., ix, 81. (W.,
June 1807.)
5156. MEDITERRANEAN TRADE,
Reestablishment of.— It rests with Congress
to decide between war, tribute, and ransom, as
the means of reestablishing our Mediterranean
commerce. If war, they will consider how
far our own resources shall be called forth,
and how far they will enable the Executive to
engage, in the forms of the Constitution, the co
operation of other powers. If tribute or ran
som, it will rest with them to limit and pro
vide the amount ; and with the Executive, ob
serving the same constitutional forms, to take
arrangements for employing it to the best ad
vantage. — REPORT ON MEDITERRANEAN TRADE.
vii, 526. (1790.)
— MEDIUM, Circulating. — See MONEY.
5157. MEMORY, Decay of.— Of all the
faculties of the human mind, that of memory is
the first which suffers decay from age. * * *
It was my earliest monition to retire from pub
lic business. — To MR. LATROBE. vi, 74. (M.,
1812.)
5158. MERCER (John Francis), Poli
tics of. — Our old friend, Mercer, broke off
from us some time ago ; at first professing to
disdain joining the federalists, yet, from the
habit of voting together, becoming soon identi
fied with them. Without carrying over with
him one single person, he is now in a state
of as perfect obscurity as if his name had never
been known. Mr. J. Randolph is in the same
track, and will end in the same way. — To JAMES
MONROE, v, 9. FORD ED., viii, 447. (W.,
May 1806.)
5159. MERCHANTS, Anglomanias— I
join in your reprobation of our merchants,
priests and lawyers, for their adherence to
England arid monarchy, in preference to their
own country and its Constitution. But mer
chants have no country. The mere spot
they stand on does not constitute so strong
an attachment as that from which they draw
their gains. — To HORATIO G. SPAFFORD. vi,
334. (M., 1814.)
5160. MERCHANTS, Education of.—
For the merchant f should not say that the
[classical] Langua^ are a necessary. Ethics,
mathematics, geo£taphy, political economy,
history, seem reconstitute the immediate
foundations of K°Jjis. calling. — To JOHN
BRAZIER, vii, 133. (P.P., 1819.)
5161. MERCHANTS, Freedom of Com
merce and. — The merchants will manage
commerce the better, the more they are left
free to manage for themselves. — To GIDEON
GRANGER, iv, 331. FORD ED., vii, 452. (M.,
1800.)
5162. MERCHANTS, Natural Repub
licans. — A merchant is naturally a republican,
and can be otherwise only from a vitiated
state of things. — To ALBERT GALLATIN. FORD
ED., viii, 252. (1803.)
5163. MERCHANTS, Patriotism of.—
Merchants are the least virtuous citizens and
possess the least of the amor patricz. — To
M. DE MEUNIER. ix, 288. FORD ED., iv, 143.
(P., 1786.)
5164. MERCHANTS, Peace and.— Some
of our merchants have been milking the cow ;
yet the great mass of them have become
deranged. They are daily falling down by
bankruptcies, and on the whole, the condition
of our commerce is far less firm and really
prosperous, than it would have been by the
regular operations and steady advances which
a state of peace would have occasioned.
Were a war to take place, and throw our ag
riculture into equal convulsions with our
commerce, our business would be done at
both ends. — To HORATIO GATES, iv, 213.
FORD ED., vii, 204. (Pa., 1798.)
5165. MERCHANTS, Protection of.—
Where a nation refuses permission to our
merchants and factors to reside within cer
tain parts of their dominions, we may, if it
should be thought expedient, refuse residence
to theirs in any and every part of ours, or
modify their transactions. — FOREIGN COM
MERCE REPORT, vii, 649. FORD ED., vi, 482.
(Dec. I793-)
5166. MERCHANTS, Selfish.— Ministers
and merchants love nobody. — To JOHN LANG-
DON, i, 429- (P., I78S-)
5167. . The merchants here
[France] are endeavoring to exclude us
from their islands. [West Indies].— To JOHN
LANGDON. i, 429. (P., 1785.)
5168. MERCIER (James), Rescued
from slavery. — In Mr. Barclay's letter (from
Morocco) is this paragraph : " There is a young
man now under my care who has been a slave
some time with the Arabs in the desert." His
name is James Mercier, born at the town of
549
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Merit
Meteorology
Suffolk, Nansemond County, Virginia. The
King sent him after the first audience, and I
shall take him to Spain. On Mr. Barclay's re
turn to Spain, he shall find there a letter from
me to forward this young man to his own
country, for the expenses of which I will make
myself responsible. — To CJOVERNOR HENRY, i,
601. (P., 1786.) ^
5169. MERIT, RelicT of distressed.— I
do not know that I can proffer you any reward
for this favor [to my friend], other than the
sublime pleasure of relieving distressed merit,
a pleasure which can be properly felt by the
virtuous alone. — To THOMAS ADAMS. FORD
ED., i, 382. (1770.)
5170. MERRY (A.), Character.— With
respect to Merry [British Minister] he appears
so reasonable and good a man, that I should be
sorry to lose him as long as there remains a pos
sibility of reclaiming him to the exercise of his
own dispositions. If his wife perseveres, she
must eat her soup at home, and we shall endeavor
to draw him into society as if she did not exist.
It is unfortunate that the good understanding
of nations should hang on the caprice of an
individual, who ostensibly has nothing to do
with them. — To JAMES MONROE. FORD ED.,
viii, 292. (W., Jan. 1804.)
5171. MERRY (A.), Social claims of.—
Mr. Merry is with us, and we believe him to
be personally as desirable a character as could
have been sent us. But he is unluckily asso
ciated with one of an opposite in every point.
She has already disturbed our harmony ex
tremely. He began by claiming the first visit
from the national ministers. He corrected him
self in this. But a pretension to take precedence
at dinners, &c., over all others is persevered in.
We have told him that the principle of society,
as well as of government, with us, is the equal
ity of the individuals composing it ; that no
man here would come to a dinner, where he
was to be marked with inferiority to any other ;
that we might as well attempt to force our
principle of equality at St. James's as he his
principle of precedence here. I had been in
the habit, when I invited female company
(having no lady in my family) to ask one of
the ladies of the four Secretaries to come and
take care of my company ; and as she was to
dp the honors of the table I handed her to
dinner myself. That Mr. Merry might not
construe this as giving them a precedence over
Mrs. Merry, I have discontinued it. And here,
as well as in private houses, the pele-mele prac
tice is adhered to. They have got Yrujo to
take a zealous part in the claim of precedence.
It has excited generally emotions of great con
tempt and indignation (in which the members
of the Legislature participate sensibly), that
the agents of foreign nations should assume to
dictate to us what shall be the laws of our
society. The consequence will be that Mr.
and Mrs. Merry will put themselves into Co
ventry, and that he will lose the best half of
his usefulness to his nation, that derived from
a perfectly familiar and private intercourse
with the Secretaries and myself. The latter, be
assured, is a virago, and in the short course of
a few weeks has established a degree of dis
like among all classes which one would have
thought impossible in so short a time. Thorn
ton has entered into their ideas. At this we
wonder, because he is a plain man, a sensible
one, and too candid to be suspected of wishing
to bring on their recall, and his own substitu
tion. To counterwork their misrepresentations,
it would be as well their government should un
derstand as much of these things as can be
communicated with decency, that they may
know the spirit in which their letters are writ
ten. — To JAMES MONROE. FORD ED., viii, 290.
(W., Jan. 1804.)
— MESMERISM.— See FRANKLIN (BEN
JAMIN).
— MESSAGES TO CONGRESS.— See
CONGRESS.
5172. METAPHYSICS, Views on.— The
relations between the physical and moral fac
ulties of man have ever been a subject of great
interest to the inquisitive mind * * * .
That thought may be a faculty of our material
organization has been believed in the gross ;
and though the modus operandi of nature,
in this, as in most other cases, can never be de
veloped and demonstrated to beings limited as
we are, yet I feel confident you will have con
ducted us as far on the road as we can go, and
have lodged us within reconnoitering distance
of the citadel itself. — To M. CABANIS. iv, 496.
(W., 1803.)
5173. . The science of the hu
man mind is curious, but is one on which I
have not indulged myself in much speculation.
The times in which I have lived, and the scenes
in which I have been engaged, have required me
to keep the mind too much in action to have
leisure to study minutely its laws of action. —
To EZRA STILES, vii, 127. (M., 1819.)
5174. METEORIC STONES, Origin.—
[With respect] to the stone in your possession,
supposed meteoric, its descent from the atmos
phere presents so much difficulty as to require
careful examination. But I do not know that
the most effectual examination could be made
by the members of the national Legislature, to
whom you have thought of exhibiting it.
* * * I should think that an inquiry by
some of our scientific societies, * * '*
would be likely to be directed * * * with
such knowledge of the subject, as would inspire
a general confidence. We certainly are not to
deny whatever we cannot account for. A thou
sand phenomena present themselves daily which
we cannot explain, but where facts are sug
gested, bearing no analogy with the laws of
nature as yet known to us, their verity needs
proofs proportioned to their difficulty. A cau
tious mind will weigh well the opposition of
the phenomenon to everything hitherto ob
served, the strength of the testimony by which
it is supported, and the errors and misconcep
tions to which even our senses are liable. It
may be very difficult to explain how the stone
you possess came into the position in which it
was found, but is it easier to explain how it got
into the clouds from whence it is supposed to
have fallen? The actual fact, however, is the
thing to be established, and this I hope will be
done by those whose situations and qualifica
tions enable them to do it. — To DANIEL SAL
MON, v, 245. (W., 1808.)
5175. METEOROLOGY, Slow progress
in. — Of all the departments of science no one
seems to have been less advanced for the last
hundred years than that of meteorology. The
new chemistry, indeed, has given us a new
principle of the generation of rain, by proving
water to be a composition of different gases,
and has aided our theory of meteoric lights.
Electricy stands where Dr. Franklin's early
discoveries placed it, except with its new modi
fication of galvanism. But the phenomena of
snow, hail, halo, aurora borealis, haze, looming,
Dfetropotamia
Militia
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
550
&c., are as yet very imperfectly understood.
I am myself an empiric in natural philosophy,
suffering my faith to go no further than my
facts. I am pleased, however, to see the efforts
of hypothetical speculation, because by the col
lisions of different hypotheses, truth may be
elicited and science advanced in the end. This
skeptical disposition does not permit me to say
whether your hypothesis for looming and float
ing volumes of warm air occasionally perceived,
may or may not be confirmed by future ob
servations. More facts are yet wanting to
furnish a solution on which we may rest with
confidence. I even doubt as yet whether the
looming at sea and on land is governed by the
same laws. — To GEORGE F. HOPKINS, vii, 259.
(M., 1822.) See CLIMATE.
— METROPOTAMIA, Proposed State
of. — See WESTERN TERRITORY.
5176. MEXICO, Interesting.— Mexico is
one of the most interesting countries of ur
hemisphere, and merits every attention. — To
DR. BARTON, v, 470. (M., 1809.)
_ MICHIGANIA, Proposed State of.—
See WESTERN TERRITORY.
5177. MILITIA, Bravery.— Ill armed and
untried militia, who never before saw the
face of an enemy, have, at times during
the course of this war [of the Revolution]
given occasions of exultation to our enemies,
but they afforded us, while at Warwick, a
little satisfaction in the same way. Six or
eight hundred of their picked men of light
infantry, with General Arnold at their head,
having crossed the [James] river from War
wick, fled from a patrol of sixteen horse,
every man into his boat as he could, some
pushing North, some South as their fears
drove them. — To GENERAL WASHINGTON, i,
306. FORD ED., iii, 33. (R., 1781.)
5178. . Our militia are heroes
when they have heroes to lead them on. — To
W. H. CRAWFORD, vi, 420. FORD ED., ix, 504.
(M, 1815.)
5179. MILITIA, Classification.— You
will consider whether it would not be ex
pedient, for a state of peace as well as of
war, so to organize or class the militia, as
would enable us, on any sudden emergency,
to call for the services of the younger por
tions, unencumbered with the old and those
having families. Upwards of three hundred
thousand able bodied men, between the ages
of eighteen and twenty-six years, which the
last census shows we may now count within
our limits, will furnish a competent number
for offence or defence in any point where
they may be wanted, and give time for rais
ing regular forces after the necessity of them
shall become certain ; and the reducing to the
early period of life all its active service, can
not but be desirable to our younger citizens,
of the present as well as future times, inas
much as it engages to them in more advanced
age a quiet and undisturbed repose in the
bosom of their families. I cannot, then, but
earnestly recommend to your early consider
ation the expediency of so modifying our
militia system as, by a separation of the more
active part from that which is less so, we
may draw from it, when necessary, an ef
ficient corps, fit for real and active service,
and to be called to it in regular rotation.—
FIFTH ANNUAL MESSAGE, viii, 49. FORD ED.,
viii, 392. (Dec. i8o' )
5180. v ' A. militia of young men
will hold on until titulars can be raised, and
will be the nursery v/hich will furnish them.
—To WILLIAM A. BURWELL. FORD ED., viii,
416. (W., 1806.)
5181. . A militia can never be
used for distant service on any other plan;
and Bonaparte will conquer the world, if they
do not learn his secret of composing armies
of young men only, whose enthusiasm and
health enable them to surmount all obstacles.
—To MR. BIDWELL. v, 16. (W., 1806.)
5182. . Convinced that a militia
of all ages promiscuously are entirely use
less for distant service, and that we never
shall be safe until we have a selected corps
for a year's distant service at least, the classi
fication of our militia is now the most es
sential thing the United States have to do.
Whether, on Bonaparte's plan of making a
class for every year between certain periods,
or that recommended in my message, I do
not know, but I rather incline to his. The
idea is not new, as you may remember we
adopted it once in Virginia during the Revo
lution, but abandoned it too soon. It is the
real secret of Bonaparte's success. — To JAMES
MADISON, v, 76. FORD ED., ix, 49. (M., May
1807.)
5183. . The session before the
last I proposed to the Legislature the classifi
cation of the militia, so that those in the
prime of life only, and unburthened with
families, should ever be called into distant
service; and that every man should receive
a stand of arms the first year he entered
the militia. * * * It will prevail in time. —
To MR. COXE. v, 58. (W., 1807.)
5184.
Against great land
armies we cannot attempt defence but by
equal armies. For these we must depend on
a classified militia, which will give us the
service of the class from twenty to twenty-
six, in the nature of conscripts, comprising
a body of about 250,000, to be specially
trained. This measure, attempted at a former
session, was pressed at the last, and might,
I think, have been carried by a small ma
jority. But considering that great innova
tions should not be forced on a slender ma
jority, and seeing that the general opinion
is sensibly rallying to it, it was thought better
to let it lie over to the next session, when,
I trust, it will be passed. — To GENERAL
ARMSTRONG, v, 281. FORD ED., ix, 194. (W.,
May 1808.)
5185. . In the beginning of our
government we were willing to introduce the
least coercion possible on tl.e will of the
citizen. Hence a system of military ^duty
was established too indulgent to his indo
lence. This [war] is the first opportunity we
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Militia
have had of trying it, and it has completely
failed ; an issue foreseen by many, and for
which remedies have been proposed. That
of classing the militia According to age, and
allotting each age to i^e particular kind of
service to which it wa£. competent, was Pro~
posed to Congress in i8ci, and subsequently;
and, on the last trial, <0v-as lost, I believe, by
a single vote. Had it prevailed, what has
now happened would not have happened.
Instead of burning our Capitol, we should
have possessed theirs in Montreal and Que
bec. We must now adopt it, and all will be
safe.— To THOMAS COOPER, vi, 379. (M.,
1814)
5186. MILITIA, Comfort of.— The sol
diers themselves will thank you, when sep
arated from domestic accommodation, they
find themselves, through your attention to
their comfort, provided with conveniences
which will administer to their first wants. —
LETTER TO COUNTY LIEUTENANTS. FORD ED.,
ii, 428. (R., 1781.)
5187. MILITIA, Commissions in.— The
Executive, apprehending they have no au
thority to grant brevet commissions, refer
to the General Assembly the expedience of
authorizing them to give to this gentleman*
a Lieutenant Colonel's commission by way of
brevet. — To SPEAKER OF HOUSE OF DELEGATES.
FORD ED., ii, 266. (Wg., I779-)
5188. MILITIA, Compulsory service
in. — We must train and classify the whole of
our male citizens, and make military instruction
a regular part of collegiate education. We can
never be safe till this is done. — To JAMES MON
ROE, vi, 131. (M., 1813.)
5189. . I think the truth must
now be obvious that our people are too happy at
home to enter into regular service, and that we
cannot be defended but by making every citizen
a soldier, as the Greeks and Romans who had
no standing armies ; and that in doing this all
must be marshalled, classed by their ages, and
every service ascribed to its competent class. —
To J. W. EPPES. FORD ED., ix, 484. (M.,
1814.)
5190. MILITIA, Crimes and punish
ments. — Any officer or soldier, guilty of mu
tiny, desertion, disobedience of command,
absence from duty or quarters, neglect of
guard, or cowardice, shall be punished at
the discretion of a courtmartial by degra
ding, cashiering, drumming out of the army,
whipping not exceeding twenty lashes, fine
not exceeding two months, or imprisonment
not exceeding one month.— INVASION BILL.
FORD ED., ii, 127. (i777-)
5191. MILITIA, Defects in organiza
tion. — Congress have had too much experi
ence of the radical defects and inconveniences
of militia service to need my enumerating
them. — To THE PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS.
FORD ED., ii, 277. (Wg., I779-)
5192. MILITIA, Distant service.— Mili
tia do well for hasty enterprises, but cannot
* M. Le Mair, a Frenchman, who had purchased
arms in Europe for Virginia and requested a brevet-
commission as a reward for his services. Jefferson
was then Governor of Virginia.— EDITOR.
be relied on for lengthy service, and out of
their own country. — To NORTH CAROLINA
ASSEMBLY. FORD ED., ii, 480. (R., 1781.)
5193. . We hope it will be the
last time we shall have occasion to require
our militia to go out of their own country,
as we think it most advisable to put that
distant, disagreeable service on our regulars,
* * * and to employ our militia on service
in our own country. — To COLONEL ABRAHAM
PENN. FORD ED., iii, 29. (R., 1781.)
5194. . I am sensible it is much
more practicable to carry on a war with
militia within our own country [State] than
out of it— To MAJOR GENERAL GREENE.
FORD ED., iii, 2. (R., 1781.)
5195. . The law of a former
session of Congress, for keeping a body of
100,000 militia in readiness for service at a
moment's warning, is still in force. * * *
When called into action, it will not be for a
lounging, but for an active, and perhaps
distant, service.* — To THE GOVERNOR OF OHIO.
v, 51. FORD ED., ix, 34. (W., March 1807.)
5196. . If the marching of the
militia into an enemy's country be once ceded
as unconstitutional (which I hope it never
will be), then will [the British! force [in
Canada], as now strengthened, bid us perma
nent defiance. — To JAMES MONROE, vi, 131.
(M., June 1813.)
5197. — — . Abolish, by a declaratory
law, the doubts which abstract scruples in
some, and cowardice and treachery in others,
have conjured up about passing imaginary
lines, and limiting, at the same time, the
services of the militia to the contiguous prov
inces of the enemy. — To PRESIDENT MADI
SON, vi, 391. FORD ED., ix, 489. (M., Oct.
1814.)
— MILITIA, Draft law.— See DRAFT.
5198. MILITIA, Employment of.— I
must desire that, so far as the agency of the
militia be employed, it may be with the ut
most discretion, and with no act of force be
yond what shall be necessary to maintain
obedience to the laws, using neither deeds nor
words unnecessarily offensive. — To CHARLES
SIMMS, v, 418. (W., Jan. 1809.)
5199. MILITIA, Enrolment.— For ma
king provision against invasions and insurrec
tions, and laying the burthen equally upon all
* * * the commanding officer of every
county * * * shall enroll under some
captain such persons * * * as ought to
make a part of the militia, who together with
those before enrolled, and not yet formed
into tenths * * * shall by such captain
* * * be divided into equal parts, as nearly
as may be, each part to be distinguished by
fair and equal lot by numbers from one to
ten, and when so distinguished, to be added
to and make part of the militia of the county.
Where any person * * * shall not attend,
* The Governors of Kentucky, Tennessee and Mis
sissippi Territory were also urged to furnish volun
teers.— EDITOR.
Militia
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
552
or shall refuse to draw for himself, the cap
tain shall cause his lot to be drawn for him.
—INVASION BILL. FORD ED., ii, 123. O777-)
5200. MILITIA, Equalization of duty.
— As militia duty becomes heavy, it becomes
our duty to divide it equally. — To GENERAL
NELSON. FORD ED., ii, 464. (R., 1781.)
5201. . Where any county shall
have sent but half the quota called for, they
have performed but half their tour, and
ought to be called on again. Where any
county has furnished their full complement,
they have performed their full tour, and it
would be unjust to call on them again till we
have gone through the counties. Militia
becoming burthensome, it is our duty to
divide it as equally as we can. — To COLONEL
JAMES INNES. FORD ED., ii, 465. (R., 1781.)
5202. . The spirit of disobedience
* * * in your county must be subdued.
Laws made by common consent must not be
trampled on by individuals. It is very much
[to] the [public] good to force the unworthy
into their due share of contributions to the
public support, otherwise the burthen on [the
worthy] will become oppressive indeed. — To
COLONEL VANMETER. FORD ED., iii, 24. (R.,
1/81.)
5203. MILITIA, Expensive.— Whether it
be practicable to raise and maintain a suf
ficient number of regulars to carry on the
war, is a question. That it would be burthen-
some is undoubted, yet perhaps it is as certain
that no possible mode of carrying it on can be
so expensive to the public, so distressing and
disgusting to individuals, as the militia. —
To THE HOUSE OF DELEGATES. FORD ED., ii,
474. (R., 1781.)
5204. MILITIA, Improving.— We should
at every session [of Congress] continue to
amend the defects * * * in the laws for
regulating the militia, until they are suf
ficiently perfect. Nor should we now or at
any time separate, until we can say we have
done everything for the militia which we
could do were an enemy at our door. — FIRST
ANNUAL MESSAGE, viii, 12. FORD ED., viii,
121. (Dec. 1801.)
5205. . Uncertain as we must
ever be of the particular point in our circum
ference where an enemy may choose to in
vade us, the only force which can be ready at
every point and competent to oppose them, is
the body of neighboring citizens as formed
into a militia. On these, collected from the
parts most convenient, in numbers propor
tioned to the invading foe, it is best to rely,
not only to meet the first attack, but if it
threatens to be permanent, to maintain the
defence until regulars may be engaged to
relieve them. — FIRST ANNUAL MESSAGE, viii,
ii. FORD ED., viii, 121. (Dec. 1801.)
5206. - - . Considering that our
regular troops are employed for local pur
poses, and that the militia is our general re
liance for great and sudden emergencies, you
will doubtless think this institution worthy
of a review, and give it those improvements
of which you find it susceptible. — SECOND
ANNUAL MESSAGE, viii, 19. FORD ED., viii,
185. (Dec. 1802.) *
ft
5207. . . : i compliance with a re
quest of the HousVbf Representatives, as
well as with a sense^tv^ what is necessary, I
take the liberty of urging on you the impor
tance and indispensable necessity of vigorous
exertions, on the part of the State govern
ments, to carry into effect the militia system
adopted by the national Legislature, agree
able to the powers reserved to the States re
spectively, by the Constitution of the United
States, and in a manner the best calculated
to ensure such a degree of military discipline,
and knowledge of tactics, as will under the
auspices of a benign Providence, render the
militia a sure and permanent bulwark of
national defence. — To . iv, 469. (W.,
Feb. 1803.)
5208. . It is incumbent on us. at
every meeting, to revise the condition of the
militia, and to ask ourselves if it is prepared
to repel a powerful enemy at every point of
our territories exposed to invasion. Some
of the States have paid a laudable attention
to this object; but every degree of neglect
is to be found among others. Congress alone
have power to produce a uniform state of
preparation in this great organ of defence;
the interests which they so deeply feel in
their own and their country's security will
present this as among the most important
objects of their deliberation. — ANNUAL MES
SAGE, viii, 108. FORD ED., ix, 223. (1808.)
5209. MILITIA, Maintenance 'of .—[The
maintenance of] a well-disciplined militia,
our best reliance in peace and for the first
moments of war, till regulars may relieve
them, I deem [one of the] essential princi
ples of our government and, consequently
[one] which ought to shape its administra
tion. — FIRST INAUGURAL ADDRESS, viii, 4.
FORD ED., viii, 4. (1803.)
5210. MILITIA, Menial labor.— A mili
tia of freemen cannot easily be induced to
labor in works of that kind [building forts].
— To THE HOUSE OF DELEGATES. FORD ED.,
iii. 36. (R., 1781.)
5211. MILITIA, Mutiny.— The precedent
of a * * * mutiny would be so mis
chievous as to induce us to believe that an
accommodation to their present temper [would
be] most prudent. — To MAJOR-GENERAL
STEUBEN. FORD ED., ii, 466. (R., Feb. 1781.)
5212. - — . The best way, perhaps,
is not to go against the mutineers [militia
men] when embodied, which would bring on,
perhaps, an open rebellion, or bloodshed most
certainly; but, when they shall have dis
persed, to go and take them out of their beds,
singly and without noise; or, if they be not
found, the first time, to go again and again,
so that they may never be able to remain
in quiet at home. This is what I must
recommend to you and, therefore, furnish
553
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Militia
the bearers with the commissions as you
desire. — To COLONEL ^AN METER. FORD ED.,
iii, 25. (R., 1781.) -
5213. MILITIA, *>val.— I send you a
copy of the marine t .*, lations of France.
There are things in it ^Mch may become in
teresting to us ; particularly, what relates to
the establishment of a marine militia, and
their classification. — To JOHN JAY. ii, 91.
(P., 1787.)
5214. . I wish to consult you on
a plan of a regular naval militia, to be com
posed of all our sea-faring citizens, to enable
us to man a fleet speedily by supplying vol
untary enlistments by calls on that militia. —
To ROBERT SMITH. FORD ED., viii, 381. (W.,
Oct. 1805.)
5215. — — . I think it will be neces
sary to erect our sea-faring men into a naval
militia, and subject them to tours of duty
in whatever port they may be. — To GENERAL
SMITH, v, 147. (W., July 1807.)
5216. - — . It is * * * material
that the seaport towns should have artillery-
militia duly trained * * * .—To W. H.
CABELL. v, 191. (M., 1807.)
5217. . I think our naval militia
plan, both as to name and structure, better
for us than the English plan of Sea-fencibles.
— To ROBERT SMITH, v, 234. (1808.)
5218. MILITIA, Officers.— Any officer
resigning his commission on being called into
duty by the Governor, or his commanding
officer, shall be ordered into the ranks, and
shall moreover suffer punishment as for dis
obedience of command. — INVASION BILL.
FORD ED., ii, 125. (1777.)
5219. — — . Much will depend on the
proper choice of officers. — INVASION CIRCU
LAR-LETTER. FORD ED., ii, 398. (R., 1781.)
5220.
-. The good of the service
requires that the field officers at least be ex
perienced in the service. For this reason,
these will be provided for at the rendezvous.
I beg that this may not be considered by the
militia field officers [as arising] from want of
respect to them. We know and confide in
their zeal ; but it cannot be disreputable to
them to be less knowing in the art of war
than those who have greater experience in it ;
and being less knowing, I am quite sure the
spirit of patriotism, with which they are ani
mated, will lead them to wish that measure
to be adopted which will most promote the
public safety, however it may tend to keep
them from the post in which they would wish
to appear in defence of their country.* — To
COUNTY LIEUTENANTS. FORD ED., ii, 398.
(R, 1781.)
5221. . I enclose you a charge
against * * * [three militia officers], as
having become members of an organized
company, calling themselves the Tar Com-
* From a letter calling out the militia of several
counties of Virginia when the State was invaded by
the British forces.— EDITOR.
pany, avowing their object to be the tarring
and feathering citizens of some description.
Although in some cases the animadversions
of the law may be properly relied on to pre
vent what is unlawful, yet with those clothed
with authority from the Executive, and being
a part of the Executive, other preventives
are expedient. These officers should be
warned that the Executive cannot tamely look
on and see its officers threaten to become
the violators instead of the protectors of the
rights of our citizens. — To HENRY DEAR
BORN, v, 383. (1808.)
5222. MILITIA, Payment of Ohio.— If
we suffer the question of paying the [Ohio]
militia embodied to be thrown on their Leg
islature, it will excite acrimonious debate in
that body, and they will spread the same dis
satisfaction among their constituents, and
finally it will be forced back on us through
Congress. Would it not, therefore, be better
to say to Mr. Kirker, that the General Gov
ernment is fully aware that emergencies
which appertain to them will sometimes arise
so suddenly as not to give time for con
sulting them, before the State must get into
action; that the expenses in such cases, in
curred on reasonable grounds, will be met
by the General Government ; and that in the
present case [Burr's Conspiracy], although
it appears there was no real ground for em
bodying the militia, and that more certain
measures for ascertaining the truth should
have been taken before embodying them, yet
an unwillingness to damp the public spirit
of our countrymen, and the justice due to the
individuals who came forward in defence of
their country, and could not know the
grounds on which they were called, have
determined us to consider the call as justi
fiable, and to defray the expenses. — To GEN
ERAL DEARBORN, v, 206. FORD ED., ix, 22.
(W., Oct. 1807.)
5223. MILITIA, Public property and.
— Be pleased to give the same notice to the
militia as formerly, that no man will be ever
discharged till he shall have returned what
ever public arms or accoutrements he shall
have received. — To BRIGADIER-GENERAL NEL
SON. FORD ED., ii, 396. (R., 1781.)
5224. MILITIA, Regular army and.— I
am for relying for internal defence on our
militia solely, till actual invasion. — To EL-
BRIDGE GERRY, iv, 268. FORD ED., vii, 328.
(Pa., 1799.)
5225. . None but an armed na
tion can dispense with a standing army. To
keep ours armed and disciplined, is therefore
at all times important. — To . iv, 469.
(W., 1803.)
5226. MILITIA, Security in.— For a peo
ple who are free, and who mean to remain
so, a well organized and armed militia is
their best security. — EIGHTH ANNUAL MES
SAGE, viii, 108. FORD ED., ix, 223. (Nov.
1808.)
5227. MILITIA, Slaves and.— Slaves are
by the law excluded from the militia, and
Militia
Mineralogist s
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
554
wisely as to that part of a soldier's duty
which consists in exercise of arms. But
whether male slaves might not under proper
regulations be subjected to the routine of
duty as pioneers, and to other military labors,
can only be determined by the wisdom of the
Legislature.— To THE VA. HOUSE OF DELE
GATES. FORD ED., iii, 36. (R., 1781.)
5228. MILITIA, Standing fire.— The
scene of military operations has been hitherto
so distant from these States that their militia
are strangers to the actual presence of
danger. Habit alone will enable them to
view this with familiarity, to face it without
dismay; a habit which must be purchased
by calamity, but cannot be purchased too
dear. — To THE PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS. FORD
ED., ii, 335- (R-, 1780.)
5229. MILITIA, Subsistence of.— The
present [British] invasion [of Virginia] hav
ing rendered it necessary to call into the field
a large body of militia, the providing them
with subsistence, and the means of trans
portation becomes an arduous task in the un
organized state of our military system. To
effect this we are obliged to vest the heads of
the Commissary's and Quartermaster's depart
ments with such powers as, if abused, will be
most afflicting to the people. Major General
Steuben, taught by experience on similar oc
casions, has pressed on us the necessity of
calling to the superintendence of these of
ficers some gentleman of distinguished char
acter and abilities, who, while he prescribes
to them such rules as will effectually pro
duce the object of their appointment, will yet
stand between them and the people as a
guard from oppression. * * Under the
exigency we have taken the liberty of casting
our eyes on yourself as most likely to fulfill
our wishes and, therefore, solicit your un
dertaking this charge.— To COLONEL RICHARD
MEADE. FORD EDV ii, 400. (R., 1781.)
5230. MILITIA, Washington on use
of. — In conversation with the President, and
speaking about General [Nathaniel] Greene,
he said that he and General Greene had al
ways differed in opinion about the manner
of using militia. Greene always placed them
in his front; himself was of opinion they
should always be used as a reserve to im
prove any advantage, for which purpose they
were the finest fellows in the world. He
said he was on the ground of the battle of
Guilford, with a person who was in the ac
tion, and who explained the whole of it to him.
That General Greene's front was behind a
fence at the edge of a large field, through
which the enemy were obliged to pass to get
at them; and that in their passage through
this, they must have been torn all to pieces,
if troops had been posted there who would
have stood their ground; and that the re
treat from that position was through a
thicket, perfectly secure. Instead of this, he
posted the North Carolina militia there, who
only gave one fire and fell back, so that the
whole benefit of their position was lost. He
thinks that the regulars, with their field pieces,
would have hardly le a single man get
through that field.— n£JE ANAS, ix, 146.
FORD ED., i, 232. (ld»3.) See ARMY and
WAR. ^
5231. MILITIA \ ^B LOUISIANA.—
The spirit of this cou^y is totally adverse to
a large military force. I have tried for two
sessions to prevail on the Legislature to let
me plant thirty thousand well chosen volun
teers on donation lands on the west side of
the Mississippi, as a militia always at hand
for the defence of New Orleans; but I have
not yet succeeded. — To MR. CHANDLER
PRICE, v, 47. (W., 1807.)
5232. . The defence of Orleans
against a land army can never be provided
for, according to the principles of the Con
stitution, till we can get a sufficient militia
there — To ALBERT GALLATIN. v, 215. FORD
ED., ix, 167. (Nov. 1807.)
5233. . A measure has now twice
failed, which I have warmly urged, the im
mediate settlement by donation lands, of such
a body of militia in the Territories of Or
leans and Mississippi, as will be adequate to
the defence of New Orleans. — To GENERAL
ARMSTRONG, v, 281. (W., May 1808.)
5234. MIND, Body and.— If this period
[youth] be suffered to pass in idleness, the
mind becomes lethargic and impotent, as
would the body it inhabits if unexercised
during the same time. The sympathy be
tween body and mind during their rise, prog
ress and decline, is too strict and obvious
to endanger our being misled while we reason
from the one to the other. — NOTES ON VIR
GINIA, viii, 390. FORD ED., iii, 253. (1782.)
5235. MIND, Freedom of.— Almighty
God hath created the mind free, and mani
fested His supreme will that free it shall re
main by making it altogether insusceptible of
restraint. — STATUTE OF RELIGIOUS FREEDOM.
viii, 454. FORD ED., ii, 227. (1779.)
5236. MIND, Influencing.— All attempts
to influence [the mind] by temporal punish
ments, or burthens, or by civil incapacitations,
tend only to beget habits of hypocrisy and
meanness, and are a departure from the plan
of the Holy Author of our religion, who
being Lord both of body and mind, yet choose
not to propagate it by coercions on either,
as was in his Almighty power to do, but to
exalt it by its influence on reason alone. —
STATUTE OF RELIGIOUS FREEDOM, viii, 454.
FORD ED., ii, 238. (1779.)
5237. MIND, Qualities of.— I estimate
the qualities of the mind; i, good humor; 2,
integrity; 3, industry; 4, science. The pref
erence of the first to the second quality may
not at first be acquiesced in ; but certainly we
had all rather associate with a good-humored,
light-principled man, than with an ill-tem
pered rigorist in morality. — To DR. BENJA
MIN RUSH, v, 225. (W., 1808.)
5238. MINERALOGISTS IN AMEB-
ICA. — I have never known in the United
555
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Mineralogy
Ministers
States but one emine ; mineralogist, who could
have been engaged on hire. This was a Mr.
Goudon from France, who came over to Phila
delphia six or seven years ago. — To GOVERNOR
NICHOLAS, vi, 588. (P.F., 1816.)
5239. MINERALOGY, Utility.— To
learn * * * the ordinary arrangement of
the different strata of minerals in the earth, to
know from their habitual collocations and prox
imities, where we find one mineral ; whether
another, for which we are seeking, may be
expected to be in its neighborhood, is useful.
But the dreams about the modes of creation,
enquiries whether our globe has been formed by
the agency of fire or water, how many millions
of years it has cost Vulcan or Neptune to pro
duce what the fiat of the Creator would effect
by a single act of will, is too idle to be worth
a single hour of any man's life. — To DR. JOHN
P. EMMETT. vii, 443. (M., 1826.)
5240. MINES, Federal Government and.
— I am afraid we know too little as yet of the
lead mines to establish a permanent system.
I verily believe that of leasing will be far the
best for the United States. But it will take
time to find out what rent may be reserved,
so as to enable the lessee to compete with those
who work mines in their own right, and yet
have an encouraging profit for themselves.
Having on the spot two such men as Lewis and
Bates, in whose integrity and prudence un
limited confidence may be placed, would it
not be best to confide to them the whole busi
ness of leasing and regulating the management
of our interests, recommending to them short
leases, at first, till themselves shall become
thoroughly acquainted with the subject, and
shall be able to reduce the management to a
system, which the government may then approve
and adhere to ? I think one article of it should
be that the rent shall be paid in metal, not in
mineral, so that we may have nothing to do
with works which will always be mismanaged,
and reduce our concern to a simple rent. We
shall lose more by ill-managed smelting works
than the digging the ore is worth. Then, it
would be better that our ore remained in the
earth than in a storehouse, and consequently
we give nine-tenths of the ore for nothing.
These thoughts are merely for your considera
tion. — To ALBERT GALLATIN. v, 210. (Nov.
1807.)
5241. . It is not merely a ques
tion about the terms we have to consider, but
the expediency of working them. — To ALBERT
GALLATIN. v, 290. (M., 1808.)
5242. . I received your favor
covering an offer ; of an iron mine
to the public, and I thank you for * * *
making the communication * * * . But
having always observed that public works are
much less advantageously managed than they
are by private hands, I have thought it better
for the public to go to market for whatever it
wants which is to be found there ; for there
competition brings it down to the minimum of
value. I have no doubt we can buy brass can
non at market cheaper than we could make iron
ones. I think it material, too, not to abstract
the high executive officers from those functions
which nobody else is charged to carry on, and
to employ them in superintending works which
are going on abundantly in private hands. Our
predecessors went on different principles ; they
bought iron mines, and sought for copper ones.
We own a mine at Harper's Ferry of the finest
iron ever put into a cannon, which we are
afraid to attempt to work. We have rented it
heretofore, but it is now without a tenant. — To
MR. BIBB, v, 326. (M., July 1808.)
5243. MINES, Silver.— I enclose for your
information the account of a silver mine to
fill your treasury. — To ALBERT GALLATIN. v,
245. (1808.)
5244. . With respect to the sil
ver mine on the Platte, 1700 miles from St.
Louis, I will observe that in the present state
of things between us and Spain, we could not
propose to make an establishment at that dis
tance from all support. It is interesting, how
ever, that the knowledge of its position should
be preserved, which can be done either by con
fiding it to the government, who will certainly
never make use of it without an honorable com
pensation for the discovery to yourself or your
representatives, or by placing it wherever you
think safest. — To ANTHONY G. BETTAY. v, 246.
(W., 1808.)
5245. MINES, Virginia lead.— We take
the liberty of recommending the lead mines to
you as an object of vast importance. We
great an extent. Considered as, perhaps, the
think it impossible they can be worked to too
sole means of supporting the American cause,
they are inestimable. As an article of com
merce to our Colony, too, they will be valuable ;
and even the wagonage, if done either by the
Colony or individuals belonging to it, will carry
to it no trifling sum of money.* — To GOVERNOR
PATRICK HENRY. FORD ED., ii, 67. (July 1776.)
5246. MINISTERS (Foreign), Appoint
ment and grade. — The Constitution having
declared that the President shall nominate and,
by and with the advice and consent of the
Senate, shall appoint, ambassadors, other pub
lic ministers, and consuls, the President de
sired my opinion whether the Senate has a
right to negative the grade he may think it
expedient to use in a foreign mission as well
as the person to be appointed. I think the
Senate has no right to negative the grade. The
Constitution has divided the powers of govern
ment into three branches, Legislative, Execu
tive and Judiciary, lodging each with a distinct
magistracy. The Legislative it has given com
pletely to the Senate and House of Representa
tives. It has declared that the Executive pow
ers shall be vested in the President, submitting
only special articles of it to a negative by the
Senate, and it has vested the Judiciary power
in the courts of justice, with certain exceptions
also in favor of the Senate. The transaction
of business with foreign nations is Executive
altogether. It belongs, then, to the head of
that department, except as to such portions of it
as are specially submitted to the Senate. Ex
ceptions are to be construed strictly. The
Constitution itself indeed has taken care to
circumscribe this one within very strict limits ;
for it gives the nomination of the foreign
agents to the President, the appointments to
him and the Senate jointly, and the commis
sioning to the President. This analysis calls
our attention to the strict import of each term.
To nominate must be to propose. Appointment
seems that act of the will which constitutes or
makes the agent, and the commission is the
public evidence of it. But there are still other
acts previous to these not specially enumerated
in the Constitution, to wit: ist. The destina
tion of a mission to the particular country
where the public service calls for it, and 2nd,
* A note in the FORD EDITION says this paper was
evidently intended to be signed by the whole Vir
ginia delegation.— EDITOR.
Ministers
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
' 556
the character or grade to be employed in it.
The natural order of all these is first, desti
nation ; second, grade ; third, nomination ;
fourth, appointment; fifth, commission. _ If
appointment does not comprehend the neigh
boring acts nomination or commission (and
the Constitution says it shall not, by giving
them exclusively to the President), still less
can it pretend to comprehend those previous
and more remote, of destination and grade.
The Constitution, analyzing the three last,
shows they do not comprehend the two first.
The fourth is the only one it submits to the
Senate. Shaping it into a right to say that
" A or B is unfit to be appointed ". Now, this
cannot comprehend a right to say that A or B
is indeed fit to be appointed, but the grade
fixed on is not the fit one to employ, or, " our
connections with the country of his destination
are not such as to call for any mission ". The
Senate is not supposed by the Constitution to
be acquainted with the concerns of the Ex
ecutive Department. It was not* intended that
these should be communicated to them, nor can
they, therefore, be qualified to judge of the ne
cessity which calls for a mission to any particu
lar place, or of the particular grade, more or
less marked, which special and secret circum
stances may call for. All this is left to the
President. They are only to see that no unfit
person be employed. It may be objected that
the Senate may by continual negatives on the
person, do what amounts to a negative on the
grade, and so, indirectly, defeat this right of
the President. But this would be a breach of
trust ; an abuse of the power confided to the
Senate, of which that body cannot be supposed
capable. So the President has power to con
voke the Legislature, and the Senate might
defeat that power by refusing to come. This
equally amounts to a negative on the power
of convoking. Yet nobody will say they pos
sess such a negative, or would be capable of
usurping it by such oblique means. If the
Constitution had meant to give the Senate a
negative on the grade, or destination, as well
as on the person, it would have said so in
direct terms, and not left it to be effected by
a sidewind. It could never mean to give them
the use of one power through the abuse of an
other. — OPINION ON POWERS OF THE SENATE.
vii, 465. FORD ED., v, 161. (1790.)
5247. . The Secretary of State
recapitulated [to a committee of the Senate]
the circumstances which justified the Presi
dent's having continued the grade of Minister
Plenipotentiary [at The Hague] ; but added,
that whenever the biennial bill should come on,
each House would have a constitutional right
to review the establishment again, and when
ever it should appear that either House thought
any part of it might be reduced, on giving to
the Executive time to avail themselves of the
first convenient occasion to reduce it, the Ex
ecutive could not but do it ; but that it would
be extremely injurious * * to do it so
abruptly as to occasion the recall of ministers,
or unfriendly sensations in any of those
countries with which our commerce is in
teresting. — THE ANAS, ix, 422. FORD EDV i,
172. (January 1792.)
5248. . After mature considera
tion and consultation, I am of opinion that the
* In one of the two editions of JEFFERSON'S WRI
TINGS, quoted in this work, "not " is omitted. The
MS. copy of the opinion which, with the other papers
Constitution has made the President the sole
competent judge to what places circumstances
render it expedient that ambassadors, or other
public ministers, should be sent, and of what
grade they should be ; and that it has ascribed
to the Senate no executive act but the single one
of giving or withholding their consent to the
person nominated. I think it my duty, there
fore, to protest, and do protest against the
validity of any resolutions of the Senate assert
ing or implying any right in that House to ex
ercise any executive authority, but the single
one before mentioned. — PARAGRAPH FOR PRESI
DENT'S MESSAGE. FORD ED., v, 415. (1792.)
5249. MINISTERS (Foreign), Exchange
of. — I doubt whether it be honorable for us
to keep anybody at London unless they keep
some person at New York. — To W. S. SMITH.
ii, 284. (P., 1787.)
5250. . The President * * *
authorized Mr. Gpuverneur Morris to enter
into conference with the British ministers in
order to discover their sentiments on the ex
change of a minister. The letters of Mr. Mor
ris * * * [to the President] state the
communications, oral and written, which have
passed between him and the ministers ; and
from these the Secretary of State draws the
following inference: That * * * their
Secretary for Foreign Affairs is disposed to
exchange a minister, but meets with opposition
in his Cabinet, so as to render the issue uncer
tain. The Secretary of State is of opinion
that Mr. Morris's letters remove any doubts
which might have been entertained as to the
intentions and dispositions of the British Cabi
net ; that it would be dishonorable to the United
States, useless and even injurious, to renew
the propositions for * * * the exchange of
a minister, and that this subject should now
remain dormant, till it shall be brought forward
earnestly by them. — OFFICIAL REPORT, vii, 517.
FORD ED., v, 261. (December 1790.)
5251. . You have placed the
British proposition of exchanging a minister on
proper ground. It must certainly come from
them, and come in unequivocal form. With
those who respect their own dignity so much,
ours must not be counted at naught. On their
own proposal formally, to exchange a minister
we sent them one. They have taken no notice
of that, and talk of agreeing to exchange one
now, as if the idea were new. Besides, what
they are saying to you, they are talking to us
through Quebec ; but so informally, that they
may disavow it when they please. — To GOUVER-
NEUR MORRIS, iii, 182. FORD ED., v, 224. (N.
Y., Aug. 1790.)
5252. MINISTERS (Foreign). Extraor
dinary expenses.— With respect to the ex
traordinary expenses which you may be under
the necessity of incurring at the coronation, I
am not authorized to give any advice. * * *
I should certainly suppose that the representa
tive of the United States at Madrid, was to do
as the representatives of other sovereignties
do, and that it would be viewed as the compli
ment of our nation and not of its minister.
If this be the true point of view, it proves
at whose expense it should be. — To WILLIAM
CARMICHAEL. FORD ED., v, 125. (P., 1789.)
5253. MINISTERS (Foreign), Outfit
of. — When Congress made their first appoint
ments of ministers to be resident in Europe,
I have understood (for I was not then in Con
gress) that they allowed them all their ex-
557
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Ministers
penses, and a fixed st over and above for their
time. Among their Kpenses was necessarily
understood the'r outfit. Afterwards they
thought proper to give them fixed salaries of
eleven thousand one hundred and eleven dol
lars and one-ninth a year ; and again by a reso
lution of May the 6th and 8th, 1784, the
" salaries " of their ministers at foreign courts
were reduced to nine thousand dollars, to take
place on the ist of August ensuing. On the
7th of May, I was appointed in addition to Mr.
Adams and Dr. Franklin, for the negotiation
of treaties of commerce ; but this appointment
being temporary, for two years only, and not
as of a resident minister, the article of outfit
did not come into question. I asked an ad
vance of six months' salary, that I might be in
cash to meet the first expenses, which was
ordered. The year following I was appointed
to succeed Dr. Franklin at this court [France].
This was the first appointment of a minister
resident, since the original ones, under which
all expenses were to be paid. So much of the
ancient regulation as respected annual expenses
had been altered to a sum certain ; so much of
it as respected first expenses, or outfit, remained
unaltered; and I might, therefore, expect that
the actual expenses for outfit were to be paid.
When I prepared my account for settlement
with Mr. Barclay, I began a detail of the arti
cles of clothing, carriage, horses, and house
hold furniture. I found they were numerous,
minute, and incapable from their nature of be
ing vouched ; and often entered in my memo
randum book under a general head only, so that
I could not specify them. I found they would
exceed a year's salary. Supposing, therefore,
that mine being the first case, Congress would
make a precedent of it, and prefer a sum fixed
for the outfit as well as the salary, I have
charged it in my account at a year's salary ;
presuming that there can be no question that
an outfit is a reasonable charge. It is the usage
here (and I suppose at all courts), that a min
ister resident shall establish his house in the
first instant. If this is to be done out of his
salary, he will be a twelvemonth, at least, with
out a copper to live on. It is the universal
practice, therefore, of all nations to allow the
outfit as a separate article from the salary. I
have enquired here into the usual amount of
it. I find that sometimes the sovereign pays
the actual cost. This is particularly the case
of the Sardinian ambassador now coming here,
who is to provide a service of plate, and every
article of furniture and other matters of first
expense, to be paid for by his court. In other
instances, they give a service of plate, and a
fixed sum for all other articles, which fixed sum
is in no case lower than a year's salary. I de
sire no service of plate, having no ambition for
splendor. My furniture, carriage and apparel
are all plain, yet they have cost me more than
a year's salary. I suppose that in every
country, and in every condition of life, a year's
expense would be found a moderate measure
for the furniture of a man's house. It is not
more certain to me that the sun will rise to
morrow, than that our government must allow
the outfit on their future appointment of for
eign ministers ; and it would be hard on me
so to stand between the discontinuance of a
former rule, and institution of a future one.
as to have the benefit of neither. — To JOHN
JAY. ii, 401. (P., 1788.)
5254. . The outfit given to min
isters resident to enable them to furnish their
house, but given by no nation to a temporary
minister, who is never expected to take a
house or to entertain, but considered on the
footing of a voyageur, our predecessors gave
to their extraordinary ministers by the whole
sale. In the beginning of our administration,
among other articles of reformation in ex
pense, it was determined not to give an outfit
to ministers extraordinary, and not to incur
the expense with any minister of sending a
frigate to carry or bring him. The Boston
happened to be going to the Mediterranean,
and was permitted, therefore, to take up Mr.
Livingston, and touch in a port of France. A
frigate was denied to Charles Pinckney, and
has been refused to Mr. King for his return.
Mr. Madison's friendship and mine to you
being so well known, the public will have eagle
eyes to watch if we grant you any indulgences
out of the general rule ; and on the other hand,
the example set in your case [as Minister
Extraordinary to France] will be more cogent
on future ones, and produce greater approba
tion to pur conduct. The allowance, therefore,
will be in this, and all similar cases, all the ex
penses of your journey and voyage, taking a
ship's cabin to yourself, nine thousand dollars
a year from your leaving home till the pro
ceedings of your mission are terminated, and
then the quarter's salary for the expenses of
your return, as prescribed by law. — To JAMES
MONROE, iv, 455. FORD ED., viii, 191. (W.,
1803.)
5255. MINISTERS (Foreign), Privi-
leges.—Legal provision should be made for
protecting and vindicating those privileges and
immunities to which foreign ministers, and
others attending on Congress are entitled by
the law of nations. — CONGRESS RESOLUTION.
FORD ED., iii, 463. (April 1784.)
5256. . Foreign ministers are not
bound to an acquaintance with the laws of the
land. They are privileged by their ignorance
of them. They are bound by the laws of nat
ural justice only. — To WILLIAM SHORT. FORD
ED., v, 246. (M., 1790.)
5257. Every person, diplomatic
in his own right, is entitled to the privileges of
the law of nations, in his own right. Among
these is the receipt of all packages unopened
and unexamined by the country which receives
him. The usage of nations has established
that^ this shall liberate whatever is imported
bond fide for his own use, from paying duty.
A government may control the number of
diplomatic characters it will receive ; but if it
receives them it cannot control their rights
while bond fide exercised. Thus Dr. Franklin,
Mr. Adams, Colonel Humphreys and myself, all
residing at Paris at the same time, had all of
us our importation duty free. Great Britain
had an ambassador and a minister plenipo
tentiary there, and an ambassador extra for
several years; all three had their entries free.
In most countries this privilege is permanent.
Great Britain is niggardly, and allows it only
on the first arrival. But in this, as she treats
us only as she does the most favored nations,
so we should treat her as we do the most fa
vored nations. If these principles are correct,
Mr. Foster is duty free. — To ALBERT GALLATIN.
iv, 588. (W., 1805.)
5258. MINISTERS (Foreign), Reception
of-— The Secretary of State has the honor to
inform the Minister of France that the Presi
dent will receive his letters of credence to-day
at half after two : that this will be done in a
room of private audience, without any cere
mony whatever, or other person present than
the Secretary of State, this being the usage
Ministers
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
558
which will be observed. As the Secretary of
State will be with the President before that
hour on business, the Minister will find him
there. — To JEAN BAPTISTS TERNANT. FORD ED.,
v, 370. (Pa., 1791-)
5259. . The reception of the
minister at all * * * (in favor of which
Colonel Hamilton has given his opinion, though
reluctantly, as he confessed), is an acknowledg
ment of the legitimacy of their [the French]
government. — OPINION ON FRENCH TREATIES.
vii, 616. FORD ED., vi, 223. (1793.)
5260. . It has been said without
contradiction, and the people have been made
to believe, that the refusal of the French to re
ceive our Envoys was contrary to the law of
nations, and a sufficient cause of war ; whereas,
every one who has ever read a book on the law
of nations knows, that it is an unquestionable
right in every power to refuse any minister
who is personally disagreeable. — To EDMUND
PENDLETON. iv, 289. FORD ED., vii, 359. (Pa.,
I799-)
5261. . The Constitution has
made the Executive the organ for managing
our intercourse with foreign nations. It au
thorizes him to appoint and receive ambas
sadors, other public ministers, and consuls.
The term minister being applicable to other
agents as well as diplomatic, the constant prac
tice of the government, considered as a com
mentary, established this broad meaning ; and
the public interest approves it ; because it would
be extravagant to employ a diplomatic minister
for a business which 'a mere rider would exe
cute. The Executive being thus charged with
the foreign intercourse, no law has undertaken
to prescribe its secific duties. — To ALBERT GAL-
LATIN, iv, 529. (1804.)
5262. MINISTERS (Foreign), Rejec
tion. — The public interest certainly made the
rejection of Chevalier de Onis expedient, and
as that is a motive which it is not pleasant al
ways to avow, I think it fortunate that the
contending claims of Charles and Ferdinand
furnished such plausible embarrassment to the
question of right ; for, on our principles, I pre
sume, the right of the Junta to send a minister
could not be denied. — To PRESIDENT MADISON.
v, 480. (M., Nov. 1809.)
5263. MINISTERS (Foreign), Revolu
tions and. — Whenever the scene [Paris dur
ing Revolution] became personally dangerous to
you, it was proper you should leave it, as well
from personal as public motives. But what de
gree of danger should be awaited, to what
distance or place you should retire, are circum
stances which must rest with your own discre
tion, it being impossible to prescribe them from
hence. — To GOUVERNEUR MORRIS, iii, 489. FORD
ED., vi, 131. (Pa., Nov. 1792.)
5264. MINISTERS (Foreign), Rotation
in. — I think it possible that it will be estab
lished into a maxim of the new government
to discontinue its foreign servants after a cer
tain time of absence from their own country,
because they lose in time that sufficient degree
of intimacy with its circumstances which alone
can enable them to know and pursue its in
terests. Seven years have been talked of. — To
WILLIAM SHORT. FORD ED., v, 244. (M., 1790.)
5265. MINISTERS (Foreign), Salaries.
— You have doubtless heard of the complaints
of our foreign ministers as to the incompetency
of their salaries. I believe it would be better
were they somewhat enlarged. Yet a moment's
reflection will satisfy you that a man may live
in any country on any scale he pleases, and
more easily in that [France] than this, because
there, the grades are more distinctly marked.
From the ambassador there a certain degree of
representation is expected. But the lower
grades of Envoy, Minister, Resident, Charge,
have been introduced to accommodate both the
sovereign and missionary as to the scale of ex
pense. I can assure you from my own knowl
edge of the ground, that these latter grades
are left free in the opinion of the place to adopt
any style they please, and that it does not lessen
their estimation or their usefulness. When I
was at Paris, two-thirds of the diplomatic men
of the second and third orders entertained no
body. Yet they were as much invited out and
honored as those of the same grades who en
tertained. * * * This procures one some sun
shine friends who like to eat of your good
things, but has no effect on the men of real
business, the only men of real use to you, in
a place where every man is estimated at what
he really is. — To GENERAL JOHN ARMSTRONG.
FORD ED., viii, 302. (W., 1804.)
— MINISTERS (Foreign), Secretaries
of Legation and.— See SUMTER.
5266. MINISTERS (Foreign), Verbal
communications. — Verbal communications
are very insecure ; for it is only necessary to
deny them or to change their terms, in order
to do away their effect at any time. Those in
writing have many and obvious advantages, and
ought to be preferred. — To THOMAS PINCKNEY.
iv, 63. FORD ED., vi, 416. (Pa., 1793.) See
DIPLOMATIC ESTABLISHMENT.
5267. MINISTERS (Imperial).— What
are their [Kings] ministers but a committee,
badly chosen? — To BENJAMIN HAWKINS, ii,
221. FORD ED., iv, 426. (P., 1787.)
5268. MINISTERS (Imperial), Politic.
— Ministers and merchants love nobody. The
merchants here [France] are endeavoring to
exclude vis from their [West India] islands.
The ministers will be governed in it by political
motives, and will do it, or not do it, as these
shall appear to dictate, without love or hatred
to anybody. — To JOHN LANGDON. i, 429. (P.,
1785-)
5269. MINISTERS (Religious), Fear
less of. — You judge truly that I am not afraid
of the priests. They have tried upon me all
their various batteries, of pious whining, hypo
critical canting, lying and slandering, without
being able to give me one moment of pain. —
To HORATIO GATES SPAFFORD. FORD ED., x, 13.
(M., 1816.)
5270. MINISTERS (Religious), French.
— The Cures throughout the [French] King
dom form the mass of the clergy. They are
the only part favorably known to the people,
because solely charged with the duties of bap
tism, burial, confession, visitation of the sick,
instruction of the children, and aiding the poor.
They are themselves of the people, and united
with them. The carriages and equipage only
of the higher clergy, not their persons, are
known to the people, and are in detestation
with them. — To JAMES MADISON, iii, 58. (P..
1789.)
5271. . Nor should we wonder
at * * * [the] pressure [for a fixed constitu
tion in 1788-9] when we consider the mon
strous abuses of power under which * * * the
559
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Ministers
Mint
[French] people were ground to powder; when
we pass in review * * * the riches, luxury, in
dolence and immorality of the clergy. — AUTO
BIOGRAPHY, i, 86. FORD ED., i, 118. (1821.)
5272. MINISTERS (Religious), Hostil
ity to Jefferson. — The delusion into which
the X. Y. Z. plot shows it possible to push the
people ; the successful experiment made under
the prevalence of that delusion on the clause
of the Constitution, which, while it secured the
freedom of the press, covered also the free
dom of religion, had given to the clergy a
very favorite hope of obtaining an establish
ment of a particular form of Christianity
through the United States; and as every sect
believes its own form the true one, every one,
perhaps hoped for his own, but especially the
Episcopalians and Congregationalists. The re
turning good sense of our country threatens
abortion to their hopes, and they believe that
any portion of power confided to me, will be
exercised in opposition to their schemes. And
they believe rightly ; for I have sworn upon
the altar of God eternal hostility against every
form of tyranny over the mind of man. But
this is all they have to fear from me ; and
enough, too, in their opinion. And this is tbe
cause of their printing lying pamphlets against
me, forging conversations for me with Mazzei,
Bishop Madison, &c., which are absolute false
hoods without a circumstance of truth to rest
on ; falsehoods, too, of which I acquiet Mazzei
and Bishop Madison for they are men of truth.
But enough of this. It is more than I have be
fore committed to paper on the subject of all
the lies that have been preached and printed
against me. — To DR. BENJAMIN RUSH, iv, 336.
FORD ED., vii, 460. (M., Sep. 1800.)
5273. MINISTERS (Religious), Liberty
and. — In every country and in every age, the
priest has been hostile to liberty. He is always
in alliance with the despot, abetting his abuses
in return for protection to his own. — To
HORATIO G. SPAFFORD. vi, 334. (M., 1814.)
5274. MINISTERS (Religious), New
England.— The sway of the clergy in New
England is indeed formidable. No mind beyond
mediocrity dares there to develop itself. If it
does, they excite against it the public opinion
which they command, and by little, but inces
sant and tearing persecutions, drive it from
among them. Their present emigrations to the
Western country are real flights from persecu
tion, religious and political, but the abandon
ment of the country by those who wish to enjoy
freedom of opinion leaves the despotism over
the residue more intense, more oppressive. —
To HORATIO GATES SPAFFORD. FORD EDV x, 13.
(M., 1816.)
5275. . The advocate of religious
freedom is to expect neither peace nor for
giveness from the New England clergy. — To
LEVI LINCOLN, iv, 427. FORD ED., viii, 129.
(1802.) See CHURCH, CHURCH AND STATE,
CLERGY, and RELIGION.
5276. MINORITY, Censorship by.— A
respectable minority [in Congress] is useful
as censors. The present one is not respect
able, being the bitterest remains of the cup
of federalism, rendered desperate and furious
by despair. — To JOEL BARLOW, iv, 437. FORD
ED., viii, 149. (W., May 1802.)
5277. MINORITY, Equal rights of.—
Bear in mind this sacred principle that * * *
the minority possess their equal rights, which
equal laws must protect, and to violate which
would be oppression. — FIRST INAUGURAL AD
DRESS, viii, 2. FORD ED., viii, 2. (1801.)
5278. MINORITY, Sacrifices to.— The
minorities [against the new Constitution] in
most of the accepting States have been very
respectable; so much so as to render it pru
dent, were it not otherwise reasonable, to
make some sacrifice to them. — To GENERAL
WASHINGTON, ii, 533. FORD ED., v, 56. (P.,
1788.)
5279. . The minorities [against
the new Constitution] are too respectable,
not to be entitled to some sacrifice of opinion ;
especially when a great proportion of them
would be contented with a bill of rights. — To
JAMES MADISON. ii, 506. FORD EDV v, 53.
(P., Nov. 1788.)
5280. MINT, Establishment of.— The
propositions* under consideration [by Con
gress] suppose that the coinage is to be
carried on in a foreign country, and that the
implements are to remain the property of the
undertaker; which conditions, in the opinion
[of the Secretary of State] render them in
admissible, for these reasons : Coinage is
peculiarly an attribute of sovereignty. To
transfer its exercise into another country, is
to submit it to another sovereign. Its trans
portation across the ocean, besides the or
dinary dangers of the sea, would expose it to
acts of piracy, by the crews to whom it would
be confided, as well as by others apprized of
its passage. In time of war, it would offer
to 'the enterprises of an enemy what have
been emphatically called the sinews of war.
If the war were with the nation within whose
territory the coinage is, the first act of war,
or reprisal, might be to arrest this operation,
with the implements and materials coined
and uncoined, to be used at their discretion.
The reputation and principles of the present
undertaker are safeguards against the abuses
of a coinage, carried on in a foreign coun
try, where no checks could be provided by
the proper sovereign, no regulations estab
lished, no police, no guard exercised ; in
short, none of the numerous cautions hitherto
thought essential at every mint; but in hands
less entitled to confidence, these will become
dangers. We may be secured, indeed, by
proper experiments as to the purity of the
coin delivered us according to contract, but
we cannot be secured against that which,
though less pure, shall be struck in the general
die, and protected against the vigilance of
Government, till it shall have entered into
circulation. We lose the opportunity of call
ing in and recoining the clipped money in
circulation, or we double our risk by a double
transportation. We lose, in like manner, the
resource of coining up our household plate
in the instant of great distress. We lose the
means of forming artists to continue the
works, when the common accidents of mor
tality shall have deprived us of those who
began them. In fine, the carrying on a coin-
* The question was referred to Jefferson by the
House of Representatives.— EDITOR.
Mirage
Missionaries
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
560
age in a foreign country, as far as the Sec
retary knows, is without example; and gen
eral example is weighty authority. He is,
therefore, of opinion, on the whole, that a
mint, whenever established, should be estab
lished at home. — COINAGE REPORT, vii, 463.
(April 1790.)
5281. MIRAGE AT MONT1CELLO.—
The elevation and particular situation at Monti-
cello afford an opportunity of seeing a phenom
enon which is rare at land, though frequent at
sea. The seamen call it looming. Philosophy
is as yet in the rear of the seamen, for so far
from having accounted for it, she has not given
it a name. Its principal effect is to make dis
tant objects appear larger, in opposition to the
general law of vision, by which they are dimin
ished. I know an instance, at Yorktown, from
whence the water prospect eastwardly is with
out termination, wherein a canoe with three
men, at a great distance was taken for a ship
with its three masts. I am little acquainted
with the phenomenon as it shows itself at sea ;
but at Monticello it is familiar. There is a
solitary mountain about forty miles off in the
South, whose natural shape, as presented to
view there, is a regular cone ; but by the effect
of looming, it sometimes subsides almost totally
in the horizon ; sometimes it rises more acute
and more elevated ; sometimes it is hemispher
ical ; and sometimes its sides are perpendicular,
its top flat, and as broad as its base. In short,
it assumes at times the most whimsical shapes,
and all these perhaps successively in the same
morning. The Blue Ridge of mountains comes
into view, in the north-east, at about one hun
dred miles distance, and approaching in a direct
line, passes by within twenty miles, and goes
off to the south-west. This phenomenon begins
to show itself on these mountains at about
fifty miles distance, and continues beyond tha't
as far as they are seen. I remark no particular
state, either in the weight, moisture, or heat of
the atmosphere, necessary to produce this. The
only constant circumstances are its appearance
in the morning only, and on objects at least
forty or fifty miles distant. In this latter cir
cumstance, if not in both, it differs from the
looming on the water. Refraction will not
account for the metamorphosis. That only
changes the proportions of length and breadth,
base and altitude, preserving the general out
lines. Thus it may make a circle appear ellip
tical, raise or depress a cone, but by none of
its laws, as yet developed, will it make a circle
appear a square, or a cone a sphere. — NOTES ON
VIRGINIA, viii, 327. FORD ED., iii, 186. (1782.)
5282. MIRANDA EXPEDITION", Jef
ferson's knowledge of.— That the expedi
tion of Miranda was countenanced by me, is an
absolute falsehood, let it have gone from whom
it might ; and I am satisfied it is equally so as
to Mr. Madison. To know as much of it as
we could was our duty, but not to encourage
it. — To WILLIAM DUANE. iv, 592. FORD ED.,
viii, 433. (W., 1806.)
5283. . Your predecessor, soured
on a question of etiquette against the adminis
tration of this country, wished to impute wrong
to them in all their actions, even where he did
not believe it himself. In this spirit, he wished
it to be believed that we were in unjustifiable
cooperation in Miranda's expedition. I sol
emnly, and on my personal truth and honor,
declare to you, that this was entirely without
foundation, and that there was neither coooera-
tion, nor connivance on our part. He informed
us he was about to attempt the liberation of his
native country from bondage, and intimated a
hope of our aid, or connivance at least. He was
at once informed, that, although we had great
cause of complaint against Spain, and even of
war, yet whenever we should think proper to
act as her enemy, it should be openly and above
board, and that our hostility should never be
exercised by such petty means. We had no
suspicion that he expected to engage men here,
but merely to purchase military stores. Against
this there was no law, nor consequently any
authority for us to interpose obstacles. On
the other hand, we deemed it improper to be
tray his voluntary communication to the agents
of Spain. Although his measures were many
days in preparation at New York, we never had
the least intimation or suspicion of his engaging
men in his enterprise, until he was gone ; and,
I presume, the secrecy of his proceeding kept
them equally unknown to the Marquis Yrujo at
Philadelphia, and the Spanish consul at New
York, since neither of them gave us any in
formation of the enlistment of men, until it
was too late for any measures taken at Wash
ington to prevent their departure. The officer
in the customs, who participated in the trans
action with Miranda, we immediately removed,
and should have had him and others further
punished, had it not been for the protection
given them by private citizens at New York,
in opposition to the government, who, by their
impudent falsehoods and calumnies, were able
to overbear the minds of the jurors. — To DON
VALENTINE DE FORONDA. v, 474. FORD ED., ix,
259. (M., Oct. 1809.)
5284. MIRANDA EXPEDITION, Prose
cutions. — On the prosecution of Ogden and
Smith for participation in Miranda's expedi
tion, the defendants and their friends have
contrived to make it a government question, in
which they mean to have the Administration
and the judge tried as the culprits instead of
themselves. Swartwout, the marshal to whom,
in his duel with Clinton, Smith was second,
and his bosom friend, summoned a panel of
jurors, the greater part of which were of the
bitterest federalists. His letter, too, covering
to a friend a copy of Aristides,* and affirming
that every fact in it was true as Holy Writ
[was considered in Cabinet]. Determined unan
imously that he be removed. — THE ANAS. FORD
ED., i, 316. (May 1806.)
5285. MISFORTUNE, Pleasure and.—
Pleasure is always before us; but misfortune
is at our side ; while running after that, this ar
rests us. — To MRS. COSWAY. ii, 37. FORD ED
iv, 317. (P., 1786.)
5286. MISFORTUNE, Solaco in.— I most
cordially sympathize in your losses. It is a sit
uation in wh;ch a man needs the aid of all his
wisdom and philosophy. But as it is better to
turn from the contemplation of our misfortunes
to the resources we possess of extricating our
selves, you will, of course, have found solace
in your vigor of mind, health of body, talents,
habits of business, in the consideration that
you have time yet to retreve everything, and a
knowledge that the very activity necessary for
this, is a state of greater happiness than the
unoccupied one to wh'ch you had a thought of
retiring. — To DR. CURRIE. ii, 218. (P., 1787.)
5287. MISSIONARIES, Foreign.— I do
not know that it is a duty to disturb by mis
sionaries the religion and peace of other
* W. P. Van Ness, who wrote a pamphlet in favor
of Burr.— EDITOR.
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Mississippi Hirer
countries, who may think themselves bound to
extinguish by fire and fagot the heresies to
which we give the name of conversions, and
quote our own example for it. — To MR. ME-
GEAR. vii, 287. (M., 1823.)
5288. MISSISSIPPI RIVER NAVIGA
TION, Absolute cession. — The navigation of
the Mississippi we must have. This is all we
are as yet ready to receive. — To ARCHIBALD
STUART, i, 518. FORD ED., iv, 189. (P., Jan.
1786.)
5289.
A cession of the naviga
tion of the Mississippi, with such privileges as
to make it useful, and free from future chicane,
can be no longer dispensed with on our part. —
To WILLIAM SHORT, iii, 223. FORD ED., v, 299.
(Pa., 1791.)
5290. MISSISSIPPI RIVER NAVIGA
TION, Congress and.— The affair of the
Mississippi, by showing that Congress is capable
of hesitating on a question, which proposes a
clear sacrifice of the western to the maritime
States, will with difficulty be obliterated. The
proposition of my going to Madrid to try to
recover there the ground which has been lost
at New York, by the concession of the vote of
seven States, I should think desperate. — To
JAMES MADISON, ii, 153. FORD ED., iv, 392.
(P., 1787.)
5291. . I was pleased to see the
vote of Congress, of September the i6th, on the
subject of the Mississippi, as I had before seen,
with great uneasiness, the pursuits of other
principles, which I could never reconcile to
my own ideas of probity or wisdom, and from
which, and my knowledge of the character of
our western settlers, I saw that the loss of that
country was a necessary consequence. I wish
this return to true policy may be in time to
prevent evil. — To JAMES MADISON, ii, 563.
FORD ED., v, 63. (P., 1789.)
5292. MISSISSIPPI RIVER NAVIGA
TION, Law of nature and. — But our right
is built on ground still broader and more un
questionable, to wit : On the law of nature and
nations. If we appeal to this, as we feel it
written in the heart of man, what sentiment is
written in deeper characters than that the ocean
is free to all men, and their rivers to all their
inhabitants ? Is there a man, savage or civil
ized, unbiased by habit, who does not feel
and attest this truth ? Accordingly, in all tracts
of country united under the same political
society, we find this natural right universally
acknowledged and protected by laying the navi
gable rivers open to all their inhabitants. When
their rivers enter the limits of another society,
if the right of the upper inhabitants to descend
the stream is in any case obstructed, it is an
act of force by a stronger society against a
weaker, condemned by the judgment of man
kind. The late case of Antwerp and the Scheldt
was a striking proof of a general union of
sentiment on this point ; as it is believed that
Amsterdam had scarcely an advocate out of
Holland, and even there its pretensions were
advocated on the ground of treaties, and not of
natural right. * * * The Commissioners will
be able perhaps to find, either in the practice
or the pretensions of Spa;n as to the Douro,
Tagus, and Guadiana, some acknowledgments
of this principle on the part of that nation.
This sentiment of right in favor of the upper
inhabitants must become stronger in the pro
portion which their extent of country bears to
the lower. The United States hold 600,000
square miles of habitable territory on the Mis
sissippi and its branches, and this river and its
branches afford many thousands of miles of
navigable waters penetrating this territory in
all its parts. The inhabitable grounds of Spain
below our boundary, and bordering on the
river, which alone can pretend any fear of being
incommoded by our use of the river, are not
the thousandth part of that extent. This vast
portion of the territory of the United States
has no other outlet for its productions, and
these productions are of the bulkiest kind. And
in truth, their passage down the river may not
only be innocent as to the Spanish subjects on
the river, but cannot fail to enrich them far
beyond their present condition. The real in
terests then of all the inhabitants, upper and
lower, concur in fact with their rights. If we
appeal to the law of nature and nations, as ex
pressed by writers on the subject, it is agreed
by them, that, were the river, where it p?sses
between Florida and Louisiana^ the exclusive
right of Spain, still an innocent passage along
it is a natural right in those inhabiting its bor
ders above. It would indeed be what those
writers call an imperfect right, because the
modification of its exercise depends in a con
siderable degree on the conveniency of the
nation through which they are to pass. But
it is still a right as real as any other right,
however well-defined ; and were it to be refused,
or to be so shackled by regulations, not neces
sary for the peace or safety of its inhabitants,
as to render its use impracticable to us, it
would then be an injury, of which we should
be entitled to demand redress. The right of the
upper inhabitants to use this navigation is the
counterpart to that of those possessing the
shore below, and founded in the same natural
relations with the soil and water. And the line
at which their rights meet is to be advanced
or withdrawn, so as to equalize the inconve
niences resulting to each party from the ex
ercise of the right by the other. This estimate
is to be fairly made, with a mutual disposition
to make equal sacrifices, and the numbers on
each side are to have their due weight in the es
timate. Spain holds so very small a tract of
habitable land on either side below our bound
ary, that it may in fact be considered as a
strait of the sea ; for though it is eighty leagues
from our boundary to the mouth of the river,
yet it is only here and there, in spots and slips,
that the land rises above the level of the water
in times of inundation. There are, then, and
ever must be, so few inhabitants on her part
of the river, that the freest use of its naviga
tion may be admitted to us without their an
noyance. — MISSISSIPPI RIVER INSTRUCTIONS.
vii, 577. FORD ED., v, 467. (1792.)
5293. MISSISSIPPI RIVER NAVIGA
TION, Sectional opposition. — It is true,
there were characters whose stations entitled
them to credit, and who, from geographical
prejudices, did not themselves wish the naviga
tion of the Mississippi to be restored to us,
and who believe, perhaps, as is common with
mankind, that their opinion was the general
opinion. But the sentiments of the great mass
of the Union were decidedly otherwise then, and
the very persons to whom M. Gardoqui alluded,
have now come over to the opinion heartily,
that the navigation of the Mississippi, in full
and unrestrained freedom, is indispensably
necessary, and must be obtained by any means
it may call for. — To WILLIAM CARMICHAEL. iii,
246. (Pa., 1791.)
5294. MISSISSIPPI RIVER NAVIGA
TION, Spain and.— In the course of the
Mississippi River
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
562
Revolutionary War, in which the thirteen col
onies, Spain and France, were opposed to Great
Britain, Spain took possession of several posts
held by the British in Florida. It is unneces
sary to inquire whether the possession of half a
dozen posts scattered through a country of
seven or eight hundred miles extent, could
be considered as the possession and con
quest of that country. If it was, it gave still
but an inchoate right, as was before explained,
which could not be perfected but by the re-
linquishment of the former possession at the
close of the war; but certainly it could not be
considered as a conquest of the river, even
against Great Britain, since the possession 01
the shores, to wit, of the island of New Orleans
on the one side, and Louisiana on the othert
having undergone no change, the right in the
water would remain the same, if considered in
its relation to them ; and if considered as a dis
tinct right, independent of the shores, then
no naval victories obtained by Spain over Great
Britain, in the course of the war, gave her the
color of conquest over any water which the
British fleet could enter. Still less can she be
considered as having conquered the river, as
against the United States, with whom she was
not at war. We had a common right of navi
gation in the part of the river between Florida,
the island of New Orleans, and the western
bank, and nothing which passed between Spain
and Great Britain, either during the war or at
its conclusion, could lessen that right. Accord
ingly, at the treaty of November, 1782, Great
Britain confirmed the rights of the United
States to the navigation of the river, from its
source to its mouth, and in January, 1783, com
pleted the right of Spain to the territory of
Florida, by an absolute relinquishment of all
her rights in it. This relinquishment could not
include the navigation held by the United States
in their own right, because this right existed in
themselves only, and was not in Great Britain.
If it added anything to the rights of Spain re
specting the river between the eastern and
western banks, it could only be that portion of
right which Great Britain had retained to her
self in the treaty with the United States, held
seven weeks before, to wit, a right of using it in
common with the United States. So that as by
the treaty of 1763, the United States had ob
tained a common right of navigating the whole
river from its source to its mouth, so by the
treaty of 1782, that common right was con
firmed to them by the only power who could
pretend claims against them, founded on the
state of war ; nor has that common right been
transferred to Spain by either conquest or ces
sion. — MISSISSIPPI RIVER INSTRUCTIONS, vii,
576. FORD ED., v, 466. (1792.)
5295. MISSISSIPPI RIVER NAVIGA
TION, Treaty of Paris and.— The war of
1755-1763, was carried on jointly by Great
Britain and the Thirteen Colonies, now the
United States of America, against France and
Spain. At the peace which was negotiated by
our common magistrate, a right was secured to
the subjects of Great Britain (the common des
ignation of all those under his government) to
navigate the Mississippi in its whole breadth
and length, from its source to the sea, and ex
pressly that part which is between the Island
of New Orleans and the right bank of the river,
as well as the passage both in and out of its
mouth ; and that the vessels should not be
stopped, visited, or subjected to the payment of
any duty whatsoever. These are the words of
the treaty, article VII. Florida was at the same
time ceded by Spain, and its extent westwardly
was fixed to the Lakes Pontchartrain and Mau-
repas, and the River Mississippi ; and Spain
received soon after from France a cession of
the island of New Orleans, and all the country
she held westward of the Mississippi, subject,
of course, to our right of navigating between
that country and the island previously granted
to us by France. This right was not parcelled
out to us in severalty, that is to say, to each the
exclusive navigation of so much of the river
as was adjacent to our several shores, in which
way it would have been useless to all ; but it
was placed on that footing, on which alone it
could be worth anything, to wit : as a right to
all to navigate the whole length of the river in
common. The import of the terms, and the
reason of the thing, prove it was a right of
common in the whole, and not a several right
to each of a particular part. To which may be
added the evidence of the stipulation itself, that
we should navigate between New Orleans and
the western bank, which, being adjacent to none
of our States, could be held by us only as a
right of common. Such was the nature of our
right to navigate the Mississippi, as far as es
tablished by the Treaty of Paris. — MISSISSIPPI
RIVER INSTRUCTIONS, vii, 575. FORD ED., v,
466. (1792.)
5296. MISSISSIPPI RIVER NAVIGA
TION, Western people and.— The difficulty
on which the negotiation with Spain hangs is a
sine qua non with us. It would be to deceive
them and ourselves, to suppose that an amity
can be preserved while this right is withheld.
Such a supposition would argue not only an
ignorance of the people to whom this is most
interesting, but an ignorance of the nature of
man, or an inattention to it. Those who see
but half way into our true interest will think
that that concurs with the views of the other
party. But those who see it in all its extent,
will be sensible that our true interest will be
best promoted, by making all the just claims of
our fellow citizens, wherever situated, our own,
by urging and enforcing them with the weight
of our whole influence, and by exercising in
this, as in every other instance, a just govern
ment in their concerns, and making common
cause even where our separate interest would
seem opposed to theirs. No other conduct can
attach us together ; and on this attachment de
pends our happiness. — To JAMES MONROE, i,
605. FORD ED., iv, 262. (P., 1786.)
5297. . If they declare themselves
a separate people, we are incapable of a single
effort to retain them. Our citizens can never
be induced, either as militia or as soldiers, to
go there to cut the throats of their own brothers
and sons, or rather, to be themselves the sub
jects, instead of the perpetrators of the parri
cide. Nor would that country requite the cost
of being retained against the will of its inhabit
ants, could it be done. But it cannot be done.
They are able already to rescue the navigation
of the Mississippi out of the hands of Spain,
and to add New Orleans to their own terri
tory. They will be joined by the inhabitants
of Louisiana. This will bring on a war between
them and Spain ; and that will produce the ques
tion with us, whether it will not be worth our
while to become parties with them in the war, in
order to reunite them with us, and thus correct
our error? And were I to permit my fore
bodings to go one step further, I should predict
that the inhabitants of the United States would
force their rulers to take the affirmative of that
question. — To JAMES MADISON, ii, 106. FORD
EDV iv, 363- (P-, 1787.)
563
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Mississippi River
Missouri Ouestioii
5298. . I never had any interest
westward of the Alleghany ; and I never will
have any. But I have had great opportunities
of knowing the character of the people who in
habit that country ; and I will venture to say,
that the act which abandons the navigation of
the Mississippi is an act of separation between
the eastern and western country. It is a re-
linquishment of five parts out of eight of the
territory of the United States ; an abandonment
of the fairest subject for the payment of our
public debts, and the chaining those debts on
our necks, in perpetuum. — To JAMES MADISON.
ii, 105. FORD ED., iv, 363. (P., 1787-)
5299. . The navigation of the
Mississippi was perhaps the strongest trial to
which the justice of the Federal Government
could be put. If ever they thought wrong about
it, I trust they have got to rights. I should
think it proper for the Western country to defer
pushing their right to that navigation to ex
tremity as long as they can do without it toler
ably ; but that the moment it becomes absolutely
necessary for them, it will become the duty of
the maritime States to push it to every extrem
ity to which they would their own right of
navigating the Chesapeake, the Delaware, the
Hudson, or any other water. — To JOHN BROWN.
ii. 395- FORD ED., v, 17. (P., May 1788.)
5300. - . It is impossible to answer
for the forbearance of our western citizens.
We endeavor to quiet them with the expecta
tion of an attainment of their rights by peace
able means. But should they, in a moment of
impatience, hazard others, there is no saying
how far we may be led ; for neither themselves
nor their rights will be ever abandoned by us. —
To WILLIAM CARMICHAEL. iii, 173. FORD ED.,
v, 217. (N.Y., 1790.)
5301. . The navigation of the
Mississippi is necessary to us. More than half
the territory of the United States is on the
waters of that river. Two hundred thousand
of our citizens are settled on them, of whom
forty thousand bear arms. These have no other
outlet for their tobacco, rice, corn, hemp, lum
ber, house timber, ship timber. We have hith
erto respected the indecision of Spain, because
we wish peace ; — because our western citizens
have had vent at home for their productions.
A surplus of production begins now to demand
foreign markets. Whenever they shall say,
" We cannot, we will not, be longer shut up ",
the United States will be reduced to the follow
ing dilemma: i. To force them to acquiescence.
2. To separate from them, rather than take part
in a war against Spain. 3. Or to preserve them
in our Union, by joining them in the war. The
ist is neither in our principles, nor in our
power. 2. A multitude of reasons decide
against the second. It may suffice to speak
but one : were we to give up half our territory
rather than engage in a just war to preserve
it, we should not keep the other half long.
The third is the alternative we must adopt. —
INSTRUCTIONS TO WILLIAM CARMICHAEL. ix,
412. FORD ED., v, 225. (1790.) See LOUISI
ANA and NEW ORLEANS.
5302. MISSISSIPPI TERRITORY, Gov
ernment of. — As to the people you are to
govern, we are apprised that they are divided
into two adverse parties, the one composed of
the richer and better informed, attached to the
first grade of government, the other of the body
of the people, not a very homogeneous mass,
advocates for the second grade which they pos
sess in fact. Our love of freedom, and the
value we set on self-government dispose us
to prefer the principles of the second grade,
and they are strengthened by knowing they
are [faded in MS.] by the will of the majority.
While cooperation with that plan, therefore, is
essentially to be observed, your best endeavors
should be exerted to bring over those opposed
to it by every means soothing and conciliatory.
The happiness of society depends so much on
preventing party spirit from infecting the com
mon intercourse of life, that nothing should be
spared to harmonize and amalgamate the two
parties in social circles. — To WILLIAM C. CLAI-
BORNE. FORD EDV viii, 71. (W., July 1801.)
See LOUISIANA.
5303. MISSOURI, Admission of.— I re
joice that * * * Missouri is at length a
member of our Union. Whether the question
it excited is dead, or only sleepeth, I do not
know. I see only that it has given resurrec
tion to the Hartford Convention men. They
have had the address, by playing on the honest
feelings of our former friends, to seduce them
from their kindred spirits, and to borrow their
weight into the Federal scale. Desperate of
regaining power under political distinctions,
they have adroitly wriggled into its seat un
der the auspices of morality, and are again
in the ascendency from which their sins had
hurled them. * * * I still believe that
the Western extension of our Confederacy
will insure its duration, by overruling local
factions, which might shake a smaller associa
tion. — To HENRY DEARBORN, vii, 215. FORD
ED., x, 191. (M., 1821.)
5304. MISSOURI QUESTION, A
breaker. — The banks, bankrupt law, manu
factures, Spanish treaty, are nothing. These
are occurrences which, like waves in a storm,
will pass under the ship. But the Missouri
question is a breaker on which we lose the
Missouri country by revolt, and what more,
God only knows. From the battle of
Bunker's Hill to the treaty of Paris, we
never had so ominous a question. * * *
I thank God that I shall not live to witness
its issue.* — To JOHN ADAMS, vii, 148. FORD
EDV x, 151. (M., December 1819.)
5305. MISSOURI QUESTION, Federal
ists and. — Nothing has ever presented so
threatening an aspect as what is called the
Missouri question. The federalists, com
pletely put down and despairing of ever rising
again under the old divisions of Whig and
Tory, devised a new one of slave-holding
and non-slave-holding States, which, while it
had a semblance of being moral, was at the
same time geographical, and calculated to
give them ascendency by debauching their old
opponents to a coalition with them. Moral
the question certainly is not, because the re-
* Mr. Adams replied as follows: "The Missouri
question, I hope, will follow the other waves under
tne ship, and do no harm. I know it is high treason
to express a doubt of the perpetual duration of our
vast American empire, and our free institution; and
I say as devoutly as father Paul, esto perpetua, but
I am sometimes Cassandra enough to dream, that
another Hamilton, and another Burr, might rend
this mighty fabric in twain, or perhaps into a leash ;
and a few more choice spirits of tne same stamp,
might produce as many nations in North America as
there are in Europe."— EDITOR.
Missouri Question
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
564
moval of slaves from one State to another,
no more than their removal from one coun
try to another, would never make a slave of
one human being who would not be so with
out it. Indeed, if there were any morality in
the question it is on the other side; because
by spreading them over a larger surface their
happiness would be increased, and the burden
for their future liberation lightened by bring
ing a greater number of shoulders under it.
However, it served to throw dust into the
eyes of the people and to fanaticize them,
while to the knowing ones it gave a geograph
ical and preponderant line of the Potomac
and Ohio, throwing fourteen States to the
North and East, and ten to the South and
West. With these, therefore, it is merely a
question of power; but with this geographical
minority it is a question of existence. For
if Congress once goes out of the Constitu
tion to arrogate a right of regulating the con
dition of the inhabitants of the States, its ma
jority may, and probably will, next declare
that the condition of all men within the
United States shall be that of freedom; in
which case all the whites south of the Po
tomac and Ohio must evacuate their States,
and most fortunate those who can do it
first. And so far this crisis seems to be ad
vancing.— To ALBERT GALLATIN. FORD ED., x,
177. (M., Dec. 1820.)
5306. MISSOURI QUESTION, Geo
graphical line. — I am so completely with
drawn from all attention to public matters,
that nothing less could arouse me than the
definition of a geographical line, which on an
abstract principle is to become the line of
separation of these States, and to render des
perate the hope that man ever enjoys the two
blessings of peace and self-government. The
question sleeps for the present, but is not
dead.— To H. NELSON, vii, 151. FORD ED.,
x, 156. (M., March 1820.)
5307. . I congratulate you on
the sleep of the Missouri question. I wish
I could say in its death, but of this I de
spair. The idea of a geographical line once
suggested will brood in the minds of all
those who prefer the gratification of their
ungovernable passions to the peace and union
of their country. — To MARK LANGDON HILL.
vii, 155. (M., April 1820.)
5308. . This momentous ques
tion, like a fire bell in the night, awakened
and filled me with terror. I considered it
at once as the knell of the Union. It is
hushed, indeed, for the moment. But this
is a reprieve only, not a final sentence. A
geographical line, coinciding with a marked
principle, moral and political, once conceived
and held up to the angry passions of men,
will never be obliterated ; and every new irri
tation will mark it deeper and deeper.— To
JOHN HOLMES, vii, 159- FORD ED., x, 15?
(M., April 1820.)
5309. MISSOURI QUESTION, A Party
trick.— The Missouri question is a mere party
trick. The leaders of federalism, defeated in
their schemes of obtaining power by rallying
^artisans to the principle of monarchism, a
Drinciple of personal not of local division,
lave changed their tack, and thrown out an
other barrel to the whale. They are taking
advantage of the virtuous feelings of the peo
ple to effect a division of parties by a geo
graphical line; they expect that this will in
sure them, on local principles, the majority
they could never obtain on principles of fed
eralism; but they are still putting their
shoulder to the wrong wheel ; they are wast
ing Jeremiads on the miseries of slavery, as
f we were advocates for it. Sincerity in
their declamations should direct their efforts
to the true point of difficulty, and unite their
counsels with ours in devising some reason
able and practicable plan of getting rid of it.
Some of these leaders, if they could attain
the power, their ambition would rather use
t to keep the Union together, but others have
ever had in view its separation. If they push
it to that, they will find the line of separation
very different from their 36° of latitude, and
as manufacturing and navigating States, they
will have quarreled with their bread and
butter, and I fear not that after a little trial
they will think better of it and return to the
embraces of their natural and best friends.
But this scheme of party I leave to those who
are to live under its consequences. We who
have gone before have performed an honest
duty, by putting in the power of successors a
state of happiness which no nation ever be
fore had within their choice. If that choice
is to throw it away, the dead will have
neither the power nor the right to control
them. — To CHARLES PINCKNEY. vii, 180.
FORD EDV x, 162. (M., 1820.)
5310. MISSOURI QUESTION, Porten
tous. — The Missouri question is the most
portentous one which ever yet threatened
our Union. In the gloomiest moment of the
Revolutionary war I never had any appre
hensions equal to what I feel from this
source. — To HUGH NELSON. FORD ED., x, 156.
(M., Feb. 1820.)
5311. . Last and most porten
tous of all is the Missouri question. It is
smeared over for the present ; but its geo
graphical demarcation is indelible. What it
is to become I see not. — To SPENCER ROANE.
vii, 212. FORD ED., x, 189. (M., 1821.)
5312. MISSOURI QUESTION, Presi
dential politics.— The boisterous sea of lib
erty is never without a wave, and that from
Missouri is now rolling towards us, but we
shall ride over it as we have over all others.
It is not a moral question, but one merely of
power. Its object is to raise a geographical
principle for the choice of a President, and
the noise will be kept up till that is effected.
— To MARQUIS LAFAYETTE, vii, 194. FORD
ED., x, 180. (M., 1820.)
5313. . Nothing disturbs us so
much as the dissension lately produced by
what is called the Missouri question ; a ques
tion having just enough of the semblance of
morality to throw dust into the eyes of the
565
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Missouri Question
Mobs
people and to fanaticize; while with the
knowing ones it is simply a question of
power. — To D. B. WARDEN. FORD ED., x, 172.
(M., Dec. 1820.)
5314. MISSOURI QUESTION, Separa
tion. — The Missouri question aroused and
filled me with alarm. The old schism of
federal and republican threatened nothing,
because it existed in every State, and united
them together by the fraternism of party.
But the coincidence of a marked principle,
moral and political, with a geographical line,
once conceived, I feared would never more
be obliterated from the mind; that it would
be recurring on every occasion a'nd renewing
irritations, until it would kindle such mutual
and mortal hatred, as to render separation
preferable to eternal discord. I have been
among the most sanguine in believing that
our Union would be of long duration. I now
doubt it much, and see the event at no great
distance, and the direct consequence of this
question ; not by the line which has been so
confidently counted on ; the laws of nature
control this; but by the Potomac, Ohio and
Missouri, or more probably, the Mississippi
upwards to our northern boundary. My only
comfort and confidence is, that I shall not
live to see this; and I envy not the present
generation the glory of throwing away the
fruits of their fathers' sacrifices of life and
fortune, and of rendering desperate the ex
periment which was to decide ultimately
whether man is capable of self-government.
This treason against human hope, will sig
nalize their epoch in future history, as the
counterpart of the medal of their prede
cessors. — To WILLIAM SHORT, vii, 158. (M.,
April 1820.)
5315. - — . Should the schism [on
the Missouri question] be pushed to separa
tion it will be for a short term only; two or
three years' trial will bring them back, like
quarrelling lovers to renewed embraces, and
increased affections. The experiment of sep
aration would soon prove to both that they
had mutually miscalculated their best in
terests. And even were the parties in Con
gress to secede in a passion, the soberer peo
ple would call a convention and cement again
the severance attempted by the insanity of
their functionaries. With this consoling
view, my greatest grief would be for the
fatal effect of such an event on the hopes and
happiness of the world. We exist, and are
quoted, as standing proofs that a government,
so modelled as to rest continually on the will
of the whole society, is a practicable govern
ment. Were we to break to pieces, it would
damp the hopes and the efforts of the good,
and give triumph to those of the bad through
the whole enslaved world. As members,
therefore, of the universal society of man
kind, and standing in high and responsible
relation with them, it is our sacred duty to
suppress passion among ourselves, and not to
blast the confidence we have inspired of
proof that a government of reason is better
than one of force. — To RICHARD RUSH, vii,
182. (M., 1820.)
5316. MISSOURI QUESTION, Slavery
extension. — All know that x permitting the
slaves of the south to spread into the west
will not add one being to that unfortunate
condition, that it will increase the happiness
of those existing, and by spreading them over
a larger surface, will dilute the evil everywhere,
and facilitate the means of getting finally
rid of it, an event more anxiously wished by
those on whom it presses than by the noisy
pretenders to exclusive humanity. In the
meantime, it is a ladder for rivals climbing
to power. — To M. DE LAFAYETTE, vii, 194.
FORD ED., x, 180. (M., 1820.)
5317. . A hideous evil, the mag
nitude of which is seen, and at a distance
only, by the one party, and more sorely felt
and sincerely deplored by the other, from
the difficulty of the cure, divides us at this
moment too angrily. The attempt by one
party to prohibit willing States from sharing
the evil, is thought by the other to render
desperate, by accumulation, the hope of its
final eradication. If a little time, however,
is given to both parties to cool, and to dispel
their visionary fears, they will see that con
curring in sentiment as to the evil, moral and
political, the duty and interest of both is to
concur also in devising a practicable process
of cure. Should time not be given, and the
schism be pushed to separation, it will be
for a short term only; two or three years'
trial will bring them back, like quarrelling
lovers to renewed embraces, and increased
affections. The experiment of separation
would soon prove to both that they had
mutually miscalculated their best interests. —
To RICHARD RUSH, vii, 182. (M., October
1820.)
5318. . Our anxieties in this
quarter [the South] are all concentrated in
the question, what does the Holy Alliance in
and out of Congress mean to do with us on
the Missouri question? And this, by-the-bye,
is but the name of the case, it is only the
John Doe or Richard Roe of the ejectment.
The real question, as seen in the States af
flicted with this unfortunate population, is,
are our slaves to be presented with freedom
and a dagger? For if Congress has the power
to regulate the conditions of the inhabitants
of the States, within the States, it will be but
another exercise of that power, to declare
that all shall be free. Are we then to
see again Athenian and Lacedemonian con
federacies? To wage another Peloponnesian
war to settle the ascendency between them?
Or is this the tocsin of merely a servile war?
That remains to be seen ; but not, I hope, by
you or me. — To JOHN ADAMS, vii, 200. FORD
ED., x, 186. (M., January 1821.)
5319. MOBS, Government and. — The
mobs of great cities add just so much to the
support of pure government, as sores do to the
strength of the human body. — NOTES ON VIR
GINIA, viii, 406. FORD ED., iii, 269. (1782.)
5320. MOBS, Imaginary.— It is in the
London newspapers only that exist those mobs
and riots, which are fabricated to deter
Mobs
Monarchy
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
566
strangers from going to America. Your person
will be sacredly safe and free from insult. — To
MRS. SPROWLE. FORD ED., iv, 66. (P., 1785.)
5321. MOBS, Revolutionary. — For some
time mobs of ten, twenty and thirty thousand
people collected daily, surrounded the Parlia
ment House [in Paris], huzzaed the members,
even entered the doors and examined into their
conduct, took the horses out of the carriages of
those who did well, and drew them home. The
government thought it prudent to prevent these,
drew some regiments into the neighborhood,
multiplied the guards, had the streets constantly
patrolled by strong parties, suspended privileged
places, forbade all clubs, &c. The mobs have
ceased ; perhaps this may be partly owing to the
absence of parliament. — To JOHN ADAMS, ii,
258. (P., Aug. 1787.) See BASTILE.
5322. MODERATION, Political.— A
moderate conduct throughout, which may not
revolt our new friends [the federalists], and
which may give them tenets with us, must be
observed. — To JOHN PAGE, iv, 378. (W.,
March 1801.)
5323. MODESTY, American.— There is
modesty often which does itself injury. Our
countrymen possess this. They do not know
their own superiority. — To WILLIAM RUTLEDGE.
ii, 350. FORD ED., v, 5. (P., 1788.)
5324. MONARCHY, Advocates for.— I
know there are some among us who would now
establish a monarchy. But they are inconsider
able in number and weight of character. — To
JAMES MADISON, iii, 5. FORD ED., v, 83. (Pv
1789.)
5325. . It cannot be denied that
we have among us a sect who believe that the
English constitution contains whatever is per
fect in human institutions ; that the members
of this sect have, many of them, names and
offices which stand high in the estimation of our
countrymen. I still rely that the great mass of
our community is untainted with these heresies,
as its head. On this I build my hope that we
have not labored in vain, and that our experi
ment will still prove that men can be governed
by reason. — To GEORGE MASON, iii, 209. FORD
ED., v, 275. (Pa., 1791-)
5326. . We have some names of
note here who have apostatized from the true
faith; but they are few indeed, and the body
of our citizens pure and insusceptible of taint
in their republicanism. Mr. Paine's answer to
Burke will be a refreshing shower to their
minds. — To BENJAMIN VAUGHAN. FORD ED.,
v, 334- (Pa., 1791.)
5327. . There are high names*
here in favor of [monarchy], but the publica
tions in Bache's paper have drawn forth pretty
generally expressions of the public sentiment on
the subject, and I thank God to find they are,
to a man, firm as a rock in their republicanism.
I much fear that the honestest man of the party
will fall a victim to his imprudence on this
occasion, while another of them, from the mere
caution of holding his tongue, and buttoning
* At this point a series of cipher figures is written
on the margin, which, when translated, reads :
"Adams, Jay, Hamilton, Knox. Many of the Cincin
nati. The second says nothing. The third is open.
Both are dangerous. They pant after union with Eng
land as the power which is to support their projects,
and are most determined Anti-gallicans. It is prog
nosticated that our republic is to end with the presi
dent's life. But I believe they will find themselves
all head and no body."— NOTE IN FORD EDITION.
himself up, will gain what the other loses. — To
WILLIAM SHORT. FORD ED., v, 361. (Pa.,
1791.)
5328. . The ultimate object of
all this increase of public debt, establishment
of a paper money system, corruption of Con
gress, etc., is, it is charged, to prepare the way
for a change from the present republican form
of government to that of a monarchy, of which
the English constitution is to be the model.
That this was contemplated in the [Federal]
Convention is no secret, because its partisans
have made none of it. To effect it then was
i-npracticable, but they are still eager after
their object, and are predisposing everything
for its ultimate attainment. So many of them
have got into the Legislature, that, aided by the
corrupt squadron of paper dealers, who are at
their devotion, they make a majority in both
houses. The republican party, who wish to pre
serve the government in its present form, are
fewer in number. They are fewer even when
joined by the two, three, or half dozen anti-
federalists, who, though they dare not avow it,
are still opposed to any General Government;
but, being less so to a republican than a
monarchical one, they naturally join those
whom they think pursuing the lesser evil. — To
PRESIDENT WASHINGTON, iii, 361. FORD ED.,
vi, 3. (Pa., May 1792.)
5329. — — . While you [in France]
are exterminating the monster aristocracy, and
pulling out the teeth and fangs of its associ
ate, monarchy, a contrary tendency is discov
ered in some here. A sect has shown itself
among us, who declare they espoused our new
Constitution not as a good and sufficient thing
in itself, but only as a step to an English con
stitution, the only thing good and sufficient in
itself, in their eyes. It is happy for us that
these are preachers without followers, and
that our people are firm and constant in their
republican purity. You will wonder to be told
that it is from the Eastward chiefly that these
champions for a King, lords and commons,
come. They get some important associates
from New York, and are puffed up by a tribe
of Agioteurs which have been hatched in a bed
of corruption made up after the model of
their beloved England. Too many of these
stock-jobbers and king- jobbers have come into
our Legislature, or rather too many of our
Legislature have become stock-jobbers and
king-jobbers. However, the voice of the people
is beginning to make itself heard, and will prob
ably cleanse their seats at the ensuing election.
— To GENERAL LAFAYETTE, iii, 450. FORD ED.,
vi, 78. (Pa., 1792.)
5330. . He [President Washing
ton] said that as to the idea of transforming
this government into a monarchy, he did not
believe there were ten men in the United States
whose opinions were worth attention, who en
tertained such a thought. I told him there
were many more than he imagined. I recalled
to his memory a dispute at his own table
* * * between General Schuyler, on one
side, and Pinckney and myself on the other,
wherein the former maintained the position,
that hereditary descent was as likely to produce
good magistrates as election. I told him, that
though the people were sound, there was a
numerous sect who had monarchy in contempla
tion ; that the Secretary of the Treasury was
one of these ; that I had heard him say that this
Constitution was a shilly-shally thing, of mere
milk and water, which could not last, and was
only good as a step to something better. That
567
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Monarchy
when we reflected, that he had endeavored in
the convention, to make an English constitution
out of it, and when failing in that, we saw all
his measures tending to bring it to the same
thing, it was natural for us to be jealous ; and
particularly, when we saw that these measures
had established corruption in the Legislature,
where there was a squadron devoted to the
nod of the Treasury, doing whatever he had di
rected, and ready to do what he should direct.
That if the equilibrium of the three great bodies,
Legislative, Executive, and Judiciary, could be
preserved, if the Legislature could be kept inde
pendent, I should never fear the result of such
a government ; but that I could not but be un
easy when I saw that the Executive had swal
lowed up the Legislative branch. He said, that
as to that interested spirit in the Legislature,
it was what could not be avoided in any gov
ernment, unless we were to exclude particular
descriptions of men, such as the holders of the
funds from all office. I told him, there was
great difference between the little accidental
schemes of self-interest, which would take place
in every body of men, and influence their votes,
and a regular system for forming a corps of
interested persons who should be steadily at the
orders of the Treasury. — THE ANAS, ix, 121.
FORD ED., i, 204. (Oct. 1792.)
5331. . In the course of our
[members of the Cabinet] conversation Knox,
stickling for parade, got into great warmth and
swore that our government must either be en
tirely new modeled or it would be knocked to
pieces in less than ten years, and that, as it is
at present, he would not give a copper for it ;
that it is the President's character, and not the
written Constitution, which keeps it together. —
THE ANAS, ix, 139. FORD ED., i, 222. (Feb.
I/93-)
5332. . The aspect of our poli
tics has wonderfully changed since you left us.
In place of that noble love of liberty, and repub
lican government which carried us triumph
antly through the war, an Anglican, monarchic
al, aristocratical party has sprung up, whose
avowed object is to draw over us the substance,
as they have already done the forms of the
British government. The mass of our citizens,
however, remain true to their republican princi
ples ; the whole landed interest is republican,
and so is a great mass of talents. Against us
are the Executive, the Judiciary, two out of
three branches of the Legislature, all the officers
of the Government, all who want to be officers,
all timid men who prefer the calm of despotism
to the boisterous sea of liberty. British mer
chants and Americans trading on British capi
tals, speculators and holders in the banks and
public funds, a contrivance invented for the pur
poses of corruption, and for assimilatng us in
all things to the rotten as well as the sound
parts of the British model. It would give you
a fever were I to name to you the apostates
who have gone over to these heresies, men who
were Samsons in the field and Solomons in the
council, but who have had their heads shorn by
* * * England. In short, we are likely to
preserve the liberty we have obtained only by
unremitting labors and perils. But we shall
preserve it ; and our mass of weight and wealth
on the good side is so great, as to leave no
danger that force will ever be attempted against
us. We have only to awake and snap the
Lilliputian cords with which they have been en
tangling us during the first sleep which suc
ceeded our labors. — To PHILIP MAZZEI. iv,
i3Q. FORD ED., vii, 75. (M., April 1796.) See
MAZZEI.
5333.
It would seem that
changes in the principles of our government
are to be pushed till they accomplish a mon
archy peaceably, or force a resistance which,
with the aid of an army, may end in mon
archy. Still, I hope that this will be peaceably
prevented by the eyes of the people being
opened, and the consequent effect of the elective
principle. — To CHARLES PINCKNEY. FORD ED.,
vii, 398. (M., Oct. I799-)
5334. . I know, indeed, that there
are monarchists among us. One character of
these is in theory only, and perfectly acquiescent
in our form of government as it is, and not en
tertaining a thought of destroying it merely on
their theoretic opinions. A second class, at the
head of which is our quondam colleague [in the
cabinet, Hamilton], are ardent for introduction
of monarchy, eager for armies, making more
noise for a great naval establishment than bet
ter patriots, who wish it on a rational scale
only, commensurate to our wants and our
means. This last class ought to be tolerated
but not trusted. — To GENERAL HENRY KNOX.
iv, 386. FORD ED., viii, 36. (W., March 1801.)
5335. MONARCHY, Colonists and.— I
believe you may be assured, that an idea or
desire of returning to anything like their [the
Colonists'] ancient government, never entered
into their heads.* — To DAVID HARTLEY, ii, 165.
(P., 1787.)
5336. - — . I am satisfied that the
King of England believes the mass of our people
to be tired of their independence, and desirous
of returning under his government, and that
the same opinion prevails in the ministry and
nation. They have hired their newswriters to
repeat this lie in their gazettes so long, that they
have become the dupes of it themselves. — To
JOHN JAY. ii, 305. (P., 1787.)
5337. MONARCHY, Evils of.— If any
body thinks that kings, nobles or priests are
good conservators of the public happiness, send
him here [France]. It is the best school in
the universe to cure him of that folly. He will
see here, with his own eyes, that these descrip
tions of men are an abandoned confederacy
against the happiness of the mass of the people.
The omnipotence of their effect cannot be better
proved than in this country particularly, where,
notwithstading the finest soil upon earth, the
finest climate under heaven, and a people of the
most benevolent, the most gay and amiable char
acter of which the human form is susceptible ;
where such a people, I say, surrounded by so
many blessings from nature, are loaded with
misery, by kings, nobles and priests, and by
them alone. — To GEORGE WYTHE. ii, 7. FORD
ED., iv, 268. (P., 1786.)
5338. . I am astonished at some
people's considering a kingly government as a
refuge [from the evils of the Confederation].
Advise such to read the fable of the frogs who
solicited Jupiter for a king. If that does not
put them to rights send them to Europe to
see something of the trappings of monarchy,
and I will undertake that every man shall go
back thoroughly cured. If all the evils which
can arise among us from the republican form of
government from this day to the day of judg
ment could be put into a scale against what
this country [France] suffers from its mon
archical form in a week, or England in a month,
the latter would predominate. Consider the
* David Hartley was the British agent in Paris.—
EDITOR.
Monarchy
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
568
contents of the Red Book in England, or the
Almanac Royale of France, and say what a
people gain by monarchy. No race of kings has
ever presented above one man of common sense
in twenty generations. The best they can do
is to leave things to their ministers, and what
are their ministers but a committee, badly
chosen? If the king ever meddles it is to do
harm. — To BENJAMIN HAWKINS, ii, 220.
FORD ED., iv, 426. (P., Aug. 1787.)
5339. . I hear there are people
among you who think the experience of our
governments has already proved that repub
lican government will not answer. Send those
gentry here to count the blessings of monarchy.
A king's sister, for -'nstance, stopped on the
road, and on a hostile journey, is sufficient
cause for him to march immediately twenty
thousand men to revenge this insult. — To
JOSEPH JONES, ii, 249. FORD ED., iv, 438. (P.,
1787.)
5340. . There is scarcely an evil
known in the European countries which may
not be traced to their king, as its source, nor
a good which is not derived from the small
fibres of republicanism existing among them. —
To GENERAL WASHINGTON, ii, 375. FORD ED.,
v, 8. (P., 1788.)
5341. MONARCHY, The Federal Con
vention and. — The want of some authority
which should procure justice to the public cred
itors, and an observance of treaties with foreign
nations, produced * <* * the call of a con
vention of the States >at Annapolis. Although,
at this meeting, a difference of opinion was
evident on the question of a republican or kingly
government, yet, so generally through the States
was the sentiment in favor of the former, that
the friends of the latter confined themselves to
a course of obstruction only, and delay, to
everything proposed. They hoped, that nothing
being done, and all things going from bad to
worse, a kingly government might be usurped,
and submitted to by the people, as better than
anarchy and wars, internal and external, the
certain consequences of the present want of a
general government. The effect of their ma
noeuvres, with the defective attendance of depu
ties from the States, resulted in the measure of
calling a more general convention, to be held
at Philadelphia. At this, the same party ex
hibited the same practices, and with the same
views of preventing a government of concord,
which they foresaw would be republican, and
of forcing through anarchy their way to mon
archy. But the mass of that convention was too
honest, too wise, and too steady, to be baffled
or misled by their manoeuvres. One of these
was a form of government proposed by Colonel
Hamilton, which would have been in fact a
compromise between the two parties of roy-
alism and republicanism. According to thiSj
the Executive and one branch of the Legisla
ture were to be during good behavior, i. e. for
life, and the governors of the States were to
be named by these two prominent organs. This,
however, was rej acted ; on which Hamilton left
the Convention, as desperate, and never re
turned again, until near its conclusion. These
opinions and efforts, secret or avowed, of the
advocates for monarchy, had begotten great jeal
ousy through the States generally ; and this jeal
ousy it was which excited the strong opposition
to the conventional Constitution ; a jealousy
which yielded at last only to a general determi
nation to establish certain amendments as bar
riers against a government either monarchical
or consolidated.* — THE ANAS, ix, 89. FORD
ED., i, 158. (1818.)
5342. MONARCHY, French Revolution
and. — The failure of the French Revolution
would have been a powerful argument with
those who wish to introduce a king, lords, and
commons here, a sect which is all head and no
body. — To EDMUND PENDLETON. FORD ED., v,
358. (Pa., 1791.)
5343. . President Washington
added that he considered France as the sheet
anchor of this country and its friendship as a
first object. There are in the United States
some characters of opposite principles ; some
of them are high in office, others possessing
great wealth, and all of them hostile to France,
and fondly looking to England as the staff of
their hope. * * * They * * * have es
poused [the Constitution] only as a stepping-
stone to monarchy, and have endeavored to
approximate it to that in its administration in
order to render its final transition more easy.
The successes of republicanism in France have
fiven the coup de grace to their prospects, and
hope to their projects. — To WILLIAM SHORT.
iii, 503. FORD ED., vi, 155. (Pa., 1793.)
5344. MONARCHY, Hamilton and.—
[Alexander] Hamilton's financial system had
then [1790] passed. It had two objects. First,
as a puzzle, to exclude popular understanding
and inquiry. Secondly, as a machine for the
corruption of the Legislature ; for he avowed
the opinion, that man could be governed by one
of two motives only, force or interest.t Force,
he observed, in this country was out of the
question ; and the interests, therefore, of the
members must be laid hold of, to keep the
Legislature in unison with the Executive. And
with grief and shame it must be acknowledged
that his machine was not without effect ; that
even in this, the birth of our government, some
members were found sordid enough to bend
their duty to their interests, and to look after
Fersonal, .rather than public good. * •* *
The measures of Hamilton's financial system,
— the Funding and United States Bank Acts,
* Jeffersjn added : " In what passed through the
whole period of these conventions, I have gone on the
information of those who were members of them, be
ing myself absent on my mission to France." A note
in the FORD EDITION reads : u No evidence whatever
has been found to confirm Jefferson's account of this
Convention * **. "—EDITOR.
+ The subjoined extracts from Hamilton's Works
set forth his principles of government in this respect :
"A vast majority of mankind is naturally biased
by the motives of self-interest."— Hamilton's Works,
ii, 10.
" The safest reliance of every government is on
men's interests. This is a principle of human nature
on which all political speculation, to be just, must
be founded." — Hamilton's Works, ii. 298.
" We may preach until we are tired of the theme
the necessity of disinterestedness in republics, with
out making a single proselyte."— Hamilton's Works.
ii, 197.
"A small knowledge of human nature will con
vince us that with far the greatest part of mankind
interest is the governing principle, and that almost
every man is more or less under its influence. Mo
tives of public virtue may for a time, or in particular
instances, actuate men to the observance of a con
duct purely disinterested, but they are not sufficient
of themselves to produce a conformity to the refined
dictates of social duty. Few men are capable of
making a continual sacrifice of all views of profit,
interest, or advantage, to the common good. It is
in vain to exclaim against the depravity of human
nature on this account; the fact is so, and we must in
a great measure change the constitution of man
before we can make it otherwise. No institution
not built on the presumptive truth of these maxims
can succeed."— Hamilton's Works, ii, 140.— EDITOR.
569
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Monarchy
&c.,] added to the number of votaries to the
Treasury, and made its Chief the master of
every vote in the Legislature, which might
give to the government the direction suited to
his political views. I know well, and so must
be understood, that nothing like a majority in
Congress had yielded to this corruption. Far
from it. But a division, not very unequal, had
already taken place in the honest part of that
body, between the parties styled republican
and federal. The latter being monarchists in
principle, adhered to Hamilton of course, as
their leader in that principle, and this merce
nary phalanx added to them, ensured him al
ways a majority in both Houses; so that the
whole action of the Legislature was now under
the direction of the Treasury. * * * By
this combination, legislative expositions were
given to the Constitution, and all the adminis
trative laws were shaped on the model of Eng
land, and so passed. * * * Here then was
the real ground of the opposition which was
made to the course of administration. Its
object was to preserve the Legislature pure
and independent of the Executive, to restrain
the administration to republican forms and
principles, and not permit the Constitution to
be construed into a monarchy, and to be warped
in practice into all the principles and pollu
tions of their favorite English model. Nor
was this an opposition to General Washington.
He was true to the republican charge confided
to him ; and has solemnly and repeatedly pro
tested to me, in our conversations that he would
lose the last drop of his blood in support of it ;
and he did this the oftener, and with the more
earnestness, because he knew my suspicions
of Hamilton's designs against it, and wished
to quiet them. For he was not aware of the
drift, or of the effect of Hamilton's schemes.
Unversed in financial projects, and calculations
and budgets, his approbation of them was bot
tomed on his confidence in the man. — THE
ANAS, ix, 91. FORD ED., i, 160, 164, 165.
(1818.)
5345. . Hamilton was not only
a monarchist, but for a monarchy bottomed on
corruption. In proof of this, I will relate an
anecdote, for the truth of which I attest the
God who made me. Before the President
[Washington] set out on his southern tour in
April, 1791, he addressed a letter of the fourth
of that month, from Mount Vernon, to the Sec
retaries of State, Treasury, and War, desiring
that if any serious and important cases should
arise during his absence, they would consult and
act on them. And he requested that the Vice-
President should also be consulted. This was
the only occasion on which that officer was
ever requested to take part in a cabinet ques
tion. Some occasion for consultation arising,
I invited those gentlemen (and the Attorney
General as well as I remember), to dine with
me, in order to confer on the subject. After
the cloth was removed, and our question agreed
and dismissed, conversation began on other
matters, and. by some circumstance, was
led to the British Constitution, on which Mr.
Adams observed, " Purge that constitution of
its corruption, and give to its popular branch
equality of representation, and it would be the
most perfect constitution ever devised by the
wit of man ". Hamilton paused and said,
" purge it of its corruption, and give to its
popular branch equality of representation, and
it would become an impracticable government :
as it stands at present, with all its supposed
defects, it is the most perfect government
which ever existed ". And this was assuredly
the exact line which separated the political
creeds of these two gentlemen. The one was
for two hereditary branches and an honest
elective one ; the other for an hereditary King,
with a House of Lords and Commons corrupted
to his will, and standing between him and
the people. THE ANAS, ix, 96. FORD ED., i,
165. (1818.)
5346. . Hamilton frankly avowed
that he considered the British constitution,
with all the corruptions of its administration,
as the most perfect model of government which
had ever been devised by the wit of man ; pro
fessing however, at the same time, that the
spirit of this country was so fundamentally re
publican that it would be visionary to think
of introducing monarchy here, and that, there
fore, it was the duty of its administrators to
conduct it on the principles their constituents
had elected. — To MARTIN VAN BUREN. vii,
371. FORD ED., x, 314. (M., 1824.)
5347. . Harper takes great pains
to prove that Hamilton was no monarchist, by
exaggerating his own intimacy with him, and
the impossibility, if he was so, that he should
not at some time have betrayed it to him. This
may pass with uninformed readers, but not
with those who have had it from Hamilton's
own mouth. I am one of those, and but one of
many. At my own table, in presence of Mr.
Adams, Knox, Randolph and myself, in a dis
pute between Mr. Adams and himself, he
avowed his preference of monarchy over every
other government, and his opinion that the
English was the most perfect model of govern
ment ever devised by the wit of man, Mr.
Adams agreeing, " if its corruptions were done
away"; while Hamilton insisted that "with
these corruptions it was perfect, and without
them it would be an impracticable government ".
— To WILLIAM SHORT, vii, 389. FORD ED., x,
330. (M., 1825.)
5348. MONARCHY, Imitation of.—
When on my return from Europe, I joined
the government in March, 1790, at New York,
I was much astonished, indeed, at the mimicry
I found established of royal forms and cere
monies, and more alarmed at the unexpected
phenomenon, by the monarchical sentiments
I heard expressed and openly maintained in
every company, executive and judiciary (Gen
eral Washington alone excepted), and by a
great part of the Legislature, save only some
members who had been of the old Congress,
and a very few of recent introduction. I took
occasion, at various times, of expressing to
General Washington my disappointment at
these symptoms of a change of principle, and
that I thought them encouraged by the forms
and ceremonies; which I found prevailing, not
at all in character with the simplicity of repub
lican government, and looking as if wishfully
to those of European courts. His general ex
planations to me were, that when he arrived at
New York to enter on the executive adminis
tration of the new government, he observed to
those who were to assist him, that placed as
he was in an office entirely new to him, un
acquainted with the forms and ceremonies of
other governments, still less apprised of those
which might be properly established here, and
himself perfectly indifferent to all forms, he
wished them to consider and prescribe what
they should be ; and the task was assigned par
ticularly to General Knox, a man of parade,
and to Colonel Humphreys, who had resided
sometime at a foreign court. They, he said,
were the authors of the present regulations,
and that others were proposed so highly
Monarchy
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
570
strained that he absolutely rejected them. At
tentive to the difference of opinion prevailing
on this subject, when the term of his second
election arrived, he called the heads of Depart
ments together, observed to them the situation
in which he had been at the commencement of
the government, the advice he had taken and
the course he had observed in compliance with
it ; that a proper occasion had now arrived of
revising that course, of correcting it in any par
ticulars not approved in experience ; and he
desired us to consult together, agree on any
changes we should think for the better, and
that he should willingly conform to what we
should advise. We met at my office. Ham
ilton and myself agreed at once that there was
too much ceremony for the character of our
government, and particularly that the parade
of the installation at New York ought not to
be copied on the present occasion, that the
President should desire the Chief Justice to
attend him at his chambers, that he should ad
minister the oath of office to him in the presence
of the higher officers of the government, and
that the certificate of the fact should be deliv
ered to the Secretary of State to be recorded.
Randolph and Knox differed from us, the latter
vehemently ; they thought it not advisable to
change any of the established forms, and we
authorized Randolph to report our opinions to
the President. As these opinions were di
vided, and no positive advice given as to any
change, no change was made. — To MARTIN VAN
BUREN. vii, 367. FORD ED., x, 310. (M.,
1824.)
5349. . , The forms which I had
censured in my letter to Mazzei were perfectly
understood by General Washington, and were
those which he himself but barely tolerated.
He had furnished me a proper occasion for
proposing their reformation, and my opinion
not prevailing, he knew I could not have meant
any part of the censure for him. — To MARTIN
VAN BUREN. vii, 368. FORD ED., x, 311. (M.,
1824.)
5350. MONARCHY, Inimical to.— I was
much an enemy to monarchies before I came
to Europe. I am ten thousand times more so,
since I have seen what they are. — To GENERAL
WASHINGTON, ii, 375. FORD ED., v. 8. (P.,
1788.)
5351. MONARCHY, Preference for.— I
returned from the mission [to France] in the
first year of the new government * * * and
proceeded to New York to enter on the office
of Secretary of State. Here, certainly, I found
a state of things which, of all I had ever con
templated, I the least expected. I had left
France in the first year of her Revolution, in
the fervor of natural rights, and zeal for ref
ormation. My conscientious devotion to these
rights could not be heightened, but it had been
aroused and excited by daily exercise. The
President received me cordially, and my col
leagues and the circle of principal citizens,
apparently, with welcome. The courtesies of
dinner parties given me, as a stranger newly
arrived among them, placed me at once in
their familiar society. But I cannot describe
the wonder and mortification with which the
table conversations filled me. Politics was the
chief topic, and a preference of kingly, over
republican, government was evidently the favor
ite sentiment. An apostate I could not be, nor
yet a hypocrite; and I found myself, for the
most part, the only advocate on the republican
side of the question, unless among the guests
there chanced to be some member of that party
from the Legislative Houses. — THE ANAS, ix,
91. FORD ED., i, 159. (1818.)
5352. . When I arrived at New
York in 1790, to take a part in the administra
tion, being fresh from the French Revolution,
while in its first and pure stage, and conse
quently somewhat whetted up in my own re
publican principles, I found a state of things,
in the general society of the place, which I
could not have supposed possible. Being a
stranger there, I was feasted from table to
table, at large set dinners, the parties gener
ally from twenty to thirty. The revolution I
had left, and that we had just gone through in
the recent change of our own government, be
ing the common topics of conversation, I was
astonished to find the general prevalence of
monarchical sentiments, insomuch that in
maintaining those of republicanism, I had al
ways the whole company on my hands, never
scarcely finding among them a single coadvo-
cate in that argument, unless some old member
of Congress happened to be present. The
furthest that any one would go, in support of
the republican features of our new government,
would be to say, " the present Constitution is
well as a beginning and may be allowed a fair
trial ; but it is, in fact, only a stepping stone
to something better ". Among their writers,
[Joseph] Dennie, the editor of the " Port
folio ", who was a kind of oracle with them,
and styled " the Addison of America ", openly
avowed his preference of monarchy over all
other forms of government, prided himself on
the avowal, and maintained it by argument
freely and without reserve in his publications.
I do not myself know that the Essex Junta, of
Boston, were monarchists, but I have always
heard it so said, and never doubted. These
are but detached items from a great mass of
proofs then fully before the public. * * *
They are now disavowed by the party. But,
had it not been for the firm and determined
stand then made by a counter party, no man
can say what our government would have been
at this day. Monarchy, to be sure, is; now de
feated, and they wish it should be forgotten
that it was ever advocated. They see that it
is desperate, and treat its imputation to them
as a calumny ; and I verily believe that none of
them have it now in direct aim. Yet the spirit
is not done away. The same party takes now
what they deem the next best ground, the con
solidation of the government ; the giving to
the Federal member of the Government, by
unlimited constructions of the Constitution, a
control over all the functions of the States,
and the concentration of all power ultimately
at Washington. — To WILLIAM SHORT, vii, 390.
FORD ED., x, 332. (M., 1825.)
5353. MONARCHY, Throwing off.—
With respect to the State of Virginia in par
ticular, the people seem to have laid aside the
monarchical, and taken up the republican form
of government with as much ease as would
have attended their throwing off an old and
putting on a new suit of clothes. Not a single
throe has attended this important transforma
tion. A half-dozen aristocratical gentlemen,
agonizing under the loss of preeminence,
have sometimes ventured their sarcasms on our
political metamorphosis. They have been
thought fitter objects of pity than of punish
ment. — To BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, i, 204. FORD
ED., ii, 131. (August I777-)
5354. MONARCHY, Washington and.—
I am satisfied that General Washington had
not a wish to perpetuate his authority; but he
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Monarchy
Money
who supposes it was practicable, had he wished
it, knows nothing of the spirit of America,
either of the people or of those who possessed
their confidence. There was, indeed, a cabal
of the officers of the army who proposed to
establish a monarchy and to propose it to Gen
eral Washington. He frowned indignantly at
the proposition (according to the information
which got abroad), and Rufus King and some
few civil characters, chiefly (indeed, I believe,
to a man) north of Maryland, who joined in
this intrigue. But they never dared openly
to avow it, knowing that the spirit which had
produced a change in the form of government
was alive to the preservation of it. — NOTES ON
MARSHALL'S LIFE OF WASHINGTON, ix, 478.
FORD ED., ix, 262.
5355. . The next effort was (on
suggestion of the same individuals, in the
moment of their separation), the establishment
of an hereditary order, under the name of the
Cincinnati, ready prepared, by that distinction,
to be engrafted into the future form of gov
ernment, and placing General Washington still
at their head. The General wrote to me on
this subject, while I was in Congress at An
napolis. * * i* He afterwards called on
me at that place, on his way to a meeting of
the society, and after a whole evening of con
sultation, he left that place fully determined
to use all his endeavors for its total suppres
sion. But he found it so firmly riveted in the
affections of the members that, strengthened
as they happened to be by an adventitious oc
currence of the moment [the arrival of the
badges of the Order from France], he could
effect no more than the abolition of its heredi
tary principle.* He called again on his re
turn, i and explained to me fully the opposition
which had been made, the effect of the oc
currence from France, and the difficulty with
which its duration had been limited to the lives
of the present members. — THE ANAS, ix, 89.
FORD ED., i, 157. (1818.) See CINCINNATI
SOCIETY.
5356. MONARCHY vs. REPUBLIC,
— With all the defects of our Constitution,
whether general or particular, the comparison
of our governments with those of Europe, is
like a comparison of heaven and hell. Eng
land, like the earth, may be allowed to take
the intermediate station. — To J. JONES, ii, 249.
(P., 1787.)
5357. . We were educated in
royalism ; no wonder if some of us retain that
idolatry still. Our young people are educated
in republican:sm ; an apostasy from that to
royalism, is unprecedented and impossible. —
To JAMES MADISON, iii, 5. FORD ED., v, 83.
(P., 1789.)
5358. MONEY, Circulating Medium.—
The increase of circulating medium * * *
according to my ideas of paper money, is
clearly a demerit [in the bill providing for the
establishment of a national bank.] — NA
TIONAL BANK OPINION, vii, 558. FORD ED.,
v, 287. (i79i.)
5359. . The adequate price of a
thing depends on the capital and labor nec-
* This is an error. The abolition of the hereditary
principle was proposed, but never adopted. — NOTE
IN FORD EDITION.
t This cannot be so, as Washington did not leave
Philadelphia till after May i6th, and Jefferson left
Annapolis for France on May nth.— NOTE IN FORD
EDITION.
essary to produce it. In the term capital,
I mean to include science, because capital as
well as labor has been employed to acquire it.
Two things requiring the same capital and
labor, should be of the same price. If a
gallon of wine requires for its production the
same capital and labor with a bushel of
wheat, they should be expressed by the same
price, derived from the application of a com
mon measure to them. The comparative
prices of things being thus to be estimated
and expressed by a common measure, we may
proceed to observe that were a country so
insulated as to have no commercial inter
course with any other, to confine the inter
change of all its wants and supplies within
itself, the amount of circulating medium, as
a common measure for adjusting these ex
changes, would be quite immaterial. If their
circulation, for instance, were a million of
dollars, and the annual produce of their in
dustry equivalent to ten millions of bushels
of wheat, the price of a bushel of wheat might
be one dollar. If, then, by a progressive
coinage, their medium should be doubled, the
price of a bushel of wheat might become
progressively two dollars, and without incon
venience. Whatever be the proportion of the
circulating medium to the value of the annual
produce of industry, it may be considered as
the representative of that industry. In the
first case, a bushel of wheat will be repre
sented by one dollar; in the second, by two
dollars. This is well explained by Hume,
and seems to be admitted by Adam Smith.
But where a nation is in a full course of
interchange of wants and supplies with all
others, the proportion of its medium to its
produce is no longer indifferent. — To J. W.
EPPES. vi, 233. FORD ED., ix, 406. (M.,
1813-)
5360. . One of the great advan
tages of specie as a medium is, that being of
universal value, it will keep itself at a gen
eral level, flowing out from where it is too
high into parts where it is lower. Whereas,
if the medium be of local value only, as paper
money, if too little, indeed, gold and silver
will flow in to supply the deficiency; but if
too much, it accumulates, banishes the gold
and silver not locked up in vaults and
hoards, and depreciates itself; that is to say,
its proportion to the annual produce of in
dustry being raised, more of it is required to
represent any particular article of produce
than in the other countries. This is agreed
to by [Adam] Smith, the principal advocate
for a paper circulation ; but advocating it on
the sole condition that it be strictly regulated.
He admits, nevertheless, that " the com
merce and industry of a country cannot be
so secure when suspended on the Daedalian
wings of paper money, as on the solid ground
of gold and silver; and that in time of war,
the insecurity is greatly increased, and great
confusion possible where the circulation is for
the greater part in paper ". But in a coun
try where loans are uncertain, and a specie
circulation the only sure resource for them,
the preference of that circulation assumes a
Money
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
572
far different degree of importance. — To J. W.
EPPES. vi, 233. FORD ED., ix, 407. (M., Nov.
1813.)
5361. . The only advantage
which [Adam] Smith proposes by substitu
ting paper in the room of gold and silver
money, B. 2. c. 2. 434, is " to replace an ex
pensive instrument with one much less costly,
and sometimes equally convenient " ; that is
to say, page 437, " to allow the gold and sil
ver to be sent abroad and converted into
foreign goods ", and to substitute paper as
being a cheaper measure. But this makes no
addition to the stock or capital of the nation.
The coin sent was worth as much, while
in the country, as the goods imported and
taking its place. It is only, then, a change of
form in a part of the national capital, from
that of gold and silver to other goods. He
admits, too, that while a part of the goods
received in exchange for the coin exported
may be materials, tools and provisions for the
employment of an additional industry, a part,
also, may be taken back in foreign wines,
silks, &c., to be consumed by idle people who
produce nothing ; and so far the substitution
promotes prodigality, increases expense and
corruption, without increasing production.
So far also, then, it lessens the capital of the
nation. What may be the amount which the
conversion of the part exchanged for pro
ductive goods may add to the former produc
tive mass, it is not easy to ascertain, because,
as he says, oage 441, " it is impossible to de
termine what is the proportion which the cir
culating money of any country bears to the
whole value of the annual produce. It has
been computed by different authors, from a
fifth to a thirtieth of that value". In the
United States it must be less than in any
other part of the commercial world; because
the great mass of their inhabitants being in
responsible circumstances, the great mass of
their exchanges in the country is effected on
credit, in their merchants' ledger, who sup
plies all their wants through the year, and at
the end of it receives the produce of their
farms, or other articles of their industry. It
is a fact that a farmer with a revenue of ten
thousand dollars a year, may obtain all his
supplies from his merchant, and liquidate
them at the end of the year by the sale of his
produce to him, without the intervention of
a single dollar of cash. This, then, is merely
barter, and in this way of barter a great
portion of the annual produce of the United
States is exchanged without the intermedia
tion of cash. We might safely, then, state
our medium at the minimum of one-thirtieth.
— To J. W. EPPES. vi, 234. FORD ED., ix,
407. (M., Nov. 1813.)
5362. - — . But what is one-thirtieth
of the value of the annual produce of the in
dustry of the United States? Or what is
the whole value of the annual produce of the
United States? An able writer and com
petent judge of the subject, in 1799, on as
good grounds as probably could be taken, es
timated it, on the then population of four and
a half millions of inhabitants, to be thirty-
seven and a half millions sterling, or one
hundred and sixty-eight and three-fourths
millions of dollars. According to the same
estimate for our present population, it will
be three hundred millions of dollars, one-
thirtieth of which, Smith's minimum, would
be ten millions, and one-fifth, his maximum,
would be sixty millions for the quantum of
circulation. But suppose that instead of our
needing the least circulating medium of any
nation, from the circumstance before men
tioned, we should place ourselves in the
middle term of the calculation, to wit: at
thirty-five millions. One-fifth of this, at the
least, Smith thinks, should be retained in
specie, which would leave twenty-eight mil
lions of specie to be exported in exchange for
other commodities; and if fifteen millions of
that should be returned in productive goods,
and not in articles of prodigality, that would
be the amount of capital which this operation
would add to the existing mass. But to what
mass? Not that of the three hundred mil
lions, which is only its gross annual produce,
but to that capital of which the three hundred
millions are but the annual produce. But
this being gross, we may infer from it the
value of the capital by considering that the
rent of lands is generally fixed at one-third
of the gross produce, and is deemed its net
profit, and twenty times that its fee simple
value. The profits on landed capital may,
with accuracy enough for our purpose, be
supposed to be on a par with those of other
capital. This would give us, then, for the
United States, a capital of two thousand mil
lions, all in active employment, and exclusive
of unimproved lands lying in a great degree
dormant. Of this, fifteen millions would be
the hundred and thirty-third part. And it is
for this petty addition to the capital of the
nation, this minimum of one dollar, added to
one hundred and thirty-three and a third or
three-fourths per cent., that we are to give up
our gold and silver medium, its intrinsic
solidity, its universal value, and its saving
powers in time of war, and to substitute for
it paper, with all its train of evils, moral,
political, and physical, which I will not pre
tend to enumerate. There is another author
ity to which we may appeal for the proper
quantity of circulating medium for the United
States. The old Congress, when we were es
timated at about two millions of people, on
a long and able discussion, June 22, 1775,
decided the sufficient quantity to be two mil
lions of dollars, which sum they then emitted,*
According to this, it should be eight millions,
now that we are eight millions of people.
This differs little from Smith's minimum of
ten millions, and strengthens our respect for
that estimate. — To J. W. EPPES. vi, 234.
FORD ED., ix, 408. (M., Nov. 1813.) See
BANKS and DEBT.
5363. . Specie is the most perfect
medium because it will preserve its own level ;
* Within five months after this, they were com
pelled by the necessities of the war, to abandon the
idea of emitting only an adequate circulation, and to
make their necessities the sole measure of their
emissions.— NOTE BY JEFFERSON.
573
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Money
because, having intrinsic and universal value,
it can never die in our hands, and it is the
surest resource of reliance in time of war. —
To J. W. EPPES. vi, 246. FORD ED., ix, 416.
(M., Nov. 1813.)
5364. - — . It would be best that
our medium should be so proportioned to our
produce, as to be on a par with that of the
countries with which we trade, and whose
medium is in a sound state. — To J. W.
EPPES. vi, 246. FORD ED., ix, 416. (M.,
Nov. 1813.)
5365. . Instead of yielding to
the cries of scarcity of medium set up by
speculators, projectors and commercial
gamblers, no endeavors should be spared to
begin the work of reducing it by such gradual
means as may give time to private fortunes
to preserve their poise, and settle down with
the subsiding medium. — To J. W. EPPES. vi,
246. FORD ED., ix, 417. (M., Nov. 1813.)
5366. - — .We are already at ten or
twenty times the due quantity of medium ;
insomuch, that no man knows what his prop
erty is now worth, because it is bloating
while he is calculating; and still less what it
will be worth when the medium shall be re
lieved from its present dropsical state. — To
J. W. EPPES. vi, 246. FORD ED., ix, 417. (M.,
Nov. 1813.)
5367. . This State [Virginia] is
in a condition of unparalleled distress. The
sudden reduction of the circulating medium
from a plethory to all but annihilation is
producing an entire revolution of fortune.
In other places I have known lands sold by
the sheriff for one year's rent ; beyond the
mountains we hear of good slaves selling for
one hundred dollars, good horses for five
dollars, and the sheriffs generally the pur
chasers. Our produce is now selling at
market for one-third of its price before this
commercial catastrophe, say flour at three and
a quarter and three and a half dollars the
barrel. We should have less right to ex
pect relief from our legislators if they had
been the establishers of the unwise system of
banks. A remedy to a certain degree was
practicable, that of reducing the quantum of
circulation gradually to a level with that of
the countries with which we have commerce,
and an eternal abjuration of paper. * * * I
fear local insurrections against these horrible
sacrifices of property. — To H. NELSON, vii,
151. FORD ED., x, 156. (M., 1820.) See
NATIONAL CURRENCY and PAPER MONEY.
5368. MONEY, Clipped.— The Legisla
tures should cooperate with Congress in pro
viding that no money be received or paid at
their treasuries, or by any of their officers,
or any bank, but on actual weight ; in making
it criminal, in a high degree, to diminish their
own coins and, in some smaller degree, to
offer them in payment when diminished. —
NOTES ON A MONEY UNIT, i, 169. FORD ED.,
iii, 453- (1784.)
5369. MONEY, Coinage.— The Adminis
trator [Governor] shall not possess the pre
rogative * * * of coining moneys, or regu
lating their values. — PROPOSED VA. CONSTITU
TION. FORD ED., ii, 19. (June 1776.)
5370. - — . For rendering the half
penny pieces of copper coin of this Common
wealth of more convenient value, and by that
means introducing them into more general
circulation ; Be it enacted by the General As
sembly of the Commonwealth of Virginia that
* the said pieces of copper coin shall pass
in all payments for one penny each of current
money of Virginia. Provided * * *
that no person shall be obliged to take above
one shilling of
* * *
copper com in any
one payment of twenty shillings, or under,
nor more than two shillings and six pence
* * in any one payment of a greater sum
than twenty shillings. — COPPER COINAGE BILL.
FORD ED., ii, 118. (1776.)
5371. - _. It is difficult to familiar
ize a new coin to the people; it is more dif
ficult to familiarize them to a new coin with
an old name. — NOTES ON A MONEY UNIT, i,
165. FORD ED., iii, 449. (1784.) See DOLLAR,
5372. . A great deal of small
change is useful in a State, and tends to re
duce the price of small articles. — NOTES ON A
MONEY UNIT, i, 166. FORD ED., iii, 450.
(1784-)
5373. . I think it my duty to in
form Congress that a Swiss, of the name of
Drost, established in Paris, has invented a
method of striking the two faces and the
edge of a coin, at one stroke. By this, and
other simplifications of the process of coin
age, he is enabled to coin from twenty-five to
thirty thousand pieces a day, with the as
sistance of only two persons, the pieces of
metal being first prepared. I send you by
Colonel Franks three coins of gold, silver and
copper, which you will perceive to be perfect
medals ; and I can assure you, from having
seen him coin many, that every piece is as
perfect as these. There has certainly never
yet been seen any coin, in any country, com
parable to this. The best workmen in this
way, acknowledge that his is like a new art.
Coin should always be made in the highest
perfection possible, because it is a great guard
against the danger of false coinage. This
man would be willing to furnish his imple
ments to Congress, and if they please, he
will go over and instruct a person to carry on
the work ; nor do I believe he would ask
anything unreasonable. It would be very de
sirable, that in the institution of a new coin
age, we could set out on so perfect a plan as
this, and the more so as while the work is
so exquisitely done, it is done cheaper. — To
JOHN JAY. ii, 89. (P., Jan. 1787.)
5374. - — . Coinage is peculiarly an
attribute of sovereignty. To transfer its ex
ercise into another country, is to submit it to
another sovereign. — COINAGE , REPORT. vii,
463. (April 1790.)
5375. . The carrying on a coin
age in a foreign country, as far as the Secre-
Money
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
574
tary [of State] knows, is without example ;
and general experience is weighty authority.
— COINAGE REPORT, vii, 464. (April 1790.)
5376. . Perfection in the en
graving is among the greatest safeguards
against counterfeits, because engravers of the
first class are few, and elevated by their rank
in their art, and far above the base and
dangerous business of counterfeiting. — COIN
AGE REPORT, vii, 463. (April 1790.)
5377. m AS to the question on
whom the expense of coinage is to fall, I
have been so little able to make up an opin
ion satisfactory to myself, as to be ready
to concur in either decision. — To ALEXANDER
HAMILTON, iii, 330. (1792.)
5378. MONEY, Foreign.— The quantity
of fine silver which shall constitute the Unit
being settled, and the proportion of the value
of gold to that of silver; a table should be
formed * : * classing the several foreign
coins according to their fineness, declaring
the worth of a pennyweight or grain in each
class, and that they shall be lawful tenders at
those rates, if not clipped or otherwise
diminished; and, where diminished, offer
ing their value for them at the mint, deduct
ing the expense of recoinage. — NOTES ON A
MONEY UNIT. i, 169. FORD ED., iii, 453.
(1784.) See GOLD and SILVER.
5379. . Most of the gold and
silver coins of Europe pass in the several
States of America according to the quantity
of pure metal they contain. — M. DU RIVAL.
ii, 52. (P., 1786.)
5380. - —.A bill has passed the
Representatives giving three years longer cur
rency to foreign coins. * * * The effect
of stopping the currency of gold and silver
is to force bank paper through all the States.
However, I presume the State Legislatures
will exercise their acknowledged right of reg
ulating the value of foreign coins, when not
regulated by Congress, and their exclusive
right of declaring them a tender. — To JAMES
MONROE. FORD ED., vii, 183. (Pa., Dec.
17970
5381. . By the Constitution Con
gress may regulate the value of foreign coin ;
but if they do not do it, the old power re
vives to the State, the Constitution only for
bidding them to make anything but .gold and
silver a tender in payment of debts. — To JOHN
TAYLOR. FORD ED., vii, 182. (Pa., 1797.)
5382. - _. A bill has passed the Rep
resentatives to suspend for three years the law
arresting the currency of foreign coins. The
Senateproposed an amendment, continuing the
currency of the foreign gold only. * * * The
object of opposing the bill is to make the
French crowns a subject of speculation (for
it seems they fell on the President's procla
mation to a dollar in most of the States), and
to force bank paper (for want of other me
dium) through all the States generally.— To
JAMES MADISON, iv, 205. FORD ED., vii, 189.
(Pa., 1798.)
5383. MONEY, Legal tender.— I deny
the power of the General Government of
making paper money, or anything else, a legal
tender.— To JOHN TAYLOR, iv, 260. FORD
ED., vii, 310. (M., 1798.)
— MONEY, Loaning.— See TRADE.
5384. MONEY, Morality and.— Money,
and not morality, is the principle of commer
cial nations. — To JOHN LANGDON. v, 513.
(1810.)
5385. MONEY, National rights and.—
Money is the agent by which modern na
tions will recover their rights.— To COMTE DE
MOUSTIER. ii, 389. FORD ED., v, 12. (P.
— MONEY, Prices and.— See PAPER
MONEY.
5386. MONEY, Scarcity of.— An unpar
alleled want of money here, and stoppage of
discount at all the banks, oblige the merchants
to slacken the price of wheat and flour;
but it is only temporary. — To GEORGE GILMER.
FORD ED., vi, 202. (Pa., 1793.)
5387. MONEY, Standard.— I believe all
the countries in Europe determine their stand
ard of money in gold as well as silver.
Thus, the laws of England direct that a
pound Troy of gold, of twenty-two carats
fine, shall be cut into forty-four and a half
guineas, each of which shall be worth twenty-
one and a half shillings, that is, into 956 3-4
shillings. This establishes the shilling at
5.518 grains of pure gold. They direct that
a pound of silver, consisting of n i-io ounces
of pure silver and 9-10 of an ounce alloy,
shall be cut into sixty-two shillings. This
establishes the shilling at 85.93 grains of
pure silver, and, consequently, the proportion
of gold to silver as 85.93 to 5.518, or as
I5-57 to i. If this be the true proportion
between the value of gold and silver at
the general market of Europe, then the value
of the shilling, depending on two standards,
is the same, whether a payment be made
in gold or in silver. But if the proportion
of the general market at Europe be as fif
teen to one, then the Englishman who
owes a pound weight of gold at Am
sterdam, if he sends the pound of gold
to pay it, sends 1043.72 shillings ; if he sends
fifteen pounds of silver, he sends only 1030.5
shillings; if he pays half in gold and half in
silver, he pays only 1037.11 shillings. And
this medium between the two standards of
gold and silver, we must consider as furnish
ing the true medium value of the shilling. If
the parliament should now order the pound
of gold (of one-twelfth alloy as before) to
be put into a thousand shillings instead of
nine hundred and fifty-six and three-fourths,
leaving the silver as it is, the medium or true
value of the shilling would suffer a change
of half the difference ; and in the case before
stated, to pay a debt of a pound weight of
gold, at Amsterdam, if he sent the pound
weight of gold, he would send 1090.9 shil
lings; if he sent fifteen pounds of silver, he
575
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Money
would send 1030.5 shillings; if half in gold
and half in silver, he would send 1060.7
shillings; which shows that this parliamentary
operation would reduce the value of the
shilling in the proportion of 1060.7 to 1037.11.
— To J. SARSFIELD. iii, 18. (P., April 1789.)
5388. . Now this is exactly the
effect of the late change in the quantity of
gold contained in your louis. Your marc
d'argent fin is cut into 53.45 livres (fifty-
three livres and nine sous), the marc de I' or
fin was cut, heretofore, by law, into 784.6
livres (seven hundred and eighty-four livres
and twelve sous) ; gold was to silver then as
14.63 to i. And if this was different from
the proportion at the markets of Europe, the
true value of your livre stood half way be
tween the two standards. By the ordinance
of October the 3Oth, 1785, the marc of pure
gold has been cut into 828.6 livres. If your
standard had been in gold alone, this would
have reduced the value of your livre in the
proportion of 828.6 to 784.6. But as you
had a standard of silver as well as gold, the
true standard is the medium between the
two ; consequently the value of the livre is
reduced only one-half the difference, that is
as 806.6 to 784.6, which is very nearly three
per cent. Commerce, however, has made a
difference of four per cent., the average value
of the pound sterling, formerly twenty-four
livres, being now twenty-five livres. Perhaps
some other circumstance has occasioned an
addition of one per cent, to the change of
your standard. — To J. SARSFIELD. iii, 19.
(P., April 1789.)
5389. . To trade on equal terms,
the common measure of values should be as
nearly as possible on a par with that of its
corresponding nations, whose medium is in a
sound state; that is to say, not in an acciden
tal state of excess or deficiency. Now, one
of the great advantages of specie as a medium
is, that being of universal value, it will keep
itself at a general level, flowing out from
where it is too high into parts where it is
lower. Whereas, if the medium be of local
value only, as paper money, if too little, in
deed, gold and silver will flow in to supply
the deficiency ; but if too much, it accumu
lates, banishes the gold and silver not locked
up in vaults and hoards, and depreciates
itself; that is to say, its proportion to the
annual produce of industry being raised,
more of it is required to represent any par
ticular article of produce than in the other
countries. This is agreed by [Adam] Smith,
(B. 2. c. 2. 437,) the principal advocate for a
paper circulation ; but advocating it on the
sole condition that it be strictly regulated.
He admits, nevertheless, that " the commerce
and industry of a country cannot be so secure
when suspended on the Daedalian wings of
paper money, as on the solid ground of gold
and silver; and that in time of war, the in
security is greatly increased, and great con
fusion possible where the circulation is for
the greater part in paper ". (B. 2. c. 2. 484.)
But in a country where loans are uncertain,
and a specie circulation the only sure re
source for them, the preference of that cir
culation assumes a far different degree of
importance.— To J. W. EPPES. vi, 233. FORD
ED., ix, 407. (M., Nov. 1813.)
5390. — . Our dropsical medium
is long since divested of the quality of a
medium of value; nor can I find any other.
In most countries a fixed quantity of wheat
is perhaps the best permanent standard. But
here the blockade of our whole coast, pre
venting all access to a market, has depressed
the price of that, and exalted that of other
things, in opposite directions, and, combined
with the effects of the paper deluge, leaves
really no common measure of values to be
resorted to.— To M. CORREA. vi, 406. ( M ,
1814.)
5391. . We have no metallic
measure of values at present, while we are
overwhelmed with bank paper. The depre
ciation of this swells nominal prices, without
furnishing any stable index of real value. —
To JEAN BAPTISTE SAY. vi, 434. (M.,
March 1815.)
5392. . We are now without any
common measure of the value of property,
and private fortunes are up or down at the
will of the worst of our citizens. Yet there
is no hope of relief from the Legislatures
who have immediate control over this sub
ject. As little seems to be known of the
principles of political economy as if nothing
had ever been written or practiced on the
subject, or as was known in old times, when
the Jews had their rulers under the hammer.
It is an evil, therefore, which we must make
up our minds to meet and to endure as
those of hurricanes, earthquakes and other
casualties. — To ALBERT GALLATIN. vi, 499.
(M., Oct. 1815.)
5393. - — . The flood with which
the banks are deluging us of nominal money
has placed us completely without any certain
measure of value, and, by interpolating a false
measure, is deceiving and ruining multitudes
of our citizens. — To ALBERT GALLATIN. FORD
ED., x, 116. (M., 1818.)
5394. -. There is one evil which
awakens me at times, because it jostles me
at every turn. It is that we have now no
measure of value. I am asked eighteen dol
lars for a yard of broadcloth, which, when we
had dollars, I used to get for eighteen shil
lings ; from this I can only understand that
a dollar is now worth but two inches of
broadcloth, but broadcloth is no standard of
measure or value. I do not know, therefore,
whereabouts I stand in the scale of property,
nor what to ask, or what to give for it. I
saw, indeed, the like machinery in action in
the years '80 and '81, and without dissatis
faction ; because in wearing out, it was work
ing out our salvation. But I see nothing in
this renewal of the game of "Robin's Alive"
but a general demoralization of the nation,
a filching from industry its honest earnings,
wherewith to build up palaces, and raise
gambling stock for swindlers and shavers,
Money
Money Bills
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
576
who are to close, too, their career of piracies
by fraudulent bankruptcies. — To NATHANIEL
MACON. vii, in. FORD ED., x, 121. (M.,
1819.)
5395. . The evils of this deluge
of paper money are not to be removed, until
our citizens are generally and radically in
structed in their cause and consequences, and
silence by their authority the interested
clamors and sophistry of speculating, sha
ving, and banking institutions. Till then we
must be content to return, quoad hoc, to the
savage state, to recur to barter in the ex
change of our property, for want of a stable,
common measure of value, that now in use
being less fixed than the beads and wampum
of the Indian, and to deliver up our citizens,
their property and their labor, passive victims
to the swindling tricks of bankers and
mountebankers. — To JOHN ADAMS, vii, 115.
(M., 1819.) See BANKS, DOLLAR, NATIONAL
CURRENCY, and PAPER MONEY.
5396. MONEY, Unit of.— The plan re
ported by the Financier [Robert Morris] is
worthy of his sound judgment. It admits,
however, of objection in the size of the
Unit. He proposes that this shall be the
1440th part of a dollar; so that it will re
quire 1440 of his units to make the one before
proposed. He was led to adopt this by a
mathematical attention to our old currencies,
all of which this Unit will measure without
leaving a fraction. But as our object is to
get rid of those currencies, the advantage
derived from this coincidence will soon be
past, whereas the inconveniences of this
Unit will forever remain, if they do not al
together prevent its introduction. It is de
fective in two of the three requisites of a
Money Unit. i. It is inconvenient in its ap
plication to the ordinary money transactions.
Ten thousand dollars will require eight fig
ures to express them, to wit, 14,400,000 units.
A horse or bullock of eighty dollars' value,
will require a notation of six figures, to wit,
115,200 units. As a money of account, this
will be laborious, even when facilitated by the
aid of decimal arithmetic: as a common
measure of the value of property, it will be
too minute to be comprehended by the peo
ple. The French are subjected to very la
borious calculations, the livre being their or
dinary money of account, and this but be
tween i-5th and i-6th of a dollar; but what
will be our labors, should our money of ac
count be i-i440th of a dollar? 2. It is neither
equal, nor near to any of the known coins in
value. — NOTES ON A MONEY UNIT, i, 166.
FORD ED., iii, 450. (1784.) See DOLLAR.
5397. . I concur with you in
thinking that the Unit must stand on both
metals.— To ALEXANDER HAMILTON, iii, 330.
(Feb. 1792.)
5398. MONEY, War and.— Money is the
nerve of war. — To ALBERT GALLATIN. vi,
498. (M., 1815.)
5399. MONEY BILLS, Origination.—
Bills for levying money shall be originated
and amended by the Representatives only. —
PROPOSED VA. CONSTITUTION. FORD ED., ii, 17.
(June 1776.)
5400. . The Senate and the
House of Representatives [of Virginia] shall
each have power to originate and
amend bills ; save only that bills for 'levying
money shall be originated and amended by
the representatives only: the assent of both
houses shall be requisite to pass a law. —
PROPOSED VA. CONSTITUTION. FORD ED., ii, 17.
(June 1776.)
5401. MONEY BILLS, Parliament and.
— By the law and usage of the British parlia
ment, all those are understood to be money
bills which raise money in any way, or which
dispose of it, and which regulate those cir
cumstances of matter, method and time,
which attend as of consequence on the right
of giving and disposing. Again, the law and
customs of their Parliament, which include the
usage as to " money bills ", are a part of the
law of their land ; our ancestors adopted their
system of law in the general, making from
time to time such alterations as local diver
sities required; but that part of their law,
which relates to the matter now in question,
was never altered by our Legislature, in any
period of its history ; but on the contrary, the
two Houses of Assembly, both under our re
gal and republican governments, have ever
done business on the constant admission that
the law of Parliament was their law. —
CONGRESS REPORT. FORD ED., ii, 136. (1777.)
5402. . The right of levying
money, in whatever way, being * * *
exercised by the Commons, as their exclusive
office, it follows, as a necessary consequence,
that they may also exclusively direct its ap
plication. " Cujus est dare, ejus est dis-
ponere", is an elementary principle both of
law and of reason. That he who gives, may
direct the application of the gift : or, in other
words, may dispose of it ; that if he may give
absolutely, he may also carve out the con
ditions, limitations, purposes, and measure of
the gift, seems as evidently true as that the
greater power contains the lesser. — CONGRESS
REPORT. FORD ED., ii, 139. (1778.)
5403.
In 1701, the Lords hav
ing amended a bill, " for stating and ex
amining the public accounts ", by inserting
a clause for allowing a particular debt, the
Commons disagreed to the amendment; and
declared for a reason, " that the disposition,
as well as granting of money by act of Par
liament, hath ever been in the House of Com
mons ; and, that the amendment relating to
the disposal of money does entrench upon
that right ". And, to a bill of the same nature
the year following, the Lords having pro
posed an amendment, and declared, " that
their right in gaming, limiting, and dispo
sing of public aids, being the main hinge of the
controversy, they thought it of the highest
concern that it should be cleared and settled".
They then go on to prove the usage by prec
edents, and declarations, and from these
577
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Money Bills
Money (Continental)
conclude, " that the limitation, disposition, and
manner of account belong only to them ".
— CONGRESS REPORT. FORD ED., ii, 140.
(1778.)
5404. MONEY BILLS, Virginia Con
stitution and.—Had those who framed the
[Virginia] Constitution, as soon as they had
completed that work, been asked, man by
man, what a money bill was, it is supposed
that, man by man, they would have referred
for answer to the well known laws and usages
of Parliament, or would have formed their
answer on the Parliamentary idea of that
term. Its import, at this day, must be the
same as it was then. And it would be as
unreasonable, now, to send us to seek its
definition in the subsequent proceedings of
that body, as it would have been for them,
at that day, to have referred us to such pro
ceedings before they had come into existence.
The meaning of the term must be supposed
complete at the time they use it; and to be
sought for in those resources only which ex
isted at the time. Constructions, which do
not result from the words of the legislator,
but lie hidden in his breast, till called forth,
ex post facto, by subsequent occasions, are
dangerous, and not to be justified by ordi
nary emergencies. — CONGRESS REPORT. FORD
ED., ii, 138. (1778.)
5405. MONEY (Continental), Depre
ciation of. — Previous to the Revolution, most
of the States were in the habit, whenever
they had occasion for more money than could
be raised immediately by taxes, to issue paper
notes or bills, in the name of the State,
wherein they promised to pay to the bearer
the sum named in the note or bill. In some
of the States no time of payment was fixed,
nor tax laid to enable payment. In these,
the bills depreciated. But others of the
States named in the bill the day when it
should be paid, laid taxes to bring in money
for that purpose, and paid the bills punctually,
on or before the day named. In these States,
paper money was in as high estimation as
gold and silver. On the commencement of
the late Revolution, Congress had no money.
The external commerce of the States being
suppressed, the farmer could not sell his prod
uce, and, of course, could not pay a tax.
Congress had no resource then but in paper
money. Not being able to lay a tax for its
redemption, they could only promise that
taxes should be laid for that purpose, so
as to redeem the bills by a certain day. They
did not foresee the long continuance of the
war, the almost total suppression of their
exports, and other events, which rendered the
performance of their engagement impossible.
The paper money continued for a twelve
month equal to gold and silver. But the
quantities which they were obliged to emit
for the purpose of the war, exceeded what
had been the usual quantity of the circulating
medium. It began, therefore, to become
cheaper, or, as we expressed it, it depreciated,
as gold and silver would have done, had they
been thrown into circulation in equal quan
tities. But not having, like them, an intrinsic
value, its depreciation was more rapid and
greater than could ever have happened with
them. In two years, it had fallen to two
dollars of paper money for one of silver; in
three years, to four for one; in nine months
more, it fell to ten for one; and in the six
months following, that is to say, by Septem
ber, 1779, it had fallen to twenty for one.
Congress, alarmed at the consequences which
were to be apprehended should they lose this
resource altogether, thought it necessary to
make a vigorous effort to stop its further
depreciation. They, therefore, determined, in
the first place, that their emissions should
not exceed two hundred millions of dollars,
to which term they were then nearly arrived ;
and though they knew that twenty dollars of
what they were then issuing would buy no
more for their army than one silver dollar
would buy, yet they thought it would be
worth while to submit to the sacrifice of
nineteen out of twenty dollars, if they could
thereby stop further depreciation. They,
therefore published an address to their con
stituents, in which they renewed their origi
nal declarations, that this paper money should
be redeemed at dollar for dollar. They
proved the ability of the States to do this,
and that their liberty would be cheaply bought
at that price. The declaration was ineffec
tual. No man received the money at a
better rate; on the contrary, in six months
more, that is, by March, 1780, it had fallen
to forty for one. Congress then tried an
experiment of a different kind. Considering
their former offers to redeem this money at
par, as relinquished by the general refusal to
take it but in progressive depreciation, they
required the whole to be brought in, declared
it should be redeemed at its present value,
of forty for one, and that they would give
to the holders new bills, reduced in their
denomination to the sum of gold or silver,
which was actually to be paid for them. This
would reduce the nominal sum of the mass
in circulation to the present worth of that
mass, which was five millions; a sum not
too great for the circulation of the States, and
which, they therefore hoped, would not de
preciate further, as they continued firm in
their purpose of emitting no more. This effort
was as unavailing as the former. Very little
of the money was brought in. It continued
to circulate and to depreciate till the end of
1780, when it had fallen to seventy-five for
one, and the money circulated from the
French army, being, by that time, sensible in
all the States north of the Potomac, the paper
ceased its circulation altogether in those
States. In Virginia and North Carolina it
continued a year longer, within which time
it fell to one thousand for one, and then
expired, as it had done in the other States,
without a single groan. Not a murmur was
heard on this occasion among the people. On
the contrary, universal congratulations took
place on their seeing this gigantic mass, whose
dissolution had threatened convulsions which
should shake their infant confederacy to its
centre, quietly interred in its grave. For-
Money (Continental)
Money (Metallic)
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
578
eigners, indeed, who do not, like the natives,
feel indulgence for its memory, as of a being
which vindicated their liberties, and fallen in
the moment of victory, have been loud, and
still are loud in their complaints. A few of
them have reason; but the most noisy are
not the best of them. They are persons who
have become bankrupt by unskilful attempts
at commerce with America. That they may
have some pretext to offer to their creditors,
they have bought up great masses of this
dead money in America, where it is to be had
at five thousand for one, and they show the
certificates of their paper possessions, as if
they had all died in their hands, and had been
the cause of their bankruptcy. Justice will
be done to all, by paying to all persons what
this money actually cost them, with an in
terest of six per cent, from the time they re
ceived it. If difficulties present themselves in
the ascertaining the epoch of the receipt, it
has been thought better that the State should
lose, by admitting easy proofs, than that in
dividuals, and especially foreigners, should,
by being held to such as would be difficult,
perhaps impossible. — To M. DE MEUNIER. ix,
248. FORD ED., iv, 153. (P., 1786.)
5406. MONEY (Continental), Redemp
tion of. — It will be asked, how will the two
masses of Continental and State money have
cost the people of the United States seventy-
two millions of d6llars, when they are to be
redeemed, now, with about six millions? I
answer, that the difference, being sixty-six
millions, has been lost on the paper bills,
separately, by the successive holders of them.
Every one, through whose hands a bill passed,
lost on that bill what it lost in value, during
the time it was in his hands. This was a
real tax on him ; and, in this way, the peo
ple of the United States actually contributed
those sixty-six millions of dollars, during the
war, and by a mode of taxation the most op
pressive of all, because the most unequal of
all. — To M. DE MEUNIER. ix, 260. FORD ED.,
iv, 165. (P., 1786.)
5407. . The soldier, victualer,
or other person who received forty dollars
for a service, at the close of the year 1779,
received in fact, no more than he who re
ceived one dollar for the same service, in the
year 1775, or 1776; because, in those years,
the paper money was at par with silver ;
whereas, by the close of 1799, forty paper
dollars were worth but one of silver, and
would buy no more of the necessaries of life.
— To M. DE MEUNIER. ix, 259. FORD ED., iv,
163. (P., 1786.)
5408. . As to the paper money
in your hands, the States have not yet been
able to take final arrangements for its re
demption. But. as soon as they get their
finances into some order, they will assuredly
pay for what it was worth in silver at the time
you received it, with interest. — To M. DULER.
ii, 64. (P., 1786.) See ASSUMPTION OF STATE
DEBTS.
— MONEY (Metallic) Alloy in.— See
DOLLAR.
5409. MONEY (Metallic) Gold and sil
ver ratio. — The proportion between the
values of gold and silver is a mercantile prob
lem altogether. It would be inaccurate to fix
it by the popular exchanges of a half Joe for
eight dollars, a Louis for four French crowns,
or five Louis for twenty-three dollars. The
first of these, would be to adopt* the Spanish
proportion between gold and silver; the sec
ond, the French; the third, a mere popular
barter, wherein convenience is consulted
more than accuracy. The legal proportion in
Spain is 16 for i ; in England 15 1-2 for i ;
in France, 15 for i. * * * Just principles
will lead us to disregard legal proportions al
together; to enquire into the market price of
gold, in the several countries with which we
shall principally be connected in commerce,
and to take an average from them. Perhaps
we might, with safety, lean "to a proportion
somewhat above par for gold, considering our
neighborhood, and commerce with the sources
of the coins, and the tendency which the high
price of gold in Spain has, to draw thither
all that of their mines, leaving silver prin
cipally for our and other markets. It is not
impossible that 15 for i, may be found an
eligible proportion. I state it, however, as
a conjecture only. — NOTES ON A MONEY UNIT.
i, 168. FORD ED., iii, 452. (1784.)
5410. . I observed * * *
that the true proportion or value between gold
and silver was a mercantile problem alto
gether and that, perhaps, fifteen for one
might be found an eligible proportion. The
Financier [Robert Morris] is so good as to
inform me that this would be higher than the
market would justify. Confident of his better
information on this subject, I recede from
that idea.f — SUPPLEMENTARY EXPLANATIONS.
i, 171. FORD ED., iii, 454. (1784.)
5411. . There are particular
public papers here [Paris] which collect and
publish with a good deal of accuracy the
facts connected with political arithmetic. In
one of these I have just read the following
table of the proportion between the value of
gold and silver in several countries : Germany
i. to 14 11-71. Spain i. to 14 3-10. Holland
i. to 14 3-4. England i. to 15 1-2. France
i. to 14 42-100. Savoy i. to 14 3-5- Russia
i. to 15. The average is i. to 14 5-8. — To
JAMES MONROE. FORD ED., iv, 45. (P.,
1/85.)
5412. . I concur with you * * *
in the proportion you establish between the
value of the two metals. — To ALEXANDER
HAMILTON. iii, 330. (Feb. 1792.) See
DOLLAR.
* In the FORD EDITION the text reads, " would be
about the Spanish proportion ".—EDITOR.
t Jefferson appends this note : " In a newspaper,
which frequently gives good details in political
economy, I find under the Hamburg head, that the
present "market price of gold and silver is, in Eng
land, 15.5 for i ; in Russia, 15 ; in Holland, 14.75 \ *n
Savoy, 14.6; in France, 14.42; in Spain, 14.3 ; in Ger
many, 14.155 ; the average of which is 14.675 or 14 5-8.
I would still incline to give a little more than the
market price for gold, because of its superior con
venience in transportation." — EDITOR.
579
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Money (Metallic)
Monopoly
5413. MONEY (Metallic), Payments in.
— As the laws authorize the payment of a
given number of dollars to you, and as your
duties place you in London, I suppose we are
to pay you the dollars there, or other money
of equal value, estimated by the par of the
metals. Such has, accordingly, been the prac
tice ever since the close of the war. — To
THOMAS PINCKNEY. iii, 526. (Pa., 1793.) See
BANKS, DOLLAR, • MONEY, NATIONAL CUR
RENCY, and PAPER MONEY.
5414. MONEY (Metallic) vs. PAPER
MONEY. — Sober thinkers cannot prefer a pa
per medium at 13 per cent, interest to gold
and silver for nothing. — To JAMES MADISON.
FORD ED., v, 350. (Pa., 1791.)
5415. — — . Experience has proved
to us that a dollar of silver disappears for
every dollar of paper emitted. — To JAMES
MONROE, iii, 268. FORD ED., v, 353. (Pa.,
July, 1791-)
5416. - — . Admit none but a metallic
circulation that will take its proper level with
the like circulation in other countries. — To
CHARLES PINCKNEY. vii, 180. FORD ED., x,
162. (M., 1820.) See MONEY.
5417. MONOPOLY, Abolish.— It is bet
ter to abolish monopolies in all cases, than
not to do it in any. — To JAMES MADISON, ii,
446. FORD ED., v, 46. (P., 1788.)
5418. MONOPOLY, Banking.— The bill
for establishing a National Bank undertakes
* * * , to form the subscribers into a cor
poration [and] * * * to give them the sole
and exclusive right of banking under the
national authority; and so far is against the
laws of Monopoly. — NATIONAL BANK OPIN
ION, vii, 555. FORD ED., v, 285. (1791.) See
BANKS, NATIONAL CURRENCY and PAPER
MONEY.
5419. . These foreign and false
citizens * * * are advancing fast to a
monopoly of our banks and public funds,
thereby placing our finances under their con
trol. — To ELBRIDGE GERRY, iv, 172. FORD ED.,
vii, 121. (Pa., 1797- )
5420. MONOPOLY, Colonies and.— The
monopoly of our [the Colonies] trade * * *
brings greater loss to us and benefit to them
than the amount of our proportional contri
butions to the common defence [of the em
pire]. — ADDRESS TO GOVERNOR DUNMORE.
FORD ED., i, 457. (I775-)
5421. - — . The Congress stated the
lowest terms they thought possible to be ac
cepted, in order to convince the world they
were not unreasonable. They gave up the
monopoly and regulation of trade, and all
acts of Parliament prior to 1764, leaving to
British generosity to render these, at some
future time, as easy to America as the in
terest of Britain would admit. — To JOHN
RANDOLPH, i, 201. FORD ED., i, 483. (M.,
I775-)
5422. - — . It is not just that the
Colonies should be required to oblige them
selves to other contributions while Great
Britain possesses a monopoly of their trade.
This does of itself lay them under heavy
contribution. To demand, therefore, an ad
ditional contribution in the form of a tax,
is to demand the double of their equal pro
portion. If we are to contribute equally with
the other parts of the empire, let us equally
with them enjoy free commerce with the
whole world. But while the restrictions on
pur trade shut to us the resources of wealth,
is it just we should bear all other burthens
equally with those to whom every resource
is open? — REPLY TO LORD NORTH'S PROPO
SITION. FORD ED., i, 479. (July 1775.) See
COLONIES.
5423. MONOPOLY, Commerce and.— By
a declaration of rights, I mean one which
shall stipulate * * * freedom of commerce
against monopolies. — To A. DONALD, ii, 355.
(P., 1788.)
5424 — . The British have wished
a monopoly of commerce * * * with us,
and they have in fact obtained it. — To EL-
BRIDGE GERRY, iv, 172. FORD ED., vii, 121.
(Pa., 1797.) See COMMERCE and FREE TRADE.
5425. . Nor should we wonder
at * * * [the] pressure [for a fixed con
stitution in 1788-9] when we consider the
monstrous abuses of power under which
* * * [the French] people were ground
to powder; when we pass in review the
* * * shackles on commerce by monopo
lies. — AUTOBIOGRAPHY, i, 86. FORD ED., i, 118.
(1821.)
5426. MONOPOLY, Corporations.— Nor
should we wonder at the pressure [for a fixed
constitution in France in 1788-9], when we
consider the monstrous abuses of power un
der which this people were ground to powder,
* * * the shackles * * * ; on industry
by guilds and corporations * * * . — AU
TOBIOGRAPHY, i, 86. FORD ED., i, 1 18. (1821.)
See INCORPORATION.
5427. MONOPOLY, Farmers General.—
The true obstacle to this proposition has pen
etrated, in various ways, through the veil
which covers it. The influence of the
Farmers General has been heretofore found
sufficient to shake a minister in his office.
Monsieur de Calonne's continuance or dis
mission has been thought, for some time, to
be on a poise. Were he to shift this great
weight, therefore, out of his own scale into
that of his adversaries, it would decide their
preponderance. The joint interests of France
and America would be insufficient counter
poise in his favor. — REPORT TO CONGRESS, ix,
242. FORD ED., iv, 129. (P., 1785.)
5428. . As to the article of
tobacco, which had become an important
branch of remittance to almost all the States,
I had the honor of communicating to you my
proposition to the Court to abolish the monop
oly of it in their farm; that the Count de
Vergennes was, I thought, thoroughly sen
sible of the expediency of this proposition,
and disposed to befriend it; that the renewal
Monopoly
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
580
of the lease of the farms had been conse
quently suspended six months and was still
in suspense, but that so powerful were the
Farmers General and so tottering the tenure
of the Minister of Finance in his office, that
I despaired of preventing the renewal of the
farm at that time. Things were in this state
when the Marquis de Lafayette * * *
proposed to me a conference with some per
sons well acquainted with the commercial
system of this country. We met. They
proposed the endeavoring to have a committee
appointed to inquire into the subject. The
proposition was made to the Count de Ver-
gennes, who befriended it, and had the Mar
quis de Lafayette named a member of the
committee. He became, of course, the ac
tive and truly zealous member for the liberty
of commerce; others, though well-disposed,
not choosing to oppose the farm openly.
* * * The committee showed an early and
decisive conviction that the measure taken
by the farm to put the purchase of their to
baccos into monopoly on that side of the
water, as the sale of them was on this,
tended to the annihilation of commerce be
tween the two countries. Various palliatives
were proposed from time to time. I confess
that I met them all with indifference; my
object being a radical cure of the evils by
discontinuing the farm, and not a mere as
suagement of it for the present moment,
which, rendering it more bearable, might les
sen the necessity of removing it totally, and
perhaps prevent that removal. — To JOHN JAY.
FORD ED., iv, 232. (P., 1786.)
5429. . The Count de Vergennes
said that the difficulty of changing so ancient
an institution [Farmers General] was im
mense; that the King draws from it a rev
enue of 29 millions of livres; that an inter-
ruption of this revenue at least, if not a
diminution, would attend a change; that
their finances were not in a condition to bear
even an interruption, and in short that no
minister could venture to take upon himself
so hazardous an operation. This was only
saying explicitly what I had long been sen
sible of, that the Comptroller General's con
tinuance in office was too much on a poise to
permit him to shift this weight out of his
own scale into that of his adversaries; and
that we must be contented to await the com
pletion of the public expectation that there
will be a change in this office, which change
may give us another chance for effecting this
desirable reformation. — To JOHN JAY. FORD
ED., iv, 234. (P., 1786.)
5430. . The only question agi
tated [at the next meeting of the committee]
was how best to relieve the trade under its
double monopoly. The committee found
themselves supported by the presence and
sentiments of the Count de Vergennes. They,
therefore, resolved that the contract with Mr.
Morris, if executed on his part, ought not to
be annulled here, but that no similar one
should ever be made hereafter ; that, so long
as it continued, the Farmers should be
obliged to purchase from twelve to fifteen
thousand hhds. of tobacco a year, over and
above what they should receive from Mr.
Morris, from such merchants as should bring
it in French or American vessels, on the same
conditions contracted with Mr. Morris ; pro
viding, however, that where the cargo shall
not be assorted, the prices shall be $38, $36
and $34 for the ist, 2d and 3d qualities of
whichsoever the cargo may consist. In case of
dispute about the quality, specimens are to be
sent to the council, who will appoint persons
to examine and decide on it. This is indeed
the least bad of all the palliatives which have
been proposed; but it contains the seeds of
perpetual trouble. It is easy to foresee that
the Farmers will multiply the difficulties and
vexations on those who shall propose to sell
to them by force, and that these will be
making perpetual complaints, so that both
parties will be kept on the fret. If, without
fatiguing the friendly dispositions of the
ministry, this should give them just so much
trouble as may induce them to look to the
demolition of the monopoly as a desirable
point of rest, it may produce permanent as
well as temporary good. — To JOHN JAY.
FORD ED., iv, 235. (P., 1786.)
5431. - — . The body [Farmers Gen
eral] to which this monopoly [tobacco] was
given, was not mercantile. Their object is
to simplify as much as possible the adminis
tration of their affairs. They sell for cash;
they purchase, therefore, with cash. Their
interest, their principles and their practice,
seem opposed to the general interest of the
kingdom, which would require that this cap
ital article should be laid open to a free ex
change for the productions of this country.
So far does the spirit of simplifying their
operations govern this body, that relinquish
ing the advantages to be derived from a com
petition of sellers, they contracted some time
ago with a single person (Mr. Morris), for
three years' supplies of American tobacco, to
be paid for in cash. They obliged themselves
too, expressly, to employ no other person to
purchase in America, during that term. In
consequence of this, the mercantile houses of
France, concerned in sending her productions
to be exchanged for tobacco, cut off, for three
years, from the hope of selling these tobaccos
in France, were of necessity to abandon that
commerce. In consequence of this, too, a
single individual, constituted sole purchaser
of so great a proportion of the tobaccos made,
had the price in his own power. A great re
duction in it took place, and that, not only
on the quantity he bought, but on the whole
quantity made. The loss to the States pro
ducing the article did not go to cheapening
it for their friends here. Their price was
fixed. What was gained on their consump
tion was to enrich the person purchasing it;
the rest, the monopolists and merchants of
other countries. — To COUNT DE MONTMORIN.
ii, 186. (P., 1787.)
5432. MONOPOLY, Indian trade.—
Colonel McGillivray, with a company ot
British merchants, having hitherto enjoyed a
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Monopoly
monopoly of the commerce of the Creek na
tion, with a right of importing their goods
duty free, and considering these privileges as
the principal sources of his power over that
nation, is unwilling to enter into treaty with
us, unless they can be continued to him.
And the question is how this may be done
consistently with our laws, and so as to avoid
just complaints from those of our citizens who
would wish to participate of the trade? Our
citizens, at this time, are not permitted to
trade in that nation. The nation has a right
to give us their peace, and to withhold their
commerce, to place it under whatever monop
olies or regulations they please. If they in
sist that only Colonel McGillivray and his
company shall be permitted to trade among
them, we have no right to say the contrary.
We shall even gain some advantage in substi
tuting citizens of the United States instead
of British subjects, as associates of Colonel
McGillivray, and excluding both British sub
jects and Spaniards from the country. Sup
pose, then, it be expressly stipulated by treaty,
that no person be permitted to trade in the
Creek country, without a license from the
President, but that a fixed number shall be
permitted to trade there at all, and that the
goods imported for and sent to the Creek na
tion, shall be duty free. It may further be
either expressed that the person licensed shall
be approved by the leader or leaders of the
nation, or without this, it may be understood
between the President and McGillivray that
the stipulated number of licenses shall be
sent to him blank, to fill up. — OPINION ON
INDIAN TRADE, vii, 504. FORD ED., v, 215.
(1790.)
5433 . The enclosed reclamations
of Girod and Choate against the claims of
Bapstropp to a monopoly of the Indian com
merce, supposed to be under the protection of
the 3rd article of the Louisiana Convention,
as well as some other claims to abusive
grants, will probably force us to meet that
question. * * * Congress has [extended]
about twenty particular laws * * to
Louisiana. Among these is the act concerning
intercourse with the Indians, which estab
lishes a system of intercourse with them ad
mitting no monopoly. That class of rights,
therefore, is now taken from under the treaty,
and placed under the principles of our laws.
— To JAMES MADISON. FORD ED., viii, 313.
(July 1804.)
5434. MONOPOLY, Of influence.— The
British have wished a monopoly of influ
ence with us, and they have, in fact, ob
tained it. — To ELBRIDGE GERRY, iv, 172. FORD
ED., vii, 121. (Pa., 1797.)
5435. MONOPOLY, Inventions and.— I
like the declaration of rights as far as it goes,
but I should have been for going further. For
instance, the following alterations and addi
tions would have pleased me. * * * .
Article. 9. Monopolies may be allowed to per
sons for their own productions in literature,
and their own inventions in the arts, for a
term not exceeding — years, but for no
longer term, and for no other purpose. — To
JAMES MADISON, iii, 101. FORD ED., v, 113.
(P., Aug. 1789.)
5436. . To embarrass society
with monopolies for every utensil existing,
and in all the details of life, would be more
injurious to them than had the supposed in
ventors never existed; because the natural
understanding of its members would have
suggested the same things or others as good.
—To OLIVER EVANS, v, 75. (M., 1807.)
See INVENTIONS and PATENTS.
5437. MONOPOLY, Of the judiciary.—
It is the self-appointment [of the county
courts] I wish to correct; to find some
means of breaking up a cabal, when such a
one gets possession of the bench. When this
takes place, it becomes the most afflicting of
tyrannies, because its powers are so various,
and exercised on everything most immediately
around us. And how many instances have
you and I known of these monopolies of county
administration? I know a county in which a
particular family (a numerous one) got pos
session of the bench, and for a whole genera
tion never admitted a man on it who was not
of its clan or connection. I know a county
now of one thousand and five hundred militia,
of which sixty are federalists. Its court is of
thirty members, of whom twenty are feder
alists (every third man of the sect). There
are large and populous districts in it without
a justice, because without a federalist for
appointment; the militia are as dispropor
tionately under federal officers. * * * The
remaining one thousand four hundred and
forty, free, fighting and paying citizens, are
governed by men neither of their choice or
confidence, and without a hope of relief.
They are certainly excluded from the bless
ings of a free government for life, and in
definitely, for aught the Constitution has pro
vided. This solecism may be called anything
but republican. — To JOHN TAYLOR, vii, 18.
FORD ED., x, 52. (M., 1816.)
5438. MONOPOLY, Land.— The property
of France is absolutely concentrated in a
very few hands, having revenues of from half
a million of guineas a year downwards.
These employ the flower of the country as
servants, some of them having as many as
two hundred domestics, not laboring. They
employ also a great number of manufac
turers, and tradesmen, and lastly the class of
laboring husbandmen. But after all, there
comes the most numerous of all the classes,
that is, the poor who cannot find work. I
asked myself what could be the reason that so
many should be permitted to beg who are
willing to work, in a country where there is
a very considerable proportion of uncultivated
lands? Those lands are undisturbed only for
the sake of game. It should seem then that
it must be because of the enormous wealth of
the proprietors which places them above at
tention to the increase of their revenues by
permitting these lands to be labored. — To REV.
JAMES MADISON. FORD ED., vii, 35. (P.,
1785.)
Monopoly
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
582
5439. MONOPOLY, Limited.— I sincerely
rejoice at the acceptance of the new Constitu
tion by nine States. It is a good canvas,
on which some strokes only want retouching.
What these are, I think are sufficiently mani
fested by the general voice from north to
south, which calls for a bill of rights. It
seems pretty generally understood that this
should go to * * * monopolies. *
The saying there shall be no monopolies,
lessens the incitements to ingenuity, which is
spurred on by the hope of a monopoly for
a limited time, as of fourteen years; but the
benefit of even limited monopolies is too
doubtful to be opposed to that of their gen
eral suppression. — To JAMES MADISON, ii,
445. FORD ED., v, 45. (P., July 1788.)
5440. MONOPOLY, Military.— Nor
should we wonder at the pressure [for a fixed
constitution in 1788-9], when we consider the
monstrous abuses of power under which
* * * the [French] people were ground
to powder, when we pass in review the
* * * monopoly of military honors by the
noblesse * * * . — AUTOBIOGRAPHY, i, 86.
FORD ED., i, 118. (1821.)
5441. MONOPOLY, Of office.— When it
is considered that during the late adminis
tration, those who were not of a particular
sect of politics were, excluded from all office;
when, by a steady pursuit of this measure,
nearly the whole offices of the United States
were monopolized by that sect ; when the
public sentiment at length declared itself, and
burst open the doors of honor and confidence
to those whose opinions they more ap
proved, was it to be imagined that this
monopoly of office was still to be con
tinued in the hands of the minority? Does
it violate their equal rights to assert some
rights in the majority also? Is it polit
ical intolerance to claim a proportionate
share in the direction of the public affairs?
Can they not harmonise in society unless
they have everything in their own hands?
—To THE NEW HAVEN COMMITTEE, iv, 404.
FORD ED., viii, 69. (W., July 1801.)
5442. MONOPOLY, Restrict.— [ do not
like [in the new Federal Constitution] the
omission of a bill of rights, providing clearly
and without the aid of sophisms for :
restriction of monopolies. — To JAMES MAD
ISON, ii, 329. FORD ED., iv, 476. (P., Decem
ber 1787.)
5443. MONOPOLY, Special privileges.
— Monopolizing compensations are among
the most fatal abuses which some govern
ments practice from false economy. — OPINION
ON STEVENS CASE, ix, 474. (1804.)
5444. MONOPOLY, Suppress.— A com
pany had silently and by unfair means ob
tained a monopoly for the making and sell
ing spermaceti candles [in France]. As soon
as we* discovered it, we solicited its sup
pression which is effected by a clause in the
Arret.— To JOHN JAY. ii, 342. (P., 1787.)
* An acknowledgment of Lafayette's assistance. —
EDITOR.
5445. MONOPOLY, Tobacco.— The aboli
tion of the monopoly of our tobacco in the
hands of the Farmers General will be pushed
by us with all our force. But it is so inter
woven with the very foundations of their sys
tem of finance that it is of doubtful event. —
To JAMES MONROE. FORD ED., iv, 20. (P.,
Dec. 1784.)
5446. . The monopoly of the
purchase of tobacco in France discourages
both the French and American merchant
from bringing it here, and from taking in ex
change the manufactures and productions of
France. It is contrary to the spirit of trade,
and to the dispositions of merchants, to carry
a commodity to any market where but one
person is allowed to buy it, and where, of
course, that person fixes its price which the
seller must receive, or reexport his com
modity, at the loss of his voyage thither.
Experience accordingly shows that they carry
it to other markets, and that they take in
exchange the merchandise of the place where
they deliver it. I am misinformed, if France
has not been furnished from a neighboring
nation with considerable quantities of to
bacco since the peace, and been obliged to
pay there in coin, what might have been paid
here (France) in manufactures, had the
French and American merchants brought the
tobacco originally here. I suppose, too, that
the purchases made by the Farmers General
in America are paid for chiefly in coin, which
coin is also remitted directly hence to Eng
land, and makes an important part of the
balance supposed to be in favor of that na
tion against this. Should the Farmers Gen
eral, by themselves, or by the company to
whom they may commit the procuring these
tobaccos from America, require, for the sat
isfaction of government on this head, the ex
portation of a proportion of merchandise in
exchange for them, it would be an unprom
ising expedient. It would only commit the
exports, as well as imports, between France
and America, to a monopoly which, being
secure against rivals in the sale of the
merchandise of France, would not be likely
to sell at such moderate prices as might en
courage its consumption there, and enable it
to bear a competition with similar articles
from other countries. I am persuaded this
exportation of coin may be prevented, and
that of commodities effected, by leaving both
operations to the French and American
merchants, instead of the Farmers General.
They will import a sufficient quantity of to
bacco, if they are allowed a perfect freedom
in the sale; and they will receive in pay
ment, wines, oils, brandies, and manufac
tures, instead of coin ; forcing each other, by
their competition, to bring tobaccos of the
best quality ; to give to the French manufac
turer the full worth of his merchandise, and
to sell to the American consumer at the
lowest price they can afford ; thus encoura
ging him to use, in preference, the merchan
dise of this country. — To COUNT DE VER-
GENNES. i. 386. (P., 1785.)
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Monopoly
5447. . if, by a simplification of
the collection of the King's duty on tobacco,
the cost of that collection can be reduced even
to five per cent., or a million and a half, in
stead of twenty-five millions ; the price to the
consumer will be reduced from three to two
livres the pound. * * * The price, being
thus reduced one-third, would be brought
within the reach of a new and numerous circle
of the people, who cannot, at present, afford
themselves this luxury. The consumption,
then, would probably increase, and perhaps, in
the same if not a greater proportion with the
reduction of the price ; that is to say, from
twenty-four to thirty-six millions of pounds ;
and the King, continuing to receive twenty-
five sous on the pound, as at present, would re
ceive forty-five instead of thirty millions of
livres, while his subjects would pay but two
livres for an object which has heretofore cost
them three. Or if, in event, the consumption
were not to be increased, he would levy only
forty-eight millions on his people, where sev
enty-two millions are now levied, and would
leave twenty-four millions in their pockets,
either to remain there, or to be levied in
some other form, should the state of revenue
require it. It will enable his subjects, also,
to dispose of between nine and ten millions
worth of their produce and manufactures,
instead of sending nearly that sum annually,
in coin, to enrich a neighboring nation. — To
COUNT DE VERGENNES. i, 388. (P., 1785.)
5448. — . I have heard two objec
tions made to the suppression of this monopoly.
i. That it might increase the importation of
tobacco in contraband. 2. That it would lessen
the abilities of the Farmers General to make
occasional loans of money to the public treas-
ury * * * \vith respect to the first
* * * I may observe that contraband does
not increase on lessening the temptations to it.
It is now encouraged by those who engage in
it being able to sell for sixty sous what cost
but fourteen, leaving a gain of forty-six sous.
When the price shall be reduced from sixty
to forty sous, the gain will be but twenty-six,
that is to say, a little more than one-half
of what it is at present. It does not seem a
natural consequence then, that contraband
should be increased by reducing its gain nearly
one-half. As to the second objection, if we
suppose (for elucidation and without presu
ming to fix) the proportion of the farm on to
bacco, at one-eighth of the whole mass farmed,
the abilities of the Farmers General to lend
will be reduced one-eighth, that is, they can
hereafter lend only seven millions, where here
tofore they have lent eight. It is to be con
sidered, then, whether this eighth (or other
proportion, whatever it be) is worth the an
nual sacrifice of twenty-four millions, or if a
much smaller sacrifice to other moneyed men,
v/ill not produce the same loans of money in
the ordinary way. — To COUNT DE VERGENNES.
i, 389. (P-, 1785.)
5449. . While the advantages of
an increase of revenue to the crown, a dimi
nution of impost on the people, and a payment
in merchandise, instead of money, are con
jectured as likely to result to France from a
suppression of the monopoly on tobacco, we
have also reason to hope some advantages on
our part * * . I do not expect this
advantage will be by any augmentation of
price. The other markets of Europe have too
much influence on this article to admit any
sensible augmentation of price to take place.
But the advantage I principally expect is an
increase of consumption. This will give us
a vent for so much more, and, of consequence,
find employment for so many more cultivators
of the earth ; and, in whatever proportion it in
creases this production for us, in the same
proportion will it procure additional vent for
the merchandise of France, and employment
for the hands that produce it. I expect, too,
that by bringing our merchants here, they
would procure a number of commodities in
exchange, better in kind and cheaper in price.
— To THE COUNT DE VERGENNES. i, 390. (P.,
1785.)
5450. . I observed [to the Count
de Vergennes] that France paid us two millions
of livres for tobacco ; that for such portions of
it as were bought in London, they sent the
money directly there, and for what they bought
in the United States, the money was still re
mitted to London by bills of exchange ; whereas,
if they would permit our merchants to sell this
article freely, they would bring it here, and
take the returns on the spot in merchandise, not
money. The Count observed that my proposi
tion contained what was doubtless useful, but
that the king received on this article, at pres
ent, a revenue of twenty-eight millions, which
was so considerable as to render them fearful
of tampering with it ; that the collection of
this revenue by way of Farm was of very
ancient date, and that it was always hazardous
to alter arrangements of long standing, and of
such infinite combinations with the fiscal sys
tem. I answered, that the simplicity of the
mode of collection proposed for this article,
withdrew it from all fear of deranging other
parts of their system ; that I supposed they
would confine the importation to some of
their principal ports, probably not more than
five or six ; that a single collector in each of
these was the only new officer requisite ; that
he could get rich himself on six livres a hogs
head, and would receive the whole revenue,
and pay it into the treasury, at short hand. —
CONFERENCE WITH COUNT DE VERGENNES. ix,
232. FORD ED., iv, 119. (1785.)
5451. . I have received the
propositions of Messrs. Ross, Pleasants, &c., for
furnishing tobacco to the Farmers General ; but
Mr. Morris had, in the meantime, obtained the
contract. I have been fully sensible of the bane
ful influence on the commerce of France and
America, which this double monopoly will have.
I have struck at its root here, and spared no
pains to have the farm itself demolished, but it
has been in vain. The persons interested in it
are too powerful to be opposed, even by the
interest of the whole country. — To GOVERNOR
PATRICK HENRY, i, 515. FORD ED., iv, 137.
(P., 1786.)
5452. . — . Till I see all hope of re-
moving the evil [the tobacco monopoly in
France] by the roots desperate, I cannot pro
pose to prune its branches. — To JOHN PAGE, i,
549. FORD ED., iv, 213. (P., 1786.)
5453. . Morris's contract for
sixty thousand hogsheads of tobacco has been
concluded with the Farmers General. I have
been for some time occupied in endeavoring to
destroy the root of the evils which the tobacco
trade encounters in this country, by making
the ministers sensible that merchants will not
bring a commodity to a market, where but one
person is allowed to buy it ; and that so long
as that single purchaser is obliged to go to for
eign markets for it, he must pay for it in coin,
and not in commodities. These truths have
made their way to the minds of the ministry,
Monopoly
Monroe Dootrh
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
584
insomuch as to have delayed the execution of
the new lease of the Farms six months. It is
renewed, however, for three years, but so as
not to render impossible a reformation of this
great evil. They are sensible of the evil, but it
is so interwoven with their fiscal system, that
they find it hazardous to disentangle. The
temporary distress, too, of the revenue, they
are not prepared to meet. My hopes, there
fore, are weak, though not quite desperate.
When they become so, it will remain to look
about for the best palliative this monopoly can
bear. My present idea is that it will be found
in a prohibition to the Farmers General to pur
chase tobacco anywhere but in France. — To
JAMES Ross, i, 560. FORD ED., iv, 216. (P.,
1786.)
5454. . I consider [the suppres
sion of the tobacco monopoly in France] as
the most effectual means of procuring the full
value of our produce, of diverting our demands
for manufactures from Great Britain to this
country to a certain amount, and of thus pro
ducing some equilibrium in our commerce
which, at present, lies all in the British scale.
It would cement an union with our friends,
and lessen the torrent of_wealth we are pouring
into the laps of our enemies. — To T. PLEASANTS.
i, 563- (P-, 1786.)
5455. . I think that so long as
the monopoly in the sale [of tobacco] is kept
up, it is of no consequence to us how they mod
ify the pill for their own internal relief ; but, on
the contrary, the worse it remains, the more
necessary it will render a reformation. Any
palliative would take from us all those argu
ments and friends that would be satisfied with
accommodation. The Marquis de Lafayette,
though differing from me in opinion on this
point, has, however, adhered to my principle of
absolute liberty or nothing. — To COL. MONROE.
i, 568. FORD ED., iv, 225. (P., 1786.)
5456. . Some symptoms make
me suspect that my proceedings to reduce the
abusive administration of tobacco by the Farm
ers General have indisposed towards me a
powerful person in Philadelphia, who was
profiting from that abuse. An expression in the
enclosed letter of M. de Calonnes would seem
to imply that I had asked the abolition of Mr.
Morris's contract. I never did. On the con
trary, I always observed to them that it would
be unjust to annul that contract. I was led to
this by principles both of justice and interest.
Of interest, because that contract would keep
up the price of tobacco here to thirty-four,
thirty-six and thirty-eight livres, from which it
will fall when it shall no longer have that sup
port. However, I have done what was ri*rht,
and I will not so far wound my privilege _of
doing that, without regard to any man's in
terest, as to enter into any explanation of this
paragraph with him. Yet I esteem him highly,
and suppose that hitherto he had esteemed me.
— To JAMES MONROE, ii, 70. (P., 1786.)
5457. . I shall certainly press
for something to be done by way of antidote
to the monopoly under which tobacco is placed
in France. — To JOSEPH FEN WICK, ii, 182.
(P., 1787.)
5458. . Of these eighty millions
[of American exports to Europe], thirty are
constituted by the single article of tobacco.
Could the whole of this be brought into the
ports of France, to satisfy its own demands,
and the residue to be revended to other na
tions, it would be a powerful link of commer
cial connection. But we are far from this.
Even her own consumption, supposed to be
nine millions, under the administration of the
monopoly to which it is farmed, enters little,
as an article of exchange, into the commerce
of the two nations. When this article was first
put into Farm, perhaps it did not injure the
commercial interests of the kingdom ; because
nothing but British manufactures were then al
lowed to be given in return for American to
baccos. The laying the trade open, then, to
all the subjects of France, would not have
relieved her from a payment in money. Cir
cumstances are changed; yet the old institu
tion remains. — To COUNT DE MONTMORIN. ii,
186. (P., 1787.)
5459. . The effect of this opera
tion was vitally felt by every farmer in Amer
ica, concerned in the culture of this plant. At
the end of the year, he found he had lost a
fourth or a third of his revenue ; the State, the
same proportion of its subjects of exchange
with other nations. The manufacturers of this
country [France], too, were either not to go
there at all, or go through the channel of a
new monopoly, which, freed from the control
of competition in prices and qualities, was not
likely to extend their consumption. It became
necessary to relieve the two countries from the
fatal effects of this double monopoly. — To
COUNT DE MONTMORIN. ii, 187. (P., 1787.)
5460. . The governments have
nothing to do, but not to hinder their mer
chants from making the exchange. — To COUNT
DE MONTMORIN. ii, 189. (P., 1787.)
5461. MONOPOLY, Western trade.—
The Ohio and its branches, which head up
against the Potomac, afford the shortest water
communication by five hundred miles of any
which can ever be got between the western
waters and Atlantic ; and, of course, promise
us almost a monopoly of the Western and
Indian trade. — To JAMES MADISON. FORD
ED., iii, 402. (A., Feb. 1784.)
5462. MONOPOLY, Whale oil.— My en
deavors for emancipating the tobacco trade
have been less successful [than have been
those with respect to whale oil]. I still con
tinue to stir, however, this and all other
articles.— To MR. OTTO, i, 559. (P., 1786.)
5463. . On the subject of the
whale fishery, I enclose you some observa
tions I drew up for the ministry here, in
order to obtain a correction of their Arret of
September last, whereby they had involved
our oils with the English, in a general ex
clusion from their ports. They will accord
ingly correct this, so that our oils will par
ticipate with theirs, in the monopoly of their
markets. — To GENERAL WASHINGTON. ii,
538. FORD ED., v, 60. (P., 1788.)
5464. . I have obtained the prom
ise of an explanatory Arret to declare that that
of September 28 [1788], was not meant to ex
tend to us. Orders are accordingly given in
the ports to receive our [oils]. This places
us on a better footing than ever, as it gives us
a monopoly of this market in conjunction with
the French fishermen. — To THOMAS PAINE, ii
549. (P., 1788.)
5465. MONROE DOCTRINE, Jefferson
and. — The question presented by the letters*
* The letters were those of Mr. Rush, our minister
at the Court of St. James's, in which he communi-
585
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Monroe Doctrine
you have sent me, is the most momentous
which has been offered to my contemplation
since that of Independence. That made us a
nation, this sets our compass and points the
course which we are to steer through the
ocean of time opening on us. And never
could we embark on it under circumstances
more auspicious. Our first and fundamental
maxim should be, never to entangle our
selves in the broils of Europe. Our second,
never to suffer Europe to intermeddle with
cis-Atlantic affairs. America, North and
South, has a set of interests distinct from
those of Europe, and peculiarly her own.
She should therefore have a system of her
own, separate and apart from that of Europe.
While the last is laboring to become the
domicile of despotism, our endeavor should
surely be, to make our hemisphere that of
freedom. One nation, most of all, could dis
turb us in this pursuit : she now offers to lead,
aid, and accompany us in it. By acceding
to her proposition, we detach her from the
bands, bring her mighty weight into the scale
of free government, and emancipate a con
tinent at one stroke, which might otherwise
linger long in doubt and difficulty. Great
Britain is the nation which can do us the
most harm of any one, or all on earth ; and
with her on our side we need not fear the
whole world. With her, then, we should
most sedulously cherish a cordial friendship;
and nothing would tend more to knit our af
fections than to be fighting once more, side
by side in the same cause. Not that I would
purchase even her amity at the price of taking
part in her wars. But the war in which the
present proposition might engage us, should
that be its consequence, is not her war, but
ours. Its object is to introduce and establish
the American system, of keeping out of our
land all foreign powers, of never permitting
those of Europe to intermeddle with the af
fairs of our nations. It is to maintain our
own principle, not to depart from it. And
if, to facilitate this, we can effect a division
in the body of the European powers, and
draw over to our side its most powerful mem
ber, surely we should do it. But I am clearly
of Mr. Canning's opinion, that, it will prevent
instead of provoke war. With Great Brit
ain withdrawn from their scale and shifted
into that of our two continents, all Europe
combined would not undertake such a war.
For how would they propose to get at either
enemy without superior fleets? Nor is the
occasion to be slighted which this proposition
offers, of declaring our protest against the
atrocious violations of the rights of nations,
by the interference of any one in the internal
affairs of another, so flagitiously begun by
Bonaparte, and now continued by the equally
cated to President Monroe the proposition of Mr.
Canning that the United States and England should
issue a joint declaration announcing that, while the
two governments desired for themselves no portion
of the Spanish-American colonies, then in revolt
against Spain, they would not view with indifference
any foreign intervention in their affairs, or their ac
quisition by a third power. The declaration was
intended to be a warning to the allied powers, Rus
sia, Prussia and Austria, the members of the Holy
Alliance.— EDITOR.
lawless Alliance, calling itself Holy. But
we have first to ask ourselves a question.
Do we wish to acquire to our own confed
eracy any one or more of the Spanish prov
inces? I candidly confess, that I have ever
looked on Cuba as the most interesting ad
dition which could ever be made to our sys
tem of States. The control which, with
Florida Point, this island would give us over
the Gulf of Mexico, and the countries and
isthmus bordering on it, as well as all those
whose waters flow into it, would fill up the
measure of our political well-being. Yet, as
I am sensible that this can never be obtained,
even with her own consent, but by war; and
its independence, which is our second inter
est (and especially its independence of Eng
land), can be secured without it. I have no
hesitation in abandoning my first wish to
future chances, and accepting its independ
ence, with peace and the friendship of Eng
land, rather than its association, at the ex
pense of war and her enmity. I could
honestly, therefore, join in the declaration
proposed, that we aim not at the acquisition
of any of those possessions, that we will not
stand in the way of any amicable arrange
ment between them and the mother country ;
but that we will oppose, with all our means,
the forcible interposition of any other power,
as auxiliary, stipendiary, or under any other
form or pretext, and most especially, their
transfer to any power by conquest, cession,
or acquisition in any other way.* I should
* The subjoined extract from President Monroe's
Message to Congress on Dec. 2d, 1823, embodies the
Monroe Doctrine:
u In the wars of European powers, in matters rela
ting to themselves, we nave never taken any part,
nor does it comport with our policy so to do. It is
only when our rights are invaded or seriously men
aced that we resent injuries or make preparations
for our defence. With the movements on this hemi
sphere we are, of necessity, more immediately con
nected, and by causes which must be obvious to all
enlightened and impartial observers. The political
system of the allied powers [the Holy Alliance] is
essentially different in this respect from that of
America. This difference proceeds from that which
exists in their respectiye governments. And to the
defence of our own, which has been achieved by the
loss of so much blood and treasure, and matured by
the wisdom of their most enlightened citizens, and
under which we have enjoyed unexampled felicity,
this whole Nation is devoted. We owe it, therefore,
to candor and to the amicable relations existing
between the United States and those powers to de
clare that we should consider any attempt on their
part to extend their system to any portion of this
hemisphere as dangerous to our peace and safety.
With the existing colonies or dependencies of any
European power we have not interfered, and shall
not interfere. But with the Governments who have
declared their independence and maintained it we
have, on great consideration and on just principles,
acknowledged, we could not view any interposition
for the purpose of oppressing them, or controlling
in any other manner their destiny, by any European
power, in any other light than as the manifestation
of an unfriendly disposition towards the United
States. Our policy in regard to Europe, which was
adopted at an early stage of the wars which have so
long agitated that quarter of the globe, nevertheless
remains the same, which is not to interfere in the
internal concerns of any of its powers ; to consider
the Government de facto as the legitimate Govern
ment for us ; to cultivate friendly relations with it,
and to preserve those relations by a frank, firm, and
manly policy ; meeting in all instances the just
claims of every power, submitting to injuries from
none. But in regard to these continents, circum
stances are eminently and conspicuously different.
It is impossible that the allied powers should extend
Monroe (James)
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
586
think it, therefore, advisable, that the Execu
tive should encourage the British govern
ment to a continuance in the dispositions
expressed in these letters, by an assurance
of his concurrence with them as far as his
authority goes; and that as it may lead to
war, the declaration of which requires an
act of Congress, the case shall be laid before
them for consideration at their first meet
ing, and under the reasonable aspect in which
it is seen by himself. I have been so long
weaned from political subjects, and have so
long ceased to take any interest in them,
that I am sensible I am not qualified to offer
opinions on them worthy of any attention.
But the question now proposed involves con
sequences so lasting, and effects so decisive
of our future destinies, as to rekindle all
the interest I have heretofore felt on such
occasions, and to induce me to the hazard of
opinions, which will prove only my wish to
contribute still my mite towards anything
which may be useful to our country.* — To
PRESIDENT MONROE, vii, 315. FORD ED., x,
277. (M., October 1823.) See POLICY.
5466. MONROE (James), Ability.—
Many points in Monroe's character would ren
der him the most valuable acquisition the re
publican interest in this Legislature [Congress]
could make. — To JOHN TAYLOR. FORD ED., vii,
322. (Pa., Jan. 1799.)
5467. . I clearly think with you
on the competence of Monroe to embrace great
views of action. The decision of his char
acter, his enterprise, firmness, industry, and
unceasing vigilance, would, I believe, secure, as
I am sure they would merit, the public confi
dence, and give us all the success which our
means can accomplish. — To WILLIAM DUANE.
vi, 81. FORD ED., ix, 368. (M., Oct. 1812.)
5468. MONROE (James), Book by.—
Your book * * * works irresistibly. It
would be very gratifying to you to hear the
unqualified eulogies both on the matter and
manner by all who are not hostile to it from
principle. — To JAMES MONROE. FORD ED., vii,
183. (Pa., Dec. 1797-)
5469. . Monroe's book is con
sidered as masterly by all those who are not
opposed in principle, and it is deemed unanswer
able. An answer, however, is commenced in
Fenno's paper, under the signature of " Scipio "
[Uriah Tracy]. The real author is not yet
their political system to any portion of either con
tinent without endangering our peace and happiness;
nor can any one believe that our Southern brethren,
if left to themselves, would adopt it of their own
accord. It is equally impossible, therefore, that we
should behold such interposition, in any form, with
indifference."— EDITOR.
* Morse, in his Life of Jefferson (p. 235), says : " It
is curious to note that in the course of this business
(navigation of Mississippi), there was already a
faint foreshadowing of that principle, which many
years afterwards was christened with the name of
Monroe. For a brief time it was thought, not with
out reason, that so soon as hostilities should break
out between England and Spain, the former power
would seize upon the North American possessions of
the latter. Jefferson wrote to Gouverneur Morris :
4 We wish you, therefore, to intimate to them (the
British ministry) that we cannot be indifferent to
enterprises of this kind. That we should contem
plate a change of neighbors with extreme uneasiness.
That a due balance on our borders is not less de
sirable to us than a balance of power in Europe has
always appeared to them'." — EDITOR.
conjectured. — To JAMES MADISON, iv, 206.
FORD ED., vii, 190. (Pa., Jan. 1798.)
5470. MONROE (James), British treaty
and. — You complain of the manner in which
the [British] treaty was received. But what
was that manner? I cannot suppose you to
have given a moment's credit to the stuff which
was crowded in all sorts of forms into the pub
lic papers, or to the thousand speeches they put
into my mouth, not a word of which I had
ever uttered. I was not insensible at the time
of the views to mischief, with which these lies
were fabricated. But my confidence was firm,
that neither yourself nor the British govern
ment, equally outraged by them, would believe
me capable of making the editors of newspapers
the confidants of my speeches or opinions. The
fact was this. The treaty was communicated
to us by Mr. Erskine on the day Congress was
to rise. Two of the senators enquired of me
in the evening, whether it was my purpose to
detain them on account of the treaty. My
answer was, " that it was not ; that the treaty
containing no provision against the impress
ment of our seamen, and being accompanied
by a kind of protestation of the British minis
ters, which would leave that government free
to consider it as a treaty or no treaty, according
to their own convenience., I should not give
them the trouble of deliberating on it ". This
was substantially, and almost verbally, what I
said whenever spoken to about it, and I never
failed when the occasion would admit of it, to
justify yourself and Mr. Pinckney, by express
ing my conviction, that it was all that could be
obtained from the British government ; that
you had told their commissioners that your
government could not be pledged to ratify, be
cause it was contrary to their instructions ; of
course, that it should be considered but as a
pro jet ; and in this light I stated it publicly
in my message to Congress on the opening of
the session. Not a single article of the treaty
was ever made known beyond the members of
the administration, nor would an article of it be
known at this day, but for its publication in
the newspapers, as communicated by somebody
from beyond the water, as we have always un
derstood. But as to myself, I can solemnly pro
test, as the most sacred of truths, that I
never, one instant, lost sight of your reputation
and favorable standing with your country, aiid
never omitted to justify your failure to attain
our wish, as one which was probably unattain
able. Reviewing, therefore, this whole sub
ject, I cannot doubt you will become sensible,
that your impressions have been without just
ground. — To JAMES MONROE, v, 254. FORD
ED., ix, 179. (W., March 1808.) See IMPRESS
MENT.
5471. MONROE (James), Confidence
in. — I have had, and still have, such entire
confidence in the late and present Presidents,
that I willingly put both soul and body into
their pockets. — To NATHANIEL MACON. vii,
in. FORD EDV x, 120. (M., 1819.)
5472. MONROE (James), Defence of.—
I should be glad to see the defence of Monroe's
conduct which you possess, though no paper of
that title is necessary to me. He was appointed
to an office during pleasure merely to get him
out of the Senate, and with an intention to seize
the first pretext for exercising the pleasure of
recalling him. * * * I think with you it
will be best to publish nothing concerning Col
onel Monroe till his return, that he may accom
modate the complexion of his publication to
times and circumstances. — To, JOHN EDWARDS.
iv, 164. FORD ED., vii, 112. (M., Jan. 1797-)
587
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Monroe (James)
5473. . I understand that the
opposite party admit that there is nothing in
your conduct which can be blamed, except the
divulging secrets ; and this, I think, might be
answered by a few sentences, discussing the
question whether an ambassador is the repre
sentative of his country or of the President. —
To JAMES MONROE. FORD ED., vii, 197. (Pa.,
Feb. 1798.)
5474. MONROE (James), Diplomatic
expenses. — Although it is not pleasant to fall
short in returning civilities, yet necessity has
rendered this so familiar in Europe as not to
lessen respect for the person whose circum
stances do not permit a return of hospitalities.
I see by your letters the pain which this situa
tion gives you, and I can estimate its acute-
ness from the generosity of. your nature. But,
my dear friend, calculate with mathematical
rigor the pain annexed to each branch of the
dilemma, and pursue that which brings the
least. To give up entertainment, and to live
with the most rigorous economy till you have
cleared yourself of every demand is a pain for
a definite time only ; but to return here with
accumulated encumbrances on you, will fill your
life with torture. We wish to do everything
for you which law and rule will permit. But
more than this would injure you as much as
us. Believing that the mission to Spain will
enable you to suspend expense greatly in Lon
don, and to apply your salary during your ab
sence to the clearing off your debt, you will
be instructed to proceed there as soon as you
shall have regulated certain points of neutral
right for us with England, or as soon as you
find nothing in that way can be done. — To
JAMES MONROE. FORD ED., viii, 288. (W., Jan.
1804.)
5475. MONROE (James), Distaste for
law. — You wish not to engage in the drudg
ery of the bar. You have two asylums from
that. Either to accept a seat in the Council,
or in the Judiciary department. The latter,
however, would require a little previous drudg
ery at the bar to qualify you to discharge your
duty with satisfaction to yourself. Neither of
these would be inconsistent with a continued
residence at Albemarle. It is but twelve
hours' drive in a sulky from Charlottesville to
Richmond, keeping a fresh horse always at
the half-way, which would be a small annual
expense. — To JAMES MONROE, ii, 71. (P.,
1786.)
5476. MONROE (James), English mis
sion. — I perceive that painful impressions
have been made on your mind during your late
mission, of which I had never entertained a
suspicion. I must, therefore, examine the
grounds, because explanations between reason
able men can never but do good. i. You con
sider the mission of Mr. Pinkney as an asso
ciate, to have been in some way injurious to
you. Were I to take that measure on myself,
I might say in its justification, that it has been
the regular and habitual practice of the United
States to do this, under every form in which
their government has existed. I need not re
capitulate the multiplied instances, because you
will readily recollect them. I went as an ad
junct to Dr. Franklin, and Mr. Adams, your
self as an adjunct first to Mr. Livingston, and
then to Mr. Pinkney, and I really believe there
has scarcely been a great occasion which has
not produced an extraordinary mission. Still,
however, it is well known that I was strongly
opposed to it in the case of which you com
plain. A committee of the Senate called on
me with two resolutions of that body, on the
subject of impressment and spoliations by
Great Britain, and requesting that I would de
mand satisfaction. After delivering the reso
lutions, the committee entered into free con
versation, and observed that although the Sen
ate could not, in form, recommend any extraor
dinary mission, yet that as individuals, there
was but one sentiment among them on the
measure, and they pressed it. I was so much
averse to it, and gave them so hard an answer,
that they felt it, and spoke of it. But it did not
end here. The members of the other House
took up the subject, and set upon me individ
ually, and these the best friends to you as
well as myself, and represented the responsi
bility which a failure to obtain redress would
throw on us both, pursuing a conduct in oppo
sition to the opinion of nearly every member
of the Legislature. I found it necessary, at
length, to yield my own opinion to the general
sense of the national council, and it really
seemed to produce a jubilee among them ; not
from any want of confidence in you, but from
a belief in the effect which an extraordinary
mission would have on the British mind, by
demonstrating the degree of importance which
this country attached to the rights which we
considered as infracted. — To JAMES MONROE
v, 253. FORD ED., ix, 178. (W., March 1808.)
5477. MONROE (James), Friendship
for. — I have ever viewed Mr. Madison and
yourself as two principal pillars of my happi
ness. Were either to be withdrawn, I should
consider it as among the greatest calamities
which could assail my future peace of mind. I
have great confidence that the candor and high
understanding of both will guard me against
this misfortune, the bare possibility of which
has so far weighed on my mind, that I could
not be easy without unburthening it.* — To
JAMES MONROE, v, 248. FORD ED., ix, 178.
(W., Feb. 1808.)
5478. MONROE (James), Leaves Con
gress. — I look forward with anxiety to the
approaching moment of your departure from
Congress. Besides the interest of the Con
federacy and of the State, I have a personal
interest in it. I know not to whom I may ven
ture confidential communications after you are
gone. — To JAMES MONROE, i, 607. FORD ED
iv, 265. (P., 1786.)
5479. . I regret your departure
[from Congress]. I feel, too, the want of a
person there to whose discretion I can trust
confidential communications, and on whose
friendship I can rely against the designs of
malevolence. — To JAMES MONROE, ii 70 CP
1786.)
5480. MONROE (James), Louisiana
purchase. — I find our opposition is very
willing to pluck feathers from Monroe [on the
acquisition of Louisiana], although not fond of
sticking them into Livingston's coat. The
truth is, both have a just portion of merit ; and
were it necessary or proper, it could be shown
that each has rendered peculiar services, and
of important value. — To GENERAL HORATIO
GATES. iv, 495. FORD ED., viii, 249. (W.,
July 1803.) See LOUISIANA.
5481. MONROE (James), Madison and.
— I had * * a frank conversation with
Colonel Monroe. * * * I reminded him
that in the letter I wrote to him while in Eu-
* From a letter concerning the Presidential contest
and his neutrality in the struggle for the nomination.
—EDITOR.
Monroe (James)
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
588
rope, proposing the government of Orleans, I
also suggested that of Louisiana, if fears for
health should be opposed to the other. I said
something on the importance of the post, its
advantages, &c. — expressed my regret at the
curtain which seemed to be drawn between him
and his best friends, and my wish to see his
talents and integrity engaged in the service
of his country again, and that his going into
any post would be a signal of reconciliation,
on which the body of republicans, who la
mented his absence from the public service,
would again rally to him. * * * The sum
of his answers was, that to accept of that office
was incompatible with the respect he owed
himself ; that he never would act in any office
where he should be subordinate to anybody but
the President himself, or which did not place
his responsibility substantially with the Presi
dent and the nation ; that at your accession to
the chair, he would have accepted a place in the
cabinet, and would have exerted his endeavors
most faithfully in support of your fame and
measures : that he is not unready to serve the
public, and especially in the case of any diffi
cult crisis in our affairs ; that he is satisfied
that such is the deadly hatred of both France
and England, and such their self-reproach and
dread at the spectacle of such a government as
ours, that they will spare nothing to destroy it ;
that nothing but a firm union among the whole
body of republicans can save it, and, therefore,
that no schism should be indulged on any
ground ; that in his present situation, he is
sincere in his anxieties for the success of the
Administration, and in his support of it as far
as the limited sphere of his action or influence
extends ; that his influence to this end had been
used with those with whom the world had as
cribed to him an interest he did not possess, un
til, whatever it was, it was lost (he particularly
named J. Randolph, who, he said, had plans of
his own, on which he took no advice) ; and that
he was now pursuing what he believed his
properest occupation, devoting his whole time
and faculties to the liberation of his pecuniary
embarrassments, which, three years of close
attention, he hoped, would effect. In order to
know more exactly what were the kinds of
employ he would accept, I adverted to the in
formation of the papers, * * * that Gen
eral Hampton was dead, but observed that the
military life in our present state, offered noth
ing which could operate on the principle of
patriotism ; he said he would sooner be shot
than take a command under Wilkinson.
* * * On the whole, I conclude he would
accept a place in the cabinet, or a military
command dependent on the Executive alone,
and I rather suppose a diplomatic mission, be
cause it would fall within the scope of his views,
and not because he said so, for no allusion was
made to anything of that kind in our conversa
tion. Everything from him breathed the purest
patriotism, involving, however, a close attention
to his own honor and grade. He expressed
himself with the utmost devotion to the in
terests of our own country, and I am satisfied
he will pursue them with honor and zeal in any
character in which he shall be willing to act. —
To PRESIDENT MADISON, v, 481. FORD ED.,
ix, 265. (M., Nov. 1809.)
5482. MONROE (James), Mission to
Trance.— The fever into which the western
mind is thrown by the affair at New Orleans
[suspension of right of deposit], stimulated by
the mercantile and generally the federal inter
ests, threatens to overbear our peace. In this
situation we are obliged to call on you for a
temporary sacrifice of yourself, to prevent this
greatest of evils in the present prosperous tide
of our affairs. I shall to-morrow nominate you
to the Senate for an extraordinary mission to
France, and the circumstances are such as to
render it impossible to decline ; because the
whole public hope will be vested on you. — To
JAMES MONROE. FORD ED., viii, 188. (W., Jan.
10, 1803.)
5483. . You possess the un
limited confidence of the Administration, and
of the western people ; and generally of the re
publicans everywhere ; and were you to refuse
to go, no other man can be found who does this.
* * * All eyes, all hopes, are now fixed on
you ; and were you to decline, the chagrin would
be universal, and would shake under your feet
the high ground on which you stand with the
public. Indeed, I know nothing which would
produce such a shock, for on the event of this
mission depend the future destinies of this re
public. If we cannot, by a purchase of the
country, ensure to ourselves a course of per
petual peace and friendship with all nations,
then, as war cannot be distant, it behooves us
immediately to be preparing for that course,
without, however, hastening it ; and it may be
necessary (on your failure on the continent)
to cross the channel. We shall get entangled
in European politics, and figuring more, be
much less happy and prosperous. This can
only be prevented by a successful issue to
your present mission. I am sensible after the
measures you have taken for getting into a
different line of business, that it will be a great
sacrifice on your part, and presents from the
season and other circumstances serious diffi
culties. But some men are born for the pub
lic. Nature by fitting them for the service of
the human race on a broad scale, has stamped
them with the evidences of her destination and
their duty. — To JAMES MONROE, vi, 454. FORD
ED., iv, 190. (W., Jan. 1803.) See LOUIS
IANA.
5484. MONROE (James), Orleans gov
ernorship. — When mentioning your going to
New Orleans [as Governor], and that the salary
there would not increase the ease of your situ
ation, I meant to have added that the only con
siderations which might make it eligible to you
were the facility of getting there the richest
land in the world, the extraordinary profitable
ness of its culture, and that the removal of
your slaves there might immediately put you
under way. — To JAMES MONROE. FORD ED.,
viii, 290. (W., Jan. 1804.)
5485. . I wish you were here at
present, to take your choice of the two govern
ments of Orleans and Louisiana, in either of
which I could now place you; and I verily be
lieve it would be to your advantage to be just
that much withdrawn from the focus of the
ensuing contest, until its event should be known.
— To JAMES MONROE, v, n. FORD ED., viii,
448. (W., May 1806.)
5486. . The government of New
Orleans is still without such a head as I wish.
The salary of five thousand dollars is too small ;
but I am assured the Orleans Legislature would
make it adequate, would you accept it. It is the
second office in the United States in import
ance, and I am still in hopes you will accept it.
It is impossible to let you stay at home while
the public has so much need of talents. — To
JAMES MONROE, v, 54. FORD ED., ix, 37. (W.,
March 1807.)
5487. MONROE (James), President.—
Nor is the election of Monroe an inefficient
589
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Monroe (James)
circumstance in our felicities. Four and
twenty years, which he will accomplish, of ad
ministration in republican forms and princi
ples, will so consecrate them in the eyes of the
people as to secure them against the danger of
change. — To MARQUIS LAFAYETTE, vii, 67.
FORD ED., x, 84. (M., 1817.)
5488. . I had had great hopes
that while in your present office you would break
up the degrading practice of considering the
President's house as a general tavern, and
economize sufficiently to come out of it clear of
difficulties. I learn the contrary with great re
gret. — To JAMES MONROE. FORD ED., x, 246.
(M., 1823.)
5489. MONROE (James), Presidential
contest. — I had intended to have written you
to counteract the wicked efforts which the
federal papers are making to sow tares between
you and me, as if I were lending a hand to
measures unfriendly to any views which our
country might entertain respecting you. But I
have not done it, because I have before assured
you that a sense of duty, as well as of delicacy,
would prevent me from ever expressing a
sentiment on the subject, and that I think you
know me well enough to be assured I shall con
scientiously observe the line of conduct I
profess. — To JAMES MONROE, v, 82. (W.,
May 1807.)
5490. . I cannot, indeed, judge
what falsehoods may have been written or
told you ; and that, under such forms as to com
mand belief. But you will soon find that so
inveterate is the rancor of party spirit among
us, that nothing ought to be credited but what
we hear with our own ears. If you are less
on your guard than we are here, at this moment,
the designs of the mischief-makers will not fail
to be accomplished, and brethren and friends
will be made strangers and enemies to each
other, without ever having said or thought a
thing amiss of each other. I presume that the
most insidious falsehoods are daily carried to
you, as they are brought to me, to engage us
in the passions of our informers, and stated so
positively and plausibly as to make even doubt
a rudeness to the narrator ; who, imposed on
himself, has no other than the friendly view of
putting us on our guard. My answer is, in
variably, that my knowledge of your character
is better testimony to me of a negative, than
an affirmative which my informant did not
hear from yourself, with his own ears. In fact,
when you shall have been a little longer among
us,* you will find that little is to be believed
which interests the prevailing passions, and hap
pens beyond the limits of our own senses. Let
us not, then, my dear friend, embark our happi
ness and our affections on the ocean of slander,
of falsehood and of malice, on which our credu
lous friends are floating. If you have been
made to believe that I ever did, said, or thought
a thing unfriendly to your fame and feelings,
you do me injury as causeless as, it is afflicting
to me. — To JAMES MONROE, v, 255. FORD ED.,
ix, 180. (W., March 1808.)
5491. . In the present contest in
which you are concerned, I feel no passion, I
take no part, I express no sentiment. Which
ever of my friends is called to the supreme
cares of the nation, I know that they will be
wisely and faithfully administered, and as far
as my individual conduct can influence, they
shall be cordially supported. For myself I
have nothing further to ask of the world, than
* Monroe had just returned from Europe.— EDITOR.
to preserve in retirement so much of their es
teem as I may have fairly earned, and to be
permitted to pass in tranquillity, in the bosom
of my family and friends, the days which yet
remain for me. Having reached the harbor my
self, I shall view with anxiety (but certainly
not with a wish to be in their place) those who
are still buffeting the storm, uncertain of their
fate. — To JAMES MONROE, v, 255. FORD ED.,
ix, 181. (W., March 1808.) See MADISON.
5492. MONROE (James), Purity of.—
He is a man whose soul might be turned wrong
side outwards, without discovering a blemish
to the world. — To W. T. FRANKLIN, i, 555.
(P., 1786.)
5493. MONROE (James), Randolph
and. — One popular paper is endeavoring to
maintain equivocal ground ; approving the ad
ministration in all its proceedings, and Mr.
[John] Randolph in all those which have here
tofore merited approbation, carefully avoiding
to mention his late aberration. The ultimate
view of this paper is friendly to you ; and the
editor, with more judgment than him who as
sumes to be at the head of your friends, sees
that the ground of opposition to the administra
tion is not that on which it would be advan
tageous to you to be planted. The great body
of your friends are among the firmest adherents
to the administration ; and in their support of
you, will suffer Mr. Randolph to have no com
munications with them. * * * But it is
unfortunate for you to be embarrassed with such
a soi-disant friend. You must not commit your
self to him. — To JAMES MONROE, v, 10. FORD
ED., viii, 448. (W., May 1806.)
5494. MONROE (James), Recall from
Trance. — I should not wonder if Monroe
were •* * * recalled [from France], under
the idea of his being of the partisans of
France, whom the President [Washington] con
siders as the partisans of war and confusion,
* * * and as disposed to excite them to
hostile measures, or at least to unfriendly sen
timents ; a most infatuated blindness to the true
character of the sentiments entertained in
favor of France. — To W. B. GILES, iv, 127.
FORD ED., vii, 44. (M., Dec. 1795.)
5495. MONROE (James), Republican
ism of. — I know them both [Mr. Madison
and Mr. Monroe] to be of principles as truly
republican as any men living. — To THOMAS
RITCHIE, vii, 191. FORD ED., x, 170. (M.,
1820.)
5496. MONROE (James), Secretary of
State. — Although I may not have been among
the first, I am certainly with the sincerest, who
congratulate you on your entrance into the
national councils. Your value there has never
been unduly estimated by those whom personal
feelings did not misguide. — To JAMES MONROE.
v, 597. FORD ED., ix, 323. (M., May 1811.)
5497. MONROE (James), Selection of a
home. — On my return from the South of
France, I shall send you * * * a plan of
your house. I wish to heaven you may con
tinue in the disposition to fix it in Albemarle.
Short will establish himself there, and perhaps
Madison may be tempted to do so. This will be
society enough, and it will be the great sweet
ener of our lives. Without society, and a so
ciety to our taste, men are never contented.
The one here supposed, we can regulate to our
minds, and we may extend our regulations to
the sumptuary department so as to set a good
Monroe (James)
Monticello
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
590
example to a country which needs it, and to
preserve our own happiness clear of embarrass
ment. * * * I am in hopes that Mrs. Mon
roe will have, in her domestic cares, occupation
and pleasure sufficient to fill her time and in
sure her against the tedium vita; that she
will find that the distractions of a town and the
waste of life under these can bear no compari
son with the tranquil happiness of domestic
life. If her own experience has not yet taught
her this truth, she has in its favor the testi
mony of one who has gone through the various
scenes of business, of bustle, of office, of ram
bling and of quiet retirement and who can as
sure her that the latter is the one point upon
which the mind can settle at rest. Though
not clear of inquietudes, because no earthly
situation is so, they are fewer in number and
mixed with more objects of contentment than
in any other mode of life. — To JAMES MONROE.
ii, 71. (P., 1786.)
5498. . I had entertained hopes
of your settling in my neighborhood ; but these
were determined by your desiring a plan of a
house for Richmond. However reluctantly I
relinquish this prospect, I shall not the less
readily obey your commands by sending you a
plan. — To JAMES MONROE, i, 564. FORD ED.,
iv, 220. (P., 1786.)
5499. MONROE (James), Slanderous
attack on. — I have reason to believe they are
preparing a batch of small stuff, such as re
fusing to drink General Washington's health,
speaking ill of him, and the government, with
drawing civilities from those attached to him,
countenancing Paine, to which they add con
nivance at the equipment of privateers by
Americans. * * * We are of opinion here
that Dr. Edward's certificate * * ; should
be reserved to repel these slanders — To JAMES
MONROE. FORD ED., vii, 232. (Pa., April 1798.)
5500. . I have had a consulta
tion with Mr. Dawson on the matter respect
ing Skipwith. We have neither of us the least
hesitation, on a view of the ground, to pro
nounce against your coming forward in it at
all. Your name would be the watchword of
party at this moment, and the question would
give opportunities of slander, personal hatred,
and injustice, the effect of which on the justice
of the case cannot be calculated. Let it, there
fore, come forward in Skipwith's name, with
out your appearing even to know of it. * * *
I do not think "Scipio " worth your notice.
* * * Your narrative and letters, wherever
they are read, produce irresistible conviction,
and cannot be attacked but by a contradiction
of facts, on which they do not venture. — To
JAMES MONROE. FORD ED., vii, 232. (Pa.,
April 1798.)
5501. . You will have seen,
among numerous addresses £to the President]
and answers, one from Lancaster in Pennsyl
vania, and its answer ; the latter travelling out
of the topics of the address altogether to
mention you in a most injurious manner. Your
feelings have no doubt been much irritated by
it, as in truth it had all the characters necessary
to produce irritation. What notice you should
take of it, is difficult to say. But there is one
step in which two or three with whom I have
spoken concur with me, that feeble as the hand
is from which this shaft is thrown, yet with a
great mass of our citizens, strangers to the lead
ing traits of the character from which it came,
it will have considerable effect ; and that in
order to replace yourself on the high ground
you are entitled to, it is absolutely necessary
that you should reappear on the public theatre,
and take an independent stand, from which you
can be seen and known to your fellow citizens.
The House of Representatives appears the only
place which can answer this end, as the pro
ceedings of the other House are too obscure.
Cabell has said he would give way to you,
should you choose to come in, and I really
think it would be expedient for yourself as well
as the public, that you should not wait until
another election, but come to the next session.
No interval should be admitted between this last
attack of enmity and your reappearance with
the approving voice of your constituents, and
your taking a commanding attitude. * * *
If this be done, I should think it best that you
take no notice at all of the answer. — To JAMES
MONROE, iv, 242. FORD ED., vii, 257. (Pa.,
May 1798.)
5502. MONTESQUIEU (Baron), Au
thor. — The history of Montesquieu's " Spirit
of Laws " is well known. He had been a great
reader, and had commonplaced everything he
read. At length he wished to undertake some
work into which he could bring his whole com
monplace book in a digested form. He fixed
on the subject of his "Spirit of Laws", and
wrote the book. He consulted his friend
Helvetius about publishing it, who strongly dis
suaded it. He published it, however, and the
world did not confirm Helvetius's opinion. —
To WILLIAM DUANE. v, 535. (M., 1810.)
5503. . Every man who reflects
as he reads, has considered it as a book of
paradoxes ; having, indeed, much of truth and
sound principle, but abounding also with incon
sistencies, apocryphal facts and false infer
ences. — To WILLIAM DUANE. v, 535. (M.,
1810.)
5504. . I had, with the world,
deemed Montesquieu's work of much merit ;
but saw in it, with every thinking man, so much
of paradox, of false principle and misapplied
fact, as to render its value equivocal on the
whole. Williams and others had nibbled only
at its errors. A radical correction of them,
therefore, was a great desideratum. This want
is now supplied, and with a depth of thought,
precision of idea, of language and of logic,
which will force conviction into every mind.
I declare to you, in the spirit of truth and sin
cerity, that I consider it the most precious gilt
the present age has received. But what would
it have been, had the author, or would the au
thor, take up the whole scheme of Montesquieu's
work, and following the correct analysis he has
here developed, fill up all its parts according
to his sound views of them. Montesquieu's
celebrity would be but a small portion of that
which would immortalize the author. — To
M. DESTUTT TRACY, v, 566. FORD ED., ix, 305.
(M., 1811.)
5505. MONTESQUIEU (Baron), Mon
archist. — I am glad to hear of everything
which reduces Montesquieu to his just level,
as his predilection for monarchy, and the
English monarchy in particular, has done mis
chief everywhere. — To WILLIAM DUANE. v,
539. (M., 1810.)
5506. MONTICELLO, Beauties of .—And
our own dear Monticello : where has nature
spread so rich a mantle under the eye?
Mountains, forests, rocks, rivers ! With what
majesty do we there ride above the storms !
How sublime to look down into the workhouse
of nature, to see her clouds, hail, snow, rain,
thunder, all fabricated at our feet ! And the
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Monticello
Mural Sense
glorious sun when rising, as if out of a dis
tant water, just gilding the tops of the moun
tains, and giving life to all nature!* — To MRS.
COSWAY. ii, 35- FORD ED., iv, 315. (P., 1786.)
See MIRAGE.
5507. MONTICELLO, Guests at.— You
know our practice of placing our guests at
their ease, by showing them we are so ourselves
and that we follow our necessary vocations, in
stead of fatiguing them by hanging unremit
tingly on their shoulders. — To FRANCIS W.
GILMER. vii, 5. (1816.)
6508. MONTICELLO, Becollections of.
—All my wishes end, where I hope my days
will end, at Monticello. Too many scenes of
happiness mingle themselves with all the recol
lections of my native woods and fields, to suffer
them to be supplanted in my affection by any
other. — To DR. GEORGE GILMER. ii, 243.
FORD ED., iv, 436. (P., 1787.)
5509. MONTMOBIN (Count), Honest.
— I am pleased with Montmorin. His honesty
proceeds from the heart as well as the head,
and therefore may be more securely counted
on. — To JAMES MADISON, ii, 153. FORD ED., iv,
393. (P., 1787.)
50 1O. MONTMOBIN (Count), Modest.—
I am extremely pleased with his modesty, the
simplicity of his manners, and his dispositions
towards us. I promise myself a great deal of
satisfaction in doing business with him. — To
MARQUIS DE LAFAYETTE, ii, 131. (P., 1787.)
5511. MONTMOBIN (Count), Weak
but worthy. — Montmorin is weak, though a
most worthy character. He is indolent and
inattentive, too, in the extreme. — To JAMES
MADISON, ii, 444. FORD ED., v, 43. (P., 1788.)
— MOON. — See LATITUDE AND LONGITUDE.
5512. MOBAL LAW, Evidence of.—
Man has been subjected by his Creator to the
moral law, of which his feelings, or conscience
as it is sometimes called, are the evidence with
which his Creator has furnished him. — OPINION
ON FRENCH TREATIES, vii, 613. FORD ED., vi,
220. (1793-)
5513. MOBAL LAW, Nations and.—
The moral duties which exist between individ
ual and individual in a state of nature, accom
pany them into a state of society, and the ag
gregate of the duties of all the individuals
composing the society constitutes the duties of
that society towards any other ; so that between
society and society the same moral duties exist
as did between the individuals composing them
while in an unassociated state, their Maker not
having released them from those duties on
• With the cares and delights of his family, his
books and his farm, he mingled the gratification of
his devotion to the Fine Arts, particularly architec
ture. He superintended [in 1781-2! the construction
of his elegant mansion, which had been commenced
some years before, and was already in a habitable
condition. The plan of the building was entirely
original in this country. He had drawn it himself
from books, with a view to improve the architecture
of his countrymen, by introducing an example of
the tastes and arts of Europe. The original design
of the structure, which was executed before his
travels in Europe had supplied him with any models,
is allowed by European travelers to have been in
finitely superior, in taste and convenience, to that
of any other h9use in America. The fame of the
Monticellean philosopher having already spread over
Europe, his hospitable seat was made the resort of
scientific adventurers, and of dignified travelers
from many parts of that continent. — RAYNER s Life
of Jefferson ) p. 221.
their forming themselves into a nation. — OPIN
ION ON FRENCH TREATIES, vii, 613. FORD ED.,
vi, 220. (1793-)
5514. MOBAL SENSE, Innate.— I think
it is lost time to attend lectures on moral
philosophy. He who made us would have been
a pitiful bungler, if He had made the rules of
our moral conduct a matter of science. For
r.ie man of science, there are thousands who
are not. What would have become of them ?
Man was destined for society. His morality,
therefore, was to be formed to this object. He
was endowed with a sense of right and wrong,
merely relative to this. This sense is as much
a part of his nature, as the sense of hearing,
seeing, feeling ; it is the true foundation of
morality, and not the TO Kakov , truth, &c., as
fanciful writers have imagined. The moral
sense, or conscience, is as much a part of man
as his leg or arm. It is given to all human
beings in a stronger or weaker degree, as force
of members is given them in a greater or less
degree. It may be strengthened by exercise,
as may any particular limb of the body. This
sense is submitted, indeed, in some degree, to
the guidance of reason ; but it is a small stock
which is required for this ; even a less one than
what we call common sense. State a moral
case to a plowman and a professor. The former
will decide it as well and often better than the
latter, because he has not been led astray by
artificial rules. In this branch, therefore, read
good books, because they will encourage as well
as direct your feelings. The writings of Sterne,
particularly, form the best course of morality
that ever was written. Lose no occasion of
exercising your dispositions ,to be grateful, to
be generous, to be charitable, to be humane,
to be true, just, firm, orderly, courageous, &c.
Consider every act of this kind as an exercise
which will strengthen your moral faculties, and
increase your worth. — To PETER CARR. ii, 238.
FORD ED., iv, 428. (P., 1787.)
5515. . I sincerely believe in the
general existence of a moral instinct. I think
it the brighest gem with which the human char
acter is studded, and the want of it as more
degrading than the most hideous of the bodily
deformities. — To THOMAS LAW. vi, 351. (M.,
1814.)
5516. . I believe * * * that
the moral sense is as much a part of our con
stitution as that of feeling, seeing, or hearing ;
as a wise Creator must have seen to be neces
sary in an animal destined to live in society. —
To JOHN ADAMS, vii, 39. (M., 1816.)
5517. . The moral sense [is] the
first excellence of well-organized man. — To
JOHN ADAMS, vii, 275. (M., 1823.)
5518. MOBAL SENSE, Utility and.—
Some have argued against the existence of a
moral sense, by saying that if nature had given
us such a sense, impelling us to virtuous actions,
and warning us against those which are vicious,
then nature would also have designated, by
some particular earmarks, the two sets of ac
tions which are, in themselves, the one virtuous
and the other vicious. Whereas, we find, in
fact, that the same actions are deemed virtuous
in one country and vicious in another. The
answer is that nature has constituted utility to
man the standard and test of virtue. Men liv
ing in different countries, under different cir
cumstances, different habits and regimens, may
have different utilities ; the same act, therefore,
may be useful, and consequently virtuous in one
country which is injurious and vicious in an-
Moral Sense
Morality
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
592
other differently circumstanced. — To THOMAS
LAW. vi, 351. (M., 1814.)
5519. MORAL SENSE, Want of.— The
Creator would, indeed, have been a bungling
artist, had He intended man for a social ani
mal, without planting in him social disposi
tions. It is true that they are not planted in
every man, because there is no rule without
exceptions ; but it is false reasoning which con
verts exceptions into the general rule. Some
men are born without the organs of sight, or of
hearing, or without hands. Yet it would be
wrong to say that man is born without these
faculties, and sight, hearing, and hands may
with truth enter into the general definition of
man. The want or imperfection of the moral
sense in some men, like the want or imperfec
tion of the senses of sight and hearing in
others, is no proof that it is a general char
acteristic of the species. — To THOMAS LAW.
vi, 350. (M., 1814.)
5520. . When the moral sense
is wanting, we endeavor to supply the defect
by education, by appeals to reason and calcula
tion, by presenting to the being so unhappily
conformed, other motives to do good and to es
chew evil, such as the love, or the hatred, or
the rejection of those among whom he lives, and
whose society is necessary to his happiness and
even existence ; demonstrations by sound cal
culation that honesty promotes interest in the
long run ; the rewards and penalties established
by the laws ; and ultimately the prospects of a
future state of retribution for the evil as well as
the good done while here. These are the
correctives which are 'supplied by education, and
which exercise the functions of the moralist, the
preacher, and legislator; and they lead into a
course of correct action all those whose de
pravity is not too profound to be eradicated. —
To THOMAS LAW. vi, 350. (M., 1814.)
5521. MORALITY, Code of.— I know
but one code of morality for men, whether act
ing singly or collectively. He who says I will
be a rogue when I act in company with a hun
dred others, but an honest man when I act
alone, will be believed in the former assertion,
but not in the latter. I would say with the
poet, " hie niger est, hunc tu Romane cavato ".
If the morality of one man produces a just line
of conduct in him, acting individually, why
should not the morality of one hundred men
produce a just line of conduct in them, acting
together? — To JAMES MADISON, iii, 99. FORD
ED., v, in. (P., 1789.)
5522. . I never did, or counte
nanced, in public life, a single act inconsistent
with the strictest good faith ; having never be
lieved there was one code of morality for a
public, and another for a private man. — To
DON VALENTINE DE FERONDA. v, 475. FORD
ED., ix, 260. (M., 1809.)
5523. MORALITY, Foundations of.— It
is really curious that on a question so funda
mental, such a variety of opinions should have
prevailed among men, and those, too, of the
most exemplary virtue and first order of under
standing. It shows how necessary was the
care of the Creator in making the moral prin
ciple so much a part of our constitution as that
no errors of reasoning or of speculation might
lead us astray from its observance in practice.
Of all the theories on this question, the most
whimsical seems to have been that of Wollas-
ton, who considers truth as the foundation of
morality. The thief who steals your guinea
does wrong only inasmuch as he acts a lie in
using your guinea as if it were his own. Truth
is certainly a branch of morality, and a very
important one to society. But presented as its
foundation, it is as if a tree taken up by the
roots, had its stem reversed in the air, and one
of its branches planted in the ground. — To
THOMAS LAW. vi, 348. (M., 1814.)
5524. . Some have made the
love of God the foundation of morality. This,
too, is but a branch of our moral duties, which
are generally divided into duties to God and
duties to man. If we did a good act merely
from the love of God and a belief that it is
pleasing to Him, whence arises the morality of
the atheist? It is idle to say, as some do, that
no such Being exists. We have the same evi
dence of the fact as of most of those we act on,
to wit their own affirmations, and their rea
sonings in support of them. I have observed,
indeed, generally that while in Protestant coun
tries the defections from the Platonic Chris
tianity of the priests is to Deism, in Catholic
countries they are to Atheism. Diderot,
D'Alembert, D'Holbach, Condorcet, are known
to have been among the most virtuous of men.
Their virtue, then, must have had some other
foundation than the love of God. — To THOMAS
LAW. vi, 348. (M., 1814.)
5525. . The To Kahov of others
is founded in a different faculty, that of taste,
which is not even a branch of morality. We
have, indeed, an innate sense of what we call
the beautiful, but that is exercised chiefly on
subjects addressed to the fancy, whether
through the eye in visible forms, as landscape,
animal figure, dress, drapery, architecture, the
composition of colors, &c., or to the imagina
tion directly, as imagery, style, or measure in
prose or poetry, or whatever constitutes the
domain of criticism or taste, a faculty entirely
distinct from the moral one. — To THOMAS LAW.
vi, 349. (M., 1814.)
5526. . Self-interest, or rather
self-love, or egoism, has been more plausibly sub
stituted as the basis of morality. But I consider
our relations with others as constituting the
boundaries of morality. With ourselves we stand
on the ground of identity, not of relation, which
last, requiring two subjects, excludes self-love
confined to a single one. To ourselves, in
strict language, we can owe no duties, obliga
tion requiring also two parties. Self-love,
therefore, is no part of morality. Indeed it
is exactly its counterpart. It is the sole an
tagonist of virtue, leading us constantly by
our propensities to self-gratification in violation
of our moral duties to others. Accordingly, it
is against this enemy that are erected the bat
teries of moralists and religionists, as the only
obstacle to the practice of morality. Take from
man his selfish propensities, and he can have
nothing to seduce him from the practice of
virtue. Or subdue those propensities by edu
cation, instruction, or restraint, and virtue re
mains without a competitor. — To THOMAS LAW.
vi, 349. (M., 1814.)
5527. . Egoism in a broader
sense, has been thus presented as the source
of moral action. It has been said that we feed
the hungry, clothe the naked, bind up the
wounds of the man beaten by thieves, pour oil
and wine into them, set him on our own beast
and bring him to the inn, because we receive
ourselves pleasure from these acts. So Helve-
tius, one of the best men on earth, and the most
ingenious advocate of this principle, after de
fining " interest " to mean not merely that which
is pecuniary, but whatever may procure us
593
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Morality
pleasure, or withdraw us from pain (De I'Es-
prit 2, i), says (ib. 2, 2), " the humane man
is he to whom the sight of misfortune is in
supportable, and who to rescue himself from
this spectacle, is forced to succor the unfortu
nate object". This, indeed, is true. But it
is one step short of the ultimate question.
These good acts give us pleasure, but how hap
pens it that they give us pleasure? Because
nature hath implanted in our breasts a love of
others, a sense of duty to them, a moral in
stinct, in short, which prompts us irresistibly to
feel and to succor their distresses, and pro
tests against the language of Helvetius (ib. 2,
5), "what other motive than self-interest could
determine a man to generous actions? It is as
impossible for him to love what is good for the
sake of good, as to love evil for the sake of
evil". — To THOMAS LAW. vi, 349. (M., 1814.)
5528. . God has formed us
moral agents. Not that, in the perfection of
His state, He can feel pain or pleasure in
anything we may do ; He is far above our
power ; but that we may promote the happiness
of those with whom He has placed us in soci
ety, by acting honestly towards all, benevolently
to those who fall within our way, respecting
sacredly their rights, bodily and mental, and
cherishing especially their freedom of con
science, as we value our own. — To MILES KING.
vi, 388. (M., 1814.)
5529. MORALITY, Religion and.—
Reading, reflection and time have convinced me
that the interests of society require the obser
vation of those moral precepts only in which
all religions agree (for all forbid us to steal,
murder, plunder, or bear false witness), and
that we should not intermeddle with the par
ticular dogmas in which all religions differ, and
which are totally unconnected with morality.
In all of them we see good men, and as many
in one as another. The varieties in the struc
ture and action of the human mind as in those
of the body, are the work of our Creator,
against which it cannot be a religious duty to
erect the standard of uniformity. The prac
tice of morality being necessary for the well-
being of society, he has taken care to impress
its precepts so indelibly on our hearts that
they shall not be effaced by the subtleties of
our brain. We all agree in the obligation of the
moral precepts of Jesus, and nowhere will they
be found delivered in greater purity than in His
discourses. It is, then, a matter of principle
with me to avoid disturbing the tranquillity of
others by the expression of any opinion on the
innocent questions on which we schismatize. —
To JAMES FISHBACK. v, 471. (M., 1809.)
5530. . In that branch of re
ligion which regards the moralities of life, and
the duties of a social being, which teaches us to
love our neighbors as ourselves, and to do good
to all men, I am sure that you and I do not
differ. — To EZRA STILES, vii, 127. (M., 1819.)
5531. MORALITY, Sublimest system
°*- — There never was a more pure and sub
lime system of morality delivered to man than
is to be found in the four Evangelists. — To SAM
UEL GREENHOW. vi, 309. (M., 1814.)
5532. . i know nothing more
moral, more sublime, more worthy of your
preservation than David's description of the
good man, in isth Psalm.— To ISAAC ENGLE-
BRECHT. vii, 337. (M., 1824.)
5533. MORALITY (National), Aban
donment of.— It was not expected in this
age, that nations so honorably distinguished by
their advances in science and civilization, would
suddenly cast away the esteem they had merited
from the world, and, revolting from the empire
of morality, assume a character in history,
which all the tears of their posterity will never
wash from its pages. — REPLY TO ADDRESS, viii,
128. (1808.)
5534. . It has been peculiarly
unfortunate for us, personally, that the portion
in the history of mankind, at which we were
called to take a share in the direction of their
affairs, was such an one as history has never
before presented. At any other period, the
even-handed justice we have observed towards
all nations, the efforts we have made to merit
their esteem by every act which candor or
liberality could exercise, would have preserved
our peace, and secured the unqualified confi
dence of all other nations in our faith and
probity. But the hurricane which is now blast
ing the world, physical and moral, has pros
trated all the mounds of reason as well as right.
All those calculations which, at any other
period, would have been deemed honorable, of
the existence of a moral sense in man, individ
ually or associated, of the connection which the
laws of nature have established between his
duties and his interests, of a regard for honest
fame and the esteem of our fellow men, have
been a matter of reproach on us, as evidences
of imbecility. As if it could be a folly for an
honest man to suppose that another could be
honest also, when it is their interest to be so.
And when is this state of things to end? The
death of Bonaparte would, to be sure, re
move the first and chiefest apostle of the deso
lation of men and morals, and might withdraw
the scourge of the land. But what is to restore
order and safety on the ocean? The death of
George III. ? Not at all. He is only stupid ;
and his ministers, however weak and profligate
in morals, are ephemeral. But his nation is
permanent, and it is that which is the tyrant
of the ocean. The principle that force is right,
is become the principle of the nation itself.
They would not permit an honest minister, were
accident to bring such an one into power, to
relax their system of lawless piracy. These
were the difficulties when I was with you. I
know they are not lessened, and I pity you. —
To CAESAR A. RODNEY, v, 500. FORD ED., ix,
271. (M., Feb. 1810.)
5535. MORALITY (National), Extinc
tion of. — There are three epochs in history,
signalized by the total extinction of national
morality. The first was of the successors of
Alexander, not omitting himself. The next,
the successors of the first Caesar. The third,
our own age. This was begun by the partition
of Poland, followed by that of the treaty of
Pilnitz ; next the conflagration of Copenhagen ;
then the enormities of Bonaparte, partitioning
the earth at his will, and devastating it with
fire and sword ; now the conspiracy of Kings,
the successors of Bonaparte, blasphemously call
ing themselves the Holy Alliance, and treading
in the footsteps of their incarcerated leader ; not
yet indeed usurping the government of other
nations, avowedly and in detail, but controlling
by their armies the forms in which they will
permit them to be governed ; and reserving, in
petto, the order and extent of the usurpations
further meditated. — AUTOBIOGRAPHY, i, 102.
FORD ED., i, 141. (1821.)
5536. MORALITY (National), Govern
ments and. — Your ideas of the moral obliga
tions of governments are perfectly correct.
The man who is dishonest as a statesman would
Morality
Moreau (Gen. J. Victor)
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
594
be a dishonest man in any station. It is
strangely absurd to suppose that a million of
human beings, collected together, are not under
the same moral laws which bind each of them
separately. — To GEORGE LOGAN. FORD ED., x,
68. (P.F., Nov. 1816.)
5537. . Moral duties are as ob
ligatory on nations as on individuals.* — THE
ANAS. FORD ED., i, 332. (1808.)
5538. MORALITY (National), Progress
in.— The eighteenth century certainly wit
nessed the sciences and arts, manners and
morals, advanced to a higher degree than the
world had ever before seen. And might we
not go back to the era of the Borgias, by which
time the barbarous ages had reduced national
morality to its lowest point of depravity, and
observe that the arts and sciences, rising from
that point, advanced gradually through all the
sixteenth, seventeenth and eighteenth centuries,
softening and correcting the manners and
morals of man? — To JOHN ADAMS, vi, 523.
(M., 1816.)
5539. . With some exceptions
only, through the seventeenth and eighteenth
centuries, morality occupied an honorable
chapter in the political code of nations. You
must have observed while in Europe, as I
thought I did, that those who administered the
governments of the greater powers at least, had
a respect to faith, and considered the dignity
of their government as involved in its integrity.
A wound indeed was inflicted on this character
of honor in the eighteenth century by the parti
tion of Poland. But this was the atrocity of a
barbarous government chiefly, in conjunction
with a smaller one still scrambling to become
great, while one only of those already great,
and having character to lose, descended to
the baseness of an accomplice in the crime.
France, England, Spain, shared in it only inas
much as they stood aloof and permitted its
perpetration. How, then, has it happened that
these nations, France especially, and England,
so great, so dignified, so distinguished by
science and the arts, plunged all at once into
all the depths of human enormity, threw off
suddenly and openly all the restraints of moral
ity, all sensation to character, and unblushingly
avowed and acted on the principle that power
was right? Can this sudden apostasy from na
tional rectitude be accounted for? The treaty
of Pilnitz seems to have begun it, suggested
perhaps by the baneful precedent of Poland.
Was it from the terror of monarchs, alarmed
at the light returning on them from the west,
and kindling a volcano under their thrones ?
Was it a combination to extinguish that light,
and to bring back, as their best auxiliaries,
those enumerated by you, the Sorbonne, the
Inquisition, the Index Expnrgatoriiis, and the
knights of Loyola? Whatever it was, the close
of the new century saw the moral world
thrown back again to the age of the Borgias, to
the point from which it had departed three hun
dred years before. France, after crushing and
punishing the conspiracy of Pilnitz, went deeper
herself and deeper into the crimes she had
been chastising. I say France and not Bona
parte ; for, although he was the head and mouth,
the nation furnished the hands which executed
his enormities. England, although in opposi
tion, kept full pace with France, not indeed by
the manly force of her own arms, but by op
pressing the weak and bribing the strong. At
* Reply, rejecting the proposal of a person en
trusted with the British minister's dispatches, to turn
them over to the United States government for a
reward.— EDITOR.
length the whole choir joined and divided the
weaker nations among them. — To JOHN ADAMS.
vi, 524. (M., Jan. 1816.)
5540. MORALITY (National), United
States and. — Let us hope that our new [Fed
eral] government will * * * show that they
mean to proscribe no virtue from the canons
of their conduct with other nations. — To JAMES
MADISON, iii, 100. FORD ED., v, 112. (P.,
1789.)
5541. . We are firmly convinced,
and we act on that conviction, that with na
tions, as with individuals, our interests soundly
calculated, will ever be found inseparable from
our moral duties ; and history bears witness to
the fact, that a just nation is taken on its word,
when recourse is had to armaments and wars
to bridle others. — SECOND INAUGURAL ADDRESS.
viii, 40. FORD ED., viii, 343. (1805.)
5542. . It is a great consolation
to me that our government, as it cherishes
most its duties to its own citizens, so is it the
most exact in its moral conduct towards other
nations. I do not believe that in the four
Administrations which have taken place, there
has been a single instance of departure from
good faith towards other nations. We may
sometimes have mistaken our rights, or made
an erroneous estimate of the actions of others.,
but no voluntary wrong can be imputed to us. —
To GEORGE LOGAN. FORD EDV x, 68. (P.F.,
Nov. 1816.)
5543. . It is of great conse
quence to us, and merits every possible en
deavor, to maintain in Europe a correct opinion
of our political morality. — To PRESIDENT MON
ROE. FORD ED., x, 123. (M., 1819.)
5544. MORALS, Preservation of.— The
pursuits of agriculture are * * * the best
preservative of morals. — To J. BLAIR, ii, 248.
(P., 1787.)
5545. We wish to preserve the
morals of our citizens from being vitiated by
courses of lawless plunder and murder. — To
GEORGE HAMMOND, iii, 559. FORD ED., vi, 253.
(Pa., 1793.)
5546. MORALS, Science and.— I fear,
from the experience of the last twenty-five
years, that morals do not of necessity advance
hand in hand with the sciences. — To M. COR-
REA. vi, 480. (M., 1815.)
5547. MOREAU (General J. Victor),
Esteem, for. — No one entertains a more cor
dial esteem for General Moreau's character than
I do, and although our relations with France
have rendered it a duty in me not to seek any
public manifestation of it, yet were accident to
bring us together, I could not be so much want
ing to my sentiments and those of my constitu
ents individually, as to omit a cordial mani
festation of it. — To WILLIAM SHORT, v, 212.
(W., Nov. 1807.)
5548. MOREAU (General J. Victor),
Reception of.— I confess that the enclosed
letter from General Turreau excites in me both
jealousy and offence in undertaking, and with
out apology, to say in what manner to receive
and treat Moreau within our own country.
Had Turreau been here longer he would have
known that the national authority pays honors
to no foreigners. That the State authorities,
municipalities and individuals, are free to ren
der whatever they please, voluntarily, and free
from restraint by us ; and he ought to know
595
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Morgan (George)
Morris (Gouverneur)
that no part of the criminal sentence of another
country can have any effect here. The style
of that government in the Spanish business,
was calculated to excite indignation ; but it was
a case in which that might have done injury.
But the present is a case which would justify
some notice in order to let them understand
we are not of those powers who will receive
and execute mandates. I think the answer
should show independence as well as friendship.
— To JAMES MADISON, iv, 584. FORD ED., viii,
376. (M., Aug. 1805.)
5549. MORGAN (George), Exposure of
Burr. — Your situation and the knowledge
you already possess would probably put it in
your power to trace the footsteps of this enter
prise [Burr's conspiracy] on the public peace
with more effect than any other with whom I
could communicate. Whatever zeal you might
think proper to use in this pursuit, would be
used in fulfilment of the duties of a good citi
zen, and any communications you may be so
good as to make to me on the subject shall be
thankfully received, and so made use of as not
to commit you any further than yourself may
think proper to express. A knowledge of the
persons who may reject, as well as of those who
may accept parricide propositions will be pe
culiarly useful. — To GEORGE MORGAN. FORD
ED., viii, 473. (MM Sep. 1806.)
5550. -- . Yours was the very first
intimation I had of Burr's plot, for which it is
but justice to say you have deserved well of
your country. — To COLONEL GEORGE MORGAN.
v, 57- (W., 1807.)
5551. -- . Colonel Morgan first
gave us notice of the mad project of that day,
which if suffered to proceed, might have
brought afflicting consequences on persons
whose subsequent lives have proved their in
tegrity and loyalty to their country. — To MRS.
K. D. MORGAN. FORD ED., viii, 473. (M.,
1822.)
5552. MORGAN (George), Land grant.
— Spain has granted to Colonel Morgan, of
New Jersey, a vast tract of land on the western
side of the Mississippi with the monopoly of the
navigation of that river. He is inviting set
tlers and they swarm to him. Even the settle
ment of Kentucky is likely to be much weak
ened by emigrations to Morgan's grant. — To
WILLIAM SHORT, ii, 574. FORD ED., v, 71.
(P., 1789.)
6553. MOROCCO, Brig Betsey.— The
Court of Madrid has obtained the delivery of
the crew of the brig Betsey, taken by the Em
peror of Morocco. The Emperor had treated
them kindly, new clothed them, and delivered
them to the Spanish minister, who sent them
to Cadiz. This is the only American vessel
ever taken by the Barbary States. — To JAMES
MADISON, i, 413. (P., 1785.)
5554. MOROCCO, Proofs of friendship.
— The Emperor [of Morocco] continues to
give proofs of his desire to be in friendship
with us, or, in other words, of receiving us into
the number of his tributaries. Nothing further
need be feared from him. — To JAMES MADISON
i, 413- (P., 1785-)
5555. MOROCCO, Treaty.— The treaty
with Morocco * * * is signed before this
time: for which we are much indebted to
Spain. — To DAVID HUMPHREYS, ii, 10. (P.
1786.)
5556. MOROCCO, Tribute or war.— The
Empetor of Morocco * '*
is ready to
receive us into the number of his tributaries.
What will be the amount of tribute remains yet
to be known, * * * but it will surely be
more than a free people ought to pay to a
sower owning only four or five frigates, under
twenty-two guns. He has not a port into which
a larger vessel can enter. The Algerines pos
sess fifteen or twenty frigates, from that size
up to fifty guns. Disinclination on their part
lias lately broken off a treaty between Spain
and them, whereon they were to have received
a million of dollars, besides great presents in
naval stores. What sum they intend we shall
)ay, I cannot say. Then follow Tunis and
Tripoli. You will probably find the tribute to
all these powers make such a proportion of the
Federal taxes, as that every man will feel them
sensibly when he pays those taxes. The ques
tion is whether their peace or war will be
cheaper? But it is a question which should
be addressed to our honor, as well as our ava
rice. Nor does it respect us as to these pirates
only, but as to the nations of Europe. If we
wish our commerce to be free and uninsulted,
we must let these nations see that we have an
energy which at present they disbelieve. The
low opinion they entertain of our powers cannot
fail to involve us soon in a naval war. — To
JOHN PAGE, i, 401. (P., 1785.)
5557. MORRIS (Gouverneur), Mon
archist. — Gouverneur Morris, a high flying
monarchy man, shutting his eyes and his faith
to every fact against his wishes, and believing
everything he desires to be true, has kept the
President's [Washington's] mind constantly
poisoned with his forebodings [respecting the
French Revolution]. — THE ANAS, ix, in.
FORD ED., i, 188. (1792.)
5558. MORRIS (Gouverneur), Opposi
tion to. — The opposition to Gouverneur Mor
ris was upon the following principles: i. His
general character, being such that we would
not confide in it. 2. His known attachment to
monarchy, and contempt of republican govern
ment ; and 3, his present employment abroad
being a news vender of back-lands and certifi
cates. We took the yeas and nays on his ap
pointment and eleven voted against it. — To
ARCHIBALD STUART. FORD ED., v, 454. (Pa.,
1792.)
5559. . The nomination of Mr.
Morris was so extremely unpopular, and so little
relished by several of the Senate, that every
effort was used to negative it. Those whose
personal objections to Mr. Morris overruled
their deference to the President, finding them
selves in a minority, joined with another small
party who were against all foreign appoint
ments, and endeavored with them to put down
the whole system rather than let this article
pass. This plan was defeated, and Mr. Morris
passed by a vote of 16 against n. — To WILLIAM
SHORT, iii, 329. FORD ED., v, 434. (Pa.,
1792.)
5560. MORRIS (Gouverneur), Services
in England. — President Washington's letter
of January 22d [1790], authorized Mr. Morris
to enter into conference with the British min
isters in order to discover their sentiments on
[certain] subjects. * * * The Secretary of
State is of opinion that Mr. Morris's letters [to
the President] remove any doubts which might
have been entertained as to the intentions and
dispositions of the British cabinet: * * *
that Mr. Morris should be informed that he has
fulfilled the object of his agency to the satisfac
tion of the President. — OFFICIAL REPORT, vii,
517. FORD ED., v, 261. (December 1790.)
Mortmain
Mountains
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
596
5561. MORTMAIN", Laws of. —The bill
for establishing a National Bank undertakes
* * * to form the subscribers into a cor
poration and enables them in their corporate
capacities to receive grants of land, and, so far,
is against the laws of Mortmain. Though the
Constitution controls the laws of Mortmain so
far as to permit Congress itself to hold land
for certain purposes, yet not so far as to permit
them to communicate a similar right to other
corporate bodies.— NATIONAL BANK OPINION.
vii, 555- FORD ED., v, 284. (1791-)
5562. MOTTOES, Beauty of.— I shall
omit the word agisos, according to the license
you allow me, because I think the beauty of a
motto is to condense much matter in as few
words as possible.*— To GEORGE WYTHE. u,
6. FORD ED., iv, 267. (P., 1786.)
5563. MOUNTAINS, Altitude of.— I ex
amined, with great satisfaction, your barometric
al estimate of the heights of our mountains;
and with the more, as they corroborated con
jectures on this subject which I had made be
fore. My estimates had made them a little
higher than yours (I speak of the Blue Ridge).
Measuring with a very nice instrument the
angle subtended vertically by the highest moun
tain of the Blue Ridge opposite to my own
house, a distance of about eighteen miles south-
westward, I made the highest about two thousand
feet, as well as I remember. I do
not remember from what principles I estimated
the Peaks of Otter at four thousand feet; but
some late observations of Judge Tucker's coin
cided very nearly with my estimate. Your
measures confirm another opinion of mine, that
the Blue Ridge, on its south side, is the highest
ridge in our country compared with its base. —
To JONATHAN WILLIAMS, iv, 146. FORD ED..
vii, 85. (M., 1796.)
5564. MOUNTAINS, Barometrical
measurement. — The method of estimating
heights [of mountains] by the barometer, is
convenient and useful, as being ready, and fur
nishing an approximation to truth. Of what
degree of accuracy it is susceptible we know
not as yet ; no certain theory being established
for ascertaining the density and weight of that
portion of the column of atmosphere contiguous
to the mountain; from the weight of which,
nevertheless, we are to infer the height of the
mountain. The most plausible seems to be that
which supposes the mercury of barometer di
vided into horizontal lamina of equal thickness ;
and a similar column of the atmosphere into
lamina of equal weights. The former divisions
give a set of arithmetical, the latter of geomet
rical progressionals, which being the character
of logarithms and their numbers, the tables of
these furnish ready computations, needing, how
ever, the corrections which the state of the
thermometer calls for. It is probable that in
taking heights in the vicinity of each other in
this way, there may be no considerable error,
because the passage between them may be quick
and repeated. The height of a mountain from
its base, thus taken, merits, therefore, a very
different degree of credit from that of its height
above the level of the sea, where that is distant.
According, for example, to the theory above
mentioned, the height of Monticello from its
base is 580 feet, and its base 610 feet 8 inches,
above the level of the ocean ; the former, from
* Jefferson proposed this motto for the Coat of
Arms of Virginia: " Rex est qui regern non habet. "
The mottoes on his own seals were: "Ab eo libertas,
a quo spiritus", and u Rebellion to tyrants is obedi
ence to God".— EDITOR.
other facts, I believe to be near the truth ; but a
knowledge of the different falls of water from
hence to the tide-water at Richmond, a distance
of seventy-five miles, enables us to say that the
whole descent to that place is but 170 or 180
feet. From thence to the ocean may be a dis
tance of one hundred miles ; it is all tide-water,
and through a level country. I know not what
to conjecture as the amount of descent, but cer
tainly not 435 feet, as that theory would sup
pose, nor the quarter part of it. I do not know
by what rule General Williams made his com
putations. He reckons the foot of the Blue
Ridge, twenty miles from here, but 100 feet
above the tide-water at Richmond. We know
the descent, as before observed, to be at least
170 feet from hence, to which is to be added
that from the Blue Ridge to this place, a very
hilly country, with constant and great water
falls. His estimate, therefore, must be much
below truth. Results so different prove that for
distant comparisons of height, the barometer
is not to be relied on according to any theory
yet known. While, therefore, we give a good
degree of credit to the results of operations be
tween the summit of a mountain and its base,
we must give less to those between its summit
and the level of the ocean. — To CAPT. A. PART
RIDGE, vi, 495. (M., 1815.)
5565. MOUNTAINS, Trigonometrical
measurement.— I thank you for * * *
the corrections of Colonel Williams's altitudes
of the mountains of Virginia, * * * and
especially for the very able extract on baromet
rical measures. The precision of the calcu
lations, and soundness of the principles on
which they are founded, furnish, I am satisfied,
a great approximation towards truth, and raise
that method of estimating heights to a consid
erable degree of rivalship with the trigonomet
rical. The last is not without some sources of
inaccuracy. The admeasurement of the base
is liable to errors which can be rendered in
sensible only by such degrees of care as have
been exhibited by the mathematicians who have
been employed in measuring degrees on the
surface of the earth. * i* * NO two men
can differ on a principle of trigonometry. Not
so on the theories of barometrical mensura
tion. On these have been great differences of
opinion, and among characters of just celebrity.
* * * In 1776, I observed the height of the
mercury at the base and summit of the moun
tain I live on, and by Nettleton's tables, esti
mated the height at 512.17 feet, and called it
about 5 po feet in the Notes on Virginia. But
calculating it since on the same observations,
according to Bongour's method with De Luc's
improvements, the result was 579.5 feet; and
lately I measured the same height trigonomet-
rically, with the aid of a base line of 1,175 f£et
in a vertical plane with the summit, and at the
distance of about 1500 yards from the axis of
the mountain, and made it 599.35 feet. I con
sider this as testing the advance of the baromet
rical process towards truth by the adoption of
the logarithmic ratio of heights and densities ;
and continued observations and experiments
will continue to advance it still more. But the
first character of a common measure of things
being that of invariability, I can never suppose
that a substance so heterogeneous and variable
as the atmospheric fluid, changing daily and
hourly its weight and dimensions to the amount,
sometimes, of one-tenth of the whole, can be
applied as a standard of measure to anything,
with as much mathematical exactness, as a trig
onometrical process. It is still, however, a
resource of great value for these purposes, be
cause its use is so easy, in comparison with the
597
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Mourning
Moustier (Count)
other, and especially where the grounds are
unfavorable for a base ; and its results are so
near the truth as to answer all the common
purposes of information. Indeed, I should in
all cases, prefer the use of both, to warn us
against gross error, and to put us, when that
is suspected on a repetition of our process.* —
To CAPT. A. PARTRIDGE, vi, 510. (M., 1816.)
5566. MOURNING, Official.— No one
would more willingly than myself pay the just
tribute due to the services of Captain [John]
Barry, by writing a letter of condolence to his
widow, as you suggest. But when one under
takes to administer justice, it must be with an
even hand, and by rule ; what is done for one,
must be done for every one in equal degree.
To what a train of attentions would this draw a
President. How difficult it would be to draw
the line between that degree of merit entitled
to such a testimonial of it, and that not so
entitled? If drawn in a particular case differ
ently from what the friends of the deceased
would judge right, what offence would it give,
and of the most tender kind? How much of
fence would be given by accidental inattentions,
or want of information ? The first step into
such an undertaking ought to be well weighed.
On the death of Dr. Franklin, the King and
Convention of France went into mourning.
So did the House of Representatives of the
United States. The Senate refused. I pro
posed to General Washington that the Execu
tive department should wear mourning. He
declined it, because he said he should not know
where to draw the line, if he once began that
ceremony. Mr. Adams was then Vice-Presi
dent, and I thought General Washington had
his eye on him, whom he certainly did not love.
I told him the world had drawn so broad a
line between himself and Dr. Franklin, on the
one side, and the residue of mankind, on the
other, that we might wear mourning for them,
and the question still remain new and unde
cided as to all others. He thought it best, how
ever, to avoid it. On these considerations
alone, however well affected to the merit of
Commodore Barry, I think it prudent not to
engage myself in a practice which may become
embarrassing. — To DR. BENJAMIN RUSH, iv,
507. FORD ED., viii, 264. (W., 1803.)
5567. MOUSTIEB (Count), Attach
ment for. — Fortune seems to have arranged
among her destinies that I should never con
tinue for any time with a person whose man
ners and principles had excited my warm at
tachment. While I resided in France, you
resided in America. While I was crossing
over to America, you were crossing back to
France ; when I am come to reside with our
government, your residence is transferred to
Berlin. Of all this, Fortune is the mistress,
but she cannot change my affections, nor
lessen the regrets I feel at their perpetual dis
appointment. — To COUNT MOUSTIER. iii, 199.
(Pa., 1790.)
5568. MOUSTIEB (Count), Character
°f- — You will find him open, communicative,
candid, simple in his manners, and a declared
enemy to ostentation and luxury. He goes
with a resolution to add no aliment to it by
his example, unless he finds that the disposi
tions of our countrymen require it indispensa
bly. — To JOHN JAY. ii, 293. (P., 1787.)
5569. . De Moustier is remark
ably communicative. With adroitness he may
* Captain Partridge was an Engineer officer at
West Point.— EDITOR.
be pumped of anything. His openness is from
character, not from affectation. An intimacy
with him may, on this account, be politically
valuable. — To JAMES MADISON. FORD ED., iv.
461. (P., 1787.)
5570. MOUSTIEB (Count), Medal for.
— The President, in a letter to the King, has
expressed his sense of your merit, and his
entire approbation of your conduct while here,
and has charged me to convey to yourself the
same sentiments on his part. Had you re
turned to your station with us, you would have
received new and continued marks of the es
teem inspired by the general worth of your
character, as well as by the particular disposi
tions you manifested towards this country.
* As a testimony of these sentiments,
we ask your acceptance of a medal and chain
of gold.* — To COUNT MOUSTIER. iii, 216.
(Pa., 1791.)
5571. MOUSTIEB (Count), Minister
to America. — The count Moustier is nomi
nated Minister Plenipotentiary to America, and
a frigate is ordered to Cherbourg to carry him
over. — To JOHN JAY. ii, 274. (P., Sept.
1787.)
5572. MOUSTIEB (Count), Becall.—
We had before understood * * * that the
conduct of the Count Moustier was politically
and morally offensive. It was delicate for me
to speak on the subject to the Count de Mont-
morin. The invaluable mediation of * * *
the Marquis de Lafayette was, therefore, re
sorted to, and the subject explained, though
not pressed. Later intelligence showing the
necessity of pressing it, it has been represented
through the same medium to the Count de
Montmorin, that recent information proved to
us, that his1 minister's conduct had rendered
him personally odious in America, and might
even influence the dispositions of the two
nations ; that his recall was become a matter
of mutual concern ; that we had understood
he was instructed to remind the new govern
ment of their debt to this country, and that
he was in the purpose of doing it in very harsh
terms ; that this could not increase their desire
of hastening payment, and might wound their
affections ; that, therefore, it wast much to
be desired that his discretion should not be
trusted to, as to the form in which the demand
should be made, but that the letter should be
written here, and he instructed to add nothing
but his signature ; nor was his private conduct
omitted. The Count de Montmorin was sen
sibly impressed. * * * It had been decided,
on the request of the Marquis de la Luzerne,
that Otto should go to London ; that they would
send a person [Colonel Ternant] to America
as Charge des Affaires in place of Otto, and
that if the President (General Washington)
approved of him, he should be afterwards made
minister. * Ternant will see that his
predecessor is recalled for unconciliatory de
portment, and that he will owe his own pro
motion to the approbation of the President. —
To JOHN JAY. ii, 571. (P., 1789.)
5573. MOUSTIEB (Count), Unosten
tatious. — He is a great enemy to formality,
etiquette, ostentation and luxury. He goes
with the best dispositions to cultivate society,
without poisoning it by ill example. He is
sensible, disposed to view things favorably,
and being well acquainted with the constitution
of England, her manners and language, is the
* De Moustier was appointed minister to Berlin.
—EDITOR.
Murder
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
598
better prepared for his station with us. — To
JAMES MADISON, ii, 292. FORD ED., iv, 460.
(P., 1787.) See ETIQUETTE.
5574. MURDER, Child.— By the stat. 21.
Jac. i. c. 27. and Act. Ass. 1170. c. 12. conceal
ment by the mother of the death of a bastard
child is made murder. In justification of this,
it is said, that shame is a feeling which operates
so strongly on the mind, as frequently to induce
the mother of such a child to murder it, in order
to conceal her disgrace. The act of conceal
ment, therefore, proves she was influenced by
shame, and that influence produces a presump
tion that she murdered the child. The effect
of this law, then is, to make what, in its nature,
is only presumptive evidence of a murder con
clusive of that fact. To this I answer, i.
So many children die before or soon after birth,
that to presume all those murdered who are
found dead, is a presumption which will lead us
oftener wrong than right, and consequently
would shed more blood than it would save. 2.
If the child were born dead, the mother would
naturally choose rather to conceal it, in hopes
of still keeping a good character in the neigh
borhood. So that the act of concealment is
far from proving the guilt of murder on the
mother. 3. If shame be a powerful affection of
the mind, is not parental love also? Is it not
the strongest affection known ? Is it not greater
even than that of self-preservation ? While we
draw presumptions from shame, one affection
of the mind, against the life of the prisoner,
should we not give some weight to presump
tions from parental love, an affection at least
as strong, in favor of life? If concealment of
the fact is a presumptive evidence of murder,
so strong as to overbalance all other evidence
that may possibly be produced to take away the
presumption, why not trust the force of this
incontestable presumption to the jury, who are.
in a regular course, to hear presumptive, as well
as positive testimony? If the presumption
arising from the act of concealment, may be
destroyed by proof, positive or circumstantial,
to the contrary, why should the legislature
preclude that contrary proof ? Objection. The
crime is difficult to prove, being usually com
mitted in secret. Answer. But circumstan
tial proof will do; for example, marks of vio
lence, the behavior, countenance, &c., of the
prisoner, &c. And if conclusive proof be diffi
cult to be obtained, shall we, therefore, fasten
irremovably upon equivocal proof? Can we
change the nature of what is contestable, and
make it incontestable ? Can we make that con
clusive which God and nature have made in
conclusive? Solon made no law against parri
cide, supposing it impossible that any one could
be guilty of it ; and the Persians from the same
opinion, adjudged all who killed their reputed
parents to be bastards ; and although parental
be yet stronger than filial affection, we admit
saticide proved on the most equivocal testimony,
whilst they rejected all proof of an act certainly
not more repugnant to nature, as of a thing im
possible, unprovable. — NOTE TO CRIMES BILL.
i, 149. FORD ED., ii, 206. (1778.)
5575. MURDER, Of colonists.— The
proposition [of Lord North] is altogether un
satisfactory * * * because it does not pro
pose to repeal the several acts of Parliament
* * * exempting, by mock trial, the murderers
of colonists from punishment. — REPLY TO LORD
NORTH'S PROPOSITION. FORD ED., i, 480. (July
I775-)
5576. . He has combined with
others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign
to our constitutions and unacknowledged by
our laws, giving his assent to their acts of
pretended legislation, for quartering large
bodies of armed troops among us ; for protect
ing them by a mock trial from punishment
for any murders which they should commit on
the inhabitants of these States. — DECLARATION
OF INDEPENDENCE AS DRAWN BY JEFFERSON.
5577. MURDER, Degrees of.— Man
slaughter is the killing a man with design,
but in a sudden gust of passion, and where the
killer has not had time to cool. The first
offence is not punished capitally, but the sec
ond is. This is the law of England and of all
the American States ; and is not now a new
proposition. Those laws have supposed that a
man, whose passions have so much dominion
over him, as to lead him to repeated acts of
murder, is unsafe to society ; that it is better
he should be put to death by the law, than
others more innocent than himself, on the
movements of his impetuous passions. — To M.
DE MEUNIER. ix, 263. FORD ED., iv, 169. (P.,
1786.)
5578. . In 1796, our Legislature
passed the law for amending the penal laws
of the Commonwealth. [Virginia.] * * * In
stead of the settled distinctions of murder and
manslaughter, preserved in my bill, they intro
duced the new terms of murder in the first and
second degrees. * — AUTOBIOGRAPHY, i, 47. FORD
ED., i, 65. (1821.)
5579. MURDER, Excusable.— Excusable
homicides are in some cases not quite unblama
ble. These should subject the party to marks
of contrition ; viz., the killing of a man in de
fence of property ; so also in defence of one's
person, which is a species of excusable homi
cide ; because, although cases may happen
where these are also commendable, yet most
frequently they are done on too slight appear
ance of danger ; as in return for a blow, kick,
fillip, &c., or on a person's getting into a house,
not animo furandi, but perhaps veneris causa,
&c. Excusable homicides are by misad
venture, or in self-defence. — NOTE TO CRIMES
BILL, i, 152. FORD ED., ii, 209. (1779.)
5580. MURDER, Indian.— I wish Gov
ernor Harrison may be able to have the murder
of the Kaskaskian by the Kickapoo settled in
the Indian way. '•* * * Both the Indians and
our own people need some example of punish
ment for the murder of an Indian. — To HENRY
DEARBORN, v, 162. (M., 1807.)
5581. . When a murder has been
committed on one of our stragglers, the mur
derer should be demanded. If not delivered,
give time, and still press the demand. We
find it difficult, with our regular government,
to take and punish a murderer of an Indian.
Indeed, I believe we have never been able to do
it in a single instance. They have their diffi
culties also, and require time. In fact, it is
a case where indulgence on both sides is just
and necessary, to prevent the two nations from
being perpetually committed in war, by the
acts of the most vagabond and ungovernable o'f
their members. When the refusal to deliver
* The clause of Jefferson's bill read as follows :
"And where persons, meaning to commit a trespass
only, or larceny, or other unlawful deed, and doing
an act from which involuntary homicide hath ensued,
have heretofore been adjudged guilty of manslaugh
ter, or of murder, by transferring such their unlawful
intention to an act, much more penal than they
could have in probable contemplation ; no such
case shall hereafter be deemed manslaughter, unless
manslaughter was intended, nor murder, unless
murder was intended."— EDITOR.
599
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Murder
Music
the murderer is permanent, and proceeds from
the want of will, and not of ability we should
then interdict all trade and intercourse with
them till they give us complete satisfaction. —
To MERIWETHER LEWIS, v, 350. (M., 1808.)
5582. . If we had to go to war
[with the Indians] for every hunter or trader
killed, and murderer refused, we should have
had general and constant war. The process
to be followed, in my opinion, when a murder
has been committed, is first to demand the mur
derer, and not regarding a first refusal to de
liver, give time and press it. If perseveringly
refused, recall all traders, and interdict com
merce with them, until he be delivered. — To
HENRY DEARBORN, v, 348. (M., Aug. 1808.)
5583. MURDER, Punishment for.— As
there was but one white man murdered by the
Indians, I should be averse to the execution of
more than one of them, selecting the most
guilty and worst character. Nothing but ex
treme criminality should induce the execution
of a second, and nothing beyond that. Their
idea is that justice allows only man for man,
that all beyond that is new aggression, which
must be expiated by a new sacrifice of an
equivalent number of our people. — To MERI
WETHER LEWIS, v, 354. (M., 1808.)
5584. . There is the more reason
for moderation, as we know we cannot punish
any murder which shall be committed by us on
them. Even if the murderer can be taken, our
juries have never yet convicted the murderer
of an Indian. — To MERIWETHER LEWIS. v,
354. (M., 1808.)
5585. MURDER, Self .—Suicide is by law
punishable by forfeiture of chattels. This bill
(revising the Virginia Code) exempts it from
forfeiture. The suicide injures the State less
than he who leaves it with his effects. If
the latter then be not punished, the former
should not. As to the example, we need not
fear its influence. Men are too much attached
to life, to exhibit frequent instances of depri
ving themselves of it. At any rate, the quasi-
punishment of confiscation will not prevent it.
For if one be found who can calmly determine
to renounce life, who is so weary of his ex
istence here, as rather to make experiment of
what is beyond the grave, can we suppose him,
in such a state of mind, susceptible of influ
ence from the losses to his family from con
fiscation? That men in general, too, disapprove
of this severity, is apparent from the constant
practice of juries finding the suicide in a state
of insanity ; because they have no other way
of saving the forfeiture. Let it then be done
away. — NOTE TO CRIMES BILL, i, 152. FORD
ED., ii, 210. (1779.)
5586. MUSEUMS, Maintenance of.—
Nobody can desire more ardently than myself,
to concur in whatever may promote useful sci
ence, and I view no science with more par
tiality than Natural History. But I have ever
believed that in this, as in most other cases,
abortive attempts retard rather than promote
this object. To be really useful we must
keep pace with the state of society, and not dis
hearten it by attempts at what its population,
means, or occupations will fail in attempting.
In the particular enterprises for museums, we
have seen the populous and wealthy cities of
Boston and New York unable to found or
maintain such an institution. The feeble con
dition of that in each of these places sufficiently
proves this. In Philadelphia alone, has this
attempt succeeded to a good degree. It has
been owing there to a measure of zeal and per
severance in an individual rarely equalled ; to
a population, crowded, wealthy, and more than
usually addicted to the pursuit of knowledge.
And, with all this, the institution does not
maintain itself. — To MR. DE LA COSTE. v, 79.
(W., 1807.)
5587. MUSIC, Domestic bands.— The
bounds of an American fortune will not admit
the indulgence of a domestic band of musicians,
yet I have thought that a passion for music
might be reconciled with that economy which
we are obliged to observe. I retain, for in
stance, among my domestic servants a gardener,
a weaver, a cabinet-maker, and a stone-cutter,
to which I would add a vigneron. In a country
where, like yours [France], music is cultivated
and practiced by every class of men, I suppose
there might be found persons of these trades
who could perform on the French horn, clario
net, or hautboy, and bassoon, so that one might
have a band of two French horns, two clario
nets, two hautboys, and a bassoon, without
enlarging his domestic expenses. A certainty
of employment for a half dozen years, and at
the end of that time, to find them, if they chose,
a conveyance to their own country, might in
duce them to come here on reasonable wages.
Without meaning to give you trouble, perhaps
it might be practicable for you * * * to
find out such men disposed to come to Amer
ica. Sobriety and good nature would be de
sirable parts of their characters. If you think
such a plan practicable, and will be so kind as
to inform me what will be necessary to be
done on my part, I will take care that it shall
be done. To . i, 209. FORD ED.,
ii, 159. (Wg., 1778.)
5588. MUSIC, Ear for.— Music is invalu
able where a person has an ear. Where they
have not, it should not be attempted. — To N.
BURWELL. vii,. 103. FORD ED., x, 105. (M.,
1818.)
5589. MUSIC, Enjoyment of.— Music is
an enjoyment [in France] the deprivation of
v/hich with us, cannot be calculated. I am al
most ready to say, it is the only thing which
from my heart I envy them, and which, in
spite of all the authority of the Decalogue, I
do covet. — To MR. BELLINI, i, 445. (P.,
1785-)
5590. MUSIC, Foot-bass.— I have lately
examined a foot-bass, newly invented by the
celebrated Krumfoltz. It is precisely a piano
forte, about ten feet long, eighteen inches
broad, and nine inches deep. It is of one
octave only, from fa to fa. The part where the
keys are projects at the side in order to
lengthen the levers of the keys. It is placed
on the floor, on the harpsichord or other piano
forte, is set over it, the foot acting in concert
on that, while the fingers play on this. There
are three unison chords to every note, of
strong brass wire, and the lowest have wire
wrapped on them as the lowest in the piano
forte. The chords give a fine, clear, deep tone
almost like the pipe of an organ. — To FRANCIS
HOPKINSON. ii, 75. (P., 1786.)
5591. MUSIC, Harmonica. — I am very
much pleased with your project on the har
monica, and the prospect of your succeeding
in the application of keys to it. It will be the
greatest present which has been made to the
musical world this century, not excepting the
piano-forte. If its tone approaches that given
by the finger as nearly only as the harpsichord
does that of the harp, it will be very valuable.
—To FRANCIS HOPKINSON. ii, 75. (P., 1786.)
Music
Names
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
600
5592. MUSIC, Harpsichord.— I applaud
much your perseverance in improving this in
strument [harpsichord], and benefiting man
kind almost in spite of their teeth. — To FRAN
CIS HOPKINSON. i, 440. (P., 1785.)
5593. MUSIC, Keeping time.— Monsieur
Renaudin's invention for determining the true
time of the musical movements, Largo, Adagio,
&c. * * * has been examined by the
[Paris] Academy of Music, who are so well
satisfied of its utility, that they have ordered
all music which shall be printed here, in fu
ture, to have the movements numbered in
correspondence with this plexi-chronometer.
* * * The instrument is useful, but still it
may be greatly simplified. I got him to make
me one, and having fixed a pendulum vibra
ting seconds, I tried by that the vibrations of
his pendulum, according to the several move
ments. I find the pendulum regulated to
Largo
Adagio
Andante
Allegro
Presto
vibrates
5*
60
70
95
135
times
in a
minute
Every one, therefore, may make a chronom
eter adapted to his instrument. For a harpsi
chord, the following occurs to me : In the
wall of your chamber, over the instrument,
drive five little brads, as i, 2, 3, 4, 5, in the
following manner. Take a string with a bob
to it, of such length \ as that hung on No. i,
it shall vibrate fifty-two times in a minute.
Then proceed by trial to drive number No. 2,
at such a distance, that drawing the loop of
the string to that, the part remaining between
i and the bob, shall vibrate sixty times in a
minute. Fix the third for seventy vibrations,
&c. ; the chord always hanging over No. i,
as the centre of vibration. A person, playing
on the violin, may fix this on his music stand.
A pendulum, thrown into vibration, will con
tinue in motion long enough to give you the
time of your piece. — To FRANCIS HOPKINSON.
i, 504- (P-, 1786.)
5594. MUSIC, Negroes and.— In music
the blacks are more generally gifted than the
whites, with accurate ears for tune and time,
and they have been found capable of imagin
ing a small catch.* Whether they will be
equal to the composition of a more extensive
run of melody, or of complicated harmony, is
yet to be proved. — NOTES ON VIRGINIA, viii,
383. FORD ED., iii, 246. (1782.)
5595. MUSIC, Passion for.— If there is a
gratification which I envy any people in this
world, it is to your country [France] its music.
This is the favorite passion of my soul, and
fortune has cast my lot in a country where
it is in a state of deplorable barbarism. — To
. i, 209. FORD ED., ii, 158. (Wg., 1778.)
5596. MUSIC, Piano. — I wrote [you] for
a Clavichord. I have since seen a Forte-piano
and am charmed with it. Send me this instru
ment then instead of the Clavichord : let the
case be of fine mahogany, solid, not veneered,
the compass from Double G. to F. in alt, .a
plenty of spare strings ; and the workmanship
* The instrument proper to them is the banjer
(corrupted by the negroes into " banjo ") which they
brought hither from Africa, which is the original of
the guitar, its chords being precisely the four lower
chords of the guitar.— NOTE BY JEFFERSON.
of the whole very handsome and worthy the
acceptance of a lady for whom I intend it. — To
THOMAS ADAMS. FORD ED., i, 395. (M., 1771.)
5597. . I had almost decided,
on Piccini's advice, to get a piano-forte for
my daughter ; but your last letter may pause
me, till I see its effect. — To FRANCIS HOPKIN
SON. i, 440. (P., 1785.)
5598. MUSIC, Quilling.— I do not al
together despair of making something of your
method of quilling, though, as yet, the pros
pect is not favorable. — To FRANCIS HOPKIN
SON. i, 440. (P., 1785.)
5599. . I mentioned to Piccini
the improvement [quilling] with which I am
entrusted. He plays on the piano-forte, and
therefore did not feel himself personally inter
ested. — To FRANCIS HOPKINSON. i, 440. (P.,
1785.)
5600. MUSKETS, Improved.— An im
provement is made here [France] in the con
struction of muskets, which it may be in
teresting to Congress to know, should they
at any time propose to procure any. It con
sists in the making every part of them so ex
actly alike, that what belongs to any one, may
be used for every other musket in the maga
zine. * * * As yet, the inventor has only
completed the lock of the musket, on this plan.
* * * He presented me the parts of fifty
locks taken to pieces, and arranged in com
partments. I put several together myself, ta
king pieces at hazard as they came to hand,
and they fitted in the most perfect manner. —
To JOHN JAY. i, 411. (P., 1785.)
— NAIL-MAKING.— See JEFFERSON
(THOMAS.)
5601. NAMES, Authority of great.— It
is surely time for men to think for themselves,
and to throw off the authority of names so
artificially magnified. — To WILLIAM SHORT.
vii, 165. (M., 1820.)
5602. NAMES, Bestowal of.— I agree
with you entirely in condemning the mania of
giving names to objects of any kind after per
sons still living. Death alone can seal the
title of any man to this honor, by putting it
out of his power to forfeit it. — To DR. BENJA
MIN RUSH, iv, 335. FORD ED., vii, 459. (M.,
1800.)
5603. . There is one * * *
mode of recording merit, which I have often
thought might be introduced, so as to gratify
the living by praising the dead. In giving, for
instance, a commission of Chief Justice to
Bushrod Washington, it should be in consid
eration of his integrity, and science in the laws,
and of the services rendered to our country
by his illustrious relation, &c. A commission
to a descendant of Dr. Franklin, besides being
in consideration of the proper qualifications
of the person, should add that of the great serv
ices rendered by his illustrious ancestor, Ben
jamin Franklin, by the advancement of science,
by inventions useful to man, &c. — To DR. BEN
JAMIN RUSH, iv, 335. FORD ED., vii, 459.
(M., 1800.)
5604.
I am sensible of the
mark of esteem manifested by the name you
have given to your son. Tell him from me,
that he must consider as essentially belonging
to it, to love his friends and wish no ill to his
enemies. — To DAVID CAMPBELL, v, 499. (M.,
1810.)
6oi
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Names
National Currency
5605. NAMES, Opinions and.— If * * *
opinions are sound * * * they will pre
vail by their own weight without the aid of
names. — To SAMUEL KERCHIVAL. vii, 35.
FORD ED., x, 45. (M., 1816.)
5606. NAMES, Political party.— The
appellation of aristocrats and democrats is
the true one expressing the essence of all
[parties]. — To H. LEE. vii, 376. FORD ED.,
x, 318. (M., 1824.)
5607. NAMES, Property in.— I am not
sure that we ought to change all our names.
During the regal government, sometimes, in
deed, they were given through adulation ; but
often also as the reward of the merit of the
times, sometimes for services rendered the col
ony. Perhaps, too, a name when given, should
be deemed a sacred property. — To DR. BENJAMIN
RUSH, iv, 335. FORD ED., vii, 459. (M.,
1800.)
5608. NASSAU, Fame of.— Nassau is a
village the whole rents of which would not
amount to more than a hundred or two guin
eas. Yet it gives the title of Prince to the
house of Orange to which it belongs. — TRAVELS
IN HOLLAND, ix, 383. (1787.)
5609. NATION (United States), Build
ing the. — The interests of the States ought
to be made joint in every possible instance,
in order to cultivate the idea of our being
one nation, and to multiply the instances in
which the people shall look up to Congress
as their head. — To JAMES MONROE, i, 347.
FORD ED., iv, 52. (P., 1785.)
5610. . It is, indeed, an ani
mating thought that, while we are securing
the rights of ourselves and posterity, we are
pointing out the way to struggling nations
who wish, like us, to emerge from their
tyrannies also. — REPLY TO ADDRESS, iii, 128.
FORD ED., v, 147. (1790.)
5611. NATION (United States), Con
science of. — It is true that nations are to be
judges for themselves since no one nation
has a right to sit in judgment over another.
But the tribunal of our consciences remains,
and that also of the opinion of the world.
These will revise the sentence we pass in
our own case, and as we respect these, we
must see that in judging ourselves we have
honestly done the part of impartial and rig
orous judges. — OPINION ON FRENCH TREA
TIES, vii, 614. FORD ED., vi, 221. (1793.)
5612. NATION (United States), For
eign policy.— Unmeddling with the affairs
of other nations, we presume not to prescribe
or censure their course. — To MADAME DE
STAEL. v, 133. (W., 1807.)
5613. . We wish the happiness
and prosperity of every nation. — To MADAME
DE STAEL. vi, 482. (M., 1815.)
5614. NATION (United States), Lib
erality.— -I am in all cases for a liberal con
duct towards other nations, believing that the
practice of the same friendly feelings and
generous dispositions, which attach individ
uals in private life, will attach societies on
the larger scale, which are composed of in
dividuals. — To ALBERT GALLATIN. FORD EDV
viii, 222. (M., 1803.)
5615. NATION (United States), Ob
jects of.— Peace with all nations, and the
right which that gives us with respect to all
nations, are our object— To C. W. F. DUMAS.
iii, 535- (Pa., I793-)
5616. . I hope the United States
will ever place themselves among [the num
ber of] peaceable nations. — To ROBERT R.
LIVINGSTON, iv, 411. FORD ED., viii, 91. (M.,
Sep. 1801.)
5617. NATION (United States), Su
premacy. — Not in our day, but at no distant
one, we may shake a rod over the heads of
all, which may make the stoutest of them
tremble. But I hope our wisdom will grow
with our power, and teach us, that the less
we use our power the greater it will be. — To
THOMAS LEIPER. vi, 465. FORD ED., ix, "520.
(M., 1815.) See POLICY.
5618. . The day is not distant,
when we may formally require a meridian of
partition through the ocean which separates
the two hemispheres, on the hither side of
which no European gun shall ever be heard,
nor an American on the other ; and when,
during the rage of the eternal wars of Eu
rope, the lion and the lamb, within our re
gions, shall lie down together in peace. — To
WILLIAM SHORT, vii, 168. (M., 1820.)
— NATIONAL CAPITAL.— See WASH
INGTON CITY.
5619. NATIONAL CURRENCY, Bank
paper and. — The question will be asked
and ought to be looked at, what is to be the
resource if loans cannot be obtained? There
is but one, " Carthago delenda est ". Bank
paper must be suppressed, and the circulating
medium must be restored to the nation to
whom it belongs. It is the only fund on
which they can rely for loans; it is the only
resource which can never fail them and it is
an abundant one for every necessary purpose.
Treasury bills, bottomed on taxes, bearing
or not bearing interest, as may be found
necessary, thrown into circulation will take
the place of so much gold and silver, which
last, when crowded, will find an efflux into
other countries, and thus keep the quantum
of medium at its salutary level. Let banks
continue if they please, but let them discount
for cash alone or for treasury notes. They
discount for cash alone in every other coun
try on earth except Great Britain, and her
too often unfortunate copyist, the United
States. If taken in time, they may be rec
tified by degrees, and without injustice, but if
let alone till the alternative forces itself on
us, of submitting to the enemy for want of
funds, or the suppression of bank paper,
either by law or by convulsion, we cannot
foresee how it will end. — To J. W. EPPES.
vi, 199. FORD ED., ix, 399. (P.F., Sep. 1813.)
5620. . Put down the banks, and
if this country could not be carried through
the longest war against her most powerful
National Currency
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
6O2
enemy, without ever knowing the want of a
dollar, without dependence on the traitorous
classes of her citizens, without bearing hard
on the resources of the people, or loading
the public with an indefinite burthen of debt,
I know nothing of my countrymen. Not by
any novel project, not by any charlatanerie,
but by ordinary and well-experienced means;
by the total prohibition of all private paper
at all times, by reasonable taxes in war aided
by the necessary emissions of public paper of
circulating, size, this bottomed on special
taxes, redeemable annually as this special tax
comes in, and finally within a moderate pe
riod. — To ALBERT GALLATIN. vi, 498. (M.,
Oct. 1815.)
5621. NATIONAL CURRENCY, Bank
suspensions and.— The failure of our banks
* * * restores to us a fund which ought
never to have been surrendered by the nation,
and which now, prudently used, will carry
us through all the fiscal difficulties of the
war. — To PRESIDENT MADISON, vi, 386. (M.,
Sep. 1814.)
5622. NATIONAL CURRENCY, Bor
rowing fund. — I am sorry to see our loans
begin at so exorbitant an interest. And yet,
even at that you will soon be at the bottom
of the loan-bag. We are an agricultural na
tion. Such an one- employs its sparings in
the purchase or improvement of land or
stocks. The lendable money among them is
chiefly that of orphans and wards in the
hands of executors and guardians, and that
which the former lays by till he has enough
for the purchase in view. In such a nation
there is one, and only one, resource for loans,
sufficient to carry them through the expense
of a war ; and that will always be sufficient,
and in the power of an honest government,
punctual in the preservation of its faith.
The fund I mean, is the mass of circulating
coin. Every one knows, that although not
literally, it is nearly true, that every paper
dollar emitted banishes a silver one from
the circulation. A nation, therefore, making
its purchases and payments with bills fitted
for circulation, thrusts an equal sum of coin
out of circulation. This is equivalent to
borrowing that sum, and yet the vendor, re
ceiving in payment a medium as effectual
as coin for his purchases or payments, has
no claim to interest. And so the nation may
continue to issue its bills as far as its wants
require, and the limits of the circulation will
admit. Those limits are understood to ex
tend with us at present, to two hundred mil
lions of dollars, a greater sum than would be
necessary for any war. But this, the only re
source which the government could command
with certainty, the States have unfortunately
fooled away, nay corruptly alienated to
swindlers and shavers, under the cover of
private banks. Say, too, as an additional
evil, that the disposal funds of individuals,
to this great amount, have thus been with
drawn from improvement and useful en
terprise, and employed in the useless, usu
rious and demoralizing practices of bank
directors and their accomplices. In the year
1775, our State [Virginia] availed itself of
this fund by issuing a paper money, bottomed
on a specific tax for its redemption, and, to
insure its credit, bearing an interest of five
per cent. Within a very short time, not a bill
of this emission was to be found in circula
tion. It was locked up in the chests of ex
ecutors, guardians, widows, farmers, &c. We
then issued bills bottomed on a redeeming tax,
but bearing no interest. These were readily
received, and never depreciated a single
farthing. In the Revolutionary war, the old
Congress and the States issued bills without
interest, and without a tax. They occupied
the channels of circulation very freely, till
those channels were overflowed by an excess
beyond all the calls of circulation. But, al
though we have so improvidently suffered the
field of circulating medium to be filched from
us by private individuals, yet I think we may
recover it in part, and even in the whole,
if the States will cooperate with us. If
Treasury bills are emitted on a tax appropri
ated for their redemption in fifteen years, and
(to ensure preference in the first moments of
competition) bearing an interest of six per
cent, there is no one who would not take
them in preference to the bank paper now
afloat, on a principle of patriotism as well
as interest ; and they would be withdrawn
from circulation into private hoards to a
considerable amount. Their credit once es
tablished, others might be emitted, bottomed
also on a tax, but not bearing interest, and if
even their credit faltered, open public loans,
on which these bills alone should be received
as specie. These, operating as a sinking
fund, would reduce the quantity in circula
tion, so as to maintain that in an equilibrium
with specie. It is not easy to estimate the
obstacles which, in the beginning, we should
encounter in ousting the banks from their
possession of the circulation ; but a steady
and judicious alternation of emissions and
loans, would reduce them in time. But while
this is going on, another measure should be
pressed, to recover ultimately our right to the
circulation. The States should be applied to,
to transfer the right of issuing circulating
paper to Congress exclusively, in perpetuum,
if possible, but during the war at least, with
a saving of charter rights. I believe that
every State west and south of the Connecti
cut River, except Delaware, would imme
diately do it; and the others would follow in
time. Congress would, of course, begin by
obliging unchartered banks to wind up their
affairs within a short time, and the others as
their charters expired, forbidding the subse
quent circulation of their paper. This, they
would supply with their own, bottomed,
every emission, on an adequate tax, and bear
ing or not bearing interest, as the state of the
public pulse should indicate. Even in the
non-complying States, these bills would make
their way, and supplant the unfunded paper
of their banks, by their solidity, by the uni
versality of their currency, and by their re-
I
603
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
National Currency
ceivability for customs and taxes. It would
be in their power, too, to curtail those
banks to the amount of their actual specie,
by gathering up their paper, and running it
constantly on them. The national paper
might thus take place even in the non-com
plying States. In this way, I am not with
out a hope, that this great, this sole resource
for loans in an agricultural country, might
yet be recovered for the use of the nation
during war; and, if obtained in perpetuum,
it would always be sufficient to carry us
through any war; provided, that in the in
terval between war and war, all the outstand
ing paper should be called in, coin be per
mitted to flow in again, and to hold the field
of circulation until another war should re
quire its yielding place again to the national
medium. — To JOHN WAYLES EPPES. vi, 139.
FORD ED., ix, 391. (M., June 1813.)
5623. . I like well your idea of
issuing treasury notes bearing interest, be
cause I am persuaded they would soon be
withdrawn from circulation and locked up
in vaults in private hoards. It would put it
in the power of every man to lend his $100
or $1000, though not able to go forward on
the great scale, and be the most advantageous
way of obtaining a loan. — To THOMAS LAW.
FORD ED., ix, 433. (M., Nov. 1813.)
5624. . The circulating fund is
the only one we can ever command with
certainty. It is sufficient for all our wants ;
and the impossibility of even defending the
country without its aid as a borrowing fund,
renders it indispensable that the nation should
take and keep it in their own hands, as their
exclusive resource. — To PRESIDENT MADISON.
vi, 393- FORD ED., ix, 491. (M., Oct. 1814.)
5625. . Although a century of
British experience has proved to what a
wonderful extent the funding on specific re
deeming taxes enables a nation to anticipate
in war the resources of peace, and although
the other nations of Europe have tried and
trodden every path of force or folly in fruit
less quest of the same object, yet we still
expect to find in juggling tricks and banking
dreams, that money can be made out of noth
ing, and in sufficient quantities to meet the
expenses of a heavy war by sea and land. It
is said, indeed, that money cannot be bor
rowed from our merchants as from those of
England. But it can be borrowed from our
people. They will give you all the necessa
ries of war they produce, if, instead of the
bankrupt trash they are now obliged to re
ceive for want of any other, you will give
them a paper promise funded on a specific
pledge, and of a size for common circula
tion. But you say the merchants will not
take this paper. What the people take the
merchants must take, or sell nothing. All
these doubts and fears prove only the ex
tent of the dominion which the banking in
stitutions have obtained over the minds of
our citizens, and especially of those inhabit
ing cities or other banking places; and this
dominion must be broken, or it will break us.
3ut * * * we must make up our minds to
suffer yet longer before we can get right.
The misfortune is, that in the meantime, we
shall plunge ourselves in unextinguishable
debt, and entail on our posterity an inherit
ance of eternal taxes, which will bring our
government and people into the condition of
those of England, a nation of pikes and
gudgeons, the latter bred merely as food for the
former. — To JAMES MONROE, vi, 409. FORD
ED., ix, 497. (M., Jan. 1815.)
5626. NATIONAL CURRENCY, Circu
lating medium. — If I have used any expres
sion restraining the emissions of treasury
notes to a sufficient medium, * * * I
have done it inadvertently, and under the
impression then possessing me, that the war
would be very short. A sufficient medium
would not, on the principles of any writer,
exceed thirty millions of dollars, and of those
of some not ten millions. Our experience has
proved it may be run up to two or three
hundred millions, without more than doub
ling what would be the prices of things under
a sufficient medium, or say a metallic one,
which would always keep itself at the suf
ficient point ; and, if they rise to this term,
and the descent from it be gradual, it would
not produce sensible revolutions in private
fortunes. I shall be able to explain my views
more definitely by the use of numbers. Sup
pose we require, to carry on the war, an an
nual loan of twenty millions, then I pro
pose that, in the first year, you shall lay a
tax of two millions, and emit twenty millions
of treasury notes, of a size proper for cir
culation, and bearing no interest, to the re
demption of which the proceeds of that tax
shall be inviolably pledged and applied, by re
calling annually their amount of the identical
bills funded on them. The second year, lay
another tax of two millions, and emit twenty
millions more. The third year the same, and
so on, until you have reached the maximum
of taxes which ought to be imposed. Let me
suppose this maximum to be one dollar a
head, or ten millions of dollars, merely as an
exemplification more familiar than would be
the algebraical symbols x or y. You would
reach this in five years. The sixth year, then,
still emit twenty millions of treasury notes,
and continue all the taxes two years longer.
The seventh year, twenty millions more, and
continue the whole taxes another two years ;
and so on. Observe, that although you emit
twenty millions of dollars a year, you call in
ten millions, and, consequently, add but ten
millions annually to the circulation. It would
be in thirty years, then, prima facie, that
you would reach the present circulation of
three hundred millions, or the ultimate term
to which we might venture. But observe,
also, that in that time we shall have become
thirty millions of people, to whom three
hundred millions of dollars would be no more
than one hundred millions to us now; which
sum would probably not have raised prices
more than fifty per cent, on what may be
deemed the standard, or metallic prices. This
National Currency
Nations
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
604
increased population and consumption, while
it would be increasing the proceeds of the
redemption tax, and lessening the balance an
nually thrown into circulation, would also
absorb, without saturation, more of the sur
plus medium, and enable us to push the same
process to a much higher term, to one which
we might safely call indefinite, because ex
tending so far beyond the limits, either in
time or expense, of any supposable war. All
we should have to do would be, when the war
should be ended, to leave the gradual ex
tinction of these notes to the operation of the
taxes pledged for their redemption; not to
suffer a dollar of paper to be emitted either
by public or private authority, but let the
metallic medium flow back into the channels
of circulation, and occupy them until another
war should oblige us to recur, for its support,
to the same resource, and the same process,
on the circulating medium. — To PRESIDENT
MADISON, vi, 392. FORD ED., ix, 489. (M.,
Oct. 1814.)
5627. . The government is now
issuing Treasury notes for circulation, bot
tomed on solid funds and bearing interest.
The banking confederacy (and the merchants
bound to them by their debts) will endeavor
to crush the credit of these notes; but the
country is eager for them, as something they
can trust to, and as soon as a convenient
quantity of them can get into circulation the
bank notes die. — To JEAN BAPTISTE SAY. vi,
434. (M., 1815.)
5628. . The war, had it pro
ceeded, would have upset our government ;
and a new one, whenever tried, will do it.
And so it must be while our money, the nerve
of war, is much or little, real or imaginary,
as our bitterest enemies choose to make it. —
To ALBERT GALLATIN. vi, 498. (M., Oct.
1815.)
5629. NATIONAL CURRENCY, Con
gressional control.— From the establishment
of the United States Bank, to this day, I have
preached against this system, and have been
sensible no cure could be hoped but in the
catastrophe now happening. The remedy
was to let banks drop gradually at the ex
piration of their charters, and for the State
governments to relinquish the power of estab
lishing others. This would not, as it should
not, have given the power of establishing
them to Congress. But Congress could then
have issued treasury notes payable within a
fixed period, and founded on a specific tax,
the proceeds of which, as they came in,
should be exchangeable for the notes of that
particular emission only. This depended, it
is true, on the will of the State Legislatures,
and would have brought on us the phalanx
of paper interest. But that interest is now
defunct. — To THOMAS COOPER, vi, 381. (M.,
Sep. 1814.)
5630. . To give readier credit
to their bills, without obliging themselves to
give cash for them on demand, let their col
lectors be instructed to do so, when they have
cash; thus, in some measure, performing the
functions of a bank, as to their own notes. —
To THOMAS COOPER, vi, 382. (M., Sep.
1814.)
5631. NATIONAL CURRENCY, Re
demption. — Treasury notes of small as well
as high denomination, bottomed on a tax
which would redeem them in ten years, would
place at our disposal the whole circulating
medium of the United States; a fund of
credit sufficient to carry us through any prob
able length of war. A small issue of such
paper is now commencing. It will imme
diately supersede the bank paper; nobody re
ceiving that now but for the purposes of the
day, and never in payments which are to lie
by for any time. In fact, all the banks
having declared they will not give cash in ex
change for their own notes, these circulate
merely because there is no other medium of
exchange. As soon as the treasury notes get
into circulation, the others will cease to hold
any competition with them. I trust that an
other year will confirm this experiment, and
restore this fund to the public, who ought
never more to permit its being filched from
them by private speculators and disorganizers
of the circulation. — To W. H. CRAWFORD, vi,
419. FORD ED., ix, 503. (M., Feb. 1815.)
5632. . The third great measure
necessary to ensure us permanent prosperity,
should ensure resources of money by the sup
pression of all paper circulation during peace,
and licensing that of the nation alone during
war. The metallic medium of which we
should be possessed at the commencement of
a war, would be a sufficient fund for all the
loans we should need through its contin
uance; and if the national bills issued, be
bottomed (as is indispensable) on pledges of
specific taxes for their redemption within cer
tain and moderate epochs, and be of proper
denominations for circulation, no interest on
them would be necessary or just, because they
would answer to every one the purposes of
the metallic money withdrawn and replaced
by them. — To WILLIAM H. CRAWFORD, vii, 8.
FORD ED., x, 36. (M., 1816.) See BANKS,
DOLLAR, MONEY, and PAPER MONEY.
— NATIONAL UNIVERSITY.— See
UNIVERSITY.
5633. NATIONS, Constitutions for.—
Such indeed are the different circumstances,
prejudices, and habits of different nations,
that the constitution of no one would be
reconcilable to any other in every point. — To
M. CORAY. vii, 320. (M., 1823.)
5634. NATIONS, Dictation to.— The
presumption of dictating to an independent
nation the form of its government, is so
arrogant, so atrocious, that indignation, as
well as moral sentiment, enlists all our par
tialities and prayers in favor of one, and our
equal execrations against the other. — -To
JAMES MONROE. vii, 287. FORD ED., x, 257.
(M., 1823.)
5635. NATIONS, European.— The Euro
pean societies * * * under pretence of
605
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Nations
governing, have divided their nations into
two classes, wolves and sheep. — To EDWARD
CARRINGTON. ii, 100. FORD ED., iv, 360. (P.,
1787.)
5636. . The European are na
tions of eternal war. All their energies are
expended in the destruction of the labor,
property, and lives of their people. — To
PRESIDENT MONROE, vii, 288. FORD ED., x,
257- (M., 1823.)
5637. NATIONS, Extinction of.— I shall
not wonder to see the scenes of ancient Rome
and Carthage renewed in our day; and if
not pursued to the same issue, it may be be
cause the republic of modern powers will not
permit the extinction of any one of its mem
bers.— To C W. F. DUMAS, i, 553. (P.,
1786.)
5638. NATIONS, Good faith.— A char
acter of good faith is of as much value to a
nation as to an individual. — THE ANAS. FORD
ED., i, 332. (1808.)
5639. NATIONS, Government of.— I
think, with others, that nations are to be gov
erned according to their own interest, but I
am convinced that it is their interest, in the
long run to be grateful, faithful to their en
gagements, even in the worst of circum
stances, and honorable and generous always.
—To M. DE LAFAYETTE, iii, 132. FORD ED.,
v, 152. (N.Y., 1790.)
5640. NATIONS, History and.— Wars
and contentions, indeed, fill the pages of his
tory with more matter. But more blest is
that nation whose silent course of happiness
furnishes nothing for history to say. This is
what I ambition for my own country. — To
COUNT DIODATI. v, 62. (W., 1807.)
5641. NATIONS, Ignorant. — If a nation
expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of
civilization, it expects what never was and
never will be.— To CHARLES YANCEY. vi, 517.
FORD ED., x, 4. (M., 1816.)
5642. NATIONS, Interest of.— The in
terests of a nation, when well understood,
will be found to coincide with their moral
duties. — PARAGRAPH FOR PRESIDENT'S MES
SAGE. FORD ED., vi, 119. (1792.)
5643. NATIONS, Jefferson's prayer for
all. — I wish that all nations may recover and
retain their independence; that those which
are overgrown may not advance beyond safe
measures of power, that a salutary balance
may be ever maintained among nations, and
that our peace, commerce and friendship,
may be sought and cultivated by all. — To
THOMAS LEIPER. vi, 464. FORD ED., ix, 520.
(M., 1815.)
5644. . Notwithstanding all the
French and British atrocities, which will for
ever disgrace the present era of history,
their shameless prostration of all the laws
of morality which constitute the security,
the peace and comfort of man — notwithstand
ing the waste of human life, and measure of
human suffering which they have inflicted on
the world — nations hitherto in slavery have
desired through all this bloody mist a glim
mering of their own rights, have dared to
open their eyes, and to see that their own
power will suffice for their emancipation.
Their tyrants must now give them more
moderate forms of government, and they
seem now to be sensible of this themselves.
Instead of the parricide treason of Bonaparte
in employing the means confided to him as a
republican magistrate to the overthrow of
that republic, and establishment of a military
despotism in himself and his descendants, to
the subversion of the neighboring govern
ments, and erection of thrones for his
brothers, his sisters and sycophants, had he
honestly employed that power in the estab
lishment and support of the freedom of his
own country, there is not a nation in Eu
rope which would not at this day have had
a more rational government, one in which the
will of the people should have had a mod
erating and salutary influence. The work
will now be longer, will swell more rivers
with blood, produce more sufferings and more
crimes. But it will be consummated ; and
that it may be will be the theme of my con
stant prayers while I shall remain on the
earth beneath, or in the heavens above. — To
WILLIAM BENTLEY. vi, 503. (M., 1815.)
5645. NATIONS, Just and unjust.— A
just nation is taken on its word, when re
course is had to armaments and wars to
bridle others. — SECOND INAUGURAL ADDRESS.
viii, 40. FORD ED., viii, 343. (1805.)
5646. . No nation, however pow
erful, any more than an individual, can be
unjust with impunity. Sooner or later public
opinion, an instrument merely moral in the
beginning, will find occasion physically to in
flict its sentences on the unjust. — To JAMES
MADISON. FORD ED., viii, 300. (M., 1804.)
5647. NATIONS, Justice and.— No na
tion can answer for perfect exactitude of pro
ceedings in all their inferior courts. It suf
fices to provide a supreme judicature, where
all error and partiality will be ultimately
corrected. — To GEORGE HAMMOND, iii, 414.
FORD ED., vi, 55. (Pa., 1792.)
5648. NATIONS, Liberal.— A nation, by
establishing a character of liberality and mag
nanimity, gains in the friendship and respect
of others more than the worth of mere
money. — SPECIAL MESSAGE, viii, 56. (1806.)
5649. NATIONS, Manners of.— It is
difficult to determine on the standard by
which the manners of a nation may be tried,
whether catholic or particular. It is more
difficult for a native to bring to that standard
the manners of his own nation, familiarized
to him by habit. — NOTES ON VIRGINIA, viii,
403. FORD ED., iii, 266. (1782.)
5650. NATIONS, Money and rights of.
— Money is the agent by which modern na
tions will recover their rights. — To COMTE DE
MOUSTIER. ii, 389. FORD ED., v, 12. (P.,
1788.)
Nations (American)
THE JEFFERSON1AN CYCLOPEDIA
606
6651. NATIONS, Morality.— A nation,
as a society, forms a moral person, and every
member of it is personally responsible for
his society. — To GEORGE HAMMOND, iii, 419.
FORD ED., vi, 59. (Pa., 1792.) See MORALITY
(NATIONAL).
5652. . The moral obligations
constitute a law for nations as well as in
dividuals.— R. TO A. N. Y. TAMMANY SO
CIETY, viii, 127. (1808.)
5653. NATIONS, Natural rights of.—
In no case are the laws of a nation changed,
of natural right, by their passage from one
to another domination. The soil, the in
habitants, their property, and the laws by
which they are protected go together. Their
laws are subject to be changed only in the
ease, and extent which their new legislature
shall will.— BATTURE CASE, viii, 528. (1812.)
6654. NATIONS, Neighboring.— We
have seldom seen neighborhood produce af
fection among nations. The reverse is almost
the universal truth.— To JOHN C. BRECKEN-
RIDGE. iv, 499. FORD ED., viii, 243. (M.,
1803.)
6655. NATIONS, Oppressed.— That we
should wish to see the people of other coun
tries free, is as natural, and at least as jus
tifiable, as that one King should wish to see
the Kings of other countries maintained in
their despotism.— To ALBERT GALLATIN. vii,
78. FORD ED., x, 90. (M., 1817.)
5656. NATIONS, Peculiarities of.— In
reading the travels of a Frenchman through
the United States what he remarks as pe
culiarities in us, prove to us the contrary pe
culiarities of the French. We have the ac
counts of Barbary from European and Amer
ican travellers. It would be more amusing
if Melli Melli would give us his observa
tions on the United States. If, with the
fables and follies of the Hindoos, so justly
pointed out to us by yourself and other
travellers, we could compare the contrast of
those which an Hindoo traveller would
imagine he found among us, it might enlarge
our instruction. It would be curious to see
what parallel among us he would select for
his Veeshni. — To NATHANIEL GREENE, vi,
72. (M., 1812.)
5657. NATIONS, Political conditions
in. — The condition of different descriptions
of inhabitants in any country is a matter of
municipal arrangement, of which no foreign
country has a right to take notice. All its
inhabitants are as men to them. — To SAMUEL
KERCHIVAL. vii, 37. FORD ED., x, 46. (M.,
1816.)
5658. NATIONS, Representation and.
— The [representative principle] has taken deep
root in the European mind, and will have its
growth; their despots,* sensible of this, are
already offering this modification of their
governments, as if of their own accord. In-
* In consenting to the newspaper publication of this
extract, Jefferson directed that " despots " be changed
to "rulers ".—EDITOR.
stead of the parricide treason of Bonaparte,
in. perverting the means confided to him as a
republican magistrate, to the subversion of
that republic and erection of a military des
potism for himself and his family, had he
used it honestly for the establishment and
support of a free government in his own
country, France would now have been in
freedom and rest; and her example operating
in a contrary direction, every nation in Eu
rope would have had a government over
which the will of the people would have had
some control. His atrocious egotism has
checked the salutary progress of principle,
and deluged it with rivers of blood which are
not yet run out. To the vast sum of dev
astation and of human misery, of which he
has been the guilty cause, much is still to be
added. But the object is fixed in the eye of
nations, and they will press on to its accom
plishment and to the general amelioration of
the condition of man. What a germ have we
planted, and how faithfully should we cherish
the parent tree at home ! — To BENJAMIN AUS
TIN, vi, 520. FORD ED., x, 8. (M., 1816.)
5659. NATIONS, Revolution.— When
subjects are able to maintain themselves in
the field, they are then an independent power
as to all neutral nations, are entitled to their
commerce, and to protection within their lim
its. — To JAMES MONROE, vi, 550. FORD ED.,
x, 19. (M., 1816.)
5660. NATIONS, Standing of.— The just
standing of all nations is the health and
security of all. — To JAMES MAURY. vi, 52.
FORD ED., ix, 349. (M., 1812.)
5661. NATIONS, Unity of large.— The
laws of nature render a large country un
conquerable if they adhere firmly together,
and to their purpose. — To H. INNES. FORD
EDV vi, 266. (Pa., 1793.)
5662. . Without union of action
and effort in all its parts, no nation can be
happy or safe. — To JAMES SULLIVAN, v, 100.
FORD ED., ix, 75. (W., 1807.)
5663. . A nation united can
never be conquered. We have seen what the
ignorant, bigoted and unarmed Spaniards
could do against the disciplined veterans of
their invaders. * * * The oppressors may
cut off heads after heads,, but like those of the
Hydra they multiply at every stroke. The re
cruits within a nation's own limits are prompt
and without number ; while those of their in
vaders from a distance are slow, limited, and
must come to an end. — To JOHN ADAMS, vi,
525. (M., 1816.)
5664. NATIONS, Young.— The first ob
ject of young societies is bread and covering;
science is but secondary and subsequent. — To
J. EVELYN DENISON. vii, 418. (M., 1825.)
5665. NATIONS (American), Coalition
of. — Nothing is so important as that America
shall separate herself from the systems of
Europe, and establish one of her own. Our
circumstances, our pursuits, our interests,
are distinct, the principles of our policy
6o;
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Natural Bridge
Natural History
should be so also. All entanglements with
that quarter of the globe should be avoided
if we mean that peace and justice shall be
the polar stars of the American societies.
* * * [This] would be a leading principle
with me, had I longer to live. — To J. CORREA
DE SERRA. vii, 184. FORD ED., x, 162. (M.,
Oct. 1820.)
5666. NATURAL BRIDGE, Descrip
tion. — The Natural Bridge, the most sublime
of Nature's works, * * * is on the ascent
of a hill which seems to have been cloven
through its length by some great convulsion.
The fissure, just at the Bridge, is, by some ad
measurements, 270 feet deep, by others only
205. It is about 45 feet wide at the bottom
and 90 feet at the top ; this of course deter
mines the length of the bridge, and its height
from the water. Its breadth in the middle is
about 60 feet, but more at the ends, and the
thickness of the mass, at the summit of the
arch, about forty feet. A part of this thick
ness is constituted by a coat of earth, which
gives growth to many large trees. The resi
due, with the hill on both sides, is one solid
rock of limestone. The arch approaches the
semi-elliptical form ; but the larger axis of the
ellipsis, which would be the chord of the arch,
is many times longer than the semi-axis which
gives its height. Looking down from this
height about a minute, gave me a violent
headache. If the view from the top be pain
ful and intolerable, that from below is de
lightful in an equal extreme. It is impossible
for the emotions arising from the sublime to
be felt beyond what they are here ; so beauti
ful an arch, so elevated, so light, and spring
ing as it were up to heaven, the rapture of
the spectator is really indescribable ! The fis
sure continuing narrow, deep and straight, for
a considerable distance above and below the
Bridge, opens a short but very pleasing view
of the North Mountain on one side and the
Blue Ridge on the other, at the distance each
of them of about five miles. — NOTES ON VIR
GINIA, viii, 269. FORD ED., iii, 109. (1782.)
5667. NATURAL BRIDGE, Greatest
curiosity. — The greatest of our curiosities,
the Natural Bridge. — To REV. CHAS. CLAY.
iii, 125. FORD ED., v, 142. (M., 1790.)
5668. NATURAL BRIDGE, Hermitage
near. — I sometimes think of building a little
hermitage at the Natural Bridge (for it is my
property) and of passing there a part of the
year at least. — To WILLIAM CARMICHAEL. ii,
80. FORD ED., iv, 345. (P., 1786.)
5669. NATURAL HISTORY, Ameri
can animals.— I really doubt whether the
fiat-horned elk exists in America. * * *
I have seen the daim, the cerf, the chevreuil
of Europe. But the animal we call elk, and
which may be distinguished as the round-
horned elk, is very different from them. * * *
I suspect that you will find that the moose, the
round-horned elk, and the American deer are
species not existing in Europe. The moose
is perhaps of a new class. — To COMTE DE
BUFFON. ii, 286. FORD ED., iv, 458. (P.,
1787.)
5670. NATURAL HISTORY, Anatomy
. — The systems of Cuvier and Blumen-
bach, and especially that of Blumenbach, are
liable to the objection of going too much into
the province of anatomy. It may be said, in
deed, that anatomy is a part of natural his
tory. In the broad sense of the word, it cer
tainly is. In that sense, however, it would
comprehend all the natural sciences, every
created thing being a subject of natural his
tory in extenso. * * * As soon as the
structure of any natural production is destroyed
by art, it ceases to be a subject of natural his
tory, and enters into the domain ascribed to
chemistry, to pharmacy, to anatomy, &c.
Linnaeus's method was liable to this objection so
far as it required the aid of anatomical dis
section, as of the heart, for instance, to ascer
tain the place of any animal, or of a chemical
process for that of a mineral substance. It
would certainly be better to adopt as much as
possible such exterior and visible character
istics as every traveler is competent to observe,
to ascertain and to relate. — To DR. JOHN MAN
NERS, vi, 321. (M., 1814.) See ANATOMY.
5671. NATURAL HISTORY, Buffon
and. — You must not presume too strongly
that your comb-footed bird is known to M. de
Buffon. He did not know our panther. I gave
him the striped skin of one I bought in Phila
delphia, and it presents him a new species
which will appear in his next volume. — To
FRANCIS HOPKINSON. ii, 74. (P., 1786.)
5672. . I have convinced M. de
Buffon that our deer is not a chevreuil, and
would you believe that many letters to different
acquaintances in Virginia, where this animal
is so common, have never enabled me to pre
sent him with a large pair of their horns, a
blue and a red skin stuffed, to show him their
colors at different seasons. He has never seen
the horns of what we call the elk. This would
decide whether it be an elk or a deer.* — To
FRANCIS HOPKINSON. ii, 74. (P., 1786.)
5673. . I have made a particular
acquaintance with Monsieur de Buffon, and
have a great desire to give him the best idea
I can of our elk. You could not oblige me more
than by sending me the horns, skeleton and
skin of an elk, were it possible to procure them.
Everything of this kind is precious
here [France]. — To ARCHIBALD STUART, i,
518. FORD ED., iv, 189. (P., 1786.) See
BUFFON.
5674. NATURAL HISTORY, Costly
specimens. — You ask if you shall say any
thing to Sullivan about the bill. No ; only that
it is paid. I have received letters from him ex
plaining the matter. It was really for the
skin and bones of the moose, as I had con
jectured. It was my fault that I had not given
him a rough idea of the expense I would be
willing to incur for them. He made the ac
quisition an object of a regular campaign, and
that, too, of a winter one. The troops he em
ployed sallied forth, as he writes me, in the
month of March — much snow — a herd attacked
— one killed — in the wilderness — a road to cut
twenty miles — to be drawn by hand from the
frontiers to his house — bones to be cleaned,
&c., &c. In fine, he puts himself to an infini
tude of trouble, more than I meant. He did it
cheerfully, and I feel myself really under obli
gations to him. That the tragedy might not
want a proper catastrophe, the box, bones, and
all are lost ; so that this chapter of natural his
tory will still remain a blank. But I have
* " The venerable Buffon was indebted to Jefferson
for torrents of information concerning nature in
America, as well as for many valuable specimens.
Buffon wrote to Jefferson, ' I should have consulted
you, sir, before publishing my natural history, and
then I should have been sure of my facts '."—PAR-
TON'S Life of Jefferson.
Natural History
Natural Bights
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
608
written to him not to send me another. — To
W. S. SMITH, ii, 284. (P., 1787.)
5675. NATURAL HISTORY, Elk and
deer. — In my conversations with the Count
de Buffon on the subjects of natural history,
I find him absolutely unacquainted with our
elk and our deer. He has hitherto believed
that our deer never had horns more than a
foot long; and has, therefore, classed them
with the roe buck which, I am sure, you know
them to be different from. * * * Will you
take the trouble to procure for me the largest
pair of buck's horns you can, and a large skin
of each color, that is to say, a red and a blue?
If it were possible to take these from a buck
just killed,, to leave all the bones of the head
in the skin, with the horns on, to leave the
bones of the legs in the skin also, and the hoofs
to it, so that, having only made an incision
all along the belly and neck, to take the animal
out at, we could, by sewing up that incision,
and stuffing the skin, present the true size and
form of the animal ; it would be a most precious
present. — To A. GARY, i, 507. (P., 1786.)
5676. . You give me hopes of
being able to procure for me some of the big
bones. * * * A specimen of each of the
several species of bones now to be found, is
to me the most desirable object in natural his
tory. And there is no expense of package or
of safe transportation which I will not gladly
reimburse to procure them safely. Elk horns
of very extraordinary size, or anything else
uncommon, would be very acceptable. — To
JAMES STEPTOE. -i, 323. FORD ED., iii, 62.
(1782.)
5677. NATURAL HISTORY, Export
ing deer. — Our deer have been often sent to
England and Scotland. Do you know (with
certainty) whether they have ever bred with
the red deer of those countries? — To A. GARY.
i, 508. (P., 1786.)
5678. NATURAL HISTORY, Far
West. — Any observations of your own on
the subject of the big bones or their history,
or anything else in the western country, will
come acceptably to me, because I know you
see the works of nature in the great, and not
merely in detail. Descriptions of animals,
vegetables, minerals or other curious things ;
notes as to the Indians' information of the
country between the Mississippi and the waters
of the South Sea, &c., &c., will strike your mind
as worthy being communicated. — To JAMES
STEPTOE. i, 323. FORD ED., iii, 63. (1782.)
5679. NATURAL HISTORY, French
deer. — I have examined some of the red deer
of this country [France] at the distance of
about sixty yards, and I find no other difference
between them and ours than a shade or two in
the color. — To A. GARY, i, 507. (P., 1786.)
5680. NATURAL HISTORY, Grouse
and pheasant. — In the King's cabinet of
Natural History, of which Monsieur de Buffon
has the superintendence, I observed that they
had neither our grouse nor our pheasant.
* * * Pray buy the male and female of
each, employ some apothecary's boy to prepare
them, and send them to me. — To F. HOPKIN-
SON. i, 506. (P., 1786.) See BIRDS.
5681. NATURAL HISTORY, Import
ing Useful Animals. — A fellow passenger
with me from Boston to England, promised to
send to you, in my name, some hares, rabbits,
pheasants, and partridges, by the return of the
ship, which was to go to Virginia, and the
captain promised to take great care of them.
My friend procured the animals, and the ship
changing her destination, he kept them in
hopes of finding some other conveyance, till
they all perished. I do not despair, however,
of finding some opportunity still of sending a
colony of useful animals. — To A. GARY, i,
508. (P., 1786.)
5682. NATURAL HISTORY, Nomen
clature. — The uniting all nations under one
language in natural history had been happily
effected by Linnaeus, and can scarcely be
hoped for a second time. Nothing, indeed,
is so desperate as to make all mankind agree
in giving up a language they possess, for one
which they have to learn. * * * Disciples
of Linnaeus, of Blumenbach, and of Cuvier,
exclusively possessing their own nomenclatures,
can no longer communicate intelligibly with one
another. — To DR. JOHN MANNERS, vi, 321.
(M., 1814.)
5683. . To disturb Linnaeus's
system was unfortunate. The new system at
tempted in botany, by Jussieu, in mineralogy,
by Haiiiy, are subjects of the same regret, and
so also the no-system of Buffon, the great advo
cate of individualism in opposition to classi
fication. He would carry us back to the days
and to the confusion of Aristotle and Pliny,
give up the improvements of twenty centuries,
and cooperate with the neolpgists in rendering
the science of one generation useless to the
next by perpetual changes of its language. —
To DR. JOHN MANNERS, vi, 322. (M., 1814.)
5684. NATURAL HISTORY, A pas
sion. — Natural History is my passion. — To
HARRY INNES. iii, 217. FORD ED., v, 294.
(Pa., 1791.)
5685. NATURAL HISTORY, Weevil
fly. — I do not think the natural history of the
weevil fly of Virginia has been yet sufficiently
detailed. What do you think of beginning to
turn your attention to this insect, in order to
five its history to the Philosophical Society?
t would require some Summers' observations.
* * * I long to be free for pursuits of this
kind instead of the detestable ones in which I
am now laboring without pleasure to myself,
or profit to others. In short, I long to be with
you at Monticello. — To T. M. RANDOLPH. FORD
ED., v, 325. (Pa., 1791-)
5686. NATURAL HISTORY, Wild
sheep. — I have never known to what family
you ascribed the Wild Sheep, or Fleecy Goat,
as Governor Lewis called it, or the Potio-
trajos, if its name must be Greek. He gave
me a skin, but I know he carried a more per
fect one, with the horns on, to Mr. Peale ;
and if I recollect well those horns, they, with
the fleece, would induce one to suspect it to
be the Lama, or at least a Lama aMnis. I
will thank you to inform me what you deter
mine it to be. — To DR. WISTAR. v, 218. (W.,
1807.)
_ NATURAL LAW.— See MAJORITY.
5687. NATURAL RIGHTS, Abridging.
—All natural rights may be abridged or modi
fied in their exercise by law. — OFFICIAL OPIN
ION, vii, 498. FORD ED., v, 206. (1790.)
5688. . Laws abridging the natu
ral right of the citizen, should be restrained
by rigorous constructions within their nar
rowest limits. — To ISAAC MCPHERSON. vi,
176. (M., 1813.) See DUTY (NATURAL).
609
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Natural Blgl
Naturalizatie
5689. NATURAL BIGHTS, Authority
over. — Our rulers can have * * * au
thority over such natural rights only as we
have submitted to them. — NOTES ON VIR
GINIA, viii, 400. FORD ED., iii, 263. (1782.)
5690. NATURAL RIGHTS, Choice of
vocation. — Everyone has a natural right to
choose that vocation in life which he thinks
most likely to give him comfortable subsist
ence. — THOUGHTS ON LOTTERIES, ix, 505.
FORD ED., x, 366. (M., Feb. 1826.)
5691. NATURAL RIGHTS, Equal
Rights vs. — No man has a natural right to
commit aggression on the equal rights of
another; and this is all from which the laws
ought to restrain him. — To F. W. GILMER.
vii, 3. FORD ED., x, 32. (M., 1816.)
5692. NATURAL RIGHTS, Kings and.
— These are our grievances, which we have
thus laid before his Majesty, with that free
dom of language and sentiment which be
comes a free people, claiming their rights as
derived from the laws of nature, and not
as the gift of their Chief Magistrate. — RIGHTS
OF BRITISH AMERICA, i, 141. FORD ED., i,
445. (1774-)
5693. NATURAL RIGHTS, Moral
sense and. — Questions of natural right are
triable by their conformity with the moral
sense and reason of man. — OPINION ON
FRENCH TREATIES, vii, 618. FORD ED.., vi,
225. (1793.) See MORAL SENSE.
5694. NATURAL RIGHTS, Restoring.
— I shall see with sincere satisfaction the
progress of those sentiments which tend to re
store to man all his natural rights. — R. TO
A. DANBURY BAPTISTS, viii, 113. (1802.)
5695. NATURAL RIGHTS, Retention
of- — The idea is quite unfounded that on en
tering into society we give up any natural
rights. — To F. W. GILMER. vii, 3. FORD ED.,
x, 32. (M., 1816.)
5696. NATURAL RIGHTS, Self-gov
ernment and. — Every man, and every body
of men on earth, possesses the right of self-
government. They receive it with their being
from the hand of nature. Individuals exer
cise it by their single will ; collections of men
by that of their majority; for the law of the
majority is the natural law of every society
of men. When a certain description of men
are to transact together a particular business,
the times and places of their meeting and
separating, depend on their own will ; they
make a part of the natural right of self-gov
ernment. This, like all other natural rights,
may be abridged or modified in its exercise
by their own consent, or by the law of those
who depute them, if they meet in the right
of others; but as far as it is not abridged
or modified, they retain it as a natural right,
and may exercise them in what form they
please, either exclusively by themselves, or in
association with others, or by others alto
gether, as they shall agree.— OFFICIAL OPIN
ION, vii, 496. FORD ED., v, 205. (1790.)
5797. NATURAL RIGHTS, Social du
ties and. — I am convinced man has no natu
ral right in opposition to his social duties. —
R. TO A. DANBURY BAPTISTS, viii, 113.
(1802.) See RIGHTS.
— NATURAL SELECTION, Applica
tion to mankind. — See RACE.
5698. NATURALIZATION, Eligibility.
— All persons who, by their own oath or af
firmation, or by other testimony, shall give
satisfactory proof to any court of record in
this Colony that they propose to reside in
the same seven years, at the least, and who
shall subscribe the fundamental laws, shall be
considered as residents, and entitled to all
the rights of persons natural born. — PROPOSED
VA. CONSTITUTION. FORD ED., ii, 26. (June
1776.)
5699. NATURALIZATION, Laws.— I
cannot omit recommending a revisal of the
laws on the subject of naturalization. Con
sidering the ordinary chances of human life,
a denial of citizenship under a residence of
fourteen years is a denial to a great propor
tion of those who ask it, and controls a policy
pursued from their first settlement by many
of these States, and still believed of conse
quence to their prosperity. And shall we re
fuse the unhappy fugitives from distress that
hospitality which the savages of the wilder
ness extended to our fathers arriving in this
land? Shall oppressed humanity find no
asylum on this globe? The Constitution, in
deed, has wisely provided that, for admission
to certain offices of important trust, a resi
dence shall be required sufficient to develop
character and design. But might not the
general character and capabilities of a citizen
be safely communicated to every one mani
festing a bond fide purpose of embarking his
life and fortunes permanently with us? with
restrictions, perhaps, to guard against the
fraudulent usurpation of our flag; an abuse
which brings so much embarrassment and
loss on the genuine citizen, and so much
danger to the nation of being involved in
war, that no endeavor should be spared to
detect and suppress it. — FIRST ANNUAL MES
SAGE, viii, 14. FORD ED., viii, 124. (Dec.
1801.) See CITIZENS and EXPATRIATION.
5700. NATURALIZATION, Non-recog
nition of.— The decrees of the British courts
that British subjects adopted here since the
peace, and carrying on commerce from hence,
are still British subjects, and their cargoes
British property, have shaken these quasi-
citizens in their condition. The French adopt
the same principle as to their cargoes when
captured. * * Is it worth our while to
go to war to support the contrary doctrine?
The British principle is clearly against the
law of nations, but which way our interest
lies is also worthy of consideration.— To
JAMES MONROE. FORD ED., vii, 214. (Pa.,
March 1798.)
5701. NATURALIZATION, Obstruct
ing.— He [George III.] has endeavored to
pervert the exercise of the kingly office in
Naturalization
Navigation
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
6lO
Virginia into a detestable and insupportable
tyranny * * * by endeavoring to prevent
the population of our country, and for that
purpose obstructing the laws for naturaliza
tion of foreigners. — PROPOSED VA. CONSTITU
TION. FORD ED., ii, 10. (June 1776.)
5702. NATURALIZATION, Power of.
— The Administrator [of Virginia] shall not
possess the prerogative * * * of making
denizens. — PROPOSED VA. CONSTITUTION.
FORD ED., ii, 19. (June 1776.)
5703. NATURE, Classifications.— Ray
formed one classification on such lines of di
vision as struck him most favorably ; Klein
adopted another ; Brisson a third, and other
naturalists other designations, till Linnaeus ap
peared. Fortunately for science, he conceived
in the three kingdoms of nature, modes of
classification which obtained the approbation
of the learned of all nations. This system was
accordingly adopted by all, and united all in a
general language. It offered the three great
desiderata ; First, of aiding the memory to re
tain a knowledge of the productions of nature.
Secondly, of rallying all to the same names for
the same objects, so that they could communi
cate understandingly on them. And, thirdly,
of enabling them, when a subject was first pre
sented, to trace it by its character up to the
conventional name by which it was agreed to
be called. This classification was indeed liable
to the imperfection of bringing into the same
group individuals w.hich, though resembling in
the characteristics adopted by the author for
his classification, yet have strong marks of dis
similitude in other respects. But to this objec
tion every mode of classification must be lia
ble, because the plan of creation is inscrutable
to our limited faculties. Nature has not ar
ranged her productions on a single and direct
line. They branch at every step, and in every
direction, and he who attempts to reduce them
into departments, is left to do it by the lines of
his own fancy. The objection of bringing to
gether what are disparata in nature, lies against
the classifications of Blumenbach and of Cu-
vier, as well as that of Linnaeus, and must for
ever lie against all. — To DR. JOHN MANNERS.
vi, 320. (M., 1814.)
5704. NATURE, Love of. — There is not
a sprig of grass that shoots uninteresting to
me. — To MARTHA JEFFERSON RANDOLPH. D.
L. J., 192. (Pa., 1790.)
5705. NATURE, Units in.— Nature has,
in truth, produced units only through all her
works. Classes, orders, genera, species, are
not of her work. Her creation is of individ
uals. No two animals are exactly alike ; no
two plants, nor even two leaves or blades of
grass ; no two crystallizations. And if we may
venture from what is within the cognizance of
such organs as ours, to conclude on that be
yond their powers, we must believe that no two
particles of matter are of exact resemblance.
This infinitude of units or individuals being
far beyond the capacity of our memory, we are
obliged, in aid of that, to distribute them into
masses, throwing into each of these all the
individuals which have a certain degree of re
semblance ; to subdivide these again into
smaller groups, according to certain points of
dissimilitude observable in them, and so on
until we have formed what we call a system of
classes, orders, genera, and species. In doing
this, we fix arbitrarily on such characteristic
resemblances and differences as seem to us
most prominent and invariable in the several
subjects, and most likely to take a strong hold
in our memories. — To DR. JOHN MANNERS.
vi, 319. (M., 1814.)
5706. NATURE AND FREEDOM.—
Under the law of nature we are all born free.
— LEGAL ARGUMENT. FORD ED., i, 380. (1770.)
5707. NAVIES, Equalization of.— I
have read with great satisfaction your ob
servations on the principles for equalizing
the power of the different nations on the sea,
and think them perfectly sound. Certainly
it will be better to produce a balance on that
element, by reducing the means of its great
monopolizer [England], than by endeavoring
to raise our own to an equality with theirs. —
To TENCH COXE. v, 199. FORD ED., ix, 142.
(M., Sep. 1807.) See NAVY.
5708. NAVIGATION, Coasting and
carrying trade.— I like your convoy bill, be
cause although it does not assume the main
tenance of all our maritime rights, it as
sumes as much as it is our interest to main
tain. Our coasting trade is the first and most
important branch, never to be yielded but
with our existence. Next to that is the car
riage of our own productions in our own
vessels, and bringing back the returns for our
own consumption ; so far I would protect it
and force every part of the Union to join
in the protection at the point of the bayonet.
But though we have a right to the remain
ing branch of carrying for other nations, its
advantages do not compensate its risks.
Your bill first rallies us to the ground the
Constitution ought to have taken, and to
which we ought to return without delay;
the moment is the most favorable possible,
because the Eastern States, by declaring
they will not protect that cabotage by war,
and forcing us to abandon it, have released us
from every future claim for its protection on
that part. Your bill is excellent in another
view : It presents still one other ground to
which we can retire before we resort to war;
it says to the belligerents, rather than go to
war, we will retire from the brokerage of
other nations, and will confine ourselves to the
carriage and exchange of our own produc
tions; but we will vindicate that in all its
rights — if you touch it, it is war. — To MR.
BUR WELL, v, 505. (M., Feb. 1810.)
5709. NAVIGATION, Defensive value
of. — Our navigation * * * as a resource
of defence, [is] essential, [and] will admit
neither neglect nor forbearance. The posi
tion and circumstances of the United States
leave them nothing to fear on their land-
board, and nothing to desire beyond their
present rights. But on their seaboard, they
are open to injury, and they have there, too,
a commerce which must be protected. This
can only be done by possessing a respectable
body of citizen-seamen, and of artists and es
tablishments in readiness for ship-building.
* * * If we lose the seamen and artists
whom [our navigation] now occupies, we lose
the present means of marine defence, and
time will be requisite to raise up others, when
6n
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Navigation
disgrace or losses shall bring home to our
feelings the error of having abandoned them.
— FOREIGN COMMERCE REPORT, vii, 647-8.
FORD ED., vi, 480. (Dec. 1793.)
5710. NAVIGATION, Develop.— Our
people are decided in the opinion that
ii is necessary for us to take a share
in the occupation of the ocean, and their
established habits induce them to require
that the sea be kept open to them, and
that that line of policy be pursued which
will render the use of that element to them
as great as possible. I think it a duty in those
intrusted with the administration of their af
fairs to conform themselves to the decided
choice of their constituents; and that there
fore, we should, in every instance, preserve
an equality of right to them in the transporta
tion of commodities, in the right of fishing
and in the other uses of the sea. — To JOHN
JAY. i, 404. FORD ED., iv, 88. (P., 1785.)
5711. NAVIGATION, Encourage.— Our
people have a decided taste for navigation
and commerce. They take this from their
mother country; and their servants are in
duty bound to calculate all their measures
on this datum. We wish to do it by throwing
open all the doors of commerce, and knocking
off its shackles. But as this cannot be done
for others, unless they will do it for us, and
there is no great probability that Europe will
do this, I suppose we shall be obliged to adopt
a system which may shackle them in our
ports, as they do us in theirs. — To COUNT
VAN HOGENDORP. i, 465. FORD ED., iv, 105.
(P, 1785.)
5712. NAVIGATION, English mon
opoly of.— The British say they will pocket
our carrying trade as well as their own. — To
JOHN PAGE, i, 550. FORD ED., iv, 215. (P.,
1786.)
5713. NAVIGATION, Freedom of.— I
think, whatever sums we are obliged to pay
for freedom of navigation in the European
seas, should be levied on the European com
merce with us by a separate impost, that these
powers may see that they protect these
enormities [Barbary piracies] for their own
loss— To GENERAL GREENE. i, 509. (P.,
1786.)
5714. . What sentiment is written
in deeper characters on the heart of man than
that the ocean is free to all men, and their
rivers to all their inhabitants? Is there a
man, savage or civilized, unbiased by habit,
who does not feel and attest this truth? Ac
cordingly, in all tracts of country united un
der the same political society, we find this
natural right universally acknowledged and
protected by laying the navigable rivers open
to all their inhabitants. When their rivers
enter the limits of another society, if the right
of the upper inhabitants to descend the
stream is in any case obstructed, it is an act
of force by a stronger society against a
weaker, condemned by the judgment of man
kind. The late case of Antwerp and the
Scheldt was a striking proof of a general
union of sentiment on this point; as it is be
lieved that Amsterdam had scarcely an ad
vocate out of Holland, and even there its
pretensions were advocated on the ground of
treaties, and not of natural right. — MISSIS
SIPPI RIVER INSTRUCTIONS, vii, 577. FORD ED.,
v, 468. (March 1792.)
5715. NAVIGATION, French and Eng
lish hostility.— The difference of sixty-two
livres ten sols the hogshead established by
the National Assembly [of France] on to
bacco brought in their and our ships, is such
an act of hostility against our navigation,
as was not to have been expected from the
friendship of that nation. It is as new in its
nature as extravagant in its degree; since it
is unexampled that any nation has en
deavored to wrest from another the carriage
of its own produce, except in the case of their
colonies. — To WILLIAM SHORT, iii, 274. FORD
ED., v, 362. (Pa., 1791.)
5716. . I apprehend that these
two great nations [France and England]
will think it their interest not to permit
us to be navigators. — To HORATIO GATES, iv,
213. FORD ED., vii, 205. (Pa., Feb. 1798.)
5717. . Every appearance and
consideration render it probable that, on the
restoration of peace, both France and Britain
will consider it their interest to exclude us from
the ocean, by such peaceable means as are in
their power. Should this take place, perhaps
it may be thought just and politic to give to
our native capitalists the monopoly of our in
ternal commerce. — To JAMES MADISON, iv,
214. FORD ED., vii, 206. (Pa., Feb. 1798.)
5718. . The countervailing acts
of Great Britain, now laid before Congress,
threaten, in the opinion of merchants, the
entire loss of our navigation to England. It
makes a difference, from the present state of
things, of five hundred guineas on a vessel of
three hundred and fifty tons. — To HORATIO
GATES, iv, 213. FORD ED., vii, 205. (Pa.,
Feb. 1798.)
5719. . The [British] counter
vailing act * * will, confessedly, put
American bottoms out of employ in our trade
with Great Britain. — To JAMES MADISON, iv,
214. FORD ED., vii, 206. (Pa., Feb. 1798.)
5720. . I hope we shall rub
through the war [between France and Eng
land], without engaging in it ourselves, and
that when in a state of peace our Legisla
ture and Executive will endeavor to provide
peaceable means of obliging foreign nations to
be just to us, and of making their injustice re
coil on themselves. — To PEREGRINE FITZ-
HUGH. iv, 216. FORD ED., vii, 209. (Pa. Feb
1798.)
5721. NAVIGATION, Industrial value.
—Our navigation * * * as a branch of
industry * * * is valuable * * * . Its
value, as a branch of industry, is enhanced
by the dependence of so many other branches
on it. In times of general peace it multiplies
Navigation
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
6l2
competitors for employment in transporta
tion, and so keeps that at its proper level;
and in times of war, that is to say, when
those nations who may be our principal
carriers, shall be at war with each other, if
we have not within ourselves the means of
transportation, our produce must be exported
in belligerent vessels, at the increased ex
pense of war-freight and insurance, and the
articles which will not bear that, must perish
on our hands. — FOREIGN COMMERCE REPORT.
vii, 647. FORD ED., vi, 480. (Dec. 1793. )
5722. NAVIGATION, Jefferson's re
port on. — You may recollect that a report
which I gave into Congress in 1793, and Mr.
Madison's propositions of 1794, went directly
to establish a navigation act on the British
principle. On the last vote given on this
(which was in Feb. 1794), from the three
States of Massachusetts, Connecticut, and
Rhode Island there were two votes for it,
and twenty against it; and from the three
States of Virginia, Kentucky, and North
Carolina, wherein not a single top-mast ves
sel is, I believe, owned by a native citizen,
there were twenty-five votes for and four
against the measure. I very much suspect
that were the same proposition now brought
forward, the northern vote would be nearly
the same, while the southern one, I am
afraid, would be radically varied. The sug
gestion of their disinterested endeavors for
placing our navigation on an independent
footing, and forcing on them the British
treaty, have not had a tendency to invite new
offers of sacrifice, and especially under the
prospect of a new rejection. You observe
that the rejection would change the politics
of New England. But it would afford no
evidence which they have not already in the
records of January and February, 1794. How
ever, I will * * * sound the dispositions
[of members of Congress] on that subject.
If the proposition should be likely to obtain
a reputable vote, it may do good. As to
myself, I sincerely wish that the whole Union
may accommodate their interests to each other,
and play into their hands mutually as mem
bers of the same family, that the wealth and
strength of any one part should be viewed as
the wealth and strength of the whole. — To
HUGH WILLIAMSON. FORD ED., vii, 200. (Pa.,
Feb. 1798.)
5723. NAVIGATION, Madness for.—
We are running navigation mad. — To JOSEPH
PRIESTLEY, iv, 311. FORD ED., vii, 406. (Pa.,
Jan. 1800.)
5724. NAVIGATION, Maintain.— To
maintain commerce and navigation in all
their lawful enterprises * * * [is one of]
the landmarks by which we are to guide our
selves in all our proceedings. — SECOND AN
NUAL MESSAGE, viii, 21. FORD ED., viii, 186
(Dec. 1802.)
5725. NAVIGATION, Mediterranean.—
We must consider the Mediterranean as ab
solutely shut to us until we can open it with
money. Whether this will be best expended
n buying or forcing a peace is for Congress
to determine. — To MR. HAWKINS, ii, 4. (P.,
1786.)
5726. NAVIGATION, Nurseries of.—
We have three nurseries for forming sea
men : i. Our coasting trade, already on a
safe footing. 2. Our fisheries, which in spite
of natural advantages, give just cause of
anxiety. 3. Our carrying trade, our only re
source of indemnification for what we lose
in the other. The produce of the United
States, which is carried to foreign markets,
is extremely bulky. That part of it which
is now in the hands of foreigners, and which
we may resume into our own, without touch
ing the rights of those nations who have met
us in fair arrangements by treaty, or the in
terests of those who, by their voluntary reg
ulations, have paid so just and liberal a re
spect to our interests, as being measured
back to them again, places both parties on as
good ground, perhaps, as treaties could place
them — the proportion, I say, of our carry
ing trade, which may be resumed without af
fecting either of these descriptions of nations,
will find constant employment for ten thou
sand seamen, be worth two millions of dol
lars, annually, will go on augmenting with
the population of the United States, secure
to us a full indemnification for the seamen
we lose, and be taken wholly from those
who force us to this act of self-protection in
navigation. * * * If regulations exactly
the counterpart of those established against
us, would be ineffectual, from a difference of
circumstances, other regulations equivalent can
give no reasonable ground of complaint to any
nation. Admitting their right of keeping their
markets to themselves, ours cannot be de
nied of keeping our carrying trade to our
selves. And if there be anything unfriendly
in this, it was in the first example. — REPORT
ON THE FISHERIES, vii, 553. (1791.)
5727. . The loss of seamen, un
noticed, would be followed by other losses in
a long train. If we have no seamen, our
ships will be useless, consequently our ship-
timber, iron and hemp ; our shipbuilding will
be at an end, ship carpenters go over to other
nations, our young men have no call to the
sea, our produce, carried in foreign bottoms,
be saddled with war freight and insurance in
times of war; and the history of the last
hundred years shows, that the nation which
is our carrier has three years of war for
every four years of peace. We lose, during
the same periods, the carriage for belligerent
powers, which the neutrality of our flag
would render an incalculable source of profit ;
we lose at this moment the carriage of our
own produce to the annual amount of twc
millions of dollars, which, in the possible
progress of the encroachment, may extend to
five or six millions, the worth of the whole,
with an increase in the proportion of the in
crease of our members. It is easier, as well
as better, to stop this train at its entrance,
than when it shall have ruined or banished
whole classes of useful and industrious citi-
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Navigation
zens. It will doubtless be thought expedient
that the resumption suggested should take ef
fect so gradually, as not to endanger the loss
of produce for the want of transportation ;
but that, in order to create transportation,
the whole plan should be developed, and
made known at once, that the individuals
who may be disposed to lay themselves out
for the carrying business, may make their cal
culations on a full view of all the circum
stances. — REPORT ON THE FISHERIES, vii,
554. (1791-)
5728. NAVIGATION, Protection of.—
The British attempt, without disguise, to
possess themselves of the carriage of our prod
uce, and to prohibit our own vessels from
participating of it. This has raised a general
indignation in America. The States see,
however, that their constitutions have pro
vided no means of counteracting it. They
are, therefore, beginning to invest Congress
with the absolute power of regulating their
commerce, only reserving all revenue arising
from it to the State in which it is levied.
This will consolidate our federal building
very much, and for this we shall be indebted
to the British.— To COUNT VAN HOGENDORP.
i, 465. FORD ED., iv, 104. (P., 1785.)
5729. — . I think it essential to
exclude the British from the carriage of
American produce. — To JAMES MONROE.
FORD ED., iv, 41. (P., 1785.)
5730. - — . The determination of the
British cabinet to make no equal treaty with
us, confirms me in the opinion expressed in
your letter that the United States must pass
a navigation act against Great Britain, and
load her manufactures with duties so as to
give a preference to those of other countries ;
and I hope our Assemblies will wait no
longer, but transfer such a power to Con
gress, at the sessions of this fall. — To JOHN
ADAMS, i, 486. (P., 1785.)
5731. - — . I hope we shall show
[the British] we have sense and spirit enough
* * * to exclude them from any share in
the carriage of our commodities. — To DAVID
HUMPHREYS, i, 560. (P., 1786.)
5732. - — .A bill which may be
called the true navigation act for the United
States, is before Congress, and will probably
pass. I hope it will lay the foundation of a
due share of navigation for us. — To JOHN
COFFIN JONES, iii, 155. (N.Y., 1790.)
5733. - — . I participate fully of
your indignation at the trammels imposed on
our commerce with Great Britain. Some at
tempts have been made in Congress, and
others are still making to meet their restric
tions by effectual restrictions on our part.
It was proposed to double the foreign ton
nage for a certain time, and after that to
prohibit the exportation of our commodities
in the vessels of nations not in treaty with
us. This has been rejected. It is now pro
posed to prohibit any nation from bringing or
carrying in their vessels what may not be
brought or carried in ours from or to the
same ports; also to prohibit those from
bringing to us anything not of their own prod
uce, who prohibit us from carrying to them
anything but our own produce. It is thought,
however, that this cannot be carried. The
fear is that it would irritate Great Britain
were we to feel any irritation ourselves. — To
EDWARD RUTLEDGE. iii, 164. FORD ED., v,
196. (N.Y., 1790.)
5734. . Were the ocean, which
is the common property of all, open to the
industry of all, so that every person and ves
sel should be free to take employment where-
ever it could be found, the United States
would certainly not set the example of ap
propriating to themselves, exclusively, any
portion of the common stock of occupation.
They would rely on the enterprise and ac
tivity of their citizens for a due participation
of the benefits of the seafaring business,
and for keeping the marine class of citizens
equal to their object. But if particular na
tions grasp at undue shares, and, more es
pecially, if they seize on the means of the
United States, to convert them into aliment
for their own strength, and withdraw them
entirely from the support of those to whom
they belong, defensive and protecting meas
ures become necessary on the part of the na
tion whose marine resources are thus in
vaded; or it will be disarmed of its defence;
its productions will lie at the mercy of the
nation which has possessed itself exclusively
of the means of carrying them, and its poli
tics may be influenced by those who com
mand its commerce. The carriage of our
own commodities, if once established in an
other channel, cannot be resumed in the mo
ment we may desire. If we lose the seamen
and artists whom it now occupies, we lose the
present means of marine defence, and time will
be requisite to raise up others, when disgrace or
losses shall bring home to our feelings the
error of having abandoned them. The materials
for maintaining our due share of navigation,
are ours in abundance. And, as to the mode
of using them, we have only to adopt the
principles of those who put us on the defen
sive, or others equivalent and better fitted
to our circumstances. — FOREIGN COMMERCE
REPORT, vii, 647. FORD ED., vi, 481. (Dec.
I793-)
5735. . I have ever wished that
all nations would adopt a navigation law
against those who have one, which perhaps
would be better than against all indiscrim
inately, and while in France I proposed it
there. — To TENCH COXE. v, 199. FORD ED.,
ix, 142. (M., 1807.)
5736. . Among the laws of the
late Congress, some were of note; a naviga
tion act, particularly, applicable to those na
tions only who have navigation acts ; pinching
one of them especially, not only in the general
way, but in the intercourse with her foreign
possessions. This part may react on us, and
it remains for trial which may bear longest.
— To ALBERT GALLATIN. vii, 78. FORD ED.,
x, 90. (M., 1817.)
Navigation
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
614
5737. NAVIGATION, Protuberant.— I
trust the good sense of our country will see
that its greatest prosperity depends on a due
balance between agriculture, manufactures and
commerce, and not in this protuberant nav
igation which has kept us in hot water from
the commencement of our government, and is
now engaging us in war. — To THOMAS LEI-
PER. v, 417. FORD ED., ix, 239. (W., 1809.)
5738. NAVIGATION, Reciprocity and.
—The following principles, being founded in
reciprocity, appear perfectly just, and to of
fer no cause of complaint to any nation :
Where a nation refuses to receive in our
vessels any productions but our own, we may
refuse to receive, in theirs, any but their own
productions. Where a nation refuses to con
sider any vessel as ours which has not been
built within our territories, we should refuse
?o consider as theirs, any vessel not built
within their territories. Where a nation re
fuses to our vessels the carriage even of our
own productions, to certain countries under
their domination, we might refuse to theirs of
every description, the carriage of the same
productions to the same countries. But as
justice and good neighborhood would dictate
that those who have no part in imposing
the restriction on us, should not be the vic
tims of measures, adopted to defeat its ef
fect, it may be proper to confine the restric
tion to vessels owned or navigated by any
subjects of the same dominant power, other
than the inhabitants of the country to which
the said productions are to be carried. And
to prevent all inconvenience to the said in
habitants, and to our own, by too sudden a
check on the means of transportation, we
may continue to admit the vessels marked
for future exclusion, on an advanced ton
nage, and for such length of time onlyi as
may be supposed necessary to provide against
that inconvenience. The establishment of
some of these principles by Great Britain,
alone, has already lost us in our commerce
with that country and its possessions, be
tween eight and nine hundred vessels of near
40,000 tons burden, according to statements
from official materials, in which they have
confidence. This involves a proportional loss
of seamen, shipwrights, and ship-building,
and is too serious a loss to admit forbearance
of some effectual remedy. — REPORT ON COM
MERCE AND NAVIGATION, vii, 648. FORD ED.,
vi, 481. (Dec. I793-)
5739. NAVIGATION, Reduction of
British. — It has been proposed in Congress
to pass a navigation act which will deeply
strike at that of Great Britain. * * *
Would it not be worth while to have the
bill now enclosed, translated, printed and cir
culated among the members of the [French]
National Assembly? If you think so, have
it done at the public expense, with any little
comment you may think necessary, conceal
ing the quarter from whence it is distributed ;
or take any other method you think better,
to see whether that Assembly will not pass
a similar act? I shall send copies of it to
Mr. Carmichael, at Madrid, and to Colonel
Humphreys, appointed resident at Lisbon,
with a desire for them to suggest similar acts
there. The measure is just, perfectly inno
cent as to all other nations, and will effec
tually defeat the navigation act of Great Brit
ain, and reduce her power on the ocean
within safer limits.— To WILLIAM SHORT iii
225. (Pa., 1791.)
5740. . The navigation act, if
it can be effected, will form a remarkable
and memorable epoch in the history and free
dom of the ocean. Mr. Short will press it
at Paris, and Colonel Humphreys at Lisbon.
— To WILLIAM CARMICHAEL. iii, 245. (Pa,
1791.)
5741. . The Navigation Act pro
posed in the late Congress, but which lies
over to the next, * * * is perfectly inno
cent as to other nations, is strictly just as to
the English, cannot be parried bv them, and
if adopted by other nations would inevitably
defeat their navigation act, and reduce their
power on the sea within safer limits. It is
indeed extremely to be desired that other
nations would adopt it. * * * Could
France, Spain and Portugal agree to concur
in such a measure, it would soon be fatally
felt by the navy of England. — To DAVID
HUMPHREYS. FORD ED., v, 302. (Pa., March
1791.)
5742. NAVIGATION, Retaliatory du
ties. — Where a nation refuses to our vessels
the carriage even of our own productions, to
certain countries under their domination,
we might refuse to theirs of every descrip
tion, the carriage of the same productions to
the same countries. But as justice and good
neighborhood would dictate that those who
have no part in imposing the restriction on
us, should not be the victims of measures
adopted to defeat its effect, it may be proper
to confine the restriction to vessels owned
or navigated by any subjects of the same
dominant power, other than the inhabitants
of the country to which the said productions
are to be carried. And to prevent all incon
venience to the said inhabitants, and to our
own, by top sudden a check on the means of
transportation, we may continue to admit the
vessels marked for future exclusion, on an
advanced tonnage, and for such length of
time only, as may be supposed necessary to
provide against that inconvenience. — FOREIGN
COMMERCE REPORT, vii, 649. FORD ED., vi,
482. (Dec. I793-)
— NAVIGATION, Subsidies.— See
BOUNTIES.
5743. NAVIGATION, Sufficient.— It is
essentially interesting to us to have shipping
and seamen enough to carry our surplus prod
uce to market ; but beyond that I do not
think we are bound to give it encourage
ment by drawbacks or other premiums. — To
BENJAMIN STODDERT. v, 426. FORD ED., ix,
245. (W., 1809.) See COMMERCE, DUTIES,
EMBARGO, FREE TRADE, PROTECTION and
SHIPS.
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Navy
5744. NAVY, Bravery of.— Our public
ships have done wonders. They have saved
our military reputation sacrificed on the
shores of Canada. — To GENERAL BAILEY, vi,
101. (M., Feb. 1813.)
5745. . No one has been more
gratified than myself by the brilliant achieve
ments of our little navy. They have deeply
wounded the pride of our enemy, and been
balm to ours, humiliated on the land where
our real strength was felt to lie. — To PRESI
DENT MADISON, vi, 112. FORD ED., ix, 383.
(M., May 1813.)
5746. . I sincerely congratulate
you on the successes of our little navy ; which
must be more gratifying to you than to most
men, as having been the early and constant
advocate of wooden walls. If I have differed
with you on this ground, it was not on the
principle, but the time ; supposing that we
cannot build or maintain a navy, which will
not immediately fall into the gulf which has
swallowed not only the minor navies, but
even those of the great second-rate powers
of the sea. Whenever these can be resusci
tated, and brought so near to a balance with
England that we can turn the scale, then is
my epoch for aiming at a navy. In the mean
time, one competent to keep the Barbary
States in order, is necessary; these being the
only smaller powers disposed to quarrel with
us. — To JOHN ADAMS, vi, 122. (M.. May
1813.)
5747. . At sea we have rescued
our character; but the chief fruit of our vic
tories there is to prove to those who have
fleets, that the English are not invincible at
sea, as Alexander has proved that Bonaparte
is not invincible by land. — To SAMUEL
BROWN, vi, 165. (M., July 1813.)
5748. . I congratulate you on
the brilliant affair of the Enterprise and
Boxer. No heart is more rejoiced than mine
at these mortifications of English pride, and
lessons to Europe that the English are not
invincible at sea. If these successes do not
lead us too far into the navy mania, all will
be well. — To WILLIAM DUANE. vi, 211.
(M., Sep. 1813.)
5749. . Strange reverse of ex
pectations that our land force should be un
der the wing of our little navy. — To WILLIAM
DUANE. vi, 212. (M., Sep. 1813.)
5750. . On the water we have
proved to the world the error of British in
vincibility, and shown that with equal force
and well-trained officers, they can be beaten
by other nations as brave as themselves. — To
DON V. TORONDA CORUNA. vi, 275. (M.,
Dec. 1813.)
5751. . I * * * congratu
late you on the destruction of a second hos
tile fleet on the Lakes by Macdonough.
While our enemies cannot but feel shame for
their barbarous achievements at Washington
[burning of Capitol], they will be stung to
the soul by these repeated victories over
them on that element on which they wish
the world to think them invincible. We have
dissipated that error. They must now feel a
conviction themselves that we can beat them
gun to gun, ship to ship, and fleet to fleet,
and that their early successes on the land
have been either purchased from traitors, or
obtained from raw men entrusted of necessity
with commands for which no experience had
qualified them, and that every day is adding
that experience to unquestioned bravery. — To
PRESIDENT MADISON, vi, 386. (M., Sep.
1814.) See CAPITOL.
5752. . Frigates and seventy-
fours are a sacrifice we must make, heavy as
it is, to the prejudices of a part of our citi
zens. They have, indeed, rendered a great
moral service, which has delighted me as
much as any one in the United States. But
they have had no physical effect sensible to
the enemy; and now, while we must fortify
them in our harbors, and keep armies to de
fend them, our privateers are bearding and
blockading the enemy in their own seaports.
— To JAMES MONROE, vi, 409. FORD ED., ix,
498. (M., Jan. 1815.)
5753. . Through the whole
period of the war, we have beaten them [the
British] single-handed at sea, and so thor
oughly established our superiority over them
with equal force, that they retire from that
kind of contest, and never suffer their
frigates to cruise singly. The Endymion
would never have engaged the frigate Presi
dent, but knowing herself blocked by three
frigates and a razee, who, though somewhat
slower sailers, would get up before she could
be taken. — To MARQUIS DE LAFAYETTE, vi,
424. FORD ED., ix, 508. (M., 1815.)
5754. NAVY, Build a.— We ought to be
gin a naval power, if we mean to carry on
our own commerce. — To JAMES MONROE.
FORD ED., iv, 10. (P., Nov. 1784.)
5755. . Tribute or war is the
usual alternative of these [Barbary] pirates.
* * * Why not begin a navy then and de
cide on war? We cannot begin in a better
cause nor against a weaker foe. — To HORATIO
GATES. FORD ED., iv, 24. (P., Dec. 1784.)
5756. . It is proper and neces
sary that we should establish a small marine
force. — To JOHN ADAMS, i, 592. (P., 1786.)
- NAVY, Censure of officers.— See
PORTER.
— NAVY, Chesapeake.— See CHESA
PEAKE.
5757. NAVY, Coercion by a.— [A naval
force] will arm the federal head with the
safest of all the instruments of coercion over
its delinquent members, and prevent it from
using what would be less safe. — To JOHN
ADAMS, i, 592. (P., 1786.)
5758. . Every rational citizen
must wish to see an effective instrument of
Navy
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
6l6
coercion, and should fear to see it on any
other element than the water. — To JAMES
MONROE, i, 606. FORD ED., iv, 265. (P.,
1786.)
5759. NAVY, Dockyards for.-— Presum
ing it will be deemed expedient to expend an
nually a sum towards providing the naval de
fence which our situation may require, I cannot
but recommend that the first appropriations
for that purpose may go to the saving what
we already possess. No cares, no attentions,
can preserve vessels from rapid decay which
lie in water and exposed to the sun. These
decays require great and constant repairs, and
will consume, if continued, a great portion of
the money destined to naval purposes. To
avoid this waste of our resources, it is pro
posed to add to our navy yard here [Washing-
ten] a dock, within which our vessels may be
laid up dry and under cover from the sun.
Under these circumstances experience proves
that works of wood will remain scarcely at all
affected by time. The great abundance of run
ning water which this situation possesses, at
heights far above the level of the tide, if em
ployed as is practiced for lock navigation,
furnishes the means of raising and laying up
our vessels on a dry and sheltered bed. —
SECOND ANNUAL MESSAGE, viii, 20. FORD ED.,
viii, 186. (Dec. 1802.)
5760. . The proposition for build
ing lock-docks for the preservation of our navy,
has local rivalries to contend against. Till
these can be overruled or compromised, the
measure can never be adopted. Yet there
ought never to be another ship built until we
can provide some method of preserving them
through the long intervals of peace which I
hope are to be the lot of our country. — To
MR. COXE. v, 58. (W., 1807.)
5761. . While I was at Wash
ington, in the administration of the govern
ment, Congress was much divided in opinion
on the subject of a navy, a part of them wish
ing to go extensively into the preparation of a
fleet, another part opposed to it, on the objec
tion that the repairs and preservation of a ship,
even idle in harbor, in ten or twelve years,
amount to her original cost. It has been esti
mated in England, that if they could be sure
of peace a dozen years it would be cheaper for
them to burn their fleet, and build a new one
when wanting, than to keep the old one in
repair during that term. I learnt that, in
Venice, there were then ships, lying on their
original stocks, ready for launching at any
moment, which had been so for eighty years,
and were still in a state of perfect preserva
tion ; and that this was effected by disposing
of them in docks pumped dry, and kept so by
constant pumping. It occurred to me that
this expense of constant pumping might be
saved by combining a lock with the common
wet dock, wherever there was a running stream
of water, the bed of which, within a reasonable
distance, was of sufficient height above the
high-water level of the harbor. This was the
case at the navy yard, on the Eastern Branch
at Washington, the high-water line of which
was seventy-eight feet lower than the ground
on which the Capitol stands, and to which it
was found that the water of the Tiber Creek
could be brought for watering the city. My
proposition then was as follows : Let a & be
the high-water level of the harbor, and the ves
sel to be laid up draw eighteen feet of water.
Make a chamber A twenty feet deep below
B
a b
....A
i
d
e
high-water and twenty feet high above it as
c d e f, and at the upper end make another
chamber, B,
f
S
the bottom of which should be in the high-
water level, and the tops twenty feet above
that, g h is the water of the Tiber. When
the vessel is to be introduced, open the gate at
c b a. The tide water rises in tne chamber A
to the level b i, and floats the vessel in with it.
Shut the gate c b d and open that of / i. The
water of the Tiber fills both chambers to the
level c f g, and the vessel floats into the cham
ber B ; then opening both gates c b d and / i,
the water flows out, and the vessel settles down
on the stays previously prepared at the bot
tom i h to receive her. The gate at g h must
of course be closed, and the water of the
feeding stream be diverted elsewhere. The
chamber B is to have a roof over it of the con
struction of that over the meal market at Paris,
except that that is hemispherical, this semi-
cylindrical. For this construction see De-
lenne's Architecture, whose invention it was.
The diameter of the dome of the meal market
is considerably over one hundred feet. It will
be seen at once that instead of making the
chamber B of sufficient width and length for a
single vessel only, it may be widened to what
ever span the semi-circular framing of the
roof can be trusted, and to whatever length
you please, so as to admit two or more vessels
in breadth, and as many in length as the lo
calities render expedient. I had a model of
this lock-dock made and exhibited in the Presi
dent's house during the session of Congress at
which it was proposed. But the advocates for
a navy did not fancy it, and those opposed to
the building of ships altogether, were equally
indisposed to provide protection for them.
Ridicule was also resorted to, the ordinary
substitute for reason, when that fails, and
the proposition was passed over. I then
thought and still think the measure wise, to
have a proper number of vessels always ready
to be launched, with nothing unfinished about
them except the planting their masts, which
must of necessity be omitted, to be brought
under a roof. Having no view in this propo
sition but to combine for the public a provision
for defence, with economy in its preservation,
I have thought no more of it since. And if
any of my ideas anticipated yours, you are wel
come to appropriate them to yourself, without
objection on my part. — To LEWIS M. Wiss.
vii, 419. (M., 1825.)
5762. NAVY, Early history of.— I have
racked my memory and ransacked my ^ papers,
to enable myself to answer the inquiries of
your favor of Oct. the i5th; but to little pur
pose. My papers furnish me nothing, my
memory, generalities only. I know that while
I was in Europe, and anxious about the fate of
our sea-faring men, for some of whom, then in
captivity in Algiers, we were treating, and all
were in like danger, I formed, undoubtingly,
the opinion that our government, as soon as
practicable, should provide a naval force suffi
cient to keep the Barbary States in order ; and
on this subject we communicated together, as
you observe. When I returned to the United
States and took part in the administration
under General Washington, I constantly main-
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Navy
tained that opinion; and in December, 1790
took advantage of a reference to me from th
first Congress which met after I was in office
to report in favor of a force sufficient for the
protection of our Mediterranean commerce
and I laid before them an accurate statemen
of the whole Barbary force, public and private
I think General Washington approved of build
ing vessels of war to that extent. Genera
Knox, I know, did. But what was Colone
Hamilton's opinion, I do not in the least re
member. Your recollections on that subjecl
are certainly corroborated by his known anxie
ties for a close connection with Great Britain
to which he might apprehend danger from col
lisions between their vessels and ours. Ran
dolph was then Attorney-General ; but his
opinion on the question I also entirely forget.
Some vessels of war were accordingly built and
sent into the Mediterranean. The additions to
these in your time, I need not note to you, who
are well known to have ever been an advocate
for the wooden walls of Themistocles. Some
of those you added, were sold under an act
of Congress passed while you were in office.
I thought, afterwards, that the public safety
might require some additional vessels of
strength, to be prepared and in readiness for the
first moment of a war, provided they could be
preserved against the decay which is unavoid
able if kept in the water, and clear of the ex
pense of officers and men. With this view I
proposed that they should be built in dry docks,
above the level of the tide waters, and covered
with roofs. I further advised that places for
these docks should be selected where there was
a command of water on a high level, as that
of the Tiber at Washington, by which the ves
sels might be floated out, on the principle of a
lock. But the majority of the Legislature was
against any addition to the Navy, and the
minority, although for it in judgment, voted
against it on a principle of opposition. We
are now, I understand, building vessels to re
main on the stocks, under shelter, until wanted,
when they will be launched and finished. On
my plan they could be in service at an hour's
notice. On this, the finishing, after launching,
will be a work of time. This is all I recollect
about the origin and progress of our navy. That
of the late war, certainly raised our rank and
character among nations. Yet a navy is a very
expensive engine. It is admitted, that in ten or
twelve years a vessel goes to entire decay ; or,
if kept in repair, costs as much as would build
a new one : and that a nation who could count
on twelve or fifteen years of peace, would gain
by burning its navy and building a new one in
time. Its extent, therefore, must be governed
by circumstances. Since my proposition for a
force adequate to the piracies of the Mediterra
nean, a similar necessity has arisen in our own
seas for considerable addition to that force.
Indeed, I wish we could have a convention
with the naval powers of Europe, for them to
keep down the pirates of the Mediterranean,
and the slave ships on the coast of Africa, and
for us to perform the same duties for the soci
ety of nations in our seas. In this way, those
collisions would be avoided between the vessels
of war of different nations, which beget wars
and constitute the weightiest objection to na
vies. * — To JOHN ADAMS, vii, 264. FORD ED., x,
238. (M., 1822.)
— NAVY, Equalization of sea-power. —
See NAVIES.
* Mr. Adams in the letter to which the quotation is
a reply said that he "always believed the navy to
be Jefferson's child ". — EDITOR.
5763. NAVY, Europe and.— A maritime
force is the only one by which we can act
on Europe. — To GENERAL WASHINGTON, ii
536. FORD ED., v, 58. (P., 1788.)
5764. NAVY, Expansion and.— Nothing
should ever be accepted which would require
a navy to defend it. — To PRESIDENT MADISON.
v, 445- (M., April 1809.)
5765. NAVY, Future of.— Paul Jones is
young enough to see the day * * * when
we shall be able to fight the British ship to
ship. — To E. CARRINGTON. ii. 405. FORD ED.,
v, 22. (P., 1788.)
5766. NAVY, Gunboats.— The obstacle
to naval enterprise which vessels of this con
struction offer for our seaport towns; their
utility toward supporting within our waters the
authority of the laws; the promptness with
which they will be manned by the seamen and
militia of the place the moment they are want
ed ; the facility of their assembling from differ
ent parts of the coast to any point where they
are required in greater force than ordinary;
the economy of their maintenance and preserva
tion from decay when not in actual service ; and
the competence of our finances to this defensive
provision, without any new burden, are consid
erations which will have due weight with Con
gress in deciding on the expediency of adding
to their number from year to year, as experience
shall test their ability, until all our important
harbors, by these and auxiliary means, shall be
ensured against insult and opposition to the
laws. — FOURTH ANNUAL MESSAGE, viii, 38.
FORD ED., viii, 331. (Nov. 1804.)
5767. . The efficacy of gunboats
for the defence of harbors, and of other
smooth and enclosed waters, may be estimated
in part from that of galleys, formerly much
used, but less powerful, more costly in their
construction and maintenance, and requiring
more men. But the gunboat itself is believed
to be in use with every modern maritime nation
for the purpose of defence. In the Mediter
ranean, on which are several small powers,
whose system like ours is peace and defence,
few harbors are without this article of protec
tion. Our own experience there of the effect
of gunboats for harbor service is recent. Al
giers is particularly known to have owed to a
great provision of these vessels the safety of its
city, since the epoch of their construction. Be
fore that it had been repeatedly insulted and in
jured. The effect of gunboats at present in the
neighborhood of Gibraltar, is well known and
how much they were used both in the attack
and defence of that place during a former war.
The extensive resort to them by the two greatest
naval powers in the world, on an enterprise of
invasion not long since in prospect, shows their
confidence in their efficacy for the purpose for
which they are suited. By the northern powers
ot Europe, whose seas are particularly adapted
to them, they are still more used. The remark
able action between the Russian flotilla of gun
boats and galleys, and a Turkish fleet of ships-
of-the-line and frigates in the Liman Sea, 1788
will be readily recollected. The latter, com
manded by their most celebrated admiral were
completely defeated, and several of their 'ships-
of-the-line destroyed.— SPECIAL MESSAGE viii
80. FORD ED., ix, 24. (Feb. 1807.)
5768. - — . Of these boats a proper
>roportion would be of the larger size, such as
hose heretofore built, capable of navigating any
seas, and of reinforcing occasionally the
Navy
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
618
strength of even the most distant port when
menaced with danger. The residue would be
confined to their own or the neighboring har
bors, would be smaller, less furnished for ac
commodation, and consequently less costly. Of
the number supposed necessary, seventy-three
are built or building, and the hundred and
twenty-seven still to be provided, would cost
from five to six hundred thousand dollars.
* * * At times when Europe as well as the
United States shall be at peace, it would not be
proposed that more than six or eight of these
vessels should be kept afloat. When Europe is
in war, treble that number might be necessary
to be distributed among those particular harbors
which foreign vessels of war are in the habit of
frequenting, for the purpose of preserving order
therein. But they would be manned, in ordi
nary, with only their complement for navigation,
relying on the seamen and militia of the port
if called into action on sudden emergency. It
would be only when the United States should
themselves be at war, that the whole number
would be brought into actual service, and would
be ready in the first moments of the war to co
operate with other means for covering at once
the line of our seaports. At all times, those
unemployed would be withdrawn into places
not exposed to sudden enterprise, hauled up
under sheds from the sun and weather, and kept
in preservation with little expense for repairs
or maintenance. It must be superfluous to ob
serve, that this species of naval armament is
proposed merely for defensive operation ; that it
can have but little effect toward protecting our
commerce in the open seas even on pur coast ;
and still less can it become an excitement ^ to
engage in offensive maritime war, toward which
it would furnish no means. — SPECIAL MESSAGE.
viii, 81. FORD ED., ix, 26. (Feb. 1807.)
5769. . I believe that gunboats
are the only water defence which can be use
ful to us, and protect us from the ruinous folly
of a navy. — To THOMAS PAINE, v, 189. FORD
ED., ix, 137. (M., Sep. 1807.) See GUNBOATS.
5770. NAVY, Increase of.— The building
some ships of the line instead of our most in
different frigates is not to be lost sight of.
That we should have a squadron properly
composed to prevent the blockading our ports
is indispensable. The Atlantic frontier from
numbers, wealth, and exposure to potent
enemies, have a proportionate right to be de
fended with the Western frontier, for whom
we keep up 3,000 men. Bringing forward the
measure, therefore, in a moderate form, pla
cing it on the ground of comparative right,
our nation which is a just one, will come
into it, notwithstanding the repugnance of
some on the subject being first presented —
To JACOB CROWNINSHIELD. FORD ED., viii,
453. (M., May 1806.)
5771. NAVY, Liberty and a.— A naval
force can never endanger our liberties, nor
occasion bloodshed; a land force would do
both.— To JAMES MONROE, i, 606. FORD ED.,
iv, 265. (P., 1786.)
5772. . A public force on that
element [the ocean] * * * can never be
dangerous.— To COLONEL HUMPHREYS. ii,
10. (P., 1786.)
5773. . It is on the sea alone
[that] we should think of ever having a force.
—To E. CARRTNGTON. ii, 405. FORD ED., v,
22. (P., 1788.)
5774. NAVY, Madness for.— We are
running navigation mad, and commerce mad,
and navy mad, which is worst of all. — To
JOSEPH PRIESTLEY, iv, 311. FORD ED., vii, 406.
(Pa., Jan. 1800.)
5775. NAVY, Mediterranean pirates
and. — The promptitude and energy of Com
modore Preble, the efficacious cooperation of
Captains Rodgers and Campbell of the re
turning squadron, the proper decision of
Captain Bainbridge that a vessel which had
committed an open hostility was of right to
be detained for inquiry and consideration,
and the general zeal of the other officers and
men, are honorable facts which I make
known with pleasure. And to these I add
what was indeed transacted in another quar
ter — the gallant enterprise of Captain Rod
gers in destroying, on the coast of Tripoli,
a corvette of that power, of twenty-two
guns. — SPECIAL MESSAGE, viii, 32. (Dec.
1803.)
5776.- — . Reflecting with high
satisfaction on the distinguished bravery dis
played whenever occasion permitted in the
late Mediterranean service, I think it would
be an useful encouragement to make an open
ing for some present promotion, by enlar
ging our peace establishment of captains and
lieutenants. — FIFTH ANNUAL MESSAGE, viii,
50. FORD ED., viii, 393. (1805.)
5777. NAVY, Midshipmen.— The places
of midshipman are so much sought that (be
ing limited) there is never a vacancy. Your
son shall be set down for the second which
shall happen ; the first being anticipated. We
are not long generally without vacancies
happening. As soon as he can be appointed,
you shall know it. — To THOMAS COOPER, iv,
453. FORD ED., viii, 178. (W., 1802.)
5778. NAVY, Militia and.— For the pur
pose of manning the gunboats in sudden at
tacks on our harbors, it is a matter for con
sideration, whether the seamen of the United
States may not justly be formed into a
special militia, to be called on for tours of
duty in defence of the harbors where they
shall happen to be; the ordinary militia
furnishing that portion which may consist of
landsmen. — SEVENTH ANNUAL MESSAGE, viii,
86. FORD ED., ix, 161. (Oct. 1807.) See
MILITIA.
5779. NAVY, National respect and. —
Were we possessed even of a small naval
force what a bridle would it be in the mouths
of the West Indian powers, and how re
spectfully would they demean themselves to
wards us. Be assured that the present dis
respect of the nations of Europe for us will
inevitably bring on insults which must in
volve us in war. — To JAMES MONROE. FORD
ED., iv, 34- (P-, 1785.)
5780. NAVY, Navigation and.— [Our
navigation] will require a protecting force
on the sea. Otherwise the smallest power
in Europe, every one which possesses a single
ship of the line, may dictate to us, and en
force their demands by captures on our com-
6i9
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Navy
merce. Some naval force then is necessary
if we mean to be commercial. Can we have a
better occasion of beginning one? or find a
foe* more certainly within our dimensions?
The motives pleading for war rather than
tribute are numerous and honorable, those
opposing them are mean and short-sighted. —
To JAMES MONROE. FORD ED., iv, 32. (P.,
1785-)
5781.
A naval force alone can
countenance our people as carriers on the
water. — To JOHN JAY. i, 405. FORD ED., iv,
90. (P., 1785.) See NAVIGATION.
5782. NAVY, Necessary.— A land army
would be useless for offence, and not the best
nor safest instrument of defence. For either
of the sea purposes, the sea is the field on
which we should meet an European enemy.
On that element we should possess some
power. — NOTES ON VIRGINIA, viii, 413. FORD
ED., iii, 279. (1782.)
5783. . A small naval force is
sufficient for us, and a small one is necessary.
— NOTES ON VIRGINIA, viii, 414. FORD ED.,
iii, 280. (1782.)
5784. - — . The justest dispositions
possible in ourselves, will not secure us
against war. It would be necessary that all
other nations were just also. Justice indeed,
on our part, will save us from those wars
which would have been produced by a con
trary disposition. But how can we prevent
those produced by the wrongs of other na
tions? By putting ourselves in a condition
to punish them. Weakness provokes insult
and injury, while a condition to punish, often
prevents them. This reasoning leads to the
necessity of some naval force ; that being the
only weapon by which we can reach an
enemy. I think it to our interest to punish
the first insult; because an insult unpunished
is the parent of many others. We are not, at
this moment, in a condition to do it, but we
should put ourselves into it, as soon as pos
sible. If a war with England should take
place, it seems to me that the first thing nec
essary would be a resolution to abandon the
carrying trade, because we cannot protect it.
Foreign nations must, in that case, be invited
to bring us what we want, and to take our
productions in their own bottoms. This
alone could prevent the loss of those pro
ductions to us, and the acquisition of them to
pur enemy. Our seamen might be employed
in depredations on their trade. But how
dreadfully we shall suffer on our coasts, if
we have no force on the water, former ex
perience has taught us. Indeed, I look for
ward with horror to the very possible case
of war with an European power, and think
there is no protection against them, but from
the possession of some force on the sea.
Our vicinity to their West India possessions,
and to the fisheries, is a bridle which a small
naval force, on our part, would hold in the
mouths of the most powerful of these coun
tries. I hope our land office will rid us of
* The Barbary powers.— EDITOR.
our debts, and that our first attention then,
will be to the beginning a naval force of some
sort. This alone can countenance our people
as carriers on the water, and I suppose them
to be determined to continue such. — To JOHN
JAY. i, 404. FORD ED., iv, 89. (P., 1785.)
5785.
-. A little navy [is] the
only kind of force we ought to possess. — To
RICHARD HENRY LEE. FORD ED., iv, 70. (P.,
July 1785.)
5786. NAVY, Peace establishment.—
The law providing for a naval peace estab
lishment fixes the number of frigates which
shall be kept in constant service in time of
peace, and prescribes that they shall be
manned by not more than two-thirds of their
complement of seamen and ordinary seamen.
Whether a frigate may be trusted to two-
thirds only of her proper complement of men
must depend on the nature of the service on
which she is ordered. She may sometimes,
for her safety, so as to ensure her object,
require her fullest complement. * * *
Congress will perhaps consider whether the
best limitation on the Executive discretion
* * * would not be by the number of seamen
which may be employed in the whole service,
rather than the number of vessels. — FIFTH
ANNUAL MESSAGE, viii, 51. FORD ED., viii,
393. (Dec. 1805.)
5787. NAVY, Reduction.— The navy will
be reduced to the legal establishment by the
last of this month. — To NATHANIEL MACON.
iv, 397. (W., May 1801.)
5788. . The session of the first
Congress, convened since republicanism has
recovered its ascendency, * * * will pretty
completely fulfil all the desires of the peo
ple. They have reduced the * * navy
to what is barely necessary. — To GENERAL
KOSCIUSKO. iv, 430. (W., April 1802.)
5789. NAVY, Secretary of.— I believe I
shall have to advertise for a Secretary of the
Navy. General Smith is performing the duties
gratis, as he refuses both commission and sal
ary, even his expenses, lest it should affect his
seat in the House of Representatives. — To Gou-
VERNEUR MORRIS. FORD ED., viii, 49. (W..,
May 1 80 1.) See LEAR.
5790. NAVY, Size of.— The actual habits
of our countrymen attach them to commerce.
They will exercise it for themselves. Wars,
then, must sometimes be our lot ; and all the
wise can do, will be to avoid that half of
them which would be produced by our own
follies and our own acts of injustice; and to
make for the other half the best preparations
we can. Of what nature should these be?
A land army would be useless for offence,
and not the best nor safest instrument
of defence. For either of these purposes,
the sea is the field on which we should meet
an European enemy. On that element it is
necessary we should possess some power. To
aim at such a navy as the greater nations of
Europe possess, would be a foolish and
wicked waste of the energies of our country
men. It would be to pull on our own heads
Navy
Necker (Jacques)
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
62O
that load of military expense which makes
the European laborer go supperless to bed,
and moistens his bread with the sweat of his
brows. It will be enough if we enable our
selves to prevent insults from those nations
of Europe which are weak on the sea, because
circumstances exist, which render even the
stronger ones weak as to us. Providence
has placed their richest and most defenceless
possessions at our door; has obliged their
most precious commerce to pass, as it were,
in review before us. To protect this, or to
assail, a small part only of their naval force
will ever be risked across the Atlantic. The
dangers to which the elements expose them
here are too well known, and the greater
dangers to which they would be exposed at
home were any general calamity to involve
their whole fleet. They can attack us by de
tachment only; and it will suffice to make
ourselves equal to what they may detach.
Even a smaller force than they may detach
will be rendered equal or superior by the
quickness with which any check may be re
paired with us, while losses with them will be
irreparable till too late. A small naval force,
then, is sufficient for us, and a small one is
necessary. * * * It should by no means
be so great as we are able to make it. — NOTES
ON VIRGINIA, viii, 413. FORD ED., iii, 279.
(1782.)
5791. . I am for such a naval
force only as may protect our coasts and
harbors from such depredations as we have
experienced ; * * * not for a navy, which
by its own expenses and the eternal wars in
which it will implicate us, will grind us with
public burthens, and sink us under them. — To
ELBRIDGE GERRY, iv, 268. FORD ED., vii, 328.
(Pa., I799-)
5792. . With respect to the ex
tent to which our naval preparations should
be carried, some difference of opinion may be
expected to appear; but just attention to the
circumstances of every part of the Union will
doubtless reconcile all. A small force will
probably continue to be wanted for actual
service in the Mediterranean. Whatever an
nual sum beyond that you may think proper
to apportionate to naval preparations, would
perhaps be better employed in providing those
articles which may be kept without waste or
consumption, and be in readiness when any
exigence calls them into use. — FIRST INAUGU
RAL MESSAGE, viii, 12. FORD ED., viii, 122.
(Dec. 1801.)
5793. NAVY, Submarine boats.— I have
ever looked to the submarine boat as most
to be depended on for attaching the torpe
does, and * * * I am in hopes it is not
abandoned as impracticable. I should wish
to see a corps of young men trained to this
service. It would belong to the engineers if
at hand, but being nautical, I suppose we
must have a corps of naval engineers, to
practice and use them. I do not know
whether we have authority to put any part
of our existing naval establishment in a
course of training, but it shall be the subject
of a consultation with the Secretary of the
Navy. — To ROBERT FULTON, v, 165. FORD
ED., ix, 125. (M., Aug. 1807.)
5794. . I wait [Colonel Ful
ton's] answer as to the submarine boat, be
fore I make you the proposition in form.
The very name of a corps of submarine en
gineers would be a defence. — To ROBERT
SMITH, v, 172. (M., Aug. 1807.)
5795. NAVY DEPARTMENT, Bill to
establish.— The bill for establishing a De
partment of Secretary of the Navy was tried
yesterday [April 25th] on its passage to the
third reading, and prevailed by 47 against
41. — To JAMES MADISON, iv, 237. FORD ED.,
vii, 244. (Pa.. 1798.)
5796. NAVY YARDS, Location of.—
From the federalists [in Virginia] I expect
nothing on any principle of duty or patriotism ;
but I did suppose they would pay some atten
tions to the interests of Norfolk. Is it the in
terest of that place to strengthen the hue and
cry against the policy of making the Eastern
Branch [Washington] our great naval deposit?
Is it their interest that this should be removed
to New York or Boston, to one of which it
must go if it leaves this ? Is it their interest to
scout a defence by gunboats in which they would
share amply, in hopes of a navy which will not
be built in our day, and would be no defence
if built, or of forts which will never be built
or maintained, and would be no defence if
built? Yet such are the objects which they
patronize in their papers. This is worthy of
more consideration than they seem to have
given it. — To WILSON C. NICHOLAS. FORD ED.,
viii, 338. (W., Dec. 1804.)
5797. NECESSITY, Law of.— A strict
observance of the written law is * * *
one of the high duties of a good citizen, but
it is not the highest. The laws of necessity,
of self-preservation, of saving our country
when in danger, are of higher obligation.
To lose our country by a scrupulous adher
ence to written law, would be to lose the
law itself, with life, liberty, property, and all
those who are enjoying them with us; thus
absurdly sacrificing the end to the means. —
To J. B. COLVIN. v, 542. FORD ED., ix, 279.
(M., 1810.)
5798. NECKER (Jacques), Ambition of.
— It is a tremendous cloud, indeed, which
hovers over this nation, and he at the helm has
neither the courage nor the skill necessary to
weather it. Eloquence in a high degree, knowl
edge in matters of account and order, are dis
tinguishing traits in his character. Ambition is
his first passion, virtue his second. He has
not discovered that sublime truth, that a bold,
unequivocal virtue is the best handmaid even
to ambition, and would carry him further, in the
end, than the temporizing, wavering policy he
pursues. His judgment is not of the first order,
scarcely even of the second ; his resolution
frail ; and upon the whole, it is rare to meet
an instance of a person so much below the repu
tation he has obtained. — To JOHN JAY. iii, 52.
(P-, 1789.)
5799. NECKER (Jacques), Friend of
liberty. — Though he has appeared to trim
a little, he is still, in the main, a friend to pub
lic liberty. — To JOHN JAY. iii, 28. (P., 1789.)
621
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Necker (Jacques)
Negroes
5800. NECKER (Jacques), Praise of.—
The grandson of M. Necker cannot fail of a
hearty welcome in a country which so much
respected him. To myself, who loved the vir
tues and honored the talents of the grandfather,
the attentions I received in his natal house, and
particular esteem for yourself, are additional
titles to whatever service I can render him. —
To MADAME DE STAEL. v, 133- (W., 1807.)
5801. NECKER (Jacques), Unfriendly
to America.— Necker never set any store
by us or the connection with us. — To JOHN JAY.
ii, 342. (P., 1787.)
5802. NEGROES, Amalgamation.—
Their amalgamation with the other color pro
duces a degradation to which no lover of his
country, no lover of excellence in the human
character can innocently consent. — To EDWARD
COLES. FORD ED., ix, 478. (M., 1814.)
5803. NEGROES, Bravery.— They are at
least as brave, and more adventuresome. But
this may proceed from a want of forethought,
which prevents their seeing a danger till it be
present. When present, they do not go through
it with more coolness or steadiness than the
whites. — NOTES ON VIRGINIA, viii, 381. FORD
ED., iii, 245. (1782.)
5804. NEGROES, Colonization.— The bill
reported by the revisers* of the whole [Vir
ginia] code does not itself contain the proposi
tion to emancipate all slaves born after the
passing the act; but an amendment containing
it was prepared, to be offered to the Legislature
whenever the bill should be taken up, and
further directing, that they should continue
with their parents to a certain age, then to be
brought up, at the public expense, to tillage,
arts or sciences, according to their geniuses, till
the females should be eighteen, and the males
twenty-one years of age, when they should be
colonized to such place as the circumstances
of the time should render most proper, sending
them out with arms, implements of household
and of the handicraft arts, seeds, pairs of the
useful domestic animals, &c., to declare them
a free and independent people, and extend to
them our alliance and protection, till they shall
have acquired strength ; and to send vessels at
the same time to other parts of the world for
an equal number of white inhabitants ; to induce
them to migrate hither, proper encouragements
were to be proposed. — NOTES ON VIRGINIA, viii
380. FORD ED., iii, 243. (1782.)
5805. . This unfortunate differ
ence of color, and perhaps of faculty, is a pow
erful obstacle to the emancipation of these peo
ple. Many of their advocates, while they wish
to vindicate the liberty of human nature, are
anxious also to preserve its dignity and beauty.
Some of these, embarrassed by the question,
" What further is to be done with them "? join
themselves in opposition with those who are
actuated by sordid avarice only. Among the
Romans emancipation required but one effort
The slave, when made free, might mix with
without straining the blood of his master. But
with us a second is necessary, unknown to his
tory. When freed, he is to be removed beyonc
the reach of mixture. — NOTES ON VIRGINIA
viii, 386. FORD ED., iii, 250. (1782.)
5806. . You ask my opinion on
the proposition of Mrs. Mifflin, to take measures
for procuring, on the coast of Africa, an estab
lishment to which the people of color of these
States might, from time to time, be colonized
* Jefferson prepared the report and bill.— EDITOR
under the auspices of different governments.
laving long ago made up my mind on this sub-
ect, I have no hesitation in saying that I have
ver thought it the most desirable measure
vhich could be adopted, for gradually drawing
iff this part of our population, most advanta-
;eously for themselves as well as for us. Going
rom a country possessing all the useful arts,
hey might be the means of transplanting them
unong the inhabitants of Africa, and would thus
:arry back to the country of their origin, the
eeds of civilization which might render their
ojournment and sufferings here a blessing in
he end to that country. — To JOHN LYNCH, v,
63. FORD ED., ix, 303. (M., 1811.)
5507. -- . Nothing is more to be
wished than that the United States would them-
elves undertake to make such an establishment
m the coast of Africa. Exclusive of motives of
mmanity, the commercial advantages to be de-
ived from it might repay all its expenses. But
or this, the national mind is not yet prepared.
t may perhaps be doubted whether many of
hese people would voluntarily consent to such
an exchange of situation, and very certain that
ew of those advanced to a certain age in habits
»f slavery, would be capable of self-government.
This should not, however, discourage the ex
periment, nor the early trial of it. — To JOHN
v, 565. FORD ED., ix, 304. (M., 1811.)
5808. -- . I received in the first
year of my coming into the administration of
:he General Government, a letter from the Gov
ernor of Virginia (Colonel Monroe), consult
ing me, at the request of the Legislature of the
State, on the means of procuring some such
asylum, to which these people might be occa
sionally sent. I proposed to him the establish
ment of Sierra Leone, to which a private com
pany in England had already colonized a num
ber of negroes and particularly the fugitives
from these States during the Revolutionary
War ; and at the same time suggested, if this
could not be obtained, some of the Portuguese
possessions in South America, as next most de
sirable. The subsequent Legislature approving
these ideas, I wrote, the ensuing year, 1802, to
Mr. King, our Minister in London, to endeavor
to negotiate with the Sierra Leone company a
reception of such of these people as might be
colonized thither. He opened a correspondence
with Mr. Wedderburne and Mr. Thornton, sec
retaries of the company, on the subject, and, in
1803, I received through Mr. King the result,
which was that the colony was going on, but in
a languishing condition ; that the funds of the
company were likely to fail, as they received no
returns of profit to keep them up ; that they
were, therefore, in treaty with their government
to take the establishment off their hands ; but
that in no event should they be willing to receive
more of these people from the United States, as
it was exactly that portion of their settlers
which had gone from hence, which, by their
idleness and turbulence, had kept the settlement
in constant danger of dissolution, which could
not have been prevented but for the aid of the
maroon negroes from the West Indies, who were
more industrious and orderly than the others,
and supported the authority of the government
and its laws. * * * The effort which I
made with Portugal, to obtain an establishment
for them within their claims in South America,
proved also abortive. — To JOHN LYNCH, v,
564. FORD ED., ix, 303. (M., 1811.) See COLO
NIZATION.
5809. NEGROES, Elevating.— Nobody
wishes more ardently than I do to see a good
system commenced for raising the condition
Negroes
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
622
both of their body and mind to what it ought
to be, as fast as the imbecility of their present
existence, and other circumstances which cannot
be neglected, will admit. — To BENJAMIN BAN-
NEKER. iii, 291. FORD ED., v, 377. (Pa.,
1791.)
NEGROES, Emancipation. — See
SLAVERY.
5810. NEGROES, Future of.— I have
supposed the black man, in his present state,
might not be in body and mind equal to the
white man ; but it would be hazardous to affirm,
that, equally cultivated for a few generations,
he would not become so. — To GENERAL CHAS-
TELLUX. i, 341. FORD ED., iii, 138. (P.,
1785.)
5811. NEGROES, Griefs.— Their griefs
are transient. Those numberless afflictions,
which render it doubtful whether Heaven has
given life to us in mercy or in wrath, are less
felt, and sooner forgotten with them. — NOTES
ON VIRGINIA, viii, 382. FORD ED., iii, 245.
(1782.)
5812. NEGROES, Improvement.— The
improvement of the blacks in body and mind,
in the first instance of their mixture with the
whites, has been observed by every one, and
proves that their inferiority is not the effect
merely of their condition in life. — NOTES ON
VIRGINIA, viii, 384. FORD ED., iii, 247.
(1782.)
5813. . Bishop Gregoire wrote
to me on the doubts I had expressed five or
six and twenty years ago, in the Notes on Vir
ginia, as to the grade of understanding of the
negroes, and he sent me his book on the litera
ture of the negroes. His credulity has made
him gather up every story he could find of men
of color (without distinguishing whether black,
or of what degree of mixture), however slight
the mention, or light the authority on which
they are quoted. The whole do not amount, in
point of evidence, to what we know ourselves
of Banneker. We know he had spherical trigo
nometry enough to make almanacs, but not
without the suspicion of aid from Ellicot, who
was his neighbor and friend, and never missed
an opportunity of puffing him. I have a long
letter from Banneker, which shows him to have
had a mind of very common stature indeed.
As to Bishop Gregoire, I wrote him a very soft
answer. It was impossible for doubt to have
been more tenderly or hesitatingly expressed
than that was in the Notes on Virginia, and
nothing was or is farther from my intentions,
than to enlist myself as the champion of a fixed
opinion, where I have only expressed a doubt.
St. Domingo will, in time, throw light on the
question. — To JOEL BARLOW, v, 475. FORD ED.,
ix, 261. (M., 1809.)
5814. NEGROES, Indians vs.— Com
paring them by their faculties of memory, rea
son, and imagination, it appears to me that in
memory they are equal to the whites ; in reason
much inferior, as I think one could scarcely
be found capable of tracing and comprehending
the investigations of Euclid ; and that in imagi
nation they are dull, tasteless, and anomalous.
It would be unfair to follow them to Africa for
this investigation. We will consider them here,
on the same stage with the whites, and where
the facts are not apocryphal on which a judg
ment is to be formed. It will be right to
make great allowances for the difference of con
dition, of education, of conversation, of the
sphere in which they move. Many millions of
them have been brought to, and born in Amer
ica. Most of them, indeed, have been confined
to tillage, to their own homes, and their own
society ; yet many of them have been so situ
ated that they might have availed themselves
of the conversation of their masters ; many of
them have been brought up to the handicraft
arts, and from that circumstance have always
been associated with the whites. Some have
been liberally educated, and all have lived in
countries where the arts and sciences are culti
vated to a considerable degree, and have had
before their eyes samples of the best works
from abroad. The Indians, with no advantages
of this kind, will often carve figures on their
pipes not destitute of design and merit. They
will crayon out an animal, a plant, or a country,
so as to prove the existence of a germ in their
minds which only wants cultivation. They as
tonish you with strokes of the most sublime
oratory; such as prove their reason and senti
ment strong, their imagination glowing and
elevated. But never yet could I find that a
black had uttered a thought above the level of
plain narration ; never saw even an elementary
trait of painting or sculpture. — NOTES ON VIR
GINIA, viii, 382. FORD ED., iii, 245. (1782.)
5815. NEGROES, Industry. — An opin
ion is hazarded by some, but proved by none,
that moral urgencies are not sufficient to induce
the negro to labor ; that nothing can do this but
physical coercion. But this is a problem which
the present age alone is prepared to solve by
experiment. It would be a solecism to sup
pose a race of animals created, without sufficient
foresight and energy to preserve their own ex
istence. It is disproved, too, by the fact that
they exist, and have existed through all the
ages of history. We are not sufficiently ac
quainted with all the nations of Africa, to say
that there may not be some in which habits of
industry are established, and the arts practiced
which are necessary to render life comfortable.
The experiment now in progress in St. Domingo,
those of Sierra Leone and Cape Mesurado, are
but beginning. Your proposition has its aspects
of promise also ; and should it not fully answer
to calculations in figures, it may yet, in its de
velopments, lead to < happy results. — To Miss
FANNY WRIGHT, vii, 408. FORD ED., x, 344.
(M., 1825.)
5816. NEGROES, Integrity.— Notwith-
standing these considerations which must
weaken their respect for the laws of property,
we find among them numerous instances of the
most rigid integrity, and as many as among
their better instructed masters, of benevolence,
gratitude, and unshaken fidelity. — NOTES ON
VIRGINIA. viii, 386. FORD ED., iii, 249.
(1782.) See SLAVERY.
5817. NEGROES, Literary.— Misery is
often the parent of the most affecting touches
in poetry. Among the blacks is misery enough,
God knows, but no poetry. Love is the pecu
liar cestrum of the poet. Their love is ardent,
but it kindles the senses only, not the imagi
nation. Religion, indeed, has produced a Phyl
lis Wheatley ;* but it could not produce a poet.
The compositions published under her name are
below the dignity of criticism. The heroes of the
Dunciad are to her, as Hercules to the author
of that poem. — NOTES ON VIRGINIA, viii, 383.
FORD ED., iii, 246. (1782.)
5818. . Ignatius Sancho has ap
proached nearer to merit in composition [than
Phyllis Wheatley] : yet bis letters do more honor
to the heart than the head. They breathe the
* A collection of poems by Phyllis Wheatley was
printed in London in 1773. — EDITOR.
623
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Negroes
purest effusions of friendship and general phi
lanthropy, and show how great a degree of the
latter may be compounded with strong religious
zeal. He is often happy in the turn of his com
pliments, and his style is easy and familiar, ex
cept when he affects a Shandean fabrication of
words. But his imagination is wild and ex
travagant, escapes incessantly from every re
straint of reason and taste, and, in the course
of its vagaries, leaves a tract of thought as in
coherent and eccentric, as is the course of a
meteor through the sky. His subjects should
often have led him to a process of sober rea
soning ; yet we find him always substituting
sentiment for demonstration. Upon the whole,
though we admit him to the first place among
those of his own color who have presented them
selves to the public judgment, yet when we
compare him with the writers of the race among
whom he lived and particularly with the episto
lary class in which he has taken his own stand,
we are compelled to enroll him at the bottom of
the column. This criticism supposes the letters
published under his name to be genuine, and
to have received amendment from no other
hand ; points which would not be of easy in
vestigation. — NOTES ON VIRGINIA, viii, 383.
FORD ED., iii, 247. (1782.)
5819. NEGROES, Music. — In music they
are more generally gifted than the whites, with
accurate ears for tune and time, and they have
been found capable of imagining a small catch.*
Whether they will be equal to the composition
of a more extensive run of melody, or of com
plicated harmony, is yet to be proved. — NOTES
ON VIRGINIA, viii, 383. FORD ED., iii, 246.
(1782.)
5820. NEGROES, Natural History and.
— The opinion that they are inferior in the
faculties of reason and imagination, must be
hazarded with great diffidence. To justify a
general conclusion, requires many observations,
even where the subject may be submitted to
the anatomical knife, to optical glasses, to
analysis by fire or by solvents. How much
more then where it is a faculty, not a substance,
we are examining ; where it eludes the research
of all the senses ; where the conditions of its
existence are various and variously combined ;
where the effects of those which are present
or absent bid defiance to calculation ; let me
add, too, as a circumstance of great tenderness,
where our conclusion would degrade a whole
race of men from the rank in the scale of beings
which their Creator may perhaps have given
them. To our reproach it must be said, that
though for a century and a half we have had
under our eyes the races of black and of red
men, they have never yet been viewed by us as
subjects of natural history. I advance it, there
fore, as a suspicion only, that the blacks,,
whether originally a distinct race, or made dis
tinct by time and circumstances, are inferior to
the whites in the endowments both of body and
mind. It is not against experience to suppose
that different species of the same genus, or
varieties of the same species, may possess dif
ferent qualifications. Will not a lover of natu
ral history, then, one who views the gradations
in all the races of animals with the eye of
philosophy, excuse an effort to keep those in
the department of man as distinct as nature
has formed them? — NOTES ON VIRGINIA, viii,
386. FORD ED., iii, 249. (1782.)
* The instrument proper to them is the Banier
[corrupted by the negroes into "banjo"! which
they brought hither from Africa, and which is the
original of the guitar, its chords being precisely the
four lower chords of the guitar.— NOTE BY JEFFER
SON.
5821. NEGROES, Peculiarities.— To
these objections, which are political, may be
added others, which are physical and moral.
Whether the black of the negro resides in the
reticular membrane between the skin and scarf-
skin, or in the scarf-skin itself; whether it pro
ceeds from the color of the blood, the color of
the bile, or from that of some other secretion,
the difference is fixed in nature, and is as real
as if its seat and cause were better known to us.
And is this difference of no importance? Is it
not the foundation of a greater or less share
of beauty in the two races? Are not the fine
mixtures of red and white, the expressions of
every passion by greater or less suffusions of
color in the one, preferable to that eternal mo
notony, which reigns in the countenances, that
immovable veil of black which covers all the
emotions of the other race? Add to these, flow
ing hair, a more elegant symmetry of form, their
own judgment in favor of the whites, declared
by their preference of them, as uniformly as is
the preference of the Oranootan for the black
woman over those of his own species. The cir
cumstance of superior beauty, is thought worthy
attention in the propagation of our horses,
dogs, and other domestic animals ; why not in
that of man ? Besides those of color, figure,
and hair, there are other physical distinctions
proving a difference of race. They have less
hair on the face and body. They secrete less by
the kidneys, and more by the glands of the skin,
which gives them a very strong and disagreeable
odor. This greater degree of transpiration ren
ders them more tolerant of heat, and less of
cold than the whites. Perhaps, too, a difference
of structure in the pulmonary apparatus, which
a late ingenious experimentalist (Crawford) has
discovered to be the principal regulator of an
imal heat, may have disabled them from ex
tricating, in the act of inspiration, so much of
that fluid from the outer air, or obliged them
in expiration, to part with more of it. — NOTES
ON VIRGINIA. viii, 381. FORD EDV iii, 244.
(1782.)
- NEGROES, Penal Colony for.— See
COLONY, PENAL.
5822. NEGROES, Racial differences.—
It will probably be asked, why not retain and
incorporate the blacks into the State, and thus
save the expense of supplying by importation of
white settlers, the vacancies they will leave?
Deep-rooted prejudices entertained by the
whites ; ten thousand recollections, by the
blacks, of the injuries they have sustained ;
new provocations ; the real distinctions which
nature has made ; and many other circumstances
will divide us into parties, and produce con
vulsions, which will probably never end but in
the extermination of the one or the other race.
— NOTES ON VIRGINIA, viii, 380. FORD ED., iii,
244. (1782.)
5823. NEGROES, Rights of.— Be as
sured that no person living wishes more sin
cerely than I do, to see a complete refutation
of the doubts I have myself entertained and
expressed on the grade of understanding allotted
to the negroes by nature, and to find that in this
respect they are on a par with ourselves. My
doubts were the result of personal observation
on the limited sphere of my own State, where
the opportunities for the development of their
genius were not favorable, and those of exerci
sing it still less so. I expressed them, there
fore, with great hesitation ; but whatever be
their degree of talent it is no measure of their
rights. Because Sir Isaac Newton was superior
to others in understanding, he was not therefore
lord of the person or property of others. On
Negroes
Neutrality
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
624
this subject they are gaining daily in the opin
ions of nations, and hopeful advancevS are
making towards their reestablishment on an
equal footing with the other colors of the human
family. I pray you, therefore, to accept my
thanks for the many instances you have enabled
me to observe of respectable intelligence in that
race of men, which cannot fail to have effect
in hastening the day of their relief. — To HENRI
GREGOIRE. v, 429. FORD ED., ix, 246. (W., 1809.)
5824. NEGROES, Sleep and amuse
ments. — They seem to require less sleep. A
black, after hard labor through the day, will be
induced by the slightest amusements to sit up
till midnight, or later, though knowing he must
be out with the first dawn of the morning.—
NOTES ON VIRGINIA, viii, 381. FORD ED., iii,
245. (1782.)
5825. . In general, their exist
ence appears to participate more of sensation
than reflection. To this must be ascribed their
disposition to sleep when abstracted from their
diversions, and unemployed in labor. An animal
whose body is at rest, and who does not reflect,
must be disposed to sleep of course. — NOTES ON
VIRGINIA, viii, 382. FORD ED., iii, 245. (1782.)
5826. NEGROES, Talents.— Nobody
wishes more than I do to see such proofs as you
exhibit, that nature has given to our black
brethren talents equal to those of the other
colors of men, and that the appearance of a
want of them is owing merely to the degraded
condition of their existence, both in Africa and
America. * * * I have taken the liberty of
sending your Almanac to Monsieur de Con-
dorcet, Secretary of the Academy of Sciences
at Paris, and member of the Philanthropic So
ciety, because I considered it as a dpctiment to
which your color had a right for their justifica
tion against the doubts which have been enter
tained of them. — To BENJAMIN BANNEKER. iii,
291. FORD ED., v, 377. (Pa., 1791.) See BAN
NEKER.
5827. NELSON (Thomas), Governor of
Virginia. — [Governor Jefferson's] office was
now [June, 1781,] near expiring, the country
[Virginia] under invasion by a powerful army,
no services but military of any avail, un
prepared by his line of life and education for
the command of armies, he believed it right not
to stand in the way of talents better fitted than
his own to the circumstances under which the
country was placed. He, therefore, himself pro
posed to his friends in the Legislature that Gen
eral Nelson, who commanded the militia of the
State, should be appointed Governor, as he was
sensible that the union of the civil and military
power in the same hands at this time, would
greatly facilitate military measures. This ap
pointment accordingly took place on the i2th
of June, 1781. — INVASION OF VA. MEMORANDUM.
ix, 223. (M., 1781.)
5828. NEOLOGY, American.— I am no
friend to what is called Purism, but a zeal
ous one to the Neology which has introduced
these two words without the authority of any
dictionary. I consider the one as destroying
the nerve and beauty of language,_ while the
other improves both, and adds to its copious
ness. I have been not a little disappointed, and
made suspicious of my own judgment, on see
ing the Edinburgh Reviewers, the ablest critics
of the age, set their faces against the introduc
tion of new words into the English language;
they are particularly apprehensive that the
writers of the United States will adulterate it.
Certainly so great growing a population, spread
over such an extent of country, with such a
variety of climates, of productions, of arts, must
enlarge their language, to make it answer its
purpose of expressing all ideas, the new as
well as the old. The new circumstances under
which we are placed, call for new words, new
phrases, and for the transfer of old words to
new objects. An American dialect will, there
fore, be formed ; so will a West-Indian and
Asiatic, as a Scotch and an Irish are already
formed. But whether will these adulterate, or
enrich the English language? Has the beauti
ful poetry of Burns, or his Scottish dialect,
disfigured it? Did the Athenians consider the
Doric, the Ionian, the Aeolic, and other dialects,
as disfiguring or as beautifying their language?
Did they fastidiously disavow Herodotus, Pin
dar, Theocritus, Sappho, Alcaeus, as Grecian
writers ? On the contrary, they were sensible
that the variety of dialects, still infinitely varied
by poetical license, constituted the riches of
their language, and made the Grecian Homer
the first of poets, as he must ever remain, until
a language equally ductile and copious shall
again be spoken. — To JOHN WALDO, vi, 184.
(M., 1813.)
5829. NEUTRALITY, Carrying trade
and. — If war in Europe take place, I hope
the new world will fatten on the follies of the
old. If we can but establish the principles of
the armed neutrality for ourselves, we must be
come carriers for all parties as far as we can
raise vessels. — To E. RUTLEDGE. iii, 165. FORD
ED., v, 197. (N.Y., 1790.)
5830. . A stoppage by some of
the belligerent powers of one of our vessels
going with grain to an unblockaded port, would
be so unequivocal an infringement of the neu
tral rights, that we cannot conceive it will be
attempted. — To THOMAS PINCKNEY. iii, 551.
FORD ED., vi, 243. (Pa., May 1793.)
5831. . The rights of a neutral
to carry on a commercial intercourse with every
part of the dominions of a belligerent, permitted
by the laws of the country (with the exception
of blockaded ports and contraband of war), was
believed to have been decided between Great
Britain and the United States by the sentence
of the commissioners mutually appointed to de
cide on that and other questions of difference
between the two nations, and by the actual pay
ment of damages awarded by them against Great
Britain for the infraction of that right. When,
therefore, it was perceived that the same prin
ciple was revived with others more novel, and
extending the injury, instructions were given to
the Minister Plenipotentiary of the United
States at the court of London, and remon
strances duly made by him on the subject.
These were followed by a partial and temporary
suspension only, without the disavowal of the
principle. He has, therefore, been instructed
to urge this subject anew, to bring it more fully
to the bar of reason, and to insist on the rights
too evident and too important to be surrendered.
SPECIAL MESSAGE, viii, 57. FORD ED., viii, 417.
(Jan. 1806.)
5832. . To former violations of
maritime rights, another is now added of very
extensive effect. The government of that nation
[Great Britain] has issued an order interdicting
all trade by neutrals between ports not in amity
with them ; and being now at war with nearly
every nation on the Atlantic and Mediterranean
seas, our vessels are required to sacrifice their
cargoes at the first port they touch, or to return
home without the benefit of going to any other
market. Under this new law of the ocean, our
625
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Neutrality
trade on the Mediterranean has been swept away
by seizures and condemnations, and that in
other seas is threatened with the same fate. —
SEVENTH ANNUAL MESSAGE, viii, 84. FORD ED.,
ix, 156. (1807.) See NAVIGATION.
5833. NEUTRALITY, Contraband of
war. — In our treaty with Prussia, we have
gone ahead of other nations in doing away
with restraints on the commerce of peaceful
nations, by declaring that nothing shall be con
traband. For, in truth, in the present improved
state of the arts, when every country has such
ample means of procuring arms within and with
out itself, the regulations of contraband answer
no other end than to draw other nations into the
war. However, as other nations have not given
sanction to this improvement, we claim it, at
present, with Prussia alone. — To THOMAS
PINCKNEY. iii, 551. FORD ED., vi, 243. (Pav
May 1793.) See BELLIGERENTS and CONTRA
BAND OF WAR.
5834. NEUTRALITY, Duties.— -We have
seen with sincere concern the flames of war
lighted up again in Europe, and nations with
which we have the most friendly and useful re
lations engaged in mutual destruction. While we
regret the miseries in which we see others in
volved, let us bow with gratitude to that kind
Providence which, inspiring with wisdom and
moderation our late legislative councils while
placed under the urgency of the greatest wrongs,
guarded us from hastily entering into the san
guinary contest, and left us only to look on and
to pity its ravages. These will be heaviest on
those immediately engaged. Yet the nations
pursuing peace will not be exempt from all evil.
In the course of this conflict [France and Eng
land], let it be our endeavor, as it is our in
terest and desire, to cultivate the friendship of
the belligerent nations by every act of justice
and of incessant kindness ; to receive their
armed vessels with hospitality from distresses
of the sea, but to administer the means of an
noyance to none ; to establish in our harbors
such a police as may maintain law and order ;
to restrain our citizens from embarking individ
ually in a war in which their country takes no
part ; to punish severely those persons, citizen
or alien, who shall usurp the cover of our flag
for vessels not entitled to it, infecting thereby
with suspicion those of real Americans, and
committing us into controversies for the re
dress of wrongs not our own ; to exact from
every nation the observance, toward our vessels
and citizens, of those principles and practices
which all civilized people acknowledge ; to
merit the character of a just nation, and main
tain that of an independent one, preferring
every consequence to insult and habitual wrong.
Congress will consider whether the existing laws
enable us efficaciously to maintain this course
with our citizens in all places, and with others
while within the limits of our jurisdiction, and
will give them the new modifications necessary
for these objects. Some contraventions of right
have already taken place, both within our
jurisdictional limits and on the high seas. The
friendly disposition of the governments from
whose agents they have proceeded, as well as
their wisdom and regard for justice, leave us in
reasonable expectation that they will be rectified
and prevented in future ; and that no act will be
countenanced by them which threatens to dis
turb our friendly intercourse. Separated by a
wide ocean from the nations of Europe, and
from the political interests which entangle them
together, with productions and wants which ren
der our commerce and friendship useful to
them and theirs to us, it cannot be the interest
of any to assail us, nor ours to disturb them.
We should be most unwise, indeed, were we to
cast away the singular blessings of the position
in which nature has placed us, the opportunity
she has endowed us with of pursuing, at a dis
tance from foreign contentions, the paths of in
dustry, peace and happiness ; of cultivating gen
eral friendship, and of bringing collisions of
interest to the umpirage of reason rather than
of force. How desirable, then, must it be, in a
government like ours, to see its citizens adopt
individually the views, the interests, and the
conduct which their country should pursue, di
vesting themselves of those passions and par
tialities which tend to lessen useful friendships,
and to embarrass and embroil us in the calam
itous scenes of Europe. Confident that you will
duly estimate the importance of neutral dis
positions toward the observance of neutral con
duct, that you will be sensible how much it is
our duty to look on the bloody arena spread
before us with commiseration indeed, but with
no other wish than to see it closed, I am
persuaded you will cordially cherish these dis
positions in all discussions among yourselves,
and in all communications with your constit
uents ; and I anticipate with satisfaction the
measures of wisdom which the great interests
now committed to you will give you an oppor
tunity of providing, and myself that of approv
ing and carrying into execution with the fidelity
I owe to my country. — THIRD ANNUAL MESSAGE.
viii, 27. FORD ED., viii, 272. (Oct. 1803.)
5835. NEUTRALITY, Enemy goods.—
Another source of complaint with Mr. Genet
has been that the English take French goods
out of American vessels, which he says is
against the law of nations and ought to be
prevented by us. On the contrary, we suppose
it to have been long an established principle of
the law of nations, that the goods of a friend
are free in an enemy's vessel, and an enemy's
goods lawful prize in the vessel of a friend.
The inconvenience of this principle which sub
jects merchant vessels to be stopped at sea,
searched, ransacked, led out of their course,
has induced several nations latterly to stipulate
against it by treaty, and to substitute another
in its stead, that free bottoms shall make free
goods, and enemy bottoms enemy goods ; a rule
equal to the other in point of loss and gain,
but less oppressive to commerce. As far as it
has been introduced, it depends on the treaties
stipulating it, and forms exceptions, in special
cases, to the general operation of the law of na
tions. We have introduced it into our treaties
with France, Holland and Prussia ; and French
goods found by the two latter nations in Amer
ican bottoms are not made prize of. It is our
wish to establish it with other nations. But
this requires their consent also, is a work of
time, and in the meanwhile, they have a right
to act on the general principle, without giving
to us or to France cause of complaint. Nor do
I see that France can lose by it on the whole.
For though she loses her goods when found in
our vessels by the nations with whom we have
no treaties, yet she gains our goods, when found
in the vessels of the same and all other nations ;
and we believe the latter mass to be greater than
the former. — To GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. Iv, 43.
FORD ED., vi, 387. (Pa., Aug. 1793.)
5836. . It is to be lamented, in
deed, that the general principle has operated so
cruelly in the dreadful calamity which has lately
happened in St. Domingo. The miserable fugi
tives, who, to save their lives, had taken asylum
in our vessels., with such valuable and portable
things as could be gathered in the moment out
of the ashes of their houses and wrecks of their
fortunes, have been plundered of these remains
Neutrality
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
626
by the licensed sea rovers of their enemies.
This has swelled, on this occasion., the disad
vantages of the general principle, that " an en
emy's goods are free prize in the vessels of a
friend ". But it is one of those deplorable and
unforeseen calamities to which they expose them
selves who enter into a state of war, furnishing
to us an awful lesson to avoid it by justice and
moderation, and not a cause of encouragement
to expose our own towns to the same burning
and butcheries, nor of complaint because we
do not. — To GOUVERNEUR MORRIS, iv, 44. FORD
ED., vi, 387. (Pa., Aug. 1793.) See ENEMY
GOODS.
5837. NEUTRALITY, Fraudulent use
of flag. — As there appears * * * a prob
ability of a very general war in Europe, you
will be pleased to be particularly attentive to
preserve for our vessels all the rights of neu
trality, and to endeavor that our flag be not
usurped by others to procure to themselves the
benefits of our neutrality. This usurpation
tends to commit us with foreign nations, to sub
ject those vessels truly ours to rigorous scru
tinies and delays, to distinguish them from
counterfeits, and to take the business of trans
portation out of our hands. — To DAVID HUM
PHREYS, iii, 533. FORD ED., vi, 205. (Pa., 1793.)
5838.
It will be necessary for
all our public agents to exert themselves with
vigilance for securing to our vessels all the
rights of neutrality. — To C. W. F. DUMAS, iii,
535- (Pa., I793-) See FLAG.
5839. NEUTRALITY, The Grange cap
ture.— The capture of the British ship
Grange, by the French frigate L'Embuscade, has
been found to have taken place within the
: jurisdiction of the United States
* * * . The government, is, therefore, ta
king measures for the liberation of the crew
and restitution of the ship and cargo. — To
GEORGE HAMMOND, iii, 559. FORD ED., vi, 253.
(Pa., May 1793.)
5840. : — . The government deems
the capture [of the Grange] to have been un
questionably within its jurisdiction, and that
according to the rules of neutrality and the
protection it owes to all persons while within its
limits, it is bound to see that the crew be liber
ated, and the vessel and cargo restored to their
former owners. * I am, in consequence,
charged by the President of the United States
to express to you his expectation, and at the
same time his confidence, that you will be
pleased to take immediate and effectual meas
ures for having the ship Grange and her cargo
restored to the British owners, and the persons
taken on board her set at liberty. — To JEAN
BAPTISTS TERNANT. iii, 561. FORD ED., vi,
256. (Pa., May 15, 1793.)
5841.
In forming these deter
minations [respecting Grange, &c.,] the govern
ment of the United States has listened to
nothing but the dictates of immutable justice ;
they consider the rigorous exercise of that
virtue as the surest means of preserving perfect
harmony between the United States and the
powers at war. — To JEAN BAPTISTE TERNANT.
iii, 562. FORD ED., vi, 257. (Pa., May 1793.)
5842. NEUTRALITY, Impartial.— -Our
conduct as a neutral nation is marked out in
our treaties with France and Holland, two of
the belligerent powers ; and as the duties of neu
trality require an equal conduct to both parties,
we should, on that ground, act on the same
principles towards Great Britain. — To THOMAS
PINCKNEY. iii, 551. FORD ED., vi, 243. (Pa.,
May 1793.)
5843. . A manly neutrality,
claiming the liberal rights ascribed to that con
dition by the very powers at war, was the part
we should have taken, and would, I believe,
have given satisfaction to our allies. If any
thing prevents its being a mere English neu
trality, it will be that the penchant of the Presi
dent is not that way, and above all, the ardent
spirit of our constituents. — To JAMES MADISON.
iii, 557. FORD ED., vi, 251. (May 1793.)
5844. . The line is now drawn
so clearly as to show on one side, i. The fash
ionable circles of Philadelphia, New York.
Boston and Charleston (natural aristocrats).
2. Merchants trading on British capital. 3.
Paper men (all the old tories are found in some
one of the three descriptions). On the other
side are, i. Merchants trading on their own
capital. 2. Irish merchants. 3. Tradesmen,
mechanics, farmers, and every other possible
description of our citizens. — To JAMES MADI
SON, iii, 557. FORD ED., vi, 251. (May 1793.)
5845. . I trust that in the readi
ness with which the United States have at
tended to the redress of such wrongs as are
committed by their citizens, or within their
jurisdiction, you will see proofs of their jus
tice and impartiality to all parties, and that it
will ensure to their citizens pursuing their law
ful business by sea or by land, in all parts of
the world, a like efficacious interposition of
the governing powers to protect them from in
jury, and redress it, where it has taken place.
With such dispositions on both sides, vigi
lantly and faithfully carried into effect, we may
hope that the blessings of peace, on the one
part, will be as little impaired, and the evils
of war on the other, as little aggravated, as the
nature of things will permit; and that this
should be so, is, we trust, the prayer of all. —
To GEORGE HAMMOND, iii, 559. FORD ED., vi,
254. (Pa., I793-)
5846 . The course intended to
be pursued being that of a strict and impartial
neutrality, decisions, rendered by the President
on that principle, dissatisfy both parties, and
draw complaints from both. — To GOUVERNEUR
MORRIS, iii, 580. FORD ED., vi, 299. (Pa.,
June 1793.)
5847. . It will never be easy to
convince me that by a firm yet just conduct in
1793, we might not have obtained such a respect
for our neutral rights from Great Britain, as
that her violations of them and use of our
means to wage her wars, would not have fur
nished any pretence to the other party to do the
same. War with both would have been avoided,
commerce and navigation protected and en
larged. We shall now either be forced into a
war, or have our commerce and navigation at
least totally annihilated, and the produce of
our farms for some years left to rot on our
hands. A little time will unfold these things,
and show which class of opinions would have
been most friendly to the firmness of our gov
ernment, and to the interests of those for whom
it was made. — To DR. JOHN EDWARDS, iv, 165.
FORD ED., vii, 113. (M., Jan. 1797.)
5848. . It is to be deplored that
distant as we are from the storms and con
vulsions which agitate the European world, the
pursuit of an honest neutrality, beyond the
reach of reproach, has been insufficient to
627
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Neutrality
secure to us the certain enjoyments of peace
with those whose interests as well as ours
would be promoted by it. — R. TO A. NEW
JERSEY LEGISLATURE, viii, 122. (1807.)
5849. . I verily believe that it
will ever be in our power to keep so even a
stand between England and France, as to in
spire a wish in neither to throw us into the
scale of his adversary. If we can do this for
a dozen years only, we shall have little to fear
from them.— To MR. COXE. v, 58. (W.,
1807.)
5850. . Neither belligerent pre
tends to have been injured by us, or can
say that we have in any instance departed from
the most faithful neutrality. — R. TO A. VIR
GINIA ASSEMBLY, viii, 148. (1809.)
5851. . A law respecting our
conduct as a neutral between Spain and her
contending colonies was passed [by the late
Congress] by a majority of one only, I believe,
and against the very general sentiment of our
country. It is thought to strain our complais
ance to Spain beyond her right or merit, and
almost against the right of the other party,
and certainly against the claims they have to
our good wishes and neighborly relations. That
we should wish to see the people of other
countries free, is as natural, and, at least as
justifiable, as that one king should wish to see
the kings of other countries maintained in their
despotism. Right to both parties, innocent
favor to the juster cause, is our proper senti
ment. — To ALBERT GALLATIN. vii, 78. FORD
ED., x, 90. (M., 1817.)
5852. NEUTRALITY, Markets and.—
If the new government wears the front which
I hope it will, I see no impossibility in the avail
ing ourselves of the wars of others to open the
other parts of America [West Indies] to our
commerce, as the price of our neutrality. — To
GENERAL WASHINGTON, ii, 533. FORD ED., v,
57- (P., 1788.)
5853. . With England, I think
we shall cut off the resource of impressing our
seamen to fight her battles, and establish the
inviolability of our flag in its commerce with
her enemies. We shall thus become what we
sincerely wish to be, honestly neutral, and truly
useful to both belligerents. To the one, by
keeping open market for the consumption of her
manufactures, while they are excluded from all
the other countries under the power of her
enemy ; to the other, by securing for her a safe
carriage of all her productions, metropolitan or
colonial, while her own means are restrained by
her enemy, and may, therefore, be employed in
other useful pursuits. We are certainly more
useful friends to France and Spain as neutrals,
than as allies. — To JAMES BOWDOIN. v, 18.
(W., 1806.) See COMMERCE, MARKETS, and
NAVIGATION.
5854. NEUTRALITY, Obligations of.
— Where [treaties] are silent, the general
principles of the law of nations must give the
rule [of neutral obligation]. I mean the princi
ples of that law as they have been liberalized in
latter times by the refinement of manners and
morals, and evidenced by the declarations, stipu
lations, and practice of every civilized nation. —
To THOMAS PINCKNEY. iii, 551. FORD ED., vi,
243. (Pa., May 1793-)
5855. NEUTRALITY, Passage of
troops. — It is well enough agreed in the laws
of nations, that for a neutral power to give or
refuse permission to the troops of either bellig
erent party to pass through their territory, is no
breach of neutrality, provided the same refusal
or permission be extended to the other party.
If we give leave of passage then to the British
troops, Spain will have no just cause of com
plaint against us, provided we extend the same
leave to her when demanded. If we refuse (as
indeed we have a right to do), and the troops
should pass notwithstanding, of which there can
be little doubt, we shall stand committed. For
either we must enter immediately into the war,
or pocket an acknowledged insult in the face of
the world ; and one insult pocketed soon pro
duces another. There is, indeed, a middle
course which I should be inclined to prefer ;
that is to avoid giving any answer. They will
proceed notwithstanding, but to do this under
our silence, will admit of palliation, and pro
duce apologies, from military necessity ; and
will leave us free to pass it over without dis
honor, or to make it a handle of quarrel here
after, if we should have use for it as such. But,
if we are obliged to give an answer, I think the
occasion not such as should induce us to hazard
that answer which might commit us to the war
at so early a stage of it ; and, therefore, that the
passage should be permitted. If they should
pass without having asked leave, I should be
for expressing our dissatisfaction to the British
court, and keeping alive an altercation on the
subject, till events should decide whether it is
most expedient to accept their apologies, or to
profit of the aggression as a cause of war. —
OFFICIAL OPINION, vii, 509. FORD ED., v, 239.
(1790.)
5856. NEUTRALITY, Passports for
vessels. — The proposition to permit all our
vessels destined for any port in the French
West India Islands to be stopped, unless fur
nished with passports from yourself, is so far
beyond the powers of the Executive, that it
will be unnecessary to enumerate the objections
to which it would be liable.— To E. C. GENET.
iv, 88. FORD ED., vi, 460. (Pa., Nov. 1793.)
5857. NEUTRALITY, Preserving.—
Amidst the confusion of a general war which
seems to be threatening that quarter of the globe
[Europe], we hope to be permitted to preserve
the line of neutrality. — To C. W. F. DUMAS, iii,
535. (Pa., March 1793.)
5858. . I wish we may he able
to repress the spirit of the people within the
limits of a fair neutrality. — To JAMES MONROE.
iii, 548. FORD ED., vi, 238. (Pa., 1793.)
5859. . You may, on every occa
sion, give assurances [to the British govern
ment] which cannot go beyond the real desires
of this country, to preserve a fair neutrality
in the present war, on condition that the rights
of neutral nations are respected in us, as they
have been settled in modern times, either by
the express declarations of the powers of Eu
rope, or their adoption of them on particular
occasions. — To THOMAS PINCKNEY. iii, 542.
(Pa., April I793-)
5860. - — . We shall be a little em
barrassed occasionally till we feel ourselves
firmly seated in the saddle of neutrality. — To
GEORGE WYTHE. FORD ED., vi, 218. (Pa., April
I793-)
5861. . I fear that a fair neu
trality will prove a disagreeable pill to our
friends [the French], though necessary to keep
out of the calamities of a war. — To JAMES
MADISON. FORD ED., vi, 232. (Pa., April 1793.)
Neutrality
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
628
5862. . No country, perhaps,
was ever so thoroughly against war as ours.
These dispositions pervade every description
of its citizens, whether in or out of office.
They cannot, perhaps, suppress their affections,
nor their wishes. But they will suppress the
effects of them so as to preserve a fair neu
trality. Indeed we shall be more useful as neu
trals than as parties, by the protection which
our flag will give to supplies of provisions. In
this spirit let all your assurances be given to
the government [of France]. — To GOUVERNEUR
MORRIS. FORD ED., vi, 217. (Pa., April I793-)
5863. . If we preserve even a
sneaking neutrality, we shall be indebted for it
to the President, and not to his counsellors. —
To COLONEL MONROE, iii, 548. FORD ED., vi,
239. (Pa., May I793-)
5864. NEUTRALITY, Profitable.— The
great harvest for [the profits of navigation] is
when other nations are at war and our flag
neutral. — OPINION ON SHIP PASSPORTS, vii,
625- (I793-)
5865. . Let us milk the cow
while the Russian holds her by the horns and
the Turk holds her by the tail. — To JOHN
ADAMS, vii, 245. FORD ED., x, 217. (M.,
1822.)
5866. NEUTRALITY, Provisions not
contraband. — This article* is so manifestly
contrary to the law of nations, that nothing
more would seem necessary than to observe that
it is so. Reason, and usage have established
that when two nations go to war, those who
choose to live in peace retain their natural
right to pursue their agriculture, manufactures,
and other ordinary vocations, to carry the prod
uce of their industry for exchange to all na
tions, belligerent or neutral, as usual, to go and
come freely, without injury or molestation, and,
in short, that the war among others shall be,
for them, as if it did not exist. One restriction
on their natural rights has been submitted to
by nations at peace ; that is to say, that of
not furnishing to either party implements
merely of war, for the annoyance of the other,
nor anything whatever to a place blockaded by
its enemy. What these implements of war are,
has been so often agreed and is so well under
stood, as to leave little question about them
at this day. There does not exist, perhaps,
a nation in our common hemisphere which has
not made a particular enumeration of them,
in some or all of their treaties, under the name
of contraband. It suffices for the present oc
casion, to say, that corn flour and meal, are
not of the class of contraband, and consequent
ly remain articles of free commerce. A cul
ture, which, like that of the soil, gives employ
ment to such a proposition of mankind, could
never be suspended by the whole earth, or in
terrupted for them, whenever any two nations
should think proper to go to war. — To THOMAS
PINCKNEY. iv, 59. FORD ED., vi, 413. (Pa.,
Sept. I793-)
5867. . The state of war exist
ing between Great Britain and France, furnishes
no legitimate right either to interrupt the agri
culture of the United States, or the peaceable
exchange of its produce with all nations ; and
* Instructions to commanders of British war ships
directing them to stop vessels carrying provisions to
French ports, and send them to English ports where
their cargoes may be purchased by that government,
or released on security that they will be taken to
the ports of some country in amity with Great
Britain.— EDITOR.
consequently, the assumption of it will be as
lawful hereafter as now, in peace as in war.
No ground, acknowledged by the common rea
son of mankind, authorizes this act now, and
unacknowledged ground may be taken at any
time and all times. We see, then, a practice
begun, to which no time, no circumstances pre
scribe any limits, and which strikes at the root
of our agriculture, that branch of industry
which gives food, clothing and comfort to the
great mass of the inhabitants of these States.
If any nation whatever has a right to shut up
to our produce all the ports of the earth except
her own, and those of her friends, she may shut
up these also, and so confine us within our own
limits. No nation can subscribe to such pre
tensions ; no nation can agree, at the mere will
or interest of another, to have its peaceable in
dustry suspended, and its citizens reduced to
idleness and want. The loss of our produce,
destined for foreign markets, or that loss which
would result from an arbitrary restraint of our
markets, is a tax too serious for us to ac
quiesce in. It is not enough for a nation to say,
we and our friends will buy your produce. We
have a right to answer, that it suits us better to
sell to their enemies as well as their friends.
Our ships do not go to France to return empty.
They go to exchange the surplus of our prod
uce, which we can spare, for surpluses of other
kinds, which they can spare, and we want ;
which they can furnish on better terms, and
more to our mind, than Great Britain or her
friends. We have a right to judge for our
selves what market best suits us, and they have
none to forbid to us the enjoyment of the neces
saries and comforts which we may obtain from
any other independent country. — To THOMAS
PINCKNEY. iv, 60. FORD ED., vi, 413. (Pa.,
Sep. I793-)
5868. . This act, too, tends di
rectly to draw us from that state of peace in
which we are wishing to remain. It is an essen
tial character of neutrality to furnish no aids (not
stipulated by treaty) to one party, which we are
not equally ready to furnish to the other. If
we permit corn to be sent to Great Britain and
her friends, we are equally bound to permit it
to France. To restrain it, would be a partiality
which might lead to war with France ; and, be
tween restraining it ourselves, and permitting
her enemies to restrain it unrightfully, is no dif
ference. She would consider this as a mere
pretext, of which she would not be the dupe ;
and on what honorable ground could we other
wise explain it? Thus we should see ourselves
plunged, by this unauthorized act of Great
Britain, into a war with which we meddle not,
and which we wish to avoid, if justice to all
parties, and from all parties, will enable us to
avoid it. In the case where we found ourselves
obliged, by treaty, to withhold from the enemies
of France the right of arming in our ports, we
thought ourselves in justice bound to withhold
the same right from France also., and we did it.
Were we to withhold from her supplies of pro
visions, we should, in like manner, be bound
to withhold them from her enemies also ; and
thus shut to ourselves all the ports of Europe,
where corn is in demand,, or make ourselves
parties in the war. This is a dilemma, which
Great Britain has no right to force upon us,
and for which no pretext can be found in any
part of our conduct. She may, indeed, feel the
desire of starving an enemy nation ; but she can
have no right of doing it at our loss, nor of ma
king us the instruments of it. — To THOMAS
PINCKNEY. iv, 61. FORD ED., vi, 414. (Pa.,
Sep. I793-)
629
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Neutrality
5869. NEUTRALITY, Public vessels.—
The public ships of war of both nations [France
and England] enjoy a perfect equality in our
ports ; first, in cases of urgent necessity ; sec
ondly, in cases of comfort or convenience ; and
thirdly, in the time they choose to continue ;
and all a friendly power can ask from an
other is, to extend to her the same indulgences
which she extends to other friendly powers. —
To GEORGE HAMMOND, iv, 66. FORD ED., vi,
423. (Pa., 1793.) See ASYLUM.
5870. . The bringing vessels to,
of whatever nation, while within the limits of
the protection of the United States, will be
pointedly forbidden ; the government being
firmly determined to enforce a peaceable de
meanor among all the parties within those
limits, and to deal to all the same impartial
measure. — To THE GOVERNOR OF VIRGINIA, in,
564. (Pa., May I793-) '
5871. — — . Mr. Thornton's attempt
to justify his nation in using our ports as cruis
ing stations on our friends and ourselves, ren
ders the matter so serious as to call, I think, for
answer. That we ought, in courtesy and friend
ship, to extend to them all the rights of hospi
tality is certain ; that they should not use our
hospitality to injure our friends or ourselves is
equally enjoined by morality and honor. After
the rigorous exertions we made in Genet's time
to prevent this abuse on his part, and the in
dulgences extended by Mr. Adams to the
British cruisers even after our pacification with
France, by ourselves also from an unwillingness
to change the course of things as the war was
near its close, I did not expect to hear from
that quarter charges of partiality. — To JAMES
MADISON, iv, 501. (M., Aug. 1803.)
5872. — . I do not think the loan
of our navy yard any more contrary to neu
trality than that of our ports. It is merely
admitting a ship to a proper station in our
waters. — To JAMES MADISON. FORD ED., viii,
475. (M., Sep. 1806.)
5873. . Several French vessels
of war, disabled from keeping the sea, * * *
put into the harbors of the United States to
avoid the danger of shipwreck. The minister
of their nation states that their crews are with
out resources for subsistence, and other neces
saries, for the reimbursement of which he offers
bills on his government, the faith of which he
pledges for their punctual payment. The laws
of humanity make it a duty for nations, as
well as individuals, to succor those whom acci
dent and distress have thrown upon them. By
doing this in the present case, to the extent of
mere subsistence and necessaries, and so as to
aid no military equipment, we shall keep within
the duties of rigorous neutrality, which never
can be in opposition to those of humanity. We
furnished, on a former occasion, to a distressed
crew of the other belligerent party, similar ac
commodations, and we have ourselves received
from both those powers, friendly and free sup
plies to the necessities of our vessels of war in
their Mediterranean ports. In fact, the gov
ernments of civilized nations generally are in
the practice of exercising these offices of hu
manity towards each other. Our government
having as yet made no regular provision for the
exchange of these offices of courtesy and hu
manity between nations, the honor, the inter
est, and the duty of our country require that we
should adopt any other mode by which it may
legally be done on the present occasion. It
is expected that we shall want a large sum of
money in Europe, for the purposes of the pres
ent negotiation with Spain, and besides this we
want annually large sums there, for the dis
charge of our installments of debt. Under
these circumstances, supported by the unani
mous opinion of the heads of Departments,
* * * and firmly trusting that the govern
ment of France will feel itself peculiarly in
terested in the punctual discharge of the bills
drawn by their Minister, * * * I approve
of the Secretary of the treasury's taking the
bills of the Minister of France, to an amount
not exceeding sixty thousand dollars. — To AL
BERT GALLATIN. v, 35. (W., Jan. 1807.)
5874. . Armed vessels remain
ing within our jurisdiction in defiance of the
authority of the laws, must be viewed either as
rebels, or public enemies. The latter character'
it is most expedient to ascribe to them ; the
laws of intercourse with persons of that descrip
tion are fixed and known. If we relinquish
them we shall have a new code to settle with
those individual offenders, with whom self-re
spect forbids any intercourse but merely for
purposes of humanity. — To GOVERNOR W. H.
CABELL. v, 170. (M., 1807.)
5875. NEUTRALITY, Bights.— The
doctrine that the rights of nations remain
ing quietly under the exercise of moral and
social duties, are to eive way to the convenience
of those who prefer plundering and murdering
one another, is a monstrous doctrine ; and ought
to yield to the more rational law, that " the
wrongs which two nations endeavor to inflict
on each other, must not infringe on the rights
or conveniences of those remaining at peace ".
— To ROBERT R. LIVINGSTON, iv, 410. FORD
ED., viii, 90. (M., 1801.)
5876. - — . It would indeed be ad
vantageous to us to have neutral rights estab
lished on a broad ground ; but no dependence
can be placed in any European coalition for
that. They have so many other bye-interests
of greater weight, that some one or other will
always be bought off. To be entangled with
them would be a much greater evil than a
temporary acquiescence in the false principles
which have prevailed. — To WILLIAM SHORT.
iv, 414. FORD ED., viii, 98. (W., 1801.)
5877. . With respect to the
rights of neutrality, we have certainly a great
interest in their settlement. But this depends
exclusively on the will of two characters, Bona
parte and Alexander. The dispositions of the
former to have them placed on liberal grounds
are known. The interest of the latter should
insure the same disposition. The only thing
to be done is to bring the two characters to
gether to treat on the subject. All the minor
maritime powers of Europe will of course con
cur with them. We have not failed to use such
means as we possess to induce these two
sovereigns to avail the world of its present sit
uation to declare and enforce the laws of nature
and convenience on the seas. But the organiza
tion of the treaty-making power by our Con
stitution is too particular for us to commit the
nation in so great an operation with all the
European powers. With such a federal pha
lanx in the Senate, compact and vigilant for
opportunities to do mischief, the addition of a
very few other votes, misled by accidental or
imperfect views of the subject, would suffice to
commit us most dangerously. All we can do,
therefore, is to encourage others to declare and
guarantee neutral rights, by excluding all in
tercourse with any nation which infringes them,
and so leave a niche in their compact for us, if
Neutrality
THE JEFFERSON1AN CYCLOPEDIA
630
our treaty-making power shall choose to occupy
it. — To THOMAS PAINE. FORD ED., viii, 437.
(W., March 1806.)
5878. . The license to four
British vessels to sail to Lima proves that bellig
erents may, either by compact or force, conduct
themselves towards one another as they please ;
but not that a neutral may, unless by some ex
press permission of the belligerent. — To ALBERT
GALLATIN. FORD EDV viii, 466. (M., Aug. 1806.)
5879. . It is all important that
we should stand in terms of the strictest cor
diality with France. In fact, we are to depend
on her and Russia for the establishment of
neutral rights by the treaty of peace, among
which should be that of taking no persons by a
belligerent put of a neutral ship, unless they
be the soldiers of an enemy. — To JAMES Bow-
DOIN. v, 64. FORD EDV ix, 40. (W., April 1807.)
5880. . The instructions given
to our ministers [to England] were framed in
the sincerest spirit of amity and moderation.
They accordingly proceeded, in conformity
therewith, to propose arrangements which might
embrace and settle all the points in difference
between us, which might bring us to a mutual
understanding on our neutral and national
rights, and provide for a commercial intercourse
on conditions of some eouality. After long and
fruitless endeavors to effect the purposes of
their mission, and to obtain arrangements with
in the limits of their instructions, they con
cluded to sign such as could be obtained., and
to send them for consideration, candidly de
claring to the other negotiators, at the same
time, that they were acting against their in
structions, and that their government, therefore,
could not be pledged for ratification. Some of
the articles proposed might have been admitted
on a principle of compromise, but others were
too highly disadvantageous, and no sufficient
provision was made against the principal source
of the irritations and collisions which were con
stantly endangering the neace of the two na
tions. The question, therefore, whether a
treaty shotild be accepted in that form could
have admitted but of one decision, even had no
declarations of the other party impaired our
confidence in it. Still anxious not to close the
door against friendly adjustment, new modifi
cations were framed, and further concessions
authorized than could before have been sup
posed necessary ; and our ministers were in
structed to resume their negotiations on these
grounds. On this new reference to amicable
discussion, we were reposing in confidence,
when or* the 22nd day of June last, by a formal
order from the British admiral, the frigate
Chesapeake, leaving her port for distant serv
ice, was attacked by one of those vessels
which had been lying in our harbors under the
indulgences of hospitality, was disabled from
proceeding, had several of her crew killed, and
four taken away. — SEVENTH ANNUAL MESSAGE.
viii, 83. FORD ED., ix, 150. (Oct. 27, 1807.)
See CHESAPEAKE.
5881. . The nations of the earth
prostrated at the foot of power, the ocean
submitted to the despotism of a single nation,
the laws of nature and the usages which have
hitherto regulated the intercourse of nations
and interposed some restraint between power
and right, now totally disregarded. Such is the
state of things when the United States are left
single-handed to maintain the rights of neutrals,
and the principles of public right against a war
ring world. — R. TO A. NIAGARA REPUBLICANS.
viii, 155. (1809.)
5882. . When two nations go to
war, it does not abridge the rights of neutral
nations but in the two articles of blockade and
contraband of war. — To BENJAMIN STODDERT.
v, 425. FORD ED., ix, 245. (W., 1809.) See
A.LEXANDER OF RUSSIA and EMBARGO.
5883. NEUTRALITY, Sale of arms.—
The manufacture of arms is the occupation
and livelihood of some of our citizens ; and
* * it ought not to be expected that a
war among other nations should produce such
an internal derangement of the occupations of
a nation at peace, as the suppression of a
manufacture which is the support of some of
its citizens ; but * * * if they should ex
port these arms to nations at war, they would
be abandoned to the seizure and confiscation
which the law of nations authorized to be made
of them on the high seas. — To E. C. GENET, iv,
87. FORD ED., vi, 460. (Pa., Nov. 1793.) See
BELLIGERENTS.
_ NEUTRALITY, Sale of ships.— See
BELLIGERENTS.
5884. NEUTRALITY, Treasury De
partment and. — Hamilton produced [at a
cabinet meeting] the draft of a letter by him
self to the collectors of the customs, giving
them in charge to watch over all proceedings
in their districts, contrary to the laws of neu
trality, or tending to infract our peace with the
belligerent powers, and particularly to observe
if vessels pierced for guns should be built, and
to inform him of it. This was objected to, i.
As setting up a system of espionage, destructive
of the peace of society. 2. Transferring to the
Treasury Department the conservation of the
laws of neutrality and peace with foreign na
tions. 3. It was rather proposed to intimate to
the judges that the laws respecting neutrality
being now come into activity, they should
charge the grand juries with the observance of
them ; these being constitutional and public
informers, and the persons accused knowing of
what they should do, and having an opportunity
of justifying themselves. E. R. [Edmund Ran
dolph] found a hair to split, which, as always
happens, became the decision. Hamilton is to
write to the collectors of the customs, who are
to convey their information to the attorneys of
the district to whom E. R. is to write to receive
their information and proceed by indictment.
The clause respecting the building vessels
pierced for guns was omitted, for though three
against one thought it would be a breach of
neutrality, yet they thought we might defer
giving a public opinion on it as yet. — To JAMES
MADISON, iii, 556. FORD ED., vi, 250. (May
I793-)
5885. . I have been still reflect
ing on the draft of the letter from the Secre
tary of the Treasury to the custom house of
ficers, instructing them to be on the watch as
to all infractions or tendencies to infraction
of the laws of neutrality by our citizens, and to
communicate the same to him. When this
paper was first communicated to me, though the
whole of it struck me disagreeably, I did not in
the first moment see clearly the improprieties
but of the last clause. The more I have re
flected, the more objectionable the whole ap
pears. By this proposal the collectors of the
customs are to be made an established corps
of spies or informers against their fellow
citizens, whose actions they are to watch in
secret, inform against in secret to the Secre
tary of the Treasury, who is to communicate it
63
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Neutrality
to the President. If the action and evidence ap
pear to justify a prosecution, a prosecution is
to be set on foot on the secret information of
a collector. If it will not justify it, then the
only consequence is that the mind of govern
ment has been poisoned against a citizen,
neither known nor suspecting it, and perhaps
too distant to bring forward his justification.
This will at least furnish the collector with a
convenient weapon to keep down a rival, draw
a cloud over an inconvenient censor, or satisfy
mere malice and private enmity. The object
of this new institution is to be to prevent in
fractions of the laws of neutrality, and pre
serve our peace with foreign nations ; but I can
not possibly conceive how the superintend
ence of the laws of neutrality, or the preserva
tion of our peace with foreign nations can be
ascribed to the department of the Treasury,
which I suppose to comprehend merely matters
of revenue. It would be to add a new and a
large field to a department already amply pro
vided with business, patronage, and influence.
It was urged as a reason that the collectors of
the customs are in convenient positions for
this espionage. They are in convenient posi
tions, top, for building ships of war ; but will
that business be transplanted from its depart
ment, merely because it can be conveniently
done in another? It seemed the desire that if
this means was disapproved, some other equiv
alent might be adopted. Though we consider
the acts of a foreigner making a captive within
our limits, as an act of public hostility, and
therefore to be turned over to the military
rather than the civil power; yet the acts of
our citizens infringing the laws of neutrality, or
contemplating that, are offences against the
ordinary laws and cognizable by them. Grand
juries are the constitutional inquisitors and in
formers of the country ; they are scattered
everywhere, see everything, see it while they
suppose themselves mere private persons, and
not with the prejudiced eye of a permanent and
systematic spy. Their information is on oath,
is public, it is in the vicinage of the party
charged, and can be at once refuted. These of
ficers taken only occasionally from among the
people, are familiar to them, the office respected,
and the experience of centuries has shown
that it is safely entrusted with our character,
property and liberty. A grand juror cannot
carry on systematic persecution against a
neighbor whom he hates, because he is not
permanent in the office. The judges generally,
by a charge, instruct the grand jurors in the
infractions of law which are to be noticed by
them ; and our judges are in the habit of
printing their charges in the newspapers. The
judges, having notice of the proclamation, will
perceive that the occurrence of a foreign war
has brought into activity the laws of neutrality,
as a part of the law of the land. This new
branch of the law they will know needs ex
planation to the grand juries more than any
other. They will study and define the subjects
to them and to the public. The public mind
will by this be warned against the acts which
may endanger our peace, foreign nations will
see a much more respectable evidence of our
bona fide intentions to preserve neutrality, and
society will be relieved from the inquietude
which must forever be excited by the knowl
edge of the existence of such a poison in it as
secret accusation. It will be easy to suggest
this matter to the attention of the judges, and
that alone puts the whole machine into motion.
The one is a familiar, impartial and precious
instrument ; the other, not popular in its present
functions, will be odious in the new ones, and
the odium will reach the Executive, who will
be considered as having planted a germ of pri
vate inquisition absolutely unknown to our
laws. — To EDMUND RANDOLPH, iii, 553. FORD
F.D., vi, 245. (May I793-)
5886. NEUTRALITY, Usurpation of
jurisdiction.— The United States being at
peace with both parties, will certainly not see
with indifference its territory or jurisdiction
violated by [France or England] either, and
will proceed immediately to enquire into the
facts and to do what these shall show ought to
be done with exact impartiality. — To GEORGE
HAMMOND. FORD ED., vi, 236. (Pa., May
I793-)
5887. . It is the right of every
nation to prohibit acts of sovereignty from be
ing exercised by any other within its limits;
and the duty of a neutral nation to prohibit such
as would injure one of the warring powers. —
To E. C. GENET, iii, 572. FORD ED., vi, 283.
(Pa., June 1793.) See CONSULS, GENET, and
PRIVATEERS.
5888. NEUTRALITY, Violations of.—
Since our last meeting the aspect of our foreign
relations has considerably changed. Our coasts
have been infested and our harbors watched by
private armed vessels, some of them without
commissions, some with illegal commissions,
others with those of legal form but committing
piratical acts beyond the authority of their
commissions. They have captured in the very
entrance of our harbors, as well as on the high
seas, not only the vessels of our friends coming
to trade with us, but our own also. They have
carried them off under pretence of legal ad
judication, but not daring to approach a court
of justice, they have plundered and sunk them
by the way, or in obscure places where no evi
dence could arise against them ; maltreated the
crews, and abandoned them in boats in the
open sea, or on desert shores without food or
covering. These enormities appearing to be
unreached by any control of their sovereigns,
I found it necessary to equip a force to cruise
within our own seas, to arrest all vessels of
these descriptions found hovering on our coast
within the limits of the Gulf Stream, and to
bring the offenders in for trial as pirates. The
same system of hovering on our coasts, and
harbors under color of seeking enemies, has
been also carried on by public armed ships,
to the great annoyance and oppression of our
commerce. New principles, too, have been in
terpolated into the law of nations, founded
neither in justice, nor the usage, or acknowl
edgment of nations. According to these, a
belligerent takes to itself a commerce with its
own enemy, which it denies to a neutral on the
ground of its aiding that enemy in the war.
But reason revolts at such an inconsistency ;
and the neutral having equal right with the
belligerent to decide the question, the interest
of our constituents and the duty of maintain
ing the authority of reason, the only umpire
between just nations, impose on us the obliga
tion of providing an effectual and determined
opposition to a doctrine so injurious to the
rights of peaceable nations. Indeed, the con
fidence we ought to have in the justice of
others, still countenances the hope that a
sounder view of those rights will of itself induce
from every belligerent a more correct observ
ance of them. — FIFTH ANNUAL MESSAGE, viii,
47. FORD ED., viii, 389. (Dec. 1805.)
5889. NEUTRALITY PROCLAMA
TION, History of.— The public papers giv-
Neutrality
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
632
ing us reason to believe that the war is becom
ing nearly general in Europe, and that it has
already involved nations with which we are in
daily habits of commerce and friendship, the
President has thought it proper to issue the
Proclamation of which I enclose you a copy,
in order to mark out to our citizens the line of
conduct they are to pursue. That this in
timation, however, might not work to their
prejudice, by being produced against them as
conclusive evidence of their knowledge of the
existence of war and of the nations engaged in
it, in any case where they might be drawn into
courts of justice for acts done without that
knowledge, it has been thought necessary to
write to the representatives of the belligerent
powers here, * * * reserving to our citizens
those immunities to which they are entitled, till
authentic information shall be given to our
government by the parties at war, and be thus
communicated, with due certainty, to our citi
zens. You will be pleased to present to the
government where you reside this proceeding of
the President, as a proof of the earnest desire
of the United States to preserve peace and
friendship with all the belligerent powers, and
to express his expectation that they will in re
turn extend a scrupulous and effectual protec
tion to all our citizens, wheresoever they may
need it, in pursuing their lawful and peaceable
concerns with their subjects, or within their
jurisdiction. You will, at the same time, assure
them that the most exact reciprocation of this
benefit shall be practiced by us towards their
subjects, in the like cases. — To MESSRS. MOR
RIS, PINCKNEY and SHORT, iii, 543. (Pa., April
26, I793-)
5890. -- . I dare say you will have
judged from the pusillanimity of the proclama
tion, from whose pen it came. A fear lest any
affection [to France] should be discovered is
distinguishable enough. This base fear will
produce the very evil they wish to avoid.f For
our constituents, seeing that the government
does not express their mind, perhaps rather
leans the other way, are coming forward to ex
press it themselves. — To JAMES MADISON, iii,
562. FORD ED., vi, 259. (Pa., May 1793.)
5891. -- . The proclamation as
first proposed was to have been a declaration
of neutrality. It was opposed on these grounds.
i. That a declaration of neutrality was a
declaration there should be no war, to which
the Executive was not competent. 2. That
it would be better to hold back the declaration
of neutrality, as a thing worth something to the
powers at war ; that they would bid for it, and
we might reasonably ask a price, the broadest
privileges of neutral nations. The first objec
tion was so far respected as to avoid inserting
the term neutrality, and the drawing the in
strument was left to E. R. [Edmund Randolph].
— To JAMES MADISON, iii, 591. FORD ED., vi,
315.
5892. -- . That there should be a
proclamation was passed unanimously with the
approbation or the acquiescence of all parties.
Indeed, it was not expedient to oppose it alto
gether, lest it should prejudice what was the
next question, the boldest and greatest that ever
was hazarded, and which would have called for
extremities had it prevailed. — To JAMES MAD
ISON. iii, 591. FORD ED., vi, 316. (June I793-)
5893. -- . You have most perfectly
seized the original idea of the proclamation.
When first proposed as a declaration of neu
trality, it was opposed, first, because the Execu
tive had no power to declare neutrality. Sec
ondly, as such a declaration would be prema
ture, and would lose us the benefit for which it
might be bartered. It was urged that there
was a strong impression in the minds of many
that they were free to join in the hostilities on
the side of France. Others were unapprised of
the danger they would be exposed to in carry
ing contraband goods. It was, therefore, agreed
that a proclamation should issue, declaring that
we were in a state of peace with all the parties,
admonishing the people to do nothing contra
vening it, and putting them on their guard as
to contraband. On this ground it was accepted
or acquiesced in by all [the cabinet], and E. R.
[Edmund Randolph] who drew it, brought to
me the draft, to let me see there was no such
word as ^neutrality in it. Circumstances forbid
other criticism. The public, however, soon took
it up as a declaration of neutrality, and it came
to be considered at length as such. — To JAMES
MONROE, iv, 17. FORD ED., vi, 346. (Pa., 1793.)
5894 . " On the declaration of
war between France and England, the United
States being at peace with both, their situation
was so new and unexperienced by themselves,
that their citizens were not, in the first instant,
sensible of the new duties resulting therefrom,
and of the laws it would impose even on their
dispositions towards the belligerent powers.
Some of them imagined (and chiefly their
transient sea-faring citizens) that they were
free to indulge those dispositions, to take side
with either party, and enrich themselves by
depredations on the commerce of the other, and
were meditating enterprises of this nature, as
was said. In this state of the public mind, and
before it should take an erroneous direction
difficult to be set right, and dangerous to them
selves and their country, the President thought
it expedient, by way of Proclamation, * to re
mind our fellow-citizens that we were in a state
of peace with all the belligerent powers ; that
in that state it was our duty neither to aid nor
injure any ; to exhort and warn them against
ac£s which might contravene this duty, and par
ticularly those of positive hostility, for the
punishment of which the laws would be ap
pealed to, and to put them on their guard also
as to the risks they would run if they should
attempt to carry articles of contraband to any.
Very soon afterwards we learnt that Genet was
undertaking the fitting and arming vessels in
that port [Charleston], enlisting men, foreign
ers and citizens, and giving them commissions
to commit hostilities against nations at peace
with us ; that these vessels were taking and
bringing prizes into our ports ; that the consuls
of France were assuming to hold courts of ad
miralty on them, to try, condemn and authorize
their sale as legal prizes, and all this before
Mr. Genet had presented himself or his creden
tials to the President, before he was received
by him, without his consent or consultation, and
directly in contravention of the state of peace
existing and declared to exist in the President's
proclamation, and which it was incumbent on
him to preserve till the constitutional au-
* In sending this explanation of the intention of
the proclamation to Madison, Jefferson wrote : " Hav
ing occasion to state it (the intention, &c.) in a
Eaper which I am preparing, I have done it in the
allowing [above quoted] terms. Edmund Randolph
called on me just as I had finished so far [within the
quotation marks], and he said it presented fairly his
view of the matter. He recalled to my mind that I
had, at the time, opposed its being made a declara
tion of neutrality, on the ground that the Executive
was not the competent authority for that, and, there
fore, that it was agreed the instrument should be
drawn with great care."— EDITOR.
633
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Neutrality
New Orleans
thority should otherwise declare. These pro
ceedings became immediately, as was naturally
to be expected, the subject of complaint by the
representative here of that power against whom
they would chiefly operate." This was the true
sense of the proclamation in the view of the
draftsman and of the two signers ; but H.
[Hamilton] had other views. The instrument
was badly drawn, and made the President go
out of his line to declare things which, though
true, it was not his province to declare. The
instrument was communicated to me after it
was drawn, but I was busy, and only ran an eye
over it to see that it was not made a declaration
of neutrality, and gave it back again, without,
I believe, changing a tittle. — To JAMES MAD
ISON, iv, 29. FORD ED., vi, 368. (Aug. 1793.)
5895. - — . You will see a piece
signed " Pacificus " [Alexander Hamilton] in
defence of the proclamation. You will readily
know the pen. I know it the more readily be
cause it is an amplification only of the topics
urged in discussing the question [in cabinet]
when first proposed. The right of the Executive
to declare that we are not bound to execute
the guarantee [to France] was then advanced
by him and denied by me. No other opinion
was expressed on it. In this paper he repeats
it, and even considers the proclamation as such
a declaration ; but if anybody intended it as
such (except himself) they did not then say
so. The passage beginning with the words,
*' the answer to this is," &c., is precisely the
answer he gave at the time to my objection,
that the Executive had no authority to issue
a declaration of neutrality, nor to do more than
declare the actual state of things to be that of
peace. " For until the new government is
acknowledged the treaties, &c., are, of course,
suspended." This, also, is the sum of his argu
ments the same day on the great question
which followed that of the proclamation, to wit,
whether the Executive might not, and ought
not to declare the [French] treaties suspended.
* * * Upon the whole, my objections to the
competence of the Executive to declare neu
trality (that being understood to respect the
future) were supposed to be got over by avoid
ing the use of that term. The declaration of
the disposition of the United States can hardly
be called illegal, though it was certainly of
ficious and improper. The truth of the fact
lent it some cover. My objections to the
impolicy of a premature declaration were an
swered by such arguments as timidity would
reasonably suggest. I now think it extremely
possible that Hammond might have been in
structed to have asked it, and to offer the
broadest neutral privileges, as the price, which
was exactly the price I wanted that we should"
contend for. But is it not a miserable thing
that the three heresies I have quoted from
this paper, should pass unnoticed and unan
swered, as these certainly will, for none but
mere bunglers and brawlers have for some
time past taken the trouble to answer any
thing? — To JAMES MADISON. FORD ED., vi, 327.
(June 1793.)
5896. . The real milk and water
views of the proclamation appeared to me
to have been truly given in a piece pub
lished in the papers soon after [it was issued],
and which I knew to be E. R.'s [Edmund Ran
dolph's] from its exact coincidence with what
he has expressed. — To JAMES MADISON. FORD
ED., vi, 328. (1703.)
- NEW ENGLAND, Secession of.— See
SECESSION.
5897. NEW HAMPSHIRE, Opinion in.
— The public sentiment in New Hampshire
is no longer progressive in any direction ;
* * * it is dead water. — To JAMES MADISON.
FORD EDV vii, 343. (Pa., Feb. 1799.)
5898. NEW HAMPSHIRE, Republic
anism in. — Although we have not yet got a
majority into the fold of republicanism in your
State, yet one long pull more will effect it,
* unless it be true, as is sometimes said,
that New Hampshire is but a satellite of Massa
chusetts. In this last State, the public senti
ment, seems to be under some influence addi
tional to that of the clergy and lawyers. I
suspect there must be a leaven of State pride at
seeing itself deserted by the public opinion,
and that their late popular song of " Rule New
England " betrays one principle of their present
variance from the Union. But I am in hopes
they will in time discover that the shortest road
to rule is to join the majority. — To JOHN LANG-
DON. FORD ED., viii, 161. (W., June 1802.)
- NEW HAVEN, Remonstrance.-— See
BISHOP.
5899. NEW JERSEY, Republicanism
in- — Jersey is coming majestically round to
the true principles. — To T. LOMAX. iv, 300.
FORD ED., vii, 374. (M., March 1799.)
5900. NEW ORLEANS, Battle of.— I
am glad we closed our war with the eclat of
the action at New Orleans. — To MARQUIS LA
FAYETTE, vi, 427. FORD ED., ix, 510. (M.,
1815.)
5901. . Peace was indeed desir
able ; yet it would not have been as welcome
without the successes of New Orleans. These
last have established truths too important not
to be valued ; that the people of Louisiana are
sincerely attached to the Union ; that their city
can be defended; that the Western States
make its defence their peculiar concern ; that
the militia are brave; that their deadly aim
countervails the manoeuvring skill of the
enemy ; that we have officers of natural genius
now starting forward from the mass ; and that
putting together all our conflicts, we can beat
the British by sea and by land, with equal num
bers. — To GENERAL DEARBORN, vi. 450. (M..
1815.)
5902. . The affair of New Or
leans was fraught with useful lessons to our
selves, our enemies, and our friends, and will
powerfully influence our future relations with
the nations of Europe. It will show them we
mean to take no part in their wars, and count
no odds when engaged in our own. — To PRESI
DENT MADISON, vi, 453, FORD ED., ix, 512. (M.,
1815.)
5903. . It may be thought that
useless blood was spilt at New Orleans, after
the treaty of peace had been actually signed.
I think it had many valuable uses. It proved
the fidelity of the Orleanese to the United
States. It proved that New Orleans can be de
fended both by land and water; that the West
ern country will fly to its relief (of which our
selves had doubted before) ; that our militia are
heroes when they have heroes to lead them
on ; and that, when unembarrassed by field
evolutions, which they do not understand, their
skill in the fire-arm, and deadly aim, give them
advantage over regulars. — To W. H. CRAW
FORD, vi, 420. FORD ED., ix, 504. (M., 1815.)
See FEDERALISTS.
New Orleans
New York City
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
634
_ NEW ORLEANS, Batture Case.— See
BATTURE.
5904. NEW ORLEANS, Right of de
posit. — We state in general the necessity, not
only of our having a port near the mouth of the
river (without which we could make no use of
the navigation at all) but of its being so well
separated from the territories of Spain and her
jurisdiction, as not to engender daily disputes
and broils between us. It is certain, that if
Spain were to retain any jurisdiction over our
entrepot, her officers would abuse that jurisdic
tion, and our people would abuse their privi
leges in it. Both parties must foresee this,
and that it will end in war. Hence the neces
sity of a well-defined separation. Nature has
decided what shall be the geography of that in
the end, whatever it might be in the beginning,
by cutting off from the adjacent countries of
Florida and Louisiana, and enclosing between
two of its channels, a long and narrow strip of
land, called the Island of New Orleans. The
idea of ceding this could not be hazarded to
Spain, in the first step ; it would be too dis
agreeable at first view ; because this island, with
its town, constitutes at present, their principal
settlement in that part of their dominions, con
taining about ten thousand white inhabitants of
every age and sex. Reason and events, how
ever, may by little and little, familiarize them
to it. That we have a right to some spot as an
entrepot for our commerce, may be at once af
firmed. The expediency, too, may be expressed
of so locating it as to cut off the source of
future quarrels and wars. A disinterested eye,
looking on a map, will remark how conveniently
this tongue of land is formed for the purpose. —
To WILLIAM SHORT, iii, 178. FORD ED., v,
219. (N.Y., 1790.)
5905. . Observe always, that to
accept the navigation of the river without an
entrepot would be perfectly useless, and that an
entrepot, if trammelled, would be a certain in
strument for bringing on war instead of pre
venting it. — To WILLIAM SHORT, iii, 228.
FORD ED., v, 305. (Pa., 1791.)
5906. . To conclude the subject
of navigation, each of the following conditions
is to be considered by the Commissioners [to
Spain] as a sine qua non. i. That our right
be acknowledged of navigating the Mississippi
in its whole breadth and length, from its source
to the sea, as established by the treaty of 1763.
2. That neither the vessels, cargoes, or the per
sons on board, be stopped, visited, or subjected
to the payment of any duty whatsoever ; or, if
a visit must be permitted, that it be under such
restrictions as to produce the least possible in
convenience. But it should be altogether avoid
ed, if possible, as the parent of perpetual broils.
3. That such conveniences be allowed us ashore,
as may render our right of navigation practi
cable and under such regulations as may bond
fide respect the preservation of peace and
order alone, and may not have in object to em
barrass our navigation, or raise a revenue on
it. * — MISSISSIPPI RIVER INSTRUCTIONS. vir,
585. FORD ED., v, 475. (1792.)
* " The right of navigation (of the Mississippi) was
conceded by the treaty of i7Q5, and with it a right to
the free use of the port of New Orleans upon reason
ably satisfactory terms for a period of three years,
and thereafterward until some equally convenient
harbor should be allotted. The credit of this ulti
mate achievement was Mr. Jefferson's, none the less
because the treaty was not signed until he had retired
from office. It was really his statesmanship which
had secured it, not only in spite of the natural repug
nance of Spain, but also in spite of the obstacles in-
5907. NEW ORLEANS, Suspension of
right. — The suspension of the right of de
posit at New Orleans, ceded to us by our treaty
with Spain, threw our whole country into such
a ferment as imminently threatened its peace.
This, however, was believed to be the act of
the Intendant, unauthorized by his government.
But it showed the necessity of making effectual
arrangements to secure the peace of the two
countries against the indiscreet acts of subordi
nate agents. — To DUPONT DE NEMOURS, iv,
456. FORD ED., viii, 204. (W., Feb. 1803.)
5908. . The government of Spain
has instantly redressed the infraction of treaty
by her Intendant at New Orleans. * * *
By a reasonable and peaceable process we have
obtained in four months, what would have cost
us seven years of war, 100,000 human lives, 100
millions of additional debt, besides ten hundred
millions lost by the want of market for our
produce, or depredations on it in seeking mar
kets, and the general demoralizing of our citi
zens which war occasions. — To JOHN BACON.
FORD ED., viii, 229. (W., April 1803.) See
LOUISIANA and MISSISSIPPI RIVER NAVIGATION.
5909. NEW YORK, Politics of .—I have
been much pleased to see a dawn of change in
the spirit of your State [New York]. The late
elections have indicated something, which, at
a distance, we do not understand. However,
what with the English influence in the lower,
and the Patroon influence in the upper part of
your State, I presume little is to be hoped. — To
AARON BURR, iv, 186. FORD ED., vii, 147.
(Pa., June I797-)
5910. . New York is coming
majestically round to the true principles. — To
T. LOMAX. iv, 300. FORD ED., vii, 374. (M.,
March 1799.)
5911. NEW YORK CITY, Depravity
in. — New York, like London, seems to be a
cloacina of all the depravities of human nature.
— To WILLIAM SHORT, vii, 310. (M., 1823.)
5912. NEW YORK CITY, Washing
ton's defence.— The maxim laid down by
Congress to their generals was that not a foot
of territory was to be ceded to their enemies
where there was a possibility of defending it.
In consequence of these views, and against his
own judgment, General Washington was obliged
to fortify and attempt to defend the city of New
York. But that could not be defended without
occupying the heights on Long Island which
commanded the city of New York. He was,
therefore, obliged to establish a strong detach
ment in Long Island to defend those heights.
The moment that detachment was routed, which
he had much expected, his first object was to
withdraw them, and his second to evacuate
New York. He did this, therefore, immediate
ly, and without waiting any movement of the
enemy. He brought off his whole baggage,
stores, and other implements, without leaving
a single article except the very heaviest of his
cannon, and things of little value. I well re
member his letter to Congress, wherein he ex
pressed his wonder that the enemy had given
him this leisure, as, from the heights they had
got possession of, they might have compelled
him to a very precipitate retreat. This was one
of the instances where our commanding officers
directly thrown in his way in the earlier stages by
many persons in the United States, who privately
gave the Spanish minister to understand that the
country cared little about the Mississippi, and would
not support the Secretary in his demands."—
MORSE'S Life of Jefferson.
635
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
News
Newspapers
were obliged to conform to popular views,
though they foresaw certain loss from it. Had
he proposed at first to abandon New York, he
might have been abandoned himself. An obe
dience to popular will cost us an army in
Charleston in the year 1779. — NOTES ON M.
SOULES'S WORK, ix, 298. FORD ED., Iv, 305.
(P., 1786.)
5913. NEWS, Home.— But why has no
body else written to me ? Is it that one is for
gotten as soon as their back is turned? I have
a better opinion of men. It must be either that
they think that the details known to themselves
are known to everybody, and so come to us
through a thousand channels, or that we should
set no value on them. Nothing can be more
erroneous than both those opinions. We value
those details, little and great, public and pri
vate, in proportion to our distance from our
own country ; and so far are they from getting
to us through a thousand channels, that we
hear no more of them or of our country here
[Paris] than if we were among the dead. — To
JAMES MONROE. FORD ED., iv, 45. (P., 1785.)
5914. - — . It is unfortunate that
most people think the occurrences passing daily
under their eyes, are either known to all the
world, or not worth being known. *
I hope you will be so good as to continue your
friendly information. The proceedings of our
public bodies, the progress of the public mind
on interesting questions, the casualities which
happen among our private friends, and what
ever is interesting to yourself and family, will
always be anxiously received by me. — To JOHN
PAGE, i, 549. FORD ED., iv, 212. (P., 1786.)
5915. . I give you thanks for
the details of small news contained in your let
ter. You know how precious that kind of
information is to a person absent from his
country, and how difficult it is to be procured.
— To DAVID HUMPHREYS, iii, 13. FORD EDV
v, 91. (P., 1789.)
5916. . If there is any news
stirring in town or country, such as deaths,
courtships, or marriages, in the circle of my
acquaintance, let me know it. — To JOHN PAGE.
i, 183. FORD ED., i, 344. (F., 1762.)
5917. NEWS, Minor.— Details, political
and literary, and even of the small history of
our country, are the most pleasing communica
tions possible. — To JOHN PAGE, i, 402. (P.,
1785.)
5918. . I pray you to write to
me often. Do not turn politician too ; but write
me all the small news — the news about persons
and about States ; tell me who dies, that I may
meet these disagreeable events in detail, and
not all at once when I return (from France) ;
who marry, who hang themselves because they
cannot marry, &c. — To MRS. TRIST. i, 395.
(P., 1785.)
5919. - — . It is more difficult here
[Paris] to get small than great news, because
most of our correspondents in writing letters
to cross the Atlantic, think they must always
tread in buskins, so that half one's friends
might be dead without its being ever spoken
of here. — To DR. JAMES CURRIE. FORD ED., iv,
131- (P., 1786.)
5920. . Nothing is so grateful
to me, at this distance [Paris], as details, both
great and small, of what is passing in my own
country. * * * When one has been long
absent from his neighborhood, the small news
of that is the most pleasing, and occupies his
first attention. — To ARCHIBALD STUART, i, 517.
FORD ED., iv, 187. (P., 1786.)
5921. NEWS, Useful.— The details from
my own country of the proceedings of the legis
lative, executive and judiciary bodies, and even
those which respect individuals only, are the
most pleasing treat we can receive at this dis
tance [Paris], and the most useful, also. — To
JOSEPH JONES, i, 354. (P., 1785.)
5922. NEWSPAPERS, Abuses by.—
The abuses of the freedom of the press here
have been carried to a length never before
known or borne by any civilized nation. — To
M. PICTET. iv, 463. (W., 1803.)
5923. NEWSPAPERS, Advertisements.
— We have been trying to get another weekly
or half weekly paper set up [in Philadelphia],
excluding advertisements, so that it might go
through the States, and furnish a whig
vehicle of intelligence. We hoped at one
time to have persuaded Freneau to set up
here, but failed. In the meantime, Bache's
paper [The Advertiser] the principles of
which were always republican, improves in its
matter. If we can persuade him to throw all
his advertisements on one leaf, by tearing
that off, the leaf containing intelligence may
be sent without overcharging the post, and be
fenerally taken instead of Fenno's. — To T.
I. RANDOLPH. FORD ED., v, 336. (Pa.,
1791.)
5924. NEWSPAPERS, Agitation by.—
In the first moments of quietude which have
succeeded the [Presidential] election, the
printers seem to have aroused their lying
faculties beyond their ordinary state, to re-
agitate the public mind. What appointments
to office have they detailed which had never
been thought of, merely to found a text for
their calumniating commentaries. — To EL-
BRIDGE GERRY, iv, 392. FORD ED., viii, 43.
(W., March 1801.)
5925. NEWSPAPERS, Attacks by.— I
have been for some time used as the prop
erty of the neswpapers, a fair mark for every
man's dirt. Some, too, have indulged them
selves in this exercise who would not have
done it, had they known me otherwise than
through these impure and injurious channels.
It is hard treatment, and for a singular kind
of offence, that of having obtained by the
labors of a life the indulgent opinions of a
part of one's fellow citizens. However, these
moral evils must be submitted to, like the
physical scourges of tempest, fire, &c. — To
PEREGRINE FITZHUGH. iv, 216. FORD ED., vii,
208. (Pa., 1798.)
5926. — . Were I to undertake
to answer the calumnies of the newspapers,
it would be more than all my own time and
that of twenty aids could effect. For while
I should be answering one, twenty new ones
would be invented. * * * But this is an
injury to which duty requires every one to
submit whom the public think proper to call
into its councils. — To SAMUEL SMITH, iv,
255. FORD ED., vii, 279. (M., 1798.)
Newspapers
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
636
5937. . [I said to Colonel Burr]
that as to the attack excited against him in
the newspapers, I had noticed it but as the
passing wind ; that I had seen complaints that
Cheetham, employed in publishing the laws,
should be permitted to eat the public bread
and abuse its second officer; * that
these federal printers did not in the least in
termit their abuse of me, though receiving
emoluments from the government and that
I have never thought it proper to interfere
for myself, and consequently not in the case
of the Vice-President— THE ANAS, ix, 206.
FORD ED., i, 302. (Jan. 1804.)
5928. . That tory printers should
think it advantageous to identify me with
that paper [The National Intelligencer], the
Aurora, &c., in order to obtain ground for
abusing me, is perhaps fair warfare. But that
anyone who knows me should listen one
moment to such an insinuation, is what I
did not expect. I neither have, nor ever had,
any more connection with those papers than
pur antipodes have; nor know what is to be
in them until I see it in them, except proc
lamations and other documents sent for pub
lication.— To THOMAS PAINE, iv, 582. FORD
ED., viii, 361. (W., June 1805.)
5929. . I met the scurrilities of
the newswriters without concern, while in
pursuit of the great interests with which I
was charged. But in my present retirement,
no duty forbids my wish for quiet. — To J. B.
COLVIN. v, 544. FORD ED., ix, 282. (M.,
1810.)
5930. NEWSPAPERS, Banks and. —
Notwithstanding the magnitude of this cal
amity [bank failures], every newspaper almost
is silent on it, Frenau's excepted, in which
you will see it mentioned. — To THOMAS
MANN RANDOLPH. FORD ED., v, 510. (April
1792.)
5931. NEWSPAPERS, Caricatures.—
Our newspapers for the most part, present
only the caricatures of disaffected minds. —
To M. PICTET. iv, 463. (W., 1803.)
5932. NEWSPAPERS, Classics vs.— I
read one or two newspapers a week, but with
reluctance give even that time from Tacitus
and Horace, and so much other more agree
able reading.— To DAVID HOWELL. v, 555-
(M., 1810.)
5933. . I have given up news
papers in exchange for Tacitus, and Thucyd-
ides, for Newton and Euclid, and I find my
self much the happier.— To JOHN ADAMS, vi,
37. FORD ED., ix, 334. (M., 1812.)
5934. . I read but a single pa
per, and that hastily. I find Horace and
Tacitus so much better writers than the
champions of the gazettes, that I lay those
down to take up these with great reluctance.
— To JAMES MONROE, vii, 287. FORD ED.,
x, 256. (M, 1823.)
5935. NEWSPAPERS, Defamation.—
Defamation is becoming a necessary of life;
insomuch, that a dish of tea in morning or
evening cannot be digested without this stim
ulant. Even those who do not believe these
abominations, still read them with compla
cence to their auditors, and instead of the
abhorrence and indignation which should fill
a virtuous mind, betray a secret pleasure in
the possibility that some may believe them,
though they do not themselves. — To JOHN
NORVELL. v. 93. FORD ED., ix, 74. (W.,
1807.) See CALUMNY.
— NEWSPAPERS, Editors of.— See
EDITORS.
5936. NEWSPAPERS, English.— The
English papers are so incessantly repeating
their lies about the tumults, the anarchy, the
bankruptcies, and distresses of America, that
these ideas prevail very generally in Europe.
— To JAMES MONROE, i, 407. FORD ED., iv,
87. (P., 1785.)
5937. . The English papers—
those infamous fountains of falsehood. — To
F. HOPKINSON. ii, 204. (P., 1787.)
5938. NEWSPAPERS, Falsehoods.—
The press is impotent when it abandons
itself to falsehood.— To THOMAS SEYMOUR.
v, 44. FORD ED., ix, 30. (W., 1807.)
5939. . Nothing can now be be
lieved which is seen in a newspaper. — To
JOHN NORVELL. v, 92. FORD ED., ix, 73.
(W., 1807.)
5940. . Truth itself becomes sus
picious by being put into that polluted vehi
cle. — To JOHN NORVELL. v, 92. FORD ED.,
ix, 73. (W., 1807.)
5941. - — . The real extent of the
misinformation [in the newspapers] is known
only to those who are in situations to con
front facts within their knowledge with the
lies of the day.— To JOHN NORVELL. v, 92.
FORD ED., ix, 73. (W., 1807.)
5942. . The man who never
looks into a newspaper is better informed
than he who reads them; inasmuch as he
who knows nothing is nearer to truth than
he whose mind is filled with falsehoods and
errors. He who reads nothing will still learn
the great facts, and the details are all_ false.
— To JOHN NORVELL. v, 92. FORD ED., ix, 73.
(W, 1807.)
5943. . These texts of truth re
lieve me from the floating falsehoods of the
public papers. — To PRESIDENT MONROE, vii,
160. FORD ED., x, 158. (M., 1820.) See
LIES.
5944. NEWSPAPERS, Freedom of.—
Considering the great importance to the pub
lic liberty of the freedom of the press, and
the difficulty of submitting it to very precise
rules, the laws have thought it less mischiev
ous to give greater scope to its freedom than
to the restraint of it. The President has,
therefore, no authority to prevent publica
tions of the nature of those you complain of.*
— To THE SPANISH COMMISSIONERS, iv, 21
FORD ED., vi, 350. (Pa., 1793.)
* Attacks on the King of Spain— EDITOR.
637
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Newspapers
5945. . No experiment can be
more interesting than that we are now trying,
and which we trust will end in establishing
the fact, that man may be governed by reason
and truth. Our first object should therefore
be, to leave open to him all the avenues to
truth. The most effectual hitherto found, is
the freedom of the press. It is, therefore,
the first shut up by those who fear the in
vestigation of their actions. — To JUDGE TY
LER, iv, 548. (W., 1804.)
5946. - — . The liberty of speaking
and writing guards our other liberties. —
REPLY TO ADDRESS, viii, 129. (1808.)
5947. . Where the press is free,
and every man able to read, all is safe. — To
CHARLES YANCEY. vi, 517. FORD ED., x, 4.
(M., 1816.)
5948. . The only security of all
is in a free press. The force of public opin
ion cannot be resisted, when permitted freely
to be expressed. The agitation it produces
must be submitted to. It is necessary to
keep the waters pure. — To MARQUIS DE LA
FAYETTE, vii, 325. FORD ED., x, 280. (M.,
1823.) See PRESS, FREEDOM OF.
5949. NEWSPAPERS, Friends of Lib
erty. — Within the pale of truth, the press is a
noble institution, equally the friend of
science and of civil liberty.— To THOMAS
SEYMOUR, v, 44. FORD ED., ix, 30. (W.,
1807.)
5950. NEWSPAPERS, Government
and. — The basis of our governments be
ing the opinion of the people, the very first
object should be to keep that right; and
were it left to me to decide whether we
should have a government without news
papers or newspapers without a govern
ment, I should not hesitate a moment to pre
fer the latter. — To EDWARD CARRINGTON. ii,
100. FORD ED., iv, 359. (P., 1787-)
5951. NEWSPAPERS, And history.— I
really look with commiseration over the
great body of my fellow citizens, who, read
ing newspapers, live and die in the belief,
that they have known something of what
has been passing in the world in their time ;
whereas the accounts they have read in news
papers are just as true a history of any other
period of the world as of the present, ex
cept that the real names of the day are af
fixed to their fables. — To JOHN NORVELL. v,
92. FORD ED., ix, 73. (W., 1807.)
5952. NEWSPAPERS, Indifference to.
— A truth now and then projecting into the
ocean of newspaper lies, serves like head
lands to correct our course. Indeed, my
scepticism as to everything I see in a news
paper, makes me indifferent whether I ever
see one. — To JAMES MONROE, vi, 407. FORD
ED., ix, 496. (M., 1815.)
5953. . I have almost ceased to
read newspapers. Mine remain in our post
office a week or ten days, sometimes, un
asked for. I find more amusement in studies
to which I was always attached, and from
which I was dragged by the events of the
times in which I have happened to live. — To
THOMAS LEIPER. vi, 466. FORD ED., ix, 521.
(M., 1815.)
5954. NEWSPAPERS, Licentiousness
of- — During this course of administration
[first term] and in order to disturb it, the
artillery of the press has been levelled against
us, charged with whatsoever its licentiousness
could devise or dare. These abuses of an in
stitution so important to freedom and science,
are deeply to be regretted, inasmuch as they
tend to lessen its usefulness, and to sap its
safety; they might, indeed, have been cor
rected by the wholesome punishments re
served and provided by the laws of the sev
eral States against falsehood and defama
tion; but public duties more urgent press
on the time of public servants, and the of
fenders have therefore been left to find their
punishment in the public indignation. Nor
was it uninteresting to the world, that an
experiment should be fairly and fully made,
whether freedom of discussion, unaided by
power, is not sufficient for the propagation
and protection of truth — whether a govern
ment, conducting itself in the true spirit of
its Constitution, with zeal and purity, and
doing no act which it would be unwilling
the world should witness, can be written
down by falsehood and defamation. The ex
periment has been tried; you have witnessed
the scene; our fellow-citizens looked on, cool
and collected; they saw the latent source
from which these outrages proceeded ; they
gathered around their public functionaries,
and when the Constitution called them to
the decision by suffrage, they pronounced
their verdict, honorable to those who had
served them, and consolatory to the friend of
man, who believes he may be intrusted with
his own affairs. No inference is here in
tended, that the laws, provided by the States
against false and defamatory publications,
should not be enforced ; he who has time, ren
ders a service to public morals and public tran
quillity, in reforming these abuses by the sal
utary coercions of the law; but the experi
ment is noted, to prove that, since truth and
reason have maintained their ground against
false opinions in league with false facts, the
press, confined to truth, needs no other legal
restraint; the public judgment will correct
false reasonings and opinions, on a full hear
ing of all parties; and no other definite line
can be drawn between the inestimable liberty
of the press and its demoralizing licentious
ness. If there be still improprieties which
this rule would not restrain, its supplement
must be sought in the censorship of public
opinion.* — SECOND INAUGURAL ADDRESS, viii,
43. FORD ED., viii, 346. (1805.)
5955. NEWSPAPERS, And light.—
Our citizens may be deceived for awhile, and
have been deceived ; but as long as the
presses can be protected, we may trust to
them for light. — To ARCHIBALD STUART.
FORD ED., vii, 378. (M., 1789.)
* This was Jefferson's reply to the severe attacks
made on his first administration. — EDITOR.
Newspapers
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
638
5956. NEWSPAPERS, Mischief-ma
kers. — The federal papers appear desirous of
making mischief between us and England,
by putting speeches into my mouth which
I never uttered. — To ROBERT R. LIVINGSTON.
v, 54. FORD ED., ix, 37. (W., 1807.)
5957. . That first of all human
contrivances for generating war. — To MR.
MAURY. vi, 469. (M., 1815.)
5958. NEWSPAPERS, Monarchical.—
Fenno's [The United States Gazette] is a
paper of pure toryism, disseminating the
doctrines of monarchy, aristocracy, and the
exclusion of the influence of the people.
— To T. M. RANDOLPH. FORD ED., v, 336.
(Pa., 1791.)
5959. NEWSPAPERS, Official.— You
have seen too much of the conduct of the
press in countries where it is free, to consider
the gazettes as evidence of the sentiments of
any part of the government; you have seen
them bestow on the government itself, in
all its parts, its full share of inculpation. — To
GEORGE HAMMOND, iii, 331. FORD ED., v,
436. (Pa.} 1792.)
5960. NEWSPAPERS, Political bull
dogs. — The malignity with which political
enemies torture every sentence from me into
meanings imagined by their own wickedness
only, justify my expressing a solicitude, that
this * * * communication may in nowise
be permitted to find its way into the public
papers. Not fearing these political bulldogs,
I yet avoid putting myself in the way of
being baited by them, and do not wish to
volunteer away that portion of tranquillity,
which a firm execution of my duties will
permit me to enjoy.— To JOHN NORVELL. v,
93. FORD ED., ix, 75. (W., 1807.)
5961. NEWSPAPERS, Postoffice and.
— The expense of French postage is so enor
mous, that I have been obliged to desire that
my newspapers, from the different States,
may be sent to the office for Foreign Affairs
at New York; and I have requested of Mr.
Jay to have them always packed in a box and
sent as merchandise. — To R. IZARD. i, 443.
(P, 1785.)
5962. NEWSPAPERS, Power of.—
Freneau's paper has saved our Constitution,
which was galloping fast into monarchy, and
has been checked by no means so powerfully
as by that paper. It is well and universally
known, that it has been that paper which
has checked the career of the Monocrats —
THE ANAS. ix, 145. FORD ED., i, 231.
(I793-)
5963. . These foreign and false
citizens * * * possess our printing presses,
a powerful engine in their government of us.
— To ELBRIDGE GERRY, iv, 173. FORD ED., vii,
122. (Pa., I797-)
5964. . This paper [The Au
rora] has unquestionably rendered incalcu
lable services to republicanism through all
its struggles with the federalists, and has
been the rallying point for the orthodoxy of
the whole Union. It was our comfort in the
gloomiest days, and is still performing the
office of a watchful sentinel. — To DABNEY
CARR. FORD ED., ix, 316. (M., 1811.)
5965. NEWSPAPERS, President and.
— The Chief Magistrate cannot enter the
arena of the newspapers. — To PRESIDENT
MADISON, v, 601. FORD ED., ix, 326. (M.,
July 1811.)
5966. NEWSPAPERS, Principles of.—
A paper which shall be governed by the
spirit of Mr. Madison's celebrated report
[on the Virginia Resolutions] cannot be false
to the rights of all classes. — To H. LEE. vii,
376. FORD ED., x, 318. (M., 1824.)
5967. NEWSPAPERS, Prosecution of.
— The federalists having failed in destroying
the freedom of the press by their gag-law,
seem to have attacked it in an opposite direc
tion ; that is by pushing its licentiousness and
its lying to such a degree of prostitution as
to deprive it of all credit. And the fact is
that ' so abandoned are the tory presses in
this particular, that even the least informed
of the people have learned that nothing in
a newspaper is to be believed. This is a
dangerous state of things, and the press
ought to be restored to its credibility if pos
sible. The restraints provided by the laws
of the States are sufficient for this, if applied.
And I have, therefore, long thought that a
few prosecutions of the most prominent of
fenders would have a wholesome effect in
restoring the integrity of the presses. Not a
general prosecution, for that would look like
persecution ; but a selected one. — To THOMAS
McKEAN. FORD ED., viii, 218. (W., Feb.
1803.)
5968. NEWSPAPERS, Purifiers.—
Newspapers serve to carry off noxious vapors
and smoke. — To GENERAL KOSCIUSKO. iv,
431. (W., April 1802.)
5969. NEWSPAPERS, Reading of.—
Reading the newspapers but little and that
little but as the romance of the day, a word
of truth now and then comes like the drop
of water on the tongue of Dives. — To PRESI
DENT MADISON, v, 442. FORD ED., ix, 251.
(M., April 1809.)
5970. NEWSPAPERS, Reform by.—
This formidable censor of the public function
aries, by arraigning them at the tribunal of
public opinion, produces reform peaceably,
which must otherwise be done by revolution.
It is also the best instrument for enlightening
the mind of man, and improving him as a
rational, moral, and social being. — To M.
CORAY. vii, 324. (M., 1823.)
5971. NEWSPAPERS, Reformation of.
— Perhaps an editor might begin a reforma
tion [of his newspaper] in some such way
as this : Divide his paper into four chapters,
heading the first " Truths " ; the second,
" Probabilities " ; third, " Possibilities " ;
fourth, " Lies ". The first chapter would be
very short, as it would contain little more
639
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Newspapers
than authentic papers, and information from
such sources, as the editor would be willing
to risk his own reputation for their truth.
The second would contain what, from a ma
ture consideration of all circumstances, his
judgment should conclude to be probably
true. This, however, should rather contain
loo little than too much. The third and
fourth should be professedly for those readers
who would rather have lies for their money
than the blank paper they would occupy. —
To JOHN NORVELL. v, 92. FORD ED., ix, 74.
(W., 1807.)
5972. NEWSPAPERS, Regulation of.—
It is so difficult to draw a clear line of sep
aration between the abuse and the wholesome
use of the press, that as yet we have found
it better to trust the public judgment, than
the magistrate, with the discrimination be
tween truth and falsehood.— To M. PICTET.
iv, 463- (W., 1803.)
5973. NEWSPAPERS, Reliability of.—
General facts may indeed be collected from
the newspapers, such as that Europe is now
at war, that Bonaparte has been a successful
warrior, that he has subjugated a great
portion of Europe to his will, &c., but no
details can be relied on. — To JOHN NORVELL.
v, 92. FORD ED., ix, 73. (W., 1807.)
5974. NEWSPAPERS, Responsibility
for. — It is not he who prints, but he who pays
for printing a slander, who is its real author.
— To JOHN NORVELL. v, 93. FORD ED., ix,
74- (W., 1807.)
5975. NEWSPAPERS, Restraint on.—
To your request of my opinion of the manner
in which a newspaper should be conducted,
so as to be most useful, I should answer:
" By restraining it to true facts and sound
principles only." Yet I fear such a paper
would find few subscribers. — To JOHN NOR
VELL. v, 91. FORD ED., ix, 73. (W., 1807.)
5976. — — . The papers have lately
advanced in boldness and flagitiousness be
yond even themselves. Such daring and at
rocious lies as fill the third and fourth
columns of the third page of the United
States Gazette of August 3ist were never
before, I believe, published with impunity in
any country. However, I have from the be
ginning determined to submit myself as the
subject on whom may be proved the im-
potency of a free press in a country like ours,
against those who conduct themselves hon
estly and enter into no intrigue. I admit at
the same time that restraining the press to
truth, as the present laws do, is the only way
of making it useful. But I have thought
necessary first to prove it can never be danger
ous. — To WILLIAM SHORT, v, 362. (M.,
Sep. 1808.)
5977. NEWSPAPERS, Rulers and.— It
is the office of the rulers on both sides
[United States and England] to rise above
these vulgar vehicles of passion. — To MR.
MAURY. vi, 469. (M., 1815.)
5978. NEWSPAPERS, Slanders in.—
An editor [should] set his face against the
demoralizing practice of feeding the public
mind habitually on slander, and the depravity
of taste which this nauseous aliment induces.
—To JOHN NORVELL. v, 93. FORD ED., ix,
74. (W., 1807.) See LIBELS and SLANDER.
5979. NEWSPAPERS, Support of.—
Bache's paper and also Carey's totter for
want of subscriptions. We should really
exert ourselves to procure them, for if these
papers fall, republicanism will be entirely
browbeaten.* — To JAMES MADISON, iv, 237.
FORD ED., vii, 245. (Pa., 1798.) See CAL-
LENDER and DUANE.
5980. . The engine is the press.
Every man must lay his purse and his pen
under contribution. — To JAMES MADISON, iv,
281. FORD ED., vii, 344. (Pa., 1799.)
5981. NEWSPAPERS, Suppression of.
— It is a melancholy truth, that a suppression
of the press could not more completely de
prive the nation of its benefits, than is done
by its abandoned prostitution to falsehood. —
To JOHN NORVELL. v, 92. FORD ED., ix, 73.
(W., 1807.)
5982. NEWSPAPERS, Torture by.— I
confide them [opinions on government] to
your honor, so to use them as to preserve
me from the gridiron of the public papers. —
To SAMUEL KERCHIVAL. vii, 17. FORD ED., x,
44. (M., 1816.)
5983. NEWSPAPERS, Uncertain.—
Newspaper information is too uncertain
ground for the government to act on. — To
JAMES MADISON. FORD ED., viii, 81. (M.,
1801.)
5984. NEWSPAPERS, Vulgar.— I de
plore with you the putrid state into which
our newspapers have passed, and the ma
lignity, the vulgarity, and mendacious spirit
of those who write for them. * * * These
ordures are rapidly depraving the public
taste, and lessening its relish for sound food.
As vehicles of information, and a curb on
our functionaries, they have rendered them
selves useless, by forfeiting all title to be
lief. This has in a great degree been pro
duced by the violence and malignity of party
spirit. — To DR. WALTER JONES. vi, 284.
FORD ED., ix, 446. (M., Jan. 1814.)
5985. NEWSPAPERS, Weaned from.—
I have never seen a Philadelphia paper since
I left it, till those you enclosed me ; and I
feel myself so thoroughly weaned from the
interest I took in the proceedings there,
while there, that I have never had a wish to
see one, and believe that I never shall take
another newspaper of any sort. I find my
mind totally absorbed in my rural occupa
tions. — To JAMES MADISON, iv, 103. FORD
ED., vi, 503. (M., April 1794.)
5986. NEWSPAPERS, Writing for.— I
have preserved through life a resolution, set
* Of the two hundred newspapers then (1800) in the
United States all but about twenty were enlisted by
preference or patronage on the Federal side.— ALEX
ANDER H. STEPHEN'S History of the United States^
p. 386.
Newspapers
Non-importation
THE JEFFERSON1AN CYCLOPEDIA
640
in a very early part of it, never to write in a
public paper without subscribing my name. —
To EDMUND RANDOLPH, iii, 470. FORD ED.,
vi, 112. (M., 1792.)
5987. . From a very early period
of my life, I had laid it down as a rule of
conduct, never to write a word for the public
papers. From this, I have never departed in
a single instance; and on a late occasion,
when all the world seemed to be writing, be
sides a rigid adherence to my own rule, I
can say with truth, that not a line for the
press was ever communicated to me, by any
other, except a single petition referred for
my correction ; which I did not correct, how
ever, though the contrary, as I have heard,
was said in a public place, by one person
through error, through malice by another
[General Henry Lee].— To PRESIDENT
WASHINGTON, iv, 142. FORD ED., vii, 82.
(M., June 1796.)
5988. . At a very early period
of my life, I determined never to put a sen
tence into any newspaper. I have religiously
adhered to the resolution through my life,
and have great reason to be contented with
it. — To SAMUEL SMITH, iv, 255. FORD ED.,
vii, 279. (M., 1798.)
5989. . I pray that my letter
may not go out of your own hands, lest it
should get into the newspapers, a bear-garden
scene into which I have made it a point to
enter on no provocation. — To URIAH
M' GREGORY, iv, 334- (M., 1800.)
5990. . I never in my life, di
rectly or indirectly, wrote one sentence for a
newspaper.— THE ANAS, ix, 199. FORD ED.,
1,285. (1800.)
5991. NICE> Climate.— I find the climate
of Nice quite as delightful as it has been repre
sented. Hieres is the only place in France,
which may be compared with it. The climates
are equal. — To WILLIAM SHORT, ii, 137.
(Ne., 1787.)
5992. NICHOLAS (W. C.), Character.—
I have ascertained that on Mr. Nicholas no im
pression unfavorable to you was made by * *
[the removal of Secretary Robert Smith], and
that his friendship for you has never felt a
moment's abatement. Indeed we might have
been sure of this from his integrity, his good
sense, and his sound judgment of men and
things. — To PRESIDENT MADISON. FORD ED., ix,
378. (M., Feb. 1813.)
5993. NICHOLAS (W. C.), French mis
sion. — A last effort at friendly settlement
with Spain is proposed to be made at Paris,
and under the auspices of France. For this
purpose, General Armstrong and Mr. Bowdqin
(both now at Paris) have been appointed joint
commissioners ; but such a cloud of dissatis
faction rests on General Armstrong in the
minds of many persons, * * that we
have in contemplation to add a third commis
sioner, in order to give the necessary measure
of public confidence to the commission. Of these
two gentlemen, one being of Massachusetts and
one of New York, it is thought the third should
be a southern man ; and the rather, as the in
terests to be negotiated are almost entirely
southern and western. * * * My wish is
that you may be willing to undertake it.* — To
WILSON C. NICHOLAS, v, 3. FORD EDV viii,
434. (W., March 1806.)
- NICHOLAS (W. C.), Leadership in
Congress.— See CONGRESS.
_ NIGHTINGALES, Jefferson's de
light in.— See BIRDS.
5994. NON-IMPORTATION, Efficacy
of. — The most eligible means of effecting
* * the reestablishment of the constitu
tional rights of our fellow-subjects, will be to
jut an immediate stop to all imports from
Great Britain * * * and to all exports
:hereto, * * * and immediately to discon
tinue all commercial intercourse with every
part of the British Empire which shall not, in
iike manner, break off their commerce with
Great Britain, t — RESOLUTION OF ALBEMARLE
OUNTY. FORD ED., i, 419. (July 26, 1774.)
5995. . These measures [non-
intercourse] should be pursued until a repeal
be obtained of the act for blocking up the har
bor of Boston ; of the acts prohibiting or re
straining internal manufactures in America ;
of the acts imposing on any commodities du
ties to be paid in America ; and of the act lay
ing restrictions on the American trade ; and,
on such repeal, it will be reasonable to grant to
our brethren of Great Britain such privileges
in commerce as may amply compensate their
fraternal assistance, past and future. — RESO
LUTION OF ALBEMARLE COUNTY. FORD ED., i,
419. (July 26, I774-)
5996. . The idea seems to gain
credit that the naval powers, combined against
France, will prohibit supplies even of provi
sions to that country. Should this be formally
notified, I should suppose Congress would be
called, because it is a justifiable cause of war,
and as the Executive cannot decide the ques
tion of war on the affirmative side, neither
ought it to do so on the negative side, by pre
venting the competent body from deliberating
on the question. But I should hope that war
would not be their choice. I think it will fur
nish us a happy opportunity of setting another
example to the world, by showing that nations
may be brought to justice by appeals to their
interests as well as by appeals to arms. I
should hope that Congress, instead of a de
nunciation of war, would instantly exclude from
our ports all the manufactures, produce, vessels,
and subjects of the nations committing this ag
gression, during the continuance of the ag
gression, and till full satisfaction is made for it.
This would work well in many ways, safely
in all, and introduce between nations another
umpire than arms. It would relieve us, too,
from the risks and the horrors of cutting
throats. — To JAMES MADISON, iii, 519. FORD
ED., vi, 192. (March 1793.)
5997. NON-IMPORTATION, Popular.
— I have never known a measure more uni
versally desired by the people thaji the passage
of the non-importation bill.— To JAMES MADI
SON, iv, 107. FORD ED., vi, 511. (M., May
I794-)
5998. . I love Mr. Clarke's
proposition of cutting off all communication
with the nation [Great Britain] which has con-
* Mr. Nicholas was prevented from accepting by
business considerations. — EDITOR.
t Albemarle was Jeffers9n's native county. The
date of putting the regulations into effect was Octo
ber i, 1775.— EDITOR.
64i
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Non-importation
Notes on Virginia
ducted itself so atrociously. This may bring
on war. If it does we will meet it like men ;
but it may not bring on war, and then the ex
periment will have been a happy one. — To
TENCH COXE. iv, 105. FORD ED., vi, 508. (M.,
May I794-)
5999. NON-IMPORTATION, Principle
of. — To yield the principle of the non-im
portation act would be yielding the only peace
able instrument for coercing all our rights. —
THE ANAS. FORD ED., i, 322. (Feb. 1807.)
6000. NON-IMPORTATION vs. IM
PRESSMENTS.— If [the British] keep up
impressments, we must adhere to non-inter
course, manufacturer's and a navigation act. —
To JAMES MADISON, v, 362. FORD ED., ix, 208.
(M., Sep. 1808.)
6001. NON-INTERCOURSE, Unpopu
lar. — Our affairs are certainly now at their
ultimate point of crisis. I understand the East
ern republicans will agree to nothing which
shall render non-intercourse effectual, and that
in any question of that kind, the federalists will
have a majority. There remains, then, only
war or submission, and if we adopt the former,
they will desert us. — To W. C. NICHOLAS, v,
488. (M., Dec. 1809.)
- NORFOLK.— See ALEXANDRIA.
6002. NORTH CAROLINA, Political
conditions in. — North Carolina is at present
in the most dangerous state. The lawyers all
tories, the people substantiallv republican, but
uninformed and deceived by the lawyers, who
are elected of necessity because few other can
didates. The medicine for that State must be
very mild and secretly administered. But noth
ing should be spared to give them true informa
tion. — To P. N. NICHOLAS, iv, 328. FORD ED.,
vii, 440. (Pa., April 1800.)
_ NORTH (Lord), Ability of.— See
GEORGE III., CONTROL OF.
6003. NORTH (Lord), Hostile to Amer
ica. — Lord North's hostility to us is notori
ous. — To BENJAMIN HARRISON. FORD ED., iii,
414. (A., March 1784.)
6004. NORTH (Lord), Proposition of.—
I was under appointment to attend the General
Congress ; but knowing the importance of the
answer to be given to the Conciliatory Proposi
tion, and that our leading whig characters
were then in Congress, I determined to attend
on the Assembly, and, though a young member,
to take on myself the carrying through an
answer to the Proposition. The Assembly met
the ist of June. I drew and proposed the
answer, and carried it through the House with
very little alteration, against the opposition of
our timid members who wished to speak a dif
ferent language. This was finished before the
nth of June, because on that day, I set out
from Williamsburg to Philadelphia, and was the
bearer of an authenticated copy of this instru
ment to Congress. The effect it had in forti
fying their minds, and in deciding their meas
ures, renders its true date important; because
only Pennsylvania had as yet answered the
Proposition. Virginia was the second. It was
known how Massachusetts would answer it ;
and the example of these three principal Col
onies would determine the measures of all the
others, and of course the fate of the Proposi
tion. Congress received it, therefore, with
much satisfaction. The Assembly of Virginia
did not deliver the answer to Lord Dunmore
till late in the session. They supposed it
would bring on a dissolution of their body
whenever they should deliver it to him ; and
hey wished previously to get some important
acts passed. For this reason they kept it up.
[ think Lord Dunmore did not quit the metrop
olis till he knew that the answer framed by
the House was a rejection of the Proposition,
though that answer was not yet communicated
to him regularly. — NOTES ON M. SOULES'S
WORK, ix, 302. FORD ED., iv, 309. (P., 1786.)
6005. . On the receipt of Lord
STorth's Proposition, in May or June, 1775,
Lord Dunmore called the Assembly. Peyton
Randolph, the President of Congress, and
Speaker of the House of Burgesses, left the
tormer body and came home to hold the As
sembly, leaving in Congress the other dele
gates who were the ancient leaders of our
Souse. He, therefore, asked me to prepare the
answer to Lord North's Proposition, which I
did. Mr. Nicholas, whose mind had as yet
acquired no tone for that contest, combatted
the answer from alpha to omega, and suc
ceeded in diluting it in one or two small in
stances. It was firmly supported, however, in
Committee of the Whole, by Peyton Randolph,
who had brought with him the spirit of the
body over which he had presided, and it was
carried, with very little alteration, by strong
majorities. I was the bearer of it myself to
Congress, by whom, as it was the first answer
given to the Proposition by any Legislature,
it was received with peculiar satisfaction. —
To WILLIAM WIRT. vi, 487. FORD ED., ix, 475.
(M., 1815.)
_ NORTHWEST BOUNDARY.— See
BOUNDARIES.
6006. NOTES ON VIRGINIA, History
of. — Before I had left America, that is to say,
in the year 1781, I had received a letter from
M. de Marbois, of the French legation in
Philadelphia, informing me that he had been
instructed by his government to obtain such
statistical accounts of the different States of
our Union, as might be useful for their in
formation ; and addressing to me a number of
queries relative to the State of Virginia. I
had always made it a practice, whenever an
opportunity occurred, of obtaining any informa
tion of our country which might be of use to
me in any station, public or private, to commit
it to writing. These memoranda were on
loose papers, bundled up without order, and dif
ficult of recurrence, when I had occasion for
a particular one. I thought this a good occa
sion to embody their substance, which I did in
the order of M. Marbois's queries, so as to
answer his wish, and to arrange them for my
own use. Some friends, to whom they were
occasionally communicated, wished for copies ;
but their volume rendering this too laborious
by hand, I proposed to get a few printed for
their gratification. I was asked such a price,
however, as exceeded the importance of the
object. On my arrival at Paris, I found it
could be done for a fourth of what I had been
asked here. I, therefore, corrected and en
larged them, and had two hundred copies
printed, under the title of " Notes on Virginia ".
I gave a very few copies to some particular
persons in Europe, and sent the rest to my
friends in America. An European copy, by
the death of the owner, got into the hands of
a bookseller, who engaged its translation, and,
when ready for the press, communicated his
intentions and manuscript to me, suggesting
that I should correct it without asking any
other permission for the publication. I never
Notes on Virginia
Occupations
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
642
had seen so wretched an attempt at translation.
Interverted, abridged, mutilated, and often re
versing the sense of the original, 1 found it a
blotch of errors from beginning to end. I cor
rected some of the most material, and, in that
form, it was printed in French. A London
bookseller, on seeing the translation, requested
me to permit him to print the English original.
I thought it best to do so, to let the world see
that it was not really so bad as the French
translation had made it appear. And this is
the true history of that publication. — AUTOBI
OGRAPHY, i, 61. FORD ED., i, 85. (1821.)
6007. NOTES ON VIRGINIA, Princi
ples in. — The experience of nearly forty years
additional in the affairs of mankind has not
altered a single principle [in the " Notes on
Virginia"]. — To JOHN MELISH. vi, 404.
FORD ED., iii, 79. (M., 1814.)
6008. NOTES ON VIRGINIA, Slavery
and. — I had two hundred copies [of my
" Notes on Virginia "] printed, but do not put
them out of my own hands, except two or three
copies here and two which I shall send to
America, to yourself and Colonel Monroe.
* * * I beg you to peruse it carefully, be
cause I ask your advice on it, and ask nobody's
else. I wish to put it into the hands of the
young men at the College [William and Mary,]
as well on account of the political as the phys
ical parts. But there are sentiments on some
subjects which I apprehend might be displeasing
to the country, perhaps to the Assembly, or to
some who lead it. I do not wish to be exposed
to their censure ; ,nor do I know how far their
influence, if exerted, might effect a misappli
cation of law to such a publication were it
made. Communicate it, then, in confidence to
those whose judgments and information you
would pay respect to ; and if you think it will
give no offense, I will send a copy to each of
the students of William and Mary College, and
some others to my friends and to your dis
posal ; otherwise I shall send over only a very
few copies to particular friends in confidence
and burn the rest. Answer me soon and with
out reserve. Do not view me as an author,
and attached to what he has written. I am
neither. They were at first intended only for
Marbois. When I had enlarged them, I thought
first of giving copies to three or four friends.
I have since supposed they might set our young
students into a useful train of thought, and in
no event do I propose to admit them to go to
the public at large. — To JAMES MADISON.
FORD ED., iv, 46. (P., May 1785.)
6009. . I send you a copy of the
" Notes on Virginia ". * * I have taken
measures to prevent its publication. My rea
son is that I fear the terms in which I speak of
slavery and of our [State] Constitution may
produce an irritation, which will revolt the
minds of our countrymen against reformation
in these two articles, and thus do more harm
than good. — To JAMES MONROE, i, 347. FORD
ED., iv, 53. (P., 1785-)
6010. NOVA SCOTIA, Conciliation of.
— Is it impossible to persuade our countrymen
to make peace with the Nova Scotians? I am
persuaded nothing is wanting but advances on
our part ; and that it is in our power to draw
off the greatest proportion of that settlement,
and thus to free ourselves from rivals [in the
fisheries] who may become of consequence.
We are at present cooperating with Great
Britain, whose policy it is to give aliment to
that bitter enmity between her States and ours.
which may secure her against their ever joining
us. But would not the existence of a cordial
friendship between us and them, be the best
bridle we could possibly put into the mouth
of England? — To JOHN ADAMS, i, 488. (P.,
I/8s-)
— NOVELS, Good and bad.— See FIC
TION.
6011. NULLIFICATION, British stat
utes. — We do not point out to his Majesty the
injustice of these acts [of Parliament], with
intent to rest on that principle the cause of
their nullity ; but to show that experience con
firms the propriety of those political principles
which exempt us from the jurisdiction of the
British Parliament. The true ground on which
we declare these acts void is, that the British
Parliament has no right to exercise authority
over us. — RIGHTS OF BRITISH AMERICA, i, 129.
FORD ED., i, 434. (P.F., 1774.)
6012. NULLIFICATION, States and.—
Every State has a natural right in cases not
within the compact (casus non foederis), to
nullify of their own authority all assumptions
of power by others within their limits. With
out this right they would be under the dominion,
absolute and unlimited, of whosoever might
exercise this right of judgment for them. —
KENTUCKY RESOLUTIONS, ix, 469. FORD ED., vii,
301. (1798.)
6013. . Where powers are as
sumed which have not been delegated, a nulli
fication of the act is the rightful remedy. —
KENTUCKY RESOLUTIONS, ix, 469. FORD ED.,
vii, 301. (1798.)
6014. OATH, Against tyranny.— I have
sworn upon the altar of God eternal hostility
against every form of tyranny over the mind
of man. — To DR. BENJAMIN RUSH, iv, 336.
FORD ED., vii, 460. (M., 1800.)
6015. OATH OF OFFICE,, Presidential.
—I propose to take the oath or oaths of office
as President of the United States, on Wednes
day the 4th inst., at 12 o'clock, in the Senate
chamber. May I hope the favor of your attend
ance to administer the oath? As the two
Houses have notice of the hour, I presume a
precise punctuality to it will be expected from
me. I would pray you, in the meantime, to
consider whether the oath prescribed in the
Constitution be not the only one necessary to
take? It seems to comprehend the substance
of that prescribed by the act of Congress to
all officers, and it may be questionable whether
the Legislature can require any new oath from
the President. I do not know what has been
done in this heretofore ; but I presume the oaths
administered to my predecessors are recorded
in the Secretary of State's office. — To JOHN
MARSHALL, iv, 364. (W., March 2, 1801.)
6016. OBSCURITY, Happiness in.— He
is happiest of whom the world says least, good
or bad. — To JOHN ADAMS. FORD ED. iv 207
(P., 1786.)
6017. OCCUPATIONS, Agricultural.—
The class principally defective is that of Agri
culture. It is the first in utility, and ought to
be the first in respect. The same artificial
means which have been used to produce a
competition in learning, may be equally success
ful in restoring agriculture to its primary
dignity in the eyes of men. It is a science of
the very first order. It counts among its hand
maids the most respectable sciences, such as
Chemistry, Natural Philosophy, Mechanics,
643
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Occupations
Ocean
Mathematics, generally, Natural History, Bot
any, in every college and university, a profes
sorship of agriculture, and the class of its
students, might be honored as the first. Young
men closing their academical education with
this, as the crown of all other sciences, fasci
nated with its solid charms, and at a time when
they are to choose an occupation, instead of
crowding the other classes, would return to
the farms of their fathers, their own, or those
of others, and replenish and invigorate a call
ing now languishing under contempt and op
pression. The charitable schools, instead of
storing their pupils with a love which the pres
ent state of society does not call for, converted
into schools of agriculture, might restore them
to that branch qualified to enrich and honor
themselves, and to increase the productions of
the nation instead of consuming them. An
abolition of the useless offices, so much accu
mulated in all governments, might close this
drain also from the labors of the field, and
lessen the burthens imposed on them. By
these, and the better means which will occur to
others, the surcharge of the learned, might in
time be drawn off to recruit the laboring class
of citizens, the sum of industry be increased;
and that of misery diminished. — To DAVID
WILLIAMS, iv, 513. (W., 1803.)
6018. OCCUPATIONS, Choice of.—
Every one has a natural right to choose that
vocation in life which he thinks most likely to
give him comfortable subsistence. — THOUGHTS
ON LOTTERIES, ix, 505. FORD ED., x, 366.
(M., Feb. 1826.)
6019. OCCUPATIONS, Governmental
regulation.— The greatest evils of populous
society have ever appeared to me to spring
from the vicious distribution of its members
among the occupations called for. I have no
doubt that those nations are essentially right,
which leave this to individual choice, as a bet
ter guide to an advantageous distribution than
any other which could be devised. But when,
by a blind concourse, particular occupations
are ruinously overcharged, and others left in
want of hands, the national authorities can do
much towards restoring the equilibrium. — To
DAVID WILLIAMS, iv, 512. (W., 1803.)
6020. OCCUPATIONS OF IMMI
GRANTS. — Among the ancients, the redun
dance of population was sometimes checked by
exposing infants. To the moderns, America
has offered a more humane resource. Many,
who cannot find employment in Europe, accord
ingly come here. Those who can labor, do well
for the most part. Of the learned class of
emigrants, a small proportion find employments
analogous to their talents. But many fail, and
return to complete their course of misery in
the scenes where it began. — To DAVID WILL
IAMS, iv, 514. (W., 1803.)
6021. OCEAN, American supremacy. —
The day is within my time as well as yours,
when we may say by what laws other nations
shall treat us on the sea. And we will say it.
— To WILLIAM SHORT, iv, 415. FORD ED.
viii, 98. (W., 1801.) See NAVY.
6022. . The possession of Louis
iana will cost France * * * a war which
will annihilate her on the ocean, and place
that element under the despotism of two
nations, which I am not reconciled to the
more because my own would be one of them
— To M. DUPONT DE NEMOURS, iv, 435
(W., April !8o2.)
6023. OCEAN, Barrier of liberty.— I
am happy in contemplating the peace, pros
perity, liberty and safety of my country, and
especially the wide ocean, the barrier of all
these. — To MARQUIS LAFAYETTE. FORD ED.,
ix, 302. (M., 1811.)
6024. OCEAN, Claimed by England.— I
despair of accommodation with [the British
government], because I believe they are weak
enough to intend seriously to claim the ocean
as their conquest, and think to amuse us with
embassies and negotiations, until the claim
shall have been strengthened by time and ex
ercise, and the moment arrive when they may
boldly avow what hitherto they have only
squinted at. — To PRESIDENT MADISON. v,
468. (M., Sep. 1809.)
6025. . It has now been some
years that I am perfectly satisfied that Great
Britain's intentions have been to claim the
ocean as her conquest, and prohibit any ves
sel from navigating it but on such a tribute
as may enable her to keep up such a stand
ing navy as will maintain her dominion over
it. She has hauled in, or let herself out, been
bold or hesitating, according to occurrences,
but has in no situation done anything which
might amount to a relinquishment of her
intentions. — To HENRY DEARBORN, v, 529.
FORD ED., ix, 278. (M., 1810.)
6026. . It can no longer be
doubted that Great Britain means to claim
the ocean as her conquest, and to suffer not
even a cock-boat, as they express it, to
traverse it but on paying them a transit duty
to support the very fleet which is to keep
the nations under tribute, and to rivet the
yoke around their necks. Although their
government has never openly avowed this,
yet their orders of council, in their original
form, were founded on this principle, and I
have observed for years past, that however
ill success may at times have induced them
to amuse by negotiation, they have never on
any occasion dropped a word disclaiming
this pretension, nor one which they would
have to retract when they shall judge the
times ripe for openly asserting it.
They do not wish war with us, but will meet
it rather than relinquish their purpose. — To
JOHN HOLLINS. v, 597. (M., May 1811.)
6027. - — . The intention which the
British now formally avow of taking pos
session of the ocean as their exclusive do
main, and of suffering no commerce on it but
through their ports, makes it the interest of
all mankind to contribute their efforts to
bring such usurpations to an end. — To
CLEMENT CAINE. vi, 14. FORD ED., ix, 330.
(M., Sep. 1811.)
6028. . Ever since the rupture
of the treaty of Amiens, the object of Great
Britain has visibly been the permanent con
quest of the ocean, and levying a tribute on
every vessel she permits to sail on it, as the
Barbary powers do on the Mediterranean,
which they call their sea. — To WILLIAM
SHORT, vi, 128. (M., June 1813.) See
EMBARGO and IMPRESSMENT.
Ocean
Office
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
644
6029. OCEAN, Common birthright. —
The ocean, like the air, is the common birth
right of mankind. — R. TO A. N. Y. TAM
MANY SOCIETY, viii, 127. (1808.)
6030. OCEAN, Common property. — The
ocean is the common property of all. — FOR
EIGN COMMERCE REPORT, vii, 647. FORD ED.,
vi, 481. (1793.)
6031. . Nature has not sub
jected the ocean to the jurisdiction of any
particular nation, but has made it common to
all for the purposes to which it is fitted. — To
ROBERT R. LIVINGSTON, iv, 409. FORD ED.,
viii, 89. (M., Sep. 1801.)
6032. OCEAN, Dominion of.— I fear the
dominion of the sea is the insanity of the
nation itself.— To HENRY DEARBORN, v, 608.
(P.F., Aug. 1811.)
6033. OCEAN, England's policy.— If the
British ministry are changing their policy
towards us, it is because their nation, or
rather the city of London, which is the na
tion to them, is shaking as usual, by the late
reverses in Spain. I have for some time
been persuaded that the government of Eng:
land was systematically decided to claim a
dominion of the sea, and to levy contribu
tions on all nations, by their licenses to nav
igate, in order to maintain that dominion to
which their own resources are inadequate.
The mobs of their cities are unprincipled
enough to support this policy in prosperous
times, but change with the tide of fortune,
and the ministers to keep their places, change
with them. — To PRESIDENT MADISON, v, 442.
FORD ED., ix, 251. (M., April 1809.) See
ENGLAND.
6034. OCEAN, English ascendency.—
An English ascendency on the ocean is safer
for us than that of France. — To JAMES
MONROE, v, 12. FORD ED., viii, 450. (W.,
1806.)
6035. OCEAN, Freedom of.— I join you
* * * in a sense of the necessity of re
storing freedom to the ocean. But I doubt,
with you, whether the United States ought
to join in an armed confederacy for that
purpose; or rather I am satisfied they ought
not. It ought to be the very first object of
our pursuits to have nothing to do with the
European interests and politics. Let them
be free or slaves at will, navigators or agri
culturists, swallowed into one government or
divided into a thousand, we have nothing to
fear from them in any form. * * * To
take part in their conflicts would be to divert
our energies from creation to destruction.
Our commerce is so valuable to them that
they will be glad to purchase it when the
only price we ask is to do us justice. I be
lieve we have in our own hands the means
of peaceable coercion; and that the moment
they see our government so united as that
they can make use of it, they will for their
own interest be disposed to do us justice. In
this way you shall not be obliged by any
treaty of confederation to go to war for in
juries done to others. — To DR. GEORGE LOGAN.
FORD ED., viii, 23. (W., March 1801.) See
NAVIGATION and SHIPS.
6036. OCEAN, Lawlessness on.— The
sea has become a field of lawless and indis
criminate rapine and violence. — To . iv,
223. (Pa., 1798.)
6037. OCEAN, Piracy.— I sincerely wish
the British orders may be repealed. If they
are it will be because the nation will not
otherwise let the ministers keep their places.
Their object has unquestionably been fixed
to establish the Algerine system, and to main
tain their possession of the ocean by a system
of piracy against all nations. — To COLONEL
LARKIN SMITH, v, 441. (M., April 1809.)
See BARBARY STATES, MOROCCO and PIRACY.
6038. OCEAN, Usurpation of.— The
usurpation of the sea has become a national
disease.— To W. A. BURWELL. v, 5. (P.F.,
Aug. 1811.)
6039. OFFICE, Appointment to.— I like
as little as you do to have the gift of ap
pointments. I hope Congress will not trans
fer the appointment of their consuls to their
ministers. — To JOHN ADAMS, i, 502. (P.,
1785.)
6040. . Every office becoming
vacant, every appointment made, me donne
un ingrat, et cent ennemis. — To JOHN DICK
INSON, v, 31. FORD ED., ix, 10. (W., 1807.)
6O41. . I know none but public
motives in making appointments. — To JOSEPH
B. VARNUM. v, 223. (W., 1807.)
6042. — . I am thankful at all
times for information on the subject of ap
pointments, even when it comes too late to be
used. It is more difficult and more painful
than all the other duties of my office, and one
in which I am sufficiently conscious that in
voluntary error must often be committed. —
To JOSEPH B. VARNUM. v, 223. (W.,
1807.)
6043. . My usage is to make
the best appointment my information and
judgment enable me to do, and then fold my
self up in the mantle of conscience, and abide
unmoved the peltings of the storm. And oh !
for the day when I shall be withdrawn from
it; when I shall have leisure to enjoy my
family, my friends, my farm and books. — To
DR. BENJAMIN RUSH, v, 225. (W., 1808.)
6044. . I shall make no new
appointments which can be deferred until
the 4th of March, thinking it fair to leave to
my successor to select the agents for his
own administration. — To DR. LOGAN, v, 404.
(W., Dec. 1808.) See OFFICE-HOLDERS.
6045. OFFICE, Choice of. — It is not for
an individual to choose his post. You are to
marshal us as may be best for the public
good. — To PRESIDENT WASHINGTON, iii, 125.
FORD ED., v, 141. (Dec. 1789.)
645
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Office
6046. . A good citizen should
take his stand where the public authority
marshals him.— To LA DUCHESSE D'AuviLLE.
iii, 135. FORD ED., v, 153. (N.Y., 1790.)
6047. . I never thought of ques
tioning the free exercise of the right of my
fellow citizens, to marshal those whom they
call into their service according to their fit
ness, nor ever presumed that they were not
the best judges of that.— To JAMES SULLI
VAN, iv, 168. FORD ED., vii, 116. (M.,
I797-)
6048. . I profess so much of the
Roman principle, as to deem it honorable for
the general of yesterday to act as a corporal
to-day, if his services can be useful to his
country ; holding that to be false pride, which
postpones the public good to any private
or personal considerations. — To WILLIAM
DUANE. vi, 80. FORD ED., ix, 367. (M.,
Oct. 1812.)
6049. OFFICE, Claims to. — In appoint
ments to public offices of mere profit, I have
ever considered faithful service in either our
first or second* revolution as giving prefer
ence of claim, and that appointments on that
principle would gratify the public, and
strengthen confidence so necessary to enable
the Executive to direct the whole public
force to the best advantage of the nation. —
To JOHN PAGE, v, 135. FORD ED., ix, 117.
(W., July 1807.)
6050. OFFICE, Declination of .—Whether
the State may command the political serv
ices of all its members to an indefinite
extent, or, if these be among the rights
never wholly ceded to the public power,
is a question which I do not find ex
pressly decided in England. Obiter dictums
on the subject I have indeed met with, but
the complexion of the times in which these
have dropped would generally answer them;
besides that, this species of authority is not
acknowledged in our profession. In this
country, however, since the present govern
ment has been established, the point has been
settled by uniform, pointed and multiplied
precedents. Offices of every kind, and given
by every power, have been daily and hourly
declined and resigned from the Declaration
of Independence to this moment. The Gen
eral Assembly has accepted these without
discrimination of office, and without ever
questioning them in point of right. If the
difference between the office of a delegate and
any other could ever have been supposed,
yet in the case of Mr. Thompson Mason, who
declined the office of delegate, and was per
mitted so to do by the House, that supposi
tion has been proved to be groundless. But,
indeed, no such distinction of offices can be
admitted. Reason, and the opinions of the
lawyers, putting all on a footing as to this
question, and so giving to the delegate the
aid of all the precedents of the refusal of
other offices. The law then does not warrant
the assumption of such a power by the State
* The political revolution of 1800.— EDITOR.
over its members. For if it does, where is
that law ? nor yet does reason. For though I
will admit that this does subject every in
dividual, if called on, to an equal tour of
political duty, yet it never can go so far as
to submit to it his whole existence. If we
are made in some degree for others, yet in a
greater, are we made for ourselves. It were
contrary to feeling and, indeed, ridiculous to
suppose that a man had less right in himself
than one of his neighbors, or indeed, all of
them put together. This would be slavery,
and not that liberty which the bill of rights
[of Virginia] has made inviolable, and for
the preservation of which our government
has been charged. Nothing could so com
pletely divest us of that liberty as the estab
lishment of the opinion, that the State has
a perpetual right to the services of all its
members. This, to men of certain ways of
thinking, would be to annihilate the blessing
of existence, and to contradict the Giver of
life, who gave it for happiness and not for
wretchedness. And certainly, to such it were
better that they had never been born. — To
JAMES MONROE, i, 318. FORD ED., iii, 57.
(M., 1782.)
6051. . Though I will admit
that * * * reason does subject every in
dividual, if called on, to an equal tour of
political duty, yet it never can go so far as
to submit to it his whole existence. — To
JAMES MONROE, i, 319. FORD ED., iii, 58.
(M., 1782.)
6052. OFFICE, Desire for.— No man
ever had less desire of entering into public
offices than myself. — THE ANAS, ix, 102.
FORD ED., i, 175. (1792.)
6053. OFFICE, Distribution.— Should
distributive justice give preference to a suc
cessor of the same State with the deceased,
I take the liberty of suggesting to you Mr.
Hayward. — To PRESIDENT WASHINGTON, iii,
249. FORD ED., v, 322. (Pa., 1791.)
6054. OFFICE, A duty.— To my fellow-
citizens the debt of service has been fully and
faithfully paid. I acknowledge that such a
debt exists, that a tour of duty, in whatever
line he can be most useful to his country,
is due from every individual. It is not easy
perhaps to say of what length exactly this
tour should be, but we may safely say of what
length it should not be. Not of our whole life,
for instance, for that would be to be born a
slave, — not even of a very large portion of it.
I have now been in the public service four
and twenty years ; one half of which has
been spent in total occupation with their af
fairs, and absence from my own. I have
served my tour then. — To JAMES MADISON.
iii, 577. FORD ED., vi, 290. (June 1793.)
6055. . The duties of office are
a corvee which must be undertaken on far
other considerations than those of personal
happiness. — To GENERAL ARMSTRONG, vi, 103.
(M., 1813.)
6056. OFFICE, Exclusion from.— The
republicans have been excluded from all of-
Office
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
646
fices from the first origin of the division into
republican and federalist. They have a
reasonable claim to vacancies till they occupy
their due share.— To DR. B. S. BARTON, iv,
353. FORD ED., vii, 489. (W., Feb. 1801.)
G057. . Exercising that discre
tion which the Constitution has confided to
me in the choice of public agents, I have been
sensible, on the one hand, of the justice due
to those who have been systematically ex
cluded from the service of their country, and
attentive, on the other, to restore justice in
such a way as might least affect the sympa
thies and the tranquillity of the public mind.
—To WILLIAM JUDD. viii, 114. (Nov.
1802.)
6058. OFFICE, Good behavior. — In the
office to which I have been called [Secre
taryship of State] all was full, and I could
not in any case think it just to turn out those
in possession who have behaved well, merely
to put others in. — To FRANCIS WILLIS. FORD
ED., v, 157. (N.Y., 1790.)
6059. . There are no offices in
my gift [as Secretary of State] but of mere
scribes in the office room at $800 and $500
a year. These I found all filled, and of long
possession in the hands of those who held
them, and I thought it would not be just to
remove persons in possession, who had be
haved well, to make places for others. — To
COLONEL HENRY LEE. FORD ED., v, 163. (N.
Y., 1790.)
6060. OFFICE, Happiness and.— Were
happiness the only legitimate object, the pub
lic councils would be deserted. That corvee
once performed, however, the independent
happiness of domestic life may rightfully be
sought and enjoyed. — To JOHN T. MASON.
FORD ED., ix, 476. (M., 1814.)
6061. OFFICE, Life appointments to.
—Appointments in the nature of freehold
render it difficult to undo what is done. — To
JAMES MADISON, iv, 344. FORD ED., vii, 474.
(W., Dec. 1800.)
6062. OFFICE, Motives for holding.— I
have no motive to public service but the pub
lic satisfaction. — To PRESIDENT WASHINGTON.
iii, 124. FORD ED., v, 140. (Dec. 1789.)
6063. OFFICE, Poisonous.— We have put
down the great mass of offices which gave
such patronage to the President. These had
been so numerous, that presenting themselves
to the public eye at all times and places, of
fice began to be looked to as a resource for
every man whose affairs were getting into
derangement, or who was too indolent to pur
sue his profession, and for young men just
entering into life. In short, it was poisoning
the very source of industry, by presenting
an easier resource for a livelihood, and was
corrupting the principles of the great mass
of those who passed a wishful eye on office.
— To THOMAS McKEAN. FORD ED., viii, 217.
(W., Feb. 1803.)
6064. OFFICE, Poverty and.— There is
not, and has not been, a single vacant office
at my disposal. Nor would I, as your friend,
ever think of putting you into the petty
clerkships in the several offices, where you
would have to drudge through life for a
miserable pittance, without a hope of better
ing your situation.— To JOHN GARLAND JEF
FERSON. FORD ED., v, 180. (N.Y., 1790.)
6065. OFFICE, Private advantage.—
Public employment contributes neither to ad
vantage nor happiness. It is but honorable
exile from one's family and affairs.— To
FRANCIS WILLIS. FORD ED., v, 157. (N.Y.,
1790.)
6066. OFFICE, Profits in.— I love to see
honest and honorable men at the helm, men
who will not bend their politics to their
purses, nor pursue measures by which they
may profit, and then profit by their measures.
— To EDWARD RUTLEDGE. iv, 153. FORD ED.,
vii, 95- (M., 1796.)
6067. OFFICE, Refusing.— We find it of
advantage to the public to ask of those to
whom appointments are proposed, if they are
not accepted, to say nothing of the offer, at
least for a convenient time. The refusal
cheapens the estimation of the public appoint
ments, and renders them less acceptable to
those to whom they are secondarily proposed.
— To GENERAL JOHN ARMSTRONG. FORD ED.,
viii, 302. (W., 1804.)
6068. OFFICE, Sale of.— These exercises
[by Parliament] of usurped power* have not
been confined to instances alone in which
themselves were interested, but they have
also intermeddled with the regulation of the
internal affairs of the Colonies. The act of
the 9th of June for establishing a Post Office
in America seems to have had little connec
tion with British convenience, except that
of accommodating his Majesty's ministers and
favorites with the sale of an easy and lucra
tive office. — RIGHTS OF BRITISH AMERICA, i,
130. FORD ED., i, 434. (1774.)
6069. OFFICE, Seekers of.— Whenever a
man has cast a longing eye on offices, a rot
tenness begins in his conduct. — To TENCH
COXE. FORD ED., vii, 381. (M., 1799.)
6070. OFFICE, Solicitation.— With re
spect to the young gentlemen in the office of
foreign affairs, their possession and your
recommendation are the strongest titles. But
I suppose the ordinance establishing my of
fice allows but one assistant; and I should
be wanting in candor to you and them, were
I not to tell you that another candidate has
been proposed to me, on ground that cannot
but command respect. — To CHIEF JUSTICE
JAY. iii, 127. FORD ED., v, 144. (M., 1790.)
6071. OFFICE, Talents and. — Talents
and science are sufficient motives with me
in appointments to which they are fitted. — To
PRESIDENT WASHINGTON, iii, 466. FORD ED.,
vi, 107. (M., 1792.)
6072. OFFICE, Training for.— For pro
moting the public happiness, those persons,
* Over manufactures, exports and imports, &c.—
EDITOR.
647
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Office
Offices
whom nature has endowed with genius and
virtue, should be rendered by liberal educa
tion worthy to receive, and able to guard the
sacred deposit of the rights and liberties of
their fellow citizens; and they should be
called to that charge without regard to
wealth, birth, or other accidental condition
or circumstance.— DIFFUSION OF KNOWLEDGE
BILL. FORD ED., ii, 221. (i779-)
6073. OFFICE, Unprincipled men and.
— An unprincipled man, let his other fitnesses
be what they will, ought never to be em
ployed.— To DR. GILMER. iv, 5. FORD ED.,
vi, 325- (Pa-, 1793- )
6074. OFFICE, Weariness of. — I must
yet a little while bear up against my weari
ness of public office.— To T. M. RANDOLPH.
FORD ED., v, 417- (Pa., Jan. 1792.)
6075. OFFICES, Administration of.—
Nothing presents such difficulties of adminis
tration as offices.— To GIDEON GRANGER. FORD
ED., viii, 44. (W., March 1801.)
6076. . To you I need not make
the observation that of all the duties imposed
on the executive head of a government, ap
pointment to office is the most difficult and
irksome.— To GEORGE CLINTON. FORD ED.,
viii, 52. (W., May 1801.)
6077. . The transaction of the
great interests of our country costs us little
trouble or difficulty. There the line is plain
to men of some experience. But the task of
appointment is a heavy one indeed. He on
whom it falls may envy the lot of a Sisyphus
or Ixion. Their agonies were of the body:
this of the mind. Yet, like the office of hang
man, it must be executed by some one. It
has been assigned to me and made my duty.
I make up my mind to it, therefore, and aban
don all regard to consequences. — To LARKIN
SMITH. FORD ED., viii, 336. (W., Nov.
1804.)
6078. OFFICES, Bestowal.— I have firm
ly refused to follow the counsels of those
who have desired the giving offices to some
of the [federal] leaders, in order to reconcile.
I have given, and will give only to repub
licans, under existing circumstances.— To
JAMES MONROE, iv, 368. FORD ED., viii, 10.
(W., March 1801.)
6079. . The consolidation of pur
fellow citizens in general is the great object
we ought to keep in view, and that being
once obtained, while we associate with us
in affairs, to a certain degree, the federal sect
of republicans, we must strip of all the means
of influence the Essex Junto, and their as
sociate monocrats in every part of the Union.
-—To LEVI LINCOLN, iv, 398. FORD ED., viii,
66. (W., July 1801.)
6080. OFFICES, Burthens. — In a virtu
ous government, and more especially in times
like these, public offices are, what they should
be, burthens to those appointed to them,
which it would be wrong to decline, though
foreseen to bring with them intense labor.
and great private loss.— To RICHARD HENRY
LEE. FORD ED., ii, 192. (Wg., 1779.)
6081. OFFICES, Charity and.— I did not
think the public offices confided to me to
give away as charities. — To JAMES MONROE.
iv, 446. FORD ED., viii, 166. (W., 1802.)
6082. OFFICES, Confirming power.— I
have always considered the control of the
Senate as meant to prevent any bias or
favoritism in the President towards his own
relations, his own religion, towards partic
ular States, &c., and perhaps to keep very
obnoxious persons out of offices of the first
grade. But in all subordinate cases, I have
ever thought that the selection made by the
President ought to inspire a general con
fidence that it has been made on due enquiry
and investigation of character, and that the
Senate should interpose their negative only
in those particular cases where something
happens to be within their knowledge, against
the character of the person, and unfitting him
for the appointment. — To ALBERT GALLATIN.
FORD ED., viii, 211. (1803.)
6083. OFFICES, Creation of. — The Ad
ministrator [of Virginia] shall not possess the
prerogative * * * of erecting offices. —
PROPOSED VA. CONSTITUTION. FORD ED., ii, 19.
(June 1776.)
6084. _ . He has erected a multi
tude of new offices by a self-assumed power.*
— DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE AS DRAWN
BY JEFFERSON.
6085. . He has sent hither
swarms of new officers to harass our people,
and eat out their substance. — DECLARATION
OF INDEPENDENCE AS DRAWN BY JEFFERSON.
6086. OFFICES, Difficult to fill.— The
present situation of the President, unable to
get the offices filled, really calls with uncom
mon obligation on those whom nature has
fitted for them. — To EDWARD RUTLEDGE. iv,
124. FORD ED., vii, 40. (M., Nov. 1795.)
6087. - — . Should the [federalists]
yield the election, I have reason to expect,
in the outset, the greatest difficulties as to
nominations. The late incumbents, running
away from their offices and leaving them
vacant, will prevent my filling them without
the previous advice of the Senate. How this
difficulty is to be got over I know not. — To
JAMES MONROE, iv, 355. FORD ED., vii, 491.
(W., Feb. 1801.)
6088. OFFICES, Factions and. — In ap
pointments to office, the government refuses
to know any difference between descriptions
of republicans, all of whom are in principle,
and cooperate with the government. — To
WILLIAM SHORT, v, 362. (M., Sep. 1808.)
6089. OFFICES, Favoritism.— Mr. Nich
olas's being a Virginian is a bar. It is es
sential that I be on my guard in appointing
persons from that State. — To SAMUEL
SMITH. FORDED., viii, 29. (W., March 1801.)
• Congress struck out " by a self-assumed power ".
-EDITOR.
Offices
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
648
6090. OFFICES, Federal monarchists
and. — Amiable monarchists are not safe sub
jects of republican confidence. — To LEVI LIN
COLN, iv, 399. FORD ED., viii, 67. (W., 1801.)
6091. . I do not know that [the
introducing republicans to some share in the
offices] will be pushed further * * * ex
cept as to Essex [Junto] men. I must ask
you to make out a list of those in office in
your own State and the neighboring ones,
and to furnish me with it. There is little of
this spirit south of the Hudson. I under
stood that Jackson is a very determined one,
though in private life amiable and honorable.
* * * What will be the effect of his re
moval? How should it be timed? Who his
successor? What place can General Lyman
properly occupy?— To LEVI LINCOLN, iv, 399.
FORD ED., viii, 67. (W., July 1801.)
6092. . I have spoken of the fed
eralists as if they were a homogeneous body,
but this is not the truth. Under that name
lurks the heretical sect of monarchists.
Afraid to wear their own name, they creep
under the mantle of federalism, and the fed
eralists, like sheep, permit the fox to take
shelter among them, when pursued by the
dogs. These men have no right to office.
If a monarchist be in office anywhere, and it
be known to the President, the oath he has
taken to support the Constitution imperiously
requires the instantaneous dismission of such
officer ; and I should hold the President crim
inal if he permitted such to remain. To ap
point a monarchist to conduct the affairs of
a republic, is like appointing an atheist to the
priesthood. As to the real federalists, I take
them to my bosom as brothers. I view them
as honest men, friends to the present Consti
tution.* — FROM A NEWSPAPER LETTER. FORD
ED., viii, 237. (June 1803.)
6093. OFFICES, Geographical equilib
rium. — In our country, you know, talents
alone are not to be the determining circum
stance, but a geographical equilibrium is to
a certain degree expected. The different
parts in the Union expect to share the public
appointments. — To HORATIO GATES. FORD ED.,
viii, ii. (W., March 1801.)
6094. . Virginia is greatly over
her due proportion of appointments in the
General Government; and though this has
not been done by me, it would be imputed as
blamed to me to add to her proportion. So
that for all general offices persons to fill
them must, for some time, be sought from
other States, and only offices which are to be
exercised within the State can be given to its
own citizens. — To JOHN PAGE. FORD ED., viii,
133- (W., Feb. 1802.)
6095. . Mr. R[obert] S. Sfmith,
Attorney-General], has had a commission
given to Eli Williams as commissioner of the
* An article in the New York Evening Post led
Jefferson to write a letter, signed " Fair Play ", with
a view to publication in New England. It was the
second instance of Jefferson's departure from his
rule of not writing for newpapers. The object was
to provoke discussion. — EDITOR.
Western road. I am sorry he has gone out
of Baltimore for the appointment, and also
out of the ranks of Republicanism. It will
furnish new matter for clamor. — To ALBERT
GALLATIN. FORD ED., viii, 464. (M., Aug.
1806.)
6096. OFFICES, Gift of.— I dare say you
have found that the solicitations for office are
the most painful incidents to which an exec
utive magistrate is exposed. The ordinary
affairs of a nation offer little difficulty to a
person of any experience; but the gift of
office is the dreadful burthen which oppresses
him. — To JAMES SULLIVAN, v, 252. (W.,
1808.)
6097. . A person who wishes to
make [the gift of office] an engine of self-
elevation, may do wonders with it; but to
one who wishes to use it conscientiously for
the public good, without regard to the ties
of blood or friendship, it creates enmities
without number, many open, but more secret,
and saps the happiness and peace of his life.
—To JAMES SULLIVAN, v, 252. (W., 1808.)
6098. OFFICES, Importunity for.—
When I retired from the government four
years ago, it was extremely my wish to
withdraw myself from all concern with pub
lic affairs, and to enjoy with my fellow citi
zens the protection of government, under the
auspices and direction of those to whom it
was so worthily committed. Solicitations
from my friends, however, to aid them in
their applications for office, drew from me
an unwary compliance, till at length these
became so numerous as to occupy a great
portion of my time in writing letters to the
President and heads of departments, and al
though these were attended to by them with
great indulgence, yet I was sensible they
could not fail of being very embarrassing.
They kept me, at the same time, standing
forever in the attitude of a suppliant before
them, daily asking favors as humiliating and
afflicting to my own mind, as they were un
reasonable from their multitude. I was long
sensible of putting an end to these unceasing
importunities, when a change in the heads of
the two departments to which they were
chiefly addressed, presented me an oppor
tunity. I come to a resolution, therefore, on
that change, never to make another applica
tion. I have adhered to it strictly, and find
that on its rigid observance, my own happi
ness and the friendship of the government
too much depend, for me to swerve from it
in future. — To THOMAS PAINE M'MATRON.
vi, 108. (M., 1813.)
6099. OFFICES, Intolerance and. — Our
gradual reformations seem to produce good
effects everywhere except in Connecticut.
Their late session of Legislature has been
more intolerant than all others. We must
meet them with equal intolerance. When they
will give a share in the State offices, they
shall be replaced in a share of the gen
eral offices. Till then, we must follow their
example. — To LEVI LINCOLN, iv, 399. FORD
ED., viii, 67. (W., July 1801.)
649
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Offices
6100. . When I entered on office,
after giving a very small participation in of
fice to republicans by removal of a very few
federalists, selected on the principle of their
own intolerance while in office, I never meant
to have touched another, but to leave to the
ordinary accidents to make openings for re
publicans, but the vindictive, indecent and
active opposition of some individuals has
obliged me from time to time to disarm them
of the influence of office. — To ANDREW ELLI-
COTT. FORD ED., viii, 479. (W., Nov. 1806.)
6101. OFFICES, Jefferson and. — I have
solicited none, intrigued for none. Those
which my country has thought proper to con
fide to me have been of their own mere mo
tion, unasked by me. — To JAMES LYON. vi,
10. (M., 1811.)
6102. OFFICES, Labor and.— Consider
ing the general tendency to multiply offices
and dependencies, and to increase expense
to the ultimate term of burden which the
citizen can bear, it behooves us to avail our
selves of every occasion which presents itself
for taking off the surcharge; that it may
never be seen here that, after leaving to labor
the smallest portion of its earnings on which
it can subsist, government shall itself con
sume the residue of what it was instituted
to guard. — FIRST ANNUAL MESSAGE, viii,
10. FORD ED., viii, 120. (Dec. 1801.)
6103. OFFICES, Local.— Where an office
is local we never go out of the limits for the
officer.— To CESAR A. RODNEY. FORD ED.,
viii, 498. (W., 1806.)
6104. OFFICES, Lopping off.— I had
foreseen, years ago, that the first republican
President who should come into office after
all the places in the government had become
exclusively occupied by federalists, would
have a dreadful operation to perform. That
the republicans would consent to a continua
tion of everything in federal hands, was not
to be expected, because neither just nor pol
itic. On him, then, was to devolve the office
of an executioner, that of lopping off. I can
not say that it has worked harder than I ex
pected. — To LEVI LINCOLN, iv, 406. FORD
ED., viii, 83. (M., Aug. 1801.)
6105. OFFICES, Midnight appoint
ments. — The nominations crowded in by Mr.
Adams, after he knew he was not appointing
for himself, I treat as mere nullities. His
best friends do not disapprove of this. — To
WILLIAM FINDLEY. FORD ED., viii, 28. (W.,
March 1801.)
6106. . In the class of removals,
I do not rank the new appointments which
Mr. Adams crowded in with whip and spur
from the i2th of December, when the event
of the election was known (and, conse
quently, that he was making appointments,
not for himself, but his successor), until 9
o'clock of the night, at 12 o'clock of which
he was to go out of office. This outrage on
decency should not have its effect, except in
the life appointments which are irremovable ;
but as to the others, I consider the nomina
tions as nullities, and will not view the per
sons as even candidates for their office, much
ess as possessing it by any title meriting re
spect. — To GENERAL HENRY KNOX. iv, 386.
FORD ED., vi , 36. (W., March 1801.)
6107. - . Mr. Adams's last ap
pointments, when he knew he was naming
counsellors and aids for me and not for him
self, I set aside as far as depends on me. —
To ELBRIDGE GERRY, iv, 391. FORD ED., viii,
42. (W., March 1801.)
6108. . I consider as nullities all
the appointments (of a removable character)
crowded in by Mr. Adams, when he knew
be was appointing counsellors and agents for
bis successor and not for himself. — To
GIDEON GRANGER. FORD ED., viii, 44. (W.,
March 1801.)
6109. . I have not considered
as candid, or even decorous, the crowding of
appointments by Mr. Adams after he knew
he was making them for his successor and
not himself even to nine o'clock of the night
at twelve of which he was to go out of of
fice. I do not think I ought to permit that
conduct to have any effect as to the offices
removable in their nature. — To PIERREPONT
EDWARDS. FORD ED., viii, 44. (W., March
1801.)
6110. . The last Congress estab
lished a Western Judiciary district in Vir
ginia, comprehending chiefly the Western
countries. Mr. Adams, who continued fill
ing all the offices till nine o'clock of the
night, at twelve of which he was to go out
of office himself, took care to appoint for this
district also. The judge, of course, stands
till the laws shall be repealed, which we
trust will be at the next Congress. But as
to all others I made it immediately known
that I should consider them as nullities, and
appoint others. — To A. STUART, iv, 393.
FORD ED., viii, 46. (M., April 1801.)
6111. . If the will of the nation,
manifested by their various elections, calls
for an administration of government accord
ing with the opinions of those elected ; if,
for the fulfillment of that will, displacements
are necessary, with whom can they so justly
begin as with persons appointed in the last
moments of an administration, not for its
own aid, but to begin a career at the same
time with their successors, by whom they
had never been approved, and who could
scarcely expect from them a cordial coopera
tion? — To THE NEW HAVEN COMMITTEE, iv,
404. FORD ED., viii, 69. (W., July 1801.)
6112. OFFICES, Multiplication of.—
The multiplication of public offices, increase
of expense beyond income, growth and en-
tailment of a public debt, are indications so
liciting the employment of the pruning knife.
— To SPENCER ROANE. vii, 212. FORD ED., x,
188. (M., 1821.)
6113. OFFICES, Newspaper cajolery
and. — I was not deluded by the eulogiums of
the public papers in the first moments of
Offices
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
650
change. If they could have continued to get
all the loaves and fishes, that is, if I would
have gone over to them, they would continue
to eulogize. But I well knew that the moment
that such removals should take place, as the
justice of the preceding administration ought
to have executed, their hue and cry would be
set up, and they would take their old stand.
I shall disregard that also.— To ELBRIDGE
GERRY, iv, 391. FORD ED., viii, 41. (W.,
March 1801.)
6114. OFFICES, Nominations. — There
is nothing I am so anxious about as good
nominations, conscious that the merit as well
as reputation of an administration depends
as much on that as on its measures. — To A.
STUART, iv, 394. FORD ED., viii, 47. (M.,
April 1801.)
6115. . My nominations are
sometimes made on my own knowledge of
the persons; sometimes on the information
of others given either voluntarily, or at^my
request and in personal confidence. This I
could not communicate without a breach of
confidence, not I am sure, under the contem
plation of the committee.* They are sensible
the Constitution has made it my duty to
nominate; and has not made it my duty to
lay before them the evidences or reasons
whereon my nominations are founded; and
of the correctness *of this opinion the estab
lished usage in the intercourse between the
Senate and President is a proof. During
nearly the whole of the time this Constitu
tion has been in operation, I have been in
situations of intimacy with this part of it,
and may observe, from my knowledge, that
it has not been the usage of the President to
lay before the Senate, or a committee, the
information on which he makes his nomina
tions. In a single instance lately, I did
make a communication of papers, but there
were circumstances so peculiar in that case
as to distinguish it from all others. — To
URIAH TRACY. FORD ED., viii, 412. (1806.)
6116. . Nomination to office is
an executive function. To give it to the Leg
islature, as we [in Virginia] do, is a violation
of the principle of the separation of powers.
It swerves the members from correctness, by
temptations to intrigue for office themselves
and to a corrupt barter of votes ; and destroys
responsibility by dividing it among a mul
titude. By leaving nomination in its proper
place, among executive functions, the prin
ciple of the distribution of power is pre
served, and responsibility weighs with its
force on a single head. — To SAMUEL KERCH-
IVAL. vii, 12. FORD ED., x, 40. (M., 1816.)
6117. OFFICES, Participation in.— L
would have been to me a circumstance o1
great relief, had I found a moderate partici
pation of office in the hands of the majority
I would gladly have left to time and acciden
to raise them to their just share. But theii
* A committee of the Senate which had asked Jef
ferson concerning the characters and qualification
of certain persons nominated by him. This pape
was not sent. — EDITOR.
otal exclusion calls for prompter correctives.
— To THE NEW HAVEN COMMITTEE, iv, 405.
rORD ED., viii, 70. (W., July 1801.)
6118. . After so long and com-
lete an exclusion from office as republicans
lave suffered, insomuch that every place is
filled with their opponents, justice as well as
rinciple requires that they should have some
)articipation. I believe they will be con-
ented with less than their just share for the
sake of peace and conciliation. — To PIERCE
BUTLER. FORD ED., viii, 82. (M., Aug.
801.)
6119. . If a due participation of
office is a matter of right, how are vacancies
o be obtained? Those by death are few;
by resignation, none. Can any other mode
han that of removal be proposed? — To THE
S[EW HAVEN COMMITTEE, iv, 404. FORD ED.,
viii, 70. (W., July 1801.)
6120. . I still think our original
dea as to office is best; that is, to depend,
:or the obtaining a just participation, on
deaths, resignations, and delinquencies. This
will least affect the tranquillity of the people,
and prevent their giving in to the suggestion
of our enemies, that ours has been a contest
"or office, not for principle. This is rather
a slow operation, but it is sure if we pursue
t steadily, which, however, has not been done
with the undeviating resolution I could have
washed. — To LEVI LINCOLN, iv, 451. FORD
ED., viii, 176. (W., Oct. 1802.)
6121. . The present administra
tion had a task imposed on it which was un
avoidable, and could not fail to exert the
bitterest hostility in those who opposed it.
The preceding administration left ninety-nine
out of every hundred in public office of the
federal sect. Republicanism had been the
mark on Cain which had rendered those who
bore it exiles from all portion in the trusts
and authorities of their country. This de
scription of citizens called imperiously and
justly for a restoration of right. It was in
tended, however, to have yielded to this in
so moderate a degree as might conciliate
those who had obtained exclusive possession ;
but as soon as they were touched, they en
deavored to set fire to the four corners of the
public fabric, and obliged us to deprive of the
influence of office several who were using it
with activity and vigilance to destroy the
confidence of the people in their government,
and thus to proceed in the drudgery of re
moval farther than would have been, had not
their own hostile enterprises rendered it nec
essary in self-defence.— To BENJAMIN HAW
KINS, iv, 466. FORD ED., viii, 212. (W.,
1803.)
6122. . Whether a participation
of office in proportion to numbers should be
effected in each State separately, or in the
whole States taken together, is difficult to
decide, and has not yet been settled in my
own mind. It is a question of vast com
plications.— To WILLIAM DUANE. FORD ED.,
viii, 258. (W., July 1803.)
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Offices
6123. OFFICES, Perplexity over. — My
position is painful enough between federalists
who cry out on the first touch of their monop
oly, and republicans who clamor for uni
versal removal. A subdivision of the latter
will increase the perplexity. I am proceed
ing with deliberation and enquiry to do what
I think just to both descriptions and con
ciliatory to both.— To JOHN DICKINSON.
FORD ED., viii, 76. (W., July 1801.)
6124. OFFICES, Policy respecting.—
You know the moderation of our views in
this business, and that we all concurred in
them. We determined to proceed with de
liberation. This produced impatience in the
republicans, and a belief we meant to do
nothing. — To LEVI LINCOLN, iv, 406. FORD
ED., viii, 83. (M., Aug. 1801.)
6125. — — . All offices were in the
hands of the federalists. The injustice of
having totally excluded republicans was ac
knowledged by every man. To have removed
one half, and to have placed good republicans
in their stead, would have been rigorously
just, when it was known that these composed
a very great majority of the nation. Yet
such was their moderation in most of the
States, that they did not desire it. In these,
therefore, no removals took place but for
malversation. In the middle States, the con
tention had been higher, spirits were more
sharpened and less accommodating. It was
necessary in these to practice a different
treatment, and to make a few changes to
tranquilize the injured party. — To WILLIAM
SHORT, iv, 414. FORD ED., viii, 97. (W.,
1801.)
6126. OFFICES, Public opinion and. —
Some States require a different regimen from
others. What is done in one State very often
shocks another, though where it is done it is
wholesome. South of the Potomac, not a
single removal has been asked. On the con
trary, they are urgent that none shall be
made. Accordingly, only one has been made,
which was for malversation. They censure
much the removals north of this. You see,
therefore, what various tempers we have to
harmonize. — To THOMAS McKEAN. FORD ED.,
viii, 78. (W., July 1801.)
6127. OFFICES, Qualifications.— I shall
* * * return with joy to that state of things
when the only questions concerning a can
didate shall be : Is he honest? Is he capable?
Is he faithful to the Constitution? — To THE
NEW HAVEN COMMITTEE, iv, 405. FORD ED.,
viii, 70. (W., 1801.)
6128. OFFICES, Refusal.— For God's
sake get us relieved from this dreadful
drudgery of refusal. — To ALBERT GALLATIN.
v, 398. (Dec. 1808.)
6129. OFFICES, Regeneration of.— -We
are proceeding gradually in the regeneration
of offices, and introducing republicans to
some share in them. — To LEVI LINCOLN, iv,
399- FORD ED., viii, 67. (W., July 1801.)
6130. OFFICES, Unconstitutional
nominations. — The President cannot, before
the 4th of March, make nominations [of
Vermont officers] which will be good in law ;
because till that day, Vermont will not be a
separate and integral member of the U. S.,
and it is only to integral members of the
Union that his right of nomination is given
by the Constitution. — REPORT ON ADMISSION
OF VERMONT. FORD ED., v. 290. (1791.)
6131. OFFICES, Vacancies.— I think I
have a preferable right to name agents for
my own administration, at least to the
vacancies falling after it was known that Mr.
Adams was not naming for himself. — To A.
STUART, iv, 393. FORD ED., viii, 46. (M.,
April 1801.)
6132. - . The phrase in the Con
stitution is, " to fill up all vacancies that may
happen during the recess of the Senate ''.
This may mean " vacancies that may happen
to be ", or " may happen to fall " ; it is, cer
tainly, susceptible of both constructions, and
we took the practice of our predecessors as
the commentary established. This was done
without deliberation ; and we have not before
taken an exact view of the precedents. They
more than cover our cases, but I think some
of them are not justifiable. We propose to
take the subject into consideration, and to fix
on such a rule of conduct, within the words
of the Constitution, as may save the govern
ment from serious injury, and yet restrain
the Executive within limits which might ad
mit mischief. You will observe the cases of
Reade and Putnam, where the persons nom
inated declining to accept, the vacancy re
mained unfilled, and had happened before
the recess. It will be said these vacancies
did not remain unfilled by the intention of
the Executive, who had, by nomination, en
deavored to fill them. So in our cases,
they were not unfilled by the intention of
the successor, but by the omission of the
predecessor. Charles Lee informed me that
wherever an office became vacant so short
a time before Congress rose, as not to
give an opportunity of enquiring for a proper
character, they let it lie always till recess.
* * We must establish a correct and well
digested rule of practice, to bind up our suc
cessors as well as ourselves. If we find that
any of our cases go beyond the limits of such
a rule, we must consider what will be the
best way of preventing their being considered
authoritative examples. — To WILSON C.
NICHOLAS. FORD ED., viii, 131. (W., Jan.
1802.)
6133. . The mischievous law
vacating, every four years, nearly all the
executive offices of the government, saps the
constitutional and salutary functions of the
President, and introduces a principle of in
trigue and corruption, which will soon
leaven the mass, not only of senators, but of
citizens. It is more baneful than the attempt
which failed in the beginning of the govern
ment, to make all officers irremovable but
with the consent of the Senate. This places,
Offices
Office-holders
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
every four years, all appointments under their
power, and even obliges them to act on every
one nomination. It will keep in constant ex
citement all the hungry cormorants for office,
render them, as well as those in place,
sycophants to their Senators, engage these
in eternal intrigue to turn out one and put in
another, in cabals to swap work; and make
of them what all executive directories be
come, mere sinks of corruption and faction.
This must have been one of the midnight
signatures of the President when he had not
time to consider, or even to read the law ; and
the more fatal as being irrepealable but with
the consent of the Senate, which will never be
obtained. — To JAMES MADISON. vii, 190.
FORD ED., x, 168. (P.F., 1820.)
6134. OFFICES, Women and.— The ap
pointment of a woman to office is an innova
tion for which the public is not prepared,
nor am I. — To ALBERT GALLATIN. FORD ED.,
ix, 7. (W., Jan. 1807.)
6135. OFFICE-HOLDERS, Appoint
ments. — With regard to appointments, I have
so much confidence in the justice and good
sense of the federalists, that I have no doubt
they will concur in the fairness of the posi
tion, that after they have been in the exclusive
possession of all offices from the very first
origin of party among us, to the 3d of
March, at 9 o'clock in the night, no repub
lican ever admitted, and this doctrine newly
avowed, it is now perfectly just that the re
publicans should come in for the vacancies
which may fall in, until something like an
equilibrium in office be restored ; after which
" Tros Tyriusque mihi nullo discrimine age-
tur."*—TQ DR. BENJAMIN RUSH, iv, 382.
FORD ED., viii, 31. (W., March 1801.)
6136. . About appointments to
offices the rule is simple enough. The fed
eralists having been in exclusive possession of
them from the first origin of the party among
us, to the 3d of March, nine o'clock p. m. of
the evening, at twelve of which Mr. Adams
was to go out of office, their reason will ac
knowledge the justice of giving vacancies, as
they happen, to those who have been so long
excluded, till the same general proportion
prevails in office which exists out of it. — To
GIDEON GRANGER. FORD ED., viii, 44. (W.,
March 1801.)
6137. . Which appointment would
be most respected by the public, for that cir
cumstance is not only generally the best
criterion of what is best, but the public
respect can alone give strength to the govern
ment. — To ARCHIBALD STUART. FORD ED., viii,
47. (M., April 1801.)
6138. . There is nothing I am
so anxious about as making the best possible
appointments, and no case in which the best
men are more liable to mislead us, by yielding
to the solicitations of applicants. — T(
.0 NA-
FORD ED., viii, 52.
THANIEL MACON. iv, 396.
(W., May 1801.)
* The Congress edition omits the Latin quotation.
In the Ford edition, " habetur ", not " agetur ". —
EDITOR.
6139. . The grounds on which
one of the competitors stood, set aside of
necessity all hesitation. Mr. Hall's having
been a member of the Legislature, a Speaker
of the Representatives, and a member of the
Executive Council, were evidences of the re
spect of the State towards him, which our
respect for the State could not neglect. — To
J. F. MERCER, iv, 562. (W., 1804.)
6140. OFFICE-HOLDERS, Caucuses
and. — The allegations against Pope, of New
Bedford, are insufficient. Although meddling
in political caucuses is no part of that free
dom of personal suffrage which ought to be
allowed him, yet his mere presence at a cau
cus does not necessarily involve an active and
official influence in opposition to the govern
ment which employs him. — To ALBERT GAL-
LATIN. FORD ED., viii, 499. (W., 1806.)
6141. OFFICE-HOLDERS, Charges
against. — I have made it a rule not to give
up letters of accusation, or copies of them,
in any case. — To ALBERT GALLATIN. FORD ED.,
viii, 500. (W., 1806.)
6142. OFFICE-HOLDERS, Elections
and. — Interferences with elections, whether
of the State or General Government, by officers
of the latter, should be deemed cause of re
moval; because the constitutional remedy by
the elective principle becomes nothing, if it
may be smothered by the enormous patronage
of the General Government. — To THOMAS
McKEAN. iv, 350. FORD ED., vii, 487. (W.,
1801.)
6143. . To these means [deaths,
resignations, and delinquencies] of obtaining
a just share in the transaction of the public
business, shall be added one other, to wit,
removal for electioneering activity, or open
and industrious opposition to the principles
of the present government, Legislative and
Executive. Every officer of the government
may vote at elections according to his con
science ; but we should betray the cause com
mitted to our care, were we to permit the in
fluence of official patronage to be used to
overthrow that cause. — To LEVI LINCOLN, iv,
451. FORD ED., viii, 176. (W., Oct. 1802.)
6144. . I think it not amiss that
it should be known that we are determined to
remove officers who are active or open
mouthed against the government, by which I
mean the Legislature as well as the Execu
tive. — To LEVI LINCOLN, iv, 452. FORD EDV
viii, 176. (W., Oct. 1802.)
6145. . I have received two ad
dresses from meetings of democratic repub
licans at Dover, praying the removal of Allen
McLane. * * * If he has been active in elec
tioneering in favor of those who wish to sub
vert the present order of things, it would be
a serious circumstance. I do not mean as
to giving his personal vote, in which he ought
not to be controlled; but as to using his in
fluence (which necessarily includes his official
influence) to sway the votes of others. — To
CESAR A. RODNEY. FORD ED., viii, 154. (W.,
1802.)
653
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Office-holders
6146. . I think the officers of
the Federal Government are meddling too
much with the public elections. Will it be
best to admonish them privately or by proc
lamation?— To ALBERT GALLATIN. iv, 559.
FORD ED., viii, 320. (M., Sep. 1804.)
6147. OFFICE-HOLDERS, Executive
explanations and.— It has not been the cus
tom, nor would it be expedient, for the Exec
utive to enter into details for the rejection of
candidates for offices or removal of those who
possess them. — To MRS. SARAH MEASE. FORD
ED., viii, 35. (W., March 1801.)
6148. - — . These letters [from you]
all relating to office, fall within the general
rule which even the very first week of my
being engaged in the administration obliged
me to establish, to wit, that of not answering
letters on office specifically, but leaving the
answer to be found in what is done or not
done on them. You will readily conceive into
what scrapes one would get by saying no,
either with or without reason, by using a softer
language which might excite false hope, or
by saying yes prematurely. And to take away
all offence from this silent answer, it is
necessary to adhere to it in every case rigidly,
as well with bosom friends as strangers. — To
AARON BURR. FORD ED., viii, 102. (W., Nov.
1801.)
6149. . The circumstance of ex
hibiting our recommendations even to our
friends, requires great consideration. Recom
mendations, when honestly written, should
detail the bad as well as the good qualities
of the person recommended. That gentlemen
may do freely, if they know their letter is
to be confined to the President or the head of
a department ; but if communicated further, it
may bring on them troublesome quarrels. In
General Washington's time, he resisted every
effort to bring forth his recommendations. In
Mr. Adams's time, I only know that the re
publicans knew nothing of them. * * *
To Mr. Tracy, at any rate, no exhibition or
information of recommendations ought to be
communicated. He may be told that the
President does not think it regular to com
municate the grounds or reasons of his de
cision. — To ALBERT GALLATIN. FORD ED., viii,
210. (Feb. 1803.)
6150. . The address of the Ward
Committee of Philadelphia on the subject of
removals from office was received. I cannot
answer it, because I have given no answers
to the many others I have received from
other quarters. * * * Although no person
wishes more than I do to learn the opinions
of respected individuals, because they enable
me to examine, and often to correct my own,
yet I am not satisfied that I ought to admit
the addresses even of those bodies of men
which are organized by the Constitution (the
Houses of Legislature for instance) to in
fluence the appointment to office for which the
Constitution has chosen to rely on the inde
pendence and integrity of the Executive, con
trolled by the Senate, chosen both of them
by the whole Union. Still less of those bodies
whose organization is unknown to the Con
stitution. As revolutionary instruments
(when nothing but revolution will cure the
evils of the State) they are necessary and
indispensable, and the right to use them is
inalienable by the people ; but to admit them
as ordinary and habitual instruments as a
part of the machinery of the Constitution,
would be to change that machinery by intro
ducing moving powers foreign to it, and to
an extent depending solely on local views,
and therefore incalculable. The opinions of
fered by individuals, and of right, are on a
different ground ; they are sanctioned by the
Constitution; which has also prescribed, when
they choose to act in bodies, the organization,
objects and rights of those bodies. * * *
This view of the subject forbids me, in my
judgment, to give answers to addresses of
this kind.* — To WILLIAM DUANE. FORD ED.,
viii, 255. (M., 1803.)
6151. . You complain that I did
not answer your letters applying for office.
But if you will reflect a moment you may
judge whether this ought to be expected. To
the successful applicant for an office the
commission is the answer. To the unsuccess
ful multitude am I to go with every one into
the reasons for not appointing him? Besides
that this correspondence would literally en
gross my whole time, into what controversies
would it lead me? Sensible of this dilemma,
from the moment of coming into office I laid
it down as a rule to leave the applicants to
collect their answer from the facts. To en
title myself to the benefit of the rule in any
case it must be observed in every one; and
I never have departed from it in a single case,
not even for my bosom friends. You observe
that you are, or probably will be appointed
an elector. I have no doubt you will do your
duty with a conscientious regard to the public
good, and to that only. Your decision in
favor of another would not excite in my
mind the slightest dissatisfaction towards you.
On the contrary, I should honor the integ
rity of your choice. In the nominations I
have to make, do the same justice to my
motives. Had you hundreds to nominate, in
stead of one, be assured they would not com
pose for you a bed of roses. You would
find yourself in most cases with one loaf and
ten wanting bread. Nine must be disap
pointed, perhaps become secret, if not open
enemies. — To LARKIN SMITH. FORD ED., viii,
336. (W., Nov. 1804.)
6152. OFFICE-HOLDERS, Freedom of
opinion and. — Opinion, and the just main
tenance of it, shall never be a crime in my
view; nor bring injury on the individual. —
To SAMUEL ADAMS, iv, 389. FORD ED., viii,
39. (W., March 1801.)
6153. - — . The right of opinion
shall suffer no invasion from me. Those who
have acted well have nothing to fear, however
they may have differed from me in opinion ;
* The letter containing this extract was not sent to
Mr. Duane.— EDITOR.
Office-holders
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
654
those who have done ill, however, have noth
ing to hope; nor shall I fail to do justice
lest it should be ascribed to that difference of
opinion. — To ELBRIDGE GERRY, iv, 391. FORD
ED., viii, 42. (W., March 1801.)
6154. OFFICE-HOLDERS, Half-breeds.
— I never did the federalists an act of injus
tice, nor failed in any duty to them imposed
by my office. Out of about six hundred of
ficers, named by the President, there were
six republicans only when I came into office,
and these were chiefly half-breeds. Out of
upwards of three hundred holding during
pleasure, I removed about fifteen, or those
who had signalized themselves by their own
intolerance in office, because the public voice
called for it imperiously, and it was just that
the republicans should at length have some
participation in the government. There never
was another removal but for such delinquen
cies as removed the republicans equally. In
this horrid drudgery I always felt myself as
a public executioner, an office which no one
who knows me, I hope, supposes very grate
ful to my feelings. It was considerably al
leviated, however, by the industry of their
newspapers in endeavoring to excite resent
ment enough to enable me to meet the opera
tion. However, I hail the day which is to re
lieve me from being viewed as an official
enemy. In priyate life, I never had above
one or two; to the friendship of that situation
I look with delight.— To WILLIAM SHORT.
FORD ED., ix, 51. (W., May 1807.)
6155. OFFICE-HOLDERS, Malignant
opposition. — Deaths, resignations, delinquen
cies, malignant and active opposition to the
order of things established by the will of the
nation, will, it is believed, within a moderate
space of time, make room for a just partici
pation in the management of the public af
fairs; and that being once effected, future
changes at the helm will be viewed with
tranquillity by those in subordinate station. —
To WILLIAM JUDD. viii, 114. (1802.)
6156. OFFICE-HOLDERS, Matrimony
and. — Mr. Remsen having decided definitely
to resign his office of Chief clerk, I have con
sidered with all the impartiality in my power
the different grounds on which yourself and
Mr. Taylor stand in competition for the
succession. I understand that he was ap
pointed a month before you, and that you
came into actual service about a month before
he did. These circumstances place you so
equally, that I cannot derive from them any
ground of preference. Yet obliged to decide
one way or the other, I find in a comparison
of your conditions a circumstance of con
siderable equity in his favor. He is a married
man, with a family; yourself single. There
can be no doubt but that $500 place a single
man as much at his ease as $800 do a married
one. On this single circumstance, then, I
have thought myself bound to appoint Mr.
Taylor chief clerk.— To JACOB BLACKWELL.
FORD ED., v, 490. (Pa., 1792.)
6157. OFFICE-HOLDERS, Multiplica
tion of. — I am not for a multiplication of
officers * * * merely to make partizans. —
To ELBRIDGE GERRY, iv, 268. FORD ED.., vii,
327. (Pa., 1799.)
6158. OFFICE-HOLDERS, Partizan.—
A few examples of justice on officers who
have perverted their functions to the op
pression of their fellow citizens, must, in jus
tice to those citizens, be made. — To SAMUEL
ADAMS, iv, 389. FORD ED., .viii, 39. (W.,
March 1801.)
6159. . Those whose miscon
duct in office ought to have produced their
removal even by my predecessor, must not be
protected by the delicacy due only to honest
men. — To SAMUEL ADAMS, iv, 389. FORD
ED., viii, 39. (W., March 1801.)
6160. . Officers who have been
guilty of gross abuses of office, such as mar
shals packing juries, &c., I shall now remove,
as my predecessor ought in justice to have
done. The instances will be few, and gov
erned by strict rule, and not party passion. —
To ELBRIDGE GERRY, iv, 391. FORD ED., viii,
42. (W., March 1801.)
6161. . I have never removed a
man merely because he was a federalist. I
have never wished them to give a vote at an
election, but according to their own wishes.
But as no government could discharge its
duties to the best advantage of its citizens, if its
agents were in a regular course of thwarting
instead of executing all its measures, and were
employing the patronage and influence of
their offices against the government and its
measures, I have only requested they would
be quiet, and they should be safe ; that if their
conscience urges them to take an active and
zealous part in opposition, it ought also to
urge them to retire from a post which they
could not conscientiously conduct with fidel
ity to the trust reposed in them ; and on
failure to retire, I have removed them ; that
is to say, those who maintained an active and
zealous opposition to the government. — To
JOHN PAGE, v, 136. FORD ED., ix, 118. (W.,
July 1807.)
6162. . Our principles render
federalists in office safe, if they do not em
ploy their influence in opposing the govern
ment, and only give their own vote according
to their conscience. And this principle we
act on as well with those put in office by
others, as by ourselves. — To LEVI LIN
COLN, v, 264. (W., March 1808.)
6163. OFFICE-HOLDERS, Recommen
dations. — Should I be placed in office, noth
ing would be more desirable to me than the
recommendations of those in whom I have
confidence, of persons fit for office; for if the
good withhold their testimony, we shall be at
the mercy of the bad. — To DR. B. S. BARTON.
iv, 353- FORD ED., vii, 489. (W., Feb. 1801.)
6164. . It is so far from being
improper to receive the communications you
had in contemplation as to arrangements [re
specting the offices] in your State, that I
have been in the constant expectation you
655
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Office-holders
would find time to do me the favor of call
ing and making them, when we could in
conversation explain them better than by
writing, and I should with frankness and
thankfulness enter into the explanations.
The most valuable source of information we
have is that of the members of the Legisla
ture, and it is one to which I have resorted
and shall resort with great freedom. — To
CHARLES PINCKNEY. FORD ED., viii, 6. (W.,
March 1801.)
6165. . We want an attorney
and marshal for the Western [Virginia] dis
trict. * * * Pray recommend [persons]
to me; and let them be the most respectable
and unexceptionable possible, and especially
let them be republicans. — To A. STUART, iv,
393. FORD ED., viii, 46. (M., April 1801.)
6166. . In all cases, when an
office becomes vacant in your State [North
Carolina], as the distance would occasion a
great delay were you to wait to be regularly
consulted, I shall be much obliged to you to
recommend the best characters.— To NA
THANIEL MACON. iv, 396. FORD ED., viii, 52.
(W., May 1801.)
6167. - — . Disposed myself to make
as few changes in office as possible, to en
deavor to restore harmony by avoiding every
thing harsh, and to remove only for mal-
conduct, I have, nevertheless, been persuaded
that circumstances in New York, and still
more in the neighboring States on both
sides, require something more. It is repre
sented that the Collector, Naval Officer, and
Supervisor ought all to be removed for the
violence of their characters and conduct. The
following arrangement was agreed on by
Colonel Burr and some of your Senators and
Representatives: David Gelston, Collector,
Theodorus Bailey, Naval Officer, and M. L.
Davis, Supervisor. Yet all did not agree in
all the particulars, and I have since received
letters expressly stating that Mr. Bailey has
not readiness and habit enough of business
for the office of Naval Officer, and some sug
gestions that Mr. Davis's standing in society,
and other circumstances will render his not
a respectable appointment to the important
office of Supervisor. Unacquainted myself
with these and the other characters in the
State which might be proper for these offices,
and forced to decide on the opinions of others,
there is no one whose opinion would com
mand with me greater respect than yours,
if you would be so good as to advise me,
which of these characters and what others
would be fittest for these offices. Not only
competent talents, but respectability in the
public estimation are to be considered. — To
GEORGE CLINTON. FORD ED., viii, 53. (W.,
May 1801.)
^ 6168. . To exhibit recommenda
tions would be to turn the Senate into a
court of honor, or a court of slander, and to
expose the character of every man nominated
to an ordeal, without his own consent, subject
ing the Senate to heats and waste of time. —
To ALBERT GALLATIN. FORD ED., viii, 211.
(1803.)
6169. . The friendship which
has long subsisted between the President of
the United States and myself gave me reason
to expect, on my retirement from office, that
I might often receive applications to interpose
with him on behalf of persons desiring ap
pointments. Such an abuse of his disposi
tions towards me would necessarily lead to the
loss of them, and to the transforming me
from the character of a friend to that of an
unreasonable and troublesome solicitor. It,
therefore, became necessary for me to lay
down as a law for my future conduct never
to interpose in any case, either with him or
the heads of departments, in any application
whatever for office. — CIRCULAR LETTER. FORD
ED., ix, 248. (March 1809.)
6170. OFFICE-HOLDERS, Reduction.
— Among those [officers] who are dependent
on Executive discretion, I have begun the
reduction of what was deemed necessary.
The expense of diplomatic agency have been
considerably diminished. The inspectors of
internal revenue, who were found to obstruct
the accountability of the institution, have
been discontinued. Several agencies created
by Executive authority, on salaries fixed by
that also, have been suppressed, and should
suggest the expediency of regulating that
power by law, so as to subject its exercises
to legislative inspection and sanction. Other
reformations of the same kind will be pur
sued with that caution which is requisite in
removing useless things, not to injure what
is retained. But the great mass of public
offices is established by law, and, therefore,
by law alone can be abolished. — FIRST AN
NUAL MESSAGE, viii, 10. FORD ED., viii, 120.
(Dec. 1801.)
6171. — . When we consider that
this government is charged with the eternal
and mutual relations only of these States;
that the States themselves have principal care
of our persons, our property, and our rep
utation, constituting the great field of human
concerns, we may well doubt whether our
organization is not too complicated, too ex
pensive ; whether offices and officers have not
been multiplied unnecessarily, and sometimes
injuriously to the service they were meant
to promote. I will cause to be laid before
you an essay towards a statement of those
who, under public employment of various
kinds, draw money from the treasury or from
our citizens. — FIRST ANNUAL MESSAGE, viii,
9. FORD ED., viii, 1 20. (Dec. 1801.)
6172. - — . The session of the first
Congress, convened since republicanism has
recovered its ascendancy, * * * will
pretty completely fulfil all the desires of the
people. * * * They are disarming execu
tive patronage and preponderance, by putting
down one half the offices of the United
States, which are no longer necessary. — To
GENERAL KOSCIUSKO. iv, 430. (W., April
1802.)
Office-holders
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
656
6173. OFFICE-HOLDERS, Removals.—
Some [removals] I know must be made.
They must be as few as possible, done grad
ually, and bottomed on some malversation or
inherent disqualification. — To JAMES MONROE.
iv, 368. (W., March 1801.)
6174. . I believe with others,
that deprivations of office, if made on the
ground of political principles alone, would re
volt our new converts, and give a body to
leaders who now stand alone. Some, I
know, must be made. They must be as few
as possible, done gradually, and bottomed on
some malversation or inherent disqualifica
tion. Where we shall draw the line between
retaining all and none, is not yet settled, and
it will not be till we get our administration
together ; and perhaps even then, we shall
proceed a tatons, balancing our measures ac
cording to the impression we perceive them
to make. — To JAMES MONROE, iv, 368. FORD
ED., viii, 10. (W., March 1801.)
6175. . That some ought to be
removed from office, and that all ought not,
all mankind will agree. But where to draw
the line, perhaps no two will agree. Conse
quently, nothing like a general approbation on
this subject can be looked for. Some prin
ciples have been the subject of conversation
[in cabinet] but not of determination, e. g.,
i. All appointments to civil offices during
pleasure, made after the event of the election
was certainly known to Mr. Adams, are con
sidered as nullities. I do not view the per
sons appointed as even candidates for the
office, but make others without noticing or
notifying them. Mr. Adams's best friends
have agreed this is right. 2. Officers who
have been guilty of official malconduct are
proper subjects of removal. 3. Good men,
to whom there is no objection but a difference
of political principle, practiced on only as
far as the right of a private citizen will jus
tify, are not proper subjects of removal ex
cept in the case of attorneys and marshals.
The courts being so decidedly federal and ir
removable, it is believed that republican at
torneys and marshals, being the doors of en
trance into the courts, are indispensably
necessary as a shield to the republican part
of our fellow citizens, which, I believe, is
the main body of the people. — To WILLIAM
B. GILES, iv, 380. FORD ED., viii, 25. (W.,
March 1801.)
6176. . As to removals from
office, great differences of opinion exist.
That some ought to be removed, all will
agree. That all should, nobody will say.
And no two will probably draw the same
line between these two extremes; conse
quently nothing like general approbation can
be expected. Malconduct is a just ground of
removal: mere difference of political opinion
is not. The temper of some States requires
a stronger procedure ; that of others would
be more alienated even by a milder course.
Taking into consideration all circumstances,
we can only do in every case what to us seems
best, and trust to the indulgence of our fellow
citizens who may see the same matter in a
different point of view. * * * Time, pru
dence, and patience will, perhaps, get us over
this whole difficulty.— To WILLIAM FINDLEY.
FORD ED., viii, 27. (W., March 1801.)
6177. . The great stumbling
block will be removals, which, though made
on those just principles only on which my
predecessor ought to have removed the same
persons, will nevertheless be ascribed to re
moval on party principles, ist. I will ex
punge the effects of Mr. Adams's indecent
conduct, in crowding nominations after he
knew they were not for himself, till 9 o'clock
of the night, at 12 o'clock of which he was
to go out of office. So far as they are during
pleasure, I shall not consider the persons
named, as even candidates for the office, nor
pay the respect of notifying them that I con
sider what was done as a nullity. 2d. Some
removals must be made for misconduct. One
of these is of the marshal in your city, who
being an officer of justice, intrusted with the
function of choosing impartial judges for the
trial of his fellow citizens, placed at the awful
tribunal of God and their country, selected
judges who either avowed, or were known
to him to be predetermined to condemn;
and if the lives of the unfortunate per
sons were not cut short by the sword of
the law, it was not for want of his good
will. In another State, I have to per
form the same act of justice on the dear
est connection of my dearest friend, for
similar conduct, in a case not capital. The
same practice of packing juries, and prosecu
ting their fellow citizens with the bitterness
of party hatred, will probably involve several
other marshals and attorneys. Out of this
line, I see but very few instances where past
misconduct has been in a degree to call for
notice. Of the thousands of officers, therefore,
in the United States, a very few individuals
only, probably not twenty, will be removed ;
and these only for doing what they ought not
to have done. Two or three instances, in
deed, where Mr. Adams removed men because
they would not sign addresses, &c., to him,
will be rectified — the persons restored. The
whole world will say this is just. I know that
in stopping thus short in the career of re
moval, I shall give great offence to many of
my friends. That torrent has been pressing
me heavily, and will require all my force to
bear up against ; but my maxim is, " fiat
justitia, ruat cesium." — To DR. BENJAMIN
RUSH, iv, 383. FORD ED., viii, 31. (W.,
March 1801.)
6178. . I am aware that the
necessity of a few removals for legal op
pressions, delinquencies, and other official
malversations, may be misconstrued as done
for political opinions, and produce hesitation
in the coalition so much to be desired; but
the extent of these will be too limited to
make permanent impressions. — To GENERAL
HENRY KNOX. iv, 386. FORD ED., viii, 36.
(W., March 1801.)
657
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Office-holders
6179. . No one will say that all
should be removed, or that none should. Yet
no two scarcely draw the same lines. * * *
Persons who have perverted their offices to
the oppression of their fellow citizens, as
marshals packing juries, attorneys grinding
their legal victims, intolerants removing
those under them for opinion's sake, sub
stitutes for honest men removed for their re
publican principles, will probably find few
advocates even among their quondam party.
But the freedom of opinion, and the reason
able maintenance of it, is not a crime, and
ought not to occasion injury. — To GIDEON
GRANGER. FORD ED., viii, 44. (W., March
1801.)
6180. . In Connecticut alone, a
general sweep seems to be called for on prin
ciples of justice and policy. Their Legisla
ture are removing every republican even
from the commissions of the peace and
the lowest offices. There, then, we will re
taliate. Whilst the federalists are taking
possession of all the State offices, exclusively,
they ought not to expect we will leave them
the exclusive possession of those at our
disposal. The republicans have some rights
and must be protected. — To WILSON C.
NICHOLAS. FORD ED., viii, 64. (W., June
1801.)
6181. . I am satisfied that the
heaping of abuse on me, personally, has been
with the design and hope of provoking me to
make a general sweep of all federalists out of
office. But as I have carried no passion into
the execution of this disagreeable duty, I shall
suffer none to be excited. The clamor which
has been raised will not provoke me to re
move one more, nor deter me from remov
ing one less, than if not a word had been
said on the subject. — To LEVI LINCOLN, iv,
407. FORD EDV viii, 84. (M., Aug. 1801.)
6182. . The removal of excres
cences from the judiciary is the universal
demand. — To LEVI LINCOLN, iv, 407. FORD
ED., viii, 85. (M., Aug. 1801.)
6183. . Rigorous justice re
quired that as the federalists had filled every
office with their friends to the avowed ex
clusion of republicans, that the latter should
be admitted to a participation of office, by
the removal of some of the former. This was
done to the extent of about twenty only out
of some thousands, and no more was in
tended. But instead of their acknowledging
its moderation, it has been a ground for their
more active enmity. After a twelve months'
trial I have at length been induced to remove
three or four more of those most marked
for their bitterness, and active zeal in slander
ing, and in electioneering. Whether we shall
proceed any further, will depend on themselves.
Those who are quiet, and take no part against
that order of things which the public will has
established, will be safe. Those who continue
to clamor against it, to slander and oppose
it, shall not be armed with its wealth and
power for its own destructioa The late re
movals have been intended merely as moni
tory, but such officers, as shall afterwards
continue to bid us defiance, shall as certainly
be removed, if the case shall become known.
A neutral conduct is all I ever desired, and
this the public have a right to expect— To
ELBRIDGE GERRY. FORD EDV viii, 169. (W.,
Aug. 1802.)
6184. . We laid down our line of
proceedings on mature inquiry and consider
ation in 1801, and have not departed from it.
Some removals, to wit, sixteen to the end of
our first session of Congress were made on
political principles alone, in very urgent cases ;
and we determined to make no more but for
delinquency, or active and bitter opposition
to the order of things which the public will
had established. On this last ground nine
were removed from the end of the first to
the end of the second session of Congress;
and one since that. So that sixteen only
have been removed on the whole for political
principles, that is to say, to make room for
some participation for the republicans. * * *
Pursuing our object of harmonizing all good
people of every description, we shall steadily
adhere to our rule, and it is with sincere
pleasure I learn that it is approved by the
more moderate part of our friends. — To MR.
NICHOLSON, iv, 485. (W., May 1803.)
6185. . Many vacancies have
been made by death and resignation, many
by removal for malversation in office, and for
open, active, and virulent abuse of official
influence in opposition to the order of things
established by the will of the nation. Such
removals continue to be made on sufficient
proof. The places have been steadily filled
with republican characters until out of 316
officers in all the United States, subiect to
appointment and removal by me, 130 only are
held by federalists. I do not include in this
estimate the judiciary and military, because
not removable but by established process, nor
the officers of the internal revenue, because
discontinued by law, nor postmasters, or any
others not named by me. And this has been
effected in little more than two years by means
so moderate and just as cannot fail to be ap
proved in future.* — To WILLIAM DUANE.
FORD EDV viii, 258. (W., July 1803.)
6186. . I give full credit to the
wisdom of the measures pursued by the Gov
ernor of Pennsylvania in removals from of
fice. I have no doubt he followed the wish of
the State ; and he had no other to consult.
But in the General Government each State is
to be administered, not on its local principles,
but on the principles of all the States formed
into a general result. That I should adminis
ter the affairs of Massachusetts and Connecti
cut, for example, on federal principles, could
not be approved. I dare say, too, that the
extensive removals from office in Pennsyl
vania may have contributed to the great con
version which has been manifested among
* The letter containing this extract was not sent to
Mr. Duane.— EDITOR.
Office-holders
Olive
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
658
its citizens. But I respect them too much to
believe it has been the exclusive or even the
principal motive. I presume the sound meas
ures of their government, and of the General
one, have weighed more in their estimation
and conversation, than the consideration of
the particular agents employed. — To WILLIAM
DUANE. FORD ED., viii, 259. (M., July 1803.)
6187. . Although I know that
it is best generally to assign no reason for a
removal from office, yet there are also times
when the declaration of a principle is advan
tageous. Such was the moment at which
the New Haven letter appeared. It ex
plained our principles to our friends, and they
rallied to them. The public sentiment has
taken a considerable stride since that, and
seems to require that they should know again
where we stand. I suggest, therefore, for
your consideration, instead of the following
passage in your letter to Bo wen, " I think
it due to candor at the same time to inform
you, that I had for some time been deter
mined to remove you from office, although a
successor has not yet been appointed by the
President, nor the precise time fixed for that
purpose communicated to him ", to substitute
this, " I think it due to candor at the same
time to inform you, that the President, con
sidering that the patronage of public office
should no longer .be confided to one who uses
it for active opposition to the national will,
had, some time since, determined to place
your office in other hands. But a successor
not being yet fixed on, I am not able to name
the precise time when it will take place ".
My own opinion is, that the declaration of
this principle will meet the entire approbation
of all moderate republicans, and will extort
indulgence from the warmer ones. Seeing
that we do not mean to leave arms in the
hands of active enemies, they will care the
less at our tolerance of the inactive. — To
ALBERT GALLATIN. iv, 543. FORD ED., viii,
303. (May 1804.)
6188. - — . In the case of the re
moval proposed by the collector of Baltimore,
I consider it as entirely out of my sphere, and
resting solely with yourself. Were I to give
an opinion on the subject, it would only be
by observing that in the cases under my im
mediate care, I have never considered the
length of time a person has continued in of
fice, nor the money he has made in it, as en
tering at all into the reasons for a removal. —
To ALBERT GALLATIN. FORD ED., viii, 499.
(W., 1806.)
6189. OFFICE-HOLDERS, Tenure of.—
Should I be placed in office * * * no man
who has conducted himself according to his
duties would have anything to fear from me,
as those who have done ill, would have noth
ing to hope, be their political principles what
they might.— To DR. B. S. BARTON, iv, 353.
FORD ED., vii, 489. (W., Feb. 1801.)
6190. OFFICE-HOLDERS, Useless.—
The suppression of useless offices * * *
will probably produce some disagreeable al
tercations [in Congress]. — To DR. BENJAMIN
RUSH, iv, 426. FORD ED., viii, 128. (W.,
1801.)
— OIL OF BENI.— See OLIVE, SUBSTI
TUTE FOR.
— OLD AGE.— See AGE.
6191. OLIVE, Adapted to America.—
The olive tree * * * would surely succeed
in your country, and would be an infinite bless
ing after some fifteen or twenty years. The
caper would also probably succeed, and would
offer a very great and immediate profit. — To E.
RUTLEDGE. ii, 180. FORD ED., IV, 4IO. (P.,
1787.)
6192. OLIVE, Blessing to the poor.—
After bread, I know no blessing to the poor, in
this world, equal to that of oil. — To RALPH
IZARD. FORD ED., v, 128. (P., 1789.)
6193. OLIVE, Cultivation of .—The olive
is a tree the least known in America, and yet
the most worthy of being known. Of all the
gifts of heaven to man, it is next to the most
precious, if it be not the most precious. Per
haps it may claim a preference even to bread,
because there is such an infinitude of vege
tables, which it renders a proper and comfort
able nourishment. In passing the Alps at the
Col de Tende, where they are mere masses of
rock, wherever there happens to be a little soil,
there are a number of olive trees, and a village
supported by them. Take away these trees,
and the same ground in corn would not sup
port a single family. A pound of oil which can
be bought for three or four pence sterling, is
equivalent to many pounds of flesh, by the
3uantity of vegetables it will prepare, and ren-
er fit and comfortable food. Without this
tree, the country of Provence and territory of
Genoa would not support one-half, perhaps not
one-third, their present inhabitants. The na
ture of the soil is of little consequence if it be
dry. The trees are planted from fifteen to
twenty feet apart, and when tolerably good,
will yield fifteen or twenty pounds of oil yearly,
one with another. There are trees which yield
much more. They begin to render good crops
at twenty years old, and last till killed by cold,
which happens at some time or other, even in
their best positions in France. But they put
out again from their roots. In Italy, I am told
they have trees two hundred years old. — To
WILLIAM DRAYTON. ii, 199. (P., 1787.)
6194. OLIVE, Heaven's gift.— The olive
tree is assuredly the richest gift of heaven. I
can scarcely except bread. — To GEORGE WYTHE.
ii, 266. FORD ED., iv, 443. (P., 1787.)
6195. OLIVE, Importing trees.— I wish
the cargo of olive plants * * * may ar
rive to you in good order. This is the object
for the patriots of your country [South Caro
lina] ; for that tree once established there will
be the source of the greatest wealth and happi
ness. But to insure success, perseverance may
be necessary. An essay or two may fail. I
think, therefore, that an annual sum should be
subscribed, and it need not be a great one. — To
E. RUTLEDGE. iii, no. (P., 1789.)
6196. - . I have arrived at Balti
more from Marseilles forty olive trees of the
best kind, and a box of seed, the latter to raise
stocks, and the former, cuttings to enfraft on
the stocks. I am ordering them on instantly
to Charleston. * Another cargo is on
its way from Bordeaux, so that I hope to se
cure the commencement of this culture, and
659
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Olive
Opinion
from the best species. Sugar and oil will be no
mean addition to the articles of pur culture. —
To PRESIDENT WASHINGTON, iii, 255. FORD
ED., v, 327. (Pa., 1791.)
6197. . I have one hundred olive
trees, and some caper plants from Marseilles,
which I am sending on to Charleston where
* * * they have already that number living
of those I had before sent them. — To PRESIDENT
WASHINGTON, iii, 357. FORD ED., v, 514.
(Pa., 1792.)
6198. . It is now twenty-five
years since I sent my southern fellow citizens
two shipments (about 500 plants) of the olive
tree of Aix, the finest olives in the world. If
any of them still exist, it is merely as a curi
osity in their gardens ; not a single orchard of
them has been planted. — To JAMES RONALDSON.
vi, 92. FORD ED., ix, 371. (M., Jan. 1813.)
6199. OLIVE, Oil.— The oil of the olive
is an article the consumption of which will al
ways keep pace with its production. Raise it,
and it begets its own demand. Little is car
ried to America because Europe has it not to
spare. We, therefore, have not learned the
use of it. But cover the Southern States with
it, and every man will become a consumer of
oil, within whose reach it can be brought in
point of price. — To WILLIAM DRAYTON. ii, 200.
(P., 1787.)
6200. OLIVE, Planting trees.— Were
the owner of slaves to view it only as the
means of bettering their condition, how much
would he better that by planting one of those
trees for every slave he possessed ! Having
been myself an eye-witness to the blessings
which this tree sheds on the poor, I never had
my wishes so kindled for the introduction of
any article of new culture into our own country.
— To WILLIAM DRAYTON. ii, 201. (P., 1787.)
6201. OLIVE, South Carolina and. — If
the memory of those persons is held in great
respect in South Carolina who introduced there
the culture of rice, a plant which sows life
and death with almost equal hand, what obli
gations would be due to him who should intro
duce the olive tree, and set the example of its
culture ! — To WILLIAM DRAYTON. ii, 200. (P.,
1787.)
6202. . I am gratified by letters
from South Carolina, which inform me that in
consequence of the information I had given
them on the subject of the olive tree, and the
probability of its succeeding with them, several
rich individuals propose to begin its culture
there. — To M. DE BERTROUS. ii, 359. (P.,
1788.)
6203. — . This is the most inter
esting plant in the world for South Carolina
and Georgia. You will see in various places
[on your tour] that it gives being to whole vil
lages in places where there is not soil enough
to subsist a. family by the means of any other
culture. But consider it as the means of bet
tering the condition of your slaves in South
Carolina. See in the poorer parts of France
and Italy what a number of vegetables are ren
dered eatable by the aid of a little oil, which
would otherwise be useless. — To WILLIAM
RUTLEDGE. ii, 414. (P., 1788.)
6204. OLIVE, Substitute for.— I lately
received from Colonel Few in New York, a
bottle of the oil of Beni, believed to be a
sesamum. I did not believe there existed so
perfect a substitute for olive oil. Like that of
Florence, it has no taste, and is perhaps rather
more limpid. A bushel of seed yields three
gallons of oil ; and Governor Milledge, of
Georgia, says the plant will grow wherever the
Palmi Christi will. — To ROBERT R. LIVINGSTON.
v, 225. (W., 1808.)
6205. OPINION, Avowal of;— I never
had an opinion in politics or religion which
I was afraid to own. — To F. HOPKINSON. ii,
587. FORD ED., v, 78. (P., 1789.)
6206. . There is, perhaps, a de
gree of duty to avow a change of opinion
called for by a change of circumstances. — To
BENJAMIN AUSTIN, vi, 553. FORD ED., x, n.
(M., 1816.)
6207. OPINION, Coercion.— Subject
opinion to coercion : whom will you make
your inquisitors? Fallible men; governed by
bad passions, by private as well as public
reasons. And why subject it to coercion?
To produce uniformity? But is uniformity of
opinion desirable? No more than of face
and stature. — NOTES ON VIRGINIA, viii, 401.
FORD ED., iii, 264. (1782.)
6208. OPINION, Collisions of.— I wish
to avoid all collisions of opinion with all man
kind. — To CHARLES YANCEY. vi, 517. FORD
ED., x, 4. (M., 1816.)
6209. OPINION, Compromise of.— Some
[members of Congress] think that independ
ence requires them to follow always their own
opinion, without respect for that of others.
This has never been my opinion, nor my
practice, when I have been of that or any
other body. Differing, on a particular ques
tion, from those whom I knew to be of the
same political principles with myself, and
with whom I generally thought and acted,
a consciousness of the fallibility of the human
mind, and of my own in particular, with a re
spect for the accumulated judgment of my
friends, has induced me to suspect erroneous
impressions in myself, to suppose my own
opinion wrong, and to act with them on
theirs. The want of this spirit of compromise,
or of self-distrust, proudly, but falsely called
independence, is what gives the federalists
victories which they could never obtain, if
these brethren could learn to respect the opin
ions of their friends more than of their
enemies, and prevents many able and honest
men from doing all the good they otherwise
might do. These considerations * * *
have often quieted my own conscience in
voting and acting on the judgment of others
against my own. — To WILLIAM DUANE. v,
591. FORD ED., ix, 315. (M., 1811.)
6210. OPINION, Differences of.— Even
if we differ in principle more than I believe
we do, you and I know too well the texture
of the human mind, and the slipperiness of
human reason, to consider differences of opin
ion otherwise than differences of form or
feature. — To ELBRIDGE GERRY, iv, 273. FORD
ED., vii, 335. (Pa., 1799.)
6211. . In every country where
man is free to think and to speak, differences
Opinion
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
660
of opinion will arise from difference of per
ception, and the imperfection of reason ; but
these differences when permitted, as in this
happy country, to purify themselves by free
discussion, are but as passing clouds over
spreading our land transiently, and leaving
our horizon more bright and serene. — To
BENJAMIN WARING, iv, 378. (W., March
1801.)
6212. . Every difference of opin
ion is not a difference of principle. We have
called by different names brethren of the
same principle. We are all republicans : we
are all federalists. — FIRST INAUGURAL AD
DRESS, viii, 2. FORD ED., viii, 3. (1801.)
6213. . I lament sincerely that
unessential differences of opinion should ever
have been deemed sufficient to interdict half
the society from the rights and the blessings
of self-government, to proscribe them as
characters unworthy of every trust. — To THE
NEW HAVEN COMMITTEE, iv, 405. FORD ED.,
viii, 70. (W., July 1801.)
6214. . I tolerate with the ut
most latitude the right of others to differ
from me in opinion without imputing to them
criminality. I know too well the weakness
and uncertainty of human reason to wonder
at its different results. — To MRS. JOHN
ADAMS, iv, 562. FORD ED., viii, 312. (M.,
1804.)
6215. . That in a free govern
ment there should be differences of opinion
as to public measures and the conduct of
those who direct them, is to be expected.
It is much, however, to be lamented, that
these differences should be indulged at a
crisis which calls for the undivided counsels
and energies of our country, and in a form
calculated to encourage our enemies in the
refusal of justice, and to force their country
into war as the only resource for obtaining
it, — R. TO A. NEW LONDON REPUBLICANS.
viii, 151. (1809.)
6216. . That differences of opin
ion should arise among men, on politics, on
religion, and on every other topic of human
inquiry, and that these should be freely ex
pressed in a country where all our faculties
are free, is to be expected. But these valu
able privileges are much perverted when per
mitted to disturb the harmony of social in
tercourse, and to lessen the tolerance of opin
ion. — R. TO A. CITIZENS OF WASHINGTON.
viii, 158. (1809.)
6217. . Some friends have left
me by the way, seeking by a different political
path, the same object, their country's good,
which I pursued with the crowd along the
common highway. It is a satisfaction to me
that I was not the first to leave them. — To
DAVID CAMPBELL, v, 499. (M., 1810.)
6218. . I have never thought
that a difference in political, any more than
in religious opinions, should disturb the
friendly intercourse of society. — To DAVID
CAMPBELL, v, 499. (M., 1810.)
6219.
With respect to impres
sions from any differences of political opin
ion, whether major or minor, * * * I have
none. I left them all behind me on quitting
Washington, where alone the state of things
had, till then, required some attention to
them. Nor was that the lightest part of the
load I was there disburthened of ; and could
I permit myself to believe that with the
change of circumstances a corresponding
change had taken place in the minds of those
who differed from me, and that I now stand
in the peace and good will of my fellow-
citizens generally, it would, indeed, be a
sweetening ingredient in the last dregs of my
life. — To JOHN NICHOLAS, vii, 143. FORD
ED., x, 148. (M., 1819.)
6220. . Difference of opinion
was never, with me, a motive of separation
from a friend. — To PRESIDENT MONROE. FORD
ED., x, 298. (M., 1824.)
6221. . Men, according to their
constitutions and the circumstances in which
they are placed, differ honestly in opinion.
Some are whigs, liberals, democrats, call them
what you please. Others are tories, serviles,
aristocrats, &c. — To WILLIAM SHORT, vii,
391. FORD ED., x, 334. (M., 1825.)
6222. OPINION, Freedom of.— The will
of the people is the only legitimate founda
tion of any government, and to protect its
free expression should be our first object. —
To BENJAMIN WARING. iv, 379. (W.,
March 1801.)
6223. . Opinion, and the just
maintenance of it, shall never be a crime in
my view; nor bring injury on the individual.
— To SAMUEL ADAMS, iv, 389. FORD ED., viii,
39. (W., March 1801.)
6224. . The freedom of opinion,
and the reasonable maintenance of it, is not
a crime, and ought not to occasion injury. —
To GIDEON GRANGER. FORD ED., viii, 44. (W.,
March 1801.)
6225. . The right of opinion shall
suffer no invasion from me. Those [office
holders] who have acted well have nothing
to fear, however they may have differed
from me in opinion : those who have done ill,
however, have nothing to hope ; nor shall I
fail to do justice lest it should be ascribed
to that difference of opinion. — To ELBRIDGE
GERRY, iv, 391. FORD ED., viii, 42. (W.,
March 1801.)
6226. . The legislative powers
of government reach actions only and not
opinions. — REPLY TO BAPTIST ADDRESS, viii,
113. (1802.)
6227. . Where thought is free in
its range, we need never fear to hazard what
is good in itself. — To MR. OGILVIE. v, 604.
(M., 1811.)
6228. . Difference of opinion
leads to enquiry, and enquiry to truth ; and
I am sure * * * we both value too
much the freedom of opinion sanctioned by
66 1
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Opinion
our Constitution, not to cherish its exercise
even where in opposition to ourselves. — To
MR. WENDOVER. vi, 447. (M., 1815.)
6229. . The amendments [to the
constitution of Massachusetts] of which we
have as yet heard, prove the advance of liber
alism * * * and encourage the hope that
the human mind will some day get back to
the freedom it enjoyed two thousand years
ago. — TO JOHN ADAMS, vii, 199. FORD ED.,
x, 185. (M., 1821.)
6230. . I respect the right of free
opinion too much to urge an uneasy pressure
of [my own] opinion on [others]. Time and
advancing science will ripen us all in its
course, and reconcile all to wholesome and
necessary changes. — To SAMUEL KERCHIVAL.
FORD ED., x, 320. (M., 1824.)
6231. OPINION, Government and.—
Government is founded in opinion and con
fidence. — THE ANAS, ix, 121. FORD ED., i,
204. (1792.)
6232. OPINION, Individual.— -I never
submitted the whole system of my opinions
to the creed of any party of men whatever,
in religion, in philosophy, in politics, or in
anything else, where I was capable of think
ing for myself. Such an addiction is the
last degradation of a free and moral agent.
If I could not go to heaven but with a party,
I would not go there at all. — To FRANCIS
HOPKINSON. ii, 585. FORD ED., v, 76. (P.,
1789.)
6233. OPINION, Legal.— On every ques
tion the lawyers are about equally divided,
and were we to act but in cases where no
contrary opinion of a lawyer can be had, we
should never act. — To ALBERT GALLATIN. v,
369. (M., 1808.)
6234. OPINION, Majority and.— I read
ily suppose my opinion wrong, when opposed
by the majority. — To JAMES MADISON, ii,
447. FORD ED., v, 48. (P., 1788.)
6235. OPINION, Power of.— Opinion is
power. — To JOHN ADAMS, vi, 525. (M.,
1816.)
6236. OPINION, Bight of .—I may some
times differ in opinion from some of my
friends, from those whose views are as pure
and sound as my own. I censure none, but
do homage to every one's right of opinion. —
To WILLIAM DUANE. v, 577. FORD ED., ix,
314. (M., 1811.)
6237. OPINION, Sacrifices of .—If we do
not learn to sacrifice small differences of opin
ion, we can never act together. Every man
cannot have his way in all things. If his
own opinion prevails at some times, he should
acquiesce on seeing that of others preponder
ate at other times. Without this mutual dis
position we are disjointed individuals, but
not a society. — To JOHN DICKINSON. FORD
ED., viii, 76. (W., July 1801.)
6238. . I see too many proofs of
the imperfection of human reason, to enter
tain wonder or intolerance at any difference
of opinion on any subject; and acquiesce in
that difference as easily as on a difference of
feature or form; experience having long
taught me the reasonableness of mutual sac
rifices of opinion among those who are to
act together for any common object, and the
expediency of doing what good we can, when
we cannot do all we would wish.— To JOHN
RANDOLPH, iv, 518. FORD ED., viii, 282. (W.,
Dec. 1803.)
6239. . To the principles of union
I sacrifice all minor differences of opinion.
These, like differences of face, are a law of
our nature, and should be viewed with the
same tolerance. — To WILLIAM DUANE. v,
603. (M., 1811.)
6240. OPINION, Uniformity.— Suppose
the State should take into head that there
should be an uniformity of countenance.
Men would be obliged to put an artificial
bump or swelling here, a patch there, &c., but
this would be merely hypocritical, or if the
alternative was given of wearing a mask,
ninety-nine one-hundredths must immediately
mask. Would this add to the beauty of na
ture? Why otherwise in opinions? — NOTES
ON RELIGION. FORD ED., ii, 95. (1776?)
6241. . Is uniformity of opinion
desirable? No more than that of face and
stature.— NOTES ON VIRGINIA, viii, 401. FORD
ED., iii, 264. (1782.)
6242. OPINION, War an —If we are
forced into war [with France] we must give
up differences of opinion, and unite as one
man to defend our country. — To GENERAL
KOSCIUSKO. iv, 295. (Pa., 1799.)
6243. OPINION (Public), Adminis
tration and. — Ministers * * * cannot in
any country be uninfluenced by the voice of
the people.— To JOHN JAY. ii, 46. (P.,
1786.)
6244. OPINION (Public), Advanta
geous. — The advantage of public opinion is
like that of the weather-gauge in a naval
action. — To JAMES MONROE, vi, 408. FORD
ED., ix, 496. (M., 1815.)
6245. OPINION (Public), Attention
to. — More attention should be paid to the
general opinion. — To GEORGE MASON, iii,
209. FORD ED., v, 275. (Pa., 1791.)
6246. OPINION (Public), Censorship
by. — Public opinion is a censor before which
the most exalted tremble for their future as
well as present fame. — To JOHN ADAMS, vi,
524. (M., 1816.)
6247. . The public judgment will
correct false reasonings and opinions, on a
full hearing of all parties; and no other
definite line can be drawn between the in
estimable liberty of the press and its de
moralizing licentiousness. If there be still
improprieties which this rule would not re
strain, its supplement must be sought in the
censorship of public opinion. — SECOND INAU
GURAL ADDRESS, viii, 44. FORD ED., viii, 346.
(1805.)
Opinion
Opinions
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
662
6248. OPINION (Public), Changes in.—
When public opinion changes, it is with the
rapidity of thought.— To CHARLES YANCEY.
vi, 516. FORD ED., x, 3. (M., 1816.)
6249. OPINION (Public), Conforming
to. — I think it a duty in those intrusted with
the administration of their affairs to conform
themselves to the decided choice of their con
stituents.— To JOHN JAY. i, 404. FORD ED.,
iv, 89. (P., 1785.)
6250. OPINION (Public), Degeneracy.
—It is the manners and spirit of a people
which preserve a republic in vigor. A de
generacy in these is a canker which soon eats
to the heart of its laws and constitution. —
NOTES ON VIRGINIA, viii, 406. FORD ED., iii,
269. (1782.)
6251. OPINION (Public), Force of.—
The public mind [in France] is manifestly
advancing on the abusive prerogatives of
their governors, and bearing them down. No
force in the government can withstand this
in the long run. — To COMTE DE MOUSTIER.
ii, 389. FORD ED., v, 12. (P., 1788.)
6252 . A King [Louis XVI.]
with two hundred thousand men at his or
ders, is disarmed by force of public opinion
and want of money. — To MADAME DE BRE-
HAN. ii, 591. FORD ED., v, 79. (P., 1789-)
6253. . The good opinion of
mankind, like the lever of Archimedes, with
the given fulcrum, moves the world. — To M.
CORREA. vi, 405. (M., 1814.)
6254. . The spirit of our people
would oblige even a despot to govern us re-
publicanly.— To SAMUEL KERCHIVAL. vii, n.
FORD ED., x, 39. (M., 1816.)
6255. . The force of public opin
ion cannot be resisted, when permitted freely
to be expressed. The agitation it produces
must be submitted to. It is necessary, to
keep the waters pure.— To THE MARQUIS DE
LAFAYETTE, vii, 325. FORD ED., x, 280. (M.,
1823.)
6256. OPINION (Public), Indian.— I am
convinced that those societies (as the In
dians) which live without government, en
joy in their general mass an infinitely greater
degree of happiness, than those who live un
der the European governments. Among the
former, public opinion is in the place of law,
and restrains morals as powerfully as laws
ever did anywhere.— To EDWARD CARRING-
TON. ii, loo. FORD ED., iv, 360. (P., 1787.)
6257. OPINION (Public), Inquisition
of. — This country, which has given to the
world the example of physical liberty, owes
to it that of moral emancipation also, for as
yet it is but nominal with us. The inquisi
tion of public opinion overwhelms in practice
the freedom asserted by the laws in theory. —
To JOHN ADAMS, vii, 200. FORD ED., x, 185.
(M., 1821.)
6258. OPINION (Public), Nourish.—
Secure self-government by the republicanism
of our constitution, as well as by the spirit of
the people; and nourish and perpetuate that
spirit.— To SAMUEL KERCHIVAL. vii, 13.
FORD ED., x, 41. (M., 1816.)
6259. OPINION (Public), Preserving.—
The basis of our governments being the opin
ion of the people, the very first object should
be to keep that right. — To EDWARD CARRING-
TON. ii, 100. FORD ED., iv, 359. (P., 1787.)
6260. OPINION (Public), Respect for.—
When, in the course of human events, it be
comes necessary for one people to dissolve
the political bands which have connected
them with another, and to assume among the
powers of the earth the separate and equal
station to which the laws of nature and of
nature's God entitle them, a decent respect
to the opinions of mankind requires that
they should declare the causes which impel
them to the separation. — DECLARATION OF IN
DEPENDENCE AS DRAWN BY JEFFERSON.
6261. . There are certainly per
sons in all the departments who are driving
too fast. Government being founded on opin
ion, the opinion of the public, even when it is
wrong, ought to be respected to a certain de
gree. — To NICHOLAS LEWIS. FORD ED., v, 282.
(Pa., 1791.)
6262. . We have believed we
should afford England an opportunity of
making reparation, as well from justice and
the usage of nations, as a respect to the opin
ion of an impartial world, whose approba
tion and esteem are always of value. — To
W. H. CABELL. v, 142. FORD ED., ix, 90.
(W., July 1807.)
6263. . A regard for reputation,
and the judgment of the world, may some
times be felt where conscience is dormant. —
To EDWARD LIVINGSTON, vii, 404. (M.,
.1825.)
6264. OPINION (Public), Revolution
by. — A complete revolution in the French
government has, within the space of two
years, been effected by the mere force of
public opinion, aided, indeed, by the want of
money which the dissipations of the Court
had brought on. — To DAVID HUMPHREYS.
iii, 10. FORD ED., v, 86. (P., 1789.)
6265. OPINION (Public), Supremacy.—
Public opinion, that lord of the universe. — To
WILLIAM SHORT, vii, 157. (M., 1820.)
6266. OPINION (Public), Wisdom of.—
It is rare that the public sentiment decides
immorally or unwisely, and the individual
who differs from it ought to distrust and ex
amine well his own opinion. — To WILLIAM
FINDLEY. FORD ED., viii, 27. (W., March
1801.)
6267. OPINIONS, Canvassing.— In can
vassing my opinions you have done what every
man has a right to do, and it is for the good
of society that that right should be freely
exercised. — To NOAH WEBSTER. iii, 201.
FORD ED., v, 254. (Pa., 1790.)
663
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Opinions
Opposition
6268. OPINIONS, Exchange of.— I shall
be happy, at all times, in an intercommuni
cation of sentiments with you, believing that
the dispositions of the different parts of our
country have been considerably misrepre
sented and misunderstood in each part, as to
the other, and that nothing but good can re
sult from an exchange of information and
opinions between those whose circumstances
and morals admit no doubt of the integrity
of their views. — To ELBRIDGE GERRY, iv,
174. FORD ED., vii, 123. (Pa., 179?-)
6269. OPINIONS, Formation.— The
opinions and belief of men depend not on
their own will, but follow involuntarily the
evidence proposed to their minds. — STATUTE
OF RELIGIOUS FREEDOM. FORD ED., ii, 237.
(I779-)
6270. OPINIONS, Government and.—
The opinions of men are not the object of
civil government, nor under its jurisdiction.
— STATUTE OF RELIGIOUS FREEDOM. FORD ED.,
ii, 238. (I779-)
6271. OPINIONS, Moral facts.— Opin
ions constitute moral facts, as important as
physical ones to the attention of the public
functionary. — To RICHARD RUSH, vii, 183.
(M., 1820.)
6272. OPINIONS, Propagation of.— To
compel a man to furnish contributions of
money for the propagation of opinions which
he disbelieves and abhors, is sinful and tyran
nical.— STATUTE OF RELIGIOUS FREEDOM. FORD
ED., ii, 238. (I779-)
6273. OPINIONS, Revealing.— The sen
timents of men are known not only by what
they receive, but what they reject. — AUTO
BIOGRAPHY, i, 19. FORD ED., i, 28. (1821.)
6274. OPINIONS, Social intercourse
and. — Opinions, which are equally honest on
both sides, should not affect personal esteem
or social intercourse. — To JOHN ADAMS, vi,
146. (M., 1813.)
6275. OPINIONS, Strength of sound.—
If * * * opinions are sound * * *
they will prevail by their own weight, with
out the aid of names. — To SAMUEL KERCHI-
VAL. vii, 35. FORD ED., x, 45. (M., 1816.)
6276. OPINIONS, Vindication of.— My
occupations do not permit me to undertake
to vindicate all my opinions, nor have they
importance enough to merit it. — To NOAH
WEBSTER, iii, 203. FORD ED., v, 257. (Pa.,
1790.)
6277. OPPOSITION, To Administra
tions. — A quondam colleague of yours, who
had acquired some distinction and favor in
the public eye, is throwing it away by en
deavoring to obtain his end by rallying an
opposition to the administration. This error
has already ruined some among us, and will
ruin others who do not perceive that it is
the steady abuse of power in other govern
ments which renders that of opposition al
ways the popular party.— To ALBERT GALLA-
TIN. FORD ED., x, 106. (M., 1818.)
6278. OPPOSITION, Continual.— In the
Middle and Southern States, as great an
union of sentiment has now taken place as is
perhaps desirable. For as there will always
be an opposition, I believe it had better be
from avowed monarchists than republicans.
— To ELBRIDGE GERRY, iv, 536. FORD ED., viii,
297. (W., March 1804.)
6279. OPPOSITION, Crushing.— I have
removed those [officeholders] who main
tained an active and zealous opposition to
the government. — To JOHN PAGE, v, 136.
FORD ED., ix, 119. (W., 1807.)
6280. OPPOSITION, Of enemies.—
The clouds which have appeared for some
time to be gathering around us, have given
me anxiety lest an enemy, always on the
watch, always prompt and firm, and acting
in well-disciplined phalanx, should find an
opening to dissipate hopes, with the loss of
which I would wish that of life itself. — To
WILLIAM DUANE. v, 603. (M., 1811.)
6281. OPPOSITION, Federal elements.
— I have never dreamed that all opposition
was to cease. The clergy who have missed
their union with the State, the Anglomen,
who have missed their union with England,
and the political adventurers, who have lost
the chance of swindling and plunder in the
waste of public money, will never cease to
bawl, on the breaking up of their sanctuary.
But among the people, the schism is healed,
and with tender treatment the wound will
not reopen. Their quondam leaders have
been astounded with the suddenness of the
desertion ; and their silence and appearance
of acquiescence have proceeded not from a
thought of joining us, but the uncertainty
what ground to take. — To GIDEON GRANGER.
iv, 395- FORD ED., viii, 48. (W., May 1801.)
6282. OPPOSITION, Federalist.— The
federalists meant by crippling my rigging to
leave me an unwieldy hulk at the mercy of
the elements. — To THEODORE FOSTER. FORD
ED., viii, 51. (W., May 1801.)
6283. . Their rallying point is
" war with France and Spain, and alliance
with Great Britain " ; and everything is
wrong with them which checks their new
ardor to be fighting for the liberties of man
kind; on the sea always excepted. There,
one nation is to monopolize all the liberties of
the others.— To MR. BIDWELL. v, 15. (W.,
1806.)
6284. . I should suspect error
where the federalists found no fault. — To
MR. BIDWELL. v, 15. (W., 1806.)
6285. OPPOSITION, Fighting.— While
duty required it, I met opposition with a
firm and fearless step. — To SPENCER ROANE.
vii, 136. FORD ED., x, 142. (P.F., 1819.)
6286. OPPOSITION, Malicious.— There
is nothing against which human ingenuity
will not be able to find something to say. —
To GIDEON GRANGER, iv, 396. FORD ED., viii
48. (W., 1801.)
Oppression
Orleans (Duke of)
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
664
6287. OPPRESSION, Colonies and.— A
series of oppressions, begun at a distinguished
period, and pursued unalterably through
every change of ministers, too plainly prove
a deliberate, systematical plan of reducing
us to slavery. — RIGHTS OF BRITISH AMERICA.
1,130. FORD ED., i, 435. (i?74-)
6288. OPPRESSION, Nations and.— It
is, indeed, an animating thought that, while
we are securing the rights of ourselves and
our posterity, we are pointing out the way
to struggling nations who wish, like us, to
emerge from their tyrannies also. Heaven
help their struggles, and lead them, as it has
done us, triumphantly through them. — RE
PLY TO ADDRESS, iii, 128. FORD ED., v, 147.
(1790.)
6289. OPTICS, Laws of .—To distinct vis
ion it is necessary not only that the visual
angle should be sufficient for the powers of the
human eye, but that there should be sufficient
light also on the object of observation. In
microscopic observations, the enlargement of
the angle of vision may be more indulged,
because auxiliary light may be concentrated
on the object by concave mirrors. But in the
case of the heavenly bodies we can have no
such aid. The moon, for example, receives
from the sun but a fixed quantity of light. In
proportion as you magnify her surface, you
spread that fixed quantity over a greater space,
dilute it more, and render the object more dim.
If you increase her magnitude infinitely, you
dim her face infinitely also, and she becomes
invisible. When under total eclipse, all the
direct rays of the sun being intercepted, she
is seen but faintly, and would not be seen at
all but for the refraction of the solar rays in
their passage through our atmosphere. In a
night of extreme darkness, a house or a moun
tain is not seen, as not haying light enough to
impress the limited sensibility of our eye. I do
suppose in fact that Herschel has availed him
self of the properties of the parabolic mirror to
the point beyond which its effect would be
countervailed by the diminution of light on the
object. I barely suggest this element, not pre
sented to view in your letter, as one which must
enter into the estimate of the improved tele
scope you propose. — To THOMAS SKIDMAN.
vii, 259. (M., 1822.)
6290. ORATORY, Art in.— In a repub
lican nation, whose citizens are to be led by
reason and persuasion, and not by force, the
art of reasoning becomes of first importance.
In this line antiquity has left us the finest
models for imitation ; and he who studies and
imitates them most nearly, will nearest ap
proach the perfection of the art. Among these
I should consider the speeches of Livy, Sallust
and Tacitus as preeminent specimens of logic,
taste, and that sententious brevity which, using
not a word to spare, leave not a moment for
inattention to the hearer. Amplification is the
vice of modern oratory. It is an insult to an
assembly of reasonable men, disgusting and re
volting instead of persuading. Speeches meas
ured by the hour die with the hour. — To
DAVID HARDING, vii, 347. (M., 1824.)
6291. ORATORY, Models for.— The
models for that oratory which is to produce
the greatest effect by securing the attention
of hearers and readers, are to be found in Livy,
Tacitus, Sallust, and most assuredly not in
Cicero. I doubt if there is a man in the world
who can now read one of his orations through
but as a piece of task work. — To J. W. EPPES.
v, 490. FORD ED., ix, 267. (M., 1810.)
6292. ORATORY, Modern and Ancient.
— The short, the nervous, the unanswerable
speech of Carnot, in 1803, on the proposition
to declare Bonaparte consul for life, — this creed
of republicanism should be well translated, and
placed in the hands and heart of every friend
to the rights of self-government. — To ABRAHAM
SMALL, vi, 347. (M., 1814.)
6293. . The finest thing, in my
opinion, which the English language has pro
duced, is the defence of Eugene Aram, spoken
by himself at the bar of the York assizes, in
1759. — To ABRAHAM SMALL, vi, 347. (M.,
1814.)
6294. . I consider the speeches
of Aram and Carnot, and that of Logan, as
worthily standing in a line with those of Scipio
and Hannibal in Livy, and of Cato and Csesar
in Sallust. — To ABRAHAM SMALL, vi, 347.
(M., 1814.)
6295. ORATORY, Scathing.— Lord Chat
ham's reply to Horace Walpole, on the Sea
men's bill, in the House of Commons, in 1740,
is one of the severest which history has re
corded. — To ABRAHAM SMALL, vi, 346. (M.,
1814.)
6296. ORDER, Liberty and. — Possessing
ourselves the combined blessing of liberty and
order, we wish the same to other countries.
—To M. CORAY. vii, 318. (M., 1823.)
6297. ORDER, Maintenance of. — The
life of the citizen is never to be endangered,
but as the last melancholy effort for the
maintenance of order and obedience to the
laws.* — To THE GOVERNORS OF THE STATES.
v, 414. FORD ED., ix, 238. (W., 1809.)
6298. ORDER, Preservation of. — Every
man being at his ease, feels an interest in
the preservation of order, and comes forth to
preserve it at the first call of the magistrate.
—To M. PICTET. iv, 463. (W., 1803.)
6299. ORDERS IN COUNCIL, Repeal
of. — The British ministry has been driven
from its Algerine system, not by any remain
ing morality in the people, but by their un
steadiness under severe trial. But whenceso-
ever it comes, I rejoice in it as the triumph
of our forbearing and yet persevering system.
It will lighten your anxieties, take from cabal
its most fertile ground of war, will give us
peace during your time, and by the complete
extinguishment of our public debt, open upon
us the noblest application of revenue that has
ever been exhibited by any nation. — To PRESI
DENT MADISON, v, 443. (M., April 1809.) See
BERLIN DECREES and EMBARGO.
— OREGON.— See LEWIS AND CLARK EX
PEDITION.
6300. ORLEANS (Duke of), Unprin
cipled. — The Duke d'Orleans is as unprin
cipled as his followers ; sunk in debaucheries
of the lowest kind, and incapable of quitting
them for business ; not a fool, yet not head
enough to conduct anything. — To JOHN JAY. iii,
95. (P., 1789.)
* From a letter in regard to the employment of the
militia.— EDITOR.
665
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Orleans (Duke of)
Paine (Thomas)
6301. ORLEANS (Duke of), Vicious.—
He is a man of moderate understanding, of no
principle, absorbed in low vice, and incapable
of extracting himself from the filth of that,
to direct anything else. His name and his
money, therefore, are mere tools in the hands
of those who are duping him. Mirabeau is their
chief. — To JAMES MADISON, iii, 98. FORD ED.,
v, 109. (P., 1789.)
6302. OSSIAN, Poems of.— These pieces
have been and will, I think, during my life,
continue to be to me the sources of daily and
exalted pleasures. The tender and the sublime
emotions of the mind were never before so
wrought up by the human hand. I am not
ashamed to own that I think this rude bard of
the North the greatest poet that has ever ex
isted. Merely for the pleasure of reading his
works, I am become desirous of learning the
language in which he sung, and of possessing
his songs in their original form. — To CHARLES
McPiiERSON. i, 195. FORD ED., i, 413. (A.,
I773-)
6303. . If not ancient, it is equal
to the best morsels of antiquity. — To MARQUIS
LAFAYETTE, vii, 326. FORD ED., x, 282. (M.,
1823.)
6304. OSTENTATION, Good deeds and.
— What is proposed, though but an act of
duty, may be perverted into one of ostenta
tion, but malice will always find bad motives for
good actions. Shall we therefore never do
good? — To PRESIDENT MADISON, v, 524. (M.,
1810.)
_ OUTACITE, Indian Chief.— See IN
DIANS.
_ PACIFIC, Exploration of the.— See
LEWIS AND CLARK EXPEDITION.
6305. PAGE (John), Jefferson and.— It
had given me much pain, that the zeal of our
respective friends should ever have placed you
and me in the situation of competitors.* I was
comforted, however, with the reflection, that it
was their competition, not ours, and that the
difference of the numbers which decided be
tween us, was too insignificant to give to you
a pain, or me a pleasure, had our dispositions
towards each other been such as to admit those
sensations. — To JOHN PAGE, i, 210. FORD ED.,
ii, 187. (i779.)
6306. PAGE (John), Tribute to.— I have
known Mr. Page from the time we were boys
and classmates together, and love him as a
brother, but I have always known him the worst
judge of men existing. He has fallen a sacri
fice to the ease with which he gives his con
fidence to those who deserve it not. * * I am
very anxious to do something useful for him ;
and so universally is he esteemed in this coun
try [Virginia], that no man's promotion would
be more generally approved. He has not an
enemy in the world. — To ALBERT GALLATIN.
FORD EDV viii, 85. (M., 1801.)
6307. PAIN, Pleasure vs. — We have no
rose without its thorn ; no pleasure without
alloy. It is the law of our existence; and we
must acquiesce. It is the condition annexed to
all our pleasures, not by us who receive, but
by Him who gives them. — To MRS. COSWAY. ii,
41. FORD ED., iv, 321. (P., 1786.)
6308. . I do not agree that an
age of pleasure is no compensation for a mo-
* For the governorship of Virginia. On the first
vote, the figures were : Jefferson, 55 : Nelson, 32; and
Page, 38. The second vote resulted : Jefferson, 67.
Page 61.— EDITOR.
ment of pain. — To JOHN ADAMS, vii, 26. (Mv
1816.)
6309. PAIN, Security against.— The
most effectual means of being secure against
pain is to retire within ourselves and to suffice
for our own happiness. Those which depend on
ourselves are the only pleasures a wise man will
count on ; for nothing is ours which another
may deprive us of. Hence the inestimable
value of intellectual pleasures. Ever in our
power, always leading us to something new,
never cloying, we ride serene and sublime above
the concerns of this mortal world, contempla
ting truth and nature, matter and motion, the
laws which bind up their existence, and that
Eternal Being who made and bound them up
by those laws. — To MRS. COSWAY. ii, 37. FORD
EDV iv, 317. (P., 1786.)
6310. PAIN.E (Thomas), Common
Sense. — Paine's Common Sense electrified us.
— AUTOBIOGRAPHY, i, 91. FORD ED., i, 12-7.
(1821.)
6311. PAINE (Thomas), Correspond
ence. — I have been in daily intention of an
swering your letters, fully and confidentially;
but you know, such a correspondence between
you and me cannot pass through the post, nor
even by the couriers of ambassadors. — To
THOMAS PAINE, ii, 545. (P., 1788.)
6312. PAINE (Thomas), Gunboats.—
The model of a contrivance for making one
gunboat do nearly double execution has all the
ingenuity and simplicity which generally mark
your inventions. I am not nautical enough
to judge whether two guns may be too heavy
for the bow of a gunboat, or whether any other
objection will countervail the advantage it of
fers, and which I see visibly enough. I send
it to the Secretary of the Navy, within whose
department it lies to try and to judge it. —
To THOMAS PAINE, v, 189. FORD EDV ix, 136.
(M., 1807.)
6313. PAINE (Thomas), Honors to. —
You expressed a wish to get a passage to this
country in a public vessel. Mr. Dawson is
charged with orders to the captain of the Mary
land, a sloop of war, to receive and accommo
date you. — To THOMAS PAINE, iv, 371. FORD
ED., viii, 18. (W., March 1801.)
6314. . I am in hopes you will
[on your return from France] find us re
turned generally to sentiments worthy of for
mer times. In these it will be your glory to
have steadily labored, and with as much effect
as any man living. — To THOMAS PAINE, iv,
371. FORD ED., viii, 19. (W., March 1801.)
6315. PAINE (Thomas), Iron bridge.—
Mr. Paine (Common Sense) is in Paris on his
way to England. He has brought the model
of an iron bridge, with which he supposes a sin
gle arch of four hundred feet, may be made. —
To B. VAUGHAN. ii, 166. (P., 1787.)
6316. — - . I feel myself interested
in your bridge, and it is with great pleasure
that I learn that the execution of the arch of
experiment exceeds your expectation. In your
former letter, vou mention that instead of ar
ranging your tubes and bolts as ordinates to
the chord of the arch, you had reverted to your
first idea, of arranging them in the direction of
the radii. I am sure it will gain both in beauty
and strength. It is true that the divergence of
those radii recurs as a difficulty, in getting the
rails upon the bolts ; but I thought this removed
by the answer you first gave me. when I sug
gested that difficulty, to wit, that you should
Paine (Thomas)
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
666
place the rails first, and drive the bolts through
them, and not. as I had imagined, place the
bolts first, and put the rails on them. I must
doubt whether what you now suggest, will be as
good as your first idea ; to wit, to have every
rail split into two pieces longitudinally, so that
there shall be but the halves of the holes in
each, and then to clamp the two halves to
gether. The solidity of this method cannot be
equal to that of the solid rail, and it increases
the suspicious part of the whole machine,
which, in a first experiment, ought to be ren
dered as few as possible. But of all this, the
practical iron men are much better judges than
we theorists. You hesitate between the
catenary and portion of a circle. I have lately
received from Italy, a treatise on the equilib
rium of arches by the Abbe Mascheroni. *
I find that the conclusions of his demonstra
tions are that every part of the catenary is in
perfect equilibrium. It is a great point, then,
in a new experiment, to adopt the sole arch,
where the pressure will be equally borne by
every point of it. If any one point is pushed
with accumulated pressure, it will introduce a
danger foreign to the essential part of the plan.
The difficulty you suggest is, that the rails being
all in catenaries, the tubes must be of different
lengths, as these approach nearer, or recede
farther from each other, and therefore, you
recur to the portions of concentric circles,
which are equi-distant in all their parts. But
I would rather propose that you make your
middle rail an exact catenary, and the interior
and exterior rails parallels to that. It is true
they will not be exact catenaries, but they will
depart very little from it ; much less than por
tions of circles will. — To THOMAS PAINE, ii,
546. (P., 1788.)
6317. . To say another word
about the catenary arch, without caring about
mathematical demonstrations, its nature proves
it to be in equilibrio in every point. It is the
arch formed bv a string fixed at both ends, and
swaying loose in all the intermediate points.
Thus at liberty, they must finally take that posi
tion, wherein every one will be equally pressed ;
for if any one was more pressed than the neigh
boring point, it would give way, from the flex
ibility of the matter of the string. — To THOMAS
PAINE, ii, 547. (P., 1788.)
6318.
Mr. Paine, the author of
" Common Sense ", has invented an iron
bridge, which promises to be cheaper by a great
deal than stone, and to admit of a much greater
arch. He supposes it may be ventured for an
arch of five hundred feet. He has obtained a
patent for it in England, and is now executing
the first experiment with an arch of between
ninety and one hundred feet. — To DR. WILLARD.
iii, 16. (P., 1789.)
6319. . I congratulate you sin
cerely on the success of your bridge. I was
sure of it before from theory ; yet one likes to
be assured from practice also. — To THOMAS
PAINE, iii, 40. (P., 1789.)
6320. PAINE (Thomas), Planing Ma
chine. — How has your planing machine an
swered? Has it been tried and persevered in
by any workmen? — To THOMAS PAINE, iv, 582.
FORD ED., viii, 360. (W., 1805.)
6321. PAINE (Thomas), Republican
ism. — A host of writers have risen in favor of*,
Paine, and prove that in this quarter [Phila
delphia], at least, the spirit of republicanism is
sound. The contrary spirit of the high officers
of government is more understood than I ex
pected. — To JAMES MONROE, iii, 268. FORD ED.,
v, 352. (Pa., 1791.)
6322. . Would you believe it
P9ssib!e that, in this country, there should be
high and important characters who need your
lessons in republicanism, and who do not heed
them? It is but too true that we have a sect
preaching up and panting after an English con
stitution of king, lords, and commons, and
whose heads are itching for crowns, coronets,
and mitres. But pur people * * * are firm and
unanimous in their principles of republicanism,
and there is no better proof of it than that they
love what you write and read it with delight.
The printers season every newspaper with ex
tracts from your last, as they did before from
your first part of the Rights of Man. — To
THOMAS PAINE. FORD ED., vi, 87. (Pa., June
1792.)
6323. PAINE (Thomas), Respect for.—
You have certainly misconceived what you
deem shyness. Of that I have not had a
thought towards you, but on the contrary have
openly maintained in conversation the duty of
showing our respect to you, and of defying
federal calumny in this as in other cases, by
doing what is right. As to fearing it, if I ever
could have been weak enough for that, they
have taken care to cure me of it thoroughly. —
To THOMAS PAINE. FORD ED., viii, 189. (W.,
1803.)
6324. PAINE (Thomas), Rewards to.—
The Assembly of New York have made Paine,
the author of " Common Sense ", a present of a
farm. Could you prevail on our Assembly to
do something for him? I think their quota of
what ought to be given him would be 2000
guineas, or an inheritance within 100 guineas
a year. It would be peculiarly magnanimous in
them to do it ; because it would show that no
particular and smaller passion has suppressed
the grateful impressions which his services have
made on our minds. — To JAMES MADISON. FORD
ED., iii, 499. (Pa., May 1784.)
6325. . I still hope something
will be done for Paine. He richly deserves it ;
and it will give a character of littleness to our
State if they suffer themselves to be restrained
from the compensation due for his services by
the paltry consideration that he opposed our
right to the Western country. Who was there
out of Virginia who did not oppose it? Place
this circumstance in one scale, and the effect of
his writings produced in uniting us in inde
pendence in the other, and say which prepon
derates. Have we gained more by his advocacy
of independence than we lost by his opposition
to our territorial right? Pay him the balance
only. — To JAMES MADISON. FORD ED., iv, 17.
(P.* Dec. 1784.)
6326. PAINE (Thomas), Rights of
Man. — The " Rights of Man " would bring
England itself to reason and revolution, if it
was permitted to be read there. However, the
same things will be said in milder forms, will
make their way among the people, and you
must reform at last. — To BENJAMIN VAUGHAN.
FORD ED., v, 334. (Pa., 1791.)
6327. . The " Rights of Man "
has been much read in America with avidity
and pleasure. A writer under the signature of
" Publicola " has attacked it. A host of cham
pions entered the arena immediately in your
defence. The discussion excited the public at
tention, recalled it to the " Defence of the
American Constitutions ", and the " Discourses
66;
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Paine (Thomas)
Panics
on Davila ", which it had kindly passed over
without censure in the moment, and very gen
eral expressions of their sense have been now
drawn forth ; and i thank God that they appear
firm in their republicanism, notwithstanding the
contrary hopes and assertions of a sect here,
high in names, but small in numbers. These
had flattered themselves that the silence of the
people under the " Defence " and " Davila ''
was a symptom of their conversion to the doc
trine of king, lords, and commons. They are
checked at least by your pamphlet, and the
people confirmed in their good old faith. — To
THOMAS PAINE, iii, 278. FORD ED., v, ^367.
(Pa., 1791-)
6328. PAINE (Thomas), Thinker.—
Paine thought more than he read. — To JOHN
CARTWRIGHT. vii, 355. (M., 1824.)
6329. PALEONTOLOGY, Bones.— Gen
eral Clark has employed ten laborers several
weeks at the Big-bone Lick, and has shipped
the result * * * for this place [Washington].
He has sent, ist, of the Mammoth, as he calls
it, f rentals, jaw-bones, tusks, teeth, ribs, a
thigh, and a leg, and some bones of the paw ;
2d, of what he calls the Elephant, a jaw-bone,
tusks, teeth, ribs ; 3d, of something of the
Buffalo species, a head and some other bones
unknown. My intention, in having this re
search thoroughly made, was to procure for the
[Philosophical] Society as complete a supple
ment to what is already possessed as that lick
can furnish at this day, and to serve them first
with whatever they wish to possess of it. There
are a tusk and a femur which General Clark
procured particularly at my request, for a
special kind of Cabinet I have at Monticello.
But the great mass of the collection are mere
duplicates of what you possess at Philadelphia,
of which I would wish to make a donation to
the National Institute of France, which I be
lieve has scarcely any specimens of the remains
of these animals. But how make the selection
without the danger of sending away something
which might be useful to our own Society?
Indeed, my friend, you must give a week to this
object, * * * examine these bones, and set
apart what you would wish for the Society. —
To DR. WISTAR. v, 219. (W., 1807.)
6330. PALEONTOLOGY, Mammoth.—
It is well known, that on the Ohio, and in
many parts of America further north, tusks,
grinders, and skeletons of unparalleled magni
tude, are found in great numbers, some lying
on the surface of the earth, and some a little
below it. A Mr. Stanley, taken prisoner near
the mouth of the Tennessee, relates, that after
being transferred through several tribes, from
one to another, he was at length carried over
the mountains west of the Missouri to a Viver
which runs westwardly ; that these bones
abounded there, and that the natives described
to him the animal to which they belonged as
still existing in the northern parts of their
country ; from which description he judged it
to be an elephant. Bones of the same kind
have been lately found, some feet below the
surface of the earth, in salines opened on the
North Holston, a branch of the Tennessee,
about the latitude of 36^° north. From the
accounts published in Europe, I suppose it
to be decided that these are of the same kind
with those found in Siberia. * * * It is re
markable that the tusks and skeletons have
been ascribed by the naturalists of Europe to
the elephant, while the grinders have been
given to the hippopotamus, or river horse. Yet
it is acknowledged, that the tusks and skeletons
are much larger than those of the elephant, and
the grinders many times greater than those of
the hippopotamus, and essentially different in
form. * * * We must agree, then, that these
remains belong to each other, that they are of
one and the same animal, that this was not a
hippopotamus, because the hippopotamus had
no tusks, nor such a frame, and because the
grinders differ in their size as well as in the
number and form of their points. That this
was not an elephant, I think ascertained by
proofs equally decisive. * * * I have never
heard an instance, and suppose there has been
none, of the grinder of an elephant being found
in America. From the known temperature and
constitution of the elephant, he could never
have existed in those regions where the re
mains of the mammoth have been found. The
elephant is a native only of the torrid zone
and its vicinities. * * * No bones of the mam
moth, have ever been found farther south than
the salines of Holston, and they have been
found as far north as the Arctic circle. * * *
For my own part, I find it easier to believe that
an animal may have existed, resembling the
elephant in his tusks, and general anatomy,
while his nature was in other respects extremely
different. From the 3oth degree of south lati
tude to the 3oth degree of north, are nearly
the limits which nature has fixed for the ex
istence and multiplication of the elephant
known to us. Proceeding thence northwardly
to 36^° degrees, we enter those assigned to the
mammoth. The farther we advance north, the
more their vestiges multiply as far as the earth
has been explored in that direction ; and it is
as probable as otherwise, that this progression
continues to the pole itself, if land extends so
far. The centre of the frozen zone, then, may
be the acme of their vigor, as that of the torrid
is of the elephant. Thus nature seems to have
drawn a belt of separation between these two
tremendous animals, whose breadth, indeed, is
not precisely known, though at present we may
suppose it about 6^2 degrees of latitude; to
have assigned to the elephant the regions south
of these confines, and those north to the mam
moth, founding the constitution of the one In
the extreme of heat, and that of the other in
the extreme of cold. * * * But to whatever
animal we ascribe these remains, it is certain
that such a one has existed in America, and
that it has been the largest of all terrestrial
beings. — NOTES ON VIRGINIA, viii, 286. FORD
ED., iii, 134. (1782.)
6331. . I have heard of the dis
covery of some large bones, supposed to be of
the mammoth, at about thirty or forty miles
distant from you ; and among the bones found.
are said to be some which we have never
been able to procure. The first interesting
question is, whether they are the bones of the
mammoth ? The second, what are the par
ticular bones, and could I possibly procure
them? * * * If they are to be bought I will
gladly pay for them whatever you shall agree
to as reasonable. — To ROBERT R. LIVINGSTON.
iv, 337. FORD ED., vii, 463. (W., 1800.)
- PANAMA CANAL.— See CANAL.
6332. PANICS, Evils of.— Buildings and
other improvements are suspended. Workmen
turned adrift. Country produce is not to be
sold at any price ; because even substantial
merchants, who never meddled with paper, can
not tell how many of their debtors have med
dled and may fail ; consequently they are afraid
to make any new money arrangements till they
shall know how they stand. — To T. M. RAN
DOLPH. FORD ED., v, 509. (Pa., April 1792.)
Panics
Paper Money
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
668
6333. PANICS, Financial.— I learn with
real concern the calamities which are fallen on
New York, and which must fall on Philadelphia
also. No man of reflection who had ever at
tended to the South Sea bubble, in England, or
that of Law in France, and who applied the
lessons of the past to the present time, could
fail to foresee the issue though he might not
calculate the moment at which it would hap
pen. The evidences of the public debt are solid
and sacred. I presume there is not a man in
the United States who would not part with his
last shilling to pay them. But all that stuff
called scrip, of whatever description, was folly
or roguery, and under a resemblance to genuine
public paper, it buoyed itself up to a par with
that. It has given a severe lesson ; yet such is
the public gullibility in the hands of cunning
and unprincipled men, that it is doomed by
nature to receive these lessons once in an age
at least. Happy if they now come about and
get back into the tract of plain unsophisticated
common sense which they ought never to have
been decoyed from. — To FRANCIS EPPES. FORD
ED., v, 507. (Pa., April 1792.) See BANKS.
6334. PANICS, Losses by. — It is com
puted there is a dead loss at New York of
about five millions of dollars, which is reckoned
the value of all the buildings of the city : so
that if the whole town had been burned to the
ground it would have been just the measure
of the present calamity, supposing goods to
have been saved. In Boston, the dead loss is
about a million of dollars. * * * It is con
jectured that the .loss in Philadelphia will be
about equal to that of Boston. — To T. M. RAN
DOLPH. FORD ED., v, 509. (1792.)
6335.
-. The losses on this occa
sion would support a war such as we now
have on hand, five or six years. Thus you will
see that the calamity has been greater in pro
portion than that of the South Sea in England,
or Law in France. — To WILLIAM SHORT. FORD
ED., v, 510. (Pa., April 1792.)
6336. PANICS, Paper money and.— At
length our paper bubble is burst. The failure
of Duer, in New York, soon brought on others,
and these still more, like nine pins knocking
one another down, till at that place the bank
ruptcy is become general. Every man con
cerned in paper being broke, and most of the
tradesmen and farmers, who had been laying
down money, having been tempted by these
speculators to lend it to them at an interest of
from 3 to 6 per cent, a month, have lost the
whole. — To T. M. RANDOLPH. FORD ED., v, 509.
(Pa., 1792.) See PAPER MONEY.
6337.
The paper debt of the
United States is scarcely at par. Bank stock
is at 25 per cent. It was once upwards of 300
per cent. — To WILLIAM SHORT. FORD ED., v,
510. (Pa., April 1792.)
6338. PANICS, Stocks and.— What a
loss you would have suffered if we had laid out
your paper for bank stock? * * * Though
it would have been improper for me to have
given at any time, an opinion on the subject of
stocks to Mr. Brown, or any man dealing in
them, yet I have been unable to refrain from
interposing for you on the present occasion.
I found that your stock stood so as not to
charge Donald & Co. I know Brown to be a
good man, but to have dealt in paper, I did not
know how far he was engaged. I knew that
good men might sometimes avail themselves
of the property of others in their power, to
help themselves out of a present difficulty in
an honest but delusive confidence that they
will be able to repay; that the best men and
those whose transactions stand all in an ad
vantageous form, may fail by the failure of
others. Under the impulse, therefore, of the
general panic, I ventured to enter a caveat in
the treasury office against permitting the trans
fer of any stock standing in your name, or
in any other for your use. This was on the
1 9th of April. I knew your stock had not been
transferred before March 31, and that from that
time to this, Mr. Brown had not been in
Virginia, so as to give me a reasonable confi
dence that it had not been transferred be
tween the ist and iQth inst. If so, it is safe.
But it would be still safer invested in Ned
Carter's lands at five dollars the acre. — To
WILLIAM SHORT. FORD ED., v, 510. (Pa.,
April 1792.) See SPECULATION.
6339. PAPER AND CIVILIZATION.—
This article, the creature of art, and but latterly
so comparatively, is now interwoven so much
into the conveniences and occupations of men,
as to have become one of the necessaries of
civilized life. — To ROBERT R. LIVINGSTON.
FORD ED., vii, 445. (Pa., 1800.)
6340. PAPER MONEY, Abuses.— Paper
is liable to be abused, has been, is, and for
ever will be abused, in every country in which
it is permitted. — To J. W. EPPES. vi, 246.
FORD ED., ix, 416. (M., Nov. 1813.)
6341. . Paper is already at a
term of abuse in these States, which has
never been reached by any other nation,
France excepted, whose dreadful catastrophe
should be a warning against the instrument
which produced it.— To J. W. EPPES. vi, 246.
FORD ED., ix, 416. (M., Nov. 1813.)
6342. PAPER MONEY, A cheat.— Paper
money was a cheat. Tobacco was the
counter-cheat. Everyone is justifiable in re
jecting both except so far as his contracts
bind him. — To FRANCIS EPPES. FORD ED., v,
212. (N.Y., 1790.)
6343, PAPER MONEY, Continental.—
When I speak comparatively of the paper
emission of the old Congress and the present
banks, let it not be imagined that I cover
them under the same mantle. The object of
the former was a holy one; for if ever there
was a holy war it was that which saved our
liberties and gave us independence. The ob
ject of the latter is to enrich swindlers at the
expense of the honest and industrious part of
the nation. — To J. W. EPPES. vi, 246. FORD
ED., ix, 416. (M., Nov. 1813.)
6344. . The errors of that day*
cannot be recalled. The evils they have en
gendered are now upon us, and the question
is how we are to get out of them? Shall
we build an altar to the old money of the
Revolution, which ruined individuals but
saved the Republic, and burn on that all the
bank charters, present and future, and their
notes with them? For these are to ruin both
Republic and individuals. This cannot be
done. The mania is too strong. It has
seized, by its delusions and corruptions, all
* When the United States Bank was founded.—
EDITOR.
669
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Paper Money
the members of our governments, general,
special and individual. — To JOHN ADAMS.
vi, 305- (M., Jan. 1814.)
6345. PAPER MONEY, Contraction.— I
have been endeavoring to persuade a friend
in pur Legislature to try and save this State
[Virginia] from the general ruin by timely
interference. I propose to him, first, to pro
hibit instantly, all foreign paper. Secondly,
to give our banks six months to call in all
their five-dollar bills (the lowest we allow) ;
another six months to call in their ten-dollar
notes, and six months more to call in all
below fifty dollars. This would produce so
gradual a diminution of medium, as not to
shock contracts already made — would leave
finally, bills of such size as would be called
for only in transactions between merchant
and merchant, and ensure a metallic circula
tion for those of the mass of citizens. But
it will not be done. You might as well, with
the sailors, whistle to the wind, as suggest
precautions against having too much money.
We must bend, then, before the gale, and try
to hold fast ourselves by some plank of the
wreck. God send us all a safe deliverance. —
To JOHN ADAMS, vi, 306. (M., Jan. 1814.)
6346. - — . I had been in hopes that
good old Virginia, not yet so far embarked
as her northern sisters, would have set the
example this winter, of beginning the process
of cure, by passing a law that, after a certain
time, suppose of six months, no bank bill of
less than ten dollars should be permitted.
That after some reasonable term, there should
be none less than twenty dollars, and so on,
until those only should be left in circulation
whose size would be above the common
transactions of any but merchants. This
would ensure us an ordinary circulation of
metallic money, and would reduce the quan
tum of paper within the bounds of moderate
mischief. And it is the only way in which
the reduction can be made without a shock
to private fortunes. A sudden stop to this
trash, either by law or its own worthlessness,
would produce confusion and ruin. Yet this
will happen by its own extinction if left to
itself. Whereas, by a salutary interposition
of the Legislature, it may be withdrawn in
sensibly and safely. Such a mode of doing
it, too, would give less alarm to the bank-
holders, the discreet part of whom must wish
to see themselves secured by circumscription.
It might be asked what we should do for
change? The banks must provide it, first
to pay off their five-dollar bills, next their
ten-dollar bills and so on, and they ought to
provide it to lessen the evils of their institu
tion. But I now give up all hope. After
producing the same revolutions in private
fortunes as the old Continental paper did,
it will die like that, adding a total incapacity
to raise resources for the war.— To JOSEPH
C. CABELL. vi, 300. (M., Jan. 1814.)
6347. . Let us be allured by no
projects of banks, public or private, or
ephemeral expedients, which, enabling us to
gasp and flounder a little longer, only in
crease, by protracting the agonies of death. —
To JAMES MONROE, vi, 395. FORD ED., ix,
492. (M., 1814.)
6348. - — . Different persons, doubt
less, will devise different schemes of relief.
One would be to suppress instantly the cur
rency of all paper not issued under the au
thority of our own State or of the General
Government ; to interdict after a few months
the circulation of all bills of five dollars and
under; after a few months more, all of ten
dollars and under; after other terms, those
of twenty, fifty, and so on to one hundred
dollars, which last, if any must be left in cir
culation, should be the lowest denomination.
These might be a convenience in mercantile
transactions and transmissions, and would
be excluded by their size from ordinary cir
culation. But the disease may be too pressing
to await such a remedy. With the Legisla
ture I cheerfully leave it to apply this medi
cine, or no medicine at all. I am sure their
intentions are faithful; and embarked in the
same bottom, I am willing to swim or sink
with my fellow citizens. If the latter is
their choice, I will go down with them with
out a murmur. But my exhortation would
rather be " not to give up the ship ".—To
CHARLES YANCEY. vi, 516. FORD ED. x 3
(M., Jan. 1816.)
6349. - — . That in the present state
of the circulation the banks should resume pay
ments in specie, would require their vaults
to be like the widow's cruse. The thing to
be aimed at is, that the excesses of their
emissions should be withdrawn gradually,
but as speedily, too, as is practicable, without
so much alarm as to bring on the crisis
dreaded. — To CHARLES YANCEY. vi, 516,
FORD ED., x, 3. (M., Jan. 1816.)
6350. PAPER MONEY, Convenience of.
— There is, indeed, a convenience in paper; its
easy transmission from one place to another.
But this may be mainly supplied by bills
of exchange, so as to prevent any great dis
placement of actual coin. Two places trading
together balance their dealings, for the most
part, by their mutual supplies, and the debtor
individuals of either may, instead of cash, re>
mit the bills of those who are creditor in the
same dealings; or may obtain them through
some third place with which both have deal
ings. The cases would be rare where such
bills could not be obtained, either directly or
circuitously, and too unimportant to the na
tion to overweigh the train of evils flowing
from paper circulation. — To J. W. EPPES. vi,
237. FORD ED., ix, 409. (M., Nov. 1813.)
6351. PAPER MONEY, A deluge of.— I
told the President [Washington] that a sys
tem had there [the Treasury Department]
been contrived, for deluging the States with
paper money instead of gold and silver, for
withdrawing our citizens from the pursuits of
commerce, manufactures, buildings, and other
branches of useful industry, to occupy them
selves and their capitals in a species of gam
bling, destructive of morality, and which had
Paper Money
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
670
introduced its poison into the government it
self.— THE ANAS, ix, 104. FORD ED., i, 177.
(Feb. 1792.)
6352. PAPER MONEY, Depreciation.—
The first symptom of the depreciation of our
present paper money, was that of silver
dollars selling at six shillings, which had
before been worth but five shillings and nine
pence. The Assembly thereupon raised them
by law to six shillings. — NOTES ON VIRGINIA.
viii, 410. FORD ED., iii, 275. (1782.)
6353. . The acknowledged de
preciation of the paper circulation of Eng
land, with the known laws of its rapid pro
gression to bankruptcy, will leave that nation
shortly without revenue. — To CLEMENT
CAINE. vi, 14. FORD ED., ix, 330. (M., Sep.
1811.)
6354. . . The rapid rise in the
nominal price of land and labor (while war
and blockade should produce a fall) proves
the progressive state of the depreciation of
our medium. — To THOMAS LAW. FORD ED.,
ix, 433. (M., 1813.)
6355. PAPER MONEY, Economy of.—
The trifling economy of paper, as a cheaper
medium, or its convenience for transmission,
weighs nothing in opposition to the advan
tages of the precious metals. — To J. W.
EPPES. vi, 246. FORD ED.,, ix, 416. (M., Nov.
1813.)
6356. PAPER MONEY, English as-
signats. — England is emitting assignats also,
that is to say exchequer bills, to the amount
of five millions English, or one hundred and
twenty-five millions French; and these are not
founded on land as the French assignats are,
but on pins, thread, buckles, hops, and what
ever else you will pawn in the exchequer of
double the estimated value. But we all know
that five millions of such stuff forced for sale
on the market of London, where there will be
neither cash nor credit, will not pay storage.
This paper must rest, then, ultimately on the
credit of the nation as the rest of their pub
lic paper does, and will sink with that. — To
JAMES MONROE, iv, 7. FORD ED., vi, 322.
(Pa., June 1793.)
6357. . England, too, is issuing
her paper, not founded, like the assignats, on
land, but on pawns of thread, ribbons,
buckles, &c. They will soon learn the science
of depreciation, and their whole paper system
vanish into nothing, on which it is bottomed.
— To DR. GILMER. iv, 6. FORD ED., vi, 325.
(Pa., I793-)
6358. . The English are trying
to stop the torrent of bankruptcies by an
emission of five millions of exchequer bills,
loaned on the pawn-broking plan, conse
quently much inferior to the assignats in
value. But the paper will sink to an imme
diate level with their other public paper, and
consequently can only complete the ruin of
those who take it from the government at
par, and on a pledge of pins, buckles, &c..
of double value, which will not sell so as to
pay storage in a country where there is no
specie, and we may say no paper of confi
dence. Every letter which comes expresses
a firm belief that the whole paper system will
now vanish into that nothing on which
it is bottomed. For even the public faith
is nothing, as the mass of paper bottomed on
it is known to be beyond its possible redemp
tion. I hope this will be a wholesome lesson
to our future Legislature. — To JAMES MAD
ISON, iv., 8. FORD ED., vi, 326. (June
I793-)
6359. PAPER MONEY, Evils of.— Stock
dealers and banking companies, by the aid
of a paper system, are enriching themselves
to the ruin of our country, and swaying the
government by their possession of the print
ing presses, which their wealth commands,
and by other means, not always honorable
to the character of our countrymen. — To
ARTHUR CAMPBELL, iv, 197. FORD ED., vii,
170. (M., 1797.)
6360. PAPER MONEY, Farmers and.—
The redundancy of paper in the cities is
palpably a tax on the distant farmer. — To
JAMES MADISON. FORD ED., vi, 404. (Pa.,
I793-)
6361. PAPER MONEY, Fluctuations
in. — The long succession of years of stunted
crops, of reduced prices, the general prostra
tion of the farming business, under levies for
the support of manufactures, &c., with the
calamitous fluctuations of value in our paper
medium, have kept agriculture in a state of
abject depression, which has peopled the
Western States by silently breaking up those
on the Atlantic, and glutted the land market,
while it drew off its bidders. In such a state
of things, property has lost its character of
being a resource for debts. Highland, in
Bedford, which, in the days of our plethory,
sold readily for from fifty to one hundred
dollars the acre (and such sales were many
then), would not now sell for more than
from ten to twenty dollars, or one-quarter to
one-fifth of its former price. — To JAMES
MADISON, vii, 434. FORD ED., x, 377. (M.,
February 1826.)
6362. PAPER MONEY, Gambling in.—
What do you think of this scrippomany?
Ships are lying idle at the wharves, build
ings are stopped, capital withdrawn from
commerce, manufactures, arts and agricul
ture, to be employed in gambling, and the
tide of prosperity almost unparalleled in any
country, is arrested in its course, and sup
pressed by the rage of getting rich in a day.
No mortal can tell where this will stop;
for the spirit of gaming, when once it has
seized a subject, is incurable. The tailor
who has made thousands in one day, though
he has lost them the next, can never again be
content with the slow and moderate earnings
of his needle. Nothing can exceed the pub
lic felicity, if our papers are to be believed,
because our papers are under the orders of
the scripmen. I imagine, however, we shall
hear that all our cash has quitted the ex-
67i
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Paper Money
tremities of the nation, and accumulated here
[Philadelphia] ; that produce and property fall
to half price there, and the same things rise to
double price here; that the cash accumulated
and stagnated here, as soon as the bank paper
gets out, will find its vent into foreign coun
tries; and instead of this solid medium, which
we might have kept for nothing, we shall have
a paper one, for the use of which we are to
pay these gamesters fifteen per cent, per an
num, as they say.— To E. RUTLEDGE. iii, 285.
FORD ED., v, 375- (Pa., I79I-)
6363. . Our public credit is good,
but the abundance of paper has produced a
spirit of gambling in the funds, which has
laid up our ships at the wharves, as too slow
instruments of profit, and has even disarmed
the hand of the tailor of his needle and
thimble. They say the evil will cure itself.
I wish it may; but I have rarely seen a
gamester cured, even by the disasters of his
vocation. — To GOUVERNEUR MORRIS, iii, 290.
(Pa., 1791.) See SPECULATION.
6364. PAPER MONEY, Manufactures.
— New schemes are on foot for bringing
more paper to market by encouraging great
manufacturing companies to form, and their
actions, or paper-shares, to be transferable
as bank stock.— To JAMES MONROE. FORD ED.,
v, 320. (Pa., 1791.)
6365. PAPER MONEY, Mississippi
scheme. — The Mississippi scheme, it is well
known, ended in France in the bankruptcy
of the public treasury, the crash of thousands
and thousands of private fortunes, and scenes
of desolation and distress equal to those of an
invading army, burning and laying waste all
before it.— To J. W. EPPES. vi, 239. FORD ED.,
ix, 411. (M., Nov. 1813.)
6366. PAPER MONEY, Perilous.— Pa
per money would be perilous even to the pa
per men.— To JOHN TAYLOR, iv, 259. FORD
ED., vii, 310. (M., 1798.)
6367. PAPER MONEY, Plan to reduce.
— The plethory of circulating medium which
raised the prices of everything to several times
their ordinary and standard value, in which
state of things many and heavy debts were con
tracted ; and the sudden withdrawing too great
a proportion of that medium, and reduction of
prices far below that standard, constitute the
disease under which we are now laboring, and
which must end in a general revolution of prop
erty, if some remedy is not applied. That rem
edy is clearly a gradual reduction of the me
dium to its standard level, that is to say, to
the level which a metallic medium will always
find for itself, so as to be in equilibria with
that of the nations with which we have com
merce. To effect this : Let the whole of the
present paper medium be suspended in its circu
lation after a certain and not distant day. As
certain by proper inquiry the greatest sum of it
which has at any one time been in actual cir
culation. Take a certain term of years for its
gradual reduction. Suppose it to be five years ;
then let the solvent banks issue 5-6 of that
amount in new notes, to be attested by a pub
lic officer, as a security that neither more nor
less is issued, and to be given out in exchange
or the suspended notes, and the surplus in dis
count. Let 1-5 of these notes bear on their
ace that the bank will discharge them with
specie at the end of one year ; another 5th at
the end of two years ; a third sth at the end of
three years ; and so of the 4th and sth. They
,vill be sure to be brought in at their respective
periods of redemption. Make it a high offense
:o receive or pass within this State a note of
any other. There is little doubt that our banks
will agree readily to this operation ; if they re
fuse, declare their charters forfeited by their
Former irregularities, and give summary proc
ess against them for the suspended notes. The
Bank of the United States will probably concur
also ; if not, shut their doors and join the other
States in respectful, but firm applications to
Congress, to concur in constituting a tribunal
(a special convention, e. g.) for settling amica
bly the question of their right to institute a bank,
and that also of the States to do the same.
A stay-law for the su nension of executions,
and their discharge at five annual instalments,
should be accommodated to these measures. In
terdict forever, to both the State and National
Governments, the power of establishing any
paper bank ; for without this interdiction, we
shall have the same ebbs and flows of medium,
and the same revolutions of property to go
through every twenty or thirty years. In this
way the value of property, keeping pace nearly
with the sum of circulating medium, will de
scend gradually to its proper level, at the rate
of about 1-5 every year, the sacrifices of what
shall be sold for payment of the first instal
ments of debts will be moderate, and time will
be given for economy and industry to come
in aid of those subsequent. Certainly no nation
ever before abandoned to the avarice and jug-
glings of private individuals to regulate, ac
cording to their own interests, the quantum of
circulating medium for the nation ; to inflate,
by deluges of paper, the nominal prices of prop
erty, and then to buy up that property at is. in
the pound, having first withdrawn the floating
medium which might endanger a competition
in purchase. Yet this is what has been done,
and will be done, unless stayed by the protecting
hand of the Legislature. The evil has been pro
duced by the error of their sanction of this ruin
ous machinery of banks; and justice, wisdom,
duty, all require that they should interpose and
arrest it before the schemes of plunder and
spoliation desolate the country. It is believed
that Harpies are already hoarding their money
to commence these scenes on the separation of
the Legislature ; and we know that lands have
been already sold under the hammer for less
than a year's rent. — To W. C. RIVES, vii, 145.
FORD EDV x, 150. (M., Nov. 1819.)
6368. PAPER MONEY, Poverty.— Paper
is poverty. It is only the ghost of money,
and not money itself. — To E. CARRINGTON.
ii, 405. FORD ED., v, 21. (P., 1788.)
6369. PAPER MONEY, Prices and.—
All the imported commodities are raised
about fifty per cent, by the depreciation of the
money. Tobacco shares the rise, because it
has no competition abroad. Wheat has been
extravagantly high from other causes. When
these cease, it must fall to its ancient nominal
price, notwithstanding the depreciation of
that, because it must contend at market with
foreign wheats. Lands have risen within the
notice of the papers, and as far out as that
can influence. They have not risen at all
here [Virginiia]. On the contrary, they are
Paper Money
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
672
lower than they were twenty years ago. —
To JAMES MONROE, iv, 141. FORD ED., vii,
80. (M., June 1796.) See PRICE.
6370. PAPER MONEY, Private prop
erty and. — Money is leaving the remoter
parts of the Union, and flowing to this place
[Philadelphia] to purchase paper; and here,
a paper medium supplying its place, it is
shipped off in exchange for luxuries. The
value of property is necessarily falling in the
places left bare of money. In Virginia, for
instance, property has fallen 25 per cent, in
the last twelve months. — To WILLIAM SHORT.
iii. 343. FORD ED., v, 459. (Pa., March
1792.)
6371. . That paper money has
some advantages, is admitted. But that its
abuses also are inevitable, and, by breaking
up the measure of value, makes a lottery of
all private property, cannot be denied. Shall
we ever be able to put a constitutional veto
on it?— To DR. JOSEPHUS B. STUART, vii,
65. (M., May 1817.)
6372. PAPER MONEY, Redeeming
taxes.— M. Say will be surprised to find, that
forty years after the development of sound
financial principles by Adam Smith and the
Economists, and a dozen years after he has
given them to us in a corrected, terse, and
lucid form, there should be so much ignorance
of them in our country ; that instead of fund
ing issues of paper on the hypothecation of
specific redeeming taxes (the only method of
anticipating, in a time of war, the resources
of times of peace, tested by the experience of
nations), we are trusting to the tricks of
jugglers on the cards, to the illusions of bank
ing schemes for the resources of the war, and
for the cure of colic to inflations of more
wind.— To M. CORREA. vi, 406. (M., 1814.)
6373. PAPER MONEY, Ruin by.— Not
Quixotic enough to attempt to reason Bedlam
to rights, my anxieties are turned to the most
practicable means of withdrawing us from the
ruin into which we have run. Two hundred
millions of paper in the hands of the people
(and less cannot be from the employment of
a banking capital known to exceed one hun
dred millions), is a fearful tax to fall at hap
hazard on their heads. The debt which
purchased our Independence was but of
eighty millions, of which twenty years of tax
ation had, in 1889, paid but the one-half.
And what have we purchased with this tax
of two hundred millions which we are to
pay, by wholesale, but usury, swindling, and
new forms of demoralization? — To CHARLES
YANCEY. vi, 515. FORD ED., x, 2. (M., Jan.
1816.)
6374. PAPER MONEY, Silver for.— It
is said that our paper is as good as silver, be
cause we may have silver for it at the bank
where it issues. This is not true. One, two,
or three persons might have it ; but a general
application would soon exhaust their vaults,
and leave a ruinous proportion of their paper
in its intrinsic worthless form. It is a fallacious
pretence, for another reason. The inhabitants
of' the banking cities might obtain cash for
their paper, as far as the cash of the vaults
would hold out, but distance puts it put of
the power of the country to do this. A
farmer having a note of a Boston or Charles
ton bank, distant hundreds of miles, has no
means of calling for the cash. And while
these calls are impracticable for the country,
the banks have no fear of their being made
from the towns ; because their inhabitants are
mostly on their books, and there on sufferance
only, and during good behavior. — To J. W.
EPPES. vi, 243. FORD ED., ix, 414. (M.,
Nov. 1813.)
6375. PAPER MONEY, Specie and.—
The unlimited emission of bank paper has
banished all Great Britain's specie, and is
now, by a depreciation acknowledged by her
own statesmen, carrying her rapidly to bank
ruptcy, as it did France, as it did us, and will
do us again, and every country permitting
paper money to be circulated, other than that
by public authority, rigorously limited to the
just measure for circulation. — To JOHN W.
EPPES. vi, 142. FORD ED., ix, 394. (M., June
1813.)
6376. . Revolutionary history
has warned us of the probable moment when
this baseless trash is to receive its fiat.
Whenever so much of the precious metals
shall have returned into the circulation as
that every one can get some in exchange for
his produce, paper, as in the Revolutionary
war, will experience at once an universal re
jection. When public opinion changes, it is
with the rapidity of thought. Confidence is
already on the totter, and every one now
handles this paper as if playing at " Robin's
Alive". — To CHARLES YANCEY. vi, 516.
FORD ED., x, 3. (M., Jan. 1816.)
6377. PAPER MONEY, Treasury notes
vs. — Even with the flood of private paper by
which we were deluged, would the treasury
have ventured its credit in bills of circulating
size, as of fives or ten dollars, &c., they
would have been greedily received by the
people in preference to bank paper. But un
happily the towns of America were con
sidered as the nation of America, the dispo
sitions of the inhabitants of the former as
those of the latter, and the treasury, for want
of confidence in the country, delivered itself
bound hand and foot to bold and bankrupt
adventurers and pretenders to be money-
holders, whom it could have crushed at any
moment. Even the last half-bold, half-timid
threat of the Treasury showed at once that
these jugglers were at the feet of the govern
ment. For it never was, and is not, any con
fidence in their frothy bubbles, but the want
of all other medium, which induced, or now
induces, the country people to take their
paper; and at this moment, when nothing
else is to be had, no man will receive it but
to pass it away instantly, none for distant
purposes. — To ALBERT GALLATIN. vi, 498.
(M., Oct. 1815.) See NATIONAL CURRENCY.
6378. PAPER MONEY, Tricks with.—
We are now taught to believe that legerde-
6/3
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Paper Money
Pardons
main tricks upon paper can produce as solid
wealth as hard labor in the earth. It is vain
for common sense to urge that nothing can
produce but nothing; that it is an idle dream
to believe in a philosopher's stone which is
to turn everything into gold, and to redeem
man from the original sentence of his Maker,
" in the sweat of his brow shall he eat his
bread". — To CHARLES YANCEY. vi, 515.
FORD ED., x, 2. (M., Jan. 1816.)
6379. PAPER MONEY, War and.— If
this war continues, bank circulation must be
suppressed, or the government shaken to its
foundation by the weight of taxes, and im
practicability to raise funds on them. — To J.
W. EPPES. vi, 204. FORD ED., ix, 402. (P.F.,
Sep. 1813.) See BANKS, DOLLAR, MONEY, and
NATIONAL CURRENCY.
6380. PAPERS, Communication of. —
With respect to [Executive] papers, there is
certainly a public and a private side to our
offices. To the former belong grants of land,
patents for inventions, certain commissions,
proclamations, and other papers patent in their
nature. To the other belong mere executive
proceedings. All nations have found it neces
sary, that for the advantageous conduct of
their affairs, some of these proceedings, at
least, should remain known to their executive
functionary only. He, of course, from the na
ture of the case, must be the sole judge of which
of them the public interests will permit publica
tion. Hence, under our Constitution, in re
quests of papers, from the Legislative to the
Executive branch, an exception is carefully
expressed, as to those which he may deem the
public welfare may require not to be disclosed.
— To GEORGE HAY. v, 97. FORD EDV ix, 57.
(W., 1807.)
6381. PAPERS, Confidential.— Under
standing that it is thought important that a
letter of Nov. 12, 1806, from General Wilkinson
to myself, should be produced in evidence on
the charges against Burr, * * I send you
a copy of it, omitting only certain passages,
* * * entirely confidential, given for my
information in the discharge of my executive
functions, and which my duties and the public
interest forbid me to make public. — To GEORGE
HAY. v, 190. FORD EDV ix, 63. (M., Sep.
1807.)
6382. . You are certainly free to
make use of any of the paoers we put into Mr.
Hay's hands, with a single reservation : to wit,
some of them are expressed to be confidential,
and others are of that kind which I always
consider as confidential, conveying censure on
particular individuals, and therefore never com
municate them beyond the immediate executive
circle. — To GENERAL WILKINSON, v, 198. FORD
ED., ix, 141. (M., 1807.)
6383. . Papers containing cen
sures on particular individuals, * * * I
always deem confidential, and therefore cannot
communicate, but for regularly official purposes,
without a breach of trust. — To GEORGE HAY.
v, 198. FORD ED., ix, idi. (M., 1807.)
6384. PAPERS, Executive.— Reserving
the necessary right of the President of the
United States to decide, independently of all
other authority, what papers, coming to him
as President, the public interests permit to be
communicated, and to whom, I assure you of
my readiness, under that restriction, voluntarily
to furnish on all occasions, whatever the pur
poses of justice may require. — To GEORGE HAY.
v, 94. FORD ED., ix, 55. (W., June 1807.)
6385. . When the request goes
to " copies of the orders issued in relation to
Colonel Burr, to the officers at Orleans, Natchez,
&c., by the Secretaries of the War and Navy
Departments ", it seems to cover a correspond
ence of many months, with such a variety of
officers, civil and military, all over the United
States, as would amount to laying open the
whole executive books. I have desired the
Secretary of War to examine his official com
munications ; and on a view of these, we may
be able to judge, what can and ought to be done,
towards a compliance with the request. If the
defendant alleges that there was any particular
order, which, as a cause, produced any particu
lar act on his part, then he must know what
this order was, can specify it, and a prompt
answer can be given. — To GEORGE HAY. v, 95.
FORD ED., ix, 55. (W., June 1807.)
6386. PAPERS, Retention of.— I enclose
you a copy of [General] Armstrong's letter,
covering the papers sent to Congress. The date
was blank, as in the copy ; the letter was so
immaterial that I had really forgotten it alto
gether when I spoke with you. I feel myself
much indebted to you for having given me this
private opportunity of showing that I have
kept back nothing material. That the federal
ists and a few others should by their vote make
such a charge on me, is never unexpected. But
how can any join in it who call themselves
friends? The President sends papers to the
House, which he thinks the public interest re
quires they should see. They immediately pass
a vote, implying irresistibly their belief that
he is capable of having kept back other papers
which the same interest requires they should
see. They pretend to no direct proof of this.
It must, then, be founded in presumption ; and
on what act of my life or of my administration
is such a presumption founded ? What interest
can I have in leading the Legislature to act on
false grounds? My wish is certainly to take
that course with the public affairs which the
body of the Legislature would prefer. It is
said, indeed, that such a vote is to satisfy the
federalists and their partisans. But were I
to send twenty letters, they would say, " You
have kept back the twenty-first ; send us that ".
If I sent one hundred, they would say, " There
were one hundred and one " ; and how could I
prove the negative? Their malice can be cured
by no conduct ; it ought, therefore, to be dis
regarded, instead of countenancing their im
putations by the sanction of a vote. Indeed I
should consider such a vote as a charge, in the
face of the nation, calling for a serious and
public defence of myself.* — To JOSEPH B. VAR-
NUM. v, 249. (W., Feb. 1808.)
6387. PARASITES, Government and.—
I think we have more machinery of govern
ment than is necessary, too many parasites liv
ing on the labor of the industrious. — To WILL
IAM LUDLOW. vii, 378. (M., 1824.)
6388. PARDONS, Abolition of.— Nor
shall there be power anywhere to pardon crimes
or to remit fines or punishments. — PROPOSED
VA. CONSTITUTION. FORD ED., ii, 17. (June
1776.)
6389. PARDONS, Conditions of.— I have
made it a rule to grant no nardon in any crim
inal case but on the recommendation of the
* Mr. Varnum was then Speaker of the House of
Representatives.— EDITOR.
Pardons
Parliament
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
674
judges who sat on the trial, and the district
attorney, or two of them. I believe it a sound
rule, and not to be departed from but in extraor-
dina'ry cases. — To ALBERT GALLATIN. FORD
ED., viii, 465. (M., 1806.)
6390. . In all cases I have re
ferred petitions [for pardons] to the judges
and prosecuting attorney, who having heard
all the circumstances of the case, are the best
judges whether any of them were of such a
nature as ought to obtain for the criminal a
remission or abridgment of the punishment. —
To GEORGE BLAKE, v, 113. (W., 1807.)
6391. . The Legislature having
made stripes a regular part of the punishment
[for robbing the mails], the pardoning them
cannot be a thing of course, as that would be
to repeal the law. Extraordinary and singu
lar considerations are necessary to entitle the
criminal to that remission. — To E. RANDOLPH.
v, 406. (W., 1808.)
6392. PARDONS, Imprudent.— It would
be against every rule of prudence for me to
undertake to revise the verdict of a jury on
ex parte affidavits and recommendations. — To
GEORGE BLAKE, v, 371. (W., 1808.)
6393. PARDONS, Proper.— The power of
pardon, committed to Executive discretion,
[can] never be more properly exercised than
where citizens [are] suffering without the au
thority of law, or, which [is] equivalent, under
a law unauthorized by the Constitution, and
therefore null. — To SPENCER ROANE. vii, 135.
FORD ED., x, 141. (P.F., 1819.)
6394. PARDONS FOR COUNTERFEIT
ERS. — Pardons for counterfeiting bank paper
are yielded with much less facility than others.
— To GEORGE BLAKE, v, 113. (W., 1807.)
6395. PARDONS OF INDIANS.— As
the case of the five Alabamas, under prosecu
tion for the murder of a white man, may not
admit delay, if a conviction takes place, I have
thought it necessary to recommend to you in
that case to select the leader, or most guilty,
for execution, and to reprieve the others ;
* * * letting them return to their friends,
with whom you will of course take just merit
for this clemency. Our wish * * [is]
merely to make them sensible by the just pun
ishment of one. that our citizens are not to be
murdered or robbed with impunity. — To GOV
ERNOR CLAIBORNE. v, 345. (M., 1808.)
6396. PARDONS BY LAW.— The " priv
ilege of clergy ", originally allowed to the clergy,
is now extended to every man, and even to
women. It is a right of exemption from cap
ital punishment, for the first offence in most
cases. It is, then, a pardon by the law. In
other cases, the Executive gives the pardon.
But when laws are made as mild as they should
be, both those pardons are absurd. The prin
ciple of Beccaria is sound. Let the legislators
be merciful, but the executors of the law inex
orable. — To M. DE MEUNIER. ix, 263. FORD
ED., iv, 168. (P., 1786.)
6397. PARIS, Bois de Boulogne.— The
Bois de Boulogne invites you earnestly to come
and survey its beautiful verdure, to retire to its
umbrage from the heats of the season. I was
through it to-day, as I am every day^ — To
MADAME DE CORNY, ii, 161. (P., 1787.)
6398. PARIS, Evils of.— From what I
have seen in Paris, I know not one good pur
pose on earth which can be effected by a young
gentleman coming here. He may learn indeed
to speak the language, but put this in the scale
amongst other things he will learn and evils he
is sure to acquire, and it will be found too light.
I have always disapproved of a European edu
cation for our youth from theory ; I now do it
from inspection. — To CHARLES THOMSON. FORD
ED., iv, 15. (P., 1784.)
6399. PARK (Mungo), Work on Africa.
— I fear Park's work on Africa will throw
cold water on the hopes of the friends of free
dom. — To DR. BENJAMIN RUSH, iv, 336. FORD
ED., vii, 461. (M., 1800.)
6400. PARLIAMENT, Dignity of .—The
dignity of Parliament,, it seems, can brook no
opposition to its power. Strange, that a set
of men, who have made sale of their virtue to
the Minister, should yet talk of retaining dig
nity. — To DR. WILLIAM SMALL, i, 199. FORD
ED., i, 454. (1775.)
6401. PARLIAMENT, Executive Power
of. — A new executive power, unheard of till
then [the date of the Boston Port Bill, 14. G. 3.],
that of a British Parliament. — RIGHTS OF BRIT
ISH AMERICA, i, 133. FORD ED., i, 438. (1774.)
6402. PARLIAMENT, Injuries by.—
[During] the reigns which preceded his Maj
esty's [George III.] the violations of our rights
were less alarming, because repeated at more
distant intervals, than that rapid and bold suc
cession of injuries, which is likely to distinguish
the present from all other periods of American
history. Scarcely have our minds been able
to emerge from the astonishment into which
one stroke of Parliamentary thunder has in
volved us, before another more heavy and more
alarming is fallen on us. — RIGHTS OF BRITISH
AMERICA, i, 130. FORD ED., i, 435. (1774.)
6403. PARLIAMENT, Jurisdiction of.
— The British Parliament has no right to ex
ercise authority over us. — RIGHTS OF BRITISH
AMERICA, i, 130. FORD ED., i, 434. (1774.)
6404. . He [George HI] has
endeavored to pervert the exercise of the kingly
office in Virginia into a detestable and insup
portable tyranny * * * by combining with
others to subject us to a foreign jurisdiction,
giving his assent to their pretended acts of leg
islation. — PROPOSED VA. CONSTITUTION. FORD
ED., ii, 10. (June 1776.)
6405. . He has combined with
others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign
to our constitutions and unacknowledged by our
laws, giving his assent to their acts of pretended
legislation, * * * declaring themselves in
vested with power to legislate for us in all
cases whatsoever. — DECLARATION OF INDEPEND
ENCE AS DRAWN BY JEFFERSON.
6406. PARLIAMENT, Misgovernment
by. — Not only the principles of common
sense, but the feelings of human nature, must
be surrendered up before his Majesty's sub
jects here, can be persuaded to believe that they
hold their political existence at the will of a
British Parliament. Shall these governments
be dissolved, their property annihilated, and
their people reduced to a state of nature, at the
imperious breath of a body of men whom they
never saw, in whom they never confided, and
over whom they have no powers of punishment
or removal, let their crimes against the Ameri
can public be ever so great ? Can any one rea
son be assigned why one hundred and sixty
thousand electors in the Island of Great Britain
should give law to four millions in the States
675
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Parliament
Parties
of America, every individual of whom is equal
to every individual of them, in virtue, in under
standing, and in bodily strength ? Were this
to be admitted, instead of being a free people,
as we have hitherto supposed, and mean to con
tinue ourselves, we should suddenly be found
the slaves, not of one, but of one hundred and
sixty thousand tyrants, distinguished, too, from
all others by this singular circumstance, that
they are removed from the reach of fear, the
only restraining motive which may hold the
hand of a tyrant. — RIGHTS OF BRITISH AMERI
CA, i, 131. FORD ED., i, 436. (1774.)
6407. PARLIAMENT, Purchase of fa
vor. — Congress are of opinion that the propo
sition * * * [of Lord North] is unreason
able and insidious : unreasonable because, if we
declare we accede to it, we declare without
reservation we will purchase the favor of parlia
ment not knowing at the same time at what
price they will please to estimate their favor.
It is insidious because any individual Colonies,
haying bid and bidden again till they find the
avidity of the seller unattainable by all their
powers, are then to return into opposition, di
vided from their sister Colonies whom the min
ister will have previously detached by a grant
of easier terms, or by an artful procrastination
of a definitive answer. — REPLY TO LORD NORTH'S
PROPOSITION. FORD ED., i, 478. (July 1775.)
6408. PARLIAMENT, Repudiation of.
— A body of men foreign to our constitutions,
and unacknowledged by our laws. — RIGHTS OF
BRITISH AMERICA, i, 134. FORD ED., i, 439.
(i774.)
6409. . Rather than submit to
the rights of legislating for us, assumed by the
British Parliament, * * * I would lend my
hand to sink the whole Island in the ocean. —
To JOHN RANDOLPH, i, 201. FORD ED., i, 484.
(M., 1775.)
6410. . We utterly dissolve all
political connection which may heretofore have
subsisted between us and the people or parlia
ment of Great Britain.* — DECLARATION OF IN
DEPENDENCE AS DRAWN BY JEFFERSON.
6411. PARLIAMENT, Submission to.—
In constituting indeed our several forms of
government, we had adopted one common king,
thereby laying a foundation for perpetual league
and amity with them ; but that submission to
their parliament was no part of our constitution
nor ever in idea, if history may be credited, f
— DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE AS DRAWN BY
JEFFERSON.
6412. PARLIAMENT, Tyranny of. —
History has informed us that bodies of men as
well as individuals are susceptible of the spirit
of tyranny. A view of these acts of Parlia
ment for regulation, as it has been affectedly
called, of the American trade, if all other evi
dences were removed out of the case, would un
deniably evince the truth of this observation. —
RIGHTS OF BRITISH AMERICA, i, 128. FORD
ED., i, 433. (1774.)
6413. PARLIAMENTARY LAW, Com
pilation of. — I do not mention the Parliamen
tary Manual published for the use of the Senate
of the United States because it was a mere com
pilation into which nothing entered of my own
but the arrangement and a few observations
necessary to explain that and some of the cases
— To JOHN W. CAMPBELL, v, 466. FORD ED., ix
258. (M., 1809.)
* Struck out by the Congress.— EDITOR.
t Congress struck out this passage. — EDITOR.
6414. PARLIAMENTARY LAW, Study
of.— It seems probable that I will be called on
to preside in a legislative chamber. It is now
so long since I have acted in the legislative line,
that I am entirely rusty in the Parliamentary
rules of procedure. I know they have been
more studied and are better known by you than
)y any man in America, perhaps by any man
iving. I am in hopes that while inquiring into
.he subject you made notes on it. If any such
remain in your hands, however informal, in
books or in scraps of paper, and you will be
so good as to trust me with them a little while,
they shall be most faithfully returned. — To
GEORGE WYTHE. iv, 163. FORD ED., vii, no.
(M., I797-)
6415. PARTIES, Amalgamation of.—
What do you think of the state of parties at this
:ime [1822] ? An opinion prevails that there
is no longer any distinction, that the republicans
and federalists are completely amalgamated, but
it is not so. The amalgamation is of name only,
not of principle. All, indeed, call themselves by
the name of republicans, because that of the
federalists was extinguished in the battle of
New Orleans. But the truth is that finding
that monarchy is a desperate wish in this
country, they rally to the point which they
think next best, a consolidated government.
Their aim is now, therefore, to break down the
rights reserved by the Constitution to the States
as a bulwark against that consolidation, the
fear of which produced the whole of the oppo
sition to the Constitution at its birth. Hence
new republicans in Congress, preaching the doc
trines of the old federalists, and the new nick
names of " Ultras " and " Radicals ". But, I
trust, they will fail under the new, as the old
name, and that the friends of the real Consti
tution and Union will prevail against consolida
tion, as they have done against monarchism.
I scarcely know myself which is most to be
deprecated, a consolidation, or dissolution of
the States. The horrors of both are beyond the
reach of human foresight. — To WILLIAM JOHN
SON. FORD ED., x, 225. (M., Oct. 1822.)
6416. . You are told, indeed,
that there are no longer parties among us ; that
they are all now amalgamated ; the lion and the
lamb lie down together in peace. Do not be
lieve a word of it. The same parties exist now
as ever did. No longer, indeed, under the name
of republicans and federalists. The latter name
was extinguished in the battle of Orleans.
Those who wore it, finding monarchism a des
perate wish in this country, are rallying to
what they deem the next best point, a consoli
dated government. Although this is not yet
avowed (as that of monarchy, you know, never
was), it exists decidedly, and is the true key
to the debates in Congress, wherein you see
many calling themselves republicans, and
preaching the rankest doctrines of the old fed
eralists.* — To ALBERT GALLATIN. FORD ED.,
x, 235. (M., Oct. 1822.)
6417. . You will be told that
parties are now all amalgamated ; the wolf now
dwells with the lamb, and the leopard lies down
with the kid. It is true that federalism has
changed its name and hidden itself among us.
Since the Hartford convention it is deemed
even by themselves a name of reproach. In
some degree, too, they have varied their object.
To monarchize this nation they see is impossi
ble ; the next best thing in their view is to
consolidate it into one government as a premier
pas to monarchy. The party is now as strong
* Gallatin was then in Europe.— EDITOR.
Parties
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
676
as it ever has been since 1800; and though
mixed with us are to be known by their rally
ing together on every question of power in a
general government. The judges, as before,
are at their head, and are their entering wedge.
Young men are more easily seduced into this
principle than the old one of monarchy. — To
ALBERT GALLATIN. FORD ED., x, 262. (M.,
Aug. 1823.)
6418. . [It is] an amalgamation
of name but not of principle. Tories are tories
still, by whatever name they may be called. —
To MARTIN VAN BUREN. vii, 373. FORD ED.,
x, 316. (M., 1824.)
6419. . I am no believer in the
amalgamation of parties, nor do I consider it
as either desirable or useful for the public ; but
only that, like religious differences, a difference
in politics should never be permitted to enter
into social intercourse, or to disturb its friend
ships, its charities, or justice. In that form,
they are censors of the conduct of each other,
and useful watchmen for the public. — To H.
LEE. vii, 376. FORD ED., x, 317. (M., 1824.)
6420. . There is really no amal
gamation [of parties]. The parties exist now
as heretofore. The one, indeed, has thrown off
its old name, and has not yet assumed a new
one, although obviously consolidationists. And
among those in the offices of every denomina
tion I believe it to be a bare minority. — To
WILLIAM SHORT, vii, 392. FORD ED., x, 335.
(M., January 1825.)
6421. PARTIES, Birth of.— At the
formation of our government, many had formed
their political opinions on European writings
and practices, believing the experience of old
countries, and especially of England, abusive as
it was, to be a safer guide than mere theory.
The doctrines of Europe were, that men in
numerous associations cannot be restrained
within the limits of order and justice, but by
forces physical and moral, wielded over them
by authorities independent of their will. Hence
their organization of kings, hereditary nobles,
and priests. Still further to constrain the brute
force of the people, they deem it necessary to
keep them down by hard labor, poverty and ig
norance, and to take from them,, as from bees,
so much of their earnings, as that unremitting
labor shall be necessary to obtain a sufficient
surplus barely to sustain a scanty and miserable
life. And these earnings they apply to maintain
their privileged orders in splendor and idle
ness, to fascinate the eyes of the people, and
excite in them an humble adoration and sub
mission, as to an order of superior beings. Al
though few among us had gone all these lengths
of opinion, yet many had advanced, some more,
some less, on the way. And in the convention
which formed our government, they endeavored
to draw the cords of power as tight as they
could obtain them, to lessen the dependence of
the general functionaries on their constituents,
to subject to them those of the States, and to
weaken their means of maintaining the steady
equilibrium which the majority of the conven
tion had deemed salutary for both branches,
general and local. To recover, therefore, in
practice the powers which the nation had re
fused, and to warp to their own wishes those
actually given, was the steady object of the Fed
eral party. Ours, on the contrary, was to main
tain the will of the maiority of the convention,
and of the people themselves. We believed,
with them, that man was a rational animal, en
dowed by nature with rights, and with an innate
sense of justice ; and that he could be restrained
from wrong and protected in right, by moderate
powers, confided to persons of his own choice,
and held to their duties by dependence on his
own will. We believed that the complicated
organization of kings, nobles, and priests, was
not the wisest nor best to effect the happiness
of associated man ; that wisdom and virtue were
not hereditary; that the trappings of such a
machinery, consumed by their expense, those
earnings of industry, they were meant to pro
tect, and, by the inequalities they produced, ex
posed liberty to sufferance. We believed that
men, enjoying in ease and security the full
fruits of their own industry, enlisted by all their
interests on the side of law and order, habitu
ated to think for themselves, and to follow their
reason as their guide, would be more easily and
safely governed, than with minds nourished in
error, and vitiated and debased, as in Europe,
by ignorance, indigence and oppression. The
cherishrnent of the people then was our prin
ciple, the fear and distrust of them, that of the
other party. Composed, as we were, of the
landed and laboring interests of the country, we
could not be less anxious for a government of
law and order than were the inhabitants of the
cities, the strongholds of federalism. And
whether our efforts to save the principles and
form of our Constitution have not been salu
tary, let the present republ can freedom, order
and prosperity of our country determine. — To
WILLIAM JOHNSON, vii, 290. FORD ED., x, 226.
(M., June, 1823.)
6422. PARTIES, History.— Let me im
plore you to finish your history of parties, leav
ing the time of publication to the state of
things you may deem proper, but taking especial
care that we do not lose it altogether. We
have been too careless of our future reputation,
while our tories will omit nothing to place us in
the wrong. Besides the five-yolumed libel
which represents us as struggling for office,
and not at all to prevent our government from
being administered into a monarchy, the Life
of Hamilton is in the hands of a man who, to
the bitterness of the priest, adds the rancor of
the fiercest federalism. Mr. Adams's papers,
too, and his biography will descend, of course,
to his son whose pen, you know, is pointed,
and his prejudices not in our favor. And,
doubtless, other things are in preparation, un
known to us. On our part, we are depending
on truth to make itself known, while history is
taking a contrary set which may become too
inveterate for correction. Mr. Madison will
probably leave something, but, I believe, only
particular passages of our history, and these
chiefly confined to the period between the disso
lution of the old and commencement of the
new government, which is peculiarly within his
knowledge. After he joined us in the adminis
tration, he had no leisure to write. This, too,
was my case. But although I had not time to
prepare anything express, my letters (all pre
served) will furnish the -daily occurrences and
views from my return from Europe in 1790,
till I retired finally from office. These will
command more conviction than anything I could
have written after my retirement ; no day hav
ing ever passed during that period without a
letter to somebody. Written, too, in the mo
ment, and in the warmth and freshness of fact
and feeling, they will carry internal evidence
that what they breathe is genuine. Selections
from these, after my death, may come out suc
cessively as the maturity of circumstances may
render their appearance seasonable. But mul
tiplied testimony, multiplied views will be nec
essary to give solid establishment to truth.
Much is known to one which is not known to
677
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Parties
another, and no one knows everything. It is
the sum of individual knowledge which is to
make up the whole truth, and to give its correct
current through future time. Then, do not
* * * withhold your stock of information ;
and I would moreover recommend that you
trust it not to a single copy, nor to a single
depositary. Leave it not in the power of any
one person, under the distempered view of an
unlucky moment, to deprive us of the weight of
your testimony, and to purchase, by its de
struction, the favor of any party or person. — To
WILLIAM JOHNSON, vii, 277. FORD ED., x, 247.
(M., 1823.)
6423. . Our opponents are far
ahead of us in preparations for placing their
cause favorably before posterity. Yet I hope
even from some of them the escape of precious
truths, in angry explosions or effusions of
vanity, which will betray the genuine monarch-
ism of their principles. They do not themselves
believe what they endeavor to inculcate, that
we were an opposition party, not on principle,
but merely seeking for office. — To WILLIAM
JOHNSON, vii, 290. FORD ED., x, 226. (M.,
1823.)
6424. PARTIES, Independent of.— If I
could not go to heaven but with a party, I would
not go there at all. — To FRANCIS HOPKINSON.
ii, 585. FORD ED., v, 76. (P., 1789.)
6425. PARTIES, Jay's Treaty and.—
You well know how strong a character of di
vision had been impressed on the Senate by
the British treaty. Common error, common
censure, and common efforts of defence had
formed the treaty majority into a common band,
which feared to separate even on other sub
jects. Towards the close of the last Congress,
however, it had been hoped that their ties began
to loosen, and their phalanx to separate a little.
This hope was blasted at the very opening of the
present session, by the nature of the appeal
which the President made to the nation ; the oc
casion for which had confessedly sprung from
the fatal British treaty. This circumstance
rallied them again to their standard, and hith
erto we have had pretty regular treaty votes
on all questions of principle. And, indeed,
I fear, that as long as the same individuals re
main, so long we shall see traces of the same
division. — To AARON BURR, iv, 184. FORD ED.,
vii, 145. (Pa., June I797-)
6426. PARTIES, Motives.— That each
party endeavors to get into the administration
of the government, and exclude the other from
power, is true, and may be stated as a motive of
action : but this is only secondary ; the primary
motive being a real and radical difference of
political principle. I sincerely wish our dif-"^
ferences were but personally who should gov
ern, and that the principles of our Constitu
tion were those of both parties. Unfortunately,
it is otherwise ; and the question of preference
between monarchy and republicanism, which
has so long divided mankind elsewhere,
threatens a permanent division here. — To JOHN
MELISH. vi, 95. FORD ED., ix, 374. (M., Jan.
1813.)
6427. PARTIES, Names.— The appella
tion of aristocrats and democrats is the tru'e
one expressing the essence of all [political
parties]. — To H. LEE. vii, 376. FORD ED., x,
318. (M., 1824.)
6428. PARTIES, Natural division.—
The division into whig and tory is founded in
the nature of men; the weakly and nerveless,
the rich and the corrupt, seeing more safety
and accessibility in a strong executive; the
healthy, firm, and virtuous, feeling confidence
in their physical and moral resources, and will
ing to part with only so much power as is neces
sary for their good government ; and, therefore,
to retain the rest in the hands of the many,
the division will substantially be into whig
and tory, as in England formerly. — To JOEL
BARLOW, iv, 438. FORD ED., viii, 150. (W.,
May 1802.)
6429. . I consider the party di
vision of whig and tory the most wholesome
which can exist in any government, and well
worthy of being nourished, to keep out those
of a more dangerous character. — To WILLIAM
T. BARRY, vii, 255. (M., 1822.)
6430. — . The parties of whig and
tory are those of nature. They exist in all
countries, whether called by these names, or by
those of aristocrats and democrats, cote droite
and cote gauche, ultras and radicals, serviles
and liberals. The sickly, weakly, timid man
fears the people, and is a tory by nature. The
healthy, strong and bold, cherishes them, and
is formed a whig by nature. — To MARQUIS LA
FAYETTE, vii, 325. FORD ED., x, 281. (M., 1823.)
6431. . Men by their constitu
tions are naturally divided into two parties :
i. Those who fear and distrust the people, and
wish to draw all powers from them into the
hands of the higher classes. 2. Those who
identify themselves with the people, have con
fidence in them, cherish and consider them as
the most honest and safe, although not the
most wise depositary of the public interests.
In every country these two parties exist, and
in every one where they are free to think, speak
and write, they will declare themselves. Call
them, therefore, liberals and serviles, Jacobins
and ultras, whigs and tories, republicans and
federalists, aristocrats and democrats, or by
whatever name you please, they are the same
parties still, and pursue the same object. The
last appellation of aristocrats and democrats is
the true one expressing the essence of all. —
To H. LEE. vii, 376. FORD ED., x, 317. (M.,
1824.)
6432. . The division of whig and
tory, or, according to pur denominations, of
republican and federal, is the most salutary of
all divisions, and ought, therefore, to be
fostered, instead of being amalgamated ; for,
take away this, and some more dangerous prin
ciple of division will take its place. — To WILL
IAM SHORT, vii, 392. FORD ED., x, 335. (M.,
1825.)
6433. PARTIES, Opposite.— In every
free and deliberating society, there must, from
the nature of man, be opposite parties, and
violent dissensions and discords ; and one of
these, for the most part, must prevail over the
Mother for a longer or shorter time. — To JOHN
[TAYLOR, iv, 246. FORD ED., vii, 264. (Pa., 1798.)
6434. . Wherever there are men,
there will be parties; and wherever there are
free men they will make themselves heard.
Those of firm health and spirits are unwilling to
cede more of their liberty than is necessary
to preserve order ; those of feeble constitutions
will wish to see one strong arm able to protect
them from the many. These are the whigs and
tories of nature. These mutual jealousies pro
duce mutual security: and while the laws shall
be obeyed, all will be safe. He alone is your
enemy who disobeys them. — JEFFERSON'S MSS.
FORD ED., viii, i. (1801?)
Parties
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
678
6435. . Men have differed in
opinion, and been divided into parties by these
opinions, from the first origin of societies, and
in all governments where they have been per
mitted freely to think and to speak. The same
political parties which now agitate the United
States, have existed through all time. Whether
the power of the people or that of the api
should prevail, were questions which kept
the States of Greece and Rome in eternal
convulsions, as they now schismatize every peo
ple whose minds and mouths are not shut up
by the gag of a despot. And in fact, the terms
of whig and tory belong to natural as well as
to civil history. They denote the temper and
constitution of mind of different individuals. —
To JOHN ADAMS, vi, 143. (M., 1813.)
6436. — . To me it appears that
there have been differences of opinion and party
differences, from the first establishment of gov
ernment to the present day, and on the same
question which now divides our own country ;
that these will continue through all future time;
that every one takes his side in favor of the
many, or of the few, according to his consti
tution, and the circumstances in which he is
placed ; that opinions which are equally honest
on both sides, should not affect personal esteem
or social intercourse ; that as we judge between
the Claudii and the Gracchi, the Wentworths
and the Hampdens of past ages, so of those
among us whose names may happen to be re
membered for awhile, the next generations will
judge favorably or unfavorably, according to
the complexion of individual minds, and the
side they shall themselves have taken ; that
nothing new can be added by you or me in sup
port of the conflicting opinions on government ;
and that wisdom and duty dictate an humble
resignation to the verdict of our future peers.
— To JOHN ADAMS, vi, 145. (M., 1813.)
6437. . To come to our own
country, and to the times when you and I be
came first acquainted, we well remember the
violent parties which agitated the old Congress,
and their bitter contests. There you and I were
together, and the Jays, and the Dickinsons,
and other anti-independents, were arrayed
against us. They cherished the monarchy of
England, and we the rights of our countrymen.
When our present government was in the mew,
passing from Confederation to Union, how bit
ter was the schism between the " Feds " and
the " Antis ". Here you and I were together
again. For although, for a moment, separatecl
by the Atlantic from the scene of action, I
favored the opinion that nine States should
confirm the Constitution^ in order to secure it,
and the others hold off until certain amend
ments, deemed favorable to freedom, should be
made. I rallied in the first instant to the wiser
proposition of Massachusetts, that all should
confirm, and then all instruct their delegates to
urge those amendments. The amendments were
made, and all were reconciled to the govern
ment. But as soon as it was put into motion,
the line of division was again drawn. We broke
into two parties, each wishing to give the gov
ernment a different direction ; the one to
strengthen the most popular branch, the othery
the more permanent branches, and to extern'
their permanence. — To JOHN ADAMS, vi, 143.!
(M., 1813.)
6438. . Here you and I sepa-j
rated for the first time, and as we had been]
longer than most others on the public theatre,
and our names were more familiar to ourj
countrymen, the party which considered you!
as thinking with them, placed your name at
their head ; the other, for the same reason,
selected mine. But neither decency nor in
clination permitted us to become the advocates
of ourselves, or to take part personally in the
violent contests which followed. We suffered
ourselves, as you so well expressed it, to be
passive subjects of public discussion. And
these discussions, whether relating to men,
measures or opinions, were conducted by the
parties with an animosity, a bitterness and an
indecency which had never been exceeded. All
the resources of reason and of wrath were ex
hausted by each party in support of its own,
and to prostrate the adversary opinions ; one
was upbraided with receiving the anti-federal
ists, the other the old tories and refugees, into
their bosom. Of this acrimony, the public
papers of the day exhibit ample testimony, in
the debates of Congress, of State Legislatures,
of stump-orators, in addresses, answers, and
newspaper essays ; and to these, without ques
tion, may be added the private correspondences
of individuals ; and the less guarded in these,
because not meant for the public eye, not re
strained by the respect due to that, but poured
forth from the overflowings of the heart into
the bosom of a friend, as a momentary ease
ment of our feelings. — To JOHN ADAMS, vi, 144.
(1813.)
6439. PARTIES, Principles and.— Were
parties here divided merely by a greediness for
office, as in England, to take a part with either
would be unworthy of a reasonable or moral
man. But where the principle of difference is
as substantial, and as strongly pronounced as
between the republicans and the monocrats of
our country, I hold it as honorable to take a
firm and decided part, and as immoral to pursue
a middle line, as between the parties of honest
men and rogues, into which every country is
divided. — To WILLIAM B. GILES, iv, 126. FORD
ED., vii, 43. (M., Dec. 1795.)
6440. _ . What in fact is the dif
ference of principle between the two parties?
The one desires to preserve an entire inde
pendence of the Executive and Legislative on
each other, and the dependence of both on the
same source — the free election of the people.
The other party wishes to lessen the dependence
of the Executive, and of one branch of the
Legislature on the people, some by making them
hold for life, some hereditary, and some even
for giving the Executive an influence by patron
age or corruption over the remaining popular
branch, so as to reduce the elective franchise
to its minimum. — To J. F. MERCER, iv, 563. (W.,
1804.)
6441. . It is indeed of little con-
' sequence who governs us, if they sincerely and
zealously cherish the principles of union and
republicanism. — To HENRY DEARBORN, vii, 215.
FORD ED., x, 192. (M., 1821.)
6442. PARTIES, Public welfare and.—
Both of our political parties, at least the hon
est part of them, agree conscientiously in the
same object — the public good ; but they differ
essentially in what they deem the means of
promoting that good. One side believes it best
done by one composition of the governing
powers; the other, by a different one. One
fears most the ignorance of the people; the
other, the selfishness of rulers independent of
them. Which is right, time and experience
will prove. We think that one side of this ex
periment has been long enough tried, and
proved not to promote the good of the many ;
and that the other has not been fairly and suf
ficiently tried. Our opponents think the re-
679
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Parties
Patents
verse. With whichever opinion the body of the
nation concurs, that must prevail. — To MRS.
JOHN ADAMS, iv, 562. FORD ED., viii, 312. (M.,
1804.)
6443. PARTIES, Republican vs. Mon
archical. — Where a Constitution, like ours,
wears a mixed aspect of monarchy and repub
licanism, its citizens will naturally divide into
two classes of sentiment according to their tone
of body or mind. Their habits, connections
and callings induce them to wish to strengthen
either the monarchical or the republican fea
tures of the Constitution. Some will consider
it as an elective monarchy, which had better
be made hereditary, and, therefore, endeavor
to lead towards that all the forms and .prin
ciples of its administration. Others will view it
as an energetic republic, turning in all its
points on the pivot of free and frequent elec
tions. The great body of our native citizens are
unquestionably of the republican sentiment.
Foreign education, and foreign conventions of
interest, have produced some exceptions in
every part of the Union, North and South, and
perhaps other circumstances in your quarter,
better known to you, may have thrown into
the scale of exceptions a greater number of
the rich. Still there, I believe, and here [the
South] I am sure, the great mass is republican.
Nor do any of the forms in which the public
disposition has been pronounced in the last half
dozen years, evince the contrary. All of
them, when traced to their true source, have
only been evidences of the preponderant pop
ularity of a particular great character. That in
fluence once withdrawn, and our countrymen
left to the operation of their own unbiased
good sense, I have no doubt we shall see a
pretty rapid return of general harmony, and our
citizens moving in phalanx in the paths of
regular liberty, order, and a sacrosanct ad
herence to the Constitution. Thus I think it
will be, if war with France can be avoided. But
if that untoward event comes athwart us in our
present point of deviation, nobody, I believe,
can foresee into what port it will drive us. —
To JAMES SULLIVAN, iv, 168. FORD ED., vii,
117. (M., Feb. I797-)
6444. . The toryism with which
we struggled in 1777 differed but in name
from the federalism of 1799, with which we
struggled also ; and the Anglicism of 1808,
against which we are now struggling, is but the
same thing still in another form. It is a long
ing for a king and an English king rather than
any other. This is the true source of their
sorrows and wailings. — To JOHN LANGDON. v.
512. (M., 1810.)
6445. PARTIES, Washington's rela
tions to. — You expected to discover the dif
ference of our party principles in General
Washington's valedictory, and my inaugural
address. Not at all. General Washington did
not harbor one principle of federalism. He
was neither an Angloman, a monarchist, nor a
separatist. He sincerely wished the people to
have as much self-government as they were
competent to exercise themselves. The only
point on which he and I ever differed in opin
ion, was, that I had more confidence than he
had in the natural integrity and discretion of
the people, and in the safety and extent to
which they might trust themselves with a con
trol of their government. He has asseverated
to me a thousand times his determination that
the existing government should have a fair
trial, and that in support of it he would spend
the last drop of his blood. He did this the
more repeatedly, because he knew General Ham
ilton's political bias, and my apprehensions
from it. It is a mere calumny, therefore, in
the monarchists, to associate General Washing
ton with their principles. But that may have
happened in this case which has been often
seen in ordinary cases, that, by oft repeating an
untruth, men come to believe it themselves.
It is a mere artifice in this party to bolster
themselves up on the revered name of that
first of our worthies. — To JOHN MELISH. vi, 97.
FORD ED., ix, 376. (M., Jan. 1813.) See FED
ERALISTS, HARTFORD CONVENTION, MONARCH
ISTS, REPUBLICANISM and REPUBLICANS.
6446. PASSIONS, Control.— We must
keep the passions of men on our side, even
when we are persuading them to do what
they ought to do. — To M. DE MEUNIER. ix,
272. FORD ED., iv, 177. (P., 1786.)
6447. PASSIONS, Suppress.— It is our
sacred duty to suppress passion among our
selves, and not to blast the confidence we have
inspired of proof that a government of reason
is better than one of force. — To RICHARD
RUSH, vii, 183. (M., 1820,)
6448. PATENTS, Benefits of.— In the
arts, and especially in the mechanical arts,
many ingenious improvements are made in con
sequence of the patent-right giving exclusive
use of them for fourteen years. — To M. PICTET.
iv, 462. (W., 1803.)
6449. PATENTS, Combinations in.— If
we have a right to use three things separately,
I see nothing in reason, or in the patent law,
which forbids our using them all together. A
man has a right to use a saw, an axe, a plane
separately ; may he not combine their uses on
the same piece of wood ? He has a right to use
his knife to cut his meat, a fork to hold it;
may a patentee take from him the right to con
tinue _ their use on the same subject? Such a
law, instead of enlarging our conveniences, as
was intended, would most fearfully abridge
them, and crowd us by monopolies out of the
use of the things we have. — To OLIVER EVANS.
vi, 298. (M., 1814.)
6450. PATENTS, Duration of.— Certain
ly an inventor ought to be allowed a right to
the benefit of his invention for some certain
time. It is equally certain it ought not to be
perpetual ; for to embarrass society with monop
olies for every utensil existing, and in all the
details of life, would be more injurious to them
than had the supposed inventors never existed ;
because the natural understanding of its mem
bers would have suggested the same things or
others as good. How long the term should be,
is the difficult question. Our legislators have
copied the English estimate of the term, per
haps without sufficiently considering how much
longer, in a country so much more sparsely set
tled, it takes for an invention to become known,
and used to an extent profitable to the inventor.
Nobody wishes more than I do that ingenuity
should receive a liberal encouragement. — To
OLIVER EVANS, v, 75. (M., 1807.)
6451. PATENTS, Frivolous.— The abuse
of frivolous patents is likely to cause more in
convenience than is countervailed by those
really useful. We know not to what uses we
may apply implements which were in our hands
before the birth of our government, and even
the discovery of America. — To DR. THOMAS
COOPER, vi, 295. (M., 1814.)
Patents
Paternalism
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
680
6452. PATENTS, Granting of.— Consid
ering the exclusive right to invention as given
not of natural right, but for the benefit of
society, I know well the difficulty of drawing
a line between the things which are worth to
the public the embarrassment of an exclusive
patent, and those which are not. As a member
cf the patent board for several years, while
the law authorized a board to grant or refuse
patents, I saw with what slow progress a sys
tem of general rules could be matured. Some,
however, were established by that board. One
of these was, that a machine of which we were
possessed, might be applied to every man to any
use of which it is susceptible, and that this right
ought not to be taken from him and given to a
monopolist, because the first perhaps had occa
sion to apply it. Thus a screw for crushing
plaster might be employed for crushing corn
cobs. And a chain-pump for raising water
might be used for raising wheat ; this being
merely a change of application. Another rule
was that a change of material should not give
title to a patent. * * * A third was that a
mere change of form should give no right to a
patent. * * * But there were still abundance
of cases which could not be brought under rule,
until they should have presented themselves
under all their aspects; and these investiga
tions occupying more time of the members of
the board than they could spare from higher
duties, the whole was turned over to the ju
diciary, to be matured into a system, under
which every one might know when his actions
were safe and lawful. Instead of refusing a
patent in the first instance, as the board was
authorized to do, 'the patent now issues of
course, subject to be declared void on such
principles as should be established by the courts
of law. This business, however, is but little
analogous to their course of reading, since
we might in vain turn over all the lubberly
volumes of the law to find a single ray which
would lighten the path of the mechanic or the
mathematician. It is more within the informa
tion of a board of academical professors, and
a previous refusal of patent would better guard
our citizens against harassment by lawsuits.
But England had given it to her judges, and
the usual predominancy of her examples carried
it to ours. — To ISAAC MCPHERSON. vi, 181.
(M., 1813.)
— PATENTS, Inventors and. — See IN
VENTIONS and INVENTORS, RIGHTS OF.
6453. PATENTS, Law of.— I found it
more difficult than I had on first view imagined,
to draw the clause you wish to have introduced
in the inclosed bill. * Will you make the first
trial against the patentee conclusive against all
others who might be interested to contest his
patent? If you do he will always have a
conclusive suit brought against himself at once.
Or will you give every one a right to bring
actions separately. If you do, besides running
him down with the expenses and vexations of
lawsuits, you will be sure to find some jury in
the long run, who from motives of partiality or
ignorance, will find a verdict against him,
though a hundred should have been before
found in his favor. I really believe that less
evil will follow from leaving him to bring suits
against those who invade his right. — To HUGH
WILLIAMSON. FORD ED., v, 392. (1791.)
* Jefferson's bill "to Promote the Progress of the
Useful Arts" was introduced into the House of Rep
resentatives by Mr. White on Feb. 7, 1791. No action
was taken upon it, however j but in the next Congress
it was passed after many minor alterations had been
made.— EDITOR.
6454. PATENTS, Monopoly and.— If a
new application of our old machines be a ground
of monopoly, the patent law will take from us
much more good than it will give. — To OLIVER
EVANS, vi, 298. (M., 1814.)
6455. PATENTS, Regulation of.— A rule
has occurred to me, which I think, would * * "f
go far towards securing the citizen against the
vexation of frivolous patents. It is to con
sider the invention of any new mechanical
power, or of any new combination of the me
chanical powers already known, as entitled to
an exclusive grant ; but that the purchaser of
the right to use the invention should be free
to apply it to every purpose of which it is
susceptible. — To THOMAS COOPER, vi, 372. (M.,
1814.)
6456. PATENTS, Scope of.— [You say]
that your patent is for your improvement in the
manufacture of flour by the application of cer
tain principles, and of such machinery as will
carry those principles into operation, whether
of the improved elevator, improved hopper-boy,
or (without being confined to them) of any
machinery known and free to the public. I can
conceive how a machine may improve the manu
facture of flour ; but not how a principle ab
stracted from any machine can do it. It must
then be the machine, and the principle of that
machine, which is secured to you by your
patent. Recurring now to the words of your
definition, do they mean that, while all are free
to use the old string of buckets, and Archi-
medes's screw for the purposes to which they
have been formerly applied, you alone have
the exclusive right to apply them to the manu
facture of flour? that no one has a right to
apply his old machines to all the purposes of
which they are susceptible? that every one, for
instance, who can apply the hoe, the spade, or
the axe, to any purpose to which they have not
been before applied, may have a patent for the
exclusive right to that application ? and may
exclude all others, under penalties, from so
using their hoe, spade, or axe ? If this be the
meaning, [it is] my opinion that the Legislature
never meant by the patent law to sweep away
so extensively the rights of their constituents,
[and thus] to environ everything they touch
with snares. — To OLIVER EVANS, vi, 297. (M.,
1814.)
6457. PATERNALISM, Condemned.—
Having always observed that public works
are much less advantageously managed than
the same are by private hands, I have thought
it better for the public to go to market for
whatever it wants which is to be found there ;
for there competition brings it down to the
minimum of value. * * * I think it ma
terial, too, not to abstract the high executive
officers from those functions which nobody
else is charged to carry on, and to employ
them in superintending works which are go
ing on abundantly in private hands. Our
predecessors went on different principles;
they bought iron mines, and sought for copper
ones. We own a mine at Harper's Ferry of
the finest iron ever put into a cannon, which
we are afraid to attempt to work. We have
rented it heretofore, but it is now without
a tenant.— To MR. BIBB, v, 326. (M., 1808.)
6458. PATERNALISM, Private enter
prise vs. — Private enterprise manages * * *
much better [than the government] all the con-
68 1
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Patience
Patronage
cerns to which it is equal.— SIXTH ANNUAL
MESSAGE. viii, 68. FORD ED., viii, 494.
(1806.)
6459. PATIENCE, Abuse of.— When
patience has begotten false estimates of its
motives, when wrongs are pressed because it is
believed they will be borne, resistance becomes
morality. — To MADAME DE STAEL. v, 133. (W.,
1807.)
6460. PATRIOTISM, Cherish.— Let the
love of our country soar above all minor
passions.— To JOHN HOLLINS. v, 597. (M.,
1811.)
6461. . The first object of my
heart is my country. In that is embarked my
family, my fortune, and my own existence.
I have not one farthing of interest, nor one
fibre of attachment out of it, nor a single
motive of preference of any one nation to
another, but in proportion as they are more
or less friendly to us. — To ELBRIDGE GERRY.
iv, 269. FORD ED., vii, 329. (Pa., 1799.)
6462. PATRIOTISM, Disinterested.—
The man who loves his country on its own
account, and not merely for its trappings of
interest or power, can never be divorced from
it, can never refuse to come forward when
he finds that she is engaged in dangers which
he has the means of warding off. — To EL-
BRIDGE GERRY, iv, 188. FORD ED., vii, 151.
(Pa., June 1797.)
6463. . Let us deserve well of
our country by making her interests the end
of all our plans, and not our own pomp,
patronage, and irresponsiblity. — To ALBERT
GALLATIN. iv, 429. FORD ED., viii, 141. (W.,
1802.)
6464. PATRIOTISM, Inspirations to.—
I sincerely wish you may find it convenient to
come to Europe. * * * It will make you
adore your own country, its soil, its climate,
its equality, liberty, laws, people and manners.
* * * While we shall see multiplied in
stances of Europeans going to live in Amer
ica, I will venture to say, no man now living
will ever see an instance of an American re
moving to settle in Europe, and continuing
there. Come, then, and see the proofs of this,
and on your return add your testimony to
that of every thinking American, in order to
satisfy our countrymen how much it is their
interest to preserve, uninfected by contagion,
those peculiarities in their government and
manners, to which they are indebted for those
blessings. — To JAMES MONROE, i, 352. FORD
ED., iv, 59- (P-, I78S.)
6465. PATRIOTISM, Sacrifices for.—
To preserve the peace of our fellow citizens,
promote their prosperity and happiness, re
unite opinion, cultivate a spirit of candor,
moderation, charity and forbearance toward
one another, are objects calling for the ef
forts and sacrifices of every good man and
patriot. Our religion enjoins it; our hap
piness demands it ; and no sacrifice is req
uisite but of passions hostile to both. — To
RHODE ISLAND ASSEMBLY, iv, 397. (W.,
1801.)
6466. PATRONAGE, Advantages of.—
Those who have once got an ascendancy, and
possessed themselves of all the resources of
the nation, their revenues and offices, have
immense means for retaining their advantage.
—To JOHN TAYLOR, iv, 246. FORD ED., vii,
263. (Pa., June 1798.)
6467. PATRONAGE, Corruption and.—
Bad men will sometimes get in [the Pres
idency], and with such an immense patronage,
may make great progress in corrupting the
public mind and principles. This is a sub
ject with which wisdom and patriotism should
be occupied. — To MOSES ROBINSON, iv, 180.
(W., 1801.)
6468. PATRONAGE, Curtailing.— They
[first republican Congress] * * * are dis
arming executive patronage and preponder
ance, by putting down one-half the offices of
the United States, which are no longer neces
sary. — To GENERAL KOSCIUSKO. iv, 430.
(W., April 1802.) See OFFICES and OFFICE
HOLDERS.
6469. PATRONAGE, Distribution of.—
I am sensible of the necessity as well as jus
tice of dispersing employments over the whole
of the United States. But this is difficult as
to the smaller offices, which require to be
filled immediately as they become vacant and
are not worth coming for from the distant
States. Hence they will unavoidably get into
the sole occupation of the vicinities of the
seat of government, — a reason the more for
removing that seat to the true centre.— To
COLONEL HENRY LEE. FORD ED., v, 163.
(N.Y., 1790.)
6470. PATRONAGE, Elections and.—
The elective principle becomes nothing, if it
may be smothered by the enormous patronage
of the General Government. — To GOVERNOR
THOMAS M'KEAN. iv, 350. FORD ED., vii,
487. (W., 1801.)
6471. PATRONAGE, Necessity for.—
The safety of the government absolutely re
quired that its direction in its higher depart
ments should be taken into friendly hands.
Its safety did not even admit that the whole
of its immense patronage should be left at
the command of its enemies to be exercised
secretly or openly to reestablish the tyrannical
and dilapidating system of the preceding ad
ministration, and their deleterious principles
of government. — To ELBRIDGE GERRY. FORD
ED., viii, 169. (W., 1802.)
6472. PATRONAGE, Partizans and.—
Every officer of the government may vote at
elections according to his conscience ; but we
should betray the cause committed to our
care, were we to permit the influence of of
ficial patronage to be used to overthrow that
cause. — To LEVI LINCOLN, iv, 451. FORD ED.,
viii, 176. (W., 1802.)
6473. PATRONAGE, For personal ends.
— A person who wishes to make [the bestowal
of office] an engine of self-elevation, may
do wonders with it ; but to one who wishes to
Patronage
Peace
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
682
use it conscientiously for the public good,
without regard to the ties of blood or friend
ship, it creates enmities without number,
many open, but more secret, and saps the
happiness and peace of his life. — To JAMES
SULLIVAN, v, 252. (W., 1808.)
6474. PATRONAGE, Use of.— The pat
ronage of public office should no longer be
confided to one who uses it for active oppo
sition to the national will. — To ALBERT GAL-
LATIN, iv, 544. FORD EDV viii, 304. .(1804.)
6475. . No government [can]
discharge its duties to the best advantage of
its citizens, if its agents [are] in a regular
course of thwarting instead of executing all
its measures, and [are] employing the patron
age and influence of their offices against the
government and its measures. — To JOHN
PAGE, v, 136. FORD ED., ix, 118. (W., July
1807.)
6476. PATRONAGE vs. PATRIOTISM.
— Let us deserve well of our country by ma
king her interests the end of all our plans,
and not pur own pomp, patronage, and ir
responsibility. — To ALBERT GALLATIN. iv, 429.
FORD ED., viii, 141. (W., 1802.)
6477. PAUPERS, No American.— We
have no paupers, the old and crippled among
us, who possess nothing and have no families
to take care of them, being too few to merit
notice as a separate section of society, or to
afifect a general estimate. The great mass of
our population is of laborers ; our rich who
can live without labor, either manual or pro
fessional, being few, and of moderate wealth.
Most of the laboring class possess property,
cultivate their own lands, have families, and
from the demand for their labor are enabled
to exact from the rich and the competent such
prices as enable them to be fed abundantly,
clothed above mere decency, to labor mod
erately and raise their families. — To THOMAS
COOPER, vi, 377. (M., 1814.)
6478. PEACE, America and. — Twenty
years of peace, and the prosperity so visibly
flowing from it, have but strengthened our
attachment to it, and the blessings it brings,
and we do not despair of being always a
peaceable nation. — To M. CABANIS. iv, 497.
(W., 1803.)
6479. PEACE, Blessings of.— Wars and
contentions, indeed, fill the pages of history
with more matter. But more blessed is that
nation whose silent course of happiness
furnishes nothing for history to say. This is
what I ambition for my own country. — To
COMTE DlODATI. V, 62. (W., 1807.)
6480. PEACE, Bread and.— Were I in
Europe, pax et panis [peace and a loaf]
would certainly be my motto. — To COMTE
DIODATI. v, 62. (W., 1807.)
6481. PEACE, Cherishing.— I believe
that through all America there has been but
a single sentiment on the subject of peace
and war, which was in favor of the former.
The Executive here has cherished it with
equal and unanimous desire. We have dif
fered, perhaps, as to the tone of conduct ex
actly adapted to the securing it. — To JAMES
MONROE, iv, 6. FORD ED., vi, 321. (Pa.,
June 1793.)
6482. . — . Having seen the people
of all other nations bowed down to the earth
under the wars and prodigalities of their
rulers, I have cherished their opposites, peace,
economy, and riddance of public debt, be
lieving that these were the high road to public
as well as private prosperity and happiness. —
To HENRY MIDDLETON. vi, 90. (M., Jan.
1813.)
6483. PEACE, Cultivate.— Young as we
are, and with such a country before us to
fill with people and with happiness, we should
point in that direction the whole generative
force of nature, wasting none of it in efforts
of * * * destruction. — NOTES ON VIRGINIA.
viii, 412. FORD ED., iii, 278. (1782.)
6484. . It should be our en
deavor to cultivate the peace and friendship
of every nation, even of that which has in
jured us most, when we shall have carried
our point against her. — NOTES ON VIRGINIA.
viii, 412. FORD ED., iii, 279. (1782.)
6485. . I am decidedly of opin
ion we should take no part in European
quarrels, but cultivate peace and commerce
with all. — To GENERAL WASHINGTON, ii, 533.
FORD ED., v, 57. (P., 1788.)
6486. . We wish to cultivate
peace and friendship with all nations, be
lieving that course most conducive to the
welfare of our own. — To SIR JOHN SINCLAIR.
vii, 24. (M., 1816.)
6487. PEACE, The Deity and.— I bless
the Almighty Being, Who, in gathering to
gether the waters under the heavens into one
place, divided the dry land of your hemi
sphere from the dry lands of ours, and said,
at least be there peace. — To EARL OF BUCHAN.
iv, 493- (W., 1803.)
6488. PEACE, Desire for.— The power of
making war often prevents it, and in our case
would give efficacy to our desire of peace. —
To GENERAL WASHINGTON, ii, 533. FORD ED.,
v, 57. (P., Dec. 1788.)
6489. - — . The bravery exhibited
by our citizens on that element [the ocean]
will, I trust, be a testimony to the world that
it is not the want of that virtue which makes
us seek their peace, but a conscientious desire
to direct the energies of our nation to the
multiplication of the human race, and not to
its destruction. — FIRST ANNUAL MESSAGE.
viii, 8. FORD ED., viii, 118. (1801.)
6490. PEACE, With England. — I am
glad of the pacification of Ghent, and shall
still be more so, if, by a reasonable arrange
ment against impressment, they will make it
truly a treaty of peace, and not a mere truce,
as we must all consider it, until the principle
of the war is settled. — To GENERAL DEAR
BORN, vi, 450. (M., March 1815.)
6491. . The United States and
Great Britain ought to wish for peace and
683
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Peace
cordial friendship; we, because you can do
us more harm than any other nation; and
you, because we can do you more good than
any other nation. — To SIR JOHN SINCLAIR.
vii, 22. (M., 1816.)
6492. . I reciprocate congratula
tions with you sincerely on the restoration of
peace between our two nations. * * Let
both parties now count soberly the value of
mutual friendship.— To SIR JOHN SINCLAIR.
vii, 22. (M., 1816.)
6493. PEACE, European wars and.—
Till our treaty with England be fully execu
ted, it is desirable to us that all the world
should be in peace. That done, their wars
would do us little harm.— To SAMUEL OS-
GOOD, i, 450. (P., 1785.)
6494. PEACE, Faith, honor and. — I hope
some means will turn up of reconciling our
faith and honor with peace. — To JOHN
ADAMS, iv, 104. FORD ED., vi, 505. (M.,
April 1794.)
6495. . I wish for peace, if it
can be preserved, salve fide et honore. — To
JAMES MONROE. FORD ED., vi, 504. (M.,
I794-)
6496. PEACE, With France.— The agents
of the two people [United States and France]
are either great bunglers or great rascals,
when they cannot preserve that peace which
is the universal wish of both. — To JAMES
MONROE, iv, 20. FORD ED., vi, 349. (Pa.,
I793-)
6497. . [My assailant] says I
am " for peace ; but it is only with France ".
He has told half the truth. He would have
told the whole, if he had added England. I
am for peace with both countries. — To SAM
UEL SMITH, iv, 254. FORD ED., vii, 277. (M.,
1798.)
6498. PEACE, Happiness and prosper
ity. — Always a friend to peace, and believing
it to promote eminently the happiness and
prosperity of nations, I am ever unwilling
that it should be disturbed, until greater and
more important interests call for an appeal
to force. — To GENERAL SHEE. v, 33. (W.,
1807.)
6499. . All the energies of the
European nations are expended in the de
struction of the labor, property and lives of
their people. On our part, never had a people
so favorable a chance of trying the opposite
system, of peace and fraternity with man
kind, and the direction of all our means and
faculties to the purposes of improvement in
stead of destruction. — To PRESIDENT MONROE.
vii, 288. FORD ED., x, 257. (M., 1823.)
6500. PEACE, Importance of. — Peace is
our most important interest, and a recovery
from debt. — To WILLIAM SHORT, iv, 414.
FORD ED., viii, 98. (W., 1801.)
6501. PEACE, Independence and. —
Peace is the most important of all things for
us, except the preserving an erect and inde
pendent attitude. — To ROBERT R. LIVINGSTON.
iv, 448. FORD ED., viii, 173. (W., Oct. 1802.)
6502. PEACE, A landmark.— To culti
vate peace * * * [is one of] the land
marks by which we are to guide ourselves in
all our proceedings. — SECOND ANNUAL MES
SAGE, viii, 21. FORD ED., viii, 186. (Dec.
1802.)
6503. PEACE, Love of.— I love peace,
and am anxious that we should give the
world still another useful lesson, by showing
to them other modes of punishing injuries
than by war, which is as much a punishment
to the punisher as to the sufferer. — To TENCH
COXE. iv, 105. FORD ED., vi, 508. (M., May
I794-)
6504. .PEACE, With mankind.— I do
not recall these recollections [of conflicts with
the federal monarchists] with pleasure, but
rather wish to forget them, nor did I ever
permit them to affect social intercourse. And
now, least of all, am I disposed to do so.
Peace and good will with all mankind is my
sincere wish. — To WILLIAM SHORT, vii, 392.
FORD ED., x, 335. (M., 1825.)
6505. PEACE, Markets and.— I hope
France, England and Spain will all see it
their interest to let us make bread for them
in peace, and to give us a good price for it. —
To COLONEL M. LEWIS, iii, 163. (N.Y.,
1790.)
6506. PEACE, National reputation and.
— I am so far from believing that our reputa
tion will be tarnished by our not having
mixed in the mad contests of the rest of the
world that, setting aside the ravings of pep
per-pot politicians, of whom there are enough
in every age and country, I believe it will
place us high in the scale of wisdom, to have
preserved our country tranquil and prosper
ous during a contest which prostrated the
honor, power, independence, laws and prop
erty of every country on the other side of
the Atlantic. Which of them have better
preserved their honor? Has Spain, has Por
tugal, Italy, Switzerland, Holland, Prussia,
Austria, the other German powers, Sweden,
Denmark, or even Russia? And would we
accept of the infamy of France or England
in exchange for our honest reputation, or of
the result of their enormities, despotism to
the one, and bankruptcy and prostration to
the other, in exchange for the prosperity, the
freedom and independence, which we have
preserved safely through the wreck? — To J.
W. EPPES. vi, 15. (M., Sep. 1811.)
6507. PEACE, Our object. — Peace with
all nations, and the right which that gives us
with respect to all nations, are our object. —
To C. W. F. DUMAS, iii, 535. (Pa., 1793.)
6508. PEACE, Passion for.— Peace is
our passion. — To SIR JOHN SINCLAIR, iv,
491. (W., 1803.)
6509. PEACE, Pipe of.— I have joined
with you sincerely in smoking the pipe of
Peace
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
684
peace; it is a good old custom handed down
by your ancestors, and as such I respect and
join in it with reverence. I hope we shall
long continue to smoke in friendship to
gether. — To BROTHER JOHN BAPTIST DE
COIGNE. viii, 172. (1781.)
6510. PEACE, A Polar star.— Peace and
justice [should] be the polar stars of the
American Societies. — To J. CORREA. vii, 184.
FORD ED., x, 164. (M., 1820.)
6511. PEACE, A policy of.— Determined
as we are to avoid, if possible, wasting the
energies of our people in war and destruc
tion, we shall avoid implicating ourselves with
the powers of Europe, even in support of
principles which we mean to pursue. They
have so many other interests different from
ours, that we must avoid being entangled in
them. We believe we can enforce those
principles, as to ourselves, by peaceable
means, now that we are likely to have our
public councils detached from foreign views.
— To THOMAS PAINE, iv, 370. FORD ED.,
viii, 18. (W., March 1801.)
6512. . I hope that peace and
amity with all nations will long be the
character of our land, and that its prosperity
under the Charter will react on the mind of
Europe, and profit her by the example. — To
EARL OF BUCK AN. iv, 494. (W., 1803.)
6513. — — . We ask for peace and
justice from all nations. — To JAMES MONROE.
v, 12. FORD ED., viii, 450. (W., May 1806.)
6514. . The desire to preserve
our country from the calamities and ravages
of war, by cultivating a disposition, and pur
suing a conduct, conciliatory and friendly to
all nations, has been sincerely entertained
and faithfully followed. It was dictated by
the principles of humanity, the precepts of the
gospel, and the general wish of our country.
— REPLY TO ADDRESS, viii, 118. (1807.)
6515. PEACE, Politics and.— We have
great need of peace in Europe, that foreign
affairs may no longer bear so heavily on ours.
We have great need for the ensuing twelve
months to be left to ourselves. The enemies
of our Constitution are preparing a fearful
operation, and the dissensions in this State
[Pennsylvania] are too likely to bring things
to the situation they wish, when our Bona
parte, surrounded by his comrades in arms,
may step in to give us political salvation in
his way. It behooves our citizens to be on
their guard, to be firm in their principles, and
full of confidence in themselves. We are
able to preserve our self-government if we
will but think so. — To T. M. RANDOLPH, iv,
319. FORD ED., vii, 422. (Pa., Feb. 1800.)
6516. PEACE, Prayers for. — I pray for
peace, as best for all the world, best for us,
and best for me, who have already lived to
see three wars, and now pant for nothing
more than to be permitted to depart in peace.
—To THOMAS LEIPER. vi, 466. FORD ED.,
ix. 522. (M., 1815.)
6517. PEACE, Preserving.— My hope of
preserving peace for our country is not
founded in the greater principles of non-re
sistance under every wrong, but in the belief
that a just and friendly conduct on our part
will produce justice and friendship from
others.— To EARL OF BUCHAN. iv, 494. (W.,
6518. . if nations go to war for
every degree of injury, there would never be
peace on earth. — To MADAME DE STAEL. v,
133- (W., 1807.)
6519. . To preserve and secure
peace has been the constant aim of my admin
istration. — R. TO A. BALTIMORE BAPTISTS.
viii, 137. (1808.)
6520. PEACE, A principle of govern
ment.— Peace, commerce and honest friend
ship with all nations, entangling alliances
with none, > * * * I deem [one of the]
essential principles of our government and,
consequently, [one] which ought to shape its
administration. — FIRST INAUGURAL ADDRESS.
viii, 4. FORD ED., viii, 4. (1801.)
6521. . Peace has been our prin
ciple, peace is our interest, and peace has
saved to the world this only plant of free and
rational government now existing in it.
However, therefore, we may have
been reproached for pursuing our Quaker sys
tem, time will affix the stamp of wisdom on
it, and the happiness and prosperity of our
citizens will attest its merit. And this, I
believe, is the only legitimate object of gov
ernment, and the first duty of governors, and
not the slaughter of men and devastation of
the countries placed under their care, in pur
suit of a fantastic honor, unallied to virtue or
happiness; or in gratification of the angry
passions, or the pride of administrators, ex
cited by personal incidents, in which their
citizens have no concern.— To GENERAL Kos-
CIUSKO. v, 585. (M., 1811.)
6522. PEACE, And profit.— Peace and
profit will, I hope, be our lot. — To BENJAMIN
VAUGHAN. Hi, 159. (N.Y., 1790.)
6523. PEACE, Prosperity and.— Our de
sire is to pursue ourselves the path of peace
as the only one leading surely to prosperity.
— To GEORGE HAMMOND, iii, 559. FORD ED.,
vi, 253- (Pa., I793-)
6524. — . . I have ever cherished
the same spirit with all nations, from a con
sciousness that peace, prosperity, liberty and
morals, have an intimate connection. — To DR.
GEORGE LOGAN, vi, 215. FORD ED., ix, 421.
(M., 1813.)
6525. PEACE, Public welfare and.— We
wish to cultivate peace and friendship with
all nations, believing that course most con
ducive to the welfare of our own. — To RUFUS
KING. iv? 444. FORD ED., viii, 164. (W.,
1802.)
6526. PEACE, Pursuit of .—From the mo
ment which sealed our peace and independ-
685
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Peace
Pennsylvania
ence, our nation has wisely pursued the paths
of peace and justice. During the period in
which I have been charged with its concerns,
no effort has been spared to exempt us from
the wrongs and the rapacity of foreign na
tions, and * * * I feel assured that no
American will hesitate to rally round the
standard of his insulted country, in defence
of that freedom and independence achieved
by the wisdom of sages, and consecrated by
the blood of heroes.— R. TO A. GEORGETOWN
REPUBLICANS, viii, 159. (1809.)
6527. . Do what is right, leav
ing the people of Europe to act their follies
and crimes among themselves, while we pur
sue in good faith the paths of peace and
prosperity. — To PRESIDENT MONROE, vii, 290.
FORD ED., x, 259. (M., 1823.)
6528. PEACE, Securing. — Whatever en
ables us to go to war, secures our peace. — To
JAMES MONROE. FORD ED., v, 198. (N.Y.,
1790.)
6529. PEACE, Wisdom of.— Peace and
friendship with all mankind is our wisest
policy ; and I wish we may be permitted to
pursue it. — To C. W. F. DUMAS, i, 553.
(P., 1786.)
6530. PEACE, Wishes for. — That peace,
safety, and concord may be the portion of our
native land, and be long enjoyed by our fel
low-citizens, is the most ardent wish of my
heart, and if I can be instrumental in pro
curing or preserving them, I shall think I
have not lived in vain. — To BENJAMIN
WARING, iv, 378. (W., March 1801.)
6531. . It is impossible that any
other man should wish peace as much as I
do; although duty may control that wish. —
To JOEL BARLOW, v, 216. FORD ED., ix, 168.
(W., Dec. 1807.) See ALLIANCES.
6532. PEACE vs. WAR.— I value peace,
and I should unwillingly see any event take
place which would render war a necessary
resource. — To M. DUPONT DE NEMOURS, iv,
435. (W., April 1802.)
6533. . I hope we shall prove
how much happier for man the Quaker
policy is, and that the life of the feeder, is
better than that of the fighter ; and it is some
consolation that the desolation by these
maniacs [European kings] of one part of
the earth is the means of improving it in
other parts. — To JOHN ADAMS, vii, 245.
FORD ED., x, 217. (M., 1822.)
— PELISIPIA, Proposed State of.— See
WESTERN TERRITORY.
6534. PENDLETON (Edmund), Ad
dress of.— Your patriarchal address to your
country is running through all the republican
papers, and has a very great effect on the peo
ple. ^ It is short, simple, and presents things in
a view they readily comprehend. The char
acter and circumstances, too, of the writer leave
them without doubts of his motives. — To ED
MUND PENDLETON. iv, 274. FORD ED., vii, 336.
(Pa., 1799.)
6535. PENDLETON (Edmund), Per
severance. — Mr. Pendleton * * * was the
ablest man in debate I have ever met with. He
had not, indeed, the poetical fancy of Mr.
Henry, his sublime imagination, his lofty and
overwhelming diction ; but he was cool, smooth
and persuasive ; his language flowing, chaste
and embellished ; his conceptions quick, acute
and full of resource ; never vanquished : for if
he lost the main battle, he returned upon you,
and regained so much of it as to make it a
drawn one, by dexterous manoeuvres, skir
mishes in detail, and the recovery of small ad
vantages which, little singly, were important
altogether. You never knew when you were
clear of him, but were harassed by his perse
verance, until the patience was worn down of
all who had less of it than himself. Add to this,
that he was one of the most virtuous and
benevolent of men, the kindest friend, the most
amiable and pleasant of companions, which in
sured a favorable reception to whatever came
from him. — AUTOBIOGRAPHY, i, 37. FORD ED.,
i, 50. (1821.)
6536. PENDULUM, Advantages of.—
The great and decisive superiority of the pendu
lum, as a standard of measure, is its accessi
bility to all men, at all times, and in all places.
— To DR. ROBERT PATTERSON, vi, 20. (M., 1811.)
6537. PENDULUM, Construction of .—I
have a curiosity to try the length of a pendulum
vibrating seconds here. * * * The bob should
be spherical, of lead, and its radius, I presume,
about one inch. * * * The suspending rod
should be such as not to be affected by heat or
cold, nor yet so heavy as to affect too sensibly
the centre of oscillation. Would not a rod
of wood not larger than a large wire answer
this double view? * * * Iron has been found
but about six times as strong as wood while
its specific gravity is eight times as great. * * *
A rod of white oak not larger than a seine
twine, would probably support a spherical bob
of lead of one inch radius. — To DR. ROBERT
PATTERSON, vi, 26. (M., 1811.)
6538. PENDULUM, Experiments with.
— I had taken no notice of the precaution of
making the experiment of the pendulum on
the sea-shore, because the highest mountain in
the United States would not add 1-5000 part to
the length of the earth's radius, nor 1-128 of an
inch to the length of the pendulum. The high
est part of the Andes, indeed, might add about
i-iooo to the earth's radius, and 1-25 of an
inch to the pendulum. As it has been thought
worth mention, I will insert it also. — To DAVID
RITTENHOUSE. iii, 149. (N.Y., 1790.)
_ PENNSYLVANIA, Boundary line.—
See BOUNDARIES.
6539. PENNSYLVANIA, Electoral in
fluence. — In Pennsylvania, the election has
been triumphantly carried by the republicans ;
their antagonists having got but two out of
eleven members [of Congress], and the vote of
this State can generally turn the balance. — To
T. M. RANDOLPH, iii, 491. FORD ED., vi, 134.
(Pa., 1792.)
6540. PENNSYLVANIA, Patriotism.—
I shall always be thankful for any informa
tion * * * which may enable me to understand
the differences of opinion and interest which
seem to be springing up in Pennsylvania, and to
be subjects of uneasiness. If that State splits
it will let us down into the abyss. I hope so
much from the patriotism of all, that they will
make all smaller interests give way to the
Pennsylvania
People
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
686
greater importance of the general welfare. — To
WILLIAM DUANE. FORD EDV viii, 54. (W., May
1801.)
6541. PENNSYLVANIA, Religious
freedom.— The laws of Pennsylvania set us
the first example of the wholesome and happy
effects of religious freedom. — To M. DUFIEF.
vi, 341. (M., 1814.)
6542. . The cradle of toleration
and freedom of religion. — To DR. THOMAS
COOPER, vii, 266. FORD ED., x, 242. (M., 1822.)
6543. PENNSYLVANIA, Bepublican-
ism. — Pennsylvania is coming majestically
round to the true principles. — To T. LOMAX. iv,
300. FORD ED., vii, 374. (M., March 1799-)
6544. . In the electoral election
[1808] Pennsylvania really spoke in a voice of
thunder to the monarchists of our country, and
while that State continues so firm, with the
solid mass of republicanism to the South and
West, such efforts as we have lately seen in
the anti-republican portion of our country can
not ultimately affect our security. — To DR. E.
GRIFFITH, v, 450. (M., 1809.)
6545. PENNSYLVANIA, Virginia and.
— With respect to your State particularly, we
shall take very great pleasure in cultivating
every disposition to harmony and mutual aid.
That policy would be very unsound which
should build our interest or happiness on any
thing inconsistent with yours. — To THE PRESI
DENT OF PENNSYLVANIA. FORD ED., iii, 17. (R.,
1781.)
6546. . The permanence of our
Union hanging on the harmony of Pennsylvania
and Virginia, I hope that will continue as long
as our government continues to be a blessing to
mankind. — To THOMAS LEIPER. FORD ED., x,
299. (M., 1824.)
6547. PENSACOLA, Capture of.— The
capture of Pensacola, which furnished so much
speculation for European news-writers (who
imagine that our political code, like theirs,
had no chapter of morality), was nothing here.
In the first moment, indeed there was a gen
eral outcry of condemnation of what appeared
to be a wrongful aggression. But this was
quieted at once by information that it had been
taken without orders, and would be instantly
restored. * * * This manifestation of the will
of our citizens to countenance no injustice to
wards a foreign nation filled me with comfort
as to our future course. — To ALBERT GALLATIN.
FORD EDV x, 115. (M., Nov. 1818.)
6548. PENSIONS, Prodigalities of.—
Nor should we wonder at * * * [the] pressure
[for a fixed constitution in 1788-9] when we
consider the monstrous abuses of power under
which * * * [the French] people were ground
to powder; when we pass in review * * * the
prodigalities of pensions. — AUTOBIOGRAPHY
i, 86. FORD ED., i, 118. (1821.)
6549. PENSIONS, Public.— Every person
* * * qualified to elect [to the House of Repre
sentatives of Virginia] shall be capable of be
ing elected [to the House of Representatives]
* * * During his continuance in the said office
he shall hold no public pension * * * . — PRO
POSED VA. CONSTITUTION. FORD ED., ii, 15
(June 1776.)
6550. . While in the senatoria
office they [the members] shall be incapable of
holding any public pension. — PROPOSED VA
CONSTITUTION. FORD ED., ii, 16. (June 1776.)
6551. PENSIONS, Taxes and.— We do
not mean that our people shall be burthened
with oppressive taxes to provide sinecures for
;he idle or the wicked, under color of providing
ior a civil list. — REPLY TO LORD NORTH'S PROP
OSITION. FORD ED., i, 480. (July 1775.)
6552. PEOPLE, Administration of law
and. — That people will be happiest whose
laws are best, and are best administered. —
DIFFUSION OF KNOWLEDGE BILL. FORD ED.,
ii, 221. (1779.)
6553. PEOPLE, American vs. British.—
Our country is getting into a ferment against
yours, or rather has caught it from yours.
God knows how this will end ; but assuredly
in one extreme or the other. There can be
no medium between those who have loved so
much. — To DR. PRICE, i, 378. FORD ED., iv,
84. (P., 1785.)
6554. PEOPLE, American and Euro
pean. — If all the sovereigns of Europe were
to set themselves to work to emancipate the
minds of their subjects from their present
ignorance and prejudices, and that, as zeal
ously as they now endeavor the contrary, a
thousand years would not place them on
that high ground on which our common peo
ple are now setting out. Ours could not have
been so fairly put into the hands of their own
common sense, had they not been separated
from their parent stock, and kept from con
tamination, either from them, or the other
people of the old world, by the intervention
of so wide an ocean. — To GEORGE WYTHE.
ii, 7. FORD ED., iv, 268. (P., 1786.)
6555. PEOPLE, American and French.
— There is an affection between the two peo
ples [the Americans and French] which dis
poses them to favor one another. — To COUNT
DE VERGENNES. i, 390. (P., 1785.)
6556. PEOPLE, Animosities.— The ani
mosities of sovereigns are temporary and may
be allayed; but those which seize the whole
body of a people, and of a people, too, who
dictate their own measures, produce calam
ities of long duration. — To C. W. F. DUMAS.
i, 553- (P., 1786.)
6557. PEOPLE, Ascendency of.— Lay
down true principles and adhere to them
inflexibly. Do not be frightened into their
surrender by the alarms of the timid, or the
croakings of wealth against the ascendency
of the people. If experience be called for,
appeal to that of our fifteen or twenty gov
ernments for forty years, and show me
where the people have done half the mischief
in these forty years, that a single despot
would have done in a single year; or show
half the riots and rebellions, the crimes and
the punishments, which have taken place in
any single nation, under kingly government,
during the same period. — To SAMUEL KERCH-
iv AL. vii, ii. FORD EDV x, 39. (M., 1816.)
6558. PEOPLE, Authority of.— I Con-j
sider the people who constitute a society 01
nation as the source of all authority in th; '
nation ; as free to transact their common co-it-
68;
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
People
cerns by any agents they think proper; to
I change these agents individually, or the or-
\ ganization of them in form or function when-
\ever they please; that all the acts done by
.these agents under the authority of the nation,
are the acts of the nation, are obligatory on
them, and enure to their use, and can in no
wise be annulled or affected by any change in
the form of the government, or of the per
sons administering it. — OPINION ON FRENCH
TREATIES, vii, 612. FORD ED., vi, 220. (April
I793-)
6559. . Leave no authority ex
isting not responsible to the people. — To ISAAC
H. TIFFANY, vii, 32. (M., 1816.)
6560. . All authority belongs to
the people.— To SPENCER ROANE. vii, 213.
FORD ED., x, 190. (M., 1821.)
6561. PEOPLE, Blood of.— On this side
of the Atlantic [Europe] the blood of the
people is become an inheritance, and those
who fatten on it will not relinquish it easily.
— To E. RUTLEDGE. ii, 435. FORD ED., V, 42.
(P., 1788.)
6562. PEOPLE, Cities and.— When_Jthe__
people getpiled upon one another in large
cities, as iH^Ktrmpe, -they will become-cui i upt
as in Europe.* — To JAMES MAWSON. ii, 332.
FoRD_£D^.-iv,.-479. (P., 1787. )
6563. PEOPLE, City and country.— The
inhabitants of the commercial cities are as
different in sentiment and character from the
country people as any two distinct nations,
and are clamorous against the order of
things [republicanism] established by the ag
ricultural interest. — To M. PICTET. iv, 463.
(W., 1803.) ^
6564. PEOPLE, Confidence in.— My con-J
fidence * * * in my countrymen generally/
leaves me without much fear for the future.
— To JAMES FISHBACK. v, 470. (M., 1809.)
' 6565. PEOPLE, Control by.— Unless the
/mass retains sufficient control over those in-
trusted with the powers of their government,
these will be perverted to their own oppres-
sion, and to the perpetuation of wealth and
power in the individuals and their families
selected for the trust. Whether our Consti
tution has hit on the exact degree of control
necessary, is yet under experiment ; and it is
a most encouraging reflection that distance
and other difficulties securing us against the
brigand governments of Europe, in the safe
enjoyment of our farms and firesides, the ex
periment stands a better chance of being sat
isfactorily made here than on any occasion
yet presented by history. — To MR. VANDER
KEMP, vi, 45. (M., 1812.)
6566. . I know no safe depos
itary of the ultimate powers of the society
but the people themselves; and if we think
them not enlightened enough to exercise their
control with a wholesome discretion, the
* In the Congress edition " When we get piled
upon one another in large cities, as in Europe, we
shall become as corrupt as in Europe, and go to eat
ing one another as they do there. " — EDITOR.
remedy is not to take it from them, but to in
form their discretion by education. This is
the true corrective of abuses of constitutional
power. — To WILLIAM C. JARVIS. vii, 179.
FORD ED., x, 161. (M., 1820.)
6567. PEOPLE, Corruption and.— A
germ of corruption indeed has been trans
ferred from our dear mother country, and
has already borne fruit, but its blight is be
gun from the breath of the people. — To J. P.
BRISSOT DE WARVILLE. FORD ED., vi, 249.
(Pa, I793-)
6568. PEOPLE, Deception of. — The spirit
of 1776 is not dead. It has only been
slumbering. The body of the American peo
ple is substantially republican. But their vir
tuous feelings have been played on by some
fact with more fiction; they have been the
dupes of artful manoeuvres, and made for a
moment to be willing instruments in forging \
chains for themselves. But time and truth '.
have dissipated the delusion, and opened their
eyes. — To T. LOMAX. iv, 300. FORD ED., vii,
373. (M., March 1799.)
6569. . Our citizens may be de
ceived for awhile, and have been deceived ;
but as long as the presses can be protected,
we may trust to them for light. — To ARCHI
BALD STUART. FORD ED., vii, 378. (M., 1799.)
6570. . The lesson we have had
will probably be useful to the people at large,
by showing to them how capable they are
of being made the instruments of their own
bondage. — To JOHN DICKINSON. iv, 424.
(W., 1801.)
6571. PEOPLE, Duty of rulers.— To in
form the minds of the people, and to follow
their will, is the chief duty of those placed
at their head. — To M. DUMAS, ii. 297. (P.,
1787.)
6572. PEOPLE, Enforcement of rights.
— The spirit of the times may alter, will alter.
Our rulers will become corrupt, our people
careless. * * * They will be forgotten,
and their rights disregarded. They will for
get themselves, but in the sole faculty of
making money, and will never think of uni
ting to effect a due respect for their rights. —
NOTES ON VIRGINIA, viii, 402. FORD ED., iii,
266. (1782.)
6573. PEOPLE, English.— For the
achievement of this happy event [peace] we
call for and confide in the good offices of our
fellow-subjects beyond the Atlantic. Of their
friendly dispositions we do not cease to hope;
aware, as they must be, that they have noth
ing more to expect from the same common
enemy, than the humble favor of being last
devoured. — DECLARATION ON TAKING UP
ARMS. FORD ED., i, 475. (July 1775.)
6574. . . Nor have we been want
ing in attentions to our British brethren. We
have warned them from time to time of at
tempts by their legislature to extend an un
warrantable jurisdiction over these our States.
We have reminded them of the circumstances
People
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
688
of our emigration and settlement here, no one
of which could warrant so strange a pre
tension; that these were effected at the ex
pense of our own blood and treasure, un
assisted by the wealth or strength of Great
Britain; that in constituting, indeed, our sev
eral forms of government, we had adopted
one common king, thereby laying a founda
tion for perpetual league and amity with
them ; but that submission to their parliament
was no part of our constitution, nor ever in
idea, if history may be credited; and we have
appealed to their native justice and magna
nimity as well as to the ties of our common
kindred to disavow these usurpations which
were likely to interrupt our connection and
correspondence. They, too, have been deaf
to the voice of justice and of consanguinity,
and when occasions have been given them,
by the regular course of their laws, of re
moving from their councils the disturbers of
our harmony, they have, by their free elec
tions, reestablished them in power. At this
very time, too, they are permitting their chief
Magistrate to send over not only soldiers of
our common blood, but Scotch and foreign
mercenaries, to invade and destroy us. These
facts have given the last stab to agonizing af
fection, and manly spirit bids us to renounce
forever these unfeeling brethren. We must
endeavor to forget our former love for them,
to hold them as we hold the rest of man
kind, enemies in war, in peace, friends. We
might have been a free and a great people to
gether; but a communication of grandeur and
of freedom, it seems, is below their dignity.
Be it so, since they will have it. The road to
happiness and to glory is open to us, too. We
will tread it apart from them, and acquiesce
in the necessity which denounces our eternal
separation.* — DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE
AS* DRAWN BY JEFFERSON.
6575. . The spirit of hostility to
us has always existed in the mind of the King,
but it has now extended itself through the whole
mass of the people, and the majority of the pub
lic councils. In a country, where the voice of
the people influences so much the measures of
administration, and where it coincides with the
private temper of the King, there is no pro
nouncing on future events. It is true they
have nothing to gain, and much to lose by a war
with us ; but interest is not the strongest passion
in the human breast. — To JAMES Ross, i, 561.
FORD ED., iv, 217. (P., 1786.)
6576. . The people of England,
I think, are less oppressed than the people in
France. But it needs but half an eye to see, when
among them, that the foundation is laid in their
* Congress changed the passage as follows . " Nor
have we been wanting in attentions to our British
brethren. We have warned them, from time to time,
of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwar
rantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded
them of the circumstances of our emigration and
settlement here. We have appealed to their native
justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured
them, by the ties of our common kindred, to disavow
these usurpations, which would inevitably interrupt
our connection and correspondence. They, too, have
been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity.
We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which
denounces our separation, and hold them, as we hold
the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace,
Friends. "—EDITOR.
dispositions for the establishment of a despot
ism. Nobility, wealth and pomp are the ob
jects of their admiration. They are by no
means the free-minded people we suppose them
in America. Their learned men, too, are few
in number, and are less learned, and infinitely
less emancipated from prejudices than are
those of this country [France]. — To GEORGE
WYTHE. ii, 8. FORD ED., iv, 269. (P., 1786.)
6577. . England presents the
singular phenomenon of a nation, the individu
als of which are as faithful to their private
engagements and duties, as honorable, as
worthy, as those of any nation on earth, and
whose government is yet the most unprincipled
at this day known. — To JOHN LANGDON. v. 514.
(M., 1810.)
6578. . The English people are
individually as respectable as those of other
nations, — it is her government which is so
corrupt, and which has destroyed the nation. —
To WILLIAM DUANE. v, 552. FORD ED., ix, 287.
(M., 1810.)
^579. . I should be glad to see
their farmers and mechanics come here, but I
hope their nobles, priests and merchants will
be kept at home to be moralized by the disci-
S'ine of the new government. — To WILLIAM
UANE. v, 552. FORD ED., ix, 287. (M., 1810.)
6580. . The English have been
a wise, a virtuous and truly estimable people.
But commerce and a corrupt government have
rotted them to the core. Every generous, nay,
every just sentiment, is absorbed in the thirst
for gold. I speak of their cities, which we
may certainly pronounce to be ripe for despot
ism, and fitted for no other government.
Whether the leaven of the agricultural body is
sufficient to regenerate the residuary mass, and
maintain it in a sound state, under any reforma
tion of government, may still be doubted. — To
MR. OGILVIE. v, 604. (M., 1811.)
6581. . The individuals of the
[British] nation I have ever honored and es
teemed, the basis of their character being es
sentially worthy ; but I consider their govern
ment as the most flagitious which has existed
since the days of Philip of Macedon, whom they
make their model. — To JOHN ADAMS, vii, 46.
(P.F., 1816.)
6582. PEOPLE, Errors of. — The people
are the only censors of their governors ; and
evdh their errors win tend to keep"iriese
the 'true" principles ot tnefr iiuliluliuii. — To
punish these errors too severely* would be
to suppress the only safeguard of the public
liberty. — To EDWARD CARRINGTON. ii, 99.
FORD ED., iv, 359. (P., 1787.)
6583. PEOPLE, European.— Behold me
at length on the vaunted scene of Europe !
You are, perhaps, curious to know
how this new scene has struck a savage of the
mountains of America. Not advantageously, I
assure you. I find the general fate of humanity
here most deplorable. The truth of Voltaire's
observation offers itself perpetually, that every
man here must be either the hammer or the
anvil. It is a true picture of that country to
which they say we shall pass hereafter, and
where we are to see God and His angels in
splendor, and crowds of the damned trampled
under their feet. While the great mass of the
people are thus suffering under physical and
moral oppression, I have endeavored to ex
amine more nearly the condition of the great,
689
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
People
to appreciate the true value of the circumstan
ces in their situation which dazzle the bulk of
spectators, and, especially, to compare it with
that degree of happiness which is enjoyed in
America, by every class of people. Intrigues
of love occupy the younger, and those of am
bition, the elder part of the great. Conjugal
love having no existence among them, domestic
happiness, of which that is the basis, is utterly
unknown. In lieu of this, are substituted pur
suits which nourish and invigorate all our bad
passions, and which offer only moments of
ecstacy amidst days and months of restlessness
and torment. Much, very much inferior, this,
to the tranquil, permanent felicity with which
domestic society in America blesses most of its
inhabitants ; leaving them to follow steadily
those pursuits which health and reason approve,
and rendering truly delicious the intervals of
those pursuits. — To MR. BELLINI, i, 444. (P.,
1785.)
6584. PEOPLE, Freedom and.— I am not
among those who fear the people. They, and
not the rich, are our dependence for continued
freedom. — To SAMUEL KERCHIVAL. vii, 14.
FORD EDV x, 41. (M., 1816.)
6585. PEOPLE, French.— I do love this
people with all my heart, and think that with
a better religion, a better form of govern
ment and their present governors, their con
dition and country would be most enviable. —
To MRS. JOHN ADAMS. FORD ED., iv, 61. (P.,
1785.)
6586. . It is difficult to conceive
how so good a people, with so good a King, so
well-disposed rulers in general, so genial a
climate, so fertile a soil, should be rendered so
ineffectual for producing human happiness by
one single curse, — that of a bad form of govern
ment. But it is a fact. In spite of the mild
ness of their governors, the people are ground
to powder by the vices of the form of govern
ment. Of twenty millions of people supposed
to be in France, I am of opinion there are
nineteen millions more wretched, more accursed
in every circumstance of human existence than
the most conspicuously wretched individual of
the whole United States. — To MRS. TRIST. i,
394- (P., 1785.)
6587. - — . Two peoples whose in
terests, whose principles, whose habits of at
tachment, founded on fellowship in war and
mutual kindnesses, have so many points of
union, cannot but be easily kept together. — To
M. ODIT. iv, 123. (M., Oct. 1795.)
6588. . The body of the people
of * * * [France] love us cordially. — To
JOHN LANGDON. i, 429. (P., 1785.)
6589. . In science the mass of
the people [of France] are two centuries behind
ours ; their literati a dozen years before us.
Books, really good, acquire just reputation in
that time, and so become known to us, and com
municate to us all their advances in knowledge.
Is not this delay compensated by our being
placed out of the reach of that swarm of non
sensical publications which issues daily from a
thousand presses, and perishes in the issuing? —
To MR. BELLINI, i, 444. (P., 1785.)
6590. . Certain it is that they
[the farming classes in South of France] are
less happy and less virtuous in villages, than
they would be insulated with their families
on the grounds they cultivate. — TRAVELS IN
FRANCE, ix, 313. (1787.)
6591. . I cannot leave this great
and good country without expressing my sense
of its preeminence of character among the na
tions of the earth. A more benevolent people
I have never known, nor greater warmth and
devotedness in their select friendships. Their
kindness and accommodation to strangers is un
paralleled, and the hospitality of Paris is be
yond anything I had conceived to be practicable
in a large city. Their eminence, too, in science,
the communicative dispositions of their scien
tific men, the politeness of the general manners,
the ease and vivacity of their conversation, give
a charm to their society, to be found nowhere
else. In a comparison of this with other coun
tries, we have the proof of primacy, which was
given to Themistocles after the battle of Sal-
amis. Every general voted to himself the first
reward of valor, and the second to Themisto
cles. So, ask the travelled inhabitant of any
nation, in what country on earth would you
rather live? Certainly, in my own, where are
all my friends, my relations, and the earliest
and sweetest affections and recollections of
my life. Which would be your second choice?
France. — AUTOBIOGRAPHY, i, 107. FORD ED., i,
148. (1821.)
6592. PEOPLE, Frugality and happi
ness. — Kindly separated by nature and a wide
ocean from the exterminating havoc of one
quarter of the globe ; too high-minded to en
dure the degradations of the others; possess
ing a chosen country, with room enough for
our descendants to the hundredth and thou
sandth generation ; entertaining a due sense
of our equal right to the use of our own fac
ulties, to the acquisitions of our own industry,
to honor and confidence from our fellow-citi
zens, resulting, not from birth, but from our
actions, and their sense of them ; /enlightened
by a benign religion, professed, indeed, and
practiced in various forms, yet all of them
inculcating honesty, truth, temperance, grati
tude and the love of man ; acknowledg
ing and adoring an overruling Providence,
which, by all its dispensations, proves that
it delights in the happiness of man here
and his greater happiness hereafter, — with
all these blessings, what more is neces
sary to make us a happy and prosperous
people? Still one thing more, fellow-
citizens — a wise and frugal government,
which shall restrain men from injuring one
another, which shall leave them otherwise
free to regulate their own pursuits of in
dustry and improvement, and shall not take
from the mouth of labor the bread it has
earned. This is the sum of good govern
ment, and this is necessary to close the circle
of our felicities. — FIRST INAUGURAL ADDRESS.
viii, 3. FORD ED., viii, 3. (1801.)
6593. PEOPLE, Government and.— Eyery
government deygiwfa+gg T**flfl *ne<* *n ****
~
rulers of the people alone. The people
themselves, therefore, are its only safe de
positaries. And to render even them safe,
their minds must he improved to a certain
degree. — JWU11& UU VllMALMIA. ^ YIH, 390. ^
F0K1J Ell., Ill,1 254. ( 1 782. )
6594. - — .A tractable people may
be governed in large bodies; but, in propor
tion as they depart from this character, the
People
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
690
extent of their government must be less. — To
JAMES MADISON, ii, 66. FORD ED., iv, 333.
(P., 1786.)
6595. . The government which
can wield the arm of the people must be the
strongest possible.— To MR. WEAVER, v, 89.
(W., 1807.)
6596. . No government can con
tinue good, but under the control of the peo
ple. — To JOHN ADAMS, vii, 149. FORD ED.,
x, iS3- (M., 1819.)
6597. PEOPLE, Imposing upon. — As
little [as to shut up the press] is it necessary
to impose on the people's senses, or dazzle
their minds by pomp, splendor, or forms.
Instead of this artificial, how much surer is
that real respect, which results from the use
->f their reason, and the habit of bringing
everything to the test of common sense. — To
JUDGE TYLER, iv, 548. (W., 1804.)
6598. PEOPLE, Independent of all.—
Independence can be trusted nowhere but
with the neople in mass. They are inherently
independent of all but moral law. — To SPEN
CER ROANE. vii, 134. FORD ED., x, 141.
(P. F, 1819.)
6599. PEOPLE, Industry.— The rights
[of the people] to the exercise and fruits of
their own industry can never be protected
against the selfishness of rulers not subject
to their control at short periods. — To ISAAC
H. TIFFANY, vii, 32. (M., 1816.)
6600. . No other depositaries of
power [than the people themselves] have ever
yet been found, which did not end in convert
ing to their own profit the earnings of those
committed to their charge. — To SAMUEL
KERCHIVAL. vii, 36. FORD ED., x, 45. (M.,
1816.) See INDUSTRY.
6601. PEOPLE, Judgment of.— The
firmness with which the people have with
stood the late abuses of the press, the dis
cernment they have manifested between
truth and falsehood, show that they may
safely be trusted to hear everything true and
false, and to form a correct judgment be
tween them. — To JUDGE TYLER. iv, 549.
(W., 1804.) See NEWSPAPERS.
6602. PEOPLE, Legislative powers. —
While those bodies are in existence to whom
the people have delegated the powers of leg
islation, they alone possess, and may exercise,
those powers. But when they are dissolved
by the lopping off of one or more of their
branches, the power reverts to the people,
who may exercise it to unlimited extent,
either assembling together in person, sending
deputies, or in any other way they may think
proper. — RIGHTS OF BRITISH AMERICA, i, 138.
FORD ED., i, 443. d774-)
6603. PEOPLE, Liberty and the.— The
people are the only sure reliance for the
preservation of our liberty. — To JAMES MADI
SON, ii, 332. (P., 1787.)
6604. PEOPLE, New England.— The ad
venturous genius and intrepidity of those peo
ple [New Englanders] is amazing. They are
now intent on burning Boston as a hive which
gives cover to [British] regulars; and none
are more bent upon it than the very people
who come out of it, and whose prosperity-
lies there. — To FRANCIS EPPES. FORD ED., i,
461. (Pa., July 4, 1775.)
6605. PEOPLE, Oppressed.— To con
strain the brute force of the people, the Eu
ropean governments deem it necessary to keep
them down by hard labor, poverty and ig
norance, and to take from them, as from bees,
so much of their earnings, as that unremitting
labor shall be necessary to obtain a sufficient
surplus barely to sustain a scanty and mis
erable life. And these earnings they apply
to maintain their privileged orders in splendor
and idleness, to fascinate the eyes of the peo
ple, and excite in them an humble adoration
and submission, as to an order of superior
beings. — To WILLIAM JOHNSON, vii, 291.
FORD ED., x, 226. (M., 1823.)
6606. PEOPLE, Participation in govern
ment. — We think in America that it is neces
sary to introduce the people into every de
partment of government, as far as they are
capable of exercising it; and that this is the
only way to ensure a long-continued and
honest administration of its powers. — To M.
L/ABBE ARNOND. iii, 81. FORD ED., v, 103.
(P., 1789.)
6607. . The people arc not
qualified to exercise themselves the executive
department, but they are qualified to name
the person who shall exercise it. With us,
therefore, they choose this officer every four
years. — To L'ABBE ARNOND. iii, 81. FORD
ED., v, 103. (P., 1789.)
6608. . The people are not quali
fied to legislate. With us, therefore, they only
choose the legislators. — To M. L/ABBE AR
NOND. iii, 81. FORD ED., v, 103. (P., 1789.)
6609. . Were I called upon to
decide whether the people had best be omitted
in the Legislative or Judiciary department,
I would say it is better to leave them out of
the Legislative. The execution of the laws
is more important than the making them.
However, it is best to have the people in all
the three departments where that is possible.
— To M. L'ABBE ARNOND. iii, 82. FORD ED.,
v, 104. (P., 1789.)
6610. — — . The people, being the
only safe depositary of power, should exercise
in person every function which their qualifi
cations enable them to exercise, consistently
with the order and security of society. — To
DR. WALTER JONES, vi, 285. FORD ED., ix,
447. (M., 1814.)
6611. PEOPLE, Prussian.— The transi
tion from ease and opulence to extreme poverty
is remarkable on crossing the line between the
Dutch and Prussian territories. The soil and
climate are the same ; the governments alone
differ. With the poverty, the fear also of slaves
is visible in the faces of the Prussian subjects.
— TRAVELS IN PRUSSIA, ix, 378. (1787 )
691
THEJEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
People
6612. PEOPLE, Heasonable.-VTj: is a
blessing that our people are reasonably i that
they arc kept so well informed of the state
of things as to judge for themselves, to see
the true sources of their difficurtie?. and to
maintain their confidence undiminished in the
wisdom and integrity of their functionaries.
— To CJB&AR A. RODNEY, v, 501. FORD ED.,
ix, 272. (M., 1810.)
6613. PEOPLE, Representation.— I look
for our safety to the broad representation of
the people [in Congress]. It will be more
difficult for corrupt views to lay hold of so
large a mass.— To T. M. RANDOLPH. FORD
ED., v, 455. (Pa., 1792.)
6614. PEOPLE, Representation and
taxation. — Preserve inviolate the funda
mental principle, that the people are not to
be taxed but by representatives chosen im
mediately by themselves. — To JAMES MADI
SON, ii, 328. FORD ED., iv, 475. (P., 1787.)
6615. PEOPLE, Republic.— It is the
manners and spirit of a people which pre
serve a republic in vigor. A degeneracy
in these is a canker which soon eats to the
heart of its laws and constitution. — NOTES ON
VIRGINIA, viii, 406. FORD ED., iii, 269.
(1782.)
6616. PEOPLE, Respect for.— My visit
to Philadelphia will be merely out of respect
to the public, and to the new President. — To
MR. VOLNEY. iv, 159. (M., Jan. 1797.)
6617. PEOPLE, Rights of .—Their rights
* * * [are] derived from the laws of na
ture, and [are] not the gift of their Chief
Magistrate. — RIGHTS OF BRITISH AMERICA, i,
141. FORD ED., i, 446. (1774.)
6618. . The people of every
country are the only safe guardians of their
own rights, and are the only instruments
which can be used for their destruction.
And certainly they would never consent to
be so used were they not deceived. To
avoid this they should be instructed to a
certain degree. — To JOHN WYCHE. v, 448.
(M., 1809.)
6619. . The people, especially
when moderately instructed, are the only
safe, because the only honest, depositaries of
the public rights, and should, therefore, be
introduced into the administration of them
in every function to which they are sufficient.
They will err sometimes and accidentally, but
never designedly, and with a systematic and
persevering purpose of overthrowing the free
principles of the government. — To M. CORAY.
vii, 319- (M., 1823.)
6620. PEOPLE, Roman. — The letters of
Cicero breathe the purest effusions of an ex
alted patriot, while the parricide Caesar is lost
in odious contrast. When the enthusiasm, how
ever, kindled by Cicero's pen and principjes,
subsides into cool reflection, I ask myself, what
was that government, which the virtues of
Cicero were so zealous to restore, and the am
bition of Caesar to subvert? And if Caesar had
been as virtuous as he was daring and sagacious,
what could he, even in the plenitude of his
usurped power, have done to lead his fellow
citizens into good government? I do not say
to restore it, because they never had it, from the
rape of the Sabines to the ravages of the
Caesars. If their people, indeed, had been, like
ourselves, enlightened, peaceable and really
free, the answer would be obvious. " Restore
independence to all your foreign conquests, re
lieve Italy from the government of the rabble
of Rome, consult it as a nation entitled to self-
government, and do its will ". But steeped in
corruption, vice and venality, as the whole na
tion was (and nobody had done more than
Caesar to corrupt it), what could even Cicero,
Cato, Brutus have done, had it been referred
to them to establish a good government for their
country? They had no ideas of government
themselves, but of their degenerate Senate, nor
the people of liberty, but of the factious opposi
tion of their Tribunes. They had afterwards
their Tituses, their Trajans and Antoninuses,
who had the will to make them happy, and the
power to mould their government into a good
and permanent form. But it would seem as if
they could not see their way clearly to do it.
No government can continue good, but under
the control of the people ; and their people were
so demoralized and depraved, as to be incapable
of exercising a wholesome control. Their ref
ormation then was to be taken up ab incu-
nabulis. Their minds were to be informed by
education what is right and what wrong ; to be
encouraged in habits of virtue and deterred
from those of vice by the dread of punishments,
proportioned, indeed, but irremissible ; in all
cases, to follow truth as the only safe guide,
and to eschew error, which bewilders us in one
false consequence after another, in endless suc
cession. These are the inculcations necessary
to render the people a sure basis for the struc
ture of order and good government. But this
would have been an operation of a generation
or two, at least, within which period would have
succeeded many Neros and Commoduses, who
would have quashed the whole process. I con
fess, then, I can neither see what Cicero. Cato
and Brutus, united and uncontrolled, could have
devised to lead their people into good govern
ment, nor how this enigma can be solved, nor
how further shown why it has been the fate of
that delightful country never to have known, to
this day, and through a course of five and
twenty hundred years, the history of which
we possess, one single day of free and rational
government. Your intimacy with their history,
ancient, middle and modern, your familiaritv
with the improvements in the science of govern
ment at this time, will enable you, if anybody,
to go back with our principles and opinions to
the times of Cicero, Cato and Brutus, and tell
us by what process these great and virtuous
men could have led so unenlightened and viti
ated a people into freedom and good govern
ment.* — To JOHN ADAMS, vii, 148. FORD ED., x,
152. (M., 1819.)
6621. PEOPLE, Self-government.— The
panic into which the people were artfully
thrown in 1798, the frenzy which was ex
cited in them by their enemies against their
apparent readiness to abandon all the prin
ciples established for their own protection,
seemed for awhile to countenance the opin
ions of those who say they cannot be trusted
* " I never could discover," wrote Mr. Adams in
reply, "that they possessed much virtue, or real
liberty. Their Patricians were in general griping
usurers, and tyrannical creditors in all ages. Pride,
strength, and courage, were all the virtues that com
posed their national characters." — EDITOR.
People
Perpetual Motion
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
692
with their own government. But I never
doubted their rallying; and they did rally
much sooner than I expected. On the whole,
that experiment on their credulity has con
firmed my confidence in their ultimate good
sense and virtue. — To JUDGE TYLER, iv, 549.
(W., 1804.)
6622. . To open the doors of
truth, and to fortify the habit of testing
everything by reason, are the most effectual
manacles we can rivet on the hands of our
successors to prevent their manacling the
people with their own consent. — To JUDGE
TYLER, iv, 549. (W., 1804.)
6623. PEOPLE, Spirit of.— Cherish the
spirit of our people and keep alive their at
tention. Do not be too severe upon their
errors, but reclaim them by enlightening
them. If once they become inattentive to
the public affairs, you and I and Congress
and assemblies, judges and governors shall
all become wolves. — To EDWARD CARRINGTON.
ii, loo. FORD ED., iv, 360. (P., 1787.)
6624. PEOPLE, Supreme.— He [George
III.] is no more than the chief officer of the
people, appointed by the laws, and circum
scribed with definite powers, to assist in
working the great machine of government,
erected for their use, and, consequently, sub
ject to their superintendence. — RIGHTS OF
BRITISH AMERICA', i, 125. FORD ED., i, 429.
(I774-)
6625. PEOPLE, A united. — Spain, under
all her disadvantages, physical and mental,
is an encouraging example of the impossi
bility of subduing a people acting with an
undivided will. She proves, too, another
truth not less valuable, that a people having
no king to sell them for a mess of pottage
for himself, no shackles to restrain their
powers of self-defence, find resources within
themselves equal to every trial. This we
did during the Revolutionary war, and this
we can do again, let who will attack us, if
we act heartily with one another. This is
my creed. To the principles of union I sac
rifice all minor differences of opinion. These,
like differences of face, are a law of our
nature, and should be viewed with the same
tolerance. — To WILLIAM DUANE. v, 603.
(M, July 1811.)
6626. PEOPLE, A well-informed.—
Whenever the people are well-informed they
can be trusted with their own government. —
To DR. PRICE, ii, 553. (P., 1789.)
6627. . Whenever the people
are well-informed * * * and things get
so far wrong as to attract their notice, they
may be relied on to set them to rights. —
To DR. PRICE, ii, 553. (P., 1789.)
6628. PEOPLE, The western.— That our
fellow citizens of the West would need only
to be informed of criminal machinations [by
Aaron Burr] against the public safety to
crush them at once, I never entertained a
doubt.— To GOVERNOR H. D. TIFFIN, v, 37.
FORD ED., ix, 21. (W., 1807.)
6629 . They are freer from
prejudices than we are, and bolder in grasp
ing at truth. The time is not distant, though
neither you nor I shall s,ee it, when we shall
be but a secondary people to them. Our
greediness for wealth, and fantastical ex
pense, have degraded, and will degrade, the
minds of our maritime citizens. These are
the peculiar vices of commerce. — To JOHN
ADAMS, vii, 103. FORD ED., x, 107. (M.,
1818.)
6630. . The bait of local inter
ests, artfully prepared for their palate, has
decoyed them [the Western people] from
their kindred attachments to alliances alien
to them.— To C. W. GOOCH. vii. 430. (M.,
1826.)
6631. PEOPLE, Will of.— It accords
with our principles to acknowledge any gov
ernment to be rightful, which is formed by
the will of the people substantially declared.
— To GOUVERNEUR MORRIS, iii, 489. FORD
ED., vi, 131. (Pa., Nov. 1792.)
6632. . The will of the people
is the only legitimate foundation of any gov
ernment, and to protect its free expression
should be our first object. — To BENJAMIN
WARING, iv, 379. (W., March 1801.)
6633. PEOPLE, Wisdom of.— Our peo
ple in a body are wise, because they are
under the unrestrained and unperverted
operation of their own understandings. — To
DR. JOSEPH PRIESTLEY, iv, 440. FORD ED.,
viii, 158. (W., 1802.)
6634. PERCEVAL (Spencer), Ministry.
— I am glad of the reestablishment of a Per
ceval ministry. * The opposition would have re
cruited our minority by half-way offers. — To
PRESIDENT MADISON, vi, 77. (M., Aug. 1812.)
6635. PERPETUAL MOTION, Delu
sion of. — I am very thankful to you for the
description of Redhefer's machine. I had never
been able to form an idea of what his principle
of deception was. He is the first of the in
ventors of perpetual motion within my knowl
edge, who has had the cunning to put his visi
tors on a false pursuit, by amusing them with
a sham machinery whose loose and vibratory
motion might impose on them the belief that
it is the real source of the motion they see.
To this device he is indebted for a more ex
tensive delusion than I have before witnessed
on this point. We are full of it as far as this
State, and I know not how much farther. In
Richmond, they have done me the honor to
quote me as having said that it was a possible
thing. A poor Frenchman who called on me the
other day, with another invention of perpetual
motion, assured me that Dr. Franklin, many
years ago, expressed his opinion to him that it
was not impossible. Without entering into con
test on this abuse of the Doctor's name, I
gave him the answer I had given to others be-
* Spencer Perceval, who succeeded the Duke of
Portland as Premier, was assassinated in the lobby
of the House of Commons on May n, 1812, three
months before this letter was written, by John Bel-
lingham, an English merchant, who was engaged in
business at Archangel, and who had been unable to
obtain redress from the Russian Government for
some alleged injury. The murderer was hanged.—
EDITOR.
693
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Perpetual Motion
Petitions
fore, that the Almighty himself could not con
struct a machine of perpetual motion while the
laws exist which he has prescribed for the gov
ernment of matter in our system ; that the
equilibrium established by him between cause
and effect must be suspended to effect that pur
pose. — TO DR. ROBERT PATTERSON, vi, 83.
(M., 1812.)
6636. PERPETUAL MOTION, Friction
and. — The diminution of friction is certainly
one of the most desirable reformations in me
chanics. Could we get rid of it altogether we
should have perpetual motion. I was afraid
that using a fluid for a fulcrum, the pivot (for
so we may call them) must be of such a di
ameter as to lose what had been gained. I
shall be glad to hear the event of any other
experiments you may make on this subject. —
To ROBERT R. LIVINGSTON. FORD ED., v, 277.
(Pa., 1791.)
6637. PERSONAL LIBERTY, Children
of slaves.— The reducing the mother to
servitude was a violation of the law of na
ture, surely, then, the same law cannot pre
scribe a continuance of the violation to her
issue, and that, too, without end, for if it
extends to any, it must to every degree of
descendants. — LEGAL ARGUMENT. FORD ED.,
i, 376. (1770.)
6638. . That the bondage of the
mother does not under the law of nature,
infer that of her issue, as included in her,
is further obvious from this consideration,
that by the same reason, the bondage of the
father would infer that of his issue; for he
may with equal, and some anatomists say
with greater reason, be said to include all
his posterity.— LEGAL ARGUMENT. FORD ED.,
i, 377. (1770.)
6639. PERSONAL LIBERTY, Incon
sistent laws. — If it be a law of nature that
the child shall follow the condition of the
parent, it would introduce a very perplexing
dilemma ; as where the one parent is free and
the other a slave. Here the child is to be
a slave, says this law, by inheritance of the
father's bondage; but it is also to be free,
says the same law, by inheritance of its
mother's freedom. This contradiction proves
it to be no law of nature. — LEGAL ARGUMENT.
FORD ED., i, 377- (i770.)
6640. PERSONAL LIBERTY, Invasion
of. — There are rights which it is useless to
surrender to the government, and which
governments have yet always been found to
invade. [Among] these is * * * the
right of personal freedom. — To DAVID HUM
PHREYS, iii, 13. FORD ED., v, 89. (P., 1789-)
6641. PERSONAL LIBERTY, Lettres
de cachet. — Nor should we wonder at * * *
[the] pressure [for a fixed constitution in
1788-9] when we consider the monstrous
abuses of power under which * * [the
French] people were ground to powder;
when we pass in review the shackles '
on the freedom * * * of the person by
Lettres de Cachet. — AUTOBIOGRAPHY, i, 86.
FORD ED., i, 118. (1821.)
6642. PERSONAL LIBERTY, Natural.
— Under the law of nature, all men are born
free, every one comes into the world with a
right to his own person, which includes the
liberty of moving and using it at his own
will. This is what is called personal liberty,
and is given him by the Author of nature,
because necessary for his own sustenance. —
LEGAL ARGUMENT. FORD ED., i, 376. (i77o.)
6643. PERSONAL LIBERTY, Preser
vation of. — If we are made in some degree
for others, yet in a greater are we made for
ourselves. It were contrary to feeling, and
indeed ridiculous to suppose that a man had
less rights in himself than one of his neighbors,
or indeed all of them put together. This would
be slavery, and not that liberty which the bill
of rights has made inviolable, and for the
preservation of which our government has
been* charged. — To JAMES MONROE, i, 319.
FORD ED., iii, 58. (M., 1782.)
6644. PERSONAL LIBERTY, In pri
vate life.— I feel at length [in my retire
ment from public life] the blessing of being
free to say and do what I please, without
being responsible for it to any mortal. — To
GEN. KOSCIUSKO. v, 50. (M., 1810.)
6645. PERSONAL LIBERTY, Univer
sal. — In a government bottomed on the will
of all, the * * * liberty of every in
dividual citizen becomes interesting to all. —
FIFTH ANNUAL MESSAGE, viii, 50. FORD EDV
viii, 392. (1805.)
_ PERSONAL RIGHTS.— See RIGHTS.
6646. PETITION, Right of.— The peo
ple have a right to petition, but not to use
that right to cover calumniating insinuations.
— To JAMES MADISON, v, 367. FORD ED., ix,
209. (M., 1808.)
6647. PETITIONS, The Executive and.
— In my report on How's case, where I state
that it should go to the President, it will
become a question with the House [of Rep
resentatives] whether they shall refer it to
the President themselves, or give it back to
the petitioner, and let him so address it, as
he ought to have done at first. I think the
latter proper, i. because it is a case belong
ing purely to the Executive; 2, because the
Legislature should never show itself in a
matter with a foreign nation, but where the
case is very serious and they mean to commit
the nation on its issue ; 3, because if they
indulge individuals in handing through the
Legislature their applications to the Execu
tive, all applicants will be glad to avail them
selves of the weight of so powerful a solici
tor. Similar attempts have been repeatedly
made by individuals to get the President to
hand in their petitions to the Legislature,
which he has constantly refused. It seems
proper that every person should address him
self directly to the department to which the
Constitution has allotted his case; and that
the proper answer to such from any other
department is, " that it is not to us that the
Constitution has assigned the transaction of
this business ". — To JAMES MADISON, iii,
296. FORD ED., v, 391. (Pa., 1791.)
Petitions
Philadelphia
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
6648. . The Executive of the
Union is, by the Constitution, made the
channel of communication between foreign
powers and the United States. But citizens,
whether individually, or in bodies corporate,
or associated, have a right to apply directly
to any department of their government,
whether Legislative, Executive, or Judiciary,
the exercise of whose powers they have a
right to claim ; and neither of these can regu
larly offer its intervention in a case belong
ing to the other. The communication and
recommendation by me to Congress of the
memorial you * * * enclose me, would
be an innovation, not authorized by the prac
tice of our government, and, therefore, the
less likely to add to its weight or effect. —
To JAMES SULLIVAN, v, 203. (W., 1807.)
6649. . I cannot lay petitions
before Congress consistently with my own
opinion of propriety, because where the pe
titioners have a right to petition their im
mediate representatives in Congress directly,
I have deemed it neither necessary nor proper
for them to pass their petition through the
intermediate channel of the Executive. — To
JOSEPH B. VARNUM. v, 388. (W., 1808.)
6650. . I have never presumed
to place myself between the Legislative
Houses and those' who have a constitutional
right to address them directly.— To ANDREW
GREGG, v, 431. (W., 1809.)
6651. PETITIONS, Punishment for.—
He [George III.] has endeavored to pervert
the exercise of the kingly office of Virginia
into a detestable and insupportable tyranny
* * * by answering our repeated petitions
for redress with a repetition of injuries. — PRO
POSED VA. CONSTITUTION. FORD ED., ii, 12.
(June 1776.)
6652. PETITIONS, .Rejected.— We [Vir
ginia] have exhausted every mode of ap
plication which our invention could suggest
as proper and promising. We have decently
remonstrated with Parliament : they have
added new injuries to the old. We have
wearied our King with applications; he has
not deigned to answer us. We have ap
pealed to the native honour and justice of the
British Nation : their efforts in our favor
have been hitherto ineffectual. What, then,
remains to be done? That we commit our
injuries to the even-handed justice of the
Being who doth no wrong, earnestly beseech
ing Him to illuminate the councils, and pros
per the endeavors of those to whom America
hath confided her hopes, that through their
wise direction we may again see reunited
the blessings of liberty, property, and har
mony with Great Britain. — ADDRESS OF
HOUSE OF BURGESSES TO LORD DUNMORE.
FORD ED., i, 458. (1775.)
6653. PETITIONS, Repetition of in
jury and. — In every stage of these oppres
sions we have petitioned for redress, in the
most humble terms ; Our repeated petitions
have been answered only by repeated in
juries. — DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE AS
DRAWN BY JEFFERSON.
6654. PETITIONS, Unanswered.— Our
complaints were either not heard at all, or
were answered with new and accumulated
injuries. — REPLY TO LORD NORTH^S PROPO
SITION. FORD ED., i, 481. (July 1775.)
6655. PETITIONS, Vain.— We have sup
plicated our king at various times in terms
almost disgraceful to freedom ; we have rea
soned, we have remonstrated with parliament
in the most mild and decent language ; we
have even proceeded to break off our com
mercial intercourse with our fellow-subjects,
as the last peaceful admonition that our at
tachment to no nation on earth should sup
plant our attachment to liberty. And here
we had well hoped was the ultimate step of
the controversy. But subsequent events have
shown how vain was even this last remain
of confidence in the moderation of the Brit
ish ministry. — DECLARATION ON TAKING UP
ARMS. FORD ED., i, 470. (July 1775.)
6656. PEYROUSE EXPEDITION, Ob
jects of. — You have, doubtless, seen in the
papers, that this court [France] was sending
two vessels into the South Sea, under the con
duct of a Captain Peyrouse. They give out
that the object is merely for the improvement
of our knowledge of the geography of that part
of the globe. And certain it is, that they carry
men of eminence in different branches of
science. Their loading, however, as detailed in
conversations, and some other circumstances,
appeared to me to indicate some other design ;
perhaps that of colonizing on the Western coast
of America ; or, it mav be, only to establish
one or more factories there, for the fur trade.
Perhaps we may be little interested in either
of these objects. But we are interested in an
other, that is, to know whether they are per
fectly weaned from the desire of possessing con
tinental colonies in America. Events might
arise, which would render it very desirable for
Congress to be satisfied they have no such wish.
If they would desire a colony on the western
side of America, I should not be quite satisfied
that they would refuse one which should offer
itself on the eastern side. Captain Paul Jones
being at L'Orient, within a day's journey of
Brest, where Captain Peyrouse's vessels lay, I
desired him, if he could not satisfy himself at
L'Orient of the nature of this equipment, to go
to Brest for that purpose; conducting himself
so as to excite no suspicion that we attended at
all to this expedition. His discretion can be
relied on. — To JOHN JAY. i, 382. (P., 1785.)
6657. . The circumstances are
obvious which indicate an intention to settle
factories and not colonies, at least for the pres
ent. — To JOHN JAY. i, 454. (P., 1785.)
6658. . The Gazette of France
announces the arrival of Peyrouse at Brazil,
that he was to touch at Otaheite, and proceed to
California, and still further northwardly. * * *
The presumption is, that they will make an es
tablishment of some sort, on the northwest coast
of America. — To JOHN JAY. i, 602. (P., 1786.)
6659. PHILADELPHIA, Injuries by
war. — I sincerely congratulate you on the re
covery of Philadelphia and wish it may be
found uninjured by the enemy. How far the
695
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Philosophy
Piers
interests of literature may have suffered by the
injury, or removal of the Orrery (as it is mis
called), the public libraries, your papers and
implements, are doubts which still excite anx
iety. — To DAVID KITTEN HOUSE, i, 210. FORD
ED., ii, 162. (M., July 1778.)
6660. PHILOSOPHY, Ancient.— The
moral principles inculcated by the most es
teemed of the sects of ancient philosophy, or of
their individuals ; particularly, Pythagoras, Soc
rates, Epicurus, Cicero, Epictetus, Seneca and
Antoninus, related chiefly to ourselves, and the
government of those passions which, unre
strained, would disturb our tranquillity of mind.
In this branch of philosophy they were really
great. In developing our duties to others, they
were short and defective. They embraced, in
deed, the circles of kindred and friends, and
inculcated patriotism, or the love of our country
in the aggregate, as a primary obligation ;
towards our neighbors and countrymen they
taught justice, but scarcely viewed them as
within the circle of benevolence. Still less
have they inculcated peace, charity, and love to
our fellow men, or embraced with benevolence
the whole family of mankind. — SYLLABUS OF
THE DOCTRINES OF JESUS, iv, 480. FORD ED.,
viii, 224. (1803.)
6661. PHILOSOPHY, Epicureanism.—
I am Epicurean. I consider the genuine (not
the imputed) doctrines of Epicurus as contain
ing everything rational in moral philosophy
which Greece and Rome have left us. Epic
tetus, indeed, has given us what was good of the
Stoics ; all beyond, of their dogmas being hy
pocrisy and grimace. Their great crime was
in their calumnies of Epicurus and misrepre
sentations of his doctrines ; in which we la
ment to see the candid character of Cicero en
gaging as an accomplice. — To WILLIAM SHORT.
vii, 138. FORD ED., x, 143. (M., 1819.)
— PHILOSOPHY, Platonic.— See PLATO.
6662. PHILOSOPHY, Seneca.— Seneca
is, indeed, a fine moralist, disfiguring his work
at times with some Stoicisms, and affecting too
much of antithesis and point, yet giving us^ on
the whole a great deal of sound and practical
morality. — To WILLIAM SHORT, vii, 139. FORD
ED., x, 144. (M., 1819.)
6663. PHILOSOPHY, Socratic.— Of Soc
rates we have nothing genuine but in the
Memorabilia of Xenophon ; for Plato makes him
one of his collocutors, merely to cover his own
whimsies under the mantle of his name ; a lib
erty of which we are told Socrates himself com
plained. — To WILLIAM SHORT, vii, 139. FORD
ED., x, 144. (M., 1819.)
6664. PHILOSOPHY, War against.— I
still dare to use the word philosophy, notwith
standing the war waged against it by bigotry
and despotism. — To DR. HUGH WILLIAMSON.
iv, 347. FORD ED., vii, 481. (W., Jan. 1801.)
6665. PICKERING (Timothy), Jeffer
son and. — I could not have believed that for
so many years, and to such a period of advanced
age, Mr. Pickering could have nourished pas
sions so vehement and viperous. It appears
that for thirty years past, he has been indus
triously collecting materials for vituperating the
characters he had marked for his hatred : some
of whom, certainly, if enmities towards him had
ever existed, had forgotten them all, or buried
them in the grave with themselves. As to my
self, there never had been anything personal be
tween us, nothing but the general opposition of
party sentiment ; and our personal intercourse
had been that of urbanity, as himself says. But
it seems he has been all this time brooding
over an enmity which I had never felt, and that
with respect to myself, as well as others, he has
been writing far and near, and in every direc
tion, to get hold of original letters, where he
could, copies, where he could not, certificates
and journals, catching at every gossiping story
he could hear of in any quarter, supplying by
suspicions what he could find nowhere else, and
then arguing on this motley farrago as if es
tablished on gospel evidence. * * * He
arraigns me on two grounds, my actions and my
motives. The very actions, however, which he
arraigns, have been such as the great majority
of my fellow citizens have approved. The ap
probation of Mr. Pickering and of those who
thought with him, I had no right to expect.
My motives he chooses to ascribe to hypocrisy,
to ambition, and a passion for popularity. Of
these the world must judge between us. It is
no office of his or mine. To that tribunal I
have ever submitted my actions and motives,
without ransacking the Union for certificates,
letters, journals and gossiping tales to justify
myself and weary them. * * If no ac
tion is to be deemed virtuous for which malice
can imagine a sinister motive, then there never
was a virtuous action ; no, not even in the life
of pur Saviour himself. But He has taught us
to judge the tree by its fruit and to leave mo
tives to Him who can alone see into them.
I leave to its fate the libel of Mr.
Pickering, with the thousands of others like it.
to which I have given no other answer than a
steady course of similar action * * * . —
To MARTIN VAN BUREN. vii, 362. FORD ED., x,
305. (M., 1824.) See DECLARATION OF INDE
PENDENCE.
6666. PICKERING (Timothy), Josiah
Quincy and.— The termination of Mr. Rose's
mission, re infecta, put it in my power to com
municate to Congress yesterday, everything re
specting pur relations with England and France,
which will effectually put down Mr. Pickering,
and his worthy coadjutor Mr. [Josiah] Quincy.
Their tempers are so much alike, and really
their persons, as to induce a supposition that
they are related. — To LEVI LINCOLN, v 264.
(W., March 1808.)
6667. PIERS, Power to build.— You
know my doubts, or rather convictions, about
the unconstitutionally of the act for building
piers in the Delaware, and the fears that it
will lead to a bottomless expense, and to the
greatest abuses. There is, however, one in
tention of which the act is susceptible, and
which will bring it within the Constitution ;
and we ought always to presume that the real
intention which is alone consistent with the
Constitution. Although the power to regulate
commerce does not give a power to build piers,
wharves, open ports, clear the beds of rivers,
dig canals, build warehouses, build manufactur
ing machines, set up manufactories, cultivate
the earth, to all of which the power would go
if it went to the first, yet a power to provide
and maintain a navy is a power to provide
receptacles for it, and places to cover and pre
serve it. In choosing the places where this
money should be laid out, I should be much dis
posed, as far as contracts will permit, to confine
it to such place or places as the ships of war
may lie at. and be protected from ice ; and I
should be for stating this in a message to Con
gress, in order to prevent the effect of the pres
ent example. This act has been built on the ex
ercise of the power of building light houses, as a
regulation of commerce. But I well remember
Piers
Pitt (William)
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
696
the opposition, on this very ground, to the first
act for building a lighthouse. The utility of
the thing has sanctioned the infraction. But
if, on that infraction, we build a second, and on
that second a third, &c., any one of the powers
in the Constitution may be made to comprehend
every power of government. — To ALBERT GALLA-
TIN. iv, 449. FORD ED., viii, 174. (Oct. 1802.)
6668. . The act of Congress of
1789, c. 9, assumes on the General Government
the maintenance and repair of all lighthouses,
beacons, buoys, and public piers then existing,
and provides for the building a new lighthouse.
This was done under the authority given by the
Constitution " to regulate commerce ", and was
contested at the time as not within the meaning
of its terms, and yielded to only on the urgent
necessity of the case. The act of 1802, c. 20,
f. 8, for repairing and erecting public piers in
the Delaware, does not take any new ground —
it is in strict conformity with the act of 1789.
While we pursue, then, the construction of the
Legislature, that the repairing and erecting
lighthouses, beacons, buoys, and piers, is au
thorized as belonging to the regulation of com
merce, we must take care not to go ahead of
them, and strain the meaning of the terms still
further to the clearing out the channels of all
the rivers, &c., of the United States. The re
moving a sunken vessel is not the repairing of
a pier. How far the authority " to levy taxes to
provide for the common defence ", and that
" for providing and maintaining a navy ", may
authorize the removing obstructions in a river
or harbor, is a question not involved in the
present case. — To ALBERT GALLATIN. iv, 478.
(April 1803.)
6669. PIKE (General Z. M.), Death of.
— He died in the arms of victory gained over
the enemies of his country. * * * [He
was] an honest and zealous patriot who lived
and died for his country. — To BARON VON HUM-
BOLDT. vi, 270. FORD ED., ix, 432. (1813.)
6670. PIKE (General Z. M.), Expedi
tion. — On the transfer of Louisiana by
France to the United States, according to its
boundaries when possessed by France, the gov
ernment of the United States considered it
self as entitled as far west as the Rio Norte;
but understanding soon afterwards that Spain,
on the contrary, claimed eastwardly to the river
Sabine, it has carefully abstained from doing
any act in the intermediate country, which
might disturb the existing state of things, until
these opposing claims should be explained and
accommodated amicably. But that the Red River
and all its waters belonged to France, that she
made several settlements on that river, and held
them as a part of Louisiana until she delivered
that country to Spain, and that Spain, on the
contrary, had never made a single settlement
on the river are circumstances so well known,
and so susceptible of proof, that it was not sup
posed that Spain would seriously contest the
facts ; or the right established by them. Hence
our government took measures for exploring
that river, as it did that of the Missouri, by
sending Mr. Freeman to proceed from the
mouth upwards, and Lieutenant Pike from the
source downwards merely to acquire its geog
raphy, and so far enlarge the boundaries of
science. For the day must be very distant
when it will be either the interest or the wish
of the United States to extend settlements into
the interior of that country. Lieutenant Pike's
orders were accordingly strictly confined to the
waters of the Red river, and from his known
observance of orders, I am persuaded that it
must have been, as he himself declares, by miss
ing his way that he got on the waters of the
Rio Norte, instead of those of the Red river.
That your Excellency should excuse this in
voluntary error, and indeed misfortune, was ex
pected from the liberality of your character;
and the kindnesses you have shown him are an
honorable example of those offices of good
neighborhood on your part, which it will be so
agreeable to us to cultivate. * * * To the same
liberal sentiment Lieutenant Pike must appeal
for the restoration of his papers. You must
have seen in them no trace of unfriendly views
towards your nation, no symptoms of any other
design than that of extending geographical
knowledge ; and it is not in the nineteenth
century, nor through the agency of your Ex
cellency, that science expects to encounter ob
stacles.* — To GENERAL HENRY DEARBORN, v,
no. FORD ED., ix, 85. (W., 1807.)
6671. PIKE (General Z. M.), Mission.—
1 think that the truth as to Pike's mission might
be so simply stated as to need no argument to
show that (even during the suspension of our
claims to the eastern border of the Rio Norte)
his getting on it was a mere error, which ought
to have called for the setting him right, instead
of forcing him through the interior country. —
To TAMES MADISON, v. 294. FORD ED., x, 195.
(M., May 1808.)
6672. PINCKNEY (Charles), Political
ambition. — There is here a great sense of the
inadequacy of C. Pinckney to the office he is
in. His continuance is made a subject of stand
ing reproach to myself personally, by whom the
appointment was made before I had collected
the administration. ^ He declared at the time
that nothing would induce him to continue so
as not to be here at the ensuing Presidential
election. I am persuaded he expected to be
proposed at it as V. P. After he got to Europe
his letters asked only a continuance of two
years ; but he now does not drop the least hint
of a voluntary return. Pray, avail yourself
of his vanity, his expectations, his fears, and
whatever will weigh with him to induce him to
ask leave to return, and obtain from him to be
the bearer of the letter yourself. You will ren
der us in this the most acceptable service pos
sible. His enemies here are perpetually drag
ging his character in the dirt, and charging
it on the administration. He does, or ought to
know this, and to feel the necessity of coming
home to vindicate himself, if he looks to any
thing further in the career of honor. — To JAMES
MONROE. FORD ED., viii, 289. (W., Jan. 1804.)
6673. PINCKNEY (Thomas), Charac
ter. — An honest, sensible man, and good re
publican. — To JOEL BARLOW, iii, 451. FORD ED.,
vi, 88. (Pa., 1792.)
6674. PINCKNEY (Thomas), Minister.
— Your nomination as Minister to London
gave general satisfaction. — To THOMAS PINCK
NEY. iii, 321. FORD EDV v, 423. (Pa., Jan.
1792.)
6675. PINCKNEY (Thomas), Vice-
Presidency. — The federalists will run Mr.
Pinckney for the Vice-Presidency. They regard
his southern position rather than his principles.
To JAMES MONROE, iv, 149. FORD ED., vii, 89.
(M... July 1796.)
6676. PITT (William), Friend of Amer
ica. — Pitt is rather well disposed to us. — To
GOVERNOR BENJ. HARRISON. FORD EDV iii, 414.
(A., March 1784.)
* Draft of letter to be sent to Spanish governor.—
EDITOR.
697
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Plants
Policy
6677. PLANTS, Useful.— The greatest
service which can be rendered any country is to
add an useful plant to its culture ; especially, a
bread grain ; next in value to bread is oil. — JEF-
TERSON'S MSS. i, 176. (M., 1821.)
6678. PLATO, Teachings of. — No writer,
ancient or modern, has bewildered the world
with more ignes fatui, than this renowned phil
osopher, in ethics, in politics, and physics. —
To WILLIAM SHORT, vii, 165. (M., 1820.)
6679. PLATO, Whimsies.— Plato * * *
used the name of Socrates to cover the whimsies
of his own brain. — SYLLABUS OF THE DOCTRINES
OF JESUS, iv, 481. (1803.)
6680. PLATO'S REPUBLIC.— I amused
myself [recently] with reading Plato's Republic.
I am wrong, however, in calling it amusement,
for it was the heaviest task-work I ever went
through. I had occasionally before taken up
some of his other works, but scarcely ever had
patience to get through a whole dialogue. While
wading through the whimsies, the puerilities,
and unintelligible jargon of this work, I laid it
down often to ask myself how it could have
been that the world should have so long con
sented to give reputation to such nonsense as
this? How the soi-disant Christian world, in
deed, should have done it, is a piece of historical
curiosity. But how co:ild the Roman good sense
do it? And particularly, how could Cicero be
stow such eulogies on Plato? Although Cicero
did not wield the dense lo^ic of Demosthenes,
yet he was able, learned, laborious, practiced
in the business of the world, and honest. He
could not be the dupe of mere style, of which
he was himself the first master in the world.
With the moderns. I think, it is rather a mat
ter of fashion and authority. Education is
chiefly in the hands of persons who, from their
profession, have an interest in the reputation
and the dreams of Plato. They give the tone
while at school, and few in after years have
occasion to revise their college opinions. But
fashion and authority apart, and bringing Plato
to the test of reason, take from him his
sophisms, futilities and incomprehensibilities,
and what remains? In truth, he is one of the
race of genuine Sophists, who has escaped the
oblivion of his brethren, first, by the eloquence
of his diction, but chiefly, by the adoption and
incorporation of his whimsies into the body of
artificial Christianity. His foggy mind is for
ever presenting the semblances of objects which,
half seen through a mist, can be defined neither
in form nor dimensions. * * * Socrates had
reason, indeed, to complain of the misrepre
sentations of Plato ; for in truth, his dialogues
are libels on Socrates. — To JOHN ADAMS, vi,
354. FORD ED., ix, 462. (M., 1814.)
6681. . It is fortunate for us,
that Platonic republicanism has not obtained the
same favor as Platonic Christianity ; or we
should now have been all living men, women
and children pell mell together, like beasts of
the field or forest. — To JOHN ADAMS, vi, 355.
(1814.)
6682. PLEASURE, Bait of .—Do not bite
at the bait of pleasure till you know there is
no hook beneath it. — To MRS. COSWAY. ii, 37.
FORD ED., iv, 317. (P., 1786.)
6683. PLEASURE AND PAIN.— We
have no rose without its thorn ; no pleasure
without alloy. It is the law of Existence ; and
we must acquiesce. It is the condition annexed
to all our pleasures, not by us who receive, but
by Him who gives them. — To MRS. COSWAY. ii,
41. FORD ED., iv, 321. (P., 1786.)
6684. . I do not agree that an
age of pleasure is no compensation for a mo
ment of pain. — To JOHN ADAMS, vii, 26. (M.,
1816.)
6685. POETRY, Judging.— It is not for
a stranger to decide on the merits of poetry in
a language foreign to him. — To M. HILLIARD
D'AUBERTEUIL. ii, 103. (P., 1787.)
6686. . To my own mortifica
tion, * * * of all men living, I am the last who
should undertake to decide as to the merits ol
poetry. In earlier life I was fond of it, and
easily pleased. But as age and cares advanced,
the powers of fancy have declined. Every year
seems to have plucked a feather from her wings,
till she can no longer waft one to those sublime
heights to which it is necessary to accompany
the poet. So much has my relish for poetry
deserted me that, at present, I cannot read
even Virgil with pleasure. I am consequently
utterly incapable to decide on the merits of
poetry. The very feelings to which it is ad
dressed are among those I have lost. So that the
blind man might as well undertake to [faded in
MS.] a painting, or the deaf a musical composi
tion. * — To JOHN D. BURKE. FORD ED., viii, 65.
(W., 1801.)
6687. POLAND, Partition of.— The his
tory of Poland gives a lesson which all our
countrymen should study ; the example of a
country erased from the map of the world by
the dissensions of its own citizens. The papers
of every day read them the counter lesson of
the impossibility of subduing a people acting
with an undivided will. Spain, under all her
disadvantages, physical and mental, is an en
couraging example of this. — To WILLIAM
DUANE. v, 603. (M., July 1811.)
6688. . The partition of Poland
* * * was the atrocity of a barbarous govern
ment chiefly, in conjunction with a smaller one
still scrambling to become great, while one only
of those already great, and having character to
lose, descended to the baseness of an accom
plice in the crime. — To JOHN ADAMS, vi, 524.
(M., 1816.)
6689. POLICY (American), Balance of
power. — We especially ought to pray that the
powers of Europe may be so poised and
counterpoised among themselves, that their
own safety may require the presence of all
their force at home, leaving the other quar
ters of the globe in undisturbed tranquillity.
— To DR. CRAWFORD, vi, 33. (1812.)
6690. POLICY (American), Coalition of
American nations. — From many conversa
tions with him [M. Correa ] I hope he sees,
and will promote in his new situation [in
Brazil] the advantages of a cordial fraterni
zation among all the American nations, and
the importance of their coalescing in an
American system of policy, totally independ
ent of and unconnected with that of Eu
rope. The day is not distant, when we may
formally require a meridian of partition
through the ocean which separates the two
hemispheres, on the hither side of which no
European gun shall ever be heard, nor an
American on the other ; and when, during the
rage of the eternal wars of Europe, the lion
* Mr. -Burke had sent Jefferson a copy of the Co-
lumbiad.— EDITOR.
t Portuguese Minister at Washington.— EDITOR.
Policy
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
and the lamb, within our regions, shall lie
•down together in peace. * * * I wish to
see this coalition begun. — To WILLIAM
SHORT, vii, 168. (1820.)
6691. . I wish to see this coali
tion begun. I am earnest for an agreement
with the maritime powers of Europe, assign
ing them the task of keeping down the
piracies of their seas and the cannibalism of
the African coasts, and to us, the suppression
of the same enormities within our seas ; and
for this purpose, I should rejoice to see the
fleets of Brazil and the United States riding
together as brethren of the same family, and
pursuing the same object. And indeed it
would be of happy augury to begin at once
this concert of action here, on the invitation
of either to the other government, while the
way might be preparing for withdrawing our
cruisers from Europe, and preventing naval
collisions there which daily endanger our
peace. — To WILLIAM SHORT, vii, 169. (M.,
1820.)
6692. POLICY (American), Coercion of
Europe. — We think that peaceable means
rnay be devised of keeping nations in the
path of justice towards us, by making jus
tice their interest and injuries to react on
themselves. Our distance enables us to pur
sue a course which the crowded situation of
Europe renders, perhaps, impracticable there.
—To M. CABANIS. iv, 497. (W., 1803.)
6693. POLICY (American), Detach
ment from Europe. — We cannot too dis
tinctly detach ourselves from the European
system, which is essentially belligerent, nor
too sedulously cultivate an American sys
tem, essentially pacific.— To PRESIDENT MADI
SON, vi, 453. FORD ED., ix, 513. (M., March
1815.)
6694. POLICY (American), European
politics and. — The politics of Europe render
it. indispensably necessary that, with respect
to everything external, we be one nation only,
firmly hooped together. — To JAMES MADI
SON, i, 531. FORD ED., iv, 192. (P., February
1786.)
6695. POLICY (American), European
quarrels. — I am decidedly of opinion we
should take no part in European quarrels,
but cultivate peace and commerce with all.
— To GENERAL WASHINGTON, ii, 533. FORD
ED., v, 57. (P., 1788.)
6696. . At such a distance from
Europe, and with such a distance between
us. we hope to meddle little in its quarrels or
combinations. Its peace and its commerce
are what we shall court. — To M. DE PINTO.
iii, 174. (N.Y., 1790.)
6697. POLICY (American), European
system and. — The European nations consti
tute a separate division of the globe ; their
localities make them part of a distinct sys
tem ; they have a set of interests of their
own in which it is our business never to en
gage ourselves. — To BARON VON HUMBOLDT.
vi, 268. FORD ED., ix, 431. (Dec. 1813.)
6698. POLICY (American), France and
England.— We owe gratitude to France,
justice to England, good will to all, and
subservience to none.— To ARTHUR CAMP
BELL, iv, 198. FORD ED., vii, 170. (M.,
1 797-)
6699. . It is our unquestionable
interest and duty to conduct ourselves with
such sincere friendship and impartiality to
wards both France and England, as that each
may see unequivocally, what is unquestion
ably true, that we may be very possibly
driven into her scale by unjust conduct in
the other. — To JAMES MADISON, iv, 557.
FORD ED., viii, 315. (M., Aug. 1804.)
6700. POLICY (American), Freedom of
the ocean. — That the persons of our citizens
shall be safe in freely traversing the ocean,
that the transportation of our own produce,
in our own vessels, to the markets of our
choice, and the return to us of the articles we
want for our own use, shall be unmolested.
I hold to be fundamental, and the gauntlet
that must ^ be forever hurled at him who
questions it. — To JOHN ADAMS, vi, 459.
(M., June 1815.)
6701. POLICY (American), Great Brit
ain and. — WTith respect to the English gov
ernment, or policy, as concerning themselves
or other nations, we wish not to intermeddle
in word or deed, and that it be not under
stood that our government permits itself to
entertain either a will or opinion on the sub
ject. — To THOMAS PINCKNEY. iii, 442. FORD
ED., vi, 75. (Pa., 1792.)
6702. POLICY (American), Gulf of
Mexico.— We begin to broach the idea that
we consider the Gulf Stream as of our
waters, in which hostilities ar I cruising are
to be frowned on for the present, and pro
hibited so soon as either consent or force
will permit us. We shall never permit an
other privateer to cruise within it, and shall
forbid our harbors to national cruisers.
This is essential for our tranquillity and com
merce. — To JAMES MONROE, v, 12. FORD
ED., viii, 450. (W., May 1806.)
6703. POLICY (American), Internal
resources. — The promotion of the arts and
sciences * * * becomes peculiarly in
teresting to us, at this time, when the total
demoralization of the governments of Eu
rope, has rendered it safest, by cherishing
internal resources, to lessen the occasions of
intercourse with them. — To DR. JOHN L. E.
W. SHECUT. vi, 153. (M., 1813.)
6704. POLICY (American), A just.—
Let it be our endeavor * * * to merit the
character of a just nation. — THIRD ANNUAL
MESSAGE. viii, 28. FORD ED., viii, 272.
(1803.)
6705. POLICY (American), Markets.—
Our object is to feed and theirs to fight. —
To JAMES MONROE. FORD ED., v, 198. (N.
Y., 1790.)
6706. POLICY (American), Mid- At
lantic meridian.— When our strength will
699
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Policy
permit us to give the law of our hemisphere,
it should be that the meridian of the mid-
Atlantic should be the line of demarcation
between war and peace, on this side of
which no act of hostility should be com
mitted, and the lion and the lamb lie down
in peace together. — To DR. CRAWFORD, vi,
33. (M., Jan. 1812.)
6707. POLICY (American), Peace and
friendship. — Peace and friendship with all
mankind is our wisest policy, and I wish
we may be permitted to pursue it. — To C.
W. F. DUMAS, i, 553. (1786.)
6708. . Peace with all nations,
and the right which that gives us with re
spect to all nations, are our object. — To C.
W. F. DUMAS, iii, 535. (Pa., I793-)
6709. - — . Peace, justice, and lib
eral intercourse with all the nations of the
world, will, I hope, characterize this com
monwealth. — REPLY TO ADDRESS, iv, 388.
(W., 1801.)
6710. . Separated by a wide
ocean from the nations of Europe, and from
the political interests which entangle them
together, with productions and wants which
render our commerce and friendship useful
to them and theirs to us, it cannot be the
interest of any to assail us, nor ours to dis
turb them. We should be most unwise, in
deed were we to cast away the singular
blessings of the position in which nature has
placed us, the opportunity she has endowed
us with of pursuing at a distance from for
eign contentions, the paths of industry, peace
and happiness; of cultivating general friend
ship, and of bringing collisions of interest
to the umpirage of reason rather than of
force. — THIRD ANNUAL MESSAGE, viii, 29.
FORD ED., viii, 273. (Oct. 1803.)
6711. POLICY (American), Peace and
justice. — We ask for peace and justice from
all nations. — To JAMES MONROE. ii, 12.
FORD ED., viii, 450. (W., May 1806.)
6712. POLICY (American), Peopling
the continent. — Our Confederacy must be
viewed as the nest from which all America,
North and South, is to be peopled. — To AR
CHIBALD STUART, i, 518. FORD ED., iv, 188.
(P., Jan. 1786.)
6713. POLICY (American), Principles.
— On the question you propose [James Mon
roe], whether we can, in any form, take a
bolder attitude than formerly in favor of lib
erty, I can give you but commonplace ideas.
They will be but the widow's mite, and
offered only because requested. The matter
which now embroils Europe, the presumption
of dictating to an independent nation the
form of its government, is so arrogant, so
atrocious, that indignation, as well as moral
sentiment, enlists all our partialities and
prayers in favor of one, and our equal ex
ecrations against the other. I do not know,
indeed, whether all nations do not owe to
one another a bold and open declaration of
their sympathies with the one party, and their
detestation of the conduct of the other. But
farther than this we are bound to go ; and in
deed, for the sake of the world, we ought not
to increase the jealousies, or draw on our
selves the power of this formidable confeder
acy [The Holy Alliance], I have ever deemed
it fundamental for the United States never
to take active part in the quarrels of Europe.
Their political interests are entirely distinct
from ours. Their mutual jealousies, their
balance of power, their complicated alliances,
their forms and principles of government,
are all foreign to us. They are nations of
eternal war. All their energies are expended
in the destruction of the labor, property and
lives of their people. On our part, never
had a people so favorable a chance of trying
the opposite system, of peace and fraternity
with mankind, and the direction of all pur
means and faculties to the purposes of im
provement instead of destruction. With Eu
rope we have few occasions of collision, and
these, with a little prudence and forbearance,
may be generally accommodated. Of the
brethren of our own hemisphere, none is yet,
or for an age to come will be, in a shape,
condition, or disposition to war against us.
And the foothold which the nations of Europe
had in either America, is slipping from under
them, so that we shall soon be rid of their
neighborhood. Cuba alone seems at present
to hold up a speck of war to us. Its posses
sion by Great Britain would indeed be a
great calamity to us. Could we induce her to
join us in guaranteeing its independence
against all the world, except Spain, it would
be nearly as valuable to us as if it were our
own.* But should she take it, I would not
immediately go to war for it ; because the
first war on other accounts will give it to
us ; or the island will give itself to us, when
able to do so. While no duty, therefore,
calls on us to take part in the present war of
Europe, and a golden harvest offers itself in
reward for doing nothing, peace and neu
trality seem to be our duty and interest. We
may gratify ourselves, indeed, with a neu
trality as partial to Spain as would be jus
tifiable without giving cause of war to her
adversary; we might and ought to avail our
selves of the happy occasion of procuring and
cementing a cordial reconciliation with her,
by giving assurance of every friendly office
which neutrality admits, and especially,
against all apprehension of our intermeddling
in the quarrel with her colonies. And I
expect daily and confidently to hear of a
spark kindled in France, which will employ
her at home, and relieve Spain from all fur
ther apprehension of danger. That Englan-'l
is playing false with Spain cannot be doubted.
Her government is looking one way and row
ing another. * * * You will do what is
right, leaving the people of Europe to act
their follies and crimes among themselves,
while we pursue in good faith the paths of
peace and prosperity. — To PRESIDENT MON
ROE, vii, 287. FORD ED., x, 257. (M., June
1823.)
* See note under Cuba.— EDITOR..
Policy
Political .Economy
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
7oo
6714. POLICY (American), Resistance
to wrong. — We believe that the just standing
of all nations is the health and security of
all. We consider the overwhelming power
of England on the ocean, and of France on
the land, as destructive of the prosperity and
happiness of the world, and wish both to be
reduced only to the necessity of observing
moral duties. We believe no more in Bona
parte's fighting for the liberty of the seas,
than in Great Britain fighting for the liberties
of mankind. The object of both is the same,
to draw to themselves the power, the wealth
and the resources of other nations. We re
sist the enterprises of England first, because
they first come vitally home to us. And our
feelings repel the logic of bearing the lash of
George III. for fear of that of Bonaparte at
some future day. When the wrongs of France
shall reach us with equal effect, we shall re
sist them also. But one at a time is enough ;
and having offered a choice to the champions,
England first takes up the gauntlet. — To
JAMES MAURY. vi, 52. FORD EDV ix, 349.
(M., April 1812.)
6715. POLICY (American), A system
of. — America has a hemisphere to itself. It
must have its separate system of interests,
which must not be subordinated to those of
Europe.— To BARON VON HUMBOLDT. vi, 268.
FORD ED., ix, 431. (Dec. 1813.)
6716. . Distance, and difference
of pursuits, of interests, of connections and
other circumstances, prescribe to us a dif
ferent system, having no object in common
with Europe, but a peaceful interchange of
mutual comforts for mutual wants. — To
MADAME DE STAEL. vi, 481. (M., 1815.)
6717. . Nothing is so important
as that America shall separate herself from
the systems of Europe, and establish one of
her own. Our circumstances, our pursuits,
our interests, are distinct; the principles of
our policy should be so also. All entangle
ments with that quarter of the globe should
be avoided if we mean that peace and justice
shall be the polar stars of the American So
cieties. * * * This would be a leading
principle with me, had I longer to live. * * *
— To J. CORREA. vii, 184. FORD ED., x, 164.
(M., 1820.)
6718. — . Our first and funda
mental maxim should be never to entangle
ourselves in the broils of Europe. Our sec
ond, never to suffer Europe to intermeddle
with cis- Atlantic affairs. America, North and
South, has a set of interests distinct from
those of Europe, and peculiarly her own.
She should therefore have a system of her
own, separate and apart from that of Eu
rope. While the last is laboring to become
the domicil of despotism, our endeavor
should surely be, to make our hemisphere that
of freedom. — To PRESIDENT MONROE, vii, 315.
FORD ED., x, 277. (M., 1823.)
6719. POLICY (American), Wars of
Europe.-— The insulated state in which na
ture has placed the American continent,
should so far avail it that no spark of war
kindled in the other quarters of the globe
should be wafted across the wide oceans
which separate us from them. And it will
be so. In fifty years more the United States
alone will contain fifty millions of inhabit
ants, and fifty years are soon gone over.
The peace of 1763 is within that period. I
was then twenty years old, and of course
remember well all the transactions of the war
preceding it. And you will live to see the
period equally ahead of us; and the numbers
which will then be spread over the other
parts of the American hemisphere, catching
long before that the principles of our portion
of it, and concurring with us in the mainte
nance of the same system. * * * I am an
ticipating events of which you will be the
bearer to me in the Elysian fields fifty years
hence. — To BARON VON HUMBOLDT. vi, 268.
FORD ED., ix, 431. (Dec. 1813.)
6720. . Your exhortations to
avoid taking any part in the war * * * in
Europe were a confirmation of the policy I
had myself pursued, and which I thought
and still think should be the governing canon
of our republic. — To MADAME DE STAEL. vi,
481. (M., July 1815.)
6721. . I hope no American
patriot will ever lose sight of the essential
policy of interdicting in the seas and terri
tories of both Americas, the ferocious and
sanguinary contests of Europe. — To WILLIAM
SHORT, vii, 168. (M., 1820.)
6722. POLITENESS, European.— With
repect to what are termed polite manners, with
out sacrificing too much the sincerity of lan
guage, I would wish my countrymen to adopt
just so much of European politeness, as to Be
ready to make all those little sacrifices of self,
which really render European manners amiable,
and relieve society from the disagreeable scenes
to which rudeness often subjects it. Here
(France), it seems that a man might pass a life
without encountering a single rudeness. — To
MR. BELLINT. i, 445. (P., 1785.)
6723. POLITENESS, Good humor and.
— I have mentioned good humor as one of
the preservatives of our peace and tranquillity.
It is among the most effectual, and its effect
is so well imitated and aided, artificially, by
politeness, that this also becomes an acquisi
tion of first rate value. In truth, politeness is
artificial good humor; it covers the natural
want of it, and ends by rendering habitual a
substitute nearly equivalent to the real virtue.
It is the practice of sacrificing to those whom
we meet in society, all the little conveniences
and preferences which will gratify them, and
deprive us of nothing worth a moment's con
sideration ; it is the giving a pleasing and flat
tering turn to our expressions, which will con
ciliate others, and make them pleased with us
as well as themselves. How cheap a price for
the good will of another ! When this is in re
turn for a rude thing said by another, it brings
him to his senses, it mortifies and corrects him
in the most salutary way, and places him at the
feet of your good nature, in the eyes of the com
pany. — To THOMAS JEFFERSON RANDOLPH, v,
389. FORD ED., ix, 231. (W., 1808.)
— POLITICAL ECONOMY.— See ECON
OMY (POLITICAL).
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Politics
6724. POLITICS, Bigotry in.— What an
effort of bigotry in politics * * * have
we gone through ! The barbarians really flat
tered themselves they should be able to bring
back the times of Vandalism, when igno
rance put everything into the hands of power
and priestcraft. All advances in science were
proscribed as innovations. They pretended
to praise and encourage education, but it
was to be the education of our ancestors.
We were to look backwards, not forwards,
for improvement; the President himself
[John Adams] declaring in one of his
answers to addresses, that we were never to
expect to go beyond them in real science. —
To DR. JOSEPH PRIESTLEY, iv, 373. FORD ED.,
viii, 21. (W., 1801.)
6725. POLITICS, Commercial influ
ence. — The system of alarm and jealousy
which has been so powerfully played off in
England, has been mimicked here, not en
tirely without success. The most long-sighted
politician could not, seven years ago, have
imagined that the people of this wide-ex
tended country could have been enveloped in
such delusion, and made so much afraid of
themselves and their own power, as to sur
render it spontaneously to those who are
manoeuvring them into a form of govern
ment, the principal branches of which may
be beyond their control. The commerce of
England, however, has spread its roots over
the whole face of our country. This is the
real source of all the obliquities of the pub
lic mind. — To A. H. ROWAN, iv, 256. FORD
ED., vii, 280. (M., 1798.)
6726. POLITICS, Conversations on. —
Political conversations I really dislike, and
therefore avoid where I can without affecta
tion. But when urged by others, I have
never conceived that having been in public
life requires me to belie my sentiments, or
even to conceal them. When I am led by
conversation to express them. I do it with the
same independence here which I have prac
ticed everywhere, and which is inseparable
from my nature.— To PRESIDENT WASHING
TON, iv, 142. FORD ED., vii, 83. (M., 1796.)
6727. POLITICS, Destructive of happi
ness. — Politics and party hatreds destroy the
happiness of every being here. They seem, like
salamanders, to consider fire as their element.
—To MARTHA JEFFERSON RANDOLPH. D. L.
J., 249. (Pa., May 1798.)
6728. POLITICS, Differences in.— I
never suffered a political to become a personal
difference. — To TIMOTHY PICKERING. vii,
210. (M., 1821.)
6729. POLITICS, Dislike of.— It is a re
lief to be withdrawn from the torment of the
scenes amidst which we are. Spectators of
the heats and tumults of conflicting parties,
we cannot help participating of their feelings.
¥ .—To MARTHA JEFFERSON RANDOLPH.
FORD ED., v, 487. (Pa., March 1792.)
6730. POLITICS, Divorce from.— In my
retirement I shall certainly divorce myself
from all part in political affairs. To get rid
of them is the principal object of my retire
ment, and the first thing necessary to the
happiness which it is in vain to look for in
any other situation. — To BENJAMIN STODDERT.
v, 427. FORD ED., ix, 246. (W., 1809.)
6731. POLITICS, A duty.— Politics is
my duty. — To HARRY INNES. FORD ED., v,
294. (Pa., 1791.)
6732. POLITICS, Estrangement from.
— I think it is Montaigne who has said that
ignorance is the softest pillow on which a
man can rest his head. I am sure it is
true as to everything political, and shall en
deavor to estrange myself to everything of
that character. — To EDMUND RANDOLPH, iv,
101. FORD ED., vi, 498. (M., Feb. 1794.)
6733. POLITICS, French furnace of.—
The gay and thoughtless Paris is now be
come a furnace of politics. All the world is
now politically mad. Men, women, children
talk nothing else, and you know that nat
urally they talk much, loud and warm. So
ciety is spoiled by it, at least for those who,
like myself, are but lookers on. — To MRS.
WILLIAM BINGHAM. FORD ED., v, 9. (P.,
1788.)
6734. POLITICS, Hateful.— The ensuing
year will be the longest of my life, and the
last of such hateful labors. The next we
will sow our cabbages together. — To MARTHA
JEFFERSON RANDOLPH. FORD ED., v, 488.
(March 1792.)
6735. . I am to thank you for
forwarding M. d'lvernois's book on the
French Revolution. But it is on politics, a
subject I never loved, and now hate. — To
JOHN ADAMS. FORD ED., vii, 56. (M., Feb.
1796.)
6736. POLITICS, Influencing.— I have
made great progress into the MS., and still
with the same pleasure. I have no doubt it
must produce great effect. But that this
may be the greatest possible, its coming out
should be timed to the best advantage. It
should come out just so many days before
the meeting of Congress as will prevent sus
picions of its coming with them, yet so as
to be a new thing when they arrive, ready
to get into their hands while yet unoccupied.
* I will direct it to appear a fortnight
before their meeting unless you order other
wise. It might as well be thrown into a
churchyard, as come out now. — To JAMES
MADISON. FORD ED./vi, 404. (Pa., 1793.)
6737. POLITICS, Knowledge of Euro
pean. — I often doubt whether I should
trouble Congress or my friends with * * *
details of European politics. I know they do
not excite that interest in America of which
it is impossible for one to divest himself
here. I know, too, that it is a maxim with
us, and I think it a wise one, not to en
tangle ourselves with the affairs of Europe.
Still, I think we should know them. The
Turks have practiced the same maxim of not
meddling in the complicated wrangles of this
Politics
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
702
continent. But they have unwisely chosen to
be ignorant of them also, and it is this total
ignorance of Europe, its combinations, and
its movements which exposes them to that
annihilation possibly about taking place.
While there are powers in Europe which fear
our views, or have views on us, we should
keep an eye on them, their connections and
oppositions, that in a moment of need we
may avail ourselves of their weakness with
respect to others as well as ourselves, and
calculate their designs and movements on all
the circumstances under which they exist.
Though I am persuaded, therefore, that these
details are read by many with great indif
ference, yet I think it my duty to enter into
them, and to run the risk of giving too
much, rather than too little information. —
To E. CARRINGTON. ii, 334. FORD ED., iv,
482. (P., 1787.)
6738. POLITICS, Liberation from.— I
shall be liberated from the hated occupations
of politics, and remain in the bosom of my
family, my farm, and my books. — To MRS.
CHURCH. FORD ED., vi, 455. (G., I793-)
6739. POLITICS, A maxim in.— The
maxim of your lettter " slow and sure " is not
less a good one in agriculture than in poli
tics. I sincerely wish it may extricate us
from the event of a war, if this can be done
saving our faith arid our rights. — To PRESI
DENT WASHINGTON, iv, 106. FORD ED., vi,
510. (M., May I7Q4.)
6740. POLITICS, Moral right and.—
Political interest can never be separated in
the long run from moral right. — To JAMES
MONROE. FORD ED., viii, 477. (W., 1806.)
6741. POLITICS, Neutrality in fac
tional. — We must be neutral between the
discordant republicans, but not between them
and their common enemies. — To ROBERT
SMITH. FORD ED., viii, 318. (M., 1804.)
6742. POLITICS, Pamphlets on.— You
will receive some pamphlets * * * on
the acts of the last session. These I would
wish you to distribute, not to sound men
who have no occasion for them, but to such
as have been misled, are candid, and will
be open to the conviction of truth, and are
of influence among their neighbors. It is
the sick who need medicine, and not the well.
— To ARCHIBALD STUART, iv, 286. FORD ED.,
vii, 354- (Pa., I799-)
6743. POLITICS, Partizan.— You have
found on your return [from Europe] a
higher style of political difference than you
had left here. I fear this is inseparable from
the different constitutions of the human
mind, and that degree of freedom which per
mits unrestrained expression. — To THOMAS
PINCKNEY. iv, 176. FORD ED., vii, 128. (Pa.,
I797-)
6744. POLITICS, Passions and.— You
and I have formerly seen warm debates and
high political passions. But gentlemen of
different politics would then speak to each
other, and separate the business of the Senate
from that of society. It is not so now. Men
who have been intimate all their lives, cross
the streets to avoid meeting, and turn their
heads another way, lest they should be
obliged to touch their hats. This may do for
young men with whom passion is enjoyment;
but it is afflicting to peaceable minds.— To
EDWARD RUTLEDGE. iv, 191. FORD ED., vii,
154. (Pa., June 1797.)
6745. POLITICS, Price of wheat and.—
Wherever there was any considerable portion
of federalism, it has been so much reinforced
by those of whose politics the price of wheat
is the sole principle, that federalists will be
retained from many districts of Virginia. —
To PRESIDENT MADISON, v, 443. (M., April
1809.)
6746. POLITICS, Propriety and.— I have
had a proposition to meet Mr. [Patrick]
Henry this month, to confer on the subject
of a convention, to the calling of which he
is now become a convert; * * * but the
impropriety of my entering into consultation
on a measure in which I would take no part,
is a permanent one. — To JAMES MADISON.
iv, 118. FORD ED., vii, n. (M., April 1795.)
6747. - . The question of a [con
stitutional] convention is become a party one
with which I shall not intermeddle. — To
SAMUEL KERCHIVAL. FORD ED., x, 47. (M.,
1816.)
6748. POLITICS, Pursuit of .—I am glad
to find that among the various branches of
science presenting themselves to your mind,
you have fixed on that of politics as your
principal pursuit. Your country will derive
from this a more immediate and sensible
benefit. She has much for you to do. For,
though we may say with confidence, that the
worst of the American constitutions is better
than the best which ever existed before in
any other country, and that they are wonder
fully perfect for a first essay, yet every
human essay must have defects. It will re
main, therefore, to those now coming on the
stage of public affairs, to perfect what has
been so well begun by those going off it. —
To T. M. RANDOLPH, JR. ii, 175. FORD ED.,
iv, 403. (P., 1787.)
6749. . Having pursued your
main studies [in France] about two years,
and acquired a facility in speaking French,
take a tour of four or five months through
this country and Italy, return then to Vir
ginia, and pass a year in Williamsburg under
the care of Mr. Wythe ; and you will be ready
to enter on the public stage, with superior
advantages. — To T. M. RANDOLPH, JR. ii,
176. FORD ED., iv, 405. (P., 1787.)
6750. POLITICS, Reformation of.—
Politics, like religion, holds up the torches
of martyrdom to the reformers of error. — To
MR. OGILVIE. v, 605. (M., 1811.)
6751. POLITICS, Retirement from.— I
ought not to quit the port in which I am
quietly moored to commit myself again to the
stormy ocean of political or party contest,
703
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Politics
Population
to kindle new enmities, and lose old friends.
No, tranquillity is the summum bonum
of old age, and there is a time when
it is a duty to leave the government of the
world to the existing generation, and to re
pose one's self under their protecting hand.
That time is come with me, and I welcome
it. — To SAMUEL H. SMITH. FORD ED., x, 263.
(M., Aug. 1823.) See RETIREMENT.
6752. POLITICS, Revolution in.—
Things have so much changed their aspect,
it is like a new world. Those who know
us only from 1775 to 1793, can form no better
idea of us now than of the inhabitants of
the moon ; I mean as to political matters. —
To COLONEL HAWKINS, iv, 326. FORD ED.,
vii, 435. (Pa., March 1800.)
6753. POLITICS, Taxation and.— The
purse of the people is the real seat of sen
sibility. It is to be drawn upon largely, and
they will then listen to truths which could
not excite them through any other organ. —
To A. H. ROWAN, iv, 257. FORD ED., vii,
281. (M., 1798.)
6754. - — . Excessive taxation * * *
will carry reason and reflection to every
man's door, and particularly in the hour of
election.— To JOHN TAYLOR, iv, 259. FORD
ED., vii, 310. (M., 1798.)
6755. POLITICS, Torment of.— It is a
relief to be withdrawn from the torment of
the scenes amidst which we are. Spectators
of the heats and tumults of conflicting
parties, we cannot help participating of their
feelings. — To MARTHA JEFFERSON RANDOLPH.
FORD ED., v, 487. (Pa., March 1792.)
6756.
Politics is such a tor
ment that I would advise every one I love
not to mix with it. — To MARTHA JEFFERSON
RANDOLPH. D. L. J., 262. (Pa., 1800.)
_ POLYGRAPH.— See INVENTIONS.
_ POLYPOTAMIA, Proposed State of.
— See WESTERN TERRITORY.
6757. POOR, Care of.— The poor who
have neither property, friends, nor strength to
labor, are boarded in the houses of good farm
ers, to whom a stipulated sum is annually paid.
To those who are able to help themselves a
little, or have friends from whom they derive
some succor, inadequate however to their full
maintenance, supplementary aids are given
which enable them to live comfortably in their
own houses, or in the houses of their friends.
* * * From Savannah to Portsmouth, you will
seldom meet a beggar. In the larger towns, in
deed, they sometimes present themselves. These
are usually foreigners, who have never obtained
a settlement in any parish. I never yet saw a
native American begging in the streets or high
ways. — NOTES ON VIRGINIA, viii, 375. FORD ED.,
iii, 230. (1782.)
6758. POPE PIUS VI., Influence of.—
A dispute has arisen between the Papal See and
the King of Naples, which may in its progress
enable us to estimate what degree of influence
that See retains at the present day. The King
dom of Naples, at an early period of its his-
torv. became feudatory to the See of Rome, and
in acknowledgment thereof, has annually paid a
hackney to the Pope in Rome, to which place
it has always been sent by a splendid embassy.
The hackney has been refused by the King this
year, and the Pope, giving him three months to
return to obedience, threatens, if he does not,
to proceed seriously against him. — To JOHN JAY.
ii- 454- (P., 1788.)
6759. POPULATION, America's capac
ity for.— The territory of the United States
contains about a million of square miles, English.
There is, in them, a greater proportion of fertile
lands than in the British dominions in Europe.
Suppose the territory of the United States, then,
to attain an equal degree of population with
the British European dominions, they will have
an hundred millions of inhabitants. Let us ex
tend our views to what may be the population
of North and South America, supposing them
divided at the narrowest part of the Isthmus of
Panama. Between this line and that of 50° of
north latitude, the northern continent contains
about five millions of square miles, and south
of this line of division the southern continent
contains about seven millions of square miles.
* * * fjere are twelve millions of square miles
which, at the rate of population before assumed,
will nourish twelve hundred millions of in
habitants, a greater number than the present
population of the whole globe is supposed to
amount to. If those who propose medals for
the resolution of questions, about which nobody
makes any question, those who have invited dis
cussion on the pretended problem, " whether the
discovery of America was for the good of man
kind " ? if they, I say, would have viewed it
only as doubling the numbers of mankind, and,
of course, the quantum of existence and hap
piness, they might have saved the money and
the reputation which their proposition has cost
them. — To M. DE MEUNIER. ix, 275. FORD ED.
iv, 179. (P., 1786.)
6760. POPULATION, Extension of.—
The present population of the inhabited parts
of the United States is of about ten to the
square mile ; and experience has shown us,
that wherever we reach that, the inhabitants
become uneasy, as too much compressed, and
so go off in great numbers to search for vacant
country. Within forty years their whole terri
tory will be peopled at that rate. We may fix
that, then, as the term beyond which the people
of those States will not be restricted within
their present limits ; we may fix that population,
too, as the limit which they will not exceed till
the whole of those two continents are filled up
to that mark, that is to say, till they shall con
tain one hundred and twenty millions of inhab
itants. — To M. DE MEUNIER. ix, 275. FORD
ED., iv, 180. (P., 1786.)
6761. — . The soil of the country
on the western side of the Mississippi, its cli
mate and its vicinity to the United States, point
it out as the first which will receive population
from that nest. The present occupiers will just
have force enough to repress and restrain the
emigrations to a certain degree of consistence
— To M. DE MEUNIER. ix, 276. FORD ED iv
180. (P., 1786.)
6762. . We have lately seen a
single person go and decide on a settlement in
Kentucky, many hundred miles from any white
inhabitant, remove thither with his family and
a few neighbors; and though perpetually har
assed by the Indians, that settlement in the
course of ten years has acquired thirty thousand
inhabitants.— To M. DE MEUNIER. ix, 276
FORD ED., iv, 181. (P., 1786.)
Population
Portugal
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
704
6763. POPULATION, Growth of.— The
census just now concluded, shows we have ad
ded to our population a third of what it was
ten years ago. This will be a duplication in
twenty-three or twenty-four years. If we can
delay but for a few years the necessity of
vindicating the laws of nature on the ocean,
we shall be the more sure of doing it with effect.
— To WILLIAM SHORT, iv, 415. FORD ED., viii,
98. (W., Oct. 1801.)
6764. . Our growth is now so
well established by regular enumerations through
a course of forty years, and the same grounds of
continuance so likely to endure for a much
longer period, that, speaking in round numbers,
we may safely call ourselves twenty millions
in twenty years, and forty millions in forty
years. — To SIR JOHN SINCLAIR, vii, 22. (M.,
1816.) See EMIGRATION.
6765. POPULATION, Happiness and.
— The increase of numbers during the last
ten years, proceeding in a geometrical ratio,
promises a duplication in a little more than
twenty-two years. We contemplate this rapid
growth, and the- prospect it holds up to us, not
with a view to the injuries it may enable us to
do to others in some future day, but to the set
tlement of the extensive country still remain
ing vacant within our limits, to the multipli
cations of men susceptible of happiness, edu
cated in the love of order, habituated to self-
government, and valuing its blessings above all
price. — FIRST ANNUAL MESSAGE, viii, 8. FORD
ED., viii, 119. (1801.)
6766. POPULATION, Malefactors and.
— The malefactors sent to America were not
sufficient in number to merit enumeration as
one class out of three which peopled America.
It was at a late period of their history that this
practice began. * * * I do not think the
whole number sent would amount to two thou
sand, and being principally men, eaten up with
disease, they married seldom and propagated
little. I do not suppose that themselves and
their descendants are at present four thousand,
which is little more than one thousandth part
of the whole inhabitants. — To M. DE MEUNIER.
ix, 254. FORD ED., iv, 158. (P., 1786.)
6767. POPULATION, Preventing.— He
has endeavored to prevent the population of
these States ; for that purpose, obstructing the
laws for naturalization of foreigners ; refusing
to pass other laws to encourage their migrations
hither, and raising the conditions of new appro
priations of lands. — DECLARATION OF INDEPEND
ENCE AS DRAWN BY JEFFERSON.
6768. POPULATION, Theories of Mal-
thus. — Malthus's work on Population is a
work of sound logic, in which some of the
opinions of Adam Smith, as well as of the
Economists, are ably examined. * * * The
differences of circumstances between this and
the old countries of Europe, furnish dif
ferences of fact whereon to reason in
questions of political economy, and will conse
quently produce sometimes a difference of re
sult. There, for example, the quantity of food
is fixed, or increasing in a slow and only arith
metical ratio, and the proportion is limited by
the same ratio. Supernumerary births conse
quently add only to your mortality. Here the
immense extent of uncultivated and fertile
lands enables every one who will labor to marry
young, and to raise a family of any size. Our
food, then, may increase geometrically with pur
laborers, and our births, however multiplied,
become effective. Again, there the best distri-
3ution of labor is supposed to be that which
)laces the manufacturing hands alongside of the
igricultural ; so that the one part shall feed
joth, and the other part furnish both with
clothes and other comforts. Would that be
iest here? Egoism and first appearances say
' yes ". Or would it be better that all our
aborers should be employed in agriculture?
.n this case a double or treble portion of fertile
"ands would be brought into culture ; a double or
;reble creation of food be produced, and its sur-
)lus go to nourish the now perishing births of
±urope, who in return would manufacture and
send us in exchange our clothes and other com-
"orts. Morality listens to this, and so invaria-
jly do the laws of nature create our duties and
nterests, that when they seem to be at variance,
we ought to suspect some fallacy in our rea
sonings. In solving this question, too, we
should allow just weight to the moral and phys-
'cal preference of the agricultural, over the
manufacturing, man. — To M. SAY. iv, 526.
(W., Feb. 1804.) See MALTHUS.
6769. FOB TEH (David), Complaint
against. — Mr. Madison * * * suggests
the expediency of immediately taking up the
:ase of Captain Porter, against whom Mr. Ers-
<ine [British minister] lodged a very serious
complaint, for an act of violence committed
on a British seaman in the Mediterranean.
While Mr. Erskine was reminded of the mass
of complaints we had against his government
for similar violences, he was assured that con
tending against such irregularities ourselves,
and requiring satisfaction for them, we did not
mean to follow the example, and that on Cap
tain Porter's return, it should be properly in
quired into. The sooner this is done the bet
ter ; because if Great Britain settles with us
satisfactorily all our subsisting differences, and
should require in return (to have an appearance
of reciprocity of wrong as well as redress), a
marked condemnation of Captain Porter, it
would be embarrassing were that the only ob
stacle to a peaceable settlement, and the more
so as we cannot but disavow his act. On the
contrary, if we immediately look into it, we
shall be more at liberty to be moderate in the
censure of it, on the very ground of British
example ; and the case being once passed upon,
we can more easily avoid the passing on it a
second time, as against a settled principle. It
is, therefore, to put it in our power to let Cap
tain Porter off as easily as possible, as a valu
able officer whom we all wish to favor, that I
suggest to you the earliest attention to the in
quiry, and the promptest settlement of it. — To
ROBERT SMITH, v, 192. FORD ED., ix, 138.
(M., Sep. 1807.)
6770. PORTUGAL, Commerce with. — I
am in hopes Congress will send a minister to
Lisbon. I know no country with which we are
likely to cultivate a more useful commerce. I
have pressed this in my private letters. — To
JOHN ADAMS, i, 530. (P., 1786.)
6771. . [In arranging the treaty
of commerce] we wished much to have had
some privileges in their American possessions ;
but this was not to be effected. The right to
import flour into Portugal, though not conceded
by the treaty, we are not without hopes of
obtaining. — To WILLIAM CARMICHAEL. i, 551.
(P., 1786.)
6772. - — . While in London we
entered into negotiations with the Chevalier
Pinto, Ambassador of Portugal at that place.
The only article of difficulty between us was a
stipulation that our bread stuff should be re-
705
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Portugal
Post Office
ceived in Portugal in the form of flour as well
as of grain. He approved of it himself, but
observed that several Nobles, of great influence
at their court, were the owners of wind-mills
in the neighborhood of Lisbon which depended
much for their profits on manufacturing our
wheat, and that this stipulation would endanger
the whole treaty. He signed it, however, and
its fate was what he had candidly portended. —
AUTOBIOGRAPHY, i, 64. FORD ED., i, 90.
(1821.)
6773. PORTUGAL, Government of.—
The government of Portugal is so peaceable
and inoffensive that it has never any alterca
tions with its friends. If their minister abroad
writes them once a quarter that all is well, they
desire no more. — To F. W. GILMER. vii, 5-
FORD ED., x, 33. (M., 1816.)
6774. . During six and thirty
years that I have been in situations to attend
to the conduct and characters of foreign na
tions, I have found the government of Portugal
the most just, inoffensive, and unambitious of
any one with which we had concern, without a
single exception. I am sure that this is the
character of ours also. Two such nations can
never wish to quarrel with each other. — To J.
CORREA. vii, 184. FORD ED., x, 164. (M.,
1820.)
6775. POSTERITY, Judgment of.— It
is fortunate for those in public trust, that pos
terity will judge them by their works, and not
by the malignant vituperations and invectives
of the Pickerings and Gardiners of their age. —
To JOHN ADAMS, vii, 62. (M., 1817.)
6776. POSTERITY, Sacrifices for.— It
is from posterity we are to expect remuneration
for the sacrifices we are making for their serv
ice, of time, quiet and good will. — To JOSEPH C.
CABELL. vii, 394. (M., 1825.)
6777. . It has been a great
solace to me to believe that you are engaged in
vindicating to posterity the course we have
pursued for preserving to them, in all their
purity, the blessings of self-government, which
we had assisted, too, in acquiring for them. —
To JAMES MADISON, vii, 435. FORD ED., x,
378. (M., 1826.)
6778. POST OFFICE, Appointments.—
A very early recommendation * * * [was]
given to the Postmaster General to employ no
printer, foreigner, or revolutionary tory in any
of his offices. — To NATHANIEL MACON. iv, 397.
(W., May 1801.)
6779. . The true remedy for
putting those [Post office] appointments into a
wholesome state would be a law vesting them
in the President, but without the intervention
of the Senate. That intervention would make
the matter worse. Every Senator would expect
to dispose of all the post offices in his vicinage,
or perhaps in his State. At present the Presi
dent has some control over those appointments
by his authority over the postmaster himself. —
To PRESIDENT MADISON. FORD ED., ix. 460.
(M., 1814.)
6780. POST OFFICE, Benefits of.— I
wish the regulation of the post office, adopted
by Congress * * * , could be put in prac
tice. It was for the travel night and day, and
to go their several stages three times a week.
The speedy and frequent communication of in
telligence is really of great consequence. So
many falsehoods have been propagated that
nothing now is believed unless coming from
Congress or camp. Our people, merely for
want of intelligence which they may rely on,
are becoming lethargic and insensible of the
state they are in. — To JOHN ADAMS. FORD ED.,
ii, 130. (May 1777.)
6781. POST OFFICE, The Colonial.—
[The] exercises of usurped power [by Parlia
ment] have not been confined to instances alone
in which themselves were interested ; but they
have also intermeddled with the regulation
of the internal affairs of the Colonies.
— RIGHTS OF BRITISH AMERICA, i, 130. FORD
ED., i, 434. (1774-)
6782. . The act of the Qth [year]
of [Queen] Anne for establishing a post office in
America, seems to have had little connection
with British convenience, except that of accom
modating his Majesty's ministers and favorites
with the sale of a lucrative and easy office. —
RIGHTS OF BRITISH AMERICA, i, 130. FORD ED.,
i, 434. (I774-)
6783. POST OFFICE, Expediting mails.
— Congress have adopted the late improve
ment in the British post office, of sending their
mails by the stages. — To WM. CARMICHAEL. i,
475- (P., 1785.)
6784. . I opened to the Presi
dent a proposition for doubling the velocity of
the post riders, who now travel about fifty miles
a day, and might, without difficulty, go one
hundred, and for taking measures (by way-bills)
to know where the delay is, when there is any.
— THE ANAS, ix, 101. FORD ED., i, 174.
(1792.)
6785. . I am now on a plan with
the Postmaster General to make the posts go
from Philadelphia to Richmond in two days and
a half instead of six, which I hope to persuade
him is practicable. — To T. M. RANDOLPH. FORD
ED., v, 456. (Pa., 1792.)
6786. POST OFFICE, Foreign mails.—
The person at the head of the post office here
says he proposed to Dr. Franklin a convention
to facilitate the passage of letters through their
office and ours, and that he delivered a draft of
the convention proposed, that it might be sent
to Congress. I think it possible he may be mis
taken in this, as, on my mentioning it to Dr.
Franklin, he did not recollect any such draft
having been put into his hands. An answer,
however, is expected by them. I mention it,
that Congress may decide whether they will
make any convention on the subject, and on
what principle. The one proposed here was,
that, for letters passing hence into America,
the French postage should be collected by our
post officers, and paid every six months, and for
letters coming from America here, the American
postage should be collected by the post officers
here, and paid to us in like manner. A second
plan, however, presents itself ; that is, to sup
pose the sums to be thus collected, on each side,
will be equal, or so nearly equal, that the bal
ance will not pay for the trouble of keeping ac
counts, and for the little bickerings that the set
tlement of accounts and demands of the bal
ances may occasion ; and therefore, to make an
exchange of postage. This would better secure
our harmony ; but I do not know that it would
be agreed to here. If not, the other might then
be agreed to. — To JOHN JAY. i, 410. (P.,
1785-)
6787. POST OFFICE, Infidelities in
foreign. — The infidelities of the post offices,
both of England and France, are not unknown
to you. The former are the most rascally, be
cause they retain one's letters, not choosing to
Post Office
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
706
take the trouble of copying them. The latter,
when they have taken copies, are so civil as to
send the originals, resealed clumsily with a
composition, on which they have previously
taken the impression of the seal. — To R. IZARD.
i, 442. (P., 1785.)
6788. . Send your letters by the
French packet. They come by that conveyance
with certainty, having first undergone the cere
mony of being opened and read in the post of
fice, which I am told is done in every country
in Europe. — To JAMES MONROE. FORD ED., iv,
33. (P., 1785.)
6789. . All letters [are] opened
which come either through the French or Eng
lish channel, unless trusted to a messenger. I
think I never received one through the post
office which had not been. It is generally dis
coverable by the smokiness of the wax and
faintness of the reimpression. Once they sent
me a letter open, having forgotten to reseal it.
— To RICHARD H. LEE. FORD ED., iv, 69. (P.,
1785.)
6790. . [I wrote] on such things
only as both the French and English post of
fices were welcome to see. — To JAMES MONROE.
i, 590. FORD ED., iv, 250. (P., 1786.)
6791. POST OFFICE, Newspaper post
age. — I desired you * * * to send the
newspapers notwithstanding the expense. I
had then no idea of it. Some late instances
have made me perfectly acquainted with it. I
have, therefore been obliged to have
my newspapers from the different States, en
closed to the office for Foreign Affairs, and to
desire Mr. Jay to pack the whole in a box, and
send it * * * as merchandise. *
In this way, they will cost me livres where
they now cost me guineas. — To F. HOPKINSON.
i, 441. (P., 1785.)
6792. POST OFFICE, Patronage of.— [I
said to President Washington] that I thought
it would be advantageous to declare [that the
Post office is included in the Department of
State] for another reason, to wit, that the De
partment of Treasury possessed already such
an influence as to swallow up the whole Execu
tive powers, and that even the future Presi
dents (not supported by the weight of character
which himself possessed) would not be able to
make head against this Department. That in
urging this measure I had certainly no personal
interest, since, if I was supposed to have any
appetite for power, yet as my career would cer
tainly be exactly as short as his own. the inter
vening time was too short to be an object. My
real wish was to avail the public of every oc
casion during the residue of the President's
period, to place things on a safe footing. — THE
ANAS, ix, 101. FORD ED., i, 174. (Feb. 1792.)
6793. POST OFFICE, Political spies in.
—The interruption of letters is becoming so
notorious, that I am forming a resolution of
declining correspondence with my friends
through the channels of the Post Office alto
gether. — To E. RANDOLPH, iv, 192. FORD ED.,
vii, 156. (Pa., June I797-)
6794. . The impression of my
seal on wax (which shall be constant hereafter)
will discover whether my letters are opened by
the way. The nature of some of my communi
cations furnishes ground of inquietude for their
safe conveyance. — To JAMES MADISON, iv, 231.
FORD ED., vii, 230. (Pa., April 1798.)
6795. . To avoid the suspicions
and curiosity of the post office, which would
have been excited by seeing your name* and
mine on the back of a letter, I have delayed
acknowledging the receipt of your favor * * *
till an occasion to write to an inhabitant of
Wilmington gives me an opportunity of putting
my letter under cover to him. — To ARCHIBALD
HAMILTON ROWAN, iv, 256. FORD ED., vii, 280.
(M., 1798.)
6796. . The infidelities of the
post office and the circumstances of the times
are against my writing fully and freely. — To
JOHN TAYLOR, iv, 259. FORD ED., vii, 309.
(M., 1798.)
6797. . I shall follow your di
rection in conveying this [letter] by a private
hand, though I know not as yet when one
worthy of confidence will occur. * * * Did
we ever expect to see the day, when, breath
ing nothing but sentiments of love, to our
country and its freedom and happiness, our
correspondence must be as secret as if we
were hatching its destruction ! — To ELBRIDGE
GERRY, iv, 273. FORD ED., vii, 335. (Pa..,
I799-)
6798. . A want of confidence in
the post office deters me from writing to my
friends on the subject of politics. — To ROBERT
R. LIVINGSTON, iv, 297. FORD ED., vii, 368.
(Pa., 1799-)
6799. . From the commence
ment of the ensuing session [of Congress], I
shall trust the post offices with nothing confi
dential, persuaded that during the ensuing
twelve months they will lend their inquisitorial
aid to furnish matter for newspapers. — To
JAMES MADISON, iv, 307. FORD ED., vii, 400.
(M., Nov. 1799.)
6800. . One of your electors
* * * offers me a safe conveyance at a mo
ment when the post offices will be peculiarly
suspicious and prying. Your answer may come
by post without danger, if directed in some
other handwriting than your own. — To ROBERT
R. LIVINGSTON, iv, 339. FORD ED., vii, 466.
(W., Dec. 1800.)
6801. . Mr. Brown's departure
for Virginia enables me to write confidentially
what I could not have ventured by the post at
this prying season. — To JAMES MADISON, iv,
342. FORD ED., vii, 470. (W., Dec. 1800.)
6802. . I shall neither frank nor
subscribe my letter, because I do not choose to
commit myself to the fidelity of the post office.
For the same reason, I have avoided putting
pen to paper through the whole summer, except
on mere business, because I knew it was a pry
ing season. — To TENCH COXE. iv, 345. FORD
ED., vii, 474, (W., Dec. 1800.)
6803. - . I dare not through the
channel of the post hazard a word to you on the
subject of the [Presidential] election. Indeed
the interception and publication of my letters
expose the republican cause, as well as my
self personally, to such obloquy that I have
come to a resolution never to write another sen
tence of politics in a letter. — To JAMES MADI
SON. FORD ED., vii, 484. (W., Feb. 1801.)
6804. . Several letters from you
have not been acknowledged. By the post I
dare not, * * * . — To JAMES MONROE, iv,
354. FORD ED., vii, 490. (W., Feb. 1801.)
* Rowan was one of the leaders in the Irish Re
bellion of 1798.— EDITOR.
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Post Office
Potato
6805. POST OFFICE, Keformed.— Your
letters through the post will now come safely. —
To ELBRIDGE GERRY, iv, 393. FORD ED., viii,
43- (W., March 1801.)
6806. - — . I trust that the post is
become a safe channel to and from me. I have
heard, indeed, of some extraordinary licences
practiced in the post offices of your State, and
there is nothing I desire so much as information
of facts on that subject, to rectify the office. —
To GIDEON GRANGER. FORD ED., viii, 44. (W.,
March 1801.)
6807. POST ROADS, Building.— Have
you considered all the consequences of your
proposition respecting post roads ? I view it
as a source of bouncfless patronage to the
Executive, jobbing to members of Congress
and their friends, and a bottomless abyss of
public money. You will begin by appropria
ting only the surplus of the Post Office rev
enues; but the other revenues will soon be
called into their aid, and it will be the source
of eternal scramble among the members, who
can get the most money wasted in their
State; and they will always get most who
are meanest. We have thought, hitherto,
that the roads of a State could not be so well
administered even by the State Legislature,
as by the magistracy of the county, on the
spot. How will it be when a member of
New Hampshire is to mark out a road for
Georgia? Does the power to establish post
roads, given you by the Constitution, mean
that you shall make the roads, or only select
from those already made, those on which
there shall be a post ? If the term be equivo
cal (and I really do not think it so,) which
is the safer construction? That which per
mits a majority of Congress to go cutting
down mountains and bridging of rivers, or
the other, which, if too restricted, may be
referred to the States for amendment, secur
ing still due measure and proportion among
us, and providing some means of information
to the members of Congress tantamount to
that ocular inspection, which, even in our
county determinations, the magistrate finds
cannot be supplied by any other evidence?
The fortification of harbors was liable to
great objection. But national circumstances
furnished some color. In this case there is
none. The roads of America are the best in
the world except those of France and Eng
land. But does the state of our population,
the extent of our internal commerce, the
want of sea and river navigation, call for
such expense on roads here, or are our means
adequate to it?— To JAMES MADISON, iv, 131.
FORD ED., vii, 63. (M., March 1796.)
6808. POST ROADS, Expense.— [ very
much fear the road system will be urged.
The mines of Peru would not supply the
moneys which would be wasted on this ob
ject, nor the patience of any people stand the
abuses which would be incontrollably com
mitted under it. — To JAMES MADISON, iv,
344. FORD ED., vii, 472. (W., Dec. 1800.)
6809. POST ROADS, Jobbery.— The
Roads bill will be a bottomless abyss for
money, the most fruitful field for * and
the richest provision for jobs to favorites that
has ever yet been proposed. — To C/ESAR ROD
NEY. FORD ED., vii, 473. (W., Dec. 1800.)
6810. POSTS (Western), England's de
tention of. — England shows no dispositions
to enter into friendly connections with us. On
the contrary, her detention of our posts seems
to be the speck which is to produce a storm. —
To R. IZARD. i, 442. (P., 1785.)
6811. . The British garrisons
were not withdrawn with all convenient speed,
nor have ever yet been withdrawn from Machi-
limackinac, on Lake Michigan ; Detroit, on the
straits of Lake Erie and Huron ; Fort Erie, on
Lake Erie ; Niagara, Oswego, on Lake Ontario ;
Oswegatchie, on the River St. Lawrence ; Point
Au-Fer, and Dutchman's Point, on Lake Cham-
plain. — To GEORGE HAMMOND. FORD ED., vi,
468. (P., Dec. 1793.)
6812. POSTS (Western), France and.—
The question * * * proposed [by you],
" How far France considers herself as bound
to insist on the delivery of the posts ", would
infallibly produce another, " How far we con
sider ourselves as guarantees of their American
possessions, and bound to enter into any future
war in which these may be attacked " ? The
words of the treaty of alliance seem to be
without ambiguity on either head, yet I should
be afraid to commit Congress by answering
without authority. I will endeavor on my re
turn [from London to Paris] to sound the
opinion of the minister, if possible without ex
posing myself to the other question. Should
anything forcible be meditated on these posts,
it would possibly be thought prudent, previously,
to ask the good offices of France to obtain
their delivery. In this case, they would prob
ably say, we must first execute the treaty on
our part by repealing all acts which have con
travened it. Now this measure, if there be any
candor in the court of London, would suffice
to obtain a delivery of the posts from them
without the mediation of any third power.
However, if this mediation should be finally
needed, I see no reason to doubt our obtaining
it, and still less to question its omnipotent in
fluence on the British court. — To JOHN JAY. i,
539. FORD ED., iv, 200. (L., March 1786.)
6813. POSTS (Western), Indian mur
ders. — Were the western posts in our pos
session, it cannot be doubted but there would
be an end to the murders daily committed by
the Indians on our Northwestern frontier, and
to a great part of the expense of our armaments
in that quarter. — To GEORGE HAMMOND. FORD
ED., vi, 321. (1793-)
6814. POTATO, Nativity of.— You say
in your " General Geography " the potato is a
native of the United States. I presume you
speak of the Irish potato. I have inquired
much into the question, and think I can assure
you that the plant is not a native of North
America. Zimmerman, in his " Geographical Zo
ology ", says it is a native of Guiana ; and Clav-
igers, that the Mexicans got it from South
America, its native country. The most prob
able account I have been able to collect is, that
a vessel of Sir Walter Raleigh's, returning from
Guiana, put into the west of Ireland in dis
tress, having on board some potatoes which
they called earth apples. That the season of the
year, and circumstance of their being already
sprouted, induced them to give them all out
* Illegible in MS.
Potomac and Ohio Canal
Powers
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
708
there, and they were no more heard or thought
of, till they had spread considerably into that
island, whence they were carried over into
England, and, therefore, called the Irish potato.
From England they came to the United States
bringing their name with them. — To MR. SPAF-
FORD. v, 445. (M., 1809.)
— POTOMAC AND OHIO CANAL.—
See CANAL.
6815. POWER, Abridgment of.— The
functionaries of public power rarely strength
en in their dispositions to abridge it. —
To JOHN TAYLOR, vi, 608. FORD ED., x, 31.
(M., 1816.)
6816. POWER, Abuses.— Education is
the true corrective of abuses of constitutional
power. — To WILLIAM C. JARVIS. vii, 179.
FORD ED., x, 161. (M., 1820.)
6817. POWER, Depositaries of.— No
other depositaries of power [than the people
themselves] have ever yet been found, which
did not end in converting to their own profit
the earnings of those committed to their
charge. — To SAMUEL KERCHIVAL. vii, 36.
FORD ED., x, 45. (M., 1816.)
6818. - —.1 know no safe de
positary of the ultimate powers of the so
ciety but the people themselves ; and if we
think them not enlightened enough to ex
ercise their control with a wholesome discre
tion, the remedy is not to take it from them,
but to inform their discretion by education. —
To WILLIAM C. JARVIS. vii, 179. FORD ED.,
x, 161. (M., 1820.)
6819. POWER, Exercise of.— I have
never been able to conceive how any rational
being could propose happiness to himself
from the exercise of power over others. — To
M. DESTUTT TRACY, v, 569. FORD ED., ix,
308. (M., 1811.)
6820. . An honest man can feel
no pleasure in the exercise of power over his
fellow citizens. And considering as the only
offices of power those conferred by the peo
ple directly, that is to say, the Executive and
Legislative functions of the General and
State Governments, the common refusal of
these, and multiplied resignations, are proofs
sufficient that power is not alluring to pure
minds, and is not with them, the primary
principle of contest. This is my belief of it;
it is that on which I have acted ; and had it
been a mere contest who should be permitted
to administer the Government according to
its genuine republican principles, there has
never been a moment of my life in which I
should have relinquished for it the enjoy
ments of my family, my farm, my friends and
books. — To JOHN MELISH. vi, 96. FORD ED.,
ix, 376. (M, 1813.)
6821. . In one sentiment of
[your] speech I particularly concur, — " if we
have a doubt relative to any power, we ought
not to exercise it ". — To EDWARD LIVINGS
TON, vii, 343. FORD ED., x, 300. (M., 1824.)
6822. POWER, Independent.— It should
be remembered, as an axiom of eternal truth
in politics, that whatever power in any gov
ernment is independent, is absolute also ; in
theory only, at first, while the spirit of the
people is up, but in practice, as fast as that
relaxes. Independence can be trusted no
where but with the people in mass. They
are inherently independent of all but moral
law. — To SPENCER ROANE. vii, 134. FORD
ED., x, 141. (P.F., 1819.)
6823. POWER, Limitation.— In a free
country every power is dangerous which is
not bound up by general rules. — To PHILIP
MAZZEI. FORD ED., iv, 116. (P., 1785.)
6824. POWER, Origin of.— Hume, the
great apostle of toryism, says [in his History
of England, c. 159] " the Commons estab
lished a principle, which is noble in itself,
and seems specious, but is belied by all
history and experience, that the people, are
the origin of all just power". And where
else will this degenerate son of science, this
traitor to his fellow men, find the origin of
just power, if not in the majority of the so
ciety? Will it be in the minority? Or in
an individual of that minority? — To JOHN
CARTWRIGHT. vii, 356. (M., 1824.)
6825. . All power is inherent in
the people. — To JOHN CARTWRIGHT. vii, 357.
(M., 1824.)
6826. POWER, Perpetuation of.— The
principles of our Constitution are wisely op
posed to all perpetuations of power, and to
every practice which may lead to hereditary
establishments. — REPLY TO ADDRESS, v, 473.
(M., 1809.)
6827. POWER, Perversion of.— Even
under the best forms [of government] those
entrusted with power have perverted it into
tyranny. — DIFFUSION OF KNOWLEDGE BILL.
FORD ED., ii, 221. (1779.)
6828. POWER, Shifting.— I have never
been so well pleased as when I could shift
power from my own, on the shoulders of
others. — To M. DESTUTT TRACY, v, 569.
FORD ED., ix, 308. (M., 1811.)
6829. POWER, Use of.— I hope our wis
dom will grow with our power, and teach
us, that the less we use our power, the greater
will it be.— To THOMAS LEIPER. vi, 465.
FORD ED., ix, 520. (M., 1815.) See AU
THORITY.
6830. POWERS, Assumed.— I had rather
ask an enlargement of power from the nation,
where it is found necessary, than to assume
it by a construction [of the Constitution]
which would make our powers boundless. —
To WILSON C. NICHOLAS, iv, 506. FORD ED.,
viii, 247. (M., 1803.)
6831. . If, wherever the Consti
tution assumes a single power out of many
which belong to the same subject, we should
consider it as assuming the whole, it would
vest the General Government with a mass
of powers never contemplated. On the con
trary, the assumption of particular powers
709
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Powers
seems an exclusion of all not assumed. — To
JOSEPH C. CABELL. vi, 310. FORD ED., ix, 452.
(M., 1814.)
6832. . If the three powers
maintain their mutual independence on each
other our Government may last long, but
not so if either can assume the authorities
of the other. — To WILLIAM C. JARVIS. vii,
179. FORD ED., x, 161. (M., 1820.)
6833. POWERS, Civil.— Civil powers
alone have been given to the President of the
United States, and no authority to direct the
religious exercises of his constituents. — To
REV. SAMUEL MILLAR, v, 237. FORD ED., ix,
175. (W., 1808.) See RELIGION.
6834. POWERS, Conflicting.— The pe
culiar happiness of our blessed system is,
that in differences of opinion between these
different sets of servants [in the three de
partments of the Federal Government], the
appeal is to neither, but to their employers,
peaceably assembled by their representatives
in convention.— To SPENCER ROANE. vii, 214.
FORD ED., x, 190. (M., 1821.)
6835. POWERS, Constitutional.— To
keep in all things within the pale of our con
stitutional powers, * * * [is one of] the
landmarks by which we are to guide our
selves in all our proceedings. — SECOND AN
NUAL MESSAGE, viii, 21. FORD ED., viii, 187.
(Dec. 1802.)
6836. POWERS, Constructive.— The
States supposed that by their Tenth Amend
ment, they had secured themselves against
constructive powers. They were not lessoned
yet by Cohen's Case, nor aware of the slip-
periness of the eels of the law. I ask for no
straining of words against the General Gov
ernment, nor yet against the States. I be
lieve the States can best govern our home
concerns, and the General Government our
foreign ones. I wish, therefore, to see
maintained that wholesome distribution of
powers established by the Constitution for the
limitation of both; and never to see all of
fices transferred to Washington, where,
further withdrawn from the eyes of the peo
ple, they may more secretly be bought and
sold as at market.— To WILLIAM JOHNSON.
vii, 297. FORD ED., x, 232. (M., 1823.)
6837. POWERS, Control by the people.
— Unless the mass retains sufficient control
over those intrusted with the powers of their
government, these will be perverted to their
own oppression, and to the perpetuation oi
wealth and power in the individuals and
their families selected for the trust. — To MR
VAN DER KEMP, vi, 45. (M., 1812.)
6838. POWERS, Delegated.— The Con
stitution of the United States * * * [has]
delegated to Congress a power to punish
treason, counterfeiting the securities and cur
rent coin of the United States, piracies, anc
felonies committed on the high seas, and of
fences against the law of nations, and no
other crimes whatsoever; and it being true
as a general principle, and one of the amend
ments to the Constitution having also de
clared, that " the powers not delegated to the
Jnited States by the Constitution, nor pro
hibited by it to the States, are reserved to
the States respectively, or to the people ",
* * * the power to create, define, and
punish * * * other crimes is reserved,
and of right, appertains solely and exclusively
to the respective States, each within its own
territory. — KENTUCKY RESOLUTIONS, ix, 465.
FORD ED., vii, 292. (1798.)
6839. . In case of an abuse of
the delegated powers, the members of the
General Government, being chosen by the
people, a change by the people would be the
constitutional remedy. — KENTUCKY RESOLU
TIONS, ix, 469. FORD ED., vii, 301. (1798.)
6840. POWERS, Distribution of.— To
preserve the republican form and principles
of our Constitution, and cleave to the salu
tary distribution of powers, which that has
established, * * * are the two sheet an
chors of our Union. If driven from either,
we shall be in danger of foundering. — To
WILLIAM JOHNSON, vii, 298. FORD ED., x,
232. (M., 1823.)
6841. POWERS, Enlarging.— It [is] in- <
consistent with the principles of civil liberty,
and contrary to the natural rights of the
other members of the society, that any body
of men therein should have authority to en
large their own powers * * * without re
straint.* — ALLOWANCE BILL. FORD ED., ii, 165.
(1778.)
6842. . Nothing is more likely
than that their [the framers of the Constitu
tion] enumeration of powers is defective.
This is the ordinary case of all human works.
Let us go on, then, perfecting it by adding,
by way of amendment, to the Constitution
those forms which time and trial show are
still wanting. — To WILSON C. NICHOLAS, iv,
506. FORD ED., viii, 248. (M., 1803.)
6843. POWERS, The enumerated.— To
take a single step beyond the boundaries
specifically drawn around the powers of
Congress [in the enumerated powers] is to
take possession of a boundless field of power,
no longer susceptible of any definition. —
NATIONAL BANK OPINION, vii, 556. FORD
ED., v, 285. (1791.)
6844. . A little difference in the
degree of convenience cannot constitute the
necessity which the Constitution makes the
ground for assuming any non-enumerated
power. — NATIONAL BANK OPINION, vii, 559.
FORD ED., v, 288. (1791.)
6845. . [By] the general phrase
" to make all laws necessary and proper for
carrying into execution the enumerated pow
ers " * * * the Constitution allows only
the means which are " necessary " , not those
which are merely " convenient " for effecting
the enumerated powers. If such a latitude of
construction be allowed to this phrase as to
* A Bill in the Virginia Legislature providing for
increased pay and allowances to members. — EDITOR.
Powers
Pradt (Abbe de)
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
710
i give any non-enumerated power, it will go to
•, every one, for there is not one which in-
' genuity may not torture into a convenience
! in some instance or other, to some one of so
; long a list of enumerated powers. It would
swallow up all the delegated powers, and re
duce the whole to one power. Therefore it
was that the Constitution restrained them to
the necessary means, that is to say, to those
means without which the grant of power would
be nugatory. — NATIONAL BANK OPINION, vii,
558. FORD ED., v, 287. (1791.) See MANU
FACTURES.
6846. POWERS, Indestructible.— Legis
lative powers [are] incapable of annihilation.
— DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE AS DRAWN
BY JEFFERSON.
6847. POWERS, Nullification.— Where
powers are assumed which have not been
delegated, a nullification of the act is the
rightful remedy. — KENTUCKY RESOLUTIONS.
ix, 469. FORD ED., vii, 301. (1798.)
6848. POWERS, Organization.— When -
» ever any form of government becomes de-
; structive of these ends [life, liberty and the
pursuit of happiness], it is the right of the
• people to alter or to abolish it, and to insti-
; tute new government, laying its foundation
1 on such principles, and organizing its powers
in such form, as" to them shall seem most
likely to effect their safety and happiness. —
DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE AS DRAWN BY
JEFFERSON.
6849. POWERS, Self -constituted.— I
shall not undertake to draw the line of de
marcation between private associations of
laudable views and unimposing numbers, and
those whose magnitude may rivalize and
jeopardize the march of regular government.
Yet such a line does exist. I have seen the
days, — they were those which preceded the
Revolution, — when even this last and perilous
engine became necessary ; but they were days
which no man would wish to see a second
time. That was the case where the regular
authorities of the government had combined
against the rights of the people, and no
means of correction remained to them but to
organize a collateral power, which, with
their support, might rescue and secure their
violated rights. But such is not the case
with our government. We need hazard no
collateral power, which, by a change of its
original views, and assumption of others we
know not how virtuous or how mischievous,
would be ready organized and in force suf
ficient to shake the established foundations
of society, and endanger its peace and the
principles on which it is based. Is not the
machine* now proposed of this gigantic
stature ? — To JEDEDIAH MORSE, vii, 234. FORD
ED., x, 204. (M., 1822.)
* The " machine " was a society for the civilization
of the Indians, to be composed of nearly all the
officers of the Federal and State Governments, the
clergy of all denominations, and as many citizens as
would pay for membership. Jefferson commended
the object, but condemned so vast an organization
as unnecessary, dangerous and bad as a precedent.
—EDITOR.
6850. . Might we not as well
appoint a committee for each department of
the Government, to counsel and direct its
head separately, as volunteer ourselves to
counsel and direct the whole, in mass? And
might we not do it as well for their foreign,
their fiscal, and their military, as for their
Indian affairs? And how many societies,
auxiliary to the Government, may we expect
to see spring up, in imitation of this, offer
ing to associate themselves in this and that of
its functions? In a word, why not take the
Government out of its constitutional hands,
associate them indeed with us, to preserve a
semblance that the acts are theirs, but en
suring them to be our own by allowing them
a minor vote only? — To JEDEDIAH MORSE.
vii, 236. FORD ED., x, 206. (M., 1822.)
6851. POWERS, Separation of.— The
principle of the Constitution is that of a sep
aration of Legislative, Executive and Judi
ciary functions, except in cases specified. If
this principle be not expressed in direct
terms, it is clearly the spirit of the Consti
tution, and it ought to be so commented and
acted on by every friend of free government.
— To JAMES MADISON, iv, 161. FORD ED., vii,
1 08. (M., Jan. 1797.)
6852. POWERS, Undelegated.— When
ever the General Government assumes un-
delegated powers, its acts are unauthorita-
tive, void, and of no force. — KENTUCKY
RESOLUTIONS, ix, 464. FORD ED., vii, 291.
(1798.)
6853. - - . This Commonwealth
[Kentucky] is determined, as it doubts not
its co-States are, to submit to undelegated,
and consequently unlimited powers in no
man, or body of men on earth. — KENTUCKY
RESOLUTIONS, ix, 469. FORD ED., vii. 301.
(1798.)
6854. . The power to regulate
commerce does not give a power to build
piers, wharves, open ports, clear the beds of
rivers, dig canals, build warehouses, build
manufacturing machines, set up manufac
tories, cultivate the earth, to all of which
the power would go if it went to the first. —
To ALBERT GALLATIN. iv, 449. FORD ED., viii,
174. (1802.)
6855. POWERS, Unlimited.— I have no
idea of entering into the contest, whether it
be expedient to delegate unlimited powers to
our ordinary governors? My opinion is
against that expediency ; but my occupations
do not permit me to undertake to vindicate
all my opinions, nor have they importance
enough to merit it. — To NOAH WEBSTER, iii,
203. FORD ED., v, 257. (Pa., 1790.) See
BANK (U. S.), CONSTITUTIONALITY.
6856. PRADT (Abbe de), Writings of.
— Of the character of M. de Pradt his polit
ical writings furnish a tolerable estimate, but
not so full as you have favored me- with. He
is eloquent, and his pamphlet on colonies shows
him ingenious. I was gratified by his Recit
Historique, because, pretending, as all men do,
to some character, and he to one of some dis-
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Praise
Presents
tinction, I supposed he would not place before
the world facts of glaring falsehood, on which
so many living and distinguished witnesses
could convict him. — To JOHN QUINCY ADAMS.
vii, 87- (M., 1817.)
6857. PRAISE, Undeserved.— To give
praise where it is not due might be well from the
venal, but it would ill beseem those who are as
serting the rights of human nature. — RIGHTS OF
BRITISH AMERICA, i, 141. FORD ED., i, 446.
(I774-)
6858. PRECEDENT, Oppression and.—
For what oppression may not a precedent be
found in this world of the bellum omnium in
omniaf — NOTES ON VIRGINIA, viii, 371. FORD
ED., iii, 235. (1782.)
6859. PRECEDENT, Power and.— One
precedent in favor of power is stronger than an
hundred against it. — NOTES ON VIRGINIA, viii,
367. FORD ED., iii, 230. (1782.)
6860. PREEMPTION, Right of.— If the
country, instead of being altogether vacant, is
thinly occupied by another nation, the right of
the native forms an exception to that of the new
comers ; that is to say, these will only have a
right against all other nations except the na
tives. Consequently, they have the exclusive
privilege of acquiring the native right by pur
chase or other just means. This is called the
right of preemption, and is become a principle
of the law of nations, fundamental with respect
to America. There are but two means of ac
quiring the native title. First, war ; for even
war may, sometimes, give a just title. Second,
contracts, or treaty. — OPINION ON GEORGIAN
LAND GRANTS, vii, 467. FORD EDV v, 166.
(1790.)
6861. PREROGATIVE, Barriers
against. — The privilege of giving or with
holding our moneys is an important barrier
against the undue exertion of prerogative, which
if left altogether without control may be exer
cised to our great oppression. — REPLY TO LORD
NORTH'S PROPOSITION. FORD ED., i, 477. (July
I775-)
6862. PRESBYTERIAN SPIRIT, Lib
erty and. — The Presbyterian spirit is known
to be so congenial with friendly liberty, that
the patriots, after the Restoration, rinding
that the humor of the people was running
too strongly to exalt the prerogative of the
crown, promoted the dissenting interest as a
check and balance, and thus was produced
the Toleration Act. — NOTES ON RELIGION.
FORD ED., ii. 98. (1776?)
6863. PRESENTS, Declination of.— I
return you my thanks for a bust of the Emperor
Alexander [of Russia]. These are the more
cordial, because of the value the bust derives
from the great estimation in which its original
is held by the world, and by none more than
myself. It will constitute one of the most
valued ornaments of the retreat I am preparing
for myself at my native home. * * * I had laid
it down as a law for my conduct while in
office, and hitherto srcupulously observed, to
accept of no present beyond a book, a pamphlet,
or other curiosity of minor value ; as well to
avoid imputation on my motives of action, as
to shut out a practice susceptible to such abuse.
But my particular esteem for the character of
the Emperor, places his image in my mind above
the scope of law. I receive it, therefore, and
shall cherish it with affection. It nourishes the
contemplation of all the good placed in his
power, and of his disposition to do it. — To MR.
HARRIS, v, 6. (W., 1806.)
6864. . Mr. Granger has sent
me the very elegant ivory staff of which you
wished my acceptance. The motives of your
wish are honorable to me, and gratifying, as
they evidence the approbation of my public con
duct by a stranger who has not viewed it
through the partialities of personal acquaint
ance. Be assured, Sir, that I am as grateful
for the testimony, as if I could have accepted
the token of it which you have so kindly of
fered. On coming into public office, I laid it
down as a law of my conduct, while I should
continue in it, to accept no present of any
sensible pecuniary value. A pamphlet, a new
book, or an article of new curiosity, have pro
duced no hesitation, because below suspicion.
But things of sensible value, however innocently
offered in the first examples, may grow at length
into abuse, for which I wish not to furnish a
precedent. The kindness of the motives which
led to this manifestation of your esteem, suf
ficiently assures me that you will approve of my
desire, by a perseverance in the rule, to retain
that consciousness of a disinterested administra
tion of the public trusts, which is essential to
perfect tranquillity of mind. — To SAMUEL HAW
KINS, v, 393. (W., Nov. 1808.)
6865. PRESENTS, Diplomatic.— As cus
tom may have rendered some presents necessary
in the beginning or progress of this business
[negotiation of a treaty with the Emperor of
Morocco] and before it is concluded, or even in
a way to be concluded, we authorize you to con
form to the custom, confiding in your discretion
to hazard as little as possible before a certainty
of the event. We trust to you also to procure
the best information as to what persons, and in
what form, these presents should be made, and
to make them accordingly. — To THOMAS BAR
CLAY, i, 421. (P., 1785.)
6866. PRESENTS, To Foreign Minis
ters. — It was proposed that the medal [to be
given to recalled foreign ministers] should al
ways contain 150 dollars' worth of gold; it was
presumed the gentleman would always keep this.
The chain was to contain 365 links always,
but these were to be proportioned in value to
the time the person had been here, making each
link worth 3 dimes for every year of residence.
No expense was to be bestowed on the making
because it was expected they would turn the
chain into money. — NOTE BY JEFFERSON. FORD
ED., vi, 263. (1793.)
6867. . It has become necessary
to determine on a present proper to be given to
diplomatic characters on their taking leave of
us ; and it is concluded that a medal and chain
of gold will be the most convenient. I have,
therefore, to ask the favor of you to order the
dies to be engraved with all the dispatch prac
ticable. The medal must be of thirty lines
diameter, with a loop on the edge to receive the
chain. On one side, must be the arms of the
United States, of which I send you a written de
scription : * * * round them as a legend must
be " The United States of America ". The de
vice of the other side we do not decide on. One
suggestion has been a Columbia (a fine female
figure) delivering the emblems of peace and
commerce to a Mercury, and the date of our
republic, to wit, 4th July, MDCCLXXVL— To
WILLIAM SHORT, iii, 142. (N.Y., 1790.)
6868. PRESENTS, To Indians.— i hope
we shall give the Indians a thorough drubbing
this summer, and I should think it better per
haps afterwards to take up the plan of liberal
Presents
President
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
712
and repeated presents to them. This would be
much the cheapest in the end and would save
all the blood which is now being spilt ; in time,
too, it would produce a spirit of peace and
friendship between us. The expense of a single
expedition would last very long for presents. —
To PRESIDENT WASHINGTON, iii, 248. FORD
ED., v, 321. (Pa., 1791-)
6869. . The giving medals and
marks of distinction to the Indian chiefs * * *
has been an ancient custom from time im
memorial. The medals are considered as com
plimentary things, as marks of friendship to
those who come to see us, or who do us good
offices, conciliatory of their good will towards
us, and not designed to produce a contrary dis
position towards others. They confer no power,
and seem to have taken their origin m the
European practice, of giving medals or other
marks of friendship to the negotiators of trea
ties and other diplomatic characters, or visitors
of distinction. The British government, while
it prevailed here, practiced the giving medals,
gorgets, and bracelets to the savages, invariable.
— To CARMICHAEL AND SHORT, iv, 15. FORD ED.,
vi, 336. (Pa., I793-)
6870. PRESENTS, Public.— The bounties
from one's country, expressions of its approba
tion, are honors which it would be arrogance
to refuse, especially where flowing from the
willing only. — To THOMAS RITCHIE. FORD ED.,
x, 382. (M., 1826.)
6871. PRESENTS, Tribute and.— We
rely that you will be able to obtain an acknowl
edgment of our treaty with Morocco, giving
very moderate presents. As the amount of these
will be drawn into precedent, on future similar
repetitions of them, it becomes important. Our
distance, our seclusion from the ancient world,
its politics and usages, our agricultural occu
pations and habits, our poverty, and lastly, our
determination to prefer war in all cases, to
tribute under any form, and to any people what
ever, will furnish you with topics for opposing
and refusing high or dishonorable pretensions.
— To THOMAS BARCLAY, iii, 262. (Pa., 1791.)
— PRESIDENT, Administration and
Cabinet.— See ADMINISTRATION and CABINET.
6872. PRESIDENT, Depositions by.— If
the defendant supposes there are any facts
within the knowledge of the heads of de
partments, or of myself, which can be useful
for his defence, from a desire of doing any
thing our situation will permit in further
ance of justice, we shall be ready to give
him the benefit of it, by way of deposition,
through any persons whom the Court shall
authorize to take our testimony at this place
[Washington].— To GEORGE HAY. v, 97.
FORD ED., ix, 57. (W., June 1807.)
6873. PRESIDENT, Direct vote for.—
One part of the subject of one of your letters
is of a nature which forbids my interference
altogether. The amendment to the Constitu
tion of which you speak, would be a remedy
to a certain degree. So will a different
amendment which I know will be proposed,
to wit, to have no electors, but let the peo
ple vote directly, and the ticket which has
a plurality of the votes of any State to be
considered as receiving thereby the vote of
the State.— To ALBERT GALLATIN. FORD ED.,
viii, 94. (M., Sep. 1801.)
6874. . The President is chosen
by ourselves, directly in. practice, for we vote
for A as elector only on the condition he will
vote for B. — To DUPONT DE NEMOURS, vi,
590. FORD ED., x, 23. (P.F., 1816.)
6875. PRESIDENT, Election of.— The
bill for the election of the President and Vice-
President has undergone much revolution.
Marshall made a dexterous maneuver. He
declares against the constitutionality of the
Senate's bill, and proposed that the right of
decision of their grand committee should be
controllable by the concurrent vote of the two
houses of Congress; but to stand good if not
rejected by a concurrent vote. You will
readily estimate the amount of this sort of
control. The committee of the House of Rep
resentatives, however, took from the com
mittee the right of giving any opinion, re
quiring them to report the facts only, and
that the votes returned by the States should
be counted, unless reported by a concurrent
vote of both houses. — To E. LIVINGSTON, iv,
328. FORD ED., vii, 443. (Pa., April 1800.)
6876. . That great opposition is
and will be made by federalists to this
amendment [to the Constitution], is certain.
They know that if it prevails, neither a Presi
dent nor Vice-President can ever be made
but by the fair vote of the majority of the na
tion, of which they are not. That either their
opposition to the principle of discrimination
now, or their advocation of it formerly was
on party, not moral motives, they cannot
deny. Consequently, they fix for themselves
the place in the scale of moral rectitude to
which they are entitled. I am a friend to
the discriminating principle ; and for a reason
more than others have, inasmuch as the dis
criminated vote of my constituents will ex
press unequivocally the verdict they wish to
cast on my conduct. — To THOMAS McKEAN.
FORD ED., viii, 292. (W., Jan. 1804.)
6877. PRESIDENT, The judiciary and.
— The interference of the Executive can
rarely be proper where that of the Judiciary
is so. — To GEORGE HAMMOND. FORD ED., vi,
298. (Pa., I793-)
— PRESIDENT, Oath of office.— See
WASHINGTON.
6878. PRESIDENT, Petitions to.— The
right of our fellow citizens to represent to the
public functionaries their opinion on proceed
ings interesting to them, is unquestionably a
constitutional right, often useful, sometimes
necessary, and will always be respectfully ac
knowledged by me. — To THE NEW HAVEN
COMMITTEE, iv, 402. FORD ED., viii, 68. (W.,
1801.)
6879. PRESIDENT, Polish Kings and.
— The President seems a bad edition of a
Polish King. — To JOHN ADAMS, ii, 316.
(P., Nov. 1787.)
6880. . What we have lately
read in the history of Holland, in the chapter
on the Stadtholder,* would have sufficed to
* See " HOLLAND " in this volume.— EDITOR.
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
President
set me against a chief magistrate eligible for
a long duration, if I had ever been disposed
towards one ; and what we have always read
of the elections of Polish Kings should have
forever excluded the idea of one continuable
for life.— To W. S. SMITH, ii, 318. FORD ED.,
iv, 466. (P., 1787.) See CONSTITUTION
(FEDERAL).
6881. PRESIDENT, Reelection.— I fear
much the effects of the perpetual reeligibility
of the President. But it is not thought of
in America, and I have, therefore, no pros
pect of a change of that article [in the Con
stitution], — To WILLIAM STEPHENS SMITH.
FORD ED., v, 3. (P., 1788.)
6882. . There is a strong feature
in the new Constitution which I strongly dis
like. That is the perpetual reeligibility of
the President. Of this I expect no amend
ment at present because I do not see that
anybody has objected to it on your side of
the water. But it will be productive of cruel
distress to our country, even in your day and
mine. The importance to France and Eng
land, to have our government in the hands
of a friend or a foe, will occasion their in
terference by money, and even by arms.
Our President will be of much more conse
quence to them than a King of Poland. We
must take care, however, that neither this,
nor any other objection to the new form pro
duces a schism in our Union. — To A. DON
ALD, ii, 355. (P.. 1788.)
6883. . — . I dislike strongly [in
the new Constitution] the perpetual reeligi
bility of the President. This, I fear, will
make that an office for life, first, and then
hereditary. * * * However, I shall hope
that before there is danger of this change
taking place in the office of President, the
good sense and free spirit of our country
men will make t.ie changes necessary to pre
vent it. — To GENERAL WASHINGTON, ii, 375.
FORD ED., v, 8. (P., 1788.)
6884. . Reeligibility makes the
President an officer for life, and the disasters
inseparable from an elective monarchy, ren
der it preferable, if we cannot tread back that
step, that we should go forward and take
refuge in an hereditary one. Of the correction
of this article [in the new Constitution], I
entertain no present hope, because I find it
has scarcely excited an objection in America.
And if it does not take place ere long, it as
suredly never will. The natural progress of
things is for liberty to yield and government
to gain ground. As yet our spirits are free.
Our jealousy is only put to sleep by the un
limited confidence we all repose in the per
son to whom we all look as our President.
After him inferior characters may perhaps
succeed, and awaken us to the danger which
his merit has led us into. — To E. CARRINGTON.
ii, 404. FORD ED., v, 20. (P., 1788.)
6885. . The perpetual reeligi
bility of the same President will probably
not be cured during the life of General Wash
ington. His merit has blinded our country-
proposing
which concur as to
men to the danger of making so important an
officer reeligible. — To WILLIAM CARMICHAEL.
ii, 465. (P., Aug. 1788.)
6886. . The convention of Vir
ginia annexed to their ratification of the new
Constitution * * * propositions for specific
alterations of the Constitution. Among these
was one for rendering the President inca
pable of serving more than eight years in any
term of sixteen. New York has followed the
example of Virginia, * * *
amendments, * * *
the President, only proposing that he shall
be incapable of being elected more than twice.
But I own I should like better than either
of these, what Luther Martin tells us was
repeatedly voted and adhered to by the Fed
eral Convention, and only altered about
twelve days before their rising, when some
members had gone off ; to wit, that he should
be elected for seven years, and incapable for
ever after.— To WILLIAM SHORT, ii, 480. FORD
ED., v, 48. (P., 1788.)
6887. . I am glad to see that
three States have at length considered the
perpetual reeligibility of the President, as an
article [of the new Constitution] which
should be amended.— To JAMES MADISON, ii,
506. FORD ED., v, 53. (P., Nov. 1788.)
6888. . The general voice * * *
has not authorized me to consider as a real
defect [in the new Constitution] what I
thought and still think one, the perpetual re-
eligibility of the President. But three States
out of eleven, having declared against this,
we must suppose we are wrong, according to
the fundamental law of every society, the
lex majoris partis, to which we are bound to
submit. And should the majority change
their opinion, and become sensible that this
trait in their Constitution is wrong, I would
wish it to remain unconnected, as long as we
can avail ourselves of the services of our
great leader, whose talents and whose weight
of character, I consider as peculiarly neces
sary to get the government so under way, as
that it may afterwards be carried on by sub
ordinate characters.— To DAVID HUMPHREYS.
iii, 13. FORD ED., v, 90. (P., 1789.) See
CONSTITUTION ( FEDERAL) .
6889. PRESIDENT, The senate and.—
The transaction of business with foreign na
tions is Executive altogether. It belongs,
then, to the head of that department, ex
cept as to such portions of it as are specially
submitted to the Senate. Exceptions are to
be construed strictly. — OPINION ON THE
POWERS OF THE SENATE, vii, 465. FORD ED.,
v, 161. (1790.)
6890. . The Senate is not sup
posed by the Constitution to be acquainted
with the concerns of the Executive depart
ment. It was not* intended that these should
be communicated to them. — OPINION ON THE
POWERS OF THE SENATE, vii, 466. FORD ED.,
v, 162. (1790.)
* " Not " is omitted in the FORD EDITION. It is in
the original MS.— EDITOR.
President
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
6891. PRESIDENT, State executives
and. — I have the honor to enclose you the
draft of a letter to Governor Pinckney, and to
observe, that I suppose it to be proper that
there should, on fit occasions, be a direct cor
respondence between the President of the
United States and the Governors of the
States; and that it will probably be grateful
to them to receive from the President, an
swers to the letters they address to him. The
correspondence with them on ordinary busi
ness, may still be kept up by the Secretary
of State, in his own name. — To PRESIDENT
WASHINGTON, iii, 297. (1791.)
6892. PRESIDENT, State powers and.
— As to the portions of power within each
State assigned to the General Government,
the President is as much the Executive of
the State, as their particular governor is in
relation to State powers. — To MR. GOODE-
NOW. vii, 251. (M., 1822.)
6893. PRESIDENT, Subpoenas for.— As
to our personal attendance at Richmond, I
am persuaded the Court is sensible, that
paramount duties to the nation at large con
trol the obligation of compliance with their
summons in [Burrs] case; as they would,
should we receive a similar one, to attend the
trials of Blennerhassett and others in the
Mississippi Territory, those instituted at St.
Louis and other places on the western waters,
or at any place, other than the seat of gov
ernment. To comply with such calls would
leave the nation without an Executive branch,
whose agency, nevertheless, is understood to
be so constantly necessary, that it is the sole
branch which the Constitution requires to be
always in function. It could not then mean
that it should be withdrawn from its station
by any coordinate authority. — To GEORGE
HAY. v, 97. FORD ED., ix, 57. (W., June
1807.)
6894. . I did not see till last
night the opinion of the Judge [Marshall] on
the subpoena duces tecum against the President.
Considering the question there as coram non
judice, I did not read his argument with much
attention. Yet I saw readily enough, that, as
is usual where an opinion is to be supported,
right or wrong, he dwells much on smaller ob
jections, and passes over those which are solid.
Laying down the position generally, that all
persons owe obedience to subpoenas he admits
no exception unless it can be produced in his
law books. But if the Constitution enjoins on
a particular officer to be always engaged in a
particular set of duties imposed on him, does
not this supersede the general law, subjecting
him to minor duties inconsistent with these?
The Constitution enjoins his constant agency
in the concerns of six millions of people. Is
the law paramount to this, which calls on him
on behalf of a single one? Let us apply the
Judge's own doctrine to the case of himself
and his brethren. The sheriff of Henrico sum
mons him from the bench, to quell a riot some
where in his county. The Federal judge is,
by the general law, a part of the posse of the
State sheriff. Would the judge abandon major
duties to perform lesser ones ? Again : the
court of Orleans or Maine commands, by sub
poenas, the attendance of all the judges of the
Supreme Court. Would they abandon their
posts as judges, and the interests of millions
committed to them, to serve the purposes of a
single individual ? The leading principle of our
Constitution is the independence of the Legis
lature, Executive, and Judiciary of each other,
and none are more jealous of this than the
Judiciary. But would the Executive be inde
pendent of the Judiciary, if he were subject to
the commands of the latter, and to imprison
ment for disobedience ; if the several courts
could bandy him from pillar to post, keep him
constantly trudging from north to south and
east to west, and withdraw him entirely from
his constitutional duties ? The intention of the
Constitution, that each branch should be inde
pendent of the others, is further manifested by
the means it has furnished to each, to protect
itself from enterprises of force attempted on
them by the others, and to none has it given
more effectual or diversified means than to the
Executive. Again, because ministers can go
into a court in London as witnesses, without
interruption to their executive duties, it is in
ferred that they would go to a court one thou
sand or one thousand five hundred miles off,
and that ours are to be dragged from Maine to
Orleans by every criminal who will swear that
their testimony " may be of use to him ". The
Judge says, " it is apparent that the President's
duties as Chief Magistrate do not demand his
whole time, and are not unremitting ". If he al
ludes to our annual retirement from the seat of
government, during the sickly season, he should
be told that such arrangements are made for
carrying on the public business, at and between
the several stations we take, that it goes on as
unremittingly there, as if we were at the seat
of government. I pass more hours in public
business at Monticello than I do here, every
day ; and it is much more laborious, because all
must be done in writing. — To GEORGE HAY. v,
103. FORD ED., Ix, 59. (W., June 1807.)
6895. — . As I do not believe that
the District Courts have a power of command
ing the Executive government to abandon
superior duties and attend on them, at what
ever distance, I am unwilling, by any notice of
the subpoena, to set a precedent which might
sanction a proceeding so preposterous. I en
close you, therefore, a letter, public and for
the court, covering substantially all they ought
to desire. — To GEORGE HAY. v, 191. (M., Sep.
1807.)
6896. . The enclosed letter is
written in a spirit of conciliation and with the
desire to avoid conflicts of authority between
the high branches of the government, which
would discredit it equally at home and abroad.
That Burr and his counsel should wish to
[struck out " divert the public attention from
him to this battle of giants was to be "] convert
his trial into a contest between the Judiciary
and Executive authorities, was to be expected.
But that the Chief Justice should lend himself
to it, and take the first step to bring it on, was
not expected. Nor can it be now believed that
his prudence or good sense will permit him to
press it. But should he, contrary to expecta
tion, proceed to issue any process which should
involve any act of force to be committed on the
persons of the Executive or heads of depart
ments, I must desire you to give me instant no
tice, and by express if you find that can be
quicker done than by post ; and that, moreover,
you will advise the marshal on his conduct, as
he will be critically placed between us. His
safest way will be to take no part in the exercise
of any act of force ordered in this case. The
powers given to the Executive by the Constitu-
Thomas Jefferson
Age about j8 years
From jthe painting by Thomas Sully. The last portrait painted of Jefferson. It hangs
in the ina5n corridor, Senate win^ of tlie Unitod States Capitol.
[8]
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Presidency
tion are sufficient to protect the other branches
from Judiciary usurpation of preeminence, and
every individual also from Judiciary vengeance,
and the marshal may be assured of its effective
exercise to cover him. I hope, however, that
the discretion of the Chief Justice will suffer
this question to lie over for the present, and at
the ensuing session of the Legislature he may
have means provided for giving to individuals
the benefit of the testimony of the Executive
functionaries in proper cases, without breaking
up the Government. Will not the associate
judge assume to divide his court and procure
a truce at least in so critical a conjuncture?*
— DRAFT OF A LETTER TO GEORGE HAY. FORD
ED., ix, 62. (1807.)
6897. PRESIDENCY, Burden.— I part
with the nowers entrusted to me by my coun
try, as with a burden of heavy bearing. — R.
TO A. CITIZENS OF WASHINGTON, viii, 158.
(March 4, 1809.)
6898. PRESIDENCY, Corruption and.
— I sincerely wish we could see our govern
ment so secured as to depend less on the
character of the person in whose hands it is
trusted. Bad men will sometimes get in,
and with such an immense patronage, may
make great progress in corrupting the public
mind and principles. This is a subject with
which wisdom and patriotism should be oc
cupied. — To MOSES ROBINSON, iv, 380. (W.,
March 1801.)
6899. PRESIDENCY, Electoral college.
— The contrivance in the Constitution for
marking the votes works badly, because it
does not enounce precisely the true expres
sion of the public will. — To TENCH COXE. iv,
345. FORD ED., vii, 474. (W., Dec. 1800.)
6900. . I have ever considered
the constitutional mode of election ultimately
by the Legislature, voting by States, as the
most dangerous blot in our Constitution, and
one which some unlucky chance will some
day hit, and give us a pope and anti-pope. I
looked, therefore, with anxiety to the amend
ment proposed by Colonel Taylor at the last
session of Congress, which I thought would
be a good substitute, if on an equal division
of the electors, after a second appeal to them,
the ultimate decision between the two highest
had been given by it to the Legislature, vo
ting per capita. But the States are now so
numerous that I despair of ever seeing an
other amendment to the Constitution, al
though the innovations of time will certainly
call, and now already call, for some, and
especially the smaller States are so numerous
as to render desperate every hope of ob
taining a sufficient number of them in favor
of " Phocion's " proposition. Another gen
eral convention can alone relieve us. What,
then, is the best palliative of the evil in the
meantime? Another short question points to
the answer. Would we rather the choice
should be made by the Legislature voting in
Congress by States, or in caucus per capita?
The remedy is indeed bad, but the disease
* A note in the FORD EDITION says this letter may
have never been sent.— EDITOR.
worse. — To GEORGE HAY. FORD ED., x, 264.
(M., Aug. 1823.)
6901. PRESIDENCY, Expenses of.— I
had hoped to keep the expenses of my office
within the limits of its salary, so as to apply
my private income entirely to the improvement
and enlargement of my estate ; but I have not
been able to do it. — To REV. CHARLES CLAY.
v, 27. FORD ED., ix, 6. (W., 1807.)
6902. PRESIDENCY, Jefferson, Adams
and. — My letters inform me that Mr. Adams
speaks of me with * * * satisfaction in
the prospect of administering the government
in concurrence with me. * * * If by that
he meant the Executive Cabinet, both duty
and inclination will shut that door to me. I
cannot have a wish to see the scenes of 1793
revived as to myself, and to descend daily
into the arena, like a gladiator, to suffer
martyrdom in every conflict. As to duty, the
Constitution will know me only as the mem
ber of a legislative body ; and its principle is,
that of a separation of Legislative, Execu
tive, and Judiciary functions, except in cases
specified. If this principle be not expressed
in direct terms, yet it is clearly the spirit of
the Constitution, and it ought to be so com
mented and acted on by every friend to free
government. — To MR. MADISON. iv, 161.
FORD ED., vii, 107. (January 1797.)
6903. . No arguments were want
ing to reconcile me to a relinquishment of
the first office, or acquiescence under the
second. As to the first it was impossible that
a more solid unwillingness, settled on full
calculation, could have existed in any man's
mind, short of the degree of absolute refusal.
The only view on which I would have gone
into it for awhile was to put our vessel on her
republican tack, before she should be thrown
too much to leeward of her true principles.
As to the second, it is the only office in the
world which I cannot decide in my own
mind, whether I had rather have it or not
have it. Pride does not enter into the
estimate. For I think with the Romans of
old, that the general of to-day should be a
common soldier to-morrow if necessary. — To
JAMES MADISON, iv, 155. FORD ED., vii, 98.
(Jan. I797-)
6904. . If Mr. Adams could be
induced to administer the government on its
true principles, quitting his bias for an Eng
lish constitution, it would be worthy con
sideration whether it would not be for the
public good, to come to a good understanding
with him as to his future elections. He is
the only sure barrier against Hamilton's
getting in. — To JAMES MADISON, iv, 155.
FORD ED., vii, 99. (Jan. 1797.)
6905. - — . As to Mr. Adams, par
ticularly, I could have no feelings which
would revolt at being placed in a secondary
station to him. I am his junior in life, was
his junior in Congress, his junior in the
diplomatic line, his junior lately in the civil
Presidency
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
716
government. — To JAMES MADISON, iv, 155.
FORD ED., vii, 99. (Jan. 1797.) See ADAMS,
JOHN.
6906. PRESIDENCY, Jefferson, Madi
son and. — I do not see in the minds of those
with whom I converse, a greater affliction
than the fear of your retirement; but this
must not be, unless to a more splendid and a
more efficacious post. There I should rejoice
to see you; I hope I may say, I shall rejoice
to see you. I have long had much in my
mind to say to you on that subject. But
double delicacies have kept me silent. I
ought perhaps to say, while I would not give
up my own retirement for the empire of the
universe, how I can justify wishing one
whose happiness I have so much at heart as
yours, to take the front of the battle which
is fighting for my security. This would be
easy enough to be done, but not at the heel
of a lengthy epistle. — To JAMES MADISON.
iv, 112. FORD ED., vi, 519. (M., Dec. 1794.)
6907. . In my letter * * * I
expressed my hope of the only change of po
sition I ever wished to see you make, and
I expressed it with entire sincerity, because
there is not another person in the United
States, who being placed at the helm of our
affairs, my mind would be so completely at
rest for the fortune of our political bark.
The wish, too, was pure, and unmixed with
anything respecting myself personally. For
as to myself, the subject had been thoroughly
weighed and decided on, and my retirement
from office had been meant from all office
high or low, without exception. I can say,
too, with truth, that the subject had not been
presented to my mind by any vanity of my
own. I know myself and my fellow citizens
too well to have ever thought of it. But the
idea was forced upon me by continual in
sinuations in the public papers, while I was
in office. As all these came from a hostile
quarter, I knew that their object was to
poison the public mind as to my motives,
when they were not able to charge me with
facts. But the idea being once presented to
me, my own quiet required that I should face
it and examine it. I did so thoroughly, and
had no difficulty to see that every reason which
had determined me to retire from the office
I then held, operated more strongly against
that which was insinuated to be my object.
I decided then on those general grounds
which could alone be present to my mind at
the time, that is to say, reputation, tran
quillity, labor; for as to public duty, it could
not be a topic of consideration in my case.
If these general considerations were sufficient
to ground a firm resolution never to permit
myself to think of the office, or to be thought
of for it, the special ones which have
supervened on my retirement, still more in
superably bar the door to it. My health is
entirely broken down within the last eight
months; my aee requires that I should place
my affairs in a clear state; these are sound
if taken care of, but capable of considerable
dangers if longer neglected; and above all
things, the delights I feel in the society of
my family, and the agricultural pursuits in
which I am so eagerly engaged. The little
spice of ambition which I had in my younger
days has long since evaporated, and I set
still less store by a posthumous than present
•name. In stating to you the heads of reasons
which have produced my determination, I do
not mean an opening for future discussion,
or that I may be reasoned out of it. The
question is forever closed with me ; my sole
object is to avail myself of the first opening
ever given me from a friendly quarter (and
I could not with decency do it before), of
preventing any division or loss of votes,
which might be fatal to the republican in
terest. If that has any chance of prevailing,
it must be by avoiding the loss of a single
vote, and by concentrating all its strength on
one object. Who this should be, is a ques
tion I can more freely discuss with anybody
than yourself. In this I feel painfully the
loss of Monroe. Had he been here, I should
have been at no loss for a channel through
which to make myself understood, if I have
been misunderstood by anybody through the
instrumentality of Mr. Fenno and his abet
tors. — To JAMES MADISON, iv, 116. FORD
ED., vii, 8. (M., April 1795.)
6908. . I think our foreign af
fairs never wore so gloomy an aspect since
the year 1783. Let those come to the helm
who think they can steer clear of the dif
ficulties. I have no confidence in myself for
the undertaking. — To JAMES MADISON, iv,
150. FORD ED., vii, 92. (M., Dec. 1796.)
6909. . The honeymoon would
be as short in that case [election to the
Presidency] as in any other, and its moments
of ecstacy would be ransomed by years of
torment and hatred. — To EDWARD RUTLEDGE.
iv, 152. FORD ED., vii, 93. (M., Dec. 1796.)
6910. . You, who know me,
know that my private gratifications would be
most indulged by that issue, which should
leave me most at home. If anything super
sedes this propensity, it is merely the desire
to see this government brought back to its
republican principles. — To JAMES MONROE.
iv, 309. FORD ED., vii, 402. (Pa., Jan. 1800.)
6911. PRESIDENCY, Misery in.— The
second office of the* government is honorable
and easy ; the first is but a splendid misery. —
To ELBRIDGE GERRY, iv, 171. FORD ED., vii,
120. (Pa., 1797.)
6912. PRESIDENCY, Reelection to.— I
sincerely regret that the unbounded calum
nies of the federal party have obliged me to
throw myself on the verdict of my country
for trial, my great desire having been to re
tire, at the end of the present term, to a life
of tranquillity ; and it was my decided purpose
when I entered into office. They force my
continuance. If we can keep the vessel of
State as steadily in her course for another
four years, my earthly purposes will be ac
complished, and I shall be free to enjoy
* "This " government in FORD EDITION.— EDITOR.
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Presidency
Press
* * * my family, my farm, and my books.
— To ELBRIDGE GERRY, iv, 536. FORD ED.,
viii, 297. (W., March 1804.)
6913. PRESIDENCY, Reputation and.
—No man will ever bring out of the presi
dency the reputation which carries him into
it. — To EDWARD RUTLEDGE. iv, 152. FORD
ED., vii, 93. (M., 1796.)
6914. . I have learned to expect
that it will rarely fall to the lot of imperfect
man to retire from this station with the
reputation and the favor which bring him
into it. — FIRST INAUGURAL ADDRESS, viii, 5.
FORD ED., viii, 5. (1801.)
6915. PRESIDENCY, Tired of the.— I
am tired of an office where I can do no more
good than many others, who would be glad
to be employed in it. To myself, personally,
it brings nothing but unceasing drudgery and
daily loss of friends. Every office becoming
vacant, every appointment made, me donne
un ingrat, et cent ennemis. My only con
solation is in the belief that my fellow cit
izens at large will give me credit for good
intentions. — To JOHN DICKINSON. v, 31.
FORD ED., ix, 10. (W., Jan. 1807.)
6916. PRESIDENCY, Unattractive.—
Neither the splendor, nor the power, nor the
difficulties, nor the fame or defamation, as
may happen, attached to the First Magistracy,
have any attractions for me. — To JAMES
SULLIVAN, iv, 168. FORD ED., vii, 117. (M.,
I797-)
— PRESS (Copying).— See COPYING PRESS
and INVENTIONS.
6917. PRESS (Freedom of the), Abol
ished. — The press, the only tocsin of a na
tion, is completely silenced in France. — To
THOMAS COOPER, iv, 452. FORD ED., viii, 177.
(W., Nov. 1802.)
6918. PRESS (Freedom of the), Abused.
— The firmness with which the people have
withstood the late abuses of the press, the
discernment they have manifested between
truth and falsehood, show that they may
safely be trusted to hear everything true and
false, and to form a correct judgment be
tween them.— To JUDGE TYLER, iv, 549.
(W., 1804.)
_ PRESS (Freedom of the), Bill of
Rights and.— See BILL OF RIGHTS.
6919. PRESS (Freedom of the), Control
of. — While we deny that Congress have a
right to control the freedom of the press, we
have ever asserted the right of the States,
and their exclusive right, to do so. They
have accordingly, all of them, made provi
sions for punishing slander. * * * In gen
eral, the State laws appear to have made the
presses responsible for slander as far as is
consistent with its useful freedom. In those
States where they do not admit even the
truth of allegations to protect the printer,
they have gone too far. — To MRS. JOHN
ADAMS, iv, 561. FORD ED., viii, 311. (M.,
1804.)
6920. PRESS (Freedom of the), The
Constitution and.— It is true as a general
principle, and is also expressly declared by
one of the amendments to the Constitution,
that " the powers not delegated to the United
States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by
it to the States, are reserved to the States
respectively, or to the people; and * * *
no power over the freedom of religion, free
dom of speech, or freedom of the press being
delegated to the United States by the Con
stitution, nor prohibited by it to the States,
all lawful powers respecting the same did of
right remain, and were reserved to the States
or the people. * * * Thus was manifested
their determination to retain to themselves
the right of judging how far the licentious
ness of speech, and of the press, may be
abridged without lessening their useful free
dom, and how far those abuses which cannot
be separated from their use should be tol
erated, rather than the use be destroyed.
And thus also they guarded against all
abridgment by the United States of the free
dom of religious opinions and exercises, and
retained to themselves the right of protecting
the same, as this State [Kentucky], by a
law passed on the general demand of its citi
zens, had already protected them from all
human restraint or interference. * * * In
addition to this general principle and express
declaration, another and more special provi
sion has been made by one of the amendments
to the Constitution, which expressly declares,
that " Congress shall make no law respect
ing an establishment of religion, or prohibit
ing the free exercise thereof, or abridging
the freedom of speech, or of the press ",
thereby guarding in the same sentence, and
under the same words, the freedom of relig
ion, of speech and of the press; insomuch,
that whatever violates either, throws down
the sanctuary which covers the others, and
that libels, falsehood, and defamation, equally
with heresy and false religion, are withheld
from the cognizance of Federal tribunals.
Therefore, the act of Congress of the
United States passed on the I4th day of July,
1798, intituled, " An Act in addition to the
act intituled ' An Act for the punishment of
certain crimes against the United States ' ",
which does abridge the freedom of the press,
is not law, but is altogether void, and of no
force. — KENTUCKY RESOLUTIONS. ix, 465.
FORD ED., vii, 294. (1798.)
6921. . I am for freedom of the
press, and against all violations of the Con
stitution to silence by force and not by reason
the complaints or criticisms, just or unjust,
of our citizens against the conduct of their
agents. — To ELBRIDGE GERRY, iv, 269. FORD
ED., vii, 328. (Pa., 1799.)
6922. PRESS (Freedom of the), Gov
ernment and. — No government ought to be
without censors ; and where the press is free,
no one ever will. — To PRESIDENT WASHING
TON, iii, 467. FORD ED., vi, 108. (M., 1792.)
6923. — — . Conscious that there
was not a truth on earth which I feared
Press
Price of Wheat
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
718
should be known, I have lent myself willingly
as the subject of a great experiment, which
was to prove that an administration, conduct
ing itself with integrity and common under
standing, cannot be battered down, even by
the falsehoods of a licentious press, and con
sequently still less by the press, as restrained
within the legal and wholesome limits of
truth. This experiment was wanting for the
world to demonstrate the falsehood of the
pretext that freedom of the press is incom
patible with orderly government. I have
never, therefore, even contradicted the thou
sands of calumnies so industriously propa
gated against myself. But the fact being
once established, that the press is impotent
when it abandons itself to falsehood, I leave
to others to restore it to its strength, by re
calling it within the pale of truth. Within
that, it is a noble institution, equally the
friend of science and of civil liberty. — To
THOMAS SEYMOUR, v, 43. FORD ED., ix, 30.
(W., Feb. 1807.)
6924. PRESS (Freedom of the), Inva
sions of. — There are rights which it is use
less to surrender to the government, and
which governments have yet always been
found to invade. [Among] are the rights of
thinking and publishing our thoughts by
* * * writing. — To DAVID HUMPHREYS.
iii, 13. FORD ED., y, 89. (P., 1789.)
6925. PRESS (Freedom of the), Libels.
—Printing presses shall be subject to no
other restraint than liableness to legal prose
cution for false facts printed and published.
— PROPOSED CONSTITUTION FOR VIRGINIA, viii,
452. FORD ED., iii, 332. (1783.)
6926. . Printing presses shall
be free except as to false facts published
maliciously, either to injure the reputation of
another, whether followed by pecuniary dam
ages or not, or to expose him to the punish
ment of the law. — NOTES FOR A CONSTITU
TION. FORD ED., vi, 521. (1794.)
6927. PRESS (Freedom of the), Liberty
and. — Our liberty depends on the freedom
of the press, and that cannot be limited with
out being lost. — To DR. JAMES CURRIE.
FORD ED., iv, 132. (P., 1786.)
6928. . The liberty of speaking
and writing guards our other liberties. —
REPLY TO ADDRESS, viii, 129. (1808.)
6929. PRESS (Freedom of the), Man
kind and. — The press is the best instrument
for enlightening the mind of man, and im
proving him as a rational, moral, and social
being. — To M. CORAY. vii, 324. (M., 1823.)
6930. PRESS (Freedom of the), Prin
ciple of government. — Freedom of the press
I deem [one of the] essential principles of
our government and, consequently, [one]
which ought to shape its administration. —
FIRST INAUGURAL ADDRESS, viii, 4. FORD
EDV viii, 5. (1801.)
6931. . There are certain prin
ciples in which the constitutions of our sev
eral States all agree, and which all cherish
as vitally essential to the protection of the
life, liberty, property and safety of the citi
zen. [One is] Freedom of the Press, sub
ject only to liability for personal injuries. —
To M. CORAY. vii, 323. (M., 1823.)
6932. PRESS (Freedom of the), Private
injury.— Printing presses shall be free, ex
cept so far as, by commission of private in
jury, cause may be given of private action. —
PROPOSED VA. CONSTITUTION. FORD ED., ii, 27.
(June 1776.)
6933. PRESS (Freedom of the), Reform
through. — This formidable censor of the
public functionaries, by arraigning them at
the tribunal of public opinion, produces re
form peaceably, which must otherwise be
done by revolution. — To M. CORAY. vii, 324.
(M., 1823.)
6934. PRESS (Freedom of the), Safety
in. — Where the press is free, and every man
able to read, all is safe. — To CHARLES YAN-
CEY. vi, 517. FORD ED., x, 4. (M., 1816.)
6935. PRESS (Freedom of the), Se
curity in. — The only security of all is in a
free press. The force of public opinion can
not be resisted, when permitted freely to be
expressed. The agitation it produces must
be submitted to. It is necessary to keep
the waters pure. — To MARQUIS LAFAYETTE.
vii, 325. FORD ED., x, 280. (M., 1823.)
6936. PRESS (Freedom of the), Shack
led. — Nor should we wonder at * * *
[the] pressure [for a fixed constitution in
1788-9] when we consider the monstrous
abuses of power under which * * * [the
French] people were ground to powder;
when we pass in review the shackles * * *
on the freedom of the press by the Censure.
AUTOBIOGRAPHY, i, 86. FORDED., i, n 8. (1821.)
See EDITORS, NEWSPAPERS,, and PUBLICITY.
6937. PRICE, Basis of.— The adequate
price of a thing depends on the capital and la
bor necessary to produce it. In the term capital,
I mean to include science, because capital as
well as labor has been employed to acquire it.
Two things requiring the same capital and
labor, should be of the same price. If a gallon
of wine requires for its production the same
capital and labor with a bushel of wheat, they
should be expressed by the same price, derived
from the application of a common measure to
them. — To J. W. EPPES. vi, 233. FORD ED., ix,
406. (M., 1813.)
6938. PRICE OF WHEAT.— The aver
age price of wheat on the continent of Europe,
at the commencement of its present war with
England, was about a French crown, of one
hundred and ten cents, the bushel. With us it
was one hundred cents, and consequently we
could send it there in competition with their
own. That ordinary price has now doubled
with us, and more than doubled in England \
and althovtgh a part of this augmentation may
proceed from the war demand, yet from the ex
traordinary nominal rise in the prices of land
and labor here, both of which have nearly
doubled in that period, and are still rising with
every new bank, it is evident that were a gen
eral peace to take place to-morrow, and time
allowed for the reestablishment of commerce,
justice and order, we could not raise wheat for
719
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Priestley (Joseph)
Primogeniture
much less than two dollars, while the continent
of Europe, having no paper circulation, and that
of its specie not being augmented, would raise
it at their former price of one hundred and ten
cents. It follows, then, that with our redun
dancy of paper, we cannot, after peace, send a
bushel of wheat to Europe, unless extraordinary
circumstances double its price in particular
places, and that then the exporting countries
of Europe could undersell us. — To J. W.
EPPES. vi, 242. FORD ED., ix, 414. (M., Nov.
1813.)
6939. PRIESTLEY (Joseph), Author.—
The papers of political arithmetic in your
pamphlets * * * are the most precious gifts
that can be made us ; for we are running navi
gation mad, and commerce mad, and navy mad,
which is worst of all. * * * From the " Porcu
pines " of our country you will receive no
thanks; but the great mass of our nation will
edify and thank you.— To JOSEPH PRIESTLEY.
iv, 311. FORD ED., vii, 406. (Pa., Jan. 1800.)
See GOVERNMENT, WORKS ON.
6940. PRIESTLEY (Joseph), Dupont
and.— I have a letter from Mr. Dupont [de
Nemours], since his arrival at New York.
* * * How much it would delight me if a visit
from you at the same time, were to show us
two such illustrious foreigners embracing each
other in my country, as the asylum for whatever
is great and good. — To JOSEPH PRIESTLEY, iv,
317. FORD ED., vii, 415. (Pa., 1800.)
6941. PRIESTLEY (Joseph), Perse
cuted. — How deeply have I been chagrined
and mortified at the persecutions which fanat
icism and monarchy have excited against you,
even here. At first I believed it was merely a
continuance of the English persecution. But
I observe that on the demise of " Porcupine " ,
and division of his inheritance between Fenno
and Brown, the latter (though succeeding only
to the federal portion of Porcupinism, not the
Anglican, which is Fenno's part) serves up for
the palate of his sect, dishes of abuse against
you as high seasoned as " Porcupine's " were.
You have sinned against church and king, and
can, therefore, never be forgiven.— To JOSEPH
PRIESTLEY, iv. 311. FORD ED., vii, 406. (Pa.,
Jan. 1800.)
6942. PRIESTLEY (Joseph), Revered.
— I revered the character of no man living
more than his. — To THOMAS COOPER, v, 182.
(M., 1807.)
6943. PRIESTLEY (Joseph), Services.
— No man living had a more affectionate
respect for Dr. Priestley. In religion, in pol
itics, in physics, no man has rendered more
service. — To THOMAS COOPER, v, 121. FORD
ED., ix, 102. (W., 1807.)
6944. PRIESTLEY (Joseph), Welcome
to. — Yours is one of the few lives precious to
mankind, and for the continuance of which
every thinking man is solicitous. Bigots may
be an exception. What an effort, my dear sir,
of bigotry in politics and religion have we gone
through. The barbarians really flattered them
selves they should be able to bring back the
times of Vandalism, when ignorance put every
thing into the hands of power and priestcraft.
All advances in science were proscribed as in
novations. They pretended to praise and en
courage education, but it was to be the educa
tion of our ancestors. We were to look back
wards, not forwards, for improvement : the
President himself [John Adams] declaring, in
one of his answers to addresses, that we were
never to expect to go beyond them in real
science. This was the real ground of all the
attacks on you. * * * Our countrymen have
recovered from the alarm into which art and
industry had thrown them ; science and honesty
are replaced on their high ground ; and you,
as their great apostle, are on its pinnacle. It is
with heartfelt satisfaction that, in the first
moments of my public action, I can hail you
with welcome to our land, tender to you the
homage of its respect and esteem, cover you
under the protection of those laws which were
made for the wise and good like you, and dis
claim the legitimacy of that libel on legislation,
which under the form of a law was for some
time placed among them.* — To JOSEPH PRIEST
LEY, iv, 373. FORD ED., viii, 21. (W., March
1801.)
6945. PRIMOGENITURE, Abolition of
law. — As the law of Descents, and the Crim
inal law fell, of course, within my portion [in the
revision of the Virginia Code], I wished the Com
mittee to settle the leading principles of these,
as a guide for me in framing them ; and,
with respect to the first, I proposed to abolish
the law of primogeniture, and to make real
estate descendible in parcenary to the next of
kin, as personal property is, by the statute of
distribution. Mr. Pendleton wished to preserve
the right of primogeniture, but seeing at once
that that could not prevail, he proposed we
should adopt the Hebrew principle, and give
a double portion to the elder son. I observed
that if the eldest son could eat twice as much,
or do double work, it might be a natural evi
dence of his right to a double portion ; but.
being on a par in his powers and wants with
his brothers and sisters, he should be on a par
also in the partition of the patrimony ; and
such was the decision of the other members, f
— AUTOBIOGRAPHY, i, 43. FORD ED., i, 59. (1821.)
6946. PRIMOGENITURE, Feudal and
unnatural. — The abolition of primogeniture,
and equal partition of inheritances, removed
the feudal and unnatural distinctions which
made one member of every family rich, and all
the rest poor, substituting equal partition, the
best of all Agrarian laws. I — AUTOBIOGRAPHY.
i, 49. FORD ED., i, 69. (M., 1821.) See EN
TAILS.
* Jefferson wrote on the margin " Alien Law ". —
EDITOR.
t The preamble to this great law is as follows :
" Whereas, the perpetuation of property in certain
families, by means of gifts made to them in fee taille,
is contrary to good policy, tends to deceive fair
traders, who give credit on the visible possession of
such estates, discourages the holders thereof from
taking care and improving the same, and sometimes
does injury to the morals of youth, by rendering
them independent of, and disobedient to their
parents ; and whereas, the former method of docking
such estates taille, by special act of Assembly, formed
for every particular case, employed very much of
the time of the Legislature, and the same, as well as
the method of defeating such estates, when of small
value, was burthensome to the public, and also to
individuals. Be it therefore enacted."— EDITOR.
% It was an audacious move. From generation to
generation lands and slaves— almost the only valu
able kind of property in Virginia — had been handed
down protected against creditors, even against the
very extravagance of spendthrift owners; and it was
largely by this means that the quasi-nobility of the
colony had succeeded in establishing and maintaining
itself. A great groan seemed to go up from all
respectable society at the terrible suggestion of Jef
ferson, a suggestion daringly cast before an Assem
bly thickly sprinkled with influential delegates
strongly bound by family ties and self-interest to
defend the present system. * * * Thus was a
great social revolution wrought in a few months by
one man. * * * But his brilliant triumph cost him
a price. That distinguished class, whose existence as
Principle
Principles
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
720
6947. PRINCIPLE, Departure from.— A
departure from principle in one instance be
comes a precedent for a second; that second
for a third ; and so on, till the bulk of the so
ciety is reduced to be mere automatons of
misery, to have no sensibilities left but for sin
and suffering. Then begins, indeed, the
helium omnium in omnia, which some phil
osophers observing to be so general in this
world, have mistaken it for the natural, in
stead of the abusive state of man. And the
forehorse of this frightful team is public
debt. Taxation follows that, and in its train
wretchedness and oppression. — To SAMUEL
KERCHIVAL. vii, 14. FORD ED., x, 42. (M.,
1816.)
6948. PRINCIPLE, Doubt and.— If
doubtful, we should follow principle. — To
SAMUEL KERCHIVAL. vii, 12. FORD ED., x, 40.
(M., 1816.)
6949. PRINCIPLE, A guide.— Principle
will in * * * most
cases open
the way for us to correct conclusion. — To
SAMUEL KERCHIVAL. vii, 36. FORD ED., x, 45.
(M., 1816.)
6950. PRINCIPLE, Opinion and.—
Every difference of opinion is not a difference
of principle. We have called by different
names brethren of the same principle. We
are all republicans: we are all federalists. —
FIRST INAUGURAL' ADDRESS, viii, 2. FORD ED.,
viii, 3. (1801.)
6951. PRINCIPLE, Republican vs.
Monarchical. — The contests of that day
[1793-1800] were contests of principle, be
tween the advocates of republican and those
of kingly government, and had not the
former made the efforts they did, our gov
ernment would have been, even at this early
day (1818) a very different thing from what
the successful issue of those efforts have
made it.— THE ANAS, ix, 88. FORD ED., i,
156. (1818.)
6952. PRINCIPLES, Adherence to.— An
adherence to fundamental principles is the
most likely way to save both time and dis
agreement [between legislative bodies] ; and
[as] a departure from them may at some
time or other be drawn into precedent for
dangerous innovations, * * * it is better
for both Houses, and for those by whom they
are entrusted, to correct error while new,
and before it becomes inveterate by habit and
custom.— CONFERENCE REPORT. FORD ED., ii,
135. (I777-)
6953. . I am happy in your ap
probation of the principles I avowed on en
tering on the government. Ingenious minds,
availing themselves of the imperfections of
language, have tortured the expressions out
of their plain meaning in order to infer de
partures from them in practice. If revealed
a social caste had been forever destroyed, reviled the
destroyer from this time forth with relentless ani
mosity ; and, even to the second and third genera
tions, the descendants of many of these patrician
families vindictively cursed the statesman who had
placed them on a level with the rest of their country
men.— MORSE'S Life of Jefferson.
language has not been able to guard itself
against misinterpretations I could not ex
pect it. But if an administration, " quadra
ting with the obvious import of my language,
can conciliate the affections of my opposers ",
I will merit that conciliation. — To THE REV.
ISAAC STORY, iv, 423. FORD ED., viii, 107.
(W., 1802.)
6954. . On taking this station
[Presidency] on a former occasion, I de
clared the principles on which I believed it
my duty to administer the affairs of our com
monwealth. My conscience tells me that I
have, on every occasion, acted up to that dec
laration, according to its obvious import, and
to the understanding of every candid mind. —
SECOND INAUGURAL ADDRESS, viii, 40. FORD
ED., viii, 342. (1805.)
6955. . Continue to go straight
forward, pursuing always that which is right,
as the only clue which can lead us out of the
labyrinth. — To C^SAR A. RODNEY, v, 501.
FORD ED., ix, 272. (M., 1810.)
6956. . Lay down true princi
ples, and adhere to them inflexibly. Do not
be frightened into their surrender by the
alarms of the timid, or the croakings of
wealth against the ascendency of the people.
— To SAMUEL KERCHIVAL. vii, n. FORD ED.,
x, 39. (M., 1816.)
6957. PRINCIPLES, Application of.—
When principles are well understood their ap
plication is less embarrassing. — To GOUVER-
NEUR MORRIS. FORD ED., vi, 149. (Pa., 1792.)
6958. PRINCIPLES, Avowal of.— I
know my own principles to be pure, and
therefore am not ashamed of them. On the
contrary, I wish them known, and therefore
willingly express them to every one. They
are the same I have acted on from the year
1775 to this day, and are the same, I am
sure, with those of the great body of the Ameri
can people. I only wish the real principles
of those who censure mine were also known.
— To SAMUEL SMITH, iv, 254. FORD ED., vii,
277. (M., 1798.)
6959. . I make no secret of my
principles; on the contrary, I wish them
known to avoid the imputation of those which
are not mine. — To JEREMIAH MOOR. FORD
ED., vii, 454. (M., Aug. 1800.)
6960. PRINCIPLES, Constitutional.—
A part of the Union having held on to the
principles of the Constitution, time has been
given to the States to recover from the tem
porary frenzy into which they had been de
coyed, to rally round the Constitution, and to
rescue it from the destruction with which it
had been threatened even at their own hands.
— To GIDEON GRANGER, iv, 332. FORD ED., vii,
452. (M., 1800.)
6961. PRINCIPLES, Independence and.
— The contest which began with us, which
ushered in the dawn of our national existence
and led us through various and trying scenes,
was for everything dear to free-born man.
721
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Principles
The principles on which we engaged, of
which the charter of our independence is the
record, were sanctioned by the laws of our
being, and we but obeyed them in pursuing
undeviatingly the course they called for. It
issued finally in that inestimable state of free
dom which alone can ensure to man the en
joyment of his equal rights. — R. TO A.
GEORGETOWN REPUBLICANS, viii, 159. (1809.)
6962. PRINCIPLES, Jefferson's in
1799.— In confutation of * * * all future
calumnies, by way of anticipation, I shall
make to you a profession of my political
faith: in confidence that you will consider
every future imputation on me of a contrary
complexion as bearing on its front the mark
of falsity and calumny. I do then, with sin
cere zeal, wish an inviolable preservation of
our Federal Constitution, according to the
true sense in which it was adopted by the
States : that in which it was advocated by its
friends, and not that which its enemies ap
prehended, who therefore became its ene
mies ; and I am opposed to the monarchizing
its features by the forms of its administra
tion, with a view to conciliate a first trans
ition to a President and Senate for life, and
from that to an hereditary tenure of these
offices, and thus to worm out the elective
principle. I am for preserving to the States
the powers not yielded by them to the Union,
and to the Legislature of the Union its con
stitutional share in the division of powers;
and I am not for transferring all the powers
of the States to the General Government, and
all those of that Government to the Execu
tive branch. I am for a government rigor
ously frugal and simple, applying all the
possible savings of the public revenue to the
discharge of the national debt; and not for
a multiplication of officers and salaries merely
to make partizans, and for increasing, by
every device, the public debt, on the princi
ple of its being a public blessing. I am for
relying for internal defence on our militia
solely, till actual invasion, and for such a
naval force only as may protect our coasts
and harbors from such depredations as we
have experienced; and not for a standing
army in time of peace, which may overawe
the public sentiment; nor for a navy, which,
by its own expenses and the eternal wars in
which it will implicate us, will grind us with
public burdens and sink us under them. I
am for free commerce with all nations ; po
litical connection with none; and little or
no diplomatic establishment. And I am not
for linking ourselves by new treaties with
the quarrels of Europe ; entering that field of
slaughter to preserve their balance, or joining
in the confederacy of kings to war against
the principles of liberty. I am for freedom
of religion, and against all manoeuvres to
bring about a legal ascendency of one sect
over another ; for freedom of the press, and
against all violations of the Constitution to
silence by force and not by reason the com
plaints or criticisms, just or unjust, of our
citizens against the conduct of their agents.
And I am for encouraging the progress of
science in all its branches ; and not for rais
ing a hue and cry against the sacred name
of philosophy; for awing the human mind
by stories of raw-head and bloody bones to a
distrust of its own vision, and to repose im
plicitly on that of others ; to go backwards in
stead of forwards to look for improvement ;
to believe that government, religion, morality,
and every other science were in the highest
perfection in the ages of the darkest igno
rance, and that nothing can ever be devised
more perfect than what was established by
our forefathers. To these I will add, that
I was a sincere well-wisher to the success of
the French Revolution, and still wish it may
end in the establishment of a free and well-
ordered republic; but I have not been insen
sible under the atrocious depredations they
have committed on our commerce. The first
object of my heart is my country. In that
is embarked my family, my fortune, and my
own existence. I have not one farthing of
interest, nor one fibre of attachment out of it,
nor a single motive of preference of any one
nation to another, but in proportion as they
are more or less friendly to us. * * *
These are my principles. They are unques
tionably the principles of the great body of
our fellow-citizens, and I know there is not
one of them which is not yours also. In truth,
we never differed but on one ground, the
Funding System; and as, from the moment
of its being adopted by the constituted au
thorities, I became religiously principled in
the sacred discharge of it to the uttermost
farthing, we are united now even on that
single ground of difference.* — To ELBRIDGE
GERRY, iv, 267. FORD ED., vii, 327. (Pa.,
January 1799.) See ADMINISTRATION; also
INAUGURAL ADDRESSES, in APPENDIX.
. In the maintenance of
our] principles * * * I verily
believe the future happiness of our country
essentially depends. — To SPENCER ROANE.
vii, 136. FORD ED., x, 143. (P.F., 1819.)
6964. PRINCIPLES, Not men.— Two
facts are certainly as true as irreconcilable.
The people of Massachusetts love economy
and freedom, civil and religious. The present
legislative and executive functionaries en
deavor to practice economy, and to strengthen
civil and religious freedom. Yet they are dis
approved by the people of Massachusetts. It
cannot be that these had rather give up
principles than men. However the riddle is
to be solved, our duty is plain, to administer
their interests faithfully, and to overcome evil
with good. — To JOHN BACON. FORD ED., viii,
228. (W., April 1803.)
6965. . If our fellow citizens
* * * will sacrifice favoritism towards
men for the preservation of principle, we
* Jefferson differed from the time-serving politi
cian, because he staked his individual success upon
the success of what he deemed intrinsically right
principles. He differed even from the statesman who
acts conscientiously upon every measure, inasmuch
as, beyond devising specific measures, he set forth
a broad faith or religion in statesmanship, making
special measures only single blocks in the wide
pavement of his road.— MORSE'S Life of Jefferson.
6963.
* * *
Principles
Private Life
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
722
may hope that no divisions will again en
danger a degeneracy in our government. — To
RICHARD M. JOHNSON, v, 526. (1808.)
6966. PRINCIPLES, Political schism
and. — We ought not to schismatize on either
men or measures. Principles alone can jus
tify that. — To WILLIAM DUANE. v, 577.
FORD ED., ix, 313. (M., 1811.)
6967. PRINCIPLES, Practice and.—
True wisdom does not lie in mere practice
without principle. — To JOHN ADAMS, vii, 39.
(M., 1816.)
6968. PRINCIPLES, Toleration of.— It
is time enough, for the rightful purposes of
civil government, for its officers to interfere
when principles break out into overt acts
against peace and good order. — STATUTE OF
RELIGIOUS FREEDOM. FORD ED., ii, 239.
(I779-)
6969. PRINTING, Preservative.— The
art of printing secures us against the retro-
gradation of reason and information; the ex
amples of its safe and wholesome guidance in
government, which will be exhibited through
the wide-spread regions of the American conti
nent, will obliterate, in time, the impressions
left by the abortive experiment of France. —
To M. PAGANEL. v, 582. (M., 1811.)
6970. PRINTING, Progress in.— Among
the arts which ' have made great progress
among us is that of printing. Heretofore,
we imported our books, and with them much
political principle from England. We now
print a great deal, and shall soon supply our
selves with most of the books of considerable
demand. But the foundation of printing, you
know, is the type-foundry, and a material
essential to that is antimony. Unfortunately
that mineral is not among those as yet found in
the United States, and the difficulty and dear-
ness of getting it from England, will force us
to discontinue our type-founderies, and resort
to her again for our books, unless some new
source of supply can be found. — To DUPONT
DE NEMOURS, v, 457. (M., June 1809.) See
EDITORS, NEWSPAPERS and PRESS.
6971. PRINTING vs. BARBARISM.—
We have seen, indeed, once within the rec
ords of history, a complete eclipse of the
human mind continuing for centuries. And
this, too, by swarms of the same northern
barbarians, conquering and taking posses
sion of the countries and governments of the
civilized world. Should this be again at
tempted, should the same northern hordes, al
lured again by the corn, wine, and oil of the
south, be able again to settle their swarms
in the countries of their growth, the art of
printing alone, and the vast dissemination of
books, will maintain the mind where it is,
and raise the conquering ruffians to the level
of the conquered, instead of degrading these
to that of their conquerors. And even should
the cloud of barbarism and despotism again
obscure the science and liberties of Europe,
this country remains to preserve and restore
light and liberty to them. — To JOHN ADAMS.
vii. 218. (M., 1821.)
6972. PRISON, Breaking.— It is not only
vain, but wicked, in a legislator to frame laws
in opposition to the laws of nature, and to arm
them with the terrors of death. This is truly
creating crimes in order to punish them. The
law of nature impels every one to escape from
confinement ; it should not, therefore, be sub
jected to punishment. Let the legislator re
strain his criminal by walls, not by parchment.
As to strangers breaking prison to enlarge an
offender, they should, and may be fairly con
sidered as accessories after the fact. — NOTE ON
CRIMES BILL, i, 159. FORD ED., ii, 218. (1779.)
— PRISON, Plan of .—See ARCHITECTURE.
_ PRISONERS OF WAR.— See WAR.
6973. PRIVACY, Indispensable.— A
room to myself, if it be but a barrack, is indis
pensable. * — To JAMES MADISON. FORD ED., iii,
339- (M., 1783.)
6974. PRIVATE LIFE, Contentment.—
I thank you * * * for your felicitations
on my present quiet. The difference of my
present and past situation is such as to leave
me nothing to regret, but that my retirement
has been postponed four years too long.
The principles on which I calculated the value
of life, are entirely in favor of my present
course. — To JOHN ADAMS, iv, 103. FORD ED.,
vi, 504. (M., April 1794.)
6975. . As to the concerns of
my own country, I leave them willingly and
safely to those who will have a longer interest
in cherishing them. My books, my family,
my friends, and my farm, furnish more than
enough to occupy me the remainder of my
life, and of that tranquil occupation most
analogous to my physical and moral con
stitution. — To M. ODIT. iv, 123. (M., Oct.
I795-)
6976. . My farm, my family, my
books and my building, give me more pleas
ure than any public office would, and, espe
cially, one which would keep me constantly
from them. — To MR. VOLNEY. iv, 158. (M.,
I797-)
6977. PRIVATE LIFE, Freedom of.— I
am now a private man, free to express my
feelings, and their expression will be esti
mated at neither more nor less than they
weigh, to wit, the expressions of a private
man. Your struggles for liberty keep alive
the only sparks of sensation which public
affairs now excite in me. — To M. ODIT. iv,
123. (M., Oct. I79S-)
6978. PRIVATE LIFE, Happiness.—
The happiness of the domestic fireside is
the first boon of heaven ; and it is well it is
so, since it is that which is the lot of the
mass of mankind. — To GENERAL ARMSTRONG.
vi, 103. (M., Feb. 1813.)
6979. PRIVATE LIFE, Independence
of. — The independence of private life, under
the protection of republican laws, will I hope
yield me the happiness from which no slave
is so remote as the minister of a common
wealth. — To MARQUIS LAFAYETTE, i, 312.
FORD ED., iii, 49. (M., 1781.)
* From a letter requesting Madison to select a
lodging for him.— EDITOR.
723
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Private Life
1'rivateers
6980. PRIVATE LIFE, Public duty
and. — You hope I have not abandoned en
tirely the service of our country. After five
and twenty years' continual employment in
it. I trust it will be thought I have fulfilled
my tour, like a punctual soldier, and may
claim my discharge. But I am glad of the
sentiment from you, because it gives a hope
you will practice what you preach, and come
forward in aid of the public vessel. I will
not admit your old excuse that you are in
public service though at home. The cam
paigns which are fought in a man's own
house are not to be counted. The present
situation of the President, unable to get the
offices filled, really calls with uncommon ob
ligation on those whom nature has fitted for
them. — To EDWARD RUTLEDGE. iv, 124. FORD
ED., vii, 39. (M., Nov. I795-)
6981. PRIVATE LIFE, Retirement to.
— My first wish is a restoration of our just
rights ; my second, a return of the happy
period, when, consistently with duty, I may
withdraw myself totally from the public stage
and pass the rest of my days in domestic
ease and tranquillity, banishing every desire
of ever hearing what passes in the world. — To
JOHN RANDOLPH, i, 200. FORD ED., i, 482.
(M., I775-)
6982. - — . I have laid up my Rosi-
nante in his stall, before his unfitness for the
road shall expose him faultering to the world.
— To MANN PAGE, iv, 119. FORD ED., vii,
24. (M., 1795.) See RETIREMENT.
6983. PRIVATE LIFE, Rural.— I am
savage enough to prefer the woods, the wilds,
and the independence of Monticello, to all
the brilliant pleasures of this gay capital. —
To BARON GEISMER. i, 427. (P., 1785.) See
LIFE and MONTICELLO.
6984. PRIVATE LIFE vs. PUBLIC
LIFE. — I had rather be shut up in a very
modest cottage, with my books, my family
and a few old friends, dining on simple
bacon, and letting the world roll on as it
liked, than to occupy the most splendid post
which any human power can give. — To A.
DONALD, ii, 356. (P., 1788.)
6985. - — . I ever preferred the pur
suits of private life to those of public life. —
ANAS, ix, 121. FORD. ED., i, 203. (1792.)
6986. . The pomp, the turmoil,
the bustle and splendor of office, have drawn
but deeper sighs for the tranquil and irre
sponsible occupations of private life. — To THE
INHABITANTS OF ALBEMARLE COUNTY, VA. v,
439. FORD ED., ix, 250. (M., April 1809.)
6987. PRIVATEERING, Abolition of.
— If war should hereafter arise between the
two contracting parties, * * * all merchants
and traders, exchanging the products of differ
ent places, and thereby rendering the neces
saries, conveniences, and comforts of human
life more easy to obtain and more general,
shall be allowed to pass free and unmolested ;
and neither of the contracting powers shall
grant or issue any commission to any private
armed vessels, empowering them to take or
destroy such trading ships, or interrupt such
commerce. * — TREAT v INSTRUCTIONS. FORD ED.,
iii, 490. (May 1784.)
6988. . I am to acknowledge
the receipt of your letter, proposing a stipula
tion for the abolition of the practice of pri
vateering in times of war. The benevolence of
this proposition is worthy of the nation
[France] from which it comes, and our senti
ments on it have been declared in the treaty
to which you are pleased to refer, as well as in
some others which have been proposed. There
are in those treaties some other principles
wliich would probably meet the approbation of
your government, as flowing from the same
desire to lessen the occasions and the calamities
of war. On all these * * * we are ready to
enter into negotiation with you, only proposing
to take the whole into consideration at once. —
To JEAN BAPTISTE TERNANT. iii, 477. FORD ED.,
vi, 122. (Pa., 1792.)
6989. . During the negotiations
for peace [in 1783] with the British Commis
sioner David Hartley, our Commissioners had
proposed, on the suggestion of Dr. Franklin, to
insert an article exempting from capture by the
public or private armed ships of either belliger
ent, when at war, all merchant vessels and
their cargoes, employed merely in carrying on
the commerce between nations. It was refused
by England, and unwisely in my opinion. For,
in the case of a war with us, their superior
commerce places infinitely more at hazard on
the ocean than ours ; and, as hawks abound in
proportion to game, so our privateers would
swarm in proportion to the wealth exposed to
their prize, while theirs would be few for
want of subjects of capture. We [Adams,
Franklin and Jefferson] inserted this article in
our form, with a provision against the molesta
tion of fishermen, husbandmen, citizens un
armed and following their occupations in un
fortified places, for the humane treatment of
prisoners of war, the abolition of contraband of
war, which exposes merchant vessels to such
vexations and ruinous detentions and abuses ;
and for the principle of free bottoms, free
goods. — AUTOBIOGRAPHY, i, 62. FORD ED., i, 86.
(1821.)
6990. PRIVATEERS, Advantages of.—
Our ships of force will undoubtedly be block
aded by the enemy, and we shall have no
means of annoying them at sea but by small,
swift-sailing vessels ; these will be better man
aged and more multiplied in the hands of in
dividuals than of the government. In short,
they are our true and only weapon in a war
against Great Britain, when once Canada and
Nova Scotia shall have been rescued from
them. The opposition to them in Congress is
merely partial. It is a part of the navy fever,
and proceeds from the desire of securing men
for the public ships by suppressing all other
employments from them. But I do not appre
hend that this ill-judged principle is that of a
majority of Congress. I hope, on the contrary,
they will spare no encouragement to that kind
of enterprise. Our public ships, to be sure, have
done wonders. They have saved our military
reputation sacrificed on the shores of Canada ;
but in point of real injury and depredation on
the enemy, our privateers without question
have been most effectual. Both species of force
have their peculiar value. — To GENERAL BAILEY.
vi, 100. (M., Feb. 1813.)
* Instructions respecting the negotiation of com
mercial treaties with European nations. — EDITOR.
Privateers
Frizes
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
724
6991. PRIVATEERS, Commerce de
stroyers. — I hope we shall confine ourselves
to the conquest of their possessions, and de
fence of our harbors, leaving the war on the
ocean to our privateers. These will immediately
swarm in every sea, and do more injury to Brit
ish commerce than the regular fleets of all
Europe would dp. — To GENERAL KOSCIUSKO. vi,
68. FORD ED., ix, 362. (M., June 1812.)
6992. . Our privateers will eat
out the vitals of British commerce. — To WILL
IAM DUANE. vi, 76. FORD ED., ix, 366. (M.,
Aug. 1812.)
6993. . Every sea on the globe
where England has any commerce, and where
any port can be found to sell prizes, will be
filled with our privateers. — To GENERAL
KOSCIUSKO. vi, 77. (M1,, Aug. 1812.)
6994. PRIVATEERS, Encouragement
of. — Privateers will find their own men and
money. Let nothing be spared to encourage
them. They are the dagger which strikes at the
heart of the enemy, their commerce. — To JAMES
MONROE, vi, 409. FORD EDV ix, 498. (M., 1815.)
6995. PRIVATEERS, Exclusion of.—
Measures are taking for excluding, from all
further asylum in our ports, vessels armed in
them to cruise on nations with which we are
at peace. — To GEORGE HAMMOND, iv, 56. FORD
ED., vi, 408. (Pa., Sep. 1793.)
6996. PRIVATEERS, Fitting out for
eign. — By our .treaties with several of the
belligerent powers, which are a part of the laws
of our land, we have established a state of peace
with them. But, without appealing to treaties,
we are at peace with them all by the law of
nature. For by nature's law, man is at peace
with man, till some aggression is committed,
which, by the same law, authorizes one to
destroy another as his enemy. For our citizens,
then, to commit murders and depredations on
the members of nations at peace with us, or
combine to do it, appeared to the Executive,
and to those with whom they consulted, as
much against the laws of the land, as to mur
der or rob, or combine to murder or rob its
own citizens ; and as much to require punish
ment, if done within their limits, where they
have a territorial jurisdiction, or on the high
seas, where they have a personal jurisdiction,
that is to say, one which reaches their own citi
zens only, this being an appropriate part of
each nation, on an element where all have a
common jurisdiction. So say our laws, as we
understand them ourselves. To them the ap
peal is made ; and whether we have construed
them well or ill, the constitutional judges will
decide. Till that decision shall be obtained^ the
government of the United States must pursue
what they think right with firmness, as is their
duty. — To E. C. GENET, iii, 589. FORD EDV vi,
310. (Pa., June I793-)
6997. . Besides taking effica
cious measures to prevent the future fitting out
of privateers in the ports of the United States,
they will not give asylum therein to any which
shall have been at any time so fitted out, and
will cause restitution of all such prizes as shall
be hereafter brought within their ports by any
of the said privateers. — To E. C. GENET, iv, 27.
FORD ED., vi, 366. (Pa., Aug. I793-)
6998. PRIVATEERS, French.— Some
privateers have been fitted out in Charleston by
French citizens, with their own money, manned
by themselves, and regularly commissioned by
their nation. They have taken several prizes,
and brought them into our ports. Some native
citizens had joined them. These are arrested
and under prosecution, and orders are sent to
all the ports to prevent the equipping pri
vateers by any persons foreign or native. So
far is right. But the vessels so equipped at
Charleston are ordered to leave the ports of the
United States. This, I think, was not right.
Hammond [British Minister] demanded further
a surrender of the prizes they had taken. This
is refused, on the principle that by the laws
of war the property is transferred to the cap
tors. — To JAMES MADISON, iii, 568. FORD ED.,
vi, 277. (June I793-)
6999. . The arming and equip
ping vessels in the ports of the United States
to cruise against nations with whom they are
at peace, is incompatible with the territorial
sovereignty of the United States. It makes
them instrumental to the annoyance of those
nations and thereby tends to compromit their
peace. — To EDMOND CHARLES GENET, iii, 571.
FORD EDV vi, 282. (Pa., June 1793.)
7000. PRIVATEERS, Gulf of Mexico
and. — Our [the Cabinet's] general opinion is
that as soundings on our coast cease at the
beginning of the Gulf Stream, we ought to en
deavor to assume all the waters within the Gulf
Stream as our waters, so far as to exclude
privateers from hovering within them. — THE
ANAS. FORD ED., i, 308. (July 1805.)
7001. PRIVATEERS, Merchant ves
sels and. — Can it be necessary to say that a
merchant vessel is not a privateer? That
though she has arms to defend herself in time
of war, in the course of her regular commerce,
this no more makes her a privateer, than a hus
bandman following his plow, in time of war,
with a knife or pistol in his pocket, is, thereby,
made a soldier? The occupation of a privateer
is attack and plunder, that of a merchant vessel
is commerce and self-preservation. — To Gou-
VERNEUR MORRIS, iv, 41. FORD ED., vi, 385.
(Pa., Aug. 1793.)
7002. PRIVATEERS, Prizes.— Encour
age the privateers to burn all their prizes, and
let the public pay for them. They will cheat
us enormously. No matter ; they will make the
merchants of England feel, and squeal, and cry
out for peace. — To JAMES MONROE, vi, 410.
FORD ED., ix, 498. (M., 1815.)
7003. PRIVILEGES, Abolition of.— All
pecuniary privileges and exemptions, enjoyed
by any description of persons, are abolished.
— FRENCH CHARTER OF RIGHTS, iii, 47. FORD
ED., v, 102. (P., 1789.)
7004. PRIVILEGES, Unequal.— To un
equal privileges among members of the same
society the spirit of our nation is, with one
accord, adverse. — REPLY TO ADDRESS, iv, 394.
(W., 1801.) See EQUALITY, EQUAL RIGHTS,
FAVORITISM and RIGHTS.
7005. PRIZES, Condemnation of.— The
condemnation by the consul of France at
Charleston, as legal prize, of a British vessel
captured by a French frigate, is not, as you
justly [observe], a judicial act warranted by
the law of nations, nor by the stipulations ex
isting between the United States and France.
I observe further that it is not warranted by
any law of the land. It is consequently a mere
nullity ; as such it can be respected in no court,
can make no part in the title to the vessel, nor
725
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Prizes
Progress
give to the purchaser any other security than
what he would have had without it. In short,
it is so absolutely nothing as to give no founda
tion of just concern to any person interested in
the fate of the vessel. * * * The proceeding,
indeed, * * * [if the information be correct],
has been an act of disrespect towards the
United States, to which its government cannot
be inattentive. A just sense of our own rights
and duties, and the obviousness of the principle
are a security that no inconveniences will be
permitted to arise fr^m repetitions of it. — To
GEORGE HAMMOND, iii, 558. FORD ED., vi, 252.
(Pa., May I793-)
7006. PRIZES, Consular jurisdiction.—
No particular rules have been established by
the President for the conduct of consuls with
respect to prizes. In one particular case where
a prize is brought into our ports by any of the
belligerent parties, and is reclaimed of the Ex
ecutive, the President has hitherto permitted
the consul of the captor to hold the prize until
his determination is known. But in all cases
respecting a neutral nation, their vessels are
placed exactly on the same footing with our
own, entitled to the same remedy from our
courts of justice, and the same protection from
the Executive, as our own vessels in the same
situation. The remedy in the courts of justice,
the only one which they or our own can have
access to, is slower than where it lies with the
Executive, but it is more complete, as damages
can be given by the Court but not by the Ex
ecutive. — To MR. SODERSTROM. iv, 83. (G.,
Nov. I793-)
7007. PHIZES, Restitution.— The resti
tution of the prizes [which French privateers
might bring into the ports of the United
States], is understood to be inconsistent with
the rules which govern such cases, and would,
therefore, be unjustifiable towards the other
party. — To GEORGE HAMMOND, iii, 573. FORD
ED., vi, 286. (Pa., June I793-)
7008. . Restitution of prizes has
been made by the Executive of the United
States only in the two cases : i, of capture
within their jurisdiction, by armed vessels, orig
inally constituted such without the limits of
the United States ; or, 2, of capture, either
within or without their jurisdiction, by armed
vessels, originally constituted such within the
limits of the United States. Such last have
been called proscribed vessels. — To GEORGE
HAMMOND, iv, 78. FORD ED., vi, 444. (G., Nov.
I793-)
7009. . Can prizes and the pro
ceeds of them, taken after the date of the
treaty [of peace] with France be restored by
the Executive, or need an act of the Legis
lature? The Constitution has authorized the
ordinary Legislature alone to declare war
against any foreign nation. If they may enact
a perfect, they may a qualified war, and appro
priate the proceeds of it. In this state of
things, they may modify the acts of war, and
appropriate the proceeds of it: The act author
izing the capture of French armed vessels, and
dividing and appropriating their proceeds, was
of this kind. The Constitution has given to the
President and Senate alone the power (with
the consent of the foreign nation) of enacting
peace. Their treaty for this purpose is an
absolute repeal of the declaration of war, and
of all laws authorizing or modifying war meas
ures. The treaty with France had this effect.
From the moment it was signed all the acts
legalizing war measures ceased ipso facto ; and
all subsequent captures became unlawful.
Property wrongfully taken from a friend on the
high sea is not thereby transferred to the
captor. In whatever hands it is found, it re
mains the property of those from whom it was
taken ; and any person possessed of it, private
or public, has a right to restore it. If it comes
to the hands of the Executive, they may restore
it. If into those of the Legislature (as by for
mal payment into the Treasury), they may re
store it. Whoever, private or public, under
takes to restore it, takes on themselves the risk
of proving that the goods were taken without
authority of law, and consequently that the
captor had no right to them. The Executive,
charged with our exterior relations, seems
bound, if satisfied of the fact, to do right to the
foreign nation, and take on itself the risk of
justification. — To JAMES MADISON. FORD ED.,
viii, 73. (W., July 1801.)
7010. PRIZES, Rules governing.— The
doctrine as to the admission of prizes, main
tained by the government from the commence
ment of the war between England and France,
&c., to this day, has been this : The treaties
give a right to armed vessels, with their prizes,
to go where they please (consequently into our
ports), and that these prizes shall not be de
tained, seized, nor adjudicated ; but that the
armed vessel may depart as speedily as may be,
^v^th her prize, to the place of her commission ;
and we are not to suffer their enemies to sell
in our ports the prizes taken by their privateers.
Before the British treaty, no stipulation stood
in the way of permitting France to sell her
prizes here ; and we did permit it, but ex
pressly as a favor, not a right. * * * These
stipulations admit the prizes to put into our
ports in cases of necessity, or perhaps of con
venience, but no right to remain if disagreeable
to us ; and absolutely not to be sold. — To AL
BERT GALLATIN. FORD ED., viii, 86. (M., Aug.
1801.) See PRIVATEERS and NEUTRALITY.
7011. PROCRASTINATION, Indolence
and. — My acknowledgments have been de
layed by a blamable spirit of procrastination,
forever suggesting to our indolence that we need
not do to-day what may be done to-morrow. —
To THOMAS PINCKNEY. iv, 176. FORD ED., vii,
127. (Pa., 1797-)
7012. PRODUCTION, National.— In
general, it is a truth that if every nation will
employ itself in what it is fittest to produce, a
greater quantity will be raised of the things
contributing to human happiness, than if every
nation attempts to raise everything it wants
within itself. — To M. LASTEYRIE. v, 315. (W.,
1808.)
7013. PROGRESS, Constant.— When I
contemplate the immense advances in science
and discoveries in the arts which have been
made within the period of my life, I look
forward with confidence to equal advances by
the present generation, and have no doubt
they will consequently be as much wiser than
we have been as we than our fathers were,
and they than the burners of witches. — To
DR. BENJAMIN WATERHOUSE. vii. 101. FORD
ED., x, 103. (M., 1818.)
7014. PROGRESS, Gothic idea of.— The
Gothic idea that we were to look backwards
instead of forwards for the improvement of
the human mind, and to recur to the annals
of our ancestors for what is most perfect in
government, in religion and in learning, is
worthy of those bigots in religion and gov-
Progress
Property
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
726
eminent, by whom it has been recommended,
and whose purposes it would answer. But it
is not an idea which this country will endure.
— To JOSEPH PRIESTLEY, iv, 318. FORD ED.,
vii, 415. (Pa., 1800.)
7015. PROGRESS, In government.
— Laws and institutions must go hand in
hand with the progress of the human mind.
As that becomes more developed, more en
lightened, as new discoveries are made, new
truths disclosed, and manners and opinions
change with the change of circumstances, in
stitutions must advance also, and keep pace
with the times. We might as well require
a man to wear still the coat which fitted
him when a boy, as civilized society to re
main ever under the regimen of their bar
barous ancestors. It is this preposterous idea
which has lately deluged Europe in blood.
Their monarchs, instead of wisely yielding
to the general change of circumstances, of
favoring progressive accommodation to pro
gressive improvement, have clung to old
abuses, entrenched themselves behind steady
habits, and obliged their subjects to seek
through blood and violence rash and ruinous
innovations, which, had they been referred to
the peaceful deliberations and collected wis
dom of the nation, would have been put into
acceptable and salutary forms. Let us follow
no such examples, nor weakly believe that
one generation is not as capable as another
of taking care of itself, and of ordering its
own affairs. — To SAMUEL KERCHIVAL. vii,
15. FORD ED., x, 42. (M., 1816.) See GEN
ERATIONS.
7016. PROGRESS, Perseverance and. —
In endeavors to improve our situation, we
should never despair.— To JOHN QUINCY
ADAMS, vii, 89. (M., 1817.)
7017. PROGRESS, In Science.— One of
the questions, you know, on which our parties
took different sides, was on the improbability
of the human mind in science, in ethics, in
government, &c. Those who advocated ref
ormation of institutions, pari passu with the
progress of science, maintained that no def
inite limits could be assigned to that progress.
The enemies of reform, on the other hand,
denied improvement, and advocated steady
adherence to the principles, practices and in
stitutions of our fathers, which they repre
sented as the consummation of wisdom, and
acme of excellence, beyond which the human
mind could never advance. Although in the
passage of your answer alluded to, you ex
pressly disclaim the wish to influence the
freedom of inquiry, you predict that that will
produce nothing more worthy of transmission
to posterity than the principles, institutions
and systems of education received from their
ancestors. I do not consider this as your
deliberate opinion. You possess, yourself, too
much science, not to see how much is still
ahead of you, unexplained and unexplored.
Your own consciousness must place you as far
before our ancestors as in the rear of pos
terity. — To JOHN ADAMS, vi, 126. FORD EDV
ix, 387. (M., 1813.)
7018. PROGRESS, Sluggish.— There is
a snail-paced gait for the advance of new
ideas on the general mind, under which we
must acquiesce. A forty years' experience of
popular assemblies has taught me, that you
must give them time for every step you take.
If too hard pushed, they balk, and the ma
chine retrogrades. — To JOEL BARLOW, v, 217.
FORD ED., ix, 169. (W., Dec. 1807.)
7019. PROGRESS, Time and.— Time in
deed changes manners and notions, and so far
we must expect institutions to bend to them.
— To SPENCER ROANE. vii, 211. FORD ED., x,
188. (M., 1821.)
- PROHIBITION.— See WHISKY.
7020. PROPERTY, Acquisition of.—
The political institutions of America, its va
rious soils and climates opened a certain re
source to the unfortunate and to the enter
prising of every country, and insured to them
the acquisition and free possession of prop
erty. — DECLARATION ON TAKING UP ARMS.
FORD ED., i, 465. (July 1775.)
7021. PROPERTY, Of aliens.— Re
solved, that no right be stipulated for aliens
to hold real property within these States, this
being utterly inadmissible by their several
laws and policy ; but when on the death of
any person holding real estate within the ter
ritories of one of the contracting parties, such
real estate would by their laws descend on
a subject or citizen of the other, were he not
disqualified by alienage, then he shall be
allowed reasonable time to dispose of the
same, and withdraw the proceeds without
molestation. — COMMERCIAL TREATIES IN
STRUCTIONS. FORD ED., iii, 492. (1784.)
7022. . It is reasonable that
every one who asks justice should do jus
tice; and it is usual to consider the property
of a foreigner, in any country, as a fund ap
propriated to the payment of what he owes
in that country exclusively. It is a care
which most nations take of their own citi
zens, not to let the property, which is to an
swer their demands, be withdrawn from its
jurisdiction, and send them to seek it in for
eign countries, and before foreign tribunals.
—To GEORGE HAMMOND, iii, 395. FORD ED.,
vi, 37. (Pa., May 1792.)
7023. PROPERTY, Annihilation of.—
They [Parliament] have interdicted all com
merce to one of our principal towns, thereby
annihilating its property in the hands of the
holders. — DECLARATION ON TAKING UP
ARMS. FORD ED., i, 468. (July 1775.)
7024. PROPERTY, Confiscation of.—
[In Lord North's proposition] our adver
saries still claim a right of demanding ad
libitum, and of taxing us themselves to the
full amount of their demand, if we do not
comply with it. This leaves us without any
thing we can call property. — REPLY TO LORD
NORTH'S PROPOSITION. FORD ED., i, 481. (July
I775-)
7025. . He has incited treason
able insurrections of our fellow citizens, with
727
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Property
the allurements of forfeiture and confisca
tion of our property.* — DECLARATION OF IN
DEPENDENCE AS DRAWN BY JEFFERSON.
7026. PROPERTY, Defence of.— In de
fence of our persons and properties under
actual violation, we took up arms. When
that violence shall be removed, when hos
tilities shall cease on the part of the aggres
sors, hostilities shall cease on our part also.
— DECLARATION ON TAKING UP ARMS. FORD
ED., i, 475. (July I775-)
7027. PROPERTY, Depreciation.—
Money is leaving* the remoter parts of the
Union, and flowing to this place [Philadel
phia] to purchase paper; and here, a paper
medium supplying its place, it is shipped off
in exchange for luxuries. The value of prop
erty is necessarily falling in the places left
bare of money. In Virginia, for instance,
property has fallen 25 per cent, in the last
twelve months. — To WILLIAM SHORT, iii,
343. FORD ED., v, 459. (Pa., March 1792.)
7028. . The long succession of
years of stunted crops, of reduced prices, the
general prostration of the farming business,
under levies for the support of manufac
turers, &c., with the calamitous fluctuations
of value in our paper medium, have kept ag
riculture in a state of abject depression,
which has peopled the western States by
silently breaking up those on the Atlantic,
and glutted the land market, while it drew
off its bidders. In such a state of things,
property has lost its character of being a re
source for debts. Highland in Bedford,
which, in the days of our plethory, sold read
ily for from fifty to one hundred dollars the
acre (and such sales were many then),
would not now sell for more than from ten
to twenty dollars, or one quarter to one-fifth
of its former price. — To JAMES MADISON.
vii, 434. FORD ED., x, 377. (M., February
1826.) See BANKS, MONEY and PAPER
MONEY.
7029. PROPERTY, Descent of.— The
descent of property of every kind to all the
children, or to all the brothers and sisters,
or other relations, in equal degree, is a pol
itic measure, and a practicable one. — To
REV. JAMES MADISON. FORD ED., vii, 35. (P.,
1785.) See DESCENTS, ENTAIL and PRIMO
GENITURE.
7030. PROPERTY, Division of.— I am
conscious that an equal division of property
is impracticable. But the consequences of
this enormous inequality [in France] produ
cing so much misery to the bulk of mankind,
legislators cannot invent too many devices for
subdividing property, only taking care to let
their subdivisions go hand in hand with the
natural affections of the human mind. — To
REV. JAMES MADISON. FORD ED., vii. 35. (P.,
1785.) See DESCENTS, ENTAIL and. PRIMO
GENITURE.
7031. PROPERTY, Equal rights and.—
The true foundation of republican govern-
* Struck out by Congress.— EDITOR.
ment is the equal right of every citizen, in
his person and property, and in their manage
ment. — To SAMUEL KERCHIVAL. vii, n.
FORD ED., x, 39. (M., 1816.)
7032. PROPERTY, Federal.— The prop
erty of the United States can never be ques
tioned in any court, but in special cases in
which, by some particular law, they delegate
a special power, as to the boards of com
missioners, and in some small fiscal cases.
But a general jurisdiction over the national
demesnes, being more than half the territory
of the United States, has never been by them,
and never ought to be, subjected to any tri
bunal. — BATTURE CASE, viii, 521. (1812.)
7033. PROPERTY, Forfeited.— All for
feitures heretofore going to the king, shall
go to the State; save only such as the legis
lature may hereafter abolish. — PROPOSED VA.
CONSTITUTION. FORD ED., i, 27. (June 1776.)
7034. . In all cases of petty
treason and murder, one-half of the lands
and goods of the offender shall be forfeited
to the next of kin to the person killed, and
the other half descend and go to his repre
sentatives. Save only, where one shall slay
the challenger in a duel, in which case, no
part of his lands or goods shall be forfeited
to the kindred of the party slain, but instead
thereof, a moiety shall go to the Common
wealth.* — CRIMES BILL, i, 150. FORD ED., ii,
207. (I779-)
7035. PROPERTY, Free Press and.—
The functionaries of every government have
propensities to command at will the liberty
and property of their constituents. There is
no safe deposit for these but with the people
themselves ; nor can they be safe with them
without information. Where the press is
free, and every man able to read, all is safe.
— To CHARLES YANCEY. vi, 517. FORD ED.,
x, 4. (M., 1816.)
7036. PROPERTY, Impressing. — In a
country where means of payment are neither
prompt, nor of the most desirable kind, im
pressing property for the public use has been
found indispensable. We have no fears of
complaint under your exercise of those
powers. — To MAJOR-GENERAL LAFAYETTE.
FORD ED., ii, 502. (R., 1781.)
7037. PROPERTY, Industry and.— Our
wish is that * * * [there be] maintained
that state of property, equal or unequal,
which results to every man from his own in
dustry, or that of his fathers. — SECOND IN
AUGURAL ADDRESS, viii, 44. FORD ED., viii,
347- (1805.)
7038. PROPERTY, Inequality of.—
Another means of silently lessening the in
equality of property [in France] is to ex
empt all from taxation below a certain
point, and to tax the higher portions of prop
erty in geometrical progression as they rise.
— To REV. JAMES MADISON. FORD ED., vii,
36. (P., 1785.)
* Quaere, if the estates of both parties in a duel,
should not be forfeited? The deceased is equally
guilty with a suicide.— NOTE BY JEFFERSON.
Property
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
728
7039. PROPERTY, Inventions as.— In
ventions cannot in nature be a subject of
property. — To ISAAC McPnERSON. vi, 181.
(M., 1813.) See INVENTIONS and PATENTS.
7040. PROPERTY, Jurisdiction over.—
The functions of the Executive are not com
petent to the decision of questions of prop
erty between individuals. They are ascribed
to the Judiciary alone, and when either per
sons or property are taken into their cus
tody, there is no power in this country that
can take them out.— To EoMpND CHARLES
GENET, iii, 586. FORD ED., vi} 312. (Pa.,
I793-)
7041. PROPERTY, Laws of.— Whenever
there is in any country, uncultivated lands
and unemployed poor, it is clear that the
laws of property have been so far extended
as to violate natural right.— To REV. JAMES
MADISON. FORD ED., vii, 36. (P., 1785.)
7042. PROPERTY, Life and.— They
[Parliament] have deprived us of the ines
timable privilege of trial by a jury of the
vicinage in cases affecting both life and
property. — DECLARATION ON TAKING UP
ARMS. FORD ED., i, 468. (July I775-)
7043. PROPERTY, Paper money and. —
That paper money has some advantages, is
admitted. But that its abuses also are in
evitable, and, by Breaking up the measure of
value, makes a lottery of all private property,
cannot be denied.— To DR. JOSEPHUS B.
STUART, vii, 65. (M., May 1817.) See
BANKS and PAPER MONEY.
7044. PROPERTY, Protection of.— The
persons and property of our citizens are en
titled to the protection of our government
in all places where they may lawfully go. —
OPINION ON SHIP PASSPORTS. vii, 624.
(May I793-)
7045. . We give you [Choc-
taws] a copy of the law, made by our great
Council, for punishing our people, who may
encroach on your lands, or injure you other
wise. Carry it with you to your homes, and
preserve it, as the shield which we spread
over you, to protect your land, your prop
erty, and persons.— ADDRESS TO THE CHOC-
TAWS, viii, 192. (1803.)
7046. . When once you [the In
dians] have property, you will want laws and
magistrates to protect your property and per
sons, and to punish those among you who
commit crimes. You will find that our laws
?ire good for this purpose. — ADDRESS TO
DELAWARES. viii, 226. (1808.)
7047. . We wish to see you [the
Indians] possessed of property, and protec
ting it by regular laws.— INDIAN ADDRESS.
viii, 234. (1809.)
7048. . The first foundations of
\ the social compact would be broken up, were
iwe definitely to refuse to its members the
\ protection of their persons and property,
while in their lawful pursuits. — To JAMES
MAURY. vi, 52. FORD ED., ix, 348. (M.
1812.)
7049. PROPERTY, Public office as.—
The field of public office will not be perverted
me into a family property. — To DR.
HORATIO TURPIN. v, 90. (W, 1807.) See
RELATIONS.
7050. PROPERTY, Recovery of.— By
nature's law, every man has a right to seize
and retake by force, his own property, taken
from him by another, by force or fraud.
Nor is this natural right among the first
which is taken into the hands of regular gov
ernment, after it is instituted. It was long
retained by our ancestors. It was a part
of their common law, laid down in their
Dooks, recognized by all the authorities, and
regulated as to circumstances of practice. —
BATTURE CASE, viii, 584. (1812.)
7051. PROPERTY, Representation of.
— In some of the American States, the dele
gates and Senators are so chosen as that the
first represent the persons, and the second
the property of the State. But with us
[Virginia] wealth and wisdom have equal
chance for admission into both houses. —
NOTES ON VIRGINIA, viii, 361. FORD ED., iii,
223. (1782.)
7052. PROPERTY, Rescue of.— Nature
has given to all men, individual or associated,
the right of rescuing their own property
wrongfully taken. In cases of forcible entry
on individual possessions, special provisions,
both of the common and civil law, have
restrained the right of rescue by private
force, and substituted the aid of the civil
power. But no law has restrained the right
of the nation itself from removing by its own
arm, intruders on its possessions. — To GOV
ERNOR CLAIBORNE. v, 518. (M., 1810.)
7053. PROPERTY, Restitution.— Con
gress should immediately arid earnestly rec
ommend to the legislatures of the respective
States to provide for the restitution of all
estates, rights and properties which have
been confiscated, belonging to British sub
jects; and also of the estates, rights and
properties of persons resident in districts
which were in the possession of his Britannic
Majesty's arms at any time between the 3Oth
day of November, 1782, and the I4th day of
January, 1784, and who have not borne arms
against the United States, and that persons
of any other description shall have free lib
erty to go to any part or parts of any of the
thirteen United States, and therein to remain
twelve months unmolested in their endeavors
to obtain the restitution of such of their es
tates, rights and properties as may have
been confiscated. — REPORT ON PEACE TREATY.
FORD ED., iii, 349. (Dec. 1783-)
7054. PROPERTY, Restoration.— I am
not fond of encouraging an intercourse with
the enemy for the recovery of property ; how
ever, I shall not forbid it while conducted on
principles which are fair and general. If the
British commander chooses to discriminate
between the several species of property taken
from the people ; if he chooses to say he will
restore all of one kind, and retain all of an-
729
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Property
Prophecy
other, I am contented that individuals shall
avail themselves of this discrimination ; but
no distinctions of persons must be admitted.
The moment it is proposed that the same
species of property shall be restored to one
which is refused to another, let every ap
plication to him for restitution be prohibited.
The principles by which his discrimination
would be governed are but too obvious, and
they are the reverse of what we should ap
prove. — To COLONEL JOHN NICHOLAS. FORD
ED., ii, 409. (1781.)
7055. - — .A right to take the side,
which every man's conscience approves in a
civil contest, is too precious a right, and too
favorable to the preservation of liberty not
to be protected by all its well informed
friends. The Assembly of Virginia have
given sanction to this right in several of their
laws, discriminating honorably those who
took side against us before the Declaration
of Independence, from those who remained
among us and strove to injure us by their
treacheries. I sincerely wish that you, and
every other to whom this distinction applies
favorably, may find, in the Assembly of Vir
ginia, the good effects of that justice and
generosity which have dictated to them this
discrimination. It is a sentiment which will
gain strength in their breasts in proportion as
they can forget the savage cruelties com
mitted on them, and will, I hope, in the end
induce them to restore the property itself
wherever it is unsold, and the price received
for it, where it has been actually sold. — To
MRS. SPROWLE. FORD ED., iv, 66. (P., 1785.)
7056. PROPERTY, Right to.— A right
to property is founded in our natural wants,
in the means with which we are endowed to
satisfy these wants, and the right to what
we acquire by those means without violating
the similar rights of other sensible beings.
— To DUPONT DE NEMOURS, vi, 591. FORD
ED., x, 24. (P.F., 1816.)
7057. PROPERTY, Sale under execu
tion. — The immensity of this [Virginia] debt
[to British creditors] was another reason for
forbidding such a mass of property to be
offered for sale under execution at once, as,
from the small quantity of circulating money,
it must have sold for little or nothing,
whereby the creditor would have failed to
receive his money, and the debtor would have
lost his whole estate without being discharged
of his debt.* — REPORT TO CONGRESS, ix. 241.
FORD EDV iv, 127. (P., 1785.) See DEBTS DUE
BRITISH.
— PROPERTY, At sea.— See TREATIES.
7058. PROPERTY, Seizure in war.— It
cannot be denied that a state of war directly
permits a nation to seize the property of its
enemies found within its own limits or taken
in war and in whatever form it exists
whether in action or possession. — To GEORGE
HAMMOND, iii, 369. FORD ED., vi, 15. (Pa.,
1792.)
* Report of Conference with Count de Vergennes,
Foreign Minister of France, respecting commerce. —
EDITOR.
7059. PROPERTY, Sequestration.— For
securing to the citizens of the Commonwealth
[of Virginia] an indemnification out of the
property of British subjects here, * * *
in case the sovereign of the latter should
confiscate the property of the former in his
dominions, as well as to prevent that acces
sion of strength which the enemy might de
rive by withdrawing their property * * *
hence * * * the lands, slaves, flocks, im
plements of industry * * * of British
subjects, shall be sequestered. — BRITISH PROP
ERTY BILL. FORD ED., ii, 199. (1779.)
7060. PROPERTY, Slaves as.— The ces
sion of that kind of property [Slaves], for so
it is misnamed, is a bagatelle which would
not cost me a second thought, if, in that way,
a general emancipation and expatriation
could be effected. — To JOHN HOLMES, vii,
159. FORD ED., x, 157. (M., 1820.)
7061. . Actual property has been
lawfully vested in [negroes] and who can
lawfully take it from the possessors? — To
JARED SPARKS, vii, 333. FORD ED., x, 290.
(M., 1824.)
7062. PROPERTY, Stable ownership.—
By an universal law, indeed, whatever [prop
erty], whether fixed or movable, belongs to
all men equally and in common, is the prop
erty for the moment of him who occupies it ;
but when he relinquishes the occupation, the
property goes with it. Stable ownership is
the gift of social law, and is given late in
the progress of society. — To ISAAC McPHER-
SON. vi, 180. (M.. 1813.)
7063. PROPERTY, Taxation.— I am
principally afraid that commerce will be over
loaded by the assumption [of the State debts],
believing it would be better that property
should be duly taxed. — To MR. RANDOLPH.
iii, 185. (N.Y., 1790.) See TAXATION.
7064. PROPERTY, Unequal division.—
The unequal division of property [in France]
* * * occasions numberless instances of
wretchedness and is to be observed all over
Europe. — To REV. JAMES MADISON. FORD
ED., vii, 35. (P., 1785.)
7065. PROPERTY, TTntaxed.— The
clergy and nobles [in France], by their priv
ileges and influence, have kept their property
in a great measure untaxed. — To DR. PRICE.
ii, 556. (P., Jan. 1789.)
7066. PROPHECY, Conditional.— Who
can withhold looking into futurity on events
which are to change the face of the world, and
the condition of man throughout it, without in
dulging himself in the effusions of the holy
spirit of Delphos? I may do it the more safely,
as to my vaticinations I always subjoin the pro
viso " that nothing unexpected happen to change
the predicted course of events ''. — To WILLIAM
SHORT. FORD ED., x, 249. (M., 1823.)
7067. PROPHECY, Fallacious.— Per
haps in that super-mundane region, we may be
amused with seeing the fallacy of our own
guesses.. — To JOHN ADAMS, vii, 105. FORD
ED., x, 109. (M., 1818.)
Prophet
Protestants
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
730
7068. PROPHET, Wabash.— With re
spect to the [Wabash] prophet, if those who are
in danger from him would settle it in their own
way, it would be their affair. But we should
do nothing towards it. That kind of policy is
not in the character of our government, and still
less of the paternal spirit we wish to show to
wards that people. But could not [General]
Harrison gain over the Prophet, who no doubt
is a scoundrel, and only needs his price? — To
GENERAL DEARBORN, v, 163. (M., Aug. 1807.)
7069. PROSCRIPTION vs. JUST
TRIAL. — To fill up the measure of irritation,
a proscription of individuals has been substi
tuted in the room of just trial. Can it be be
lieved that a grateful people will suffer those to
be consigned to execution whose sole crime has
been the developing and asserting their rights ?
Had the Parliament possessed the power of re
flection, they would have avoided a measure as
impotent, as it was inflammatory. — To DR.
WILLIAM SMALL, i, 199. FORD ED., i, 454.
(May I775-)
7070. PROSPERITY, American.— There
is not a nation under the sun enjoying more
present prosperity, nor with more in pros
pect.— To C. W. F. DUMAS, iii, 260. (Pa.,
1791.)
7071. PROSPERITY, Basis.— A pros
perity built on the basis of agriculture is
that which is most desirable to us, because
to the efforts of labor it adds the efforts of
a greater proportion of soil. — CIRCULAR TO
CONSULS, iii, 431. (Pa., 1792.)
7072. PROSPERITY, Concern for.— Af
fectionate concerns for the prosperity of my
fellow citizens will cease but with life to
animate my breast.— REPLY TO ADDRESS, v,
262. (W., 1808.)
7073. PROSPERITY, Conditions of.— I
trust the good sense of our country will see
that its greatest prosperity depends on a due
balance between agriculture, manufactures
and commerce. — To THOMAS LEIPER. v, 417.
FORD ED., ix, 239. (W., 1809.)
7074. PROSPERITY, Pillars of.— Agri
culture, manufactures, commerce, and navi
gation, the four pillars of our prosperity, are
the most thriving when left most free to in
dividual enterprise. — FIRST ANNUAL MES
SAGE, viii, 13. FORD ED.; viii, 123. (Dec.
1801.)
7075. PROSPERITY, Stability of.— On
the useful pursuits of peace alone, a stable
prosperity can be founded. — R. TO A. PITTS-
BURG REPUBLICANS, viii, 142. (1808.)
7076. PROTECTION, Commerce and
navigation. — We wish [to encourage navi
gation and commerce] by throwing open all
the doors of commerce, ana knocking off
its shackles. But as this cannot be done for
others, unless they will do it for us, and
there is no probability that Europe will do
this, I suppose we shall be obliged to adopt
a system which may shackle them in our
ports, as they do us in theirs. — To COUNT
VAN HOGENDORP. i, 465. FORD ED., iv, 105
(P., 1785.) See COMMERCE and NAVIGATION.
7077. . Should any nation, con
trary to our wishes, suppose it may better
find its advantage by continuing its system
of prohibitions, duties and regulations, it be
hooves us to protect our citizens, their com
merce and navigation, by counter prohibi
tions, duties and regulations, also. Free
commerce and navigation are not to be given
in exchange for restrictions and vexations;
nor are they likely to produce a relaxation
of them.— FOREIGN COMMERCE REPORT, vii.
647. FORD ED., vi, 480. (Dec. 1793.) See
DUTIES and FREE TRADE.
7078. PROTECTION, Manufactures
and.— To protect the manufactures adapted
to our circumstances * * * [is one of]
the landmarks by which we are to guide our
selves in all our proceedings. — SECOND AN
NUAL MESSAGE, viii, 21. FORD ED., viii, 187.
(Dec. 1802.)
7079. - _. Little doubt remains that
the [manufacturing] establishments formed
and forming will, under the auspices of
cheaper materials and subsistence, the free
dom of labor from taxation with us, and of
protecting duties and prohibitions, become
permanent. — EIGHTH ANNUAL MESSAGE.
viii, 109. FORD ED., ix, 224. (Nov. 1808.)
See MANUFACTURES and TARIFF.
7080. PROTECTION, Oppressive.— I do
not mean to say that it may not be for the
general interest to foster for awhile certain
infant manufactures, until they are strong
enough to stand against foreign rivals; but
when evident that they will never be so, it
is against right, to make the other branches
of industry support them. — To SAMUEL
SMITH, vii, 285. FORD ED., x, 252. (M.,
1823.)
7081. PROTECTION, Petitions for.— I
observe you [Congress] are loaded with pe
titions from the manufacturing, commercial
and agricultural interests, each praying you
to sacrifice the others to them. This proves
the egoism of the whole and happily balances
their cannibal appetites to eat one another.
* * * I do not know whether it is any
part of the petitions of the farmers that our
citizens shall be restrained to eat nothing but
bread, because that can be made here. But
this is the common spirit of all their peti
tions. — To HUGH NELSON. FORD ED., x, 156.
(M., 1820.)
7082. PROTECTION, Printing and.—
None of these [books in foreign living
languages] are printed here, and the duty on
them becomes consequently not a protecting,
but really a prohibitory one. — To . vii,
220. (M., 1821.) See BOOKS.
7083. PROTESTANTS, French edict re
specting1. — The long expected edict for the
Protestants at length appears here [Paris].
Its analysis is this : It is an acknowledgment
(hitherto withheld by the laws,) that Protes
tants can beget children, and that they can
die, and be offensive unless buried. It does
•not give them permission to think, to speak.
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Providence
Public Confidence
or to worship. It enumerates the humilia
tions to which they shall remain subject, and
the burthens to which they shall continue to
be unjustly exposed. What are we to think
of the condition of the human mind in a
country where such a wretched thing as this
has thrown the State into convulsions, and
how must we bless our own situation in a
country the most illiterate peasant of which is
a Solon compared with the authors of this
jaw? — TO WILLIAM RUTLEDGE. ii, 350. FORD
ED., v, 4. (P., Feb. 1788.)
7084. PROVIDENCE, An approving.—
We remark with special satisfaction those
circumstances which, under the smiles of
Providence, result from the skill, industry
and order of our citizens, managing their
own affairs in their own way and for their
own use, unembarrassed by too much regu
lations, unoppressed by fiscal exactions.—
SECOND ANNUAL MESSAGE, viii, 15. FORD
ED., viii, 182. (Dec. 1802.)
7085. PROVIDENCE, Goodness of.—
Providence in His goodness gave it [the
yellow fever] an early termination *
and lessened the number of victims which
have usually fallen before it.— FIFTH AN
NUAL MESSAGE, viii, 461. FORD ED., viii, 386.
(Dec. 1805.)
7086. PROVIDENCE, Gratitude to.—
Let us bow with gratitude to that kind
Providence which * * * guarded us from
hastily entering into the sanguinary contest
[between France and England].— THIRD AN
NUAL MESSAGE, viii, 28. FORD ED., viii, 272.
(Oct. 1803.)
7087. PROVIDENCE, Human happi
ness and. — An overruling Providence * * *
by all its dispensations proves that it de
lights in the happiness of man here and his
greater happiness hereafter. — FIRST INAUGU
RAL ADDRESS, viii, 3. FORD ED., viii, 4.
(1801.)
7088. PROVIDENCE, A just.— You
[General Washington] have persevered till
these United States, aided by a magnanimous
king and nation, have been enabled, under
a just Providence, to close the war in free
dom, safety, and independence. * * * We
join you in commending the interests of our
dearest country to the protection of Almighty
God, beseeching Him to dispose the hearts
and minds of its citizens to improve the op
portunity afforded them of becoming a happy
and respectable nation.* — CONGRESS TO
WASHINGTON ON SURRENDERING HIS COM
MISSION. (Dec. 23, 1783-)
7089. PROVIDENCE, Prayers to.— I
pray that that Providence in whose hands
are the nations of the earth, may continue
towards ours His fostering care, and bestow
on yourselves the blessings of His protection
and favor.— R. TO A. MASSACHUSETTS LEG
ISLATURE, viii, 117. (1807.)
* Thomas Mifflin, the President of Congress, read
the reply of Congress t9 Washington's address on
surrendering his commission. It was written by
Jefferson, but is not included in the editions of his
works.— EDI TOR.
7090. PROVIDENCE, Slavery and.—
We must await with patience the workings
of an overruling Providence, and hope that
that is preparing the deliverance of these,
our suffering brethren [Slaves]. — To M. DE
MEUNIER. ix, 279. FORD ED., iv, 185. (P.,
1786.) See DEITY and GOD.
7091. PROVIDENCE, Supplicating.— I
supplicate a protecting Providence to watch
over your own and our country's freedom
and welfare.— R. TO A. N. Y. TAMMANY
SOCIETY, viii, 127. (Feb. 1808.)
7092. . I sincerely supplicate
that overruling Providence which governs
the destinies of men and nations, to dispense
His choicest blessings on yourselves and our
beloved country. — R. TO A. MASSACHUSETTS
CITIZENS, viii, 161. (1809.)
— PRUSSIA. — See FREDERICK THE GREAT.
7093. PSALMS, Estimate of the.— I ac
knowledge all the merit of the hymn of Clean-
thes to Jupiter, which you ascribe to it. It is
as highly sublime as a chaste and correct im
agination can permit itself to go. Yet in the
contemplation of a Being so superlative, the
hyperbolic flights of the Psalmist may often be
followed, with approbation, even with rapture ;
and I have n» hesitation in giving him the
palm over all the hymnists of every language
and of every time. Turn to the i48th psalm,
in Brady and Tate's version. Have such con
ceptions been ever before expressed? Their
version of the isth psalm is more to be esteemed
for its pithiness than its poetry. Even Stern-
hold, the leaden Sternhold, kindles, in a single
instance, with the sublimity of his original, and
expresses the majesty of God descending on
the earth, in terms not unworthy of the subject:
" The Lord descended from above,
And bowed the heav'ns most high,
And underneath His feet He cast,
The darkness of the sky.
On Cherubim and Seraphim
Full royally He rode ;
And on the wings of mighty winds
Came flying all abroad."— PSALM xvm.
* * * The best collection of these psalms is
that of the Octagonian dissenters of Liverpool.
Indeed, bad is the best of the English
versions; not a ray of poetical genius having
ever been employed on them. And how much
depends on this, may be seen by comparing
Brady and Tate's isth psalm with Blacklock's
Jitstiim et tenacem propositi virum of Horace.
A translation of David in this style, or in that
of Pompei's Cleanthes, might give us some idea
of the merit of the original. The character,
too, of the poetry of these hymns is singular to
us ; written in monostichs, each divided into
strophe and anti-strophe, the sentiment of the
first member responded with amplification or
antithesis in the second. — To JOHN ADAMS, vi
220. (M., 1813.)
7094. PUBLIC CONFIDENCE, Abuse
of. — In questions of power * * * let no
more be heard of confidence in man, but
bind him down from mischief by the chains
of the Constitution. — KENTUCKY RESOLU
TIONS, ix, 471. FORD ED., vii, 305. (1798.)
7095. PUBLIC CONFIDENCE, Acquire
ment of.— The energy of the government de
pending mainly on the confidence of the peo
ple in the Chief Magistrate, makes it his duty
Public Confidence
Publicity
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
732
to spare nothing which can strengthen him
with that confidence. — To DR. HORATIO TUR-
PIN. v, 90. (W., 1807.)
7096. . In a government like
ours, it is the duty of the Chief Magistrate,
in order to enable himself to do all the good
which his station requires, to endeavor, by all
honorable means, to unite in himself the confi
dence of the whole people. This alone, in any
case where the energy of the nation is required,
can produce a union of the powers of the
whole, and point them in a single direction,
as if all constituted but one body and one
mind ; and this alone can render a weaker
nation unconquerable by a stronger one. To
wards acquiring the confidence of the people,
the very first measure is to satisfy them of his
disinterestedness, and that he is directing
their affairs with a single eye to their good,
and not to build up fortunes for himself and
family. — To J. GARLAND JEFFERSON, v, 498.
FORD ED., ix, 270. (M., 1810.)
7097. PUBLIC CONFIDENCE, Asked
for. — Without pretensions to that high con
fidence you reposed in our first and greatest
revolutionary character, * * * I ask so
much confidence only as may give firmness
and effect to the legal administration of your
affairs. — FIRST INAUGURAL ADDRESS, viii, 5.
FORD ED., viii, 5. (1801.)
7098. PUBLIC CONFIDENCE, Danger
ous. — It would be a dangerous delusion were
a confidence in the men of our choice to
silence our fears for the safety of our rights.
— KENTUCKY RESOLUTIONS, ix, 470. FORD
ED., vii, 303. (1798.)
7099. PUBLIC CONFIDENCE, Despot
ism and. — Confidence is everywhere the par
ent of depotism — free government is founded
in jealousy, and not in confidence. — KEN
TUCKY RESOLUTIONS, ix, 470. FORD ED., vii,
304. (1798.)
7100. PUBLIC CONFIDENCE, Lack of.
— We do not find it easy to make commercial
arrangements in Europe. There is a want of
confidence in us. — To NATHANIEL GREENE.
FORD ED., iv, 25. (P., 1785.)
7101. PUBLIC CONFIDENCE, Limits
to.— Our Constitution has * * * fixed the
limits to which, and no further, our con
fidence may go ; and let the honest advocate
of confidence read the Alien and Sedition
Acts, and say if the Constitution has not been
wise in fixing limits to the government it
created, and whether we should be wise in
destroying those limits. — KENTUCKY RESOLU
TIONS, ix, 470. FORD ED., vii, 304. (1798.)
7102. . Is confidence or discre
tion, or is strict limit, the principle of our
Constitution ? — To JEDEDIAH MORSE, vii, 235.
FORD ED., x, 205. (M., 1822.)
7103. PUBLIC CONFIDENCE, Perver
sion of. — What person, who remembers the
times and tempers we have seen, would have
believed that within so short a period, not
only the jealous spirit of liberty which shaped
every operation of our Revolution, but even
the common principles of English whigism
would be scouted, and the tory principle of
passive obedience under the new-fangled
names of confidence and responsibility, be
come entirely triumphant? That the tories,
whom in mercy we did not crumble to dust
and ashes, could so have entwined us in their
scorpion toils, that we cannot now move hand
or foot? — To ROBERT R. LIVINGSTON, iv, 297.
FORD ED., vii, 369. (Pa., Feb. 1799.)
7104. PUBLIC CONFIDENCE, Pre
serve. — Let nothing be spared of either rea
son or passion, to preserve the public con
fidence entire, as the only rock of our safety.
— To CESAR A. RODNEY, v, 501. FORD ED.,
ix, 272. (M., 1810.)
7105. PUBLIC CONFIDENCE, Sacri
fices and. — Bringing into office no desires of
making it subservient to the advancement of
my own private interests, it has been no sac
rifice, by postponing them, to strengthen the
confidence of my fellow citizens. — To HORA
TIO TURPIN. v, 90. (W., 1807.)
7106. PUBLIC CONFIDENCE, Wisdom
and. — It is not wisdom alone, but public
confidence in that wisdom, which can sup
port an administration. — To PRESIDENT MON
ROE. FORD ED., x, 316. (M., 1824.)
— PUBLIC IIKLPBOVEMENTS.— See
INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS.
— PUBLIC OFFICE.— See OFFICE and
OFFICES.
7107. PUBLIC WORKS, Government
and. — The New Orleans Canal Company ask
specifically that we should loan them $50,000,
or take the remaining fourth of their shares
now on hand. This last measure is too much
out of our policy of not embarking the pub
lic in enterprises better managed by individ
uals, and which might occupy as much of our
time as those political duties for which the
public functionaries are particularly insti
tuted. Some money could be lent them, but
only on an assurance that it would be em
ployed so as to secure the public objects. —
To GOVERNOR CLAIBORNE. v, 319. (W., July
1808.)
7108. PUBLICITY, Adams's adminis
tration and. — Reserve as to all their pro
ceedings is the fundamental maxim of the
Executive department. — To BENJAMIN HAW
KINS, iv, 326. FORD ED., vii, 435. (Pa.,
March 1800.)
7109. PUBLICITY, Complete.— There is
not a truth existing which I fear, or would
wish unknown to the whole world. — To
HENRY LEE. vii, 448. FORD ED., x, 389. (M.,
1826.)
7110. PUBLICITY, Darkness and.—
Ours, as you know, is a government which
will not tolerate the being kept entirely in
the dark. — To JAMES MONROE, v, 52. FORD
ED., ix, 36. (W., 1807.) See CONVENTION
(FEDERAL).
7111. PUBLICITY, Demanded.— The
journals of Congress not being printed
earlier, gives more uneasiness than I would
733
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Publicity
wish ever to see produced by any act of that
body, from whom alone, I know, our salva
tion can proceed. In our [Virginia] Assem
bly, even the best affected think it an in
dignity to freemen to be voted away, life and
fortune, in the dark.— To JOHN ADAMS. FORD
ED., ii, 130. (Wg., 1 777-)
7112. PUBLICITY, Executive, Con
gress and.— I remember Mr. Gallatin ex
pressed an opinion that our negotiations with
England should not be laid before Congress
at their meeting, but reserved to be com
municated all together with the answer
they should send us, whenever received. I am
not of this opinion. I think, on the meeting of
Congress, we should lay before them every
thing that has passed to that day, and place
them on the same ground of information we
are on ourselves.— To JAMES MADISON, v,
174. FORD ED., ix, 131. (M., 1807.)
7113. . I am desirous that noth
ing shall be omitted on my part which may
add to your information on this subject [re
lations with France], or contribute to the
correctness of the views which should be
formed.— SPECIAL MESSAGE, viii, 102. FORD
ED., ix, 187. (1808.)
7114. PUBLICITY, Executive support.
—No ground of support for the Executive
will ever be so sure as a complete knowledge
of their proceedings by the people ; and it is
only in cases where the public good would
be injured, and because it would be injured,
that proceedings should be secret. In such
cases it is the duty of the Executive to sac
rifice their personal interests (which would
be promoted by publicity) to the public in
terest.— To PRESIDENT WASHINGTON, iv, 89.
FORD ED., vi, 461. O793-)
7115. PUBLICITY, Expediency of.— If
the negotiations with England are at an end,
if not given to the public now, when are
they to be given ? and what moment can be so
interesting? If anything amiss should hap
pen from the concealment, where will the
blame originate at least? It may be said, in
deed, that the President puts it in the power
' of the Legislature to communicate these
proceedings to their constituents; but is it
more their duty to communicate them to
their constituents, than it is the Presidents
to communicate them to his constituents ?
And if they were desirous of communicating
them, ought the President to restrain them
by making the communication confidential?
I think no harm can be done by the publica
tion, because it is impossible England, after
doing us an injury, should declare war
against us, merely because we tell our con
stituents of it; and I think good may be
done, because while it puts it in the power
of the Legislature to adopt peaceable meas
ures of doing ourselves justice, it prepares
the minds of our constituents to go cheer
fully into an acquiescence under these meas
ures, by impressing them with a thorough and
enlightened conviction that they are founded
in right.— To PRESIDENT WASHINGTON, iv,
89. FORD ED., vi, 461. (Dec. I793-)
7116. . On a severe review of
the question, whether the British communi
cation should carry any such mark of being
confidential as to prevent the Legislature
from publishing them, he is clearly of opin
ion they ought not. Will they be kept secret
if secrecy be enjoined? Certainly not, and
all the offence will be given (if it be possible
any should be given) which would follow their
complete publication. If they would be kept
secret, from whom would it be? From our
own constituents only, for Great Britain is
possessed of every tittle. Why, then, keep it
secret from them? — To PRESIDENT WASHING
TON, iv, 89. FORD ED., vi, 461. (Dec.
I793-)
7117. PUBLICITY, Full.— I hope that to
preserve this weather-gauge of public opin
ion, and to counteract the slanders and
falsehoods disseminated by the English pa
pers, the government will make it a standing
instruction to their ministers at foreign
courts, to keep Europe truly informed of oc
currences here, by publishing in their papers
the naked truth always, whether favorable or
unfavorable. For they will believe the good,
if we candidly tell them the bad also. — To
JAMES MONROE, vi, 408. FORD ED., ix, 497.
(M., 1815.)
7118. PUBLICITY, The people and.— I
have not been in the habit of mysterious re
serve on any subject, nor of buttoning up my
opinions within my own doublet. On the
contrary, while in public service especially, I
thought the public entitled to frankness, and
intimately to know whom they employed. —
To SAMUEL KERCHIVAL. vii, 9. FORD ED.,
x, 37- (M., 1816.)
7119. PUBLICITY, Preservation of
order and. — The way to prevent these* ir
regular interpositions of the people is to give
them full information of their affairs through
the channel of the public paners, and to con
trive that those papers should penetrate the
whole mass of the people. — To EDWARD CAR-
RINGTON. ii, 99. FORD ED., iv, 359. (P.,
1787.)
7120. PUBLICITY, War intelligence.—
When our constituents are called on for con
siderable exertions to relieve a part of their
fellow-citizens, suffering from the hand of an
enemy, it is desirable for those entrusted
with the administration of their affairs to
communicate without reserve what they have
done to ward off the evil.f — To PRESIDENT
WASHINGTON. FORD ED., v, 431. (1792.)
* Jefferson was discussing Shays's rebellion.— EDI
TOR.
t The extract is from the draft of a letter written
by Jefferson for President Washington, to be sent
by him to the Secretary of War, as an introduction
to a report on Indian affairs. Hamilton doubted
44 whether ' our constituents ' was a proper phrase to
be used by the President in addressing a subordinate
officer", and suggested instead of it, "the com
munity . Washington adopted it. Hamilton also
suggested that the close of the sentence after u desir
able" be made to read, "to manifest that due pains
have been taken by those entrusted with the admin
istration of their affairs to avoid the evil ". Wash
ington made the change.— EDITOR.
Punishment
Oiuik«-r
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
734
7121. . A fair and honest nar
rative of the bad, is a voucher for the truth
of the good. In this way the old Congress
set an example to the world, for which the
world amply repaid them, by giving un
limited credit to whatever was stamped with
the name of Charles Thomson. It is known
that this was never put to an untruth but
once, and that where Congress was misled by
the credulity of their General (Sullivan).
The first misfortune of the Revolutionary
war, induced a motion to suppress or garble
the account of it. It was rejected with in
dignation. The whole truth was given in all
its details, and there never was another at
tempt in that body to disguise it. — To
MATTHEW CARR. vi, 133. (M., 1813.)
7122. PUNISHMENT, Excessive.— All
excess of punishment is a crime. — REPORT ON
SPANISH CONVENTION, iii, 354. FORD ED., v,
484. (1792.)
7123. QUAKEBS, English attachments
of. — An attempt has been made to get the
Quakers to come forward with a petition
[against war with France], to aid with the
weight of their body the feeble band of peace.
They have, with some effort, got a petition
signed by a few of their society ; the main body
of their society refuse it. M'Lay's peace motion
in the Assembly of Pennsylvania was rejected
with an unanimity of the Quaker vote, and it
seems to be well understood, that their at
tachment to England is stronger than to their
principles or their country. The Revolutionary
war was a proof of this. — To JAMES MADISON.
iv, 227. FORD ED., vii, 226. (Pa., 1798.)
7124. . I sincerely wish the cir
culation of the letters of " Cerus and Amicus "
among the Society of Friends may have the ef
fect you expect, of abating their prejudices
against the government of their country. But
I apprehend their disease is too deeply seated ;
that identifying themselves with the mother
Society in England, and taking from them im
plicitly their politics, their principles and
passions, it will be long before they cease to be
Englishmen in everything but the place of their
birth, and to consider tliat, and not America, as
their real country. — To MR. BALDWIN, v, 494.
(M., 1810.)
7125. QUAKERS, Indian civilization
and. — In this important work [Indian civili
zation,] I owe to your Society an acknowledg
ment that we have felt the benefits of their
zealous cooperation, and approved its judicious
direction towards producing among those peo
ple habits of industry, comfortable subsistence,
and civilized usages, as preparatory to religious
instruction and the cultivation of letters. — RE
PLY TO ADDRESS, viii, 118. (1807.)
' 7126. QUAKEBS, Jefferson's adminis
tration and. — Conscious that the present ad
ministration has been essentially pacific, and
that in all questions of importance it has been
governed by the identical principles professed
by the Society of Friends, it has been quite at a
loss to conjecture the unknown cause of the op
position of the greater part, and bare neutrality
of the rest. The hope, however, that prejudices
would at length give way to facts, has never
been entirely extinguished, and still may be real
ized in favor of another administration. — To
MR. FRANKLIN, v, 303. (W., 1808.)
7127. . You observe very truly,
that both the late and the present administra
tion conducted the government on principles
professed by the Friends. Our efforts to pre
serve peace, our measures as to the Indians, as
to slavery, as to religious freedom, were all in
consonance with their profession. Yet I never
expected we should get a vote from them, and
in this I was neither deceived nor disappointed.
There is no riddle in this to those who do not
suffer themselves to be duped by the professions
of religious sectaries. The theory of Ameri
can Quakerism is a very obvious one. The
mother Society is in England. Its members are
English by birth and residence, devoted to their
own country, as good citizens ought to be. The
Quakers of these States are colonies or filiations
from the mother Society, to whom that Society
sends its yearly lessons. On these, the filiated
Societies model their opinions, their conduct,
their passions and attachments. A Quaker is
essentially an Englishman, in every part of the
earth he is born or lives. The outrages of
Great Britain on our navigation and commerce
have kept us in perpetual bickerings with her.
The Quakers have taken side against their own
government, not on their profession of peace,
for they saw that peace was our object also ;
but from devotion to the views of the mother
Society. In i797-*98, when an administration
sought war with France, the Quakers were the
most clamorous for war. Their principle of
peace, as a secondary one, yielded to the pri
mary one of adherence to the Friends in Eng
land, and what was patriotism in the original,
became treason in the copy. On that occasion,
they obliged their good old leader, Mr. Pember-
ton, to erase his name from a petition to Con
gress against war, which had been delivered to a
representative of Pennsylvania, a member of
the late and present administration ; he accord
ingly permitted the old gentleman to erase his
name. * * * I apply this to the Friends in
general, not universally. I know individuals
among them as good patriots as we have. — To
SAMUEL KERCHIVAL. v, 492. (M., 1810.)
7128. QUAKEBS, Oppression of. — The
first settlers in this country [Virginia] were em
igrants from England, of the English Church,
just at a point of time when it was flushed with
complete victory over the religions of all other
persuasions. Possessed, as they became, of the
powers of making, administering, and executing
the laws, they showed equal intolerance in this
country with their Presbyterian brethren, who
h?d emigrated to the northern government.
The poor Quakers were flying from persecution
in England. They cast their eyes on these new
countries as asylums of civil and religious free
dom ; but they found them free only for the
reigning sect. Several acts of the Virginia As
sembly of 1659, 1662, and 1693, had made it
penal in parents to refuse to have their children
baptized ; had prohibited the unlawful assem
bling of Quakers ; had made it penal for any
master of a vessel to bring a Quaker into the
State ; had ordered those already here, and such
as should come thereafter, to be imprisoned till
they should abjure the country ; provided a
milder punishment for their first and second re
turn, but death for the third ; had inhibited all
persons from suffering their meetings in or near
their houses, entertaining them individually, or
disposing of books which supported their tenets.
If no capital execution took place here, as did
in New England, it was not owing to the mod
eration of the church, or spirit of the legislature,
as may be inferred from the law itself ; but to
historical circumstances which have not been
handed down to us. The Anglicans retained
735
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Quarantine
Race
full possession of the country about a century.
Other opinions began then to creep in, and the
great care of the government to support their
own church, having begotten an equal degree of
indolence in its clergy, two-thirds of the people
had become dissenters at the commencement of
the present Revolution. The laws, indeed, were
still oppressive on them, but the spirit of the
one party had subsided into moderation, and of
the other had risen to a degree of determination
which commanded respect. — NOTES ON VIRGINIA.
viii, 398. FORD ED., iii, 261. (1786.)
7129. QUARANTINE, Uniform laws.—
Many are the exercises of power preserved to
the States, wherein a uniformity of proceeding
would be advantageous to all. Such are quar
antines, health laws, &c. — To JAMES SULLIVAN.
v, 101. FORD ED., ix, 76. (W., 1807.)
7130. QUARRELS, Among friends.
—The way to make friends quarrel is to put
them in disputation under the public eye. An
experience of near twenty years has taught me
that few friendships stand this test ; and that
public assemblies, where every one is free to
act and speak, are the most powerful looseners
of the bands of private friendship. — To^ GEN
ERAL WASHINGTON, i, 334. FORD ED., iii, 466.
(A., 1784.)
7131. QUARRELS, Cowards and.— A
coward is much more exposed to quarrels than
a man of spirit. — To JAMES MONROE. FORD ED.,
iv, 34. (P., 1785.)
7132. QUARRELS, European.— I am de
cidedly of opinion we should take no part in
European quarrels. — To GENERAL WASHINGTON.
ii, 533- FORD ED., v, 57. (P., 1788.) See AL
LIANCES.
7133. QUARRELS, Human nature and.
— An association of men who will not quarrel
with one another is a thing which never yet
existed, from the greatest confederacy of na
tions down to a town meeting or a vestry. — To
JOHN TAYLOR, iv, 247. FORD ED., vii, 265.
(Pa., 1798.)
— QUEBEC, Expedition against. — See
ARNOLD.
7134. QUIET, Love of.— I want to be
quiet ; and although some circumstances, now
and then, excite me to notice them, I feel safe,
and happier in leaving events to those whose
turn it is to take care of them ; and, in general,
to let it be understood, that I meddle little or
not at all with public affairs. — To JOSEPH C.
CABELL. vi, 310. FORD ED., ix, 452. (M.,
1814.)
_ QUILLING.— See Music.
7135. QUORUM, Constitution of.— Two-
thirds of the members of either house shall be a
quorum. — PROPOSED VA. CONSTITUTION. FORD
ED., ii, 17. (June 1776.)
7136. . Two-thirds of the mem
bers of the General Court, High Court of Chan
cery, or Court of Appeals, shall be a quorum
* * * . — PROPOSED VA. CONSTITUTION. FORD
ED., ii, 24. (June 1776.)
7137. . A majority of either
house shall be a quorum, * * * but any smaller
proportion which from time to time shall be
thought expedient by the respective houses,
shaH be sufficient to call for, and to punish,
their non-attending members, and to adjourn
themselves for any time not exceeding one
week. — PROPOSED CONSTITUTION FOR VIRGINIA.
viii, 444. FORD ED., iii, 324. (1783.)
7138. QUORUM, Size of.— The Assem
bly exercises a power of determining the
quorum of their own body which may legislate
for us.* After the establishment of the new
form they adhered to the Lex majoris partis,
founded in common law as well as common right
(Bro. abr. Corporations, 31, 34. Hakewell, 93.)
It is the natural law of every assembly of men,
whose numbers are not fixed by any other law.
(Puff. Off. horn, i, 2, c. 6, § 12.) They con
tinued for some time to require the presence of
a majority of their whole number to pass an
act. But the British parliament fixes its own
quorum ; our former assemblies fixed their own
quorum ; and one precedent in favor of power
is stronger than an hundred against it. The
House of Delegates, therefore, have lately voted
(June 4, 1781), that, during the present danger
ous invasion, forty members shall be a house to
proceed to business. They have been moved to
this by the fear of not being able to collect a
house. But this danger could not authorize
them to call that a house which was none ; and
if they may fix it at one number, they may at
another, till it loses its fundamental character
of being a representative bodv. As this vote
expires with the present invasion, it is probable
the former rule will be permitted to revive ;
because at present no ill is meant. The power,
however, of fixing their own quorum has been
avowed, and a precedent set. From forty it
may be reduced to four, and from four to
one ; from a house to a committee, from a com
mittee to a chairman or speaker, and thus an
oligarchy or monarchy be substituted under
forms supposed to be regular. " Omnia mala
exempla ex bonis orta sunt ; sed ubi imperium
ad ignaros aut minus bonos pervenit, novum
illud exemplutn ab dignis et idoneis ad indignos
et non indoneos fertur ". When, therefore, it is
considered that there is no legal obstacle to the
assumption by the Assembly of all the powers
legislative, executive and judiciary, and that
these may come to the hands of the smallest
rag of delegation, surely the people will say, and
their representatives, while yet they have honest
representatives, will advise them to say, that
they will not acknowledge as laws any acts not
considered and assented to by the major part of
their delegates. — NOTES ON VIRGINIA, viii, 367.
FORD ED., iii, 229. (1782.)
7139. RACE, Improvement of human.
— The passage you quote from Theognis, I
think has an ethical rather than a political ob
ject. The whole piece is a moral exhortation,
and this passage particularly seems to
be a reproof to man, who, while with his do
mestic animals he is curious to improve the
race, by employing always the finest male, pays
no attention to the improvement of his own
race, but intermarries with the vicious, the ugly
or the old, for considerations of wealth or am
bition. It is in conformity with the principle
adopted afterwards by the Pythagoreans, and
expressed by Ocellus in another form * * *
which, as literally as intelligibility will admit,
may be thus translated, " concerning the inter-
procreation of men, how, and of whom it shall
be, in a perfect manner, and according to the
laws of modesty and sanctity, conjointly, this is
what I think right. First, to lay it down that
we do not commix for the sake of pleasure, but
of the procreation of children. For the powers,
the organs anu desires for coition have not been
given by God to man for the sake of pleasure,
but for the procreation of the race. For as it
were incongruous, for a mortal born to partake
of divine life, the immortality of the race being
* Jefferson characterized this power as one of the
defects of the first Virginia constitution. — EDITOR.
Races
Ititiiciolph (Edmund)
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
736
taken away, God fulfilled the purpose by making
the generations uninterrupted and continuous.
This, therefore, we are especially to lay down
as a principle, that coition is not for the sake
of pleasure ". But nature, not trusting to this
moral and abstract motive, seems to have pro
vided more securely for the perpetuation of the
species, by making it the effect of the oestrum
implanted in the constitution of both sexes.
And not only has the commerce of love been
indulged on this unhallowed impulse, but made
subservient also to wealth and ambition by mar
riage, without regard to the beauty, the healthi
ness, the understanding, or virtue of the sub
ject from which we are to breed. The selecting
the best male for a harem of well chosen fe
males also, which Theognis seems to recommend
from the example of our sheep and agses, would
doubtless improve the human, as it does the
brute animal, and produce a race of veritable
apisroi. For experience proves that the
moral and physical qualities of man, whether
good or evil, are transmissible in a certain de
gree from father to son. But I suspect that the
equal rights of man will rise up against this
privileged Solomon and his harem, and oblige
us to continue acquiescence under the "Ajuaju-
pw&c, yevsos asrwv" which Theognis com
plains of, and to content ourselves with the acci
dental aristoi produced by the fortuitous con
course of breeders. — To JOHN ADAMS, vi, 222.
FORD ED., ix, 424. (M., 1813.)
7140. RACES, Mingling of.— In time,
you [Indians] will be as we are; you will be
come one people with us. Your blood will mix
with ours ; and will spread with ours, over this
great Island. — INDIAN ADDRESS. viii, 234.
(1809.)
7141. BAINBOWS, Formation of.— An
Abbe here [Paris] has shaken, if not destroyed,
the theory of Dominis, Descartes and Newton,
for explaining the phenomenon of the rainbow.
According to that theory, you know, a cone of
rays issuing from the sun, and falling on a
cloud in the opposite part of the heavens, is
reflected back in the form of a smaller cone, the
apex of which is the eye of the observer ; so that
the eye of the observer must be in the axis of
both cones, and equally distant from every part
of the bow. But he observes that he has re
peatedly seen bows, the one end of which has
been very near to him, and the other at a very
great distance. I have often seen the same
thing myself. I recollect well to have seen the
end of a rainbow between myself and a house,
or between myself and a bank, not twenty yards
distant ; and this repeatedly. But I never saw,
what he says he has seen, different rainbows
at the same time intersecting each other. I
never saw coexistent bows, which were not con
centric also. Again, according to the theory,
if the sun is in the horizon, the horizon inter
cepts the lower half of the bow ; if above the
horizon, that intercepts more than half, in pro
portion. So that, generally, the bow is less
than a semi-circle, and never more. He says
he has seen it more than a semi-circle. I have
often seen the leg of the bow below my level.
My situation at Monticello admits this, because
there is a mountain there in the opposite direc
tion of the afternoon's sun, the valley between
which and Monticello, is five hundred feet deep.
I have seen a leg of a rainbow plunge down on
the river running through the valley. But I do
not recollect to have remarked at any time that
the bow was more than half a circle. It appears
to me that these facts demolish the Newtonian
hypothesis, but they do not support that in its
stead by the Abbe. He supposes a cloud be
tween the sun and the observer, and that
through some opening in that cloud, the rays
pass, and form an iris on the opposite part of
the heavens, just as a ray passing through a
hole in the shutter of a darkened room, and
falling on a prism there, forms the prismatic
colors on the opposite wall. According to this,
we might see bows of more than the half circle,
as often as of less. A thousand other objections
occur to this hypothesis. * * * The result
is that we were wiser than we were, by having
an error the less in our catalogue. — To REV.
JAMES MADISON, ii, 430. (P., 1788.)
7142. BAIN BOWS, Lunar.— I have
twice seen bows formed by the moon. They
were of the color of the common circle round
the moon, and were very near, being within a
few paces of me in both instances. — To WILL
IAM DUNBAR. iv, 348. FORD ED., vii, 482.
(W., Jan. 1801.)
7143. BAINBOWS AT MONTICELLO.
— I remark a rainbow of a great portion of
the circle observed by you when on the line of
demarcation. I live in a situation which has
given me an opportunity of seeing more than the
semicircle often. I am on a hill five hundred
feet perpendicularly high. On the east side it
breaks down abruptly to the base, where a river
passes through. A rainbow, therefore, about
sunset, plunges one of its legs down to the river,
five hundred feet below the level of the eye on
the top of the hill. — To WILLIAM DUNBAR. iv,
348. FORD ED., vii, 482. (W., Jan. 1801.)
7144. BANDOLPH (Edmund), Inde-
cisiveness.— Everything [in the cabinet]
hangs upon the opinion of a single person
[Edmund Randolph] and that the most inde
cisive one I ever had to do business with. He
will always contrive to agree in principle with
one but in conclusion with the other. — To
JAMES MADISON, iii, 5^6. (1793.)
7145. BANDOLPH (Edmund), Princi
ples and practice.— -Though he mistakes his
own political character in the aggregate, yet he
gives it * * * in the detail [in his pam
phlet entitled "Vindication"]. Thus, he sup
poses himself a man of no party (page 97) ;
that his opinions not containing any systematic
adherence to party, fall sometimes on one side
and sometimes on the other (page 58). Yet he
gives you these facts, which show that they
fall generally on both sides, and are complete
inconsistencies, i. He never gave an opinion
in the cabinet against the rights of the people
(page 97) ; yet he advised the denunciation of
the popular [Democratic] societies (page 67).
2. He would not neglect the overtures of a com
mercial treaty with France (page 79) ; yet he
always opposed it while Attorney General, and
never seems to have proposed it while Secretary
of State. 3. He concurs in resorting to the mil
itia to quell the pretended insurrections in the
west (page 81), and proposes an augmentation
from twelve thousand five hundred to fifteen
thousand, to march against men at their
ploughs (page 80) ; yet on the sth of August he
is against their marching (pages 83, 101), and
on the 25th of August he is for it (page 84).
4. He concurs in the measure of a mission ex
traordinary to London (as inferred from page
58), but objects to the men, to wit, Hamilton
and Jay (page 58). 5. He was against granting
commercial powers to Mr. Jay (page 58) ; yet
he besieged the doors of the Senate to procure
their advice to ratify. 6. He advises the Presi
dent to a ratification on the merits of the [Jay]
737
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Randolph (Edmund)
Randolph (Peyton)
treaty (page 97), but to a suspension till the
provision order is repealed (page 98). The fact
is, that he has generally given his principles
to the one party, and his practice to the other,
the oyster to one, the shell to the other. Un
fortunately, the shell was generally the lot of his
friends, the ^French and republicans, and the
oyster of their antagonists. Had he been firm
to the principles he professes in the year 1793.
the President would have been kept from an
habitual concert with the British and anti-repub
lican party. But at that time I do not know
which Randolph feared most, a British fleet, or
French disorganizers. Whether his conduct is
to be ascribed to a superior view of things, an
adherence to right without regard to party, as he
pretends, or to an anxiety to trim between both,
those who know his character and capacity will
decide. — To WILLIAM B. GILES, iv, 125. FORD
ED., vii, 40. (M., Dec. 1795.)
7146. . [Edmund Randolph's]
narrative [in his pamphlet] is so straight and
plain, that even those who did not know him
will acquit him of the charge of bribery. Those
who knew him had done it from the first. — To
WILLIAM B. GILES, iv, 125. FORD EDV vii, 41.
(M., Dec. 1795.)
7147. RANDOLPH (Edmund), Resig
nation. — The resignation, or rather the re
moval, of Randolph, you will have learned.
His vindication bears hard on the Executive
in the opinions of this quarter, and though it
clears him in their judgment of the charge of
bribery, it does not give them high ideas of
his wisdom or steadiness. — To JAMES MONROE.
FORD ED., vii, 59. (M., 1796.)
7148. RANDOLPH (John), Attacks on
Jefferson.— That Mr. Randolph has openly
attacked the Administration is sufficiently
known. We were not disposed to join in league
with Britain, under any belief that she is fight
ing for the liberties of mankind, and to enter
into war with Spain, and consequently France.
The House of Representatives were in the same
sentiment when they rejected Mr. Randolph's
resolutions for raising a body of regular troops
for the western service. We are for a peaceable
accommodation with all those nations, if it can
be effected honorably. This, perhaps, is not
the only ground of his alienation ; but which
side retains its orthodoxy, the vote of eighty-
seven to eleven republicans may satisfy you. —
To WILLIAM DUANE. iv, 591. FORD ED., viii,
432. (W., March 1806.)
7149. RANDOLPH (John), Defection.—
The separation of a member of great talents and
weight from the present course of things, scat
tered dismay for a time among those who had
been used to see him with them. A little time,
however, enabled them to rally to their own prin
ciples, and to resume their track under the guid
ance of their own good sense. As long as we
pursue without deviation the principles we have
always professed, I have no fear of deviation
from them in the main body of republicans. —
To CAESAR A. RODNEY. FORD EDV viii, 436.
(W., March 1806.)
7150. . Unexpected and strange
phenomena in the early part of the session, pro
duced a momentary dismay within the walls of
the House of Representatives. However the
body of republicans soon discovered4 their true
situation, rallied to their own principles, and
moved on towards their object in a solid pha
lanx ; insomuch that the session did most of the
good which was in their power, and did it
well. Republicanism may perhaps have lost a
few of its anomalous members, but the steadi
ness of its great mass has considerably increased
on the whole my confidence in the solidity and
permanence of our government. — To JOHN TY
LER. FORD ED., viii, 442. (W., April 1806.)
7151. — — . His course [in opposi
tion to the administration] has excited consid
erable alarm. Timid men consider it as a
proof of the weakness of pur government, and
that it is to be rent into pieces by demagogues,
and to end in anarchy. I survey the scene with
a different eye and draw a different augury from
it. In a House of Representatives of a great
mass of good sense, Mr. Randolph's popular
eloquence gave him such advantages as to place
him unrivalled as a leader of the House; and
although not conciliatory to those whom he led,
principles of duty and patriotism induced many
of them to swallow humiliations he subjected
them to, and to vote as was right, as long as he
kept the path of right himself. The sudden
defection of such a man could not but produce
a momentary astonishment, and even dismay ;
but for a moment only. The good sense of the
House rallied around its principles, and without
any leader pursued steadily the business of the
session, did it well, and by a strength of vote
which has never before been seen. Upon all
trying questions, exclusive of the federalists,
the minority of republicans voting with him has
been from four to six or eight, against from
ninety to one hundred ; and although he treats
the federalists with ineffable contempt, yet,
having declared eternal opposition to this ad
ministration, and consequently associated with
them, in his votes, he will * * * end with
them. The augury I draw from this is, that
there is a steady, good sense in the Legislature,
and in the body of the nation, joined with good
intentions, which will lead them to discern and
to pursue the public good under all circum
stances which can arise, and that no ignis
fa tuns will be able to lead them long astray. —
To JAMES MONROE, v, 9. FORD ED. viii 44.7
(W., May 1806.)
7152. RANDOLPH (John), Florida
purchase.— He speaks of secret communica
tions between the Executive and members [of
Congress], of backstairs' influence, &c. But
he never spoke of this while he and Mr. Nich
olson enjoyed it almost solely. But when
he differed from the Executive in a lead
ing measure, and the Executive, not sub
mitting to him, expressed their sentiments to
others, the very sentiments (to wit, the pur
chase of Florida) which he acknowledges they
expressed to him, then he roars out upon the
backstairs' influence.— To W. A. BURWELL. v,
21. FORD ED., viii, 470. (M., Sep. 1806.) See
CONGRESS, LEADERSHIP.
7153. RANDOLPH (Peyton), Estimate
°*- — He was indeed a most excellent man ;
and none was ever more beloved and respected
by his friends. Somewhat cold and coy towards
strangers, but of the sweetest affability when
ripened into acquaintance. Of Attic pleasantry
in conversation, always good humored and con
ciliatory. With a sound and logical head, he
was well read in the law ; and his opinions, when
consulted, were highly regarded, presenting al
ways a learned and sound view of the subject,
but generally, too, a listlessness to go into its
thorough development ; for being heavy and in
ert in body, he was rather too indolent and
careless for business, which occasioned him to
get a smaller proportion of it at the bar than his
abilities would otherwise have commanded. In
deed, after his appointment as Attorney-General
Randolph (Tliog. Mann)
Rebellion
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
73*
[of the King], he did not seem to court, nor
scarcely to welcome business. In that office, he
considered himself equally charged with the
rights of the Colony as with those of the crown ;
and in criminal prosecutions, exaggerating noth
ing, he aimed at a candid and just state of the
transaction, believing it more a duty to save an
innocent than to convict a guilty man. Al
though not eloquent, his matter was so substan
tial that no man commanded more attention,
which, joined with a sense of his great worth,
gave him a weight in the House of Burgesses
which few ever attained. — To JOSEPH DELA-
PLAINE. FORD ED., x, 59. (M., 1816.)
7154. RANDOLPH (Thomas Mann),
Independence. — I am aware that in parts of
the Union, and even with persons to whom Mr.
Eppes and Mr. [T. M.] Randolph are unknown,
and myself little known, it will be presumed,
from their connection,* that what comes from
them comes from me. No men on earth are
more independent in their sentiments than they
are, nor any one less disposed than I am to
influence the opinions of others. We rarely
speak of politics, or of the proceedings of the
House, but merely historically, and I carefully
avoid expressing an opinion on them in their
presence, that we may all be at our ease. With
other members [of Congress], I have believed
that more unreserved communications would be
advantageous to the public. — To JOHN RAN
DOLPH. D. L. J., 293. (W., Dec. 1803.)
7155. RANDOLPH (Thomas Mann),
Tribute to. — A gentleman of genius, science,
and honorable mind, t He filled a dignified
station in the General Government, and the most
dignified in his own State. — AUTOBIOGRAPHY.
i, 108. FORD ED., i, 150. (1821.)
_ RATIO OF APPORTIONMENT.—
See APPORTIONMENT.
7156. READING, Passion for.— My re-
pugnance to the writing table becomes daily and
hourly more deadly and insurmountable. In
place of this has come on a canine appetite for
reading. And I indulge in it, because I see in it
a relief against the tcedium senectutis ; a lamp
to lighten my path through the dreary wilder
ness of time before me, whose bourne I see not.
Losing daily all interest in the things around
us, something else is necessary to fill the void.
With me it is reading, which occupies the mind
without the labor of producing ideas from my
own stock. — To JOHN ADAMS, vii, 104. FORD
ED., x, 108. (M., 1818.)
7157. REASON, Action and. — Every one
must act according to the dictates of his own
reason. — To REV. SAMUEL MILLER, v, 237.
FORD ED., ix, 175. (W., 1808.)
7158. REASON, Diverting. — Is reason
to be forever amused with the crochets of
physical sciences, in which she is indulged
merely to divert her from solid speculations
on the rights of man, and wrongs of his op
pressors? It is impossible. The day of de
liverance will come, although I shall not live
to see it. — To M. PAGANEL. v, 582. (M.,
1811.)
7159. REASON, Fallible.—! have learned
to be less confident in the conclusions of
human reason, and give more credit to the
* Sons-in-law of Jefferson.— EDITOR.
t He married Jefferson's eldest daughter. — EDITOR.
honesty of contrary opinions. — To EDWARD
LIVINGSTON, vii, 342. FORD ED., x, 300. (M.,
1824.)
7160. REASON, Government and.— I
hope that we have not labored in vain and
that our experiment will still prove that men
can be governed by reason. — To GEORGE MA
SON, iii, 209. FORD ED., v, 275. (Pa., 1791.)
7161. REASON, Oracle. — Every man's
own reason must be his oracle. — To DR. BEN
JAMIN RUSH, vi, 106. (M., 1813.)
7162. REASON, Power of. — Truth and
reason are eternal. They have prevailed.
And they will eternally prevail, however, in
times and places they may be overborne for a
while by violence, military, civil, or ecclesias
tical. — To REV. MR. KNOX. v, 503. (M.,
1810.)
7163. REASON, Seeking.— The public
say from all quarters that they wish to hear
reason and not disgusting blackguardism. —
To JAMES MADISON, iv, 281. FORD ED., vii,
344. (Pa., I799-)
7164. REASON, Surrender of.— Man
once surrendering his reason, has no remain
ing guard against absurdities the most
monstrous, and like a ship without rudder,
is the sport of every wind. — To JAMES
SMITH, vii, 270. (M., 1822.)
7165. REASON, Umpirage of.— We
should be most unwise, indeed, were we to
cast away the singular blessings of the po
sition in which nature has placed us, the op
portunity she has endowed us with * * *
of cultivating general friendship, and of
bringing collisions of interest to the um-
pirage of reason rather than of force. — THIRD
ANNUAL MESSAGE, viii, 29. FORD ED., viii,
273. (1803.)
7166. . Every man's reason is
his own rightful umpire. This principle,
with that of acquiescence in the will of the
majority, will preserve us free and prosper
ous as long as they are sacredly observed. —
To JOHN F. WATSON, vi, 346. (M., 1814.)
7167. REASON vs. ERROR.— Reason
and experiment have been indulged, and er
ror has fled before them. — NOTES ON VIR
GINIA, viii, 401. FORD ED., iii, 264. (1782.)
7168. . Reason and free in
quiry are the only effectual agents against
error. — NOTES ON VIRGINIA, viii, 400. FORD
ED., iii, 263. (1782.)
7169. REASON vs. FORCE.— A govern
ment of reason is better than one of force. —
To RICHARD RUSH, vii, 183. (M., 1820.)
7170. REBELLION, Bacon's. — I return
you the manuscript history of Bacon's rebellion.
* * * It is really a valuable morsel in the
history of Virginia. That transaction is the
more marked, as it was the only rebellion or in
surrection * * in the colony before the
American Revolution. — To RUFUS KING, iv,
528. (W., 1804.)
7171. REBELLION, Freedom from.—
We have had thirteen States independent eleven
739
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Rebellion.
Kei'orm
years. There has been one rebellion. That
comes to one rebellion in a century and a half
for each State. What country before ever ex
isted a century and a half without a rebellion ? —
To W. S. SMITH, ii, 318. FORD ED., iv, 467.
(P., 1787.) See GOVERNMENT.
7172. REBELLION, Necessary.— I hold
it that a little rebellion, now and then, is a good
thing, and as necessary in the political world as
storms are in the physical. — To JAMES MADISON.
ii, 105. FORD ED., iv, 362. (P., 1787.)
7173. . A little rebellion now
and then * * * is a medicine necessary for
the sound health of government. — To JAMES
MADISON, ii, 105. FORD ED., iv, 363. (P.,
1787.)
- REBELLION, Shays's.— See SHAYS'S
REBELLION.
7174. REBELLION, Spirit of.— The
spirit of resistance to government is so valuable
on certain occasions, that I wish it to be always
kept alive. It will often be exercised when
wrong, but better so than not to be exercised at
all. — To MRS. JOHN ADAMS. FORD ED., iv, 370.
(P., 1787.)
7175. REBELLION, Remedy for.—
What country can preserve its liberties if its
rulers are not warned, from time to time, that
the people preserve the spirit of resistance?
Let them take arms. The remedy is to set them
right as to facts, pardon and pacify them. — To
W. S. SMITH, ii, 318. FORD ED., iv, 467. (P.,
1787.) See PUBLICITY.
7176. REBELLION, Unsuccessful.—
Unsuccessful rebellions generally establish the
encroachments on the rights of the people which
have produced them. An observation of this
truth should render honest republican governors
so mild in their punishment of rebellions, as
not to discourage them too much. — To JAMES
MADISON, ii, 105. FORD ED., iv, 362. (P.,
1787.)
7177. REBELLION, Useful.— I like a
little rebellion now and then. It is like a storm
in the atmosphere. — To MRS. JOHN ADAMS.
FORD ED., iv, 370. (P., 1787.)
— RECEPTIONS, Presidential.— See
CEREMONY, ETIQUETTE, FORMALITIES and
LEVEES.
7178. RECIPROCITY, British.— It is
with satisfaction I lay before you an act of
the British Parliament anticipating this sub
ject so far as to authorize a mutual abolition
of the duties and countervailing duties per
mitted under the treaty of 1794. It shows
on their part a spirit of justice and friendly
accommodation which it is our duty and our
interest to cultivate with all nations. Whether
this would produce a due equality in the
navigation between the two countries, is a
subject for your consideration. — SECOND AN
NUAL MESSAGE, viii, 16. FORD ED., viii, 182.
(Dec. 1802.)
7179. RECIPROCITY, Commerce and.—
Free commerce and navigation are not to be
given in exchange for restrictions and vexa
tions ; nor are they likely to produce any re
laxation of them. — FOREIGN COMMERCE RE
PORT, vii, 647. FORD ED., vi, 480. (1793.)
7180. RECIPROCITY, French.— I have
been laboring with the ministry to get the
trade between France and the United States
put on a better footing, by admitting a free
importation and sale of our produce, assur
ing them that we should take their manufac
tures at whatever extent they would enable
us to pay for them. — To MR. OTTO. i. 558.
(P, 1786.)
7181. RECIPROCITY, Justice and.—
On the restoration of peace in Europe, that
portion of the general carrying trade which
had fallen to our share during the war, was
abridged by the returning competition of
the belligerent powers. This was to be ex
pected, and was just. But in addition we
find in some parts of Europe monopolizing
discriminations, which, in the form of duties,
tend effectually to prohibit the carrying
thither our own produce in our own vessels.
From existing amities, and a spirit of jus
tice, it is hoped that friendly discussion will
produce a fair and adequate reciprocity. But
should false calculations of interest defeat
our hope, it rests with the Legislature to
decide whether they will not meet inequal
ities abroad with countervailing inequalities
at home, or provide for the evil in any other
way. — SECOND ANNUAL MESSAGE, viii, 16.
FORD ED., viii, 182. (Dec. 1802.)
7182. RECIPROCITY, Modification of.
— Where the circumstances of either party
render it expedient to levy a revenue, by way
of impost, on commerce, its freedom might
be modified, in that particular, by mutual
and equivalent measures, preserving it entire
in all others. — FOREIGN COMMERCE REPORT.
vii, 646. FORD ED., vi, 479. (Dec. 1793.)
— RECORDS, Preservation of. — See
HISTORY, RECORDS OF.
7183. RECTITUDE, Contentment and.—
Crooked schemes will end by overwhelming
their authors and coadjutors in disgrace, and he
alone who walks strict and upright, and who, in
matters of opinion, will be contented that others
should be as free as himself, and acquiesce when
his opinion is fairly overruled, will attain his
object in the end. — To GIDEON GRANGER, iv,
543. FORD ED., viii, 300. (M., 1804.)
7184. RECTITUDE, Fame and.— Give
up money, give up fame, give up science, give
the earth itself and all it contains, rather than
do an immoral act. And never suppose, that in
any possible situation, or under any circum
stances, it is best for you to do a dishonorable
thing, however slightly so it may appear to you.*
—To PETER CARR. i, 396. (P., 1785.)
_ REDEMPTIONERS.— See POPULA
TION.
7185. REFORM, Adequate.— The hole
and the patch should be commensurate. — To
JAMES MADISON, ii, 152. FORD ED., iv, 390.
(P., 1787.)
7186. REFORM, Congress and.— The
representatives of the people in Congress are
alone competent to judge of the general dis
position of the people and to what precise
point of reformation they are ready to go. —
To MR. RUTHERFORD. Hi, 499. (Pa., 1792.)
* Peter Carr was the young nephew of Jefferson.—
EDITOR.
Reform
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
740
7187. REFORM, Constitutional.— Hap
pily for us that when we find our constitu
tions defective and insufficient to secure the
happiness of our people, we can assemble
with all the coolness of philosophers, and set
them to rights, while every other nation on
earth must have recourse to arms to amend,
or to restore their constitutions. — To M. DU
MAS, ii, 264. (P., 1787.)
7188. REFORM, In France.— Surely
under such a mass of misrule and oppression
[as existed in France in 1788] a people might
justly press for a thorough reformation, and
might even dismount their rough-shod riders
and leave them to walk on their own legs. —
AUTOBIOGRAPHY, i, 86. FORD ED., i, 119.
(1821.)
7189. REFORM, Generations and.— The
idea that institutions established for the use
of the nation cannot be touched nor modified,
even to make them answer their end, because
of rights gratuitously supposed in those em
ployed to manage them in trust for the pub
lic, may perhaps be a salutary provision
against the abuses of a monarch, but is most
absurd against the nation itself. Yet our
lawyers and priests generally inculcate this
doctrine, and suppose that preceding genera
tions held the earth more freely than we do ;
had a right to impose laws on us, unalterable
by ourselves, and that we, in like manner,
can make laws and impose burthens on fu
ture generations, which they will have no
right to alter; in fine, that the earth belongs
to the dead and not to the living. — To GOV
ERNOR PLUMER. vii, 19. (M., 1816.) See
GENERATIONS.
7190. REFORM, Government and. —
Our citizens may be deceived for awhile, and
have been deceived ; but as long as the presses
can be protected, we may trust to them for
light ; still more perhaps to the taxgatherers ;
for it is not worth the while of our anti-repub
licans to risk themselves on any change of
government, but a very expensive one. Re
duce every department to economy, and there
will be no temptation to them to betray their
constituents. — To ARCHIBALD STUART. FORD
ED., vii, 378. (M., I799-)
7191. REFORM, Gradual.— A forty
years' experience of popular assemblies has
taught me, that you must give them time for
every step you take. If too hard pushed, they
balk, and the machine retrogrades. — To JOEL
BARLOW, v, 217. FORD ED., ix, 169. (W.,
1807.)
7192. . Truth advances, and
error recedes step by step only ; and to do our
fellow-men the most good in our power, we
must lead where we can, follow where we
cannot, and still go with them, watching al
ways the favorable moment for helping them
to another step. — To THOMAS COOPER, vi,
390. (M., 1814.)
7193. REFORM, Moderation in.—
Things even salutary should not be crammed
down the throats of dissenting brethren, es-
Decially when they may be put into a form to be
willingly swallowed.* — To EDWARD LIVINGS
TON, vii, 343. FORD ED., x, 301. (M., 1824.)
7194. REFORM, Necessity for.— I think
moderate imperfections [in constitutions and
laws] had better be borne with; because,
when once known, we accommodate ourselves
to them, and find practical means of correct-
ng their ill effects. But I know also, that
laws and institutions must go hand in hand
with the progress of the human mind. As
:hat becomes more developed, more enlight
ened, as new discoveries are made, new truths
disclosed, and manners and opinions change
with the change of circumstances, institutions
must advance also, and keep pace with the
times. — To SAMUEL KERCHIVAL. vii, 15.
FORD ED., x, 42. (M., 1816.)
7195. REFORM, Peaceable.— Go on do-
ng with your pen what in other times was
done with the sword: show that reformation
is more practicable by operation on the mind
than on the body of man. — To THOMAS
PAINE. FORD ED., vi, 88. (Pa., 1792.)
7196. . All [reforms] can be
* * * [achieved] peaceably, by the people
confining their choice of Representatives and
Senators to persons attached to republican
government and the principles of 1776, not
office-hunters, but farmers, whose interests
are entirely agricultural. Such men are the
true representatives of the great American
interest, and are alone to be relied on for ex
pressing the proper American sentiments. — •
To ARTHUR CAMPBELL, iv, 198. FORD ED.,
vii, 170. (M., 1797.)
7197. REFORM, People and.— When
ever things get so far wrong as to attract
their notice, the people, if well informed, may
be relied on to set them to rights. — To DR.
PRICE, ii, 553. (P., 1789.)
7198. - — . [Reformation] must be
brought about by the people, using their elec
tive rights with prudence and self-possession,
and not suffering themselves to be duped by
treacherous emissaries. — To ARTHUR CAMP
BELL, iv, 198. FORD ED., vii, 170. (M., 1797.)
7199. REFORM, Persistent.— No good
measure was ever proposed which, if duly
pursued, failed to prevail in the end. — To ED
WARD COLES. FORD ED., ix, 479. (M., 1814.)
7200. . In endeavors to im
prove our situation, we should never despair.
— To JOHN QUINCY ADAMS, vii, 89. (M.,
1817.)
7201. REFORM, Public money and.— I
am sensible how far I should fall short of ef
fecting all the reformation which reason would
* From the time when Jefferson began his great
reforms in the Virginia House of Burgesses, the gen
eral tendency and large lines of his purposes and
policy held with much steadiness in the noble direc
tion of a perfect humanitarianism. To this day
[1886] the multitude cherish and revere his memory,
and in so doing pay a just debt of gratitude to a
friend who not only served them, as many have done,
but who honored and respected them, as very few
have done.— MORSE'S Life of Jefferson.
74i
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Reform
Relations
suggest, and experience approve, were I free to
do whatever I thought best ; but when we
reflect how difficult it is to move or inflect the
great machine of society, how impossible to
advance the notions of a whole people sud
denly to ideal right, we see the wisdom of
Solon's remark, that no more good must be
attempted than the nation can bear, and that
all will be chiefly to reform the waste of pub
lic money, and thus drive away the vultures
who prey upon it. and improve some little
upon old routines. Some new fences for se
curing constitutional rights may, with the aid
of a good Legislature, perhaps be attainable.
—To DR. WALTER JONES, iv, 392. (W.,
March 1801.)
7202. REFORM, Quixotic.— Don Quixote
undertook to redress the bodily wrongs of the
world, but the redressment of mental vagaries
would be an enterprise more than Quixotic. —
To DR. WATERHOUSE. vii, 257. FORD ED., x,
220. (M., 1822.)
7203. REFORM, Retrenchment and. —
Levees are done away. The first communica
tion to the next Congress will be, like all
subsequent ones, by message, to which no an
swer will be expected. The diplomatic estab
lishment in Europe will be reduced to three
ministers. The compensations to collectors
depend on you [Congress], and not on me.
The army is undergoing a chaste reformation.
The navy will be reduced to the legal estab
lishment by the last of this month. _ Agencies
in every department will be revised. We
shall push you to the uttermost in economi
zing. A very early recommendation * * *
[was] to the Postmaster General to employ
no printer, foreigner, or revolutionary tory in
any of his offices. — To NATHANIEL MACON.
iv, 396. FORD ED., viii, 52. (W., May 1801.)
7204. - — . The multiplication of
public offices, increase of expense beyond in
come, growth and entailment of a public debt,
are indications soliciting the emplovment of
the pruning knife. — To SPENCER ROANE. .vii,
212. FORD ED., x, 188. (M., 1821.)
7205. REFORM, Suffrage and.— The
revolution of 1800 was as real a revolution in
the principles of our government as that of
1776 was in its form ; not effected, indeed, by
the sword, as that, but by the rational and
peaceable instrument of reform, the suffrage
of the people. To SPENCER ROANE. vii, 133.
FORD ED., x, 140. (P.F., 1819.)
7206. REFORM, Timely.— It can never
be too often repeated that the time for fixing
every essential right, on a legal basis, is while
our rulers are honest and ourselves united.—
NOTES ON VIRGINIA, viii, 402. FORD ED., iii,
266. (1782.)
7207. REFORMERS, Dangerous.— The
office of reformer of the superstitions of a
nation is ever dangerous. — To WILLIAM
SHORT, vii, 167. (M., 1820.)
7208. REGENCIES, Peaceable.— Re
gencies are generally peaceable. — To DR. CUR-
RIE. ii, 544. (P., 1788.)
7209. RELATIONS, Appointment to
office. — The public will never be made to
believe that an appointment of a relative is
made on the ground of merit alone, unin
fluenced by family views; nor can they ever
see with approbation offices the disposal of
which they entrust to their Presidents for pub
lic purposes, divided out as family property.
Mr. Adams degraded himself infinitely by his
conduct on this subject, as General Wash
ington had done himself the greatest honor.
With two such examples to proceed by, I
should be doubly inexcusable to err. It is
true that this places the relations of the Presi
dent in a worse situation than if he were a
stranger, but the public good, which cannot
be affected if its confidence be lost, requires
this sacrifice. Perhaps, too, it is compensated
by sharing in the public esteem. — To GEORGE
JEFFERSON, iv, 388. FORD ED., viii, 38. (W.,
March 1801.)
7210 . I am much concerned to
learn that any disagreeable impression was made
on your mind, by the circumstances which are
the subject of your letter. Permit me first to
explain the principles which I had laid down
for my own observance. In a government like
ours, it is the duty of the Chief Magistrate, in
order to enable himself to do all the good which
his station requires, to endeavor, by all honor
able means, to unite in himself the confidence
of the whole people. This alone, in any case
where the energy of the nation is required, can
produce a union of the powers of the whole,
and point them in a single direction, as if all
constituted but one body and one mind, and this
alone can render a weaker nation unconquerable
by a stronger one. Towards acquiring the con
fidence of the people, the very first measure is
to satisfy them of his disinterestedness, and that
he is directing their affairs with a single eye
to their good, and not to build up fortunes for
himself and family, and especially, that the of
ficers appointed to transact their business, are
appointed because they are the fittest men, and
not because they are his relations. So prone
are they to suspicion, that where a President ap
points a relation of his own, however worthy,
they will believe that favor and not merit, was
the motive. I, therefore, laid it down as a law
of conduct for myself, never to give an appoint
ment to a relation. Had I felt any hesitation in
adopting this rule, examples were not wanting
to admonish me what to do and what to avoid.
Still, the expression of your willingness to act
in any office for which you were qualified, could
not be imputed to you as blame. It would not
readily occur that a person qualified for office
ought to be rejected merely because he was
related to the President, and the then more re
cent examples favored the other opinion. In
this light I considered the case as presenting
itself to your mind, and that the application
might be perfectly justifiable on your part,
while, for reasons occurring to none perhaps,
but the person in my situation, the public in
terest might render it unadvisable. Of this,
however, be assured that I considered the
proposition as innocent on your part, and that
it never lessened my esteem for you, or the in
terest I felt in your welfare. — To J. GARLAND
JEFFERSON, v, 497. FORD ED., ix, 270. (M., 1810.)
7211. . I have never enquired
what number of sons, relations and friends of
Senators, Representatives, printers, or other use
ful partisans Colonel Hamilton has provided for
Relations
Religion
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
742
among the hundred clerks of his department,
the thousand excisemen, custom house officers,
loan officers, &c., &c., &c., appointed by him, or
at his nod, and spread over the Union ; nor
could I ever have imagined that the man who
has the shuffling of millions backwards and for
wards from paper into money and money into
paper, from Europe to America, and America to
Europe, the dealing out of Treasury-secrets
among his friends in what time and measure he
pleases, and who never slips an occasion of ma
king friends with his means, that such an one, I
say, would have brought forward a charge
against me for having appointed the poet,
Freneau, translating clerk to my office, with a
salary of 250 dollars a year. — To PRESIDENT
WASHINGTON, iii, 464. FORD ED., vi, 105. (M.,
1792.)
7212. RELATIONS, Recommending.—
Does Mr. Lee go back to Bordeaux? If he
does, I have not a wish to the contrary. If he
does not, permit me to place my friend and
kinsman G. J. [George Jefferson] on the list
of candidates. No appointment can fall on an
honester man, and his talents though not of
the first order, are fully adequate to the sta
tion. His judgment is very sound, and his pru
dence consummate. — To PRESIDENT MADISON.
FORD ED., ix, 284. (M.., 1810.)
7213. RELIGION", Compulsion. — Com
pulsion in religion is distinguished peculiarly
from compulsion in every other thing. I may
grow rich by art I am compelled to follow;
I may recover health by medicines I am com
pelled to take against my own judgment; but
I cannot be saved by a worship I disbelieve
and abhor. — NOTES ON RELIGION. FORD ED.,
ii, 102. (1776?)
7214. RELIGION, Differences.— If
thinking men would have the courage to
think for themselves, and to speak what they
think, it would be found they do not differ
in religious opinions as much as is supposed. —
To JOHN ADAMS, vi, 191. FORD ED., ix, 410.
(M., 1813.)
7215. RELIGION, Discussions concern
ing. — I not only write nothing on religion,
but rarely permit myself to speak on it, and
never but in a reasonable society. — To
CHARLES CLAS. vi, 412. (M., 1815.)
7216. RELIGION, Essence of.— The life
and essence of religion consist in the in
ternal persuasion or belief of the mind. —
NOTES ON RELIGION. FORD ED., ii, 101.
(1776?)
7217. RELIGION, Faith and.— No man
has power to let another prescribe his faith.
Faith is not faith without believing. — NOTES
ON RELIGION. FORD ED., ii, 101. (1776?)
7218. RELIGION, Federal government
and. — In matters of religion, I have consid
ered that its free exercise is placed by the
Constitution independent of the powers of the
General Government. I have, therefore, un
dertaken, on no occasion, to prescribe the
religious exercises suited to it; but have left
them, as the Constitution found them, under
the direction and discipline of State or church
authorities acknowledged by the several reli
gious societies. — SECOND INAUGURAL AD
DRESS, viii, 42. FORD ED., viii, 344. (1805.)
7219. . I consider the govern
ment of the United States as interdicted by
the Constitution from intermeddling with re
ligious institutions, their doctrines, discipline,
or exercises. This results not only from the
provision that no law shall be made respect
ing the establishment or free exercise of re
ligion, but from that also which reserves to
the States the powers not delegated to the
United States. Certainly, no power to pre
scribe any religious exercise, or to assume
any authority in religious discipline, has been
delegated to the General Government. It
must then rest with the States, as far as it
can be in any human authority. — To REV.
SAMUEL MILLER, v, 236. FORD ED., ix, 174.
(W., 1808.)
7220. . I do not believe it is for
the interest of religion to invite the civil mag
istrate to direct its exercises, its discipline,
or its doctrines ; nor of the religious societies,
that the General Government should be in
vested with the power of effecting any uni
formity of time or matter among them. — To
REV. SAMUEL MILLER, v, 237. FORD ED., ix,
175. (W., 1808.)
7221. RELIGION, Freedom of.— All
persons shall have full and free liberty of
religious opinion. — PROPOSED VA. CONSTITU
TION. FORD ED., ii, 27. (June 1776.)
7222. . From the dissensions
among Sects themselves arise, necessarily, a
right of choosing and necessity of delibera
ting to which we will conform. But if we
choose for ourselves, we must allow others to
choose also. This establishes religious liberty.
— NOTES ON RELIGION. FORD ED., ii, 08.
(1776?)
7223. . If I be marching on
with my utmost vigor in that way which ac
cording to the sacred geography leads to Jeru
salem straight, why am I beaten and ill used
by others because my hair is not of the right
cut; because I have not been dressed right;
because I eat flesh on the road; because I
avoid certain by-ways which seem to lead into
briars; because among several paths I take
that which seems shortest and cleanest ; be
cause I avoid travellers less grave and keep
company with others who are more sour and
austere ; or because I follow a guide crowned
with a mitre and clothed in white? Yet these
are the frivolous things which keep Christians
at war. — NOTES ON RELIGION. FORD ED., ii,
100. (1776?)
7224 . We [the Assembly of
Virginia] * * * declare that the rights
hereby asserted [in the Statute of Religious
Freedom] are of the natural rights of man
kind, and that if any act shall be hereafter
passed to repeal the present [act], or to nar
row its operations, such act will be an in
fringement of natural right. — STATUTE OF
RELIGIOUS FREEDOM, viii, 456. FORD ED., ii,
239- (I779-)
7225. . I do not like [in the
Federal Constitution] the omission of a bill
of rights, providing clearly and without the
743
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Religion
aid of sophisms for freedom of religion. — To
JAMES MADISON, ii, 329. FORD ED., iv, 476.
(P., Dec. 1787.)
7226. . Almighty God hath
created the mind free, and manifested His
supreme will that free it shall remain by ma
king it altogether insusceptible of ' restraint.
* * * All attempts to influence it by tem
poral punishments or burthens, or by civil
incapacitations, tend only to beget habits of
hypocrisy and meanness, and are a departure
from the plan of the Holy Author of our
religion, who, being Lord both of body and
mind, yet chose not to propagate it by coer
cions on either, as was in his Almighty power
to do, but to exalt it by its influence on reason
alone. — STATUTE OF RELIGIOUS FREEDOM, viii,
454. FORD ED., ii, 237. U779-)
7227. . By a declaration of
rights I mean one which shall stipulate free
dom of religion. — To A. DONALD, ii, 355.
(P., 1788.)
7228. . I sincerely rejoice at
the acceptance of our new Constitution by
nine States. It is a good canvas, on which
some strokes only want retouching. What
these are, I think are sufficiently manifested
by the general voice from north to south,
which calls for a bill of rights. It seems
pretty generally understood that this should
go to * * * religion. * * * The
declaration, that religious faith shall be un
punished, does not give impunity to crim
inal acts, dictated by religious error. — To
JAMES MADISON, ii, 445. FORD ED., v, 45.
(P., July 1788.)
7229. . One of the amendments
to the Constitution * * * expressly de
clares, that " Congress shall make no law
respecting an establishment of religion, or
prohibiting the free exercise thereof, or abridg
ing the freedom of speech, or of the press " ;
thereby guarding in the same sentence, and
under the same words, the freedom of re
ligion, of speech and of the press ; insomuch,
that whatever violates either, throws down
the sanctuary which covers the others. — KEN
TUCKY RESOLUTIONS, ix, 466. FORD ED., vii,
295- d798.)
7230. . I am for freedom of
religion, and against all manoeuvres to bring
about a legal ascendancy of one sect over
another.— To ELBRIDGE GERRY, iv, 268. FORD
ED., vii, 328. (Pa., 1799.)
7231. . Freedom of religion I
deem [one of the] essential principles of our
government and, consequently, [one] which
ought to shape its administration.— FIRST _!N-
AUGURAL ADDRESS, viii, 4. FORD ED., viii, 5.
(1801.)
7232. . Among the most ines
timable of our blessings is that * * * of
liberty to worship our Creator in the way we
think most agreeable to His will ; a liberty
deemed in other countries incompatible with
good government and yet proved by our ex
perience to be its best support. — R. TO A. OF
BAPTISTS, viii, 119. (1807.)
7233. _. We have solved * * *
,'the great and interesting question whether
freedom of religion is compatible with order
in government, and obedience to the laws.
And we have experienced the quiet as well as
the comfort which results from leaving every
one to profess freely and openly those prin
ciples of religion which are the inductions of
his own reason, and the serious convictions
of his own inquiries. — R. TO A. VIRGINIA
BAPTISTS, viii, 139. (1808.)
7234. . Having ever been an
advocate for the freedom of religious opinion
and exercise, from no person, certainly, was
an abridgment of these sacred rights to be
apprehended less than from myself. — R. TO A.
PITTSBURG METHODISTS, viii, 142. (1808.)
7235. . The Constitution has
not placed our religious rights under the
power of any public functionary. — R. TO A.
PITTSBURG METHODISTS, viii, 142. (1808.)
7236. . There are certain prin
ciples in which the constitutions of our sev
eral States all agree, and which all cherish as
vitally essential to the protection of the life,
liberty, property and safety of the citizen.
[One is] Freedom of Religion, restricted only
from acts of trespass on that of others. — To
M. CORAY. vii, 323. (M., 1823.) See VIR
GINIA STATUTE OF RELIGIOUS FREEDOM, in AP
PENDIX.
7237. RELIGION", Government and.—
Whatsoever is lawful in the Commonwealth,
or permitted to the subject in the ordinary
way, cannot be forbidden to him for religious
uses; and whatsoever is prejudicial to the
Commonwealth in their ordinary uses and,
therefore, prohibited by the laws, ought not to
be permitted to churches in their sacred
rites. For instance, it is unlawful in the or
dinary course of things, or in a private house,
to murder a child. It should not be permitted
any sect then to sacrifice children : it is or
dinarily lawful (or temporarily lawful) to kill
calves or lambs. They may, therefore, be
religiously sacrificed, but if the good of the
State required a temporary suspension of
killing lambs, as during a siege, sacrifices of
them may then be rightfully suspended also.
This is the true extent of toleration. — NOTES
ON RELIGION. FORD ED., ii, 102. (1776?)
7238. RELIGION, Growth of.— To me
no information could be more welcome than
that the minutes of the several religious so
cieties should prove, of late, larger additions
than have been usual, to their several associa
tions. — R. TO A. NEW LONDON METHODISTS.
viii, 147. (1809.)
7239. RELIGION, Honesty of life and.
— I must ever believe that religion substan
tially good which produces an honest life
-To MILES KING, vi, 388. (M., 1814.)
7240. RELIGION, Interference with.—
No man complains of his neighbor for ill
management of his affairs, for an error in
sowing his land, or marrying his daughter,
for consuming his substance in taverns, pull-
Religion
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
744
ing down, building, &c. In all these he has
his liberty: but if he do not frequent the
church, or there conform to ceremonies, there
is an immediate uproar. The care of every
man's soul belongs to himself. But what if
he neglect the care of it? Well, what if he
neglect the care of his health or estate, which
more nearly relate to the State? Will the
magistrate make a law that he shall not be
poor or sick? Laws provide against injury
from others, but not from ourselves. God
Himself will not save men against their wills.
— NOTES ON RELIGION. FORD ED., ii, 99.
(1776?)
7241. RELIGION, Intermeddling with.
— With the religion of other countries my
own forbids intermeddling. — To SAMUEL
GREENHOW. vi, 308. (M., 1814.)
7242. RELIGION, And law.— I consider
* * * religion a supplement to law in the
government of men. — To MR. WOODWARD, vii,
339. (M., 1824.)
7243. RELIGION", Opinions respecting.
— It is a matter of principle with me to avoid
disturbing the tranquillity of others by the
expression of any opinion on the innocent
questions on which we schismatize. — To
JAMES FISHBACK. v, 471. (M., 1809.)
7244. RELIGION, Personal.— Neither
of us knows the religious opinions of the
other; that is a matter between our Maker
and ourselves. — To THOMAS LEIPER. v, 417.
FORD ED., ix, 238. (W., 1809.)
7245. . I have considered re
ligion as a matter between every man and
his Maker, in which no other, and far less
the public had a right to intermeddle. — To
RICHARD RUSH. FORD ED., ix, 385. (M.,
1813-)
7246. . Religion is a subject
on which I have ever been most scrupulously
reserved. I have considered it as a matter
between every man and his Maker, in which
•no other, and far less the public had a right to
intermeddle.— To RICHARD RUSH. FORD ED.,
ix, 385. (M., 1813.)
7247. . I inquire after no man's
religion, and trouble none with mine ; nor is
it given us in this life to know whether yours
or mine, our friends' or our foes', is exactly
the right.— To MILES KING, vi, 388. (M.,
1814.)
7248. . pur particular principles
of religion are a subject of accountability to
our God alone. — To MILES KING, vi, 388.
(M., 1814.)
7249. - — . I have ever thought re
ligion a concern purely between our God and
our consciences, for which we were account
able to Him, and not to the priests. I never
told my own religion, nor scrutinized that of
another. I never attempted to make a con
vert nor wished to change another's creed.
I have ever judged of the religion of others
by their lives * * * for it is in our lives,
and not from our words, that our religion
must be read.— To MRS. M. HARRISON
SMITH, vii, 28. (M., 1816.)
7250. . I do not wish to trouble
the world with my creed, nor to be troubled
for them. These accounts are to be settled
only with Him who made us; and to Him
we leave it, with charity for all others, of
whom, also, He is the only rightful and com
petent judge. — To TIMOTHY PICKERING, vii,
211. (M., 1821.)
7251. . I am of a sect by my
self, as far as I know. — To EZRA STILES, vii,
127. (M., 1819.)
7252. . One of our fan-color
ing biographers, who paints small men as very
great, enquired of me lately, with real af
fection, too, whether he might consider as
authentic, the change in my religion much
spoken of in some circles. Now this supposed
that they knew what had been my religion
before, taking for it the word of their priests,
whom I certainly never made the confidants
of my creed. My answer was, " say nothing
of my religion. It is known to my God and
myself alone. Its evidence before the world
is to be sought in my life; if that has been
honest and dutiful to society, the religion
which has regulated it cannot be a bad one ".
—To JOHN ADAMS, vii, 55. FORD ED., x, 73.
(M., 1817.)
7253. RELIGION, Political sermons.—
On one question I differ, * * * the right
of discussing public affairs in the pulpit.
* * * The mass of human concerns, moral
and physical, is so vast, the field of knowl
edge requisite for man to conduct them to the
best advantage is so extensive, that no human
being can acquire the whole himself, and
much less in that degree necessary for the in
struction of others. It has of necessity, then,
been distributed into different departments,
each of which singly, may give occupation
enough to the whole time and attention of a
single individual. Thus we have teachers of
languages, teachers of mathematics, of natural
philosophy, of chemistry, of medicine, of law,
of historv, of government, &c. Religion, too,
is a separate department, and happens to be
the only one deemed requisite for all men,
however high or low. Collections of men
associate under the name of congregations,
and employ a religious teacher of the par
ticular set of opinions of which they happen
to be, and contribute to make up a stipend as
a compensation for the trouble of delivering
them, at such periods as they agree on, les
sons in the religion they profess. If they
want instruction in other sciences or arts,
they apply to other instructors; and this Is
generally the business of early life. But, I
suppose, there is not a single instance of a
single congregation which has employed their
preacher for the mixed purposes of lecturing
them from the pulpit in chemistry, in medi
cine, in law, in the science and principles of
government, or in anything but religion ex
clusively. Whenever, therefore, preachers, in-
745
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Religion
stead of a lesson in religion, put them off
with a discourse on the Copernican system,
on chemical affinities, on the construction of
government, or the characters or conduct of
those administering it, it is a breach of con
tract, depriving their audience of the kind of
service for which they are salaried, and giv
ing them, instead of it, what they did not
want, or, if wanted, would rather seek from
better sources in that particular art or science.
In choosing our pastor, we look to his re
ligious qualifications, without enquiring into
his physical or political dogmas, with which
we mean to have nothing to do. I am aware
that arguments may be found, which may
twist a thread of politics into the cord of
religious duties. So may they for every other
branch of human art or science. Thus, for
example, it is a religious duty to obey the
laws of our country; the teacher of religion,
therefore, must instruct us in those laws, that
we may know how to obey them. It is a re
ligious duty to assist our sick neighbors ; the
preacher must, therefore, teach us medicine,
that we may do it understandingly. It is a
religious duty to preserve our health ; our
religious teacher, then, must tell us what
dishes are wholesome, and give us recipes
in cookery, that we may learn how to prepare
them. And so, ingenuity, by generalizing
more and more, may amalgamate all the
branches of science into every one of them,
and the physician who is paid to visit the
sick, may give a sermon instead of medicine ;
and the merchant to whom money is sent
for a hat, may send a handkerchief instead of
it. But notwithstanding this possible con
fusion of all sciences into one, common sense
draws the lines between them sufficiently dis
tinct for the general purposes of life, and no
one is at a loss to understand that a recipe in
medicine or cookery, or a demonstration in
geometry, is not a lesson in religion. I do
not deny that a congregation may if they
please, agree with their preacher that he shall
instruct them in medicine also, or law, or
politics. Then, lectures in these, from the
pulpit, become not only a matter of right, but
of duty also. But this must be with the con
sent of every individual ; because the associa
tion being voluntary, the majority has no
right to apply the contributions of the minor
ity to purposes unspecified in the agreement
of the congregation. — To MR. WENDOVER. vi,
445. (M., 1815.)
7254. . I agree, too, that on all
other occasions, the preacher has the right,
equally with every other citizen, to express
his sentiments, in speaking or writing, on the
subjects of medicine, law, politics, £c., his lei
sure time being his own, and his congregation
not obliged to listen to his conversation or to
read his writings. — To MR. WENDOVER. vi,
446. (M., 1815.)
7255. RELIGION, Public office and.—
The proscribing any citizen as unworthy the
public confidence, by laying upon him an in
capacity of being called to offices of trust or
emolument, unless he profess or renounce this
or that religious opinion, * * tends to
corrupt the principles of that very religion
it is meant to encourage, by bribing with a
monopoly of worldly honors and emoluments,
those who will externallyprofess and conform
to it. — STATUTE OF RELIGIOUS FREEDOM, viii,
455. FORD ED., ii, 238. (i779-)
7256. RELIGION, Public opinion and.
— We ought with one heart and one hand to
hew down the daring and dangerous efforts
of those who would seduce the public opinion
to substitute itself into that tyranny over re
ligious faith which the laws have so justly
abdicated. For this reason, were my opinions
up to the standard of those who arrogate the
right of questioning them, I would not coun
tenance that arrogance by descending to an
explanation. — To EDWARD DOWSE, iv, 478.
(W., 1803.)
7257. BELIGION, Reason and.— Dis
pute as long as we will on religious tenets,
our reason at last must ultimately decide, as
it is the only oracle which God has given us
to determine between what really comes from
Him and the phantasms of a disordered or
deluded imagination. When He means to
make a personal revelation, He carries con
viction of its authenticity to the reason He
has bestowed as the umpire of truth. You
believe you have been favored with such a
special communication. Your reason, not
mine, is to judge of this; and if it shall be
His pleasure to favor me with a like admo
nition, I shall obey it with the same fidelity
with which I would obey His known will in
all cases.— To MILES KING, vi, 387. (M.,
1814-)
7258. - — . Hitherto I have been
under the guidance of that portion of reason
which God has thought proper to deal out
to me. I have followed it faithfully in all
important cases, to such a degree at least as
leaves me without uneasiness ; and if on
minor occasions I have erred from its dic
tates, I have trust in Him who made us what
we are, and I know it was not His plan to
make us always unerring. — To MILES KING.
vi, 388. (M., 1814.)
7259. RELIGION, Schismatics.— It was
the misfortune of mankind that during the
darker centuries the Christian priests, follow
ing their ambition and avarice, combining
with the magistrate to divide the spoils of the
people, could establish the notion that schis
matics might beousted of theirpossessions and
destroyed. This notion we have not yet
cleared ourselves from. In this case no won
der the oppressed should rebel, and they will
continue to rebel, and raise disturbance, until
their civil rights are fully restored to them,
and all partial distinctions, exclusions and in-
capacitations are removed. — NOTES ON RE
LIGION. FORD ED., ii, 103. (1776?)
7260. RELIGION, Toleration.— How far
does the duty of toleration extend? I. No
church is bound by the duty of toleration to
retain within her bosom obstinate offenders
against her laws. 2. We have no right to
Religion
Reparation
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
746
prejudice another in his civil enjoyments be
cause he is of another church. If any man err
from the right way, it is his own misfortune,
no injury to thee; nor therefore art thou to
punish him in the things of this life because
thou supposeth he will be miserable in that
which is to come — on the contrary, according
to the spirit of the gospel, charity, bounty,
liberality are due him. — NOTES ON RELIGION.
FORD ED., ii, 99. (1776?) See PRESBYTERIAN
SPIRIT.
7261. . Why have Christians
been distinguished above all people who have
ever lived, for persecutions? Is it because it
is the genius of their religion ? No, its genius
is the reverse. It is the refusing toleration
to those of a different opinion which has
produced all the bustles and wars on account
of religion. — NOTES ON RELIGION. FORD EDV
ii, 103. (1776?)
7262. . Three of our papers
have presented us the copy of an act of the
Legislature of New York, which if it has
really passed, will carry us back to the
times of the darkest bigotry and barbar
ism, to find a parallel. Its purport is,
that all those who shall hereafter join
in communion with the religious sect of
Shaking Quakers, shall be deemed civilly
dead, their marriages dissolved, and all their
children and property taken out of their
hands. This act being published nakedly in
the papers, without the usual signatures, or
any history of the circumstances of its pas
sage, I am not without a hope it may have
been a mere abortive attempt. It contrasts
singularly with a cotemporary vote of the
Pennsylvania Legislature, who, on a propo
sition to make the belief in God a necessary
qualification for office, rejected it by a great
majority, although assuredly there was not a
single atheist in their body. And you may
remember to have heard that when the act
for Religious Freedom was before the Vir
ginia Assembly, a motion to insert the name
of Jesus Christ before the phrase, " the au
thor of our holy religion ", which stood in
the bill, was rejected, although that was the
creed of a great majority of them. — To AL
BERT GALLATIN. vii, 79. FORD EDV x, 91.
(M., 1817.)
7263. RELIGION, Virginia laws re
specting. — The present [1782] state of our
[Virginia] laws on the subject of religion is
this. The convention of May, 1776, in their
declaration of rights, declared it to be a truth,
and a natural right, that the exercise of re
ligion should be free ; but when they pro
ceeded to form on that declaration the ordinance
of government, instead of taking up every
principle declared in the bill of rights, and
guarding it by legislative sanction, they passed
over that which asserted our religious rights,
leaving them as they found them. The same
convention, however, when they met as a mem
ber of the General Assembly in October, 1776,
repealed all acts of Parliament which had ren
dered criminal the maintaining any opinions in
matters of religion, the forbearing to repair to
church, and the exercising any mode of wor
ship ; and suspended the laws giving salaries to
the clergy, which suspension was made perpetual
in October, 1779. Statutory oppressions in
religion being thus wiped away, we remain at
present under those only imposed by the com
mon law, or by our own acts of Assembly. At
the common law, heresy was a capital offence,
punishable by burning. Its definition was left to
the ecclesiastical judges, before whom the con
viction was, till the statute of the i El. c. i.
circumscribed it, by declaring, that nothing
should be deemed heresy, but what had been
so determined by authority of the canonical
Scriptures, or by one of the four first general
councils, or by some other council, having for
the grounds of their declaration the express
and plain words of the Scriptures. Heresy,
thus circumscribed, being an offence against
the common law, our act of Assembly of Octo
ber, 1777, c. 17, gives cognizance of it to the
General Court, by declaring that the jurisdiction
of that Court shall be general in all matters at
the common law. The execution is by the writ
De haretico comburendo. By our act of As
sembly of 1705, c. 30, if a person brought up in
the Christian religion denies the being of a
God, or the Trinity, or asserts that there are
more gods than one, or denies the Christian
religion to be true, or the Scriptures to be of
divine authority, he is punishable on the first
offence by incapacity to hold any office or em
ployment, ecclesiastical, civil, or military ; on
the second, by disability to sue, to take any gift
or legacy, to be guardian, executor, or adminis
trator, and by three years' imprisonment, with
out bail. A father's right to the custody of his
own children being founded in law on his right
of guardianship, this being taken away, they
may, of course, be severed from him, and put
by the authority of a court, into more ortho
dox hands. This is a summary view of that
religious slavery under which a people have
been willing to remain, who have lavished their
lives and fortunes for the establishment of their
civil freedom. The error seems not sufficiently
eradicated, that the operations of the mind, as
well as the acts of the body, are subject to the
coercion of the laws. But our rulers can have
no authority over such natural rights, only as
we have submitted to them. The rights of con
science we never submitted, we could not sub
mit. We are answerable for them to our God.
The legitimate powers of government extend
to such acts only as are injurious to others. *
But it does me no injury for my neighbor to
say there are twenty gods, or no god. It neither
picks my pocket nor breaks my legs. If it be
said, his testimony in a court cannot be relied
on, reject it then, and be the stigma on him.
Constraint may make him worse by making him
a hypocrite, but it will never make him a truer
man. It may fix him obstinately in his errors,
but will not cure them. — NOTES ON VIRGINIA^
viii, 398. FORD ED., iii, 262. (1782.)
7264. REPARATION, Demand for.— It
will be very difficult to answer Mr. Erskine's
demand respecting the water casks in the
tone proper for such a demand. I have heard
of one who, having broken his cane over the
head of another, demanded payment for his
cane. This demand might well enough have
made part of an offer to pay the damages
* Jefferson makes the following note from " Ter-
tullianus ad Scapulam, cap. ii."
" Tamen humani juris et naturalis postestatis est,
unicuique quod putaverit, colere ; nee alii obest, aut
prodest, alterius religio. Sed nee religionis est
cogere religionem, quae sponte suscipi debeat, non
vi."— EDITOR. See CHURCH and CHURCH AND
STATE,
747
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Reparation
Representation
done to the Chesapeake, and to deliver up the
authors of the murders committed on board
her. — To JAMES MADISON, v, 169. FORD ED.,
ix, 127. (M., Aug. 1807.) See CHESAPEAKE.
7265. REPARATION, War and.— Con
gress could not declare war without a demand
of satisfaction.— To GENERAL SMITH, v, 146.
(W., July 1807.) See INDEMNIFICATION.
7266. REPOSE, Evils of. — Your love of
repose will lead, in its progress, to a suspen
sion of healthy exercise, a relaxation of mind,
an indifference to everything around you, and
finally to a debility of body, and hebetude of
mind, the farthest of all things from the hap
piness which the well-regulated indulgences of
Epicurus ensure. — To WILLIAM SHORT, vii, 140.
FORD ED., x, 145. (M., 1819.)
7267. REPRESENTATION, Appor
tionment and. — No invasions of the Consti
tution are fundamentally so dangerous as the
tricks played on their own numbers, appor
tionment, and other circumstances respecting
themselves, and affecting their legal qualifica
tions to legislate for the Union. — OPINION ON
APPORTIONMENT BILL, vii, 601. FORD ED., v,
500. (1792.) See APPORTIONMENT.
7268. REPRESENTATION, Aristoc
racy and. — It will be forever seen that of
bodies of men even elected by the people,
there will always be a greater proportion
aristocratic than among their constituents. —
To BENJAMIN HAWKINS, iv, 466. FORD ED.,
viii, 212. (W., 1803.) v
7269. REPRESENTATION, Broad.— J
look for our safety to the broad represent
tation of the people [in Congress]. It will]
be more difficult for corrupt views to lay hold^
of so large a mass.— To T. M. RANDOLPH.
FORD ED., v, 455. (Pa., 1792.)
— REPRESENTATION, In Congress.—
See CONGRESS.
7270. REPRESENTATION, Demo
cratic. — The full experiment of a govern
ment democratical, but representative, was
and is still reserved for us. The idea (taken,
indeed, from the little specimen formerly ex
isting in the English constitution, but now
lost) has been carried by us, more or less,
into all our legislative and executive depart
ments ; but it has not yet, by any of us, been
pushed into all the ramifications of the sys
tem, so far as to leave no authority existing
not responsible to the people; whose rights,
however, to the exercise and fruits of their
own industry, can never be protected against
the selfishness of rulers not subject to their
control at short periods. The introduction of
this new principle of representative democracy
has rendered useless almost everything writ
ten before on the structure of government;
and, in a great measure, relieves our regret,
if the political writings of Aristotle, or of any
other ancient, have been lost, or are unfaith
fully rendered or explained to us. — To ISAAC
H. TIFFANY, vii, 32. (M., 1816.)
7271. . My most earnest wish
is to see the republican element of popular
control pushed to the maximum of its prac
ticable exercise. I shall then believe that
our Government may be pure and perpetual. —
To ISAAC H. TIFFANY, vii, 32. (M., 1816.)
7272. REPRESENTATION, Depriva
tion of. — George III. in execution of the
trust confided to him, has, within his own day,
loaded the inhabitants of Great Britain with
debts equal to the whole fee-simple value of
their island, and, under pretext of governing
it, has alienated its whole soil to creditors
who could lend money to be lavished on
priests, pensions, plunder and perpetual war.
This would not have been so, had the people
retained organized means of acting on their
agents. In this example, then, let us read a
lesson for ourselves, and not " go and do
likewise ". — To SAMUEL KERCHIVAL. vii, 36.
FORD ED., x, 45. (M., 1816.) See DEBT, OP
PRESSIVE ENGLISH.
7273. REPRESENTATION, Equal.—
The French flatter themselves they shall form
a better constitution than the English one. I
think it will be better in some points — worse
in others. It will be better in the article of
representation, which will be more equal. —
To DR. PRICE, ii, 557. (P., Jan. 1789.)
7274. . At the birth of our re
public I committed my opinion [an equal
representation] to the world in the draft of a
constitution annexed to the " Notes on Vir
ginia ", in which a provision was inserted for
a representation permanently equal. The in
fancy of the subject at that moment, and our
inexperience of self-government, occasioned
gross departures in that draft from genuine
republican canons. In truth, the abuses of
monarchy had so much filled all the space of
political contemplation, that we imagined
everything republican which was not mon
archy. We had not yet penetrated to the
mother principle, that " governments are re*i
publican only in proportion as they embody I
the will of their people, and execute it ".£
Hence, our first constitutions had really no
leading principles in them. But experience
and reflection have but more and more con
firmed me in the particular importance of the
equal representation then proposed. — To SAM
UEL KERCHIVAL. vii, 9. FORD ED., x, 37. (M.,
1816.)
7275. . A government is repub
lican in proportion as every member com
posing it has his equal voice in the direction of
its concerns (not indeed in person, which
would be impracticable beyond the limits of
a city, or small township, but) by representa
tives chosen by himself, and responsible to
him at short periods. — To SAMUEL KERCH
IVAL. vii, 10. FORD ED., x, 38. (M., 1816.)
7276. . Let every man who fights
or pays, exercise his just and equal right in
the election of [members of the Legislature].
—To SAMUEL KERCHIVAL. vii, n. FORD ED., ,
x, 39. (M., 1816.)
7277. REPRESENTATION, Freedom
and. — To us is committed [by the Constitu-
Representation
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
748
tion] the important task of proving by ex
ample that a government, if organized in all
its parts on the representative principle, un
adulterated by the infusion of spurious ele
ments, if founded, not in the fears and follies
of man, but on his reason, on his sense of
right, on the predominance of the social over
his dissocial passions, may be so free as to
restrain him in no moral right, and so firm
as to protect him from every moral wrong.
— REPLY TO VERMONT ADDRESS, iv, 418. (W.,
1801.)
/ 7278. REPRESENTATION, Govern
ment by.— Modern times have * * * dis
covered the only device by which the [equal]
rights [of man] can be secured, to wit: gov
ernment by the people, acting not in person,
but by representatives chosen by themselves,
that is to say, by every man of ripe years
and sane mind, who either contributes by his
purse or person to the support of his country.
—To M. CORAY. vii, 319. (M., 1823.)
7279. REPRESENTATION, Govern
ment without. — Shall these governments be
dissolved, their property annihilated, and
their people reduced to a state of nature, at
the imperious breath of a body of men whom
they never saw, in whom they never confided,
and over whom they have no powers of pun
ishment or removal, let their crimes against
the American public be ever so great? —
RIGHTS OF BRITISH AMERICA, i, 131. FORD
ED., i, 436. (I774-)
7280. . Can any one reason be
assigned why one hundred and sixty thou
sand electors in the Island of Great Britain
should give law to four millions in the States
of America, every individual of whom is equal
to every individual of them, in virtue, in
understanding, and in bodily strength ? Were
this to be admitted, instead of being a free
people, as we have hitherto supposed, and
mean to continue ourselves, we should sud
denly be found the slaves not of one but of
one hundred and sixty thousand tyrants, dis
tinguished, too, from all others by the singu
lar circumstances, that they are removed from
the reach of fear, the only restraining motive
which may hold the hand of a tyrant. —
RIGHTS OF BRITISH AMERICA, i, 131. FORD
ED., i, 436. (I774-)
7281. REPRESENTATION, Human
happiness and. — A representative govern
ment, responsible at short intervals of elec
tion, * * * produces the greatest sum of
happiness to mankind. — R. TO A. VERMONT
LEGISLATURE, viii, 121. (1807.)
7282. REPRESENTATION, Imperfect.
— The small and imperfect mixture of repre
sentative government in England, impeded as
it is by other branches, aristocratical and
hereditary, shows yet the power of the repre
sentative principle towards improving the
condition of man. — To M. CORAY. vii, 319.
(M., 1823.)
7283. REPRESENTATION, Principles
of. — In the structure of our Legislatures, we
think experience has proved the benefit of
subjecting questions to two separate bodies of
deliberants ; but in constituting these, natural
right has been mistaken, some making one
of these bodies, and some both, the represent
atives of property instead of persons ; where
as the double deliberation might be as well
obtained without any violation of true prin
ciple, either by requiring a greater age in one
of the bodies, or by electing a proper num
ber of representatives of persons, dividing
them by lot into two chambers, and renewing
the division at frequent intervals, in order
to break up all cabals. — To JOHN CART-
WRIGHT, vii, 357. (M., 1824.)
7284. REPRESENTATION, Qualified.
— Were our State a pure democracy, in which
all its inhabitants should meet together to
transact all their business, there would yet
be excluded from their deliberations: i. In
fants, until arrived at age of discretion. 2.
Women, who, to prevent depravation of
morals and ambiguity of issue, could not mix
promiscuously in the public meetings of men.
3. Slaves, from whom the unfortunate state
of things with us takes away the rights of
will and of property. Those, then, who have
no will could be permitted to exercise none in
the popular assembly ; and, of course, could
delegate none to an agent in a representative
assembly. The business, in the first case,
would be done by qualified citizens only. —
To SAMUEL KERCHIVAL. vii, 36. FORD ED., x,
46. (M., 1816.)
7285. REPRESENTATION, Right of.—
Does his Majesty seriously wish, and publish
it to the world, that his subjects should give
up the glorious right of representation, with
all the benefits derived from that, and submit
themselves the absolute slaves of his sov
ereign will? — RIGHTS OF BRITISH AMERICA, i,
136. FORD ED., i, 441. (I774-)
7286. — . He [George III.] has
endeavored to pervert the exercise of the
kingly office in Virginia into a detestable and
insupportable tyranny * * * by refusing
to pass certain laws unless the persons to be
benefited by them would relinquish the in
estimable right of representation in the Leg
islature. — PROPOSED VA. CONSTITUTION. FORD
ED., ii, 10. (June 1776.)
7287. . He has refused to pass
* * * laws for the accommodation of large
districts of people, unless those people would
relinquish the right of representation in the
legislature, a right inestimable to them, and
formidable to tyrants only. — DECLARATION OF
INDEPENDENCE AS DRAWN BY JEFFERSON.
7288. REPRESENTATION, For slaves.
— I have been told, that on the question of
equal representation, our fellow-citizens in
some sections of the State [Virginia] claim
peremptorily a right of representation for
their slaves. Principle will, in this, as in
most other cases, open the way for us to cor
rect conclusion. * * * It is true, that in
the general Constitution, our State is allowed
a larger representation on account of its
slaves. But every one knows, that that Con-
749
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Representation
Republic
sitution was a matter of compromise ; a capit
ulation between conflicting interests and
opinion. In truth, the condition of different
descriptions of inhabitants in any country is a
matter of municipal arrangement, of which no
foreign country has a right to take notice.
All its inhabitants are men as to them. Thus,
in the New England States, none have the
powers of citizens but those whom they call
freemen; and none are freemen until admitted
by a vote of the freemen of the town. Yet, in
the General Government, these non-freemen
are counted in their quantum of representation
and of taxation. So, slaves with us have no
powers as citizens; yet, in representation in
the General Government, they count in the
proportion of three to five; and so also in tax
ation. Whether this is equal, is not here the
question. It is a capitulation of discordant
sentiments and circumstances, and is obli
gatory on that ground. But this view shows
there is no inconsistency in claiming repre
sentation for them for the other States, and
refusing it within our own. — To SAMUEL
KERCHIVAL. vii, 36. FORD ED., x, 45. (M.,
1816.)
7289. REPRESENTATION, Taxation
and. — Preserve inviolate the fundamental
principle that the people are not to be taxed
but by representatives chosen immediately by
themselves. — To JAMES MADISON, ii, 328.
FORD ED., iv, 475. (P., 178?-)
7290. REPRISAL, Act of war.— Remon
strance and refusal of satisfaction ought to
precede reprisal, and when reprisal follows it
is considered as an act of war, and never yet
failed to produce it in the case of a nation able
to make war. — OPINION ON THE " LITTLE
SARAH ". vii, 628. FORD ED., vi, 259. (1793.)
7291. REPRISAL, Congress and.— If
the case were important enough to require
reprisal, and ripe for that step, Congress must
be called on to take it; the right of reprisal
being expressly lodged with them by the Con
stitution, and not with the Executive. — OPIN
ION ON THE " LITTLE SARAH ". vii, 628. FORD
ED., vi, 259. (I793-)
7292. REPRISAL, Retaliation by.— The
determination to take all our vessels bound to
any other than her ports, amounting to all
the war she can make (for we fear no in
vasion), it would be folly in us to let that
war be all on one side only, and to make no
effort towards indemnification and retaliation
by reprisal. — To CLEMENT CAINE. vi, 14.
FORD ED., ix, 330. (M., Sep. 1811.)
*7293. REPUBLIC, Definition of.— It
must be acknowledged that the term republic
is of very vague application in every lan
guage. Witness the self-styled republics of
\ Holland, Switzerland, Genoa, Venice, Poland.
Were I to assign to this term a precise and
\ definite idea, I would say, purely and simply,
\ it means a government by its citizens in mass,
\ acting .directly and personally, according to
\rules established by the majority; and that
Hyery other government is more or less re
publican, in proportion as it has in its compo
sition more or less of this ingredient of the
direct action of the citizens. Such a govern
ment is evidently restrained to very narrow
limits of space and population. I doubt if
it would be practicable beyond the extent of
a New England township. — To JOHN TAYLOR.
vi, 605. FORD ED., x, 28. (M., 1816.)
7294. -. The first shade from this
pure element, which, like that of pure vital
air, cannot sustain life of itself, would be where
the powers of the government, being divided,
should be exercised each by representatives
chosen either pro hoc vice, or for such short
terms as should render secure the duty of ex
pressing the will of their constituents. This
I should consider as the nearest approach to
a pure republic, which is practicable on a
large scale of country or population. And
we have examples of it in some of our State
constitutions, which, if not poisoned by priest
craft, would prove its excellence over all mix
tures with other elements; and, with only
equal doses of poison, would still be the best.
—To JOHN TAYLOR, vi, 605. FORD ED., x, 29.
(M., 1816.)
7295. - ._. Other shades of republic
anism may be found in other forms of gov
ernment, where the executive, legislative and
judiciary functions, and the different branches
of the latter, are chosen by the people more or
less directly, for longer terms of years, or for
life, or made hereditary; or where there are
mixtures of authorities, some dependent on,
and others independent of the people. The
further the departure from direct and con
stant control by the citizens, the less has the
government the ingredient of republicanism;
evidently none where the authorities are he
reditary, as in France, Venice, &c., or self-
chosen, as in Holland; and little, where for
life, in proportion as the life continues in being
after the act of election.— To JOHN TAYLOR.
vi, 606. FORD ED., x, 29. (M., 1816.)
7296. . The purest republican
feature in the government of our own State,
is the House of Representatives. The Senate
is equally so the first year, less the second,
and so on. The Executive still less, because
not chosen by the people directly. The ju
diciary seriously anti-republican, because for
life; and the national arm wielded * * *
by military leaders, irresponsible but to them
selves. Add to this the vicious constitution of
our county courts (to whom the justice, the
executive administration, the taxation, police,
the military appointments of the county, and
nearly all our daily concerns are confided),
self-appointed, self-continued, holding their
authorities for life, and with an impossibility
of breaking in on the perpetual succession of
any faction once possessed of the bench.
They are in truth, the executive, the judiciary,
and the military of their respective counties,
and the sum of the counties makes the State.
And add, also, that one-half of our brethren
who fight and pay taxes, are excluded, like
helots, from the rights of representation, as
if society were instituted for the soil, and not
for the men inhabiting it ; or one-half of these
Republic
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
750
could dispose of the rights and the will of the
other half, without their consent.* — To JOHN
TAYLOR, vi, 606. FORD ED., x, 29. (M.,
1816.)
7297. . If, then, the control of
the people over the organs of their govern
ment be the measure of its republicanism,
and I confess I know no other measure, it
must be agreed that our governments have
much less of republicanism than ought to have
been expected; in other words, that the peo
ple have less regular control over their agents
than their rights and their interests require.
And this I ascribe, not to any want of re
publican dispositions in those who formed
these constitutions, but to a submission of
true principle to European authorities, to
speculators on government, whose fears of
the people have been inspired by the populace
of their own great cities, and were unjustly
entertained against the independent, the
happy, and, therefore, orderly citizens of the
United States. Much I apprehend that the
golden moment is past for reforming these
heresies. The functionaries of public power
rarely strengthen in their dispositions to
abridge it, and an unorganized call for timely
amendment is likely to prevail against an
organized opposition to it. We are told that
things are going on well ; why change them ?
" Chi sta bene, , non si muova," said the
Italian, " let him who stands well, stand
still ". This is true; and I verily believe they
would go on well with us under an absolute
monarch, while our present character remains,
of order, industry and love of peace, and re
strained, as he would be, by the proper spirit
of the people. But it is while it remains such,
we should provide against the consequences
of its deterioration. And let us rest in the
hope that it will yet be done, and spare our
selves the pain of evils which may never
happen. — To JOHN TAYLOR, vi, 607. FORD
ED., x, 30. (M., 1816.)
7298. . In the General Govern
ment, the House of Representatives is mainly
republican; the Senate scarcely so at all, as
not elected by the people directly, and so long
secured even against those who do elect them ;
the Executive more republican than the Sen
ate, from its shorter term, its election by the
people, in practice (for they vote for A only
on an assurance that he will vote for B)
and because, in practice also, a principle of
rotation seems to be in a course of establish
ment ; the judiciary independent of the nation,
their coercion by impeachment being found
nugatory. — To JOHN TAYLOR, vi, 607. FORD
ED., x, 30. (M., 1816.)
7299. . On this view of the im
port of the term republic, instead of saying,
as has been said, " that it may mean anything
or nothing ", we may say with truth and
meaning, that governments are more or less
republican, as they have more or less of the
element of popular election and control in
* Jefferson here quotes from Sir William Jones's
ode the lines beginning : "What constitutes a State ? "
^EDITOR.
their composition ; and believing, as I do, that
the mass of the citizens is the safest deposi
tary of their own rights, and especially, that
the evils flowing from the duperies of the
people are less injurious than those from the
egoism of their agents, I am a friend to that
composition of government which has in it
the most of this ingredient. And I sincerely
believe * * * that banking establishments
are more dangerous than standing armies ;
and that the principle of spending money to
be paid by posterity, under the name of fund
ing, is but swindling futurity on a large
scale. — To JOHN TAYLOR, vi, 608. FORD ED.,
x, 31. (M., 1816.)
7300. REPUBLIC, Essence of. — Action
by the citizens in person, in affairs within
their reach and competence, and in all others
by representatives, chosen immediately, and
removable by themselves, constitutes the es
sence of a republic. — To DUPONT DE NE
MOURS, vi, 591. FORD ED., x, 24. (P.F.,
1816.)
7301. REPUBLIC, First principle of.—
The first principle of republicanism in that
the lex majoris partis is the fundamental law
of every society of individuals of equal right ;
to consider the will of the society enounced
by the majority of a single vote, as sacred as
if unanimous, is the first of all lessons of im
portance, yet the last which is thoroughly
learnt. This law once disregarded, no other
remains but that of force, which ends neces
sarily in military despotism. — To BARON
HUMBOLDT. vii, 75. FORD ED., x, 89. (M.,
1817-)
7302. REPUBLIC (American), Estab
lishment of.— In the great work which has
been effected in America, no individual has
a right to take any great share to himself.
Our people in a body are wise, because they
are under the unrestrained and unperverted
operation of their own understanding. Those
whom they have assigned to the direction of
their affairs, have stood with a pretty even
front. If any one of them was withdrawn,
many others entirely equal, have been ready
to fill his place with as good abilities. A
nation, composed of such materials, and free
in all its members from distressing wants,
furnishes hopeful implements for the interest
ing experiment of self-government; and we
feel that we are acting under obligations not
confined to the limits of our own society. It
is impossible not to be sensible that we are
acting for all mankind ; that circumstances
denied to others, but indulged to us, have im
posed on us the duty of proving what is the
degree of freedom and self-government in
which a society may venture to leave its in
dividual members. — To DR. JOSEPH PRIEST
LEY, iv, 440. FORD ED., viii, 158. (W.,
1802.)
7303. REPUBLIC (American), Main
tenance of.— Whatever may be the fate of
republicanism in France, we are able to pre
serve it inviolate here. — To JOHN BRECKEN-
RIDGE. FORD ED., vii, 418. (Pa., Jan. 1800.)
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Republic
7304. REPUBLIC (American), A model.
— The spirit of our citizens * * * will
make this government in practice, what it is
in principle, a model for the protection of
man in a state of freedom and order. — To
GENERAL KOSCIUSKO. iv, 295. (Pa., Feb.
I799-)
7305. REPUBLIC (American), Perils
of. — I had sent to the President yesterday
[May 22] drafts of a letter from him to the
Provisory Executive Council of France, and
one from myself to Mr. Ternant, both on the
occasion of his recall. I called on him to-day
[May 23]. He said there was an expression
in one of them, which he had never before
seen in any of our public communications, to
wit, " our republic ". The letter prepared for
him to the Council, began thus : " The Citi
zen Ternant has delivered to me the letter
wherein you inform me, that yielding, &c.,
you had determined to recall him from his
mission, as your Minister Plenipotentiary to
our republic." He had underscored the
words, our republic. He said that certainly
ours was a republican government, but yet
we had not used that style in this way; that
if anybody wanted to change its form into a
monarchy, he was sure it was only a few
individuals, and that no man in the United
States would set his face against it more than
himself; but that this was not what he was
afraid of; his fears were from another quar
ter ; that there was more danger of anarchy
being introduced. He adverted to a piece in
Freneau's paper of yesterday, said he despised
all their attacks on him personally, but that
there never had been an act of the govern
ment, not meaning in the Executive line only,
but in any line, which that paper had not
abused. He had also marked the word re
public thus V where it was applied to the
French republic. He was evidently sore and
warm, and I took his intention to be, that I
should interpose in some way with Freneau,
perhaps withdraw his appointment of transla
ting clerk to my office. But I will not do it.
His paper has saved the Constitution, which
was galloping fast into monarchy, and has
been checked by no means so powerfully as by
that paper. It is well and universally known,
that it has been that paper which has checked
the career of the monocrats ; and the Presi
dent, not sensible of the designs of the party,
has not with his usual good sense and sang
froid, looked on the efforts and effects of this
free press, and seen that, though some bad
things have passed through it to the public,
yet the good have preponderated immensely. —
THE ANAS, ix, 144. FORD ED., i, 230. (May
I793-)
7306. REPUBLIC (American), Salva
tion of.— To save the Republic * * * is
the first and supreme law. — AUTOBIOGRAPHY.
i, 82. FORD ED., i, 114. (1821.)
7307. REPUBLIC (American), Stability
of. — We can no longer say there is nothing
new under the sun. For this whole chapter
in the history of man is new. The great ex
tent of our Republic is new. Its sparse habi
tation is new. The mighty wave of public
opinion which has rolled over it is new. But
the most pleasing novelty is, its so quietly sub
siding over such an extent of surface to its
true level again. The order and good sense
displayed in this recovery from delusion, and
in the momentous crisis which lately arose
[election of President], really bespeak a
strength of character in our nation which
augurs well for the duration of our Republic ;
and I am much better satisfied now of its
stability than I was before it was tried. — To
DR. JOSEPH PRIESTLEY, iv, 374. FORD ED.,
viii, 22. (W., March 1801.)
7308. . We may still believe
with security that the great body of the
American people must for ages yet be sub
stantially republican.— To ROBERT R. LIVING
STON, iv, 297. FORD ED., vii, 369. (Pa.,
I799-)
7309. — - . The resistance which
our Republic has opposed to a course of
operation, for which it was not destined,
shows a strength of body which affords the
most flattering presage of duration. I hope
we shall now be permitted to steer her in
her natural course, and to show by the
smoothness of her motion the skill with which
she has been formed for it. — To GENERAL
WARREN, iv, 375. (W., March 1801.)
7310. . We are never permitted
to despair of the Commonwealth. — To JAMES
MADISON, ii, 331. (P., 1787.)
7311. . The good citizen must
never despair of the Commonwealth. — To
NATHANIEL NILES. iv, 376. FORD EDV viii, 24.
(W., 1801.)
7312. REPUBLIC (American), Tri
umphant. — The cause of republicanism, tri
umphing in Europe, can never fail to do so
here in the long run. — To ARCHIBALD STUART.
FORD ED., vii, 378. (M., May 1799.)
7313. REPUBLIC (American), Wash
ington and.— I was happy to see that Ran
dolph had, by accident, used the expression
"our republic", in the [President's] speech.
The President, however, made no objection to
it. and so, as much as it had disconcerted
him on a former occasion with me, it was
now put into his own mouth to be pronounced
to the two Houses of Legislature.* — THE
ANAS, ix, 183. FORD ED., i, 270. (Nov.
I793-)
7314. REPUBLIC (English), France
and. — Nothing can establish firmly the re
publican principles of our government but an
establishment of them in England. France
will be the apostle for this. — To E. RAN
DOLPH, iv, 192. FORD ED., vii, 156. (Pa.,
June 1797.)
7315. REPUBLIC (English), Prospect
ive. — If I could but see the French and Dutch
at peace with the rest of their continent, I
should have little doubt of dining with Piche-
* Edmund Randolph, Attorney General, had been
selected to write the speech, or message, to Con
gress.— EDITOR.
Republic
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
752
?ru in London, next autumn; for I believe
should be tempted to leave my clover for
awhile, to go and hail the dawn of liberty and
republicanism in that island. — To WILLIAM B.
GILES, iv, 118. FORD ED., vii, n. (M., April
I795-)
7316. REPUBLIC (French), America
and. — I look with great anxiety for the firm
establishment of the new government in
France, being perfectly convinced that if it
takes place there, it will spread sooner or
later all over Europe. On the contrary, a
check there would retard the revival of lib
erty in other countries. I consider the es
tablishment and success of their government
as necessary to stay up our own, and to pre
vent it from falling back to that kind of half
way house, the English constitution. — To
GEORGE MASON, iii, 209. FORD ED., v, 274.
(Pa., Feb. 1791.)
7317. REPUBLIC (French), Bonaparte
and. — I fear our friends on the other side of
the water, laboring in the same cause, have
a great deal of crime and misery to wade
through. My confidence has been placed in
the head, not in the heart of Bonaparte.
I hoped he would calculate truly the dif
ference between the fame of a Washington
and a Cromwell. Whatever his views may be,
he has transferred the destinies of the republic
from the civil to the military arm. Some
will use this as a lesson against the practica
bility of republican government. I read it as
a lesson against the danger of standing
armies. — To SAMUEL ADAMS, iv, 321. FORD
ED., vii, 425. (Pa., Feb. 1800.)
7318. REPUBLIC (French), Future.—
France will yet attain representative govern
ment. You observe it makes the basis of
every constitution which has been demanded
or offered, — of that demanded by their Sen
ate ; of that offered by Bonaparte ; and of that
granted by Louis XVIII. The idea, then, is
rooted, and will be established, although
rivers of blood may yet flow between them
and their object. — To JOHN ADAMS, vi, 525.
(M., 1816.)
7319. REPUBLIC (French), Gratitude
to. — I hope you have been sensible of the gen
eral interest which my countrymen take in all
the successes of your republic. In this no
one joins with more enthusiasm than myself,
an enthusiasm kindled by our love of liberty,
by my gratitude to your nation who helped
us to acquire it, by my wishes to see it ex
tended to all men, and first to those whom
we love most. — To M. ODIT. iv, 123. (M.,
May 1795.)
7320. REPUBLIC (French), Sympathy
with. — Be assured that the government and
the citizens of the United States view with
the most sincere pleasure every advance of
France towards its happiness, an object essen
tially connected with its liberty, and they con
sider the union of principles and pursuits be
tween our two countries as a link which binds
still closer their interests and affections. The
genuine and general effusions of joy which
you saw overspread our country, on their see
ing the liberties of yours rise superior to
foreign invasion and domestic trouble, have
proved to you that our sympathies are great
and sincere, and we earnestly wish on our
part that these our natural* dispositions may
be improved to mutual good, by establishing
our commercial intercourse on principles as
friendly to natural right and freedom, as are
those of our government. — To JEAN BAPTISTE
TERN ANT. iii, 517. FORD ED., vi, 189. (Pa.,
Feb. 1793.)
7321. REPUBLIC (French), Washing
ton and. — I have laid before the President of
the United States your notification, * * *
in the name of the Provisory Executive
Council charged with the administration of
your government, that the French nation has
constituted itself into a Republic. The Presi
dent receives with great satisfaction this at
tention of the Executive Council, and the
desire they have manifested of making
known to us the resolution entered into by
the National Convention, even before a de
finitive regulation of their new establishment
could take place. — To JEAN BAPTISTE TER-
NANT. iii, 516. FORD ED., vi, 189. (Pa., Feb.
I793-)
7322. REPUBLIC (French), Washing
ton's cabinet and.— We met at the Presi
dent's to examine by paragraphs the draft of
a letter I had prepared to Gouverneur Morris
on the conduct of Mr. Genet. There was no
difference of opinion on any part of it, ex
cept on this expression, " An attempt to em
broil both, to add still another nation to the
enemies of his country, and to draw on both
a reproach which, it is hoped, will never stain
the history of either, that of liberty warring
on herself ". Hamilton moved to strike out
these words, " that of liberty warring on her-
self ". He urged generally that it would give
offence to the combined powers ; that it
amounted to a declaration that they were
warring on liberty ; that we were not called
on to declare that the cause of France was
that of liberty ; that he had at first been with
them with all his heart, but that he had long
since left them, and was not for encouraging
the idea here, that the cause of France was
the cause of liberty in general, or could have
either connection or influence in our affairs.
Knox, according to custom, jumped plump
into all his opinions. The President, with a
good deal of positiveness, declared in favor
of the expression ; that he considered the pur
suit of France to be that of liberty, however
they might sometimes fail of the best means
of obtaining it; that he had never at any time
entertained a doubt of their ultimate success,
if they hung well together; and that as to
their dissensions, there were such contradic
tory accounts given, that no one could tell
what to believe. I observed that it had been
supposed among us all along that the present
letter might become public; that we had,
therefore, three parties to attend to, — ist,
France; 2d, her enemies; 3d, the people of
* Mutual in FORD EDITION.— EDITOR.
'53
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Republic
Republicanism
the United States ; that as to the enemies of
France, it ought not to offend them, because
the passage objected to, only spoke of an at
tempt to make the United States, a free na
tion, war on France, a free nation, which
would be liberty warring on herself, and,
therefore, a true fact ; that as to France, we
were taking so harsh a measure (desiring
her to recall her minister) that a precedent
for it could scarcely be found ; that we knew
that minister would represent to his govern
ment that our Executive was hostile to lib
erty, leaning to monarchy, and would en
deavor to parry the charges on himself, by
rendering suspicious the source from which
they flowed; that, therefore, it was essential
to satisfy France, not only of our friendship
to her, but our attachment to the general
cause of liberty, and to hers in particular;
that as to the people of the United States,
we knew there were suspicions abroad that
the Executive, in some of its parts, was
tainted with a hankering after monarchy, an
indisposition towards liberty, and towards the
French cause; and that it was important, by
an explicit declaration, to remove these sus
picions, and restore the confidence of the
people in their government. Randolph op
posed the passage on nearly the same ground
with Hamilton. He added, that he thought
it had been agreed that this correspondence
should contain no expressions which could
give offence to either party. I replied that it
had been my opinion in the beginning of the
correspondence, that while we were censuring
the conduct of the French minister, we should
make the most cordial declarations of friend
ship to them; that in the first letter or two
of the correspondence, I had inserted expres
sions of that kind, but that himself and the
other two gentlemen had struck them out;
that I thereupon conformed to their opinion
in my subsequent letters, and had carefully
avoided the insertion of a single term of
friendship to the French nation, and the
letters were as dry and husky as if written
between the generals of two enemy nations;
that on the present occasion, however, it had
been agreed that such expressions ought to
be inserted in the letter now under con
sideration, and I had accordingly charged it
pretty well with them; that I had further
thought it essential to satisfy the French and
our own citizens of the light in which we
viewed their cause, and of our fellow feeling
for the general cause of liberty, and had
ventured only four words on the subject;
that there was not from beginning to end of
the letter one other expression or word in
favor of liberty, and I should think it singu
lar, at least, if the single passage of that
character should be struck out. The Presi
dent again spoke. He came into the idea
that attention was due to the parties who had
been mentioned, France and the United
States ; that as to the former, thinking it cer
tain their affairs would issue in a government
of some sort — of considerable freedom — it
was the only nation with whom our relations
could be counted on; that as to the United
States, there could be no doubt of their uni
versal attachment to the cause of France, and
of the solidity of their republicanism. He
declared his strong attachment to the expres
sion, but finally left it to us to accommodate.
It was struck put, of course, and the expres
sions of affection in the context were a good
deal taken down. — THE ANAS. ix, 169.
FORD ED., i, 259. (Aug. 1793.)
7323. REPUBLIC OF LETTERS, Dic
tatorship. — No republic is more real than
that of letters, and I am the last in princi
ples, as I am the least in pretensions to any
dictatorship in it. — To NOAH WEBSTER, iii,
201. FORD ED., v, 254. (Pa., 1790.)
7324. REPUBLIC OF LETTERS, Wars
and. — The republic of letters is unaffected by
the wars of geographical divisions of the
earth. — To DR. PATTERSON, vi, n. (M ,
1811.)
7325. REPUBLICANISM (Govern
mental), American.— The light from our
West seems to have spread and illuminated
the very engines employed to extinguish it.
It has given them a glimmering of their rigfits
and their power. The idea of representative
government has taken root and growth among
them. Their masters feel it, and are saving
themselves by timely offers of this modifica
tion of their powers. Belgium, Prussia, Po
land, Lombardy, &c., are now offered a rep
resentative organization ; illusive, probably, at
first, but it will grow into power in the end.
Opinion is power, and that opinion will come.
— To JOHN ADAMS, vi, 525. (M., 1816.)
7326. REPUBLICANISM (Govern
mental) Apostasy from.— An apostasy from
republicanism to royalism is unprecedented
and impossible. — To JAMES MADISON, iii, 5.
FORD ED., v, 83. (P., 1789.)
7327. REPUBLICANISM (Govern
mental), Catholic principle of. — The cath
olic principle of republicanism is that, every
people may establish what form of govern
ment they please, and change it as they
please, the will of the nation being the only
thing essential.* — THE ANAS, ix, 129. FORD
ED., i, 214. (1792.)
7328. REPUBLICANISM (Govern
mental), Extension of.— It is hoped that by
a due poise and partition of powers between
the General and particular governments, we
have found the secret of extending the
benign blessings of republicanism over still
greater tracts of country than we possess,
and that a subdivision may be avoided for
ages, if not for ever. — To JAMES SULLIVAN.
FORD ED., v, 369. (Pa., 1791.)
7329. REPUBLICANISM (Govern
mental), Happiness and. — I conscientiously
believe that governments founded in repub
lican principles are more friendly to the hap
piness of the people at large, and especially
* " I took the occasion," says Jefferson, " furnished
by Pinckney's letter of Sep. 19, asking instructions
how to conduct himself with respect to the French
Revolution to lay down this principle." — EDITOR.
Republicanism
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
754
of a people so capable of self-government as
ours.— To DAVID Ho WELL, v, 554. (M.,
1810.)
7330. REPUBLICANISM (Govern
mental), Majority rule. — A nation ceases to
be republican * * * when the will of the
majority ceases to be the law. — REPLY TO AD
DRESS, v, 262. (W., 1808.)
7331. REPUBLICANISM (Govern
mental), Rights of man and. — The repub
lican is the only form of government which
is not eternally at open or secret war with
the rights of mankind.— REPLY TO ADDRESS.
iii, 128. FORD ED., v, 147. (1790.)
7332. REPUBLICANISM (Govern
mental), Schools of. — The best schools for
republicanism are London, Versailles, Mad
rid, Vienna, Berlin, &c.— To GOVERNOR RUT-
LEDGE, ii, 234- (P-, 1787.)
7333. REPUBLICANISM (Govern
mental), Union and. — It is, indeed, of little
consequence who govern us, if they sincerely
and zealously cherish the principles of Union
and republicanism. — To GENERAL DEARBORN.
vii, 215. FORD ED., x, 192. (M., 1821.)
7334. REPUBLICANISM (Partisan),
Ardent and moderate. — I had always ex
pected that when' the republicans should have
put down all things under their feet, they
would schismatize among themselves. I al
ways expected, too, that whatever names the
parties might bear, the real division would be
into moderate and ardent republicanism. In
this division there is no great evil, — not even
if the minority obtain the ascendency by the
accession of federal votes to their candidate;
because this gives us one shade only, instead
of another, of republicanism. It is to be con
sidered as apostasy only when they purchase
the votes of federalists with a participation in
honor and power. — To THOMAS COOPER, v,
121. FORD ED., ix, 102. (W., July 1807.)
7335. REPUBLICANISM (Partisan),
Benefits of. — If we are left in peace, I have
no doubt the wonderful turn in the public
opinion now manifestly taking place and
rapidly increasing, will * * * become so
universal and so weighty, that friendship
abroad and freedom at home will be firmly
established by the influence and constitutional
powers of the people at large. — To GENERAL
KOSCIUSKO. iv, 295. (Pa., Feb. I799-)
7336. REPUBLICANISM (Partisan),
Corruption. — How long we can hold our
ground I do not know. We are not incorrup
tible ; on the contrary, corruption is making
sensible though silent progress. Offices are
as acceptable in Virginia as elsewhere, and
whenever a man has cast a longing eye on
them, a rottenness begins in his conduct. —
To TENCH COXE. FORD ED., vii, 380. (M.,
May, I799-)
7337. REPUBLICANISM (Partisan),
Faith in. — The tide against our Constitution
is unquestionably strong, but it will turn.
Everything tells me so, and everything veri
fies the prediction. — To WILLIAM BRANCH
GILES. FORD ED., vi, 516. (M., Dec. 1797.)
7338. REPUBLICANISM (Partisan),
Fidelity to. — I have taken the liberty of re
ferring him [Brissot de Warville] to you for
a true state of republicanism here, as for the
characters, objects, numbers and force of our
parties. It is really interesting that these
should be well understood in France, and
particularly by their government. Particular
circumstances have generated suspicions
among them that we are swerving from our
republicanism. — To DR. ENOCH EDWARDS.
FORD ED., vi, 248. (Pa., 1793.)
7339. REPUBLICANISM (Partisan),
Fortifying. — My great anxiety at present is,
to avail ourselves of our ascendency to estab
lish good principles and good practices : to
fortify republicanism behind as many bar
riers as possible, that the outworks may give
time to rally and save the citadel, should
that be again in danger. — To JOHN DICKIN
SON, iv, 424. (W., 1801.)
7340. REPUBLICANISM (Partisan),
The Judiciary and.— The revolution of 1800
was as real a revolution in the principles
of our government as that of 1776 was in its
form ; not effected, indeed, by the sword, as
that, but by the rational and peaceable in
strument of reform, the suffrage of the peo
ple. The nation declared its will by dismiss
ing functionaries of one principle, and elect
ing those of another, in the two branches,
Executive and Legislative, submitted to their
election. Over the Judiciary department, the
Constitution had deprived them of their con
trol. That, therefore, has continued the rep
robated system, and although new matter has
been occasionally incorporated into the old,
yet the leaven of the old mass seems to as
similate to itself the new, and after twenty
years' confirmation of the federal system by
the voice of the nation, declared through the
medium of elections, we find the Judiciary on
every occasion, still driving us into consoli
dation. — To SPENCER ROANE. vii, 133. FORD
ED., x, 140. (P.F., 1819.) See CENTRALIZA
TION, JUDICIARY and SUPREME COURT.
7341. REPUBLICANISM (Partisan),
Liberty and. — Under republicanism, our citi
zens generally are enjoying a very great
degree of liberty and security in the most
temperate manner. — To M. PICTET. iv, 463.
(W., 1803.)
7342. REPUBLICANISM (Partisan),
Missouri question and. — [The Missouri
question] has given resurrection to the Hart
ford Convention men. They have had the ad
dress, by playing on the honest feelings of
our former friends, to seduce them from their
kindred spirits, and to borrow their weight
into the federal scale. Desperate of regain
ing power under political distinctions, they
have adroitly wriggled into its seat under
the auspices of morality, and are again in the
ascendency from which their sins had hurled
them. It is, indeed, of little consequence who
755
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Republicanism
Republicans
govern us if they sincerely and zealously
cherish the principles of union and repub
licanism. — To HENRY DEARBORN, vii, 215.
FORD ED., x, 191. (M., 1821.) See MISSOURI
QUESTION and PARTIES.
7343. REPUBLICANISM (Partisan),
Outlawed. — Republicanism had been the
mark on Cain, which had rendered those who
bore it exiles from all portion in the trusts
and authorities of their country. — To BENJA
MIN HAWKINS, iv, 466. FORD ED., viii, 212.
(W., 1803.) See OFFICE and OFFICES.
7344. REPUBLICANISM (Partisan),
The people and.— The people are essentially
republican. They retain unadulterated the
principles of '75, and those who are conscious
of no change in themselves have nothing to
fear in the long run. — To JAMES LEWIS, JR.
iv, 241. FORD ED., vii, 250. (Pa., May 1798.)
7345. . The people through all
the States are for republican forms, republican
principles, simplicity, economy, religious and
civil freedom. — To E. LIVINGSTON, iv, 328.
FORD ED., vii, 443. (Pa., 1800.)
7346. REPUBLICANISM (Partisan),
Preservation of.— Whether the surrender of
our opponents, their reception into our camp,
their assumption of our name, and apparent
accession to our objects, may strengthen or
weaken the genuine principles of republican
ism, may be a good or an evil, is yet to be
seen. — To WILLIAM T. BARRY, vii. 255.
(M., 1822.)
7347. REPUBLICANISM (Partisan),
Safety in. — So long as the pure principles of
our revolution [of 1800] prevail, we are safe
from everything which can assail us from
without or within. — To MR. LAMBERT, v, 528.
(M., 1810.)
7348. REPUBLICANISM ( Partisan),
Seceders from. — My opinion is that two or
three years more will bring back to the fold
of republicanism all our wandering brethren
whom the cry of " wolf " scattered in 1798.
Till that is done, let every man stand to
his post, and hazard nothing by change. And
when that is done, you and I may retire to
that tranquillity which our years begin to call
for, and review with satisfaction the efforts
of the age we happened to be born in,
crowned with complete success. In the hour
of death, we shall have the consolation to see
established in the land of our fathers the
most wonderful work of wisdom and dis
interested patriotism that has ever yet ap
peared on the globe. — To DE WITT CLIN
TON, iv, 521. (W., 1803.)
7349. REPUBLICANISM (Partisan),
Ship of State and.— The time is coming
when we shall fetch up the lee-way of our
vessel. The changes in your House [of Rep
resentatives] I see, are going on for the better,
and even the Augean herd over your heads
are slowly purging off their impurities. Hold
on, then, that we may not shipwreck in the
meanwhile. — To JAMES MADISON, iv, 112.
FORD ED., vi, 519. (M., Dec. 1794.)
7350. . The storm through which
we have passed has been tremendous indeed.
The tough sides of our Argosy have been
thoroughly tried. Her strength has stood the
waves into which she was steered, with a
view to sink her. We shall put her on her
republican tack, and she will now show by
the beauty of her motion the skill of her
builders.— To JOHN DICKINSON. iv, 365.
FORD ED., viii, 7. (W., March 1801.)
7351. . The storm is over, and
we are in port. The ship was not rigged for
the service she was put on. We will show
the smoothness of her motions on her re
publican tack.— To SAMUEL ADAMS, iv, 389
FORD ED., viii, 39. (W., March 1801.)
7352. REPUBLICANISM (Partisan),
Sincerity in.— That I have acted through life
on principles of sincere republicanism, I feel
in every fibre of my constitution. And when
men, who feel like myself, bear witness in my
favor, my satisfaction is complete.— To REV.
MR. KNOX. v, 502. (M., 1810.)
7353. REPUBLICANS, Aims of.— Surely
we had in view to obtain the theory and prac
tice of good government; and how any, who
seemed so ardent in this pursuit, could as
shamelessly have apostatized, and supposed
we meant only to put our government into
other hands, but not other forms, is indeed
wonderful. — To JOHN DICKINSON, iv, 424.
7354 . The federalists wished\
for everything which would approach our>
new government to a monarchy. The re-!
publicans to preserve it essentially republican/-
This was the true origin of the division, and ':
remains still the essential principle of dif- ,
ference between the two parties. — NOTES ON I
MARSHALL'S LIFE OF WASHINGTON, ix, 480.
FORD ED., ix, 263. (M., 1809.) See FEDERAL
ISTS and PARTIES.
7355. REPUBLICANS, Antagonistic to
England.— The war between France and
England has brought forward the republicans
and monocrats in every State so openly, that
their relative 'numbers are perfectly visible.
It appears that the latter are as nothing. —
To JAMES MADISON, iv, 9. FORD ED., vi, 326.
(June 1793.) See FEDERALISTS.
7356. REPUBLICANS, Belief of.— [The
Republicans] believed that men, enjoying in
ease and security the full fruits of their own
industry, enlisted by all their interests on the
side of law and order, habituated to think for
themselves, and to follow their reason as
their guide, would be more easily and safely
governed than with minds nourished in error,
and vitiated and debased, as in Europe, by
ignorance, indigence and oppression. — To
WILLIAM JOHNSON, vii, 292. FORD ED x
227. (M., 1823.)
7357. REPUBLICANS, Defeated.— I had
always hoped, that the popularity of the late
President being once withdrawn from active
effect, the natural feelings of the people to
wards liberty would restore the equilibrium
Republicans*
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
756
between the Executive and Legislative de
partments, which had been destroyed by the
superior weight and effect of that popularity;
and that their natural feelings of moral ob
ligation would discountenance the ungrateful
predilection of the Executive in favor of
Great Britain. But, unfortunately, the pre
ceding measures had already alienated the na
tion which was the object of them, had ex
cited reaction from them and this reaction
has on the minds of our citizens an effect
which supplies that of the Washington popu
larity. This effect was sensible on some of
the late congressional elections, and this it is
which has lessened the republican majority in
Congress. When it will be reinforced, must
depend on events, and these are so incalcu
lable, that I consider the future character of
our republic as in the air; indeed its future for
tune will be in the air, if war is made on us
by France, and if Louisiana becomes a
Gallo-American colony. — To AARON BURR.
iv, 185. FORD ED., vii, 147. (Pa., June 1797.)
See FEDERALISTS.
7358. [REPUBLICANS, Dividing.— Little
squibs in certain papers had long ago ap
prised me of a design to sow tares between
particular republican characters, but to divide
those by lying tales whom truths cannot
divide, is the hackneyed policy of the gossips
of every society. Our business is to march
straight forward to the object which has oc
cupied us for eight and twenty years, without
turning either to the right or left. — To DE
WITT CLINTON, iv, 520. (W., 1803.)
7359. REPUBLICANS, Divisions
among. — The operations of this session of
Congress, when known among the people at
large, will consolidate them. We shall now be
so strong that we shall certainly split again ; for
freemen, thinking differently and speaking and
acting as they think, will form into classes of
sentiment, but it must be under another name.
That of federalism is become so odious that no
party can rise under it. — To JOEL BARLOW, iv,
437. FORD ED., viii, 150. (W., May 1802.)
7360. . I have for some time
been satisfied a schism was taking place in
Pennsylvania between the moderates and high
flyers. The same will take place in Congress
whenever a proper head for the latter shall start
up, and we must expect division of the same
kind in other States as soon as the republicans
shall be so strong as to fear no other enemy. —
To ALBERT GALLATIN. FORD ED., viii, 222. (M.,
March 1803.)
7361. . I think it possibly may
happen that we shall divide among ourselves
whenever federalism is completely eradicated,
yet I think it the duty of every republican to
make great sacrifices of opinion to put off the
evil day. — To JOSEPH SCOTT. FORD ED., viii,
305. (W., March 1804.)
7362. . The divisions among
the republicans * * * are distressing, but they
are not unexpected to me. From the moment
I foresaw the entire prostration of federalism.,
I knew that at that epoch more distressing
divisions would take its place. The opinions of
men are as various as their faces, and they will
always find some rallying principle or point at
which those nearest to it will unite, reducing
themselves to two stations, under a common
name for each. These stations, or camps, will
be formed of very heterogeneous materials,
combining from very different motives, and
with very different views. — To WILSON C.
NICHOLAS. FORD ED., viii, 348. (M., March
1805.)
7363. . I did believe my station
in March, i8or, as painful as could be under
taken, having to meet in front all the terrible
passions of federalism in the first moment of its
defeat and mortification, and to grapple with it
until completely subdued. But I consider that
as less painful than to be placed between con
flicting friends. There my way was clear and
my mind made up. I never for a moment had
to balance between two opinions. In the new
divisions which are to arise the case will be
very different. Even those who seem to co
alesce will be like the image of clay and brass.
However, under difficulties of this kind, I have
ever found one, and only one rule, to do -what is
right, and generally we shall disentangle our
selves without almost perceiving how it hap
pens. — To WILSON C. NICHOLAS. FORD ED., viii,
349. (M., March 1805.)
7364. . The duty of an upright
Administration is to pursue its course steadily,
to know nothing of these family dissensions,
and to cherish the good principles of both par
ties. The war ad internecionem which we have
waged against federalism, has filled our later
times with strife and unhappiness. We have
met it, with pain indeed, but with firmness,
because we believed it the last convulsive ef
fort of that hydra, which in earlier times we
had conquered in the field. But if any degen
eracy of principle should ever render it neces
sary to give ascendancy to one of the rising
sections over the other, I thank my God it will
fall to some other to perform that operation.
The only cordial I wish to carry into my re
tirement, is the undivided good will of all those
with whom I have acted. — To DR. GEORGE LO
GAN, iv, 575. FORD ED., viii, 353. (W., May
1805.)
7365. . I see with infinite pain
the bloody schism which has taken place among
our friends in Pennsylvania and New York,
and will probably take place in other States.
The main body of both sections mean well, but
their good intentions will produce great public
evil. The minority, whichever section shall be
the minority, will end in coalition with the fed
eralists, and some compromise of principle ;
because these will not sell their aid for nothing.
Republicanism will thus lose, and royalism gain,
some portion of that ground which we thought
we had rescued to good government. I do not
express my sense of our misfortunes from any
idea that they are remediable. I know that
the passions of men will take their course, that
they are not to be controlled but by despotism,
and that this melancholy truth is the pretext
for despotism. — To DR. GEORGE LOGAN, iv, 575.
FORD ED., viii, 352. (W., Mlay 1805.)
7366. — - - — . I see with extreme con
cern the acrimonious dissensions into which our
friends in Pennsylvania have fallen, but have
long since made up my mind on the propriety of
the General Government's taking no side in
State quarrels. And with respect to myself
particularly, after eight and thirty years of
uniform action in harmony with those now con
stituting the republican party, without one
single instant of alienation from them, it can
not be but my most earnest desire to carry into
retirement with me their undivided approbation
757
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Republicans
and esteem. I retain, therefore, a cordial friend
ship for both the sections now so unhappily
dividing your State. — To THOMAS LEIB. FORD
ED., viii, 353. (M., Aug. 1805.)
7367. . Of the unhappy effects
of the schisms in Pennsylvania and New York,
you see the fruit in the State lying between
them, where the federalists have recovered a
majority in one branch of the legislature, are
very near it in the other, and as soon as they
shall reach it, they place the executive and
every office under it in federal hands. If the
two sections of republicans were irreconcilable,
still the minor one should not have coalesced
with, and voted for federalists. If, on the con
trary, they would keep themselves independent,
and set up their own ticket, their whole body
would come forward and vote, which would
give them the benefit of that part of their force
which kept back because it could not support
federalists, and the federalists themselves, hav
ing no hope of bringing in men of their own,
would have to choose between the two repub
lican tickets that least disagreeable to them
selves. This would only bring into the public
councils the different shades of republicans so
that the whole body should be represented. —
To ANDREW ELLIOTT. FORD ED., viii, 479. (W.,
Nov. 1806.)
7368. . I determined from the
first dawn of the first schism, never to take
part in any schism of republicans, nor in dis
tributing the public trusts ever to ask of which
section a party was. — To ANDREW ELLICOTT.
FORD ED., viii, 480. (W., Nov. 1806.)
7369. . I have long seen, and
with very great regret, the schisms which have
taken place among the republicans, and prin
cipally those of Pennsylvania and New York.
As far as I have been able to judge, they have
not been produced by any difference of political
principle, — at least, any important difference,
but by a difference of opinion as to persons. I
determined from the first moment to take no
part in them, and that the Government should
know nothing of any such differences. Ac
cordingly, it has never been attended to in any
appointment, or refusal of appointment. — To
JAMES GAMBLE, v, 204. FORD ED., ix, 129. (W.,
1807.)
7370. . If we schismatize on
either men or measures, if we do not act in
phalanx, as when we rescued the country from
the satellites of monarchism, I will not say
our party (the term is false and degrading),
but our nation will be undone. For the repub
licans are the nation. Their opponents are but
a faction, weak in numbers, but powerful and
profuse in the command of money, and backed
by a nation [England], powerful also and pro
fuse in the use of the same means ; and the
more profuse, in both cases, as the money they
thus employ is not their own but their creditors,
to be paid off by a bankruptcy, which whether
it pays a dollar or a shilling in the pound, is of
little concern with them. The last hope of hu
man liberty in this world rests on us. We
ought, for so dear a stake, to sacrifice every
attachment and every enmity. Leave the Presi
dent free to choose his own coadjutors, to pur
sue his own measures, and support him and
them, even if we think we are wiser than
they, honester than they are, or possessing more
enlarged information of the state of things.
If we move in mass, be it ever so circuitously,
we shall attain our object ; but if we break into
squads, every one pursuing the path he thinks
most direct, we become an easy conquest to
those who can now barely hold us in check.
I repeat again, that we ought not to schismatize
on either men or measures. Principles alone
can justify that. If we find our government in
all its branches rushing headlong, like our pred
ecessors, into the arms of monarchy, if we find
them violating our dearest rights, the trial by
jury, the freedom of the press, the freedom of
opinion, civil or religious, or opening on our
peace of mind or personal safety the sluices of
terrorism ; if we see them raising standing
armies, when the absence of all other danger
points to these as the sole objects on which
they are to be employed, then, indeed, let
us withdraw and call the nation to its tents.
But, while our functionaries are wise, and hon
est, and vigilant, let us move compactly under
their guidance, and we have nothing to fear.
Things may here and there go a little wrong.
It is not in our power to prevent it. But all
will be right in the end, though not, perhaps,
by the shortest means. You know that this
union of republicans has been the constant
theme of my exhortations, that I have ever
refused to know any sub-divisions among them,
to take part in any personal differences ; and,
therefore, you will not give to the present ob
servations any other than general application.
I may sometimes differ in opinion from some
of my friends, from those whose views are as
pure and sound as my own. I censure none, but
do homage to everyone's right of opinion. —
To WILLIAM DUANE. v, 576. FORD ED., ix, 313.
(M., March 1811.)
7371. . The only contest between
divided [political] friends should be who will
dare farthest into the ranks of the common
enemy. — To JOHN HOLLINS. v, 597. (M..
1811.)
7372. . The schism in Massa
chusetts, when brought to the crisis of prin
ciple, will be found to be exactly the same as
in the Revolutionary war. The monarchists
will be left alone, and will appear to be exactly
the tories of the last war. — To THOMAS LETRE.
vi, 79. (M., Aug. 1812.)
7373. REPUBLICANS, Early contests
°f- — The inconveniences of an inefficient gov
ernment, driving the people as is usual, into
the opposite extreme, the elections to the
first Congress ran very much in favor of those
who were known to favor a very strong gov
ernment. Hence the anti-republicans ap
peared a considerable majority in both houses
of Congress. They pressed forward the plan,
therefore, of strengthening all the features of
the government which gave it resemblance to
an English constitution, of adopting the Eng
lish forms and principles of administration,
and of forming like them a moneyed interest,
by means of a funding system, not calculated
to pay the public debt, but to render it per
petual, and to make it an engine in the hands
of the executive branch of government which,
added to the great patronage it possessed in
the disposal of public offices, might enable
it to assume by degrees a kingly authority.
The biennial period of Congress being too
short to betray to the people, spread over
this great continent, this train of things dur
ing the first Congress, little change was made
in members to the second. But, in the mean
time, two very distinct parties had formed in
Congress; and before the third election, the
Republicans
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
758
people in general became apprised of the
game which was playing for drawing over
inem a kind of government which they never
had in contemplation. At the third election,
therefore, a decided majority of republicans
were sent to the lower House of Congress;
and, as information spread still farther
among the people, after the fourth election
the anti-republican members have become a
weak minority. — To C. D. EBELING. FORD
ED., vii, 46. (I795-)
7374. . When Congress first met,
the assemblage of facts presented in the Pres
ident's [Adams's] speech [message], with the
multiplied accounts of spoliations by the
French West Indians, appeared by sundry
votes on the address, to incline a majority to
put themselves in a posture of war. Under
this influence the address was formed, and
its spirit would probably have been pursued
by corresponding measures, had the events of
Europe been of an ordinary train. But this
has been so extraordinary, that numbers have
gone over to those, who, from the first, feeling
with sensibility the French insults, as they
had felt those of England before, thought
now as they thought then, that war measures
should be avoided, and those of peace pur
sued. Their favorite engine, on the former
occasion, was commercial regulations in pref
erence to negotiations, to war preparations,
and increase of debt. On the latter, as we
have no commerce with France, the restric
tion of which could press on them, they
wished for negotiation. Those of the op
posite sentiment had, on the former occasion,
preferred negotiation, but at the same time
voted for great war preparations, and in
crease of debt; now also they were for ne
gotiation, war preparations and debt. The
parties have in debate mutually charged each
other with inconsistency, and with being gov
erned by an attachment to this or that of the
belligerent nations, rather than the dictates
of reason and pure Americanism. But, in
truth, both have been consistent; the same
men having voted for war measures who did
before, and the same against them now who
did before. — To EDWARD RUTLEDGE. iv, 190.
FORD ED., vii, 152. (Pa., June 1797.)
7375. . The spirit of both the
speech [message of the President] and the ad
dress [of Congress] has been so whittled down
by Bonaparte's victories, victories on the Rhine,
the Austrian peace, Irish insurgency, English
bankruptcy, insubordination of the [British]
fleet, &c., that Congress is rejecting, one by
one, the measures brought in on the princi
ples of their own address. But nothing less
than such miraculous events, as have been
pouring in on us from the first of our conve
ning, could have assuaged the fermentation
produced in men's minds. In consequence of
these events, what was the majority at first,
is by degrees become the minority, so that we
may say that, in the Representatives, modera
tion will govern. — To E. RANDOLPH, iv, 192.
FORD ED., vii, 155. (Pa., June I797-) See
FEDERALISTS.
7376. REPUBLICANS, Federalists vs.
— Two parties * * * exist within
the United States. They embrace respect
ively the following descriptions of persons.
The anti-republicans consist of: i. The old
refugees and tories. 2. British merchants re
siding among us, and composing the main body
of our merchants. 3. American merchants
trading on British capital, another great
portion. 4. Speculators and holders in the
banks and public funds. 5. Officers of the
Federal Government with some exceptions.
6. Office-hunters, willing to give up princi
ples for places, — a numerous and noisy tribe.
7. Nervous persons, whose languid fibres have
more analogy with a passive than active state
of things. The republican part of our Union
comprehends : I. The entire body of land
holders throughout the United States. 2.
The body of laborers, not being landholders,
whether in husbanding or the arts. The latter
is to the aggregate of the former party prob
ably as 500 to i ; but their wealth is not as
disproportionate, though it is also greatly
superior, and is in truth the foundation of
that of their antagonists. Trifling as are the
numbers of the anti-republican party, there
are circumstances which give them an ap
pearance of strength and numbers. They all
live in cities, together, and can act in a body
and readily at all times; they give chief em
ployment to the newspapers, and, therefore,
have most of them under their command.
The agricultural interest is dispersed over a
great extent of country, have little means of
intercommunication with each other, and feel
ing their own strength and will, are conscious
that a single exertion of these will, at any time,
crush the machinations against their govern
ment. — To C. D. EBELING. FORD ED., vii, 47.
(I795-)
7377. . I trust that no section of
republicans will countenance the suggestions
of the federalists that there has ever been any
difference at all in our political principles, or
any sensible one in our views of the public
interest. — To JAMES MADISON. FORD ED., ix,
242. (M., 1809.)
7378. — . [It was] a contest* which
was to change the condition of man over the
civilized globe. — THE ANAS. FORD ED., i,
156. (1818.) See MONARCHY.
7379. REPUBLICANS, Federalist co
alition with. — The gross [Chesapeake] in
sult lately received from the English has
forced the federalists into a momentary coa
lition with the mass of republicans; but the
moment we begin to act in the very line they
have joined in approving, all will be wrong,
and every act the reverse of what it should
have been. Still, it is better to admit their
coalescence, and leave to themselves their
short-lived existence. — To THOMAS COOPER.
v, 121. FORD ED., ix, 102. (W., July 1807.)
See CHESAPEAKE and FEDERALISTS.
7380. REPUBLICANS, French victories
and. — I think we may safely rely that the
* The contest between the Republicans and Feder
alists.— EDITOR.
759
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Republicans
Duke of Brunswick has retreated; and it is
certainly possible enough that between fam
ine, disease, and a country abounding with
defiles, he may suffer some considerable cat
astrophe. The monocrats here [Philadel
phia] still affect to disbelieve all this, while
the republicans are rejoicing and taking to
themselves the name of Jacobins, which two
months ago was fixed on them by way of
stigma.— To JOHN FRANCIS MERCER, iii, 495-
FORD ED., vi, 147. (Pa., Dec. 1792.)
7381. REPUBLICANS, Historical mis
representation of. — Were a reader of this
period [immediately following the establish
ment of the Constitution] to form his idea of
it from this history alone [Marshall's Life
of Washington] he would suppose the re
publican party (who were in truth endeavor
ing to keep the government within the line of
the Constitution, and prevent its being mon-
archised in practice) were a mere set of
grumblers, and disorganizes, satisfied with
no government, without fixed principles of
any, and, like a British parliamentary opposi
tion, gaping after loaves and fishes, and
ready to change principles, as well as position,
at any time, with their adversaries. But
* * * the contests of that day were con
tests of principle, between the advocates of
republican and those of kingly government,
and had not the former made the efforts they
did, our government would have been, even
at this early day [1818], a very different
thing from what the successful issue of those
efforts have made it.— THE ANAS. FORD ED.,
i, 156. (1818.)
7382 . We [the republicans]
have been too careless of our own future
reputation, while our tories will omit noth
ing to place us in the wrong. — To WILLIAM
JOHNSON, vii, 277. FORD ED., x, 247. (M.,
1823.)
7383. REPUBLICANS, Leadership of.—
The monocrats [in Pennsylvania] have kept
up the ball with respect to myself till they
begin to be tired of it themselves. Their
chief object was to influence the election of
this State, by persuading [the people] there
was a league against the government, and as
it was necessary to designate a head to the
league, they did me that honor.— To T. M.
RANDOLPH. FORD ED., vi, 128. (Pa., I792-)
7384. REPUBLICANS, Loyalty of.—
Without knowing the views of what is called
the republican party here [Philadelphia], or
having any communication with them,
could undertake to assure him [President
Washington] from my intimacy with that
party in the late Congress, that there was not
a view in the republican party as spread over
the United States, which went to the frame
of the government; that I believed the next
Congress would attempt nothing material,
but to render their own body independent;
that that party were firm in their dispositions
to support the government; that the maneu
vers of Mr. Genet might produce some little
embarrassment, but that he would be aban
doned by the republicans the moment they
knew the nature of his conduct.— THE ANAS.
ix, 166. FORD ED., i, 257. (Aug.* 1793.)
7385 . He [President Wash
ington] said he believed the views of the re
publican party were perfectly pure, but when
men put a machine into motion, it is impossi
ble for them to stop it exactly where they
would choose, or to say where it will stop.
That the Constitution we have is an excellent
one, if we can keep it where it is ; that it was,
indeed, supposed there was a party disposed
to change it into a monarchical form, but
that he could conscientiously declare there
was not a man in the United States who
would set his face more decidedly against it
than himself. Here, I interrupted him, by
saying : " No rational man in the United
States suspects you of any other disposition ;
but there does not pass a week, in which we
cannot prove declarations dropping from the
monarchical party that our government is
good for nothing, is a milk and water thing
which cannot support itself, we must knock
it down, and set up something of more en
ergy." He said if that was the case, he
thought it a proof of their insanity, for that
the republican spirit of the Union was so
manifest and so solid, that it was astonishing
how any one could expect to move it. — THE
ANAS, ix, 166. FORD ED., i, 257. (Aug.
I793-)
7386. REPUBLICANS, New England
and. — If a prospect could be once opened upon
us of the penetration of truth into the East
ern States; if the people there, who are un
questionably republicans, could discover that
they have been duped into the support of
measures calculated to sap the very founda
tions of republicanism, we might still hope
for salvation, and that it would come, as of
old, from the East. But will that region
ever awake to the true state of things? Can
the Middle, Southern and Western States
hold on till they awake? These are painful
and doubtful questions; and if, * * *
you can give me a comfortable solution of
them, it will relieve a mind devoted to the
preservation of our republican government in
the true form and spirit in which it was es
tablished, but almost oppressed with appre
hension that fraud will at length effect what
force could not, and that what with currents
and counter-currents, we shall, in the end, be
driven back to the land from which we
launched twenty years ago. Indeed, we have
been but a sturdy fish on the hook of a dex
terous angler, who, letting us flounce till we
have spent our force, brings us up at last. —
To AARON BURR, iv, 186. FORD ED., vii, 147.
(Pa., June 1797.)
7387. . The Eastern States will
be the last to come over, on account of the
dominion of the clergy, who had got a smell
of union between Church and State, and be
gan to indulge reveries which can never be
realized in the present state of science. If,
indeed, they could have prevailed on us, to
view all advances in science as dangerous in
novations, and to look back to the opinions
Republicans
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
760
and practices of our forefathers, instead of
looking forward for improvement, a promis
ing groundwork would have been laid. But
I am in hopes their good sense will dictate to
them, that since the mountain will not come
to them, they had better go to the mountain ;
that they will find their interest in acquies
cing in the liberty and science of their coun
try, and that the Christian religion, when di
vested of the rags in which they have envel
oped it, and brought to the original purity
and simplicity of its benevolent institutor is
a religion of all others the most friendly to
liberty, science, and the freest expansion of
the human mind. — To MOSES ROBINSON, iv,
379. (March 1801.)
7388. REPUBLICANS, Patronage and.
— We do not mean to leave arms in the hands
of active enemies. — To ALBERT GALLATIN.
iv, 544. FORD ED., viii, 304. (May 1804.)
7389. . That I have denounced
republicans by the epithet of Jacobins, and
declared I would appoint none but those
called moderates of both parties, and that I
have avowed or entertain any predilection for
those called the third party, or " Quids ", is
in every tittle of it false. — To WILLIAM Du-
ANE. iv, 592. FORD ED., viii, 433. (W,,
1806.) See OFFICE, OFFICES and PARTIES.
7390. REPUBLICANS, Platform of.—
Divide the Treasury Department. Abolish
the Bank. Repeal the Excise Law and let
States raise the money. Lower impost.
Treasurer to pay and receive cash not bills.
Repeal irredeemable quality and borrow at 4
per cent. Exclude paper holders. Condemn
report of.* — JEFFERSON MSS. FORD ED., vi,
171. (Feb. ? 1793.)
7391. REPUBLICANS, Relations to
Genet.— We [the Administration] have de
cided unanimously to require the recall of
Genet. He will sink the republican interest
if they do not abandon him. — To JAMES
MADISON. FORD ED., vi, 361. (Aug. 1793.)
See GENET.
7392. REPUBLICANS, Rights of man
and. — Whether the principles of the majority
of our fellow citizens, or of the little
minority still opposing them, be most friendly
to the rights of man, posterity will judge;
and to that arbiter I submit my own conduct
with cheerfulness. — To C. F. WELLES, v, 484.
(M., 1809.) See RIGHTS OF MAN.
7393. REPUBLICANS, Slandered.—
They endeavored [in the elections] to con
jure up the ghost of anti-federalism, and to
have it believed that this and republicanism
* Paul Leicester Ford, in his edition of Jefferson's
Writings, makes the following note : " This paper
is undated, but is apparently an outline of the re
forms in the government desired by Jefferson. In
the absence of a definite platform of the newly
formed democratic party, it is therefore of consider
able importance, and is of especial interest as
showing Jefferson's plans to break up the ' Treasury
Junto ', by dividing the treasury, and by excluding
from Congress all holders of Bank Stock. The report
referred to is probably ' Hamilton's Report on the
Foreign Loans of Jan. 3, 1793 ', which was an especial
ly obnoxious one to Jefferson."— EDITOR.
were the same, and that both were Jacobin
ism. But those who felt themselves . repub
licans and federalists, too, were little moved
by this artifice.— To THOMAS PINCKNEY. iii,
494. FORD ED., vi, 143. (Pa., Dec. 1792.)
7394. REPUBLICANS, States rights
and.— On the eclipse of federalism, although
not its extinction, its leaders got up the
Missouri question, under the false front of
lessening the measure of slavery, but with the
real view of producing a geographical divi
sion of parties, which might ensure them the
next President. The people of the north
went blindfolded into the snare, followed
their leaders for awhile with a zeal truly
moral and laudable, until they became sen
sible that they were injuring instead of aiding
the real interests of the slaves, that they had
been used merely as tools for electioneering
purposes ; and that trick of hypocrisy then fell
as quickly as it had been got up. To that
is now succeeded a distinction, which, like
that of republican and federal, or whig and
tory, being equally intermixed through every
State, threatens none of those geographical
schisms which go immediately to a separa
tion. The line of division now is the preser
vation of State rights as reserved in the Con
stitution, or by strained constructions of that
instrument, to merge all into a consolidated
government. The tories are for strengthen
ing the Executive and General Government ;
the whigs cherish the representative branch,
and the rights reserved by the States, as the
bulwark against consolidation, which must
immediately generate monarchy. And al
though this division excites, as yet, no warmth,
yet it exists, is well understood, and will be a
principle of voting at the ensuing election,
with the reflecting men of both parties. — To
MARQUIS LAFAYETTE, vii, 326. FORD ED., x,
281. (M., November 1823.) See CENTRAL
IZATION, JUDICIARY, MISSOURI QUESTION and
SUPREME COURT.
7395. REPUBLICANS, Sympathy with
France. — Parties seem to have taken a very
well defined form in this quarter. The old
tories, joined by our merchants who trade on
British capital, paper dealers, and the idle
rich of the great commercial towns, are with
the kings. All other descriptions with the
French. The war has kindled and brought
forward the two parties with an ardor which
our interests merely, could never excite. — To
JAMES MONROE. FORD ED., vi, 281. (Pa.,
June 1793.) See FEDERALISTS and MON
ARCHY.
7396. REPUBLICANS, Unfaltering.—
As long as we pursue without deviation the
principles we have always professed, I have
no fear of deviation from them in the main
body of republicans. — To CESAR A. RODNEY.
FORD ED., viii, 436. (W., March 1806.)
7397. REPUBLICANS, The Union and.
•7-Our lot has been cast by the favor of heaven
in a country and under circumstances highly
auspicious to our peace and prosperity, and
where no pretence can arise for the degrading
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Republicans
Resolution
and oppressive establishments of Europe. It
is our happiness that honorable distinctions
flow only from public approbation; and that
finds no object in titled dignitaries and
pageants. Let us then endeavor carefully to
guard this happy state of things, by keeping
a watchful eye over the disaffection of wealth
and ambition to the republican principles of
our Constitution, and by sacrificing all our
local and personal interests to the cultiva
tion of the Union, and maintenance of the
authority of the laws. — R. TO A. PENNA.
DEMOCRATIC REPUBLICANS, viii, 163. (1809.)
See UNION.
7398. REPUBLICANS, Washington's
administration and. — The object of the op
position which was made to the course of
administration was to preserve the Legisla
ture pure and independent of the Executive,
to restrain the administration to republican
forms and principles, and not permit the Con
stitution to be construed into a monarchy,
and to be warped in practice into all the prin
ciples and pollutions of their favorite Eng
lish model. Nor was this an opposition to
General Washington. He was true to the
republican charge confided to him ; and has
solemnly and repeatedly protested to me, in
our private conversations, that he would lose
the last drop of his blood in support of it,
and he did this the oftener, and with the
more earnestness, because he knew my sus
picions of [Alexander] Hamilton's designs
against it ; and wished to quiet them. — THE
ANAS, ix, 95. FORD ED., i, 165. (1818.)
See FEDERALISTS, MONARCHY and WASHING
TON.
7399. REPUBLICS, Contending.— I
would not gratify the combination of kings
with the spectacle of the only two republics
on earth destroying each other for two can
non ; nor would I, for infinitely greater cause,
add this country to that combination, turn the
scale of contest, and let it be from our hands
that the hopes of man receive their last stab.
— OPINION ON " THE LITTLE SARAH ". ix,
155. FORD ED., vi, 343- (July I793-)
7400. REPUBLICS, Irresistible.— A re
publican government is slow to move, yet
when once in motion, its momentum becomes
irresistible.— To F. C GRAY. vi. 438. (M.,
1815.)
7401. REPUBLICS, Size of.— I suspect
that the doctrine, that small States alone
are fitted to be republics, will be exploded by
experience, with some other brilliant fallacies
accredited by Montesquieu and other political
writers. Perhaps it will be found, that to
obtain a just republic (and it is to secure our
just rights that we resort to government at
all) it must be so extensive as that local
egoisms may never reach its greater part ; that
on every particular question, a majority may
be found in its councils free from particular
interests, and giving, therefore, an uniform
prevalence to the principles of justice. The
smaller the societies, the more violent and
convulsive their schisms. — To M. D'!VERNOIS.
iv, 114. FORD EDV vii, 4, (M., Feb. 1795.)
7402. . The extent [of the Re
public] has saved us. While some parts were
laboring under the paroxysm of delusion,
others retained their senses, and time was
thus given to the affected parts to recover
their health. Your part of the Union [New
England] is longest recovering, because the
deceivers there wear a more imposing form;
but a little more time and they too will re
cover. — To GENERAL WARREN, iv, 376. (W.,
1801.)
7403. - — . The late chapter of our
history furnishes * * * a new proof of the
falsehood of Montesquieu's doctrine, that a
republic can be preserved only in a small ter
ritory. The reverse is the truth. Had our
territory been even a third only of what it is,
we were gone. — To NATHANIEL NILES. iv,
376. FORD ED., viii, 24. (W., March 1801.)
7404. REPUTATION, Regard for.— A
regard for reputation and the judgment of
the world may sometimes be felt where con
science is dormant, or indolence inexcitable.
— To EDWARD LIVINGSTON, vii, 404. (M.,
1825.)
7405. RESIGNATION", To Divine will.
— The most fortunate of us, in our journey
through life, frequently meet with calamities
and misfortunes which may greatly afflict us ;
and, to fortify pur minds against the attacks
of these calamities and misfortunes, should
be one of the principal studies and endeavors
of our lives. The only method of doing this
is to assume a perfect resignation to the Divine
will, to consider that whatever does happen,
must happen ; and that, by our uneasiness, we
cannot prevent the blow before it does fall, but
we may add to its force after it has fallen.
These considerations, and others such as these,
may enable us in some measure to surmount
the difficulties thrown in our way ; to bear up
with a tolerable degree of patience under this
burden of life ; and to proceed with a pious
and unshaken resignation, till we arrive at our
journey's end, when we may deliver up our
trust into the hands of Him who gave it, and
receive such reward as to Him shall seem pro
portioned to our merit. Such will be the lan
guage of the man who considers his situation
in this life, and such should be the language of
every man who would wish to render that situa
tion as easy as the nature of it will admit. Few
things w'll disturb him at all : nothing will
disturb him much. — To JOHN PAGE, i, 187.
FORD ED., i, 349. (S., 1763.)
7406. RESISTANCE, Morality and.—
When wrongs are pressed because it is be
lieved they will be borne, resistance becomes
morality. — To MADAME DE STAEL. v, 133.
(W., 1807.)
7407. RESISTANCE, Spirit of.— What
country can preserve its liberties if its rulers
are not warned from time to time that its
people preserve the spirit of resistance? — To
W. S. SMITH, ii, 318. FORD ED., iv, 467.
(P-, 1787.)
7408. RESOLUTION, Power of.— I do
not like your saying that you are unable to read
the ancient print of your Livy but with the aid
of your master. We are always equal to what
we undertake with resolution. A little degree
of this will enable you to decipher your
Respect
Retaliation
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
762
Livy. If you always lean on your master,
you will never be able to proceed with
out him. It is part of the American char
acter to consider nothing as desperate, to
surmount every difficulty by resolution and
contrivance. In Europe there are shops for
every want ; its inhabitants, therefore, have no
idea that their wants can be supplied otherwise.
Remote from all other aid, we are obliged to
invent and to execute ; to find means within
ourselves, and not to lean on others. Consider,
therefore, the conquering your Livy as an ex
ercise in the habit of surmounting difficulties ;
a habit which will be necessary to you in the
country where you are to live, and without
which you will be thought a very helpless ani
mal, and less esteemed. — To MARTHA JEFFER
SON. FORD ED., iv, 373. (1787.)
7409. RESPECT, A safeguard.— Respect
is a safeguard to interest. — To JOHN
ADAMS, i, 592. (P., 1786.)
7410. RESPECT, Strengthening.— Our
national respect certainly needs strengthening
in Europe. — To JAMES MONROE. FORD ED., iv,
223. (P., 1786.)
7411. RESPECTABILITY, National.—
It should ever be held in mind, that insult
and war are the consequences of a want of
respectability in the national character. — To
JAMES MADISON, i, 531. FORD ED., iv, 192.
(P., 1786.)
7412 . An alliance* with the
Emperor of Austria will give us respectability
in Europe, which we have occasion for. — To
ELBRIDGE GERRY, i, 557. (P., 1786.) See
JOSEPH II.
7413. RESPONSIBILITY, Essential
principle.— In truth, man is not made to be
trusted for life, if secured against all liability
to account. — To M. CORAY. vii, 322. (M.,
1823.)
7414. RESPONSIBILITY, Free Govern
ment and. — Responsibility is a tremendous
engine in a free government. — To ARCHIBALD
STUART, iii, 315. FORD ED., v, 410. (Pa.,
1791-)
7415. RESPONSIBILITY, Individual.
—Responsibility weighs with its heaviest force
on a single head. — To SAMUEL KERCHIVAL.
vii, 12. FORD ED., x, 40. (M., 1816.)
7416. RESPONSIBILITY, Official.— I
am for responsibilities at short periods, seeing
neither reason nor safety in making public
functionaries independent of the nation for
life, or even for long terms of years. — To
JAMES MARTIN, vi, 213. FORD ED., ix, 420.
(M., Sep. 1813.)
7417. . That there should be
public functionaries independent of the na
tion, whatever may be their demerit, is a
solecism in a republic, of the first order of
absurdity and inconsistency. — To WILLIAM
T. BARRY, vii, 256. (M., 1822.)
7418. RESPONSIBILITY, People and.
—It should be remembered, as an axiom of
* By alliance Jefferson meant a commercial treaty.
—EDITOR.
eternal truth in politics, that whatever power
in any government is independent, is absolute
also; in theory only, at first, while the spirit
of the people is up, but in practice, as fast
as that relaxes. Independence can be trusted
nowhere but with the people in mass. They
are inherently independent of all but moral
law. — To SPENCER ROANE. vii, 134. FORD
ED., x, 141. (P.F., 1819.)
7419. RESPONSIBILITY, Shirking.—
Leave no screen of a Council behind which
to skulk from responsibility. — To SAMUEL
KERCHIVAL. vii, 12. FORD ED., x, 39. (M.,
1816.)
7420. RETALIATION, Barbarous.— The
English have burned our Capitol and President's
House by means of their force. We can burn
their St. James's and St. Paul's by means of our
money, offered to their own incendiaries, of
whom there are thousands in London who
would do it rather than starve. But it is
against the laws of civilized warfare to employ
secret incendiaries. Is it not equally so to
destroy the works of art by armed incendiaries ?
Bonaparte, possessed at times of almost every
capital of Europe, with all his despotism and
power, injured no monument of art. If a na
tion, breaking through all the restraints of civil
ized character, uses its means of destruction
(power, for example) without distinction of ob
jects, may we not use our means (our money
and their pauperism) to retaliate their bar
barous ravages? Are we obliged to use for
resistance exactly the weapons chosen by them
for aggression? When they destroyed Copen
hagen by superior force, against all the laws
of God and man, would it have been unjustifi
able for the Danes to have destroyed their ships
by torpedoes ? Clearly not ; and they and we
should now be justifiable in the conflagration of
St. James's and St. Paul's. And if we do not
carry it into execution, it is because we think
it more moral and more honorable to set a good
example, than follow a bad one. — To THOMAS
COOPER, vi, 380. (M., 1814.)
7421. RETALIATION, Burning cities.
— Perhaps the British fleet will burn New
York or Boston. If they do, we must burn the
city of London, not by expensive fleets or
Congreve rockets, but by employing an hundred
or two Jack-the-painters, whom nakedness,
famine, desperation, and hardened vice, will
abundantly furnish from among themselves. —
To WILLIAM DUANE. vi, 76. FORD ED., ix, 366.
(M., Aug. 1812.)
7422. RETALIATION, Deplorable.— We
deplore the event which shall oblige us to shed
blood for blood, and shall resort to retaliation
but as the means of stopping the progress of
butchery. — REPORT TO CONGRESS. FORD ED., i,
495- (I77S-)
7423. RETALIATION, Destructive.—
Humane conduct on our part was found to pro
duce no effect ; the contrary therefore was to be
tried. If it produces a proper lenity to our
prisoners in captivity, it will have the effect
we meant ; if it does not, we shall return a
severity as terrible as universal. * * * If,
declining the tribunal of truth and reason,
they choose to pervert this into a contest of
cruelty and destruction, we will contend with
them in that line, and measure put misery to
those in our power in that multiplied proportion
which the advantage of superior numbers en
ables us to do. * * * Iron will be retaliated
763
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Retaliation
by iron * * * ; prison ships by prison
ships, and like for like in general.* — To COL.
MATHEWS. i, 234. FORD ED., ii, 262. (i779-)
7424. RETALIATION, A duty .—Re
taliation is a duty we owe to those engaged in
the cause of their country, to assure them that
if any unlucky circumstance, baffling the ef
forts of their bravery, shall put them in the
power of their enemies, we will use the pledges
in our hands to warrant their lives from sacri
fice. — REPORT TO CONGRESS. FORD ED., i, 495-
(I77S-)
7425. RETALIATION, Effective.— The
numbers of our countrymen betrayed into the
hands of the enemy by the treachery, cowardice
or incompetence of our high officers, reduce us
to the humiliating necessity of acquiescing in
the brutal conduct observed towards them.
When, during the last war, I put Governor
Hamilton and Major Hay into a dungeon and
in irons for having themselves personally done
the same to the American prisoners who had
fallen into their hands, and was threatened
with retaliation by Phillips, then returned to
New York, I declared to him I would load ten
of their Saratoga prisoners (then under my care
and within half a dozen miles of my house) with
double irons for every American they should
misuse under pretence of retaliation, and it
put an end to the practice. But the ten for
one are now with them. — To WILLIAM DUANE.
vi, 211. (M., Sep. 1813.)
7426. RETALIATION, France and.— A
recent fact, proving the anxiety of France for
a reconciliation with us is the following. You
know that one of the armed vessels which we
took from her was refitted by us, sent to cruise
on them, recaptured, and carried into Guad-
aloupe under the name of the Retaliation. On
the arrival there of Desfourneaux, the new com
missioner, he sent Victor Hughes home in
irons ; called up our captain ; told him that he
found he had a regular commission as an
officer of the United States ; that his vessel
was then lying in harbor ; that he should en
quire into no fact preceding his own arrival
(by this he avoided noticing that the vessel
was really French property) and that therefore,
himself and crew were free to depart with their
vessel ; that as to the differences between
France and the United States, commissioners
were coming to settle them, and in the mean
time, no injury should be done on their part.
The captain insisted on being a prisoner ; the
other disclaimed ; and so he arrived here
[Philadelphia] the day before yesterday.
Within an hour after this was known to the
Senate, they passed a retaliation bill. This
was the more remarkable, as the bill was
founded expressly on the Arret of Oct. 29,
which had been communicated by the President
as soon as received, and he remarked, " that
it could not be too soon communicated to the
two Houses and the public ". Yet he almost
in the same instant received, through the same
channel, Mr. King, information that the Arret
was suspended, and though he knew we were
making it the foundation of a retaliation bill,
he has never yet communicated it. But the
Senate knew the fact informally from the Sec-
* The practical inculcation of such a lesson pro
duced a sensible humiliation in the conduct of the
enemy, through the subsequent stages of th,e war.
The door of British magnanimity, which was barred
to the dictates of reason, justice, and national honor,
was compelled, reluctantly, to yield to the cries of
their own countrymen, and the ratal admonitions of
experience.— RAYNER'S Life of Jefferson , New York
edition, p. 194.
retary of State, and knowing it, passed the bill.
— To EDMUND PENDLETON. iv, 288. FORD ED.,
vii, 357. (Pa., Feb. 14, I799-)
7427.
Our government con
template restoring the Frenchmen taken origi
nally in the same vessel, and kept at Lancaster
[Penna.] as prisoners. This has furnished the
idea of calling her a cartel vessel, and pretend
ing that she came as such for an exchange of
prisoners, which is false. She was delivered
free and without condition, but it does not suit
to let any new evidence appear of the desire of
conciliation in France. — To EDMUND PENDLE
TON. iv, 290. FORD ED., vii, 360. (Pa., Feb.
I799-)
7428. . Leblanc, an agent from
Desfourneaux of Guadalpupe, came in the Re
taliation. You will see in the papers Desfour-
neaux's letter to the President. * * The
vessel and crew were liberated without condi
tion. Notwithstanding this, they have
obliged Leblanc to receive the French prison
ers, and to admit, in the papers, the terms,
" in exchange for prisoners taken from us ", he
denying at the same time that they consider
them as prisoners, or had any idea of exchange.
The object of his mission was not at all relative
to that ; but they choose to keep up the idea of
a cartel, to prevent the transaction from being
used as evidence of the sincerity of the French
towards a reconciliation. He came to assure
us of a discontinuance of all irregularities in
French privateers from Guadaloupe. He has
been received very cavalierly. — To JAMES MADI
SON, iv, 291. FORD ED., vii, 361. (Pa., Feb.
19, I799-)
7429. RETALIATION, Governor Ham
ilton's case. — I hope you will ascribe the
advice of the [Governor's] Council [confining
Governor Hamilton], not to want of attention
to the sacred nature of public conventions, of
which I hope we shall never, in any circum
stances, lose sight, but to a desire of stopping
the effusion of the unoffending blood of women
and children, and the unjustifiable severities
exercised on our captive officers and soldiers
in general, by proper severities on our part. —
To SIR GUY CARLETON. FORD EDV ii, 256.
(1779.) See WAR, PRISONERS OF.
7430. . On receipt of your letter
of August 6th, during my absence, the Council
had the irons taken off the prisoners of war.
When your advice was asked, we meant it
should decide with us ; and upon my return
to Williamsburg, the matter was taken up and
the enclosed advice* given. — To GENERAL
WASHINGTON, i, 230. FORD ED., ii, 258.
(i779.)
* The advice was in the form of an Order of Coun
cil which was written by Governor Jefferson as fol
lows : "The Board having been at no time unmind
ful of the circumstances attending the confinement
of Lieutenant Governor Hamilton, Captain Lamothe
and Philip Dejean, which the personal cruelties of
those men, as well as the general conduct of the
enemy had constrained them to advise ; wishing,
and willing to expect, that their sufferings may lead
them to the practice of humanity, should any future
turn of fortune, in their favor, submit to their dis
cretion the fate of their fellow-creatures; that it
may prove an admonition to others, meditating like
cruelties, not to rely for impunity in any circum
stances of distance or present security ; and that it
may induce the enemy to reflect what must be the
painful consequences should a continuation of the
same conduct on their part impel us again to sever
ities, while such multiplied subjects of retaliation
are within our power ; sensible that no impression
can be made on the event of the war by wreaking
vengeance on miserable captives ; that the great
Retaliation
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
764
7431.
Governor Hamilton and
his companions were imprisoned and ironed,
i St. In retaliation for cruel treatment of our
captive citizens by the enemy in general. 2d.
For the barbarous species of warfare which
himself and his savage allies carried on in our
western frontier. 3d. For particular acts of
barbarity, of which he himself was personally
guilty, to some of our citizens in his power.
Any one of these charges was sufficient to ius-
tify the measures we took. — To COLONEL MATH-
EWS. i, 233. FORD ED., ii, 262. (Wg., 1779-)
7432. RETALIATION, Humanity and.
— A uniform exercise of kindness to prison
ers on our part has been returned by as uni
form severity on the part of our enemies.
* * * It is high time * * * to teach
respect to the dictates of humanity ; in such a
case retaliation becomes an act of humanity. —
To SIR GUY CARLETON. FORD EDV ii, 251.
7433. RETALIATION, Legislative.—
Legislative warfare was begun by the British
parliament. * * * The stat. 12 G. 3, c. 24
for carrying our citizens charged with the of
fences it describes, to be tried in a foreign
country; by foreign judges instead of a jury of
their vicinage, by laws not their own, without
witnesses, without friends, or the means of ma
king them; that of the 14 G. 3, c. 39, for pro
tecting from punishment those who should
murder an American in the execution of a
British law, were previous to our acts of exile,
and even to the commencement of the war.
Their act of 14 G. 3, c. 19, for shutting up the
harbor of Boston, and thereby annihilating,
with the commerce of that city, the value of its
property; that of 15 G. 3, c. 10, forbidding us
to export to foreign markets the produce we
have hitherto raised and sold at those markets,
and thereby leaving that produce useless on our
hands; that of 10 G. 3, c. 5, prohibiting all
exports even to British markets, and making
them legal prize when taken on the high seas,
was dealing out confiscation, by wholesale, on
the property of entire nations, which our acts,
cited by you, retaliated but on the small scale
of individual confiscation. But we never retal
iated the 4th section of the last mentioned act,
under which multitudes of our citizens taken on
board our vessels were forced by starving, by
periodical whippings, and by constant chains to
become the murderers of their countrymen,
perhaps of their fathers and brothers. If from
this legislative warfare we turn to those scenes
of active hostility which wrapped our houses in
flame, our families in slaughter, our property
in universal devastation, is the wonder that our
Legislature did so much, or so little? Compare
their situation with that of the British Parlia
ment enjoying in ease and safety all the com
forts and blessings of the earth, and hearing
of these distant events as of the wars of
cause which has animated the two nations against
each other is not to be decided by unmanly cruelties
on wretches, who have bowed their necks to the
power of the victor, but by the exercise of honorable
valor in the field ; earnestly hoping that the enemy,
viewing the subject in the same light, will be con
tent to abide the event of that mode of decision, and
spare us the pain of a second departure from kind
ness to our captives ; confident that commiseration to
our prisoners is the only possible motive to which
can be candidly ascribed, in the present actual cir
cumstances of the war, the advice we are now about
to give ; the Board does advise the Governor to send
Lieutenant Governor Hamilton, Captain Lamothe
and Philip Dejean, to Hanover Court House, there
to remain at large, within reasonable limits, taking
the parole in the usual manner. The Governor
orders accordingly."— EDITOR.
Benaris, or the extermination of the Rohillas,
and say with candor whether the difference of
scene and situation would not have justified
a contrary difference of conduct towards each
other?* — To GEORGE HAMMOND. FORD EDV vi,
12. (Pa., 1792.)
7434. RETALIATION, Life for life.—
If the [British] enemy shall put to death,
torture, or otherwise ill-treat any of the hos
tages in their hanus, or of the Canadian, or
other prisoners captivated by them in the serv
ice of the United Colonies,! recourse must be
had to retaliation as the sole means of stopping
the progress of human butchery, and for that
purpose punishments of the same kind and de
gree shall be inflicted on an equal number of
their subjects taken by us, till they shall be
taught due respect to the violated rights of na
tions. — REPORT TO CONGRESS. FORD ED., ii, 34.
(June 1776.)
7435. RETALIATION, Necessary.— I
shall give immediate orders for having in readi
ness every engine which the enemy have con
trived for the destruction of our unhappy citi
zens, captured by them. The presentiment of
these operations is shocking beyond expression.
I pray heaven to avert them ; but nothing in
this world will do it, but a proper conduct in the
enemy. In every event, I shall resign myself
to the hard necessity under which I shall act. —
To GEN. WASHINGTON, i, 232. FORD ED., ii,
261. (Wg., 1779.)
7436. RETALIATION, Opportunity for.
— It is impossible [that the British] can be
serious in attempting to bully us * * * .
We have too many of their subjects in our
power and too much iron to clothe them with
and, I will add, too much resolution to avail
ourselves of both, to fear their pretended retali
ation.:}: — To GENERAL WASHINGTON, i, 231.
FORD EDV ii, 259. (Wg., 1779.)
7437. RETALIATION, On prisoners of
war. — This question [contest with Great
Britain] will not be decided by wreaking venge
ance on a few helpless captives but by achieving
success in the fields of war, and gathering there
those laurels which grow for the warrior brave.
In this light we view the object between us, in
this line we have hitherto conducted ourselves
for its attainment.! — REPORT TO CONGRESS. FORD
ED., i, 494. (1775.)
7438. . Should you think proper
in these days to revive ancient barbarism and
again disgrace our nature with the sacrifice,
the fortune of war has put into our power sub
jects for multiplied retaliation. To them, to
you, and to the world we declare they shall not
be wretched unless their imprudence or your
example shall oblige us to make them so ; but we
declare that their lives shall teach our enemies
to respect the rights of nations. REPORT TO
CONGRESS. FORD ED., i, 454. (Dec. 1775.)
* From Jefferson's letter to George Hammond,
British Minister, on the infractions of the peace
treaty. The extract was in reply to a charge made
by Hammond. Alexander Hamilton thought " it
may involve irritating discussion ", and Jefferson
struck it out.— EDITOR.
t Here Jefferson had written" States of America ",
which has been stricken out by another hand and
•l Colonies " written in its place.— NOTE IN FORD EDI
TION.
\ Jefferson was then Governor of Virginia, and a
controversy had arisen respecting the treatment of
prisoners of war. — EDITOR.
§ Ethan Allen and others were at that time pris
oners in the hands of the British army. The report
was not accepted by Congress.— EDITOR.
765
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Retaliation
Retirement
7439. . It is my duty, as well as
it was my promise to the Virginia captives, to
take measures for discovering any change which
may be made in their situation. For this pur
pose, I must apply for your Excellency s inter
position. I doubt not but you have an estab
lished mode of knowing, at all times, through
your commissary of prisoners, the precise state
of those in the power of the enemy. I must,
therefore, pray you to put into mot:on, any
such means you have, for obtaining knowledge
of the situation of the Virginia officers in cap
tivity. If you should think proper, as I could
wish, to take upon yourself to retaliate any
new sufferings which may be imposed on them,
it will be more likely to have due weight, and
to restore the unhappy on both sides, to that
benevolent treatment for which all should wish.
— To GENERAL WASHINGTON, i, 237. FORD
ED., ii, 280. (Wg., Nov. 1779.)
7440. RETALIATION, On Savages.—
To do wrong is a melancholy resource, even
where retaliation renders it indispensably nec
essary. It is better to suffer much from the
scalpings, the conflagrations, the rapes and ra
pine of savages, than to countenance and
strengthen such barbarisms by retortion. I
have ever deemed it more honorable and more
profitable, too, to set a good example than to
follow a bad one. — To M. CORREA. vi, 405.
(M., 1814.)
7441. RETIREMENT, Called from.— I
had folded myself in the arms of retirement,
and rested all prospects of future happiness on
domestic and literary objects. A single event
[Mrs. Jefferson's death] wiped away all my
plans, and left me a blank which I had not the
spirits to fill up. In this state of mind an ap
pointment [Minister to France] from Congress
found me, requiring me to cross the Atlantic. —
To M. DE CHASTELLUX. i, 322. FORD ED., iii,
65. (Am., 1782.)
7442. - —.1 had retired after five
and twenty years of constant occupation in
public affairs, and total abandonment of my
own. I retired much poorer than when I en
tered the public service, and desired nothing but
rest and oblivion. My name, however, was
again brought forward [for the Presidency],
without concert or expectation on my part.
On my salvation I declare it. — To EDWARD
RUTLEDGE. IV, 151. FORD ED., vii, 93. (M.,
Dec. 1796.)
7443. RETIREMENT, Desire for.—
However ardently my retirement to my own
home and my own affairs, may be wished for by
others, * * there is no one of them who
feels the wish once where I do a thousand
times. — To FRANCIS EPPES. FORD ED., v, 507.
(Pa., April 1792.)
7444. RETIREMENT, Happiness in.—
If I can carry into retirement the good will of
my fellow citizens, nothing else will be wanting
to my happiness. — To JAMES SULLIVAN, v, 252.
(1808.)
7445. RETIREMENT, Longing for.—
Oh for the day when I shall be withdrawn from
[office] ; when I shall have leisure to enjoy my
family, my friends, my farm and books ! — To
DR. BENJAMIN RUSH, v, 225. (W., January
1808.)
7446. . It is now among my
most fervent longings to be on my farm, which,
with a garden and fruitery, will constitute my
principal occupation in retirement. — To ROBERT
R. LIVINGSTON, v, 224. (W., 1808.)
7447. - . My longings for retire
ment are so strong, that I with difficulty en
counter the daily drudgeries of my duty. — To
JAMES MONROE, v, 248. FORD EDV ix, 178.
(W., Feb. 1808.)
7448. - — . As the moment of my
retirement approaches, I become more anxious
for its arrival, and to begin at length to pass
what yet remains to me of life and health in
the bosom of my family and neighbors, and
in communication with my friends, undis
turbed by political concerns or passions. — To
DR. LOGAN, v, 405. (W.,. Dec. 1808.)
7449. . Five weeks more will
relieve me from a drudgery to which I am no
longer equal, and restore me to a scene of tran
quillity, amidst my family and friends, more
congenial to my age and natural inclinations.
— To JAMES MONROE, v, 420. FORD ED., ix,
244. (W., Jan. 1809.)
7450. RETIREMENT, Newspaper at
tacks and. — I have for some time past been
under an agitation of mind which 1 scarcely
ever experienced before, produced by a check
on my purpose of returning home at the close
of this session of Congress. My operations
at Monticello had been all made to bear upon
that point of time, my mind was fixed on it with
a fondness which was extreme, the purpose
firmly declared to the President, when I became
assailed from all quarters with a variety of ob
jections. Among these it was urged that my
return just when I had been attacked in the
public papers, would injure me in the eyes of
the public, who would suppose I either withdrew
from investigation, or because I had not tone
of mind sufficient to meet slander. The only
reward I ever wished on my retirement was to
carry with me nothing like a disapprobation of
the public. These representations have, for
some weeks past, shaken a determination
which I had thought the whole world could
not have shaken. I have not yet finally made
up my mind on the subject, nor changed my
declaration to the President. But having per
fect reliance in the disinterested friendship of
some of those who have counselled and urged
it strongly ; believing that they can see and
judge better a question between the public and
myself than I can, I feel a possibility that I
may be detained here [Philadelphia] into the
summer. — To MARTHA JEFFERSON RANDOLPH.
iii, 506. FORD ED., vi, 163. (Pa., Jan. 1793.)
7451. . It happened unfortu
nately that the attack made on me in the news
papers came out soon after I began to speak
freely and publicly of my purpose to retire this
Spring. I find that as well those who
are my friends as those who are not, putting the
two things together as cause and effect, con
ceived I was driven from office either from
want of firmness or perhaps fear of investiga
tion. Desirous that my retirement may be
clouded by no imputations of this kind, I see not
only a possibility, but rather a probability, that
I shall postpone it for some time. — To T.
M. RANDOLPH. D. L. J., 215. (Pa., Feb. 1793.)
7452. RETIREMENT, Occupations in.
"—•In [retirement] I shall devote myself to
occupations much more congenial with my in
clinations, than those to which I have been
called by the character of the times into which
my lot was cast. About to be relieved from
this corvee by age and the fulfillment of the
quadragena stipendia, what remains to me of
physical activity will chiefly be employed in the
Retirement
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
766
amusements of agriculture. Having little prac
tical skill, I count more on the pleasures than
the profits of that occupation. — To M. LAST-
EYRIE, v, 315. (W., 1808.)
7453. . Within a few days I re
tire to my family, my books and farms ; and
having gained the harbor myself, I shall look on
my friends still buffeting the storm with anxiety
indeed, but not with envy. — To DUPONT DE
NEMOURS, v. 432. (W., March 1809.)
7454. . I retire from scenes of
difficulty, anxiety, and of contending passions,
to the elysium of domestic affections, and the
irresponsible direction of my own affairs. Safe
in port myself, I shall look anxiously at my
friends still buffeting the storm, and wish you
all safe in port also. — To GENERAL ARMSTRONG.
v, 434. (W., 1809.)
7455. . I shall now bury my
self in the groves of Monticello, and become a
mere spectator of the passing events. — To
BARON HUMBOLDT. v, 435. (W., 1809.)
7456. . I am now retired: I
resign myself, as a passenger, with confidence
to those at present at the helm, and ask but for
rest, peace and good will. — To SAMUEL KERCHI-
VAL. vii, 9. FORD ED., x, 37. (M., 1816.)
7457. BETIREMENT, Old age.— I am
too desirous of quiet to place myself in the way
of contention. Against this I am admonished
by bodily decay, which cannot be unaccom
panied by corresponding wane of the mind.
Of this I am as yet sensible, sufficiently to be
unwilling to trust myself before the public, and
when I cease to be so, I hope that my friends
will be too careful of me to draw me forth and
present me, like a Priam in armor, as a spec
tacle for public compassion. I hope our po
litical bark will ride through all its dangers ;
but I can in future be but an inert passenger.
— To THOMAS RITCHIE, vii, 193. FORD ED., x,
171. (M., 1820.)
7458. RETIREMENT, Power and.—
Never did a prisoner, released from his chains,
feel such relief as I shall on shaking off the
shackles of power. Nature intended me for
the tranquil pursuits of science, by rendering
them my supreme delight. But the enormities
of the times in which I have lived, have forced
me to take a part in resisting them, and to
commit myself on the boisterous ocean of po
litical passions. I thank God for the opportu
nity of retiring from them without censure, and
carrying with me the most consoling proofs of
public approbation. — To DUPONT DE NEMOURS.
v, 432. (W., March 2, 1809.)
7459. RETIREMENT, Principle and.—
At the end of the next four years I shall cer
tainly retire. Age, inclination and principle all
dictate this. — To PHILIP MAZZEI. iv, 554.
(W., July 1804.)
7460. RETIREMENT, Reasons for.—
The President [Washington] said, in an af
fectionate tone, that he had felt much concern
at an expression which dropped from me yes
terday [Feb. 28, 1792], and which marked my
intention of retiring [from the Secretaryship of
State] when he should ; that as to himself,
many motives obliged him to it, * * * yet
he should consider it as unfortunate, if that
should bring on the retirement of the great
officers of the government, and that this might
produce a shock on the public mind of danger
ous consequence. I told him that no man had
ever had less desire of entering into public of
fices than myself ; that the circumstance of a
perilous war, which had brought everything
into danger, and called for all the services
which every citizen could render, had induced
me to undertake the administration of the gov
ernment of Virginia ; that I had both before and
after refused repeated appointments of Congress
to go abroad in that sort of office, which, if I
had consulted my own gratification, would al
most have been the most agreeable to me ; that
at the end of two years, I resigned the govern
ment of Virginia, and retired with a firm resolu
tion never more to appear in public life ; that
a domestic loss, however, happened, and made
me fancy that absence and a change of scene
for a time might be expedient for me ; that I,
therefore, accepted a foreign appointment, lim
ited to two years ; that at the close of that, Dr.
Franklin having left France, I was appointed to
supply his place, which I had occupied, and
though I continued in it three or four years,
it was under the constant idea of remaining
only a year or two longer ; that the Revolution
in France coming on, I had so interested my
self in the event of that, that when obliged to
bring my family home, I had still an idea of
returning and awaiting the close of that, to fix
the era of my final retirement ; that on my ar
rival here I found he had appointed me to my
present office [Secretary of State] ; that he
knew I had not come into it without some re
luctance ; that it was, on my part, a sacrifice of
inclination to the opinion that I might be more
serviceable here than in France, and with a firm
resolution in my mind, to indulge my constant
wish for retirement at no very distant day ; that
when, therefore, I had received his letter, writ
ten from Mount Vernon, on his way to Carolina
and Georgia (April i, 1791), and discovered
from an expression in that, that he meant to
retire from the government ere long, and as to
the precise epoch there could be no doubt, my
mind was immediately made up, to make that
the epoch of my own retirement from those la
bors of which I was heartily tired. That, how
ever, I did not believe there was any idea in
any of my brethren in the administration of
retiring ; that, on the contrary, I had perceived
at a late meeting of the trustees of the sinking
fund, that the Secretary of the Treasury had de
veloped the plan he intended to pursue, and
that it embraced years in its view. He said
that he considered the Treasury Department
as a much more limited one, going only to the
single object of revenue, while that of the Sec
retary of State, embracing nearly all the objects
of administration, was much more important,
and the retirement of the officer, therefore,
would be more noticed ; that though the govern
ment had set out with a pretty general good will
of the public, yet that symptoms of dissatis
faction had lately shown themselves far be
yond what he could have expected, and to what
height these might arise in case of too great a
change in the administration, could not be fore
seen. — THE ANAS, ix, 102. FORD ED., i, 175.
(Feb. 29, 1792.)
7461. . I expressed to him
[Washington] my excessive repugnance to pub
lic life, the particular uneasiness of my situation
in this place [Philadelphia], where the laws of
society oblige me always to move exactly in the
circle which I know to bear me peculiar hatred ;
that is to say, the wealthy aristocrats, the mer
chants connected closely with England, the
new created paper fortunes ; that thus sur
rounded, my words were caught, multiplied,
misconstrued, and even fabricated and spread
abroad to my injury ; that he saw also, that
there was such an opposition of views between
767
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Retirement
Revolution
myself and another part of the Administration,
as to render it peculiarly unpleasing, and to
destroy the necessary harmony. — THE ANAS, ix,
166. FORD ED., i, 256. (Aug. I793-)
7462. RETIREMENT, Washington op
posed to Jefferson's.— The President calls
on me [to-day, August 6], at my house in the
country, and introduces my letter of July 31,
announcing that I should resign at the close of
the next month. He again expressed his re
pentance at not having resigned himself, and
how much it was increased by seeing that he
was to be deserted by those on whose aid he
had counted ; that he did not know where he
should look to find characters to fill up the of
fices ; that mere talents did not suffice for the
Department of State, but it required a person
conversant in foreign affairs, perhaps ac
quainted with foreign courts ; that without this,
the best talents would be awkward and at a loss.
He told me that Colonel Hamilton had three or
four weeks ago written to him, informing him
that private as well as public reasons had
brought him to the determination to retire, and
that he should do it towards the close of the
next session. He said he had often before in
timated dispositions to resign, but never as de
cisively before ; that he supposed he had fixed
on the latter part of next session, to give an op
portunity to Congress to examine into his con
duct ; that our going out at times so different
increased his difficulty ; for if he had both places
to fill at once, he might consult both the par
ticular talents and geographical situation of our
successors. He expressed great apprehension
at the fermentation which seemed to be work
ing in the mind of the public ; that many de
scriptions of persons, actuated by different
causes, appeared to be uniting; what it would
end in he knew not ; a new Congress was to
assemble, more numerous, perhaps of a different
spirit ; the first expressions of their sentiments
would be important ; if I would only stay to the
end of that, it would relieve him considerably.
— THE ANAS, ix, 165. FORD ED., i, 256. (Aug.
I793-)
7463. RETIREMENT, Welcome.— The
moment of my retiring [from the Secretaryship
of State] is now approaching, and is to me as
land was to Columbus in his first American
voyage. — To DAVID HUMPHREYS. iii, 490.
(Nov. 1792.)
7464. — — . I now contemplate the
approach of the moment of my retirement with
the fondness of a sailor who has land in view.
— To THOMAS PINCKNEY. FORD ED., vi, 132.
(Pa., Nov. 1792.)
7465. - — . When I came into office,
it was with a resolution to retire from it as soon
as I could with decency. It pretty early ap
peared to me that the proper moment would be
the first of those epochs at which the Constitu
tion seems to have contemplated a periodical
change or renewal of the public servants.
* * * I look to that period with the longing
of a wave-worn mariner, who has at length the
land in view, and shall count the days and hours
which still lie between me and it. — To PRESI
DENT WASHINGTON. iii, 467. FORD ED., vi,
108. (M., Sep. 1792.) See APPROBATION.
7466. RETRENCHMENT, Salutary.—
These views of reducing our burdens are formed
on the expectation that a sensible, and at the
same time a salutary reduction may take place
in our habitual expenditures. For this purpose,
those of the civil government, the army and
navy, will need revisal. — FIRST ANNUAL MES
SAGE, viii, 9. FORD ED., viii, 119. (Dec.
1801.)
7467. REVENGE, For abuse.— I shall
take no other revenge [for the slanders heaped
upon me] than, by a steady pursuit of econ
omy and peace, and by the establishment
of republican principles in substance and in
form, to sink federalism into an abyss from
which there shall be no resurrection for it. — To
LEVI LINCOLN, iv, 451. FORD ED., viii, 175.
(W., Oct. 1802.)
7468. REVENUE, Imports and.— Our
revenue will be less than it would be were we
to continue to import instead of manufacturing
our coarse goods. But the increase of popula
tion and production will keep pace with that of
manufactures, and maintain the quantum of ex
ports at the present level at least ; and the im
ports need be equivalent to them, and conse
quently the revenue on them be undiminished.
— To DUPONT DE NEMOURS, v, 583. FORD ED.,
ix, 319. (M., 1811.) See DEBT (UNITED
STATES), INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS, SURPLUS
and TAXATION.
7469. REVOLUTION, Completion of.—
The generation which commences a revolution
rarely completes it. Habituated from their in
fancy to passive submission of body and mind
to their kings and priests, they are not quali
fied when called on to think and provide for
themselves ; and their inexperience, their ig
norance and bigotry make them instruments
often, in the hands of the Bonapartes and
Iturbides, to defeat their own rights and pur
poses. This is the present situation of Europe
and Spanish America. — To JOHN ADAMS, vii,
307. FORD ED., x, 269. (M., 1823.)
7470. REVOLUTION, Right of.— Pru
dence, indeed, will dictate that governments
long established should not be changed for light
and transient causes ; and accordingly all ex
perience hath shown that mankind are more
disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable,
than to right themselves by abolishing the
forms to which they are accustomed. But,
when a long train of abuses and usurpations
[begun at a distinguished period and], pursu
ing invariably the same object, evinces a de
sign to reduce them under absolute despotism,
it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off
such government, and to provide new guards
for their future security. Such has been the
patient sufferance of these Colonies ; and such
is now the necessity which constrains them to
expunge * their former systems of government.
— DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE AS DRAWN BY
JEFFERSON.
7471. REVOLUTION (American), Ap
peal to British people.— In defence of pur
persons and properties under actual violation,
we took up arms. When that violence shall
be removed, when hostilities shall cease on the
part of the aggressors, hostilities shall cease
on our part also. For the achievement of
this happy event, we call for and confide in
the good offices of our fellow-subjects beyond
the Atlantic. Of their friendly dispositions
we do not cease to hope ; aware, as they must
be, that they have nothing more to expect
from the same common enemy, than the
* Congress struck out the words in brackets and
substituted "alter " for u expunge ". — EDITOR.
Revolution
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
768
humble favor of being last devoured. — DEC
LARATION ON TAKING UP ARMS. FORD ED.,
i, 475. (July 1775.)
7472. REVOLUTION (American), Bat
tle of Lexington.— Within this week we
have received the unhappy news of an action
of considerable magnitude, between the King's
troops and our brethren of Boston, in which it
is said five hundred of the former, with the
Earl of Percy, are slain. * * * This accident *
has cut off our last hope of reconciliation, and
a frenzy of revenge seems to have seized all
ranks of people. — To DR. WILLIAM SMALL, i,
198. FORD EDV i, 453. (May 1775.)
7473. BE VOLUTION (American), Be
ginning of. — The question who commenced
the Revolution? is as difficult as that of the
first inventors of a thousand good things. For
example, who first discovered the principle of
gravity ? Not Newton ; for Galileo, who died
the year that Newton was born, had measured
its force in the descent of grayid bodies. Who
invented the Lavoiserian chemistry? The Eng
lish say Dr. Black, by the preparatory discovery
of latent heat. Who invented the steamboat?
Was it Gerbert, the Marquis of Worcester,
Newcpmmen, Savary, Papin, Fitch, Fulton? The
fact is, that one new idea leads to another,
that to a third, and so on through a course
of time until some one, with whom no one of
these ideas was original, combines all together,
and produces what is justly called a new in
vention. I suppbse it would be as difficult to
trace our Revolution to its first embryo. We
do not know how long it was hatching in the
British cabinet before they ventured to make
the first of the experiments which were to de
velop it in the end and to produce complete
parliamentary supremacy. Those you mention
in Massachusetts as preceding the Stamp Act,
might be the first visible symptoms of that
design. The proposition of that Act in 1764,
was the first here. Your opposition, therefore,
preceded ours, as occasion was sooner given
there than here, and the truth, I suppose, is,
that the opposition in every colony began
whenever the encroachment was presented to it.
This question of priority is as the inquiry
would be who first, of the three hundred Spar
tans, offered his name to Leonidas? — To DR.
BENJAMIN WATERHOUSE. vii, 99. FORD ED., x,
102. (M., 1818.)
7474. . It would * * * be as
difficult to say at what moment the Revolution
began, and what incident set it in motion, as to
fix the moment that the embryo becomes an
animal, or the act which gives him a beginning.
— To JOHN ADAMS, vii, 104. FORD ED., x, 107.
(M., 1818.)
7475. . A * ^ * * misappre
hension of * * * a passage in Mr. [William]
Wirt's book, for which I am quoted, has pro
duced a * * * reclamation of the part of Mas
sachusetts, by some of her most distinguished
and estimable citizens. I had been applied to
by Mr. Wirt for such facts respecting Mr.
[Patrick] Henry, as my intimacy with him and
participation in the transactions of the day,
* Commenting on this passage, PARTON, in his
Life of Jefferson, says: "We may judge of the
strength of the tie between the mother country and
the Colonies, by the fact that so un-English a mind
as Jefferson's clung with sentimental fondness to
the union long after there was any reasonable hope
of their preserving it." Dr. Small, Jefferson's pro
fessor and friend at William and Mary College, was
then living in England.— EDITOR,
might have placed within my knowledge. I ac
cordingly committed them to paper ; and Vir
ginia being the theatre of his action, was the
only subject within my contemplation, while
speaking of him. Of the resolutions and
measures here, in which he had the acknowl
edged lead, I used the expression that " Mr.
Henry certainly gave the first impulse to the
ball of revolution ". (Wirt, page 41.) The ex
pression is, indeed, general, and in all its ex
tension, would comprehend all the sister States ;
but indulgent construction would restrain it,
as was really meant, to the subject matter under
contemplation, which was Virginia alone ; ac
cording to the rule of the lawyers and a fair
canon of general criticism, that every expres
sion should be construed secundum subject am
materiem. Where the first attack was made,
there must have been, of course, the first act
of resistance, and that was in Massachusetts.
Our [Virginia's] first overt act of war was Mr.
Henry's embodying a force of militia from
several counties, regularly armed and organ
ized, marching them in military array and
making reprisal on the King's treasury at the
seat of government, for the public powder taken
away by his Governor. This was in the last
days of April, 1775. Your formal battle of
Lexington was ten or twelve days before that,
which greatly overshadowed in importance, as
it preceded in time, our little affray, which
merely amounted to a levying of arms against
the King ; and, very possibly, you had had
military affrays before the regular battle of
Lexington. — To SAMUEL A. WELLS, i, 116.
vii, 120. FORD ED., x, 128. (M., 1819.)
— REVOLUTION (American), British
cruelty in.— See CRUELTY.
7476. REVOLUTION (American), Can
ada and. — In a short time, we have reason to
hope, the delegates of Canada will join us in
Congress, and complete the American union, as
far as we wish to have it completed. — To JOHN
RANDOLPH, i, 202. FORD ED., i, 492. (Pa., Nov.
I775-)
7477. REVOLUTION (American),
Change of government.— With respect to
the State of Virginia in particular, the people
seem to have laid aside the monarchical, and
taken up the republican government, with as
much ease as would have attended their throw
ing off an old, and putting on a new suit of
clothes. Not a single throe has attended this
important transformation. A half-dozen aris-
tocratical gentlemen, agonizing under the loss
of preeminence, have sometimes ventured their
sarcasms on our political metamorphosis. They
have been thought fitter objects of pity, than
of punishment. — To BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, i,
204. FORD ED., ii, 131. (1777.)
7478. REVOLUTION (American), Con
fident of victory.— We have long been out
of all fear for the event of the war. — To JOHN
ADAMS, i, 207. FORD ED., ii, 157. (Wg., June
1778.)
7479. REVOLUTION (American), Con
sequences of. — The enquiry which has been
excited among the mass of mankind by our
Revolution and its consequences, will ameliorate
the condition of men over a great portion of the
globe. — To JOHN DICKINSON, iv, 366. FORD
ED., viii, 8. (W., March 1801.)
7480. REVOLUTION (American),
French alliance and. — If there could have
been a doubt before as to the event of the war,
769
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Revolution
it is now totally removed by the interposition of
France, and the generous alliance she has en
tered into with us. — To . i, 208. FORD
ED., li, 157- (Wg.f 1778.)
7481. REVOLUTION (American),
Gage's perfidy. — Hostilities thus com
menced [at Lexington, &c.], on the part of the
ministerial army have been since by them pur
sued without regard to faith or fame. The in
habitants of the town of Boston, in order to
procure their enlargement, having entered into
treaty with General Gage, their Governor, it
was stipulated that the said inhabitants, having
first deposited their arms with their own magis
trates, should have liberty to depart from out
of the said town taking with them their other
effects. Their arms they accordingly delivered
in, and claimed the stipulated license of de
parting with their effects. But in open viola
tion of plighted faith and honor, in defiance of
the sacred obligation of treaty which even
savage nations observe, their arms, deposited
with their own magistrates to be preserved as
their property, were immediately seized by a
body of armed men under orders from the said
General; the greater part of the inhabitants
were detained in the town, and the few permit
ted to depart were compelled to leave their
most valuable effects behind. We leave the
world to its own reflections on this atrocious
perfidy. — DECLARATION ON TAKING UP ARMS.
FORD ED., i, 471. (July I775-)
7482. REVOLUTION (American),
Hopes of reconciliation. — When I saw Lord
Chatham's bill, I entertained high hope that
a reconciliation could have been brought about.
The difference between his terms and those of
fered by our Congress might have been accom
modated, if entered by both parties with a dis
position to accommodate. But the dignity of
Parliament, it seems, can brook no opposition
to its power. — To DR. WILLIAM SMALL, i, 199.
FORD ED., i, 454. (May 1775.)
7483. . Looking with fondness
towards a reconciliation with Great Britain, I
cannot help hoping that you * may be able to
contribute towards expediting this good work.
I think it must be evident to yourself, that the
Ministry have been deceived by their officers
on this side of the water, who (for what pur
pose I cannot tell) have constantly represented
the American opposition as that of a small fac
tion, in which the body of the people took little
part. This, you can inform them, of your own
knowledge, is untrue. They have taken it into
their heads, too, that we are cowards, and shall
surrender at discretion to an armed force.
* * * I wish they were thoroughly and mi
nutely acquainted with every circumstance rela
tive to America, as it exists in truth. I am
persuaded, this would go far towards disposing
them to reconciliation. — To JOHN RANDOLPH, i,
200. FORD ED., i, 482. (M., August 1775.)
7484. . If undeceiving the Min
ister, as to matters of fact, may change his
disposition, it will, perhaps, be in your power
by assisting to do this, to render service to the
whole empire, at the most critical time, cer
tainly, that it has ever seen. Whether Britain
shall continue the head of the greatest empire
on earth, or shall return to her original station
in the political scale of Europe, depends, per
haps, on the resolutions of the succeeding win-
* This John Randolph was the King's Attorney
General, and a son of Sir John Randolph. He sidec
with the Crown and went to England. Peyton Ran
dolph was his brother. — EDITOR.
er. God send they may be wise and salutary
or us all. — To JOHN RANDOLPH, i, 201. FORD
:D., i, 484. (M., August I775-)
7485. - — . One bloody campaign
vill probably decide, everlastingly, our future
course ; and I am sorry to find a bloody cam-
aign is decided on. If our winds and waters
should not combine to rescue their shores from
lavery, and General Howe's reinforcements
should arrive in safety, we have hopes he will
)e inspirited to come out of Boston and take
another drubbing ; and we must drub him
soundly, before the sceptred tyrant will know
we are not mere brutes, to crouch under his
land, and kiss the rod with which he designs
o scourge us. — To JOHN RANDOLPH, i, 203.
FORD ED., i, 493. (M., Nov. 1775.)
7486. REVOLUTION (American), In
fluence on France.— The American Revolu
tion seems first to have awakened the thinking
part of the French nation in general from the
sleep of despotism in which they were sunk. —
AUTOBIOGRAPHY, i, 69. FORD ED., i, 96. (1821.)
See REVOLUTION, FRENCH.
7487. REVOLUTION (American),
Losses in. — I think that upon the whole [our
loss * in the war] has been about one-half the
number lost by the British. •* * * This differ
ence is ascribed to our superiority in taking aim
when we fire ; every soldier in our army having
been intimate with his gun from his infancy. —
To . i, 208. FORD ED., ii, 157. (Wg.,
1778.)
7488. REVOLUTION (American) , Mem
ory of. — The memory of the American Revo
lution will be immortal, and will immortalize
those who record it. The reward is encouraging,
and will justify all those pains which a rigorous
investigation of facts will render necessary. —
To HlLLIARD D'AUBERTEUIL. 1, 535. (P., 1786.)
7489. REVOLUTION (American),
Mythical British victories. — From the kind
anxiety expressed in your letter, as well as from
other sources of information, we discover that
our enemies have filled Europe with Thrasonic
accounts of victories they had never won and
conquests they were fated never to make.
While these accounts alarmed our friends in
Europe, they afforded us diversion. — To .
i, 207. FORD ED., ii, 156. (Wg., 1778.)
7490. REVOLUTION (American), New
England and Virginia.— Throughout the
whole of the Revolution, Virginia and the four
New England States acted together ; indeed they
made the Revolution. Their five votes were
always to be counted on ; but they had to pick
up the remaining two for a majority, when
and where they could. — DANIEL WEBSTER'S
CONVERSATION WITH JEFFERSON. FORD ED., x,
329.
7491. REVOLUTION (American),
Peace propositions.— Though this Congress,
during the dependence of these States on the
British crown with unwearied supplications
sued for peace and just redress, and though they
still retain a sincere disposition to peace ; yet
as his Britannic majesty by an obstinate perse
verance in injury and a callous indifference to
the sufferings and the complaints of these
States, has driven them to the necessity of
declaring themselves independent, this Congress
bound by the voice of their constituents, which
coincides with their own sentiments, have no
power to enter into conference or to receive any
* From Lexington to the end of 1777. — EDITOR.
Revolution
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
770
propositions on the subject of peace which do
not, as a preliminary, acknowledge these States
to be sovereign and independent : and that
whenever this shall have been authoritatively
admitted on the part of Great Britain, they
shall at all times and with that earnestness
which the love of peace and justice inspires, be
ready to enter into conference or treaty for the
purpose of stopping the effusion of so much kin
dred blood. — RESOLUTIONS ON PEACE PROPOSI
TIONS. FORD ED., ii, 90. (Aug. 1776.)
7492. REVOLUTION (American), Re
sources of. — The main confidence of the Col
onies was in their own resources. They con
sidered foreign aid as probable and desirable,
but not essential. I believe myself, from the
whole of what I have seen of our resources and
perseverance, i, that had we never received any
foreign aid, we should not have obtained our
independence ; but that we should have made a
peace with Great Britain on any terms we
pleased, short of that, which would have been
a subjection to the same king, a union of force
in war, &c. 2. That had France supplied us
plentifully with money, suppose about four mil
lions of guineas a year, without entering into
the war herself at all, we should have estab
lished our Independence ; but it would have
cost more time, and blood, but less money.
3. That France, aiding us as she did, with
money and forces, shortened much the time,
lessened the expense of blood, but at a greater
expense of money to her than would have other
wise been requisite. — NOTES ON M. SOULES'S
WORK, ix, 297. FORD ED., iv, 305. (P., 1786.)
7493. . The submission of the
States would not have been effected but by a
long course of disasters, and such, too, as were
irreparable in their nature. Their resources
were great, and their determination so rooted,
that they would have tried the last of them. —
NOTES ON M. SOULES'S WORK, ix, 297. FORD ED.,
iv, 305. (P., 1786.)
7494. REVOLUTION (American), Roy
al incendiarism. — It is a lamentable circum
stance, that the only mediatory power, acknowl
edged by both parties, instead of leading to a
reconciliation his divided people, should pursue
the incendiary purpose of still blowing up the
flames, as we find him constantly doing, in every
speech and public declaration. — To DR. WILL
IAM SMALL, i, 199. FORD ED., i, 454. (May
!775-) See GEORGE III.
7495. REVOLUTION (American), Sep
aration. — There is not in the British empire
a man who more cordially loves a union with
Great Britain, than I do. But by the God that
made me, I will cease to exist before I yield
to a connection on such terms as the British
Parliament propose ; and in this, I think I speak
the sentiments of America. We want neither
inducement nor power, to declare and assert a
separation. It is will, alone, which is wanting,
and that is growing apace under the fostering
hand of our King. — To JOHN RANDOLPH, i, 203.
FORD ED., i, 493. (Pa., November 1775.)
7496. REVOLUTION (American), Spirit
of. — Even those in Parliament who are called
friends to America seem to know nothing of
our real determinations. I observe, they pro
nounced in the last Parliament that the Con
gress of 1774 did not mean to insist rigorously
on the terms they held out, but kept something
in reserve to give up ; and, in fact, that they
would give up everything but the article of
taxation. Now, the truth is far from this, as I
can affirm, and put my honor to the assertion.
Their continuance in this error may, perhaps,
produce very ill consequences. The Congress
stated the lowest terms they thought possible
to be accepted, in order to convince the world
they were not unreasonable. They gave up the
monopoly and regulation of trade and all acts
of Parliament prior to 1764, leaving to British
generosity to render these, at some time, as
easy to America as the interest of Britain
would admit. But this was before blood was
spilt. I cannot affirm, but have reason to think
these terms would not now be accepted. — To
JOHN RANDOLPH, i, 200. FORD ED., i, 483. (M.,
I775-)
7497. REVOLUTION (American),
Treaty of peace.— The terms obtained for us
are indeed great, and are so deemed by your
country, a few ill-designing debtors excepted. —
To JOHN JAY. i, 332. FORD ED., iii, 316. (Pa.,
1783.)
— REVOLUTION (American), Under
lying causes of.— See COLONIES (AMERI
CAN).
7498. REVOLUTION (American), Un
natural contest. — I hope the returning wis
dom of Great Britain will, ere long, put an end
to this unnatural contest. — To JOHN RANDOLPH.
i, 200. FORD ED., i, 482. (M., August 1775.)
7499. REVOLUTION (American),
Washington and. — The moderation and vir
tue of a single character have probably pre
vented this Revolution from being closed, as
most others have been, by a subversion of that
liberty it was intended to establish. — To GEN
ERAL WASHINGTON, i, 335. FORD ED., iii, 467.
(A., 1784.) See COLONIES, CORNWALLIS, DEC
LARATION OF INDEPENDENCE, GEORGE III., PAR
LIAMENT, RIGHTS OF BRITISH AMERICA, WAR
and WASHINGTON.
7500. REVOLUTION (French), Amer
ican revolution and.— Celebrated writers of
France and England had already sketched good
principles on the subject of government ; yet
the American Revolution seems first to have
awakened the thinking part of the French na
tion in general from the sleep of despotism in
which they were sunk. The officers, too, who
had been to America, were mostly young men,
less shackled by habit and prejudice, and more
ready to assent to the suggestions of common
sense, and feeling of common rights, than
others. They came back with new ideas and
impressions. The press, notwithstanding its
shackles, began to disseminate them ; conversa
tion assumed new freedoms. Politics became
the theme of all societies, male and female,
and a very extensive and zealous party was
formed, which acquired the appellation of the
Patriotic Party, who, sensible of the abusive
government under which they lived, sighed for
occasions of reforming it. This party compre
hended all the honesty of the kingdom, suf
ficiently at leisure to think, the men of letters,
the easy Bourgeois, the young nobility, partly
from reflection, partly from mode ; for these
sentiments became matter of mode, and as such,
united most of the young women to the partv.
— AUTOBIOGRAPHY, i, 69. FORD ED., i, 96. (1821?*)
7501. . The French nation has
been awakened by our Revolution, they feel
their strength, they are enlightened, their lights
are spreading, and they will not retrograde. —
To GENERAL WASHINGTON, ii, 535. (P., Dec.
1788.)
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Revolution
— REVOLUTION (French), Bill of
rights.— See BILL OF RIGHTS.
7502. REVOLUTION (French), Clergy
and nobles. — It was imagined the ecclesias
tical elections would have been generally in fa
vor of the higher clergy ; on the contrary, the
lower clergy have obtained five-sixths of these
deputations. These are the sons of peasants,
who have done all the drudgery of the service
for ten, twenty, and thirty guineas a year, and
whose oppressions and penury, contrasted with
the pride and luxury of the higher clergy, have
rendered them perfectly disposed to humble
the latter. They have done it, in many in
stances, with a boldness they were thought in
susceptible of. Great hopes have been formed
that these would concur with the Tiers Etat
in voting by persons. In fact, about half of
them seem as yet so disposed ; but the bishops
are intriguing, and drawing them over with
the address which has ever marked ecclesias
tical intrigue. — To JOHN JAY. Hi, 27. (P., May
1789.)
7503. . The clergy and the no
bles, by their privileges and their influence,
have hitherto screened their property in a
great degree, from public contribution. That
half of the orange, then, remains yet to be
squeezed, and for this operation there is no
agent powerful enough but the people. They
are, therefore, brought forward as the favorites
of the Court, and will be supported by them. —
To JOHN JAY. ii, 561. (P., 1789.)
7504. . The Clergy will leave
nothing unattempted to secure [the voting by
orders in the States General] ; for they see that
the spirit of reformation will not confine itself
to the political, but will extend to the ecclesias
tical establishment also. — To JOHN JAY. ii, 561.
(P., 1789.)
- REVOLUTION (French), Constitu
tional reforms. — See CONSTITUTION, FRENCH.
— REVOLUTION (French), Execution
of Louis XVI.— See Louis XVI.
_ REVOLUTION (French), Fall of Bas-
tile. — See BASTILE.
7505. REVOLUTION (French), Famine
and. — We have had such a winter here as is
not on record. The mercury was 18^° below
freezing on Reaumur's scale, and I think it was
nearly two months varying between that and
zero. It gave occasion for a display of the
benevolent character of this nation, which, great
as I had thought it, went beyond my expecta
tions. There seems to be a very general ap
prehension of the want of bread this spring.
Supplies are hoped from our country, and in
deed they have already reduced the price of
flour at Bordeaux from 36!. to 33!. the barrel.
— To COUNT DE MOUSTIER. ii, 590. (P., March
1789.)
7506. . We have had such a
winter as makes me shiver yet whenever I think
of it. All communications, almost, were cut
off. Dinners and suppers were suppressed, and
the money laid out in feeding and warming the
poor, whose labors were suspended by the rigor
of the season. — To MADAME DE BREHAN. ii,
591. FORD ED., v, 79. (P., 1789.)
7507. . The want of bread is
very seriously dreaded through the whole king
dom. Between twenty and thirty shiploads of
wheat and flour have already arrived from the
United States, and there will be about the same
quantity of rice sent from Charleston to this
country directly. * * * Paris consumes
about a shipload a day (say two hundred and
fifty tons). — To WILLIAM CARMICHAEL. iii, 22.
(P., May 1789.)
7508. . There have been some
mobs, occasioned by the want of bread, in
different parts of the kingdom, in which there
may have been some lives lost, perhaps a dozen
or twenty. These had no professed connection,
generally, with the constitutional revolution.
A more serious riot happened lately in Paris,
in which about one hundred of the mob were
killed. This execution nas been universally ap
proved, as they seemed to have no view but
mischief and plunder. — To JAMES MADISON, iii,
34- (P-, May 1789.)
7509. . The want of bread had
been foreseen for some time past, and M. de
Montmorin had desired me to notify it in
America, and that, in addition to the market
price, a premium should be given on what
should be brought from the United States. No
tice was accordingly given, and produced con
siderable supplies. Subsequent information
made the importations from America, during the
months of March, April and May, into the
Atlantic ports of France, amount to about
twenty-one thousand barrels of flour, besides
what went to other ports, and in other months ;
while our supplies to their West Indian islands
relieved them also from that drain. This dis
tress for bread continued till July. — AUTOBI
OGRAPHY, i, 89. FORD ED., i, 123. (1821.)
7510. REVOLUTION (French), Finan
cial abuses.— The discovery of the abomi
nable abuses of public money by the late Comp
troller General, some new expenses of the
Court, not of a piece with the projects of ref
ormation, and the imposition of new taxes,
have, in the course of a few weeks, raised a
spirit of discontent in the nation, so great and
so general, as to threaten serious consequences.
The parliaments in general, and particularly
that of Paris, put themselves at the head of this
effervescence, and direct its object to the
calling of the States General, who have not
been assembled since 1614. The object is to
fix a constitution, and to limit expenses. The
King has been obliged to hold a bed of justice,
to enforce the registering the new taxes ; the
parliament on their side, propose to issue a
prohibition against their execution. Very pos
sibly this may bring on their exile. — To 'GEN
ERAL WASHINGTON, ii, 251. (P., 1787.)
7511. REVOLUTION (French), Flight
of the King.— We are now under the first
impression of the news of the King's flight from
Paris, and his recapture. It would be unfortu
nate were it in tire power of any one man to
defeat the issue of so beautiful a revolution.
I hope and trust it is not, and that, for the good
of suffering humanity all over the earth, that
revolution will be established and spread
through the whole world. — To SIR JOHN SIN
CLAIR, iii, 284. (Pa., 1791.)
7512. . You have heard of the
peril into which the French Revolution is
brought by the flight of their King. Such are
the fruits of that form of government which
heaps importance on idiots, and of which the
tories of the present day are trying to preach
into our favor. — To EDWARD RUTLEDGE. iii,
285. FORD ED., v, 376. (Pa., 1791.)
Revolution
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
772
7513. REVOLUTION (French), History
of. — As yet, we are but in the first chapter of
its history. — AUTOBIOGRAPHY, i, 106. FORD
ED., i, 147. (1821.)
7514. REVOLUTION (French), Im
perial imbecility.— The government has
published an Arret, suspending all reimburse
ments of capital, and reducing the payments of
the principal mass of demands for interest to
twelve sous in the livre ; the remaining eight
sous to be paid with certificates. * *
The consternation is as yet too great to let us
judge of the issue. It will probably ripen the
public mind to the necessity of a change in
their constitution, and to the substituting the
collected wisdom of the whole in place of a
single will, by which they have been hitherto
governed. It is a remarkable proof of the total
incompetency of a single head to govern a na
tion well, when, with a revenue of six hundred
millions, they are led to a declared bankruptcy,
and to stop the wheels of government, even in
its most essential movements, for want of
money. — To JOHN JAY. ii, 468. (P., August
1788.)
7515. REVOLUTION (French), Influ
ence of women. — In my opinion, a kind of
influence which none of their plans of reform
take into account, will elude them all ; I mean
the influence of women in the government.
The manners of the nation allow them to visit,
alone, all persons in office, to solicit the affairs
of the husband, family, or friends, and their
solicitations bid defiance to laws and regula
tions. This obstacle may seem less to those
who, like our countrymen, are in the precious
habit of considering right as a barrier against
all solicitation. Nor can such an one, without
the evidence of his own eyes, believe in the
desperate state to which things are reduced in
this country from the omnipotence of an in
fluence which, fortunately for the happiness of
the sex itself, does not endeavor to extend it
self in our country beyond the domestic line. —
To GENERAL WASHINGTON, ii, 536. (P., Dec.
1788.)
7516. REVOLUTION (French), Jeffer
son's relations to. — I considered a success
ful reformation of government in France, as
insuring a general reformation through Europe,
and the resurrection, to a new life, of their peo
ple, now ground to dust by the abuses of the
governing powers. I was much acquainted
with the leading patriots of the Assemblee.
Being from a country which had successfully
passed through a similar reformation, they were
disposed to my acquaintance, and had some
confidence in me. I urged, most strenuously,
an immediate compromise ; to secure what the
government was now ready to yield, and trust
to future occasions for what might still be
wanting. It was well understood that the King
would grant, at this time, i. Freedom of the
person by habeas corpus; 2. Freedom of con
science : 3. Freedom of the press : 4. Trial by
jury : 5. A representative legislature : 6. Annual
meetings : 7. 'i he origination of laws : 8. The ex
clusive right of taxation and appropriation : and
9. The responsibility of ministers ; and with the
exercise of these powers they could obtain, in
future, whatever might be further necessary to
improve and preserve their constitution. They
thought otherwise, however, and events have
proved their lamentable error. For, after thirty
years of war, foreign and domestic, the loss of
millions of lives, the prostration of private hap
piness, and foreign subjugation of their own
country for a time, they have obtained no more.
nor even that securely. They were unconscious
of (for who could foresee?) the melancholy
sequel of their well-meant perseverance ; that
their physical force would be usurped by a first
tyrant to trample on the independence, and even
the existence, of other nations ; that this would
afford a fatal example for the atrocious con
spiracy of kings against their people : would
generate their unholy and homicide alliance to
make common cause among themselves, and
to crush, by the power of the whole, the efforts
of any part, to moderate their abuses and op
pressions. — AUTOBIOGRAPHY, i, 93. FORD ED.,
i, 129. (1821.) See HOLY ALLIANCE.
7517. . Possibly you may re
member, at the date of the jeu de paume, how
earnestly I urged yourself and the patriots of
my acquaintance, to enter then into a compact
with the King, securing freedom of religion,
freedom of the press, trial by jury, habeas
corpus, and a national legislature, all of which
it was known he would then yield, to go home,
and let these work on the amelioration of the
condition of the people, until they should have
rendered them capable of more, when occasions
would not fail to arise for communicating to
them more. This was as much as I then
thought them able to bear soberly and usefully
for themselves. You thought otherwise, and
that the dose might still be larger. And I
found you were right ; for subsequent events
proved they were equal to the constitution of
1791. Unfortunately, some of the most honest
and enlightened of our patriotic friends (but
closet politicians merely, unpracticed in the
knowledge of man), thought more could still
be obtained and borne. They did not weigh
the hazards of a transition from one form of
government to another, the value of what they
had already rescued from those hazards, and
might hold in security if they pleased, nor the
imprudence of giving up the certainty of such
a degree of liberty, under a limited monarchy,
for the uncertainty of a little more under the
form of a republic. You differed from them.
You were for stopping there and for securing
the constitution which the National Assembly
had obtained. Here, too, you were right ; and
from this fatal error of the republicans, from
their separation from yourself and the consti
tutionalists, in their councils, flowed all the
subsequent sufferings and crimes of the French
nation. The hazards of a second change fell
upon them by the way. The foreigner gained
time to anarchise by gold the government he
could not overthrow by arms, to crush in their
own councils the genuine republicans, by the
fraternal embraces of exaggerated and hired
pretenders, and to turn the machine of Jacobin
ism from the change to the destruction of
order ; and, in the end, the limited monarchy
they had secured was exchanged for the un
principled and bloody tyranny of Robespierre,
and the equally unprincipled and maniac tyr
anny of Bonaparte. You are now rid of him,
and I sincerely wish you may continue so.
But this may depend on the wisdom and mod
eration of the restored dynasty. It is for them
now to read a lesson in the fatal errors of the
republicans ; to be contented with a certain por
tion of power, secured by a formal compact with
the nation, rather than, grasping at more,
hazard all upon uncertainty, and risk meeting
the fate of their predecessor, or a renewal of
their own exile. — To MARQUIS LAFAYETTE, vi,
421. FORD ED., ix, 505. (M., Feb. 1815.)
7518. . I had no apprehension
that the tempest, of which I saw the beginning,
was to spread over such an extent of space and
time. — To COMTE DIODATI. v, 62. (W., 1807.)
773
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Revolution
7519. REVOLUTION (French), Leaders
in. — I was intimate with the leading charac
ters of the year 1789. So I was with those of
the Brissotine party who succeeded them ; and
have always been persuaded that their views
were upright. Those who have followed them
have been less known to me. — To M. DE MEU-
NIER. FORD ED., vii, 13. (M., 1795.)
7520. . When I left France at
the close of '89, your revolution was, as I
thought, under the direction of able and honest
men. But the madness of some of their suc
cessors, the vices of others, the malicious in
trigues of an envious and corrupting neighbor,
the tracasserie of the Directory, the usurpa
tions, the havoc, and devastations of your
Attila, and the equal usurpations, depredations
and oppressions of your hypocritical deliverers,
will form a mournful period in the history of
man, a period of which the last chapter
will not be seen in your day or mine,
and one which I still fear is to be writ
ten in characters of blood. Had Bonaparte
reflected that such is the moral construction
of the world, that no national crime passes
unpunished in the long run, he would not now
be in the cage of St. Helena ; and were your
oppressors to reflect on the same truth, they
would spare to their own countries the penal
ties on their present wrongs which will be in
flicted on them in future times. The seeds of
hatred and revenge which they are now sowing
with a large hand, will not fail to produce their
fruits in time. Like their brother robbers on
the highway, they suppose the escape of the mo
ment a final escape, and deem infamy and
future risk countervailed by present gain. —
To M. DE MARBOIS. vii, 76. (M., 1817.)
7521. REVOLUTION (French), Lettres
de cachet.— Though they see the evil of let-
tres de cachet, they believe they do more good
on the whole. They will think better in time.
—To DR. CURRIE. ii, 544. (P., 1788.)
7522. REVOLUTION (French), Liberty
and. — The liberty of the whole earth was de
pending on the issue of the contest, and was
ever such a prize won with so little innocent
blood? — To WILLIAM SHORT, iii, 502. FORD
ED., vi, 154. (Pa., I793-)
— REVOLUTION (French), Marie An
toinette. — See MARIE ANTOINETTE.
7523. REVOLUTION (French), Minis
terial reforms.—! hope the internal affairs
of this country will be finally arranged without
having cost a drop of blood. Looking on as a
bystander, no otherwise interested, than as
entertaining a sincere love for the nation in
general, and a wish to see their happiness pro
moted, keeping myself clear of the particular
views and passions of individuals, I applaud
extremely the patriotic proceedings of the pres
ent ministry. Provincial Assemblies estab
lished, the States General called, the right of
taxing the nation without their consent aban
doned, corvees abolished, torture abolished, the
criminal code reformed, are facts which will
do eternal honor to their administration, in
history. — To WILLIAM CARMICHAEL. ii, 466.
(P., Aug. 1788.)
7524. — — . The internal good they
are doing to their country makes me completely
their friend. — To WILLIAM CARMICHAEL. ii,
467. (P., 1788.)
7525. REVOLUTION (French), Mon
archy and parliaments. — The struggle in
France is as yet * * * between the mon
archy and the parliaments. The nation is no
otherwise concerned, but as both parties may be
induced to let go some of its abuses, to court
the public favor. The danger is that the people,
deceived by a false cry of liberty, may be led
to take side with one party, and thus give the
other a pretext for crushing them still more. —
To E. RUTLEDGE. ii, 435. FORD ED., v, 42.
(P., July 1788.)
7526. . This nation is * * *
under great internal agitation. The authority
of the crown on one part, and that of the par
liaments on the other, are fairly at issue.
Good men take part with neither, but have
raised an opposition, the object of which is to
obtain a fixed and temperate constitution.
There was a moment when this opposition ran
so high as to endanger an appeal to arms, in
which case, perhaps, it would have been
crushed. The moderation of government has
avoided this, and they are yielding daily one
right after another. They have given them
Provincial Assemblies, which will be very per
fect representatives of the nation, and stand
somewhat in the place of our State Assemblies.
They have reformed the criminal laws ; ac
knowledged the King cannot lay a new tax,
without the consent of the States General ; and
they will call the States General the next year.
— To COLONEL MONROE, ii, 457. (P., 1788.)
7527. . The contest here is ex
actly what it was in Holland : a contest between
the monarchical and aristocratical parts of the
government, for a monopoly of despotism over
the people. The aristocracy in Holland, seeing
that their common prey was likely to escape out
of their clutches, chose rather to retain its
former portion, and therefore coalesced with the
single head. The people remained victims.
Here, I think, it will take a happier turn. The
parliamentary part of the aristocracy is alone
firmly united. The Noblesse and Clergy, but
especially the former, are divided partly be
tween the parliamentary and the despotic party,,
and partly united with the real patriots, who
are endeavoring to gain for the nation what
they can, both from the parliamentary and the
single despotism. I think I am not mistaken
in believing that the King and some of his
ministers are well affected to this band; and
surely, that they make great concessions to
the people, rather than small ones to the par
liament. They are, accordingly, yielding daily
to the national reclamations, and will probably
end in according a well-tempered constitution.
— To M. DE CREVECOEUR. ii, 457. (P., 1788.)
7528. REVOLUTION (French), Mon
archy waning.— In the course of three
months, the royal authority has lost, and the
rights of the nation gained as much ground by
a revolution of public opinion only, as England
gained in all her civil wars under the Stuarts.
I rather believe, too, they will retain the
ground gained because it is defended by the
young and the middle aged in opposition to the
old only. The first party increases, and the
latter diminishes daily from the course of na
ture. — To JOHN ADAMS, ii, 259. (P., 1787.)
7529. REVOLUTION (French), Na
tional Assembly.— The National Assembly
(for that is the name they take), having shown
through every stage of these transactions a
coolness, wisdom, and resolution to set fire to
the four corners of the kingdom and to perish
with it themselves, rather than to relinquish
an iota from their plan of a total change of gov
ernment, are now in complete and undisputed
Revolution
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
774
possession of the sovereignty. The executive
and aristocracy are at their feet; the mass of
the nation, the mass of the clergy, and the army
are with them. They have prostrated the old
government, and are now beginning to build
one from the foundation. — To THOMAS PAINE.
iii, 69. (P., July 1789-)
7530. . It is impossible to de
sire better dispositions towards us than prevail
in the National Assembly. Our proceedings
have been viewed as a model for them on every
occasion; and though in the heat of debate
men are generally disposed to contradict every
authority urged by their opponents, ours has
been treated like that of the Bible, open to ex
planation but not to question. I am sorry that
in the moment of such a disposition, anything
should come from us to check it. The placing
them on a mere footing with the English will
have this effect. — To JAMES MADISON, iii, 99.
FORD ED., v, no. (P., Aug. 1789.)
7531. . The difficulties which now
appear threatening to my mind are those which
will result from the size of the Assembly.
Twelve hundred persons of any rank and of
any nation assembled together would with diffi
culty be prevented from tumult and confusion.
But when they are to compose an assembly for
which no rules of debate or proceeding have
been yet formed, in whom no habits of order
have been yet established, and to consist more
over of Frenchmen, among whom there are al
ways more speakers than listeners, I confess to
you I apprehend 'some danger. — To MR. SHIP-
PEN, ii, 580. (P., March 1789-)
7532. REVOLUTION (French), Na
tional debt.— Calonne stated to * *
[the Assembly of Notables] that the annual
excess of expenses beyond the revenue, when
Louis XVI. came to the throne, was thirty-
seven millions of livres ; that four hundred and
forty millions had been borrowed to reestab
lish the navy ; that the American war had cost
them fourteen hundred and forty millions (two
hundred and fifty-six millions of dollars), and
that the interest of these sums, with other in
creased expenses had added forty millions more
to the annual deficit. (But a subsequent and
more candid estimate made it fifty-six mil
lions.) — AUTOBIOGRAPHY, i, 70. FORD ED., i,
97. (1821.)
7533. REVOLUTION (French), Necker
recalled. — The Archbishop [of Toulouse] has
been removed * * * and M. Necker called
in as Director General of finance. To soften
the Archbishop's dismission, a cardinal's hat is
asked for him from Rome, and his nephew
promised the succession to the archbishopric of
Sens. The public joy, on this change of ad
ministration, was very great indeed. The peo
ple of Paris were amusing themselves with try
ing and burning the Archbishop in effigy, and
rejoicing on the appointment of M. Necker.
The commanding officer of the city guards
undertook to forbid this, and not being obeyed,
he charged the mob with fixed bayonets, killed
two or three, and wounded many. This stopped
their rejoicings for that day ; but enraged at
being thus obstructed in amusements wherein
they had committed no disorder whatever, they
collected in great numbers the next day, at
tacked the guards in various places, burned ten
or twelve guard houses, killed two or three of
the guards, and had about six or eight of their
own number killed. The city was, hereupon,
put under martial law, and after a while, the
tumult subsided, and peace was restored. — To
JOHN JAY. ii, 471. (P., Sep. 1788.)
7534. REVOLUTION (French), Nobles
and people. — With respect to the nobles, the
younger members are generally for the people,
and the middle-aged are daily coming over to
he same side. — To JOHN JAY. ii, 561. (P ,..
[an. 1789.)
7535. REVOLUTION (French), Nota
bles called.— The King has called an As
semblee des Notables. This has not been done
:or one hundred and sixty years past. Of
course it calls up all the attention of the people.
The objects of this Assembly are not named.
Several are conjectured. T. e tolerating the
Protestant religion ; removing all the internal
custom houses to the frontier; equalizing the
gabelles on salt through the kingdom ; the sale
}f the King's domains to raise money ; or,
finally, the effecting this necessary end by some
other means are talked of. But in truth, noth
ing is known about it. This government prac
tices secrecy so systematically, that it never
publishes its purposes or its proceedings sooner
or more extensively than is necessary. — To
JOHN JAY. ii, 91. (P., 1787.)
7536. . The Assemblee des No
tables met yesterday [Feb. 22]. The King, in
a short but affectionate speech, informed them
of his wish to consult with them on the plans
he had digested, and on the general good of
his people, and his desire to imitate the head
of his family, Henry IV., whose memory is so
dear to the nation. The Garde des Sceaux
then spoke about twenty minutes, chiefly in
compliment to the orders present. The Comp
troller General, in a speech of abotit an hour,
opened the budget, and enlarged on the several
subjects which will be under their deliberation,
* * * and the institution of Provincial Assem
blies. The Assemblee was then divided into
committees, with a prince of the blood at the
head of each. — To JOHN JAY. ii, 129. (P.,
1787.)
7537. . The first step of the dep
uties to the Assemblee des Notables should be
to get themselves divided into two chambers
instead of seven ; the noblesse and the commons
separately. The second, to persuade the King,
instead of choosing the deputies of the Com
mons himself, to summon those chosen by the
people for the Provincial administrations. The
third, as the noblesse is too numerous to be of
the Assemblee, to obtain permission for that
body to choose its own deputies. Two houses,
so elected, would contain a mass of wisdom
which would make the people happy, and the
King great ; would place him in history where
no other act can possibly place him. They
would thus put themselves in the track of the
best guide they can follow ; they would soon
overtake it, become its guide in turn and lead
to the wholesome modifications wanting in that
model and necessary to constitute a rational
government. Should they attempt more than
the established habits of the people are ripe for,
they may lose all, and retard indefinitely the
ultimate object of their aim. — To MADAME LA
COMTESSE DE TESSE. ii, 133. (N., 1787.)
7538. . The Assemblee des No
tables has been productive of much good. The
reformation of some of the most oppressive
laws has taken place, and is taking place. The
allotment of the State into subordinate govern
ments, the administration of which is com
mitted to persons chosen by the people, will
work in time a very beneficial change in
their constitution. The expense of the trap
pings of monarchy, too, is lightening. Many
775
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Revolution
of the useless officers, high and low, of the
King, Queen, and Princes, are struck off. — To
GENERAL WASHINGTON, ii, 251. (P., 1787-)
7539. REVOLUTION (French), Princi
ples of. — I continue eternally attached to the
?rinciples of your [the French] Revolution,
hope it will end in the establishment of
some firm government, friendly to liberty, and
capable of maintaining it. If it does, the world
will become inevitably free. If it does not, I
feel that the zealous apostles of English despot
ism here, will increase the number of its dis
ciples. However, we shall still remain free.
Though they may harass our spirits, they cannot
make impression on our centre. — To J. P.
BRISSOT DE WARVILLE. FORD ED., vi, 249. (Pa.,
May I793-)
7540. REVOLUTION (French), Provin
cial Assemblies. — The establishment of the
Provincial Assemblies was, in itself, a funda
mental improvement. They would be of the
choice of the people, one-third renewed every
year, in those provinces where there are no
States, that is to say, over about three-fourths
of the kingdom. They would be partly an Ex
ecutive themselves, and partly an executive
council to the Intendant, to whom the executive
power, in his province, had been, heretofore,
entirely delegated. Chosen by the people, they
would soften the execution of hard laws and,
having a right of representation to the King,
they would censure bad laws, suggest good ones,
expose abuses, and their representations, when
united, would command respect. To the other
advantages might be added the precedent itself
of calling the Assemblee des Notables, which
would perhaps grow into habit. The hope was
that the improvements thus promised would be
carried into effect; that they would be main
tained during the present [Louis XVI.] reign,,
and that that would be long enough for them
to take some root in the constitution, so that
they might come to be considered as a part of
that, and be protected by time, and the attach
ment of the nation. — AUTOBIOGRAPHY, i, 71.
FORD ED., i, 98. (1821.)
7541. REVOLUTION (French), Reform
and. — If the people do not obtain now so
much as they have a right to, they will in the
long run. The misfortune is that they are not
yet ripe for receiving the blessings to which
they are entitled. I doubt, for instance,
whether the body of the nation, if they could be
consulted, would accept of a habeas corpus
law, if offered them by the King. — To JAMES
MADISON, ii, 506. FORD ED., v, 53. (P., Nov.
1788.)
7542. REVOLUTION (French), Riots.—
We have had in Paris a very considerable riot,
in which about one hundred people have been
probably killed. It was the most unprovoked,
i and is therefore, justly, the most unpitied cat-
[ astrophe of that kind 1 ever knew. Nor did the
wretches know what they wanted, except to do
mischief. It seems to have Lad no particular
connection with the great national question now
in agitation. — To WILLIAM CARMICHAEL. iii,
22. (P., May 1789.)
7543. . Hitherto no acts of
popular violence had been produced by the
struggle for political reformation. Little riots,
on ordinary incidents, had taken place, as at
other times, in different parts of the kingdom,
in which some lives, perhaps a dozen or twenty,
had been lost; but in the month of April, 1788,
a more serious one occurred in Paris, uncon
nected, indeed, with the revolutionary principle,
but making part of the history of the day. The
Faubourg St. Antoine is a quarter of the city
inhabited entirely by the class of day laborers
and journeymen in every line. A rumor was
spread among them, that a great paper manu
facturer, of the name of Reveillon, had pro
posed, on some occasion, that their wages should
be lowered to fifteen sous a day. Inflamed at
once into rae:e, and without inquiring into its
truth, they flew to his house in vast numbers,
destroyed everything in it, and in his maga
zines and workshops, without secreting, how
ever, a pin's worth to themselves, and were con
tinuing this work of devastation, when the
regular troops were called in. Admonitions be
ing disregarded, they were of necessity fired on,
and a regular action ensued, in which about
one hundred and twenty of them were killed,
before the rest would disperse. There had
rarely passed a year without such a riot, in
some part or other of the Kingdom ; and this is
distinguished only as contemporary with the
Revolution, although not produced by it. — AU
TOBIOGRAPHY, i, 89. FORD ED., i, 124. (1821.)
7544. . They were the most
abandoned banditti of Paris, and never was a
riot more unprovoked and unpitied. They be
gan, under a pretence that a paper manufac
turer had proposed in an assembly to reduce
their wages to fifteen sous a day. They rifled
his house, destroyed everything in his maga
zines and shops, and were only stopped in their
career of mischief by the troops engaging in
regular action with them and killing probably
one hundred of them. Neither this nor any
of the other riots has had a professed connec
tion with the great national reformation now
going on. They are such as have happened
every year since I have been here, and as will
continue to be produced by common incidents.
— To JOHN JAY. iii, 26. (P., May 1789.)
7545. REVOLUTION (French), States
General. — The States General were opened
on the sth of May, 1789, by speeches from the
King, the Garde des Sceaux, Lamoignon, and
M. Necker. The last was thought to trip too
lightly over the constitutional reformations
which were expected. His notices of them in
this speech were not as full as in his previous
" Rapport au Roi ". This was observed to his
disadvantage ; but much allowance should have
been made for the situation in which he was
placed, between his own counsels, and those of
the ministers and party of the Court. Over
ruled in his own opinions, compelled to deliver,
and to gloss over those of his opponents, and
even to keep their secrets, he could not come
forward in his own attitude. The composition
of the Assemblee, although equivalent on the
whole to what had been expected, was some
thing different in its elements. It had been
supposed, that a superior education would carry
into the scale of the Commons a respectable
portion of the Noblesse. It did so as to those
of Paris, of its vicinity and of the other con
siderable cities, whose greater intercourse with
enlightened society had liberalized their minds,
and prepared them to advance up to the measure
of the times. But the Noblesse of the country,
which constituted two-thirds of that body, were
far in their rear. Residing constantly on their
patrimonial feuds, and familiarized, by daily
habit,. With seigneurial powers and practices, they
had not yet learned to suspect their inconsist-
ence with reason and right. They were willing
to submit to equality of taxation, but not to
descend from their rank and prerogatives to be
incorporated in session with the Tiers Etat.
Among the Clergy, on the other hand, it had
Revolution
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
776
been apprehended that the higher orders of the
hierarchy, by their wealth and connections,
would have carried the elections generally ; but
it proved that in most cases the lower clergy
had obtained the popular majorities. These
consisted of the cures, sons of the peasantry,
who had been employed to do all the drudgery
of parochial services for ten, twenty, or thirty
Louis a year ; while their superiors were con
suming their princely revenues in palaces of
luxury and indolence. The objects for which
this body was convened, being of the first order
of importance, I felt it very interesting to un
derstand the views of the parties of which it
was composed, and especially the ideas prev
alent as to the organization contemplated for
their government. I went, therefore, daily
from Paris to Versailles, and attended their
debates, generally till the hour of adjournment.
Those of the Noblesse were impassioned and
tempestuous. They had some able men on
both sides, and actuated by equal zeal. The
debates of The Commons were temperate, ra
tional, and inflexibly firm. As preliminary to
all other business, the awful questions came
on, Shall the States sit in one, or in distinct
apartments? And shall they vote by heads or
houses? The opposition was soon found to
consist of the Episcopal order among the clergy,
and two-thirds of the Noblesse ; while the Tiers
Etat were to a man united and determined.
After various propositions of compromise had
failed, the Commons undertook to cut the
Gordian Knot. The Abbe Sieyes, the most
logical head of the nation (author of the pam
phlet " Qu'est ce cfiie le Tiers Jb,tat "? which had
electrified that country, as Paine's " Common
Sense" did us), after an impressive speech on
the loth of June, moved that a last invitation
should be sent to the Noblesse and Clergy, to
attend in the hall of the States, collectively or
individually, for the verification of powers, to
which the Commons would proceed immediately,
either in their presence or absence. This veri
fication being finished, a motion was made, on
the isth, that they should constitute themselves
a National Assembly ; which was decided on the
1 7th, by a majority of four-fifths. During the
debates on this question, about twenty of the
cures had joined them, and a proposition was
made in the chamber of the Clergy that their
whole body should join them. This was re
jected at first by a small majority only; but,
being afterwards somewhat modified, it was de
cided affirmatively, by a majority of eleven.
While this was under debate and unknown to
the court, to wit, on the igth, a council was held
in the afternoon at Marly, wherein it was pro
posed that the King should interpose by a
declaration of his sentiments, in a seance royale.
A form of declaration was proposed by Necker,
which, while it censured in general the pro
ceedings both of the Nobles and Commons,
announced the King's views, such as substan
tially to coincide with the Commons. It was
agreed to in Council, the seance was fixed for
the 22d, the meetings of the States were till
then to be suspended, and everything, in the
meantime, kept secret. The members, the next
morning (2oth), repairing to their house, as
usual, found the doors shut and guarded, a
proclamation posted up for a seance royale on
the 22d, and a suspension of their meetings in
the meantime. Concluding that their dissolu
tion was now to take place, they repaired to a
building called the " Jeu de paume " (or Tennis,
court) and there bound themselves by oath to
each other, never to separate of their own ac
cord, till they had settled a constitution for the
nation, on a solid basis, and, if separated by
force, that they would reassemble in some other
place. The next day they met in the church of
St. Louis, and were joined by a majority of the
clergy. — AUTOBIOGRAPHY, i, 90. FORD ED., i,
125. (1821.)
7546. . Viewing it as an opera,
it was imposing. — To WILLIAM CARMICHAEL.
iii, 22. (P., May 1789.)
7547. . I was present at that
august ceremony. Had it been enlightened with
lamps and chandeliers, it would have been al
most as brilliant as the opera. — To M. DE CREVE-
COEUR. iii, 43. (P., 1789.)
7548. . The States General are
too numerous. I see great difficulty in pre
venting twelve hundred people from becoming
a mob. — To WILLIAM CARMICHAEL. FORD ED.,
v, 73. (P., Mar. 1789.)
7549. . Should confusion * * *
be prevented, I suppose the States General,
with the consent of the King, will establish
some of the leading features of a good con
stitution. — To WILLIAM CARMICHAEL. FORD ED.,
v, 73. (P., Mar. 1789.)
7550. [REVOLUTION (French), Sym
pathy with.— I still hope the French Revolu
tion will issue happily. I feel that the perma
nence of our own leans in some degree on that,
and that a failure there would be a powerful
argument to prove that there must be a failure
here. — To EDWARD RUTLEDGE. iii, 285. FORD
ED., v, 377. (Pa., 1791-)
7551. . . The success of the French
Revolution will ensure the progress of liberty
in Europe, and its preservation here. The fail
ure of that would have been a powerful argu
ment with those who wish to introduce a king,
lords, and commons here, a sect which is all
head and no body. — To EDMUND PENDLETON.
FORD ED., v, 358. (Pa., 1791.)
7552. . I am looking ardently to
the completion of the glorious work in which
France is engaged. I view the general condi
tion of Europe as hanging on the success or
failure of France. Having set such an ex
ample of philosophical arrangement within, I
hope it will be extended without your limits
also, to your dependents and to your friends
in every part of the earth. — To MARQUIS DE
CONDORCET. FORD ED., v, 379. (Pa., 1791.)
7553. . I was a sincere well-
wisher to the success of the French Revolu
tion, and still wish it may end in the establish
ment of a free and well-ordered republic. — To
ELBRIDGE GERRY, iv, 269. FORD ED., vii, 329.
(Pa., I799-)
7554. . I have expressed to you
my sentiments, because they are really those of
ninety-nine in an hundred of our citizens. The
universal feasts and rejoicings, which have
lately been had on account of the successes of
the French, showed the genuine effusions of
their hearts. — To WILLIAM SHORT, iii, 502.
FORD ED., vi, 154. (Pa., Jan. 1793.)
7555 . The event of the French
Revolution is now little doubted of, even by its
enemies. The sensations it has produced here,
and the indications of them in the public papers,
have shown that the form our own government
was to take depended much more on the events
of France than anybody had before imagined.
The tide which, after our former relaxed gov
ernment, took a violent course towards the
opposite extreme, and seemed ready to hang
everything round with the tassels and baubles
777
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Rhode Island
Bice
of monarchy, is now getting back as we hope
to a just mean, a government of laws ad
dressed to the reason of the people, and not
to their weaknesses. — To T. M. RANDOLPH, iii,
504. FORD ED., vi, 157. (Pa., Jan. 1793.)
7556. RHODE ISLAND, Adoption of
Constitution. — What do you propose to do
with Rhode Island [on the question of the
new Federal Constitution] ? As long as there
is hope, we should give her time. I cannot
conceive but that she will come to rights in the
long run. Force, in whatever form, would be a
dangerous precedent. — To E. CARRINGTON. ii,
405. FORD ED., v, 21. (P., 1788.)
7557. . The little vautrien,
Rhode Island, will come over [to the new Con
stitution] with a little time. — To M. DE LA
FAYETTE, iii, 132. FORD ED., v, 152. CN.Y.,
1790.)
7558. . Rhode Island has at
length acceded to the Union by a majority of
two voices only in their convention. — To WILL
IAM SHORT. FORD ED., v, 178. (N.Y., June
1790.)
7559. RHODE ISLAND, Characteris
tics of. — How happens it that Rhode Island
is opposed to every useful proposition? Her
geography accounts for it, with the aid of one
or two observations. The cultivators of the
earth are the most virtuous citizens, and possess
most of the amor patrice. Merchants are the
least virtuous, and possess the least of the
amor patria. The latter reside principally in
the seaboard towns, the former in the interior
country. Now, it happened that of the ter
ritory constituting Rhode Island and Connect
icut, the part containing the seaports was
erected into a State by itself, called Rhode
Island, and that containing the interior country
was erected into another State called Connect
icut. For though it has a little seacoast, there
are no good ports in it. Hence it happens that
there is scarcely one merchant in the whole
State of Connecticut, while there is not a single
man in Rhode Island who is not a merchant
of some sort. Their whole territory is but a
thousand square miles, and what of that is in
use is laid out in grass farms almost entirely.
Hence they have scarcely anybody employed in
agriculture. All exercise some species of com
merce. This circumstance has decided the
character of these two States. The remedies
to this evil are hazardous. One would be to
consolidate the two States into one. Another
would be to banish Rhode Island from the
Union. A third, to compel her submission to
the will of the other twelve. A fourth, for the
other twelve to govern themselves according
to the new propositions, and to let Rhode Island
go on by herself according to the ancient
articles. But the dangers and difficulties attend
ing all these remedies are obvious. — ANSWERS
TO M. DE MEUNIER. ix, 288. FORD ED., iv, 143.
(P., 1786.)
7560. RHODE ISLAND, College of.— I
was honored in the month of January last
with a letter * * * from the corporation of
Rhode Island College to his most Christian
Majesty [Louis XVI.] * * * . I turned my at
tention to that object which was the establish
ment of a professorship of the French language
in the college, and the obtaining a collection
of the best French authors with the aid of the
king. That neither the college nor myself
might be compromitted uselessly, I thought it
necessary to sound previously those who were
able to inform me what would be the success
of the application. I was assured so as to leave
no doubt, that it would not be complied with ;
that there had never been an instance of the
king's granting such a demand in a foreign
country, and that they would be cautious of
setting the precedent ; that in this moment, too,
they were embarrassed with the difficult opera
tion of putting down all establishments of their
own, which could possibly be dispensed with, in
order to bring their expenditures down to the
level of their receipts. Upon such information
I was satisfied that it was most prudent not to
deliver the letter. * * * The king did give two
colleges in America copies of the works printed
in the public press, * * * of no consequence.
* * * No endeavors of mine should have been
spared, could they have effected their wish. — To
RHODE ISLAND DELEGATES, ii, 184. (P., 1787.)
7561. RHODE ISLAND, Regeneration
of. — A new subject of congratulation has
arisen. I mean the regeneration of Rhode
Island. I hope it is the beginning of that resur
rection of the genuine spirit of New England
which arises for life eternal. According to
natural order, Vermont will emerge next, be
cause least, after Rhode Island, under the yoke
of hierocracy. — To GIDEON GRANGER, iv, 395.
FORD ED., viii, 48. (W., 1801.)
7562. RICE, African.— I was fortunate
in receiving from the coast of Africa last fall
a cask of mountain rice. This I have dispersed
into many hands, having sent the mass of it to
South Carolina. — To BENJAMIN VAUGHAN.
FORD ED., v, 332. (Pa., 1791.)
7563. . In 1790, I got a cask of
heavy upland rice, from the river Denbigh, in
Africa, about lat. 9° 30' North, which I sent
to Charleston, in hopes it might supersede the
culture of the wet rice, which renders South
Carolina and Georgia so pestilential through
the summer. — JEFFERSON'S MSS. i, 176. (M..
1821.)
7564. RICE, Chinese.— In Asia they have
several distinct species of this grain. Monsieur
Poivre, a former governor of the Isle of France,
in travelling through several countries of Asia,
observed with particular attention the objects
of their agriculture, and tells us that in Cochin-
China they cultivate six several kinds of rice,
which he describes, three of them requiring
water, and three growing on highlands. The
rice of Carolina is said to come from Madagas
car, and De Poivre tells us, it is the white rice
which is cultivated there. This favors the
probability of its being of a different species
originally, from that of Piedmont; and time,
culture, and climate may have made it still more
different. Under this idea I thought it would
be well to furnish you with some of the Pied
mont rice, unhusked, but was told it was con
trary to the laws to export it in that form. I
took such measures as I could, however, to have
a quantity brought out, and lest these should
fail, I brought myself a few pounds. A part
of this I have addressed to you by way of Lon
don ; a part conies with this letter ; and I shall
send another parcel by some other conveyance
to prevent the danger of miscarriage. Any one
of them arriving safe may serve to put in seed,
should the society think it an object. — To WILL
IAM DRAYTON. ii, 196. (P., 1787.)
7565. . The dry rice of Cochin-
China has the reputation of being the whitest to
the eye, best flavored to the taste, and most
productive. It seems, then, to unite the good
qualities of both the others known to us. Could
it supplant them, it would be a great happiness,
Bice
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
778
as it would enable us to get rid of those ponds
of stagnant water, so fatal to human health
and life. But such is the force of habit, and
caprice of taste, that we could not be sure be
forehand it would produce this effect. The ex
periment, however, is worth trying, should it
only end in producing a third quality, and in
creasing the demand. I will endeavor to pro
cure some to be brought from Cochin-China. —
To WILLIAM DRAYTON. ii, 197. (P., 1787-)
7566. . I have considerable hopes
of receiving some dry rice from Cochin-China,
the young prince of that country lately gone
hence [Paris], having undertaken that it shall
come to me. * * * These are all but experi
ments. The precept, however, is wise which
directs us to try all things, and hold fast that
which is good. — To WILLIAM DRAYTON. ii, 347.
(P., 1788.)
7567. BICE, Egyptian.— I have for
warded to you two couffes of rough rice, which
I had brought from Egypt. I wish both may
arrive in time for the approaching seed time,
and that the trials with this and the Piedmont
rice may furnish new advantages to your agri
culture. — To WILLIAM DRAYTON. ii, 347. (P.,
1788.)
7568. RICE, Italian.— I wished particu
larly to know whether it was the use of a
different machine for cleaning, which brought
European rice to market less broken than ours,
as had been represented to me by those who
deal in that article in Paris. I found several
persons who had passed through the rice coun
try of Italy, but not one who could explain
to me the nature of the machine. But I was
given to believe that I might see it myself im
mediately on entering Piedmont. I determined
to go and ascertain this point, as the chance
only of placing our rice above all rivalship in
quality, as it is in color, by the introduction of
a better machine, if a better existed * '* * . I
found the rice country to be in truth Lombardy,
* * * and that though called Piedmont rice, not
a grain is made in the country of Piedmont. I
passed through the rice fields of the Venellese
and Milanese, about sixty miles, * * * and
found that the machine is absolutely the same
as ours. * * * It is a difference in the species
of grain, of which the government of Turin is
so sensible, that, as I was informed, they pro
hibit the exportation of rough rice on pain of
death. I have taken measures, however, which
I think will not fail for obtaining a quantity of
it, and I bought on the spot a small parcel.
* * * I propose * * * to send the rice to the
society at Charleston for promoting agriculture,
supposing that they will be best able to try the
experiment of cultivating the rice of this qual
ity, and to communicate the species to South
Carolina and Georgia, if they find it answer. —
To JOHN JAY. ii, 138. FORD ED., iv, 377. (Mar.
1787.)
7569. - . I had expected to satisfy
myself at Marseilles, of the cause of the dif
ferences of quality between the rice of Carolina,
and that of Piedmont, which is brought in
quantities to Marseilles. Not being able to do
it, I made an excursion of three weeks into the
rice country beyond the Alps, going through it
from Vercelli to Pavia about sixty miles. I
found the difference to be not in the manage
ment, as had been supposed both here and in
Carolina, but in the species of rice : and I hope
to enable them in Carolina to begin the cultiva
tion of the Piedmont rice, and carry it on, hand
in hand, with their own, that they may supply
both qualities; which is absolutely necessary at
this market. — To JOHN ADAMS, ii, 162. FORD
ED., iv, 396. (P., 1787.)
7570. . At Marseilles I hoped
to know what the Piedmont machine was, but I
could find nobody who knew anything of it. I
determined, therefore, to sift the matter to the
bottom, by crossing t;.e Alps into the rice
country. I found their machine exactly such
a one as you had described to me in Congress
in the year 1775. There was but one conclu
sion, then, to be drawn, to wit, that the rice
was of a different species, and I determined
to take enough to put you in seed. They in
formed me, however, that its exportation in the
husk was prohibited, so I could only bring off
as much as my coat and surtout pockets would
hold. I took measures with a muleteer to run
a couple of sacks across the Apennines to
Genoa, but have not great dependence on its
success. The little, therefore, which I brought
myself, must be relied on for fear we should
get no more \ and because, also, it is genuine
from Vercelli, where the best is made of all
the Sardinian Lombardy, the whole of which is
considered as producing a better rice than the
Milanese. This is assigned as the reason for
the strict prohibition. — To E. RUTLEDGE. ii,
178. FORD ED., iv, 407. (P., 1787.)
7571. . Having observed that
the consumption of rice in this country
[France], and particularly in this capital
[Paris], was very great, I thought it my duty
to inform myself from what markets they draw
their supplies. * '* * [I found] that the
dealers in Paris were in the habit of selling
two qualities of rice, that of Carolina, with
which they were supplied chiefly from England,
and that of Piedmont ; that the Carolina rice
was long, slender, white and transparent, an
swers well when prepared with milk, sugar, &c.,
but not so well when prepared au gras ; that
that of Piedmont was shorter, thicker, and less
white ; but that it presented its form better
when dressed au gras, was better tasted, and,
therefore, preferred by good judges for those
purposes. * * * [The dealers] supposed
this difference of quality to proceed from a dif
ference of management ; that the Carolina rice
was husked with an instrument that broke it
more, and that less pains were taken to sepa
rate the broken from the unbroken grains, im
agining that it was the broken grains which dis
solved in oily preparations. * * The ob
jection to the Carolina rice, then, being that it
crumbles in certain forms of preparation, and
this supposed to be the effect of a less perfect
machine for husking, I flattered myself I should
be able to learn what might be the machine of
Piedmont, when I should arrive at Marseilles.
At Marseilles, however, they differed
as much in account of the machines, as at Paris
they had differed about other circumstances.
Some said it was husked between mill-stones,
others between rubbers of wood in the form of
mill-stones, others of cork. They concurred
in one fact, however, that the machine might
be seen by me immediately on crossing the
Alps. This would be an affair of three weeks.
I crossed them and went through the rice
country from Vercelli to Pavia, about sixty
miles. I found the machine to be absolutely the
same with that used in Carolina. * * * In
some of them, indeed, they arm each pestle with
an iron tooth, consisting of nine spikes hooked
together, which I do not remember in the de
scription [of the machine] of Mr. Rutledge. I,
therefore, had a tooth made, which I forward
you ; observing, at the same time, that as many
of their machines are without teeth as with
779
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Bice
Right
them, and of course, that the advantage is not
very palpable. It seems to follow, then, that
the rice of Lombardy (for though called Pied
mont rice, it does not grow in that country, but
in Lombardy) is of a different species from that
of Carolina ; different in form, in color and in
quality. — To WILLIAM DRAYTON. ii, 194. (P.,
1787.)
7572. BICE, Smuggling.— Poggio, a
muleteer who passes every week between Ver-
celli and Genoa, will smuggle a sack of rough
rice for me to Genoa ; it being death to export
it in that form. — TRAVELS IN ITALY, ix, 338.
(1787.)
7573. BICE, Southern cultivation.—
The upland rice which I procured fresh from
Africa and sent them [the South], has been
preserved and spread in the upper parts of
Georgia, and 1 believe in Kentucky. — To JAMES
RONALDSON. vi, 92. FORD ED., ix, 371. (M.,
Jan. 1813.)
7574. BICE, Upland vs. Swamp.— I
first became informed of the existence of a
rice which would £row in uplands without any
more water than the common rains, by reading
a book of M. de Poivre, who had been Gov
ernor of the Isle of France, who mentions it as
growing there and all along the coast of Africa
successfully, and as having been introduced
from Cochin-China. I was at that time (1784-
89) in France, and there happening to be there
a Prince of Cochin-^hina, on his travels, and
then returning home, I obtained his promise
to send me some. I never received it, however,
and mention it only as it may have been sent,
and furnished the ground for the inquiries of
Dr. De Carro, respecting my receiving it from
China. When at Havre on my return from
France, I found there Captain Nathaniel Cut
ting, who was the ensuing spring to go on a
voyage along the coast of Africa. I engaged
him to enquire for this. * * * He procured
and sent me a thirty gallon cask of it. * * *
I divided it between the Agricultural Society of
Charleston and some private gentlemen of
Georgia, recommending it to their care, in the
hope which had induced me to endeavor to
obtain it, that if it answered as well as the
swamp rice, it might rid them of that source
of their summer diseases. Nothing came of the
trials in South Carolina, but being carried into
the upper hilly parts of Georgia, it succeeded
there perfectly, has spread over the country,
and is now commonly cultivated ; still, however,
lor family use chiefly, as they cannot made it
for sale in competition with the rice of the
swamps. — To DR. BENJAMIN WATERHOUSE. v,
393- (W., 1808.)
7575. BICHMOND (Va.), Capture of.—
Is the surprise of an onen and unarmed place,
although called a city, and even a capital, so
unprecedented as to be a matter of indelible
reproach? Which of our own capitals, during
the same war, was not in possession of the
same enemy, not merely by surprise and for a
day only, but permanently? That of Georgia?
Of South Carolina? North Carolina? Penn
sylvania? New York? Connecticut? Rhode
Island ? Massachusetts ? And if others were
not, it was because the enemy saw no object in
taking possession of them. Add to the list in
the late war (1812) Washington, the metropolis
of the Union, covered by a fort, with troops and
a dense population. And what capital on the
continent of Europe (St. Petersburg and its
regions of ice excented), did not Bonaparte take
and hold at his pleasure? Is it then just that
Richmond and its authorities alone should be
placed under the reproach of history, because,
in a moment of pecul:ar denudation of re
sources, by the coup de main of an enemy, led
on by the hand of fortune directing the winds
and weather to their wishes, it was surprised
and held for twenty-four hours? Or strange
that that enemy with such advantages, should
be enabled, then, to get off, without risking the
honors he had achieved by burnings and de
structions of property peculiar to his principles
of warfare? We, at least, may leave these
glories to their own trumpet. — To HENRY LEE.
vii, 447. FORD ED., x, 388. (M., 1826.)
7576. BICHMOND (Va.), Street archi
tecture. — There is one street in Richmond
(from the bridge straight on towards Curries)
which would be considered as handsomely built
in any city of Europe. — To WILLIAM SHORT.
FORD ED., v, 137. (1789.)
7577. BIDICULE, Beason and.— Resort
is had to ridicule only when reason is against
us. — To PRESIDENT MADISON, vi, 112. FORD
ED., ix, 382. (M., 1813.)
7578. BIDICULE, Beformation and.—
The most remarkable effect as yet of the con
vention of the Notables is the number of puns
and ban mots it has generated. I think, were
they all collected, it would make a more vol
uminous work than the Encyclopedic. This
occasion, more than anything I have seen, con
vinces me that this nation is incapable of any
serious effort but under the word of command.
The people at large view every object only as
it may furnish puns and bon mots; and I pro
nounce that a good punster would disarm the
whole nation were they ever so seriously dis
posed to revolt. Indeed, they are gone, when
a measure so capable of doing good, as the
calling the Notables, is treated with so much
ridicule ; we may conclude the nation desperate,
and in charity pray that heaven may send them
good kings. — To MRS. JOHN ADAMS. FORD ED.,
iv, 370. (P., 1787.)
7579. BIEDESEL (Baron), Jefferson
and. — I thank you for your kind congratula
tions ; though condolations would be better
suited to the occasion, not only on account of
the labors of the office [Governorship] to which
I am called, and its withdrawing me from re
tirement, but also the loss of the agreeable
society I have left of which Madame Riedesel
and yourself were an important part.* — To
BARON DE RIEDESEL. FORD ED., ii, 245. (1779.)
7580. BIENZI (Nicolo Gabrini) Esti
mate of. — This poor counterfeit of the
Gracchi seems to have had enthusiasm and elo
quence, without either wisdom or firmness. —
To F. VAN DER KEMP. FORD ED., x, 78. (M.,
1817.)
7581. BIGHT, Administer. — Deal out to
all equal and impartial right. — RIGHTS OF
BRITISH AMERICA, i, 141. FORD ED., i, 446.
(I774-)
7582. BIGHT, Doing.— I shall pursue in
silence the path of right. — To GENERAL
WASHINGTON, i, 337. (A., 1784.)
7583. . My principle is to do
whatever is right, and leave the consequences
to Him who has the disposal of them. — To
DR. GEORGE LOGAN, vi, 217. FORD ED., ix.
423. (M., 1813.)
* Baron Riedesel was then a prisoner near Char-
lottesville. He commanded the Hessian troops in
Burgoyne's army.— EDITOR.
Bight
Rights
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
780
7584. BIGHT, Mo*al.— It has a great ef
fect on the opinion of our people and the
world to have the moral right on our side. —
To PRESIDENT MADISON, v, 442. FORD ED.,
ix, 251. (M., April 1809.)
7585. BIGHT AND WBONG.— The great
principles of right and wrong are legible to
every reader; to preserve them, requires not
the aid of many counsellors. — RIGHTS OF
BRITISH AMERICA, i, 141. FORD ED., i, 446.
(I774-)
— BIGHT OF ASYLUM.— See ASYLUM.
7586. BIGHT OF EXPATBIATION.—
Nature has given to all men the right of de
parting from the country in which chance
* * * has placed them. — RIGHTS OF BRIT
ISH AMERICA, i, 125. FORD ED., i, 429.
(1774.) See EXPATRIATION.
7587. BIGHT OF BEPBESENTATION.
— He has refused to pass * * * laws for
the accommodation of large districts of people,
unless those people would relinquish the right
of representation in the legislature, a right
inestimable to them and formidable to ty
rants only. — DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE
AS DRAWN BY JEFFERSON..
7588. BIGHT OF SUFFBAGE.— Let
every man who fjghts and pays exercise his
just and equal right in the election of the
Legislature. — To SAMUEL KERCHIVAL. vii,
ii. FORD ED., x, 39. (M., 1816.) See SUF
FRAGE.
7589. BIGHTS, Advancing. — Circum
stances sometimes require, that rights the
most unquestionable should be advanced with
delicacy. — To WILLIAM SHORT. iii, 275.
FORD ED., v, 364. (Pa., 1791.)
7590. BIGHTS, Aggression on.— No
man has a natural right to commit aggression
on the equal rights of another; and this is
all from which the laws ought to restrain
him.— To F. W. GILMER. vii, 3. FORD ED.,
x, 32. (M., 1816.)
7591. BIGHTS, Aristocratic encroach
ments on. — Hereditary bodies * * * al
ways existing, always on the watch for their
own aggrandizement, profit of every oppor
tunity of advancing the privileges of their
order, and encroaching on the rights of the
people.— To M. CORAY. vii, 319. (M., 1823.)
7592. BIGHTS, Attainment of.— If we
cannot secure all our rights, let us secure
what we can.— To JAMES MADISON, iii, 4.
FORD ED., v, 82. (P., March 1789.)
7593. BIGHTS, Availability of.— It is a
principle that the right to a thing gives a
right to the means without which it could not
be used, that is to say, that the means follow
their end.— MISSISSIPPI RIVER INSTRUCTIONS.
vii, 579- (i79i.)
— BIGHTS, Bill of.— See BILL OF
RIGHTS.
7594. BIGHTS, Defence of.— We will
ever be ready to join with our fellow-sub
jects in every part of the British empire, in
executing all those rightful powers which
God has given us, for the reestablishment and
guaranteeing their constitutional rights,
when, where, and by whomsoever invaded.*
— RESOLUTIONS OF ALBEMARLE COUNTY. FORD
ED., i, 419. (July 26, 1774.)
7595. BIGHTS, Deprivation of.— The
proscribing any citizen as unworthy the pub
lic confidence, by laying upon him an in
capacity of being called to offices of trust or
emolument, unless he profess or renounce
this or that religious opinion, is depriving
him injudiciously of those nrivileges and ad
vantages to which, in common with his fel
low citizens, he has a natural right. — STAT
UTE OF RELIGIOUS FREEDOM. FORD ED., ii,
238. (I779-)
7596. BIGHTS, Education and. — For
promoting the public happiness, those per
sons, whom nature has endowed with genius
and virtue, should be rendered by liberal
education worthy to receive, and able to
guard the sacred deposit of the rights and
liberties of their fellow citizens; and they
should be called to that charge without re
gard to wealth, birth or other accidental
condition or circumstance. — DIFFUSION OF
KNOWLEDGE BILL. FORD ED., ii, 221. (1779.)
- BIGHTS, Equal.— See EQUALITY and
EQUAL RIGHTS.
7597. BIGHTS, Establishing.— It can
never be too often repeated, that the time
for fixing every essential right on a legal
basis is while our rulers are honest, and our
selves united. — NOTES ON VIRGINIA, viii, 402.
FORD ED., iii, 266. (1782.)
7598. BIGHTS, Fortifying popular.— I
am particularly happy to perceive that you
still manfully maintain our good old principle
of cherishing and fortifying the rights and au
thorities of the people in opposition to those
who fear them, who wish to take all power
from them, and to transfer all to Washing
ton. — To NATHANIEL MACON. FORD ED., x,
378. (M., 1826.)
7599. BIGHTS, Inalienable.— We hold
these truths to be self-evident that all men
are created equal; that they are endowed by
their Creator with inherent! and inalienable
rights ; that among these, are life, liberty, and
the pursuit of happiness. That, to secure
these rights, governments are instituted
among men, deriving their just powers from
the consent of the governed; that, whenever
any form of government becomes destructive
of these ends, it is the right of the people to
alter or to abolish it, and to institute new
government, laying its foundation on such
principles, and organizing its powers in such
form, as to them shall seem most likely to
effect their safety and happiness. — DECLARA
TION OF INDEPENDENCE AS DRAWN BY JEF
FERSON.
7600. BIGHTS, Infringements on. —
Let no act be passed by any one legislature
* Jefferson's own county.— EDITOR.
t Congress struck out " inherent and " and inserted
" certain ".—EDITOR.
78i
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Rights
[Parliament] which may infringe on the
rights and liberties of another. — RIGHTS OF
BRITISH AMERICA, i, 141. FORD ED., i, 446.
(I774-)
7601. BIGHTS, Invasions of.— He has
dissolved Representative houses repeatedly
[and continually]* for opposing, with manly
firmness, his invasions on the rights of the
people. — DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE AS
DRAWN BY JEFFERSON.
7602. — . There are rights which
it is useless to surrender to the government,
and which governments have yet always
been found to invade. [Among] these
* * * is the right of free commerce. — To
DAVID HUMPHREYS, iii, 13. FORD ED., v, 89.
(P., 1789.)
7603. BIGHTS, Money and.— Courtiers
had rather give up power than pleasure.
They will barter, therefore, the usurped pre
rogatives of the King for the money of the
people. This is the agent by which modern
nations will recover their rights. — To COMTE
DE MOUSTIER. ii, 389. FORD ED., v, 12. (P.,
1788.)
_ BIGHTS, Natural.— See NATURAL
RIGHTS.
7604. BIGHTS, The people and.— The
people, especially when moderately instructed,
are the only safe, because the only honest,
depositaries of the public rights, and should
therefore, be introduced into the administra
tion of them in every function to which they
are sufficient; they will err sometimes and
accidentally, but never designedly, and with
a systematic and persevering purpose of over
throwing the free principles of the govern
ment— To M. CORAY. vii, 319. (M., 1823.)
7605. BIGHTS, Personal. — It were con
trary to feeling, and indeed, ridiculous to
suppose that a man had less right in himself
than one of his neighbors, or indeed, than all
of them put together. This would be slavery,
and not that liberty which the bill of rights
has made inviolable, and for the preservation
of which our government has been charged.
Nothing could so completely divest us of that
liberty as the establishment of the opinion,
that the State has a perpetual right to the
services of all its members. This, to men of
certain ways of thinking, would be to an
nihilate the blessing of existence, and to con
tradict the Giver of life, who gave it for hap
piness and not for wretchedness. — To JAMES
MONROE, i, 319. FORD ED., iii, 58. (M.,
1782.)
7606. . Every man should be
protected in his lawful acts. — To ISAAC
McPHERSON. vi, 175. (M., 1813.)
7607. BIGHTS, Persons and.— Rights
and powers can only belong to persons, not
to things, not to mere matter, unendowed
with will. — To JOHN CARTWRIGHT. vii, 359.
(M., 1824.)
* Congress struck out the words in brackets. —
EDITOR.
7608. BIGHTS, Beligion and civil. —
Our civil rights have no dependence upon our
religious opinions, more than our opinions in
physics or geometry. — STATUTE OF RELIGIOUS
FREEDOM. viii, 455. FORD ED., ii, 238.
(I779-)
7609. BIGHTS, Beserved.— It had be
come an universal and almost uncontroverted
position in the several States, that the pur
poses of society do not require a surrender of
all our rights to our ordinary governors ; that
there are certain portions of right not neces
sary to enable them to carry on an effective
government, and which experience has never
theless proved they will be constantly en
croaching on, if submitted to them ; that there
are also certain fences which experience has
proved peculiarly efficacious against wrong,
and rarely obstructive of right, which yet the
governing powers have ever shown a dispo
sition to weaken and remove. Of the first
kind, for instance, is freedom of religion; of
the second, trial by jury, habeas corpus laws,
free presses. These were the settled opinions
of all the States, — of that of Virginia, of
which I was writing [in the Notes on Vir
ginia], as well as of the others. The others
had, in consequence, delineated these unceded
portions of right, and these fences against
wrong, which they meant to exempt from the
power of their governors, in instruments
called declarations of rights and constitu
tions; and as they did this by conventions,
which they appointed for the express purpose
of reserving those rights, and of delegating
others to their ordinary legislative, executive
and judiciary bodies, none of the reserved
rights can be touched without resorting to
the people to appoint another convention for
the express purpose of permitting it. Where
the constitutions, then, have been so formed
by conventions, named for this express pur
pose, they are fixed and unalterable but by a
convention or other body to be specially au
thorized ; and they have been so formed by,
I believe, all the States, except Virginia.
That State concurs in all these opinions, but
has run into the wonderful error that her
constitution, though made by the ordinary
legislature, cannot yet be altered by the or
dinary legislature. — To NOAH WEBSTER, iii,
201. FORD ED., v, 254. (Pa., 1790.)
7610. BIGHTS, Safest depositary of.—
The mass of the citizens is the safest deposi
tary of their own rights. — To JOHN TAYLOR.
vi, 608. FORD ED., x, 31. (M., 1816.)
7611. BIGHTS, Safety of.— It would be
a dangerous delusion were a confidence in the
men of our choice to silence our fears for the
safety of our rights. — KENTUCKY RESOLU
TIONS, ix, 470. FORD ED., vii, 303. (1798.)
7612. BIGHTS, Securing. — It is to se
cure our rights that we resort to government
at all.— To M. D'!VERNOIS. iv, 114. FORD ED.,
vii, 4. (M., Feb. 1795.)
- BIGHTS, State.— See STATE RIGHTS.
7613. BIGHTS, Suppression of. — It is
impossible the world should continue long in-
Bights
Rights of Mail
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
782
sensible to so evident a truth as that the right
to have commmerce and intercourse with our
neighbors is a natural right. To suppress
this neighborly intercourse is an exercise of
force, which we shall have a just right to re
move when the superior force. — To T. M.
RANDOLPH, iii, 146. FORD ED., v, 174. (N.
Y., 1790.)
7614. BIGHTS, Surrendering.— The jus
tifiable rights of our country ought not to be
given up by those * * * appointed and
trusted to defend them where they may be
justly defended. — To ALEXANDER HAMILTON.
FORD ED., vi, 9. (1792.)
7615. BIGHTS, Swallowing up.— Did
his Majesty possess such a right as this
[sending troops], it might swallow up all our
other rights, whenever he should think
proper. — RIGHTS OF BRITISH AMERICA, i, 140.
FORD ED., i, 445. (I774-)
7616. BIGHTS, Unmerited praise and.
— To give praise where it is not due might
be well from the venal, but it would ill be
come those who are asserting the rights of
human nature. — RIGHTS OF BRITISH AMERICA.
i, 141. FORD ED., i, 446. (1774.)
7617. BIGHTS, Usurpation of.— The
royal claim to wrecks, waifs, strays, treasure-
trove, royal mine's, royal fish, royal birds, a_re
declared to have been usurpations on common
right— PROPOSED VA. CONSTITUTION. FORD
ED., ii, 28. (June 1776.)
_ BIGHTS OF BBITISH AMEBICA,
A summary view of the. — See APPENDIX.
_ BIGHTS OF CONSCIENCE.— See
CONSCIENCE.
7618. BIGHTS OF MAN, Appeal to.—
The appeal to the rights of man, which had
been made in the United States, was taken
up by France, first of the European nations.
From her, the spirit has spread over those of
the South. The tyrants of the North have
allied indeed against it; but it is irresistible.
Their opposition will only multiply its
millions of human victims; their own satel
lites will catch it, and the condition of man
through the civilized world will be finally
and greatly ameliorated. This is a wonderful
instance of great events from small causes.
So inscrutable is the arrangement of causes
and consequences in this world, that a two
penny duty on tea, unjustly imposed in a
sequestered part of it, changes the condition
of all its inhabitants.— AUTOBIOGRAPHY. i,
106. FORD ED., i, 147. (1821.)
7619. BIGHTS OF MAN, Assertion of.
— I hope and firmly believe that the whole
world will, sooner or later, feel benefit from
the issue of our assertion of the rights of
man.— To BENJAMIN GALLOWAY. vi, 41.
(M., 1812.)
7620. BIGHTS OF MAN, Charter of.—
The Declaration of Independence, the De
claratory Charter of our rights, and of the
rights of man.— To SAMUEL A. WELLS, i,
121. FORD ED., x, 131. (M., 1819.)
7621. BIGHTS OF MAN, Equal.— The
equal rights of man, and the happiness of
every individual, are now acknowledged to
be the only legitimate objects of government.
Modern times * * have discovered the
only device by which these rights can be
secured, to wit: government by the people,
acting not in person, but by representatives
chosen by themselves, that is to say, by every
man of ripe years and sound mind, who con
tributes either by his purse or person to the
support of his country.— To M. CORAY vii
319- (M., 1823.)
7622. BIGHTS OF MAN, Government
and.— No interests are dearer to men than
those which ought to be secured to them by
their form of government, and none deserve
better of them than those who contribute to
the amelioration of that form. — To M.
RUELLE. v, 430. (W., 1809.)
7623. BIGHTS OF MAN, Immortal.—
Although the horrors of the French Revolu
tion have damped for awhile the ardor of the
patriots in every country, yet it is not extin
guished—it will never die. The sense of
right has been excited in every breast, and the
spark will be rekindled by the very oppres
sions of that detestable tyranny employed to
quench it. The errors of the honest patriots
of France, and the crimes of her Dantons and
Robespierres, will be forgotten in the more
encouraging contemplation of our sober ex
ample, and steady march to our object. — To
BENJAMIN GALLOWAY, vi, 41. (M., 1812.)
7624. BIGHTS OF MAN, Immutable.—
Nothing is unchangeable but the inherent and
inalienable rights of man.— To JOHN CART-
WRIGHT, vii, 359. (M., 1824.)
7625. BIGHTS OF MAN, Legal.— The
laws of the land are the inheritance and the
right of every man before whatever tribunal
he is brought.— NOTES ON STEVENS CASE, ix,
475- (1804.)
7626. B.IGHTS OF MAN, Legislators
and- — Our legislators are not sufficiently ap
prized of the rightful limits of their power;
that their true office is to declare and enforce
only our natural rights and duties, and to
take none of them from us. — To F. W. GIL-
MER. vii, 3. FORD ED., x, 32. (M., 1816.)
7627. BIGHTS OF MAN, Moral and
political.— That man may at length find fa
vor with Heaven, and his present struggles
issue in the recovery and establishment of his
moral and political rights will be the prayer
of my latest breath. — To HARRY INNES. FORD
ED., vii, 383. (M., 1799.)
7628. BIGHTS OF MAN, Becognition
of. — All eyes are opened, or opening, to the
rights of man. The general spread of the
light of science has already laid open to every
view the palpable truth, that the mass of
mankind has not been born with saddles on
their backs, nor a favored few booted and
spurred, ready to ride them legitimately, by
78,
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Rights of Man
Kiver
the grace of God.*— To ROGER C. WEIGHT-
MAN, vii, 450. FORD ED., x, 391. (M., June
24, 1826.)
7629. BIGHTS OF MAN, Cecuring.—
Modern times * * * have discovered the
only device by which the rights of man can
be secured, to wit, government by the people,
acting not in person, but by representatives
chosen by themselves ; that is to say, by every
man of ripe years and sane mind, who con
tributes either by his purse or person to the
support of his country. — To M. CORAY. vii,
319. (M., 1823.) See PAINE.
7630. BITTENHOUSE (David), As
tronomer. — That this Commonwealth [of
Virginia] may not be without so great an or
nament, nor its youth such an help towards
attaining astronomical- science, as the mechan
ical representation, or model of the solar sys
tem, conceived and executed by that greatest
of astronomers, David Rittenhouse,
the visitors [of William and Mary College]
* * * shall be authorized [to purchase] one
of the models. — WILLIAM AND MARY COLLEGE
BILL. FORD ED., ii, 235. (i779-)
7631. . We have supposed Mr.
Rittenhouse second to no astronomer living ;
that in genius he must be first, because he is
self-taught. As an artist, he has exhibited as
great a proof of mechanical genius as the world
has ever produced. He has not indeed made
a world ; but he has by imitation approached
nearer its Maker, than has any man who has
lived from the creation to this day. — NOTES ON
VIRGINIA, viii, 313. FORD EDV iii, 169.
(1782.)
7632. BITTENHOUSE (David), Genius
of. — The amazing mechanical representation
of the solar system, which you conceived and
executed, has never been surpassed by any but
the work of which it is a copy. Are these pow
ers, then, which being intended for the con
dition of the world are like air and light, the
world's common property, to be taken from
their proper pursuit to do the commonplace
drudgery of governing a single State, a work
which may be executed by men of an ordinary
stature, such as are always and everywhere to
be found? — To DAVID RITTENHOUSE. FORD ED.,
ii, 163. (M., 1778.)
7633. . I doubt not there are in
your country many persons equal to the task
of conducting government ; but you should con
sider that the world has but one Rittenhouse,
and that it never had one before. — To DAVID
RITTENHOUSE. FORD ED., ii, 163. (1778.)
7634. . I have been much pleased
to hear you had it in contemplation to endeavor
to establish Rittenhouse in pur College. This
would be an immense acquisition, and would
draw youth to it from every part of the conti
nent. — To JOHN PAGE, i, 400. (P., 1785.)
7635. BITTENHOUSE (David), Inval
uable friend. — Our late invaluable friend,
Rittenhouse. — To DR. BENJAMIN RUSH. iv,
165. FORD ED., vii, 113. (M., 1797.)
7636. BITTENHOUSE (David), Mech
anician. — Rittenhouse, as an astronomer,
would stand on a line with any of his time;
* From the last letter written by Jefferson. Mr.
Weightman was Mayor of Washington City, and the
letter was in reply to an invitation to be present at
a Fourth of July celebration at the capital. Jeffer
son and Adams both died on that day. — EDITOR.
and as a mechanician, he certainly has not
been equaled. In this view he was truly great ;
but, placed alongside of Newton, every human
character must appear diminutive, and none
would have shrunk more feelingly from the
painful parallel than the modest and amiable
Rittenhouse, whose genius and merit are not
the less for this exaggerated comparison of his
over zealous biographer. — To JOHN ADAMS, vi,
307. (M., 1814.)
7637. BIVEB, Illinois.— The Illinois is a
fine river, clear, gentle, and without rapids ; in
somuch that it is navigable for bateaux to its
source. From thence is a portage of two miles
only to the Chicago, which affords a bateau
navigation of sixteen miles to its entrance into
Lake Michigan. — NOTES ON VIRGINIA, viii,
255. FORD ED., iii, 93. (1782.)
7638. BIVEB, James.— James River it
self affords a harbor for vessels of any size in
Hampton Road, but not in safety through the
whole winter. * * In some future state
of population, I think it possible, that its navi
gation may also be made to interlock with that
of the Potomac, and through that to communi
cate by a short portage with the Ohio. — NOTES
ON VIRGINIA, viii, 251. FORD ED. iii, 89.
(1782.)
7639. BIVEB, Kanawha.— The Great
Kanawha is a river of considerable note for
the fertility of its lands, and still more, as lead
ing towards the head waters of James river.
Nevertheless it is doubtful whether its great and
numerous rapids will admit a navigation, but
at an expense to which it will require ages to
render its inhabitants equal. The great ob
stacles begin at what are called the great falls,
ninety miles above the mouth, below which are
only five or six rapids, and these passable, with
some difficulty, even at low water. * * *
It is said, however, that at a very moderate ex
pense the whole current of the upper part of the
Kanawha may be turned into the South Fork of
Roanoke, the Alleghany there subsiding, and
the two rivers approaching so near, that a canal
nine miles long, and thirty feet deep, at the
deepest part would draw the water of the
Kanawha into this branch of the Roanoke; this
canal would be in Montgomery County, the
court-house of which is on the top of the Alle-
ghanies. — NOTES ON VIRGINIA, viii, 259. FORD
ED., iii, 96. (1782.)
7640. _ . The Little Kanawha
; yields a navigation of ten miles only.
Perhaps its northern branch, called Junius's
Creek, which interlocks with the western of
Monongahela, may one day admit a shorter
passage from the latter into the Ohio. — NOTES
ON VIRGINIA, vin, 259. FORD ED., iii, 97.
(1782.)
7641. BIVEB, Mississippi.— The Missis
sippi will be one of the principal channels of
future commerce for the country westward of
the Alleghany. — NOTES ON VIRGINIA, viii,
253. FORD ED., iii, 91. (1782.)
7642. . The country watered by
the Mississippi and its eastern branches con
stitutes five-eighths of the United States, two
of which five-eighths are occupied by the Ohio
and its waters ; the residuary streams which run
into the Gulf of Mexico, the Atlantic, and the
St. Lawrence, water the remaining three-
eighths. — NOTES ON VIRGINIA, viii, 261. FORD
EDV iii, 98. (1782.)
7643. BIVEB, Missouri. — The Missouri
is, in fact, the principal river, contributing
River
Rivers
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
784
more to the common stream than does the Mis
sissippi, even after its junction with the Illinois.
It is remarkably cold, muddy and rapid.— NOTES
ON VIRGINIA, viii, 254. FORD ED., iii, 92.
(1782.)
7644. RIVER, Ohio.— The Ohio is the
most beautiful river on earth. Its current gen
tle, waters clear, and bosom smooth and un
broken by rocks and rapids, a single instance
only excepted. — NOTES ON VIRGINIA, viii, 256.
FORD ED., iii, 93. (1782.)
7645. RIVER, Potomac.— The passage of
the Potomac through the Blue Ridge is, per
haps, one of the most stupendous scenes in
nature. You stand on a very high point of
land. On your right comes up the Shenandoah,
having ranged along the foot of the mountain
an hundred miles to seek a vent. On your left
approaches the Potomac, in quest of a passage
also. In the moment of their junction, they
rush together against the mountain, rend it
asunder, and pass off to the sea. The first
glance of this scene hurries our senses into the
opinion, that this earth has been created in
time, that the mountains were formed first, that
the rivers began to flow afterwards, that in
this place, particularly, they have been dammed
up by the Blue Ridge of mountains, and have
formed an ocean which filled the whole valley ;
that continuing to rise they have at length
broken over at this spot, and have torn the
mountain down from its summit to its base.
The piles of rock on each hand, but particularly
on the Shenandoah, the evident marks of their
disrupture and avulsion from their beds by the
most powerful agents of nature, corroborate the
impression. But the distant finishing which
nature has given to the picture, is of a very
different character. It is a true contrast to the
foreground. It is as placid and delightful as
that is wild and tremendous. For the moun
tain being cloven asunder, she presents to your
eye, through the cleft, a small catch of smooth
blue horizon, at an infinite distance in the plain
country, inviting you, as it were, from the riot
and tumult roaring around, to pass through the
breach and participate of the calm below. Here
the eye ultimately composes itself ; and that
way, too, the road happens actually to lead.
You cross the Potomac above tne junction, Dass
along its side through the base of the mountain
for three miles, its terrible precipices hanging
in fragments over you, and within about twenty
miles reach Fredericktown, and the fine country
round that. This scene is worth a voyage
across the Atlantic. Yet here, as in the neigh
borhood of the Natural Bridge, are people who
have passed their lives within half a dozen
miles, and have never been to survey these
monuments of a war between rivers and
mountains, which must have shaken the earth
itself to its centre. — NOTES ON VIRGINIA, viii,
264. FORD ED., iii, 102. (1782.)
7646. RIVER, Red.— Your observations
* * * have determined me to confine the
ensuing mission to the ascent of the Red river
to its source, and to descend the same river
again, which will give an opportunity of better
ascertaining that which, in truth, next to the
Missouri, is the most interesting water of the
Mississippi. You will accordingly receive in
structions to this effect from the Secretary of
War. — To MR. DUNBAR. iv, 577. (W., May
1805.)
7647. . The work we are now
doing is, I trust, done for posterity, in such a
way that they need not repeat it. For this we
are much indebted to you, not only for the
labor and time you have devoted to it, but for
the excellent method of which you have set the
example, and which I hope will be the model
to be followed by others. We shall delineate
with correctness the great arteries of this great
country. Those who come after us will ex
tend the ramifications as they become ac
quainted with them, and fill up the canvas
we begin. — To MR. DUNBAR. iv, 580. (W.,
1805.)
7648. RIVER, Rhone.— Nature never
formed a country of more savage aspect, than
that on both sides the Rhone. A huge torrent
rushes like an arrow between high precipices,
often of massive rock, at other times of loose
stone, with but little earth. Yet has the hand
of man subdued this savage scene, by planting
corn where there is little fertility, trees where
there is still less, and vines where there is none.
On the whole, it assumes a romantic, pictur
esque, and pleasing air. — TRAVELS IN FRANCE.
ix, 320. (1787.)
7649. RIVER, St. Croix.— A difference
of opinion having arisen as to the river in
tended by the Plenipotentiaries [in the treaty
of peace] to be the boundary between us and
the dominions of Great Britain, and by them
called the St. Croix, which name, it seems, is
given to two different rivers, the ascertaining
of this point becomes a matter of present ur
gency. It has heretofore been the subject of
application from us to the Government of
Great Britain. — To GEORGE HAMMOND. FORD
ED., vi, 469. (Pa., Dec. 1793.)
7650. RIVER, Wabash.— The Wabash is
a very beautiful river. — NOTES ON VIRGINIA.
viii, 258. FORD ED., iii, 95. (1782.)
7651. RIVERS, Exploration of.— I
should be glad of a copy of any sketch or ac
count you may have made of the river Platte,
of the passage from its head across the moun
tains, and of the river Cashecatungo, which you
suppose to run into the Pacific. This would
probably be among the first exploring journeys
we undertake after a settlement with Spain, as
we wish to become acqua;nted with all the ad
vantageous water connections across our con
tinent. — To ANTHONY G. BETTAY. v, 246.
(W., 1808.)
7652. RIVERS, Highways of com
merce. — The principal connections of the
western waters with the Atlantic are three :
the Hudson River, the Potomac, and the Mis
sissippi itself. Down the last will pass all
heavy commodities. But the navigation
through the Gulf of Mexico is so dangerous,
and that up the Mississippi so difficult and
tedious, that it is thought probable that Eu
ropean merchandise will not return through that
channel. It is most likely that flour, timber,
and other heavy articles will be floated on rafts,
which will themselves be an article for sale as
well as their loading, the navigators returning
by land, or in light bateaux. There will, there
fore, be a competition between the Hudson
and Potomac rivers for the residue of the com
merce of all the country westward of Lake
Erie, on the waters of the Lakes, of the Ohio,
and upper parts of the Mississippi. — NOTES ON
VIRGINIA, viii, 261. FORD ED., iii, 98. (1782.)
7653. RIVERS, Increments of.— In
granting appropriations [of lands], some sov
ereigns have given away the increments of riv
ers to a greater, some to a lesser extent, and
some not at all. Rome, which was not feudal,
and Spain and England which were, have
granted them largely ; France, a feudal country,
785
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Rivers
Rogues
has not granted them at all on navigable rivers.
Louis XIV., therefore, was strictly correct when
in his edict of 1693, he declared that the incre
ments of rivers were incontestably his, as a
necessary consequence of the sovereignty.
That is to say, that where no special grant of
them to an individual could be produced, they
remained in him, as a portion of the original
lands of the nation, or as new created lands,
never yet granted to any individual. They are
unquestionably a regalian, or national right,
paramount, and pre-existent to the establish
ment of the feudal system. That system has
no fixed principle on the subject, as is evident
from the opposite practices of different feudal
nations. The position, therefore, is entirely
unfounded, that the right to them is derived
from the feudal law. — BATTURE CASE. viii,
541. (1812.)
7654. RIVERS, Obstructions in.— I think
the State should reserve a right to the use of
the [river] waters for navigation, and that
where an individual landholder impedes that
use, he shall remove that impediment, and leave
the subject in as good a state as nature formed
it. — To JOSEPH C. CABELL. vi, 541. (M.,
1816.)
7655. . I think the power of
fermitting dams to be erected across our river
Fluviana], ought to be taken from the courts,
so far as the stream has water enough for nav
igation. — To CHARLES YANCEY. vi, 514. FORD
ED., x, i. (M., 1816.)
7656. RIVERS, Right of navigation.—
The movements of the King of Prussia to
emancipate the navigation of the Vistula, and
of the Emperor [of Germany] to free that of
the Scheld do not, I believe, threaten the
peace of Europe. * * * This assertion, then,
of the natural right of the inhabitants of the
upper part of a river to an innocent passage
through the country below is pleasing to us.
It tends to establish a principle favorable to
our right of navigating the Mississippi. — To
GOVERNOR BENJ. HARRISON. FORD ED., iii, 414.
(A., March 1784.)
7657. RIVERS, Velocity of.— I shall
forward your ingenious paper on the subject of
the Mississippi to the Philosophical Society.
To prove the value I set on it, and my wish
that it may go to the public without any im
perfection about it, I will take the liberty of
submitting to your consideration the only pas
sage which I think may require it. You say,
" the velocity of rivers is greatest at the sur
face, and generally diminishes downwards ".
And this principle enters into some subsequent
parts of the paper, and has too much effect
on the phenomena of that river not to merit
mature consideration. I can but suppose it at
variance with the law of motion in rivers. In
strict theory, the velocity of water at any given
depth in a river is (in addition to its velocity at
its surface) whatever a body would have ac
quired by falling through a space equal to that
depth. — To WILLIAM DUNBAR. iv, 537. (W.,
1804.)
7658. ROANE (Spencer), Courage of. —
Against this [consolidation] I know no one
who, equally with Judge Roane h:mself, pos
sesses the power and the courage to make re
sistance ; and to him I look, and have long
looked, as our strongest bulwark. — To ARCHI
BALD THWEAT. vii, 199. FORD EDV x, 184. (M.,
1821.)
7659. ROANE (Spencer), Judge Mar
shall and. — On the decision of the case of
Cohens vs. the State of Virginia, in the Su
preme Court of the United States, in March,
1821, Judge Roane, under the signature of
" Algernon Sidney ", wrote for the Enquirer
[Richmond] a series of papers on the law of
that case. I considered these papers maturely
as they came out, and confess that they ap
peared to me to pulverize every word which
had been delivered by Judge Marshall, of the
extra-judicial part of his opinion. — To WILLIAM
JOHNSON, vii, 294. FORD ED., x, 229. (M.,
1823.)
7660. ROBESPIERRE, Atrocities of.—
What a tremendous obstacle to the future at
tempts at liberty will be the atrocities of
Robespierre! — To TENCH COXE. FORD EDV vii,
22. (M., 1795.)
7661. ROBESPIERRE, Condemned.—
Robespierre met the fate, and his memory the
execration, he so justly merited. The rich were
his victims, and perished by thousands. — To
MADAME DE STAEL. vi, 114. (M., May 1813.)
7662. ROCHAMBEAU (Count), Pro
posed bust. — Count Rochambeau has really
deserved more attention than he has received.
Why not set up his bust, that of Gates, Greene,
Franklin, in your new capitol ? — To JAMES
MADISON, i, 534. FORD ED., iv, 196. (P., 1786.)
7663. RODNEY (Caesar A.), Affection
for. — I avail myself of this occasion * * *
to express all the depth of my affection for
you ; the sense I entertain of your faithful co
operation in my late labors, and the debt I owe
for the valuable aid I received from you [in
the cabinet]. — To CAESAR A. RODNEY, v, 502.
FORD ED., ix, 272. (M., 1810.)
7664. RODNEY (Caesar A.), Appeal to.
— I am told you are the only person who can
unite the greatest portion of the republican
votes [in Delaware], and the only one, per
haps, who can procure the dismission of your
present representative [in Congress] to that
obscurity of situation where his temper and
principles may be disarmed of all effect. You
are, then, bound to do this good office to the
rest of America. You owe to your State to
make her useful to her friends, instead of being
an embarrassment and a burden. Her long
speeches and wicked workings at this session
have added at least thirty days to its length,
cost us $30,000, and filled the Union with false
hoods and misrepresentations. — To CAESAR A.
RODNEY. FORD ED., viii, 148. (W., 1802.)
7665. RODNEY (Caesar A.), Retirement.
— I lament the necessity which calls for your
retirement, if that necessity really exists. I
had looked to you as one of those calculated to
give cohesion to our rope of sand. — To CAESAR
A. RODNEY. FORD ED., viii, 296. (W., Feb.
1804.)
7666. ROGUES, Diplomacy and.— Our
part of the country [Virginia] is in consider
able fermentation on what they suspect to be a
recent roguery of this kind. They say that
while all hands were below deck mend:ng sails,
splicing ropes, and every one at his own busi
ness, and the captain in his cabin attending to
his log-book and chart, a rogue of a pilot has
run them into an enemy's port. But metaphor
apart, there is much dissatisfaction with Mr.
Jay and his treaty. — To MANN PAGE, iv, 120.
FORD ED., vii, 25. (M., Aug. 1795.) See JAY
TREATY.
7667. ROGUES, Proportion of. — I do not
believe with the Rochefoucaulds and Mon-
Rogues
Kussia
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
786
taignes, that fourteen out of fifteen men are
rogues ; I believe a great abatement from that
proportion may be made in favor of general
honesty. But I have always found that rogues
would be uppermost, and I do not know that
the proportion is too strong for the higher
orders, and for those who, rising above the
swinish multitude, always contrive to nestle
themselves into the places of power and profit.
These rogues set out with stealing the peo
ple's good opinion, and then steal from them
the right of withdrawing it, by contriving laws
and associations against the power of the peo
ple themselves. — To MANN PAGE, iv, 119. FORD
ED., vii, 24. (M», 1795.)
7668. ROGUES, Bailing.— The rogues
may rail without intermission. — To DR. BENJA
MIN RUSH, iv, 426. FORD ED., viii, 128. (W.,
1801.)
7669. ROHAN" (Cardinal de), Imprison
ment. — The Cardinal de Rohan and Caglios-
tro remain * * * in the Bastile ; nor do their
affairs seem as yet to draw towards a conclu
sion. It has been a curious matter, in which
the circumstances of intrigue and detail have
busied all the tongues, the public liberty none.
—To MR. OTTO, i, 558. (P., 1786.)
7670. ROTATION IN OFFICE, Aban
donment of.— I dislike, and greatly dislike
[in the new Federal Constitution] the aban
donment in every instance of the principle* of
rotation in office,' and most particularly in the
case of the President. — To JAMES MADISON.
ii, 330. FORD ED., iv, 477. (P., Dec. 1787.)
See PRESIDENT.
7671. . I apprehend that the
total abandonment of the principle of rotation
in the offices of President and Senator [in the
Federal Constitution] will end in abuse. — To
E. RUTLEDGE. ii, 435. FORD ED., v, 42. (P.,
1788.)
7672. . The abandoning the
principle of necessary rotation in the Senate
has, I see, been disapproved by many ; in the
case of the President, by none. I readily,
therefore, suppose my opinion wrong, when
opposed by the majority, as in the former in
stance, and the totality, as in the latter. In
this, however, I should have done it with
more complete satisfaction, had we all judged
from the same position. — To JAMES MADISON.
ii, 447. FORD ED., v, 48. (P., July 1788.)
7673. ROTATION IN OFFICE, Ap
proval of. — I am for responsibilities at short
periods, seeing neither reason nor safety in
making the public functionaries independent
of the nation for life, or even for a long term
of years. On this principle I prefer the Presi
dential term of four years to that of seven
years which I myself had at first suggested,
annexing to it, however, ineligibility to it
forever after; and I wish it were now an
nexed to the second quadrennial election of
President. — To JAMES MARTIN. vi, 213.
FORD ED., ix, 420. (M., 1813.) See THIRD
TERM.
7674. ROTATION IN OFFICE, Defini
tion of. — Rotation is the change of officers
* " Necessity " of rotation in FORD EDITION.— EDI
TOR.
required by the laws at certain epochs, and
in a. certain order. Thus, in Virginia, our
justices of the peace are made sheriffs, one
after the other, each remaining in office two
years, and then yielding it to his next brother
in order of seniority. This is the just and
classical meaning of the word. But in Amer
ica, we have extended it (for want of a
proper word), to all cases of officers who
must be necessarily changed at a fixed epoch,
though the successor be not pointed out in
any particular order, but comes in by free
election. By the term rotation in office, then,
we mean an obligation on the holder of that
office to go out at a certain period. In our
first confederation, the principle of rotation
was established in the office of President of
Congress, who could serve but one year in
three; and in that of a member of Congress,
who could serve but three years in six. —
To J. SARSFIELD. iii, 17. (P., 1789.)
7675. ROTATION IN OFFICE, Restora
tion of. — The second amendment [to the new
Federal Constitution], which appears to me to
be essential, is the restoring the principle of
necessary rotation, particularly to the Senate
and Presidency, but most of all to the last. —
To E. CARRINGTON. ii, 404. FORD ED., v, 20.
(P., 1788.)
7676. ROWAN (A. H.), Asylum for.—
Should you choose Virginia for your asylum,
the laws of the land, administered by upright
judges, would protect you from an exercise of
power unauthorized by the Constitution of the
United States. The Habeas Corpus secures
every man here, alien or citizen, against every
thing which is not law, whatever shape it may
assume. Should this, or any other circum
stance, draw your footsteps this way, I shall
be happy to be among those who may have an
opportunity of testifying, by every attention
in our power, the sentiments of esteem and
respect which the circumstances of your history
have inspired. * — To A. H. ROWAN, iv, 257.
FORD ED., vii, 281. (1798.)
7677. RULES, Forming.— The forming a
general rule requires great caution. — To PRESI
DENT WASHINGTON. FORD EDV vi, 408. (Pa.,
I793-)
- RULES, Jefferson's ten.— See ADVICE.
7678. RUSH (Benjamin), Tribute to.— A
better man than Rush could not have left us ;
more benevolent, more learned, of finer genius,
or more honest. — To JOHN ADAMS, vi, 120.
(M., 1813.)
7679. RUSH (Benjamin), Virtues.— His
virtues rendered him dear to all who knew
him, and his benevolence led him to do all men
every good in his power. Much he was able
to do, and much, therefore, will be missed. —
To RICHARD RUSH. FORD ED., ix, 385. (Mv
1813.)
7680. RUSSIA, Empress Catherine. —
The Empress endeavored to bully the Turk,
who laughed at her, and she is going back. —
To J. BANNISTER, JR. ii, 150. (P., 1787.) See
ALEXANDER OF RUSSIA and DASHKOFF.
* Archibald Hamilton Rowan was one of the
leaders in the rebellion in Ireland in 1798. He was
a refugee in Wilmington, Delaware, when Jefferson
wrote to him.— EDITOR.
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Russia
Salaries
7681. RUSSIA, United States and.—
Russia and the United States being in char
acter and practice essentially pacific, a com
mon interest in the rights of peaceable nations
gives us a common cause in their maintenance.
— To M. DASHKOFF. v, 463. (M., 1809.)
7682. BUTLEDGE (Edward), Appeal
to, — Would to God yourself, General Pinck-
ney and Major Pinckney, would come forward
and aid us with your efforts. You are all known,
respected, wished for ; but you refuse your
selves to everything. What is to become of us
if the vine and the fig tree withdraw, and leave
us to the bramble and the thorn? — To EDWARD
RUTLEDGE. iii, 285. FORD ED., v, 376. (Pa.,
1791.)
7683. BUTLEDGE (Edward), Politics.—
I have often doubted whether most to praise
or to blame your line of conduct. If you had
lent to your country the excellent talents you
possess, on you would have fallen those tor
rents of abuse which have lately been poured
forth on me. So far, I praise the wisdom
which has descried and steered clear of a
waterspout ahead. But now for the blame.
There is a debt of service due from every man
to his country, proportioned to the bounties
which nature and fortune have measured to
him. Counters will pay this from the poor of
sp;rit ; but from you coin was due. There is
no bankrupt law in heaven, by which you may
get off with shillings in the pound ; with ren
dering to a single State what you owed to the
whole confederacy. I think it was by the
Roman law that a father was denied sepulture,
unless his son would pay his debts. Happy for
you and us, that you have a son whom genius
and education have qualified to pay yours. But
as you have been a good father in everything
else, be so in this also. Come forward and pay
your own debts. Your friends, the Pinckneys,
have at length undertaken their tour. My joy
at this would be complete if you were in gear
with them. — To EDWARD RUTLEDGE. iv, 152.
FORD ED., vii, 94. (M., 1796.)
7684. BUTLEDGE (John), Chief Jus
tice. — The rejection of Mr. Rutledge [to be
Chief Justice] by the Senate is a bold thing;
because they cannot pretend any objection to
him but his disapprobation of the [Jay] treaty.
It is, of course, a declaration that they will re
ceive none but tories hereafter into any depart
ment of the government. — To W. B. GILES, iv,
127. FORD EDV vii, 44. (M., Dec. 1795.)
7685. . The appointment of J.
Rutledge to be Chief Justice seems to have
been intended merely to establish a precedent
against the descent of that office by seniority,
and to keep five mouths always gaping for
one sugar plum ; for it was immediately nega
tived by the very votes which so implicitly con
cur with the will of the Executive. — To JAMES
MONROE. FORD ED., vv, 59. (M., 1796.)
7686. SACBIFICES, Necessary.— Tem
porary sacrifices are necessary to save perma
nent rights. — To DR. WILLIAM EUSTIS. v, 411.
FORD ED., ix, 236. (W., 1809.)
7687. SACBIFICES, Bewarding.— It is
for the public interest to encourage sacrifices
and services, by rewarding them, and they
should weigh to a certain point, in the decision
between candidates. — To JOHN ADAMS, i, 503.
(P., 1785.)
7688. SAFETY, Bights and.— It would
be a dangerous delusion were a confidence in
the men of our choice to silence our fears
for the safety of our rights. — KENTUCKY
RESOLUTIONS, ix, 470. FORD ED., vii, 303.
(1798.)
7689. SAFETY, Union and.— Our safety
rests on the preservation of our Union. —
To THE RHODE ISLAND ASSEMBLY, iv, 307.
(W., May 1801.)
7690. SALARIES, Adequate.— Congress
were pleased to order me an advance of two
quarters' salary. At that time, I supposed
that I might refund it, or spare so much from
my expenses, by the time the third quarter
became due. Probably they might expect the
same. But it has been impossible. The ex
pense of my outfit, though I have taken it up,
on a scale as small as could be admitted, has
been very far beyond what I had conceived.
I have, therefore, not only been unable to re
fund the advance ordered, but been obliged
to go beyond it. I wished to have avoided
so much as was occasioned by the purchase
of furniture. But those who hire furniture
asked me forty per cent, a year for the use
of it. It was better to buy, therefore; and
this article, clothes, carriage, &c., have
amounted to considerably more than the ad
vance ordered. Perhaps, it may be thought
reasonable to allow me an outfit. The usage
of every other nation has established this,
and reason really pleads for it. I do not wish
to make a shilling: but only my expenses to
be defrayed, and in a moderate style. On
the most moderate, which the reputation or
interest of those I serve would admit, it will
take me several years to liquidate the ad
vances for my outfit. I mention this to en
able you to understand the necessities which
have obliged me to call for more money than
was probably expected, and, understanding
them, to explain them to others.* — To
SAMUEL OSGOOD. i, 452. (P., 1785.)
7691. SAL ABIES, Competent.— Render
the [State] judiciary respectable by every
means possible, to wit firm tenure in office,
[and] competent salaries. — To ARCHIBALD
STUART, iii, 315. FORD ED., v, 410. (Pa.,
1791.)
7692. SALABIES, Foreign Ministers.—
The bill on the intercourse with foreign na
tions restrains the President from allowing
to Ministers Plenipotentiaries, or to Con
gress, more than $9,000, and $4,500 for their
" personal services, and other expenses ".
This definition of the object for which the
allowance is provided appearing vague, the
Secretary of State thought it his duty to con
fer with the gentlemen heretofore employed
as ministers in Europe, to obtain from them,
in aid of his own information, an enumera
tion of the expenses incident to these offices,
and their opinion which of them would be
included within the fixed salary, and which
would be entitled to be charged separately.
He, therefore, asked a conference with the
* During his public life Jefferson sometimes lived
on his salary, sometimes exceeded it, and only while
he was Vice-President saved anything from it. —
MORSE'S Life of Jefferson, 335.
Salaries
San Domingo
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
788
Vice-President, who was acquainted with the
residences of London and the Hague, and the
Chief Justice, who was acquainted with that
of Madrid. The Vice-President, Chief Jus
tice, and Secretary of State concurred in the
opinion that the salaries named by the act
are much below those of the same grade at
the courts of Europe, and less than the public
good requires they should be. Consequently,
that the expenses not included within the
definition of the law, should be allowed as an
additional charge.* — OPINION ON SALARIES.
vii, 501. (1790.)
7693. SALARIES, Increasing.— It * * *
[is] inconsistent with the principles of civil
liberty, and contrary to the natural rights
of the other members of the society, that
any body of men therein should have au
thority to enlarge their own powers, preroga
tives, or emoluments without restraint, the
General Assembly cannot at their own will
increase the allowance which their members
are to draw from the public treasury for
their expenses while in assembly : but to en
able them to do so on application to the body
of the people * * * is necesssary. —
ADEQUATE ALLOWANCE BILL. FORD ED., ii,
165. (1778.)
7694. SALARIES, Legislators'.— It is
just that members of General Assembly,
delegated by the people to transact for them
the legislative business, should, while at
tending that business, have their reasonable
sustenance defrayed, dedicating to the public
service their time and labors freely and with
out account : and it is also expedient that the
public councils should not be deprived of the
aid of good and able men, who might be
deterred from entering into them by the in
sufficiency of their private fortunes to [meet]
the extraordinary expenses they must neces
sarily incur. — ADEQUATE ALLOWANCE BILL.
FORD ED., ii, 165. (1778.)
7695. SALARIES, Multiplication of.— I
am not for a multiplication of * * *
salaries merely to make partisans. — To EL-
BRIDGE GERRY, iv, 268. FORD ED., vii, 327.
(Pa., 1799.)
7696. SALARIES, Official.— No sala
ries, or perquisites, shall be given to any
officer but by some future act of the Legisla
ture. — PROPOSED VA. CONSTITUTION. FORD
ED., ii, 28. (June 1776.)
7697. . No salaries shall be given
to the Administrator, members of the legisla
tive houses, judges of the Court of Appeals,
judges of the County Courts, or other in
ferior jurisdictions, privy counsellors, or del
egates to the American Congress; but the
reasonable expenses of the Administrator,
members of the House of Representatives,
* There is an impression that we owe to Jefferson
the system of paying extravagantly low salaries to
high men. Not so. He was far too good a republican
to favor an idea so aristocratic. Make offices desir
able, he says, if you wish to get superior men to fill
them. * * * There is nothing in the writings of
Jefferson which gives any show of support to temp
tation salaries or to ignorant suffrage.— JAMES PAR-
TON'S Life of Jefferson, 378.
judges of the Court of Appeals, privy coun
sellors, and delegates for subsistence, while
acting in the duties of their office, may be
borne by the public, if the Legislature shall
so direct. — PROPOSED VA. CONSTITUTION.
FORD ED., ii, 28. (June 1776.)
7698. SALARIES, Reduction of.— I re
mark [in your address to the Legislature]
the phenomenon of a chief magistrate rec
ommending the reduction of his own com
pensation. This is a solecism of which the
wisdom of our late Congress cannot be ac
cused. — To GOVERNOR PLUMER. vii, 19. (M.,
1816.)
7699. SALT WATER, Distillation.—
The obtaining fresh from salt water was for
ages considered as an important desideratum
for the use of navigators. The process for do
ing this by simple distillation is so efficacious,
the erecting an extempore still with such uten
sils as are found on board of every ship, is so
practicable, as to authorize the assertion that
this desideratum is satisfied to a very useful
degree. * But though this has been done for
upwards of thirty years, though its reality has
been established by the actual experience of
several vessels which have had recourse to it,
yet neither the fact nor the process is known
to the mass of seamen, to whom it would be the
most useful., and for whom it was principally
wanted. The Secretary of State is, there
fore, of opinion that since the subject has now
been brought under observation, it should be
made the occasion of disseminating its knowl
edge generally and effectually among the sea
faring citizens of the United States. — REPORT
TO CONGRESS, vii, 459. (1790.)
— SANCHO (Ignatius).— See NEGROES,
LITERARY.
7700. SAN DOMINGO, Commerce with.
— A clause in a bill now under debate for
opening commerce with Toussaint and his black
subjects, now in open rebellion against France,
will be a circumstance of high aggravation to
that country, and in addition to our cruising
around their islands will put their pat'ence to
a great proof. — To JAMES MONROE, iv, 265.
FORD ED., vii, 321. (Pa., Jan. 1799.)
7701. . As it is acknowledged
* * * that it is impossible the French should in
vade us since the annihilation of their power
on the sea, our constituents will see in the
[army and navy] preparations the utmost
anxiety to guard them against even impossibili
ties. The Southern States do not discover the
same care, however, in the bill authorizing
Toussaint's subjects to a free commerce with
them, and free ingress and intercourse with
their black brethren in these States. However,
if they are guarded against the cannibals of the
terrible republic, they ought not to object to be
ing eaten by a more civilized enemy. — To
AARON BURR. FORD ED., vii, 348. (Pa., Feb.
I799-)
7702. . Toussaint's clause was
retained, t Even South Carolinians in the House
of Representatives voted for it. We may ex
pect, therefore, black crews, and supercargoes,
* The House of Representatives had referred to Jef
ferson the petition of Jacob Isaacs of Rhode Island,
who claimed to have discovered a method of convert
ing salt water into fresh. Isaacs desired the govern
ment to buy his secret.— EDITOR.
t Jefferson referred to the exemption of San Dom
ingo in the French non-intercourse bill. — EDITOR.
789
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
San Domingo
Sardinia
and missionaries thence into the Southern
States ; and when that leaven begins to work,
I would gladly compound with a great part of
our northern country, if they would honestly
stand neuter. If this combustion can be in
troduced among us under any veil whatever,
we have to fear it. — To JAMES MADISON. FORD
ED., vii, 349. (Pa., Feb. I799-)
7703. SAN DOMINGO, England and.—
Rigaud, at the head of the people of color,
maintains his allegiance [to France]. But they
are only twenty-five thousand souls, against five
hundred thousand, the number of the blacks.
The [British] treaty made with them by Mait-
land is (if they are to be separated from
France) the best thing for us. They must get
their provisions from us. It will, indeed, be
in English bottoms, so that we shall lose the
carriage. But the English w;ll probably forbid
them the ocean, confine them to their island,
and thus prevent their becoming an American
Algiers. It must be admitted, too, that they
may play them off on us when they please.
Against this there is no remedy but timely
measures on our part, to clear ourselves, by de
grees, of the matter on which that lever can
work. — To JAMES MADISON, iv, 281. FORD ED.,
vii, 343- (Pa-, Feb. I799-)
7704. SAN DOMINGO, Exile of aristo
crats. — Genet tells me that the Patriotic
party in St. Domingo had taken possession of
s:x hundred aristocrats and monocrats, had sent
two hundred of them to France, and were send
ing four hundred here. * * * I wish we could
distribute our four hundred among the Indians,
who would teach them lessons of liberty and
equality. — To MARTHA JEFFERSON RANDOLPH.
FORD ED., vi, 268. (Pa., 1793.)
7705. SAN DOMINGO, Fugitives from.
— The situation of the St. Domingo fugitives
(aristocrats as they are) calls aloud for pity
and charity. Never was so deep a tragedy pre
sented to the feelings of man. I deny the
power of the General Government to apply
money to such a purpose, but I deny it with
a bleeding heart. It belongs to the State gov
ernments. Pray urge ours to be liberal. The
Executive should hazard themselves here on
such an occasion, and the Legislature when it
meets ought to approve and extend it. It will
have a great effect in doing away the im
pression of other disobligations towards France.
— To JAMES MONROE, iv, 20. FORD ED., vi, 349.
(Pa., July I793-)
7706. SAN DOMINGO, Military ex
peditions to. — It is not permitted by the law
to prohibit the departure of the emigrants to
St. Domingo, according to the wish you ex
press, any more than it is to force them away,
according to that expressed by you in a former
letter. Our country is open to all men, to come
and go peaceably, when they choose ; and your
letter does not mention that these emigrants
meant to depart armed, and equipped for war.
Lest, however, this should be attempted, the
Governors of * * '* Pennsylvania and Mary
land are requested * * * to see that no mili
tary expedition be covered or permitted under
color of the right which the passengers have to
depart from these States. — To E. C. GENET.
iv, 87. FORD ED., vi, 459. (Pa., Nov. 1793.)
7707. SAN DOMINGO, Supplies to.—
When the distresses in St. Domingo first broke
forth, we thought we could not better evidence
our friendship to that, and to the Mother
country also, than to step into its relief, on
your application, without waiting a formal au
thorization from the National Assembly. As
the case was unforeseen, so it was unprovided
for on their part, and we did what we doubted
not they would have desired us to do, had there
been time to make the application, and what
we presumed they would sanction as soon as
known to them. We have now been going on
more than a twelve-month, in making advances
for the relief of the Colony, without having, as
yet, received any such sanction ; for the decree
of four millions of livres in aid of the Colony,
besides the circuitous and informal manner by
wh'ch we became acquainted with it, describes
and applies to operations very different from
those which have actually taken place. The
wants of the Colony appear likely to continue,
and their reliance on our supplies to become
habitual. We feel every disposition to continue
our efforts for administering to those wants ;
but that cautious attention to forms which
would have been unfriendly in the first mo
ment, becomes a duty to ourselves ; when the
business assumes the appearance of long con
tinuance, and respectful also to the National
Assembly itself, who have a right to prescribe
the line of an interference so materially inter
esting to the Mother country and the Colony.
By the estimate you were pleased to deliver
me, we perceive that there will be wanting, to
carry the Colony through the month of De
cember, between thirty and forty thousand dol
lars, in addition to the sums before engaged
to you. I am authorized to inform you, that
the sum of forty thousand dollars shall be paid
to your orders at the Treasury of the United
States, and to assure you, that we feel no abate
ment in our dispositions to contribute these aids
from time to time, as they shall be wanting,
for the necessary subsistence of the Colony ;
but the want of express approbation from the
National Legislature, must ere long produce a
presumption that they contemplate perhaps
other modes of relieving the Colony and dic
tate to us the propriety of doing only what they
shall have regularly and previously sanctioned.
— To JEAN BAPTISTE TERNANT. iii, 491. FORD
ED., vi, 136. (Pa., Nov. 1792.)
7708. . We are continuing our
supplies to the island of St. Domingo, at the
request of the minister of France here. We
would wish, however, to receive a more formal
sanction from the government of France than
has yet been given. Indeed, we know of none
but a vote of the late National Assembly for
four millions of livres of our debt, sent to the
government of St. Domingo, communicated by
them to the minister here, and by him to us.
And this was in terms not properly applicable
to the form of our advances. We wish, there
fore, for a full sanction of the past, and a com
plete expression of the desires of their gov
ernment as to future supplies to their colonies.
To GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. FORD ED., vi, 151.
(Pa., 1792.)
— SAN JUAN (Porto Rico).— See FREE
PORTS.
— SARATOGA, Proposed State of. — See
WESTERN TERRITORY.
7709. SARDINIA, Commerce with.— A
desire of seeing a commerce commenced be
tween the dominions of his Majesty, the King
of Sardinia, and the United States of America,
and a direct exchange of their respective pro
ductions, without passing through a third na
tion, led me into the conversation which I had
the honor of having with you on that subject,
and afterwards with Monsieur Tallon at Turin.
* * * The articles of your produce wanted
Saussure (Horace B.)
Schools
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
790
with us are brandies, wines, oils, fruits, and
manufactured silks. Those wh:ch we can fur
nish you are indigo, potash, tobacco, flour, salt
fish, furs and peltries, ships and materials for
building them. — To M. GUIDE, ii, 146. (Ms.,
1787.)
7710. SAUSSURE (Horace B.), Philoso
pher. — M. Saussure is one of the best phi
losophers of the present age. Cautious in not
letting his assent run before his evidence, he
possesses the wisdom which so few possess, of
preferring ignorance to error. The contrary
disposition in those who call themselves phi
losophers in this country classes them, in fact,
with the writers of romance. — To WILLIAM
RUTLEDGE. ii, 475. (P., 1788.)
— SAY (Jean Baptiste).— See GOVERN
MENT, WORKS ON.
7711. SCENERY, American.— The Fall-
ing Spring, the Cascade of Niagara, the pas
sage of the Potomac through the Blue Moun
tains, the Natural Bridge, — it is worth a voy
age across the Atlantic to see those objects,
much more to paint and make them, and
thereby ourselves, known to all ages. — To MRS.
COSWAY. ii, 35. FORD ED., iv, 315. (P., 1786.)
7712. SCHISM, Dangers of.— Strong in
our numbers, our position and resources, we
can never be endangered but by schisms at
home. — R. TO A. WILMINGTON CITIZENS, viii,
149. (1809.)
7713. SCHISM, Governmental. — Govern
ment, as well as religion, has furnished its
schisms, its persecutions, and its devices for
fattening idleness on the earnings of the peo
ple. It has its hierarchy of emperors, kings,
princes, and nobles, as that has of popes, car
dinals, archbishops, bishops and priests. — To
CHARLES CLAS. vi, 413. (M., 1815.)
7714. SCHISM, Self-government and. —
All these schisms, small or great, only accumu
late truths of the solid qualifications of our
citizens for self-government. — To THOMAS
LEIPER. FORD ED., viii, 503. (W., 1806.)
7715. SCHISM, Silence.— Frown into si
lence all disorganizing movements. — R. TO A.
WILMINGTON CITIZENS, viii 149. (1809.)
7716. SCHOOLS, Abortive.— The annual
reports show that our plan of primary schools
[in Virginia] is becoming completely abortive,
and must be abandoned very shortly, after cost
ing us to this day one hundred and eighty thou
sand dollars, and yet to cost us forty-five thou
sand dollars a year more until it shall be dis
continued ; and if a single boy has received the
elements of common education, it must be in
some part of the country not known to me. Ex
perience has but too fully confirmed the early
predictions of its fate. — To WILLIAM T. BARRY.
vii, 256. (M., 1822.)
7717. SCHOOLS, European.— Why send
an American youth to Europe for education?
What are the objects of an useful American ed
ucation ? Classical knowledge, modern languages,
chiefly French, Spanish and Italian ; mathemat
ics, natural philosophy, natural history, civil
history and ethics. In natural philosophy, I mean
to include chemistry and agriculture ; and in
natural history to include botany, as well as the
other branches of those departments. It is true
that the habit of speaking the modern languages
cannot be so well acquired in America; but
every other article can be as well acquired at
William and Mary College, as at any place in
Europe. When college education is done with,
and a young man is to prepare himself for pub
lic life, he must cast his eyes (for America)
either on law or physics. For the former,
where can he apply so advantageously as to
Mr. Wythe? For the latter, he must come to
Europe ; the medical class of students, there
fore, is the only one which need come to
Europe. — To J. BANNISTER, i, 467. (P., 1785.)
7718. . Let us view the disad
vantages of sending a youth to Europe. To
enumerate them all would require a volume. I
will select a few. If he goes to England, he
learns drinking, horse racing and boxing.
These are the peculiarities of English educa
tion. The following circumstances are com
mon to education in that and the other coun
tries of Europe. He acquires a fondness for
European luxury and dissipation, and a con
tempt for the simplicity of his own country ;
he is fascinated with the privileges of the Eu
ropean aristocrats, and sees, with abhorrence,
the lovely equality which the poor enjoy with
the rich in his own country ; he contracts a
partiality for aristocracy or monarchy ; he
forms foreign friendships which will never be
useful to him, and loses the seasons of life
for forming, in his own country, those friend
ships which, of all others, are the most faithful
and permanent ; * * * and * * * he
returns to his own country unacquainted w'th
the practices of domestic economy, necessary
to preserve him from ruin, speaking and wri
ting his native tongue as a foreigner, and, there
fore, unqualified to obtain those distinctions,
which eloquence of the pen and tongue ensures
in a free country ; for I would observe to you,
that what is called style ;n writing or speaking,
is formed verv early in life, while the imagina
tion is warm, and impressions are permanent. —
To J. BANNISTER, i, 467. (P., 1785.)
7719. . An American, coming to
Europe for education, loses in his knowledge,
in his morals, in his health, in his habits, and
in his happiness. I had entertained only doubts
on this head before I came to Europe ; what I
see and hear, since I came here, proves more
than I had even suspected. — To J. BANNISTER.
i, 468. (P., 1785.)
7720. . Cast your eye over Amer
ica : who are the men of most learning, of most
eloquence, most beloved by their countrymen
and most trusted and promoted by them ?
They are those who have been educated among
them, and whose manners, morals, and habits,
are perfectly homogeneous with those of the
country. * * * The consequences of for
eign education are alarming to me as an Amer
ican. — To J. BANNISTER, i, 468. (P., 1785.)
7721. . With respect to the
schools of Europe, my mind is perfectly made
up, and on full enquiry. The best in the world
is Edinburgh. Latterly, too, the spirit of re
publicanism has become that of the students
in general, and of the younger professors ; so
on that account it is eligible for an American.
On the continent of Europe, no . place is com
parable to Geneva. The sciences are there
more modernized than anywhere else. There,
too, the spirit of republicanism is strong with
the body of the inhabitants ; but that of the
aristocracy is strong also with a particular
class ; so that it is of some consequence to at
tend to the class of society in which a youth is
made to move. — To MR. M'ALISTER. iii, 313.
(Pa., 1791.)
7722. SCHOOLS, Fostering genius in. —
By that part of our plan [of education in Vir-
791
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Schools
Science
ginia] wh;ch prescribes the selection of the
youths of genius from among the classes of
the poor, we hope to avail the State of those
talents which nature has sown as liberally
among the poor as the rich, but which perish
without use, if not sought for and cultivated.—
NOTES ON VIRGINIA, viii, 390. FORD ED., iii,
254. (1782.) See GENIUS.
7723. SCHOOLS, Government of.— If it
is believed that the elementary schools will be
better managed by the Governor and Council,
the Commissioners of the Literary Fund, or
any other general authority of the government,
than by the parents within each ward, it is a
belief against all experience. — To JOSEPH C.
CABELL. vi, 543. (1816.)
7724. SCHOOLS, History in.— At these
[Virginia public] schools shall be taught read
ing, writing, and common arithmetic, and the
books which shall be used therein for instruct
ing the children to read shall be such as will,
at the same time, make them acquainted with
Graecian, Roman, English, and American his
tory. — DIFFUSION OF KNOWLEDGE BILL. FORD
ED., ii, 223. (i779-)
7725. SCHOOLS, Trustees. — I have re
ceived your favor, informing me that the Board
of Trustees for the public school in Washington
had unanimously reappointed me their Presi
dent. I pray you to present to them my thanks
for the mark of their confidence, with assur
ances that I shall at all times be ready to ren
der to the institution any services which shall
be in my power. — To ROBERT BRENT, v, 196.
(M., Sep. 1807.)
7726. SCHOOLS, Visitors.— I had for
merly thought that visitors of the school might
be chosen by the county, and charged to pro
vide teachers for every ward, and to superin
tend them. I now think it would be better for
every ward to choose its own resident visitor,
whose business it would be to keep a teacher
in the ward, to superintend the school, and to
call meetings of the ward for all purposes re
lating to it ; their accounts to be settled, and
wards laid off by the courts. I think ward elec
tions better for many reasons, one of which is
sufficient, that it will keep elementary educa
tion out of the hands of fanaticising preachers,
who, in county elections, would be universally
chosen, and the predominant sect of the county
would possess itself of all its schools. — To
JOSEPH C. CABELL. vii, 189. FORD EDV x, 167.
(P.F., 1820.)
7727. SCHOOLS, Wealth and.— In the
elementary bill they [the Legislature] inserted
a provision which completely defeated it ; for
they left it to the court of each county to de
termine for itself when this act should be car
ried into execution within their county. One
provision of the bill was that the expenses of
these schools should be borne by the inhabitants
of the county, every one in proportion to his
general tax rate. This would throw on wealth
the education of the poor ; and the justices, be
ing generally of the more wealthy class, were
unwilling to incur that burden, and I believe
it was not suffered to commence in a single
county. — AUTOBIOGRAPHY, i, 48. FORD ED., i,
67. (1821.) See ACADEMY, EDUCATION, LAN
GUAGES, and UNIVERSITY.
7728. SCIENCE, Acquirement of.— The
possession of science is, what (next to an hon
est heart) will above all things render you dear
to your friends, and give you fame and promo
tion in your own country. — To PETER CARR. i,
395. (P., 1785.)
7729. SCIENCE, American field of.—
What a field have we at our doors to signalize
ourselves in. The Botany of America is far
from being exhausted, its Mineralogy is un
touched, and its Natural History or Zoology,
totally mistaken and misrepresented. As far as
I have seen, there is not one single species of
terrestrial birds common to Europe and Amer
ica, and I question if there be a single species
of quadrupeds. (Domestic animals are to be
excepted.) It is for such institutions as that
[Harvard] over which you preside so worthily
to do justice to our country, its productions
and its genius. It is the work to which the
young men whom you are forming should lay
their hands. We have spent the prime of our
lives in procuring them the precious blessing
of liberty. Let them spend theirs in showing
that it is the great parent of science and of
virtue; and that a nation will be great in both,
always in proportion as it is free. — To DR.
WILLARD. iii, 16. (P., 1789.)
7730. SCIENCE, Common property.—
The field of knowledge is the common property
of mankind, and any discoveries we can make
in it will be for the benefit of yours and of
every other nation, as well as our own. — To
HENRY DEARBORN, v, in. FORD ED., ix, 86.
(W., 1807.)
7731. SCIENCE, Delight in.— Nature in
tended me for the tranquil pursuits of science,
by rendering them my supreme delight. — To
DUPONT DE NEMOURS, v, 432. (W., March 2,
1809.)
7732. SCIENCE, Elementary works.— I
have received a copy of your mathematical
principles of natural philosophy, which I have
looked into with all the attention which the rust
of age and long continued avocations of a very
different character permit me to exercise. I
think them entirely worthy of approbation, both
as to matter and method, and for their brevity
as a text book ; and I remark particularly the
clearness and precision with which the propo
sitions are enounced and, in the demonstra
tions, the easy form in which ideas are pre
sented to the mind, so as to be almost intuitive
and self-evident. Of Cavallo's book, which
you say you are enjoined to teach [in William
and Mary College], I have no knowledge, hav
ing never seen it ; but its character is, I think,
that of mere mediocrity ; and, from my personal
acquaintance with the man, I should expect no
more. He was heavy, capable enough of un
derstanding what he had read, and with mem
ory to retain it, but without the talent of di
gestion or improvement. But, indeed, the En
glish generally have been very stationary in
latter times, and the French, on the contrary,
so active and successful, particularly in pre
paring elementary books, in the mathematical
and natural sciences, that those who wish for
instruction, without caring from what nation
they get :t, resort universally to the latter lan
guage. Besides the earlier and invaluable
works of Euler and Bezont, we have latterly
that of Lacroix in mathematics, of Legendre
in geometry, Lavoisier in chemistry, the ele
mentary works of Haiiy in physics, Biot in
experimental physics and physical astronomy,
Dumeril in natural history, to say nothing of
many detached essays of Monge and others,
and the transcendent labors of Laplace. I am
informed by a highly instructed person recently
from Cambridge, that the mathematicians of
that institution, sensible of being in the rear of
those of the continent, and ascribing the cause
much to their too long-continued preference of
the geometrical over the analytical methods,
Science
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
792
which the French have so much cultivated and
improved, have now adopted the latter ; and
that they have also given up the fluxionary, for
the differential calculus. To confine a school,
therefore, to the obsolete work of Cavallo, is
to shut out all advances in the physical sciences
which have been so great in latter times. — To
PATRICK K. RODGERS. vii, 327. (M., 1824.)
7733. SCIENCE, Encouragement of. — I
am for the encouraging the progress of science
in all its branches ; and not for raising a hue
and cry against the sacred name of philosophy ;
for awing the human mind by stories of raw-
head and bloody bones to a distrust of its own
vision, and to repose implicitly on that of
others ; to go backward instead of forward to
look for improvement ; to believe that govern
ment, religion, morality, and every other sci
ence were in the highest perfection in the ages
of the darkest ignorance, and that nothing can
ever be devised more perfect than what was es
tablished by our forefathers.— To ELBRIDGE
GERRY, iv, 269. FORD EDV vii, 328. (Pa.,
I799-)
7734. SCIENCE, Mother of freedom. —
Freedom, the first-born daughter of science. —
To M. D'IVERNOIS. iv, 113. FORD EDV vii, 3.
(M., Feb. 1 795.)
7735. SCIENCE, Objects of.— The main
objects of all science are the freedom and hap
piness of man. — To GENERAL KOSCIUSKO. v,
509. (M., 1810.)
7736. SCIENCE, Pursuit of .—On the re
vival of letters, learning became the universal
favorite [pursuit]. And with reason, because
there was not enough of it existing to manage
the affairs of a nation to the best advantage,
nor to advance its individuals to the happiness
of which they were susceptible, by improve
ments in their minds, their morals, their health,
and in those conveniences which contribute to
the comfort and embellishment of life. All the
efforts of the society, therefore, were directed
to the increase of learning, and the induce
ments of respect, ease, and profit were held up
for its encouragement. Even the charities of
the nation forgot that misery was their object,
and spent themselves in founding schools to
transfer to science the hardy sons of the plow.
To these incitements were added the powerful
fascinations of great cities. These circum
stances have long since produced an overcharge
in the class of competitors for learned occupa
tion, and great distress among the supernumer
ary candidates ; and the more, as their habits
of life have disqualified them for reentering
into the laborious class. The evil cannot be
suddenly, nor perhaps ever entirely cured : nor
should I presume to say by what means it may
be cured. Doubtless there are many engines
which the nation might bring to bear on this
object. Public opinion, and public encourage
ment are among these. — To DAVID WILLIAMS.
iv, 513- (W., 1803.)
7737. SCIENCE, Republican govern
ment and. — Science is more important in a
republican than in any other government. — To
. vii, 221. (M., 1821.)
7738. . Science is important to
the preservation of our republican government
and it is also essential to its protection against
foreign power. — To . vii, 222. (M.,
1821.)
7739. SCIENCES, Distribution of the.—
I have received the copy of your System of
Universal Science. * * It will be a mon
ument of the learning of the author and of the
analyzing powers of his mind. * * * These
analytical views indeed must always be ramified
according to their object. Yours is on the
great scale of a methodical encyclopedia of all
human sciences, taking for the basis of their
distribution, matter, mind, and the union of
both. Lord Bacon founded his first great di
vision on the faculties of the mind which have
cognizance of these sciences. It does not seem
to have been observed by any one that the
origination of this division was not with him.
It had been proposed by Charron, more than
twenty years before, in his book de la Sagesse.
B. i, c. 14, and an imperfect ascription of the
sciences to these respective faculties was there
attempted. This excellent moral work was
published in 1600. Lord Bacon is said not to
have entered on his great work until his retire
ment from public office in 1621. Where sci
ences are to be arranged in accommodation to
the schools of an university, they will be
grouped to coincide with the kindred qualifica
tions of professors in ordinary. For a library,
which was my object, their divisions and sub
divisions will be made such as to throw con
venient masses of books under each separate
head. Thus, in the library of a physician, the
books of that science, of which he has many,
will be subdivided under many heads ; and
those of law, of which he has few., will be
placed under a single one. The lawyer, again,
will distribute his law books under many sub
divisions, his medical under a single one. Your
idea of making the subject matter of the sci
ences the basis of their distribution, is cer
tainly more reasonable than that of the fac
ulties to which they are addressed. * * *
Were I to re-compose my tabular view of the
sciences, I should certainly transpose a certain
branch. The naturalists, you know, distribute
the history of nature into three kingdoms or de
partments : zoology, botany, mineralogy. Id
eology, or mind, however, occupies so much
space in the field of science, that we might per
haps erect it into a fourth kingdom or depart
ment. But, inasmuch as it makes a part of the
animal construction only, it would be more
proper to subdivide zoology into physical and
moral. The latter including ideology, ethics,
and mental science generally, in my catalogue,
considering ethics, as well as religion, as sup
plements to law in the government of man, I
had them in that sequence. But certainly the
faculty of thought belongs to animal history, is
an important portion of it, and should there
find its place. — To MR. WOODWARD, vii, 338.
(M., 1824.)
— SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES.— See SO
CIETIES, SCIENTIFIC.
— SCIPIO.— See ORATORY.
— SCREW PROPELLER.— See INVEN
TIONS.
7740. SCULPTURE, Style.— As to the
style or costume [for a statue of General Wash
ington], I am sure the artist, and every person
of taste in Europe, would be for the Roman.
* * * Our boots and regimentals have a
very puny effect. — To NATHANIEL MACON. vi.
535- (M., 1816.)
7741. SEAMEN, American.— The sea
men which our navigation raises had better be
of our own. It is neither our wish nor our in
terest ever to employ [those of England]. — To
WILLIAM SHORT, vi, 128. (M., June 1813.)
7742. SEAMEN, Distressed.— Another
circumstance which claims attention, as directly
affecting the very source of our navigation, is
793
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Seamen
Secession
the defect or the evasion of the law providing
for the return of seamen, and particularly of
those belonging to vessels sold abroad. Num
bers of them, discharged in foreign ports, have
been thrown on the hands of our consuls, who,
to rescue them from the dangers into which
their distresses might plunge them, and save
them to their country, have found it necessary
in some cases to return them at the public
charge. — SECOND ANNUAL MESSAGE, viii, 16.
FORD ED., v;ii, 182. (Dec. 1802.)
7743. SEAMEN, Foreign.— Your esti
mate of the number of foreign seamen in our
employ, renders it prudent, in my opinion, to
drop the idea of any proposition not to employ
them. — To ALBERT GALLATIN. v, 71. (M.,
April 1807.)
_ SEARCH, Bight of.— See IMPRESS
MENT.
7744. SECESSION, Baleful.— Mr. New
showed me your letter * * * which gave
me an opportunity of observing what you said
as to the effect, with you, of public proceed
ings, and that it was not unwise5^ now to es
timate the separate mass of Virginia and
North Carolina, with a view to their separate
existence. It is true that we are completely
under the saddle of Massachusetts and Con
necticut, and that they ride us very hard,
cruelly insulting our feelings, as well as ex
hausting our strength and subsistence. Their
natural friends, the three other Eastern
States, join them from a sort of family pride,
and they have the art to divide certain other
parts of the Union, so as to make use of them
to govern the whole. This is not new, it is
the old practice of despots; to use a part of
the people to keep the rest in order. And
those who have once got an ascendency, and
possessed themselves of all the resources of
the nation, their revenues and offices, have
immense means of retaining their advantage.
But our present situation is not a natural one.
The republicans, through every part of the
Union, say that it was the irresistible in
fluence and popularity of General Washing
ton played off by the cunning of Hamilton,
which turned the government over to anti-
republican hands, or turned the republicans
chosen by the people into anti-republicans.
He delivered it over to his successor in this
state, and very untoward events since, im
proved with great artifice, have produced on
the public mind the impressions we see.
But, still, I repeat it, this is not the natural
state. Time alone would bring round an
order of things more correspondent to the
sentiments of our constituents. But are
there no events impending, which will do it
within a few months? The crisis with Eng
land, the public and authentic avowal of sen
timents hostile to the leading principles of our
Constitution, the prospect of a war, in which
we shall stand alone, land tax, stamp tax, in
crease of public debt, &c. Be this as it may,
in every free and deliberating society, there
must, from the nature of man, be opposite
parties, and violent dissensions and discords;
* A descendant of Mr. Taylor claimed that he
wrote " it is not usual now , &c. See FORD EDI
TION.— EDITOR.
and one of these, for the most part, must pre
vail over the other for a longer or shorter
ime. Perhaps this party division is neces
sary to induce each to watch and debate to
the people the proceedings of the other. But
f on a temporary superiority of the one
party, the other is to resort to a scission of
the Union, no federal government can ever
exist. If to rid ourselves of the present rule
of Massachusetts and Connecticut, we break
the Union, will the evil stop there? Suppose
the New England States alone cut off, will
our nature be changed ? Are we not men still
to the south of that, and with all the passions
of men ? Immediately, we shall see a Penn
sylvania and a Virginia party arise in the
residuary confederacy, and the public mind
will be distracted with the same party spirit.
What a game, too, will the one party have in
their hands, by eternally threatening the other
that unless they do so and so, they will join
their northern neighbors. If we reduce our
Union to Virginia and North Carolina, im
mediately the conflict will be established be
tween the representatives of these two States,
and they will end by breaking into their
simple units. Seeing, therefore, that an as
sociation of men who will not quarrel with
one another is a thing which never existed,
from the greatest confederacy of nations
down to a town meeting or a vestry; seeing
that we must have somebody to quarrel with,
I had rather keep our New England asso
ciates for that purpose, than to see our bicker
ings transferred to others. They are circum
scribed within such narrow limits, and their
population so full, that their numbers will
ever be the minority, and they are marked,
like the Jews, with such a perversity of
character, as to constitute, from that circum
stance, the natural division of our parties. A
little patience, and we shall see the reign of
witches pass over, their spells dissolved, and
the people recovering their true sight, restor
ing their government to its true principles.
It is true that, in the meantime, we are suf
fering deeply in spirit, and incurring the hor
rors of a war, and long oppressions of enor
mous public debt. But who can say what would
be the evils of a scission, and when and where
they would end? Better keep together as we
are, haul off from Europe as soon as we can,
and from all attachments to any portions of
it; and if they show their power just suffi
ciently to hoop us together, it will be the hap
piest situation in which we can exist. If
the game runs sometimes against us at home,
we must have patience till luck turns, and
then we shall have an opportunity of winning
back the principles we have lost. For this is
a game where principles are the stake. — To
JOHN TAYLOR, iv, 245. FORD ED., vii, 263.
(Pa., June 1798.)
_ SECESSION, Kentucky and.— See
KENTUCKY.
7745. SECESSION, Local discontented-
ness and. — Dangers of another kind [than
usurpation] might more reasonably be ap
prehended from this perfect and distinct or-
Secession
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
794
ganization, civil and military, of the States;
to wit, that certain States from local and
occasional discontents, might attempt to
secede from the Union. This is certainly
possible and would be befriended by this
regular [civil and military] organization.
But it is not probable that local discontents
can spread to such an extent as to be able to
faze the sound parts of so extensive a Union ;
and if ever they should reach the majority,
they would then become the regular govern
ment, acquire the ascendency in Congress, and
be able to redress their own grievances by
laws peaceably and constitutionally passed.
And even the States in which local discon
tents might engender a commencement of
fermentation, would be paralyzed and self-
checked by that very division into parties into
which we have fallen, into which all States
must fall wherein men are at liberty to think,
speak, and act freely, according to the
diversities of their individual conformations,
and which are, perhaps, essential to preserve
the purity of the government, by the censorship
which these parties habitually exercise over
each other.— To DESTUTT TRACY, v, 571.
FORD ED., ix, 309. (M., 1811.)
7746. SECESSION, Louisiana purchase
and. — Whether we remain in one confederacy,
or form into Atlantic and Mississippi con
federacies, I believe not very important to
the happiness of either part.* Those of the
Western confederacy will be as much our
children and descendants as those of the
Eastern, and I feel myself as much identified
what that country, in future time, as with this:
and did I now foresee a separation at some
future day, yet I should feel the duty and the
desire to promote the Western interests as
zealously as the Eastern, doing all the good
for both portions of our future family which
should fall within my power— To DR. JOSEPH
PRIESTLEY, iv, 525. FORD ED., viii, 295. (W.,
Jan. 1804.)
7747. SECESSION, Missouri question
and. — Should time not be given, and the
schism [Missouri] be pushed to separation,
it will be for a short term only ; two or three
years' trial will bring them back, like quar
relling lovers to renewed embraces, and in
creased affections. The experiment of sep
aration would soon prove to both that they
had mutually miscalculated their best in
terests. And even were the parties in Con
gress to secede in a passion, the soberer people
would call a convention and cement again the
severance attempted by the insanity of their
functionaries.— To RICHARD RUSH, vii, 182
(M., 1820.)
7748. SECESSION, New England and.—
I am glad of an occasion of congratulating
you [William Eustis] as well as my country
on your accession to a share in the direction
of our Executive councils. [Secretaryship
of War.] Besides the general advantages we
may promise ourselves from the employmen'
* The opponents of the Louisiana purchase were
at this period, predicting dire disaster to the Uriior
because of its acquisition.— EDITOR.
f your talents and integrity in so important
station, we may hope peculiar effect from it
owards restoring deeply wounded amity be-
ween your native State [Massachusetts] and
er sisters. The design of the leading fed-
ralists then having direction of the State, to
ake advantage of the first war with England
o separate the New England States from the
Union, has distressingly impaired our future
onfidence in them. In this, as in all other
ases, we must do them full justice, and make
he fault all their own, should the last hope of
luman liberty be destined to receive its final
tab from them. — To WILLIAM EUSTIS. FORD
,D., ix, 236. (M., Oct. 1809.) See EUSTIS.
7749. - . Should the determina-
ion of England, now formally expressed, to
ake possession of the ocean, and to suffer no
ommerce on it but through her ports, force
a war upon us, I foresee a possibility of a sep
arate treaty between her and your Essex men,
n the principles of neutrality and commerce.
pickering here, and his nephew Williams
here, can easily negotiate this. Such a lure
0 the quietists in our ranks with you, might
•ecruit theirs to a majority. Yet, excluded
is they would be from intercourse with the
rest of the Union and of Europe, I scarcely
see the gain they would propose to them
selves, even for the mome-nt. The defection
would certainly disconcert the other States, but
t could not ultimately endanger their safety.
They are adequate, in all points, to a defensive
war. However, I hope your maiority, with the
aid it is entitled to, will save us from this
trial, to which I think it possible we are ad
vancing. — To HENRY DEARBORN. v, 607.
(P.F., Aug. 1811.) See EMBARGO, FEDERAL
ISTS, HARTFORD CONVENTION and MONARCHY.
7750. SECESSION, Suppression of.—
What does this English faction with you [in
New England] mean? Their newspapers say
rebellion, and that they will not remain united
with us unless we will permit them to govern
the majority. If this be their purpose, their
anti-republican spirit, it ought to be met at
once. But a government like ours should be
slow in believing this, should put forth its
whole might, when necessary, to suppress it,
and promptly return to the paths of recon
ciliation. The extent of our country secures it,
1 hope, from the vindictive passions of the
petty incorporations of Greece. I rather sus
pect that the principal office of the other
seventeen States will be to moderate and re
strain the excitement of our friends with you,
when they (with the aid of their brothers of
the other States, if they need it), shall have
brought the rebellious to their feet. They
count on British aid. But what can that avail
them by land? They would separate from
their friends, who alone furnish employment
for their navigation, to unite with their only
rival for that employment. When interdicted
the harbors of their quondam brethren, they
will go, I suppose, to ask and share in the
carrying trade of their rivals, and a dispen
sation with their navigation act. They think
they will be happier in an association under
795
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Secession
Sedition Law
the rulers of Ireland, the East and West In
dies, than in an independent government,
where they are obliged to put up with their
proportional share only in the direction of
affairs. But, I trust, that such perverseness
will not be that of the honest and well-mean
ing mass of the federalists of Massachusetts;
and that when the questions of separation and
rebellion shall be nakedly proposed to them,
the Gores and the Pickerings will find their
levees crowded with silk stocking gentry, but
no yeomanry; an army of officers without
soldiers. — To ELBRIDGE GERRY, vi, 63. FORD
ED., ix, 359. (M., 1812.)
7751. SECESSION, War with France
and. — It is quite impossible when we consider
all the existing circumstances, to find any rea
son in its favor [war against France] resulting
from views either of interest or honor, and
plausible enough to impose even on the weakest
mind ; and especially, when it would be under
taken by a majority of one or two only. What
ever, then, be our stock of charity or liberality,
we must resort to other views. And those so
well known to have been entertained at An
napolis, and afterwards at the grand [Phila
delphia] convention, by a particular set of men,
present themselves as those alone which can
account for so extraordinary a degree of im
petuosity. Perhaps, instead of what was then
in contemplation, a separation of the Union,
which has been so much the topic to the east
ward of late, may be the thing aimed at. — To
JAMES MADISON, iv, 222. FORD ED., vii, 220.
(Pa., March 1798.)
7752. SECRECY, Government and.—
All nations have found it necessary, that for
the advantageous conduct of their affairs, some
of their proceedings, at least, should remain
known to their executive functionary only. —
To GEORGE HAY. v, 97. FORD ED., ix, 57.
(W., 1807.)
7753. SECRET SERVICE MONEY,
Necessary. — That in cases of military opera
tions some occasions for secret service money
must arise, is certain. But I think that they
should be more fully explained to the govern
ment than General Wilkinson has done, seems
also proper. — To HENRY DEARBORN, v, 322.
(W., July 1808.)
— SECRET SOCIETIES.— See SOCIETIES
(SECRET).
7754. SECRETARIES OF LEGATION,
Training. — I explained to you in my former
letter the principles on which [the appointment
of Mr. Sumter to be Secretary of Legation]
was made, to wit, * * to teach for pub
lic service in future such subjects as from their
standing in society, talents, principles and for
tune, may probably come into the public coun
cils. — To ROBERT R. LIVINGSTON. FORD ED.,
viii, 30. (1801.)
7755. SECTIONALISM, Dangers of.—
The idea of a geographical line, once sug
gested, will brood in the minds of all those
who prefer the gratification of their ungov
ernable passions to the peace and union of
their country. — To M. L. HILL. vii, 155.
(M., 1820.)
7756. . All, I fear, do not see
the speck in our horizon which is to burst on
us as a tornado, sooner or later. The line
of division lately marked out between dif
ferent portions of our confederacy, is such as
will never, I fear, be obliterated, and we are
now trusting to those who are against us in
position and principle, to fashion to their own
form the minds and affections of our youth.
— To GENERAL BRECKENRIDGE. vii, 204. (M.,
1821.)
7757. SECTIONALISM, Moral and po
litical. — A geographical line, coinciding with
a marked principle, moral and political, once
conceived and held up to the angry passions
of men, will never be obliterated; and every
new irritation will mark it deeper and deeper.
—To JOHN HOLMES, vii, 159. FORD ED., x,
157- (M., 1820.)
7758. SECTIONALISM, Peace and.— 1
am so completely withdrawn from all atten
tion to public matters, that nothing less could
arouse me than the definition of a geograph
ical line which, as an abstract principle, is to
become the line of separation of these States,
and to render desperate the hope that man
can ever enjoy the two blessings of peace and
self-government. — To H. NELSON, vii, 151.
FORD ED., x, 156. (M., 1820.) See APPOR
TIONMENT and SECESSION.
7759. SEDITION LAW, Connecticut
cases. — With respect to the dismission of the
prosecutions for sedition in Connecticut, it is
well known to have been a tenet of the republic
an portion of our fellow citizens, that the Se
dition law was contrary to the Constitution and
therefore void. On this ground I considered
it as a nullity wherever I met it in the course
of my duties ; and on this ground I directed
nolle prosequis in all the prosecutions which
had been instituted under it, and as far as the
public sentiment can be inferred from the oc
currences of the day, we may say that tlrs
opinion had the sanction of the nation. The
prosecutions, therefore, which were afterwards
instituted in Connecticut, of which two were
against printers, two against preachers, and one
against a judge, were too inconsistent with this
principle to be permitted to go on. We were
bound to administer to others the same measure
of law, not which they had meted out to us,
but we to ourselves, and to extend to all equally
the protection of the same constitutional prin
ciples. Those prosecutions too were chiefly for
charges against myself, and I had from the be
ginning laid it down as a rule to notice nothing
of the kind. I believed that the long course of
services in which I had acted on the public
stage, and under the eye of my fellow citizens,
furnished better evidence to them of my char
acter and principles, than the angry invectives
of adverse partisans in whose eyes the very acts
most approved by the majority were subjects
of the greatest demerit and censure. These
prosecutions aeainst them, therefore, were to
be dismissed as a matter of duty. — To GIDEON
GRANGER, vi, 332. FORD ED., ix, 456. (M.,
1814.) See LIBELS.
7760. SEDITION LAW, England and.—
I enclose you a column, cut out of a London
paper, to show you that the English, though
charmed with our making their enemies our
enemies, yet blush and weep over our Sedition
law. — To JOHN TAYLOR. iv, 260. FORD ED.,
vii, 311. (M., 1798.)
7761. SEDITION LAW, Executive vs.
Judiciary. — You seem to think it devolved
Sedition Law
Self-government
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
796
on the judges to decide on the valid:ty of the
Sedition law. But nothing in the Constitution
has given them a right to decide for the Ex
ecutive, more than the Executive to decide for
them. Both magistrates are equally independ
ent in the sphere of action assigned to them.
The judges, believing the law constitutional,
nad a right to pass a sentence of fine and im
prisonment ; because the power was placed in
their hands by the Constitution. But the Ex
ecutive, believing the law to be unconstitu
tional, were bound to remit the execution of it ;
because that power has been confided to them
by the Constitution. That instrument meant
that its coordinate branches should be checks
on each other. But the opinion which gives
to the judges the right to decide what laws are
constitutional, and what not, not only for them
selves in their own sphere of action, but for the
Legislature and Executive also, in their
spheres, would make the judiciary a despotic
branch. Nor does the opinion of the uncon
stitutionally, and consequent nullity of that
law, remove all restraint from the overwhelm
ing torrent of slander, which is confounding all
vice and virtue, all truth and falsehood, in the
United States. The power to do that is fully
possessed by the several State Legislatures. It
was reserved to them, and was denied to the
General Government, by the Constitution, ac
cording to our construction of it. While we
deny that Congress have a right to control the
freedom of the press, we have ever asserted
the right of the States, and their exclusive
right, to do so. — To MRS. JOHN ADAMS, iv,
561. FORD ED., viii, 311. (M., Sep. 1804.)
7762. SEDITION LAW, Unconstitu
tional. — I found a prosecution going on
against Duane for an offence against the Sen
ate, founded on the Sedition act. I affirm that
act to be no law, because in opposition to the
Constitution ; and I shall treat it as a nullity,
wherever it comes in the way of my functions.
— To EDWARD LIVINGSTON. FORD ED., viii, 58.
(W., Nov. 1801.)
7763. - — . The ground on which I
acted in the cases of Duane, Callender, and
others [was] that the Sedition law was un
constitutional and null, and that my obligation
to execute what was law, involved that of not
suffering rights secured by valid laws to be
prostrated by what was no law. — To WILSON
C. NICHOLAS, v, 453. FORD ED., ix, 254. (M.,
1809.) See ALIEN AND SEDITION LAWS.
7764. SELF-GOVERNMENT, America
and. — Before the establishment of the Amer
ican States, nothing was known to history
but the man of the old world, crowded within
limits either small or overcharged, and
steeped in the vices which that situation gen
erates. A government adapted to such men
would be one thing; but a very different one,
that for the man of these States. Here every
man may have land to labor for himself, if
he chooses ; or, preferring the exercise of any
other industry, may exact for it such compen
sation as not only to afford a comfortable
subsistence, but wherewith to provide for a
cessation from labor in old age. Every one, by
his property, or by his satisfactory situation,
is interested in the support of law and order.
And such men may safely and advantageously
reserve to themselves a wholesome control
over their public affairs, and a degree of free
dom, which, in the hands of the canaille of
the cities of Europe, would be instantly per
verted to the demolition and destruction of
everything public and private. The history of
the last twenty-five years of France, and of
the last forty years in America, nay of its
last two hundred years, proves the truth of
both parts of this observation.— To JOHN
ADAMS, vi, 226. FORD ED., ix, 428. (M.,
1813.)
7765. SELF-GOVERNMENT, British
parliament and.— The British Parliament
has no right to intermeddle with our provi
sions for the support of civil government, or
administration of justice. * * * While
Parliament pursue their plan of civil govern
ment, within their own jurisdiction, we, also,
hope to pursue ours without molestation. —
REPLY TO LORD NORTH'S PROPOSITION. FORD
ED., i, 479. (July 1775.)
7766. . While Parliament pur
sue their plan of civil government within
their own jurisdiction we hope also to pursue
ours without molestation. — REPLY TO LORD
NORTH'S PROPOSITION. FORD ED., i, 480. (July
I775-)
7767. - — . The proposition [of Lord
North] is altogether unsatisfactory * * *
because they [Parliament] do not renounce
the power of * * * legislating for us
themselves in all cases whatsoever. — REPLY
TO LORD NORTH'S PROPOSITION. FORD ED., i,
480. (July 1775.)
7768. SELF-GOVERNMENT, Classes
vs. Masses. — The general spread of the light
of science has already laid open to every view
the palpable truth, that the mass of mankind
has not been born with saddles on their backs,
nor a favored few booted and spurred, ready
to ride them legitimately, by the grace of
God. — To ROGER C. WEIGHTMAN. vii, 450.
FORD ED., x, 391. (M., June 1826.)
7769. SELF-GOVERNMENT, Connecti
cut and. — It would seem impossible that an
intelligent people [of Connecticut] with the
faculty of reading and right of thinking,
should continue much longer to slumber
under the pupilage of an interested aristoc
racy of priests and lawyers, persuading them
to distrust themselves, and to let them think
for them. I sincerely wish that your efforts
may awaken them from this voluntary deg
radation of mind, restore them to a due es
timate of themselves and their fellow citizens,
and a just abhorrence of the falsehoods and
artifices which have seduced them. — To
THOMAS SEYMOUR, v, 44. FORD ED., ix, 31.
(W., 1807.) See CONNECTICUT.
7770. SELF-GOVERNMENT, Education
and. — Whenever the people are well in
formed, they can be trusted with their own
government.— To DR. PRICE, ii, 533. (P.,
1789.)
7771. SELF-GOVERNMENT, Europe
and. — A first attempt to recover the right of
self-government may fail, so may a second,
a third, etc. But as a younger and more in
structed race comes on, the sentiment be
comes more and more intuitive, and a fourth,
797
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Self-government
a fifth, or some subsequent one of the ever
renewed attempts will ultimately succeed. In
France, the first effort was defeated by Robes
pierre, the second by Bonaparte, the third
by Louis XVIII. and his holy allies; another
is yet to come, and all Europe, Russia ex-
cepted, has caught the spirit; and all will
attain representative government, more or
less perfect. * * * T o attain all this, how
ever, rivers of blood must yet flow, and years
of desolation pass over; yet the object is
worth rivers of blood, and years of desolation.
For what inheritance so valuable, can man
leave to his posterity? You and I shall look
down from another world on these glorious
achievements to man, which will add to the
joys even of heaven. — To JOHN ADAMS, vii,
307. FORD ED., x, 270. (M., 1823.)
7772. SELF-GOVERNMENT, Experi
ments in. — We have no interests nor pas
sions different from those of our fellow citi
zens. We have the same object, the success
of representative government. Nor are we
acting for ourselves alone, but for the whole
human race. The event of our experiment
is to show whether man can be trusted with
self-government. The eyes of suffering hu
manity are fixed on us with anxietv as their
only hope, and on such a theatre, for such a
cause, we must suppress all smaller passions
and local considerations. — To GOVERNOR HALL.
FORD ED., viii, 156. (W., July 1802.)
7773. SELF-GOVERNMENT, French
people and. — The people of France have
never been in the habit of self-government,
are not yet in the habit of acknowledging
that fundamental law of nature, by which
alone self-government can be exercised by a
society, I mean the lex majoris partis. Of
the sacredness of this law, our countrymen
are impressed from their cradle, so that with
them it is almost innate. — To JOHN BRECKEN-
RIDGE. FORD ED., vii, 417. (Pa., 1800.)
7774. . Who could have thought
the French nation incapable of self-govern
ment ?_ To DR. JOSEPH PRIESTLEY. FORD ED.,
viii, 179. (W., 1802.)
7775. SELF-GOVERNMENT, Genera
tions and. — The present generation has the
same right of self-government which the past
one has exercised for itself. — To JOHN H.
PLEASANTS. vii, 346. FORD ED., x, 303. (M.,
1824.)
7776. SELF-GOVERNMENT, Growth
of. — When forced to assume self-government,
we were novices in its science. Its principles
and forms had entered little into our former
education. We established however some, al
though not all its important principles. — To
JOHN CARTWRIGHT. vii, 356. (M., 1824.)
7777. SELF-GOVERNMENT, Interfer
ence with. — We [the Virginia House of
Burgesses] cannot, my Lord, close with the
terms of that resolution [Lord North's Con
ciliatory Propositions] * * * because the
British Parliament has no right to intermed
dle with the support of civil government in
the Colonies. For us, not for them, has govern
ment been instituted here. Agreeable to our
ideas, provision has been made for such of
ficers as we think necessary for the adminis
tration of public affairs; and we cannot con
ceive that any other legislature has a right to
prescribe either the number or pecuniary ap
pointments of our offices. As a proof that the
claim of Parliament to interfere in the neces
sary provisions for the support of civil gov
ernment is novel, and of a late date, we take
leave to refer to an Act of our Assembly,
passed so long since as the thirty-second year
of the reign of King Charles the Second, in
tituled, " An Act for Raising a Publick Rev
enue, and for the Better Support of the Gov
ernment of His Majesty's Colony of Vir
ginia ". This act was brought over by Lord
Culpepper, then Governor, under the great
seal of England, and was enacted in the name
of the " King's most Excellent Majesty, by
and with the consent of the General Assem
bly ". — ADDRESS TO GOVERNOR DUNMORE. FORD
ED., i, 456. (I775-)
7778. SELF-GOVERNMENT, Irresisti
ble. — Alliances, holy or hellish, may be
formed, and retard the epoch of deliverance,
may swell the rivers of blood which are yet
to flow, but their own will close the scene,
and leave to mankind the right of self-govern
ment. — To MARQUIS LAFAYETTE, vii, 324.
FORD ED., x, 280. (M., 1823.)
7779. SELF-GOVERNMENT, Limita
tions of. — The right of self-government does
not comprehend the government of others. —
OFFICIAL OPINION, vii, 499. FORD ED., v, 208.
(1790.)
7780. SELF-GOVERNMENT, Local.—
My bill for the more general diffusion of
learning had for a further object to impart to
these wards those portions of self-govern
ment for which they are best qualified, by
confiding to them the care of their poor, their
roads, police, elections, the nomination of ju
rors, administration of justice in small cases,
elementary exercises of militia; in short, to
have made them little republics, with a warden
at the head of each, for all those concerns
which, being under their eye, they would
better manage than the larger republics of
the county or State. A general call of ward
meetings by their wardens on the same day
through the State, would at any time produce
the genuine sense of the people on any re
quired point, and would enable the State to
act in mass, as [the New England] people
have so often done, and with so much effect
by their town meetings. — To JOHN ADAMS.
vi, 225. FORD ED., ix, 427. (M., 1813.) See
WARDS.
7781. SELF-GOVERNMENT, Louisiana
and. — Although it is acknowledged that our
new fellow citizens [in Louisiana] are as yet
as incapable of self-government as children,
yet some [in Congress] cannot bring them
selves to suspend its principles for a single
moment. The temporary or territorial gov
ernment of that country, therefore, will en
counter great difficulty. — To DE WITT CLIN
TON. FORD ED., viii, 283. (W., Dec. 1803.)
Self-government
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
798
7782. SELF-GOVERNMENT, Maxi
mum. — My most earnest wish is to see the
republican element of popular control pushed
to the maximum of its practicable exercise.
I shall then believe that our government may
be pure and perpetual. — To ISAAC H. TIF
FANY, vii, 32. (M., 1816.)
7783. SELF-GOVERNMENT, Men capa
ble of .—I have no fear but that the result of
our experiment will be, that men may be
trusted to govern themselves without a mas
ter. Could the contrary of this be proved, I
should conclude, either that there is no God,
or that he is a malevolent being. — To DAVID
HARTLEY, ii, 165. (P., 1787.)
7784. . I have not any doubt
that the result of our experiment will be that
men are capable of governing themselves
without a master. — To T. B. HOLLIS. ii, 168.
(P, 1787.)
7785. . Sometimes it is said that
man cannot be trusted with the government
of himself. Can he then be trusted with the
government of others? Or have we found
angels, in the form of kings, to govern him?
Let history answer this question. — FIRST IN
AUGURAL ADDRESS, viii, 3. FORD ED., viii, 3.
(1801.)
7786. .. It is a happy truth that
man is capable of self-government, and only
rendered otherwise by the moral degradation
designedly superinduced on him by the
wicked acts of his tyrant. — To M. DE MAR-
BOIS. vii, 77. (M., 1817.)
7787. SELF-GOVERNMENT, Natural.
— From the nature of things, every society
must at all times possess within itself the
sovereign powers of legislation. — RIGHTS OF
BRITISH AMERICA, i, 138. FORD ED., i, 443.
(I774-)
7788. SELF-GOVERNMENT, Preserva
tion of. — It behooves our citizens to be on
their guard, to be firm in their principles, and
full of confidence in themselves. We are
able to preserve our self-government if we
will but think so. — To T. M. RANDOLPH, iv,
320. FORD ED., vii, 423. (Pa., Feb. 1800.)
7789. SELF-GOVERNMENT, Purposes
of. — The provisions we have made [for our
government] are such as please ourselves;
they answer the substantial purposes of gov
ernment and of justice, and other purposes
than these should not be answered. — REPLY TO
LORD NORTH'S PROPOSITION. FORD ED., i, 479.
(July I775-)
7790. SELF-GOVERNMENT, Qualifica
tions for. — Some preparation seems neces
sary to qualify the body of a nation for self-
government— To DR. JOSEPH PRIESTLEY.
FORD ED., viii, 179. (W., 1802.)
7791. SELF-GOVERNMENT, Reason
and. — It is honorable for us to have produced
the first legislature who had the courage to
declare that the reason of man may be trusted
with the formation of his own action. — To
JAMES MADISON, ii, 67. FORD ED., iv, 334.
(P, 1786.)
7792. SELF-GOVERNMENT, Right to.
— The inhabitants of the several States of
British America are subject to the laws which
they adopted at their first settlement, and to
such others as have since been made by their
respective Legislatures, duly constituted and
appointed with their own consent. No other
Legislature whatever can rightly exercise au
thority over them ; and these privileges they
hold as the common rights of mankind, con
firmed by the political constitutions they have
respectively assumed, and also by several
charters of compact from the Crown. — RESO
LUTION OF ALBEMARLE* COUNTY. FORD ED., i,
418. (July 26, 1774- )
7793. . Every man, and every
body of men on earth, possesses the right of
self-government. They receive it with their
being from the hand of nature. Individuals
exercise it by their single will, collections of
men by that of their majority; for the law
of the majority is the natural law of every
society of men. — OFFICIAL OPINION, vii, 496.
FORD ED., v, 205. (1790.)
7794. SELF-GOVERNMENT, Rightful
limits. — We owe every other sacrifice f to
ourselves, to our federal brethren, and to the
world at large, to pursue with temper and
perseverance the great experiment which
shall prove that man is capable of living in
society, governing itself by laws self-imposed,
and securing to its members the enjoy
ment of life, liberty, property and peace ; and
further to show, that even when the govern
ment of its choice shall manifest a tendency
to degeneracy, we are not at once to despair
but that the will and the watchfulness of its
sounder parts will reform its aberrations, re
call it to original and legitimate principles
and restrain it within the rightful limits of
self-government. — VIRGINIA PROTEST, ix, 498.
FORD ED., x, 351. (M., 1825.)
7795. SELF-GOVERNMENT, Spaniards
and. — I fear the Spaniards are too heavily
oppressed by ignorance and superstition for
self-government, and whether a change from
foreign to domestic despotism will be to their
advantage remains to be seen. — To DR.
SAMUEL BROWN, vi, 165. (M., 1813.)
7796. SELF-GOVERNMENT, Study of.
— I sincerely think that the prominent char
acters of the country where you are could not
better prepare their sons for the duties they
will have to perform in their new government
than by sending them here [the University
of Virginia] where they might become
familiarized with the habits and practice of
self-government. This lesson is scarcely to be
acquired but in this country, and yet without
it, the political vessel is all sail and no
ballast.}: — To HENRY DEARBORN. FORD ED., x,
237. (M., 1822.)
7797. SELF-GOVERNMENT, Training
for.— The qualifications for self-government
* Jefferson's own county. — EDITOR..
t " Except that of living under a government of
unlimited powers."— EDITOR.
$ General Dearborn was then Minister to Portugal.
—EDITOR.
799
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Self-government
Senate
in society are not innate. They are the re
sult of habit and long training.* — To EDWARD
EVERETT, vii, 341. (M., 1824.)
7798. SELF-GOVERNMENT, Univer
sal. — J wish to see all mankind exercising
self-government, and capable of exercising it.
— To MARQUIS LAFAYETTE, vii, 67. FORD
ED., X, 85. (M., l8l7.)
7799. SELF-GOVERNMENT, Usurpa
tion and. — [The] exercises of usurped power
[by Parliament] have not been confined to
instances alone in which themselves were in
terested, but they have also intermeddled with
the regulation of the internal affairs of the
Colonies. — RIGHTS OF BRITISH AMERICA, i,
130. FORD ED., i, 434. (1774.)
7800. SELF-GOVERNMENT, Volun
tary associations and.-— If [the society] is
merely a voluntary association, the submis
sion of its members will be merely voluntary
also, as no act of coercion would be per
mitted by the general law. — To WILLIAM
LEE. vii, 57. (M., 1817.)
7801. SELF-PRESERVATION, Law of.
— The law of self-preservation overrules the
laws of obligation to others. — OPINION ON
FRENCH TREATIES, vii, 613. FORD ED., vi,
221. (I793-)
7802. SENATE (French), Plan of.—
They [the French] propose a Senate, chosen
on the plan of our Federal Senate by the
Provincial Assemblies, but to be for life, of
a certain age (they talk of forty years), and
certain wealth (four or five hundred guineas
a year), but to have no other power as to
laws but to remonstrate against them to the
representatives, who will then determine
their fate by a simple majority. This * * ,*
is a mere council of revision like that of New
York, which, in order to be something, must
form an alliance with the King, to avail
themselves of his veto. The alliance will be
useful to both, and to the nation. — To JAMES
MADISON, iii, 97. FORD ED., v, 108. (P.,
Aug. 1789.)
7803. SENATE (United States), Advice
and consent. — When the British treaty of
— arrived, without any provision against
the impressment of our seamen, I deter
mined not to ratify it. The Senate thought
I should ask their advice. I thought that
would be a mockery of them, when I was
predetermined against following it, should
they advise ratification. — To SPENCER ROANE.
vii, 135. FORD ED., x, 142. (P.P., Sep. 1819.)
7804. . The Constitution has
made the advice of the Senate necessary to
confirm a treaty, but not to reject it. This
has been blamed by some; but I have never
doubted its soundness. — To SPENCER ROANE.
vii, 135. FORD ED., x, 142. (P.F., 1819.)
7805. SENATE (United States), Cabal
in. — Mischief may be done negatively as well
* Jefferson was considering the condition of affairs
in South America, and he added, u for these (habit
and training), they will require time and probably
much suffering". — EDITOR.
as positively. Of this a cabal in the Senate
of the United States has furnished many
proofs. — To JOHN ADAMS, vi, 224. FORD ED,
ix, 426. (M., 1813.)
7806. SENATE (United States), Check
on House of Representatives.— The Senate
was intended as a check on the will of the
Representatives when too hasty. They are
not only that, but completely so on the will
of the people also ; and in my opinion are
heaping coals of fire, not only on their per
sons, but on their body, as a branch of the
Legislature. ' * * It seems that the opin
ion is fairly launched into public that they
should be placed under the control of a more
frequent recurrence to the will of their con
stituents.* This seems requisite to complete
the experiment, whether they dp more harm
or good. — To JAMES MADISON, iv, 107. FORD
ED., vi, 511. (M., May 1794.)
7807. SENATE (United States), Execu
tive and. — The President desired my opinion
whether the Senate has a right to negative
the grade he may think it expedient to use
in a foreign mission as well as the person
to be appointed. I think the Senate has no
right to negative the grade.— OPINION ON THE
POWERS OF THE SENATE, vii, 465. FORD ED.,
v, 161. (1790.)
7808. . The Senate is not sup
posed by the Constitution to be acquainted
with the concerns of the Executive Depart
ment. It was notf intended that these should
be communicated to them.— OPINION ON
POWERS OF SENATE, vii, 466. FORD ED., v,
162. (1790.)
7809. - — . It may be objected that
the Senate may by continual negatives on the
person, do what amounts to a negative on the
grade, and so, indirectly, defeat this right of
the President. But this would be a breach
of trust; an abuse of the power confided to
the Senate, of which that body cannot be sup
posed capable. — OPINION ON THE POWERS OF
THE SENATE, vii, 466. FORD ED., v, 162.
(1790.) See APPOINTMENT.
7810. SENATE (United States), Execu
tive information and.— The Secretary of
State, having received a note from Mr.
Strong, as chairman of a Committee of the
Senate, asking a conference with him on the
subject of the late diplomatic nominations to
Paris, London and the Hague, he met them
in the Senate chamber in the evening of the
same day, and stated to them in substance
* that he should on all occasions be
ready to give to the Senate, or to any other
branch of the government, whatever informa
tion might properly be communicated, and
might be necessary to enable them to proceed
in the line of their respective offices : that on
the present occasion particularly, as the Sen
ate had to decide on the fitness of certain
persons to act for the United States at certain
* Jefferson was condemning the failure to pass
the Non-Importation bill.— EDITOR.
t " Not " is omitted in the FORD EDITION. u It
was not intended " is the reading in the original MS.
—EDITOR.
Senate
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
800
courts, they would be the better enabled to
decide, if they were informed of the state of
our affairs at those courts, and what we had
to -do there. [Jefferson then explained the
situation of affairs.] — THE ANAS, ix, 420.
FORD ED., i, 170. (W., January 1792.)
7811. SENATE (United States), Firm-
' ness. — The Senate alone remained undis
mayed to the last. Firm to their purposes,
regardless of public opinion, and more dis
posed to coerce than to court it, not a man
of their majority gave way in the least. — To
JAMES MADISON, iv, 330. FORD ED., vii, 447.
(Pa., May 1800.)
7812. SENATE (United States), Hon
orable.— The Senate is the most honorable
and independent station in our government,
one where you can peculiarly raise yourself
in the public estimation. — To WILLIAM
SHORT. FORD ED., v, 244. (M., 1790.)
7813. SENATE (United States), Jef
ferson's address to. — To give the usual op
portunity of appointing a President pro tern-
pore, I now propose to retire from the chair
of the Senate; and, as the time is near at
hand when the relations will cease which
have for some time subsisted between this
honorable house and myself, I beg leave, be
fore I withdraw,' to return them my grateful
thanks for all the instances of attention and
respect with which they have been pleased to
honor me. In the discharge of my functions
here, it has been my conscientious endeavor
to observe impartial justice, without regard
to persons or subjects; and if I have failed
in impressing this on the mind of the Senate,
it will be to me a circumstance of the deepest
regret. I may have erred at times. No doubt
I have erred. This is the law of human
nature. For honest errors, however, indul
gence may be hoped. I owe to truth and jus
tice at the same time to declare that the habits
of order and decorum, which so strongly
characterize the proceedings of the Senate,
have rendered the umpirage of their presi
dent an office of little difficulty ; that in times
and on questions which have severely tried
the sensibilities of the house, calm and tem
perate discussion has rarely been disturbed by
departures from order. Should the support
which I received from the Senate, in the per
formance of my duties here, attend me into
the new station to which the public will has
transferred me, I shall consider it as com
mencing under the happiest auspices. With
these expressions of my dutiful regard to the
Senate, as a body, I ask leave to mingle my
particular wishes for the health and happiness
of the individuals who compose it, and to
tender them my cordial and respectful adieu.
— SPEECH TO THE U. S. SENATE, iv, 362.
FORD ED., vii, 501. (Feb. 28, 1801.)
7814. SENATE (United States), John
Adams's opinions.— The system of the Sen
ate may be inferred from their transactions
heretofore, and from the following declara
tion made to me personally by their oracle
[President Adams] : " No republic can ever
be of any duration without a Senate, and a
Senate deeply and strongly rooted; strong
enough to bear up against all popular storms
and passions. The only fault in the consti
tution of our Senate is, that their term of
office is not durable enough. Hitherto they
have done well, but probably they will be
forced to give way in time." I suppose
" their having done well hitherto ", alluded to
the stand they made on the British treaty.
This declaration may be considered as their
text; that they consider themselves as the
bulwarks of the government, and will be
rendering that the more secure, in proportion
as they can assume greater powers. — To
JAMES MADISON, iv, 215. FORD ED., vii, 207.
(Pa., Feb. 1798.)
7815. - _. President Adams and I
got on the Constitution ; and in the course of
our conversation he said, that no republic
could ever last which had not a Senate, and a
Senate deeply and strongly rooted, strong
enough to bear up against all popular storms
and passions; that he thought our Senate as
well constituted as it could have been, being
chosen by the Legislatures ; for if these could
not support them, he did not know what
could do it; that perhaps it might have been
as well for them to be chosen by the State
at large, as that would insure a choice of dis
tinguished men, since none but such could be
known to a whole people; that the only fault
in our Senate was that it was not durable
enough, that, hitherto, it had behaved very
well ; however, he was afraid they would give
way in the end. That as to trusting to a
popular assembly for the preservation of our
liberties, it was the merest chimera imagi
nable; they never had any rule of decision
but their own will, that he would as lieve be
again in the hands of our old committees of
safety, who made the law and executed it at
the same time ; that it had been observed by
some writer * * * that anarchy did more
mischief in one night than tyranny in an age ;
and that in modern times we might say with
truth, that in France, anarchy had done more
harm in one night, than all the despotism of
their kings had ever done in twenty or thirty
years. The point in which he views our
Senate, as the Colossus of the Constitution,
serves as a key to the politics of the Senate,
who are two-thirds of them in his sentiments,
and accounts for the bold line of conduct they
pursue. — THE ANAS, ix, 189. FORD ED., i,
277. (Nov. 1798.)
7816. SENATE (United States), Nom
inations.— Should the [federalists] yield the
election, I have reason to expect, in the outset,
the greatest difficulties as to nominations.
The late incumbents, running away from their
offices and leaving them vacant, will prevent
my filling them without the previous advice
of the Senate. How this difficulty is to be
got over I know not. — To JAMES MONROE.
iv, 355- FORD ED., vii, 491. (W., Feb. 1801.)
7817. SENATE (United States), Peo
ple and. — In the General Government, the
Senate is scarcely republican at all, as not
Thomas Jefferson
Age unknown
Marble statue by Hiram Powers.
Bought lay the United States Government in 1855 for the sum of $10,000. It stands in a
niche at the foot of the marble st:iirc;is<> lending to the gallery of the House of Eepresenta-
tives, United States Capitol.
19]
8oi
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Senate
Senility
elected by the people directly, and so long
secured even against those who do elect them.
— To JOHN TAYLOR, vi, 607. FORD ED., x, 30.
(M., 1816.)
7818. SENATE (United States), Rules
of.— The rules of the [British] Parliament are
probably as wisely constructed for governing
the debates of a considerative body, and ob
taining its true sense, as any which can be
come known to us; and the acquiescence of
the Senate hitherto under the references to
them, has given them the sanction of their
approbation. — PARLIAMENTARY MANUAL, ix,
3- (I797-)
7819. . I have begun a sketch
which those who come after me will success
ively correct and fill up, till a code of rules
shall be formed for the use of the Senate, the
effects of which may be accuracy in business,
economy of time, order, uniformity, and im
partiality. — PARLIAMENTARY MANUAL, ix, 4.
(I797-)
7820. . In the old Congress [of
the confederation] the mode of managing the
business of the House was not only unpar
liamentary, but the forms were so awkward
and inconvenient that it was impossible some
times to get at the true sense of the majority.
The House of Representatives of the United
States are now pretty much in the same sit
uation. In the Senate it is in our power to
get into a better way. Our ground is this:
The Senate have established a few rules for
their government, and have subjected the de
cisions on these and on all other points of
order without debate, and without appeal, to
the judgment of their President. He, for his
own sake, as well as theirs, must prefer re
curring to some system of rules ready
formed ; and there can be no question that the
parliamentary rules are the best known to
us for managing the debates, and obtaining
the sense of a deliberative body. I have,
therefore, made them my rule of decision,
rejecting those of the old Congress altogether,
and it gives entire satisfaction to the Senate ;
insomuch that we shall not only have a good
system there, but probably, by the example
of its effects, produce a conformity in the
other branch. But in the course of this busi
ness I find perplexities, * ! * and so little
has the parliamentary branch of the law been
attended to, that I not only find no person
here [Philadelphia], but not even a book to
aid me. * * * You will see by the en
closed paper what they are. I know with
what pain you write; therefore, I have left
a margin in which you can write a simple
negative or affirmative opposite every po
sition. This is what I earnestly solicit from
you, and I would not give you the trouble if
I had any other resource. But you are, in
fact, the only spark of parliamentary science
now remaining to us. I am the more anxious,
because I have been forming a Manual of
Parliamentary Law, which I mean to deposit
with the Senate as the standard by which I
judge, and am willing to be judged. — To
GEORGE WYTHE. ix, 5. FORD ED., vii, 426.
(Pa., Feb. 1800.) See PARLIAMENTARY LAW.
7821. SENATE (United States), Wis
dom. — The Senate * * * must from its
constitution be a wise and steady body. — To
C. W. F. DUMAS, ii, 367. (A., 1788.) See
CONGRESS and JUDICIARY.
7822. SENATE (Virginia), Defects in.
— The Senate [of Virginia] is, by its constitu
tion, too homogeneous with the House of
Delegates. Being chosen by the same elect
ors, at the same time, and out of the same
subjects, the choice falls of course on men
of the same description. The purpose of
establishing different houses of legislation is
to introduce the influence of different inter
ests or different principles. Thus in Great
Britain it is said their constitution relies on
the House of Commons for honesty, and the
Lords for wisdom ; which would be a rational
reliance, if honesty were to be bought with
money, and if wisdom were hereditary. In
some of the American States, the delegates
and Senators are so chosen, as that the first
represent the persons, and the second the
property of the State. But with us, wealth
and wisdom have equal chance for admission
into both houses. We do not, therefore, de
rive from the separation of our Legislature
into two houses, those benefits which a proper
complication of principles is capable of pro
ducing, and those which alone can compen
sate the evils which may be produced by their
dissensions. — NOTES ON VIRGINIA, viii, 361.
FORD ED., iii, 223. (1782.)
7823. SENATE (Virginia), Election of
members. — For the election of Senators, let
the several counties be allotted by the Senate,
from time to time, into such and so many
districts as they shall find best; and let each
county at the time of electing its delegates,
choose senatorial electors, qualified as them
selves are, and four in number for each dele
gate their county is entitled to send, who shall
convene, and conduct themselves in such
manner as the legislature shall direct, with the
senatorial electors from the other counties of
their district, and then choose, by ballot, one
senator for every six delegates which their
district is entitled to choose. — PROPOSED CON
STITUTION FOR VIRGINIA, viii, 443. FORD ED.,
iii, 323. ( 1783.)
_ SENATORS (United States), Election
of. — See CONSTITUTION (FEDERAL).
7824. SENATORS (United States),
Term of office.— The term of office to our
Senate, like that of the judges, is too long for
my approbation. — To JAMES MARTIN, vi, 213.
FORD ED., ix, 420. (M., Sep. 1813.)
7825. SENECA, Moral system of. — Sen
eca is a fine moralist, disfiguring his work at
times with some Stoicisms and affecting too
much antithesis and point, yet giving us on the
whole a great deal of sound and practical mo
rality. — To WILLIAM SHORT, vii, 139. FORD
ED., x, 144. (M., 1819.)
7826. SENILITY, Abhorrent.— Bodily
decay is gloomy in prospect, but of all human
contemplations the most abhorrent is body
without mind. — To JOHN ADAMS, vii, 27.
(M., 1816.)
Senility
Shays's Rebellion
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
802
7827. SENILITY, Unconscious.— The
misfortune of a weakened mind is an insensi
bility of its weakness. — To EDWARD LIVINGSTON.
vii, 405. (M., 1825.)
7828. SENSE, Directed by.— The good
sense of our people will direct the boat ulti
mately to its proper point. — To MARQUIS LA
FAYETTE. FORD ED., x, 234. (M., 1822.)
7829. SENSE, National.— My chief ob
ject is to let the good sense of the nation have
fair play, believing it will best take care of
itself. — To DR. JOSEPH PRIESTLEY. FORD ED.,
viii, 181. (W., 1802.)
7830. SENSE, People and. — I am per
suaded myself that the good sense of the people
will always be found to be the best army. — To
EDWARD CARRINGTON. ii, 99. FORD ED., iv, 359.
(P., 1787.)
7831. . I have such reliance on
the good sense of the body of the people, and
the honesty of their leaders, that I am not
afraid of their letting things go wrong to any
length in any cause. — To M. DUMAS, ii, 358.
(P, 1788.) '
7832. . The operations which
have lately taken place in America [adoption of
Constitution] fill me with pleasure. They real
ize the confidence I had, that whenever our
affairs go obviously wrong, the good sense of
the people will interpose, and set them to rights.
— To DAVID HUMPHREYS, iii, 12. FORD ED., v,
89. (P., 1789-)
7833. SENSE, Republicanism and.— It
was by the sober sense of our citizens that we
were safely and steadily conducted from mon
archy to republicanism, and it is by the same
agency alone we can be kept from falling back.
— To ARTHUR CAMPBELL, iv, 198. FORD ED.,
vii, 170. (M., 1797.) See COMMON SENSE.
7834. SERVICE, Civic.— Every man is
under the natural duty of contributing to the
necessities of the society ; and this is all the
laws should enforce on him. — To F. W. GIL-
MER. vii, 3. FORD ED., x, 32. (M., 1816.)
See DUTY.
7835. SERVICE, Credit for.— The inqui
ries in your printed letter * * * would lead
to the writing the history of my whole life, than
which nothing could be more repugnant to my
feelings. I have been connected, as many fel
low laborers were, with the great events which
happened to mark the epoch of our lives. But
these belong to no one in particular, all of
us did our parts, and no one can claim the
transactions to himself. — To SKELTON JONES,
v, 462. (M., 1809.)
7836. . I was only of a band de
voted to the cause of Independence, all of
whom exerted equally their best endeavors for
its success, and have a common right to the
merits of its acquisition. So also is the civil
revolution of 1801. Very many and very meri
torious were the worthy patriots who assisted
in bringing back our government to its repub
lican tack. — To WILLIAM T. BARRY, vii, 255.
(M., 1822.)
7837. SERVICE, Old age and.— Had it
been my good fortune to preserve at the age
of seventy, all the activity of body and mind
which I enjoyed in earlier life, I should have
employed it now, as then, in incessant labors
to serve those to whom I could be useful. —
To M. DE LOMERIE. vi, 107. (M., 1813.)
7838. SERVICE, Rendering.— Nothing
makes me more happy than to render any serv
ice in my power, of whatever description. — To
SAMUEL OSGOOD. i, 451. (P.. 1785.)
7839. SERVICE, Reward of.— If, in the
course of my life, it has been in any degree
useful to the cause of humanity, the fact itself
bears its full reward. — To DAVID BARROW, vi,
456. FORD ED., ix, 515. (M., 1815.)
7840. SERVICE, Tours of.— You say I
" must not make my final exit from public life
till it will be marked with just'fying circum
stances which all good citizens will respect,
and to which my friends can appeal ". To my
fellow-citizens the debt of service has been
fully and faithfully paid. I acknowledge that
such a debt exists, that a tour of duty, in what
ever line he can be most useful to his country,
is due from every individual. It is not easy,
perhaps, to say of what length exactly this tour
should be, but we may safely say of what length
it should not be. Not of our whole life, for
instance, for that would be to be born a slave —
not even of a very large portion of it. I have
now been in the public service four and twenty
years ; one-half of which has been spent in
total occupation with their affairs, and absence
from my own. I have served my tour then.
No positive engagement, by word or deed, binds
me to their further service. No commitment
of their interests in any enterprise by me re
quires that I should see them through it. I
am pledged by no act which gives any tribunal
a call upon me before I withdraw. Even my
enemies do not pretend this. I stand clear,
then, of public right on all points. My friends
I have not committed. No circumstances have
attended my passage from office to office, which
could lead them, and others through them, into
deception as to the time I might remain, and
particularly they and all have known with what
reluctance I engaged and have continued in the
present one [Secretary of State], and of my
uniform determination to retire from it at an
early day. If the public, then, has no claim on
me, and my friends nothing to justify, the de
cision will rest on my own feelings alone.
There has been a time when these were very
different from what they are now ; when per
haps the esteem of the world was of higher
value in my eye than everything in it. But
age, experience and reflection preserving to
that only its due value, have set a higher on
tranquillity. — To JAMES MADISON, iii, 577.
FORD ED., vi, 290. (June 1793.) See JEF
FERSON.
7841. SHAYS'S REBELLION, Conduct
and motives of. — Can history produce an
instance of rebellion so honorably conducted ?
1 say nothing of its motives. They were found
ed in ignorance, not wickedness. God forbid
we should ever be twenty years without such
a rebellion. The people cannot be all, and al
ways, well informed. The part which is wrong
will be discontented in proportion to the im
portance of the facts they misconce've. If they
remain quiet under such misconceptions, it is a
lethargy, the forerunner of death to the public
liberty. — To W. S. SMITH, ii, 318. FORD ED.,
iv, 467- (P-, 1787.)
7842. SHAYS'S REBELLION, European
opinion of.— The tumults in America, I ex
pected, would have produced in Europe an un
favorable opinion of our political state. But it
has not. On the contrary, the small effect of
these tumults seems to have given more confi
dence in the firmness of our governments. The
interposition of the people themselves on the
803
THE JEFFERSON1AN CYCLOPEDIA
shays'* Rebellion
Sheep
side of government has had a great effect on
the opinion here. — To EDWARD CARRINGTON. ii,
99. FORD ED., iv, 359. (1787-)
7843. SHAYS'S REBELLION, Excuse
for.— Those people are not entirely without
excuse. Before the war, those States depended
on their whale oil and fish. The former was
consumed in England, and much of the latter
in the Mediterranean. The heavy duties on
American whale oil, now required in England,
exclude it from that market ; and the Algerines
exclude them from bringing their fish into the
Mediterranean. France is opening her ports
for their oil, but in the meanwhile, their ancient
debts are pressing them, and they have nothing
to pay with. The Massachusetts Assembly, too,
in their zeal for paying their public debt had
laid a tax too heavy to be paid in the circum
stances of their State. The Indians seem dis
posed, too, to make war on us. These com-
pl:cated causes determined Congress to increase
their forces to 2000 men. The latter was the
sole object avowed, yet the former entered for
something into the measure. — To WILLIAM
CARMICHAEL. ii, 81. FORD ED., iv, 345. (P.,
1786.)
7844. SHAYS'S REBELLION, Govern
ment and.— I am not discouraged by this;
for thus I calculate : An insurrection in one
of thirteen States in the course of eleven years
that they have subsisted, amounts to one in any
particular State, in one hundred and forty-three
years, say a century and a half. This would
not be near as many as have happened in every
other government that has ever existed. So
that we shall have the difference between a
light and a heavy government as clear gain. —
To DAVID HARTLEY, ii, 165. (P., 1787.)
7845. . This insurrection will
not weigh against the inconveniences of a gov
ernment of force, such as are monarchies and
aristocracies.— To T. B. HOLLIS. ii, 168. (P.,
1787.)
7846. SHAYS'S REBELLION, Lessons
of. — The commotions that have taken place
in America, as far as they are yet known to me,
offer nothing threatening. They are a proof
that the people have liberty enough, and I
could not wish them less than they have. If
the happiness of the mass of the people can be
secured at the expense of a little tempest now
and then, or even of a little blood, it will be a
precious purchase. Malo libertatem pericu-
losam quam quiet em servitutem. Let common
sense and honesty have fair play, and they
will soon set things to rights. — To EZRA STILES.
ii, 77. (P., 1786.)
7847. SHAYS'S REBELLION, The peo
ple and. — The interposition of the people
themselves on the side of the government has
had a great effect on the opinion here
[Europe]. I am persuaded myself that the
good sense of the people will always be found
to be the best army. They may be led astray
for a moment, but will soon correct themselves.
The people are the only censors of their gov
ernors ; and even their errors will tend to keep
these to the true principles of their institution.
To punish these errors too severely would be
to suppress the only safeguard of the public
liberty. The way to prevent these irregular
interpositions of the people is to give them full
information of their affairs through the chan
nels of the public papers, and to contrive that
those papers should penetrate the whole mass
of the people. The basis of our government be
ing the opinion of the people, the very first ob
ject should be to keep that right; and were it
left to me to decide whether we should have a
government without newspapers, or newspapers
without a government, I should not hesitate a
moment to prefer the latter. But I should mean
that every man should receive those papers,
and be capable of reading them. — To EDWARD
CARRINGTON. ii, 99. FORD ED., iv, 359. (P.,
1787.)
7848. SHAYS'S REBELLION, Un-
alarmed by.— I had seen without alarm ac
counts of the disturbances in the East. * * *
I can never fear that things will go far wrong
where common sense has fair play. — To JOHN
ADAMS, ii, 73. (P., 1786.)
7849. . The late rebellion in
Massachusetts has given more alarm than I
think it should have done. Calculate that one
rebellion in thirteen States in the course of
eleven years, is but one for each State in a
century" and a half. No country should be so
long without one. Nor will any degree of
power in the hands of government prevent in
surrections. France, with all its despotism,
and two or three hundred thousand men al
ways in arms, has had three insurrections in
the three years I have been here, in every one
of which greater numbers were engaged than in
Massachusetts, and a great deal more blood was
spilt. In Turkey, which Montesquieu supposes
more despotic, insurrections are the events of
every day. In England, where the hand of
power is lighter than here, but heavier than
with us, they happen every half dozen years.
Compare again the ferocious depredations of
their insurgents with the order, the moderation,
and the almost self-extinguishment of ours. —
To JAMES MADISON, ii, 331. FORD ED., iv, 479.
(P., 1787.)
7850. SHAYS'S REBELLION, Unjusti
fiable. — I am impatient to learn your senti
ments on the late troubles in the Eastern
States. So far as I have yet seen, they do not
appear to threaten serious consequences. Those
States have suffered by the stoppage of the
channels of their commerce, which have not yet
found other issues. This must render money
scarce, and make the people uneasy. This un
easiness has produced acts absolutely unjustifi
able ; but I hope they will provoke no severities
from their governments. A consciousness of
those in power that their administration of the
public affairs has been honest may, perhaps,
produce too great a degree of indignation ; and
those characters, wherein fear predominates
over hope, may apprehend too much from these
instances of irregularity. They may conclude
too hastily that nature has formed man in
susceptible of any other government than that
of force, a conclusion not founded in truth
nor experience. — To JAMES MADISON, ii, 104.
FORD EDV iv, 361. (P., 1787.)
7851. SHEEP, Profits from. — I had
never before considered, with due attention,
the profit from sheep. I shall not be able to
put the farm into that form exactly the ensu
ing autumn, but against another I hope I shall.
— To PRESIDENT WASHINGTON, iv, 5. FORD ED.,
vi, 83. (Pa., I793-)
7852. SHEEP, Protection of. — If you re
turn to us, bring a couple of pair of true-bred
shepherd's dogs. You will add a valuable pos
session to a country now beginning to pay
great attention to the raising of sheep. — To
DUPONT DE NEMOURS, v, 433. (W., 1809.)
7853. SHEEP, Wolves and. — Sheep are
subject to many diseases which carry them
Sheep
Shells
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
804
off in great numbers. In the middle and upper
parts of Virginia they are subject to the wolf,
and in all parts of it to dogs. These are great
obstacles to their multiplication. — NOTES ON
ARTHUR YOUNG'S LETTER. FORD ED., vi, 85.
(1792.)
7854. SHEEP (Merinos), Importing.—
The necessity we are under, and the determina
tion we have formed of emancipating ourselves
from a dependence on foreign countries for
manufactures which may be advantageously
established among ourselves, has produced a
very general desire to improve the quality of
our wool by the introduction of the Merino
race of sheep. Your sense of the duties you
owe to your station will not permit me to ask,
nor yourself to do any act which might com-
promit you with the government [Spain] with
which you reside, or forfeit that confidence on
their part which can alone enable you to be
useful to your country. But, as far as that will
permit you to give aid to the procuring and
bringing away some of the valuable race, I take
the liberty of soliciting you to do so. It will
be an important service rendered to your coun
try ; to which you will be further encouraged
by the assurance that the enterprise is solely on
the behalf of agricultural gentlemen of dis
tinguished character in Washington and its
neighborhood, with a view of disseminating the
benefits of their success as widely as they can.
Without any interest in it myself, other than
the general one, I cannot help wishing a favor
able result * * * . — To GEORGE W. IRVING, v,
479. (M., Nov. 1809.)
7855. SHEEP (Merinos), Present of.— I
send you a Merino ram of full blood, born of
my imported ewe of the race called Agueirres,
by the imported ram of the Paular race which
belonged to the Prince of Peace, was sold
by order of the Junto of Estremadura, was
purchased and sent to me, 1810, by Mr. Jarvis,
our consul at Lisbon. The Paulars are deemed
the finest race in Spain for size and wool taken
together, the Agueirres superior to all in wool,
but small. — To ARCHIBALD STUART. FORD ED.,
x, 109. (M., 1818.)
7856. SHEEP (Merinos), Raising.- 1
thank you [President Madison] for your prom
ised attention to my portion of the Merinos.
* * * What shall we do with them? I have
been so disgusted with the scandalous extor
tions lately practiced in the sale of these ani
mals, and with the ascription of patriotism and
praise to the sellers, as if the thousands of dol
lars apiece they have not been ashamed to
receive were not rewards enough, that I am
disposed to consider as right, whatever is the
reverse of what they have done. Since fortune
has put the occasion upon us, is it not incum
bent upon us so to dispose this benefit to the
farmers of our country, as to put to shame
those who, forgetting their own wealth, and
the honest simplicity of the farmers, have
thought them fit objects of the shaving art,
and to excite, by a better example, the con
demnation due to theirs? No sentiment is
more acknowledged in the family of agricultur
ists than that the few who can afford it should
incur the risk and expense of all new improve
ments, and give the benefit freely to the many
of more restricted circumstances. The ques
tion then recurs, what are we to do with them?
I shall be willing to concur with you in any
plan you shall approve, and in order that we
may have some proposition to begin upon, I
will throw out a first idea, to be modified or
postponed to whatever you shall think better.
Give all the full-blooded males we can raise to
the different counties of our State, one to each,
as fast as we can furnish them. And as there
must be some rule of priority for the distribu
tion, let us begin with our own counties, which
are contiguous and nearly central to the State,
and proceed, circle after circle, till we have
given a ram to every county. This will take
about seven years, if we add to the full de
scendants those which will have passed to the
fourth generation from common ewes. To
make the benefit of a single male as general
as practicable to the county, we may ask some
known character in each county to have a
small society formed which shall receive the
animal and prescribe rules for his care and
government. We should retain ourselves all
the full-blooded ewes, that they may enable us
the sooner to furnish a male to every county.
When all shall have been provided with rams,
we may in a year or two more, be in a condi
tion to give a ewe also to every county, if it
be thought necessary. * * * In the meantime,
we shall not be without a profit indemnifying
our trouble and expense. For if of our present
stock of common ewes, we place with the ram as
many as he may be competent to, suppose fifty,
we may sell the male lambs of every year for
such reasonable price as, in addition to the wool,
will pay for the maintenance of the flock. The
first year they will be half-bloods, the second
three-quarters, the third seven-eighths, and the
fourth full-blooded. If we take care in selling
annually half the ewes also, to keep those of
the highest blood, this will be a fund for kind
nesses to our friends, as well as for indemni
fication to ourselves ; and our whole State may
thus, from this small stock, so dispersed, be
filled in a very few years with this valuable
race, and more satisfaction result to ourselves
than money ever administered to the bosom
of a shaver. There will be danger that what
is here proposed, though but an act of ordinary
duty, may be perverted into one of ostentation,
but malice will always find bad motives for
good actions. Shall we therefore never do
good? — To PRESIDENT MADISON, v, 522. (M..
1810.)
7857. SHELLS, Growth of.— It will not
be difficult to induce me to give up the theory
of the growth of shells, without their being
the nidus of animals. It is only an idea, and
not an opinion, with me. In the Notes [on
Virginia] * * * I had observed that there were
three opinions as to the origin of these shells.
1. That they have been deposited, even in the
highest mountains, by an universal deluge.
2. That they, with the calcareous stones and
earths, are animal remains. 3. That they
grow or shoot as crystals do. I find that I could
swallow the last opinion, sooner than either
of the others ; but I have not yet swallowed it.
Another opinion might have been added, that
some throe of nature has forced up parts which
had been the bed of the ocean. But have we
any better proof of such an effort of nature,
than of her shooting a lapidific juice into the
form of a shell ? No such convulsion has taken
place in our time, nor within the annals of his
tory ; nor is the distance greater between the
shooting of the lapidific juice into the form of
a crystal or a diamond, which we see, and into
the form of a shell, which we do not see, than
between the forcing volcanic matter a little
above the surface, where it is in fusion, which
we see, and the forcing the bed of the sea
fifteen thousand feet above the ordinary sur
face of the earth, which we do not see. It is
not possible to believe any of these hypotheses-
and, if we lean towards any of them, it should
8o5
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Shells
Shipping
be only till some other is produced, more anal-
agous to the known operations of nature. — To
MR. RITTENHOUSE. i, 515. (P., 1786.)
7858. SHELLS, Voltaire's errors.— I
have lately become acquainted with a memoir
on a petrifaction mixed with shells by a Mon
sieur de La Sauvagere, giving an exact account
of what Voltaire had erroneously stated in his
?uestions Encyclopediques, article coquilles,
rom whence I had transferred it into my
Notes. Having been lately at Tours, I had an
opportunity of enquiring into de La Sauvagere's
character and the facts he states. The result
was entirely in his and their favor. This fact
is so curious, so circumstantially detailed, and
yet so little like any known operation of nature,
that it throws the mind under absolute sus
pense. — To REV. JAMES MADISON, ii, 247. (P.,
1787.) See DELUGE.
7859. SHERIFF, Election in Virginia.
— High sheriffs * * * of Counties shall
be annually elected by those qualified to vote
for Representatives ; and no person who shall
have served as high sheriff one year shall be
capable of being reelected to the said office, in
the same county, till he shall have been out of
office five years. — PROPOSED CONSTITUTION
FOR VIRGINIA. FORD ED., ii, 20. (June 1776.)
7860. SHERIFF, Important office.—
The office of sheriff is the most important of
all the executive offices of the county. — To
SAMUEL KERCHIVAL. vii, ii. FORD ED., x, 38.
(M., 1816.)
7861. SHIPPING (American), British
hostility.— The British Parliament have a
bill before them for allowing wheat, imported
in British bottoms, to be warehoused free. In
order further to circumscribe the carrying busi
ness of the United States, they now refuse to
consider as an American bottom any vessel not
built here. By this construction, they take
from us the right of defining, by our own laws,
what vessels shall be deemed ours, and natural
ized here ; and in the event of a war, in which
we should be neutral, they put it out of our
power to benefit ourselves of our neutrality, by
increasing suddenly, by purchase and naturali
zation, our means of carriage. If we are per
mitted to do this by building only, the war will
be over before we can be prepared to take ad
vantage of it. — To PRESIDENT WASHINGTON.
iii, 249. FORD ED., v, 322. (Pa., 1791.)
7862. . Great Britain is still en
deavoring to plunder us of our carrying busi
ness. The Parliament have a bill before them
to. admit wheat brought in British bottoms to be
warehoused rent free, so that the merchants
are already giving a preference to British bot
toms for that commodity. Should we lose the
transportation of our own wheat, it will put
down a great proportion of our shipping, al
ready pusned by British vessels out of some of
the best branches of business. In order further
to circumscribe our carrying, the Commission
ers of the Treasury have lately determined to
admit no vessel as American, unless built here.
This takes from us the right of prescribing by
our own laws the conditions of naturalizing
vessels in our own country, and in the event oi
a war in which we should be neutral, prevents
our increasing, by purchase, the quantity of our
shipping, so as to avail ourselves of the full
benefit of the neutrality of our flag. If we are
to add to our own stock of shipping only as
much as we can build, a war will be over be
fore we shall be the better of it. — To JAMES
MONROE. FORD ED., v, 318. (Pa., 1791.)
7863. . Our ships, though pur
chased and navigatated by their own [British]
subjects, are not permitted to be used even in
their trade with us. While the vessels of other
nations are secured by standing laws, which
cannot be altered but by the concurrent will of
the three branches of the British legislature,
in carrying thither any produce or manufacture
of the country to which they belong, which may
be lawfully carried in any vessels, ours, with
the same prohibition of what is foreign, are
further prohibited by a standing law (12 Car.
2, 1 8, sect. 3,) [the Navigation Act] from carry
ing thither all and any of our own domestic pro
ductions and manufactures. A subsequent act,
indeed, has authorized their executive to permit
the carriage of our own productions in our own
bottoms, at its sole discretion ; and the per
mission has been given from year to year by
proclamation, but subject every moment to be
withdrawn on that single will ; in which event,
our vessels having anything on board, stand
interdicted from the entry of all British ports.
The disadvantage of a tenure which may be
so suddenly discontinued, was experienced by
our merchants on a late occasion (April 12,
1792), when an official notification that this law
would be strictly enforced, gave them just ap
prehensions for the fate of their vessels and
cargoes despatched or destined for the ports of
Great Britain. The minister of that court, in
deed, frankly expressed his personal convic
tion that the words of the order went farther
than was intended, and so he afterwards offi
cially informed us ; but the embarrassments of
the moment were real and great, and the possi
bility of their renewal lays our commerce to
that country under the same species of dis
couragement as to other countries, where it is
regulated by a single legislator; and the dis
tinction is too remarkable not to be noticed,
that our navigation is excluded from the se
curity of fixed laws, while that security is given
to the navigation of others. — FOREIGN COM
MERCE REPORT, vii, 641. FORD ED., vi, 474.
(Dec. I793-)
7864. SHIPPING (American), French
decree against. — The French decree making
the vessel, friendly or enemy, according to the
hands by which the cargo was manufactured,
has produced a great sensation among the mer
chants of Philadelphia. Its operation is not
yet perhaps well understood ; but it probably
will put our shipping out of competition, be
cause British bottoms, which can come under
convoy, will alone be trusted with return car
goes. Ours, losing this benefit, would need a
higher freight out, in which, therefore, they
will be underbid by the British. They must
then retire from the competition. — To JAMES
MADISON, iv, 220. FORD ED., vii, 216. (Pa.,
March 1798.)
7865. SHIPPING (American), Naviga
tion act. — Our navigation law (if it be wise
to have any) should be the reverse of that of
England. Instead of confining importations to
home-bottoms, or those of the producing na
tion, I think we should confine exportations
to home-bottoms, or to those of nations having
treaties with us. Our exportations are heavy,
and would nourish a great force of our own,
or be a tempting price to the nation to whom
we should offer a participation of it, in ex
change for free access to all their possessions.
This is an object to which our government
alone is adequate, in the gross ; but I have ven
tured to pursue it here [France], so far as the
consumption of our productions by this country
extends. Thus, in our arrangements relative
Shipping
Ships
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
806
to tobacco, none can be received here, but in
French or American bottoms. This is employ
ment for near two thousand seamen, and puts
nearly that number of British out of employ. —
To GENERAL WASHINGTON, ii, 536. FORD ED.,
v, 58. (P., 1788.)
7866. SHIPPING (American), Pecu
liarities of. — It is doubted whether it will be
expedient to regulate the duty, payable by
an American vessel entering a French port,
either by her draught or the number of her
masts. If by the draught of water, it will fall
unequally on us as a nation ; because we build
our vessels sharp-bottomed, for swift sailing,
so that they draw more water than those of
other nations, of the same burthen. If by the
number of masts, it will fall unequally on in
dividuals ; because we often see ships of one
hundred and eighty tons, and brigs of three
hundred and sixty. This, then, would produce
an inequality among individuals of six to one.
The present principle is the most just, to regu
late by the burthen. — To COUNT DE MONT-
MORIN. ii, 172. FORD ED., iv, 399. (P., 1787.)
7867. SHIPPING (American), Protec
tion of. — When a nation refuses to consider
any vessel as ours which has not been built
within our territories, we should refuse to con
sider as theirs, any vessel not built within their
territories. — FOREIGN COMMERCE REPORT, vi,
649. FORD ED., vi, 482. (Dec. 1793.)
7868. SHIPPING (American), Simpli
fication of duties. — It is certainly desirable
that these duties should be reduced to a single
one. Their names and numbers perplex and
harass the merchant more than their amount;
subject him to imposition, and to the suspicion
of it when there is none. — To COUNT DE MONT-
MORIN. ii, 173. FORD ED., iv, 400. (P., 1787-)
7869. SHIPPING (American), West In
dian trade.— The British allow our commodi
ties to be taken from our own ports to the
West Indies in their vessels only. Let us allow
their vessels to take them to no port. The
transportation of our own produce is worth
seven hundred and fifty thousand pounds ster
ling annually, will employ 200,000 tonnage of
ships, and 12,000 seamen constantly. It will
be no misfortune that Great Britain obliges us
to exclude her from a participation in this
business. Our own shipping will grow fast
under the exclusion, and till it is equal to the
object the Dutch will supply us. — To JAMES
MADISON. FORD ED., iv, 37. (P., 1785-) See
COMMERCE, DUTIES, DISCRIMINATING, FLAG
PROTECTION and NAVIGATION.
7870. SHIPS, Passports.— It has been
stated in our treaties with the French, Dutch
and Prussians, that when it happens that either
party is at war, and the other neutral, the
neutral shall give passports of a certain tenor
to the vessels belonging to their subjects, in
order to avoid dissension ; and it has been
thought that passports of such high import to
the persons and property of our citizens should
have the highest sanction ; that of the signature
of the President, and seal of the United States.
The authority of Congress also, in the case
of sea letters to East India vessels, was in favor
of this sanction. It is now become a question
whether these passports shall be given only to
ships owned and built in the United States, or
may be given also to those owned in the United
States, though built in foreign countries. The
persons and property of our citizens are en
titled to the protection of our government in
all places where they may lawfully go. No
laws forbid a merchant to buy, own, and use
a foreign-built vessel. She is, then, his lawful
property, and entitled to the protection of his
nation wherever he is lawfully using her. The
laws, indeed, for the encouragement of ship
building, have given to home-built vessels the
exclusive privilege of being registered and pay
ing lighter duties. To this privilege, therefore,
the foreign-built vessel, though owned at
home, does not pretend. But the laws have not
said that they withdraw their protection from
the foreign-built vessel. To this protection,
then, she retains her title, notwithstanding the
preference given to the home-built vessel as to
duties. It would be hard, indeed, because the
law has given one valuable right to home-built
vessels, to infer that it had taken away all
rights from those foreign-built. In conformity
with the idea that all the vessels of a State are
entitled to its protection, the treaties before
menioned have settled that passports shall be
given, not merely to vessels built in the United
States,, but to the vessels belonging to them ;
and when one of these nations shall take a
vessel, if she has not such a passport, they
are to conclude she does not belong to the
United States, and is, therefore, lawful prize ;
so that to refuse these passports to foreign-
built vessels belonging to our merchants, is to
give them up to capture with their cargoes.
* * France and Holland permit our ves
sels to be neutralized with them ; not even to
suffer theirs to be purchased here might give
them just cause to revoke the privilege of
naturalization given to ours, and would inflict
on the ship-building States and artizans a se
vere injury. Objection. To protect foreign-
built vessels will lessen the demand for ship
building here. Answer. Not all ; because as
long as we can build cheaper than other na
tions, we shall be employed in preference to
others ; besides, shall we permit the greatest
part of the produce of our fields to rot on our
hands, or lose half its value by subjecting it to
high insurance, merely that our ship-builders
may have brisker employ? Shall the whole
mass of our farmers be sacrificed to the class
of ship wrights ? Objection. There will be col
lusive transfers of foreign ships to our mer
chants, merely to obtain for them the cover of
our passports. Answer. The same objection
lies to giving passports to home-built vessels.
They may be owned, and are owned by for
eigners, and may be collusively re-transferred
to our merchants to obtain our passports. To
lessen the danger of collusion, however, I
should be for delivering passports in our own
ports only. If they were to be sent blank to
foreign ports, to be delivered there, the power
of checking collusion would be small, and they
might be employed to cover purooses of no
benefit to us (which we ought not to counte
nance), and to throw our vessels out of busi
ness ; but if issued only to vessels in our own
ports, we can generally be certain that the
vessel is our property ; and always that the
cargo is of our produce. State the case that
it shall be found that all our shipping, home-
built and foreign-built, is inadequate to the
transportat;on of our produce to market ; so
that after all these are loaded, there shall yet
remain produce on hand. This must be put
into vessels owned by foreigners. Should these
obtain collusively the protection of our pass
port, it will cover their vessel, indeed, but it
will cover also our cargo. I repeat it, then, that
if the issuing passports be continued to our ports,
it will be our own vessels for the most part,
and always our cargoes which will be covered
by them. I am, therefore, of opinion, that pass
ports ought to be issued to all vessels belonging
8o;
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Ships
to citizens of the United States, but only on
their clearing out from our own ports, and for
that voyage only. — OPINION ON SHIP PASS
PORTS, vii, 624. (May 1793.)
7871. . The most important in
terests of the United States hang upon this
question. [Giving passports to foreign-built
ships.] The produce of the earth is their prin
cipal source of wealth. Our home-built vessels
would suffice for the transportation of a very
small part of this produce to market, and even
a part of these vessels will be withdrawn by
high premiums to other lines of business. All
the rest of our produce, then, must remain on
pur hands, or have its price reduced by a war
insurance. Many descr ptions of our produce
will not bear this reduction and would, there
fore, remain on hand. We shall lose, also, a
great proportion of the profits of navigation.
The great harvest for these is when other na
tions are at war, and our flag neutral. But if
we can augment our stock of shipping only by
the slow process of building, the harvest will
be over while we are only preparing instru
ments to reap it. The moment of breeding sea
men will be lost for want of bottoms to embark
them in. — OPINION ON SHIP PASSPORTS, vii,
625. (May I793J
7872. . It has been stated in our
treaties with the French, Dutch, and Prussians,
that when it happens that either party is at war,
and the other neutral, the neutral shall give
passports of a certain tenor to the vessels be
longing to their subjects, in order to avoid dis
sension ; and it has been thought that passports
of such high import to the persons and property
of our citizens should have the highest sanc
tion ; that of the signature of the President, and
seal of the United States. The authority of
Congress also, in the case of sea letters to East
India vessels, was in favor of this sanction.
It is now become a question whether these pass
ports shall be given only to ships owned and
built in the United Mates, or may be given also
to those owned in the United States, though
built in fore:gn countries. * * * I am of
opinion that passports ought to be issued to all
vessels belonging to citizens of the United
States, but only on their clearing out from our
own ports, and for that voyage only.- — OPINION
ON SHIP PASSPORTS, vii, 624-6. (Dec. 1793.)
7873. . As our citizens are free
to purchase and use foreign-built vessels, and
these, like all their other lawful property, are
entitled to the protection of their government,
passports will be issued to them as freely as
to home-built vessels. This is strictly within
our treaties, the letter of which, as well as
their spirit, authorizes passports to all vessels
belonging to citizens of the United States. — To
THOMAS PINCKNEY. iii, 550. FORD ED., vi,
242. (Pa., I793-)
7874. . Before the receipt of
* * * the form of your passports, it had
been determined here, that passports should be
issued in our own ports only, as well to secure
us against those collusions which would be
fraudulent towards our friends, and would in
troduce a competition injurious to our own ves
sels, as to induce these to remain in our own
service, and thereby give to the productions of
our own soil the protection of its own flag in its
passage to foreign markets. — To THOMAS
PINCKNEY. iii, 550. FORD ED., vi, 242. (Pa.,
May 1793.)
7875. . It is determined that
passports shall be given in our own ports only,
and to serve but for one voyage. It has also
been determined that they shall be given to all
vessels bond fide owned by American citizens
wholly, whether built here or not. Our prop
erty, whether in the form of vessels, cargoes,
or anything else, has a right to pass the seas
untouched by any nation, by the law of nations ;
and no one has a right to ask where a vessel
was built, but where she is owned. — To Gouv-
ERNEUR MORRIS, iii, 581. FORD ED., vi, 301.
(Pa., June 1793.)
7876. . The most rigorous meas
ures will be taken to prevent any vessel, not
wholly and bond fide owned by American citi
zens, from obtaining our passports. It is much
our interest to prevent the competition of other
nations from taking from us the benefits we
have a right to expect from the neutrality of
our flag. — To GOUVERNEUR MORRIS, iii, 582.
FORD ED., vi, 301. (Pa., June 1793.)
7877. SHIPS, Purchase of foreign.— As
our home-built vessels are adequate to but a
small proportion of our transportation, if we
could not suddenly augment the stock of our
shipping, our produce would be subject to war
insurance in the vessels of the belligerent pow
ers, though we remain at peace ourselves. — To
THOMAS PINCKNEY. iii, 550. FORD ED., vi,
242. (Pa., May 1793.)
7878. . Had it not been in our
power to enlarge our national stock of shipping
suddenly in the present exigency, a great pro
portion of our produce must have remained on
our hands for want of the means of transpor
tation to market. — To GOUVERNEUR MORRIS.
iii, 581. FORD ED., vi, 301. (Pa., June 1793.)
7879 _. With respect to the in
crease of our shipping, our merchants have no
need : * of a permission to buy up for
eign bottoms. There is no law prohibiting it,
and when bought they are American property,
and as such entitled to pass freely by our treat
ies with some nations, and by the law of na
tions, with all. Such accordingly, by a deter
mination of the Executive, will receive Amer
ican passports. They will not be entitled, in
deed, to import goods on the low duties of
home-built vessels, the laws having confined
that privilege to these only. — To JAMES MON
ROE, iv, 7. FORD ED., vi, 323. (Pa., 1793.)
7880. SHIPS, Registers.— Our laws, in
deed, indulge home-built vessels with the pay
ment of a lower tonnage, and to evidence their
right to this, permit them alone to take out
registers from our own offices ; but they do not
exclude foreign-built vessels owned by our citi
zens from any other right. — To THOMAS PINCK
NEY. iii, 550. FORD ED., vi, 242. (Pa., 1793.)
7881. . The laws of the United
States confine registers to home-built vessels
belonging to citizens : but they do not make it
unlawful for citizens to own foreign-built ves
sels ; and the treaties give the right of sea-let
ters to all vessels belonging to citizens. But
who are citizens ? The laws of registry con
sider a citizenship obtained by a foreigner who
comes merely for that purpose, and returns to
reside in his own country, as fraudulent, and
deny a register to such an one, even owning
home-built vessels. I consider the distinction
as sound and safe, and that we ought not to
give sea-letters to a vessel belonging to such a
pseudo-citizen. It compromises our peace, by
lending our flag to cover the goods of one of
the belligerents to the injury of the other. It
produces vexatious searches on the vessels of
our real citizens, and gives to others the par-
Ships
Short (William)
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
808
ticipation of our neutral advantages, which be
long to the real citizen only. — To ALBERT GAL-
LATIN, iv, 566. (1805.)
— SHIPS, Screw-propeller. — See INVEN
TIONS.
7882. SHIPS, Sea-letters.— Sea-letters
are the creatures of treaties. No act of the
ordinary Legislature requires them. The only
treaties now existing with us, and calling for
them, are those with Holland, Spain, Prussia,
and France. In the two former, we have stipu
lated that when the other party shall be at war,
the vessels belonging to our people shall be
furnished with sea-letters ; in the two latter,
that the vessels of the neutral party shall be so
furnished. France being now at war, the sea-
letter is made necessary for our vessels ; and
consequently it is our duty to furnish them. —
To ALBERT GALLATIN. iv, 566. (1805.)
7883. . I would propose as a
rule that sea-letters be given to all vessels be
longing to citizens under whose ownership of a
registered vessel such vessel would be entitled
to the benefits of her register. — To ALBERT
GALLATIN. iv, 567. (1805.)
7884. SHIPS, Subsidies for.— I should be
happy to hear that Congress thought of estab
lishing packets of their own between New York
and Havre. * * * Could not the surplus of
the Post Office revenue be applied to this?
This establishment would look like the com
mencement of a little Navy, the only kind of
force we ought to possess. — To RICHARD HENRY
LEE. FORD ED., iv, 69. (P., 1785.)
7885. SHIPS, Tonnage duties.— The
French complain of our tonnage duty ; but it is
because it is not understood. In the ports of
France, we pay fees for anchorage, buoys and
beacons, fees to measurers, weighers and
gaugers, and in some countries for light-houses.
We have thought it better that the public here
should pay all these, and reimburse itself by a
consolidation of them into one fee, propor
tioned to the tonnage of the vessel, and there
fore called by that name. They complain that
the foreign tonnage is higher than the do
mestic. If this complaint had come from the
English, it would not have been wonderful,
because the foreign tonnage operates really as
a tax on their commerce, which, under this
name, is found to pay i6l/2 dollars for every
dollar paid by France. — To WILLIAM SHORT.
iii, 275. FORD ED., v, 363. (Pa., 1791.)
7886. . I like your idea of pro
portioning the tonnage of the vessel to the
value (in some degree) of the property, but its
bulk must also be taken into consideration. —
To ALBERT GALLATIN. v, 260. (W., 1808.)
7887. SHIPS, Voyage to China.— I have
the honor of enclosing to your Excellency
[Count de Vergennes] a report of the voyage
of an American ship, the first which has gone
to China. The circumstances which induce
Congress to direct this communication is the
very friendly conduct of the consul of his
Majesty at Macao, and of the commanders and
other officers of the French vessels^in those seas.
It has been with singular satisfaction that Con
gress have seen these added to the many other
proofs of the cordiality of this nation towards
our citizens. It is the more pleasing, when it
appears in the officers of government, because
it is then viewed as an emanation of the spirit
of the government. It would be an additional
gratification to Congress, in this particular in
stance, should any occasion arise of notifying
those officers, that their conduct has been justly
represented to your Excellency on the part of
the United States, and has met your approba
tion. — To COUNT DE VERGENNES. i, 456. (P.,
- SHIPS, Water for.— See SALT-WATER.
7888. SHOUT (William), Attachment
to.— I see with extreme concern that you
have received an impression that my attach
ment to you has become lessened, and that you
have drawn this inference from circumstances
taking place while you were in Washington.
What these circumstances could be is to me
incomprehensible, but one thing I certainly
know, that they have been misconstrued. That
this change could not be previous to my retire
ment from the government in 1794, your ap
pointments to France, to Holland, to Spain are
proofs. And if, during my present place in
the government, I have not met your desires,
the public motives which have been frankly
declared have given the real grounds. You
think them not founded in fact ; but if the tes
timony we receive is of different complexions,
neither should wonder at the difference of con
clusion drawn by the other, and I do trust that
you will become sensible that there is no ne
cessity, at least, for supposing a change in
affections, which are the same now as they
have ever been. Certainly I shall not, on my
part, permit a difference of view on a single
subject to efface the recollections and attach
ments of a whole life. — To WILLIAM SHORT.
FORD ED., ix, 70. (W., 1807.)
7889. SHORT (William), Diplomatic
services.— Mr. Short has desired me to sug
gest his name as that of a person willing to
become a legatine secretary, should these offices
be continued. I have apprised him of the pos
sibility that they may not. You know my high
opinion of his abilities and merits; I will,
therefore, only add that a peculiar talent for
prying into facts seems to mark his character
as proper for such a business. He is young,
and little experienced in business, though well
prepared for it. These defects will lessen
daily. Should persons be proposed less proper
on the whole, you would on motives of public
good, knowing his willingness to serve, give
him a nomination and do justice to his char
acter. — To JAMES MADISON. FORD ED., iii, 318
(T., May 1783.)
7890. . A treaty of commerce
between the United States of America and his
Majesty the King of Prussia having been ar
ranged with the Baron de Thulemeyer, his
Majesty's envoy extraordinary at the Hague,
specially empowered for this purpose, and it
being inconsistent with our other duties to re
pair to that place ourselves for the purpose of
executing and exchanging the instruments of
treaty, we hereby appoint you special secretary
for that purpose. — To WILLIAM SHORT, i, 372.
7891. . The President has ap
pointed you Minister Resident * * * at
the Hague which was approved by the Senate
on January 16. — To WILLIAM SHO'RT. iii, 322.
FORD ED., v, 425. (Pa., Jan. 1792.)
7892. . The President has joined
you in a special and temporary commission with
Mr. Carmichael to repair to Madrid, and there
negotiate certain matters respecting the navi
gation of the Mississippi, and other points of
common interest between Spain and us. — To
WILLIAM SHORT, iii, 324. FORD ED., v, 427.
(Pa., Jan. 1792.)
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Short (William)
Slander
7893. SHOUT (William), Private sec
retary. — I shall, on Mr. Short's return from
the Hague, appoint him my private secretary,
till Congress shall think proper to signify their
pleasure. — To JAMES MONROE, i, 407. FORD
ED., iv, 86. (P., 1785.)
7894. . His talents and charac
ter allow me to say, with confidence, [are such]
that nothing will suffer in his hands [during my
absence from Paris at home]. The friendly dis
positions of Monsieur de Montmorin would in
duce him readily to communicate with Mr. Short
in his present character [private secretary to Jef
ferson] ; but should any of his applications be
necessary to be laid before the Council, they
might suffer difficulty ; nor could he attend the
diplomatic societies, which are the most certain
sources of good intelligence. Would Congress
think it expedient to remove the difficulties by
naming him Secretary of Legation, so that he
would act, of course, as Charge des Affaires
during my absence? — To JOHN JAY. ii, 514-
(P., 1788.)
7895. SHORT (William), Rejected by
Senate. — It is with much concern I inform
you that the Senate has negatived your ap
pointment. We thought it best to keep back
the nomination to the close of the session, that
the mission might remain secret as long as
possible, which you know was our purpose from
the beginning. It was then sent in with an
explanation of its object and motives. We
took for granted, if any hesitation should arise,
that the Senate would take time, and that our
friends in that body would make inquiries of
us, and give us the opportunity of explaining
and removing objections. But to our great
surprise, and with an unexampled precipitancy,
they rejected it at once. This reception of the
last of my official communications to them
could not be unfelt, nor were the causes of it
spoken out by them. Under this uncertainty,
Mr. Madison, on his entering into office, pro
posed another person (John Quincy Adams).
He also was negatived, and they adjourned sine
die. Our subsequent information was that, on
your nomination, your long absence from this
country, and their idea that you do not intend
to return to it, had very sensible weight ; but
that all other motives were superseded by an
unwillingness to extend our diplomatic con
nections, and a desire even to recall the for
eign ministers we already have. All were sen
sible of the great virtues, the high character,
the powerful influence, and valuable friendship
of the Emperor. But riveted to the system of
unentanglement with Europe, they declined the
proposition. * * I pray you to place me
rectus in curia in this business with the Em
peror, and to assure him that I carry into my
retirement the highest veneration for his vir
tues, and fondly cherish the belief that his dis
positions and power are destined by heaven to
better, in some degree at least, the condition of
oppressed man. — To WILLIAM SHORT v, 435.
FORD ED., ix, 249. (W., March 1809.) See 261.
7896. SHORT (William), Republican
ism. — I know your republicanism to be pure,
and that it is no decay ot that which has em
bittered you against its votaries in France, but
too great a sensibility at the partial evil [with]
which its object has been accomplished there
— To WILLIAM SHORT, iii, 503. FORD ED., vi,
155. (Pa., I7Q3-)
7897. SHORT (William), Talents.— I
wish in the next election of delegates for Con
gress, Short could be sent. His talents are
great, and his weight in our State must ere
long become principal. — To JAMES MADISON.
FORD ED., iii, 403. (A., Feb. 1784.)
7898. . His talents and merits
are such as to have placed him, young as he is,
in the Supreme Executive Council of Virginia,
an office which he relinquished to visit Europe.
— To BARON THULEMEYER. i, 369. (P., 1785.)
7899. SIEYES (Abbe), Logical.— The
Abbe Sieyes was the most logical head of the
[French] nation. His pamphlet " Qu'est ce
qiie le Tiers Etat"? electrified that country, as
Paine's Common Sense did us. — AUTOBIOGRA
PHY, i, 91. FORD ED., i, 127. (1821.)
7900. SILENCE, Golden.— We often re
pent of what we have said, but never of that
which we have not. — To GIDEON GRANGER, vi,
333. FORD ED., ix, 458. (M., 1814.)
- SILVER, Intrinsic value of.— See
DOLLAR and MONEY.
7901. SIMPLICITY, Government and.—
I am for a government rigorously frugal and
simple.— To ELBRIDGE GERRY, iv, 268. FORD
ED., vii, 327. (I799-)
7902. — — . We have suppressed all
those public forms and ceremonies which
tended to familiarize the public eye to the
harbingers of another form of government. —
To GENERAL KOSCIUSKO. iv, 430. (W.,
April 1802.)
7903. . Levees are done away. —
To NATHANIEL MACON. iv, 396. FORD ED.,
viii, 52. (W., May 1801.)
7904. SIMPLICITY, Individual.— Let us
deserve well of our country by making her
interests the end of all our plans, and not
pur own pomp, patronage and irresponsibil
ity.— To ALBERT GALLATIN. iv, 429. FORD ED.,
viii, 141. (W., 1802.) See CEREMONY.
7905. SINCERITY, Language and.—
Such is become the prostitution of language
that sincerity has no longer distinct terms in
which to express her own truths. — To GEORGE
WASHINGTON, i, 325. FORD ED., iii, 208.
(Pa., 1783.)
7906. SINCERITY, Valued.— Sincerity I
value above all things ; as between those who
practice it, falsehood and malice work their
efforts in vain. — To WILLIAM DUANE. iv, 590.
FORD ED., viii, 431. (W., 1806.)
7907. SINCLAIR (Sir John), Benefac
tor. — Like our good old Franklin, your labors
and science go all to the utilities of human life.
— To SIR JOHN SINCLAIR, vii, 22. (M., 1816.)
7908. SINECURES, Taxation and.— We
do not mean that our people shall be burdened
with oppressive taxes to provide sinecures for
the idle or the wicked, under color of providing
for a civil list. — REPLY TO LORD NORTH'S PROP
OSITION. FORD ED., i, 480. (July 1775.)
7909. SLANDER, Anonymous.— Your
favor has been received * * * with the
tribute of respect due to a person, who, un-
urged by motives of personal friendship or ac
quaintance, and unaided by particular informa
tion, will so far exercise his justice as to ad
vert to the proofs of approbation given to a
public character by his own State and the
United States, and weigh them in the scale
against the fatherless calumnies he hears ut-
Slander
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
8lO
tered against him. These public acts are
known even to those who know nothing of ray
private life, and surely are better evidence to a
mind disposed to truth, than slanders which
no man will affirm on his own knowledge, or
ever saw one who would. — To URIAH M'GREG-
ORY. iv, 333. (M., 1800.)
7910. SLANDER, Answer to.— As to fed
eral slanders, I never wished them to be an
swered but by the tenor of my life, half a cen
tury of which has been on a theatre at which
the public have been spectators, and competent
judges of its merit. Their approbation has
taught a lesson, useful to the world, that the
man who fears no truths has nothing to fear
from lies. I should have fancied myself half
guilty had I condescended to put pen to paper
in refutation of their falsehoods, or drawn to
them respect by any notice from myself. — To
DR. GEORGE LOGAN. FORD ED., x. 27. (M.,
1816.)
7911. . I ascribe these hard ex
pressions to the ardor of his zeal for the public
good, and as they contain neither argument nor
proof, I pass them over without observation.
Indeed, I have not been in the habit of noticing
these morbid ejections of spleen either with or
without the names of those venting them. But
I have thought it a duty on the present occasion
to relieve my fellow citizens and my country
from the degradation in the eyes of the world
to which this informer is endeavoring to reduce
it by representing it as governed hitherto by a
succession of swihdlers and speculators. Nor
shall I notice any further endeavors to prove
or to palliate this palpable misinformation. I
am too old and inert to undertake minute in
vestigations of intricate transactions of the
last century ; and I am not afraid to trust to the
justice and good sense of my fellow-citizens
on future as on former attempts to lessen me
in their esteem. — To RITCHIE AND GOOCH. vii,
242. FORD ED., x, 211. (M., 1822.)
7912. SLANDER, Brutal.— I certainly
have known, and still know, characters emi
nently qualified for the most exalted trusts,
who could not bear up against the brutal hack
ings and hewings of these heroes of Billings
gate. I may say, from intimate knowledge,
that we should have lost the services of the
greatest character of our country, had he been
assailed with the degree of abandoned licen
tiousness now practiced. The torture he felt
under rare and slight attacks, proves that under
those of which the federal bands have shown
themselves capable, he would have thrown up
the helm in a burst of indignation. — To JAMES
SULLIVAN.* iv, 576. FORD ED., viii, 355. (W.,
1805.)
7913. SLANDER, Character vs.— For
myself, when placed under the necessity of de
ciding in a case where on the one hand is
a young and worthy person, all the circum
stances of whose education and position in life
pronounce her virtuous and innocent, and on
the other the proneness of the world to sow and
spread slander, there is no hesitation in my
mind. — To ST. GEORGE TUCKER. FORD ED., vi,
425. (Pa., I793-)
7914. SLANDER, Chrism of.— You have
indeed received the federal unction of lying and
slandering. But who has not? Who will ever
again come into eminent office, unanointed with
this chr;sm? It seems to be fixed that false
hood and calumny are to be their ordinary en
gines of opposition ; engines which will not be
entirely without effect. The circle of characters
equal to the first stations is not too large, and
will be lessened by the voluntary retreat of
those whose sensibilities are stronger than their
confidence in the justice of public opinion.
* * * Yet this effect of sensibility must not
be yielded to. If we suffer ourselves to be
frightened from our post by mere lying, surely
the enemy will use that weapon ; for what one
so cheap to those of whose system of politics
morality makes no part? — To JAMES SULLIVAN.
iv, 576. FORD ED., viii, 355. (W., 1805.)
7915. SLANDER, Disregard of.— My
rule of life has been never to harass the public
with fendings and provings of personal slanders.
To MARTIN VAN BUREN. vii, 372. FORD
ED., x, 315. (M., 1824.)
7916. SLANDER, Hamilton and.— To a
thorough disregard of the honors and emolu
ments of office, I join as great a value for the
esteem of my countrymen, and conscious of
having merited it by an integrity which cannot
be reproached, and by an enthusiastic devotion
to their rights and liberty, I will not suffer my
retirement to be clouded by the slanders of a
man [Alexander Hamilton] whose history,
from the moment at which history can stoop
to notice him, is a tissue of machinations
against the liberty of the country which has not
only received and given him bread, but heaped
its honors on his head. — To PRESIDENT WASH
INGTON, iii, 468. FORD ED., vi, 109. (M., 1792.)
7917. SLANDER, Irritating.— I am fond
of quiet, willing to do my duty, but irritable by
slander, and apt to be forced by it to aban
don my post. — To MRS. JOHN ADAMS. FORD
ED., iv, 100. (P., 1785.)
7918. SLANDER, Newspapers and. — An
editor * * * [should] set his face against the
demoralizing practice of feeding the public
mind habituallv on slander, and the depravity
of taste which this nauseous aliment induces. —
To JOHN NORVELL. v, 93. FORD ED., ix, 74.
(W., 1807.)
7919. SLANDER, Of patriots.— The
patriot, like the Christian, must learn that to
bear revilings and persecutions is a part of
his duty ; and in proportion as the trial is se
vere, firmness under it becomes more requisite
and praiseworthy. It requires, indeed, self-
command. But that will be fortified in propor
tion as the calls for its exercise are repeated. —
To JAMES SULLIVAN, iv, 576. FORD ED., viii,
355. (W., 1805.)
7920. SLANDER, Political.— The federal
leaders have gone too far ever to change.
Their bitterness increases with their despera
tion. They are trying slanders now which
nothing could prompt but a gall which blinds
their judgments as well as their consciences.
I shall take no other revenge, than, by a steady
pursuit of economy and peace, and by the estab
lishment of republican principles in substance
and in form, to sink federalism into an abyss
from which there shall be no resurrection for
it. — To LEVI LINCOLN, iv, 451. FORD ED., viii,
175. (W., Oct. 1802.)
7921. SLANDER, Prevalent.— Defama
tion is becoming a necessary of life ; insomuch,
that a dish of tea in the morning or evening
cannot be digested without this stimulant. — To
JOHN NORVELL. v, 93. FORD ED., ix, 74. (W.,
1807.)
7922. SLANDER, Public office and.— It
is really a most afflicting consideration, that
it is impossible for a man to act in any office
for the publ;c without encountering a persecu-
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Slander
Slavery
tion which even his retirement will not with
draw him from. — To JAMES MONROE. FORD ED
vii, 233. (Pa., 1798.)
7923. SLANDER, Punishment for.—
Slanderers I have thought it best to leave to thi
scourge of public opinion. — To DE WITT CLIN
TON. v, 80. FORD ED., ix, 63. (W., 1807.)
7924. SLANDER, Secret.— Secret slan
ders cannot be disarmed because they are se
cret. — To WILLIAM DUANE. iv, 591. FORD ED.
viii, 431. (W., 1806.)
7925. SLANDER, Voluminous. — As to
the volume of slanders supposed to have beer
cut out of newspapers and preserved [by me.
it would not, indeed, have been a single vol
ume, but an encyclopedia in bulk. But I never
had such a volume ; indeed, I rarely thougl
those libels worth reading, much less preserving
and remembering. — To JOHN ADAMS, vii, 274
(M., 1823.) See ABUSE, CALUMNY, LIBELS anc
NEWSPAPERS.
7926. SLAVE TRADE, Abolition of.— I
congratulate you [Congress] on the approach
of the period at which you may interpose your
authority constitutionally, to withdraw the citi
zens of the United States from all further
participation in those violations of human
rights which have been so long continued on
the unoffending inhabitants of Africa, and
which the morality, the reputation, and the best
interests of our country, have long been eager
to proscribe. Although no law you may pass
can take prohibitory effect till the first day of
the year one thousand eight hundred and eight,
yet the intervening period is not too long to
prevent, by timely notice, expeditions which
cannot be completed before that day. — SIXTH
ANNUAL MESSAGE, viii, 67. FORD ED., viii,
492. (Dec. 1806.)
7927. . I am very sensible of the
honor you propose to me of becoming a member
of the society for the abolition of the slave
trade. You know that nobody wishes more ar
dently to see an abolit'on, not only of the trade,
but of the condition of slavery ; and certainly
nobody will be more willing to encounter every
sacrifice for that object. But the influence
and information of the friends to this proposi
tion in France will be far above the need of
my association. I am here as a public servant,
and those whom I serve, having never yet been
able to give their voice against this practice,
it is decent for me to avoid too public a demon
stration of my wishes to see it abolished.
Without serving the cause here, it might ren
der me less able to serve it beyond the water.
I trust you will be sensible of the prudence
of those motives, therefore, which govern my
conduct on this occasion. — To J. P. BRISSOT DE
WARVILLE. ii, 357. FORD ED., v, 6. (P., Feb
1788.)
7928. SLAVERY, Abolition of.— After
the year 1800 of the Christian era, there shall
be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude
in any of the said States, * otherwise than in
punishment of crimes, whereof the party shall
have been duly convicted to have been per
sonally guilty. — WESTERN TERRITORY REPORT.
FORD ED., iii, 409. (March i, 1784.)
* In 1784, Jefferson was chairman of a committee
of Congress, appointed to devise a plan of govern
ment for the western country above the parallel of
31° north latitude. The measure was defeated by
one vote. In addition to the Northwestern Terri
tory, the region embraced1 what afterwards became
the States of Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee and
Kentucky.— EDITOR,
7929. . The clause respecting
slavery was lost by an individual vote only.
I en States were present. The four Eastern
States, New York and Pennsylvania, were for
the clause. Jersey would have been for it but
there were but two members, one of whom was
s-ck in his chambers. South Carolina, Mary
land and ! Virginia! voted against it. North
Carolina was divided, as would have been Vir
ginia, had not one of its delegates been sick
in bed. — Io JAMES MADISON. FORD ED iii
47i- (A., April 25, 1784.)
7930. . There were ten States
present ; six voted unanimously for it, three
against it, and one was divided; and' seven
votes being requisite to decide the proposition
affirmatively, it was lost. The voice of a sin
gle individual of the State which was divided
or of one of those which were of the negative"
would have prevented this abominable crime
from spreading itself over the new country
Thus we see the fate of millions unborn hang
ing on the tongue of one man, and heaven was
silent in that awful moment! But it is to be
hoped it w'll not always be silent, and that the
friends to the rights of human nature will in
the end prevail.— To M. DE MEUNIER. ix 276
FORD ED., iv, 181. (P., 1786.)
7931. . What a stupendous, what
an incomprehensible machine is man ! who can
endure toil, famine, stripes, imprisonment, and
death itself, in vindication of his own liberty,
and, the next moment, be deaf to all those
motives whose power supported him through
his trial, and inflict on his fellow men a bond
age, one hour of which is fraught with more
misery than ages of that which he rose in rebel
lion to oppose. * — To M. DE MEUNIER. ix
- -_ oppose.
FORD ED., iv, 185.
279.
(P., 1786.)
7932. . I have long since given
up the expectation of any early provision for
the extinguishment of slavery among us.
i here are many virtuous men who would make
any sacrifices to effect it, many equally virtuous
who persuade themselves either that the thing
is not wrong, or that it cannot be remedied
and very many with whom interest is morality.
The older we grow, the larger we are dis
posed to believe the last party to be. But in
terest is really going over to the side of mo
rality. The value of the slave is every day les
sening ; his burden on his master daily increas-
ng. Interest is. therefore, preparing the
disposition to be just; and this will be goaded
from time to time by the insurrectionary spirit
of the slaves. This is easily quelled in its first
efforts ; but from being local it will become gen
eral, and whenever it does, it will rise more 'for
midable after every defeat, until we shall be
orced, after dreadful scenes and sufferings, to
elease them in their own way, which, without
uch sufferings we might now model after our
>wn convenience. — To WILLIAM A. BURWELL.
FORD ED., viii, 340. (W., Jan. 1805.)
7933. . I can say with conscious
ruth that there is not a man on earth who
would sacrifice more than I would to relieve us
rom this heavy reproach in any practicable
way. The cess;on of that kind of property,
or so it is misnamed, is a bagatelle which
would not cost me a second thought, if, in that
vay, a general emancipation and expatriation
ould be effected ; and, gradually, and with
ue sacrifices, I think it might be. But, as it is
we have the wolf by the ears, and we can
* The reference is to the passage of the slave bill
y the Virginia Legislature without the emancina-
on amendment. — EDITOR.
Slavery
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
812
neither hold him, nor safely let him go. Jus
tice is in one scale and self-preservation in the
other. — To JOHN HOLMES, vii, '159. FORD ED.,
x, 157- (M., 1820.)
7934. . The abolition of the evil is
not impossible ; it ought never, therefore, to be
despaired of. Every plan should be adopted,
every experiment tried, which may do some
thing towards the ultimate object. That which
you propose is well worthy of trial. It has
succeeded with certain portions of our white
brethren, under the care of a Rapp and an
Owen; and why may it not succeed with the
man of color? — To Miss FANNY WRIGHT, vii,
408. FORD ED., x, 344- (M-> 1825.)
7935. SLAVERY, Abomination.— This
abomination must have an end. And there is a
superior bench reserved in heaven for those
who hasten it. — To E. RUTLEDGE. ii, 180. FORD
ED., iv, 410. (P., 1787-)
7936. SLAVERY, Colonial condemna
tion. — The abolition of domestic slavery is
the great object of desire in those Colonies,
where it was, unhappily, introduced in their
infant state. But previous to the enfranchise
ment of the slaves we have, it is necessary to
exclude all further importations from Africa.
Yet our repeated attempts to effect this by pro
hibitions, and by imposing duties which might
amount to a prohibition, have been hitherto
defeated by his Majesty's negative: Thus pre
ferring the immediate advantages of a few Brit
ish corsairs to t^ie lasting interests of the
American States, and to the rights of human
nature, deeply wounded by this infamous prac
tice. * — RIGHTS OF BRITISH AMERICA, i, 135.
FORD ED., i, 440. (7774.)
7937. SLAVERY, Constitutional inhi
bition. — No person hereafter coming into this
country shall be held within the same in slavery
under any pretext whatever. — PROPOSED VA.
CONSTITUTION. FORD ED., ii, 26. (June 1776.)
7938. . The General Assembly
[of Virginia] shall not have power to * * *
permit the introduction of any more slaves to
reside in this State, or the continuance of
slavery beyond the generation which shall be
living on the 3ist day of December, 1800; all
persons born after that day being hereby de
clared free. — PROPOSED CONSTITUTION FOR VIR
GINIA, viii, 446. FORD ED., iii, 325- (1783-)
7939. SLAVERY, Deplorable results of.
—The whole commerce between master and
slave is a perpetual exercise of the most bois
terous passions, the most unremitting despotism
on the one part, and degrading submissions on
the other. Our children see this, and learn to
imitate it ; for man is an imitative animal.
This quality is the germ of all education in him.
From his cradle to his grave he is learning
to do what he sees others do. If a parent could
find no motive either in his philanthropy or his
self-love, for restraining the intemperance of
passion towards his slave, it should always be
a sufficient one that his child is present. But,
generally, it is not sufficient. The parent
storms, "the child looks on, catches the linea
ments of wrath, puts on the same airs in the
circle of smaller slaves, gives a loose to the
worst of passions, and thus nursed, educated,
and daily exercised in tyranny, cannot but be
stamped by it with odious peculiarities^ The
man must be a prodigy who can retain his
manners and morals undepraved by such cir
cumstances. And with what execrations should
the statesman be loaded, who, permitting one-
* See note under Veto.— EDITOR.
half the citizens thus tc trample on the rights
of the other, transforms those into despots, and
these into enemies, destroys the morals of the
one part, and the amor patria of the other. For
if a slave can have a country in this world, it
must be any other in preference to that in
which he is born to live and labor for another ;
n which he must lock up the faculties of his
nature, contribute as far as depends on his in
dividual endeavors to the evanishment of the
tiuman race, or entail his own miserable condi-
;iori on the endless generations proceeding
From him. — NOTES ON VIRGINIA, viii, 403.
FORD ED., iii, 266. (1782.)
7940. SLAVERY, Destructive of indus
try. — With the morals of the people, their in
dustry also is destroyed. For in a, warm cli
mate, no man will labor for himself who can
make another labor for him. This is so true,
that of the proprietors of slaves a very small
proportion indeed are ever seen to labor. —
NOTES ON VIRGINIA, viii, 403. FORD ED., iii,
267. (1782.)
7941. SLAVERY, Divine justice and.—
Can the liberties of a nation be thought se
cure when we have removed their only firm
basis, a conviction in the minds of the people
that these liberties are of the gift of God?
That they are not to be violated but with his
wrath? Indeed, I tremble for my country when
I reflect that God is just; that his justice can
not sleep forever ; that considering numbers,
nature and natural means only, a revolution of
the wheel of fortune, an exchange of situation
is among possible events ; that it may become
probable by supernatural interference ! The
Almighty has no attribute which can take side
with us in such a contest. — NOTES ON VIRGINIA.
viii, 404. FORD ED., iii, 267. (1782.)
7942. SLAVERY, Establishment in Vir
ginia. — The first establishment [of slavery]
in Virginia which became permanent, was made
in 1607. I have found no mention of negroes
in the Colony until about 1650. The first
brought here as slaves were by a Dutch ship ;
after which the English commenced the trade,
and continued it until the Revolutionary war.
That suspended, ipso facto, their further im
portation for the present, and the business of
the war pressing constantly on the legislature,
this subject was not acted on finally until the
year '78, when I brought in a bill to prevent
their further importation. This passed without
opposition, and stopped the increase of the evil
by importation, leaving to future efforts its
final eradication. — AUTOBIOGRAPHY. i, 38.
FORD ED., i, 51. (1821.)
7943. SLAVERY, Extension of .—Of one
thing I am certain, that as the passage of
slaves from one State to another, would not
make a slave of a single human being who
would not be so without it, so their diffusion
over a greater surface would make them in
dividually happier, and proportionally facili
tate the accomplishment of their emancipation,
by dividing the burden on a greater number
of coadjutors. An abstinence, too, from this
act of power would remove the jealousy ex
cited by the undertak:ng of Congress to reg
ulate the condition of the different descriptions
of men composing a State. This certainly is the
exclusive right of every State, which nothing
in the Constitution has taken from them and
given to the General Government. Could Con
gress, for example, say that the non-freemen of
Connecticut shall be freemen, or that they shall
not emigrate into any other State? — To JOHN
HOLMES, vii, 159. FORD ED., x, 158. (M.,
1820.)
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Slavery
7944. SLAVERY, George III. and.— He
[George III.] has waged cruel war against hu
man nature itself, violating its most sacred
rights of life and liberty in the persons of a
distant people who never offended him, capti
vating and carrying them into slavery in an
other hemisphere, or to incur miserable death
in their transportation thither. This piratical
warfare, the opprobrium of INFIDEL powers, is
the warfare of the CHRISTIAN King of Great
Britain. Determined to ^eep open a market
where MEN should be bought and sold, he has
prostituted his negative for suppressing every
legislative attempt to prohibit or to restrain
this execrable commerce. And that this assem
blage of horrors might want no fact of dis
tinguished dye, he is now exciting those very
people to rise in arms among us, and to pur
chase that liberty of which he has deprived
them, by murdering the people upon whom he
has obtruded them: thus paying off former
crimes committed against the LIBERTIES of one
people, with crimes which he urges them to
commit against the LIVES of another.* — DEC
LARATION OF INDEPENDENCE AS DRAWN BY JEF
FERSON.
7945. SLAVERY, Indians and.— An in
human practice once prevailed in this country,
of making slaves of the Indians. This practice
commenced with the Spaniards with the first
discovery of America. — NOTES ON VIRGINIA.
viii, 306. FORD ED., iii, 154. (1782.)
7946. SLAVERY, Lawfulness.— On the
question of the lawfulness of slavery, that is
of the right of one man to appropriate to him
self the faculties of another without his con
sent, I certainly retain my early opinions. On
that, however, of third persons to interfere be
tween the parties, and the effect of conventional
modifications of that pretension, we are prob
ably nearer together. — To EDWARD EVERETT.
vii, 437. FORD ED., x, 385. (M., 1826.)
7947. SLAVERY, Moral reproach of.—
My sentiments on the subject of slavery of ne
groes have long since been in possession of thq
public, and time has only served to give them
stronger root. The love of justice and the love
of country plead equally the cause of these
people, and it is a moral reproach to us that
they should have pleaded it so long in vain,
and should have produced not a single effort,
nay I fear not much serious willingness to
relieve them and ourselves from our present
condition of moral and political reprobation.
* * * I had always hoped that the younger
generation receiving their early impressions
after the flame of liberty had been kindled in
every breast, and had become, as it were, the
vital spirit of every American, that the gener
ous temperament of youth, analogous to the
motion of the blood, and above the suggestions
of avarice, would have sympathized with op
pression wherever found, and proved their love
of liberty beyond their own share of it. But
my intercourse with them since my return
[from Europe] has not been sufficient to ascer
tain that they had made towards this point the
progress I had hoped. — To EDWARD COLES.
FORD ED., ix, 477. (M., 1814.)
* u This clause," says Jefferson, in his Autobiogra
phy (i, 19), " was struck out in complaisance to South
Carolina and Georgia, who had never attempted to
restrain the importation of slaves, and who, on the
contrary, still wished to continue it. Our northern
brethren, also, 1 believe, felt a little tender under
those censures ; for though their people had very
few slaves themselves, yet they had been pretty
considerable carriers of them to others."— EDITOR.
7948. SLAVERY, Poem against.— I have
received a letter from Mr. Thomas Brannagan,
* Philadelphia, asking my subscription
to the work announced in the enclosed paper.*
The cause in which he embarks is so holy, the
sentiments he expresses in his letter so friendly,
that it is highly painful to me to hesitate on a
compliance which appears so small. But that
is not its true character, and it would be in
jurious even to his views, for me to commit my
self on paper by answering his letter. I have
most carefully avoided every public act or
manifestation on that subject. Should an oc
casion ever occur in which I can interpose with
decisive effect, I shall certainly know and do
my duty with promptitude and zeal. But, in
the meantime, it would only be disarming my
self of influence to be taking small means.
The subscription to a book on this subject is
one of those little irritating measures, which,
without advancing its end at all, would, by
lessening the confidence and good will of a
description of friends composing a large body,
only lessen my powers of doing them good in
the other great relations in which I stand to
the public. Yet, I cannot be easy in not an
swering Mr. Brannagan's letter, unless he can
be made sensible that it is better I should not
answer it ; and I do not know how to effect
this, unless you would have the goodness
to enter into an explanation with him.
— To DR. GEORGE LOGAN. FORD ED., viii, mi.
(W., May 1805.)
7949. SLAVERY, Political error of.—
Whatever may have been the circumstances
which influenced our forefathers to permit the
introduction of personal bondage into any part
of these States, and to participate in the wrongs
committed on an unoffending quarter of the
globe, we may rejoice that such circumstances,
and such a sense of them, exist no longer. It
is honorable to the nation at large that their
Legislature availed themselves of the first prac
ticable moment for arresting the progress of
this great moral and political error. — R. TO A.
OF QUAKERS, viii, 119. (Nov. 1807.)
7950. SLAVERY, Roman.— We know
that among the Romans, about the Augustan
age especially, the condition of their slaves was
much more deplorable than that of the blacks
on the continent of America. The two sexes
were confined in separate apartments, because
to raise a child cost the master more than to
buy one. Cato, for a very restricted indulgence
to his slaves in this particular, took from them
a certain price. But in this country the slaves
multiply as fast as the free inhab:tants. * * *
The same Cato, on a principle of economy, al
ways sold his sick and superannuated slaves.
He gives it as a standing precept to a master
visiting his farm, to sell his old oxen, old
wagons, old tools, old and diseased servants,
and everything else become useless. * * *
The American slaves cannot enumerate this
among the injuries and insults they receive.
It was the common practice to expose in the
island ^Esculapius, in the Tiber, diseased slaves
whose cure was likely to become tedious. The
Emperor Claudius, by an edict, gave freedom to
such of them as should recover, and first de
clared that if any person chose to kill rather
than to expose them, it should be deemed homi
cide. The exposing them is a crime of which
no instance has existed with us; and were it to
be followed by death, it would be punished cap-
* This refers to "Avenia ; or, A Tragical Poem on
the Oppression of the Human Species ", an anti-
slavery work printed in Philadelphia in 1805.— NOTE
IN THE FORD EDITION.
Slavery
Slaves
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
814
itally. We are told of a certain Vedius Pollio,
who, in the presence of Augustus, would have
given a slave as food to his fish for having
broken a glass. With the Romans., the regular
method of taking the evidence of their slaves
was under torture. Here it has been thought
better never to resort to their evidence. When
a master was murdered, all his slaves, in the
same house, or within hearing, were condemned
to death. Here punishment falls on the guilty
only, and as precise proof is required against
him as against a freeman. Yet notwithstand
ing these and other discouraging circumstances
among the Romans, their slaves were often
their rarest artists. They excelled, too, in sci
ence, insomuch as to be usually employed as
tutors to their master's children. Epictetus,
Terence, and Phoedrus, were slaves. But they
were of the race of whites. It is not their
condition then, but nature which has produced
the distinction. Whether further observation
w-11 or will not verify the conjecture, that na
ture has been less bountiful to them in the en
dowments of the head, I believe that in those
of the heart she will be found to have done
them justice. — NOTES ON VIRGINIA, viii, 384.
FORD ED., iii, 247. (1782.) See NEGROES.
7951. SLAVERY, Sectional views in
1785.— Southward of the Chesapeake, your
pamphlet [against slavery] will find but few
readers concurring with it in sentiment on the
subject of slavery. From the mouth to the
head of the Chesapeake, the bulk of the people
will approve it in theory, and it will find a re
spectable minority ready to adopt it in practice ;
a minority which for weight and worth of
character preponderates against the greater
number, who have not the courage to divest
their families of a property which, however,
keeps their conscience unquiet. Northward of
the Chesapeake, you may find here and there
an opponent to your doctrine, as you may find
here and there a robber and murderer ; but in
no greater number. In that part of America,
there being but few slaves, they can easily dis
encumber themselves of them ; and emancipa
tion is put into such a train that in a few years
there will be no slaves northward of Maryland.
In Maryland, I do not find such a disposition
to begin the redress of this enormity as in Vir-
g;nia. This is the next State to which we may
turn our eyes for the interesting spectacle of
justice in conflict with avarice and oppression ;
a conflict wherein the sacred side is gaining
daily recruits from the influx into office of
young men grown, and growing up. These
have sucked in the principles of liberty, as it
were, with their mother's milk ; and it is to
them I look with anxiety to turn the fate of
this question. Be not therefore discouraged.
What you have written will do a great deal of
good. — To DR. PRICE, i, 377. FORD ED., iv, 82.
(P., 1785.)
7952. SLAVERY, Strictures on.— The
strictures on slavery [in the Notes on Virginia]
* * * I do not wish to have made public,
at least till I know whether their publication
would do most harm or good. It is possible,
that in my own country, these strictures might
produce an irritation, which would indispose
the people towards [one of] the two great ob
jects I have in view ; that is, the emancipation
of their slaves.* — To GENERAL CHASTELLUX.
i, 339. FORD ED., iii, 71. (P., 1785.) See
COLONIZATION, COLONY and MISSOURI QUES
TION.
* General Chastellux had proposed to print ex
tracts from a private copy in a French scientific pa
per.— EDITOR.
7953. SLAVES, Abuse of.— The check on
the tenants against abusing my slaves was, by
the former lease, that I might discontinue it
on a reference to arbitrators. Would it not
be well to retain an optional right to sue them
for ill-usage of the slaves or to discontinue it
by arbitration, whichever you should choose at
the time? — To NICHOLAS LEWIS. FORD ED., v,
31. (P., 1788.)
7954. SLAVES, British seizure of.— The
British army, after ravaging the State of Vir
ginia, had sent off a very great number of
slaves to New York. By the seventh article
of the treaty of peace, they stipulated not to
carry away any of these. Notwithstanding
this, it was known, when they were evacuating
New York, that they were carrying away the
slaves, General Washington made an official
demand of Sir Guy Carleton, that he should
cease to send them away. He answered, that
these people had come to them under promise
of the King's protection, and that that promise
should be fulfilled in preference to the stipu
lation in the treaty. The State of Virginia, to
which nearly the whole of these slaves be
longed, passed a law to forbid the recovery of
debts due to British subjects. They declared,
at the same time, they would repeal the law,
if Congress were of opinion they ought to do it.
But, desirous that their citizens should be dis
charging their debts, they afterwards permitted
British creditors to prosecute their suits, and
to receive their debts in seven equal and an
nual payments ; relying that the demand for
the slaves would be either admitted or denied
in time to lay their hands on some of the lat
ter payments for reimbursement.* — REPORT TO
CONGRESS, ix, 240. FORD ED., iv, 127. (P.,
1785.)
7955. SLAVES, Comfort of.— I am mis
erable till I shall owe not a shilling. The mo
ment that shall be the case, I shall feel myself
at liberty to do something for the comfort of
my slaves. — To NICHOLAS LEWIS. FORD ED.,
iv, 343- (P-, 1786.)
7956. SLAVES, Duty to.— My opinion
has ever been that, until more can be done for
them, we should endeavor, with those whom
fortune has thrown on our hands, to feed and
clothe them well, protect them from ill usage,
require such reasonable labor only as is per
formed voluntarily by freemen, and be led by
no repugnances to abdicate them, and our du
ties to them. The laws do not permit us to
turn them loose, if that were for their good ;
and to commute them for other property is to
commit them to those whose usage of them vpe
cannot control. — To EDWARD COLES. FORD ED.,
ix, 479. (M., 1814.)
7957. SLAVES, European laborers and.
— Our only blot is becoming less offensive by
the great improvement in the condition and
civilization of that race, who can now more
advantageously compare their situation with
that of the laborers of Europe. Still it is a
hideous blot, as well from the heteromorph
peculiarities of the race, as that, with them,
physical compulsion to action must be substi
tuted for the moral necess-'ty which constrains
the free laborers to work equally hard. We
feel and deplore it morally and politically, and
we look without entire despair to some re
deeming means not yet specifically foreseen.
I am happy in believing that the conviction of
* The extract is from a report to Congress of a
conference with Count de Vergennes, Foreign Min
ister of France, on the subject of commerce.— ED
ITOR.
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Slaves
the necessity of removing this evil gains ground
with time. Their emigration to the westward
lightens the difficulty by dividing it, and ren
ders it more practicable on the whole. And
the neighborhood of a government of their
color promises a more accessible asylum than
that from whence they came. — To WILLIAM
SHORT, vii, 310. (M., 1823.)
7958. SLAVES, Hiring out. — I observe
in your letter * * * that the profits of the
whole estate [of Monticello] would be no more
than the hire of the few negroes hired out
would amount to. Would it be better to hire
more where good masters could be got ?
Would it be better to hire plantations and all,
if proper assurance can be provided for the
good usage of everything? — To NICHOLAS
LEWIS. FORD ED., iv, 342. (P., 1786.)
7959. SLAVES, Importation of.— Dur
ing the regal government we had, at one time,
obtained a law which imposed such a duty on
the importation of slaves as amounted nearly
to a prohibition, when one inconsiderate as
sembly, placed under a peculiarity of circum
stance, repealed the law. This repeal met a
joyful sanction from the then reigning sov
ereign, and no devices, no expedients which
could ever be attempted by subsequent assem
blies (and they seldom met without attempting
them) could succeed in getting the royal assent
to a renewal of the duty. In the very first ses
sion held under the republican government,
the assembly passed a law for the perpetual
prohibition of the importation of slaves. This
will, in some measure, stop the increase of this
great political and moral evil, while the minds
of our citizens may be ripening for a complete
emancipation of human nature. — NOTES ON
VIRGINIA, viii, 334. FORD ED., iii, 192.
(1782.)
7960. . I congratulate you on
the law of your State [South Carolina] for sus
pending the importation of slaves, and for the
glory you have justly acquired by endeavoring
to prevent it forever. — To E. RUTLEDGE. ii,
180. FORD ED., iv, 410. (P., 1787.)
7961. SLAVES, Increase of.— Under the
mild treatment our slaves experience, and their
wholesome, though coarse food, this blot in
our country increases as fast, or faster than the
whites. — NOTES ON VIRGINIA, viii, 334. FORD
ED., iii, 192. (1782.)
7962. SLAVES, Labor and.— An opinion
is hazarded by some, but proved by none, that
moral urgencies are not sufficient to induce
[the negro] to labor ; th t nothing can do this
but physical coercion. But this is a problem
which the present age alone is prepared to
solve by experiment. It would be a solecism
to suppose a race of animals created without
sufficient foresight and energy to preserve their
own existence. It is disproved, too, by the fact
that they exist and have existed through all the
ages of history. We are not sufficiently ac
quainted with all the nations of Africa to say
that there may not be some in which habits of
industry are established, and the arts practiced
which are necessary to render life comfortable.
The experiment now in progress in Santo Do
mingo, those of Sierra Leone and Cape Mesur-
ado, are but beginning. Your proposition has
its aspects of promise also ; and should it not
answer fully to calculations in figures, it may
yet, in its developments, lead to happy results.
— To Miss FANNY WRIGHT, vii, 408. FORD
ED., x, 344. (M., 1825.)
7963. SLAVES, Manumission of.— As
far as I can judge from the experiments which
have been made to give liberty to, or rather, to
abandon persons whose habits have been
formed in slavery is like abandoning children.
— To DR. EDWARD BANCROFT. FORD ED., v,
66. (P., 1789.)
7964. SLAVES, Masters and.— The in
culcation [in your book] on the master of the
moral duties which he owes to the slave, in
return for the benefits of his service, that is to
say, of food, clothing, care in sickness, and
maintenance under age and disability, so as to
make him in fact as comfortable and more se
cure than the laboring man in most parts of the
world, * * * gives great merit to the
work, and will, I have no doubt, produce whole
some impressions. — To CLEMENT CAINE. vi,
13. FORD ED., ix, 329. '(M., 1811.)
7965. SLAVES, Metayers and.— I am
decided on my final return to America to try
this experiment. I shall endeavor to import
as many Germans as I have grown slaves. I
will settle them and my slaves, on farms of fifty
acres each, intermingled, and place all on the
footing of the Metayers (Medietani) of Eu
rope. Their children shall be brought up, as
others are, in habits of property and foresight,
and I have no doubt but that they will be good
citizens. Some of their fathers will be so ;
others I suppose will need government. With
these all that can be done is to oblige them
to labor as the laboring poor of Europe do,
and to apply to their comfortable subsistence
the produce of their labor, retaining such a
moderate portion of it as may be a just equiva
lent for the use of the lands they labor, and
the stocks and other necessary advances. — To
DR. EDWARD BANCROFT. FORD ED., v, 67. (P.,
1789.)
7966. SLAVES, Property in.— Actual
property has been lawfully vested in that form
[negroes] and who can lawfully take it from
the possessors? — To JARED SPARKS, vii, 333.
FORD ED., x, 290. (M., 1824.)
7967. SLAVES, Protection of.— In the
first or second session of the Legislature after
I became a member, I drew to this subject the
attention of Colonel Bland, one of the oldest,
ablest, and most respected members, and he
undertook to move for certain moderate exten
sions of the protection of the laws to these
people. I seconded his motion and, as a
younger member, was more spared in the de
bate ; but he was denounced as an enemy of
his country, and was treated with the grossest
indecorum. — To EDWARD COLES. FORD ED., ix,
477- (M., 1814.)
7968. SLAVES, Recovery of fugitive.—
We have received with great satisfaction noti
fication of the orders of his Catholic Majesty,
not to permit that persons, held in slavery
within the United States, introduce themselves
as free persons into the Province of Florida.
e As a consequence of the same princi
ples of justice and friendship, we trust that
your Excellency will permit, and aid the recov
ery of persons of the same description, who
have heretofore taken refuge within your gov
ernment. — To GOVERNOR QUESADA. iii, 219.
FORD ED., v, 296. (Pa., 1791.)
7969. . The governor of East
Florida informs me that he has received the
King's orders, not to permit, under any pretext,
that persons held in slavery in the United
States introduce themselves as free, into the
Slaves
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
8l6
province of East Florida. I am happy that
this grievance, which had been a subject of
great complaint from the citizens of Georgia,
is to be removed. — To MR. VIAR. iii, 195.
(M., 1790.)
7970. SLAVES, San Domingo insurrec
tion. — If something is not done, and soon
done, we shall be the murderers of our own
children. The " murtnura ventures nautis
prudentia ventos " has already reached us
[from San Domingo] ; the revolutionary storm,
now sweeping the globe, will be upon us, and
happy if we make timely provision to give it
an easy passage over our land. From the pres
ent state of things in Europe and America, the
day which begins our combustion must be near
at hand ; and only a single spark is wanting to
make that day to-morrow. If we had begun
sooner, we might probably have been allowed
a lengthier operation to clear ourselves, but
every day's delay lessens the time we may take
for emancipation. Some people derive hope
from the aid of the confederated States. But
this is a delusion. There is but one State in
the Union which will aid us sincerely, if an
insurrection begins, and that one may, perhaps,
have its own fire to quench at the same time. —
To ST. GEORGE TUCKER, iv, 196. FORD ED.,
vii, 168. (M., 1797.)
7971. . As to the mode of
emancipation, I am satisfied that that must be
a matter of compromise between the passions,
the prejudices, and the real difficulties which
will each have its weight in that operation.
Perhaps the first chapter of this history, which
has begun in St. Domingo, and the next suc
ceeding ones, will recount how all the whites
were driven from all the other islands, may pre
pare our minds for a peaceable accommodation
between justice, policy and necessity ; and fur
nish an answer to the difficult question, whither
shall the colored emigrants go ? and the sooner
we put some plan under way, the greater hope
there is that it may be permitted to proceed
peaceably to its ultimate effect. — To ST. GEORGE
TUCKER, iv, 196. FORD ED., vii, 167. (M.,
1797.)
7972. SLAVES, Thievery and.— That
disposition to theft with which they have been
branded, must be ascribed to their situation,
and not to any depravity of the moral sense.
The man in whose favor no laws of property
exist, probably feels himself less bound to re
spect those made in favor of others. When
arguing for ourselves, we lay it down as a
fundamental, that laws, to be just, must give a
reciprocation of right ; that, without this, they
are mere arbitrary rules of conduct, founded
in force, and not in conscience ; and it is a
problem which I give to the master to solve,
whether the religious precepts against the vio
lation of property were not framed for him as
well as his slave? And whether the slave may
not as justifiably take a little from one who has
taken all from him, as he may slay one who
would slay him ? That a change in the rela
tions in which a man is placed should change
his ideas of moral right or wrong, is neither
new, nor peculiar to the color of the blacks.
Homer tells us it was so two thousand six
hundred years ago. — NOTES ON VIRGINIA, viii,
385. FORD ED., iii, 249. (1782.)
7973. SLAVES (Emancipation), Bill
for. — The bill to emancipate all slaves born
after the passing of the act, reported by the
revisers [of the Virginia Code] did not contain
this proposition ; but an amendment containing
it was prepared, to be offered to the Legislature
whenever the bill should be taken up, and fur
ther directing that they should continue with
their parents to a certain age, then to be brought
up, at the public expense, to tillage, arts, or sci
ences, according to their geniuses, till the fe
males should be eighteen, and the males twen
ty-one years of age, when they should be col
onized to such place as the circumstances of
the time should render most proper, sending
them out with arms, implements of household
and of the handicraft arts, seeds, pairs of the
useful domestic animals, &c., to declare them a
free and independent people, and extend to
them our alliance and protection, till they have
acquired strength; and to send vessels, at the
same time, to other parts of the world for an
equal number of white inhabitants ; to induce
them to migrate hither, proper encouragements
were to be proposed. — NOTES ON VIRGINIA.
viii, 380. FORD ED., iii, 243. (1782.)
7974. . The separation of in
fants from their mothers would produce some
scruples of humanity. But this would be
straining at a gnat, and swallowing a camel. —
To JARED SPARKS, vii, 335. FORD ED., x, 293.
(M., 1824.)
7975. SLAVES (Emancipation), Bless
ings of. — Who could estimate its blessed
effects ? I leave this to those who will live to
see their accomplishment, and to enjoy a beati
tude forbidden to my age. But I leave it
with this admonition, — to rise and be doing.
A million and a half are within pur control ;
but six millions (which a majority of those
now living will see them attain), and one mil
lion of these fighting men, will say, " we will
not go ". — To JARED SPARKS, vi, 335. FORD
ED., x, 292. (M., 1824.)
7976. SLAVES (Emancipation), Cer
tain. — The hour of emancipation is advanc
ing, in the march of time. It will come ; and
whether brought on by the generous energy of
our own minds ; or by the bloody process of
St. Domingo, excited and conducted by the
power of our present enemy [England], if once
stationed permanently within our country, and
offering asylum and arms to the oppressed, is a
leaf of our history not yet turned over. — To
EDWARD COLES. FORD ED., ix, 478. (M., 1814.)
7977. . It was found that the
public mind would not bear the proposition
[gradual emancipation], nor will it bear it even
at this day (1821). Yet the day is not distant,
when it must bear and adopt it, or worse will
follow. Nothing is more certainly written in
the book of fate, than that these people are to
be free ; nor is it less certain, that the two
races, equally free, cannot live in the same gov
ernment. Nature, habit, opinion have drawn
indelible lines of distinction between them. It
is still in our power to direct the process of
emancipation and deportation, peaceably, and
in such slow degree, as that the evil will wear
off insensibly, and their place be, pari passu,
filled up by free white laborers. If, on the
contrary, it is left to force itself on, human
nature must shudder at the prospect held up.
We should in vain look for an example in the
Spanish deportation, or deletion of the Moors.
This precedent would fall far short of our case.
— JEFFERSON MSS. RAYNER, 164.
7978. SLAVES (Emancipation), De
feated. — In 1769, I became a member of the
legislature by the choice of the county in which
I live [Albemarle], and so continued until it
was closed by the Revolution. I made one ef-
8i7
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Slaves
fort in that body for the permission of the
emancipation of slaves, which was rejected:
and indeed, during the regal government, noth
ing liberal could expect success. Our minds
were circumscribed within narrow limits, by an
habitual belief that it was our duty to be sub
ordinate to the mother country in all matters
of government, to direct all our labors in sub
servience to her interests, and even to observe
a bigoted intolerance for all religions but hers.
The difficulties with our representatives were
of habit and despair, not of reflection and con
viction. Experience soon proved that they
could bring their rrrnds to rights on the first
summons of their attention. But the King's
Council, which acted as another house of legis
lature, held the;r places at will, and were in
most humble obedience to that will ; the Gov
ernor, too, who had a negative on our laws, held
by the same tenure, and with still greater de-
votedness to it ; and, last of all, the royal nega
tive closed the last door to every hope of
amel'oration.* — AUTOBIOGRAPHY, i, 3. FORD
ED., i, 5. (1821.)
7979. SLAVES (Emancipation), Grad
ual. — I concur entirely in your leading prin
ciples of gradual emancipation, of establishment
on the coast of Africa, and the patronage of our
nation until the emigrants shall be able to pro
tect themselves. — To DR. THOMAS HUMPHREYS.
vii, 57. FORD ED., x, 76. (M., 1817.)
7980. SLAVES (Emancipation), Meth
ods of. — As to the method by which this
difficult work is to be effected, if permitted to
be done by ourselves, I have seen no proposi
tion so expedient on the whole, as that of eman
cipation of those born after a given day, and of
their education and expatriation after a given
age. — To EDWARD COLES. FORD ED., ix, 478.
(M., 1814.)
7981. SLAVES (Emancipation),
Prayers for.— It shall have all my prayers,
and these are the only weapons of an old man. —
To EDWARD COLES. FORD ED., ix, 479. (M., 1814.)
7982. SLAVES (Emancipation), Prep
arations for. — Unhappily it is a case for
which both parties require long and difficult
preparation. The mind of the master is to be
apprized by reflection, and strengthened by the
energies of conscience, against the obstacles of
self interest to an acquiescence in the rights of
others ; that of the slave is to be prepared by
instruction and habit for self-government, and
for the honest pursuits of industry and social
duty. Both of these courses of preparation re
quire time, and the former must precede the
latter. Some progress is sensibly made in it ;
yet not so much as I had hoped and expected.
But it will yield in time to temperate and steady
pursuit, to the enlargement of the human mind,
and its advancement in science. We are not
in a world ungoverned by the laws and the
power of a Superior Agent. Our efforts are
in His hand, and directed by it; and He will
give them their effect in his own time. Where
the disease is most deeply seated, there it will
be slowest in eradication. In the Northern
States it was merely superficial, and easily cor
rected. In the Southern it is incorporated with
the whole system, and requires time, patience
and perseverance in the curative process. That
it may finally be effected, and its process ha
stened, will be my last and fondest prayer. — To
DAVID BARROW, vi, 456. FORD ED., ix, 515.
(M., May 1815.)
* This was Jefferson's first public measure.— ED
ITOR.
7983. SLAVES (Emancipation), Prin
ciple and. — From those of the former gen
eration who were in the fulness of age when I
came into public life, which was while our con
troversy with England was on paper only, I
soon saw that nothing was to be hoped.
Nursed and educated in the daily habit of see
ing the degraded condition, both bodily and
mental, of those unfortunate beings, not re
flecting that that degradation was very much
the work of themselves and their fathers, few
minds have yet doubted but that they were as
legitimate subjects of property as their horses
and cattle. The quiet and monotonous course
of colonial life had been disturbed by no alarm,
and little reflection on the value of liberty.
And when alarm was taken at an enterprise on
their own, it was not easy to carry them to the
whole length of the principles which they in
voked for themselves. — To EDWARD COLES.
FORD ED., ix, 477. (M., 1814.)
7984. SLAVES (Emancipation), Propa
ganda for. — I hope you will reconcile your
self to your country and its unfortunate condi
tion ; that you will not lessen its stock of sound
disposition by withdrawing your portion from
the mass ; that, on the contrary, you will come
forward in the public councils, become the mis
sionary of this doctrine truly Christian, insinu
ate and inculcate it softly but steadily, through
the medium of writing and conversation ; as
sociate others in your labors, and when the pha
lanx is formed, bring on and press the prop
osition perseveringly until its accomplishment.
— To EDWARD COLES. FORD ED., ix, 479. (M.,
7985. SLAVES (Emancipation), Provi
dence and. — We must await with patience
the workings of an overruling Providence, and
hope that that is preparng the deliverance of
these, our suffering brethren. When the meas
ure of their tears shall be full, when their
groans shall have involved heaven itself in
darkness, doubtless a God of justice will
awaken to their distress, and by diffusing light
and liberality among their oppressors, or, at
length, by His exterminating thunder, manifest
His attention to the things of this world, and
that they are not left to the guidance of a blind
fatality. — To M. DE MEUNIER. ix, 279. FORD
ED., iv, 185. (P., 1786.)
7986. SLAVES (Emancipation), Time
and. — I have not perceived the growth of
this disposition [to emancipate the slaves and
settle them elsewhere] in the rising generation,
of which I once had sanguine hopes. No symp
toms inform me that it will take place in my
day. I leave it, therefore, to time, and not at
all without hope that the day will come, equally
desirable and welcome to us as to them. Per
haps the proposition now on the carpet at
Washington to provide an establishment on the
coast of Africa for voluntary emigrations of
people of color may be the corner stone of
this future edifice. — To THOMAS HUMPHREYS.
vii, 58. FORD ED., x, 77. (M., 1817.)
7987.
At the age of eighty-
two, with one foot in the grave and the other
uplifted to follow it, I do not permit myself
to take part in any new enterprises, even for
bettering the condition of man, not even in
the great one which is the subject of your let
ter, and which has been through life that of
my greatest anxieties. The march of events
has not been such as to render its completion
practicable within the limits of time allotted to
me ; and I leave its accomplishment as the work
Slaves
Smith (Samuel)
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
8l8
of another generation. — To Miss FANNY
WRIGHT, vii, 408. FORD ED., x, 344. (M.,
1825.)
7988. SLAVES (Emancipation), Total.
— It is impossible to be temperate and to
pursue this subject through the various consid
erations of policy, of morals, of history, natural
and civil. We must be contented to hope they
will force their way into every one's mind.
* * * The way, I hope, is preparing, under
the auspices of heaven, for a total emancipa
tion, and that this is disposed, in the order of
events, to be with the consent of the masters,
rather than by their extirpation. — NOTES ON
VIRGINIA, viii, 404. FORD ED., iii, 267.
(1782.)
7989. SLAVES (Emancipation), United
States purchase of. — The bare proposition
of purchase [of the slaves] by the United
States generally would excite infinite indigna
tion in all the States north of Maryland. The
sacrifice must fall on the States alone which
hold them ; and the difficult question will be
how to lessen this so as to reconcile our fellow
citizens to it. Personally, I am ready and de
sirous to make any sacrifice which shall ensure
their gradual but complete retirement from the
State, and effectually, at the same time, estab
lish them elsewhere in freedom and safety. — To
DR. THOMAS HUMPHREYS, vii, 58. FORD ED.,
x, 76. (M., 1817.)
7990. SLAVES (Emancipation), West
Indies and. — I become daily more convinced
that all the West India Islands will remain in
the hands of the people of color, and a total
expulsion of the whites sooner or later take
place. It is high time we should foresee the
bloody scenes which our children certainly, and
possibly ourselves (south of the Potomac), have
to wade through and try to avert them. — To
JAMES MONROE, iv, 20. FORD ED., vi, 349.
(Pa., July I793-)
7991. . On the subject of eman
cipation I have ceased to think because not to
be a work of my day. The plan of converting
the blacks into serfs would certainlv be better
than keeping them in their present position, but
I consider that of expatriation to the govern
ments of the West Indies of their own color as
entirely practicable, and greatly preferable to
the mixture of color here. To this I have great
aversion. — To WILLIAM SHORT. FORD ED., x,
362. (M., 1826.) See COLONIZATION.
7992. SLEEP, Habits of.— I am not so
regular in my sleep as the doctor [Dr. Rush]
says he was, devoting to it from five to eight
hours, according as my company or the book I
am reading interests me ; and I never go to bed
without an hour, or half hour's, previous read
ing of something moral whereon to ruminate in
the intervals of sleep. But whether I retire to
bed early or late I am up with the sun. — To
DOCTOR VINE UTLEY. vii, 117. FORD ED., x, 126.
(M., 1819.)
7993. SMALL (William), Guide and
friend.— Dr. Small was * * * to me as a
father. To his enlightened and affectionate
guidance of my studies while at college, I am
indebted for everything. He was Professor of
Mathematics at William and Mary, and, for
some time, was in the philosophical chair. He
first introduced into both schools rational and
elevated courses of study, and, from an extraor
dinary conjunction of eloquence and logic,
was enabled to communicate them to the stu
dents with great effect. He procured for me
the patronage of Mr. Wythe, and both of them,
the attentions of Governor Fauquier, the ablest
man who ever filled the chair of government
here. They were inseparable friends, and at
their frequent dinners with the Governor
(after his family had returned to England), he
admitted me always, to make it a partie
quarree. At these dinners I have heard more
good sense, more rational and philosophical
conversation, than in all my life besides. They
were truly Attic societies. The Governor was
musical, also, and a good performer, and asso
ciated me with two or three other amateurs in
his weekly concerts. He merits honorable
mention in your history if any proper occasion
offers. — To MR. GIRARDIN. vi, 411. (M.,
1815-)
7994. SMALL (William), Jefferson's
early companion.— It was my great good
fortune, and what probably fixed the destinies
of my life, that Dr. William Small of Scotland,
was then (1760) professor of mathematics [in
William and Mary College], a man profound in
most of the useful branches of science, with a
happy talent of communication, correct and
gentlemanly manners, and an enlarged and lib
eral mind. He, most happily for me, became
soon attached to me, and made me his daily com
panion when not engaged in the school ; and
from his conversation, I got my first views of
the expansion of science, and of the system of
things in which we are placed. — AUTOBIOG
RAPHY, i, 2. FORD ED., i, 4. (1821.)
— SMITH (Adam).— See GOVERNMENT,
WORKS ON.
7995. SMITH (John), Services to Vir
ginia. — Captain Smith, who next to Sir Wal
ter Raleigh may be considered as the founder of
our Colony, has written its history. He was
a member of the council, and afterwards presi
dent of the Colony ; and to his efforts princi
pally may be ascribed its support against the
opposition of the natives. He was honest, sen
sible, and well informed ; but his style is bar
barous and uncouth. His history, however, is
almost the only source from which we derive
any knowledge of the infancy of our State. —
NOTES ON VIRGINIA, viii, 415. FORD ED., iii,
281. (1782.)
7996. SMITH (Robert), Estimate of.— I
have seen with very great concern the late ad
dress of Mr. [Robert] Smith to the public.
He has been very ill-advised, both personally
and publicly. As far as I can judge from what
I hear, the impression made is entirely un
favorable to him. — To PRESIDENT MADISON.
v, 600. FORD ED., ix, 325. (M., 1811.)
7997. SMITH (Samuel), Tender of
office. — If you can be added to the Adminis
tration I am forming it will constitute a magis
tracy entirely possessed of the public confidence.
* * * You will bring us the benefit of add
ing in a considerable degree the acquiescence,
at least, of the leaders who have hitherto op
posed. Your geographical situation [Mary
land], too, is peculiarly advantageous, and will
favor the policy of drawing our naval resources
towards the States from which their benefits
and production may be extended equally to all
parts. * * * If you refuse, I must abandon
from necessity, what I have been so falsely
charged with doing from choice, the expectation
of procuring to our country such benefits as
may compensate the expenses of their navy. —
To GENERAL SAMUEL SMITH. FORD ED., viii,
13. (W., March 1801.)
819
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Smith (William S.)
Society
7998. SMITH (William S.), Character
of. — I learn that Mr. Adams desires to be re
called, and that Smith should be appo nted
Charge des Affaires there. * * * You can
judge of Smith's abilities by his letters. They
are not of the first order, but they are good.
For his honesty, he is like our friend Monroe;
turn his soul wrong side outwards, and there is
not a speck on it. He has one foible, an ex
cessive inflammability of temper, but he feels
it when it comes on, and has resolution enough
to suppress it, and to remain silent till it passes
over. — To JAMES MADISON, ii, no. FORD ED.,
iv, 368. (P., 1787.)
7999. SMUGGLING, Temptations to.—
Contraband does not increase on lessening the
temptations to it. — To COUNT DE VERGENNES.
i, 389. (P., 1785.)
8000. SNAKES, Antipathy to.— There
is in man as well as in brutes an antipathy to
the snake, which makes it a disgusting object
wherever it is presented. — To GOVERNOR HENRY
LEE. FORD ED., vi, 320. (Pa., 1793.)
8001. SOCIAL INTERCOURSE, Con
tentment and.— Without society, and a so
ciety to our taste, men are never contented. —
To JAMES MONROE, ii, 71. (P., 1786.) See
SOCIETY.
8002. SOCIAL INTERCOURSE, Har
mony and. — If we can once more get social
intercourse restored to its pristine harmony,
I shall believe we have not lived in vain. — To
THOMAS LOMAX. iv, 361. FORD ED., vii, 500.
(W., Feb. 1801.)
8003. SOCIAL INTERCOURSE, Opin
ions and. — Opinions, which are equally hon
est on both sides, should not affect personal es
teem or social intercourse. — To JOHN ADAMS.
vi, 146. (M., 1813.)
8004. SOCIAL INTERCOURSE, Poli
tics and. — A difference in politics should
never be permitted to enter into social inter
course, or to disturb its friendships, its charities
or justice. — To H. LEE. vii, 376. FORD ED., x,
317. (M., 1824.)
8005. SOCIETIES (Communal), Ex
periments. — A society of seventy families,
the number you name, may very possibly be
governed as a single family, subsisting on their
common industry, and holding all things in
common. Some regulators of the family you
still must have, and it remains to be seen at
what period of your increasing population your
simple regulations will cease to be sufficient to
preserve order, peace, and justice. The ex
periment is interesting ; I shall not live to see
its issue, but I wish it success equal to your
hopes. — To WILLIAM LUDLOW. vii, 378. (M.,
1824.)
8006. SOCIETIES (Communal), Prac
ticability.— That, on the principle of a com
munion of property, small societies may exist
in habits of virtue, order, industry, and peace,
and consequently in a state of as much happi
ness as heaven has been pleased to deal out
to imperfect humanity, I can readily conceive,
and, indeed, have seen its proofs in various
small societies which have been constituted on
that principle. But I do not feel authorized
to conclude from these that an extended soci
ety, like that of the United States, or of an
individual State, could be governed happily on
the same principle. I look to the diffusion of
light and education as the resource most to be
relied on for ameliorating the condition, pro
moting the virtue, and advancing the happiness
of man. — To C. C. BLATCHLY. vii, 263. (M.,
1822.)
— SOCIETIES (Democratic).— See
DEMOCRATIC SOCIETIES.
8007. SOCIETIES (Scientific), Peace
ful. — These [scientific] societies are always
in peace, however their nations may be at war.
Like the republic of letters, they form a great
fraternity spreading over the whole earth, and
their correspondence is never interrupted by
any civilized nation. — To JOHN HOLLINS. v,
428. (W., 1809.)
8008. SOCIETIES (Secret), Dangerous.
— I acknowledge the right of voluntary asso
ciations for laudable purposes and in moderate
numbers. I acknowledge, too, the expediency,
for revolutionary purposes, of general associa
tions, coextensive with the nation. But where,
as in our case, no abuses call for revolution,
voluntary associations so extensive as to grap
ple with and control the government, should
such be or become their purpose, are dangerous
machines, and should be frowned down in
every well regulated government. — To JAMES
MADISON. FORD ED., x, 207. (M., 1822.)
8009. SOCIETIES (Secret), Govern
ment and. — As revolutionary instruments
(when nothing but revolution will cure the evils
of the State) they [secret societies] are neces
sary and indispensable, and the right to use
them is inalienable by the people; but to admit
them as ordinary and habitual instruments as
a part of the machinery of the Constitution,
would be to change that machinery by intro
ducing moving powers foreign to it, and to an
extent depending solely on local views, and,
therefore, incalculable. * — To WILLIAM DUANE.
FORD ED., viii, 256. (M., 1803.) See DEMO
CRATIC SOCIETIES.
8010. SOCIETY, American.— In Amer
ica, * * * the society of your husband,
the fond cares of the children, the arrange
ments of the house, the improvements of the
grounds, fill every moment with a healthy and
an useful activity. Every exertion is encour
aging, because, to present amusement, it joins
the promise of some future good. The inter
vals of leisure are filled by the society of real
friends, whose affections are not tlrnned to
cob-web by being spread over a thousand ob
jects. This is the picture, in the light it is
presented to my mind. — To MRS. BINGHAM. ii,
117. (P., 1787-)
8011. SOCIETY, Jefferson's choice.— I
have changed my circle here [Philadelphia] ac
cording to my wish, abandoning the rich and
declining their dinners and parties, and asso
ciating entirely with the class of science, of
whom there is a valuable society here. — To
MARTHA JEFFERSON RANDOLPH. D. L. J. 262.
(Pa., 1800.)
8012. SOCIETY, Majority rule.— The
fundamental law of every society [is] the lex
majoris partis, to which we are bound to sub
mit. — To DAVID HUMPHREYS, iii, 13. FORD ED
v, 90. (P., 1789-)
8013. SOCIETY, Necessity for.— I am
convinced our own happiness requires that we
should continue to nr'x with the world, and to
keep pace with it as it goes; and that every
* A political committee of Philadelphia had sent
a communication to Jefferson on the subject of re
movals from office. — EDITOR.
Society
Sovereignty
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
820
person who retires from free communica
tion with it is severely punished afterwards
by the state of mind into which he gets, and
which can only be prevented by feeding our
sociable principles. I can speak from ex
perience on this subject. From 1793 to 1797*
I remained closely at home, saw none but those
who came there, and at length became very
sensible of the ill effect it had on my own
mind, and of its direct and irresistible tendency
to render me unfit for society and uneasy when
necessarily engaged in it. I felt enough of
the effect of withdrawing from the world then
to see that it led to an anti-social and misan
thropic state of mind, which severely punishes
him who gives in to it ; and it will be a lesson
I never shall forget as to myself. — To MARY
JEFFERSON EPPES. D. L. J. 284. (W., March
1802.) See SOCIAL INTERCOURSE.
8014. SOCIETY, Parisian.— To what
does the bustle of Paris tend? At eleven
o'clock, it is day, chez madame. The curtains
are drawn. Propped on bolsters and pillows,
and her head scratched into a little order, the
bulletins of the sick are read, and the billets of
the well. She writes to some of her acquaint
ance, and receives the visits of others. If the
morning is not very thronged, she is able to
get out and hobble round the cage of the
Palais Royal ; but she must hobble quickly, for
the coiffeur's turn is come; and a tremendous
turn it is ! Happy, if he does not make her
arrive when dinner is half over ! The torpitude
of digestion a little passed, she flutters half an
hour through the streets, by way of paying
visits, and then to the spectacles. These fin
ished, another half hour is devoted to dodging
in and out of the doors of her very sincere
friends, and away to supper. After supper,
cards ; and after cards, bed ; to rise at noon the
next day, and to tread, like a mill horse, the
same trodden circle over again. Thus the days
of life are consumed, one by one, without an
object beyond the present moment; ever fly
ing from the ennui of that, yet carrying it
with us ; eternally in pursuit of happiness,
which keeps eternally before us. If death or
bankruptcy happen to trip us out of the circle,
it is matter for the buzz of the evening, and
is completely forgotten by the next morning. —
To MRS. BINGHAM. ii, 116. (P., 1787.)
_ SOCIETY OF THE CINCINNATI.—
See CINCINNATI SOCIETY.
8015. SOCBATES, Daemon of. — An ex
pression in your letter * * * that " the human
understanding is a revelation from its Maker ",
gives the best solution that I believe can be
given of the question, " what did Socrates
mean by his Daemon " ? He was too wise to be
lieve, and top honest to pretend that he had
real and familiar converse with a superior and
invisible being. He probably considered the
suggestions of his conscience, or reason, as
revelations, or inspirations from the Supreme
Mind, bestowed, on important occasions, by a
special superintending Providence. — To JOHN
ADAMS, vi, 220. (M., 1813.)
8016. SOCBATES, Plato and.— The su
perlative wisdom of Socrates is testified by all
antiquity, and placed on ground not to be
questioned. When, therefore, Plato puts into his
mouth such paralogisms, such quibbles on
words, and sophisms as a schoolboy would be
ashamed of, we conclude they were the whim
sies of Plato's own foggy brain, and acquit Soc
rates of puerilities so unlike his character. — To
WILLIAM SHORT, vii, 165. (M., 1820.) See
PHILOSOPHY.
8017. SOLITUDE, Philosophy and.—
Let the gloomy monk, sequestered from the
world, seek unsocial pleasures in the bottom
of his cell ! Let the sublimated philosopher
grasp visionary happiness, while pursuing
phantoms dressed in the garb of truth ! Their
supreme wisdom is supreme folly ; and they
mistake for happiness the mere absence of pain.
Had they ever felt the solid pleasure of one
generous spasm of the heart, they would ex
change for it all the frigid speculations of their
lives. — To MRS. COSWAY. ii, 39. FORD ED., iv,
319. (P., 1786.)
8018. SOULS, Transmigration of. — It is
not for me to pronounce on the hypothesis
you present of a transmigration of souls from
one body to another in certain cases. The laws
of nature have withheld from us the means
of physical knowledge of the country of spirits,
and revelation has, for reasons unknown to us,
chosen to leave us in the dark as we were.
When I was young I was fond of the specula
tions which seemed to promise some insight
into that hidden country, but observing at
length that they left me in the same ignorance
in which they had found me.. I have for very
many years ceased to read or to think concern
ing them, and have reposed my head on that
pillow of ignorance which a benevolent Creator
has made so soft for us, knowing how much
we should be forced to use it. I have thought
it better, by nourishing the good passions and
controlling the bad, to merit an inheritance in
a state of being of which I can know so little,
and to trust for the future to Him who has
been so good for the past. — To REV. ISAAC
STORY, iv, 422. FORD ED., viii, 107. (W.,
1 80 1.) See IMMORTALITY.
8019. SOUTH AMEBICA, Bevolt in.—
I enter into all your doubts as to the event
of the revolution of South America. They
will succeed against Spain. But the dangerous
enemy is within their own breasts. Ignorance
and superstition will chain their minds and
bodies under religious and military despotism.
I do believe it would be better for them to ob
tain freedom by degrees only ; because that
would by degrees bring on light and informa
tion, and qualify them to take charge of them
selves understandingly ; with more certainty, if
in the meantime, under so much control as may
k~ep them at peace with one another. Surely,
it is our duty to wsh them independence and
self-government, because they wish it them
selves, and they have the right, and we none,
to choose for themselves ; and I wish, more
over, that our ideas may be erroneous and
theirs prove well-founded. But these are
speculations which we may as well deliver over
to those who are to see their development. — To
JOHN ADAMS, vii, 104. FORD ED., x, 108. (M.,
1818.) See SPANISH AMERICA.
8020. SOUTH CABOLINA, Fidelity.—
The steady union of our fellow citizens of
South Carolina is entirely ;n their character.
They have never failed in fidelity to their coun
try and the republican spirit of its Constitu
tion.— To MR. LETUE. v, 384. (W., 1808.)
8021. SOUTH CABOLINA, Free gov
ernment and.— I see with pleasure another
proof that South Carolina is ever true to the
principles of free government. — To HENRY
MIDDLETON. vi, Qi. (M., Jan. 1813.)
8022. SOVEBEIGNTY, Infringement.
— The granting military commissions within
the United States by any other authority than
their own, is an infringement on their sover-
821
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Sovereignty
Spain
eignty, and particularly so when granted to
their own citizens to lead them to acts con
trary to the duties they owe their own coun
try. — To EDMOND CHARLES GENET, iii, 572.
FORD ED., vi, 283. (Pa., June 1793.)
8023. - — . Mr. Hammond says the
issuing the commission [to the Citoyen
Genet] by M. Genet, within our territory,
was an infringement of our sovereignty ;
therefore, the proceeds of it should be given
up to Great Britain. The infringement was
a matter between France and us. Had we
insisted on any penalty or forfeiture by way
of satisfaction to our insulted rights, it would
have belonged to us, not to a third party.
As between Great Britain and us, * * *
we deemed we did enough to satisfy her. —
To THOMAS PINCKNEY. iii, 583. FORD ED.,
vi, 302. (Pa., June I793-)
8024. SOVEREIGNTY, Justice and.—
The administration of justice is a branch of
the sovereignty over a country, and belongs
exclusively to the nation inhabiting it. No
foreign power can pretend to participate in
their jurisdiction, or that their citizens re
ceived there are not subject to it. — To GEORGE
HAMMOND, iii, 415. FORD ED., vi, 56. (Pa.,
1792.)
8025. SOVEREIGNTY, Partition of.— I
see with great pleasure every testimony to the
principles of pure republicanism; and every
effort to preserve untouched that partition of
the sovereignty which our excellent Consti
tution has made between the general and par
ticular governments. — To JAMES SULLIVAN.
FORD ED., v, 369. (Pa., 1791.)
8026. SPAIN, Bonaparte and.— I sup
pose Napoleon will get possession of Spain ;
but her colonies will deliver themselves to any
member of the Bourbon family. Perhaps Mex
ico will choose its sovereign within itself. He
will find them much more difficult to subdue
than Austria or Prussia ; because an enemy
(even in peace an enemy) possesses the element
over which he is to pass to get at them ; and
a more powerful enemy (climate) will soon
mow down his armies after arrival. This will
be, without any doubt, the most difficult enter
prise the Emperor has ever undertaken. He
may subdue the small colonies ; he never can
the old and strong ; and the former will break
off from him the first war he has again with
a naval pcrwer. — To GENERAL ARMSTRONG, v,
434. (W., March 1809.)
8027. SPAIN, Common interests.— It
may happen * * * that the interests of Spain
and America may call for a concert of proceed
ings against that State (Algiers). * * * May
not the affairs of the Mosquito coast, and our
western posts, produce another instance of a
common interest? Indeed, I meet this cor
respondence of interest in so many quarters,
that I look with anxiety to the issue of Mr.
Gardoqui's mission, hoping it will be a removal
of the only difficulty at present subsisting be
tween the two nations, or which is likely to
arise. — To WILLIAM CARMICHAEL. i, 393. (P.,
1785.)
8028. SPAIN, Conciliation of.— We con
sider Spain's possession of the adjacent coun
try as most favorable to our interests, and
should see with extreme pain any other nation
substituted for them. In all communications,
therefore, with their officers, conciliation and
mutual accommodation are to be mainly at
tended to. Everything irritating to be avoided,
everything friendly to be done for them. — To
WILLIAM C. CLAIBORNE. FORD EDV viii, 71. (W.,
July 1801.)
8029. SPAIN, English alliance against.
— I think you have misconceived the nature
of the treaty I thought we should propose to
England. I have no idea of committing our
selves immediately or independently of our
further will to the war. The treaty should be
provisional only, to come into force on the
event of our being engaged in war with either
France or Spain during the present war in
Europe. In that event we should make com
mon cause, and England should stipulate not
to make peace without our obtaining the objects
for which we go to war, to wit, the acknowl
edgment by Spain of the rightful boundaries
of Louisiana (which we should reduce to our
minimum by a second article) and 2, indemni
fication for spoliations, for which purpose we
should be allowed to make reprisal on the
Floridas and retain them as an indemnification.
Our cooperation in the war (if we should really
enter into it) would be sufficient consideration
for Great Britain to engage for its object; and
it being generally known to France and Spain
that we had entered into treaty with England,
would probably ensure us a peaceable and im
mediate settlement of both points. But another
motive much more powerful would indubitably
induce England to go much further. Whatever
ill-humor may at times have been expressed
against us by individuals of that country, the
first wish of every Englishman's heart is to see
us once more fighting by their sides against
France ; nor could the King or his ministers
do an act so popular as to enter into an alliance
with us. The nation would not weigh the con
sideration by grains and scruples. They would
consider it as the price and pledge of an in
dissoluble friendship. I think it possible that
for such a provisional treaty they would give us
their general guarantee of Louisiana and the
Floridas. At any rate we might try them. A
failure would not make our situation worse. If
such a one could be obtained, we might await
our conven;ence for calling up the casus
faderis. I think it important that England
should receive an overture as early as possible,
as it might prevent her listening to terms of
peace. If I recollect rightly, we had instructed
Monroe, when he went to Paris, to settle the
deposit ; if he failed in that object to propose
a treaty to England immediately. We could
not be more engaged to secure the deposit than
we are the country now, after paying fifteen
millions for it. I do expect, therefore, that,
considering the present state of things as anala-
gous to that, and virtually within his instruc
tions, he will very likely make the proposition
to England. — To JAMES MADISON, iv, 585.
FORD ED., viii, 377. (M., Aug. 1805.)
8030. . A letter from Charles
Pinckney of May 22 [1805], informs me that
Spain refuses to settle a limit, and perseveres
in withholding the ratification of the conven
tion. He says not a word of the status quo,
from which I conclude it has not been proposed.
* * * I think the status quo, if not already pro
posed, should be immediately offered through
Bowdoin. Should it even be refused, the re
fusal to settle a limit is not of itself a sufficient
cause of war, nor is the withholding a ratifica
tion worthy of such a redress. Yet these acts
show a purpose both in Spain and France which
Spain
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
822
we ought to provide before the conclusion of
a peace. I think, therefore, we should take into
consideration whether we ought not immedi
ately to propose to England an eventual treaty
of alliance, to come into force whenever
(within — years) a war shall take place with
Spain or France. It may be proper for the
ensuing Congress to make some preparations
for such an event, and it should be in our
power to show we have done the same. — To
JAMES MADISON. FORD ED., viii, 374. (M., Aug.
1805.)
8031. . On a view of our affairs
with Spain, * * * I wrote you * * * that I
thought we should offer them the status quo,
but immediately propose provisional alliance
with England. I have not yet received the
whole correspondence. But the portion of the
papers now enclosed to you, confirm me in
the expediency of a treaty with England, but
make the offer of the status quo more doubtful.
* * * From the papers already received I infer
a confident reliance on the part of Spain on the
omnipotence of Bonaparte, but a desire of pro
crastination till peace in Europe shall leave
us without an ally. — To JAMES MADISON, iv,
583. FORD ED., viii, 375. (M., Aug. 1805.)
8032. SPAIN, Friendship with.— Under
an intimate conviction of long standing in my
mind, of the importance of an honest friendship
with Spain, and one which shall identify her
American interests with our own, I see in a
strong point of view the necessity that the
organ of communication which we establish
near the King should possess the favor and con
fidence of that government. I have, therefore,
destined for that mission a person whose ac
commodating and reasonable conduct, which
will be still more fortified by instructions, will
render him agreeable there, and an useful chan
nel of communication between us. I have no
doubt the new appointment by that government
to this, in the room of the Chevalier d'Yrujo,
has been made under the influence of the same
motives. — To DON JOSEPH YZNARDI. iv, 385.
FORD ED., viii, 33. (W., March 1801.)
8033. . The Chevalier d'Yrujo
being intimately known to us, the integrity,
sincerity, and reasonableness of his conduct
having established in us a perfect confidence, in
nowise diminished by the bickerings which took
place between him and a former Secretary of
State [Pickering], whose irritable temper drew
on more than one affair of the same kind, it
will be a subject of great regret if we lose him.
However, if the interests of Spain require that
his services should be employed elsewhere, it is
the duty of a friend to acquiesce ; and we shall
certainly receive any successor the King may
choose to send, with every possible degree of
favor and friendship. — To DON JOSEPH YZN
ARDI. iv, 385. FORD ED., viii, 33. (W., March
1801.)
8034. SPAIN, Good faith towards.— No
better proof of the good faith of the United
States could have been given, than the vigor
with which we have acted, and the expense in
curred, in suppressing the enterprise meditated
lately by Burr against Mexico. Although at
first he proposed a separation of the Western
covintry, and on that ground received encour
agement and aid from Yrujo, according to the
usual spirit of his government towards us, yet
he very early saw that the fidelity of the West
ern country was not to be shaken, and turned
himself wholly towards Mexico. And so pop
ular is an enterprise on that country in this,
that we had only to be still, and he would
have had followers enough to have been in the
city of Mexico in six weeks. — To JAMES Bow-
DOIN. v, 64. FORD ED., ix, 41. (W., April
1807.)
8035. SPAIN, Good offices of.— I see
with extreme satisfaction and gratitude the
friendly interposition of the court of Spain
with the Emperor of Morocco on the subject of
the brig Betsey, and I am persuaded it will
produce the happiest effects in America. Those,
who are intrusted with the public affairs there,
are sufficiently sensible how essential it is for
our interest to cultivate peace with Spain, and
they will be pleased to see a corresponding dis
position in that court. The late good office
of emancipating a number of our countrymen
from slavery is peculiarly calculated to produce
a sensation among our people, and to dispose
them to relish and adopt the pacific and friendly
views of their leaders towards Spain. — To W.
CARMICHAEL. i, 392. (P., 1785.)
8036. SPAIN", Government of.— If any
thing thrasonic and foolish from Spain could
add to my contempt of that government, it
would be the demand of satisfaction now made
by Foronda. However, respect to ourselves
requires that the answer should be decent, and I
think it fortunate that this opportunity is given
to make a strong declaration of facts, to wit,
how far our knowledge of Miranda's objects
went, what measures we took to prevent any
thing further, the negligence of the Spanish
agents to give us earlier notice, the measures
we took for punishing those guilty, and our
quiet abandonment of those taken by the Span
iards. — To JAMES MADISON, v, 164. FORD ED.,
ix, 124. (M., Aug. 1807.) See MIRANDA EX
PEDITION.
8037. SPAIN, Honest, but unwise.—
Spain is honest if it is not wise. — To JOHN
ADAMS. FORD ED., iv, 295. (P., 1786.)
8038. SPAIN, Hostility of.— pur rela
tions with Spain are vitally interesting. That
they should be of a peaceable and friendly char
acter has been our most earnest desire. Had
Spain met us with the same dispositions, our
idea was that her existence in this hemisphere
and ours should have rested on the same bot
tom ; should have swam or sunk together. We
want nothing of hers, and we want no other
nation to possess what is hers. But she has
met our advances with jealousy, secret malice
and ill-faith. Our patience under this un
worthy return of disposition is now on its last
trial. And the issue of what is now depending
between us will decide whether our relations
with her are to be sincerely friendly, or perma
nently hostile. I still wish and would cherish
the former, but have ceased to expect it. — To
JAMES BOWDOIN. FORD ED., viii, 351. (W.,
April 1805.)
8039. SPAIN, Incitement of Indians.—
With respect to the treaties, the speech and
the letter, you will see that they undertake to
espouse the concerns of Indians within our
limits ; to be mediators of boundary between
them and us ; to guarantee that boundary to
them ; to support them with their whole power ;
and hazard to us intimations of acquiescence to
avoid disagreeable results. They even propose
to extend their intermedddlings to the northern
Indians. These are pretensions so totally in
consistent with the usages established among
the white nations, with respect to Indians liv
ing within their several limits, that it is be
lieved no example of them can be produced, in
times of peace ; and they are presented to us in
823
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Spain
a manner which we cannot deem friendly. —
To CARMICHAEL AND SHORT, iii, 366. FORD ED..,
vi, 272. (Pa., May I793-)
8040. . The papers communi
cated you [in October and November, 1792]
made it evident that the Baron de Carondelet,
the Governor of New Orleans, had industri
ously excited the southern Indians to war
against us, and furnished them with arms and
ammunition in abundance, for that express pur
pose. We placed this under the view of the
commissioners of Spain here, who undertook to
communicate it to their court, and also to write
on the subject to the Baron de Carondelet.
They have lately made us communications from
both these quarters; the aspect of which, how
ever, is by no means such as to remove the
causes of our dissatisfaction. I send you these
communications, consisting of treaties between
Spain, the Creeks, Choctaws, Chickasaws, and
Cherokees, handed us by express order from
their court, a speech of Baron de Carondelet
to the Cherokees, and a letter from Messrs, de
Viar and Jaudenes, covering that speech, and
containing in itself very serious matter. I will
first observe to you, that the question stated
in that letter, to have been proposed to the
Cherokees, what part they would take, in the
event of a war between the United States and
Spain ? was never proposed by authority from
this government. Its instructions to its agents
have, on the contrary, been explicitly to culti
vate, with good faith, the peace between Spain
and the Indians ; and from the known prudence
and good conduct of Governor Blount, to whom
it is imputed, it is not believed to have been
proposed by him. This proposition, then, you
are authorized to disavow to the court of
Madrid, in the most unequivocal terms. — To
CARMICHAEL AND SHORT, iii, 566. FORD ED.,
vi, 271. (Pa., May 1793.)
8041. . The consequence is that
the Indians, and particularly the Creeks, find
ing themselves so encouraged, have passed,
without the least provocation on our part, from
a state of peace, which appeared to be well set
tled, to that of serious hostility. Their mur
ders and depredations, which, for some months
we were willing to hope were only individual
aggressions, now assume the appearance of un
equivocal war. Yet, such is our desire of
courting and cultivating the peace of all our
Indian neighbors, that instead of marching at
once into their country, and taking satisfaction
ourselves, we are peaceably requiring punish
ment of the individual aggressors ; and, in the
meantime, are holding ourselves entirely on
the defensive. Btit this state of things cannot
continue. Our citizens are entitled to effectual
protection, and defensive measures are, at the
same time, the most expensive and least effect
ual. If we find, then, that peace cannot be ob
tained by the temperate means we are still pur
suing, we must proceed to those which are ex
treme, and meet all the consequences, of what
ever nature, or from whatever quarter they may
be. — To CARMICHAEL AND SHORT, iii, 567.
FORD ED., vi, 272. (Pa., May 1793.)
8042. . We have certainly been
always desirous to avoid whatever might dis
turb our harmony with Spa:n. We should be
stll more so, at a moment when we see that
nation making part of so powerful a confeder
acy as is formed in Europe, and under particular
good understanding with England, our other
neighbor. In so delicate a position, therefore,
instead of expressing our sense of these things,
by way of answer to Messrs. Viar and Jau
denes, the President has thought it better that
it should be done to you, and to trust to your
discretion the moment, the measure, and the
form of communicating it to the Court of Ma
drid. The actual state of Europe at the time
you will receive this, the solidity of the con
federacy, and especially, as between Spain and
England, the temper and views of the former,
or of both, towards us, the state of your nego
tiation, are circumstances which will enable you
better to decide how far it may be necessary to
soften, or even, perhaps, to suppress, the ex
pressions of our sentiments on this subject.
To your discretion, therefore, it is committed
by the President, to let the Court of Spain see
how impossible it is for us to submit with folded
arms, to be butchered by these savages, and to
prepare them to view, with a just eye, the more
vigorous measures we must pursue to put an
end to their atrocities, if the moderate ones we
are now taking, should fail of that effect. — To
CARMICHAEL AND SHORT, iii, 567. FORD ED.,
vi, 272. (Pa., May I793-)
8043. SPAIN, Invasion of .—The inva
sion of Spain has been the most unprecedented
and unprincipled of the transactions of modern
times. The crimes of its enemies, the licen
tiousness of its associates in defence, the ex
ertions and sufferings of its inhabitants under
slaughter and famine, and its consequent de
population, will mark indelibly the baneful as
cendency of the tyrants of the sea and conti
nent, and characterize with blood and wretched
ness the age in which they have lived. — To LE
CHEVALIER DE ONIS. vi, 341. (M., 1814.)
8044. SPAIN", Loss of colonies.— I hail
your country as now likely to resume and sur
pass its ancient splendor among nations. This
might perhaps have been better secured by a
just confidence in the self-sufficient strength
of the peninsula itself; everything without its
limits being its weakness, not its force. — To
CHEVALIER DE ONIS. vi, 342. (M., April
1814.)
8045. SPAIN, Peace with.— Spain is so
evidently picking a quarrel with us, that we
see a war absolutely inevitable with her. We
are making a last effort to avoid it. — To JAMES
MONROE, iv, 6. FORD ED., vi, 322. (June
I793-)
8046. . We are sending a cou
rier to Madrid to make a last effort for the pres
ervation of honorable peace. — To JAMES MADI
SON, iv, 8. FORD ED., vi, 325. (June 1793.)
8047. SPAIN, Perfidy of.— Never did a
nation act towards another with more perfidy
and injustice than Spain has constantly prac
ticed against us ; and if we have kept
our hands off her till now, it has been purely
out of respect to France, and from the value
we set on the friendship of France. We ex
pect, therefore, from the friendship of the Em
peror, that he will either compel Spain to do
us justice, or abandon her to us. We ask but
one month to be in possession of the city of
Mexico. — To JAMES BOWDOIN. v, 64. FORD
ED., ix, 40. (W., April 1807.)
8048. SPAIN, Reprisal on.— While war
with England is probable, everything leading to
it with every other nation should be avoided,
except Spain. As to her, I think it the precise
moment when we should declare to the French
government that we will instantly seize on the
Floridas as reprisal for the spoliations denied
us, and, that if by a given day they are paid to
us, we will restore all east of the Perdido, and
hold the rest subject to amicable decision.
Spain
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
824
Otherwise, we will hold them forever as a com
pensation for the spoliations. — To JAMES MAD
ISON, v, 181. FORD ED., ix, 134. (M., Sep.
1807.)
8049. SPAIN, Republicanism in. —
The spirit of the Spaniard, and his deadly
and eternal hatred to a Frenchman, give me
much confidence that he will never submit, but
finally defeat this atrocious violation of the
jaws of God and man, under which he is suffer
ing ; and the wisdom and firmness of the Cortes
afford reasonable hope that that nation will set
tle down in a temperate representative govern
ment, with an executive properly subordinated
to that. — To JOHN ADAMS, vii, 308. FORD ED.,
x, 270. (M., 1823.)
8050. SPAIN", Spanish America and. —
The most advantageous relation in which Spain
can stand with her American colonies is that of
independent friendship, secured by the ties of
consanguinity, sameness of language, religion,
manners, and habits, and certain from the influ
ence of these, of a preference in her commerce,
if, instead of the eternal irritations, thwart-
ings, machinations against their new^ govern
ments, the insults and aggressions which Great
Britain has so unwisely practiced towards us,
to force us to hate her against our natural
inclinations, Spain yields, like a genuine parent,
to the forisfamiliation of her colonies, now at
maturity, if she extends to them her affections,
her aid, her patronage in every court and
country, it will weave a bond of union indisso
luble by time. — To DON V. DE TORONDA COR-
UNA. vi, 274. (M., Dec. 1813.)
8051. . That Spain's divorce
from its American colonies, which is now un
avoidable, will be a great blessing, it is impos
sible not to pronounce on a review of what she
was when she acquired them, and of her grad
ual descent from that proud eminence to the
condition in which her present war found her.
Nature has formed that peninsula to be the sec
ond, and why not the first nation in Europe?
Give equal habits of energy to the bodies, and
of science to the minds of her citizens, and
where could her superior be found? — To DON
V. DE TORONDA CORUNA. vi, 274. (M., Dec.
1813.)
8052. SPAIN, Spoliations and bound
aries. — With Spain our negotiations for a
settlement of differences have not had a satis
factory issue. Spoliations during the former
war, for which she had formally acknowledged
herself responsible, have been refused to be
compensated, but on conditions affecting other
claims in nowise connected with them. Yet the
same practices are renewed in the present war,
and are already of great amount. On the Mo
bile, our commerce passing through that river
continues to be obstructed by arbitrary duties
and vexatious searches. Propositions for ad
justing amicably the boundaries of Louisiana
have not been acceded to. While, however,
the right is unsettled, we have avoided chang
ing the state of things, by taking new posts, or
strengthening ourselves in the disputed terri
tories, in the hope that the other power would
not, by a contrary conduct, oblige us to meet
their example, and endanger conflicts of author
ity, the issue of which may not be entirely con
trolled. But in this hope we have now reason
to lessen our confidence. Inroads have been
recently made into the territories of Orleans
and the Mississippi, our citizens have been
seized and their property plundered in the very
parts of the former which had been actually
delivered up by Spain, and this by the regular
officers and soldiers of that government. I
have, therefore, found it necessary at length
to give orders to our troops on that frontier
to be in readiness to protect our citizens, and
to repel by arms any similar aggressions in^
future. — FIFTH ANNUAL MESSAGE, viii, 48.
FORD ED., viii, 390. (Dec. 3, 1805.)
8053. . — . The depredations which
had been committed on the commerce of the
United States during a preceding war, by per
sons under the authority of Spain * * *
made it a duty to require from that government
indemnifications for our injured citizens. A
convention was accordingly entered into * * *
by which it was agreed that spoliations com
mitted by Spanish subjects and carried into
ports of Spain should be paid for by that na
tion ; and that those committed by French sub
jects, and carried into Spanish ports should re
main for further discussion. Before this con
vention was returned to Spain with our ratifi
cation, the transfer of Louisiana by France to
the United States took place, an event as unex
pected as disagreeable to Spain. From that
moment she seemed to change her conduct and
dispositions towards us. It was first mani
fested by her protest against the right of France
to alienate Louisiana to us, which however
was soon retracted, and the right confirmed.
Then, high offence was manifested at the act of
Congress establishing a collection district on
the Mobile, although by an authentic declara
tion immediately made, it was expressly con
fined to our acknowledged limits. And she
now refused to ratify the convention s;gned by
her own minister under the eye of his sov
ereign, unless we would relinquish all consent
to alterations of its terms which would have
affected our claims against her for the spolia
tions by French subjects carried into Spanish
ports. To obtain justice, as well as to restore
friendship, I thought a special mission advi
sable, and accordingly appointed James Monroe,
Minister Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary,
to repair to Madrid, and in conjunction with
our Minister Resident there, to endeavor to
procure a ratification of the former convention,
and to come to an understanding with Spain
as to the boundaries of Louisiana. It appeared
at once that her policy was to reserve herself
for events, and in the meantime to keep our
differences in an undetermined state. This
will be evident from the papers now communi
cated to you. After nearly five months of fruit
less endeavor to bring them to some definite
and satisfactory result our ministers ended the
conferences without having been able to obtain
indemnity for spoliations of any description,
or any satisfaction as to the boundaries of
Louisiana, other than a declaration that we
had no rights eastward of the Iberyille, and
that our line to the west was one which would
have left us but a string of land on that bank
of the river Mississippi. Our injured citizens
were thus left without any prospect of retribu
tion from the wrongdoer ; and as to the bound
ary each party was to take its own course.
That which they have chosen to pursue will
appear from the documents now communicated.
They authorize the inference that it is their
intention to advance on our possessions until
they shall be repressed by an opposing force.
Considering that Congress alone is constitu
tionally invested with the power of changing
our condition from peace to war, I have thought
it my duty to await their authority for using
force in any degree which could be avoided.
I have barely instructed the officers stationed
in the neighborhood of the aggressions to pro
tect our citizens from violence, to patrol within
825
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Spain
Spanish America
the borders actually delivered to us, and not
to go out of them but when necessary to repel
an inroad, or to rescue a citizen or his property.
— CONFIDENTIAL MESSAGE. FORD ED., viii,
397. (Dec. 6, 1805.)
8054. . With Spain we are ma
king a last effort at peaceable accommodation.
The subject is merely a settlement of the limits
of Louisiana, and our right of passing down the
rivers of Florida. This negotiation is to be held
at Paris, where we may have the benefit of the
good offices of France, but she will be no
party to the contract. — To THOMAS PAINE.
FORD ED., viii, 436. (W., March 1806.)
8055.
. Notwithstanding the
efforts made here, and made professedly to
assassinate the negotiation in embryo, if the
good sense of Bonaparte should prevail over
his temper, the present state of things in Eu
rope may induce him to require of Spain that
she should do us justice at least. That he
should require her to sell us East Florida, we
have no right to insist ; yet there are not want
ing considerations which may induce him to
w'sh a permanent foundation for peace laid
between us. — To MR. BIDWELL. v, 15. (W.,
July 1806.)
8056. . It is grossly false that
our ministers * * * had proposed to sur
render our claims to compensation for Spanish
spoliations, or even for French. Their instruc
tions were to make no treaty in which Spanish
spoliations were not provided for ; and although
they were permitted to be silent as to French
spoliations carried into Spanish ports, they
were not expressly to abandon even them. —
To W. A. BURWELL. v, 20. FORD ED., viii,
469. (M., Sep. 1806.)
8057. . Our affairs with Spain
laid dormant during the absence of Bonaparte
from Paris, because we know Spain would do
nothing towards settling them, but by compul
sion. Immediately on his return, our terms
were stated to him, and his interposition ob
tained. If it was with good faith, its effect will
be instantaneous ; if not with good faith, we
shall discover it by affected delays, and must
decide accordingly. — To WILLIAM SHORT, v,
211. (W., Nov. 1807.)
8058. SPAIN, Treaty with.— Some fear
our envelopment in the wars engendering from
the unsettled state of our affairs with Spain,
and therefore are anxious for a ratification of
our treaty with her. I fear no such thing, and
hope that if rat:fied by Spain, it will be rejected
here. We may justly say to Spain, " When this
negotiation commenced, twenty years ago, your
authority was acknowledged by those you are
selling to us. That authority is now renounced,
and their right of self-disposal asserted. In
buying them from you, then, we buy but a war-
title, a right to subdue them, which you can
neither convey nor we acquire. This is a fam
ily quarrel, in which we have no right to med
dle. Settle it between -yourselves, and we will
then treat with the party whose right is ac
knowledged ". With whom that will be, no doubt
can be entertained. And why should we re
volt them by purchasing them as cattle, rather
than receiving them as fellow-men? Spain has
held off until she sees they are lost to her, and
now thinks it better to get something than noth
ing for them. When she shall see South Amer
ica equally desperate, she will be wise to sell
that also.— To M. DE LAFAYETTE. vii, 194-
FORD ED., x, 179. (M., Dec. 1820.)
8059. SPAIN, War against.— I had
rather have war against Spain than not, if we
go to war against England. Our southern de
fensive force can take the Floridas, volunteers
for a Mexican army will flock to our standard,
and rich pabulum will be offered to our pri
vateers in the plunder of their commerce and
coasts. Probably Cuba would add itself to our
confederation. — To JAMES MADISON, v, 164.
FORD ED., ix, 124. (M., Aug. 1807.) See FLOR
IDA, LOUISIANA, MISSISSIPPI RIVER NAVIGA
TION, NEW ORLEANS and SPANISH AMERICA.
8060. SPANISH AMERICA, Aid to.—
Every kindness which can be shown the South
Americans, every friendly office and a'd within
the limits of the law of nations, I would extend
to them, without fearing Spain or her Swiss
auxiliaries. For this is but an asserton of our
own independence. But to join in their war,
as General Scott proposes, and to which even
some members of Congress seem to squint, is
what we ought not to do as yet. — To JAMES
MONROE, vi, 550. FORD EDV x, 19. (M., Feb.
1816.)
8061. . That a war is brewing
between us and Spain cannot be doubted.
When that disposition is matured on both sides,
and open rupture can no longer be deferred,
then will be the time for our joining the South
Americans, and entering into treaties of alliance
with them. There will then be but one opinion,
at home or abroad, that we shall be justifiable
in choosing to have them with us, rather than
against us. In the meantime, they will have
organized regular governments, and perhaps
have formed themselves into one or more con
federacies ; more than one, I hope, as in single
mass they would be a very formidable neighbor.
— To JAMES MONROE, vi, 551. FORD ED., x, 19.
(M., Feb. 1816.)
8062. . The Spanish Colonies
cannot reasonably expect us to sink ourselves
uselessly and even injuriously for them by a
quixotic encounter of tie whole world in arms.
Were it Spain alone I should have no fear.
But Russia is said to have seventy ships of the
line : France approaching that number, and
what should we be in fronting such a force?
It is not for the interest of Spanish America
that our Republic should be blotted out of the
map, and to the rest of the world it would be
an act of treason. — To PRESIDENT MONROE.
FORD ED., x, 316. (M., July 1824.)
8063. SPANISH AMERICA, Constitu
tion for. — For such a condition of society,
the constitution you [Dupont de Nemours]
have devised is probably the best imaginable.
It is certainly calculated to elicit the best
talents ; although perhaps not well guarded
against the egoism of its functionaries. But
that egoism will be light in comparison with the
pressure of a military despot and his army of
Janizaries. Like Solon to the Athenians, you
have given to your Columbians, not the best
possible government, but the best they can bear.
— To DUPONT DE NEMOURS, vi, 592. FORD
ED., x, 25. (P.P., 1816.)
8064. SPANISH AMERICA, Ignorance
in. — Another great field of political experi
ment is opening in our neighborhood, in Span
ish America. I fear the degrading ignorance
into which their priests and kings have sunk
them, has disqualified them from the main
tenance or even knowledge of their rights, and
that much blood may be shed for little improve
ment in their condition. Should their new
rulers honestly lay their shoulders to remove
Spanish America
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
826
the great obstacles of ignorance, and press the
remedies of education and information, they
will still be in jeopardy until another genera
tion comes into place, and what may happen in
the interval cannot be predicted. — To DUPONT
I>E NEMOURS, v, 584. FORD ED., ix, 322. (M.,
z8zi.)
8065. . No mortal wishes them
more success than I do. But if what I have
heard of the ignorance and bigotry of the mass
be true, I doubt their capacity to understand
and to support a free government ; and fear that
their emancipation from the foreign tyranny of
Spain, will result in a military despotism at
home. Palacios may be great; others may be
great ; but it is the multitude which possess
force ; and wisdom must yield to that. — To
DUPONT DE NEMOURS, vi, 592. FORD ED., x,
25. (P.F., 1816.)
8066. SPANISH AMERICA, Independ
ence of.— It is intimated to us, in such a way
as to attract our attention, that France means
to send a strong force early this spring to offer
independence to the Spanish American colonies,
beginning with those on the Mississippi and
that she will not object to the receiving those
on the East side into our confederation. Inter
esting considerations require that we should
keep ourselves free to act in this case according
to circumstances, and consequently that you
should not, by any clause of treaty, bind us to
guarantee any of the Spanish colonies against
their own independence ; nor indeed against
any other nation. For, when we thought we
might guarantee Louisiana on their ceding the
Floridas to us, we apprehended it would be
seized by Great Britain, who would thus com
pletely encircle us with her colonies and fleets.
This danger is now removed by the concert be
tween Great Britain and Spain. And the times
will soon enough give independence, and con
sequently free commerce to our neighbors, with
out our risking the involving ourselves in a
war for them.* — To CARMICHAEL AND SHORT.
iii, 534- FORD ED-> vi» 2°6- (Pa'} March
I793-)
8067. . On the question of our
interest in their independence, were that alone
a sufficient motive of action, much may be said
on both sides. When they are free, they will
drive every article of our produce from every
market, by underselling it, and change the con
dition of our existence, forcing us into other
habits and pursuits. We shall indeed, have
in exchange some commerce with them, but in
what I know not, for we shall have nothing
to offer which they cannot raise cheaper ; and
their separation from Snain seals our everlast
ing peace with her. On the other hand, so
long as they are dependent, Spain, from her
jealousy, is our natural enemy, and always in
either open or secret hostility with us. These
countries, too, in war will be a powerful weight
in her scale, and, in peace, totally shut to us.
Interest, then, on the whole, would wish their
independence, and justice makes the wish a
duty. They have a right to be free, and we a
right to aid them, as a strong man has a right
to assist a weak one assailed by a robber or
murderer. — To JAMES MONROE, vi, 550. FORD
ED., x, 19. (M., Feb. 1816.)
8068. . We go with you all
lengths in friendly affections to the independ-
* Short and Carmichael were commissioners to
negotiate a treaty with Spain. Appended to the
extract are the words in President Washington's
handwriting : " The above meets the approval of
George Washington."— EDITOR.
ence of South America. But an immediate
acknowledgment of it calls up other considera
tions. We view Europe as covering at present
a smothered fire, which may shortly burst forth
and produce general conflagration. From this
it is our duty to keep aloof. A formal acknowl
edgment of the independence of her Colonies
would involve us with Spain certainly, and per
haps, too, with England, if she thinks that a
war would divert her internal troubles. Such
a war would hurt us more than it would help
our brethren of the South ; and our right may
be doubted of mortgaging posterity for the ex
penses of a war in which they will have a
right to say their interests were not concerned.
— To DESTUTT TRACY. FORD ED., x, 174. (M.,
1820.)
8069. SPANISH AMERICA, Interest
in. — However distant we may be, both in
condition and dispositions, from taking an ac
tive part in any commotions in that country
[South America], nature has placed it too near
us, to make its movements altogether indifferent
to our interests, or to our curiosity. — To JOHN
JAY. ii, 145. FORD ED., iv, 385. (Mar. 1787.)
8070. SPANISH AMERICA, Name for.
— I wish you had called them the Columbian
republics, to distinguish them from our Amer
ican republics. Theirs would be the more hon
orable name, and they best entitled to it ; for
Columbus discovered their continent, but never
saw ours. — To DUPONT DE NEMOURS, vi, 593.
FORD ED., x, 25. (P.F., 1816.)
8071. SPANISH AMERICA, Natural
divisions of.— The geography of the [Span
ish-American] country seems to indicate three
confederacies, i. What is north of the Isth
mus. 2. What is south of it on the Atlantic ;
and 3, the southern part on the Pacific. In
this form, we might be the balancing power. —
To JAMES MONROE, vi, 551. FORD ED., x, 20.
(M., Feb. 1816.)
8072. SPANISH AMERICA, Relations
with Spain. — If the mother country [Spain]
has not the magnanimity to part with the colo
nies in friendship, thereby making them what
they would certainly be, her natural and firmest
allies, these will emancipate themselves, after
exhausting her strength and resources in in
effectual efforts to hold them in subjection.
They will be rendered enemies of the mother
country, as England has rendered us by an
unremitting course of insulting ''njuries and
silly provocations. I do not say this from the
impulse of national interest, for I do not know
that the United States would find an interest
in the independence of neighbor nations, whose
produce and commerce would rivalize ours. It
could only be that kind of interest which every
human being has in the happiness and prosper
ity of every other. But putting right and rea
son out of the question, I have no doubt that
on calculations of interest alone, it is that of
Spain to anticipate voluntarily, and as a matter
of grace, the independence of her colonies,
which otherwise necessity will force. — To CHEV
ALIER DE ONIS. vi, 342. (M., April 1814.)
8073. SPANISH AMERICA, Revolt of.
— Behold another example of man rising in
his might and bursting the chains of his op
pressor, and in the same hemisphere. Spanish
America is all in revolt. The insurgents are
triumphant in many of the States, and will be
so in all. But there the danger is that the
cruel arts of their oppressors have enchained
their minds, have kept them in the ignorance
827
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Spanish America
of children, and as incapable of self-govern
ment as children. If the obstacles of bigotry
and priestcraft can be surmounted, we may
hope that common sense will suffice to do every
thing else. God send them a safe deliverance.
— To GENERAL KOSCIUSKO. v, 586. (M.,
1811.)
8074. . That they will throw off
their European dependence I have no doubt ;
but in what kind of government their revolution
will end I am not so certain. History, I be
lieve, furnishes no example of a priest-ridden
people maintaining a free civil government.
This marks the lowest grade of ignorance, of
which their civil as well as religious leaders will
always avail themselves for their own purposes.
The vicinity of New Spain to the United States,
and their consequent intercourse, may furnish
schools for the higher, and example for the
lower classes of their citizens. And Mexico,
where we learn from you that men of science
are not wanting, may revolutionize itself un
der better auspices than the Southern provinces.
These last, I fear, must end in military des
potisms. The different castes of their inhabit
ants, their mutual hatreds and jealousies, their
profound ignorance and bigotry, will be played
off by cunning leaders, and each be made the
instrument of enslaving others. * * * But
in whatever governments they end they will be
American governments, no longer to be in
volved in the never-ceasing broils of Europe. —
To BARON VON HUMBOLDT. vi, 267. FORD ED.,
ix, 430. (Dec. 1813.)
8075. SPANISH AMERICA, Self-gov
ernment and.— The Spanish- American coun
tries are beginning to be interesting to the
whole world. They are now becoming the
scenes of political revolution, to take their sta
tions as integral members of the great family
of nations. All are now in insurrection. In
several, the Independents are already trium
phant, and they will undoubtedly be so in all.
What kind of government will they establish ?
How much liberty can they bear without in
toxication? Are their chiefs sufficiently en
lightened to form a well-guarded government,
and their people to watch their chiefs? Have
they mind enough to place their domesticated
Indians on a footing with the whites? All
these questions you [Baron Humboldt] can
answer better than any other. I imagine they
will copy our outlines of confederation and elec
tive government, abolish distinction of ranks,
bow the neck to their priests, and persevere in
intolerantism. Their greatest difficulty will be
in the construction of their executive. I sus
pect that, regardless of the experiment of
France, and of that of the United States in
1784, they will begin with a directory, and when
the unavoidable schisms in that kind of execu
tive shall drive them to something else, their
great question will come on whether to substi
tute an executive elective for years, for life,
or an hereditary one. But unless instruction
can be spread among them more rapidly than
experience promises, despotism may come upon
them before they are qualified to save the
ground they will have gained. — To BARON VON
HUMBOLDT. v, 580. (M., April 1811.)
8076. . The achievement [by
the Spanish Colonies] of their independence of
Spain is no longer a question. But it is a very
serious one, what will then become of them ?
Ignorance and bigotry, like other insanities, are
incapable of self-government. They will fall
under military despotism, and become the mur
derous tools of the ambition of their respective
Bonapartes; and whether this will be for their
greater happiness, the rule of one only has
taught you to judge. No one, I hope, can doubt
my wish to see them and all mankind exer
cising self-government, and capable of exer
cising it. But the question is not what we
wish, but what is practicable? As their sin
cere friend and brother, then, I do believe the
best thing for them, would be for themselves
to come to an accord with Spain, under the
guarantee of France, Russia, Holland, and the
United States, allowing, to Spain a nominal
supremacy, with authority only to keep the
peace among them, leaving them otherwise all
the powers of self-government, until their ex
perience in tiiem, their emancipation from their
priests, and advancement in information, shall
prepare them for complete independence. I
exclude England from this confederacy, be
cause her selfish principles render her incapa
ble of honorable patronage or disinterested co
operation. — To MARQUIS LAFAYETTE, vii, 67.
FORD ED., x, 84. (M., 1817.)
8077, . The issue of [Spanish
America's] struggles, as they respect Spain, is
no longer matter of doubt. As it respects their
own liberty, peace and happiness, we cannot be
quite so certain. Whether the blinds of big
otry, the shackles of the priesthood, and the
fascinating glare of rank and wealth, give fair
play to the common sense of the mass of their
people, so far as to qualify them for self-govern
ment, is what we do not know. Perhaps our
wishes may be stronger than our hopes. — To
F. H. ALEXANDER VON HUMBOLDT. vii, 74.
FORD ED., x, 88. (M., 1817.)
8078. . I feared from the begin
ning that these people were not yet sufficiently
enlightened for self-government ; and that after
wading through blood and slaughter, they would
end in military tyrannies, more or less numerous.
Yet, as they wished to try the experiment, I
wished them success in it ; they have now tried
it, and will possibly find that their safest road
will be an accommodation with the mother
country, which shall hold them together by
the single link of the same chief magistrate,
leaving to him power enough to keep them in
peace with one another, and to themselves the
essential power of self-government and self-
improvement, until they shall be sufficiently
trained by education and habits of freedom, to
walk safely by themselves. Representative
government, native functionaries, a qualified
negative on their laws, with a previous security
by compact for freedom of commerce, freedom
of the press, habeas corpus and trial by jury,
would make a good beginn:ng. This last would
be the school in which their people might begin
to learn the exercise of civic duties as well as
rights. For freedom of religion they are not
yet prepared. The scales of bigotry have not
sufficiently fallen from their eyes, to accept it
for themselves individually, much less to trust
others with it. But that will come in time, as
well as a general ripeness to break entirely from
the parent stem. — To JOHN ADAMS, vii, 200.
FORD ED., x, 186. (M., Jan. 1821.)
8079. SPANISH AMERICA, United
States and. — I cannot help suspecting the
Spanish squadron to be gone to South America,
and that some disturbances have been excited
there by the British. The Court of Madrid
may suppose we would not see this with an
unwilling eye. This may be true as to the
uninformed part of our people ; but those who
look into futurity farther than the present mo
ment or age, and who combine well what is,
Special Legislation
Speculation
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
828
with what is to be, must see that our interests,
well understood, and our wishes are, that Spain
shall (not forever, but) very long retain her
possessions in that quarter ; and that her views
and ours must, in a good degree, and for a long
time, concur. — To WILLIAM CARMICHAEL. ii,
398. FORD ED., v, 23. (P., 1788.)
8080. SPECIAL LEGISLATION, Fa
voritism and. — To special legislation we are
generally averse, lest a principle of favoritism
should creep in and pervert that of equal
rights. It has, however, been done on some
occasions where a special national advantage
has been expected to overweigh that of ad
herence to the general rule. — To GEORGE
FLOWER, vii, 83. (P.F., 1817.)
- SPECIE.— See MONEY, METALLIC.
8081. SPECULATION, Agriculture vs.
— A war wherein France, Holland, and Eng
land should be parties, seems, prima facie, to
promise much advantage to us. But, in the
first place, no war can be safe for us which
threatens France with an unfavorable issue;
and in the next, it will probably embark us
again into the ocean of speculation, engage us
to overtrade ourselves, convert us into sea-
rovers, under French and Dutch colors,
divert us from agriculture, which is our
wisest pursuit, because it will in the end
contribute most to real wealth, good morals
and happiness. — To GENERAL WASHINGTON.
ii, 251. (P., Aug. 1787.)
8082. SPECULATION, A crime.— Wil
son Nicholas is attacked in his election. The
ground on which the attack is made is that
he is a speculator. The explanations which
this has produced prove it a serious crime
in the eyes of the people.— To JAMES MADI
SON. FORD ED., vii, i. (M., Feb. 1795.)
8083. SPECULATION, Excessive.— It is
impossible to say where the appetite for gam
bling will stop. The land office, the Federal
town, certain schemes of manufacture, are all
likely to be converted into aliment for that
rage. — To JAMES MONROE, iii, 268. FORD ED.,
v, 353- (Pa., I79i.)
8084. . The unmoneyed farmer,
as he is termed, his cattle and crops are no
more thought of here [Philadelphia*] than if
they did' not feed us. Scrip and stock are
food and raiment here.— To T. M. RANDOLPH.
FORD ED., v, 455. (Pa., 1792.)
8085. SPECULATION, In France.— All
the money men [in France] are playing
deeply in the stocks of the country. The
spirit of " agiotage " (as they call it) was
never so high in any country before. It will
probably produce as total deprivation of mor
als as the system of [John] Law did. All the
money of France is now employed in this,
none being free even for the purposes of com
merce, which suffers immensely from this
cause.— To R. IZARD. ii, 206. (P., 1787.)
8086. SPECULATION, Gambling and.
— The wealth acquired by speculation and
* Philadelphia was then the capital.— EDITOR.
plunder, is fugacious in its nature, and fills
society with the spirit of gambling.— To GEN
ERAL WASHINGTON, ii, 252. (P., 1787.)
8087. . A spirit of gambling in
the public paper has lately seized too many
of our citizens. Commerce, manufactures,
the arts and agriculture will suffer from it,
if not checked. Many are ruined by it; but
I fear that ruin will be no more a correction
in this case than in common gaming. — To
DAVID HUMPHREYS. FORD ED., v, 372. (Pa.,
1791.)
8088. . The credit and fate of
the nation seem to hang on the desperate
throws and plunges of gambling scoundrels.
— To T. M. RANDOLPH. FORD ED.,, v, 455.
(Pa., 1792.)
8089. SPECULATION, Land.— You
mention that my name is used by some specu
lators in Western land jobbing, as if they
were acting for me as wejl as for themselves.
About the years 1776 or 1777, I consented to
join Mr. Harvey and some others in an ap
plication for lands there ; which scheme, how
ever, I believe he dropped on the threshold,
for I never after heard one syllable on the
subject. In 1782, I joined some gentlemen
in a project to obtain some lands in the
western part of North Carolina. But in the
winter of 1782 and 1783, while I was in ex
pectation of going to Europe, and that the
title to western lands might possibly come
under the discussion of the ministers, I
withdrew myself from this company. I am
further assured that the members never pros
ecuted their views. These were the only
occasions in which I ever took a single step
for the acquisition of western lands, and in
these I retracted at the threshold. I can
with truth, therefore, declare to you, and
wish you to repeat it on every proper occa
sion, that no person on earth is authorized to
place my name in any adventure for lands
on the western waters, that I am not engaged
in any but the two before mentioned. I am
one of eight children to whom my father
left his share in the loyal company, whose in
terests, however, I never espoused, and they
have long since received their quietus. Ex
cepting these, I never was, nor am I now,
interested in one foot of land on earth off the
waters of James River. — To JAMES MADISON.
FORD ED., iv, 2. (P. 1784.)
8090. SPECULATION, Morality and.—
Though we shall be neutrals, and as such
shall derive considerable pecuniary advan
tages, yet I think we shall lose in happiness
and morals by being launched again into the
ocean of speculation, led to overtrade our
selves, tempted to become sea-robbers, under
French colors, and to quit the pursuits of
agriculture, the surest road to affluence, and
best preservative of morals. — To J. BLAIR, ii,
248. (P., 1787.)
8091. SPECULATION, Stocks.— I wish
to God you had some person who could dis
pose of your paper at a judicious moment
for you, and invest it in good lands. I
829
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Spelling
Stability
would do anything my duty [as Secretary of
State] would permit, but were I to advise
your agent (who is himself a stock dealer)
to sell out yours at this or that moment, it
would be used as a signal to guide specula
tions.— To WILLIAM SHORT, iii, 343- FORD
ED., v, 459. (Pa., March 1792.) See CAPI
TAL.
8092. SPELLING, Correct.— Take care
that you never spell a word wrong. Always
before you write a word, consider how it is
spelled, and, if you do not remember it, turn to
a dictionary. It produces great praise to a lady
to spell well.— To MARTHA JEFFERSON. FORD
ED., iii, 346. (A., 1783-)
8093. SPELLING, Reform of English.
— A change has been long desired in English
orthography, such as might render it an easy
and true index of the pronunciation of words.
The want of conformity between the combina
tions of letters, and the sounds they should rep
resent, increases to foreigners the difficulty of
acquiring the language, occasions great loss of
time to children in learning to read, and renders
correct spelling rare but in those who read
much. In England a variety of plans and propo
sitions has been made for the reformation of
their orthography. Passing over these, two of
our countrymen, Dr. Franklin and Dr. Thorn
ton, have also engaged in the enterprise ; the for
mer proposing an addition of two or three new
characters only, the latter a reformation of
the whole alphabet nearly. But these attempts
in England, as well as here, have been with
out effect. About the middle of the last cen
tury an attempt was made to banish the letter
d from the words bridge, judge, hedge, knowl
edge, &c., others of that termination, and to
write them as we write age, cage, sacrilege,
privilege; but with little success. The attempt
was also made, which you mention, * *
to drop the letter u in words of Latin derivation
ending in owr, and to write honor, candor, rigor,
&c., instead of honour, candour, rigour. But
the u having been picked up in the passage of
these words from the Latin, through the
French, t9 us, is still preserved by those who
consider it as a memorial of our title to the
words. Other partial attempts have been made
by individual writers, but with as little suc
cess. Pluralizing nouns in y and ey, by adding
5 only, as you propose, would certainly simplify
the spelling, and be analogous to the general
idiom of the language. It would be a step
gained in the progress of general reformation,
if it could prevail. But my opinion being re
quested I must give it candidly, that judging of
the future by the past, I expect no better for
tune to this than similar preceding propositions
have experienced. It is very difficult to per
suade the great body of mankind to give up
what they have once learned, and are now mas
ters of, for something to be learned anew.
Time alone insensibly wears down old habits,
and produces small changes at long intervals,
and to this process we must all accommodate
ourselves, and be content to follow those who
will not follow us. Our Anglo-Saxon ancestors
had twenty ways of spelling the word " many ".
Ten centuries have dropped all of them and
substituted that which we now use. I now re
turn your MS.* without being able, with the
gentlemen whose letters are cited, to encourage
hope as to its effect. I am bound, however, to
acknowledge that this is a subject to which I
have not paid much attention ; and that my
* It is proposed that the plurals of words ending in
y and ey be formed by adding s only.— EDITOR.
doubts, therefore, should weigh nothing against
their more favorable expectations. That these
may be fulfilled, and mine prove unfounded, I
sincerely wish, because I am a friend to the
reformation generally of whatever can be made
better. — To JOHN WILSON, vi, 190. FORD ED.,
ix, 396. (M., 1813.)
8094. SPIES, Congress and.— As in time
of war the enemies of these States might em
ploy emissaries and spies to discover the views
and proceedings of Congress, that body should
have authority, within a certain distance of
the place of their session, to arrest and deal
with as they shall think proper, all persons, not
being citizens of any of these States nor en
titled to their protection, whom they shall have
cause to suspect to be spies. — RESOLVE ON CON
TINENTAL CONGRESS. FORD ED., iii, 464.
(1784.)
8095. SPIES, Employment of.— Will it
not be proper to rebut Foronda's charge [with
respect to Lieutenant Pike's expedition] of this
government sending a spy to Santa Fe, by say
ing that this government has never employed
a spy in any case? — To JAMES MADISON, v,
178. (Aug. 1807.)
8096. SPIES, Jefferson and.— All my
motions at Philadelphia, here [Monticello], and
everywhere, are watched and recorded. — To
SAMUEL SMITH, iv, 253. FORD ED., vii, 276.
(M., 1798.)
— SPIES, Treasury.— See NEUTRALITY.
8097. SPIRIT, Party.— The happiness of
society depends so much on preventing party
spirit from infecting the common intercourse
of life, that nothing should be spared to har
monize and amalgamate the two parties in social
circles. — To WILLIAM C. CLAIRORNE. FORD
ED., viii, 70. (W., 1801.)
8098. SPIRIT, Of the people. — It is the
manners and spirit of the people which pre
serve a republic in vigor. — NOTES ON VIRGINIA.
viii, 406. FORD ED., iii, 269. (1782.)
8099. SPRINGS, Medicinal.— There are
several medicinal springs [in Virginia], some
of which are indubitably efficacious, while oth
ers seem to owe their reputation as much to
fancy and change of air and regimen, as to
their real virtues. — NOTES ON VIRGINIA, viii,
279. FORD ED., iii, 121. (1782.) See MEDICI
NAL SPRINGS.
8100. SQUATTERS, Prohibition of.— I
do not recollect the instructions to Governor
[Meriwether] Lewis respecting squatters.
But if he had any they were unquestionably
to prohibit them rigorously. I have no doubt,
if he had not written instructions, that he
was verbally so instructed. — To ALBERT
GALLATIN. v, 408. (W., Jan. 1809.)
8101. SQUATTERS, Removal.— The
General Government have never hesitated to
remove by force the squatters and intruders
on the public lands. Indeed, if the nation
were put to action against every squatter,
for the recovery of their lands, we should
have only lawsuits, not lands for sale. —
BATTURE CASE, viii, 588. (1812.)
8102. STABILITY, Laudable.— Perse
verance in object, though not by the most
direct way, is often more laudable than per-
Stability
Standard
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
830
petual changes, as often as the object shifts
light. — To GOVERNOR HENRY, i, 220. FORD
ED., ii, 178. (Alb., I779-)
8103. STABILITY, Of the Republic.—
The order and good sense displayed in this
recovery from delusion, and in the momen
tous crisis which lately arose [Presidential
election], really bespeak a strength of char
acter in our nation which augurs well for
the duration of our Republic ; and I am much
better satisfied now of its stability than I was
before it was tried. — To DR. JOSEPH PRIEST
LEY, iv, 374. FORD ED., viii, 22. (W., March
1801.)
8104. STAEI, (Madame de), Sympathy.
— [I assure you] of my sincere sympathies for
the share which you bear in the afflictions of
your country, and the deprivation to which a
lawless will has subjected you. In return, you
enjoy the dignified satisfaction of having met
them, rather than be yoked with the abject, 'to
his car ; and that, in withdrawing from op
pression, you have followed the virtuous ex
ample of a father whose name will ever be
dear to your country and to mankind. — To
MADAME DE STAEL. vi, 119. (May 1813.)
8105. STANDARD, Arbitrary.— The
first question to be decided is between those
who are for units of measures, weights, and
coins, having a known relation to something in
nature of fixed dimension, and those who are
for an arbitrary standard. On this " dice vex-
ata quaestio " it is useless to say a word, every
one having made up his mind on a view of all
that can be said. Mr. Dorsey was so kind as
to send me his pamphlet, by which I found
he was for the arbitrary standard of one-third
of the standard yard of H. G. of England, sup
posed to be in the Exchequer of that nation, a
fac simile of which was to be procured and
lodged in Philadelphia. I confess myself to be
of the other sect, and to prefer an unit bear
ing a given relation to some fixed subject of
nature, and of preference to the pendulum, be
cause it may be in the possession of every man,
so that he may verify his measures for himself.
I proposed alternative plans to Congress, that
they might take the one or the other, according
to the degree of courage they felt. Were I
now to decide, it would be in favor of the first,
with this single addition, that each of the de
nominations there adopted, should be divisible
decimally at the will of every individual. The
iron-founder deals in tons ; let him take the
ton for his unit, and divide it into loths, looths,
and loooths. The dry-goods merchant deals in
pounds and yards ; let him divide them deci
mally. The land-measurer deals in miles and
poles ; divide them decimally, only noting over
his figures what the unit is, thus :
Tons.
18.943,
Lbs.
18.943,
Yds.
18.943,
Miles.
18.943, etc.
— To THOMAS COOPER, v, 377. (W., 1808.)
8106. STANDARD, Decimal system.—
Is it in contemplation with the House of Rep
resentatives to * * * arrange * * * our meas
ures and weights [the same as the coinage] in
a decimal ratio? The facility which this would
introduce into the vulgar arithmetic would, un
questionably, be soon and sensibly felt by the
whole mass of the people, who would thereby
be enabled to compute for themselves whatever
they should have occasion to buy, to sell, or to
measure, which the present complicated and dif
ficult ratios place beyond their computation
for the most part. — COINAGE, WEIGHTS AND
MEASURES REPORT, vii, 477. (July 1790.)
8107. . It will give me real
pleasure to see some good system of measures
and weights introduced and combined with the
decimal arithmetic. It is a great and difficult
question whether to venture only on a half
reformation, * * * or, as the French have tried
with success, make a radical reform. — To J.
DORSEY. v, 236. (W., 1808.)
_ STANDARD, Money.— See DOLLAR
and MONEY.
8108. STANDARD, Regulating.— The
Administrator shall not possess the preroga
tive * * * of regulating weights and measures.
— PROPOSED VA. CONSTITUTION. FORD ED., ii, 19.
(June 1776.)
8109. STANDARD (Measures), Eng
lish. — The cogent reason which will decide
the fate of whatever you report is, that England
has lately adopted the reference of its measures
to the pendulum. It is the mercantile part of
our community which will have most to do in
this innovation ; it is that which having com
mand of all the presses can make the loudest
outcry, and you know their identification with
English regulations, practices, and prejudices.
It is from this identification alone you can hope
to be permitted to adopt even the English ref
erence to a pendulum. But the English proposi
tion goes only to say what proportion their
measures bear to the second pendulum of their
own latitude, and not at all to change their
unit, or to reduce into any simple order the
chaos of their weights and measures. That
would be innovation, and innovation there is
heresy and treason. — To JOHN QUINCY ADAMS.
vii, 89. (M., 1817.)
8110. STANDARD (Measures), French.
— Candor obliges me to confess that the ele
ment of measure, adopted by France, is not
what I would have approved. It is liable to the
inexactitude of mensuration as to that part of
the quadrant of the earth which is to be meas
ured, that is to say as to one-tenth of the quad
rant, and as to the remaining nine-tenths they
are to be calculated on conjectural data, pre
suming the figure of the earth which has not yet
been proved. It is liable, too, to the objection
that no nation but your own can come at it ;
because yours is the only nation within which
a meridian can be found of such extent cross
ing the 45th degree, and terminating at both
ends in a level. We may certainly say, then,
that this measure is uncatholic, and I would
rather have seen you depart from Catholicism in
your religion than in your philosophy. — To THE
MARQUIS DE CONDORCET. FORD EDV v, 378. (Pa.,
1791.)
8111. STANDARD (Measures), In
variable. — On the subject of weights and
measures, you will have, at its threshold, to en
counter the question on which Solon and
Lycurgus acted differently. Shall we mould our
citizens to the law, or the law to our citizens?
And in solving this question their peculiar char
acter is an element not to be neglected. Of the
two only things in nature which can furnish an
invariable standard, to wit, the dimensions of
the globe itself, and the time of its diurnal
revolution on its axis, it is not perhaps of much
importance which we adopt. * * * I sincerely
wish you may be able to rally us to either stand
ard, and to give us an unit, the aliquot part of
something invariable which may be applied sim
ply and conveniently to our measures, weights
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Standard
and coins, and most especially that the decimal
divisions may pervade the whole. The conve
nience of this in our moneyed system has been
approved by all, and France has followed the
example. — To JOHN QUINCY ADAMS, vii, 87.
(M., 1817.)
8112. STANDARD (Measures), Method
of obtaining1. — To obtain uniformity in
measures, weights and coins, it is necessary to
find some measure of invariable length, with
which, as a standard, they may be compared.
There exists not in nature, as far as has been
hitherto observed, a single subject or species
of subject, accessible to man, which presents
one constant and uniform dimension. The
globe of the earth itself, indeed, might be con
sidered as invariable in all its dimensions, and
that its circumference would furnish an in
variable measure ; but no one of its circles,
great or small, is accessible to admeasurement
through all its parts, and the various trials to
measure definite portions of them, have been of
such various result as to show there is no de
pendence on that operation for certainty. Mat
ter, then, by its mere extension, furnishing
nothing invariable, its motion is the only re
maining resource. The motion of the earth
round its axis, though not absolutely uniform
and invariable, may be considered as such for
every human purpose. It is measured obvi
ously, but unequally, by the departure of a
given meridian from the sun, and its returning
to it, constituting a solar day. Throwing to
gether the inequalities of solar days, a mean
interval, or day, has been found, and divided,
by very general consent, into 86,400 equal parts.
A pendulum, vibrating freely, in small and equal
arcs, may be so adjusted in its length, as, by
its vibrations, to make this division of the
earth's motion into 86,400 equal parts, called
seconds of mean time. Such a pendulum, then,
becomes itself a measure of determinate length,
to which all others may be referred to as to a
standard. But even a pendulum is not with
out its uncertainties. — COINAGE, WEIGHTS AND
MEASURES REPORT, vii, 473. (July 1790.)
8113. STANDARD (Measures), Odom
eter. — I have lately had a proof how familiar
this division into dimes, cents, and mills, is to
the people when transferred from their money
to anything else. I have an odometer fixed to
my carriage, which gives the distances in miles,
dimes, and cents. The people on the road in
quire with curiosity what exact distance I have
found from such a place to such a place. I
answer so many miles, so many cents. I find
they universally and at once form a perfect
idea of the relation of the cent to the mile as
an unit. They would do the same as to yards
of cloth, pounds of shot, ounces of silver, or
of medicine. I believe, therefore, they are
susceptible of this degree of approximation to
a standard rigorously philosophical ; beyond this
I might doubt. — To THOMAS COOPER, v, 378.
(W., 1808.)
8114. STANDARD (Measures), Pendu
lum. — But why leave this adoption to the
tardy will of governments who are always, in
their stock of information, a century or two be
hind the intelligent part of mankind, and who
have interests against touching ancient insti
tutions? Why should not the college of the
literary societies of the world adopt the second
pendulum as the unit of measure on the au
thorities of reason, convenience and common
consent? And why should not our Society
[American Philosophical] open the proposition
by a circular letter to the other learned institu
tions of the earth? If men of science, in their
publications, would express measures always in
multiples and decimals of the pendulum, an
nexing their value in municipal measures as
botanists add the popular to the botanical names
of plants, they would soon become familiar to
all men of instruction, and prepare the way
for legal adoptions. At any rate, it would ren
der the writers of every nation intelligible to
the readers of every other, when expressing the
measures of things. — To DR. PATTERSON, vi, 12.
(M., 1811.)
8115. . In favor of the standard
to be taken from the time employed in a revolu
tion of the earth on its axis, it may be urged
that this revolution is a matter of fact present
to all the world, that :ts division into seconds
of time is known and received by all the world,
that the length of a pendulum vibrating seconds
in the different circles of latitude is already
known to all, and can at any time and in any
place be ascertained by any nation or individual,
and inferred by known laws from their own to
the medium latitude of 45°, whenever any doubt
may make this desirable ; and that this is the
particular standard which has at different times
been contemplated and desired * by the phil
osophers of every nation, and even by those of
France, except at the particular moment when
this change was suddenly proposed and adopted,
and under circumstances peculiar to the history
of the moment. — To JOHN QUINCY ADAMS, vii,
88. (M., 1817.)
8116. . [The standard based on]
the dimensions of the globe, preferred ulti
mately by the French, after first adopting the
other [that founded on the time of the diurnal
revolution of the earth on its axis], has been
objected to from the difficulty, not to say im
practicability, of the verification of their ad
measurement by other nations. Except the
portion of a meridian which they adopted for
their operation, there is not another on the
globe which fulfills the requisite condition, to
wit, of so considerable length, that length too
divided, not very unequally, by the 45th degree
of latitude, and terminating at each end in the
ocean. Now, this singular line lies wholly in
France and Spain. Besides the immensity of
expense and time which a verification would
always require, it cannot be undertaken by any
nation without the joint consent of these two
powers. France having once performed the
work, and refusing, as she may, to let any
other nation reexamine it, she makes herself
the sole depositary of the original standard for
all nations ; and all must send to her to obtain,
and from time to time to prove their stand
ards. To this, indeed, it may be answered, that
there can be no reason to doubt that the men
suration has been as accurately performed as
the intervention of numerous waters and of
high ridges of craggy mountains would admit ;
that all the calculations have been free of error,
their coincidences faithfully reported, and that,
whether in peace or war. to foes as well as
friends, free access to the original will at all
times be admitted. — To JOHN QUINCY ADAMS.
vii, 88. (M., 1817.) See PENDULUM.
8117. STANDARD (Measures), Rod.—
Congress having referred to me to propose a
plan of invariable measures, I have considered
maturely your proposition, and am abundantly
* If, conforming to this desire of other nations, we
adopt the second pendulum, 3-10 of that for our foot
will be the same as 1-5 or 2-10 of the second rod,
because that rod is to the pendulum as 3 to ?. This
would make our foot 1-4 inch less than the present
one.— NOTE BY JEFFERSON.
Standard
State Bights
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
832
satisfied of its utility; so that if I can have
your leave, I mean to propose in my report to
adopt the rod in preference to the pendulum,
mentioning expressly that we are indebted to
you for the idea.— To MR. LESLIE, iii, 156.
(N.Y., 1790.)
8118. STANDARD (Measures), Uni
versal. — The pendulum is equally [with the
meridian] fixed by the laws of nature, is in
the possession of every nation, may be verified
everywhere and by every person, and at an ex
pense within every one's means. I am not,
therefore, without a hope that the other nations
of the world will still concur, some day, in ma
king the pendulum the basis of a common sys
tem of measures, weights and coins, which
applied to the present metrical systems of
France and of other countries, will render them
all intelligible to one another. England and
this country may give it a beginning, notwith
standing the war they are entering into. The
republic of letters is unaffected by the wars
of geographical divisions of the earth. — To DR.
PATTERSON, vi, n. (M., 1811.)
8119. . I do not like the new
system of French measures, because not the
best, and adapted to a standard accessible to
themselves exclusively, and to be obtained by
other nations only from them. For, on examin
ing the map of the earth, you will find no
meridian on it but the one passing through their
country, offering the extent of land on both
sides of the 45th degree, and terminating at
both ends in a portion of the ocean which the
conditions of the problem for an universal
standard of measures require. Were all nations
to agree, therefore, to adopt this standard, they
must go to Paris to ask it; and they might
as well long ago have all agreed to adopt the
French foot, the standard of which they could
equally have obtained from Paris. — To DR. PAT
TERSON, vi, ii. (M., 1811.)
8120. STANDARD (Weights), Avoir
dupois and Troy.— It would be for their
[the people's] convenience to suppress the
pound and ounce troy, and the drachm and
quarter avoirdupois ; and to form into one
series the avoirdupois pound and ounce, and the
troy pennyweight and grain. — COINAGE,
WEIGHTS AND MEASURES REPORT, vii, 480.
(1790.)
8121. STANDARD (Weights), Basis.—
Let it be established that an ounce is of the
weight of a cube of rain water of one-tenth
of a foot; or, rather, that it is the thousandth
part of the weight of a cubic foot of ram
water, weighed in the standard temperature ;
that the series of weights of the United States
shall consist of pounds, ounces, pennyweights
and grains; whereof 24 grams shall be one
pennyweight; 18 pennyweights one ounce; 16
ounces one pound. — COINAGE, WEIGHTS AND
MEASURES REPORT, vii, 487. (1790.)
8122. STANDARD (Weights), Ratios.—
The weight of the pound troy is to that of the
pound avoirdupois as 144 to 175- It is remark
able that this is exactly the proportion of the
ancient liquid gallon of Guildhall of 224 cubic
inches to the corn gallon of 272. It is further
remarkable still that this is also the exact pro
portion between the specific weight of any meas
ure of wheat and of the same measure of water.
* * * This seems to have been so combined as
to render it indifferent whether a thing were
dealt out by weight or measure.— COINAGE
WEIGHTS AND MEASURES REPORT, vn, 4»4
(1790.)
8123. . Another remarkable cor
respondence is that between weights and meas
ures. For 1,000 ounces avoirdupois of pure
water fills a cubic foot, with mathematical
exactness. What circumstances of the times,
or purpose of barter or commerce, called for
:his combination of weights and measures,
with the subjects to be exchanged or pur
chased, are not now to be ascertained. But
a triple set of exact proportionals representing
weights, measures and the things to be weighed
3r measured, and a relation so integral between
weights and solid measures, must have been
he result of design and scientific calculation
and not a mere coincidence of hazard. — COIN
AGE, WEIGHTS AND MEASURES REPORT, vii, 485.
(1790.)
8124. STATE RIGHTS, Coercion.— Re
spect and friendship should, I think, mark the
conduct of the General towards the particular
government, and explanations should be
asked and time and color given them to tread
)ack their steps before coercion is held up
:o their view. — OPINION ON GEORGIAN LAND
GrRANTS. Vii, 468. FORD ED., V, 167. (I7QO.)
See COERCION OF A STATE.
8125. STATE RIGHTS, Congress and.
— Can it be thought that the Constitution in
tended that for a shade or two of conve
nience, more or less, Congress should be au
thorized to break down the most ancient and
fundmental laws of the several States ;
such as those against Mortmain, the laws of
Alienage, the rules of Descent, the acts of
Distribution, the laws of Escheat and For
feiture, the laws of Monopoly? Nothing but
a necessity invincible by any other means, can
justify such a prostitution of laws, which
constitute the pillars of our whole system of
jurisprudence. Will Congress be too straight-
laced to carry the Constitution into honest
effect, unless they may pass over the founda
tion-laws of the State government for the
slightest convenience of theirs? — NATIONAL
BANK OPINION, vii, 560. FORD ED., v, 289.
(1791.) See BANK (U. S.), CONSTITUTION
ALITY OF.
8126. . [The States] alone be
ing parties to the [Federal] compact, * '
[are] solely authorized to judge in the last
resort of the powers exercised under it, Con
gress being not a party, but merely the crea
ture of the compact, and subject as to its as
sumptions of power to the final judgment of
those by whom, and for whose use itself and
its powers were all created and modified. —
KENTUCKY RESOLUTIONS, ix, 469. FORD ED.,
vii, 301. (1798.) See KENTUCKY RESOLU
TIONS.
8127. STATE RIGHTS, Constitution
and. — I am firmly persuaded that it is by
giving due tone to the particular govern
ments that the general one will be preserved
in vigor also, the Constitution having fore
seen its incompetency to all the objects of
government, and, therefore, confined it to
those specially described. — To JAMES SULLI
VAN. FORD ED., v, 369. (Pa., 1791.)
8128. STATE RIGHTS, Encroachments
on.— Whilst the General Assembly [of Vir-
833
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
State Bights
ginia] thus declares the rights retained by the
States, rights which they have never yielded,
and which this State will never voluntarily
yield, they do not mean to raise the banner
of disaffection, or of separation from their
sister States, coparties with themselves to
this compact. They know and value too
highly the blessings of their Union as to for
eign nations and questions arising among
themselves, to consider every infraction of it
as to be met by actual resistance. They re
spect too affectionately the opinions of those
possessing the same rights under the same
instrument, to make that difference of con
struction a ground of immediate rupture. They
would, indeed, consider such a rupture as
among the greatest calamities which could
befall them; but not the greatest. There is
yet one greater, submission to a government
of unlimited powers. It is only when the
hope of avoiding this shall have become ab
solutely desperate, that further forbearance
could not be indulged. Should a majority
of the coparties, therefore, contrary to the
expectation and hope of this Assembly, prefer,
at this time acquiescence in these assumptions
of power by the Federal member of the gov
ernment, we will be patient and suffer much
under the confidence that time, ere it be too
late, will prove to them also the bitter con
sequences in which that usurpation will in
volve us all. In the meantime we will breast
with them, rather than separate from them,
every misfortune, save that only of living
under a government of unlimited powers.
We owe every other sacrifice to ourselves, to
our Federal brethren, and to the world at
large, to pursue with temper and with perse
verance the great experiment which shall
prove that man is capable of living in so
ciety, governing itself by laws self-imposed,
and securing to its members the enjoyment
of life, liberty, property, and peace; and fur
ther to show, that even when the government
of its choice shall manifest a tendency to
degeneracy we are not at once to despair,
but that the will and the watchfulness of its
sounder parts will reform its aberrations, re
call it to original and legitimate principles,
and restrain it within the rightful limits of
self-government. — VIRGINIA PROTEST. ix,
498. FORD ED., x, 351. (1825.)
8129. STATE BIGHTS, Freedom and.
— The States should be left to do whatever
acts they can do as well as the General Gov
ernment. — To JOHN HARVIE. FORD ED., v,
214. (N.Y., 1790.)
8130. STATE BIGHTS, General wel
fare. — This Assembly [of Virginia] does dis-*
avow and declare to be most false and un
founded, the doctrine that the compact, in au
thorizing its Federal branch to lay and collect
taxes, duties, imposts, and excises, to pay the
debts and provide for the common defence
and general welfare of the United States, has
given them thereby a power to do whatever
they may think, or pretend, would promote
the general welfare, which construction would
make that, of itself, a complete government,
without limitation of powers; but that the
plain sense and obvious meaning were, that
they might levy the taxes necessary to provide
for the general welfare, by the various acts of
power therein specified and delegated to them,
and by no others. — VIRGINIA PROTEST, ix, 497.
FORD ED., x, 350. (1825.) See GENERAL
WELFARE CLAUSE.
8131. STATE BIGHTS, Home rule.— I
believe the States can best govern our home
concerns.— To WILLIAM JOHNSON, vii, 297.
FORD ED., x, 232. (M., 1823.)
8132. . To the State govern
ments are reserved all legislation and admin
istration, in affairs which concern their own
citizens only.— To JOHN CARTWRIGHT. vii,
358. (M., 1824.)
8133. STATE BIGHTS, Interior Gov
ernment. — Interior government is what each
State should keep to itself. — To JAMES MADI
SON, i, 531. FORD ED., iv, 192. (P., 1786.)
8134. STATE BIGHTS, Lines of de
marcation. — I have always thought that
where the line of demarcation between the
powers of the General and the State govern
ments was doubtfully or indistinctly drawn,
it would be prudent and praiseworthy in both
parties never to approach it but under the most
urgent necessity.— To J. C. CABELL. vi, 310.
FORD ED., ix, 452. (M., 1814.)
8135. STATE BIGHTS, Metallic money
and. — I recollect but one instance of control
vested in the Federal over the State author
ities, in a matter purely domestic, which is
that of metallic tenders.— To ROBERT J. GAR-
NETT. vii, 336. FORD ED., x, 295. (M., 1824.)
8136. STATE BIGHTS, National bank
and. — The bill for establishing a National
Bank undertakes * * * to form the sub
scribers into a corporation [andl * * *
communicates to them, in their corporate
capacities, a power to make laws paramount
to the laws of the States; for so they must
be construed, to protect the institution from
the control of the State legislatures; and so,
probably, they will be construed. — NATIONAL
BANK OPINION, vii, 555-6. FORD ED., v, 285.
(1791.) See BANK (U. S.), CONSTITUTION
ALITY OF.
8137. STATE BIGHTS, Nullification.
— Every State has a natural right in cases not
within the compact (casus non fcederis) to
nullify of their own authority all assump
tions of power by others within their limits ;
without this right, they would be under the
dominion, absolute and unlimited, of whoso
ever might exercise this right of judgment for
them. — KENTUCKY RESOLUTIONS. ix, 469.
FORD ED., vii, 301. (1798.)
8138. STATE BIGHTS, Preservation
of. — I am for preserving to the States the
powers not yielded by them to the Union and
to the Legislature of the Union its constitu
tional share in the division of powers ; and
I am not for transferring all the powers of
the States to the General Government, and all
State Rights
States
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
834
those of that government to the Executive
branch. — To ELBRIDGE GERRY, iv, 268. FORD
EDV vii, 327. (1799.) See CENTRALIZATION.
8139. . I wish to preserve [in
a new constitution for Virginia] the line
drawn by the Federal Constitution between
the General and particular governments as
it stands at present, and to take every pru
dent means of preventing either from step
ping over it. — To ARCHIBALD STUART, iii,
314. FORD ED., v, 409. (Pa., 1791.) See
CONSTITUTION (FEDERAL).
8140. STATE BIGHTS, Judiciary and.
—It is of immense consequence that the
States retain as complete authority as possible
over their own citizens. The withdrawing
themselves under the shelter of a foreign
jurisdiction, is so subversive of order and so
pregnant of abuse, that it may not be amiss to
consider how far a law of pramunire should
be revised and modified, against all citizens
who attempt to carry their causes before any
other than the State courts, in cases where
those other courts have no right to their cog
nizance. A plea to the jurisdiction of the
courts of their State, or a reclamation of a
foreign jurisdiction, if adjudged valid, .vould
be safe; but if adjudged invalid, would be
followed by the punishment of pramunire
for the attempt.— To JAMES MONROE. iv,
200. FORD ED., vii, 173. (M., 1797.) See
JUDICIARY and SUPREME COURT.
8141. STATE RIGHTS, Reserved.— Nor
is it admitted * * * that the people of these
States, by not investing their Federal branch
with all the means of bettering their con
dition, have denied to themselves any which
may effect that purpose ; since in the dis
tribution of those means they have given to
that branch those which belong to its de
partment, and to the States have reserved
separately the residue which belong to them
separately. And thus by the organization of
the two branches taken together, they have
completely secured the first object of human
association, the full improvement of their con
dition, and reserved to themselves all the
faculties of multiplying their own blessings.
— VIRGINIA PROTEST, ix, 497. FORD ED., x,
35i. (1825.)
8142. STATE BIGHTS, Slavery and.—
An abstinence from this act of power [pro
hibition of slavery in Missouri], would re
move the jealousy excited by the undertaking
of Congress to regulate the condition of the
different descriptions of men composing a
State. This certainly is the exclusive right
of every State, which nothing in the Consti
tution has taken from them and given to the
General Government. Could Congress, for
example, say, that the non-freemen of Con
necticut shall be freemen, or that they shall
not emigrate into any other State? — To JOHN
HOLMES, vii, 159. FORD ED., x, 158. (M.,
1820.)
8143. STATE BIGHTS, Sovereignty.—
The States should severally preserve their
sovereignty in whatever concerns themselves
alone, and whatever may concern another
State, or any foreign nation, should be made
a part of the Federal sovereignty. — To GEORGE
WYTHE. ii, 267. FORD ED., iv, 445. (P.,
Sep. 1787.)
8144. STATE BIGHTS, Support of.—
The support of the State governments in all
their rights, as the most competent adminis
trations for our domestic concerns and the
surest bulwarks against anti-republican ten
dencies, I deem [one of the] essential prin
ciples of pur government and, consequently
[one] which ought to shape its administra
tion.— FIRST INAUGURAL ADDRESS, viii, 4.
FORD ED., viii, 4. (1801.)
8145. STATE BIGHTS, Surrender of.—
Can it be believed, that under the jealousies
prevailing against the General Government,
at the adoption of the Constitution, the
States meant to surrender the authority of
preserving order, of enforcing moral duties
and restraining vice within their own terri
tory?— To WILLIAM JOHNSON. vii, 297.
FORD ED., x, 231. (M., 1823.) See FEDERAL
GOVERNMENT AND UNION (FEDERAL).
8146. STATES, Admission of new.—
The nth Article of Confederation admits
Canada to accede to the Confederation at
its own will, but adds that, " no other Colony
shall be admitted to the same, unless such
admission be agreed to by nine States ".
When the plan of April, 1784, for establishing
new States was on the carpet, the committee
who framed the report of that plan, had in
serted this clause, " provided nine States
agree to such admission, according to the
reservation of the nth of the Articles of
Confederation ". It was objected, i. That
the words of the Confederation, " no other
Colony ", could only refer to the residuary
possessions of Great Britain, as the two Flor-
idas, Nova Scotia, &c., not being already
parts of the Union ; that the law for " admit
ting " a new member into the Union, could
not be applied to a territory which was al
ready in the Union, as making part of a
State which was a member of it. 2. That it
would be improper to allow " nine " States
to receive a new member, because the same
reasons which rendered that number proper
now, would render a greater one proper when
the number composing the Union should be
increased. They, therefore, struck out this
paragraph, and inserted a proviso, that " the
consent of so many States, in Congress, shall
be first obtained, as may, at the time be com
petent " ; thus leaving the question, whether
the nth Article applies to the admission of
new States? to be decided when that ad
mission shall be asked. (See the Journal
of Congress of April 20, 1784.) Another
doubt was started in this debate, viz. :
whether the agreement of the nine States,
required by the Confederation, was to be
made by their legislatures, or by their dele
gates in Congress? The expression adopted,
viz. : " so many States in Congress is first
obtained ", shows what was their sense in
this matter. If it be agreed that the nth
835
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
States
Article of the Confederation is not to be ap
plied to the admission of these new States,
then it is contended that their admission
comes within the I3th Article, which forbids
" any alteration, unless agreed to in a Con
gress of the United States, and afterwards
confirmed by the legislatures of every State ''.
—ANSWERS TO M. DE MEUNIER. ix, 251.
FORD ED., iv, 156. (P., 1786.) See CON
FEDERATION, DEFECTS.
8147. STATES, Barriers of liberty.—
The true barriers of our liberty are our
State governments ; and the wisest conserva
tive power ever contrived by man, is that
of which our Revolution and present govern
ment found us possessed. Seventeen distinct
States, amalgamated into one as to their
foreign concerns, but single and independent
as to their internal administration, regularly
organized with legislature and governor rest
ing on the choice of the people, and enlight
ened by a free press, can never be so fasci
nated by the arts of one man, as to submit
voluntarily to his usurpation. Nor can they
be constrained to it by any force he can pos
sess. While that may paralyze the single
State in which it happens to be encamped,
sixteen others, spread over a country of two
thousand miles diameter, rise up on every
side, ready organized for deliberation by a
constitutional legislature, and for action by
their governor, constitutionally the com
mander of the militia of the State, that is
to say, of every man in it able to bear arms ;
and that militia, too, regularly formed into
regiments and battalions, into infantry, cav
alry and artillery, trained under officers gen
eral and subordinate, legally appointed, al
ways in readiness, and to whom they are al
ready in habits of obedience. The republican
government of France was lost without a
struggle, because the party of " un et indi
visible " had prevailed ; no provisional or
ganizations existed to which the people might
rally under authority of the laws, the seats
of the directory were virtually vacant, and a
small force sufficed to turn the legislature
out of their chamber, and to salute its leader
chief of the nation. But with us, sixteen out
of seventeen States rising in mass, under
regular organization, and legal commanders,
united in object and action by their Congress,
or, if that be in duresse, by a special conven
tion, present such obstacles to an usurper as
forever to stifle ambition in the first concep
tion of that object— To M. DESTUTT TRACY.
v, 570. FORD ED., ix, 308. (M., 1811.)
8148. STATES, Confederation of.— The
alliance between the States under the old Art
icles of Confederation, for the purpose of
joint defence against the aggression of Great
Britain, was found insufficient, as treaties of
alliance generally are, to enforce compliance
with their mutual stipulations ; and these,
once fulfilled, that bond was to expire of it
self, and each State to become sovereign and
independent in all things. — THE ANAS. Ix,
88. FORD ED., i, 157. (1818.) See CON
FEDERATION, DEFECTS.
8149. STATES, Cooperation of.— Your
opinion of the propriety and advantage of a
more intimate correspondence between the
Executives of the several States, and that of
the Union, as a central point, is precisely that
which I have ever entertained ; and on com
ing into office I felt the advantages which
would result from that harmony. I had it
even in contemplation, after the annual rec
ommendation to Congress of those measures
called for by the times, which the Constitu
tion had placed within their power, to make
communications in like manner to the Execu
tives of the several States, as to any parts of
them to which the legislatures might be alone
competent. For many are the exercises of power
reserved to the States, wherein an uniformity
of proceeding would be advantageous to all.
Such are quarantines, health laws, regulations
of the press, banking institutions, training
militia, &c., &c. But you know what was
the state of the several governments when I
came into office. That a great proportion of
them were federal, and would have been de
lighted with such opportunities of proclaim
ing their contempt, and of opposing republi
can men and measures. Opportunities so
furnished and used by some of the State gov
ernments, would have produced an ill effect,
and would have insured the failure of the
object of uniform proceeding. If it could
be ventured even now (Connecticut and Del
aware being still hostile) it must be on some
greater occasion than is likely to arise within
my time. I look to it, therefore, as a course
which will probably be left to the considera
tion of my successor. — To JAMES SULLIVAN.
v, loo. FORD ED., ix, 76. (W., 1807.)
8150. STATES, Commerce between.—
Experience shows that the States never
bought foreign goods of one another. The
reasons are, that they would, in so doing, pay
double freight and charges ; and again, that they
would have to pay mostly in cash, what they
could obtain for commodities in Europe. — To
JOHN ADAMS, i, 493. (P., 1785.)
8151. . What a glorious ex
change would it be could we persuade our
navigating fellow citizens to embark their
capital in the internal commerce of our coun
try, exclude foreigners from that, and let
them take the carrying trade in exchange;
abolish the diplomatic establishments, and
never suffer any armed vessel of any nation
to enter our ports. [Faded] things can be
thought of only in times of wisdom, not of
party and folly. — To EDMUND PENDLETON.
FORD ED., vii, 376. (M., April 1799.)
8152. STATES, Common interests. —
The interests of the States ought to be made
joint in every possible instance, in order to
cultivate the idea of our being one nation,
and to multiply the instances in which the
people shall look up to Congress as their
head. — To JAMES MONROE, i, 347. FORD ED.,
iv, 52. (P.. 1785.)
8153. STATES, Correspondence between
Executives. — As to the mode of correspond-
States
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
836
ence between the general and particular execu
tives, I do not think myself a good judge.
Not because my position gives me any preju
dice on the occasion; for if it be possible to
be certainly conscious of anything, I am
conscious of feeling no difference between
writing to the highest or lowest being on
earth; but because I have ever thought that
forms should yield to whatever should facili
tate business. Comparing the two govern
ments together, it is observable that in all
those cases where the independent or re
served rights of the States are in question,
the two Executives, if they are to act to
gether, must be exactly coordinate; they are,
in those cases, each the supreme head of an
independent government. Such is the case
in the beginning of this letter where the two
Executives were to treat de pair en pair. In
other cases, to wit, those transferred by the
Constitution to the General Government, the
general Executive is certainly preordinate:
e. g., in a question respecting the militia, and
others easily to be recollected. Were these,
therefore, to be a stiff adherence to etiquette,
I should say that in the former cases the
correspondence should be between the two
heads, and that in the latter, the Governor
must be subject to receive orders from the
War Department as any other subordinate
officer would. 'And were it observed that
either party set up unjustifiable pretensions,
perhaps the other might be right in opposing
them by a tenaciousness of his own rigorous
right But I think the practice in General
Washington's administration was most
friendly to business, and was absolutely
equal. Sometimes he wrote to the Governors,
and sometimes the heads of departments
wrote. If a letter is to be on a general sub
ject, I see no reason why the President
should not write; but if it is to go into de
tails, these being known only to the head of
the department, it is better he should write
directly. Otherwise, the correspondence
must involve circuities. If this be practiced
promiscuously in both classes of cases, each
party setting examples of neglecting etiquette,
both will stand on equal ground, and con
venience alone will dictate through whom
any particular communication is to be made.
All the governors have freely corresponded
with the heads of departments, except Han
cock, who refused it. But his Legislature
took advantage of a particular case which
justified them in interfering, and they obliged
him to correspond with the head of a depart
ment. General Washington sometimes wrote
to them. I presume Mr. Adams did, as you
mention his having written to you. On the
whole, I think a free correspondence best,
and shall never hesitate to write myself to
the Governors even in a federal case, where
the occasion presents itself to me particularly.
— To GOVERNOR MONROE, iv, 401. FORD ED.,
viii, 59. (W., May 1801.)
8154. STATES, Counties and. — A county
of a State cannot be governed by its own laws,
but must be subject to those of the State of
which it is a part. — To WILLIAM LEE. vii, 57.
(M., 1817.) See COUNTIES.
8155. STATES, Division of authority.
— The way to have good and safe govern
ment, is not to trust it all to one, but to
divide it among the many, distributing to
every one exactly the functions he is com
petent to. Let the National Government be
entrusted with the defence of the nation, and
its foreign and federal relations; the State
governments with the civil rights, laws,
police, and administration of what concerns
the State generally; the counties with the
local concerns of the counties, and each ward
direct the interests within itself. It is by
dividing and subdividing these republics from
the great national one down through all its
subordinations, until it ends in the adminis
tration of every man's farm by himself; by
placing under every one what his own eye
may superintend, that all will be done for the
best. — To JOSEPH C. CABELL. vi, 543. (M.,
1816.) See CENTRALIZATION.
8156. STATES, Equality in size. — In
establishing new States regard is had to a
certain degree of equality in size. — To WILL
IAM LEE. vii, 57. (M., 1817.)
8157. STATES, Federal government
and. — I [shall] consider the most perfect
harmony and interchange of accommodations
and good offices with the State governments,
as among the first objects [of my adminis
tration].— To GOVERNOR THOMAS M'KEAN.
iv, 350. FORD ED., vii, 487. (W., 1801.)
8158. . Considering the General
and State governments as cooperators in the
same holy concerns, the interest and happi
ness of our country, the interchange of
mutual aid is among the most pleasing of
the exercises of our duty. — To W. H. CABELL.
v, 114. FORD ED., ix, 87. (W., 1807.)
8159. . The States can best gov
ern our home concerns, and the General Gov
ernment our foreign ones. — To WILLIAM
JOHNSON, vii, 297. FORD ED., x, 232. (M.,
1823.)
8160. . The extent of our coun
try was so great, and its former division
into distinct States so established, that we
thought it better to confederate as to foreign
affairs only. Every State retained its self-
government in domestic matters, as better
qualified to direct them to the good and satis
faction of their citizens, than a general gov
ernment so distant from its remoter citizens,
and so little familiar with the local peculiar
ities of the different parts. — To M. CORAY.
vii, 320. (M., 1823.)
8161. . If the Federal and State
governments should claim each the same sub
ject of power, where is the common umpire
to decide ultimately between them? In cases
of little importance or urgency, the prudence
of both parties will keep them aloof from the
questionable ground ; but if it can neither
be avoided nor compromised, a convention of
the States must be called, to ascribe the
837
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
States
doubtful power to that department which they
may think best. — To JOHN CARTWRIGHT. vii,
358. (M., 1824.) See FEDERAL GOVERN
MENT.
8162. STATES, Fundamental princi
ples of new. — The temporary and permanent
governments* [shall] be established on these
principles as their basis, i. They shall for
ever remain a part of the United States of
America. 2. In their persons, property and
territory, they shall be subject to the Govern
ment of the United States in Congress as
sembled, and to the Articles of Confederation
in all those cases in which the original States
shall be so subject. 3. They shall be subject
to pay a part of the Federal debts, contracted
or to be contracted, to be apportioned on them
by Congress, according to the same common
rule and measure by which apportionments
thereof shall be made on the other States.
4. Their respective governments shall be in
republican forms, and shall admit no person
to be a citizen, who holds any hereditary
title. 5. After the year 1800 of the Christian
era, there shall be neither slavery nor in
voluntary servitude in any of the said States,
otherwise than in punishment of crimes,
whereof the party shall have been duly con
victed to have been personally guilty. f—
WESTERN TERRITORY REPORT. FORD ED., iii,
409. (Mar. 1784.) See SLAVERY, ABOLITION.
8163. - — . Whenever any of the
said States shall have, of free inhabitants as
many as shall then be in any one of the
least numerous of the thirteen original States,
such State shall be admitted by its delegates
into the Congress of the United States, on an
* Of the States to be formed out of the Western
Territory.— EDITOR.
t Next to the Declaration of Independence (if indeed
standing second to that), this document ranks in his
torical importance of all those drawn by Jefferson ;
and, but for its being superseded by the " Ordinance
of 1787", would rank among all American State papers
immediately after the National Constitution. * * *
That it contains practically every provision which
has made the latter ordinance famous, has been care
fully overlooked by those who have desired to give
the credit of them to Northerners. Still more have
these special pleaders suppressed the fact that Jeffer
son proposed to interdict, slavery in all the Western
Territory and not merely in the Northwest Territory,
as the ordinance of 1787 did. Had it been adopted as
Jefferson reported it, slavery would have died a
natural death, and secession would have been impos
sible. There is another reason, however, for the lit
tle reputation this paper has brought to Jefferson,
aside from the studious suppression of its importance
by the special pleaders of New England. This plan,
with its limitations of slavery, though failing by only
one vote of adoption in 1784, was unpopular at the
South and increasingly so as slavery became more
and more profitable and more and more a southern
institution. As early as 1790, Jefferson's partisans
were already his apologists for this document, and
from that time Jefferson carefully avoided any public
utterance on slavery. This change of attittide is
alone sufficient explanation why Southerners acqui
esced with the Northerners in the suppression of this
paper, and of Jefferson's drafting of it. In Jefferson's
memoranda of the services which he took pride in
having rendered his country, written in 1800, he care
fully omitted all mention, as also in his autobiog
raphy written in 1821. And thus it has been left to
the Massachusetts orators to glorify King, Dane, and
Cutler for clauses in the Ordinance of 1787, which the
latter had in truth taken from the Ordinance of 1784,
and which they made sectional, where Jefferson had
made them national.— NOTE IN FORD EDITION, iii,
43°-
equal footing with the said original States.—
WESTERN TERRITORY REPORT. FORD ED., iii,
409. (1784.)
8164. STATES, Government of.— Though
the experiment has not yet had a long enough
course to show us from which quarter en
croachments are most to be feared, yet it is easy
to foresee, from the nature of things, that the
encroachments of the State governments will
tend to an excess of liberty which will cor
rect itself (as in the late instance), while
those of the General Government will tend
to monarchy, which will fortify itself from
day to day, instead of working its own cure,
as all experience shows. I would rather be
exposed to the inconveniences attending too
much liberty, than those attending too small
a degree of it. Then it is important to
strengthen the State governments; and as
this cannot be done by any change in the Fed
eral Constitution (for the preservation of that
is all we need contend for), it must be done
by the States themselves, erecting such bar
riers at the constitutional line as cannot be
surmounted either by themselves or by the
General Government. The only barrier in
their power is a wise government. A weak
one will lose ground in every contest. To
obtain a wise and a safe government, I con
sider the following changes as important:
Render the legislature a desirable station by
lessening the number of representatives (say
to 100) and lengthening somewhat their term,
and proportion them equally among the elec
tors. Adopt also a better mode of appointing
senators. Render the Executive a more de
sirable post to men of abilities by making it
more independent of the legislature. To wit,
let him be chosen by other electors, for a
longer time, and ineligible forever after. Re
sponsibility is a tremendous engine in a free
government. Let him feel the whole weight
of it then, by taking away the shelter of his
Executive Council. Experience both ways
has already established the superiority of this
measure. Render the judiciary respectable
by every means possible, to wit, firm tenure
in office, competent salaries, and reduction of
their numbers. Men of high learning and
abilities are few in every country; and by
taking in those who are not so, the able part
of the body have their hands tied by the un
able. This branch of the government will
have the weight of the conflict on their hands
because they will be the last appeal of reason.
These are my general ideas of amendments;
but, preserving the ends, I should be flexible
and conciliatory as to the means. — To ARCHI
BALD STUART, iii, 314. FORD ED., v, 409.
(Pa., 1791.)
8165. STATES, Kentucky's appeal to.—
* * * This Commonwealth * * * calls on
its co-States for an expression of their senti
ments on the acts concerning aliens, and for
the punishment of certain crimes hereinbefore
specified, plainly declaring whether these acts
are or are not authorized by the Federal com
pact. And it doubts not that their sense will
be so announced as to prove their attachment
States
Steam
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
838
unaltered to limited government, whether
general or particular. And that the rights
and liberties of their co-States will be ex
posed to no dangers by remaining embarked
in a common bottom with their own. That
they will concur with this Commonwealth in
considering the said acts as so palpably
against the Constitution as to amount to an
undisguised declaration that that compact is
not meant to be the measure of the powers of
the General Government, but that it will pro
ceed in the exercise over these States, of all
powers whatsoever: that they will view this
as seizing the rights of the States, and consoli
dating them in the hands of the General Gov
ernment, with a power assumed to bind the
States (not merely in the cases made Federal
(casus foederis), but, in all cases whatso
ever, by laws made, not with their consent,
but by others against their consent : that this
would be to surrender the form of govern
ment we have chosen, and live under one de
riving its powers from its own will, and not
from our authority; and that the co-States
recurring to their natural right in cases not
made federal, will concur in declaring these
acts void, and of no force, and will each
take measures of its own for providing that
neither these acts, nor any others of the Gen
eral Government, not plainly and intention
ally authorized by the Constitution, shall be
exercised within their respective territories.
— KENTUCKY RESOLUTIONS, ix, 471. FORD
ED., vii, 305. (1798.) See KENTUCKY RESO
LUTIONS.
8166. STATES, Power of. — As long as
the States exercise, separately, those acts of
power which respect foreign nations, so long
will there continue to be irregularities com
mitted by some one or other of them, which
will constantly keep us on an ill-footing with
foreign nations. — To JAMES MADISON, i,
531. FORD ED., iv, 192. (P., February 1786.)
8167. STATES, Respect for.— I do not
think it for the interest of the General Gov
ernment itself, and still less of the Union at
large, that the State governments should be
so little respected as they have been. How
ever, I dare say that in time all these as well
as their central government, like the planets
revolving round their common sun, acting
and acted upon according to their respective
weights and distances, will produce that
beautiful equilibrium on which our Constitu
tion is founded, and which, I believe, it will
exhibit to the world in a degree of perfection,
unexampled but in the planetary system it
self. The enlightened statesman, therefore,
will endeavor to preserve the weight and in
fluence of every part, as too much given to
any member of it would destroy the general
equilibrium. — To PEREGRINE FITZHUGH. iv,
217. FORD ED., vii, 210. (Pa., 1798.)
8168. STATES, Safety of citizens.— For
the ordinary safety of the citizens of the sev
eral States, whether against dangers within
or without, their reliance must be on the
means to be provided by their respective
States. — To GOVERNOR TOMPKINS. v, 239.
(W., 1808.)
8169. STATES, Sovereignty of.— The
several States, now comprising the United
States of America, were, from their first es
tablishment, separate aoid distinct societies,
dependent on no other society of men what
ever. They continued at the head of their re
spective governments the executive Magis
trate who presided over the one they had left.
* The part which our chief magistrate
took in a war waged against us by the nation
among whom he resided, obliged us to dis
continue him, and to name one within every
State. — MISSISSIPPI RIVER INSTRUCTIONS, vii,
570. FORD ED., v, 461. (1792.)
8170 STATES, Union of.— We are so
* * * sincerely disposed to render the union
of the States more perfect that we shall, on
all occasions, endeavor to render to our
neighbors every friendly office which cir
cumstances shall bring within the compass of
our powers. — To THE PRESIDENT OF PENNSYL
VANIA, iii, 17. (R., 1781.)
8171. . Our citizens have wisely
formed themselves into one nation as to
others, and several States as among them
selves. To the united nation belong our ex
ternal and mutual relations; to each State,
severally, the care of our persons, our prop
erty, our reputation, and religious freedom.
This wise distribution, if carefully preserved,
will prove, I trust from example, that while
smaller governments are better adapted to
the ordinary objects of society, larger confed
erations more effectually secure independ
ence, and the preservation of republican gov
ernment. — To THE RHODE ISLAND ASSEMBLY.
iv, 397- (W., May 1801.) See STATE RIGHTS
and UNION (FEDERAL).
8172. STATES, Vermont and Franklin.
— I am anxious to hear what is done with the
States of Vermont and Franklin. I think
that the former is the only innovation on the
system of April 23, 1784, which ought ever
possibly be admitted. If Congress are not
firm on that head, our several States will
crumble to atoms by the spirit of establishing
every little canton into a separate State. I
hope Virginia will concur in that plan as to
her territory South of the Ohio, and not leave
to the Western country to withdraw them
selves by force, and become our worst
enemies instead of our best friends. — To
RICHARD HENRY LEE. FORD ED., iv, 71. (P.,
1785.)
8173. STATESMEN, Honesty and.—
The man who is dishonest as a statesman,
would be a dishonest man in any station. —
To GEORGE LOGAN. FORD ED., x, 68. (P.F.,
1816.)
8174. STEAM, Application of.— You
asked me * * * whether the steam mill in Lon
don was turned by the steam immediately, or by
the intermediate agency of water raised by the
steam. When I was in London, Boulton made a
secret of his mill. Therefore I was permitted
to see it only superficially. I saw no water
wheels, and therefore supposed none. I an
swered you accordingly that there were none.
But when I was at Nismes, I went to see the
839
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Steam
steam mill there, and they showed it to me in
all its parts. I saw that their steam raised
water, and that this water turned a wheel. I
expressed my doubts of the necessity of the
inter-agency of water, and that the London mill
was without it. But they supposed me mis
taken. Perhaps I was so. I have had no op
portunity since of clearing up the doubt. — To
CHARLES THOMSON, ii, 277. FORD ED., iv, 449.
(P., 1787-)
8175. STEAM, Domestic use.— A smaller
agent, applicable to our daily concerns, is
infinitely more valuable than the greatest which
can be used only for great objects. For these
interest the few alone, the former the many.
I once had an idea that it might perhaps be
possible to economize the steam of a common
pot, kept boiling on the kitchen fire until its
accumulation should be sufficient to give a
stroke, and although the strokes might not be
rapid, there would be enough of them in the day
to raise from an adjacent well the water neces
sary for daily use ; to wash the linen, knead the
bread, beat the hominy, churn the butter, turn
the spit, and do all other household offices
which require only a regular mechanical mo
tion. The unproductive hands now necessarily
employed in these, might then increase the
produce of our fields. I proposed it to Mr.
Rumsey, one of our greatest mechanics, who
believed in its possibility, * * * but his
death disappointed this hope. — To GEORGE
FLEMING, vi, 505. (M., 1815.)
8176. STEAM, Engines.— It happens that
of all the machines which have been employed
to aid human labor, I have made myself the
least acquainted with (that which is certainly
the most powerful of all) the steam engine.
In its original and simple form indeed, as
first constructed by Newcommen and Savary,
it had been a subject of my early studies; but
once possessed of the principle, I ceased to fol
low up the numerous modifications of the ma
chinery for employing it, of which I do not
know whether England or our own country has
produced the greater number. — To GEORGE
FLEMING, vi, 504. (M., 1815.)
8177. STEAM, Fire engine. — You speak
of a new method of raising water by steam,
which, you suppose, will come into general use.
I know of no new method of that kind, and
suppose (as you say the account you have
received of it is very imperfect) that some per
son has represented to you, as new, a fire en
gine erected at Paris, and which supplies the
greater part of the town with water. But this
is nothing more than the fire engine you have
seen described in the books of hydraulics, and
particularly in the Dictionary of Arts and
Sciences, published by Owen, the idea of which
was first taken from Papin's Digester. It
would have been better called the steam en
gine. The force of the steam of water, you
know, is immense. In this engine, it is made
to exert itself towards the working of pumps.
That of Paris is, I believe, the largest known,
raising four hundred thousand cubic feet
(French) of water in twenty-four hours ; or,
rather, I should have said, those of Paris, for
there are two under one roof, each raising that
quantity. — To PROFESSOR JAMES MADISON.* i,
446. (P., 1785.)
8178. STEAM, Grist mills.— I could
write you volumes on the improvements which
I find made, and making here [England], in
the arts. One deserves particular notice, be-
* Professor in William and Mary College ; a cousin
of the President.— EDITOR.
cause it is simple, great, and likely to have ex
tensive consequences. It is the application of
steam, as an agent for working grist mills. I
have visited the one lately made here. It was,
at that time, turning eight pair of stones. It
consumes one hundred bushels of coal a day.
It is proposed to put up thirty pair of stones. I
do not know whether the quantity of fuel is to
be increased. — To CHARLES THOMSON, i, 542.
(L., 1786.)
8179. . In the arts, the most
striking thing I saw in England, new, was the
application of the principle of the steam-engine
to grist mills. I saw eight pairs of stones
which are worked bv steam, and there are to be
set up thirty pair in the same house. A hun
dred bushels of coal a day, are consumed at
present. I dp not know in what proportion
the consumption will be increased by the ad
ditional gear. — To JOHN PAGE, i, 550. FORD
ED., iv, 215. (P., 1786.)
8180. STEAM, Horse power vs.— You
say you have not been able to learn whether,
in the new mills in London, steam is the im
mediate mover of the machinery, or raises
water to move it. It is the immediate mover.
The power of this agent, though long known, is
but now beginning to be applied to the various
purposes of which it is susceptible. * * *
I have had a conversation on the subject * * *
with the famous Boulton to whom those mills
belong. * * He compares the effect of
steam with that of horses in the following
manner : Six horses, aided with the most ad
vantageous combination of the mechanical pow
ers hitherto tried, will grind six bushels of flour
in an hour ; at the end of which time they are
all in a foam, and must rest. They can work
thus six hours in the twenty-four, grinding thir
ty-six bushels of flour, which is six to each
horse, for the twenty-four hours. His steam
mill in London consumes one hundred and
twenty bushels of coal in twenty-four hours,
turns ten pair of stones, which grind eight
bushels of flour an hour each, which is nine
teen hundred and twenty bushels in the twenty-
four hours. This makes a peck and a half of
coal perform exactly as much as a horse in one
day can perform.* — To CHARLES THOMSON, ii,
67. FORD ED., iv, 337. (P., 1786.)
8181. STEAM, Livingston's experi
ments. — I have received with great pleasure
your favor on the subject of the steam engine.
Though deterred by the complexity of that hith
erto known, from making myself minutely ac
quainted with it, yet I am suffic:ently acquainted
with it to be sensible of the superior simplicity
of yours, and its superior economy. I particu
larly thank you for the permission to com
municate it to the Philosophical Society. — To
ROBERT R. LIVINGSTON, iv, 295. FORD ED., vii,
367. (Pa., 1799.)
8182. STEAM, Navigation.— I hear you
are applying steam in America to navigate
boats, and I have little doubt, but that it will be
applied generally to machines, so as to super-
* Parton, in his Life of Jefferson, p. 303, says : " It
was Jefferson who first sent to America the most
important piece of mechanical intelligence that pen
ever recorded,— the success of the Watt steam en
gine, by means of which ' a peck and a half of coal
performs as much work as a horse in a day '. He
conversed at Paris with Boulton, who was Watts's
partner in the manufacture of the engines, and
learned from his lips this astounding fact. But it
did not astound him in the least. He mentions it
quietly in the postcript of a long letter ; for no man
yet foresaw the revolution in all human affairs
which that invention was to effect."— EDITOR.
Steam
Stuart (House of)
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
840
sede the use of water ponds, and, of course, to
lay open all the streams for navigation. We
know that steam is one of the most powerful
engines we can employ ; and in America, fuel
is abundant. — To CHARLES THOMSON, i, 543.
(L., 1786.)
8183. . Internal navigation by
steamboats is rapidly spreading through all our
States, and that by sails and oars will ere long
be looked back to as among the curiosities of
antiquity. We count much, too, on its efficacy
for harbor defence ; and it will soon be tried
for navigation by sea. — To BARON HUMBOLDT.
vii, 75. FORD ED., x, 89. (M., 1817.)
8184. STEAM, Rumsey's ship.— Mr.
Rumsey has obtained a patent in England for
his navigation by the force of steam, and is
soliciting a similar one here [France]. His
principal merit is in the improvement of the
boiler, and instead of the complicated ma
chinery of oars and paddles, proposed by oth
ers, the substitution of so simple a thing as the
reaction of a stream of water on his vessel.
He is building a sea vessel at this time in
England. He has suggested a great number
of mechanical improvements in a variety of
branches ; and, upon the whole, is the most
original and the greatest mechanical genius I
have ever seen. — To DOCTOR WILLARD. iii,
16. (P., 1789.)
8185. STEAM, Water supply.— There is
one object to which I have often wished a
steam engine could be adapted. You know how
desirable it is both in town and country to be
able to have large reservoirs of water on the
top of our houses, not only for use (by pipes)
in the apartments, but as a resource against
fire. * * * Could any agent be employed
which would be little or no additional expense
or trouble except the first purchase, it would
be done. Every family has such an agent, its
kitchen fire. It is small, indeed, but if its small
but constant action could be accumulated so as
to give a stroke from time to time which might
throw ever so small a quantity of water from
the bottom of a well to the top of the house
(say one hundred feet), it would furnish more
than would waste by evaporation, or be used
by the family. I know nobody who must better
know the value of such a machine than your
self, nor more equal to the invention of it. — To
ROBERT R. LIVINGSTON, iv, 296. FORD ED.,
vii, 367. (Pa., 1709.)
— STERNE (Laurence), Writings of.—
See MORAL SENSE.
8186. STEUBEN (Baron), Services of.
— Baron Steuben, a zealous friend, has de
scended from the dignity of his proper command
to direct our [Virginia] smallest movements.
His vigilance has, in a great measure, supplied
the want of force in preventing the enemy
from crossing the [James] river, which might
have been * * * fatal. He has been as
siduously employed in preparing equipments for
the militia as they should assemble, pointing
them to a proper object, and other offices of a
good commander. — To GENERAL WASHINGTON.
i, 284. FORD ED., ii, 408. (R., 1781.)
8187. STEWART (Dugald), Metaphy
sician. — Stewart is a great man, and among
the most honest living. After you left Europe
he * * * came to Paris. He brought me
a letter from Lord Wycombe, whom you knew.
I became immediately intimate with him, calling
mutually on each other and almost daily during
his stay at Paris, which was of some months.
I consider him and Tracy as the ablest meta
physicians living. — To JOHN ADAMS, vii, 152.
(M., 1820.)
— STRAWBERRY.— See AGRICULTURE.
8188. STRENGTH, National.— Weak
ness provokes insult and injury while a con
dition to punish often prevents them. — To
JOHN JAY. i, 404. FORD ED., iv, 89. (P.,
1785.)
8189. . We confide in our
strength, without boasting of it; we respect
that of others, without fearing it. — To CAR-
MICHAEL AND SHORT, iv, 17. FORD ED., vi,
338. (Pa., 179.3.)
8190. STUART (Archibald), Talented.
— A young man of good talents from the
westward. — To JAMES MADISON. FORD ED., iii,
318. (T., May 1783.)
8191. STUART (House of), America
and. — This country [American Colonies]
which had been acquired by the lives, the la
bors, and fortunes of individual adventurers,
was, by these Princes [the Stuarts], several
times, parted out and distributed among the
favorites and followers of their fortunes ; and,
by an assumed right of the Crown alone, were
erected into distinct and independent govern
ments ; a measure, which, it is believed, his
Majesty's prudence and understanding would
prevent him from imitating at this day ; as no
exercise of such power, of dividing and dis
membering a country, has ever occurred in his
Majesty's realm of England, though now of
very ancient standing ; nor could it be justified
or acquiesced under there, or in any part
of his Majesty's empire. — RIGHTS OF BRITISH
AMERICA, i, 127. FORD ED., i, 431. (1774.)
8192. STUART (House of), Crimes.—
The treasonable crimes [of the Stuarts] against
their people brought on them the exertion of
those sacred and sovereign rights of punish
ment, reserved in the hands of the people for
cases of extreme necessity, and judged by the
constitution unsafe to be delegated to any other
judicature. — RIGHTS OF BRITISH AMERICA, i,
127. FORD ED., i, 431. (1774.)
8193. STUART (House of), Evil influ
ence. — It is not in the history of modern
England or among the advocates of the prin
ciples or practices of her government, that the
friend of freedom, or of political morality, is to
seek instruction. There has, indeed, been a
period, during which both were to be found,
not in her government, but in the band of
worthies who so boldly and ably reclaimed the
rights of the people, and wrested from their
government theoretic acknowledgments of
them. This period began with the Stuarts,
and continued but one reign after them. Since
that, the vital principle of the English consti
tution is corruption, its practices the natural
results of that principle, and their consequences
a pampered aristocracy, annihilation of the
substantial middle class, a degraded populace,
oppressive taxes, general pauperism, and na
tional bankruptcy. — To JOHN F. WATSON, vi,
346. (M., 1814.)
8194. STUART (House of), Hume and.
— Hume spared nothing to wash the Stuarts
white, and to palliate their misgovernment.
For this purpose he suppressed truths, advanced
falsehoods, forged authorities, and falsified
records. — To . vii, 412. (M., 1825.)
841
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Study
Suffrage
8195. STUDY, In old age.— I was a hard
student until I entered on the business of life,
the duties of which leave no idle time to those
disposed to fulfil them ; and now, retired, and at
the age of seventy-six, I am again a hard stu
dent. — To DR. VINE UTLEY. vi^ 116. FORD
ED., x, 126. (M., 1819.)
8196. STUDY, Young men and. — A part
of my occupation, and by no means the least
pleasing, is the direction of the studies of such
young men as ask it. They place themselves in
the neighboring village and have the use of
my library and counsel, and make a part of
my society. In advising the course of their
reading, I endeavor to keep their attention fixed
on the main objects of all science, the freedom
and happiness of man. So that coming to
bear a share in the councils and government
of their country, they will keep ever in v'ew the
sole objects of all legitimate government. — To
GENERAL KOSCIUSKO. v, 509. (M., 1810.)
_ STYLOGRAPH.— See INVENTIONS.
8197. SUBMISSION, To parliament.—
Submission to their parliament was no part
of our Constitution, nor ever in idea, if his
tory may be credited.* — DECLARATION OF IN
DEPENDENCE AS DRAWN BY JEFFERSON.
8198. SUBSERVIENCE, Americans
and. — We owe gratitude to France, justice to
England, good-will to all, and subservience to
none. — To ARTHUR CAMPBELL, iv, 198. FORD
ED., vii, 170. (M., 1797.)
— SUBSIDIES.— See BOUNTIES.
8199. SUBSISTENCE, Discoveries and.
—Every discovery which multiplies the sub
sistence of man must be a matter of joy to
every friend of humanity. — To MONSIEUR
L'HOMMANDE. ii, 236. (P., 1787.)
8200. SUFFRAGE, Ark of safety.—
The elective franchise, if guarded as the ark
of our safety, will peaceably dissipate all
combinations to subvert a Constitution, dic
tated by the wisdom, and resting on the will
of the people.— To BENJAMIN WARING, iv,
378. (W., March 1801.)
8201. SUFFRAGE, Bribery and.— I be
lieve we may lessen the danger of buying and
selling votes, by making the number of
voters too great for any means of purchase;
I may further say that I have not observed
men's honesty to increase with their riches. —
To JEREMIAH MOOR. FORD ED., vii, 454. (M.,
Aug. 1800.)
8202. SUFFRAGE, Education and. —
There is one provision [in the new constitu
tion of Spain] which will immortalize its
inventors. It is that which, after a certain
epoch, disfranchises every citizen who cannot
read and write. This is new, and is the fruit
ful germ of the improvement of everything
good, and the correction of everything im
perfect in the present constitution. — To
CHEVALIER DE ONIS. vi, 342. (M., 1814.)
8203. — — . In the constitution of
Spain, as proposed by the late Cortes, there
was a principle entirely new to me, * *
that no person, born after that day, should
ever acquire the rights of citizenship until he
* Struck out by Congress.— EDITOR.
could read and write. It is impossible suffi
ciently to estimate the wisdom of this pro
vision. Of all those which have been thought
of for securing fidelity in the administration
of the government, constant ralliance to the
principles of the Constitution, and progressive
amendments with the progressive advances
of the human mind, or changes in human
affairs, it is the most effectual. Enlighten the
people generally, and tyranny and oppressions
of body and mind will vanish like evil spirits
at the dawn of day. * * * The constitu-
under its salutary operation. — To DUPONT DE
NEMOURS, vi, 592. FORD ED., x, 24. (P.F.,
1816.) See CONSTITUTION, SPANISH.
8204. . By the bill [in the re
vision of the Virginia Code] for a general
education, the people would be qualified to
understand their rights, to maintain them,
and to exercise with intelligence their parts
in self-government. — AUTOBIOGRAPHY, i, 49.
FORD ED., i, 69. (1821.)
8205. SUFFRAGE, Exercise of.—
Should things go wrong at any time, the
people will set them to rights by the peace
able exercise of their elective rights. — To
WILSON C. NICHOLAS, v, 5. FORD ED., viii,
435- (W., 1806.)
8206. SUFFRAGE, General.— When the
Constitution of Virginia was formed I was in
attendance at Congress. Had I been here,
I should probably have proposed a general
suffrage ; because my opinion has always been
in favor of it. Still, I find some very honest
men who, thinking the possession of some
property necessary to give due independence
of mind, are for restraining the elective fran
chise to property. — To JEREMIAH MOOR. FORD
ED., vii, 454. (M., Aug. 1800.)
8207. SUFFRAGE, Instrument of re
form. — The rational and peaceable instru
ment of reform, the suffrage of the people. —
To SPENCER ROANE. vii, 133. FORD ED., x,
140. (P.F., 1819.)
8208. SUFFRAGE, Property qualifica
tion. — All male persons of full age and sane
mind, having a freehold estate in one-fourth
of an acre of land in any town, or in twenty-
five acres of land in the country, and all per
sons resident in the colony, who shall have
paid, scot and lot, to government the last
two years, shall have right to give their vote
in the election of their respective representa
tives. — PROPOSED VA. CONSTITUTION. FORD
ED., ii, 14. (June 1776.)
8209. . All free male citizens, of
full age and sane mind, who for one year
before shall have been resident in the county,
or shall through the whole of that time have
possessed therein real property to the value
of , or shall for the same time have been
enrolled in the militia, and no others, shall
have a right to vote for delegates for the
* * * county, and for senatorial electors
for the district. They shall give their votes
Suffrage
Supreme Court
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
842
personally, and viva voce. — PROPOSED VA.
CONSTITUTION, viii, 444. FORD ED., iii, 323.
(1783.)
8210. . In the scheme of consti
tution for Virginia which I prepared in 1783,
* * * I found [the suffrage] on a year's
residence in the country, or the possession of
property in it, or a year's enrollment in its
militia. — To JEREMIAH MOOR. FORD ED., vii,
454. (M., Aug. 1800.)
8211. SUFFRAGE, Restricted.— It has
been thought that corruption is restrained by
confining the right of suffrage to a few of
the wealthier of the people; but it would be
more effectually restrained by an extension
of that right to such numbers as would bid
defiance to the means of corruption. — NOTES
ON VIRGINIA, viii, 391. FORD ED., iii, 255.
(1782.)
8212. SUFFRAGE, Taxes and militia
duty. — Every male citizen of the common
wealth, liable to taxes or to militia duty in
any county, shall have a right to vote for rep
resentatives for that county to the legisla
ture. — NOTES FOR A CONSTITUTION. FORD ED.,
vi, 520. (1794.) See VOTING.
8213. SUGAR, Maple.— What a blessing
to substitute a sugar [maple] which requires
only the labor of children for that which is
said to render the slavery of the blacks neces
sary. — To BENJAMIN VAUGHAN. iii, 158.
(N.Y., 1790.)
8214. . I am sorry to hear my
sugar maples have failed. I shall be able, how
ever, to get here [Philadelphia] any number I
may desire. * * * It is too hopeful an
object to be abandoned. — To T. M. RANDOLPH.
FORD ED., v, 508. (Pa., 1792.)
8215. . I should think the sugar-
maple more worthy of experiment [in France
than the sugar cane]. There is no part of
France of which the climate would not admit
this tree. I have never seen a reason why ev
ery farmer should not have a sugar orchard, as
well as an apple orchard. The supply of sugar
for his family would require as little ground,
and the process of making it is as easy as that
of cider. Mr. Micheaux, your botanist here,
could send you plants as well as seeds, in any
quantity from the United States. — To M. LAS-
TEYRIE. v, 314. (W., July 1808.)
8216. SUGAR, The poor and.— Sugar
and coffee being articles of food for the poorer
class, a small increase of price places them
above the reach of this class. — To MARQUIS
LAFAYETTE, i, 597. FORD ED., iv, 257. (P.,
1786.)
_ SUICIDE.— See MURDER, SELF.
8217. SUMTER (Thomas), Description
of. — I think I have selected a governor for
Louisiana, as perfect in all points as we can
expect. Sound judgment, standing in society,
knowledge of the world, wealth, liberality, fa
miliarity with the French language, and having
a French wife. You will perceive I am de
scribing Sumter. I do not know a more proper
character for the place. — To JAMES MADISON.
FORD ED., viii, 260. (M., July 1803.)
8218. SUN, Almighty physician.— The
sun, — my almighty physician. — To JAMES MON
ROE. FORD ED., iv, 41. (P., 1785-)
8219. SUN-DIAL, Calculations for a.—
While much confined to the house by my rheu
matism, I have amused myself with calculating
the hour lines of an horizontal dial for the
latitude of this place [Poplar Forest]. * * *
As I do not know that anybody here has taken
this trouble before, I have supposed a copy
would be acceptable to you. — To MR. CLAY, vi,
7. (P.F., 1811.)
8220. SUPREME COURT, Appoint
ments to. — The appointment of a successor
to Judge Patterson was bound up by rule.
The last judiciary system requiring a judge
for each district, rendered it proper that he
should be of the district. This has been ob
served in both the appointments to the
Supreme Bench made by me. Where an of
fice is local we never go out of the limits for
the officer. — To CESAR A. RODNEY. FORD ED.,
viii, 497- (W., Dec. 1806.)
8221. SUPREME COURT, Centraliza
tion and. — The great object of my fear is the
Federal Judiciary. That body, like gravity,
ever acting, with noiseless foot, and un-
alarming advance, gaining ground step by
step, and holding what it gains, is engulfing
insidiously the special governments into the
jaws of that which feeds them. — To SPENCER
ROANE. vii, 212. FORD ED., x, 189. (M.,
1821.)
8222. . There is no danger I
apprehend so much as the consolidation of
our Government by the noiseless, and there
fore unalarming, instrumentality of the Su
preme Court. This is the form in which
federalism now arrays itself, and consolida
tion is the present principle of distinction be
tween republicans and the pseudo-republicans
but real federalists. — To WILLIAM JOHNSON.
vii, 278. FORD ED., x, 248. (M., 1823.)
8223. SUPREME COURT, Individual
opinions. — A most condemnable practice of
the Supreme Court to be corrected is that of
cooking up a decision in caucus and deliver
ing it by one of their members as the opinion
of the Court, without the possibility of our
knowing how many, who, and for what rea
sons each member concurred. This com
pletely defeats the possibility of impeachment
by smothering evidence. A regard for charac
ter in each being now the only hold we can
have of them, we should hold fast to it.
They would, were they to give their opinions
seriatim and publicly, endeavor to justify
themselves to the world by explaining the
reasons which led to their opinion. — To
JAMES PLEASANTS. FORD EDV x, 199. (M.,
Dec. 1821.)
8224. •-. There is a subject re
specting the practice of the Court of which
you are a member which has long weighed
on my mind. * * * It is the habitual mode
of making up and delivering the opinions. You
know that from the earliest ages of the Eng
lish law, from the date of the Year-Books,
at least, to the end of the Second George,
the judges of England, in all but self-evident
cases, delivered their opinions seriatim, with
the reasons and authorities which governed
843
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Supreme Court
their decisions. If they sometimes consulted
together, and gave a general opinion, it was so
rarely as not to excite either alarm or notice.
Besides the light which their separate argu
ments threw on the subject, and the instruc
tion communicated by their several modes of
reasoning, it showed whether the judges were
unanimous or divided, and gave accordingly
more or less weight to the judgment as a
precedent. It sometimes happened, too, that
when there were three opinions against one,
the reasoning of the one was so much the
most cogent as to become afterwards the law
of the land. When Lord Mansfield came to
the bench he introduced the habit of caucus
ing opinions. The judges met at their cham
bers, or elsewhere, secluded from the presence
of the public, and made up what was to be
delivered as the opinion of the court. On
the retirement of Mansfield, Lord Kenyon
put an end to the practice, and the judges
returned to that of seriatim opinions, and
practice it habitually to this day I believe.
I am not acquainted with the late Reporters,
do not possess them, and state the fact from
the information of others. To come now to
ourselves, I know nothing of what is done in
other States, but in this [Virginia] our great
and good Mr. Pendleton was, after the Revo
lution, placed at the head of the Court of
Appeals. He adored Lord Mansfield, and
considered him as the greatest luminary of
law that any age had ever produced, and he
introduced into the court over which he pre
sided, Mansfield's practice of making up opin
ions in secret, and delivering them as the
oracle of the court, in mass. Judge Roane,
when he came to that bench, broke up the
practice, refused to hatch judgments, in con
clave, or to let others deliver opinions for
him. At what time the seriatim opinions
ceased in the Supreme Court of the United
States, I am not informed. They continued
I know to the end of the 3d Dallas in 1800,
later than which I have no Reporter of that
court. About that time the present Chief-
Justice [Marshall] came to the bench.
Whether he carried the practice of Mr. Pen
dleton to it, or who, or when I do not know ;
but I -understand from others it is now the
habit of the Court, and I suppose it is true
from the cases sometimes reported in the
newspapers, and others which I casually see,
wherein I observed that the opinions were
uniformly prepared in private. Some of
these cases, too, have been of such impor
tance, of such difficulty, and the decisions
so grating to a portion of the public as to
have merited the fullest explanation from
every judge, seriatim, of the reasons which
had produced such convictions on his mind.
It was interesting to the public to know
whether these decisions were really unani
mous, or might not perhaps be of four against
three, and, consequently, prevailing by the pre
ponderance of one voice only. The Judges,
holding their offices for life, are under two
responsibilities only. i. Impeachment. 2. In
dividual reputation. But this practice com
pletely withdraws them from both. For no
body knows what opinion any individual
member gave in any case, nor even that he
who delivers the opinion, concurred in it him
self. Be the opinion, therefore, ever so im-
peachable, having been done in the dark, it
can be proved on no one. As to the second
guarantee, personal reputation, it is shielded
completely. The practice is certainly con
venient for the lazy, the modest and the in
competent. It saves them the trouble of de
veloping their opinion methodically and even
of making up an opinion at all. That of
seriatim argument shows whether every judge
has taken the trouble of understanding the
case, of investigating it minutely, and of
forming an opinion for himself, instead of
pinning it on another's sleeve. It would
certainly be right to abandon this prac
tice in order to give to our citizens one
and all, that confidence in their judges which
must be so desirable to the judges themselves,
and so important to the cement of the Union.
During the administration of General Wash
ington, and while E. Randolph was Attorney
General, he was required by Congress to
digest the judiciary laws into a single one,
with such amendments as might be thought
proper. He prepared a section requiring the
judges to give their opinions seriatim, in
writing to be recorded in a distinct volume.
Other business prevented this bill from being
taken up, and it passed off; but such a
volume would have been the best possible
book of reports, and the better as unincum-
bered with the hired sophisms and perver
sions of counsel. — To WILLIAM JOHNSON.
FORD ED., x, 223. (M., Oct. 1822.)
8225. . I rejoice in the example
you set of seriatim opinions. Some of your
brethren will be encouraged to follow it oc
casionally, and in time, it may be felt by all
as a duty, and the sound practice of the
primitive court be again restored. Why
should not every judge be asked his opinion,
and give it from the bench, if only by yea or
nay? Besides ascertaining the fact of his
opinion, which the public have a right to
know, in order to judge whether it is im-
peachable or not, it would show whether the
opinions were unanimous or not, and thus
settle more exactly the weight of their au
thority. — To WILLIAM JOHNSON, vii, 298.
FORD ED., x, 232. (M., 1823.)
8226. — . I must comfort myself
with the hope that the judges will see the
importance and the duty of giving their coun
try the only evidence they can give of fidelity
to its Constitution and integrity in the ad
ministration of its laws; that is to say, by
every one's giving his opinion seriatim and
publicly on the cases he decides. Let him
prove by his reasoning that he has read the
papers, that he has considered the case, that
in the application of the law to it, he uses his
own judgment independently and unbiased
by party views and personal favor or dis
favor. Throw himself in every case on God
and his country; both will excuse him for
error and value him for his honesty. The
Supreme Court
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
844
very idea of cooking up opinions in conclave,
begets suspicions that something passes
which fears the public ear, and this, spreading
by degrees, must produce at some time
abridgment of tenure, facility of removal, or
some other modification which may promise
a remedy. For, in truth, there is at this
time more hostility to the Federal Judiciary
than to any other organ of the government. —
To WILLIAM JOHNSON, vii, 278. FORD ED., x,
248. (M., 1823.)
8227. SUPREME COURT, Marshall's
opinions.— This practice of Judge Marshall,
of travelling out of his case to prescribe what
the law would be in a moot case not before
the court, is very irregular and very censur
able. I recollect another instance, and the
more particularly, perhaps, because it in some
measure bore on myself. Among the mid
night appointments of Mr. Adams, were com
missions to some Federal justices of the
peace for Alexandria. These were signed
and sealed by him, but not delivered. I found
them on the table of the Department of State,
on my entrance into office, and I forbade
their delivery. Marbury, named in one of
them, applied to the Supreme Court for a
mandamus to the Secretary of State (Mr.
Madison) to deliver the commission intended
for him. The Court determined at once, that
being an original process, they had no cogni
zance of it; and, therefore, the question be
fore them was ended. But the Chief Justice
went on to lay down what the law would
be, had they jurisdiction of the case, to wit:
that they should command the delivery. The
object was clearly to instruct any other court
having the jurisdiction, what they should
do if Marbury should apply to them. Be
sides the impropriety of this gratuitous in
terference, could anything exceed the perver
sion of law? For, if there is any principle
of law never yet contradicted, it is that de
livery is one of the essentials to the validity
of a deed. Although signed and sealed, yet
as long as it remains in the hands of the
party himself, it is in fieri only, it is not a
deed, and can be made so only by its delivery.
In the hands of a third person it may be made
an escrow. But whatever is in the Execu
tive officers is certainly deemed to be in the
hands of the President; and in this case, was
actually in my hands, because, when I coun
termanded them, there was as yet no Secre
tary of State. Yet this case of " Marbury
vs. Madison " is continually cited by bench
and bar, as if it were settled law, without
any animadversion on its being an obiter dis
sertation of the Chief Justice. It may be im
practicable to lay down any general formula
of words which shall decide at once, and
with precision, in every case, this limit of
jurisdiction. But there are two canons which
will guide us safely in most of the cases.
First. The capital and leading object of the
Constitution was to leave with the States all
authorities which respected their own citizens
only, and to transfer to the United States
those which respected citizens of foreign or
other States ; to make us several as to our
selves, but one as to all others. In the latter
case, then, constructions should lean to the
general jurisdiction, if the words will bear it;
and in favor of the States in the former, if
possible to be so construed. And indeed, be
tween citizens and citizens of the same State,
and under their own laws, I know but a
single case in which a jurisdiction is given
to the General Government. That is, where
anything but gold or silver is made a lawful
tender, or the obligation of contracts is any
otherwise impaired. The separate legisla
tures had so often abused that power, that the
citizens themselves chose to trust it to the
General, rather than to their own special au
thorities. Secondly. On every question of
construction, carry ourselves back to the time
when the Constitution was adopted, recollect
the spirit manifested in the debates, and in
stead of trying what meaning may be
squeezed out of the text, or invented against
it, conform to the probable one in which it
was passed.. Let us try Cohen's case by these
canons only, referring always, however, for
full argument, to the essays before cited, i.
It was between a citizen and his own State,
and under a law of his State. It was a do
mestic case, therefore, and not a foreign one.
2. Can it be believed, that under the jealous
ies prevailing against the General Govern
ment, at the adoption of the Constitution, the
States meant to surrender the authority of
preserving order, of enforcing moral duties
and restraining vice, within their own ter
ritory? And this is the present case, that of
Cohen being under the ancient and general
law of gaming. Can any good be effected
by taking from the States the moral rule of
their citizens, and subordinating it to the
General authority, or to one of their corpora
tions, which may justify forcing the meaning
of words, hunting after possible constructions,
and hanging inference on inference, from
heaven to earth, like Jacob's ladder? Such
an intention was impossible, and such a
licentiousness of construction and inference,
if exercised by both governments, as may be
done with equal right, would equally au
thorize both to claim all power, general and
particular, and break up the foundations of
the Union. Laws are made for men of or
dinary understanding, and should, therefore,
be construed by the ordinary rules of com
mon sense. Their meaning is not to be
sought for in metaphysical subtleties, which
may make anything mean anything or noth
ing, at pleasure. It should be left to the
sophisms of advocates, whose trade it is, to
prove that a defendant is a plaintiff, though
dragged into court, torto collo, like Bona
parte's volunteers, into the field in chains,
or that a power has been given, because it
ought to have been given, et alia talia. The
States supposed that by their Tenth Amend
ment, they had secured themselves against con
structive powers. They were not lessened yet
by Cohen's case, nor aware of the slipperiness
of the eels of the law. I ask for no straining
of words against the General Government
nor yet against the States. I believe the
845
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Supreme Court
States can best govern our home concerns,
and the General Government our foreign
ones. I wish, therefore, to see maintained
that wholesome distribution of powers es
tablished by the Constitution for the limita
tion of both ; and never to see all offices
transferred to Washington, where, further
withdrawn from the eyes of the people, they
may more secretly be bought and sold as at
market. But the Chief Justice says, " there
must be an ultimate arbiter somewhere ".
True, there must; but does that prove it
is either party? The ultimate arbiter is
the people of the Union, assembled by
their deputies in convention, at the call
of Congress, or of two-thirds of the States.
Let them decide to which they mean to
give an authority claimed by two of their
organs. And it has been the peculiar wisdom
and felicity of our Constitution, to have pro
vided this peaceable appeal, where that of
other nations is at once to force. — To WILL
IAM JOHNSON.* vii, 293. FORD ED., x, 230.
(M., 1823.) See MARSHALL.
8228. SUPREME COURT, Questions of
constitutionality. — It is a very dangerous
doctrine to consider the judges as the ulti
mate arbiters of all constitutional questions.
It is one which would place us under the
despotism of an oligarchy. * * * The
Constitution has erected no such single tri
bunal, knowing that to whatever hands con
fided, with the corruptions of time and party, its
members would become despots. It has more
wisely made all the departments coequal and
cosovereign within themselves. — To WILL
IAM C. JARVIS. vii, 178. FORD ED., x, 160.
(M., 1820.
8229. . If the Legislature fails
to pass laws for a census, for paying the
Judges and other officers of government, for
establishing a militia, for naturalization as
prescribed by the Constitution, or if they fail
to meet in Congress, the Judges cannot issue
their mandamus to them; if the President
fails to supply the place of a judge, to ap
point other civil or military officers, to issue
requisite commissions, the Judges cannot force
him. They can issue their mandamus or dis-
tringas to no executive or legislative officer
to enforce the fulfilment of their official
duties any more than the President or Leg
islature may issue orders to the Judges or
their officers. Betrayed by English example,
and unaware, as it should seem, of the control
of our Constitution in this particular, they
have at times overstepped their limit by un
dertaking to command executive officers in
the discharge of their executive duties; but
the Constitution, in keeping the three depart
ments distinct and independent restrains the
authority of the Judges to judiciary organs,
as it does the Executive and Legislative to
executive and legislative organs. The Judges
certainly have more frequent occasion to act
on constitutional questions, because the laws
of meum and tuum and of criminal action,
* Associate Justice William Johnson, of South
Carolina, appointed by Jefferson to the Supreme
Court bench, March, 1804.— EDITOR.
forming the great mass of the system of law,
constitute their particular department. When
the legislative or executive functionaries act
unconstitutionally, they are responsible to the
people in their elective capacity. The ex
emption of the Judges from that is quite
dangerous enough. — To WILLIAM C. JARVIS.
vii, 178. FORD ED., x, 160. (M., 1820.)
8230. SUPREME COURT, Republican
ism and.— At length, we have a chance of
getting a republican majority in the Supreme
Judiciary. For ten years has that branch
braved the spirit and will of the nation, after
the nation had manifested its will by a com
plete reform in every branch depending on
them. The event is a fortunate one, and so
timed as to be a God-send to me. I am sure
its importance to the nation will be felt, and
the occasion employed to complete the great
operation they have so long been executing,
by the appointment of a decided republican,
with nothing equivalent about him. — To
ALBERT GALLATIN. v, 549. FORD ED., ix, 284.
(M., 1810.)
8231. . The misfortune of Bid-
well removes an able man from the com
petition. Can any other bring equal qualifica
tions to those of [Levi] Lincoln? I know
he was not deemed a profound common
lawyer; but was there ever a profound com
mon lawyer known in one of the Eastern
States? There never was, nor never can be,
one from those States. The basis of their
law is neither common nor civil ; it is an
original, if any compound can be so called.
Its foundation seems to have been laid in the
spirit and principles of Jewish law, incor
porated with some words and phrases of
common law, and an abundance of notions of
their own. This makes an amalgam sui
generis, and it is well known that a man. first
and thoroughly initiated into the principles of
one system of law, can never become pure
and sound in any other. Lord Mansfield was
a splendid proof of this. Therefore, I say,
there never was, nor can be a profound com
mon lawyer from those States. Sullivan had
the reputation of preeminence there as a
common lawyer, but we have his History of
Land Titles, which gives us his measure.
Mr. Lincoln is, I believe, considered as
learned in their laws as any one they have.
Federalists say that Parsons is better. But
the criticalness of the present nomination puts
him out of the question. As the great mass
of the functions of the new judge are to be
performed in his own district, Lincoln will be
most unexceptionable and acceptable there ;
and on the Supreme bench equal to any who
can be brought thence. Add to this his in
tegrity, political firmness, and unimpeach
able character, and I believe no one can be
found to whom there will not be more serious
objections. — To ALBERT GALLATIN. v, 550.
FORD ED., ix, 285. (M., Sep. 1810.)
8232. - — . Bidwell's disgrace with
draws the ablest man of the section in which
Cushing's successor must be named. The
pure integrity, unimpeachable conduct, talents
Supreme Court
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
846
and republican firmness of [Levi] Lincoln,
leave him now, I think, without a rival. He
is thought not an able common lawyer. But
there is not and never was an able one in the
New England States. Their system is sui
generis, in which the common law is little
attended to. Lincoln is one of the ablest in
their system, and it is among them he is to
execute the great portion of his duties. — To
CESAR A. RODNEY, v, 547. (M., Sep. 1810.)
8233. . The death of [Associate
Justice] Cushing is opportune, as it gives an
opening for at length getting a republican
majority on the Supreme Bench. Ten years
has the anti-civism of that body been bidding
defiance to the spirit of the whole nation,
after they had manifested their will by re
forming everv other branch of government.
I trust the occasion will not be lost. * * *
Nothing is more material than to complete
the reformation of the government by this
appointment, which may truly be said to be
putting the keystone into the arch. — To
CESAR A. RODNEY, v, 547. (M., Sep. 1810.)
8234. . A circumstance of con
gratulation is the death of Cushing. The
nation ten years ago declared its will for a
change in the principles of the administration
of their affairs. They have changed the two
branches depending on their will, and have
steadily maintained the reformation in those
branches. The third, not dependent on them,
has so long bid defiance to their will, erecting
themselves into a political body, to correct
what they deem the errors of the nation.
The death of Cushing gives an opportunity
of closing the reformation by a successor of
unquestionable republican principles. Our
friend, Lincoln, has, of course, presented him
self to your recollection. I know you think
lightly of him as a lawyer ; and I do not con
sider him as a correct common lawyer, yet
as much so as any one which ever came, or
ever can come from one of the Eastern
States. Their system of jurisprudence made
up from the Jewish law, a little dash of
common law, and a great mass of original
notions of their own, is a thing sui generis,
and one educated in that system can never so
far eradicate early impressions as to imbibe
thoroughly the principles of another system.
It is so in the case of other systems of which
Lord Mansfield is a splendid example. Lin
coln's firm republicanism, and known integ
rity, will give complete confidence to the
public in the long desired reformation of their
judiciary. Were he out of the way, I should
think Granger prominent for the place. His
abilities are great ; I have entire confidence in
his integrity, though I am sensible that
J.[ohn] R. [andolph] has been able to lessen
the confidence of many in him. But that
I believe he would soon reconcile to him, if
placed in a situation to show himself to the
public, as he is, and not as an enemy has
represented him. As the choice must be of ?
New Englander, to exercise his functions ior
New England men, I confess I know of none
but these two characters. Morton is really
a republican, but inferior to both the others
in every point of view. Blake calls himself
republican, but never was one at heart. His
treachery to us under the Embargo should
put him by forever. Story and Bacon are
exactly the men who deserted us on that
measure, and carried off the majority. The
former, unquestionably a tory, and both are
too young. I say nothing of professing fed
eralists. Granger and Morton have both been
interested in Yazooism. The former, how
ever, has long been clear of it. I have said
thus much because I know you must wish
to learn the sentiments of others, to hear all,
and then do what on the whole you perceive
to be best. — To PRESIDENT MADISON. FORD
ED., ix, 282. (M., Oct. 1810.)
8235. . I consider the substitu
ting, in the place of Cushing, a firm, unequivo-
cating republican, whose principles are born
with him, and not an occasional ingraftment,
as necessary to complete that great reforma
tion in our government to which the nation
gave its fiat ten years ago. They have com
pleted and maintained it steadily in the two
branches dependent on them, but the third,
unfortunately and unwisely, made independ
ent not only of the nation, but even of their
own conduct, have hitherto bid defiance to
the public will, and erected themselves into
a political body with the assumed functions
of correcting what they deem the errors of
the nation. — To GIDEON GRANGER. FORD ED.,
ix, 286. (M., Oct. 1810.)
8236. SUPREME COURT, State rights
and. — There are two measures which if not
taken, we are undone. First,* to check these
unconstitutional invasions of State rights by
the Federal judiciary. How? Not by im
peachment, in the first instance, but by a
strong protestation of both houses of Con
gress that such and such doctrines, advanced
by the Supreme Court, are contrary to the
Constitution; and if afterwards they relapse
into the same heresies, impeach and set the
whole adrift. For what was the government
divided into three branches, but that each
should watch over the others and oppose their
usurpations? — To NATHANIEL MACON. FORD
ED., x, 192. (M., Aug. 1821.)
8237.
-. The Legislative and Ex
ecutive branches may sometimes err, but
elections and dependence will bring them to
rights. The Judiciary branch is the :nstru-
ment which, working like gravity, without
intermission, is to press us at last into one
consolidated mass. * * * If Congress
fails to shield the States from dangers so
palpable and so imminent, the States must
shield themselves, and meet the invader foot
to foot. — To ARCHIBALD THWEAT. vii, 199.
FORD ED., x, 184. (M., 1821.)
8238. . You request me confi
dentially, to examine the question, whether
"he Supreme Court has advanced beyond its
constitutional limits, and trespassed on those
of the State authorities? I do not under
take it, because I am unable. Age and the
* For the " second " one, see No. 2066. —EDITOR.
847
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Supreme Court
> m-plus
wane of mind consequent on it, have dis
qualified me from investigations so severe,
and researches so laborious. And it is the
less necessary in this case, as having been
already done by others with a logic and learn
ing to which I could add nothing. On the
decision of the case of Cohen vs. The State
of Virginia, in the Supreme Court of the
United States, in March, 1821, Judge Roane,
under the signature of " Algernon Sidney ",
wrote for the [Richmond] Enquirer a series
of papers on the law of that case. I con
sidered these papers maturely as they came
out, and confess that they appeared to me to
pulverize every word which had been de
livered by Judge Marshall, of the extra-
judicial part of his opinion; and all was ex
tra-judicial, except the decision that the act
of Congress had not purported to give to
the Corporation of Washington the authority
claimed by their lottery law, of controlling
the laws of the States within the States
themselves. But, unable to claim that case,
he could not let it go entirely, but went on
gratuitously to prove, that notwithstanding
the Eleventh Amendment of the Constitution,
a State could be brought as a defendant, to
the bar of his court; and again, that Con
gress might authorize a corporation of its
territory to exercise legislation within a State,
and paramount to the laws of that State. I
cite the sum and result only of his doctrines,
according to the impression made on my
mind at the time, and still remaining. If not
strictly accurate in circumstance, it is so in
substance. This doctrine was so completely re
futed by Roane, that if he can be answered,
I surrender human reason as a vain and use
less faculty, given to bewilder, and not to
guide us. And I mention this particular case
as one only of several, because it gave oc
casion to that thorough examination of the
constitutional limits between the General and
State jurisdictions, which you have asked
for. There were two other writers in the
same paper, under the signatures of " Flet
cher of Saltoun ", and " Somers ", who, in a
few essays, presented some very luminous
and striking views of the question. And
there was a particular paper which recapitu
lated all the cases in which it was thought
the Federal Court had usurped on the State
jurisdictions. * * * The subject was taken
up by our [Virginia] Legislature of i82i-'22,
and two drafts of remonstrances were pre
pared and discussed. As well as I remember,
there was no difference of opinion as to the
matter of right ; but there was as to the ex
pediency of a remonstrance at that time, the
general mind of the States being then under
extraordinary excitement by the Missouri
question ; and it was dropped on that con
sideration. But this case is not dead, it only
sleepeth. The Indian chief said he did not
go to war for every petty injury by itself,
but put it into his pouch, and when that was
full, he then made war. Thank heaven, we
have provided a more peaceable and rational
mode of redress. — To JUDGE WILLIAM JOHN
SON, vii, 293. FORD ED., x, 229. (M., June
1823.)
— SURGERY. — See MEDICINE.
8239. SURPLUS, Accumulation of.—
[We] have left us in the treasury eight
millions and a half of dollars. A portion of
this sum may be considered as a commence
ment of accumulation of the surpluses of rev
enue, which, after paying the instalments of
debts as they shall become payable, will re
main without any specific object. It may
partly, indeed, be applied toward completing
the defence of the exposed points of our
country, on such a scale as shall be adapted
to our principles and circumstances. This
object is doubtless among the first entitled
to attention, in such a state of our finances,
and it is one which, whether we have peace
or war, will provide security where it is due.
Whether what shall remain of this, with the
future surpluses, may be usefully applied to
purposes already authorized, or more usefully
to others requiring new authorities, or how
otherwise they shall be disposed of. are ques
tions calling for the notice of Congress, unless
indeed they shall be superseded by a change
in our public relations now awaiting the de
terminations of others.— SEVENTH ANNUAL
MESSAGE, viii, 88. FORD ED., ix, 165. (Oct.
1807.)
8240. SURPLUS, Congress and.— The
probable accumulation of the surpluses of
revenue : : merits the consideration of
Congress. Shall it lie unproductive in the
public vaults? Shall the revenue be reduced?
Or shall it rather be appropriated to the im
provements of roads, canals, rivers, educa
tion, and other great foundations of pros
perity and union, under the powers which
Congress may already possess, or such
amendments of the Constitution as may be
approved by the States?— EIGHTH ANNUAL
MESSAGE, viii, no. FORD ED., ix, 224. (Nov
1808.)
8241. SURPLUS, Disposition of.— When
both of these branches of revenue [Medi
terranean fund and Salt tax] shall * * * be
relinquished, there will still ere long be an
accumulation of moneys in the treasury be
yond the instalments of public debt which
we are permitted by contract to pay. They
cannot, then, without a modification assented
to by the public creditors, be applied to the
extinguishment of this debt, and the complete
liberation of our revenues — the most desir
able of all objects; nor, if our peace con
tinues, will they be wanting for any other
existing purpose. The question, therefore,
now comes forward, — to what other objects
shall these surpluses be appropriated, and the
whole surplus of impost, after the entire dis
charge of the public debt, and during those
intervals when the purposes of war shall not
call for them? Shall we suppress the impost
and give that advantage to foreign over do
mestic manufactures? On a few articles of
more general and necessary use, the suppres
sion in due season will doubtless be right, but
the great mass of the articles on which im
post is paid is foreign luxuries, purchased by
those only who are rich enough to afford
Surplus
Talents
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
848
themselves the use of them. Their patriotism
would certainly prefer its continuance and ap
plication to the great purposes of the public
education, roads, rivers, canals, and such
other objects of public improvement as it may
be thought proper to add to the constitu
tional enumeration of federal powers. By these
operations new channels of communication
will be opened between the States; the lines
of separation will disappear, their interests
will be identified, and their Union cemented
by new and indissoluble ties. — SIXTH AN
NUAL MESSAGE, viii, 68. FORD ED., viii, 493.
(Dec. 1806.)
8242. SURPLUS, Taxation and.— Sound
principles will not justify our taxing the in
dustry of our fellow citizens to accumulate
treasure for wars to happen we know not
when, and which might not perhaps happen
but from the temptations offered by that
treasure. — FIRST ANNUAL MESSAGE, viii, 9.
FORD ED., viii, 119. (1801.)
8243. SURVEYING, Method of plat
ting. — You requested for the use of your
school, an explanation of a method of platting
the courses of a survey, which I mentioned to
you as of my own practice. This is so ob
vious and simple, that as it occurred to myself,
so I presume it has to others, although I have
not seen it stated in any of the books. For
drawing parallel lines, I use the triangular
rule, the hypothenusal side of which being ap
plied to the side of a common straight rule, the
triangle slides on that, as
thus, always parallel to itself.
Instead of drawing meridians
on his paper, let the pupil
draw a parallel of latitude, or
east and west line, and note
in that a point for his first
station, then applying to it his
protractor, lay off the first
course, and distance in the
usual way to ascertain his second station. For
the second course, lay the triangular rule to the
east and west line, or first parallel, holding the
straight or guide rule firmly against its hypoth
enusal side. Then slide up the triangle (for
a northerly course) to the point of his second
station, and pressing it firmly there, lay the
protractor to that, and mark off the second
course, and distance as before, for the third
station. Then lay the triangle to the first
parallel again, and sliding it as before to the
point of the third station, then apply to it the
protractor for the third course and distance,
which gives the fourth station ; and so on.
When a course is southwardly, lay the pro
tractor, as before, to the northern edge of the
triangle, but prick its reyersed course, which
reversed again in drawing, gives the true
course. When the station has got so far from
the first parallel, as to be out of the reach of
the parallel rule sliding on its hypothenuse,
another parallel must be drawn by laying the
edge, or longer leg of the triangle to the first
parallel as before, applying
the guide-rule to the end, or
short leg (instead of the hy
pothenuse), as in the margin,
and sliding the triangle up to
the point for the new parallel.
I have found this, in practice, the quickest
and most correct method of platting which I
have ever tried, and the neatest also, because it
disfigures the paper with the fewest unnecessary
lines. — To MR. GIRARDIN. vi, 338. (M., 1814.)
8244. SWARTWOUT (Samuel), Char
acter of. — The distribution of so atrocious a
libel as the pamphlet " Aristides ", and still
more the affirming its contents to be true as
Holy Writ, presents a shade in the morality of
Mr. Swartwout, of which his character had not
before been understood to be susceptible. Such
a rejection of all regard to truth, would have
been sufficient cause against receiving him into
the corps of executive officers at first ; but
whether it is expedient after a person is ap
pointed, to be as nice on a question of removal
requires great consideration. — To DE WITT
CLINTON. FORD ED., viii, 322. (W., Oct.
1804.)
— SYLVANIA, Proposed state of.—
See WESTERN TERRITORY.
8245. SYMPATHY, For the afflicted.—
What more sublime delight than to mingle tears
with one whom the hand of heaven hath smit
ten ! To watch over the bed of sickness, and
to beguile its tedious and its painful moments !
To share our bread with one whom misfortune
has left none ! This world abounds indeed
with misery ; to lighten its burthen, we must
divide it with one another. — To MRS. COSWAY.
ii, 38. FORD ED., iv, 318. (P., 1786.)
8246. SYMPATHY, Of friends.— When
languishing under disease, how grateful is the
solace of our friends ! How are we penetrated
with their assiduities and attentions ! How
much are we supported by their encouragement
and kind offices ! When heaven has taken from
us some object of our love, how sweet is it to
have a bosom whereon to recline our heads,
and into which we may pour the torrent of
our tears ! Grief, with such a comfort, is al
most a luxury ! — To MRS. COSWAY. ii, 38. FORD
ED., iv, 318. (P., 1786.)
8247. TALENTS, Hidden.— The object
[of my educational bill] is to bring into
action that mass of talents which lies buried
in poverty in every country, for want of the
means of development, and thus give activity
to a mass of mind, which, in proportion to
our population, shall be the double or treble
of what it is in most countries. — To M. COR-
REA. vii, 94. (P.F., 1817.)
8248. TALENTS, Public councils and.
— Talents in our public councils are at all
times important. — To CESAR A. RODNEY.
FORD ED., viii, 296. (W., 1804.)
8249. TALENTS, Republics and.— I
hold it to be one of the distinguishing ex
cellences of elective over hereditary succes
sions, that the talents which nature has pro
vided in sufficient proportion, should be
selected by the society for the government of
their affairs, rather than that this should be
transmitted through the loins of knaves and
fools, passing from the debauches of the
table to those of the bed. — To PRESIDENT
WASHINGTON, iii, 466. FORD ED., vi, 107.
(M., 1792.)
8250. TALENTS, Science and.— Talents
and science are sufficient motives with me in
appointments to which they are fitted. — To
PRESIDENT WASHINGTON, iii, 466. FORD ED.,
vi, 107. (M., 1792.)
849
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Talents
Tariff
8251. TALENTS, Useful.— The times do
not admit of the inactivity of such talents as
yours.— To JAMES MADISON. FORD ED., vii,
244. (Pa., 1798.) See ABILITY, EDUCATION,
GENIUS and SCHOOLS.
8252. TALLEYRAND, Connection with
X. Y. Z. plot. — There were interwoven with
these overtures* some base propositions on the
part of Talleyrand, through one of his agents,
to sell his interest and influence with the Di
rectory towards smoothing difficulties with
them, in consideration of a large sum (fifty
thousand pounds sterling) ; and the arguments
to which his agent resorted to induce compli
ance with this demand, were very unworthy of
a great nation (could they be imputed to them),
and calculated to excite disgust and indignation
in Americans generally, and alienation in the
republicans particularly, whom they so far mis
take, as to presume an attachment to France
and hatred to the federal party, and not the
love of their country, to be their first passion.
— To JAMES MADISON, iv, 232. FORD ED., vii,
235. (Pa., April 1798.)
8253. TALLEYRAND, Corrupt.— The
Envoys have been assailed by swindlers, wheth
er with or without the participation of Talley
rand is not very apparent. The known corrup
tion of his character renders it very possible
he may have intended to share largely in the
£50,000 demanded. But that the Directory
knew anything of it, is neither proved nor prob
able. On the contrary, when the Portuguese
ambassador yielded to like attempts of swind
lers, the conduct of the Directory in imprison
ing him for an attempt at corruption, as well
as their general conduct, really magnanimous,
places them above suspicion. — To PETER CARR.
iv, 235. FORD EDV vii, 238. (Pa., April 1798.)
8254. TALLEYRAND, Hostility of.— I
am told that Talleyrand is personally hostile to
us. This, I suppose, has been occasioned by
the X. Y. Z. history. He should consider that
that was the artifice of a party, willing to sac
rifice him to the consolidation of their power.
This nation has done him justice by dismissing
them; * * * those in power are precisely
those who disbelieved that story ; saw in it
nothing but an attempt to deceive our country ;
that we entertain towards him person
ally the most friendly dispositions.t — To M.
DUPONT DE NEMOURS, iv, 436. (April 1802.)
8255. TARIFF, Burdens of.— I wish it
were possible to increase the impost on any
articles affecting the rich chiefly, to the
amount of the sugar tax, so that we might
relinquish that at the next session. But this
must depend on our receipts keeping up. As
to the tea and coffee tax, the people do not
regard it. The next tax which an increase
of revenue should enable us to suppress, should
be the salt tax, perhaps; indeed, the pro
duction of that article at home is already un
dermining that tax.— To ALBERT GALLATIN.
FORD ED., viii, 171. (M., Sep. 1802.)
8256. . The revenue on the con
sumption of foreign articles, is paid cheer
fully by those who can afford to add foreign
luxuries to domestic comforts, being collected
on our seaboards and frontiers only, and in-
* See X. Y. Z. PLOT.— EDITOR.
+ Jefferson requested that these representations be
made to Talleyrand.— EDITOR.
corpprated with the transactions of our mer
cantile citizens, it may be the pleasure and
pride of an American to ask, what farmer,
what mechanic, what laborer, ever sees a
tax-gatherer of the United States? — SECOND
INAUGURAL ADDRESS, viii, 41. FORD ED., viii,
343- (1805.)
8257. . These revenues will be
levied entirely on the rich, the business of
household manufacture being now so estab
lished that the farmer and laborer clothe
themselves entirely. The rich alone use im
ported articles, and on these alone the whole
taxes of the General Government are levied.
The poor man, who uses nothing but what
is made in his own farm or family, or within
his own country, pays not a farthing of tax
to the General Government, but on his salt ;
and should we go into that manufacture also,
as is probable, he will pay nothing. Our
revenues liberated by the discharge of the
public debt, and its surplus applied to canals,
roads, schools, &c., the farmer will see his
government supported, his children educated,
and the face of his country made a paradise
by the contributions of the rich alone, without
his being called on to spend a cent from his
earnings.*— To GENERAL KOSCIUSKO. v, 586.
(M., 1811.)
8258. TARIFF, Confederation and.—
Congress, on the i8th of April, 1783, recom
mended to the States to invest them with a
power, for twenty-five years, to levy an im
post of five per cent, on all articles imported
from abroad. — To M. DE MEUNIER. ix, 256.
FORD ED., iv, 161. (P., 1786.)
8259. TARIFF, Debts and.— The princi
pal objection [to assumption] now is that all
the debts, general and State, will have to
be raised by tax on imposts, which will thus
be overburdened ; whereas had the States been
left to pay the debts themselves, they could
have done it by taxes on land and other prop
erty, which would thus have lightened the
burden on commerce. — To DR. GILMER. iii,
167. (N.Y., 1790.)
8260. TARIFF, Direct taxation and.—
Would it not have been better [in the new
Federal Constitution] to assign to Congress
exclusively the articles of imposts for Federal
purposes, and to have left direct taxation ex
clusively to the States? I should suppose the
former fund sufficient for all probable events,
aided by the land office. — To E. CARRINGTON.
ii, 334. FORD ED., iv, 482. (P., 1787.)
8261. TARIFF, Discriminating.— Be
tween nations who favor our productions and
navigation and those who do not favor them,
one distinction alone will suffice: one set of
moderate duties for the first, and a fixed ad
vance on these as to some articles, and pro
hibitions as to others, for the last. — FOREIGN
COMMERCE REPORT, vii, 650. FORD ED., vi, 483.
(Dec. 1793.)
8262. TARIFF, Excessive.— It is really
an extraordinary proposition that the agri-
* Jefferson wrote a similar letter to Dupont de
Nemours.— EDITOR.
Tariff
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
850
cultural, mercantile, and navigating classes
shall be taxed to maintain that of manufac
tures. — To THOMAS COOPER. FORD EDV x, 285.
(M., 1823.)
8263. . Congress has done noth
ing remarkable except the passing a tariff bill
by squeezing majorities, very revolting to a
great portion of the people of the States,
among whom it is believed it would not have
received a vote but of the manufacturers them
selves. It is considered as a levy on the labors
and efforts of the other classes of industry
to support that of manufactures, and I wish it
may not draw on our surplus, and produce
retaliatory impositions from other nations. —
To RICHARD RUSH. FORD ED., x, 304. (M.,
1824.)
8264. TARIFF, Incidental protection.—
As to the tariff, I should say put down all
banks, admit none but a metallic circulation,
that will take its proper level with the like
circulation in other countries, and then our
manufacturers may work in fair competition
with those of other countries, and the import
duties which the government may lay for the
purposes of revenue will so far place them
above equal competition. — To CHARLES
PINCKNEY. vii, 180. FORD ED., x, 162. (M.,
1820.)
8265. TARIFF, Paper money. — The long
succession of years of stunted crops, of reduced
prices, the general prostration of the farming
business, under levies for the support of man
ufacturers, &c., with the calamitous fluctua
tions of value in our paper medium, have kept
agriculture in a state of abject depression,
which has peopled the Western States by
silently breaking up those on the Atlantic,
and glutted the land market, while it drew
off its bidders. In such a state of things,
property has lost its character of being a re
source for debts. Highland in Bedford,
which, in the days of our plethory, sold
readily for from fifty to one hundred dol
lars the acre (and such sales were many
then), would not now sell for more than
from ten to twenty dollars, or one-quarter
or one-fifth of its former price. — To JAMES
MADISON, vii, 434. FORD ED., x, 377. (M.,
February 1826.)
8266. TARIFF, Patriotism and.— Shall
we suppress the impost and give that advan
tage to foreign over domestic manufactures?
On a few articles of more general and neces
sary use, the suppression in due season will
doubtless be right, but the great mass of the
articles on which impost is paid is foreign
luxuries, purchased by those only who are
rich enough to afford themselves the use of
them. Their patriotism would certainly pre
fer its continuance and application to the
great purposes of the public education, roads,
rivers, canals, and such other objects of pub
lic improvement as it may be thought proper
to add to the constitutional enumeration of
Federal powers. — SIXTH ANNUAL ^MESSAGE.
viii, 68. FORD ED., viii, 493. ( 1806. )
8267. TARIFF, Prohibitory.— Duties of
from ten to twenty per cent, on articles of
heavy carriage, prevent their importation.
They eat up all the profits of the merchant,
and often subject him to loss. This has been
much the case with respect to turpentine, tar
and pitch, which are principal articles of re
mittance from the State of North Carolina.
It is hoped that it will coincide with the views
of the government * * * to suppress the
duties on these articles, which of all others
can bear them least. — To COUNT DE MONT-
MORIN. 11,175. FORD ED., iv, 402. (P., 1787.)
8268. TARIFF, Protective.— Where a
nation imposes high duties on our produc
tions, or prohibits them altogether, it may
be proper for us to do the same by theirs;
first burdening or excluding those produc
tions which they bring here in competition
with our own of the same kind; selecting
next, such manufactures as we take from
them in greatest quantity, and which, at the
same time, we could the soonest furnish to
ourselves, or obtain from other countries ; im
posing on them duties lighter at first, but
heavier and heavier, afterwards, as other
channels of supply open. Such duties, having
the effect of indirect encouragement to do
mestic manufactures of the same kind, may
induce the manufacturer to come himself into
these States, where cheaper subsistence, equal
laws, and a vent of his wares, free of duty,
may ensure him the highest profits from his
skill and industry. And here, it would be in
the power of the State governments to co
operate essentially, by opening the resources
of encouragement which are under their con
trol, extending them liberally to artists in
those particular branches of manufacture for
which their soil, climate, population and other
circumstances have matured them, and foster
ing the precious efforts and progress of
household manufacture, by some patronage
suited to the nature of its objects, guided by
the local informations they possess, and
guarded against abuse by their presence and
attentions. The oppressions on our agricul
ture, in foreign ports, would thus be made
the occasion of relieving it from a dependence
on the councils and conduct of others^ and
of promoting arts, manufactures and popula
tion at home. — FOREIGN COMMERCE REPORT.
vii, 648. FORD ED., vi, 481. (Dec. 1793.)
8269. TARIFF, Public improvements
and. — Of the two questions of the tariff and
public improvements, the former, perhaps, is
not yet at rest, and the latter will excite bois
terous discussions. It happens that both these
measures fall in with the western interests,
and it is their secession from the agricultural
States which gives such strength to the
manufacturing and consolidating parties, on
these two questions. The latter is the most
dreaded, because thought to amount to a de
termination in the Federal Government to as
sume all powers non-enumerated as well as
enumerated in the Constitution, and by giving
a loose to construction, make the text say
whatever will relieve them from the bridle of
the States. These are all difficulties for your
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA Srleton iCol. Banna.tre)
day; I shall give them the slip.— To RICHARD
RUSH, vii, 380. FORD ED., x, 322. (M.,
1824.)
8270. TARIFF, Reciprocal.— There
might have been mentioned a third* species
of arrangement, that of making special agree
ments on every special subject of commerce,
and of settling a tariff of duty to be paid
on each side, on every particular article ; but
this would require in our Commissioners [to
Spain] a very minute knowledge of our com
merce; as it is impossible to foresee every
proposition, of this kind, which might be
brought into discussion, and to prepare them
for it by information and instruction from
hence. Our commerce, too, is, as yet, rather
in a course of experiment, and the channels in
which it will ultimately flow are not suf
ficiently known to enable us to provide for it
by special agreement. Nor have the exigen
cies of our new government, as yet, so far
developed themselves, as that we can know
to what degree we may, or must have recourse
to commerce, for the purpose of revenue. No
common consideration, therefore, ought to in
duce us, as yet, to arrangements of this kind.
Perhaps nothing should do it, with any nation,
short of the privileges of natives, in all their
possessions, foreign and domestic. — MISSIS
SIPPI RIVER INSTRUCTIONS, vii, 589. FORD
ED., v, 479. (March 1792.)
8271. TARIFF, Revenue and.— The
powers of the government for the collection
of taxes are found to be perfect, so far as they
have been tried. This has been as yet only by
duties on consumption. As these fall prin
cipally on the rich, it is a general desire to
make them contribute the whole money we
want, if possible. And we have a hope that
they will furnish enough for the expenses of
Government and the interest of our whole
public debt, foreign and domestic. — To COMTE
DE MOUSTIER. iii, 200. (Pa., 1790.)
8272. . The imports are not a
proper object to bear all the taxes of a State.
—To JOHN HARVIE. FORD ED., v, 214. (N.Y.,
1790.)
8273. TARIFF, Salt and.— The duties
composing the Mediterranean fund will cease
by law at the end of the present season. Con
sidering, however, that they are levied chiefly
on luxuries, and that we have an impost on
salt, a necessary of life, the free use of which
otherwise is so important, I recommend to
your consideration the suppression of the
duties on salt, and the continuance of the
Mediterranean fund, instead thereof, for a
short time, after which that also will become
vmnecessary for any purpose now within con
templation. SIXTH ANNUAL MESSAGE, viii,
67. FORD ED., viii, 493. (1806.)
8274. TARIFF, Specific and ad valo
rem duties. — There must be something more
in this increase of revenue than the natural
and war increase ; depreciation to a small de-
* The first was that of exchanging the privileges
of native citizens ; and the second, those of the most
favored nation.— EDITOR.
gree in other countries, a sensible one in this,
and a great one in England, must make a
part of it, and is a lesson to us to prefer ad
valorem to fixed duties. The latter require
often retouching, or they become delusive. —
To ALBERT GALLATIN. FORD ED., viii -^7.
(May 1805.)
8275. TARIFF, States and.— Several
States have passed acts for vesting Congress
with the whole regulation of their commerce,
reserving the revenue arising from these regu
lations to the disposal of the State in which
it is levied; * * * but the Assembly of
Virginia, apprehensive that this disjointed
method of proceeding may fail in its effect,
or be much retarded, passed a resolution on
the 21 st of January, 1786, appointing com
missioners to meet others from the other
States, whom they invite into the same meas
ure, to digest the form of an act for investing
Congress with such powers over their com
merce as shall be thought expedient, which
act is to be reported to their several Assem
blies for their adoption. — To M. DE MEUNIER.
ix, 257. FORD ED., iv, 162. (P., 1786.) See
DEBT, DRAWBACKS, DUTIES, EXCISE LAW,
FREE TRADE, GENERAL WELFARE CLAUSE, IN
TERNAL IMPROVEMENTS, MANUFACTURES, PRO
TECTION, SURPLUS, and TAXATION.
8276. TARLETON (Colonel Bannas-
tre), Raid on Monticello.— Colonel Tarle-
ton, with his regiment of horse, was detached
by Lord Cornwallis to surprise Mr. Jefferson
(whom they thought still in office) [as Gov
ernor] and the Legislature now sitting in Char-
lottesville. The Speakers of the two houses, and
some other members of the Legislature, were
lodging with Mr. Jefferson at Monticello. Tar-
leton, early in the morning, when within ten
miles of that place, detached a company of
horse to secure him and his guests, and pro
ceeded himself rapidly with his main body to
Charlottesville, where he hoped to find the
Legislature unapprized of his movement. No
tice of it, however, had been brought, both to
Monticello and Charlottesville, about sunrise.
The Speakers, with their colleagues returned to
Charlottesville, and with the other members of
the Legislature, had barely time to get out of
his way. Mr. Jefferson sent off his family to
secure them from danger, and was himself still
at Monticello making arrangements for his own
departure, when a Lieutenant Hudson arrived
there at half speed, and informed him that the
enemy were then ascending the hill at Monti-
cello. He departed immediately, and knowing
that he would be pursued if he took the high
road, he plunged into the woods of the adjoin
ing mountain, where, being at once safe, he pro
ceeded to overtake his family. This is the fa
mous adventure of Carter's Mountain, which
has been so often resounded through the
slanderous chronicles of federalism. But they
have taken care never to detail the facts, lest
these should show that this favorite charge
amounted to nothing more than that he did not
remain in his house, and there singly fight a
whole troop of horse, or suffer himself to be
taken prisoner. Having accompanied his fam
ily one day's journev, he returned to Monti-
cello. Tarleton had retired after eighteen
hours' stay in Charlottesville. Mr. Jefferson
then rejoined his family, and proceeded with
them to an estate he had in Bedford, about
eighty miles southwest, where, riding on his
KS?tion(Co1' Bauna8tre) THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
farm sometime after^ he was thrown from his
horse, and disabled from riding on horseback
for a considerable time. But Mr. Turner finds
it more convenient to give him this fall in his
retreat from Tarleton, which had happened
some weeks before, as a proof that he withdrew
from a troop of horse with a precipitancy which
Don Quixote would not have practiced. — IN
VASION OF VA. MEMORANDUM, ix, 223. (M.,
1781.)
8277. . I did not suffer by Col
onel Tarleton. On the contrary, he behaved
very genteelly with me. On his approach to
Charlottesville, which is within three miles of
my house at Monticello, he dispatched a troop
of his horse, under Captain McLeod, with the
double object of taking me prisoner, with the
two Speakers of the Senate and Delegates,
who then lodged with me, and of remaining in
vidette, my house commanding a view of ten or
twelve counties round about. He gave strict
orders to Captain McLeod to suffer nothing to
be injured. The troop failed in one of their
objects, as we had notice of their coming, so
that the two Speakers had gone off about two
hours before their arrival at Monticello, and
myself with my family, about five minutes.
Captain McLeod preserved everything with sa
cred care. — To DR. WILLIAM GORDON, ii, 425.
FORD ED., v, 38. (P., 1788.) See CORN-
WALLIS.
8278. TASTE, Control of. — Taste cannot
be controlled by law. — NOTES ON A MONEY
UNIT, i, 168. FORD ED., iii, 451. (1784.)
8279. TAXATION, Basis of .—The taxes
with which we are familiar, class themselves
readily according to the basis on which they
rest. i. Capital. 2. Income. 3. Consumption.
These may be considered as commensurate;
Consumption being generally equal to In
come, and Income the annual profit of Capital.
A government may select any one of these
bases for the establishment of its system of
taxation, and so frame it as to reach the fac
ulties of every member of the society, and to
draw from him his equal proportion of the
public contributions; and, if this be correctly
obtained, it is the perfection of the function of
taxation. But, when once a government has
assumed its basis, to select and tax special
articles from either of the other classes, is
double taxation. For example, if the system
be established on the basis of Income, and
his just proportion on that scale has been al
ready drawn from every one, to step into the
field of Consumption, and tax special articles
in that, as broadcloth or homespun, wine or
whiskey, a coach or a wagon, is doubly taxing
the same article. For that portion of Income
with which these articles are purchased, hav
ing already paid its tax as Income, to pay
another tax on the thing it purchased, is pay
ing twice for the same thing, it is an aggriev-
ance on the citizens who use these articles
in exoneration of those who do not, contrary
to the most sacred of the duties of a govern
ment, to do equal and impartial justice to all
its citizens. How far it may be the interest
and the duty of all to submit to this sacrifice
on other grounds; for instance, to pay for a
time an impost on the importation of certain
articles, in order to encourage their manufac
ture at home, or an excise on others injurious
to the morals or health of the citizens, will
depend on a series of considerations of an
other order, and beyond the proper limits of
this note. * * * To this a single observa
tion shall yet be added. Whether property
alone, and the whole of what each citizen
possesses, shall be subject to contribution, or
only its surplus after satisfying his first wants,
or whether the faculties of body and mind
shall contribute also from their annual earn
ings, is a question to be decided. But, when
decided, and the principle settled, it is to be
equally and fairly applied to all. To take
from one, because it is thought that his own
industry and that of his fathers' has acquired
too much, in order to spare to others, who,
or whose fathers have not exercised equal in
dustry and skill, is to violate arbitrarily the
first principle of association, " the guarantee
to every one of a free exercise of his industry,
and the fruits acquired by it ". If the over
grown wealth of an individual be deemed
dangerous to the State, the best corrective is
the law of equal inheritance to all in equal
degree ; and the better, as this enforces a law
of nature, while extra-taxation violates it. —
NOTE IN DESTUTT TRACY'S POLITICAL ECON
OMY, vi, 573. (1816.)
8280. TAXATION, Commerce, prop
erty and. — I am principally afraid that com
merce will be overloaded by the assumption
[of the State debts], believing that it would be
better that property should be duly taxed. —
To MR. RANDOLPH, iii, 185. (N.Y., 1790.)
8281. TAXATION, Control over.— The
Congress * * * are of opinion that the
Colonies of America possess the exclusive
privilege of giving and granting their own
money; that this involves the right of delib
erating whether they will make any gift, for
what purpose it shall be made, and what shall
be the amount of the gift, and that it is a
high breach of this privilege, for any body of
men, extraneous to their constitutions to pre
scribe the purposes for which money shall be
levied on them; to take to themselves the
authority of judging of their conditions, cir
cumstances and situation, of determining the
amount of the contributions to be levied. As
they possess a right of appropriating their
gifts, so are they entitled, at all times, to in
quire into their application, to see that they
be not wasted among the venal and corrupt,
for the purpose of undermining the civil
rights of the givers, nor yet be diverted to the
support of standing armies, inconsistent with
their freedom and subversive of their quiet.
— REPLY TO LORD NORTH'S CONCILIATORY
PROPOSITION. FORD ED., i, 477. (July 1775.)
8282. TAXATION, Debt and.— Taxa
tion follows public debt, and in its train
wretchedness and oppression. — To SAMUEL
KERCHIVAL. vii, 14. FORD ED., x, 42. (M.,
1816.)
8283. TAXATION, "Direct.— Would it
not have been better [in the new Federal Con
stitution] * * * to have left direct taxa-
853
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Taxation
tion exclusively to the States? — To E. CAR-
RINGTON. ii, 334. FORD ED., iv, 482. (P.,
1787.)
8284. . I will add one question
to what I have said there [letter to Mr. Madi
son]. Would it not have been better to as
sign to Congress exclusively the article of
imposts for Federal purposes, and to have
left direct taxation exclusively to the States?
I should suppose the former fund sufficient
for all probable events, aided by the land of
fice. — To EDWARD CARRINGTON. ii, 334. FORD
ED., iv, 482. (P., Dec. 1787.)
8285. . I have no doubts that
the States * * * could have availed them
selves of resources for this government [As
sumption] which are cut off from the General
Government by the prejudices existing against
direct taxation in their hands. — To JOHN
HARVIE. FORD ED., v, 214. (N.Y., 1790.)
8286. . The disgusting particu
larities of the direct tax. — To EDMUND PEN-
DLETON. iv, 275. FORD ED., vii, 338. (Pa.,
I799-)
8287. TAXATION, Direct and indirect.
— It is uncertain what will be the fate of the
proposed tax on horses. Besides its partiality,
it is infinitely objectionable as foisting in a
direct tax under the name of an indirect one.
—To T. M. RANDOLPH. FORD ED., vi, 149.
(Pa., 1792.)
8288. . A proposition has been
made to Congress to begin sinking the public
debt by a tax on pleasure horses ; that is to
say, on all horses not employed for the
draught or farm. It is said there is not a
horse of that description eastward of New
York. And as to call this a direct tax would
oblige them to proportionate it among the
States according to the census, they choose
to class it among the indirect taxes. — To DR.
GEORGE GILMER. iii, 494. FORD ED., vi, 146.
(Pa., 1792.)
8289. TAXATION", Equalization of. —
To equalize and moderate the public contribu
tions, that while the requisite services are
invited by due remuneration, nothing beyond
this may exist to attract the attention of our
citizens from the pursuits of useful industry,
nor unjustly to burthen those who continue
in those pursuits — * * * [is one of the]
functions of the General Government on
which you have a right to call.— REPLY TO
VERMONT ADDRESS, iv, 418. (W., 1801.)
8290. TAXATION, Exports and.— I have
read with attention and satisfaction the pam
phlet you have sent me. It is replete with
sound views, some of which will doubtless be
adopted. Some may be checked by difficul
ties. None more likely to be so than the
proposition to amend the Constitution, so as
to authorize Congress to tax exports. The
provision against this in the framing of that
instrument, was a sine qua non with the
States of peculiar productions, such as rice,
indigo, cotton and tobacco, to which may now
be added sugar. A jealousy prevailing that to
the few States producing these articles, the
justice of the others might not be a sufficient
protection in opposition to their interest, they
moored themselves to this anchor. Since the
hostile dispositions lately manifested by the
Eastern States, they would be less willing
than before to place themselves at their
mercy ; and the rather as the Eastern States
have no exports which can be taxed equiva-
lently. It is possible, however, that this dif
ficulty might be got over; but the subject
looking forward beyond my time, I leave it
to those to whom its burthens and benefits
will belong. — To A. C. MITCHELL, vi, 483.
(M., 1815.)
8291. TAXATION, Extravagant.— If
anything could revolt our citizens against the
war, it would be the extravagance with which
they are about to be taxed. It is strange in
deed that at this day, and in a country where
English proceedings are so familiar, the prin
ciples and advantages of funding should be
neglected, and expedients resorted to. Their
new bank, if not abortive at its birth, will not
last through one campaign ; and the taxes pro
posed cannot be paid. How can a people who
cannot get fifty cents a bushel for their wheat,
while they pay twelve dollars a bushel for
their salt, pay five times the amount of taxes
they ever paid before? Yet that will be the
case in all the States south of the Potomac.
Our resources are competent to the main
tenance of the war if duly economized and
skillfully employed in the way of anticipation.
However, we must suffer, I suppose, * * *
and consider now, as in the Revolutionary
war, that although the evils of resistance are
great, those of submission would be greater.
We must meet, therefore, the former as the
casualties of tempests and earthquakes, and
like them necessarily resulting from the con
stitution of the world. — To WILLIAM SHORT.
vi, 400. (M., Nov. 1814.)
8292. TAXATION, Federal Govern
ment and. — I thought at first that the power
of taxation [given in the new Federal Consti
tution] might have been limited. A little re
flection soon convinced me it ought not to be.
— To F. HOPKINSON. ii, 586. FORD ED., v,
76. (P., March 1789.)
8293. TAXATION, French.— It is confi
dently believed * * * that the stamp
tax and land tax will be repealed, and other
means devised of accommodating their re
ceipts and expenditures. Those supposed to be
in contemplation are a rigorous levy of the
old tax of the deux vingtiemes on the rich,
who had in a great measure withdrawn their
property from it, as well as on the poor, on
whom it had principally fallen. — To JOHN
JAY. ii, 272. (P., 1787.)
8294. . The right of taxation
includes the idea of * * equalizing the
taxes on the clergy and nobility as well as
the commons. The two former orders do not
pay one-third of the proportion ad valorem,
which the last pay. — To DR. CURRIE. ii, 544.
(P, 1788.)
Taxation
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
854
8295. . The clergy and nobles
[in France], by their privileges and influence,
have kept their property in a great measure
untaxed.— To DR. PRICE, ii, 556. (P., Jan.
1789.)
8296. . Nor should we wonder
at * * * [the] pressure [for a fixed con
stitution in 1788-9] when we consider the
monstrous abuses of power under which
* * * [the French] people were ground to
powder ; when we pass in review * *
the oppressions of the tithes, the tailles, the
corvees, the gabelles, the farms and the bar
riers, — AUTOBIOGRAPHY, i, 86. FORD ED., i,
118. (1821.)
8297. . [We] should not won
der at * * * [the] pressure [for a fixed
constitution in 1788-9] when we consider the
monstrous abuses of power under which
* * * [the French] people were ground to
powder ; when we pass in review the weight
of their taxes and the inequality of their dis
tribution. — AUTOBIOGRAPHY, i, 86. FORD ED.,
i, 118. (1821.)
8298. TAXATION, Internal.— Many of
the opposition [to the new Federal Constitu
tion] wish to take from Congress the power
of internal taxation. Calculation has con
vinced me that this would be very mischie
vous. — To WILLIAM CARMICHAEL. ii, 550.
(P., Dec. 1788.)
8299. — — . All are willing to add a
bill of rights [to the Federal Constitution]
but they fear the power of internal taxa
tion will be abridged. — To WILLIAM SHORT.
ii, 542. (P., 1788.)
8300. TAXATION, Luxuries.— The gov
ernment which steps out of the ranks of the
ordinary articles of consumption to select and
lay under disproportionate burdens a particu
lar one, because it is a comfort, pleasing to
the taste, or necessary to the health, and will,
therefore, be bought, is, in that particular, a
tyranny. — To SAMUEL SMITH, vii, 285. FORD
ED., x, 252. (M., 1823.)
8301. TAXATION, Oppressive Eng
lish. — No earthly consideration could induce
my consent to contract such a debt as Eng
land has by her wars for commerce, to re
duce our citizens by taxes to such wretched
ness, as that laboring sixteen of the twenty-
four hours, they are still unable to afford
themselves bread, or barely to earn as much
oatmeal or potatoes as will keep soul and
body together. And all this to feed the
avidity of a few millionary merchants, and to
keep up one thousand ships of war for the
protection of their commercial speculations. —
To WILLIAM CRAWFORD, vii, 7. FORD ED., x,
35- (M., 1816.)
8302. - — . If we run into such
debts, as that we must be taxed in our meat
and in our drink, in our necessaries and our
comforts, in our labors and our amusements,
for our callings and our creeds, as the people
of England are, our people, like them, must
come to labor sixteen hours in the twenty-
four, give the earnings of fifteen of these to
the government for their debts and daily ex
penses; and the sixteenth being insufficient to
afford us bread, we must live, as they now do,
on oatmeal and potatoes; have no time to
think, no means of calling the mismanagers to
account; but be glad to obtain subsistence by
hiring ourselves to rivet their chains on the
necks of our fellow-sufferers. * * * And
this is the tendency of all human govern
ments. A departure from principle in one in
stance becomes a precedent for a second ; that
second for a third ; and so on, till the bulk of
the society is reduced to be mere automatons
of misery, to have no sensibilities left but for
sinning and suffering. Then begins, indeed,
the bcllum omnium in omnia, which some
philosophers observing to be so general in this
world, have mistaken it for the natural in
stead of the abusive state of man. And the
fore horse of this frightful team is public debt.
Taxation follows that, and in its train
wretchedness and oppression. — To SAMUEL
KERCHIVAL. vii, 14. FORD ED., x, 41. (M.,
1816.)
8303. TAXATION, Parliamentary.— We
[Virginia House of Burgesses] cannot, my
Lord, close with the terms of that Resolution
[Lord North's Conciliatory Proposition],
* * because to render perpetual our ex
emption from an unjust taxation, we must
saddle ourselves with a perpetual tax, ade
quate to the expectations, and subject to the
disposal of Parliament alone; Whereas, we
have a right to give our money, as the Par
liament do theirs, without coercion, from time
to time, as public exigencies may require. , We
conceive that we alone are the judges of the
condition, circumstances, and situation of our
people, as the Parliament are of theirs. It
is not merely the mode of raising, but the free
dom of granting our money, for which we
have contended. Without this, we possess no
check on the royal prerogative ; and what
must be lamented by dutiful and loyal sub
jects, we should be stripped of the only
means, as well of recommending this country
to the favors of our most gracious Sovereign,
as of strengthening those bonds of amity with
our fellow-subjects, while we would wish to
remain indissoluble. — ADDRESS TO GOVERNOR
DUNMORE. FORD ED., i, 456. (1775.)
8304. - — . By several acts of Par
liament * * * they [the Ministers] have
undertaken to give and grant our money with
out our consent — a right of which we have
ever had the exclusive exercise. — DECLARA
TION ON TAKING UP ARMS. FORD ED., i, 467.
(July 1775.)
8305. . Congress are of opinion
* * * that the suspension of the exercise of
their [Parliament's] pretended power of taxa
tion being expressly made commensurate with
the continuing of our gifts, these must be per
petual to make that so: whereas no experience
has shown that a gift of perpetual revenues se
cures a perpetual return of duty or of kind
dispositions. On the contrary, the parliament
itself, wisely attentive to this observation, are
855
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Taxation
i
in the established practice of granting their
own money from year to year only. — REPLY TO
LORD NORTH'S PROPOSITION. FORD ED., i, 478.
(July 1775.)
8306. . A proposition to give
our money, when accompanied with large
fleets and armies, seems addressed to our
fears rather than to our freedom. — REPLY TO
LORD NORTH'S PROPOSITION. FORD ED., i, 479.
(July 1775.)
8307. - — . We think the attempt
unnecessary and unwarrantable to raise upon
us, by force or by threats, our proportional
contributions to the common defence, when all
know and themselves acknowledge, we have
fully contributed whenever called to contrib
ute, in the character of freemen. — REPLY TO
LORD NORTH'S PROPOSITION. FORD ED., i, 479.
(July 1775.)
8308. — — . The proposition [of Lord
North] is altogether unsatisfactory because it
imports only a suspension of the mode, not a
renunciation of the pretended right to tax us.
— REPLY TO LORD NORTH'S PROPOSITION. FORD
ED., i, 480. (July 1775.)
8309. . We had been so long in
the habit of seeing the British consider us
merely as objects for the extension of their
commerce, and of submitting to every duty
or regulation imposed with that view, that
we had ceased to complain of them. But
.when they proposed to consider us as objects
of taxation, all the States took the alarm. —
NOTES ON M. SOULES'S WORK, ix, 295. FORD
ED., iv, 302. (P., 1786.)
8310. TAXATION, Politics and.— The
principle of the present [federalist] majority
is excessive expense, money enough to fill all
their maws, or it will not be worth the risk
of their supporting. * * * Paper money
would be perilous even to the paper men.
Nothing then but excessive taxation can get
us along ; and this will carry reason and re
flection to every man's door, and particularly
in the hour of election. — To JOHN TAYLOR.
iv, 259. FORD ED., vii, 310. (M., 1798.)
8311. TAXATION, Problem of.— Taxa
tion is the most difficult function of govern
ment, and that against which their citizens
are most apt to be refractory. The general aim
is, therefore, to adopt the mode most consonant
with the circumstances and sentiments of the
country. — PREFACE TO TRACY'S POLITICAL
ECONOMY, vi, 570. (1816.)
8312. TAXATION, Public opinion and.
— The purse of the people is the real seat of
sensibility. It is to be drawn upon largely,
and they will then listen to truths which could
not excite them through any other organ. — To
A. H. ROWAN, iv, 257. FORD ED., vii, 281.
(M., 1798.)
8313. . All the [party] passions
are boiling over, and one who keeps him
self cool and clear of the contagion, is so far
below the point of ordinary conversation, that
he finds himself isolated in every society.
However, the fever will not last. War, land
tax and stamp tax, are sedatives which must
cool its ardor. They will bring on reflection,
and that, with information, is all which our
countrymen need, to bring themselves and
their affairs to rights. — To JAMES LEWIS, JR.
iv, 241. FORD ED., vii, 250. (Pa., May 1798.)
8314. TAXATION, Redress of griev
ances and. — The privilege of giving or with
holding our moneys is an important barrier
against the undue exertion of prerogative,
! * and all history shows how efficacious
its intercession [is] for redress of grievances
and reestablishment of rights, and how im
provident would be the surrender of so power
ful a mediator. — REPLY TO LORD NORTH'S
PROPOSITION. FORD ED., i, 477. (July 1775.)
8315. TAXATION, Regulation of.— Our
properties, within our own territories, shall
[not] be taxed or regulated by any power on
earth, but our own. — RIGHTS OF BRITISH
AMERICA, i, 142. FORD ED., i, 447. (1774.)
8316. TAXATION, Religion and.— The
restoration of the rights of conscience [in Vir
ginia by the Revised Code] relieved the peo
ple from taxation for the support of a religion
not theirs; for the [Church of England] Es
tablishment was truly of the religion of the
rich, the dissenting sects being entirely com
posed of the less wealthy people. — AUTOBIOG
RAPHY, i, 49. FORD ED., i, 69. (1821.)
8317. TAXATION, Representation and.
— Preserve inviolate the fundamental princi
ple, that the people are not to be taxed but by
representatives chosen immediately by them
selves. — To JAMES MADISON, ii, 328. FORD
ED., iv, 475. (P., 1787.)
8318. - — . There are certain prin
ciples in which the constitutions of our sev
eral States all agree, and which all cherish
as vitally essential to the protection of the life,
liberty, property and safety of the citizen.
[One is] the exclusive right of legislation and
taxation in the representatives of the people.
— To M. CORAY. vii, 323. (M., 1823.)
8319. TAXATION, Revolution from
unjust. — So inscrutable is the arrangement
of causes and consequences in this world,
that a two-penny duty on tea, unjustly im
posed in a sequestered part of it, changes the
condition of all its inhabitants. — AUTOBIOGRA
PHY, i, 106. FORD ED., i, 147. (1821.)
8320. TAXATION, Simplest system.—
The simplest system of taxation yet adopted
is that of levying on the land and the laborer.
But it would be better to levy the same sums
on the produce of that labor when collected in
the barn of the farmer; because then if
through the badness of the year he made little,
he would pay little. It would be better yet
to levy only on the surplus of this product
above his own wants. It would be better,
too, to levy it not in his hands, but in those
of the merchant purchaser ; because though the
farmer would in fact pay it, as the merchant
purchaser would deduct it from the origi
nal price of his produce, yet the farmer would
Taxation
Taxes
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
856
not be sensible that he paid it. This idea
would no doubt meet its difficulties and objec
tions when it should come to be reduced to
practice; yet I suspect it would be practical
and expedient. * * * What a comfort to
the farmer to be allowed to supply his own
wants before he should be liable to pay any
thing, and then only pay on his surplus. — To
JAMES MADISON. FORD ED., iv, 16. (P., Dec.
1784.)
8321. TAXATION, Uniformity of.— The
public contributions should be as uniform as
practicable from year to year, that our habits
of industry and of expense may become
adapted to them; and that they may be duly
digested and incorporated with our annual
economy. — To J. W. EPPES. vi, 198. FORD
ED., ix, 398. (P.P., Sep. 1813.)
8322. TAXATION, War and.— War re
quires every resource of taxation and credit.
— To GENERAL WASHINGTON, ii, 533. FORD
ED., v, 57. (P., 1788.)
8323. . Calculation has con
vinced me that circumstances may arise, and
probably will arise, wherein all the resources
of taxation will be necessary for the safety
of the State. — To GENERAL WASHINGTON, ii,
533. FORD ED., v, 56. (P., Dec. 1788.)
8324. -* — . Sound principles will
not justify our taxing the industry of our
fellow citizens for wars to happen we know
not when, and which might not perhaps hap
pen but from temptations offered by that
treasure. — FIRST ANNUAL MESSAGE, viii, 9.
FORD ED., viii, 119. (1801.)
8325. TAXES, Abolition of internal.—
Other circumstances, combined with the in
crease of numbers, have produced an aug
mentation of revenue arising from consump
tion, in a ratio far beyond that of population
alone; and though the changes of foreign re
lations now taking place so desirable for the
world, may for a season affect this branch of
revenue, yet, weighing all probabilities of ex
pense, as well as of income, there is reasonable
ground of confidence that we may now safely
dispense with all the internal taxes — compre
hending excises, stamps, auctions, licenses,
carriages, and refined sugars, to which the
postage on newspapers may be added, to
facilitate the progress of information; and
that the remaining sources of revenue will
be sufficient to provide for the support of the
government, to pay the interest of the public
debts, and to discharge the principals in
shorter periods than the laws or the general
expectation had contemplated. War, indeed,
and untoward events, may change this pros
pect of things, and call for expenses which the
imposts could not meet; but sound principles
will not justify our taxing the industry of our
fellow-citizens to accumulate treasure for
wars to happen we know -not when, and which
might not perhaps happen but from the temp
tations offered by that treasure. — FIRST AN
NUAL MESSAGE, viii, 9. FORD ED., viii, 119.
(1801.)
8326. . You will perhaps have
been alarmed, as some have been, at the prop
osition to abolish the whole of the internal
taxes. But it is perfectly safe. They are
under a million of dollars, and we can econo
mize the government two or three millions
a year. The impost alone gives us ten or
eleven millions annually, increasing at a com
pound ratio of six and two-thirds per cent,
per annum, and consequently doubling in ten
years. But leaving that increase for contin
gencies, the present amount will support the
government, pay the interest of the public
debt, and discharge the principal in fifteen
years. If the increase proceeds, and no con
tingencies demand it, it will pay off the princi
pal in a shorter time. Exactly one half of
the public debt, to wit, thirty-seven millions
of dollars, is owned in the United States.
That capital, then, will be set afloat, to be
employed in rescuing our commerce from the
hands of foreigners, or in agriculture, canals,
bridges, or other useful enterprises. By sup
pressing at once the whole internal taxes, we
abolish three-fourths of the offices now exist
ing, and spread over the land. — To JOHN
DICKINSON, iv, 425. (W., Dec. 1801.)
8327. . The economies of the
[first] session of the first Congress, convened
since republicanism has recovered its ascend
ency, * * * have enabled them to suppress
all the internal taxes, and still to make such
provision for the payment of their public debt
as to discharge that in eighteen years. — To
GENERAL KOSCIUSKO. iv, 430. (W., April
1802.)
8328. . The suppression of un
necessary offices, of useless establishments
and expenses, enabled us to discontinue our
internal taxes. These, covering our land with
officers, and opening our doors to their in
trusions, had already begun that process of
domiciliary vexation which, once entered, is
scarcely to be restrained from reaching suc
cessively every article of produce and prop
erty. If among these taxes some minor ones
fell which had not been inconvenient, it was
because their amount would not have paid the
officers who collected them, and because, if
they had any merit, the State authorities
might adopt them, instead of others less ap
proved. The remaining revenue on the con
sumption of foreign articles, is paid cheer
fully by those who can afford to add foreign
luxuries to domestic comforts, being collected
on our seaboards and frontiers only, and in
corporated with the transactions of our mer
cantile citizens, it may be the pleasure and
pride of an American to ask, what farmer,
what mechanic, what laborer, ever sees a tax-
gatherer of the United States ? These contri
butions enable us to support the current ex
penses of the government, to fulfill contracts
with foreign nations, to extinguish the native
right of soil within our limits, to extend those
limits, and to apply such a surplus to our
public debts, as places at a short day their
final redemption; and that redemption once
effected, the revenue thereby liberated may,
857
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Taxes
by a just repartition among the States, and
a corresponding amendment of the Constitu
tion, be applied, in time of peace, to rivers,
canals, roads, arts, manufactures, education,
and other great objects within each State. In
time of war, if injustice, by ourselves or
others, must sometimes produce war, in
creased as the same revenue will be increased
by population and consumption, and aided by
other resources reserved for that crisis, it
may meet within the year all the expenses of
the year, without encroaching on the rights of
future generations, by burdening them with
the debts of the past. War will then be but
a suspension of useful works, and a return
to a state of peace, a return to the progress of
improvement. — SECOND INAUGURAL ADDRESS.
viii, 40. FORD ED., viii, 343. (1805.)
8329. TAXES, Consent and.— He
[George III.] has endeavored to pervert the
exercise of the kingly office in Virginia into a
detestable and unsupportable tyranny * * *
by combining with others to subject us to a
foreign jurisdiction, giving his assent to their
pretended acts of legislation * * * for im
posing taxes on us without our consent. —
PROPOSED VA. CONSTITUTION. FORD ED., ii, 10.
(June 1776.)
8330. . He has combined with
others * * * for imposing taxes on us
without our consent.— DECLARATION OF INDE
PENDENCE AS DRAWN BY JEFFERSON.
8331. . From the * * * origin
[of the controversy with Great Britain] to
this day, there never was a time when these
States intimated a disposition to give away
in perpetuum their essential right of judging
whether they should give or withhold their
money, for what purposes they should make
the gift, and what should be its continuance. —
RESOLUTIONS ON PEACE PROPOSITIONS. FORD
ED., ii, 91. (Aug. 28, 1776.)
8332. TAXES, Consumption and.— The
objects of finance in the United States have
hitherto been very simple; merely to provide
for the support of the government on its peace
establishment, and to pay the debt contracted
in the Revolutionary war. The means pro
vided for these objects were ample, and rest
ing on a consumption which little affected
the poor, may be said to have been felt by
none. — To J. W. EPPES. vi, 194. FORD ED., ix,
395- (P.F., Sep. 1813.)
8333. TAXES, Exact division of.— It
will be said that, though, for taxes, there may
always be found a divisor which will appor
tion them among the States according to num
bers exactly, without leaving any remainder,
yet, for representatives, there can be no such
common ratio, or divisor, which, applied to
the several numbers, will divide them exactly,
without a remainder or fraction. I answer,
then, that taxes must be divided exactly, and
representatives as nearly as the nearest ratio
will admit. — OPINION ON APPORTIONMENT
BILL, vii, 596. FORD ED., v, 495. (1792.)
8334. TAXES, Excessive.— Our taxes are
now a third and will soon be half of our
whole exports; and when you add the ex
penses of the State Governments we shall be
found to have got to the plenum of taxation
in ten short years of peace. Great Britain,
after centuries of wars and revolutions, had at
the commencement of the present war taxed
only to the amount of two-thirds of her ex
ports. — To ARCHIBALD STUART, iv, 284. FORD
ED., vii, 351. (Pa., Feb. 1799.)
8335. TAXES, Excise.— The excessive
unpopularity of the excise and bank bills in
the South, I apprehend, will produce a stand
against the Federal Government. — To WILL
IAM SHORT. FORD ED., v, 296. (Pa., March
1791.)
8336. . I hope the death blow to
that most vexatious and unproductive of all
taxes [excise] was given at the commence
ment of my administration, and believe its
revival would give the deathblow to any ad
ministration whatever. — To DUPONT DE NE
MOURS, v, 583. FORD ED., ix, 320. (M., 1811.)
8337. . If the excise tax could
be collected from those who buy to sell again,
so as to prevent domiciliary visits by the of
ficers, I think it would be acceptable, and, I
am sure, a wholesome tax. — To MR. NELSON.
vi, 47. (M., April 1812.)
8338. TAXES, Imposition of.— No tax
should ever be yielded for a longer term than
that of the Congress wanting it, except when
pledged for the reimbursement of a loan. — To
J. W. EPPES. vi, 195. FORD ED., ix, 395.
(P.F., Sep. 1813.)
8339. TAXES, Income.— Taxes on con
sumption like those on capital or income, to
be just, must be uniform. — To SAMUEL
SMITH, vii, 285. FORD ED., x, 252. (M.,
1823.) See TAXATION, BASIS OF.
8340. TAXES, Land.— I am suggesting
an idea on the subject of taxation which
might, perhaps, facilitate much that business,
and reconcile all parties. That is * * *
to lay a land tax, leviable in 1798, &c. But if
by the last day of 1798, any State shall bring
its whole quota into the Federal Treasury,
the tax shall be suspended one year for that
State. If by the end of the next year they
bring another year's tax, it shall be suspended
a second year as to them, and so to ties
quoties forever. If they fail, the Federal col
lectors will go on, of course, to make their
collection. In this way, those who prefer
excises may raise their quota by excises, and
those who prefer land taxes may raise by land
taxes, either on the Federal plan, or on any
other of their own which they like better.
This would tend, I think, to make the Gen
eral Government popular, and to render the
State Legislatures useful allies and associates
instead of rivals, and to mollify the harsh
tone of government which has been asserted.
I find the idea pleasing to most of those to
whom I have suggested it. It will be objected
to by those who are for consolidation. — To
PEREGRINE FITZHUGH. FORD ED., vii, 136.
(Pa., June 1797.)
Taxes
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
858
8341. . I think that the matter
of finances, which has set the people of Eu
rope to thinking, is now advanced to that
point with us, that the next step (and it is
an unavoidable one), a land tax, will awaken
our constituents, and call for inspection into
past proceedings. — To ST. GEORGE TUCKER.
iv, 197. FORD ED., vii, 169. (M., 1797.)
8342. - . It had been expected
that we must have laid a land tax this session
[of Congress]. However, it is thought we
can get along another year without it. — To
PEREGRINE FITZHUGH. iv, 217. FORD ED., vii,
210. (Pa., Feb. 1798.)
8343.
A land tax is the de
cided resource of many [of the federalists],
perhaps of a majority. — To JAMES MADISON.
FORD ED., vii, 243. (Pa., April 1798.)
8344. - — . The federalists talk * * *
of a land tax. This will probably not be op
posed. The only question will be, how to
modify it. On this there may be a great di
versity, of sentiment. One party will want to
make it a new source of patronage and ex
pense. — To JAMES MADISON, iv, 234. FORD
ED., vii, 237. (Pa., April 1798.)
8345. . The land tax is now on
the carpet to raise two millions of dollars;
yet I think they must at least double it, as the
expenses of the provisional army were not
provided for in it, and will require of itself
four millions a year. — To JAMES MONROE, iv,
242. FORD ED., vii, 156. (Pa., May 1798.)
8346. . In most of the middle
and southern States some land tax is now
paid into the State treasury, and for this pur
pose the lands have been classed and valued,
and the tax assessed according to that valua
tion. In these an excise is most odious. In
the eastern States land taxes are odious, ex
cises less unpopular. — To DUPONT DE NE
MOURS, v, 583. FORD ED., ix, 321. (M., April
1811.)
8347. TAXES, Legislation and.— Taxes
should be continued by annual or biennial re-
enactments. — To J. W. EPPES. vi, 195. FORD
ED., ix, 395. (P.F., Sep. 1813.)
8348. . Taxes should be con
tinued by annuel or biennial reenactments, be
cause a constant hold, by the nation, of the
strings of the public purse, is a salutary re
straint from which an honest government
ought not to wish, nor a corrupt one to be
permitted to be free. — To J. W. EPPES. vi,
195. FORD ED., ix, 395. (P.F., Sep. 1813.)
8349. TAXES, Necessary wants and.—
Taxes should be proportioned to what may
be annually spared by the individual. — To
JAMES MADISON. FORD ED., iv, 15. (P., Dec.
1784.)
8350. TAXES, Paper money and. —
Every one, through whose hands a bill passed,
lost on that bill what it lost in value, during
the time it was in his hands. This was a
real tax on him ; and * * * the most op
pressive of all, because the most unequal of all,
— To M. DE MEUNIER. ix, 260. FORD ED., iv,
165. (P., 1786.)
8351. TAXES, Politics and suppression
of. — Bitter men are not pleased with the sup
pression of taxes. Not daring to condemn
the measure, they attack the motive ; and too
disingenuous to ascribe it to the honest one
of freeing our citizens from unnecessary
burthens and unnecessary systems of office,
they ascribe it to a desire of popularity. But
every honest man will suppose honest acts to
flow from honest principles, and the rogues
may rail without intermission. — To DR. BEN
JAMIN RUSH, iv, 426. FORD ED., viii, 128.
(W., 1801.)
8352. TAXES, Besources of internal. —
Whenever we are destined to meet events
which shall call forth all the energies of our
countrymen, we have * * * the comfort
of leaving for calls like these the extraordi
nary resources of loans and internal taxes. —
SECOND ANNUAL MESSAGE, viii, 19. FORD ED.,
viii, 185. (Dec. 1802.)
8353. TAXES, Sinecures and.— We do
not mean that our people shall be burdened
with oppressive taxes to provide sinecures for
the idle or the wicked, under color of provi
ding for a civil list. — REPLY TO LORD NORTH'S
PROPOSITION. FORD ED., i, 480. (July 1775.)
8354. TAXES, Stamp.— To the stamp tax
I have not seen a man who is not totally ir
reconcilable. * * * Yet, although a very
disgusting pill, I think there can be no ques
tion the people will swallow it, if their rep
resentatives determine on it. — To MR. NEL
SON, vi, 47. (M., April 1812.)
8355. TAXES, Unnecessary.— To im
pose on our citizens no unnecessary burden,
* * * [is one of] the landmarks by which
we are to guide ourselves in all our proceed
ings. — SECOND ANNUAL MESSAGE, viii, 21.
FORD ED., viii, 187. (Dec. 1802.)
8356. TAXES, War and.— The report of
the Committee of Finance proposes taxes to
the amount of twenty millions. This is a
dashing proposition. But, if Congress pass it,
I shall consider it sufficient evidence that their
constituents generally can pay the tax. No
man has greater confidence than I have in the
spirit of the people, to a rational extent.
Whatever they can, they will. But. without
either market or medium, I know not how
it is to be done. All markets abroad, and all
at home are shut, to us ; so that we have
been feeding our horses on wheat. Before the
day of collection, bank notes will be but as
oak leaves ; and of specie, there is not within
all the United States, one half of the proposed
amount of the taxes. I had thought myself as
bold as was safe in contemplating, as possible,
an annual taxation of ten millions, as fund for
emissions of treasury notes ; and when further
emissions should be necessary, that it would
be better to enlarge the time, than the tax
for redemption. Our position, with respect
to our enemy, and our markets, distinguish
us from all other nations ; inasmuch, as a
859
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Taxes
Terimnt (J. B.)
state of war, with us annihilates in an instant
all our surplus produce, that on which we
depended for many comforts of life. This
renders particularly expedient the throwing a
part of the burdens of war on times of peace
and commerce. — To JAMES MONROE, vi, 395.
FORD ED., ix, 493. (M., Oct. 1814.)
8357.
Instead of taxes for the
whole year's expenses, which the people can
not pay, a tax to the amount of the interest
and a reasonable portion of the principal will
command the whole sum, and throw a part
of the burdens of war on times of peace and
prosperity. — To WILLIAM SHORT, vi, 401.
(M., 1814.)
8358. TAXES, Wasted.— If there be any
thing amiss in the present state of our affairs,
as the formidable deficit lately unfolded to
us indicates, I ascribe it to the inattention of
Congress to their duties, to their unwise dis
sipation and waste of the public contributions.
They seemed, some little while ago, to be at a
loss for objects whereon to throw away the
supposed fathomless funds of the treasury.
* * * I am aware that in one of their most
ruinous vagaries the people were themselves
betrayed into the same phrenzy with their
representatives. The deficit produced, and a
heavy tax to supply it, will, I trust, bring both
to their sober senses. — To THOMAS RITCHIE.
vii, 191. FORDED., x, 170. (M., 1820.)
8359. TAX-GATHERERS, Cost of.—
Our tax-gatherers in Virginia cost as much as
the whole civil list besides. — To JAMES MADI
SON. FORD ED., iv, 16. (P., 1784.)
8360. TAX-GATHERERS, Discontent
'and. — The tax-gatherer has already excited
discontent. — To JAMES MADISON, iv, 261.
FORD ED., vii, 313. (Pa., Jan. 1799.)
8361. TAYLOR (John), Political prin
ciples. — Colonel Taylor and myself have
rarely, if ever, differed in any political principle
of importance. Every act of his life, and every
word he ever wrote, satisfies me of this. —
To THOMAS RITCHIE, vii, 191. FORD ED., x,
170. (M., 1820.)
8362. . Colonel Taylor's book
of " Constructions Construed " * * * is
the most logical retraction of our governments
to the or'ginal and true principles of the Con
stitution creating them, whi h has appeared
since the adoption of that 'nstrument. I may
not perhaps concur in all its opinions, great and
small, for no two men ever thought alike on so
many points. But on all important questions,
it contains the true political faith, to which
every catholic republican should steadfastly
hold. It should be put into the hands of all
pur functionaries, authoritatively, as a stand
ing instruction and true exposition of our Con
stitution, as understood at the time we agreed
to it. — To SPENCER ROANE. vii, 213. FORD
ED., x, 189. (M., 1821.)
8363. TEA, Duty on.— So inscrutable is
the arrangement of causes and consequences in
this world, that a two-penny duty on tea, un
justly imposed in a sequestered part of it,
changes the condition of all its inhabitants. —
AUTOBIOGRAPHY. i, 106. FORD ED., i, 147.
(1821.) See BOSTON PORT BILL.
8364. TEACHERS, Appreciation of.—
Respect and gratitude [are] due to those who
devote their time and efforts to render the
youths of every successive age fit governors for
the next. — To HUGH L. WHITE, v, 522. (M.,
1810.)
8365. TEMPER, Southern.— Our South
ern sun has been accused of sometimes sub
limating the temper too highly. — To E. RUT-
LEDGE, iii, 166. FORD ED., v, 197. (N.Y.,
1790.)
8366. TEMPER, Smooth.— Nothing ena
bles a man to get along in business so well as a
smooth temper. — ANAS. FORD EDV i, 337.
(1808.)
8367. TEMPERANCE, At table.— In the
pleasures of the table [the French] are far
before us, because, with good taste they unite
temperance. They do not terminate the most
sociable meals by transforming themselves into
brutes. — To MR. BELLINI, i, 445. (P., 1785.)
8368. TEMPERANCE, France and.— I
have never yet seen a man drunk in France,
even among the lowest of the people. — To MR.
BELLINI, i, 445. (P., 1785.)
8369. TEMPERANCE, Principles of.— I
have received and read with thankfulness and
pleasure your denunciation of the abuses of
tobacco and wine. Yet, however sound in its
principles, I expect it will be but a sermon to
the wind. You will find it * * * difficult
to inculcate these sanative precepts on the sen
sualities of the present day. — To DR. BENJA
MIN WATERHOUSE. vii, 252. FORD ED., x, 219.
(M., 1822.)
- TEMPERATURE.— See CLIMATE.
8370. TENANTS, For Monticello.— The
subject [obtaining tenants] is one I have very
much at heart, for I find I am not fit to be a
farmer with the kind of labor we have, and also
subject to such long avocation. — To S. T.
MASON. FORD EDV vii, 396. (M., Oct. 1799.)
8371. TENANTS, Seeking.— You prom
ised to endeavor to send me some tenants. I
am waiting for them. * '* * Tenants of any
size may be accommodated w'th the number of
fields suited to their force. Only send me good
people. — To S. T. MASON. FORD ED., vii. 283.
(M., 1798.)
8372. TERNANT (J. B.), Hamilton
and. — Ternant has at length openly hoisted
the flag of monarchv by going into deep mourn
ing for his prince [Louis XVI.]. I suspect he
thinks a cessation of his visits to me a neces
sary accompaniment to this pious duty. A con
nection between him and Hamilton seems to
be springing up. — To JAMES MADISON, iii, 520.
FORD ED., vi, 193. (Pa., 1793.)
8373. TERNANT (J. B.), Medal for.—
The Preside-nt of the United States, in a letter
addressed to the Primary Executive Council of
the French Republic, has expressed his sense of
your merit, and his entire approbation of your
conduct while here. He has also charged me to
convey to yourself the same sentiments on his
part. It is with pleasure I obey this charge,
in bearing witness to the candor and integrity
of your conduct with us, and to the share you
may justly claim in the cultivation of harmony
and good understanding between the two na
tions * * *. As testimony of the regard of the
United States, we shall take an early occasion
Ternant (J. 15.)
Territory
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
860
to ask your acceptance of a medal and chain
of gold on their part. — To JEAN BAPTISTE TER
NANT. FORD ED., vi, 263. (Pa., 1793.)
8374. TEBJSTANT (J. B.), Shifting af
filiations. — When Ternant received certain
account of his appointment, thinking he had
nothing further to hope from the Jacobins, he
that very day found out something to be of
fended at in me (in which I had been made
ex officio the ostensible agent in what came
from another quarter, and he has never been
undeceived), attached himself intimately to
Hamilton, put on mourning for the King, and
became a perfect counter-revolutioner. A few
days ago, he received a letter from Genet, giving
him a hope they will employ him in the army.
On this, he tacked about again, became a
Jacobin, and refused to present the Viscount
Noailles, and some other French aristocrats
arrived here. However, he will hardly have
the impudence to speak to me again. — To JAMES
MONROE, iii, 549. FORD ED., vi, 240. (Pa., May
I793-)
8375. TERNANT (J. B.), Soldier.— Ter
nant establ-'shed a solid reputation in Europe
by his conduct when Generalissimo of one of
the United Provinces, during their late dis
turbances ; and it is generally thought that if he
had been put at the head of the principal prov
ince, instead of the Rhingrave de Salm, he
would have saved that cause. — To JOHN JAY. ii,
572. (P., 1789.)
8376. TERRITORY, Acquisition of.— I
know that the acquisition of Louisiana has
been disapproved by some, from a candid
apprehension that the enlargement of our
territory would endanger its Union. But
who can limit the extent to which the federa
tive principle may operate effectively? — SEC
OND INAUGURAL ADDRESS, viii, 41. FORD ED.,
viii, 344. (1805.) See LOUISIANA.
— TERRITORY, Acquisition of Canada.
— See CANADA.
8377. TERRITORY, Admission of new
States. — I am aware of the force of the ob
servations you make on the power given by
the Constitution to Congress, to admit new
States into the Union, without restraining the
subject to the territory then constituting the
United States. But when I consider that the
limits of the United States are precisely fixed
by the treaty of 1783, that the Constitution
expressly declares itself to be made for the
United States, I cannot help believing the in
tention was to permit Congress to admit into
the Union new States, which should be
formed out of the territory for which, and
under whose authority alone, they were then
acting. I do not believe it was meant that
they might receive England, Ireland, Holland,
&c., into it, which would be the case on your
construction. — To WILSON C. NICHOLAS, iv,
505. FORD ED., viii, 247. (M., Sep. 1803.)
8378. TERRITORY, Alienation of.—
The power to alienate the unpeopled terri
tories of any State, is not among the enumer
ated powers given by the Constitution to the
General Government, and if we may go out
of that instrument, and accommodate to ex
igencies which may arise by alienating the un
peopled territory of a State, we may accom
modate ourselves a little more by alienating
that which is peopled, and still a little more
by selling the people themselves. A shade
or two more in the degree of exigency is all
that will be requisite, and of that degree we
shall ourselves be the judges. However, may
it not be hoped that these questions are for
ever laid to rest by the * * * amendment
* * * to the Constitution, declaring ex
pressly that " the powers not delegated to
the United States by the Constitution are re
served to the States respectively " ? And if
the General Government has no power to
alienate the territory of a State, it is too ir
resistible an argument to deny ourselves the
use of it on the present occasion.* — To ALEX
ANDER HAMILTON. FORD ED., v, 443. (1792.)
8379. . A disastrous war might,
by necessity, supersede this stipulation [the
provision of the Constitution guaranteeing
every State against the invasion of its ter
ritory] (as necessity is above all law), and
oblige them to abandon a part of a State ; but
nothing short of this can justify or obtain
such an abandonment. — MISSISSIPPI RIVER IN
STRUCTIONS, vii, 573. FORD ED., v, 464. (1792.)
8380. - — . We have neither the
right nor the disposition to alienate an inch
of what belongs to any member of our Union.
— MISSISSIPPI RIVER INSTRUCTIONS, vii, 586.
FORD ED., v, 476. (1792.)
8381. . [President Washington,
at a Cabinet meeting, submitted the question] :
" Will it be expedient to relinquish to the
Indians the right of soil of any part of the
land north of the Ohio, if essential to peace ? "
The Secretaries of the Treasury and War, and
the Attorney General are of opinion it will be
expedient to make such relinquishment if es
sential to peace, provided it do not include
any lands sold or reserved for special pur
poses (the reservations for trading places ex-
cepted). The Secretary of State is of opin
ion that the Executive and Senate have au
thority to stipulate with the Indians, and that
if essential to peace, it will be expedient to
stipulate that we will not settle any lands
between those already sold or reserved for
special purposes, and the lines heretofore
validly established with the Indians. — OPIN
ION ON INDIAN WAR. FORD ED., vi, 191. (Feb.
I793-)
8382. . I considered [at a Cabi
net meeting] that the Executive, with either
or both branches of the Legislature, could not
alien any part of our territory; that by the
law of nations it was settled, that the unity
and indivisibility of the society was so funda
mental, that it could not be dismembered by
the constituted authorities, except, i, where
all power was delegated to them (as in the
case of despotic governments), or, 2, where it
was expressly delegated ; that neither of these
delegations had been made to our General
Government and, therefore, that it had no
right to dismember or alienate any portion of
territory once ultimately consolidated with us ;
and that we could no more cede to the Indians
* The navigation of the Mississippi River was the
subject under consideration.— EDITOR.
86i
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Territory
than to the English or Spaniards, as it might,
according to acknowledged principles, remain
as irrevocably and eternally with the one as the
other. But I thought, that as we had a right
to sell and settle lands once comprehended
within our lines, so we might forbear to ex
ercise that right, retaining the property till
circumstances should be more favorable to
the settlement, and this I agreed to do in the
present instance, if necessary for peace. —
THE ANAS, ix, 137. FORD ED., i, 219. (Feb.
I793-)
8383. . The Cabinet met * * *
on the subject of your [President Washing
ton's] circular letter, and agreed on all points,
except as to the power of ceding territory, on
which point there remained the same differ
ence of opinion as when the subject was dis
cussed in your presence. — To PRESIDENT
WASHINGTON. FORD ED., vi, 212. (Pa., April
I793-)
8384. . The negotiators at Ghent
are agreed in everything except as to a rag of
Maine, which we cannot yield nor they se
riously care about. — To MRS. TRIST. D. L. J.
359. (M., Dec. 1814.)
8385. TERRITORY, Annexation of
Canada. — That Bonaparte would give us the
Floridas to withhold intercourse with the resi
due of the [Spanish] colonies cannot be
doubted. But that is no price; because they
are ours in the first moment of the first war;
and until a war they are of no particular
necessity to us. But, although with difficulty,
he will consent to our receiving Cuba into
our Union, to prevent our aid to Mexico and
the other provinces. That would be a price,
and I would immediately erect a column on
the southernmost limit of Cuba and inscribe
on it a ne plus ultra as to us in that direction.
We should then have only to include the
north in our Confederacy, which would be, of
course, in the first war, and we should have
such an empire for liberty as she has never
surveyed since the creation; and I am per
suaded no Constitution was ever before so
well calculated as ours for extensive empire
and self-government.— To PRESIDENT MADI
SON, v, 444. (M., April 1809.) See CANADA.
8386. TERRITORY, British acquisition
of American. — The consequences of their
[the British] acquiring all the country on our
frontier, from the St. Croix to the St. Mary's,
are too obvious to you to need development.
You will readily see the dangers which would
then environ us. We wish you, therefore, to in
timate to them that we cannot be indifferent
to enterprises of this kind ; that we should con
template a change of neighbors with extreme
uneasiness ; and that a due balance on our
borders is not less desirable to us, than a
balance of power in Europe has always ap
peared to them. We wish to be neutral, and
we will be so, if they will execute the treaty
[of peace] fairly, and attempt no conquests
adjoining us. The first condition is just ; the
second imposes no hardship on them. They
cannot complain that the other dominions of
Spain would be so narrow as not to leave
them room enough for conquest.* — To Gou-
VERNEUR MORRIS, iii, 182. FORD ED., v, 224.
(N.Y., I790.)
8387. . It was evident to me
that the British had it in view to claim a slice
on our north-western quarter, that they may
get into the Mississippi; indeed, I thought
it presented as a sort of make-weight with
the posts to compensate the great losses their
citizens had sustained by the infractions [of
the treaty of peace] charged on us. — THE
ANAS, ix, 428. FORD ED., i, 196. (June
1792.)
8388. TERRITORY, Cession of North
west. — The territories contained within the
charters erecting the Colonies of Maryland,
Pennsylvania, North and South Carolina, are
hereby. ceded, released, and forever confirmed
to the people of those Colonies respectively,
with all the rights of property, jurisdiction
and government, and all other rights whatso
ever which might at any time, heretofore, have
been claimed by this colony [Virginia]. The
western and northern extent of this country
shall in all other respects stand as fixed by
the charter of until, by act of the Legisla
ture, one or more Territories shall be laid
off westward of the Alleghany mountains for
new colonies, which colonies shall be estab
lished on the same fundamental laws con
tained in this instrument, and shall be free
and independent of this Colony and of all
the world. — PROPOSED VA. CONSTITUTION.
FORD ED., ii, 25. (June 1776.) See WESTERN
TERRITORY.
8389. . The General Assembly
shall have power to sever from this State all
or any parts of its territory westward of the
Ohio, or of the meridian of the mouth of the
Great Kanawha. — PROPOSED CONSTITUTION FOR
VIRGINIA, viii, 446. FORD ED., iii, 325.
(1783-)
8390. . I do myself the honor of
transmitting to your Excellency a resolution
of the General Assembly of this Common
wealth, entered into in consequence of the
resolution of Congress of September 6th, 1780,
on the subject of confederation. I shall be
rendered very happy if the other States of the
Union, equally impressed with the necessity
of that important convention, shall be willing
to sacrifice equally to its completion. This
single event, could it take place shortly, would
overweigh every success which the enemy
[England] have hitherto obtained, and render
desperate the hopes to which those successes
have given birth. — To THE PRESIDENT OF CON
GRESS, i, 287. FORD ED., ii, 423. (R., January
17, 1781.)
8391. TERRITORY, Constitution and.
— No constitution was ever before so well
calculated as ours for extensive empire and
self-government. — To PRESIDENT MADISON, v,
444. (M., April 1809.)
* Morris was then informal agent of the United
States in London. It was feared that England would
wrest Louisiana from Spain. — EDITOR.
Territory
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
862
— TERRITORY, Constitution and ac
quisition of foreign. — See LOUISIANA.
8392. TERRITORY, Cuba.— I candidly
confess that I have ever looked on Cuba as the
most interesting addition which could ever be
made to our system of States. — To PRESIDENT
MONROE, vii, 316. FORD ED., x, 278. (M.,
1823.) See CUBA.
8393. TERRITORY, Disputed.— The
Colony of Virginia does not entertain a wish
that one inch should be added to theirs from
the territory of a sister Colony * * * .
The decision, whatever it be, will not annihi
late the lands. They will remain to be oc
cupied by Americans, and whether these be
counted in the members of this or that of the
United States will be thought a matter of
little moment. — LETTER TO PENNSYLVANIA
CONVENTION. FORD ED., ii, 65. (July 1776.)
8394. TERRITORY, Dissensions and. —
The larger our association, the less will it be
shaken by local passions. — SECOND INAUGURAL
ADDRESS, viii, 41. FORD ED., viii, 344. (1805.)
8395. . It seems that the smaller
the society the bitterer the dissensions into
which it breaks. Perhaps this observation
answers all the objections drawn by Mr.
[John] Adams from the small republics of
Italy. I believe ours is to owe its permanence
to its great extent, and the smaller portion
comparatively, which can ever be convulsed
at one time by local passions. — To GOVERNOR
ROBERT WILLIAMS, v, 209. FORD ED., ix, 167.
(W., 1807.)
8396. . The extent of our terri
tory secures it, I hope, from the vindictive
passions of the petty incorporations of Greece.
— To ELBRIDGE GERRY, vi, 63. FORD ED., ix,
360. (M., 1812.)
8397. . I see our safety in the
extent of our confederacy, and in the prob
ability that in the proportion of that the sound
parts will always be sufficient, to crush out
local poison. — To HORATIO G. SPAFFORD. vi,
335- (M., 1814.)
8398. - . I still believe that the
western extension of our territory will ensure
its duration, by overruling local factions,
which might shake a smaller association. — To
HENRY DEARBORN, vii, 215. FORD ED., x, 192.
(M., 1821.)
8399. TERRITORY, European influence
in American. — We consider their interests
[Cuba and Mexico] and ours as the same,
and that the object of both must be to exclude
all European influence from this hemisphere.
— To GOVERNOR CLAIBORNE. v, 381. FORD ED.,
ix, 213. (W., Oct. 1808.)
8400. TERRITORY, Expansion of.—
Our confederacy must be viewed as the nest
from which all America, North and South, is
to be peopled. We should take care, too, not
to think it for the interest of that great Conti
nent to press too soon on the Spaniards.
Those countries cannot be in better hands.
My fear is that they are too feeble to hold
them till our population can be sufficiently
advanced to gain it from them piece by piece.
— To ARCHIBALD STUART, i, 518. FORD ED.,
iv, 188. (P., 1786.)
8401. . However our present in
terests may restrain us within our own limits,
it is impossible not to look forward to distant
times, when our rapid multiplication will ex
pand itself beyond those limits, and cover the
whole northern, if not the southern continent,
with a people speaking the same language,
governed in similar forms, and by similar laws
* -—To JAMES MONROE, iv, 420. FORD
ED., viii, 105. (W., Nov. 1801.)
8402. TERRITORY, Good government
— Our present federal limits are not too
large for good government, nor will the in
crease of votes in Congress produce any ill
effect. On the contrary, it will drown the
little divisions at present existing there.— To
ARCHIBALD STUART, i, 518. FORD ED., iv, 188
(P., Jan. 1786.)
8403. TERRITORY, Holding foreign.—
The Constitution has made no provision for
our holding foreign territory, still less for in
corporating foreign nations into pur Union.
The Executive in seizing the fugitive occur
rence [Louisiana purchase] which so much
advances the good of their country, have done
an act beyond the Constitution. The Legis
lature in casting behind them metaphysical
subtleties, and risking themselves like faith
ful servants, must ratify and pay for it, and
throw themselves on their country for doing
for them unauthorized, what we know they
would have done for themselves had they
been in a situation to do it. It is the case of
a guardian, investing the money of his ward
in purchasing an important adjacent territory;
and saying to him when of age, I did this for
your good ; I pretend to no right to bind you :
you may disavow me, and I must get out of
the scrape as I can. I thought it my duty to
risk myself for you. But we shall not be dis
avowed by the nation, and their act of in
demnity will confirm and not weaken the Con
stitution, by more strongly marking out its
lines. — To JOHN C. BRECKENRIDGE. iv, 500.
FORD ED., viii, 244. (M., Aug. 1803.)
8404. TERRITORY, Naval defence and.
— Nothing should ever be accepted which
would require a navy to defend it. — To PRESI
DENT MADISON, v, 445. (M., April 1809.)
8405. TERRITORY, Pacific.— On the
waters of the Pacific, we can found no claim
in right of Louisiana. If we claim that coun
try at all, it must be on Astor's settlement
near the mouth of the Columbia, and the prin
ciple of the jus gentium of America, that when
a civilized nation takes possession of the
mouth of a river in a new country, that
possession is considered as including all its
waters. — To JOHN MELISH. vii, 51. (M., 1816.)
8406. TERRITORY, Preservation of.—
Were we to give up half our territory [Mis
sissippi region] rather than engage in a just
863
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Territory
war to preserve it, we should not keep the
other half long. — INSTRUCTIONS TO WILLIAM
CARMICHAEL. ix, 412. FORD ED., v, 226.
(1790.)
_ TERRITORY, Purchase of Florida.—
See FLORIDA.
8407. TERRITORY, Purchases of In
dian. — To be prepared against the occupation
of Louisiana by a powerful and enterprising
people [the French], it is important that, set
ting less value on interior extension of pur
chases from the Indians., we bend our whole
views to the purchase and settlement of the
country on the Mississippi, from its mouth to
its northern regions, that we may be able to
present as strong a front on our western as
on pur eastern border, and plant on the Mis
sissippi itself the means of its own defence. We
now own from 31° to the Yazoo, and hope this
summer to purchase what belongs to the Choc-
taws from the Yazoo up to their boundary,
supposed to be about opposite the mouth of
Arkansas. We wish at the same time to begin
in your quarter, for which there is at present
a favorable opening. The Cahokias extinct,
we are entitled to their country by our para
mount sovereignty. The Peorias, we under
stand, have all been driven off from their
country, and we might claim it in the same
way ; but as we understand there is one chief
remain' ng, who would, as the survivor of the
tribe, sell the right, it is better to give him
such terms as will make him easy for life, and
take a conveyance from him. The Kaskaskias
being reduced to a few families, I presume we
may purchase their whole country for what
would place every individual of them at his
ease, and be a small price to us, — say by laying
off for each family, wherever they would
choose it, as much land as they could cultivate,
adjacent to each other, enclosing the whole
in a s:ngle fence, and giving them such an
annuity in money or goods forever as would
place them in happiness ; and we might take
them also under the protection of the United
States. Thus possessed of the rights of these
tribes, we should proceed to the settling of their
boundaries with the Pottawatamies and Kicka-
poos, claiming all doubtful territory, but pay
ing them a pr'ce for the relinquishment of their
concurrent claim, and even prevailing on them,
if possible, to cede, for a price, such of their
own unquestioned territory as would give us a
convenient northern boundary. Before broach
ing this, and while we are bargaining with the
Kaskaskias, the minds of the Pottawatamies
and Kickapoos should be soothed and concili
ated by liberalities and sincere assurances of
friendship. Perhaps by sending a well-qualified
character to stay some time in Duquoin's vil
lage, as if on other business, and to sound him
and introduce the subject by degrees to his
mind and that of the other heads of families,
inculcating in the way of conversation, all
those considerations which prove the advan
tages they would receive by a cession on these
terms, the object might be more easily and ef
fectually obtained than by abruptly proposing it
to them at a formal treaty. Of the means,
however, of obtaining what we wish, you will
be the best judge ; and I have given you this
view of the system which we suppose will best
promote the interests of the Indians and our
selves, and finally consolidate our whole coun
try into one nation only ; that you may be en
abled the better to adapt your means to the
object, for this purpose we have given you a
general commission for treating. — To GOVERNOR
HARRISON, iv, 473. (W., Feb. 1803.)
8408. — . The crisis is pressing:
whatever can now be obtained must be obtained
quickly. The occupation of New Orleans,
hourly expected, by the French, is already felt
like a light breeze by the Indians. You know
the sentiments they entertain of that nation ;
under the hope of their protection they will im
mediately stiffen against cessions of lands to us.
We had better, therefore, do at once what can
now be done. This letter is to be considered
as private. * * * You will perceive how sa
credly it must be kept within your own breast,
and especially how improper to be understood
by the Indians. For their interests and their
tranquillity, it is best they should see only the
present age of their history. — To GOVERNOR
HARRISON, iv, 474. (W., Feb. 1803.)
8409. . As a means of increasing
the security, and providing a protection for our
lower possessions on the Mississippi, I think it
also all important to press on the Indians, as
steadily and strenuously as they can bear, the
extension of our purchases on the Mississippi
from the Yazoo upwards ; and to encourage a
settlement along the whole length of that river,
that it may possess on its own banks the means
of defending itself, and presenting as strong
a frontier on our western as we have on our
eastern border. We have, therefore, recom
mended to Governor Dickinson taking, on the
Tombigbee, only as much as will cover our
actual settlements, to transfer the purchase from
the Choctaws to their lands westward of the
Big Black, rather than the fork of Tombigbee
and Alabama, which has been offered by them in
order to pay their debt to Ponton and Leslie.
I have confident expectations of purchasing this
summer a good breadth on the Mississippi, from
the mouth of the Illinois down to the mouth of
the Ohio, which would settle immediately and
thickly ; and we should then have between that
settlement and the lower one, only the unin
habited lands of the Chickasaws on the Missis
sippi ; on which we could be working at both
ends. You will be sensible that the preced'ng
views, as well those which respect the Euro
pean powers as the Indians, are such as should
not be formally declared, but be held as a rule
of action to govern the conduct of those within
whose agency they lie ; and it is for this reason
that instead of having it said to you in an of
ficial letter, committed to records wh:ch are
open to many, I have thought it better that
you should learn my views from a private and
confidential letter, and be enabled to act upon
them yourself, and guide others into them. —
To GOVERNOR CLAIBORNE. iv, 487. (W., May
1803.)
8410. . Another important ac
quisition of territory has also been made since
the last session of Congress. The friendly
tribe of Kaskaskia Indians, with which we have
never had a difference, reduced by the wars
and wants of savage life to a few individuals
unable to defend themselves against the neigh
boring tribes, has transferred its country to the
United States, reserving only for its members
what is sufficient to maintain them in an agri
cultural way. The considerations stipulated are
that we shall extend to them our patronage and
protection, and give them certain annual aids
in money, in implements of agriculture, and
other articles of their choice. This country,
among the most fertile within our limits, ex
tending along the Mississippi from the mouth
of the Illinois to and up the Ohio, though not
so necessary as a barrier since the acquisition
of the other bank, may yet be well worthy of
being laid open to immediate settlement, as
Territory
Tests
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
864
its inhabitants may descend with rapidity in
support of the lower country should future cir
cumstances expose that to foreign enterprise. —
THIRD ANNUAL MESSAGE, viii, 25. FORD ED.,
viii, 269. (Oct. 1803.)
8411. . On this side the Missis
sippi, an important relinquishment of native
title has been received from the Delawares.
That tribe, desiring to extinguish in their people
the spirit of hunting, and to convert superfluous
lands into the means of improving what they
retain, have ceded to us all the country between
the Wabash and the Ohio, south of, and includ
ing the road from the rapids towards Vincennes,
for which they are to receive annuities in ani
mals and implements for agriculture, and in
other necessaries. This acquisition is impor
tant, not only for its extent and fertility, but
as fronting three hundred miles on the Ohio,
and near half that on the Wabash. The prod
uce of the settled countries descending those
rivers will no longer pass in review of the In
dian frontier but in a small portion, and with
the cession heretofore made with the Kaskas-
kias, nearly consolidates our possessions north
of the Ohio, in a very respectable breadth, from
Lake Erie to the Mississippi. The Pianke-
shaws having some claim to the country ceded
by the Delawares, it has been thought best to
quiet that by fair purchase also. — FOURTH AN
NUAL MESSAGE, viii, 37. FORD EDV viii, 330.
(Nov. 1804.)
8412. . The northern [Indian]
tribes have sold to us : the lands between the
Connecticut Reserve, and the former Indian
boundary ; and those on the Ohio, from the
same boundary to the Rapids, and for a consid
erable depth inland. The Chickasaws and Cher-
okees have sold us their country between the
two districts of and adjacent to the two dis
tricts of Tennessee, and the Creeks, the residue
of their lands in the fork of Ocmulgee, up to the
river which we expect is by this time ceded by
are important, inasmuch as they consolidate
disjointed parts of our settled country, and ren
der their intercourse secure ; and the second
particularly so, as with the small point on the
river which we expect is by this time ceded by
the Piankeshaws, it completes our possession of
the whole of both banks of the Ohio, from its
source to near its mouth, and the navigation of
that river is thereby rendered forever safe to
our citizens settled and settling on its extensive
waters. — FIFTH ANNUAL MESSAGE, viii, 52.
FORD ED., viii, 394. (Dec. 1805.)
8413. TERRITORY, Republicanism and.
— The late chapter* of our history * * *
furnishes a new proof of the falsehood of
Montesquieu's doctrine, that a republic can
be preserved only in a small territory. The
reverse is the truth. Had our territory been
even a third only of what it is, we were gone.
But while frenzy and delusion, like an epi
demic, gained certain parts, the residue re
mained sound and untouched, and held on
till their brethren could recover from the
temporary delusion. — To NATHANIEL NILES.
iv, 376. FORD ED., viii, 24. (W., March
1801.)
8414. . While smaller govern
ments are better adapted to the ordinary ob
jects of society, larger confederations more
effectually secure independence, and the pres-
* The Presidential contest in the House of Repre
sentatives. — EDITOR.
ervation of republican government.— To THE
RHODE ISLAND ASSEMBLY, iv, 397. (W., May
1801.)
8415. . I have much confidence
that we shall proceed successfully for ages to
come, and that, contrary to the principle of
Montesquieu, it will be seen that the larger
the extent of country, the more firm its re
publican structure, if founded, not on con
quest, but in principles of compact and equal
ity. My hope of its duration is built much on
the enlargement of the resources of life going
hand in hand with the enlargement of terri
tory, and the belief that men are disposed to
live honestly, if the means of doing so are
open to them.— To M. DE MARBOIS. vii, 77
(M., 1817.)
8416. TERRITORY, Seizure.— I con
sider war between France and England as
unavoidable. * * In this conflict, our
neutrality will be cheaply purchased by a ces
sion of the island of New Orleans and the
Floridas; because taking part in the war, we
could so certainly seize and securely hold them
and more. And although it would be unwise
in us to let such an opportunity pass of ob
taining the necessary accession to our ter
ritory even by force, if not obtainable other
wise, yet it is infinitely more desirable to
obtain it with the blessing of neutrality rather
than the curse of war. — To GOVERNOR CLAI-
BORNE. iv, 487. (W., May 1803.)
8417. . You have thought it ad
visable sooner to take possession of adjacent
territories. But we know that they are ours
the first moment that any war is forced upon
us for other causes, that we are at hand to
anticipate their possession, if attempted by
any other power, and, in the meantime, we
are lengthening the term of our prosperity,
liberating our revenues, and increasing our
power. — To GENERAL ARMSTRONG, v, 4^.
(W., March 1809.)
8418. TERRITORY, Spanish preten
sions.— I say nothing of the claims of Spain
to our territory north of the thirty-first de
gree, and east of the Mississippi. They never
merited the respect of an answer [to Spain] ;
and : < it has been admitted at Madrid
that they were not to be maintained.— To
WILLIAM CARMICHAEL. iii, 173. FORD ED., v,
217. (N.Y., 1790.)
8419. TESTS, Religious.— The proscri
bing any citizen as unworthy the public con
fidence, by laying upon him an incapacity of
being called to offices of trust or emolument,
unless he profess or renounce this or that re
ligious opinion, is depriving him injudiciously
of those privileges and advantages, to which
in common with his fellow citizens, he has
a natural right. — STATUTE OF RELIGIOUS FREE
DOM. FORD ED., ii, 238. (1779.)
8420. - . All men shall be free to
profess, and by argument to maintain, their
opinion in matters of religion; and * * *
the same shall in no wise diminish, enlarge,
865
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Thanksgiving
Third Term
or affect their civil capacities. — STATUTE OF
RELIGIOUS FREEDOM. FORD ED., ii, 239.
(I799-)
_ THANKSGIVING.— See FAST DAYS.
8421. THEATBES, Utility of.— I have
never expressed an objection to the part of
your plan relative to the theatre. The utility of
this in America is a great question on which I
may be allowed to have an opinion ; but it is
not for me to decide on it, nor to object to the
proposal of establishing one at Richmond. The
only objection to your plan which I have ever
made, is that * * * I feared it was too ex
tensive for the poverty of tue country. You
remove the objection by observing it is to
extend to several States. Whether professors
itinerant from one State to another may suc
ceed, I am unable to say, having never known
an experiment of it. The fear that these pro
fessors may be disappointed in their expecta
tions, has determined me not to meddle in the
business at all. — To M. DE QUESNAY. ii, 346.
(P., 1788.)
8422. THEORY, Demolishing.— Theories
are more easily demolished than rebuilt. — To
REV. JAMES MADISON, ii, 430. (P., 1788.)
8423. THEORY, Imagination and.— The
moment a person forms a theory, his imagina
tion sees, in every object, only the traits which
favor that theory. — To CHARLES THOMSON.
ii, 276. FORD ED., iv, 447. (P., 1787.)
8424. THEORY, Victims of.— Men come
into business at first with visionary principles.
It is practice alone which can correct and con
form them to the actual current of affairs. In
the meantime, those to whom their errors
were first applied have been their victims. —
To JAMES MADISON, ii, 408. FORD ED., v, 16.
(P., 1788.)
8425. THIRD TERM, Age and.— I owe
you much thankfulness for the favorable opin
ion you entertain of my services, and the as
surance expressed that they would again be
acceptable in the Executive chair. But I was
sincere in stating age as one of the reasons
of my retirement from office, beginning then
to be conscious of its effects, and now much
more sensible of them. Senile inertness is
not what is to save our country; the conduct
of a war requires the vigor and enterprise of
younger heads. All such undertakings, there
fore, are out of the question with me, and I
say so with the greater satisfaction when I
contemplate the person to whom the Execu
tive powers were handed over. — To THOMAS
C FLOURNOY. vi, 82. (M., Oct. 1812.)
8426. THIRD TERM, Constitution and.
— Your approbation of the reasons which in
duced me to retire from the honorable station
in which my countrymen had placed me, is
the proof of your devotion to the principles
of our Constitution. These are wisely op
posed to all perpetuations of power, and to
every practice which may lead to hereditary
establishments. — REPLY TO ADDRESS, v, 473.
(M., 1809.)
8427. THIRD TERM, Dangers of.— My
opinion originally was that the President of
the United States should have been elected
for seven years, and forever ineligible after
wards. I have since become sensible that
seven years is too long to be irremovable, and
that there should be a peaceable way of with
drawing a man in midway who is doing
wrong. The service for eight years, with a
power to remove at the end of the first four,
comes nearly to my principle as corrected by
experience ; and it is in adherence to that, that
I determine to withdraw at the end of my
second term. The danger is that the indul
gence and attachments of the people will keep
a man in the chair after he becomes a dotard,
that reelection through life shall become habit
ual, and election for life follow that. Gen
eral Washington set the example of voluntary
retirement after eight years. I shall follow
it. And a few more precedents will oppose
the obstacle of habit to any one after awhile
who shall endeavor to extend his term. Per
haps it may beget a disposition to establish it
by an amendment of the Constitution. I be
lieve I am doing right, therefore, in pursuing
my principle. I had determined to declare my
intention, but I have consented to be silent
on the opinion of friends, who think it best
not to put a continuance out of my power
in defiance of all circumstances. There is,
however, but one circumstance which could
engage my acquiescence in another election ;
to wit, such a division about a successor, as
might bring in a monarchist. But that cir
cumstance is impossible. — To JOHN TAYLOR.
iv, 565. FORD ED., viii, 339. (W., Jan. 1805.)
8428. . If some period be not
fixed, either by the Constitution or by practice,
to the services of the First Magistrate, his
office, though nominally elective, will, in fact,
be for life; and that will soon degenerate into
an inheritance. — To MR. WEAVER, v, 89. (W.r
June 1807.)
8429. . That there are in our
country a great number of characters entirely
equal to the management of its affairs, cannot
be doubted. Many of them, indeed, have not
had opportunities of making themselves
known to their fellow citizens ; but many have
had, and the only difficulty will be to choose
among them. These changes are necessary,
too, for the security of republican government.
— To MR. WEAVER, v, 89. (W., June 1807.)
8430. THIRD TERM, Determination to
refuse. — Believing that a definite period of
retiring from this slation will tend materially
to secure our elective form of government;
and sensible, too, of that decline which ad
vancing years bring on, I have felt it a duty
to withdraw at the close of my present term of
office ; and to strengthen by practice a princi
ple which I deem salutary. — To ABNER WAT-
KINS, viii, 125. (W., Dec. 1807.)
8431. THIRD TERM, Duty and.— That
I should lay down my charge at a proper sea
son, is as much a duty as to have borne it
faithfully.— To MR. WEAVER, v, 88. (W.,
June 1807.)
8432. . Having myself highly
approved the example of an illustrious
Third Term
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
866
predecessor, in voluntarily retiring from a
trust, which, if too long continued in the same
hands, might become a subject of reasonable
uneasiness and apprehension, I could not
mistake my own duty when placed in a simi
lar situation.— R. TO A. CONNECTICUT RE
PUBLICANS, viii, 140. (1808.)
8433. THIRD TERM, Irksome.— At the
end of my present term, of which two years
are yet to come, I propose to retire from pub
lic life, and to close my days on my patri
mony of Monticello, in the bosom of my fam
ily. I have hitherto enjoyed uniform health;
but the weight of public service begins to be
too heavy for me, and I long for the enjoy
ment of rural life, among my books, my
farms and my family. Having performed my
quadragena stipcndia, I am entitled to my
discharge, and should be sorry, indeed, that
others should be sooner sensible than my
self when I ought to ask it. I have, there
fore, requested my fellow citizens to think of
a successor for me, to whom I shall de
liver the public concerns with greater joy
than I received them. I have the consola
tion, too, of having added nothing to my pri
vate fortune, during my public service, and
of retiring with hands as clean as they are
empty. — To COMTE DIODATI. v, 62. (W.,
March 1807.)
8434. THIRD TERM, Jefferson urged
to accept. — I am panting for retirement, but
am as yet nearly two years from that goal.
The general solicitations I have received to
continue another term give me great conso
lation, but considerations public as well as
private determine me inflexibly on that meas
ure.— To MARQUIS DE LAFAYETTE. FORD ED.,
ix, 67. (W., May 1807.)
8435. THIRD TERM, Massachusetts
and. — I derive great personal consolation
from the assurances in your friendly letter,
that the electors of Massachusetts would still
have viewed me with favor as a candidate for
a third Presidential term. But the duty of
retirement is so strongly impressed on my
mind, that it is impossible for me to think of
that. — To JAMES SULLIVAN, v, 252. (W.,
March 1808.)
8436. THIRD TERM, Opposed to.— I am
for responsibilities at short periods, seeing
neither reason nor safety in making public
functionaries independent of the nation for
life, or even for long terms of years. On this
principle I prefer the Presidential term of
four years, to that of seven years, which I
myself had at first suggested, annexing to it,
however, ineligibility forever after; and I
wish it were now annexed to the second quad
rennial election of President. — To JAMES
MARTIN, vi, 213. FORD ED., ix, 420. (M.,
Sep. 1813.)
8437. THIRD TERM, Physical decline
and. — My determination to retire is the re
sult of mature reflections, and on various con
siderations. Not the least weighty of these
is that a consciousness that a decline of phys
ical faculties cannot leave those mental en
tirely unimpaired ; and it will be happy for
me if I am the first who shall become sensible
of it. As to a successor, there never will be
a time when it will not produce some diffi
culty, and never less, I believe, than at pres
ent. That some of the federalists should pre
fer my continuance to the uncertainty of a
successor, I can readily believe. There are
among them men of candor, who do not join
in the clamor and condemnation of every
thing, nor pretend that even chance never
throws us on a right measure. There are
some who know me personally, and who give
a credit to my intentions, which they deny
to my understanding; some who may fear a
successor, preferring a military glory of a
nation to the prosperity and happiness of its
individuals. But to the mass of that politi
cal sect, it is not the less true, the 4th of
March, 1809, will be a day of jubilee, but it
will be a day of greater joy to me. I never
did them an act of injustice, nor failed in
any duty to them imposed by my office. — To
WILLIAM SHORT. FORD ED., ix, 50. (W.,
May 1807.)
8438. THIRD TERM, Precedent
against.— The reeligibility of the President
for life [in the new Constitution], I quite dis
approved.* * * My fears of that feature
were founded on the importance of the office,
on the fierce contentions it might excite
among ourselves, if continuable for life, and
the dangers of interference, either with
money or arms, by foreign nations, to whom
the choice of an American President might
become interesting. Examples of this
abounded in history; in the case of the Ro
man Emperors, for instance; of the Popes,
while of any significance ; of the German Em
perors; the Kings of Poland and the Deys
of Barbary. I had observed, too, in the
Feudal history, and in the recent instance,
particularly, of the Stadtholder of Holland,
how easily offices, or tenures for life, slide
into inheritances. My wish, therefore, was,
that the President should be elected for seven
years, and be ineligible afterwards. This
term I thought sufficient to enable him, with
the concurrence of the Legislature, to carry
through and establish any system of improve
ment he should propose for the general good.
But the practice adopted, I think is better,
allowing his continuance for eight years, with
a liability to be dropped at half way of the
term, making that a period of probation.
That his continuance should be restrained to
seven years, was the opinion of the Conven
tion at an earlier stage of its session, when
it voted that term, by a majority of eight
against two, and by a simple majority that
he should be ineligible a second time. This
opinion was confirmed by the House so late
as July 26, referred to the Committee of De
tail, reported favorably by them, and changed
to the present form by final vote, on the last
day but one only of their session.* Of this
* This is an evident error. On September ^th, the
committee of eleven reported a clause making the
term four years, which was adopted by the conven
tion on the 6th, and not altered thereafter.— NOTE
IN FORD EDITION.
86;
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Third Tei
Title
change, three States expressed their disap
probation; New York, by recommending on
amendment, that the President should not
be eligible a third time, and Virginia and
North Carolina that he should not be capable
of serving more than eight, in any term of
sixteen years ; and although this amendment
has not been made in form, yet practice seems
to have established it. The example of four
Presidents voluntarily retiring at the end of
their eighth year, and the progress of public
opinion, that the principle is salutary, have
given it in practice the force of precedent
and usage; insomuch, that, should a Presi
dent consent to be a candidate for a third
election, I trust he would be rejected, on this
demonstration of ambitious views. — AUTOBI
OGRAPHY, i, 79. FORD ED., i, 109. (1821.)
8439. THIRD TERM, Retirement and.
— A retirement from the exercise of my pres
ent charge is equally for your good and my
own happiness. — R. TO A. PENNSYLVANIA
CITIZENS, v, 262. (W., 1808.)
8440. THIRD TERM, Rotation in office
and. — I am sensible of the kindness of your
rebuke on my determination to retire from
office at a time when our country is laboring
under difficulties truly great. But if the prin
ciple of rotation be a sound one, as I con
scientiously believe it to be with respect to
this office, no pretext should ever be per
mitted to dispense with it, because there never
will be a time when real difficulties will not
exist, and furnish a plausible pretext for dis
pensation. You suppose I am " in the prime
of life for rule ". I am sensible I am not ;
and before I am so far declined as to become
insensible of it, I think it right to put it out
of my own power. I have the comfort, too,
of knowing that the person whom the public
choice has designated to receive the charge
from me, is so eminently qualified as a safe
depositary by the endowments of integrity,
understanding, and experience. On a review,
therefore, of my reasons for retirement, I
think you cannot fail to approve them. — To
HENRY GUEST, v, 407. (W., January 1809.)
8441. -. In no office can rotation
be more expedient; and none less admits the
indulgence of age.— R. TO A. PHILADELPHIA
CITIZENS, viii, 145. (1809.)
8442. THIRD TERM, Vermont and.— I
received the address of the Legislature of
Vermont, bearing date the 5th of November,
1806, in w.hich, with their approbation of the
general course of my administration, they
were so good as to express their desire that
I would consent to be proposed again, to the
public voice, on the expiration of my present
term of office. Entertaining, as I do, for the
Legislature of yermont those sentiments of
high respect which would have prompted an
immediate answer, I was certain, nevertheless,
they would approve a delay which had for
its object to avoid a premature agitation of
the public mind, on a subject so interesting
as the election of the Chief Magistrate. That
I should lay down my charge at a proper
period, is as much a duty as to have borne
it faithfully. If some termination to the serv
ices of the Chief Magistrate be not fixed by
the Constitution, or supplied by practice, his
office, nominally for years, will, in fact, be
come for life ; and history shows how easily
that degenerates into an inheritance. Be
lieving that a representative government, re
sponsible at short intervals of election, is that
which produces the greatest sum of happiness
to mankind, I feel it a duty to do no act
which shall essentially impair that principle;
and I should unwillingly be the person who,
disregarding the sound precedent set by an
illustrious predecessor, should furnish the
first example of prolongation beyond the
second term of office. Truth, also, requires
me to add, that I am sensible of that decline
which advancing years bring on; and feeling
their physical, I ought not to doubt their
mental effect. Happy if I am the first to
perceive and to obey this admonition of na
ture, and to solicit a retreat from cares too
great for the wearied faculties of age. — R.
TO A. VERMONT LEGISLATURE. viii, 121.
(Dec. 1807.)
— THRESHING MACHINE.— See IN
VENTIONS.
8443. TIFFIN (H. D.), Fidelity.— I have
seen with the greatest satisfaction that among
those who have distinguished themselves by
their fidelity to their country, on the occasion
of the enterprise of Mr. Burr, yourself and the
Legislature of Ohio have been the most emi
nent. The promptitude and energy displayed
by your State have been as honorable to itself
as salutary to its sister States ; and in declaring
that you have deserved well of your country, I
do but express the grateful sentiment of every
faithful citizen in it. The hand of the people
has given the mortal blow to a conspiracy which,
in other countries, would have called for an
appeal to armies, and has proved that govern
ment to be the strongest of which every man
feels himself a part. It is a happy illustration,
too, of the importance of preserving to the State
authorities all that vigor which the Constitution
foresaw would be necessary, not only for their
own safety, but for that of the whole. — To GOV
ERNOR H. D. TIFFIN, v, 37. FORD ED., ix, 21.
(W., 1807.)
8444. TIME, Waste of .—Determine never
to be idle. No person will have occasion to
complain of the want of time who never loses
any. It is wonderful how much may be done,
if we are always doing. — To MARTHA JEFFERSON.
FORD ED., iv, 387. (Mar. 1787.)
8445. TITLE, President's.— The Senate
and Representatives differed about the title
of the President. The former wanted to
style him, " His Highness, George Washing
ton, President of the United States, and Pro
tector of Their Liberties ". The latter in
sisted, and prevailed, to give no title but that
of office, to wit, " George Washington, Presi
dent of the United States ". I hope the terms
of Excellency, Honor, Worship, Esquire, for
ever disappear from among us, from that
moment. I wish that of Mr. would follow
them. — To WILLIAM CARMICHAEL. iii, 88.
(P., 1789.)
Title
Tobacco
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
868
8446. . The President's title, as
proposed by the Senate, was the most super
latively ridiculous thing I ever heard of. — To
JAMES MADISON. FORD ED., v, 104. (P.,
1789.)
8447. . I will presume to sug
gest to Mr. [John Quincy] Adams the ques
tion whether he should not send back Onis's
letters in which he has the impudence to qual
ify you by the term " His Excellency " ? An
American gentleman in Europe can rank with
the first nobility because we have no titles
which stick him at any particular place in
their line. So the President of the United
States, under that designation ranks with the
emperors and kings; but add Mr. Onis's
courtesy of " His Excellency " and he is then
on a level with Mr. Onis himself, with the
governors of provinces, and even of every
petty fort in Europe, or the colonies. — To
PRESIDENT MONROE. FORD ED., x, 123. (M.,
1819.)
8448. TITLES, Adulatory.— The new
government has shown genuine dignity, in
my opinion, in exploding adulatory titles.
They are the offerings of abject baseness, and
nourish that degrading vice in the people —
To JAMES MADISON, iii, 100. FORD ED., v,
112. (P., 1789.)
8449. TITLES, Granting.— The Admin
istrator [of Virginia] shall not possess the
prerogative * : * of creating dignities or
granting rights of precedence. — PROPOSED VA.
CONSTITUTION. FORD ED., ii, 19. (June 1776.)
8450. TITLES, Hereditary.— [The pro
posed new States] shall admit no person to be
a citizen, who holds any hereditary title.—
WESTERN TERRITORY REPORT. FORD ED., iii,
409. (1784-)
8451. . The clause respecting
hereditary honors was struck out, not from
an approbation of such honors, but because
it was thought an improper place to en
counter them.— To JAMES MADISON. FORD
ED., iii, 471. (A., April 1784.)
8452. TOBACCO, Culture of .—It is a cul
ture productive of infinite wretchedness. Those
employed in it are in a continual state of exer
tion beyond the power of human nature to
support. Little food of any kind is raised by
them ; so that the men and animals on these
farms are badly fed, and the earth is rapidly
impoverished. — NOTES ON VIRGINIA, viii, 407.
FORD EDV iii, 271. (1782.)
8453. TOBACCO, Differential duties.—
The difference of duty on tobacco carried to
France in French and American bottoms, has
excited great uneasiness. We presume the
National Assembly must have been hurried into
the measure without being allowed time to
reflect on its consequences. A moment's con
sideration must convince anybody, that no na
tion upon earth ever submitted to so enormous
an assault on the transportation of their own
produce. Retaliation, to be equal, will have the
air of extreme severity and hostility. — To M.
LA MOTTE. iii, 289. (Pa., 1791.)
8454. . I take for granted the
National Assembly were surprised into the mea
sure by persons whose avarice blinded them to
the consequences, and hope it will be repealed
before our legislature shall be obliged to act on
it. Such an attack on our carriage of our own
productions, and such a retaliation would illy
prepare the minds of the two nations for a lib
eral treaty as wished for by the real friends of
both. — To JOSEPH FENWICK. FORD ED., v, 380.
(Pa., 1791-)
8455. TOBACCO, European use of. — The
European nations can do well without all our
commodities except tobacco. — To JOHN ADAMS.
i, 488. (P., 1785.)
8456. TOBACCO, Monopoly in France.—
I take the liberty of offering to your attention
some papers * * * written by * *
nerchants of L'Orient, and others, some of
whom are citizens of the United States, and
all of them concerned in the trade between the
two countries. This has been carried on by an
exchange of the manufactures and produce of
France for the produce of the United States,
and principally for tobacco, which, though on
its arrival here, confined to a single purchaser,
has been received equally from all sellers. In
confidence of a continuance of this practice,
the merchants of both countries were carrying
on their commerce of exchange. A late con
tract by the Farm has, in a great measure, fixed
in a single mercantile house the supplies of
tobacco wanted for this country. This arrange
ment found the established merchants with
some tobacco on hand, some on the seas coming
to them, and more still due. By the papers now
enclosed, it seems that there are six thousand
four hundred and eight hogsheads in the single
port of L'Orient. Whether the government may
interfere, as to articles furnished by the mer
chants after they had notice of the contract be
fore mentioned, must depend on principles of
policy. But those of justice seem to urge that,
for commodities furnished before such notice,
they should be so far protected, as that they
may wind up without loss, the transactions in
which the new arrangement found them actually
engaged. — To COUNT DE VERGENNES. i, 547.
(P., 1786.)
8457. . My hopes on that sub
ject (suppression of the monopoly in the pur
chase of tobacco in France), are not desperate,
but neither are they flattering. — To T. PLEAS-
ANTS, i, 563. (P., 1786.)
8458. . My letters from New
York inform me that * * * the monopoly
of the purchase of tobacco for France, which
had been obtained by Robert Morris, had
thrown the commerce of that article in agonies.
He had been able to reduce the price in America
from 40] to 22)6. lawful the hundred weight,
and all other merchants being deprived of that
medium of remittance, the commerce between
America and that country, so far as it depended
on that article, which was very capitally too,
was absolutely ceasing. An order has been ob
tained, obliging the Farmers General to pur
chase from such other merchants as shall offer
fifteen thousand hogsheads of tobacco at thirty-
four, thirty-six and thirty-eight livres the hun
dred, according to the quality, and to grant to
the sellers in other respects the same terms as
they had granted to Robert Morris. As this
agreement with Morris is the basis of this order,
I send you some copies of it, which I will thank
you to give to any American (not British) mer
chants in London who may be in that line. Du
ring the year this contract has subsisted, Vir
ginia and Maryland have lost £400,000 by the
869
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Tobacco
Tories
reduction of the price of their tobacco. — -To
JOHN ADAMS, i, 586. FORD ED., iv, 252. (P.,
1786.)
8459. - — . During the former gov
ernment of France (the monarchy), our to
bacco was under a monopoly, but paid no duties.
* * * The first National Assembly * *
emancipated tobacco from its monopoly, but
subjected it to duties of eighteen livres, fifteen
sous the quintal, carried in their own vessels,
and five livres carried in ours — a difference
more than equal to the freight of the article. —
FOREIGN COMMERCE REPORT, vii, 640. FORD
ED., vi, 474. (Dec. 1793.) See MONOPOLY.
8460. TOBACCO, Oppressions by mer
chants. — Long experience has proved to us
that there never was an instance of a man's
getting out of debt, who was once in the hands
of a tobacco merchant, and bound to consign his
tobacco to him. It is the most delusive of all
snares. The merchant feeds the inclination
of his customer to be credited till he gets the
burthen of debt so increased that he cannot
throw it off at once; he then begins to give
him less for his tobacco, and ends with giving
him what he pleases for it. — To MRS. PARADISE.
FORD ED., iv, 288. (P., 1786.)
8461. TOBACCO, Price of.— I am offered
at Monticello four shillings above the present
market price. * * * You know I have an
established privilege of being considerably above
the market. * * * The quality of last year's
crop is inferior, but still mine preserving its
comparative superiority, stands on its usual
ground with respect to others. — To JAMES
BROWN. FORD ED., vii, 6. (M., 1795.)
8462. TOLERATION, Political.— I feel
extraordinary gratification in addressing this
letter to you, with whom shades of difference
in political sentiment have not prevented the
interchange of good opinion, nor cut off the
friendly offices of society and good corre
spondence. This political tolerance is the more
valued by me, who consider social harmony
as the first of human felicities, and the hap
piest moments, those which are given to the
effusions of the heart. — To GOVERNOR JOHN
HENRY. FORD ED., iii, 159. (P., 1797.)
8463. . During the contest of
opinion [Presidential election] through which
we have passed, the animation of discussion
and of exertions has sometimes worn an as
pect which might impose on strangers, un
used to think freely, and to speak and to write
what they think ; but, this being now decided
by the voice of the nation, announced, accord
ing to the rules of the Constitution, all will,
of course, arrange themselves under the will
of the law, and unite in common efforts for
the common good. All, too, will bear in mind
this sacred principle, that, though the will
of the majority is in all cases to prevail, that
will, to be rightful, must be reasonable ; that
the minority possess their equal rights, which
equal laws must protect, and to violate which
would be oppression. Let us, then, fellow-
citizens, unite with one heart and one mind;
let us restore to social intercourse that har
mony and affection without which liberty and
even life itself are but dreary things. And let
us reflect, that, having banished from our land
that religious intolerance under which man
kind so long bled and suffered, we have yet
gained little, if we countenance a political in
tolerance as despotic, as wicked, and capable
of as bitter and bloody persecutions. During
the throes and convulsions of the ancient
world ; during the agonizing spasms of in
furiated man, seeking, through blood and
slaughter, his long-lost liberty, it was not
wonderful that the agitation of the billows
should reach even this distant and peaceful
shore ; that this should be more felt and
feared by some, and less by others; that this
should divide opinions as to measures of
safety. But every difference of opinion is not
a difference of principle. We have called by
different names brethren of the same princi
ple. We are all republicans ; we are all fed
eralists. If there be any among us who
would wish to dissolve this Union, or to
change its republican form, let them stand,
undisturbed, as monuments of the safety with
which error of opinion may be tolerated
where reason is left free to combat it. * * *
Let us, then, with courage and confidence,
pursue our own federal and republican prin
ciples — our attachment to our Union and
representative government. — FIRST INAUGU
RAL ADDRESS, viii, 2. FORD ED., viii, 2.
(1801.)
8464. TONTINE, Raising money by.—
The raising money by Tontine, more practiced
on the continent of Europe than in England, is
liable to the same objection [as funding], of
encroachment on the independent rights of
posterity ; because the annuities not expiring
gradually, with the lives on which they rest,
but all on the death of the last survivor only,
they will, of course, overpass the term of a
generation, and the more probably as the sub
jects on whose lives the annuities depend, are
generally chosen of the ages, constitutions, and
occupations most favorable to long life. — To
J. W. EPPES. vi, 197. FORD ED., ix, 397.
(P.F., 1813.)
8465. TORIES, Confederacy and.— The
tories would, at all times, have been glad to
see the confederacy dissolved, even by par
ticles at a time, in hopes of their attaching
themselves again to Great Britain. — ANSWERS
TO M. DE MEUNIER. ix, 251. FORD ED., iv,
156. (P., 1786.)
8466. TORIES, Definition of.— A tory
has been properly defined to be a traitor in
thought, but not in deed. The only descrip
tion by which the laws have endeavored to
come at them, was that of non- jurors, or per
sons refusing to take the oath of fidelity to
the State. — NOTES ON VIRGINIA, viii, 396.
FORD ED., iii, 260. (1782.)
8467. TORIES, Nature and.— Nature has
made some men monarchists and tories by
their constitution, and some, of course, there
always will be. — To ALBERT GALLATIN. vii,
80. FORD ED., x, 92. (M., 1817.)
8488. TORIES, Taxation of.— Persons of
this description were at one time subjected
to double taxation, at another to treble, and
lastly were allowed retribution, and placed on
a level with good citizens. — NOTES ON VIR
GINIA, viii, 396. FORD ED., iii, 260. (1782.),
Tories
Tracy (Comte de)
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
870
8469. TORIES, Whigs and.— It has ever
appeared to me, that the difference between
the whig and the tory of England is, that the
whig deduces his rights from the Anglo-
Saxon source, and the tory from the Norman.
—To JOHN CARTWRIGHT. vii, 356. (M.,
1824.)
8470. TORPEDOES, Defensive value. —
I consider your torpedoes as very valuable
means of the defence of harbors, and have no
doubt that we should adopt them to a consider
able degree. Not that I go the whole length
(as I believe you do) of considering them as
solely to be relied on. Neither a nation nor
those entrusted with its affairs, could be justi
fiable, however sanguine its expectations, in
trusting solely to an engine not yet sufficiently
tried, under all the circumstances which may
occur, and against which we know not as yet
what means of parrying may be devised. If,
indeed, the mode of attaching them to the cable
of a ship be the only one proposed, modes of
prevention cannot be difficult. But I have ever
looked to the submarine boat as most to be de
pended on for attaching them, and though I
see no mention of it in your letter, or your pub
lications, I am in hopes it is not abandoned as
impracticable. I should wish to see a corps of
young men trained to this service. It would
belong to the engineers if at hand, but being
nautical, I suppose we must have a corps of
naval engineers, to practice and use them. — To
ROBERT FULTON, v, 165. FORD ED., ix, 125.
(M., Aug. 1807.)
8471. . Although no public serv
ant could justify the risking the safety of an
important seaport, solely on untried means of
defence, yet I have great confidence in those
proposed by you as additional to the ordinary
means. — To ROBERT FULTON, v, 341. (M.,
Aug. 1808.)
8472. TORPEDOES, Experiments with.
— Mr. Fulton writes to me under a great de
sire to prepare a decisive experiment of his
torpedo at Washington, for the meeting of
Congress. This means of harbor-defence has
acquired such respectability, from its apparent
merit, from the attention shown it by other
nations, and from our own experiments at New
York, as to entitle it to a full experiment from
us. He asks only two workmen for one month
from us, which he estimates at $130 only. But
should it cost considerably more I should really
be for granting it, and would accordingly recom
mend it to you. This sum is a mere trifle as an
encroachment on our appropriation. — To ROBERT
SMITH, v, 337. (M., Aug. 1808.)
8473. TORPEDOES, Success of.— Your
torpedoes will be to cities what vaccination has
been to mankind. It extinguishes their greatest
danger. — To ROBERT FULTON, v, 517. (M.,
1810.)
8474. TORTURE, Forbidden.— The Gen
eral Assembly shall not have power to * * *
prescribe torture in any case whatever.* — PRO
POSED VA. CONSTITUTION, viii, 445. FORD ED.,
iii, 325- (1783.)
8475. TORTURE, In France.— Nor
should we wonder at * * * [the] pressure
[for a fixed constitution in 1788-9] when we
consider the monstrous abuses of power under
which * * * [the French] people were
* Heresy was then punishable by burning in Vir
ginia. — EDITOR.
ground to powder ; when we pass in review
* * * the atrocities of the rack. — AUTOBI
OGRAPHY, i, 86. FORD ED., i, 118. (1821.)
8476. TOULOUSE (Archbishop of),
Character of.— The Archbishop of Toulouse
is made minister principal, a virtuous, patriotic,
and able character. — To JOHN ADAMS, ii, 258.
(P., 1787-)
8477. TOULOUSE (Archbishop of),
Garde des sceaux and. — The Garde des
sceaux is considered as the Archbishop of
Toulouse's bull dog, braving danger like that
animal. His talents do not pass mediocrity. —
To JAMES MADISON, ii, 444. FORD ED., v, 43.
(P., 1788.)
8478. TOULOUSE (Archbishop of),
Influence with Queen.— It may not be unin-
structive to give you the origin and nature of
his influence with the Queen [Marie Antoi
nette]. When the Duke de Choiseul proposed
the marriage of the Dauphin with this lady,
he thought it proper to send a person to Vienna
to perfect her in the language. He asked his
friend, the Archbishop of Toulouse, to recom
mend to him a proper person. He recommend
ed a certain abbe. The abbe, from his first
arrival in Vienna, either tutored by his patron,
or prompted by gratitude, impressed on the
Queen's mind the exalted talents and merit of
the Archbishop, and continually represented him
as the only man fit to be placed at the helm of
affairs. On his return to Paris, being retained
near the person of the Queen, he kept him con
stantly in her view. The Archbishop was
named of the Assemblee des Notables, had oc
casion enough there to prove his talents, and
Count de Vergennes, his great enemy, dying
opportunely, the Queen got him into place. He
uses the abbe even yet for instilling all his no
tions into her mind. — To JOHN JAY. ii, 310.
FORD ED., iv, 463. (P., 1787.)
8479. . The Archbishop con
tinues well with his patroness [Marie Antoi
nette]. Her object is a close connection with
her brother. I suppose he convinces her that
peace will furnish the best occasion of cement
ing that connection. — To JOHN JAY. ii, 310.
FORD ED., iv, 463. (P., 1787.)
8480. TOULOUSE (Archbishop of),
Minister.— The Archbishop of Toulouse
is a good and patriotic minister for
peace, and very capable in the department of
finance. At least he is so in theory. I have
heard his talents for execution censured. — To
JOHN JAY. ii, 294. (P., 1787.)
8481. TOULOUSE (Archbishop of),
Talents. — That he has imposing talents, and
patriotic dispositions, I think is certain. Good
judges think him a theorist only, little acquaint
ed with the details of business, and spoiling all
his plans by a bungled execution. — To JOHN JAY.
ii, 310. FORD ED., iv, 464. (P., 1787.)
— TOWNS.— See WARD GOVERNMENT.
8482. TRACY (Comte de), Books of.—
Destutt Tracy is, in my judgment, the ablest
living writer on intellectual subjects, or the
operations of the understanding. His three
octavo volumes on Ideology, which constitute
the foundation of what he has since written. I
have not entirely read ; because I am not fond
of reading what is merely abstract, and unap
plied immediately to some useful science.
Bonaparte, with his repeated derisions of Ideol
ogists (squinting at this author), has by this
871
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Tracy (Comte de)
Trade
time felt that true wisdom does not lie in mere
practice without principle. The next work
Tracy wrote was the " Commentary on Montes
quieu ", never published in the original, because
not safe ; but translated and published in Phil
adelphia, yet without the author's name. He
has since permitted his name to be mentioned.
Although called a commentary, it is, in truth, an
elementary work on the principles of govern
ment, comprised in about three hundred pages
octavo. He has lately published a third work,
on " Political Economy ", comprising the whole
subject within about the same compass; in
which all its principles are demonstrated with
the severity of Euclid, and, like him, without
ever using a superfluous word. I have procured
this to be translated, and have been four years
endeavoring to get it printed ; but as yet, with
out success. In the meantime, the author has
published the original in France, which he
thought unsafe while Bonaparte was in power.
* * * He has his fourth and last work now
in the press at Paris, closing as he conceives, the
circle of metaphysical sciences. This work,
which is on ethics, I have not seen, but suspect
I shall differ from it in its foundation, although
not in its deductions. I gather from his other
works that he adopts the principle of Hobbes,
that justice is founded in contract solely, and
does not result from the construction of man. —
To JOHN ADAMS, vii, 38. (M., 1816.)
8483. . Tracy comprehends under
the word " Ideology " all the subjects which the
French term Morale, as the correlation to Phy
sique. His works on Logic, Government, Polit
ical Economy and Morality, he cons:ders as ma
king up the circle of ideological subjects, or of
those which are within the scope of the under
standing, and not of the senses. His Logic
occupies exactly the ground of Locke's work on
the Understanding. The translation of that on
Political Economy is now printing; but it is
no translation of mine. I have only had the
correction of it, which was, indeed, very la
borious. Le premier jet having been by some
one who understood neither French nor English,
it was impossible to make it more than faithful.
But it is a valuable work. — To JOHN ADAMS.
vii, 55. FORD ED., x, 72. (M., 1817.)
8484. TRACY (Comte de), Infirmity of.
— The Tracy I mentioned to you is the one
connected by marriage with Lafayette's family.
* * * He writes me that he is become blind,
and so infirm that he is no longer able to com
pose anything ; so that we are to consider his
works as now closed. — To JOHN ADAMS, vii,
43. (M., 1816.)
8485. TRADE, Carrying.— I think it es
sential to exclude the English from the car
riage of American produce. — To JAMES MON
ROE. FORD ED., iv, 41. (P., 1785.) See CARRY
ING TRADE, COMMERCE, MARKETS, NAVIGATION
and SHIPS.
8486. TRADE, Destroying.— He [George
III.] has endeavored to pervert the exercise
of the kingly office in Virginia into a detest
able and insupportable tyranny * * * by
combining with others to subject us to a for
eign jurisdiction, giving his assent to their
pretended acts of legislation * * * for
cutting off our trade with all parts of the
world. — PROPOSED VA. CONSTITUTION. FORD
ED., ii, 10. (June 1776.)
8487. - . He has combined, with
others, * * * for cutting off our trade
with all parts of the world. — DECLARATION OF
INDEPENDENCE AS DRAWN BY JEFFERSON.
8488. TRADE, Monopolizing. — It is not
just that the colonies should be required to
oblige themselves to other contributions
while Great Britain possesses a monopoly of
their trade. This of itself lays them under
heavy contribution. To demand, therefore, an
additional contribution in the form of a tax
is to demand the double of their equal pro
portion. If we contribute equally with other
parts of the empire, let us, equally with them,
enjoy free commerce with the whole world;
but while the restrictions on our trade shut
to us the resources of wealth, is it just, we
should bear all other burdens equally with
those to whom every resource is open? — RE
PLY TO LORD NORTH'S PROPOSITION. FORD ED.,
i, 479. (July 1775.)
8489. TRADE, Restraining. — The prop
osition [of Lord North] is altogether un
satisfactory ' * * because it does not pro
pose to repeal the several acts of Parliament,
passed for the purposes of restraining the
trade * * * of the Eastern colonies. — RE
PLY TO LORD NORTH'S PROPOSITION. FORD ED.,
i, 480. (July 1775.)
8490. TRADE, Restrictions on. — Some
of the colonies having thought proper to con
tinue the administration of their government
in the name and under the authority of his
Majesty, King Charles I. whom, notwith
standing his late deposition by the Common
wealth of England, they continued in the
sovereignty of their State, the Parliament for
the Commonwealth, took the same in high
offence, and assumed upon themselves the
power of prohibiting their trade with all other
parts of the world, except the Island of Great
Britain. This arbitrary act, however, they
soon recalled, and by solemn treaty entered
into on the I2th day of March, 1651, between
the said Commonwealth, by their Commis
sioners, and the Colony of Virginia by their
House of Burgesses, it was expressly stipu
lated by the eighth article of the said treaty,
that they should have " free trade as the peo
ple of England do enjoy to all places and with
all nations, according to the laws of that
Commonwealth ". But * * * upon the
restoration of his Majesty, King Charles II.,
their rights of free commerce fell once more
a victim to arbitrary power; and by several
acts of his reign, as well as of some of his
successors, the trade of the Colonies was laid
under such restrictions, as show what hopes
they might form from the justice of a British
Parliament, were its uncontrolled power ad
mitted over these States. — RIGHTS OF BRITISH
AMERICA, i, 127. FORD ED., i, 432. (1774.)
8491. . We cannot, my lord,
close with the terms of that resolution [Lord
North's conciliatory Proposition] because on
our agreeing to contribute our proportion to
wards the common defence, they do not pro
pose to lay open to us a free trade with all
the world: whereas, to us it appears just that
those who bear equally the burdens of gov
ernment should equally participate of its bene-
Trade
Travel
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
872
fits; either be contented with the monopoly
of our trade, which brings greater loss to us
and benefit to them than the amount of our
proportional contributions to the common de
fence ; or, if the latter be preterred, relinquish
the former, and not propose, by holding both,
to exact from us double contributions. — AD
DRESS TO LORD DUNMORE. FORD ED., i, 457.
(R-, 1775.)
8492. TRADE, Bight to.— No man has a
natural right to the trade of a money lender
but he who has the money to lend. — To J. W.
EPPES. vi, 141. FORD ED., ix, 394. (M.,
1813.)
8493. TRADE MARKS, Recommended.
— The Secretary of State, to whom was re
ferred by the House of Representatives the pe
tition of Samuel Breck and others, proprietors
of a sail-cloth manufactory in Boston, praying
that they may have the exclusive privilege of
using particular marks for designating the sail
cloth of their manufactory, has had the same
under consideration, and thereupon reports :
That it would, in his opinion, contribute to fidel
ity in the execution of manufactures, to secure
to every manufactory an exclusive right to
some mark on its wares, proper to itself.
This should be done by general laws, extending
equal right to every case to which the authority
of the Legislature should be competent. These
cases are of divided jurisdiction : Manufac
tures made and consumed within a State being
subject to State legislation, while those which"
are exported to foreign nations, or to another
State, or into the Indian Territory, are alone
within the legislation of the General Govern
ment. That it will, therefore, be reasonable
for the General Government to provide in this
behalf by law for those cases of manufacture
generally, and those only which relate to com
merce with foreign nations, and among the sev
eral States, and with the Indian tribes. This
may be done by permitting the owner of every
manufactory, to enter in the records of the court
of the district wherein his manufactory is, the
name with which he chooses to mark or desig
nate his wares, and rendering it penal in others
to put the same mark to any other wares. —
REPORT ON TRADE MARKS, vii, 563. (Decem
ber 1791.)
8494. TRANQUILLITY, Basis of.—
Tranquillity of mind depends much on our
selves, and greatly on due reflection " how much
pain have cost us the evils which have never
happened ". — To WILLIAM SHORT, vi, 402.
(M., 1814.)
8495. TRANQUILLITY, Love of.— I
cherish tranquillity too much to suffer political
th'ngs to enter my mind at all. — To PRESIDENT
WASHINGTON, iv, 106. FORD ED., vi, 510. (M.,
May 1 794.)
8496. TRANQUILLITY, National.—
That love of order and obedience to the laws,
which so remarkably characterize the citizens
of the United States, are sure pledges of inter
nal tranquillity. — To BENJAMIN WARING, iv,
378. (W., 1801.)
8497. TRANQUILLITY, Old age and.—
Tranquillity is the old man's milk. I go to
enjoy it in a few days, and to exchange the roar
and tumult of bulls and bears, for the prattle of
my grandchildren and senile rest. — To EDWARD
RUTLEDGE. iv, igi. FORD ED., vii, 155. (Pa.,
I797-)
8498. . My object at present is
peace and tranquillity, neither doing nor saying
anything to be quoted, or to make me the sub
ject of newspaper disquisitions. — To DAVID
HOWELL. v, 554. (M., 1810.)
8499. . The summum bonum
with me is now truly epicurean, ease of body
and tranquillity of mind. — To JOHN ADAMS, vi,
143. (M., 1813.)
8500. . Tranquillity is the sum-
mum bonum of age. I wish, therefore, to of
fend no man's opinion, nor to draw disquieting
animadversions on my own. While duty re
quired it, I met opposition with a firm and fear
less step. But loving mankind in my individual
relations with them, I pray to be permitted
to depart in their peace; and like the super
annuated soldier, " quddragenis stipendiis emer-
itis ", to hang my arms on the post. — To SPEN
CER ROANE. vii, 136. FORD ED., x, 142. (P.F.,
1819.)
8501 . There is a time for
things; for advancing and for retiring; for a
Sabbath of rest as well as for days of labor, and
surely that Sabbath has arrived for one near
entering on his 8oth year. Tranquillity is the
summum bonum of that age. I wish now for
quiet, to withdraw from the broils of the world,
to soothe the enmities, and to die in the peace
and good will of all mankind. — To ARCHIBALD
THWEAT. FORD ED., x, 185. (M., 1821.)
8502. . Tranquillity is the last
and sweetest asylum of age. — To SPENCER
ROANE. vii, 211. FORD ED., x, 188. (M.,
1821.)
8503. . At the age of eighty,
tranquillity is the greatest good of life, and the
strongest of our desires that of dying in the
good will of all mankind. — To JAMES SMITH.
vii, 270. (M., 1822.)
— TRANSMIGRATION OF SOULS.—
See SOULS, TRANSMIGRATION OF.
8504. TRAVEL, Advice as to.— The peo
ple you will naturally see the most of will be
tavern keepers, valets de place, and postillions.
These are the hackneyed rascals of every coun
try. Of course they must never be considered
when we calculate the national character. —
TRAVELLING HINTS, ix, 404. (1788.)
8505. . To pass once along a
public road through a country, and in one direc
tion only, to put up at its tavern, and get into
conversation with the idle, drunken individuals
who pass their time lounging in these taverns,
is not the way to know a country, its inhabit
ants, or manners. — To PROFESSOR EBELING.
FORD ED., vii, 45. (1795.)
8506. TRAVEL, Philanthropy and.—
From the first olive fields of Pierrelatte to the
orangeries of Hieres, has been continued rap
ture to me. I have often wished for you [La
fayette]. I think you have not made this jour
ney. It is a pleasure you have to come, and
an improvement to be added to the many you
have already made. It will be a great comfort
to you to know, from your own inspection, the
condition of all the provinces of your own coun
try, and it will be interesting to them, at some
future day, to be known to you. Th:s is, per
haps, the only moment of your life in which
you can acquire that knowledge. And to do it
most effectually, you must be absolutely in
cognito ; you must ferret the people out of their
hovels as I have done, look into their kettles,
873
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Travel
Treason
eat their bread, loll on their beds under pre
tense of resting yourself, but in fact to find if
they are soft. You will feel a sublime pleasure
in the course of this investigation, and a sub-
limer one hereafter, when you shall be able to
apply your knowledge to the softening of their
beds, or the throwing a morsel of meat into their
kettle of vegetables. — To MARQUIS DE LAFAY
ETTE, ii, 136. (Ne., 1787.)
8507. . I am never satiated with
rambling through the fields and farms [in
Frarice], examining the culture and cultivators,
with a degree of curiosity which makes some
take me to be a fool, and others to be much
wiser than I am. — To MARQUIS DE LAFAYETTE.
ii, 135. (Ne., 1787.)
8508. - — . The politics of each
country [is] well worth studying so far as
respects internal affairs. Examine its influence
on the happiness of the people. Take every
possible occasion for entering into the houses of
the laborers, and especially at the moments of
the:r repast ; see what they eat, how they are
clothed, whether they are obliged to work too
hard ; whether the government or their land
lord takes from them an unjust proportion of
their labor; on what footing stands the prop
erty they call their own, their personal liberty,
&c., &c. — TRAVELLING HINTS, ix, 405. (1788.)
8509. TRAVEL, Reflection during.— I
think one travels more usefully when alone, be
cause he reflects more. — To J. BANNISTER, JR.
ii, 151. (P., 1787.)
8510. TRAVEL, Tours of political.—
With respect to the tour my friends to the north
have proposed that I should make in that quar
ter, I have not made up a final opinion. The
course of life which General Washington had
run, civil and military, the services he had ren
dered, and the space he therefore occupied in
the affections of his fellow citizens, take from
his examples the weight of precedents for oth
ers ; because no others can arrogate to them
selves the cla;ms which he had on the public
homage. To myself, therefore, it comes as a
new question, to be viewed under all the phases
it may present. I confess that I am not recon
ciled to the idea of a Chief Magistrate parading
himself through the several States, as an ob
ject of public gaze, and in quest of applause
which, to be valuable, should be purely volun
tary. I had rather acquire silent good will by
a faithful discharge of my duties, than owe
expressions of it to my putting myself in the
way of receiving them. — To JAMES SULLIVAN.
v, 101. FORD ED., ix, 77. (W., June 1807.)
8511. . A journey to Boston or
Portsmouth, after I shall be a private citizen,
would much better harmonize with my feelings,
as well as duties ; and, founded in curiosity,
would give no claims to an extension of it. I
should see my friends, too, more at our mutual
ease, and be left more exclusively to their so
ciety. — To JAMES SULLIVAN, v, 102. FORD ED.,
ix, 78. (W., June 1807.)
8512. TRAVEL, Wisdom, happiness
and. — Travelling makes men wiser, but less
happy. When men of sober age travel, they
gather knowledge, which they may apply use
fully for their country ; but they are subject
ever after to recollections mixed with regret ;
their affections are weakened by be;ng extended
over more objects ; and they learn new habits
which cannot be gratified when they return
home. — To PETER CARR. ii, 241. FORD ED., iv,
432. (P., 1787.)
8513. TRAVEL, Young men and.—
Young men, who travel, * * * do not ac
quire that wisdom for which a previous founda
tion is requisite, by repeated and just observa
tions at home. The glare of pomp and pleasure
is analogous to the motion of the blood; it
absorbs all their affection and attention, and
they are torn from it as from the only good in
this world, and return to their home as to a
place of exile and condemnation. Their eyes
are forever turned back to the object they have
lost, and its recollection poisons the residue of
their lives. * A habit of idleness, an
inability to apply themselves to business is
acquired, and renders them useless to them
selves and their country. These observations
are founded in experience. There is no place
where your pursuit of knowledge will be so little
obstructed by foreign objects as in your own
country, nor any, wherein the virtues of the
heart will be less exposed to be weakened. Be
good, be learned, and be industrious, and you
will not want the aid of travelling to render
you precious to your country, dear to your
friends, happy within yourself. — To PETER
CARR. ii, 241. FORD ED., iv, 433. (P., 1787.)
8514. TRAVELERS, Entertaining.— It
is the general interest of our country that
strangers of distinction passing through it,
should be made acquainted wita its best citizens,
and those most qualified to give favorable im
pressions of it. — To MR. KITE, iv, 146. (M
1796.)
8515. TREASON, Executions for.— It
may be mentioned as a proof, both of the
lenity of our government, and unanimity of
its inhabitants, that though this [Revolution
ary] war has now raged near seven years, not
a single execution for treason has taken place.
—NOTES ON VIRGINIA, viii, 396. FORD ED iii
260. (1782.)
8516. TREASON, Patriotism vs.— Trea
son, when real, merits the highest punish
ment. But most codes extend their defini
tions of treason to acts not really against
one's country. They do not distinguish be
tween acts against the government, and acts
against the oppressions of the government.
The latter are virtues; yet have furnished
more victims to the executioner than the
former. Real treasons are rare; oppressions
frequent. The unsuccessful strugglers against
tyranny have been the chief martyrs of trea
son laws in all countries. Reformation of
government with our neighbors* [being] as
much wanting now as reformation of religion
is, or ever was anywhere, we should not wish
then to give up to the executioner the patriot
who fails, and flees to us. — REPORT ON SPAN
ISH CONVENTION, iii, 353. FORD ED., v, 483.
(1792.)
8517. TREASON, Punishment for.—
Treasons, taking the simulated with the real,
are sufficiently punished by exile. — REPORT ON
SPANISH CONVENTION, iii, 353. FORD ED v
483. (1792.)
8518. TREASON, Security against.—
The framers of our Constitution certainly
supposed they had guarded, as well their gov
ernment against destruction by treason, as
their citizens against oppression, under pre-
* The Spanish provinces.— EDITOR.
Treason
Treaties
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
874
tence of it; and if these ends are not at
tained, it is of importance to enquire by what
means, more effectual, they may be secured.
— SEVENTH ANNUAL MESSAGE, viii, 88. FORD
ED., ix, 164. (1807.)
8519. TREASON", Suspected.— Having
received information that divers citizens of this
Commonwealth [Virginia], in the counties of
James and York, have lately committed acts
some of which amount to high treason and oth
ers to misprision of treason ; and that some,
though they may have been able to disguise
and conceal their transactions as that legal evi
dence cannot be obtained by which they may be
subjected to prosecution, : *_ yet have so
conducted themselves as to furnish the most
pregnant circumstances of suspicion that they
have been guilty of those offences, or are disaf
fected to the Independence of the United States,
and will, whenever they shall have opportunity,
aid or advise the measures of the public enemy,
which persons, in the critical situation of this
Commonwealth, it is indispensably necessary to
punish for their crimes by way of example to
others and to disable from doing mischief ; I
must, therefore, * * * desire and authorize
you to make enquiry into the premises, and
where you shall have probable cause to believe
that any persons have been guilty of treason, or
misprision of treason ; that there is legal evi
dence to commit them thereof ; and that an ex
amining court can be had on them in the county
where the offence was committed before there
shall be any danger of rescue by the enemy, you
have them delivered to the warrant of a jus
tice of the peace, in order that they may be
prosecuted in the usual forms of law ; and that
you aid in their safe conveyance to the public
jail in Richmond, if they be ordered to be con
veyed. But where you shall be of opinion that
legal evidence cannot be obtained, that an ex
amining court cannot be procured in the county
before there will be danger of a rescue by the
enemy, and that there are pregnant circum
stances of suspicion that they have been guilty
of the offences of treason or misprision of trea
son, or where there shall be pregnant causes of
suspicion that persons in these counties are dis
affected to the Independence of the United
States ; and when occasion serves, aid or advise
the operations of the enemy ; that in those cases^
you apprehend such persons, and send them in
safe custody to the jail of Richmond county.
* * * They shall be treated by those into
whose hands they shall be committed with no
insult or rudeness unnecessary for their safe
custody. — To COLONEL JAMES INNES. FORD ED.,
iii, 27. (R., May 1781.)
8520. TREASURY, Conduct of.— There
is a point * * * on which I should wish
to keep my eye, and to which I should aim
to approach by every tack which previous ar
rangements force upon us. That is, to form
into one consolidated mass all the moneys re
ceived into the treasury, and to the several
expenditures, giving them a preference of
payment according to the order in which they
should be arranged. As for example. I. The
interest of the public debt. 2. Such por
tions of the principal as are exigible. 3. The
expenses of government. 4. Such other por
tions of principal as, though not exigible, we
are still free to pay when we please. The
last object might be made to take up the resid
uum of money remaining in the treasury at
the end of every year, after the three first
objects were complied with, and would be the
barometer whereby to test the economy of the
administration. It would furnish a simple
measure by which every one could mete their
merit, and by which every one could decide
when taxes were deficient or superabundant.
— To ALBERT GALL ATI N. iv, 428. FORD ED.,
viii, 140. (W., 1802.)
8521. TREASURY, Hamilton and.—
This constellation of great men in the Treas
ury department was of a piece with the rest
of Hamilton's plans. He took his own stand
as a lieutenant general, surrounded by his
major generals, and stationed his brigadiers
and colonels under the name of supervisors,
inspectors, &c., in the different States. Let
us deserve well of our country by making her
interests the end of all our plans, and not
our own pomp, patronage, and irresponsi
bility. — To ALBERT GALLATIN. iv, 429. FORD
ED., viii, 141. (W., 1802.)
8522. TREASURY, Necessity for.—
Every circumstance we hear induces us to
believe that it is the want of will, rather than
of ability, to furnish contributions which
keeps the public treasury so poor. The Al-
gerines will probably do us the favor to pro
duce a sense of the necessity of a public treas
ury and a public force on that element where
it can never be dangerous. — To DAVID HUM
PHREYS, ii, 10. (P., 1786.)
8523. TREASURY, Organization of.—
We shall now get rid of the commissioner of
the internal revenue, and superintendent of
stamps. It remains to amalgamate the comp
troller and auditor into one, and reduce the
register to a clerk of accounts; and then the
organization will consist, as it should at first,
of a keeper of money, a keeper of accounts,
and the head of the department. — To ALBERT
GALLATIN. iv, 429. FORD ED., viii, 141. (W.,
1802.)
- TREASURY, Patronage.— See POST-
OFFICE.
8524. TREASURY, Separate depart
ment.— The act of September 2d, 1789, es
tablishing a Department of Treasury, should
be so amended as to constitute the office of
the Treasurer of the United States a separate
department, independent of the Secretary of
the Treasury. — GILES TREASURY RESOLUTIONS.
FORD ED., vi, 171. (1793.)
- TREASURY NOTES.— See NATIONAL
CURRENCY.
8525. TREATIES, Binding force of.—
The moral duties which exist between indi
vidual and individual in a state of nature,
accompany them into a state of society,
and the aggregate of the duties of all the in
dividuals composing the society constitutes
the duties of that society towards any other;
so that between society and society the same
moral duties exist as did between the in
dividuals composing them, while in an un-
associated state, and their Maker not having
released them from those duties on their
875
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Treaties
forming themselves into a nation. — OPINION
ON FRENCH TREATIES, vii, 613. FORD ED., vi,
220. (I793-)
8526. . Compacts between na
tion and nation are obligatory on them by the
same moral law which obliges individuals to
observe their compacts. There are circum
stances, however, which sometimes excuse the
non-performance of contracts between man
and man; so are there also between nation
and nation. When performance, for instance,
becomes impossible, non-performance is not
immoral. So if performance becomes self-
destructive to the party, the law of self-pres
ervation overrules the laws of obligation in
others. For the reality of these principles I
appeal to the true fountains of evidence, the
head and heart of every rational and honest
man. It is there nature has written her moral
laws, and where every man may read them
for himself. He will never read there the
permission to annul his obligations for a time,
or forever, whenever they become "danger
ous, useless, or disagreeable ", certainly not
when merely useless or disagreeable, as seems
to be said in an authority which has been
quoted,* Vattel. 2. 197, and though he may,
under certain degrees of danger, yet the
danger must be imminent, and the degree
great. Of these, it ' > true, that nations are to
be judges for themselves; since no nation has
a right to sit in judgment over another. But
the tribunal of our consciences remains, and
that also of the opinion of the world. These
will revise the sentence we pass in our own
case, and as we respect these, we must see
that in judging ourselves we have honestly
done the part of impartial and rigorous
judges. — OPINION ON FRENCH TREATIES, vii,
613. FORD ED., vi, 220. (i793-)
8527. — — . It is not the possibility
of danger which absolves a party from his
contract, for that possibility always exists,
and in every case. * * * If possibilities
would void contracts, there never could be a
valid contract, for possibilities hang over
everything. Obligation is not suspended till
the danger is become real, and the moment of
it so imminent, that we can no longer avoid
decision without forever losing the oppor
tunity to do it. — OPINION ON FRENCH TREAT
IES, vii, 614. FORD ED., vi, 222. (I793-)
8528. — . I deny that the most ex
plicit declaration made at this moment, that
we acknowledge the obligation of the
[French] treaties, could take from us the
right of non-compliance at any future time,
when compliance would involve us in great
and inevitable danger. — OPINION ON FRENCH
TREATIES. vii, 617. FORD ED., vi, 224.
(I793-)
8529. . The doctrine of Grotius,
Puffendorf and Wolf is that " treaties remain
obligatory, notwithstanding any change in the
form of government, except in the single case,
where the preservation of that form was the
object of the treaty ". There, the treaty ex-
* By Alexander Hamilton.— EDITOR.
tinguishes, not by the election or declaration
of the party remaining in statu quo, but in
dependently of that, by the evanishment of the
object. Vattel lays down, in fact, the same
doctrine, that treaties continue obligatory,
notwithstanding a change of government by
the will of the other party; that to oppose
that will would be a wrong; and that the
ally remains an ally, notwithstanding the
change. So far he concurs with all the pre
vious writers:— but he then adds what they
had not said, nor would say, — " but if this
change renders the alliance useless, dangerous
or disagreeable to it, it is free to renounce
it". (Vattel. 2. 197.) It was unnecessary for
him to have specified the exception of danger
in this particular case, because that exception
exists in all cases, and its extent has been
considered; but when he adds that, because
a contract is become merely useless or dis
agreeable we are free to renounce it, — he is
in opposition to Grotius, Puffendorf and
Wolf, who admit no such license against the
obligation of treaties, and he is in opposition
to the morality of every honest man, to whom
we may safely appeal to decide whether he
feels himself free to renounce a contract the
moment it becomes merely useless or dis
agreeable to him. — OPINION ON FRENCH
TREATIES. vii, 619. FORD ED., vi, 227.
(1793.)
8530. TREATIES, Construction of. —
Where the missionary of one government
construes differently from that to which he
is sent, the treaties and laws which are to
form a common rule of action for both, it
would be unjust in either to claim an exclu
sive right of construction. Each nation has
an equal right to expound the meaning of
their common rule; and reason and usage
have established, in such cases, a convenient
and well-understood train of proceeding. It
is the right and duty of the foreign missionary
to urge his own constructions, to support them
with reasons, which may convince, and in
terms of decency and respect which may
reconcile the government of the country to a
concurrence. It is the duty of that govern
ment to listen to his reasonings with atten
tion and candor, and to yield to them when
just. But if it shall still appear to them that
reason and right are on their side, it follows
of necessity, that exercising the sovereign
powers of the country, they have a right to
proceed on their own constructions and con
clusions as to whatever is to be done within
their limits. The minister then refers the
case to his own government, asks new in
structions, and, in the meantime, acquiesces
in the authority of the country. His govern
ment examines his constructions, abandons
them if wrong, insists on them if right, and
the case then becomes a matter of negotiation
between the two nations. — To GOUVERNEUR
MORRIS, iv, 44. FORD ED., vi, 388. (Aug.
I793-)
8531. TREATIES, Embarrassing. — It is
against our system to embarrass ourselves
Treaties
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
876
with treaties, or to entangle ourselves at all
with the affairs of Europe.— To PHILIP MAZ-
ZEI. iv, 553- (W., July 1804.)
8532. . Our system is to have
no treaties with any nation, as far as can be
avoided. The treaty with England has, there
fore, not been renewed, and all overtures for
treaty with other nations have been declined.
We believe, that with nations as with individ
uals, dealings may be carried on as advan
tageously, perhaps more so, while their con
tinuance depends on a voluntary good treat
ment, as if fixed by a contract, which, when
it becomes injurious to either, is made, by
forced constructions, to mean what suits
them, and becomes a cause of war instead of
a bond of peace. — To PHILIP MAZZEI. iv,
552. (W., 1804.)
8533. . We are infinitely better
off without treaties of commerce with any na
tion. — To PRESIDENT MADISON, vi, 453. FORD
ED., ix, 513. (M., March 1815.)
8534. TREATIES, Infractions of.— On
the breach of any article of a treaty by the
one party, the other has its election to declare
it dissolved in all its articles, or to compen
sate itself by withholding execution of equiv
alent articles ; or to waive notice of the breach
altogether. — To GEORGE HAMMOND, iii, 391.
FORD ED., vi, 33. (1792.)
8535. . When one party breaks
any stipulation of a treaty, the other is free
to break it also, either in the whole, or in
equivalent parts at its pleasure. — To GEORGE
HAMMOND, iii, 424. FORD ED., vi, 64. (1792.)
8536. . If, in withholding a
compliance with any part of the treaties, we
do it without just cause or compensation, we
give to France a cause of war, and so become
associated in it on the other side. — OPINION
ON FRENCH TREATIES, vii, 618. FORD ED., vi,
225. (I793-)
8537. TREATIES, Laws of the land.—
Treaties are legislative acts. A treaty is a
law of the land. It differs from other laws
only as it must have the consent of a foreign
nation, being but a contract with respect to
that nation. In all countries, I believe,
except England, treaties are made by the
legislative power; and there, also, if they
touch the laws of the land, they must be ap
proved by Parliament. * * * An act of
Parliament was necessary to validate the
American treaty of 1783. — PARLIAMENTARY
MANUAL, ix, 80.
8538. TREATIES, Nations and.— I con
sider the people who constitute a society or
nation as the source of all authority in that
nation ; as free to transact their common con
cerns by any agents they think proper; to
change these agents individually, or the or
ganization of them in form or function when
ever they please; that all the acts done by
those age'nts under the authority of the nation,
are the acts of the nation, are obligatory on
them and enure to their use, and can in no
wise be annulled or affected by any change
in the form of the government, or of the
persons administering it. — OPINION ON
FRENCH TREATIES, vii, 612. FORD ED., vi, 220.
(April 1793.)
8539. . The treaties between the
United States and France were not treaties
between the United States and Louis Capet,
but between the two nations of America and
France ; and the nations remaining in ex
istence, though both of them have since
changed their forms of government, the treat
ies are not annulled by these changes. — OPIN
ION ON FRENCH TREATIES, vii, 613. FORD ED.,
vi, 220. (April 1793.)
8540. TREATIES, Opposition to Euro
pean. — I am not for linking ourselves by new
treaties with the quarrels of Europe ; entering
that field of slaughter to preserve their bal
ance, or joining in the confederacy of kings
to war against the principles of liberty. — To
ELBRIDGE GERRY, iv, 268. FORD ED., vii, 328.
(Pa., 1799.)
8541. . We wish to let every
treaty we have drop off without renewal.
* The interest which European nations
feel, as well as ourselves, in the mutual pat
ronage of commercial intercourse, is a suf
ficient stimulus on both sides to ensure that
patronage. A treaty, contrary to that interest,
renders war necessary to get rid of it. — To
WILLIAM SHORT, iv, 415. FORD ED., viii, 98.
(W., 1801.)
8542. TREATIES, Power to make.— The
States of America before their present Union
possessed completely, each within its own
limits, the exclusive right to * * * [make
treaties and] by their act of Union, they have
as completely ceded [it] to the General Gov
ernment. Art. 2d. Section ist. " The Presi
dent shall have power, by and with the ad
vice and consent of the Senate, to make treat
ies, provided two-thirds of the Senators pres
ent concur." Section loth, " No State shall
enter into any treaty, alliance, or confeder
ation. No State shall, without the consent
of Congress, * * * enter into any agree
ment of compact with another State, or with
a foreign power * * * ." These para
graphs of the Constitution, declaring that the
General Government shall have, and that the
particular ones shall not have, the right of
* * * treaty, are so explicit that no com
mentary can explain them further, nor can
any explain them away. — OPINION ON GEOR
GIAN LAND GRANTS, vii, 468. FORD ED., v,
166. (1790.)
8543. . Consulted verbally by the
President [Washington] on whom a com
mittee of the Senate are to wait * * * to
know whether he will think k proper to re
deem our Algerine captives, and make a
treaty with the Algerines, on the single vote
of the Senate, without taking that of the Rep
resentatives. * * The subsequent ap
probation of the Senate being necessary to
validate a treaty, they expect to be consulted
beforehand, if the case admits. So the sub
sequent act of the Representatives being nee-
877
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Treaties
essary where money is given, why should not
they expect to be consulted in like manner,
when the case admits? A treaty is a law of
the land. But prudence will point out this
difference to be attended to in making them ;
viz., where a treaty contains such articles only
as will go into execution of themselves, or
be carried into execution by the judges, they
may be safely made; but where there are
articles which require a law to be passed
afterwards by the legislature, great caution is
requisite. Therefore [I am] against hazar
ding this transaction without the sanction of
both houses. The President concurred. — THE
ANAS, ix, 106. FORD ED., i, 183. (March
1792.)
8544. . The subsequent appro
bation of the Senate being necessary to vali
date a treaty, [the Senate] expect to be con
sulted beforehand, if the case admits. So
the subsequent act of the Representatives be
ing necessary where money is given, why
should not they expect to be consulted in
like manner, when the case admits? A treaty
is a law of the land. But prudence will point
out this difference to be attended to in ma
king them ; viz., where a treaty contains such
articles only as will go into execution of
themselves, or be carried into execution by
the judges, they may be safely made; but
where there are articles which require a law
to be passed afterwards by the Legislature,
great caution is requisite. For example, the
consular convention with France required a
very small legislative regulation. This con
vention was unanimously ratified by the Sen
ate. Yet the same identical men threw by
the law to enforce it at the last session, and
the Representatives at this session have
placed it among the laws which they may
take up or not, at their own convenience, as if
that was a higher motive than the public
faith. I am, therefore, against hazarding
this transaction without the sanction of both
Houses.* — THE ANAS, ix, 106. FORD ED., i,
184. (March 1792.)
8545. — — . President Washington
wished to redeem our captives at Algiers and
to make peace with them on paying an an
nual tribute. The Senate were willing to ap
prove this, but unwilling to have the lower
house applied to previously to furnish the
money ; they wished the President to take the
money from the treasury, or open a loan for
it. They thought that to consult the Rep
resentatives on one occasion would give them
a handle always to claim it, and would let
them into a participation of the power of
making treaties, which the Constitution had
given exclusively to the President and Sen
ate. They said, too, that if the particular
sum was voted by the Representatives, it
would not be a secret. The President had
no confidence in the secrecy of the Senate,
and did not choose to take money from the
treasury or to borrow. But he agreed he
* The transaction was the making a treaty with the
Algerines, and providing for the redemption of the
Algerine prisoners, which involved the raising of a
loan.— EDITOR.
would enter into the provisional treaties with
the Algerines, not to be binding on us till
ratified here. I prepared questions for con
sultation with the Senate, and added, that the
Senate were to be apprized, that on the return
of the provisional treaty, and after they
should advise the ratification, he would not
have the seal put to it till the two Houses
should vote the money. He asked me, if the
treaty stipulating a sum and ratified by him,
with the advice of the Senate, would not be
good under the Constitution, and obligatory
on the Representatives to furnish the money?
I answered it certainly would, and that it
wouM be the duty of the Representatives to
raise the money; but that they might decline
to do what was their duty, and I thought it
might be incautious to commit himself by a
ratification with a foreign nation, where he
might be left in the lurch in the execution ; it
was possible, too, to conceive a treaty, which
it would not be their duty to provide for. He
said he did not like throwing too much into
democratic hands, that if they would not do
what the Constitution called them to do, the
government would be at an end, and must
then assume another form. — THE ANAS, ix,
114. FORD ED., i, 190. (April 1792.)
8546. - _. I had observed, that
wherever the agency of either or both Houses
would be requisite subsequent to a treaty, to
carry it into effect, it would be prudent to
consult them previously, if the occasion ad
mitted: that thus it was, we were in the
habit of consulting the Senate previously,
when the occasion permitted, because their
subsequent ratification would be necessary ;
that there was the same reason for consult
ing the lower House previously, where they
were to be called on afterwards, and especially
in a case of money, as they held the purse
strings, and would be jealous of them. — THE
ANAS, ix, 115. FORD ED., i, 191. (April
1792.)
8547. _ _. [Alexander] Hamilton
laid down this position* with great positive-
ness : That the Constitution having given
power to the President and Senate to make
treaties, they might make a treaty of neu
trality which should take from Congress the
right to declare war in that particular case,
and that under the form of a treaty they
might exercise any powers whatever, even
those exclusively given by the Constitution
to the House of Representatives. Randolph
opposed this position, and seemed to think
that where they undertook to do acts by
treaty (as to settle a tariff of duties), which
were exclusively given to the Legislature,
that an act of the Legislature would be neces
sary to confirm them, as happens in England,
when a treaty interferes with duties established
by law. I insisted that in giving to the Presi
dent and Senate a power to make treaties,
the Constitution meant only to authorize them
to carry into effect, by way of treaty, any
powers they might constitutionally exercise.
I was sensible of the weak points in this po-
* At a Cabinet meeting to consider the Neutrality
Proclamation.— EDITOR.
Treaties
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
878
sition, but there were still weaker in the
other hypothesis ; and if it be impossible to
discover a rational measure of authority to
have been given by this clause, I would rather
suppose that the cases which my hypothesis
would leave unprovided, were not thought of
by the convention, or if thought of, could
not be agreed on, or were thought on and
deemed unnecessary to be invested in the
government. Of this last description, were
treaties of neutrality, treaties offensive and
defensive, &c. In every event, I would rather
construe so narrowly as to oblige the nation
to amend, and thus declare what powers they
would agree to yield, than too broadly, and
indeed, so broadly as to enable the Execu
tive and Senate to do things which the Consti
tution forbids. — THE ANAS, ix, 181. FORD
ED., i, 268. (Nov. 1793.)
8548. . According to the rule
established by usage and common sense, of
construing one part of the instrument by
another, the objects on which the President
and Senate may exclusively act by treaty are
much reduced, but the field on which they
may act with the sanction of the Legislature,
is large enough; and I see no harm in render
ing their sanction necessary, and not much
harm in annihilating the whole treaty-making
power, except as to making peace. — To JAMES
MADISON, iv, 135. FORD ED., vii, 69. (M.,
March 1796.)
8549. . If you [House of Rep
resentatives] decide in favor of your right to
refuse cooperation in any case of treaty, I
should wonder on what occasion it is to be
used, if not on one where the rights, the in
terests, the honor and faith of our nation are
so grossly sacrificed; where a faction has
entered into a conspiracy with the enemies
of their country to chain down the Legisla
ture at the feet of both; where the whole
mass of your constituents have condemned
this work in the most unequivocal manner,
and are looking to you as their last hope to
save them from the effects of the avarice
and corruption of the first agent, the revolu
tionary machinations of others, and the in
comprehensible acquiescence of the only
honest man who has assented to it. I wish
that his honesty and his political errors may
not furnish a second occasion to exclaim,
" curse on his virtues, they have undone his
country". — To JAMES MADISON. iv, 135.
FORD ED., vii, 69. (M., March 1796.)
8550. . I was glad to hear it
admitted on all hands in discussion [in the
Senate], that laws of the United States, sub
sequent to a treaty, control its operation, and
that the Legislature is the only power which
can control a treaty. Both points are sound
beyond doubt.— To JAMES MADISON, iv, 244.
FORD EDV vii, 261. (Pa., May 1798.)
8551. . . . To what subject the
treaty-making power extends, has not been
defined in detail by the Constitution; nor are
we entirely agreed among ourselves. I. It is
admitted that it must concern the foreign na
tion, party to the contract, or it would be a
mere nullity res inter alia acta. 2. By the
general power to make treaties, the Constitu
tion must have intended to comprehend only
those objects which are usuallv regulated by
treaty, and cannot be otherwise regulated. 3.
It must have meant to except out of these the
rights reserved to the States; for surely the
President and Senate cannot do by treaty
what the whole government is interdicted
from doing in any way. 4. And also to ex
cept those subjects of legislation in which it
gave a participation to the House of Repre
sentatives. This last exception is denied by
some, on the ground that it would leave very
little matter for the treaty power to work on.
The less the better say others. The Consti
tution thought it wise to restrain the Execu
tive and Senate from entangling and em
broiling our affairs with those of Europe.
Besides, as the negotiations are carried on
by the Executive alone, the subjecting to the
ratification of the Representatives such ar
ticles as are within their participation, is no
more inconvenient than to i-e Senate. But
the ground of this exemption is denied as
unfounded. For examine, e. g., the treaty
of commerce with France, and it will be
found that out of thirty-one articles, there
are not more than small portions of two or
three of them which would not still remain
as subjects of treaties, untouched by these
exceptions. — PARLIAMENTARY MANUAL, ix,
80.
8552. . The property and sov
ereignty of all Louisiana * * * have on
certain conditions been transferred to the
United States by instruments bearing date
the 30th of April last. When these shall
have received the constitutional sanction of
the Senate, they will without delay be com
municated to the Representatives also, for the
exercises of their functions., as to those con
ditions which are within the powers vested
by the Constitution in Congress. — THIRD AN
NUAL MESSAGE, viii, 24. FORD ED., viii, 268.
(Oct. 1803.)
8553. — - — . Whatever of the enu
merated objects is proper to be executed by
way of a treaty, the President and Senate
may enter into the treaty. — To WILSON C.
NICHOLAS, iv, 506. FORD ED., viii, 248. (M.,
1803.)
8554. . A writer in the National
Intelligencer of Feb. 24, 1816, who signs him
self " B.", is endeavoring to .helter under the
cloak of General Washington, the present
enterprise of the Senate to wrest from the
House of Representatives the power, given
them by the Constitution, of participating
with the Senate in the establishment and
continuance of laws on specified subjects.
Their aim is, by associating an Indian
chief, or foreign government, in form of a
treaty, to possess themselves of the power of
repealing laws become obnoxious to them,
without the assent of the third branch, al
though that assent was necessarv to make it
a law. We are then to depend for the secure
879
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Treaties
possession of our laws, not on our immediate
representatives chosen by ourselves, and
amenable to ourselves every other year, but
on Senators chosen by the Legislatures,
amenable to them only, and that but at in
tervals of six years, which is nearly the com
mon estimate for a term for life. But no
act of that sainted worthy, no thought of
General Washington, ever countenanced a
change of our Constitution so vital as would
be the rendering insignificant the popular, and
giving to the aristocratical branch of our gov
ernment, the power of depriving us of our
laws. The case for which General Washing
ton is quoted is that of his treaty with the
Creeks, wherein was a stipulation that their
supplies of goods should continue to be im
ported duty free. * * * General Washing
ton's stipulation in that treaty was nothing
more than that our laws should not levy
duties where we have no right to levy them,
that is, in foreign ports, or foreign countries.
* * * The same writer quotes from a note in
Marshall's History, an opinion of Mr. Jef
ferson, given to General Washington on the
same occasion of the Creek treaty. Two or
three little lines only of that opinion are given
us, which do indeed express the doctrine in
broad and general terms. Yet we know how
often a few words withdrawn from their place
may seem to bear a general meaning, when
their context would show that their meaning
must have been limited to the subject with re
spect to which they were used. If we could
see the whole opinion, it might probably ap
pear that its foundation was the peculiar cir
cumstances of the Creek nation. We may say,
too, on this opinion, as on that of a judge
whose positions beyond the limits of the case
before him are considered as obiter sayings,
never to be relied on as authority. In July
'90, moreover, the Government was but just
getting under way. The duty law was not
passed until the succeeding month of August.
This question of the effect of a treaty was
then of the first impression ; and none of us,
I suppose, will pretend that on our first read
ing of the Constitution we saw at once all
its intentions, all the bearings of every word
of it, as fully and as correctly as we have
since understood them, after they have be
come subjects of public investigation and dis
cussion ; and I well remember the fact that,
although Mr. Jefferson had retired from of
fice before Mr. Jay's mission, and the ques
tion on the British treaty, yet during its dis
cussion we were well assured of his entire
concurrence in opinion with Mr. Madison and
others who maintained the rights of the
House of Representatives, so that, if on a
prima facie view of the question, his opinion
had been too general, on stricter investigation,
and more mature consideration, his ultimate
opinion was with those who thought that the
subjects which were confided to the House of
Representatives in conjunction with the Pres
ident and Senate, were exceptions to the gen
eral treaty power given to the President and
Senate alone (according to the general rule
that an instrument is to be so construed as to
reconcile and give meaning and effect to all
its parts) ; that whenever a treaty stipulation
interferes with a law of the three branches,
the consent of the third branch is necessary
to give it effect; and that there is to this but
the single exception of the question of war
and peace. There the Constitution expressly
requires the concurrence of the three branches
to commit us to the state of war, but permits
two of them, the President and Senate, to
change it to that of peace, for reasons as ob
vious as they are wise. I think, then, I may
affirm in contradiction to B., that the present
attempt of the Senate is not sanctioned by the
opinion either of General Washington or of
Mr. Jefferson. — JEFFERSON MSS. vi, «7.
(March 1816.)
8555. — . When the British treaty
of 18 — arrived, without any provision against
the impressment of our seamen, I determined
not to ratify it. The Senate thought I should
ask their advice. I thought that would be a
mockery of them, when I was predetermined
against following it, should they advise its
ratification. The Constitution had made
their advice necessary to confirm a treaty, but
not to reject it. This has been blamed by
some ; but I have never doubted its sound
ness. — To SPENCER ROANE. vii, 135. FORD
ED., x, 142. (P.F., 1819.)'
8556. TREATIES, Preliminary.— I con
sider a preliminary treaty as establishing cer
tain heads of agreement, and a truce till these
and others can be definitely arranged ; as sus
pending acts of hostility, and as not changing
the legal character of the enemy into that of a
friend. — To ALEXANDER HAMILTON. FORD
ED., vi, 10. (Pa., 1792.)
8557. TREATIES, Ratification of.— It
has been the usage of the Executive, when
it communicates a treaty to the Senate for
their ratification, to communicate also the cor
respondence of the negotiations. This, hav
ing been omitted in the case of the Prussian
treaty, was asked by a vote of the House of
February 12, 1800, and was obtained. And
in December, 1800, the Convention of that
year, between the United States and France,
with the report of the negotiations by the en
voys, but not their instructions, being laid
before the Senate, the instructions were asked
for, and communicated by the President. —
PARLIAMENTARY MANUAL, ix, 81.
8558. TREATIES, Regulation of com
merce by. — Treaties are very imperfect ma
chines for regulating commerce in detail. —
To M. DE MEUNIER. ix, 287. FORD ED., iv,
142. (P., 1786.)
8559. . It is desirable, in many
instances, to exchange mutual advantages by
legislative acts rather than by treaty ; because
the former, though understood to be in con
sideration of each other, and therefore greatly
respected, yet when they become too incon
venient, can be dropped at the will of either
party ; whereas stipulations by treaty are for
ever irrevocable btit by joint consent let a
Treaties
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
880
change of circumstances render them ever so
bothersome. — REPORT ON TONNAGE LAW.
FORD ED., v, 273. (1791.)
8560. TREATIES, Repeal of.— A treaty
made by the President, with the concurrence
of two-thirds of the Senate, is a law of the
land, and a law of superior order, because it
not only repeals past laws, but cannot itself
be repealed by future ones.*— OFFICIAL OPIN
ION, vii, 505. FORD ED., v, 216. (1790-)
8561. TREATIES, Rescinding.— Treaties
being declared, equally with the laws of the
United States, to be the supreme law of the
land, it is understood that an act of the Leg- .
islature alone can declare them infringed and
rescinded. This was accordingly the proc
ess adopted in the case of France, 1798. —
PARLIAMENTARY MANUAL, ix, 81.
8562. TREATIES, Self -liberation from.
—Reason which gives * * * [the] right
of self-liberation from a contract in certain
cases, has subjected it to certain just limita
tions, i. The danger which absolves us must
be great, inevitable and imminent.
2. A second limitation on our right of releas
ing ourselves is that we are to do it from so
much of the treaties only as is bringing great
and inevitable danger on us, and not from the
residue, allowing the other party a right at
the same time, to determine whether on our
non-compliance with that part, they will de
clare the whole void. This right they would
have, but we should not. * * : 3- A third
limitation is that when a party, from necessity
or danger, withholds compliance with that
part of a treaty, it is bound to make compen
sation where the nature of the case admits
and does not dispense with it.f — OPINION ON
FRENCH TREATIES, vii, 614. FORD ED., vi, 221.
(I793-)
8563. TREATIES, Short.— Your obser
vations on the expediency of making short
treaties are most sound. Our situation is too
changing and too improving, to render an un
changeable treaty expedient for us.— To E.
RUTLEDGE. iii, 165. FORD ED., v, 196. (N.Y.,
1790.)
8564. TREATIES OF COMMERCE,
British.— In February, 1786, Mr. Adams
wrote to me [at Paris], pressingly to join him
* Jeff erson, at a later period, modified this opinion
in the following note : * Unless with the consent or
default of the other contracting party. It may well
be doubted, too, and perhaps denied, that the treaty
power can control a law. The question here proposed
was then of the first impression. Subsequent inves
tigations have proved that the contrary position is
the more general truth."— EDITOR,
t The question under consideration, when this
opinion was given, was " whether the United States
had the right to renounce their treaties with France,
or to hold them suspended till the government of that
country shall be established". Alexander Hamilton
took the ground that as France was a monarchy
when the United States entered into an alliance with
it, and had since declared itself to be a republic, which
might issue in a military despotism and thereby ren
der the alliance "dangerous ", to the United States,
we had the right either to renounce the treaty or to
declare it suspended until a settled government had
been formed. Jefferson opposed this view, main
taining that the danger to be apprehended was not
sufficient in sound morality to justify the United
States in declaring the treaty null.— EDITOR.
in London immediately, as he thought he dis
covered there some symptoms of better dispo
sition towards us. Colonel [William Stephens]
Smith, his Secretary of Legation, was the bearer
of his urgencies for my immediate attendance.
I, accordingly, left Paris on the ist of March
and, on my arrival in London, we agreed on a
very summary form of treaty, proposing an
exchange of citizenship for our citizens, our
sh'ps, and our productions generally, except as
to office. — AUTOBIOGRAPHY, i, 63. FORD ED., i.
88. (1821.)
8565. . On my presentation as
usual to the King and Queen, at their levees, it
was impossible for anything to be more un
gracious than their notice of Mr. Adams and
myself. I saw at once that the ulcerations in
the narrow mind of that mulish being left noth
ing to be expected on the subject of my attend
ance ; and on the first conference with the
Marquis of Carmarthen, his Minister of For
eign Affairs, the distance and disinclination
which he betrayed in his conversation, the
vagueness and evasions of his answers to us,
confirmed me in the belief of their aversion to
have anything to do with us. We delivered
him, however, our projct. Mr. Adams not de
spairing as much as I did of its effect. We after
wards, by one or more notes, requested his ap
pointment of an interview and conference,
which, without directly declining, he evaded
by pretences of other pressing occupations for
the moment. After staying there seven weeks,
till within a few days of the expirat:on of our
commission, I informed the minister by note
that my duties at Paris required my return to
that place, and that I should with pleasure be
the bearer of any commands to his Ambassador
there. He answered that he had none, and
wishing me a pleasant journey, I left London
the 26th, and arrived at Paris the 3oth of April.
— AUTOBIOGRAPHY, i, 64. FORD ED. i, 89.
(1821.)
8566. . There is no doubt what
the determination [of the British Court with
respect to a treaty] will be; but it will be use
ful to have it ; as it may put an end to all
further expectations on our side the water, and
show that the time is come for doing whatever
is to be done by us for counteracting the unjust
and greedy designs of this country [England].
— To JOHN JAY. i, 539. FORD EDV iv, 200.
(L., March 1786.)
8567. . I am quite at a loss
what you will do with England. To leave her
in possession of our posts, seems inadmissible;
and yet to take them, brings on a state of things
for which we seem not to be in readiness. Per
haps a total suppression of her trade, or an ex
clusion of her vessels from the carriage of our
produce, may have some effect ; but I believe
not very great. Their passions are too deeply
and too universally engaged in opposition to
us. The ministry have found means to per
suade the nation that they are richer than they
were while we participated of their commercial
privileges. We should try to turn our trade
into other channels. I am in hopes this coun
try [France] will endeavor to give it more en
couragement. — To ELBRIDGE GERRY. i, 557.
(P., 1786.)
8568. . I am sorry the British
are sending a minister to attempt a treaty.
They never made an equal commercial treaty
with any nation, and we have no right to ex
pect to be the first. It will place you between
the injunctions of true patriotism and the clam
ors of a faction devoted to a foreign interest,
88i
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Treaties
in preference to that of their own country. It
will confirm the English, too, in their practice
of whipping us into a treaty. They did it in
Jay's case, were near doing it in Monroe's, and
on failure of that, have applied the scourge
with tenfold vigor, and now come on to try its
effect. But it is the moment when we should
prove our consistency, by recurring to the
principles we dictated to Monroe, the departure
from which occasioned our rejection of his
treaty, and by protesting against Jay's treaty
being ever quoted or looked at, or even men
tioned. That form will forever be a mill-stone
round our necks unless we now rid ourselves
of it once for all. The occasion is highly favor
able, as we never can have them more in or/
power. — To PRESIDENT MADISON, v, 443. (Mv
April 1809.)
— TREATIES OF COMMERCE, Confed
eration and. — See CONFEDERATION.
8569. TREATIES OF COMMERCE,
Efforts to negotiate. — Without urging, we
[Franklin, Adams and Jefferson] sounded the
ministers of the several European nations at
the Court of Versailles, on their dispositions
towards mutual commerce, and the expediency
of encouraging it by the protection of a treaty.
Old Frederick of Prussia met us cordially and
without hesitation, and appointing the Baron de
Thulemeyer, his Minister at The Hague, to
negotiate with us, we communicated to him our
projet, which, with little alteration by the King,
was soon concluded. Denmark and Tuscany
entered also into negotiations with us. Other
powers appearing indifferent we did not think
it proper to press them. * * * The negotiations,
therefore, begun with Denmark and Tuscany
we protracted designedly until our powers had
expired ; and abstained from making new prop
ositions to others having no colonies ; because
our commerce being an exchange of raw for
wrought materials, is a competent price for ad
mission into the colonies of those possessing
them : but were we to give it, without price, to
others, all would claim it without price on the
ordinary ground of gentis amicissimce. — AUTO
BIOGRAPHY, i, 62. FORD ED., i, 87. (1821.)
8570. - — . The European powers
seemed in fact to know little about us but as
rebels, who had been successful in throwing off
the yoke of the mother country. They were
ignorant of our commerce, which had been al
ways monopolized by England, and of the ex
change of articles it might offer advantageously
to both parties. They were inclined, therefore,
to stand aloof until they could see better what
relations might be usefully instituted with us. —
AUTOBIOGRAPHY, i, 62. FORD ED., i, 88. (1821.}
8571. . On the conclusion of
peace [with Great Britain], Congress, sensible
of their right to assume independence, would
not condescend to ask its acknowledgment from
other nations, yet were willing, by some of the
ordinary international transactions, to receive
what would imply that acknowledgment. They
appointed commissioners, therefore, to propose
treaties of commerce to the principal nations of
Europe. I was then a member of Congress,
was of the committee appointed to prepare in
structions for the commissioners, was, as you
suppose, the draughtsman of those actually
agreed to, and was joined with your father and
Dr. Franklin, to carry them into execution.
But the stipulations making part of these in
structions, which respected privateering, block
ades, contraband, and freedom of the fisheries,
were not original conceptions of mine. They
had before been suggested by Dr. Franklin, in
some of his papers in possession of the public,
and had, I think, been recommended in some
letter of his to Congress. I happen only to
have been the inserter of them in the first public
act which gave the formal sanction of a public
authority. We accordingly proposed our treat
ies, containing these stipulations, to the prin
cipal governments of Europe. But we were
then just emerged from a subordinate condi
tion ; the nations had as yet known nothing of
us, and had not yet reflected on the relations
which it might be their interest to establish with
us. Most of them, therefore, listened to our
propositions with coyness and reserve ; old Fred
erick [the Great] alone closing with us without
hesitation. The negotiator of Portugal, indeed,
signed a treaty with us, which his government
did not ratify, and Tuscany was near a final
agreement. Becoming sensible, however, our
selves, that we should do nothing with the
greater powers, we thought it better not to
hamper our country with engagements to those
of less significance, and suffered our powers to
expire without closing any other negotiations.
Austria soon after became desirous of a treaty
with us, and her ambassador pressed it often on
me ; but our commerce with her being no object,
I evaded her repeated invitations. Had these
governments been then apprized of the sta
tion we should so soon occupy among nations,
all, I believe, would have met us promptly and
with frankness. These principles would then
have been established with all, and from being
the conventional law with us alone, would have
slid into their engagements with one another,
and become general.
These are the facts within my recollection.
They have not yet got into written history ; but
their adoption by our southern brethren will
bring them into observance, and make them,
what they should be, a part of the law of the
world, and of the reformation of principles for
which they will be indebted to us. — To JOHN
QUINCY ADAMS, vii, 436. FORD ED., x, 383.
(M., March 1826.)
8572. TREATIES OF COMMERCE,
Favored nation principle. — I know of no
investigation, at the instance of any nation, of
the extent of the clause giving the rights of the
most favored nation but from the import of the
words themselves, and from the clause that a
privilege granted to any other nation shall im
mediately become common, freely where freely
granted, or yielding the compensation where a
compensation is given, I have no doubt that if
any one nation will admit our goods free in con
sideration of our doing the same by them, no
other nation can claim an exception from duties
in pur ports without yielding us the same in
theirs. — To JAMES MONROE. FORD ED., iv, 19.
(P., Dec. 1784.)
8573. . When the first article of
our instructions of May 7th, 1784, was under
debate in Congress, it was proposed that neither
party should make the other pay, in their ports,
greater duties, than they paid n the ports of
the other. One objection to this was its imprac
ticability ; another, that it would put it out of
our powei to lay such duties on alien importa
tion as might encourage importation by natives.
Some members, much attached to English pol
icy, thought such a distinction should actually
be established. Some thought the power to do
it should be reserved, in case any peculiar cir
cumstances should call for it, though under the
present, or, perhaps, any probable circumstances,
they did not think it would be good policy ever
to exercise it. The footing gentis amicissimce
Treaties
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
882
was, therefore, adopted, as you see in the in
struction. As far as my enquiries enable me to
judge, France and Holland make no distinction
of duties between aliens and natives. I also
rather believe that the other States of Europe
make none, England excepted, to whom this
policy, as that of her navigation act, seems pe
culiar. The question then is, should we dis
arm ourselves of the power to make this distinc
tion aga;nst all nations, in order to purchase
an exception from the alien duties in England
only ; for if we put her importations on the
footing of native, all other nations with whom
we treat will have a right to claim the same.
I think we should, because against other na
tions, who make no distinction in their ports
between us and their own subjects, we ought
not to make a distinction in ours. And if the
English will agree, in like manner, to make
none, we should, with equal reason, abandon
the right as against them. I think all the world
would gain, by setting commerce at perfect lib
erty. I remember this proposition to put for
eigners and natives on the same footing was
considered ; and we were all three, Dr. Franklin
as well as you and myself, in favor of it. We
finally, however, did not admit it, partly from
the objection you mention, but more still on ac
count of our instructions. But though the
English proclamation had appeared in America
at the time of framing these instructions, 1
think its effect, as to alien duties, had not yet
been experienced, and therefore was not at
tended to. If it had been noted in the debate,
I am sure that the annihilation of our whole
trade would have been thought too great a
price to pay for the reservation of a barren
power, which a majority of the members did not
propose ever to exercise, though they were will
ing to retain it. Stipulating for equal rights for
foreigners and natives, we obtain more in for
eign ports than our instruct' ons required, and
we only part with, in our own ports, a power
of which sound policy would probably forever
forbid the exercise. Add to this, that our treaty
will be for a very short term, and if any evil
be experienced under it, a reformation will soon
be in our power. I am, therefore, for putting
this among our original propositions to the
court of London. If it should prove an insuper
able obstacle with them, or if it should stand
in the way of a greater advantage, we can but
abandon it in the course of the negotiation.—
To JOHN ADAMS, i, 370. FORD ED., iv, 79. (P.,
July 1785.)
8574. . Though treaties, which
merely exchange the rights of the most favored
nations, are not without all inconvenience, yet
they have their conveniences also. It is an im
portant one that they leave each party free to
make what internal regulations they please, and
to give what preferences they find expedient to
native merchants, vessels, and productions. —
MISSISSIPPI RIVER INSTRUCTIONS, vii, 587.
FORD ED., v. 477- (1792.)
8575. . It will probably be urged,
because it was urged on a former occasion, that,
if Spain grants* to us the right of navigating the
Mississippi, other nations will become entitled
to it by virtue of treaties giving them the rights
to the most favored nation. * * * When those
treaties were made, no nations could be under
* This extract is from Jefferson's Instructions to
the Commissioners with respect to the navigation of
the Mississippi river. It should not be inferred from
the use of the word "grants" that Jefferson admitted
the Spanish pretension to the control of the lower
part of the river. He maintained, on the contrary,
that we had an inherent right and also treaty rights
to the navigation. — EDITOR.
contemplation but those then existing, or those,
at most, who might exist under similar cir
cumstances. America did not then exist as a
nation ; and the circumstances of her position
and commerce, are so totally dissimilar to every
thing then known, that the treaties of that day
were not adapted to any such being. They
would better fit even China than America; be'-
cause, as a manufacturing nation, China resem
bles Europe more. When we solicited France
to admit our whale oils into her ports, though
she had excluded all foreign whale oils, her
Minister made the objection now under con
sideration, and the foregoing answer was given.
It was found to be solid; and whale oils of
the United States are in consequence admitted,
though those of Portugal and the Hanse towns,
and of all other nations, are excluded. Again,
when France and England were negotiating
their ^ late treaty of commerce, the great dis
similitude of our commerce (which furnishes
raw materials to employ the industry of others,
in exchange for articles whereon industry has
been exhausted) from the commerce of the
European nations (which furnishes things ready
wrought only) was suggested to the attention
of both negotiators, and that they should keep
their nations free to make particular arrange
ments with ours, by communicating to each
other only the rights of the most favored Euro-
pean^ nation. Each was separately sensible of
the importance of the distinction ; and as soon
as it was proposed by the one, it was acceded to
by the other, and the word European was in
serted in their treaty. It may fairly be con
sidered, then, as the rational and received in
terpretation of the diplomatic term, " gentis
amicissima " , that it has not in view a nation,
unknown in many cases at the time of using
the term, and so dissimilar in all cases, as to
furnish no ground of just reclamation to any
other nation. — MISSISSIPPI RIVER INSTRUC
TIONS, vii, 583. FORD ED., v, 473. (1792.)
8576. TREATIES OP COMMERCE,
Instructions respecting.— Whereas, instruc
tions bearing date the 2Qth day of October,
1783, were sent to the Ministers Plenipotentiary
of the United States of America at the Court
of Versailles, empowered to negotiate a peace,
or to any one or more of them, for concerting
drafts or propositions for treaties of amity and
commerce with the commercial powers of
Europe: Resolved, That it will be advanta
geous to these United States to conclude such
treaties with Russia, the Court of Vienna, Prus
sia, Denmark, Saxony, Hamburg, Great Britain,
Spain, Portugal, Genoa, Tuscany, Rome, Naples,
Venice, Sardinia, and the Ottoman Porte. Re
solved, That in the formation of these treaties
the following points be carefully stipulated :
i st. That each party shall have a right to carry
their own produce, manufactures, and merchan
dise in their own bottoms to the ports of the
other, and thence the produce and merchandise
of the other, paying, in both cases, such duties
only as are paid by the most favored nation,
freely, where it is freely granted to such nation,
or paying the compensation .where such nation
does the same. 2. That with the nations hold
ing territorial possessions in America, a direct
and similar intercourse be admitted between
the United States and such possessions ; or if
this cannot be obtained, then a direct and sim
ilar intercourse between the United States and
certain free ports within such possessions ; that
if this neither can be obtained, permission be
stipulated to bring from such possessions, in
their own bottoms, the produce and merchan
dise thereof to their States directly; and for
these States to carry in their own bottoms their
883
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Treaties
produce and merchandise to such possessions
directly. 3. That these United States be con
sidered in all such treaties, and in every case
arising under them, as one nation, upon the
principles of the Federal constitution. 4. That
it be proposed, though not indispensably re
quired, that if war should hereafter arise be
tween the two contracting parties, the mer
chants of either country, then residing in the
other, shall be allowed to remain nine months
to collect their debts and settle their affairs,
and may depart freely, carrying off all their ef
fects, without molestation or hinderance, and
all fishermen, all cultivators of the earth, and
all artisans or manufacturers, unarmed and in
habiting unfortified towns, villages or places,
who labor for the common subsistence and bene
fit of mankind, and peaceably following their
respective employments, shall be allowed to
continue the same, and shall not be molested by
the armed force of the enemy, in whose power,
by the events of war, they may happen to fall ;
but if anything is necessary to be taken from
them, for the use of such armed force, the same
shall be paid for at a reasonable price; and
all merchants and traders, exchanging the prod
ucts of different places, and thereby rendering
the necessaries, conveniences, and comforts of
human life more easy to obtain and more gen
eral, shall be allowed to pass free and unmo
lested ; and neither of the contracting powers
shall grant or issue any commission to any pri
vate armed vessels empowering them to take
or destroy such trading ships, or interrupt such
commerce. 5. And in case either of the con
tracting parties shall happen to be engaged in
war with any other nation, it be further agreed,
in order to prevent all the difficulties and mis
understandings that usually arise respecting the
merchandise heretofore called contraband, such
as arms, ammunition and military stores of all
kinds, that no such articles, carrying by the
ships or subjects of one of the parties to the
enemies of the other, shall, on any account, be
deemed contraband, so as to induce confiscation,
and a loss of property to individuals. Never
theless, it shall be lawful to stop such ships and
detain them for such length of time as the
captors may think necessary, to prevent the in
convenience or damage that might ensue, from
their proceeding on their voyage, paying, how
ever, a reasonable compensation for the loss
such arms shall occasion to the proprietors ; and
it shall be further allowed to use in the service
of the captors, the whole or any part of the mili
tary stores so detained, paying the owners the
full value of the same, to be ascertained by the
current price at the place of its destination.
But if the other contracting party will not con
sent to discontinue the confiscation of contra
band goods, then that it be stipulated, that if
the master of the vessel stopped, will deliver
out the goods charged to be contraband, he shall
be admitted to do it, and the vessel shall not
in that case be carried into any port ; but shall
be allowed to proceed on her voyage. 6. That
in the same case, when either of the contracting
parties shall happen to be engaged in war with
any other power, all goods, not contraband, be
longing to the subjects of that other power,
and shipped in the bottoms of the party hereto,
who is not engaged in the war, shall be entirely
free. And that to ascertain what shall consti
tute the blockade of any place or port, it shall
be understood to be in such predicament, when
the assailing power shall have taken such a sta
tion as to expose to imminent danger any ship
or ships, that would attempt to sail in or out of
the said port ; and that no vessel of the party,
who is not engaged in the said war, shall be
stopped without a material and well grounded
cause; and in such cases justice shall be done,
and an indemnification given, without loss of
time to the persons aggrieved, and thus stopped
without sufficient cause. 7. That no right be
stipulated for aliens to hold real property within
these States, this being utterly inadmissible by
their several laws and policy ; but when on the
death of any person holding real estate within
the territories of one of the contracting parties,
such real estate would by their laws descend
on a subject or citizen of the other, were he not
disqualified by alienage, then he shall be allowed
reasonable time to dispose of the same, and
withdraw the proceeds without molestation.
8. That such treaties be made for a term not
exceeding ten years from the exchange of rat
ification. 9. That these instructions be con
sidered as supplementary to those of October
29th, 1783; and not as revoking, except when
they contradict them. That where in treaty
with a particular nation they can procure par
ticular advantages, to the specification of which
we have been unable to descend, our object in
these instructions having been to form outlines
only and general principles of treaty with many
nations, it is our expectation they will procure
them, though not pointed out in these instruc
tions ; and where they may be able to form
treaties on principles which, in their judgment,
will be more beneficial to the United States
than those herein directed to be made their
basis, they are permitted to adopt such prin
ciples. That as to the duration of treaties,
though we have proposed to restrain them to
the term of ten years, yet they are at liberty
to extend the same as far as fifteen years with
any nation which may pertinaciously insist
thereon. And that it will be agreeable to us to
have supplementary treaties with France, the
United Netherlands and Sweden, which may
bring the treaties we have entered into with
them as nearly as may be to the principles of
those now directed ; but that this be not pressed,
if the proposal should be found disagreeable.
Resolved, That treaties of amity, or of amity
and commerce, be entered into with Morocco,
and the Regencies of Algiers, Tunis and Tripoli,
to continue for the same term of ten years, or
for a term as much longer as can be procured.
That our Ministers, to be commissioned for
treating with foreign nations, make known to
the Emperor of Morocco the great satisfaction
which Congress feel from the amicable disposi
tion he has shown towards these States, and
his readiness to enter into alliance with them.
That the occupations of the war, and distance
of our situation have prevented our meeting
his friendship so early as we wished. But
the powers are now delegated to them for en
tering into treaty with him, in the execution
of which they are ready to proceed, and that
as to the expenses of his Minister, they do
therein what is for the honor and interest of the
United States. Resolved, That a commission be
issued to Mr. J, Adams, Mr. B. Franklin, and
Mr. T. Jefferson, giving powers to them, or
the greater part of them, to make and receive
propositions for such treaties of amity and com
merce, and to negotiate and sign the same,
transmitting them to Congress for their final
ratification ; and that such commission be in
force for a term not exceeding two years. —
TREATY INSTRUCTIONS OF CONGRESS, ix, 226.
FORD ED., iii, 489. (May 7, 1784.)
8577. TREATIES OF COMMERCE,
Objects of. — My wish to enter treaties with
the other powers of Europe arises more from
a desire of bringing all our commerce under the
jurisdiction of Congress, than from any other
views. Because, according to my idea, the
Treaties
Treaty
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
884
commerce of the United States with those coun
tries, not under treaty with us, is under the
jurisdiction of each State separately ; but that
of the countries, which have treated with us, is
under the jurisdiction of Congress with the two
fundamental restraints only which I have before
noted. — To JOHN ADAMS, i, 360. (P., 1785.)
8578. TREATIES OF COMMERCE,
Portugal. — Considering the treaty with Por
tugal among the most interesting to the United
States, I some time ago took occasion * * * to
ask of the Portuguese Ambassador if he had yet
received from his Court an answer to our letter.
He told me he had not ; but that he would
make it the subject of another letter. Two days
ago, his Secretaire d'Ambassade called on me
with a letter from his Minister to the Ambas
sador. * * * By this [extract from the letter],
it would seem that this power is more disposed
to pursue a track of negotiation similar to that
which Spain has done. I consider this answer
as definitive of all further measures under our
commission to Portugal.— To JOHN JAY. i, 458.
(P., 1785.)
_ TREATY, Jay.— See JAY TREATY.
8579. TREATY (British peace), Ratifi
cation of. — The definitive treaty of peace
which had been signed at Paris on the 3rd of
September, 1783, and received here, could not
be ratified without a House of nine States. On
the 23d of December, therefore, we [the Con
gress sitting at Annapolis] addressed letters to
the several Governors, stating the receipt of the
definitive treaty ; that seven States only were in
attendance, while nine were necessary to its
ratification ; and urging them to press on their
delegates the necessity of their immediate at
tendance. And on the 26th, to save time, I
moved that the Agent of Marine (Robert Mor
ris) should be instructed to have ready a ves
sel at this place, at New York, and at some
Eastern port, to carry over the ratification of
the treaty when agreed to. It met the general
sense of the House, but was opposed by Dr.
[Arthur] Lee, on the ground of expense, which
it would authorize the Agent to incur for us ;
and, he said, it would be better to ratify at
once, and send on the ratification. Some mem
bers had before suggested that seven States
were competent to the ratification. My motion
was therefore postponed, and another brought
forward by Mr. Read, of South Carolina, for
an immediate ratification. This was debated the
26th and 27th. [Jacob] Read [of South Caro
lina], Lee, [Hugh] Williamson and Jeremiah
Chase, urged that the ratification was a mere
matter of form, that the treaty was conclusive
from the moment it was signed by the min
isters ; that, although the Confederation re
quires the assent of nine States to enter into a
treaty, yet, that its conclusion could not be
called entrance into it; that supposing nine
States requisite, it would be in the power of
five States to keep us always at war ; that nine
States had virtually authorized the ratification,
having ratified the provisional treaty, and in
structed their ministers to agree to a definitive
one in the same terms, and the present one was.
in fact, substantially, and almost verbatim, the
same ; that there now remain but sixty-seven
days for the ratification, for its passage across
the Atlantic, and its exchange ; that there was
no hope of our soon having nine States present ;
in fact, that this was the ultimate point of time
to which we could venture to wait ; that if the
ratification was not in Paris by the time stip
ulated, the treaty would become void ; that if
ratified by seven States, it would go under our
seal, without its being known to Great Britain
that only seven had concurred ; that it was a
question of which they had no right to take
cognizance, and we were only answerable for it
to our constituents ; that it was like the ratifica
tion which Great Britain had received from the
Dutch, by the negotiations of Sir William Tem
ple. On the contrary, it was argued by Monroe,
Gerry, Howel, Ellery and myself, that by the
modern usage of Europe, the ratification was
considered as the act which gave validity to a
treaty, until which, it was not obligatory. *
That the commission to the ministers reserved
the ratification to Congress ; that the treaty
itself stipulated that it should be ratified ; that
it became a second question, who were com
petent to the ratification? That the confedera
tion expressly required nine States to enter into
any treaty ; that, by this, that instrument must
have intended, that the assent of nine States
should be necessary, as well to the completion
as to the commencement of the treaty, its ob
ject having been to guard the rights of the
Union in all those important cases where nine
States are called for ; that, by the contrary con
struction, seven States, containing less than
one-third of our whole citizens, might rivet
on us a treaty, commenced indeed under com
mission and instructions from nine States, but
formed by the minister in express contradic
tion to such instructions, and in direct sacrifice
of the interests of so great a majority; that the
definitive treaty was admitted not to be a verbal
copy of the provisional one, and whether the
departures from it were of substance or not,
was a question on which nine States alone were
competent to decide ; that the circumstances of
the ratification of the provisional articles by
nine States, the instructions of our ministers to
form a definitive one by them, and their actual
agreement in substance., do not render us com
petent to ratify in the present instance ; if these
circumstances are in themselves a ratification,
nothing further is requisite than to give attested
copies of them in exchange for the British rat
ification ; if they are not, we remain where we
were, without a ratification by nine States, and
incompetent ourselves to ratify ; that it was but
four days since the seven States, now present,
unanimously concurred in a resolution, to be
forwarded to the Governors of the absent States,
in which they stated as a cause for urging on
their delegates, that nine States were necessary
to ratify the treaty ; that in the case of the Dutch
ratification, Great Britain had courted it, and
therefore was glad to accept it as it was ; that
they knew our Constitution, and would object
to a ratification by seven ; that, if that circum
stance was kept back, it would be known here
after, and would give them ground to deny the
validity of a ratification into which they should
have been surprised and cheated, and it would
be a dishonorable prostitution of our seal ; that
there is a hope of nine States ; that if the treaty
would become null, if not ratified in time, it
would not be saved by an imperfect ratification ;
but that, in fact, it would not be null, and
would be placed on better ground, going in un
exceptional form, though a few days too late,
and rested on the small importance of this cir
cumstance, and the physical impossibilities
which had prevented a punctual compliance in
point of time : that this would be approved by
all nations, and by Great Britain herself, if not
determined to renew the war, and if so deter
mined, she would never want excuses, were this
out of the way. Mr. Read gave notice, he
should call for the yeas and nays ; whereon
* Vattel L. 2 § 156. L. 4, § 77. i. Mably Droi
D'Europe, 86.— NOTE BY JEFFERSON.
885
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Treaty
those in opposition, prepared a resolution, ex~
pressing pointedly the reasons of their dissent
from his motion. It appearing, however, that
his proposition could not be carried, it was
thought better to make no entry at all. Massa
chusetts alone would have been for it ; Rhode
Island, Pennsylvania and Virginia against it,
Delaware, Maryland and North Carolina would
have been divided. * * * Those who thought
seven States competent to the ratification, being
very restless under the loss of their motion,
I proposed on the 3rd of January, to meet them
on middle ground, and therefore moved a res
olution, which premised that there were but
seven States present, who were unanimous for
the ratification, but that they differed in opin
ion on the question of competency ; that those,
however, in the negative were unwilling that
any powers which it might be supposed they
possessed, should remain unexercised for the
restoration of peace, provided it could be done,
saving their good faith, and without importing
any opinion of Congress, that seven States were
competent, and resolving that the treaty be
rat'fied so far as they had power ; that it should
be transmitted to our ministers, with instruc
tions to keep it uncommunicated ; to endeavor
to obtain three months longer for exchange of
ratifications ; that they should be informed that
so soon as nine States shall be present, a rat
ification by nine shall be sent them: if this
should get to them before the ultimate point of
time for exchange, they were to use it, and not
the other; if not, they were to offer the act of
the seven States in exchange, informing them
the treaty had come to hand while Congress
was not in session ; that but seven States were
as yet assembled, and these had unanimously
concurred in the ratification. This was debated
on the 3rd and 4th * ; and on the $th, a vessel
being to sail for England, from Annapolis, the
House directed the President to write to our
ministers accordingly. January 14. Delegates
from Connecticut having attended yesterday,
and another from South Carolina coming in this
day, the treaty was ratified without a dissent
ing voice ; and three instruments of ratification
were ordered to be made out, one of which was
sent by Colonel Harmer, another by Colonel
Franks, and the third transmitted to the Agent
of Marine, to be forwarded by any good oppor
tunity. — AUTOBIOGRAPHY, i, 55. FORD ED., i, 77.
(1821.)
8580. TREATY (British peace), Viola
tions of. — In the 7th article [of the treaty of
peace], it was stipulated, that his Britannic
majesty should withdraw his armies, garrisons,
and fleets, without carrying away any negroes,
or other property of the American inhabitants.
This stipulation was known to the British com
manding officers, before the igth of March.,
1783, as provisionally agreed; and on the 5th
of April they received official notice from their
court of the conclusion and ratification of the
preliminary articles between France, Spain, and
Great Britain, which gave activity to ours, as
appears by the letter of Sir Guy Carleton to
General Washington, dated April 6, 1783. From
this time, then, surely no negroes could be
carried away without a violation of the treaty.
Yet we find that so early as May 6, a large num
ber of them had already been embarked for
Nova Scotia, of which, as contrary to an express
stipulation in the treaty, General Washington
declared to him his sense and his surprise. In
the letter of Sir Guy Carleton of May 12, he ad
mits the fact ; palliates it by saying he had no
* A note in the FORD EDITION says Jan. 4th was a
Sunday, and that Congress was not in session.— ED
ITOR.
right " to deprive the negroes of that liberty he
found them possessed of ; that it was unfriendly
to suppose that the King's minister could stip
ulate to be guilty of a notorious breach of the
public faith towards the negroes ; and that, if it
was his intention, it must be adjusted by com
pensation, restoration being utterly impractica
ble, where inseparable from a breach of public
faith ". But surely, Sir, an officer of the King
is not to question the validity of the King's
engagements, nor violate his solemn treaties,
on his own scruples about the public faith.
Under this pretext, however, General Carleton
went on in daily infractions, embarking, from
time to time, between his notice of the treaty
and the sth of April, and the evacuation of
New York, November 25, 3,000 negroes, of
whom our commissioners had inspection, and a
very large number more, in public and private
vessels, of whom they were not permitted to
have inspection. Here, then, was a direct, un
equivocal, and ayov/ed violation of this part of
the 7th article, in the first moments of its be
ing known ; an article which had been of ex
treme solicitude on our part ; on the fulfilment
of which depended the means of paying debts,
in proportion to the number of laborers with
drawn ; and when in the very act of violation
we warn, and put the commanding officer on his
guard, he says directly he will go through with
the act, and leave it to his court to adjust it by
compensation. — To GEORGE HAMMOND, iii, 387.
FORD ED., vi, 30. (Pa., May 1792.)
8581 . By the 7th article [of
the treaty of peace], his Britannic majesty
stipulates that he will, with all convenient
speed, withdraw his garrisons from every post
within the United States. " When no precise
term ", says a writer on the Law of Nations
(Vattel, L. 4. c. 26), "has been marked for
the accomplishment of a treaty, and for the
execution of each of its articles, good sense
determines that every point should be executed
as soon as possible. This is, without doubt,
what was understood. The term in the treaty,
with all convenient speed, amounts to the same
thing, and clearly excludes all unnecessary de
lay. The general pacification being signed on
the 2Oth of January, some time would be requi
site for the orders for evacuation to come over
to America, for the removal of stores, property
and persons, and finally for the act of evacua
tion. The larger the post, the longer the time
(necessary to remove all its contents ; the
smaller, the sooner done. Hence, though Gen
eral Carleton received his orders to evacuate
New York in the month of April, the evacuation
was not completed till late in November. It
had been the principal place of arms and stores ;
the seat, as it were, of their general govern
ment, and the asylum of those who had fled
to them. A great quantity of shipping was
necessary, therefore, for the removal, and the
General was obliged to call for a part from
foreign countries. These causes of delay were
duly respected on our part. But the posts of
Michillimackinac, Detroit, Niagara, Oswego,
Oswegatchie, Point-au-Fer, Dutchman's Point,
were not of this magnitude. The orders for
evacuation, which reached General Carleton, in
New York, early in April, might have gone, in
one month more, to the most remote of these
posts. Some of them might have been evacu
ated in a few days after, and the largest in a
few weeks. Certainly they might all have been
delivered, without any inconvenient speed in
the operations, by the end of May, from the
known facility furnished by the lakes, and the
water connecting them ; or by crossing immedi
ately over into their own territory, and avail-
Treaty
Tripoli
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
886
ing themselves of the season for making new
establishments there, if that was intended. Or
whatever time might, in event, have been neces
sary for their evacuation, certainly the order for
it should have been given from England, and
might have been given as early as that from
New York. Was any order ever given? Would
not an unnecessary delay of the order, produ
cing an equal delay in the evacuation, be an in
fraction of the treaty? Let us investigate this
matter *. * * * Now is it not fair to conclude,
if the order was not arrived on the i3th of
August, 1783, if it was not arrived on the loth
of May, 1784, nor yet on the isth of July, in the
same year, that, in truth, the order had never
been given ? and if it had never been given, may
we not conclude that it never had been in
tended to be given? From what moment is it
we are to date this infraction? From that, at
which, with convenient speed, the order to
evacuate the upper posts might have been given.
No legitimate reason can be assigned, why that
order might not have been given as early, and
at the same time, as the order to evacuate New
York ; and all delay, after this, was in contra
vention of the treaty. — To GEORGE HAMMOND.
iii, 388. FORD ED., vi, 31. (Pa., 1792.)
8582. . Was this delay merely
innocent and unimportant as to us, setting aside
all considerations but of interest and safety?
i. It cut us off from the fur-trade, which before
the war had been always of great importance as
a branch of commerce, and as a source of remit
tance for the payment of pur debts to Great
Britain ; for the injury of withholding our posts,
they added the obstruction of all passage along
the lakes and their communications. 2. It se
cluded us from connection with the Northwest
ern Indians, from all apportunity of keeping up
with them friendly and neighborly intercourse^
brought on us consequently, from their known
dispositions, constant and expensive war, in
which numbers of men, women, and children,
have been, and still are, daily falling victims
to the scalping knife, and to which there will be
no period, but in our possession of the posts
which command their country. — To GEORGE
HAMMOND, iii, 391. FORD ED., vi, 33. (Pa.,
1792.)
8583. . It may safely be said
that the treaty was violated in England before
it was known in America, and in America, as
soon as it was known, and that, too, in points
so essential, as that, without them, it would
never have been concluded. — To GEORGE HAM
MOND, iii, 391. FORD ED., vi, 33. (Pa., 1792.)
8584. TREES, Birds and.— What would
I not give that the trees planted nearest round
the house at Monticello were full-grown ! — To
MARTHA JEFFERSON RANDOLPH. D. L. J. 222.
(Pa., 1793.) See MOCKING BIRD.
8585. TREES, Cork.— I have been long
endeavoring to procure the cork tree from
Europe but without success. A plant which I
brought with me from Paris died after languish
ing some time. — To JAMES RONALDSON. vi, 92.
FORD ED., ix, 370. (M., 1813.)
8586. TREES, Fig and mulberry.— The
culture of the fig and mulberry is by women and
children, and therefore earnestly to be desired
in countries where there are slaves. In these,
the women and children are often employed in
labors disproportioned to their sex and age.
* Jefferson here quotes the official replies of the
British officers commanding different posts to the
request for their surrender that they had not re
ceived the evacuation order.— EDITOR.
By presenting to the master objects of culture,
easier and equally beneficial, all temptation to
misemploy them would be removed, and the lot
of this tender part of our species be much
softened. — To WILLIAM DRAYTON. ii, 199. (P.,
1787.)
8587. TREES, Peach. — I thank you for
your experiment on the peach tree. It proves
my speculation practicable, as it shows that five
acres of peach trees at twenty-one feet apart
will furnish dead wood enough to supply a fire
place through the winter, and may be kept up at
the trouble of only planting about seventy peach
stones a year. Suppose this extended to ten
fire-places, it comes to fifty acres of ground,
five thousand trees, and the replacing about
seven hundred of them annually by planting so
many stones. If it be disposed at some little dis
tance, say in a circular annulus from one hun
dred to three hundred yards from the house,
it would render a cart almost useless. — To T.
M. RANDOLPH. FORD ED., v, 416. (Pa., 1792.)
_ TRIAL BY JURY.— See JURY.
8588. TRIBUTE, War and.— We prefer
war in all cases to tr'bute under any form, and
to any people whatever. — To THOMAS BARCLAY.
iii, 262. (Pa., 1791.)
8589. TRIPOLI, European powers and.
—There is reason to believe the example we
have set, begins already to work on the disposi
tions of the powers of Europe to emanci
pate themselves from that degrading yoke.
Should we produce such a revolution there, we
shall be amply rewarded for all that we have
done. — To JUDGE TYLER, iv, 574. (M., March
1805.)
8590. TRIPOLI, Expedition against.— I
have never been so mortified as at the conduct
of our foreign functionaries on the loss of the
Philadelphia. They appear to have supposed
that we were all lost now, and without re
source ; and they have hawked us in forma pau-
peris begging alms at every court in Europe.
This self-degradation is the more unpardonable
as, uninstructed and unauthorized, they have
taken measures which commit us by moral
obligations which cannot be disavowed. The
most serious of these is with the First Consul of
France, the Emperor of Russia and Grand
Seigneur. The interposition of the two first
has been so prompt, so cordial, so energetic,
that it is impossible for us to decline the good
offices they have done us. From the virtuous
and warm-hearted character of the Emperor,
and the energy he is using with the Ottoman
Porte, I am really apprehensive that our squad
ron will, on its arrival, find our prisoners all
restored. If this should be the case, it would
be ungrateful and insulting to these three great
powers, to chastise the friend (Tripoli) whom
they had induced to do us voluntary justice.
Our expedition will in that case be disarmed,
and our just desires of vengeance disappointed,
and our honor prostrated. To anticipate these
measures, and to strike our blow before they
shall have had their effect, are additional and
cogent motives for getting off our squadron
without a moment's avoidable delay. — To ROB
ERT SMITH. FORD ED., viii, 301. (M., April
1804.)
8591. . Five fine frigates have
left the Chesapeake * * * for Tripoli, which,
in addition to the force now there, will, I trust,
recover the credit which Commodore Morris's
two years' sleep lost us, and for which he has
been broke. I think they will make Tripoli
88;
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Tripoli
Truth
sensible, that they mistake their interest in
choosing war with us ; and Tunis also, should
she have declared war as we expect, and almost
wish. — To PHILIP MAZZEI. iv, 553. (W., July
1804.)
8592. TRIPOLI, Grounds for war. — The
war with Tripoli stands on two grounds of fact,
i st. It is made known to us by our agents with
the three other Barbary States, that they only
wait to see the event of this, to shape their con
duct accordingly. If the war is ended by addi
tional tribute, they mean to offer us the same al
ternative. 2dly. If peace was made, we should
still, and shall ever, be obliged to keep a frigate
in the Mediterranean to overawe rupture, or
we must abandon that market. Our intention in
sending Morris with a respectable force, was
to try whether peace could be forced by a coer
cive enterprise on their town. His inexecution
of orders baffled that effort. Having broke him,
we try the same experiment under a better com
mander. If, in the course of the summer, they
cannot produce peace, we shall recall our force,
except one frigate and two small vessels, which
will keep up a perpetual blockade. Such a
blockade will cost us no more than a state of
peace, and will save us from increased tributes,
and the disgrace attached to them. — To JUDGE
TYLER, iv, 574. (M., March 1805.)
8593. TRIPOLI, War with.— Tripoli
* * * had come forward with demands un
founded either in right or in compact, and hsd
permitted itself to denounce war, on our failure
to comply before a given day. The style of the
demand admitted but one answer. I sent a
small squadron of frigates into the Mediter
ranean with assurances to that power of our
sincere desire to remain in peace, but with or
ders to protect our commerce against the threat
ened attack. The measure was seasonable and
salutary. The Bey had already declared war
in form. His cruisers were out. Two had ar
rived at Gibraltar. Our commerce in the Med
iterranean was blockaded, and that of the At
lantic in peril. The arrival of our squadron
dispelled the danger. One of the Tripolitan
cruisers * * engaged the small schooner En
terprise, commanded by Lieutenant Sterret,
* * * was captured after a heavy slaughter of
her men, without the loss of a single one on our
part. * * * Unauthorized by the Constitution,
without the sanction of Congress, to go beyond
the line of defence, the vessel being disabled
from committing further hostilities, was lib
erated with its crew. — FIRST ANNUAL MESSAGE.
viii, 7. FORD ED., viii, 116. (Dec. 1801.)
8594. TROUBLE, Borrowing.— Are there
so few inquietudes tacked to this momentary
life of ours, that we must need be loading our
selves with a thousand more? — To JOHN PAGE.
i, 183. FORD ED., i, 343. (F., 1762.)
8595. TRUMBTJLL (John), Artist.—
Our countryman Trumbull is here [Paris], a
young painter of the most promising talents.
He brought with him his Battle of Bunker Hill
and Death of Montgomery to have them en
graved here, and we may add, to have them sold;
for like Dr. Ramsey's history, they are too true
to suit the English palate. — To F. HOPKINSON.
FORD ED., iv, 272. (P., 1786.) See CORNWALLIS.
8596. TRUST, Public.— When a man as
sumes a public trust, he should consider him
self as public property. — To BARON VON HUM-
BOLDT. RAYNER, BOSTON EDITION, 356. (W.,
1807.)
8597. TRUTH, Error vs.— Truth is the
proper and sufficient antagonist to error, and
has nothing to fear from the conflict, unless
by human interposition disarmed of her nat
ural weapons, free argument and debate;
errors ceasing to be dangerous when it is per
mitted freely to contradict them. — STATUTE
OF RELIGIOUS FREEDOM. FORD ED., ii, 239.
(I779-)
8598. . Truth being as cheap as
error, it is as well to rectify it for our own
satisfaction. — To JOHN ADAMS, vii, 309.
FORD ED., x, 272. (M., 1823.)
8599. TRUTH, Eternal.— Truth and rea
son are eternal. They have prevailed. And
they will eternally prevail, however, in times
and places they may be overborne for a while
by violence — military, civil, or ecclesiastical. —
To REV. MR. KNOX. v, 503. (M., 1810 )
8600. TRUTH, Falsehood and.— The
firmness with which the people have with
stood the late abuses of the press, the discern
ment they have manifested between truth
and falsehood, show that they may safely be
trusted to hear everything true and false,
and to form a correct judgment between
them. — To JUDGE TYLER. iv, 549. (W.,
1804.)
8601. TRUTH, Following.— Here [the
University of Virginia] we are not afraid to
follow truth wherever it may lead, nor to tol
erate any error so long as reason is left free
to combat it. — To MR. ROSCOE. vii, 196.
(M., 1820.)
8602. TRUTH, Greatness of.— Truth is
great and will prevail if left to herself. — STAT
UTE OF RELIGIOUS FREEDOM, viii, 455. FORD
ED., ii, 239- (1779.)
8603. TRUTH, Harmless.— Truth be
tween candid minds can never do harm. — To
JOHN ADAMS. iii, 270. FORD ED., v, 354.
(Pa., 1791.)
8604. TRUTH, Importance of.— It is of
great importance to set a resolution, not to
be shaken, never to tell an untruth. There
is no vice so mean, so pitiful, so contemptible ;
and he who permits himself to tell a lie once,
finds it much easier to do it a second and a
third time, till at length it becomes habitual ;
he tells lies without attending to it, and truths
without the world's believing him. This
falsehood of the tongue leads to that of the
heart, and in time depraves all its good dis
positions. — To PETER CARR. i, 396. (P.,
1785-)
8605. TRUTH, Lies and.— The man who
fears no truths has nothing to fear from lies.
— To DR. GEORGE LOGAN. FORD ED., x. 27.
(M., 1816.)
8606. TRUTH, Newspapers and.— The
restraining the press to truth, as the present
laws do, is the only way of making it useful.
—To WILLIAM SHORT, v, 362. (M., 1808.)
8607. TRUTH, Only safe guide.— In all
cases, follow truth as the only safe guide, and
Truth
Turkey
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
888
eschew error, which bewilders us in one false
consequence after another, in endless succes
sion. — To JOHN "ADAMS, vii, 149. FORD ED.,
x, 153- (M., 1819.)
8608. TRUTH, Primary object.— Truth
is the first object.— To DR. MAESE. v, 413.
(W., 1809.)
8609. TRUTH, Propagation of. — Nor
was it less uninteresting to the world, that an
experiment should be fairly and fully made,
whether freedom of discussion, unaided by
power, is not sufficient for the propagation
and protection of truth. — SECOND INAUGURAL
ADDRESS, viii, 43. FORD ED., viii, 346. (1805.)
8610. TRUTH, Reason and. — No experi
ment can be more interesting than that we
are now trying, and which we trust will end
in establishing the fact, that man may be gov
erned by reason and truth. Our first object
should therefore be, to leave open to him all
the avenues to truth. The most effectual
hitherto found, is the freedom of the press.
It is, therefore, the first shut up by those who
fear the investigation of their actions. — To
JUDGE TYLER, iv, 548. (W., 1804.)
8611. TRUTH, Refreshing.— We, who
are retired from the business of the world,
are glad to catch a glimpse of truth, here and
there as we can, to guide our path through the
boundless field of fable in which we are be
wildered by public prints, and even by those
calling themselves histories. A word of truth
to us is like the drop of water supplicated
from the tip of Lazarus's finger. It is as
an observation of latitude and longitude to
the mariner long enveloped in clouds, for cor
recting the ship's way.— To JOHN QUINCY
ADAMS, vii, 87. (M., 1817.)
8612. TRUTH, Self-evident.— We hold
these truths to be self-evident: that all men
are created equal ; that they are endowed by
their Creator with inherent* and inalienable
rights ; that among these, are life, liberty, and
the pursuit of happiness. — DECLARATION OF
INDEPENDENCE AS DRAWN BY JEFFERSON.
8613. TRUTH, Self-reliant.— It is error
alone which needs the support of government.
Truth can stand by itself. — NOTES ON VIR
GINIA, viii, 401. FORD ED., iii, 264. (1782.)
8614. TRUTH, Strength of.— Truth will
do well enough if left to shift for herself.
She seldom has received much aid from the
power of great men to whom she is rarely
known and seldom welcome. She has no
need of force to procure entrance into the
minds of men.— NOTES ON RELIGION. FORD
ED., ii, 102. (1776?)
8615. TRUTH, Suppression of. — Truths
necessary for our own character, must not be
suppressed out of tenderness to its calumnia
tors. — To PRESIDENT MADISON, vi, 452. FORD
ED., ix, 512. (M., 1815.)
8616. TRUTH, Unf eared.— There is not
a truth on earth which I fear or would dis-
* Congress struck out ''inherent and" and in
serted u certain ". — EDITOR.
guise. — To WILLIAM DUANE. iv, 591. FORD
ED., viii, 431. (W., 1806.)
8617. . There is not a truth on
earth which I fear should be known. — To
THOMAS SEYMOUR, v, 43. FORD ED., ix, 30.
(W., 1807.)
8618. . I feel no falsehood and
fear no truth. — To ISAAC HILLARD. v, 551.
(M., 1810.)
8619. . There is not a truth ex
isting which I fear, or would wish unknown
to the whole world. — To HENRY LEE. vii, 448.
FORD ED., x, 389. (M., May 15, 1826.)
8620. TRUXTUN (Thomas), Medal for.
— I have considered the letter of the director
of the mint stating the ease with which the er
rors of Commodore Truxtun's medal may be
corrected on the medal itself and the unprac-
ticability of doing it on the die. * * * A second
law would be required to make a second die
or medal. * * * It certainly may be as well or
better done by the graver, and with more del
icate traits. I remember it was the opinion of
Doctor Franklin that where only one or a few
medals were to be made it was better to have
them engraved. The medal being corrected, the
die becomes immaterial, that has never been
delivered to the party, the medal itself being the
only thing voted to him. I say this on certain
grounds, because I think this and Treble's are
the only medals given by the United States
which have not been made under my immediate
direction. The dies of all those given by the
old Congress, and made at Paris, remain to this
day deposited with our bankers at Paris. That
of General Lee, made in Philadelphia, was re
tained in the mint. — To JACOB CROWNINSHIELU.
v, 300. (1808.)
8621. TUBE (M. A. de la), Imprison
ment. — De la Tude comes sometimes to take
family soup with me, and entertains me with
anecdotes of his five and thirty years' imprison
ment. How fertile is the mind of man,, which
can make The Bastile and dungeon of Vincennes
yield interesting anecdotes ! You know this
[imprisonment] was for making four verses on
Madame du Pompadour. * — To MRS. COSWAY.
ii, 42. FORD ED., iv, 322. (P., 1786.)
8622. TURKEY, Decline of army.— The
Turks have lost their warlike spirit, and their
troops cannot be induced to adopt the European
arms. — To JAMES MONROE, i, 358. FORD ED., iv.
65. (P., 1785.)
8623. TURKEY, Greeks and.— It has
been thought that the two imperial courts
[Austria and Russia] have a plan of expelling
the Turks from Europe. It is really a pity so
charming a country should remain in the hands
of a people, whose religion forbids the admis
sion of science and the arts among them. We
should wish success to the object of the two
empires, if they meant to leave the country in
possession of the Greek inhabitants. We might-
then expect, once more, to see the language of
Homer and Demosthenes a living language. For
I am persuaded the modern Greek would easily
get back to its classical models. But this is not
intended. They only propose to put the Greeks
under other masters ; to substitute one set of
barbarians for another. — To DR. STILES, i, 365.
(P., 1785.)
* Jefferson gives the verses as follows: "Sans
esprit, sans sentiment, " Sans etre belle, ni neuve,
"En France on peut avoir le premier amant
lt Pompadour en est 1'epreuve ".—EDITOR.
889
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Turkey
Tyranny
8624. TURKEY, Humanity and. — A
lover of humanity would wish to see that charm
ing country from which the Turks exclude sci
ence and freedom, in any hands rather than
theirs, and in those of the native Greeks rather
than any others. The recovery of their ancient
language would not be desperate, could they
recover their ancient liberty. But those who
wish to remove the Turks, wish to put them
selves in their places. This would be exchang
ing one set of barbarians for another only. — To
RICHARD HENRY LEE. FORD ED., iv, 72. (P.,
1785.)
8625. TURKEY, Russia, Austria and.
—It is believed that the Emperor [of Aus
tria] and the Empress [of Russia] have schemes
in contemplation for driving the Turks out of
Europe. Were this with a view to reestablish
the native Greeks in the sovereignty of their
own country, I could wish them success, and to
see driven from that delightful country a set
of barbarians with whom an opposition to all
science is an article of religion. * * * But these
powers have in object to divide the country be
tween themselves. This is only to substitute
one set of barbarians for another, breaking, at
the same time, the balance among the European
powers. — To JOHN PAGE, i, 400. (P., 1785.)
8626. TURKEY, Terra incognita.— I
cannot think but that it would be desirable to
all commercial nations to have Turkey and all
its dependencies driven from the seacoast into
the interior parts of Asia and Africa. What a
field would thus be restored to commerce ! The
finest parts of the old world are now dead in
a great degree to commerce, to arts, to sciences,
and to society. Greece, Syria, Egypt, and the
northern coast of Africa, constituted the whole
world almost for the Romans, and to us they
are scarcely known, scarcely accessible at all. —
To JOHN BROWN, ii, 396. FORD ED., v, 18.
(P., 1788.) See CONSTANTINOPLE.
8627. TYLER (John), Judge.— Judge
John Tyler is an able and well read lawyer,
about 59 years of age. He was popular as a
judge, and is remarkably so as a governor, for
his incorruptible integrity, which no circum
stances have ever been able to turn from its
course. It w;ll be difficult to find a character
of firmness enough to preserve his independence
on the same bench with Marshall. Tyler, I am
certain, would do it, * * * and be a coun
terpoint to the rancorous hatred which Marshall
bears to the government of his country, and
* * * the cunning and sophistry within which
he is able to enshroud himself. — To PRESIDENT
MADISON. FORD ED., ix, 275. (1810.)
8628. TYLER (John), Patriot.— The
concurrence of a veteran patriot, who from the
first dawn of the Revolution to this day has pur
sued unchangeably the same honest course, can
not but be flattering to his fellow laborers. —
To GOVERNOR TYLER, v, 425. (W., Feb. 1809.)
8629. TYPHUS FEVER, Treatment of.
— While I was in Paris, both my daughters
were taken with what we formerly called a
nervous fever, now a typhus. Dr.
Gem, * * * never gave them a single dose
of physic. He told me it was a disease which
tended with certainty to wear itself off, but
so slowly that the strength of the patient
might first fail if not kept up ; that this alone
was the object to be attended to by nourishment
and stimulus. He forced them to eat a cup of
rice, or panada, or gruel, or of some of the
farinaceous substances of easy digestion every
two hours, and to drink a glass of Madeira.
The youngest took a pint of Madeira a day
without feeling it, and that for many weeks.
For costiveness, injections were used ; and he
observed that a single dose of medicine taken
into the stomach and consuming any of the
strength of the patient was often fatal. * * *
I have had this fever in my family three or
four times since, * and have carried
between twenty and thirty patients through
without losing a single one, by a rigorous ob
servance of Dr. Gem's plan and principle. In
stead of Madeira I have used toddy or French
brandy. — To JAMES MADISON. FORD ED. x 181
(M., 1821.)
8630. TYRANNY, Absolute.— The his
tory of the present King of Great Britain is
a history of unremitting injuries and usurpa
tions, among which appears no solitary, fact
to contradict the uniform tenor of the rest,
but all have in direct object the establishment
of an absolute tyranny over these States.* —
DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE AS DRAWN BY
JEFFERSON.
8631. TYRANNY, British.— That rapid
and bold succession of injuries which is likely
to distinguish the present from all other pe
riods of American history. — RIGHTS OF BRIT
ISH AMERICA, i, 130. FORD ED., i, 435.
(i774.)
8632. TYRANNY, Despotism and.—
But why should we enumerate their injuries
in detail ? By one act they have suspended
the powers of one American legislature, and
by another have declared they may legislate
for us themselves in all cases whatsoever.
These two acts alone form a basis broad
enough whereon to erect a despotism of un
limited extent. — DECLARATION ON TAKING UP
ARMS. FORD ED., i, 469. (July 1775.)
8633. TYRANNY, Eternal hostility to.
— I have sworn upon the altar of God eternal
hostility against every form of tyranny over
the mind of man. — To DR. BENJAMIN RUSH.
iv, 336. FORD ED., vii, 460. (M.. 1800.)
8634. TYRANNY, Fear and.— Fear is
the only restraining motive which may hold
the hand of a tyrant. — RIGHTS OF BRITISH
AMERICA, i, 131. FORD ED., i, 436. (1774.)
8635. TYRANNY, Foundation for.—
Future ages will scarcely believe that the
hardiness of one man adventured, within the
short compass of twelve years only, to lay a
foundation so broad and so undisguised for
tyranny over a people fostered and fixed in
the principles of freedom. f — DECLARATION OF
INDEPENDENCE AS DRAWN BY JEFFERSON.
8636. TYRANNY, George III.— A prince
whose character is thus marked by every act
which may define a tyrant is unfit to be the
ruler of a people who mean to be free.\ —
DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE AS DRAWN BY
JEFFERSON.
8637. TYRANNY, Guarding against.—
The time to guard against corruption and
tyranny is before they shall have gotten hold
* Congress struck out the words in italics.— EDITOR.
t Struck out by Congress.— EDITOR.
t Congress struck the words in italics and inserted
44 free " before "people ".—EDITOR.
Tyranny
Union
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
890
of us. It is better to keep the wolf out of the
fold, than to trust to drawing his teeth and
talons after he shall have entered. — NOTES ON
VIRGINIA. viii, 363. FORD ED., iii, 225.
(1782.)
8638. TYRANNY, Insurrection
against. — The general insurrection of the
world against its tyrants will ultimately pre
vail by pointing the object of government to
the happiness of the people, and not merely
to that of their self -constituted governors. —
To MARQUIS LAFAYETTE. FORD ED., x, 233.
(M., 1822.)
8639. TYRANNY, Political.— If there
be a God, and He is just, His day will come.
He will never abandon the whole race of man
to be eaten up by the leviathans and mam
moths of a day. — To MARQUIS LAFAYETTE.
FORD ED., x, 302. (M., 1811.)
8640. TYRANNY, Rebellion against.—
Rebellion to tyrants is obedience to God. —
MOTTO ON JEFFERSON'S SEAL, Domestic Life
of Jefferson, title page. See LANGUAGES,
PURISM.
8641. TYRANNY, Spirit of.— Bodies of
men, as well as individuals, are susceptible
of the spirit of tyranny. — RIGHTS OF BRITISH
AMERICA, i, 128. FORD ED., i, 433. (i774-)
8642. TYRANNY, Systematic.— Single
acts of tyranny may be ascribed to the acci
dental opinion of a day; but a series of op
pressions, begun at a distinguished period,
and pursued unalterably through every
change of ministers, too plainly prove a de
liberate, systematical plan of reducing us to
slavery. — RIGHTS OF BRITISH AMERICA, i,
130. FORD ED., i, 435. (i774-)
8643. UMPIRE, Impartial. — No man
having a natural right to be the judge be
tween himself and another, it is his natural
duty to submit to the umpirage of an impar
tial third. — To F. W. GILMER. vii, 3. FORD
ED., x, 32. (M., 1816.)
8644. UNEARNED INCREMENT, Def
inition.— If [the public lands are] sold in
lots at a fixed price, as first proposed, the best
lots will be sold first; as these become oc
cupied, it gives a value to the interjacent ones,
and raises them, though of inferior quality, to
the price of the first. — To JAMES MONROE, i,
347. FORD ED., iv, 53. (P., 1785.)
8645. UNGER (John Louis de), Courte
sies to. — The very small amusements which
it has been in my power to furnish, in order to
lighten some of your heavy hours, by no means
merited the acknowledgment you make. Their
impression must be ascribed to your extreme
sensibility rather than to their own weight. — To
LIEUTENANT DE UNGER.* ii, 278. FORD CD., ii,
373. (R., 1780.)
8646. UNGER (John Louis de), Invited
to America. — Should your fondness for phi
losophy resume its merited ascendency, is it
impossible to hope that this unexplored country
may tempt your residence by holding out ma-
* One of the Saratoga prisoners in Virginia.— ED
ITOR.
terials wherewith to build a fame, founded on
the happiness and not the calamities of human
nature? — To LIEUTENANT DE UNGER. i, 278.
FORD ED., ii, 374. (R., 1780.)
8647. UNIFORMITY, Mental.— The va
rieties in the structure and action of the hu
man mind, as in those of the body, are the
work of our Creator, against which it cannot
be a religious duty to erect the standard of
uniformity. — To JAMES FISHBACK. v, 471.
(M., 1809.)
8648. UNIFORMITY, Physical and
moral. — It is a singular anxiety which some
people have that we should all think alike.
Would the world be more beautiful were all
our faces alike? were our tempers, our talents,
our tastes, our forms, our wishes, aversions
and pursuits cast exactly in the same mould?
If no varieties existed in the animal, vegetable
or mineral creation, but all moved strictly
uniform, catholic and orthodox, what a world
of physical and moral monotony would it be.
These are the absurdities into which those run
who usurp the throne of God, and dictate to
Him what He should have done. May they
with all their metaphysical riddles appear be
fore that tribunal with as clean hands and
hearts as you and I shall. There, suspended
in the scales of eternal justice, faith and
works will show their worth by their weight.
— To CHARLES THOMSON. FORD ED., x, 76.
(M., 1817.)
8649. UNIFORMITY, Religious.— Is
uniformity attainable? Millions of innocent
men, women and children, since the introduc
tion of Christianity, have been burnt, tor
tured, fined and imprisoned; yet we have not
advanced one inch towards uniformity. —
NOTES ON VIRGINIA, viii, 401. FORD ED., iii,
265. (1782.)
8650. UNION (The Federal), Anchor of
hope. — I have been happy in believing * * *
that whatever follies we may be led into as
to foreign nations, we shall never give up
our Union, the last anchor of our hope, and
that alone which is to prevent this heavenly
country from becoming an arena of gladia
tors. — To ELBRIDGE GERRY, iv, 173. FORD ED.,
vii, 122. (Pa., May 1797.)
8651. UNION (The Federal), Attempts
to disrupt. — Not less worthy of your indig
nation have been the machinations of parri
cides who have endeavored to bring into
danger the Union of these States, and to sub
vert, for the purposes of inordinate ambition,
a government founded in the will of its citi
zens, and directed to no object but their hap
piness. — R. TO A. NORTH CAROLINA LEGISLA
TURE, viii, 125. (1808.)
8652. . Surrounded by such dif
ficulties and dangers, it is really deplorable
that any should be found among ourselves
vindicating the conduct of the aggressors ; co
operating with them in multiplying embar
rassments to their own country, and encour
aging disobedience to the laws provided for
its safety. But a spirit which should go
further, and countenance the advocates for a
891
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Union
dissolution of the Union, and for setting in
hostile array one portion of our citizens
against another, would require to be viewed
under a more serious aspect. It would prove
indeed that it is high time for every friend
to his country, in a firm and decided manner,
to express his sentiments of the measures
which government has adopted to avert the
impending evils, unhesitatingly to pledge him
self for the support of the laws, liberties and
independence of his country ; and with the
* * * republicans of Connecticut, to re
solve that, for the preservation of the Union,
the support and enforcement of the laws, and
for the resistance and repulsion of every
enemy, they will hold themselves in readi
ness and put at stake, if necessary, their lives
and fortunes, on the pledge of their sacred
honor. — R. TO A. CONNECTICUT REPUBLICANS.
viii, 169. (1809.)
8653. . The times do certainly
render it incumbent on all good citizens, at
tached to the rights and honor of their coun
try, to bury in oblivion all internal differences,
and rally around the standard of their coun
try in opposition to the outrages of foreign
nations. All attempts to enfeeble and destroy
the exertions of the General Government, in
vindication of our national rights, or to
loosen the bands of union by alienating the
affections of the people, or opposing the au
thority of the laws at so eventful a period,
merit the discountenance of all. — To GOVER
NOR TOMPKINS. viii, 153. (1809.)
8654. UNION (The Federal), Benefits
of. — Union for specified national purposes,
and particularly * * * [for] those specified
in * * * [the] * * : Federal compact
* * * [is] friendly to the peace, happiness
and prosperity of all the States.— KENTUCKY
RESOLUTIONS, ix, 468. FORD ED., vii, 300.
(1798.)
8655. UNION (The Federal), Bond of.—
The sacred bond which unites these States
together. — R. TO A. PHILADELPHIA CITIZENS.
viii, 144. (1809.)
8656. UNION (The Federal), Cement of
the. — The cement of this Union is in the
heart-blood of every American. I do not be
lieve there is on earth a government estab
lished on so immovable a basis. — To MARQUIS
DE LAFAYETTE, vi, 425. FORD ED., ix, 509.
(M., 1815.)
8657. UNION (The Federal), Cherish.—
[Our] Union cannot be too much cherished. —
REPLY TO ADDRESS, viii, 114. (1802.)
8658. . Cherish every measure
which may foster our brotherly Union and
perpetuate a constitution of government, des
tined to be the primitive and precious model
of what is to change the condition of man
over the globe.— To EDWARD LIVINGSTON, vii,
344. FORD ED., x, 301. (M., 1824.)
8659. UNION (The Federal), Constitu
tion and.— We must take care that * * *
no objection to the new form [Constitution]
produces a schism in our Union. This would
be an incurable evil, because near friends fall
ing out, never reunite cordially; whereas, all
of us going together, we shall be sure to cure
the evils of our new Constitution before they
do great harm. — To A. DONALD, ii, 356. (P.,
1788.)
8660. UNION (The Federal), Constitu
tional encroachments and. — When obvious
encroachments are made on the plain meaning
of the Constitution, the bond of Union ceases
to be the equal measure of justice to all its
parts. — To ARCHIBALD STUART. FORD ED., v,
454. (Pa., 1792.)
8661. UNION (The Federal), Cultivate.
— Our lot has been cast by the favor of
heaven in a country and under circumstances
highly auspicious to our peace and prosperity,
and where no pretence can arise for the de
grading and oppressive establishments of Eu
rope. It is our happiness that honorable dis
tinctions flow only from public approbation ;
and that finds no object in titled dignitaries
and pageants. Let us, then, endeavor care
fully to guard this happy state of things, by
keeping a watchful eye over the disaffection
of wealth and ambition to the republican prin
ciples of our Constitution, and by sacrificing
all our local and personal interests to the cul
tivation of the Union, and maintenance of the
authority of the laws. — R. TO A. PENNA.
DEMOCRATIC-REPUBLICANS, viii, 163. (1809.)
8662. UNION (The Federal), Dissolu
tion of. — I can scarcely contemplate a more
incalculable evil than the breaking of the
Union into two or more parts. — To PRESI
DENT WASHINGTON, iii, 363. FORD ED., vi, 4.
(1792.)
8663. . I have been among the
most sanguine in believing that our Union
would be of long duration. I now doubt it
much, and see the event at no great distance,
and the direct consequence of this question ;
[Missouri] not by the line which has been
so confidently counted on, — the laws of na
ture control this, — but by the Potomac, Ohio
and Missouri, or, more probably, the Missis
sippi upwards to our northern boundary. My
only comfort and confidence is, that I shall
not live to see this ; and I envy not the pres
ent generation the glory of throwing away the
fruits of their fathers' sacrifices of life and
fortune, and of rendering desperate the ex
periment which was to decide ultimately
whether man is capable of self-government.
This treason against human hope will sig
nalize their epoch in future history as the
counterpart of the medal of their predeces
sors.— To WILLIAM SHORT, vii, 158. (M.,
1820.)
8664. . Were we to break to
pieces, it would damp the hopes and the ef
forts of the good, and give triumph to those
of the bad through the whole enslaved world.
As members, therefore, of the universal so
ciety of mankind, and standing in high and
responsible relation with them, it is our sa
cred duty to suppress passion among ourselves,
and not to blast the confidence we have in-
Union
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
892
spired of proof that a government of reason
is better than one of force.— To RICHARD
RUSH, vii, 183. (M., 1820.)
8665. UNION (The Federal), Europe
and. — Let us cling in mass to our country and
to one another, and bid defiance, as we can if
united, to the plundering combinations of the
old world.— To DR. GEORGE LOGAN, vii, 20.
(M., 1816.)
8666. UNION (The Federal), Expan
sion and. — Our present federal limits are not
too large for good government, nor will the
increase of votes in Congress produce any ill
effect. On the contrary, it will drown the
little divisions at present existing there. Our
confederacy must be viewed as the nest, from
which all America, North and South, is to be
peopled. We should take care, too, not to
think it for the interest of that great Conti
nent to press too soon on the Spaniards.
Those countries cannot be in better hands. My
fear is, that they are too feeble to hold them
till our population can be sufficiently ad
vanced to gain it from them, piece by piece.
The navigation of the Mississippi we must
have. This is all we are as yet ready to re
ceive. — To ARCHIBALD STUART, i, 578. FORD
ED., iv, 188. (P., Jan. 1786.)
8667. UNION (The Federal), Family
of States. — I sincerely wish that the whole
Union may accommodate their interests to
each other, and play into their hands mutually
as members of the same family, that the
wealth and strength of any one part should
be viewed as the wealth and strength of the
whole. — To HUGH WILLIAMSON. FORD ED.,
vii, 201. (Pa., Feb. 1798.)
8668. UNION (The Federal), Foreign
plots against. — The request of a communi
cation of any information, which may have
been received at any time since the establish
ment of the present [Federal] Government,
touching combinations with foreign nations
for dismembering the Union, or the corrupt
receipt of money by any officer of the United
States, from the agents of foreign govern
ments, can be complied with but in a partial
degree. It is well understood that, in the first
or second year of the presidency of General
Washington, information was given to him
relating to certain combinations with the
agents of a foreign government for the dis
memberment of the Union; which combina
tions had taken place before the establishment
of the present Federal Government. This
information, however, is believed never to
have been deposited in any public office, or
left in that of the President's secretary, these
having been duly examined, but to have been
considered as personally confidential, and
therefore, retained among his private papers.
A communication from the Governor of Vir
ginia to General Washington, is found in the
office of the President's secretary, which,
though not strictly within the terms of the
request of the House of Representatives, is
communicated, inasmuch as it may throw
some light on the subjects of the correspond
ence of that time, between certain foreign
agents and citizens of the United States, in
the first or second year of the administration
of President Adams, Andrew Ellicott, then
employed in designating, in conjunction with
the Spanish authorities the boundaries be
tween the territories of the United States
and Spain, under the treaty with that na
tion, communicated to the Executive of
the United States papers and information
respecting the subjects of the present inquiry,
which were deposited in the office of State.
Copies of these are now transmitted to the
House of Representatives, except of a single
letter and a reference from the said Andrew
Ellicott, which being expressly desired to be
kept secret, is, therefore, not communicated,
but its contents can be obtained from him in
a more legal form, and directions have been
given to summon him to appear as a witness
before the court of inquiry. [Wilkinson court
of inquiry.] A paper " on the commerce of
Louisiana ", bearing date of the i8th of April,
1798, is found in the office of State, supposed
to have been communicated by Mr. Daniel
Clark, of New Orleans, then a subject of
Spain, and now of the House of Representa
tives of the United States, stating certain
commercial transactions of General Wilkin
son, in New Orleans ; an extract from this is
now communicated, because it contains facts
which may have some bearing on the ques
tions relating to him. The destruction of the
War Office, by fire, in the close of 1800, in
volved all information it contained at that
date. The papers already described, there
fore, constitute the whole information on the
subjects, deposited in the public offices, during
the preceding administrations, as far as has
yet been found ; but it cannot be affirmed that
there may be no others, because the papers of
the office being filed, for the most part, al
phabetically, unless aided by the suggestion
of any particular name which may have given
such information, nothing short of a careful
examination of the papers in the offices gen
erally, could authorize such affirmation.
About a twelvemonth after I came to the ad
ministration of the government, Mr. Clark
gave some verbal information to myself, as
well as to the Secretary of State, relating to
the same combination for the dismemberment
of the Union. He was listened to freely, and
he then delivered the letter of Governor Ga-
goso, addressed to himself, of which a copy
is now communicated. After his return to
New Orleans, he forwarded to the Secretary
of State other papers, with a request, that,
after perusal, they should be burned. This,
however, was not done, and he was so in
formed by the Secretary of State, and that
they would be held subject to his order.
These papers have not yet been found in the
office. A letter, therefore, has been addressed
to the former chief clerk, who may, perhaps,
give information respecting them. As far as
our memories enable us to say, they related
only to the combinations before spoken of,
and not at all to the corrupt receipt of money
by any officer of the United States ; conse-
893
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Union
quently, they respected what was considered
as a dead matter, known to the preceding
administrations, and offering nothing new to
call for investigations, which those nearest the
dates of the transactions had not thought
proper to institute. In the course of the com
munications made to me on the subject of the
conspiracy of Aaron Burr, I sometimes re
ceived letters, some of them anonymous, some
under names true or false, expressing sus
picions and insinuations against General Wil
kinson. But only one of them and that
anonymous, specified any particular fact, and
that fact was one of those which had already
been communicated to a former administra
tion. No other information within the pur
view of the request of the House is known to
have been received by any department of the
Government from the establishment of the
present Federal Government. That which has
recently been communicated to the House of
Representatives, and by them to me, is the
first direct testimony ever made known to
me, charging General Wilkinson with the cor
rupt receipt of money ; and the House of Rep
resentatives may be assured that the duties
which this information devolves on me shall
be exercised with rigorous impartiality.
Should any want of power in the court to
compel the rendering of testimony, obstruct
that full and impartial inquiry, which alone
can establish guilt or innocence, and satisfy
justice, the legislative authority only will be
competent to, the remedy.* — SPECIAL MES
SAGE, viii, 90. (Jan. 1808.)
8669. UNION (The Federal), Love for.
— Sincere love I shall forever strive to culti
vate with all our sister States. — To THE
PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS. FORD ED., ii, 298.
(Wg., 1780.)
8670. UNION (The Federal), Massa
chusetts federalists and. — The design of
the leading federalists, then having direction
of the State [Massachusetts], to take advan
tage of .the first war with England to separate
the Northeast States from the Union has dis
tressingly impaired our future confidence in
them. In this, as in all other cases, we must
do them full justice, and make the fault all
their own, should the last hope of human lib
erty be destined to receive its final stab from
them. — To DR. WILLIAM EUSTIS. FORD ED.,
ix, 237. (M., Oct. 1809.)
8671. UNION (The Federal), Miseries
of secession.— What would you think of a
discourse on the benefit of the Union and
miseries which would follow a separation of
the States, to be exemplified in the eternal
and wasting wars of Europe, in the pillage
and profligacy to which these lead, ,and the
abject oppression and degradation to which
they reduce its inhabitants? Painted by your
vivid pencil, what could make deeper impres-
* In a subsequent message Jefferson informed Con
gress that the Clark letters had been found, and
transmitted some extracts from them. As to com
binations with foreign agents for the dismember
ment of the Union they contained nothing new, " nor
have we found any intimation of the corrupt receipt
of money by any officer of the United States from
any foreign nation ".—EDITOR.
sions, and what impressions could come more
home to our concerns, or kindle a livelier
sense of our present blessings ?— To MR
OGILVIE. v, 605. (M., 1811.)
8672. UNION (The Federal), Nourish.—
Possessed of the blessing of self-government,
and of such a portion of civil liberty as no
other civilized nation enjoys, it now behooves
us to guard and preserve them by a continu
ance of the sacrifices and exertions by which
they were acquired, and especially to nourish
that Union which is their sole guarantee —
R. TO A. NEW LONDON PLYMOUTH SOCIETY
vni, 1 66. (1809.)
8673. UNION (The Federal), Pennsyl
vania, Virginia and.— I wisn and hope you
may consent to be added to our [Virginia]
Assembly itself. There is no post where you
can render greater services, without going out
of your State. Let but this block stand firm
on its basis, and Pennsylvania do the same,
our Union will be perpetual, and our General
Government kept within the bounds and form
of the Constitution. — To JAMES MADISON, iv
162. FORD ED., vii, no. (M., Jan. 1797.)
8674. UNION (The Federal), Rock of
safety.— A solid Union is the best rock of our
safety.— To C. W. F. DUMAS, iii, 260. (Pa
1791.)
8675. . To cherish the Federal
Union as the only rock of our safety, * * *
[is one of] the landmarks by which we are to
guide ourselves in all our proceedings.
SECOND ANNUAL MESSAGE, viii, 21. FORD
ED., viii, 187. (Dec. 1802.)
8676. UNION (The Federal), Safety in.
— It is a momentous truth, and happily of
universal impression on the public mind, that
our safety rests on the preservation of our
Union. — To THE RHODE ISLAND ASSEMBLY
iv, 397- (W., May 1801.)
8677. - _. I trust the Union of
these States will ever be considered as the
palladium of their safety, their prosperity and
glory, and all attempts to sever it, will be
frowned on with reprobation and abhorrence.
— To GOVERNOR TOMPKINS. viii, 153
(1809.)
8678. UNION (The Federal), Sectional
ascendency. — If on a temporary superiority
of one party, the other is to resort to a scis
sion of the Union, no federal government can
ever exist. — To JOHN TAYLOR, iv, 246. FORD
ED., vii, 264. (Pa., 1798.)
8679. UNION (The Federal), Self-gov
ernment and. — I regret that I am now to
die in the belief, that the useless sacrifice of
themselves by the generation of 1776, to ac
quire self-government and happiness to their
country, is to be thrown away by the unwise
and unworthy passions of their sons, and that
my only consolation is to be, that I live not to
weep over it. If they would but dispassion
ately weigh the blessings they will throw
away, against an abstract principle more
likely to be effected by union than by scission,
Luioi
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
894
they would pause before they would perpe
trate this act of suicide on themselves, and
of treason against the hopes of the world. —
To JOHN HOLMES, vii, 160. FORD ED., x, 158.
(M., 1820.)
8680. UNION (The Federal), Sheet
anchor. — The sheet anchor of our peace at
home and safety abroad.— FIRST INAUGURAL
ADDRESS, viii, 4. FORD ED., viii, 4. (1801.)
8881 . To preserve the repub
lican form and principles of our Constitution,
and cleave to the salutary distribution of
powers which that has established, are the
two sheet anchors of our Union. If driven
from either, we shall be in danger of founder
ing.— To WILLIAM JOHNSON, vii, 298. FORD
ED., x, 232. (M., 1823.)
8682. UNION (The Federal), State
rights and. — I am for preserving to the
States the powers not yielded by them to the
Union, and to the Legislature of the Union its
constitutional share in the division of powers ;
and I am not for transferring all the powers
of the States to the General Government, and
all those of that Government to the Executive
branch.— To ELBRIDGE GERRY, iv, 268. FORD
ED., vii, 327- (Pa., I799-)
8683. UNION (The Federal), Strength.
— If there be any among us who would wish
to dissolve this Union, or to change its re
publican form, let them stand undisturbed as
monuments of the safety with which error of
opinion may be tolerated where reason is left
free to combat it. I know, indeed, that some
honest men fear that a republican government
cannot be strong; that this Government is
not strong enough. But would the honest
patriot, in full tide of successful experiment,
abandon a Government which has so far kept
us free and firm, on the theoretic and vis
ionary fear that this Government, the world's
best hope, may by possibility want energy to
preserve itself? I trust not. I believe this,
on the contrary, the strongest government on
earth. I believe it is the only one where
every man, at the call of the laws, would fly
to the standard of the law, and would meet
invasions of the public order as his own per
sonal concern. Sometimes it is said that man
cannot be trusted with the government of
himself. Can he, then, be trusted with the
government of others? Or have we found
angels, in the forms of kings, to govern him ?
Let history answer this question.— FIRST IN
AUGURAL ADDRESS, viii, 2. FORD EDV viii, 3.
(1801.)
8684. UNION (The Federal), War and.
— If we engage in a war during our present
passions, and our present weakness in some
quarters, our Union runs the greatest risk of
not coming out of that war in the shape in
which it enters it— To ELBRIDGE GERRY, iv,
188. FORD ED., vii, 150. (M., June I797-)
8685. UNION (The Federal), Washing
ton and. — I can scarcely contemplate a more
incalculable evil than the breaking of the
Union into two or more parts. Yet when we
review the mass which opposed the original
coalescence, when we consider that it lay
chiefly in the Southern quarter, that the Leg
islature have availed themselves of no occa
sion of allaying it, but on the contrary when
ever the Northern and Southern prejudices
have come into conflict, the latter have been
sacrificed and the former soothed; that the
owers of the [public] debt are in the Southern
and the holders of it in the Northern divi
sion ; that the anti-federal champions are now
strengthened in argument by the fulfilment of
their predictions; that this has been brought
about by the monarchical federalists them
selves, who, having been for the new gov
ernment merely as a stepping stone to mon
archy, have themselves adopted the very con
structions of the Constitution, of which, when
advocating its acceptance before the tribunal
of the people, they declared it insusceptible;
that the republican federalists, who espoused
the same government for its intrinsic merits,
are disarmed of their weapons; that which
they denied as prophecy, having now become
true history, who can be sure that these things
may not proselyte the small number which
was wanting to place the majority on the
other side? And this is the event at which I
tremble, and to prevent which I consider your
[President Washington] continuing at the
head of affairs as of the last importance. The
confidence of the whole Union is centred in
you. Your being at the helm, will be more
than answer to every argument which can be
used to alarm and lead the people in any
quarter into violence and secession. North
and South will hang together, if they have
you to hang on ; and, if the first correction of
a numerous representation [in Congress]
should fail in its effect, your presence will
give time for trying others not inconsistent
with the Union and peace of the States. — To
PRESIDENT WASHINGTON, iii, 363. FORD ED.,
vi, 4. (Pa., May 1792.)
8686. UNION (The Federal), Western
interests and.— Our true interest will be best
promoted by making all the just claims of our
fellow citizens, wherever situated, our own ;
by urging and enforcing them with the
weight of our whole influence ; and by exer
cising in
, every
instance,
a just government in their concerns, and
making common cause even where our sep
arate interest would seem opposed to theirs.
No other conduct can attach us together;
and on this attachment depends our happi
ness. — TO JAMES MONROE, i, 605. FORD ED.,
iv, 263. (P., 1786.)
8687. . This measure [dividing
the Western country into fewer and smaller
States] with the disposition to shut up the
Mississippi, gives me serious apprehensions of
the severance of the Eastern and Western
parts of our confederacy. It might have been
made the interest of the Western States to
remain united with us, by managing their in
terests honestly, and for their own good. But,
the moment we sacrifice their interests to our
own, they will see it is better to govern them
selves. The moment they resolve to do this,
the point is settled. A forced connection is
895
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Union
United States
neither our interest, nor within our power. —
To JAMES MADISON, ii, 66. FORD ED., iv, 333.
(P., Dec. 1786.)
8688.
I fear, from an expres
sion in your letter, that the people of Kentucky
think of separating, not only from Virginia
(in which they are right), but also from the
Confederacy. I own, I should think this a
most calamitous event, and such an one as
every good citizen on both sides should set
himself against. — To ARCHIBALD STUART, i,
518. FORD ED., iv, 188. (P., Jan. 1786.)
8689. . Whether we remain in
one confederacy, or break into Atlantic and
Mississippi confederacies, I believe not very
important to the happiness of either part.
Those of the western confederacy will be as
much our children and descendants as those
of the eastern, and I feel myself as much
identified with that country, in future time,
as with this ; and did I now foresee a separa
tion at some future day, yet I should feel the
duty and the desire to promote the western
interests as zealously as the eastern, doing all
the good for both portions of our future
family which should fall within my power. —
To DR. JOSEPH PRIESTLEY, iv, 525. FORD
ED., viii, 295. (W., Jan. 1804.) See CEN
TRALIZATION, COLONIES, CONFEDERATION, CON
STITUTION, FEDERAL GOVERNMENT and UNITED
STATES.
8690. UNITED STATES, Assumption
of title. — We, therefore, the representatives
of the United States of America, in Gen
eral Congress assembled, do in the name,
and by the authority of the good peo
ple of these States reject and renounce
all allegiance and subjection to the kings
of Great Britain and all others who may
hereafter claim by, through, or under them;
we utterly dissolve all political connection
which may heretofore have subsisted be
tween us and the people or parliament of
Great Britain : and finally we do assert and
declare these Colonies to be free and inde
pendent States; and that as free and inde
pendent States, they have full power to levy
war, conclude peace, contract alliances, estab
lish commerce, and to do all other acts and
things which independent States may of right
do. And for the support of this declaration,
we mutually pledge to each other our lives,
our fortunes, and our sacred honor.* —
DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE AS DRAWN BY
JEFFERSON.
* Congress changed the above so as to make it read
"We, therefore, the representatives of the UNITED
STATES OF AMERICA in GENERAL CONGRESS assem
bled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the World
for the rectitude of our intentions, do in the name,
and by the authority of the good people of these
Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, that these
united Colonies are, and of right ought to be, FREE
AND INDEPENDENT STATES : that they are absolved
from all allegiance to the British crown, and that all
political connection between them and the state of
Great Britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved :
and that as FREE AND INDEPENDENT STATES, they
have full power to levy war, conclude peace, contract
alliances, establish commerce, and to do all other
acts and things which INDEPENDENT STATES may of
right do. And for the support of this Declaration,
8691. UNITED STATES, Benign influ
ence. — The station which we occupy among
the nations of the earth is honorable, but
awful. Trusted with the destinies of this
solitary republic of the world, the only monu
ment of human rights, and the sole depositary
of the sacred fire of freedom and self-gov
ernment, whence it is to be lighted up in
other regions of the earth, if other regions of
the earth shall ever become susceptible of its
benign influence. All mankind ought then,
with us, to rejoice in its prosperous, and
sympathize in its adverse fortunes, as invol
ving everything dear to man. And to what
sacrifices of interest, or convenience, ought
not these considerations to animate us? To
what compromises of opinion and inclination,
to maintain harmony and union among our
selves, and to preserve from all danger this
hallowed ark of human hope and happiness.
— R. TO A. CITIZENS OF WASHINGTON, viii,
157- (1809.)
8692. UNITED STATES, Continental
influence. — When our strength shall permit
us to give the law of our hemisphere it
should be that the meridian of the mid-At
lantic should be the line of demarcation be
tween peace and war, on this side of which
no act of hostility should be committed, and
the lion and the lamb lie down in peace to
gether. — To DR. CRAWFORD, vi, 33. (1812.)
8693. UNITED STATES, Destinies of.—
A rising nation, spread over a wide and
fruitful land, traversing all the seas with the
rich productions of their industry, engaged in
commerce with nations who feel power and
forget right, advancing rapidly to destinies
beyond the reach of mortal eye, — when I con
template these transcendent objects, and see
the honor, the happiness, and the hopes of
this beloved country committed to the issue
and the auspices of this day, I shrink from
the contemplation, and humble myself before
the magnitude of the undertaking. — FIRST IN
AUGURAL ADDRESS, viii, i. FORD ED., viii, 2.
(1801.)
8694. UNITED STATES, Disputed ter
ritory. — Spain sets up a claim to possessions
within the State of Georgia, founded on her
having rescued them by force from the Brit
ish, during the late war. The following view
of the subject seems to admit no reply: The
several States, now comprising the United
States of America, were, from their first es
tablishment, separate and distinct societies,
dependent on no other society of men what
ever. They continued at the head of their re
spective governments the executive magis
trate who presided over the one they had left,
and thereby secured, in effect, a constant
amity with that nation. In this stage of their
government, their several boundaries were
fixed ; and particularly the southern boundary
of Georgia, the only one now in question, was
established at the 31 st degree of latitude from
the Apalachicola westwardly; and the west-
with a firm reliance on the protection of DIVINE
PROVIDENCE, we mutually pledge to each other our
lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor." — EDITOR,
United States
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
896
em boundary, originally the Pacific Ocean,
was, by the Treaty of Paris, reduced to the
middle of the Mississippi. The part which
our chief magistrate took in a war waged
against us by the nation among whom he re
sided, obliged us to discontinue him, and to
name one within every State. In the course
of this war, we were joined by France as an
ally, and by Spain and Holland as associates
having a common enemy. Each sought that
common enemy wherever they could find him.
France, on our invitation, landed a large army
within our territories, continued it with us
two years, and aided us in recovering sundry
places from the possession of the enemy. But
she did not pretend to keep possession of
the places rescued. Spain entered into the re
mote western part of our territory, dislodged
the common enemy from several of the posts
they held therein, to the annoyance of Spain ;
and perhaps thought it necessary to remain in
some of them, as the only means of preventing
their return. We, in like manner, dislodged
them from several posts in the same western
territory, to wit : Vincennes, Cahokia, Kas-
kaskia, &c., rescued the inhabitants, and re
tained constantly afterwards both them and
the territory under our possession and gov
ernment. At the conclusion of the war, Great
Britain, on the 3Oth of November, 1782, by
treaty acknowledged our Independence, and
our boundary,' to wit, the Mississippi to the
West, and the completion of the 3ist degree,
&c., to the South. In her treaty with Spain,
concluded seven weeks afterwards, to wit,
January 20th, 1783, she ceded to her the two
Floridas (which had been defined in the proc
lamation of 1763), and Minorca; and by the
eighth article of the treaty, Spain agreed to
restore without compensation, all the terri
tories conquered by her, and not included in
the treaty either under the head of cessions
or restitutions, that is to say, all except Min
orca and the Floridas. According to this stip
ulation, Spain was expressly bound to have
delivered up the possessions she had taken
within the limits of Georgia, to Great Britain,
if they were conquests on Great Britain, who
was to deliver them over to the United States ;
or rather she should have delivered them
over to the United States themselves, as stand
ing, quoad hoc, in the place of Great Brit
ain. And she was bound by natural right to
deliver them to the same United States on a
much stronger ground, as the real and only
proprietors of those places which she had
taken possession of, in a moment of danger,
without having had any cause of war with the
United States, to whom they belonged, and
without having declared any ; but on the con
trary, conducting herself in other respects as
a friend and associate. — (Vattel, L. 3, 122.)
— MISSISSIPPI RIVER INSTRUCTIONS, vii, 570.
FORD ED., v, 461. (1792.)
8695. . Should Spain pretend
* * * that there was a secret article of
treaty between the United States and Great
Britain, agreeing if, at the close of the [Rev
olutionary] war, the latter should retain the
Floridas, that then the southern boundary of
Georgia should be the completion of the 32d
degree of North latitude, the commissioners
[appointed to negotiate with Spain to secure
the free navigation of the Mississippi], may
safely deny all knowledge of the fact, and re
fuse conference on any such postulatum. Or,
should they find it necessary to enter into any
argument on the subject, they will, of course,
do it hypothetically ; and in that way may
justly say, on the part of the United States:
" Suppose that the United States, exhausted
by a bloody and expensive war with Great
Britain, might have been willing to have pur
chased peace by relinquishing, under a par
ticular contingency, a small part of their ter
ritory, it does not follow that the same United
States, recruited and better organized, must
relinquish the same territory to Spain without
striking a blow. The United States, too, have
irrevocably put it out of their power to do it,
by a new Constitution, which guarantees
every State against the invasion of its terri
tory. A disastrous war, indeed, might, by
necessity, supersede this stipulation (as neces
sity is above all law), and oblige them to
abandon a part of a State ; but nothing short
of this can justify, or obtain such an abandon
ment. — MISSISSIPPI RIVER INSTRUCTIONS, vii,
572. FORD ED., v, 463. (1792.)
8696. . It is an established prin
ciple, that conquest gives only an inchoate
right, which does not become perfect till con
firmed by the treaty of peace, and by a re
nunciation or abandonment by the former
proprietor. Had Great Britain been that
former proprietor, she was so far from con
firming to Spain the right to the territory of
Georgia, invaded by Spain, that she expressly
relinquished to the United States any right
that might remain in her; and afterwards
completed that relinquishment by procuring
and consolidating with it the agreement of
Spain herself to restore such territory without
compensation. It is still more palpable that
a war existing between two nations, as Spain
and Great Britain, could give to neither the
right to seize and appropriate the territory
of a third, which is even neutral, much less
which is an associate in the war, as the
United States were with Spain. See, on this
subject, Grotius, L. 3, c. 6 § 26. Puffen-
dorf, L. 8, c. 6. § 17, 23. Vattel, L. 3 § 197,
198. — MISSISSIPPI RIVER INSTRUCTIONS, vii,
572. FORD ED., v, 463. (1792.)
8697. . A disastrous war might,
by necessity, supersede this stipulation [the
provision of the Constitution guaranteeing
every State against the invasion of its terri
tory] (as necessity is above all law), and
oblige them to abandon a part of a State ; but
nothing short of this can justify, or obtain
such an abandonment. — MISSISSIPPI RIVER
INSTRUCTIONS, vii, 573. FORD ED., v, 464.
(1792.)
8698. UNITED STATES, Enduring.—
When the General Government shall become
incompetent [to the objects of government
specially assigned to it] instead of flying to
monarchy or that tranquillity which it is the
Thomas Jefferson
Age unknown
.Reproduced from an cn^ravin^- l»y Neacle .after the painting by Otis.
897
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
United States
nature of slavery to hold forth, the true
remedy would be a subdivision, as you ob
serve. But it is to be hoped that by a due
poise and partition of powers between the
General and particular governments we have
found the secret of extending the benign
blessing of Republicanism over still greater
tracts of country than we possess, and that a
subdivision may be avoided for ages, if not
forever. — To JAMES SULLIVAN. FORD ED., v,
369. (Pa., 1791-)
8699. — — . I have much confidence
that we shall proceed successfully for ages to
come, and that, contrary to the principle of
Montesquieu, it will be seen that the larger
the extent of country, the more firm its re
publican structure, if founded, not on con
quest, but in principles of compact and equal
ity. My hope of its duration is built much
on the enlargement of the resources of life
going hand in hand with the enlargement of
territory, and the belief that men are disposed
to live honestly, if the means of doing so are
open to them.— To M. DE MARBOIS. vii, 77.
(M., 1817.)
8700. UNITED STATES, England and.
— These two nations [the United States and
England], holding cordially together, have
nothing to fear from the united world. They
will be the models for regenerating the con
dition of man, the sources from which rep
resentative government is to flow over the
whole earth. — To J. EVELYN DENISON. vii,
415- (M., 1825.)
8701. UNITED STATES, Esteemed.— I
shall rejoin myself to my native country, with
new attachments, and with exaggerated es
teem for its advantages; for though there is
less wealth there, there is more freedom,
more ease, and less misery. — To BARON
GEISMER. i, 427. (P., 1785.)
8702. UNITED STATES, European
powers and.— While there are powers in Eu
rope which fear our views, or have views
on us, we should keep an eye on them, their
connections and oppositions, that in a moment
of need we may avail ourselves of their weak
ness with respect to others as well as our
selves, and calculate their designs and move
ments on all the circumstances under which
they exist.— To E. CARRINGTON. ii, 335.
FORD ED., iv, 483. (P., 1787.)
8703. UNITED STATES, Foreign pol
icy. — We must make the interest of every na
tion stand surety for their justice, and their
own loss to follow injury to us, as effect fol
lows its cause. As to everything except com
merce, we ought to divorce ourselves from
them all. — To EDWARD RUTLEDGE. iv, 191.
FORD ED., vii, 154. (Pa., 1797.)
8704. - — . The less we have to do
with the amities or enmities of Europe the
better. — To THOMAS LEIPER. vi, 465. FORD
ED., ix, 520. (M., 1815.) See ALLIANCE and
POLICY.
8705. UNITED STATES, Freedom from
turmoil. — How happy is it for us that we
are beyond the reach of those storms which
are eternally desolating Europe. We have
indeed a neighbor with whom misunder
standings are possible; but they must be the
effect of interests ill calculated. Nothing is
more demonstrable than is the unity of their
and our interest for ages to come. — To WILL
IAM CARMICHAEL. FORD ED., v, 74. (P.,
1789.)
8706. . Our difficulties are in
deed great, if we consider ourselves alone.
But when viewed in comparison to those of
Europe, they are the joys of Paradise. In
the eternal revolution of ages, the destinies
have placed our portion of existence amidst
such scenes of tumult and outrage, as no
other period, within our knowledge, had pre
sented. Every government but one on the
continent of Europe, demolished, a conqueror
roaming over the earth with havoc and de
struction, a pirate spreading misery and ruin
over the face of the ocean. Indeed, ours is
a bed of roses. And the system of govern
ment which shall keep us afloat amidst the
wreck of the world, will be immortalized in
history. We have, to be sure, our petty
squabbles and heart burnings, and we have
something of the blue devils at times, as to
these Rawheads and Bloodybones who are
eating up other nations. But happily for us,
the Mammoth cannot swim, nor the Le
viathan move on dry land ; and if we will keep
out of their way, they cannot get at us. If,
indeed, we choose to place ourselves within
the scope of their tether, a gripe of the paw,
or flounce of the tail, may be our fortune.
But a part of our nation chose to declare
against this, in such a way as to control the
wisdom of the government. I yielded with
others to avoid a greater evil. But from
that moment, I have seen no system which
could keep us entirely aloof from these agents
of destruction. — To DR. WALTER JONES, v,
510. FORD ED., ix, 274. (M., March 1810.)
8707. UNITED STATES, Future great
ness. — I do believe we shall continue to grow,
to multiply and prosper until we exhibit an
association, powerful, wise and happy beyond
what has yet been seen by men. — To JOHN
ADAMS, vi, 37. FORD ED., ix, 333. (M.,
1812.)
8708. . Not in our day, but at
no distant one, we may shake a rod over the
heads of all [the European nations], which
may make the stoutest of them tremble. But
I hope our wisdom will grow with our power,
and teach us, that the less we use our power,
the greater will it be. — To THOMAS LEIPER.
vi, 465. FORD ED., ix, 520. (M., 1815.)
8709. - — . We are destined to be a
barrier against the returns of ignorance and
barbarism. Old Europe will have to lean on
our shoulders, and to hobble along by our
side, under the monkish trammels of priests
and kings, as she can. What a Colossus shall
we be when the southern continent comes up
to our mark! What a stand will it secure
as a ralliance for the reason and freedom of
the globe!— To TOIIN ADAMS, vii, 27. (M..
1816.)
United States
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
898
8710. UNITED STATES, Guardian of
liberty. — The eyes of the virtuous all over
the earth are turned with anxiety on us as
the only depositaries of the sacred fire of
liberty. — To JOHN HOLLINS. v, 597. (M.,
1811.)
8711. UNITED STATES, Independence
of. — The several States, now comprising the
United States of America, were, from their
first establishment, separate and distinct so
cieties, dependent on no other society of men
whatever. They continued at the head of
their respective governments the executive
magistrate who presided over the one they
had left, and thereby secured in effect a con
stant amity with that nation. * * * The
part which our chief magistrate took in a war,
waged against us by the nation among whom
he resided, obliged us to discontinue him, and
to name one within every State. — MISSISSIPPI
RIVER INSTRUCTIONS, vii, 571. FORD ED., v,
461. (March 1792.)
— UNITED STATES, Inviolability of
territory. — See TERRITORY, ALIENATION OF.
8712. UNITED STATES, Manufactur
ing nation. — Our enemy [Great Britain]
has indeed the consolation of Satan on re
moving our first parents from Paradise ; from
a peaceable and agricultural nation, he makes
us a military, and maufacturing one. — To
WILLIAM SHORT, vi, 400. (M., 1814.) See
MANUFACTURES and PROTECTION.
_ UNITED STATES, National cap
ital.— See WASHINGTON CITY.
8713. UNITED STATES, Natural in
terests. — The American hemisphere * * *
is endowed by nature with a system of in
terests and connections of its own. — R. TO A.
PITTSBURG REPUBLICANS, viii, 142. (1808.)
See MONROE DOCTRINE and POLICY,
8714. UNITED STATES, Permanence.
— Looking forward with anxiety to the future
destinies [of my countrymen] I trust that, in
their steady character unshaken by difficulties,
in their love of liberty, obedience to law, and
support of the public authorities, I see a sure
guarantee of the permanence of our Republic ;
and retiring from the charge of their affairs,
I carry with me the consolation of a firm per
suasion that heaven has in store for our be
loved country long ages to come of pros
perity and happiness. — EIGHTH ANNUAL
MESSAGE, viii, no. FORD ED., ix, 225. (Nov.
1808.)
8715. UNITED STATES, Praise for.—
There is not a country on earth where there
is greater tranquillity; where the laws are
milder, or better obeyed; where every one is
more attentive to his own business or med
dles less with that of others ; where strangers
are better received, more hospitably treated,
and with a more sacred respect. — To MRS.
COSWAY. ii, 36. FORD ED., iv, 316. (P.,
1786.)
8716. UNITED STATES, Prosperity.—
When you witnessed our first struggles in
the War of Independence, you little calcu
lated, more than we did, on the rapid growth
and prosperity of this country; on the prac
tical demonstration it was about to exhibit,
of the happy truth that man is capable of
self-government, and only rendered otherwise
by the moral degradation designedly super
induced on him by the wicked acts of his
tyrants. — To M. DE MARBOIS. vii, 77. (M.,
1817.)
8717. UNITED STATES, Safety of.—
Our safety rests in the preservation of our
Union. — To THE RHODE ISLAND ASSEMBLY.
iv, 397- (W., May 1801.) See UNION.
8718. UNITED STATES, Slanders on.—
Nations, like individuals, wish to enjoy a
fair reputation. It is, therefore, desirable for
us that the slanders on our country, dis
seminated by hired or prejudiced travellers,
should be corrected ; but politics, like relig
ion, holds up the torches of martyrdom to the
reformers of error. Nor is it in the theatre
of Ephesus alone that tumults have been ex
cited when the crafts were in danger. You
must be cautious, therefore, in telling unac
ceptable truths beyond the water. — To MR.
OGILVIE. v, 605. (M., 1811.)
8719. UNITED STATES, Superiority
over Europe. — I sincerely wish you may find
it convenient to come here [Europe] ; the
pleasure of the trip will be less than you ex
pect, but the utility greater. It will make
you adore your own country, its soil, its cli
mate, its equality, liberty, laws, people, and
manners. My God ! how little dp my country
men know what precious blessings they are
in possession of, and which no other people
on earth enjoy. I confess I had no idea of it
myself. While we shall see multiplied in
stances of Europeans going to live in Amer
ica, I will venture to say, no man now living
will ever see an instance of an American re
moving to settle in Europe, and continuing
there. Come, then, and see the proofs of this,
and on your return add your testimony to
that of every thinking American, in order to
satisfy our countrymen how much it is to
their interest to preserve, uninfected by con
tagion, those peculiarities in their government
and manners, to which they are indebted for
those blessings. — To JAMES MONROE, i, 352.
FORD ED., iv, 59. (P., 1785.)
8720. UNITED STATES, Supremacy.—
To the overwhelming power of England, I
see but two chances of limit. The first is
her bankruptcy, which will deprive her of
the golden instrument of all her successes.
The other is that ascendency which nature
destines for us by immutable laws. But to
hasten this consummation, we must exercise
patience and forbearance. For twenty years
to come we should consider peace as the
summum bonum of our country. At the end
of that period we shall be twenty millions in
number, and forty in energy, when encoun
tering the starved and rickety paupers and
dwarfs of English workshops. — To M. Du-
PONT DE NEMOURS, vi, 508. (M., Dec. 1815.)
899
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
United States
University (National)
8721. UNITED STATES, Title of in
habitants. — You have properly observed (in
your book on the commerce of France and
the United States) that we can no longer be
called Anglo-Americans. That appellation
now describes only the inhabitants of Nova
Scotia, Canada, &c. I had applied that of
Federo-Americans to our citizens, as it would
not be so decent for us to assume to ourselves
the nattering appellation of free Americans.
— To M. DE WARVILLE. ii, 12. FORD ED., iv,
281. (P., 1786.)
8722. UNITED STATES, Troubles and
triumphs. — A letter from you calls up rec
ollections very dear to my mind. It carries
me back to the times when, beset with difficul
ties and dangers, we were fellow-laborers in
the same cause, struggling for what is most
valuable to man, his right of self-government.
Laboring always at the same oar, with some
wave ever ahead, threatening to overwhelm
us, and yet passing harmless under onr bark,
we knew not how we rode through the storm
with heart and hand, and made a happy port.
Still we did not expect to be without rubs
and difficulties ; and we have had them.
First, the detention of the Western posts,
then the coalition of Pilnitz, outlawing our
commerce with France, and the British en
forcement of the outlawry. In your day,
French depredations; in mine, English, and
the Berlin and Milan decrees: now the Eng
lish orders of Council, and the piracies they
authorize. When these shall be over, it will
be the impressment of our seamen or some
thing else ; and so we have gone on, and so
we shall go on, puzzled and prospering be
yond example in the history of man. — To
JOHN ADAMS. vi, 36. FORD ED., ix, 333.
(M., Jan. 1812.)
8723. UNITED STATES, Western ter
ritory.— -[The proposed new States of the
Western territory] shall forever remain a
part of the United States of America. —
WESTERN TERRITORY REPORT. FORD ED., iii,
409. (1784.) See CENTRALIZATION, CONFED
ERATION, COLONIES, CONSTITUTION, FEDERAL
GOVERNMENT and UNION.
8724. UNITY, Duty of.— S9le depos
itaries of the remains of human liberty, our
duty to ourselves, to posterity, and to man
kind, calls on us by every motive which is
sacred or honorable, to watch over the safety
of our beloved country during the troubles
which agitate and convulse the residue of the
world, and to sacrifice to that all personal
and local considerations. — R. TO A. NEW YORK
LEGISLATURE, viii, 167. (1809.)
8725. UNITY, National.— If we are
forced into a war we mus give up differ
ences of opinion and unite as one man to de
fend our country.— To GENERAL KOSCIUSKO.
iv, 295- (Pa., I799-)
8726. -- . The times do certainly
render it incumbent on all good citizens, at
tached to the rights and honor of their coun
try, to bury in oblivion all internal differ
ences, and rally around the standard of their
country in opposition to the outrages of for
eign nations. All attempts to enfeeble and
destroy the exertions of the General Govern
ment, in vindication of our national rights,
or to loosen the bands of Union by alien
ating the affections of the people, or opposing
the authority of the laws at so eventful a
period, merit the discountenance of all. — To
GOVERNOR TOMPKINS. viii, 153. (Feb. 1809.)
8727. UNITY, Strength in.— If the well-
known energies and enterprise of our coun
trymen * * * are embodied by an union
of will, and by a confidence in those who
direct it, our nation, so favored in its situa
tion, has nothing to fear from any quarter. —
REPLY TO ADDRESS, v, 262. (W., 1808.)
8728. UNIVERSITY (National), Pro
posed establishment.— Education is here
placed among the articles of public care, not
that it would be proposed to take its ordinary
branches out of the hands of private enter
prise, which manages so much better all the
concerns to which it is equal : but a public in
stitution can alone supply those sciences
which, though rarely called for, are yet nec
essary to complete the circle, all the parts of
which contribute to the improvement of the
country, and some of them to its preserva
tion. The subject is now proposed for the
consideration of Congress, because, if ap
proved by the time the State Legislatures
shall have deliberated on this extension of
the Federal trusts, and the laws shall be
passed, and other arrangements made for
their execution, the necessary funds will be
on hand and without employment. I sup
pose an amendment to the Constitution, by
consent of the States, necessary, because the
objects now recommended are not among
those enumerated in the Constitution, and to
which it permits the public moneys to be
applied. The present consideration of a
•national establishment for education, par
ticularly, is rendered proper by the circum
stance, also, that if Congress, approving the
proposition, shall yet think it more eligible to
found it on a donation of lands, they have it
now in their power to endow it with those
which will be among the earliest to produce
the necessary income. This foundation would
have the advantage of being independent on
war, which may suspend other improvements
by requiring for its own purposes the re
sources destined for them. — SIXTH ANNUAL
MESSAGE, viii, 68. FORD ED., viii, 494. (Dec.
1806.)
8729. . The desire of peace is
very much strengthened in me by that which
I feel in favor of the great subjects of your
and Mr. Fulton's letters. I had fondly hoped
to set those enterprises into motion with the
last Legislature I shall meet. But the chance
of war is an unfortunate check. I do not,
however, despair that the proposition of
amendment may be sent down this session to
the [State] Legislatures. But it is not cer
tain. There is a snail paced gait for the ad
vance of new ideas on the general mind, un-
University of Virginia THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
900
der which we must acquiesce. A forty years'
experience of popular assemblies has taught
me that you must give them time for every
step you take. If too hard pushed, they
balk, and the machine retrogrades.— To JOEL
BARLOW, v, 216. FORD ED., ix, 168. (W.,
Dec. 1807.)
8730. UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA,
Aim of. — Our aim [is] the securing to our
country a full and perpetual institution for all
the useful sciences ; one which will restore us
to our former station in the confederacy. *
Patience and perseverance on our part will se
cure the blessed end. If we shrink, it is gone
forever. — To GENERAL BRECKENRIDGE. vii, 239.
(M., 1822.)
8731. UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA,
Basis of. — This institution of my native
State, the hobby of my old age, will be based
• on the illimitable freedom of the human mind,
to explore and to expose every subject suscepti
ble of its contemplation. — To DESTUTT TRACY.
FORD ED., x, 174. (M., 1820.)
8732. . This institution (Uni
versity of Virginia) will be based on the illimit
able freedom of the human mind. For here we
are not afraid to follow truth wherever it may
lead, nor to tolerate any error so long as reason
is left free to combat it. — To MR. ROSCOE. vii,
196. (M., 1820.)
8733. UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA,
Discipline. — The rock which I most dread is
the discipline of the institution, and it is that
on which most of our public schools labor. The
insubordination of our youth is now the great
est obstacle to their education. We may lessen
the difficulty, perhaps, by avoiding too much
government, by requiring no useless observ
ances, none which shall merely multiply oc
casions for dissatisfaction, disobedience and re
volt by referring to the more discreet of them
selves the minor discipline, the graver to the
civil magistrate, as in Edinburgh. — To GEORGE
TICKNOR. vii, 301. (M., 1823.)
8734. UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA,
Elective studies. — I am not fully informed
of the practices at Harvard, but there is one
from which we shall certainly vary, although
it has been copied, I believe, by nearly every
college and academy in the United States. That
is, the holding the students all to one prescribed
course of reading, and disallow'ng exclusive
application to those branches only which are
to qualify them for the particular vocations
to which they are destined. We shall, on the
contrary, allow them uncontrolled choice in
the lectures they shall choose to attend, and
require elementary qualification only, and suf
ficient age. Our institution will proceed on
the principle of doing all the good it can with
out consulting its own pride or ambition ; of
letting every one come and listen to whatever
he thinks may improve the condition of his
mind. — To GEORGE TICKNOR. vii, 300. (M.,
1823.)
8735. UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA,
Future of. — I contemplate the -University of
Virginia as the future bulwark of the human
mind in this hemisphere. — To DR. THOMAS
COOPER, vii, 172. (M., 1820.)
873G . I had hoped that we
should open with the next year an institution
on wh:ch the fortunes of our country may de
pend more than may meet the general eye. —
To GENERAL BRECKENRIDGE. vii, 204. (M.,
1821.)
8737. . I hope the University of
Virginia will prove a blessing to my own State,
and not unuseful perhaps to some others. — To
EDWARD LIVINGSTON, vii, 405. (M., 1825.)
8738. UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA,
Government and. — I fear not to say that
within twelve or fifteen years from this time, a
majority of the rulers of our State will have
been educated here. They shall carry hence
the correct principles of our day, and you may
count assuredly that they will exhibit their coun
try in a degree of sound respectability it has
never known, either in our days, or those of
our forefathers. — To W. B. GILES, vii, 429.
FORD ED., x, 357. (M., 1825.)
8739. UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA,
Historical course. — In modern history, there
are but two nations with whose course it is in
teresting to us to be intimately acquainted, to
wit : France and England. For the former,
Millot's General History of France may be suf
ficient to the period when i Davila commences.
He should be followed by Perefixe, Sully, Vol
taire's Louis XIV. and XV., Lacretelles
XVIIIme. Siecle, Marmontel's Regence, Fou-
longion's French Revolution, and Madame de
Stael's, making up by a succession of particular
history, the general one which they want. — To
. vii, 412. (M., 1825.)
8740 . Hume, with Brodie,
should be the last histories of England to be
read [in the University of Virginia course].
If first read, Hume makes [his reader] an En
glish tory, whence it is an easy step to American
toryism. But there is a history by Baxter, in
which, abridging somewhat by leaving out some
entire incidents as less interesting now than
when Hume wrote, he has given the rest in
the identical words of Hume, except that when
he comes to a fact falsified, he states it truly,
and when to a suppression of truth, he supplies
it, never otherwise changing a word. It is,
in fact, an editic expurgation of Hume. Those
who shrink from the volume of Rapin, may read
this first, and from this lay a first foundation in
a basis of truth. — To . vii, 414. (M.,
1825.)
8741. UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA,
Jefferson's last service. — Our University is
the last of my mortal cares, and the last service
I can render my country. — To J. CORREA. vii,
183. FORD EDV x, 163. (M., 1820.)
8742. . It is the last act of use
fulness I can render, and could I see it open
I would not ask an hour more of life. — To
SPENCER ROANE. vii, 212. FORD ED., x, 189.
(M., 1821.)
8743. . The University of Vir
ginia is the last object for which I shall obtrude
myself on the public observation. — To EDWARD
LIVINGSTON, vii, 405. (M., 1825.)
8744. . I am closing the last
scenes of my life by fashioning and fostering
an establishment for the instruction of those
who are to come after us. I hope its influence
on their virtue, freedom, fame, and happiness
will be salutary and permanent. — To A. B.
WOODWARD, vii, 406. FORD ED., x, 342. (M.,
1825.)
8745. UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA,
Necessity for.— I have wondered at the
9oi
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA University of Virginia
change of political principles wlr'ch has taken
place in many in this State [Virginia], however
much less than in others. I am still more
alarmed to see, in the other States, the general
political dispositions of those to whom is con
fided the education of the rising generation.
Nor are all the academies of this State free from
grounds of uneasiness. I have great confidence
in the common sense of mankind in general:
but it requires a great deal to get the better of
notions which pur tutors have instilled into our
minds while incapable of questioning them,
and to rise superior to antipathies strongly
rooted. However, I suppose when the evil rises
to a certain height, a remedy will be found, if
the case admits any other than the prudence
of parents and guardians. — To JEREMIAH MOOR.
FORD ED., vii, 455. (M., Aug. 1800.)
8746. . How many of our youths
Harvard now has, learning the lessons of anti-
Missourianism, I know not ; but a gentleman
lately from Princeton, told me he saw there the
list of the students at that place, and that more
than, half were Virginians. These will return
home, no doubt, deeply impressed with the sa
cred principles of our Holy Alliance of restric-
tionists. — To JOSEPH C. CABELL. vii, 202. (M.,
1821.)
8747. . The reflections that the
boys of this age are to be the men of the next ;
that they should be prepared to receive the holy
charge which we are cherishing to deliver over
to them ; that in establishing an institution of
wisdom for them, we secure it to all our future
generations; that in fulfilling this duty, we
bring home to our own bosoms the sweet con
solation of seeing our sons rising under a
luminous tuition, to destinies of high promise;
these are considerations which will occur to
all ; but all, I fear, do not see the speck in our
horizon which is to burst on us as a tornado,
sooner or later. The line of division lately
marked out between different portions of our
confederacy is such as will never, I fear, be ob
literated, and we are now trusting to those who
are against us in position and principle, to
fashion to their own form the minds and affec
tions of our youth. If, as has been estimated,
we send three hundred thousand dollars a year
to the northern seminaries, for the Instruction
of our own sons, then we must have there five
hundred of our sons, imbibing opinions and
principles in discord with those of their own
country. This canker is eating on the vitals
of our existence, and if not arrested at once,
will be beyond remedy. We are now certainly
furnishing recruits to their school. — To GENERAL
BRECKENRIDGE. vii, 204. (M., 1821.)
8748. UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA,
Novelties in. — There are some novelties in
[the University of Virginia]. Of that of a pro
fessorship of the principles of government, you
express your approbation. They will be found
ed in the rights of man. That of agriculture,
I am sure, you will approve ; and that also of
Anglo-Saxon. As the histories and laws left
us in that type and dialect, must be the text
books of the reading of the learners, they will
imbibe with the language their free principles
of government. — To JOHN CARTWRIGHT. vii,
361. (M., 1824.)
8749.* UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA,
Opposition to. — An opposition [to the Uni
versity] has been got up. That of our alma
mater, William and Mary, ;s not of much
weight. She must descend into the secondary
rank of academies of preparation for the Uni
versity. The serious enemies are the priests
of the different religious sects, to whose spells
on the human mind its improvement is ominous.
Their pulpits are now resounding with denun-
ciations against the appointment of Dr. Cooper
whom they charge as a monetheist in opposi
tion to their tritheism. — To WILLIAM SHORT.
vii, 157. (M., 1820.) See COOPER.
8750. . You say my " handwri
ting and my letters have great effect at Rich
mond ". I am sensible of the kindness with
which this encouragement is held up to me. But
my views of their effect are very different.
When I retired from the administration of pub
lic affairs, I thought I saw some evidence that I
retired with a good degree of public favor, and
that my conduct in office had been considered
by one party at least with approbation and with
acquiescence by the other. But the attempt
[University of Virginia], in which I have
embarked so earnestly to procure an improve
ment in the moral condition of my native State,
although, perhaps, in other States it may have
strengthened good dispositions, it has assuredly
weakened them within our own. The attempt
ran foul of so many local interests, of so many
personal views, and so much ignorance, and I
have been considered as so particularly its pro
moter, that I see evidently a great change of
sentiment towards myself. I cannot doubt its
having dissatisfied with myself a respectable
minority, if not a majority of the House of
Delegates. I feel it deeply and very discourag-s
ingly. Yet I shall not give way. I have ever,
found in my progress through life that, acting
for the public, if we do always what is right,
the approbation denied in the beginning will /
surely follow us in the end. It is from posterity '
we are to expect remuneration for the sacrifices
we are making for their service, of time, quiet
and good will. And I fear not the appeal. The
multitude of fine young men whom we shall
redeem from ignorance, who will feel that they
owe to us the elevation of mind, of character
and station they will be able to attain from the
result of our efforts, w'll insure their remem
bering us with gratitude. — To JOSEPH C. CA
BELL. vii, 394. (M., 1825.)
8751. UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA,
Personal sacrifices for.— I know well your
devotion to your country, and your foresight
of the awful scenes coming on her, sooner or
later. With this foresight, what service can we
ever render her equal to this? [Support of the
University of Virginia.] What object of our
lives can we propose so important? What in
terest of our own which ought not to be post
poned to this? Health, time, labor, on what in
the single life which nature has given us, can
these be better bestowed than on this immortal
boon to our country? The exertions and the
mortifications are temporary ; the benefit eternal.
If any member of our college of visitors could
justifiably withdraw from this sacred duty, it
would be myself, * * * but I will 'die
in the last ditch, and so, I hope, you will, my
friend, as well as our firm-breasted brothers
and colleagues, Mr. Johnson and General Breck-
enridge. Nature will not give you a second life
wherein to atone for the omissions of this.
Pray then, dear and very dear Sir, do not think
of deserting us, but view the sacrifices which
seem to stand in your way, as the lesser duties,
and such as ought to be postponed to this, the
greatest of all. Continue with us in these holy
labors, until having seen their accomplishment,
we may say with old Simeon, " nnnc dimittas /
Domine". — To JOSEPH C. CABELL. vii ^02'
(M., 1821.)
University of Virginia THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
902
8752. UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA,
Political principles.— In the selection of 9ur
law professor [for the University of Virginia],
we must be rigorously attentive to his political
principles. You will recollect that before the
Revolution Coke-L,ittleton was the universal
elementary book of law students, and a sounder
whig never wrote, nor of profounder learning
in the orthodox doctrines of the British consti
tution, or in what were called English liberties.
You remember, also, that our lawyers were then
all whigs. But when his black-letter text, and
uncouth but cunning learning got out of fashion,
and the honied Mansfieldism of Blackstone
became the student's hornbook, from that mo
ment, that profession (the nursery of our Con
gress), began to slide into toryism, and nearly
all the young brood of lawyers now are of that
hue. They suppose themselves, indeed, to be
whigs because they no longer know what whig-
ism or republicanism means. It is in our semi
nary that that vestal flame is to be kept alive ;
it is thence it is to spread anew over our own
and the sister States. If we are true and vigi
lant in our trust, within a dozen or twenty years
a majority of our own Legislature will be from
one school, and many disciples will have car
ried its doctrines home with them to their sev
eral States, and will have leavened thus the
whole mass. — To JAMES MADISON, vii, 433.
FORD ED., x, 376. (M., 1826.)
8753. UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA,
Proctorship.— The establishment of a proc
tor is taken from, the practice of Europe, where
an equivalent officer is made a part, and is a
very essential one, of every such institution ;
and as the nature of his functions requires that
he should always be a man of discretion, un
derstanding, and integrity, above the common
level, it was thought that he would never be
less worthy of being trusted with the powers
of a justice, within the limits of institution here,
than the neighboring justices generally are;
and the vesting him with the conservation of
the peace within that limit, was intended, while
it should equally secure its object, to shield the
young and unguarded student from the disgrace
of the common prison, except where the case
was an aggravated one. A confinement to his
own room was meant as an act of tenderness to
him, his parents and friends ; ;n fine, it was to
give them a complete police of their own, tem
pered by the paternal attentions of their tutors.
And, certainly, in no country is such a provision
more called for than in this, as has been proved
from times of old, from the regular annual riots
and battles between the students of William and
Mary with the town boys, before the Revolution,
quorum pars fui, and the many and more serious
affrays of later times. Observe, too, that our
bill proposes no exclusion of the ordinary mag
istrate, if the one attached to the institution is
thought to execute his power either partially or
remissly. — To JOSEPH C. CABELL. vi, 537. (M.,
1816.)
8754. UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA,
Professors. — Our wish is to procure natives
[for professorships] where they can be found
* * * of the first order of requirement in
their respective lines ; but, preferring foreigners
of the first order to natives of the second, we
shall certainly have to go for several of our
professors to countries more advanced in science
than we are. — To JOHN ADAMS, vii, 130. FORD
ED., x, 139. (M., 1819.)
8755. . No secondary character
will be received among them. Either the ablest
which America or Europe can furnish, or none
at all. They will give us the selected society
of a great city separated from the dissipations
and levities of its ephemeral insects. — To WILL
IAM SHORT, vii, 141. FORD ED., x, 145. (M.,
8756. . Our intention is that its
professors shall be of the first order in their
respective lines which can be procured on
either side of the Atlantic. — To ALBERT GAL-
LATIN. FORD ED., x, 236. (M., 1822.)
8757. . A man is not qualified
fo'r a professor, knowing nothing but merely
his own profession. He should be otherwise
well educated as to the sciences generally ; able
to converse understandingly with the scientific
men with whom he is associated, and to assist
in the councils of the faculty on any subject of
science on which they may have occasion to de
liberate. Without this, he will incur their con
tempt, and bring disreputation on the institu
tion. — To JOSEPH C. CABELL. vii, 331. (M.,
1824.)
8758. . I have the most unlim
ited confidence that in the appointment of
professors to our nursling institution, every
individual of my associates will look with a
single eye to the sublimation of its character,
and adopt, as our sacred motto, " detur dig-
niori ". In this way it will honor us, and bless
our country. — To JOSEPH C. CABELL. vii, 331.
(M., 1824.)
8759. . In some departments of
science we believe Europe to be in advance
before us, and that it would advance ourselves
were we to draw from thence instructors in
these branches, and thus to improve our science,
as we have done our manufactures, by borrowed
skill. I have been much squibbed for this, per
haps by disappointed applicants for professor
ships, to which they were deemed incompetent.
— To JOHN ADAMS, vii, 388. (M., 1825.)
8760. . I have no reason to re
gret the measure taken of procuring professors
from abroad where science is so much ahead of
us. You witnessed some of the puny squibs
of which I was the butt on that account. They
were probably from disappointed candidates,
whose unworthiness had occasioned their appli
cations to be passed over. The measure has
been generally approved in the South and West ;
and by all liberal minds in the North. It has
been peculiarly fortunate, too, that the profess
ors brought from abroad were as happy selec
tions as could have been hoped, as well for their
qualifications in science as correctness and
amiableness of character. I think the example
will be followed, and that it cannot fail to be
one of the efficacious means of promoting that
cordial good will, which it is so much the in
terest of both nations to cherish. These teach
ers can never utter an unfriendly sentiment
towards their native country ; and those into
whom their instructions will be infused, are not
of ordinary significance only ; they are exactly
the persons who are to succeed to the govern
ment of our country, and to rule its future
enmities, its friendships and fortunes. As
it is our interest to receive instruction through
this channel, so I think it is yours to furnish it ;
for these two nations holding cordially together,
have nothing to fear from the united world.
They will be the models for regenerating the
condition of man, the sources from which rep
resentative government is to flow over the whole
earth. — To J.. EVELYN DENISON. vii, 415. (M.,
1825.)
903
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
University of Virginia
Vacations
8761. UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA,
Scope. — Our views are catholic for the im
provement of our country by science. — To
GEORGE TICKNOR. vii, 301. (M., 1823.)
8762. UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA,
Studies. — A material question is what is the
whole term of time which the students can give
to the whole course of instruction? I should
say that three years should be allowed to gen
eral education, and two, or rather three, to the
particular profession for which they are des
tined. We [University of Virginia] receive
our students at the age of sixteen, expected to
be previously so far qualified in the languages,
ancient and modern, as that one year
in our schools shall suffice for their last
polish. A student then with us may give his
first year here to languages and mathematics;
his second to mathematics and physics ; his third
to physics and chemistry, with the other ob
jects of that school. I particularize this distri
bution merely for illustration, and not as that
which either is, or perhaps ought to be estab
lished. This would ascribe one year to lan
guages, two to mathematics, two to physics,
and one to chemistry and its associates. — To
DR. JOHN P. EMMETT. vii, 442. (M., 1826.)
8763. UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA,
Text books. — In most public seminaries text
books are prescribed to each of the several
schools, as the nor ma docendi in that school ;
and this is generally done by authority of the
trustees. I should not propose this generally
in our University, because I believe none of us
are so much at the heights of science in the
several branches, as to undertake this, and
therefore that it will be better left to the pro
fessors until occasion of interference shall be
given. But there is one branch in which we are
the best judges, in which heresies may be
taught, of so mteresting a character to our own
State and to the United States, as to make it &
duty in us to lay down the principles which are
to be taught. It is that of government. Mr.
Gilmer being withdrawn, we know not who his
successor may be. He may be a Richmond
lawyer, or one of that school of quondam fed
eralism, now consolidation. It is our duty to
guard against such principles being disseminated
among our youth, and the diffusion of that
poison, by a previous prescription of the texts
to be followed in their discourses. — To
. vii, 397. (M., 1825.)
8764. UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA,
Theology. — I agree with you that a profess
orship of theology should have no place in our
institution. — To THOMAS COOPER, vi, 389.
(M., 1814.)
8765. . In our University there
is no professorship of divinity. A handle has
been made of this to disseminate an idea that
this is an nistitution. not merely of no religion,
but against all religion. Occasion was taken at
the last meeting of the Visitors, to bring for
ward an idea that might silence this calumny,
which weighed on the minds of some honest
friends to the institution. In our annual re
port to the Legislature, after stating the consti
tutional reasons against a public establishment
of any religious instruction, we suggest the ex
pediency of encouraging the different religious
sects to establish, each for itself, a professor
ship of their own tenets, on the confines of the
University, so near as that their students may
attend the lectures there, and have the free use
of our library, and everv other accommodation
we can give them ; preserving, however, their
independence of us and of each other. This
fills the chasm objected to ours, as a defect in
an institution professing to give instruction in
all useful sciences. I think the invitation will
be accepted, by some sects from candid inten
tions, and by others from jealousy and rival-
ship. And by bringing the sects together, and
mixing them with the mass of other students,
we shall soften their asperities, liberalize and
neutralize their prejudices, and make the gen
eral religion a religion of peace, reason and
morality. — To DR. THOMAS COOPER, vii, 267.
FORD ED., x, 243. (M., 1822.) See EDUCATION,
LANGUAGES and SCHOOLS.
8766. USURPATION, Appeal against.
— We have appealed to their [British people]
native justice and magnanimity, as well as to
the ties of our common kindred, to disavow
these usurpations which were likely to inter
rupt our connection and correspondence.
They, too, have been deaf to the voice of jus
tice and of consanguinity.* — DECLARATION OF
INDEPENDENCE AS DRAWN BY JEFFERSON.
8767. USURPATION, Parliamentary.
— The act passed in the 4th year of his Maj
esty's reign [George III.], entitled " An Act
for granting certain duties in the British
Colonies and Plantations in America, &c.";
one other act passed in the 5th year of his
reign, entitled, " An Act for granting and ap~
plying certain stamp duties and other duties
in the British Colonies and Plantations in
America, &c." ; one other act passed in the
6th year of his reign, entitled, " An Act for
the better securing the dependency of his
Majesty's dominions in America upon the
Crown and Parliament of Great Britain " ;
and one other act, passed in the 7th year of
his reign, entitled, " An Act for granting
duties on paper, tea, &c.", form that connected
chain of parliamentary usurpation, which has
been the subject of frequent applications to
his Majesty, and the Houses of Lords and
Commons of Great Britain * * * .—
RIGHTS OF BRITISH AMERICA, i, 130. FORD
ED., i, 435- (I774-)
8768. VACATIONS, Health and.— The
diseases of the season incident to most situa
tions on the tide waters, now begin to show
themselves here [Washington], and to threaten
some of our members [of the cabinet] together
with the probability of a uniform course of
things in the Chesapeake [affair], induce us
to prepare for leaving this place during the two
sickly months, as well for the purposes of health
as to bestow some little attention to our pri
vate affairs, which is necessary at some time of
every year. Our respective stations will be
fixed and known, so that everything will find
us at them, with the same certainty as if they
were here ; and such measures of intercourse
will be established as that the public business
will be carried on at them, with all the regu
larity and dispatch necessary. — To W. H. CA-
BELL. v, 144. FORD ED., ix, 91. (W., July
1807.)
8769. . In consideration of the
unhealthy season now approaching at this as
* Congress changed so as to read: " We have ap
pealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and
we have conjured them, by the ties of our common
kindred, to disavow these usurpations, which would
inevitably interrupt our connection and correspond
ence. They, too, have been deaf to the voice of
justice and of consanguinity." — EDITOR.
Vacations
Venison
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
904
other places on the tide-waters, and which we
have always retired from about this time, the
members of the Administration, as well as my
self, shall leave this place [Washington] in
three or four days, not to return till the sickly
term is over, unless something extraordinary
should reassemble us. — To COLONEL TATHAM.
v, 145. (W., July 1807.)
8770. VACATIONS, Presidential.— I
consider it as a trying experiment for a person
from the mountains to pass the two bil
ious months on the tide-water. I have not
done it these forty years, and nothing should
•'nduce me to do it. As it is not possible but
that the Administration must take some por
tion of time for their own affairs, I think it
best they should select that season for absence.
General Washington set the example of those
two months ; Mr. Adams extended them to eight
months. I should not suppose our bringing
it back to two months a ground for grumbling,
but, grumble who will, I will never pass those
two months on tide-water. — To ALBERT GAL-
LATIN. FORD ED., viii, 95. (M., Sep. 1801.)
8771. VACATIONS, Public officials
and. — One reason for suggesting the discon
tinuance of the daily post was, that it was not
kept up by contract, but at the expense of the
United States. But the principal reason was to
avoid giving ground for clamor. The general
idea is, that those who receive annual compen
sations should be constantly at their posts. Our
constituents might not in the first moment con
sider ist, that we have property to take care of,
which we canndt abandon for temporary sal
aries ; 2nd, that we have health to take care of,
which at this season cannot be preserved at
Washington ; 3d, that while at our separate
homes our public duties are fully executed, and
at much greater personal labor than while we
are together when a short conference saves a
long letter. — To JAMES MADISON, v, 181. FORD
ED., ix, 134. (M., Sep. 1807.)
8772. VACCINATION, Utility of.— I
am happy to see that vaccination is introduced,
and likely to be kept up, in Philadelphia ; but
I shall not think it exhibits all its utility until
experience shall have hit upon some mark or
rule by which the popular eye may distinguish
genuine from spurious virus. It was with this
view that I wished to discover whether time
could not be made the standard, and supposed,
from the little experience I had, that matter,
taken at e;ght times twenty-four hours from the
time of insertion, could always be in the proper
state. As far as I went I found it so ; but I
shall be happy to learn what the immense field
of experience in Philadelphia will teach us on
that subject. — To DR. BENJAMIN RUSH. iv,
425. FORD ED., viii, 126. (W., Dec. 1801.)
— VALUE, Intrinsic.— See DOLLAR and
MONEY.
8773. VANITY, Personal.— I have not
the vanity to count myself among those whom
the State would think worth oppressing with
perpetual service. — To JAMES MONROE, i, 320.
FORD EDV iii, 59. (M., 1782.)
8774. VAN RENSSELAER (General
S.), Failure of.— Will not Van Rensselaer be
broke for cowardice and incapacity ? To ad
vance such a body of men across a river without
securing boats to bring them off in case of dis
aster, has cost us seven hundred men ; and to
have taken no part himself in such an action,
and against such a general could be nothing
but cowardice. — To PRESIDENT MADISON. FORD
ED., ix, 370. (M., Nov. 1812.)
8775. VATTEL (Emmerich von), Char
acter of. — Let us appeal to enlightened and
disinterested judges. No one is more so than
Vattel. — To E. C. GENET, iii, 588. FORD ED.,
vi, 309. (Pa., I793-)
8776. — — . Vattel is one of the most
zealous and constant advocates for the preserva
tion of good faith in all our dealings. — OPINION
ON FRENCH TREATIES, vii, 620. FORD ED., vi,
228. (1793.)
8777. VEGETABLES, Cultivating.—
The wealthy people [in Virginia] are attentive
to the raising of vegetables, but very little
so to fruits. The poorer people attend to nei
ther, living principally on milk and animal diet.
This is the more inexcusable, as the climate re-
?uires indispensably a free use of vegetable
ood, for health as well as comfort. — NOTES
ON VIRGINIA, viii, 393. FORD ED., iii, 257.
(1782.)
8778. VEGETABLES, Jefferson's diet.
— I live so much like other people, that I
might refer to ordinary life as the history of
my own. I have lived temperately, eating little
animal food, and that not as an aliment, so
much as a condiment for the vegetables, which
constitute my principal diet. I double, howeyer,
the Doctor's [Rush's] glass and a half of wine,
and even treble it with a friend ; but halve its
effects by drinking the weak wines only. The
ardent wines I cannot drink, nor do I use ar
dent spirits in any form. Malt liqrors and cider
are my table drinks, and my breakfast is of
tea and coffee. I have been blest with organs
of digestion which accept and concoct, without
ever murmuring, whatever the palate chooses
to consign to them, and 1 have not yet lost a
tooth by age. — To DR. VINE UTLEY. vii, 116.
FORD ED., x, 125. (M., 1819.)
8779. VEGETATION, Electricity, light
and. — Dr. Ingenhouse, you know, discovered
as he supposed, from experiment, that vegeta
tion might be promoted by occasional streams
of the electrical fluid to pass through a plant,
and that other physicians had received and con
firmed this theory. He now, however, retracts
it, and finds by more decisive experiments that
the electrical fluid can neither forward nor re
tard vegetation. Uncorrected still of the rage
of drawing general conclusions from partial
and equivocal observations, he hazards the
opinion that light promotes vegetation. I have
heretofore supposed from observation, that light
affects the color of living bodies, whether vege
table or animal ; but that either the one or the
other receives nutriment from that fluid, must
be permitted to be doubted of, till better con
firmed by observation. It is always better to
have no ideas than false ones : to believe noth
ing than to believe what is wrong. In my mind,
theories are more easily demolished than re
built. — To REV. JAMES MADISON, ii, 430. (P.,
1788.)
8780. VENISON, Philosophy and.— You
have sent me a noble animal, legitimated by
superior force as a monarch of the forest ; and
he has incurred the death which his brother
legitimates have so much more merited ; like
them, in death, he becomes food for a nobler
race, he for man, they for worms that will revel
on them ; but he dies innocent, and with death
all his fears and pains are at an end ; they die
loaded with maledictions, and liable to a sen
tence and sufferings which we will leave to the
justice of heaven to award. In plain English,
we shall heartily feast on him, and thank you
heartily as the giver of the feast. — To JOHN
FRY. FORD ED., x, 284. (M., 1823.)
905
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Vergennes (Count tie)
Veto
8781. VERGENNES (Count de), Assist
ants. — Reyneval and Hennin are the two eyes
of Count de Vergennes. The former is the
more important character, because possessing
the most of the confidence of the Count. He
is rather cunn:ng than wise, his views of things
being neither great nor liberal. He governs
himself by principles which he has learned by
rote, and is fit only for the details of execution.
His heart is susceptible of little passions, but
not of good ones. He is brother-in-law to M.
Gerard, from whom he received disadvantageous
^mpressions of us, which cannot be effaced. He
has much duplicity. Hennin is a philosopher,
sincere, friendly, liberal, learned, beloved by
everybody ; the other by nobody. I think it a
great misfortune that the United States are in
the department of the former. — To JAMES MADI
SON, ii, 109. FORD ED., iv, 368. (P., 178?-)
8782. VERGENNES (Count de), Great
and good.— He is a great and good minister,
and an accident to him might endanger the
peace of Europe. — To EDWARD CARRINGTON. ii,
99. FORD ED., iv, 359. (P., 1787-)
8783. . His loss would at all
times have been great ; but it would be immense
during the critical poise of European affairs
existing at this moment. — To JOHN JAY. ii, 113.
(P., 1787-;
8784. VERGENNES (Count de), Mon
archist. — Vergennes is a great minister in
European affairs, but has very imperfect ideas
of our institutions, and no confidence in them.
His devotion to the principles of pure despotism
raiders him unaffectionate to our governments.
But his fear of England makes him value us
as a make-weight. He is cool, reserved in po
litical conversations, but free and familiar on
other subjects, and a very attentive, agreeable
person to do business with. It is impossible
to have a clearer, better organized head, but
age has chilled his heart. — To JAMES MADISON.
ii, 108. FORD ED., iv, 366. (P., 1787-)
8785. VERGENNES (Count de), Rep
utation. — The Count de Vergennes had the
reputation with the diplomatic corps of being
wary and slippery in his diplomatic intercourse ;
and so he might be with those whom he knew
to be slippery and double-faced themselves. As
he saw that I had no indirect views, practiced
no subtleties, meddled in no intrigues, pursued
no concealed object, I found him as frank, as
honorable, as easy of access to reason, as any
man with whom I had ever done business ; ana
I must say the same for his successor, Mont-
morin, one of the most honest and worthy of
human beings. — AUTOBIOGRAPHY, i, 64. FORD
ED., i, 90. (M., 1821.)
8786. VERMONT, Separation from New
York. — The four northernmost States wish
Vermont to be received into the Union. The
middle and southernmost States are rather op
posed to it. But the great difficulty arises with
New York which claims that territory. In the
beginning every individual of that State re
volted at the idea of giving them up. Congress,
therefore, only interfered from time to time to
prevent the two parties from coming to an open
rupture. In the meanwhile the minds of the
New Yorkers have been familiarizing to the
;dea of a separation, and I think ;t will not be
long before they will consent to it. — ANSWERS
TO M. DE MEUNIER. ix, 284. FORD ED., iv, 140.
(P., 1786.) See OFFICES, UNCONSTITUTIONAL.
8787. VETERINARY COLLEGES, Ad
vantages. — The advantages of the veterinary
institution proposed, may perhaps be doubted.
If it be problematical whether physicians pre
vent death where the disease, unaided, would
have terminated fatally, — oftener than they pro
duce it, where order would have been restored
to the system by the process, if uninterrupted,
provided by nature, and in the case of a man
who can describe the seat of his disease, its
character, progress, and often its cause, what
might we expect in the case of the horse, mule,
&c., yielding no sensible and certain indications
of his disease ? They have long had these insti
tutions in Europe ; has the world received as
yet one iota of valuable information from them ?
If it has, it is unknown to me. At any rate,
it may be doubted whether, where so many
institutions of obvious utility are yet wanting,
we should select this one to take the lead. —
To JOEL BARLOW, v, 402. (W., 1808.)
8788. VETERINARY COLLEGES, Util
ity. — I know nothing of the veterinary insti
tution of London * * * . I know well the Vet
erinary school of Paris, of long standing, and
saw many of its publications during my resi
dence there. They were classically written, an
nounced a want of nothing but certainty as to
their facts, which granted, the hypotheses were
learned and plausible. The coach-horses of the
rich of Paris were availed of the institution ;
but the farmers even of the neighborhood could
not afford to call a veterinary doctor to their
plough horses in the country, or to send them to
a livery stable to be attended in the city. On
the whole, I was not a convert to the utility of
the Institution. — To DR. BENJAMIN RUSH, vi,
105. (M., 1813.)
8789. . That there are certain
diseases of the human body, so distinctly pro
nounced by well-articulated symptoms, and re
curring so often, as not to be mistaken, wherein
experience has proved that certain substances
applied, will restore order, I cannot doubt.
* * * But there are also a great mass of indis
tinct diseases, presenting themselves under no
form clearly characterized, nor exactly recog
nized as having occurred before, and to which
of course, the application of no particular sub
stance can be known to have been made, nor
its effect on the case experienced. These may
be called unknown cases, and they may in time
be lessened by the progress of observation and
experiment. Observing that there are in the
construction of the animal system some means
provided unknown to us, which have a tendency
to restore order, when disturbed by accident,
called by physicians the vis medicatrix naturcc,
I think it safer to trust to this power in the
unknown cases, than to uncertain conjectures
built on the ever-changing hypothetical systems
of medicine. Now in the Veterinary department
all are unknown cases. Man can tell his physi
cian the seat of his pain, its nature, history,
and sometimes its cause, and can follow his
directions for the curative process ; but the poor
dumb horse cannot signify where his pain is,
what it :s. or when or whence it came, and re
sists all process for its cure. If in the case of
man, then, the benefit of medical interference
in such cases admits of question, what must it
be in that of the horse? And to what narrow
limits is the real importance of the veterinary
art reduced? — To DR. BENJAMIN RUSH, vi 105.
(M., 1813.)
8790. VETO, Abuse of.— He (George
III.) has endeavored to pervert the exercise
of the kingly office in Virginia into a detes-
Veto
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
906
table and insupportable tyranny, by putting
his negative on laws the most wholesome and
necessary for the public good. — PROPOSED VA.
CONSTITUTION. FORD ED., ii, 8. (June 1776.)
8791. VETO, By council.— The governor,
two councillors of State, and a judge from
each of the superior courts of chancery, com
mon law, and admiralty, shall be a council
to revise all bills which shall have passed both
houses of Assembly, in which council the gov
ernor, when present, shall preside. Every bill,
before it becomes a law, shall be represented
to this council, who shall have a right to ad
vise its rejection, returning the bill, with
their advice and reasons in writing, to the
house in which it originated, who shall pro
ceed to reconsider the said bill. But if after
such reconsideration, two-thirds of the house
shall be of opinion that the bill should pass
finally, they shall pass it and send it, with
the advice and written reasons of the said
Council of Revision, to the other house,
wherein if two-thirds also shall be of opin
ion it should pass finally, it shall thereupon
become law; otherwise it shall not. — PRO
POSED VA. CONSTITUTION, viii, 451. FORD ED.,
iii, 330. (1783.)
8792. VETO, Congressional.— The nega
tive, proposed to be given to Congress on all
the acts of the .several legislatures, is now,
for the first time, suggested to my mind.
Prima facie I do not like it. It fails in an
essential character, that the hole and the patch
should be commensurate. But this proposes
to mend a small hole by covering the whole
government. Not more than one out of one
hundred State acts concerns the Confederacy.
This proposition, then, in order to give them
one degree of power, which they ought to
have, gives them ninety-nine more which they
ought not to have, upon a presumption that
they will not exercise the ninety-nine. But
upon every act, there will be a preliminary
question, does this concern the Confederacy?
And was there ever a proposition so plain
as to pass Congress without a debate? Their
decisions are almost always wise; they are like
pure metal. But you know of how much dross
this is the result.— To JAMES MADISON, ii,
152. FORD ED., iv, 390. (P., June 1787-)
8793. VETO, Denial of.— .The Adminis
trator shall have no negative on the bills of
the Legislature.— PROPOSED VA. CONSTITU
TION. FORD ED., ii, 18. (June 1776.)
8794. VETO, Discretion in use of.— If
the pro and con for and against a bill hang so
even as to balance the President's judgment,
a just respect for the wisdom of the Legisla
ture would naturally decide the balance in
favor of their opinion. It is chiefly for cases
where they are clearly misled by error, am
bition, or interest, that the Constitution has
placed a check in the negative of the Presi
dent.— NATIONAL BANK OPINION, vii, 560.
FORD ED., v, 289. (i79i-)
8795. VETO, Effects of non-use.— The
non-user of his negative begins already to
excite a belief that no President will ever
venture to use it; and has, consequently, be
gotten a desire to raise up barriers in the
State legislatures against Congress, throw
ing off the control of the Constitution. —
OPINION ON APPORTIONMENT BILL, vii, 601.
FORD ED., v, 500. (1792.)
8796. VETO, Executive.— I like the nega
tive given [in the Federal Constitution] to
the Executive, with a third of either house;
though I should have liked it better had the
Judiciary been associated for that purpose, or
invested with a similar and separate power.*
— To JAMES MADISON, ii, 329. FORD ED., iv,
475- (P-, 1787.)
8797. VETO, First Presidential.— He
[President Washington] sent it [veto of the
Apportionment bill] to the House of Repre
sentatives. A few of the hottest friends of
the bill expressed passion but the majority
were satisfied and both in and out of doors
it gave pleasure to have at length an instance
of the negative being exercised. — THE ANAS.
ix, 115. (1792.)
8798. VETO, Inhuman. — He [George
III.] has endeavored to pervert the exercise
of the kingly office in Virginia into a detes
table and insupportable tyranny * * by
prompting our negroes to rise in arms among
us ; those very negroes whom, by an inhuman
use of his negative, he had refused us per
mission to exclude by law. — PROPOSED VA.
CONSTITUTION. FORD ED., ii, n. (June 1776.)
8799. VETO, King's.— By the Constitu
tion of Great Britain, as well as of the several
American States, his Majesty possesses the
power of refusing to pass into a law, any bill
which has already passed the other two
branches of the legislature. His Majesty,
however, and his ancestors, conscious of the
impropriety of opposing their single opinion
to the united wisdom of two houses of Par
liament, while their proceedings were un
biased by interested principles, for several
ages past have modestly declined the exer
cise of this power, in that part of his empire
called Great Britain. But by change of cir
cumstances, other principles than those of
justice simply, have obtained an influence on
their determinations. The addition of new
States to the British Empire has produced an
addition of new, and, sometimes, opposite in
terests. It is now, therefore, the great office
of his Majesty, to resume the exercise of his
negative power, and to prevent the passage of
laws by any one legislature of the Empire,
which might bear injuriously on the rights
and interests of another. Yet this will not
excuse the wanton exercise of this power,
which we have seen his Majesty practice on
the laws of the American legislatures. For
the most trifling reasons, and, sometimes for
* This extract from the Ford edition is in Jefferson's
own words. In the Congress edition, they are as fol
lows : " I like the negative given to the Executive,
conjointly with a third of either house; though I
should have liked it better had the judiciary been
associated for that purpose, or invested separately
with a similar power."— EDITOR.
t This was the first instance of the exercise of the
veto power under the Constitution. — EDITOR.
907
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Vice-presidency
no conceivable reason at all, his Majesty has
rejected laws of the most salutary tendency.
The abolition of domestic slavery is the great
object of desire* in those Colonies, where it
was, unhappily, introduced in their infant
state. But previous to the enfranchisement
of the slaves we have, it is necessary to ex
clude all further importations from Africa.
Yet our repeated attempts to effect this, by
prohibitions, and by imposing duties which
might amount to a prohibition, have been
hitherto defeated by his Majesty's negative:
Thus preferring the immediate advantages of
a few British corsairs to the lasting interests
of the American States, and to the rights of
human nature, deeply wounded by this in
famous practice. Nay, the single interposition
of an interested individual against a law was
scarcely ever known to fail of success, though,
in the opposite scale were placed the inter
ests of a whole country. This is so shame
ful an abuse of a power, trusted with his
Majesty for other purposes, as if not re
formed, would call for some legal restrictions.
— RIGHTS OF BRITISH AMERICA, i, 134. FORD
ED., i, 439. (i774.)
8800. - - . The royal negative
closed the last door [in the Virginia House
of Burgesses] to every hope of amelioration.
[Regarding Slavery.] — AUTOBIOGRAPHY, i, 3.
FORD ED., i, 5. (1821.)
8801. VETO, Prostituted.— Determined
to keep open a market where MEN should be
bought and sold, he has prostituted his nega
tive for suppressing every legislative attempt
to prohibit or to restrain this execrable com-
merce.f — DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE AS
DRAWN BY JEFFERSON.
8802. VETO, Protection by.— -The nega
tive of the President is the shield provided
by the Constitution to protect against the in
vasions of the Legislature: i. The right of
the Executive. 2. Of the Judiciary. 3. Of
the States and State Legislatures. — NATIONAL
BANK OPINION, vii, 560. FORD ED., v, 289.
8803. VETO, Qualified.— I approved,
from the first moment, of the great mass of
what is in the new Constitution; * * *
the qualified negative on laws given to the
Executive, which, however, I should have
liked better if associated with the judiciary
also, as in New York. — To F. HOPKINSON.
ii, 586. FORD ED., v, 76. (P., March 1789.)
8804. VETO, Satisfactory use.— The
negative of the President can never be used
more pleasingly to the public than in the pro
tection of the Constitution.— OPINION ON AP
PORTIONMENT BILL, vii, 601. FORD ED., v, 500.
(1792.)
* " In asserting," says Parton in his Life of Jeffer
son, "that the great object of desire in the Colonies
was the abolition of slavery, he expressed rather the
feeling of his own set, — the educated and high-minded
young Whigs of the Southern Colonies, than the
sentiments of the great body of the slaveholders.
He could boast that the first act of his own life had
been an attempt in that direction."— EDITOR.
t Struck out by Congress.— EDITOR.
8805. VETO, Suspensive.— The National
Assembly [of France] have determined that
the King shall have a suspensive and itera
tive veto ; that is, after negativing a law, it
cannot be presented again till after a new
election. If he negatives it then, it cannot
be presented a third time till after another
new election. If it be then presented, he is
obliged to pass it. This is perhaps justly
considered as a more useful negative than an
absolute one, which a King would be afraid
to use. — To JOHN JAY. iii, 115. (P., 1789.)
8806. VICE, Knowledge and.— Although
I do not, with some enthusiasts, believe that
the human condition will ever advance to such
a state of perfection as that there shall no
longer be pain or vice in the world, yet I be
lieve it susceptible of much improvement, and
most of all, in matters of government and re
ligion ; and that the diffusion of knowledge
among the people is to be the instrument by
which it is to be effected. — To DUPONT DE
NEMOURS, vi, 592. FORD ED., x, 25. (P.P.,
1816.)
8807. VICE-PRESIDENCY, Acceptance
of. — The idea that I would accept the office of
President, but not that of Vice-President of
the United States, had not its origin with me.
I never thought of questioning the free ex
ercise of the right of my fellow citizens to
marshal those whom they call into their serv
ice according to their fitness, nor ever pre
sumed that they were not the best judges of
that. Had I indulged a wish in what manner
they should dispose of me, it would precisely
have coincided with what they have done. —
To JAMES SULLIVAN, iv, 168. FORD ED., vii,
116. (M., Feb. 9, 1797. )
8808. VICE-PRESIDENCY, Candidates
for. — I presume there will not be a vote
against General Washington [for President]
in the United States. It is more doubtful
who will be Vice-President. The age of Dr.
Franklin, and the doubt whether he would
accept it, are the only circumstances that ad
mit a question, but that he would be the man.
After these two characters of first magni
tude, there are so many which present them
selves equally, on the second line, that we
cannot see which of them will be singled out.
John Adams, Hancock, Jay, Madison, Rut-
ledge, will all be voted for. — To WILLIAM
CARMICHAEL. ii, 465. (P., Aug. 1788.)
8809. VICE-PRESIDENCY, Ceremony
and. — I hope I shall be made a part of no
ceremony whatever. I shall escape into the
city as covertly as possible. If Governor
Mifflin should show any symptoms of cere
mony, pray contrive to parry them. — To JAMES
MADISON, iv, 167. FORD ED., vii, 116. (M.,
Jan. 1797.)
8810. VICE-PRESIDENCY, Duties of.
— As to duty, the Constitution will know me
only as the member of the Legislative body ;
and its principle is, that of a separation of
Legislative, Executive and Judiciary func
tions, except in cases specified. If this prin
ciple be not expressed in direct terms, it is
clearly the spirit of the Constitution and it
Vice-pregidency
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
908
ought to be so commented and acted on by
every friend of free government. — To JAMES
MADISON, iv, 161. FORD ED., vii, 108. (M.,
Jan. 1797.)
8811. VICE-PRESIDENCY, Easy and
honorable. — The second office of the* gov
ernment is honorable and easy ; the first is
but a splendid misery. — To ELBRIDGE GERRY.
iv, 171. FORD ED., vii, 120. (Pa., 1797.)
8812. VICE-PRESIDENCY, Jefferson
and. — I was not aware of any necessity of
going on to Philadelphia immediately, yet I had
determined to do it, as a mark of respect to
the public, and to do away the doubts which
have spread, that I should consider the second
office as beneath my acceptance. — To JAMES
MADISON, iv, 161. FORD ED., vii, 107. (M.,
Jan. 1797.)
8813. . I know not from what
source an idea has spread itself * * *
that I would accept the office of President of
the United States, but not of Vice-President.
When I retired from the office I last held, no
man in the Union less expected than I did
ever to have come forward again; and, what
ever has been insinuated to the contrary, to
no man in the Union was the share which
my name bore in the late contest more unex
pected than it was to me. If I had contem
plated the thing beforehand, and suffered my
will to enter into action at all on it, it would
have been in a direction exactly the reverse
of what has been imputed to me; but I had
no right to a will on the subject, much less
to control that of the people of the United
States in arranging us according to our capac
ities. Least of all could I have any feelings
which would revolt at taking a station sec
ondary to Mr. Adams. I have been sec
ondary to him in every situation in which we
ever acted together in public life for twenty
years past. A contrary position would have
been the novelty, and his the right of revolt
ing at it. Be assured, then, that if I had had
a fibre in my composition still looking after
public office, it would have been gratified pre
cisely by the very call you are pleased to an
nounce to me, and no other. — To JOHN LANG-
DON, iv, 163. FORD ED., vii, HI. (M., Jan.
I797-)
8814. . Since I am called out,
an object of great anxiety to me is that those
with whom I am to act, shutting their minds
to the unfounded abuse of which I have been
the subject, will view me with the same candor
with which I shall certainly act. — To JOHN
LANGDON. iv, 164. FORD ED., vii, 112. (M.,
Jan. 1797.)
8815. VICE-PRESIDENCY, Notifica
tion of election. — I suppose that the choice
of Vice-President has fallen on me * * *
I believe it belongs to the Senate to notify
the Vice-President of his election. I recol
lect to have heard, that on the first election
of President and Vice-President, gentlemen
of considerable office were sent to notify the
parties chosen. But this was the inauguration
*u This " government in .FORD EDITION.— EDITOR,
of our new government, and ought not to be
drawn into example. At the second election,
both gentlemen were on the spot and needed
no messengers. On the present occasion, the
President will be on the spot, so that what
is now to be done respects myself alone ; and
considering that the season of notification will
always present one difficulty, that the distance
in the present case adds a second, not incon
siderable, and which may in future happen
to be sometimes much more considerable, I
hope the Senate will adopt that method of
notification, which will always be least
troublesome and most certain. The channel
of the post is certainly the least troublesome,
is the most rapid, and, considering also that
it may be sent by duplicates and triplicates,
is unquestionably the most certain. Enclosed
to the postmaster at Charlottesville, with an
order to send it by express, no hazard can
endanger the notification. Apprehending,
that should there be a difference of opinion
on this subject in the Senate, my ideas of
self-respect might be supposed by some to re
quire something more formal and inconve
nient, I beg leave to avail myself of your
friendship to declare, if a different proposi
tion should make it necessary, that I con
sider the channel of the post-office as the most
eligible in every respect, and that it is to me
the most desirable ; which I take the liberty
of expressing, not with a view of encroach
ing on the respect due to that discretion which
the Senate have a right to exercise on the
occasion, but to render them the more free in
the exercise of it, by taking off whatsoever
weight the supposition of a contrary desire in
me might have on the mind of any member.
— To HENRY TAZEWELL. iv, 160. FORD ED.,
vii, 106. (M., Jan. 1797.)
8816. VICE-PRESIDENCY, Oath of
office. — I have turned to the Constitution and
laws, and find nothing to warrant the opinion
that I might not have been qualified here
[Monticello] or wherever else I could meet
with a Senator; any member of that body
being authorized to administer the oath, with
out being confined to time or place, and con
sequently to make a record of it, and to de
posit it with the records of the Senate. How
ever, I shall come on, on the principle which
had first determined me — respect to the pub
lic. — To JAMES MADISON, iv, 167. FORD ED.,
vii, 116. (M., 1797.)
8817. VICE-PRESIDENCY, Preference
for.— It seems possible * * * that you
may see me in Philadelphia about the be
ginning of March, exactly in that character
which, if I were to reappear at Philadelphia,
I would prefer to all others ; for I change the
sentiment of Clorinda to " L'alte temo,
I'humile non sdegno ". — To MR. VOLNEY. iv,
158. (M., Jan. 1797.)
8818. VICE-PRESIDENCY, Pride and.
— As to the second [office], it is the only office
in the world about which I am unable to de
cide in my own mind whether I had rather
have it, or not have it. Pride does not enter
into the estimate ; for I think with the
909
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Vice-presidency
Virginia
Romans that the general of to-day should be
a soldier to-morrow if necessary. I can par
ticularly have no feelings which would re
volt at a secondary position to Mr. Adams.
I am his junior in life, was his junior in Con
gress, his junior in the diplomatic line, his
junior lately in the civil government. — To
JAMES MADISON, iv, 155. FORD ED., vii, 98.
(M., Jan. 1797.)
8819. VICE-PRESIDENCY, Tranquil
and unoffending. — I thank you for your
congratulations on the public call on me to
undertake the second office in the United
States, but still more for the justice you do
me in viewing as I do the escape from the
first. I have no wish again to meddle in pub
lic affairs, being happier at home than I can
be anywhere else. Still less do I wish to
engage in an office where it would be im
possible to satisfy either friends or foes, and
least of all at a moment when the storm is
about to burst, which has been conjuring up
for four years past. If I am to act, how
ever, a more tranquil and unoffending station
could not have been found for me, nor one
so analogous to the dispositions of my mind.
It will give me philosophical evenings in the
winter, and rural days in summer. — To DR.
BENJAMIN RUSH, iv, 165. FORD EDV vii, 113.
(M., Jan. I797-)
8820. . I am so much attached
to my domestic situation, that I would not
have wished to leave it at all. However, if
I am to be called from it, the shortest ab
sences and most tranquil station suit me best.
— To JAMES SULLIVAN, iv, 168. FORD ED.,
vii, 117. (M., 1797.)
8821. VIGILANCE, Eye of.— Be not
weary of well doing. Let the eye of vigilance
never be closed. — To SPENCER ROANE. vii,
212. FORD ED., x, 189. (M., 1821.)
8822. VINCENNES, Danger from In
dians. — I have the pleasure to enclose you
the particulars of Colonel Clark's success
against Vincennes. * * * I fear it will be im
possible for Colonel Clark to be so strengthened
as to enable him to do what he desires. Indeed,
the express who brought this letter, gives us
reason to fear Vincennes is in danger from
a large body of Indians collected to attack it,
and said, when he came from Kaskaskias, to be
within thirty leagues of the place. — To GENERAL
WASHINGTON, i, 221. FORD ED., ii, 240. (Wg.,
I779-)
8823. VINCENNES, Loyalty of .—I have
ever considered them as sober, honest, and or
derly citizens, submissive to the laws, and faith
ful to the nation of which they are a part. And
should occasion arise of proving their fidelity in
the cause of their country, I count on their aid
with as perfect assurance as on that of any
other part of the United States. — To WILLIAM
M'lNTOSH. v, 242. (W., 1808.)
8824. VINDICATION, Appeal for.— I
should have retired at the end of the first
four years, but that the immense load of tory
calumnies which have been manufactured re
specting me, and have filled the European
market, have obliged me to appeal once more
to my country for justification. I have no
fear but that I shall receive honorable testi
mony by their verdict on these calumnies. At
the end of the next four years I shall cer
tainly retire. Age, inclination, and principle
all dictate this. — To PHILIP MAZZEL. iv, 553
D. L. J., 310. (July 1804.)
8825. VINDICATION, Seeking— A de
sire to leave public office, with a reputation
not more blotted than it has deserved, will
oblige me to emerge at the next session of our
Assembly and, perhaps, to accept of a seat in
it. But as I go with a single object, I shall
withdraw when that shall be accomplished. —
To EDMUND RANDOLPH, i, 313. FORD ED., iii,
50. (M., 1781.)
8826. VINE, Cultivation of.— The vine
is the parent of misery. Those who cultivate
it are always poor, and he who would employ
himself with us in the culture of corn, cotton,
&c., can procure, in exchange for them, much
more wine, and better, than he could raise by
its direct culture. — To GEORGE WYTHE. ii, 266.
FORD ED., iv, 443. (P., 1787.) See WINBB.
8827. VIRGINIA, American Revolution
— An inquiry into the exertions of Vir
ginia in the common cause during the period of
her exemption from military invasion would be
proper for the patriotic historian, because her
character has been very unjustly impeached by
the writers of other States, as having used no
equal exertions at that time. I know it to be
false; because having all that time been a
member of the Legislature, I know that our
whole occupation was ;n straining the re
sources of the State to the utmost, to furnish
men, money, provisions and other necessaries to
the common cause. The proofs of this will be
found in the journals and acts of the Legisla
ture, in executive proceedings and papers, and
in the auditor's accounts. Not that Virginia
furnished her quota of requisitions of either
men or money ; but that she was always above
par, in what was actually furnished by the other
States. — To SKELTON JONES, v, 461. (M., 1809.)
8828. VIRGINIA, British invasion.—
On the 3ist of December, a letter from a pri
vate gentleman to General Nelson came to my
hands, notifying, that in the morning of the pre
ceding day, twenty-seven sail of vessels had
entered the capes ; and from the tenor of the
letter we had reason to expect, within a few
hours, further intelligence ; whether they were
friends or foes, their force and other circum
stances. We immediately dispatched General
Nelson to the lower country, with powers to call
on the militia in that quarter, or to act other
wise as exigencies should require ; but waited
further intelligence before we would call for
militia from the middle or upper country. No
further intelligence came unt;l the 2d instant,
when the former was confirmed ; it was ascer
tained they had advanced up James River in
Warrasqueak bay. All arrangements were im
mediately taken for calling in a sufficient body
of militia for opposition. In the night of the
3d, we received advice that they were at anchor
opposite Jamestown. We then supposed Will-
iamsburg to be their object. The wind, how
ever, which had hitherto been unfavorable,
shifted fair, and the tide being also in their
favor, they ascended the river to Kennon's that
evening and, with the next tide, came up to
Westover, having on their way taken possession
of some works we had at Hood's by which two
or three of their vessels received some damage
but which were of necessity abandoned by the
Virginia
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
910
small garrison of fifty men placed there, on
the enemy's landing to invest the works. In
telligence of their having quitted the station
at Jamestown, from which we supposed they
meant to land for Williamsburg, and of their
having got in the evening to Kennon's, reached
us the next morning at five o'clock, and was the
first indication of their meaning to penetrate
towards this place (Richmond) or Petersburg.
As the orders for drawing militia here had been
given but two days, no opposition was in readi
ness. Every effort was therefore necessary, to
withdraw the arms and other military stores,
records, &c., from this place. Every effort was,
accordingly, exerted to convey them to the
foundry five miles, and to a laboratory six
miles, above this place, till about sunset of that
day, when we learned the enemy had come to an
anchor at Westover that morning. We then
knew that this, and not Petersburg was their
object, and began to carry across the river
everything remaining here, and to remove what
had been transported to the foundry and labora
tory to Westham, the nearest crossing, seven
miles above this place, which operation was
continued till they had approached very near.
They marched from Westover at two o'clock in
the afternoon of the 4th, and entered Rich
mond at one o'clock in the afternoon of the 5th.
A regiment of infantry and about thirty horse
continued on, without halting, to the foundry.
They burned that, the boring mill, the magazine
and two other houses, and proceeded to West-
ham ; but nothing being in their power there,
they retired to Richmond. The next morning,
they burned some buildings of public and pri
vate property, with what stores remained in
them, destroyed a great quantity of private
stores and, about twelve o'clock, retired towards
Westover, where they encamped within the neck
the next day. The loss sustained is not yet
accurately known. As far as I have been able
to discover, it consisted, at this place, of about
three hundred muskets, some soldiers' clothing
to a small amount, some quartermaster's stores,
of which one hundred and twenty sides of
leather was the principal article, part of the
artificer's tools, and three wagons. Besides
which, five brass four pounders which we had
sunk in the river, were discovered to them,
raised and carried off. At the foundry we lost
the greater part of the papers belonging to the
Auditor's office, and of the books and papers
of the Council office. About five or six tons
of powder, as we conjecture, was thrown into
the canal, of which there will be a considerable
saving by remanufacturing it. The roof of the
foundry was burned, but the stacks of chim
neys and furnaces not at all injured. The bor
ing mill was consumed. Within less than forty-
eight hours from the time of their landing, and
nineteen from our knowing their destination,
they had penetrated thirty-three miles, done the
whole injury, and retired. — To GENERAL WASH
INGTON, i, 282. FORD ED., ii, 405. (M., 1809.)
8829. . Their numbers, from the
best intelligence I have had, are about fifteen
hundred infantry ; and, as to their cavalry, ac
counts vary from fifty to one hundred and
twenty ; the whole commanded by the parricide
Arnold. Our militia, dispersed over a large
tract of country, can be called in but slowly.
On the day the enemy advanced to this place,
two hundred only were embodied. They were
of this town and its neighborhood and were
too few to do anything. At this time they are
assembled in pretty considerable numbers on
the south side of James River, but are not yet
brought to a point. On the north side are two
or three small bodies, amounting in the whole,
to about nine hundred men. The enemy were,
at four o'clock yesterday evening, still remain
ing in their encampment at Westover and
Berkeley Neck. In the meanwhile, Baron Steu-
ben, a zealous friend, has descended from the
dignity of his proper command to direct our
smallest movements. His vigilance has in a
great measure supplied the want of force in pre
venting the enemy from crossing the river,
which might have been very fatal. He has been
assiduously employed in preparing equipments
for the militia as they should assemble, point
ing them to a proper object, and other offices of
a good commander. Should they loiter a little
longer, and he be able to have a sufficient force,
I still flatter myself they will not escape with
total impunity. To what place they will point
their next exertions, we cannot even conjecture.
The whole country on the tide waters and
some distance from them is equally open to
similar insult. — To GENERAL WASHINGTON, i,
284. FORD ED., ii, 408. (January 1781.)
8830. VIRGINIA, Conventions in.—
These were at first chosen anew for every par
ticular session. But in March, 1775, they rec
ommended to the people to choose a convention
which should continue in office a year. This
was done, accordingly, in April, 1775, and in
July following that convention passed an ordi
nance for the election of delegates in the month
of April annually. It is well known, that in
July, 1775, a separation from Great Britain and
establishment of republican government, had
never yet entered into any person's mind. A
convention, therefore, chosen under that ordi
nance, cannot be said to have been chosen for
the purposes which certainly did not exist in
the minds of those who passed it. Under this
ordinance, at the annual election in April, 1776.
a convention for the year was chosen. Inde
pendence, and the establishment of a new form
of government, were not even the objects of the
people at large. One extract from the pamphlet
called Common Sense had appeared in the
Virginia papers in February, and copies of the
pamphlet itself had got in a few hands. But the
idea had not been opened to the mass of the
people in April, much less can it be said that
they had made up their minds in its favor. So
that the electors of April, 1776, no more than
the legslators of July, 1775, not thinking of
independence and a permanent republic, could
not mean to vest in these delegates powers of
establishing them, or any authorities other than
those of the ordinary legislature. So far as a
temporary organization of government was
necessary to render our opposition energetic,
so far their organization was valid. But they
received in their creation no powers but what
were given to every legislature before and since.
They could not, therefore, pass an act tran
scendent to the powers of other legislatures. —
NOTES ON VIRGINIA, viii, 363. FORD ED., iii, 225.
(1782.) See VIRGINIA CONSTITUTION, REPEAL-
ABILITY.
8831. VIRGINIA, Division of counties.
— In what terms reconcilable to Majesty, and
at the same time to truth, shall we speak of a
late instruction to the Governor of the Colony
of Virginia, by which he is forbidden to assent
to any law for the division of a county, unless
the new county will consent to have no repre
sentative in Assembly? That Colony has as yet
affixed no boundary to the westward. Their
western counties, therefore, are of an indefinite
extent. Some of them are actually seated
many hundred miles from their eastern limits.
Is it possible, then, that his Majesty can have
bestowed a single thought on the situation of
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Virginia
Virginia Constitution
those people, who, in order to obtain justice for
injuries, however great or small, must, by the
laws of that Colony, attend their county court.
at such a distance, with all their witnesses,
monthly, till their litigation be determined ? —
RIGHTS OF BRITISH AMERICA, i, 136. FORD ED.,
i, 441. (I774-)
8832. VIRGINIA, Love for.— My native
State is endeared to me by every tie which can
attach the human heart. — R. TO A. VIRGINIA
ASSEMBLY, viii, 148. (1809.)
8833. VIRGINIA, Political opposition
in.— Better that any one [of the other States]
take the lead [against consolidation] than Vir
ginia, where opposition is considered as com
monplace, and a mere matter of form and habit.
—To C. W. GOOCH. vii, 430. (M., 1826.)
8834. VIRGINIA CONSTITUTION,
Amendments to.— That it is really important
to provide a constitution for our State can
not be doubted; as little can it be doubted
that the ordinance called by that name has im
portant defects. But before we attempt it,
we should endeavor to be as certain as is
practicable that in the attempt we should not
make bad worse. I have understood that Mr.
Henry has always been opposed to this under
taking; and I confess that I consider his
talents and influence such as that, were it
decided that we should call a convention for
the purpose of amending, I should fear he
might induce that convention either to fix
the thing as at present, or change it for the
worse. Would it not, therefore, be well that
means should be adopted for coming at his
ideas of the changes he would agree to, and
for communicating to him those which we
should propose? Perhaps he might find ours
not so distant from his, but that some mutual
sacrifices might bring them together. I shall
hazard my own ideas to you as hastily as my
business obliges me. I wish to preserve the
line drawn by the Federal Constitution be
tween the General and particular governments
as it stands at present, and to take every pru
dent means of preventing either from stepping
over it. Though the experiment has not yet
had a long enough course to show us from
which quarter encroachments are most to be
feared, yet it is easy to foresee, from the nature
of things, that the encroachments of the
State governments will tend to an excess of
liberty which will correct itself (as in the late
instance), while those of the General Gov
ernment will tend to monarchy, which will
fortify itself from day to day, instead of
working its own cure, as all experience shows.
I would rather be exposed to the inconve
niences attending too much liberty than those
attending too small a degree of it. Then it is
important to strengthen the State govern
ments; and as this cannot be done by any
change in the Federal Constitution (for the
preservation of that is all we need contend
for), it must be done by the States them
selves, erecting such barriers at the consti
tutional line as cannot be surmounted either
by themselves or by the General Government.
The only barrier in their power is a wise gov
ernment. A weak one will lose ground in
every contest. To obtain a wise and an able
government, I consider the following changes
as important. Render the Legislature a de
sirable station by lessening the number of rep
resentatives (say to 100) and lengthening
somewhat their term, and proportion them
equally among the electors; adopt, also, a
better mode of appointing senators. Render
the Executive a more desirable post to men
of abilities by making it more independent
of the Legislature; to wit, let him be chosen
by other electors, for a longer time, and in
eligible forever after. Responsibility is a
tremendous engine in a free government.
Let him feel the whole weight of it then, by
taking away the shelter of his executive
council. Experience both ways has already
established the superiority of this measure.
Render the Judiciary respectable by every
possible means, to wit, firm tenure in office,
competent salaries, and reduction of their
numbers. Men of high learning and abilities
are few in every country; and by taking in
those who are not so, the able part of the
body have their hands tied by the unable.
This branch of the government will have the
weight of the conflict on their hands, because
they will be the last appeal of reason. These
are my general ideas of amendments; but,
preserving the ends, I should be flexible and
conciliatory as to the means. — To ARCHIBALD
STUART, iii, 314. FORD ED., v, 408. (Pa.,
Dec. 1791.)
8835. VIRGINIA CONSTITUTION,
Bill of rights. — The fact is unquestionable
that the Bill of Rights, and the Constitution
of Virginia, were originally drawn by George
Mason, one of our really great men, and of
the first order of greatness. — To AUGUSTUS
B. WOODWARD, vii, 405. FORD ED., x, 341.
(M, 1825.)
8836. VIRGINIA CONSTITUTION,
Equal rights and.— The basis of our [Vir
ginia] Constitution is in opposition to the
principle of equal political rights, refusing to
all but freeholders any participation in the
natural right of self-government. It is be
lieved, for example, that a very great majority
of the militia, on whom the burthen of
military duty was imposed in the late war,
were unrepresented in the legislature, which
imposed this burthen on them. However na
ture may by mental or physical disqualifi
cations have marked infants and the weaker
sex for the protection, rather than the direc
tion of government, yet among the men who
either pay or fight for their country, no line
of right can be drawn. The exclusion of a
majority of our freemen from the right of
representation is merely arbitrary, and an
usurpation of the minority over the majority;
for it is believed that the non-freeholders
compose the majority of our free and adult
male citizens. And even among our citizens
who participate in the representative privi
lege, the equality of political right is entirely
prostrated by our constitution. Upon which
principle of right or reason can any one jus
tify the giving to every citizen of Warwick
as much weight in the government as to
Virginia constitution THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
912
twenty-two equal citizens in Loudon and
similar inequalities among the other coun
ties? If these fundamental principles are of
no importance in actual government, then no
principles are important. — To JOHN HAMBDEN
PLEASANTS. vii, 345. FORD ED., x, 303. (M.,
1824.)
8837. VIRGINIA CONSTITUTION,
Improvements on.— The other States, who
successively formed constitutions for them
selves also, had the benefit of our (Virgin
ia's) outline, and have made on it, doubtless,
successive improvements. One in the very
outset, and which has been adopted in every
subsequent constitution, was to lay its foun
dation in the authority of the nation. To our
convention no special authority had been del
egated by the people to form a permanent
Constitution, over which their successors in
legislation should have no powers of altera
tion. They had been elected for the ordinary
purposes of legislation only, and at a time
when the establishment of a new government
had not been proposed or contemplated. Al
though, therefore, they gave to this act the
title of a Constitution, yet it could be no more
than an act of legislation subject, as their
other acts were, to alteration by their suc
cessors. It has been said, indeed, that the
acquiescence of the people supplied the want
of original power. But it is a dangerous les
son to say to them, " whenever your function
aries exercise unlawful authority over you, if
you do not go into actual resistance, it will
be deemed acquiescence and confirmation ".
How long had we acquiesced under usurpa
tions of the British parliament?' Had that
confirmed them in right, and made our
revolution a wrong? Besides, no authority
has yet decided whether this resistance must
be instantaneous; when the right to resist
ceases, or whether it has yet ceased? Of
the twenty-four States now organized,
twenty-three have disapproved our doctrine
and example, and have deemed the author
ity of their people a necessary foundation for
a constitution. — To JOHN HAMBDEN PLEAS-
ANTS, vii, 344. FORD ED., x, 302. (M., April
1824.)
8838. VIRGINIA CONSTITUTION,
Preamble to. — The history of the Preamble
to the [first] Constitution of Virginia is this :
I was then at Philadelphia with Congress ;
and knowing that the convention of Virginia
was engaged in forming a plan of govern
ment, I turned my mind to the same subject,
and drew a sketch or outline of a Constitu
tion, with a preamble, which I sent to Mr.
Pendleton, president of the convention, on
the mere possibility that it might suggest
something worth incorporation into that be
fore the convention. He informed me after
wards by letter, that he received it on the day
on which the committee of the whole had re
ported to the house the plan they had agreed
to; that that had been so long in hand, so
disputed inch by inch, and the subject of so
much altercation and debate; that they were
worried with the contention it had produced,
and could not from mere lassitude, have been
induced to open the instrument again ; but that,
being pleased with the preamble to mine, they
adopted it in the house, by way of amendment
to the report of the committee; and thus my
preamble became tacked to the work of
George Mason. The Constitution, with the
preamble, was passed on the 2Qth of June,
and the Committee of Congress had only the
day before that reported to that body the
draught of the Declaration of Independence.
The fact is, that that preamble was prior in
composition to the Declaration ; and both hav
ing the same object, of justifying our separa
tion from Great Britain, they used necessarily
the same materials of justification, and hence
their similitude. — To A. B. WOODWARD, vii,
405. FORD EDV x, 341. (M., 1825.)
8839. VIRGINIA CONSTITUTION,
Repealability of.— If the present Assembly
pass an act, and declare it shall be irrevo
cable by subsequent assemblies, the declaration
is merely void, and the act repealable, as other
acts are. So far, and no farther authorized,
they [the first Virginia convention] organ
ized the government by the ordinance en
titled a Constitution or form of government.
It pretends to no higher authority than the
other ordinances of the same session ; it does
not say that it shall be perpetual; that it
shall be unalterable by other legislatures ; that
it shall be transcendent above the powers of
those who they knew would have equal power
with themselves. Not only the silence of the
instrument is a proof they thought it would
be alterable, but their own practice also ; for
this very convention, meeting as a House of
Delegates in General Assembly with the Sen
ate in the autumn of that year, passed acts of
assembly in contradiction to their ordinance
of government ; and every assembly from that
time to this has done the same. I am safe,
therefore, in the position that the Constitution
itself is alterable by the ordinary legislature.
Though this opinion seems founded on the
first elements of common sense, yet is the
contrary maintained by some persons. First,
because, say they, the conventions were vested
with every power necessary to make effectual
opposition to Great Britain. But to com
plete this argument, they must go on, and say
further, that effectual opposition could not
be made to Great Britain without establish
ing a form of government perpetual and un
alterable by the Legislature; which is not
true. An opposition which at some time or
other was to come to an end, could not need
a perpetual constitution to carry it on; and a
government amendable as its defects should
be discovered, was as likely to make effectual
resistance, as one that should be unalterably
wrong. Besides, the assemblies were as much
vested with all powers requisite for resistance
as the Conventions were. If, therefore, these
powers included that of modelling the form
of government in the one case, they did so
in the other. The assemblies then as well as
the conventions may model the government;
that is, they may alter the ordinance of gov
ernment. Second, they urge, that if the con
vention had meant that this instrument should
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA Virginia Constitution
be alterable, as their other ordinances were,
they would have called it an ordinance; but
they have called it a constitution, which,
ex vi termini, means " an act above the power
of the ordinary legislature." I answer that
constitutio, constitutum, statutum, lex, are
convertible terms. * * * Thirdly. But, say
they, the people have acquiesced, and this
has given it an authority superior to the laws.
It is true that the people did not rebel against
it ; and was that a time for the people to rise
in rebellion? Should a prudent acquiescence,
at a critical time, be construed into a con
firmation of every illegal thing done during
that period? Besides, why should they rebel?
At an annual election they had chosen dele
gates for the year, to exercise the ordinary
powers of legislation, and to manage the
great contest in which they were engaged.
These delegates thought the contest would be
best managed by an organized government.
They, therefore, among others, passed an or
dinance of government. They did not pre
sume to call it perpetual and unalterable.
They well knew they had no power to make
it so; that our choice of them had been for
no such purpose, and at a time when we could
have no such purpose in contemplation. Had
an unalterable form of government been med
itated, perhaps we should have chosen a dif
ferent set of people. There was no cause,
then, for the people to rise in rebellion. But
to what dangerous lengths will this argu
ment lead ? Did the acquiescence of the Colo
nies under the various acts of power exercised
by Great Britain in our infant state, confirm
these acts, and so far invest them with the
authority of the people as to render them un
alterable, and our present resistance wrong?
On every unauthoritative exercise of power
by the legislature must the people rise in re
bellion, or their silence be construed into a
surrender of that power to them? If so,
how many rebellions should we have had
already? One certainly for every session of
assembly. The other States in the Union have
been of opinion that to render a form of gov
ernment unalterable by ordinary acts of As
sembly, the people must delegate persons with
special powers. They have accordingly
chosen special conventions to form and fix
their governments. The individuals then who
maintain the contrary opinion in this coun
try, should have the modesty to suppose it
possible that they may be wrong, and the rest
of America right. But if there be only a
possibility of their being wrong, if only a
plausible doubt remains of the validity of the
ordinance of government, is it not better to
remove that doubt by placing it on a bottom
which none will dispute? If they be right we
shall only have the unnecessary trouble of
meeting once in convention. If they be wrong,
they expose us to the hazard of having no
fundamental rights at all. True it is, this is
no time for deliberating on forms of govern
ment. While an enemy is within onr bowels,
the first object is to expel him. But when
this shall be done, when peace shall be estab
lished, and leisure given us for intrenching
within good forms the rights for which we
have bled, let no man be found indolent
enough to decline a little more trouble for
placing them beyond the reach of question.
— NOTES ON VIRGINIA, viii, 364. FORD ED.,
iii, 226. (1782.) See VIRGINIA, CONVEN
TIONS.
8840. VIRGINIA CONSTITUTION,
Representation under.— The first Constitu
tion [of Virginia] was formed when we were
new and inexperienced in the science of gov
ernment. It was the first, too, which was
formed in the whole United States. No
wonder, then, that time and trial have dis
covered very capital defects in it. The ma
jority of the men in the State, who pay and
fight for its support, are unrepresented in the
Legislature, the roll of freeholders entitled to
vote, not including generally the half of those
on the roll of the militia, or of the tax-
gatherers. Among those who share the rep
resentation, the shares are very unequal.
Thus the county of Warwick, with only one
hundred fighting men, has an equal represen
tation with the county of Loudon, which has
one thousand seven hundred and forty-six.
So that every man in Warwick has as much
influence as seventeen men in Loudon. — NOTES
ON VIRGINIA, viii, 359. FORD ED., iii, 222.
(1782.)
8841. VIRGINIA CONSTITUTION,
Republican heresies in.— Inequality of rep
resentation in both houses of our Legislature,
is not the only republican heresy in this first
essay of our revolutionary patriots at forming
a constitution. For let it IDC agreed that a
government is republican in proportion as
every member composing it has his equal
voice in the direction of its concerns (not
indeed in person, which would be imprac
ticable beyond the limits of a city, or a small
township, but) by representatives chosen by
himself, and responsible to him at short pe
riods, and let us bring to the test of this canon
every branch of our Constitution. In the
Legislature, the House of Representatives is
chosen by less than half the people, and not
at all in proportion to those who do choose.
The Senate are still more disproportionate,
and for long terms of irresponsibility. In the
Executive, the Governor is entirely independ
ent of the choice of the people, and of their
control ; his Council equally so, and at best
but a fifth wheel to a wagon. In the Judi
ciary, the judges of the highest courts are de
pendent on none but themselves. In England,
where judges were named and removable at
the will of an hereditary executive, from
which branch most misrule was feared, and
has flowed, it was a great point gained, by
fixing them for life, to make them independ
ent of that executive. But in a government
founded on the public will, this principle
operates in an onoosite direction, and against
that will. There, too, they are still removable
on a concurrence of the executive and legis
lative branches. But we have made them in
dependent of the nation itself. They are irre
movable, but by their own body, for any de-
Virginia Constitution
Virtue
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
914
pravities of conduct, and even by their own
body for the imbecilities of dotage. The jus
tices of the inferior courts are self-chosen,
are for life, and perpetuate their own body in
succession forever, so that a faction once
possessing themselves of the bench of a
county, can never be broken up, but hold
their county in chains, forever indissoluble.
Yet these justices are the real executive as
well as judiciary, in all our minor and most
ordinary concerns. They tax us at will ; fill
the office of sheriff, the most important of all
the executive officers of the county ; name
nearly all our military leaders, which leaders,
once named, are removable but by themselves.
The juries, our judges of all fact, and of law
when they choose it, are not selected by the
people, nor amenable to them. They are
chosen by an officer named by the court and
executive. Chosen, did I say? Picked up bv
the sheriff from the loungers of the court
yard, after everything respectable has retired
from it. Where, then, is our republicanism to
be found? Not in our Constitution certainly,
but merely in the spirit of our people. That
would oblige even a despot to govern us re-
publicanly. Owing to this spirit, and to noth
ing in the form of our Constitution, all things
have gone well. But this fact, so trium
phantly misquoted by the enemies of reforma
tion, is not the, fruit of our Constitution, but
has prevailed in spite of it. Our functionaries
have done well, because generally honest men.
If any were not so, they feared to show it.
— To SAMUEL KERCHIVAL. vii, 10. FORD
ED., x, 38. (M., 1816.)
8842. VIRGINIA CONSTITUTION,
Revision of. — Let us [Virginia] provide in
our Constitution for its revision at stated pe
riods. What these periods should be, nature
herself indicates. By the European tables of
mortality, of the adults living at any one mo
ment of time, a majority will be dead in about
nineteen years. At the end of that period,
then, a new majority is come into place; or,
in other words, a new generation. Each gen
eration is as independent of the one preced
ing, as that was of all which had gone before.
It has, then, like them, a right to choose for
itself the form of government it believes
most promotive of its own happiness ; con
sequently, to accommodate to the circum
stances in which it finds itself, that re
ceived from its predecessors ; and it is for
the peace and good of mankind, that a solemn
opportunity of doing this every nineteen or
twenty years, should be provided by the con
stitution ; so that it may be handed on, with
periodical repairs, from generation to genera
tion, to the end of time, if anything human
can so long endure. — To SAMUEL KERCHIVAL.
vii, 15. FORD ED., x, 42. (M., 1816.)
8843. VIRGINIA CONSTITUTION,
War power. — The power of declaring war
and concluding peace, of contracting alliances,_
of issuing letters of marque and reprisal, of
raising and introducing armed forces, of
building armed vessels, forts, or strongholds,
of coining money or regulating its value, of
regulating weights and measures, we leave to
be exercised under the authority of the Con
federation ; but in all cases respecting them
which are out of the said Confederation, they
shall be exercised by the Governor, under
the regulation of such laws as the Legislature
may think it expedient to pass.— PROPOSED
CONSTITUTION FOR VIRGINIA, viii, 446. FORD
ED.,iii, 326. (1783.)
8844. VIRTUE, Agriculture and.— I
think our governments will remain virtuous
for many centuries ; as long as they are chiefly
agricultural ; and this will be as long as there
shall be vacant lands in any part of America.*
— To JAMES MADISON. FORD ED., iv, 479
(P., Dec. 1787.)
8845. -- . That there is much vice
and misery in the world, I know; but more
virtue and happiness I believe, at least in our
part of it; the latter being the lot of those
employed in agriculture in a greater degree
than of other callings. — To ABBE SALIMANKIS.
v, 516. (M., 1810.)
8846. VIRTUE, Ambition and.— It is a
sublime truth that a bold, unequivocal virtue
is the best handmaid even to ambition. — To
JOHN JAY. iii, 52. (P., 1789.)
8847. VIRTUE, Aristocracy of.— Nature
has wisely provided an aristocracy of virtue
and talent for the direction of the interests
of society, and scattered it with equal hand
through all its conditions. — AUTOBIOGRAPHY.
i, 36. FORD ED., i, 49. (1821.)
8848. VIRTUE, Essence of.— Virtue
does not consist in the act we do, but in the
end it is to effect. If it is to effect the hap
piness of him to whom it is directed, it is
virtuous, while in a society under different
circumstances and opinions, the same act
might produce pain, and would be vicious.
The essence of virtue is in doing good to
others, while what is good may be one thing
in one society, and its contrary in another. —
To JOHN ADAMS, vii, 40. (M., 1816.)
8849. VIRTUE, Happiness and.— With
out virtue, happiness cannot be. — To AMOS J.
COOK, vi, 532. (M., 1816.)
8850. VIRTUE, Interest and.— Virtue
and interest are inseparable. — To GEORGE
LOGAN. FORD ED., x, 69. (P.F., 1816.)
8851. VIRTUE, Not hereditary.— Vir
tue is not hereditary.— To WILLIAM JOHNSON.
vii, 291. FORD ED., x, 227. (M., 1823.)
8852. VIRTUE, Practice of.— Encourage
all your virtuous dispositions, and exercise
them whenever an opportunity arises; being
assured that they will gain in strength by ex
ercise, as a limb of the body does, and that
exercise will make them habitual. From the
practice of the purest virtue, you may be as
sured you will derive the most sublime
* In the Congress edition, Vol. 2, p. 332, this
extract has been u edited " so as to read : " I think
we shall be so [virtuous] as long as agriculture is
our principal object, which will be the case, while
there remain vacant lands in any part of America.*
—EDITOR.
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Virtue
War
forts in every moment of life, and in the mo
ment of death. — To PETER CARR. i, 396. (P.,
1785.)
8853. VIRTUE, Principles of.— Every
thing is useful which contributes to fix in the
principles and practices of virtue. When any
original act of charity or of gratitude, for
instance, is presented either to our sight or
imagination, we are deeply impressed with its
beauty, and feel a strong desire in ourselves
of doing charitable and grateful acts also. —
To ROBERT SKIPWITH. FORD ED., i, 396. (M.,
1771.)
8854. VIRTUE, Public office and.— For
promoting the public happiness, those persons,
whom nature has endowed with genius and
virtue, should be rendered by liberal education
worthy to receive, and able to guard the sa
cred deposit of the rights and liberties of their
fellow citizens; and they should be called
to that charge without regard to wealth,
birth or other accidental condition or circum
stance. — DIFFUSION OF KNOWLEDGE BILL.
FORD ED., ii, 221. (1779.)
- VISION.— See OPTICS.
8855. VOLNEY (Comte de), Alien law
and. — Volney has in truth been the principal
object aimed at by the [Alien] law. — To JAMES
MADISON, iv, 239. FORD ED., vii, 248. (Pa.,
May 1798.) See ALIEN AND SEDITION LAWS.
8856. VOLNEY (Comte de), Opposed to
war. — Volney and a shipload of French sail
[soon]. * * * It is natural to expect they go
under irritations calculated to fan the flame.
Not so Volney. He is most thoroughly im
pressed with the importance of preventing war,
whether considered with reference to the in
terests of the two countries, of the cause of re
publicanism, or of man on the broad scale. — To
JAMES MADISON, iv, 245. FORD EDV vii, 262.
(Pa., May 1798.)
8857. VOLUNTEERS, Organizing.— I
have encouraged the acceptance of volunteers,
* * * [who] have offered themselves with
great alacrity in every part of the Union.*
They are ordered to be organized * * * . —
SEVENTH ANNUAL MESSAGE, viii, 87. FORD ED.,
ix, 162. (Oct. 1807.) See ARMY and MILITIA.
8858. VOTES, Traffic in.— I believe we
may lessen the danger of buying and selling
votes, by making the number of voters too
great for any means of purchase. — To JERE
MIAH MOOR. FORD ED., vii, 454. (M., Aug.
1800.)
8859. VOTING, Courtesy to age.— Older
electors presenting themselves should be re
ceived to vote before the younger ones, and
the Legislature shall provide for the secure
and convenient claim and exercise of this
privilege of age. — NOTES FOR A CONSTITUTION
FOR VIRGINIA. FORD ED., vi, 521. (1794.)
8860. VOTING, Viva voce.— All free
male citizens of full age and sane mind * * *
shall have a right to vote for delegates. * * *
They shall give their votes personally, and
viva voce. — PROPOSED VIRGINIA CONSTITU
TION, viii, 444. FORD ED., iii, 323. (1783.)
* To oppose Burr's treason.— EDITOR.
8861. WABASH PROPHET, Preten
sions of.— The Wabash Prophet is more
rogue than fool, if to be a rogue is not the
greatest of all follies. He arose to notice
while I was in the administration, and became,
of course, a proper subject of inquiry for me.
* * * His declared object was the reforma
tion of his red brethren, and their return to
their pristine manner of living. He pretended
to be in constant communication with the
Great Spirit ; that he was instructed by Him
to make known to the Indians that they were
created by Him distinct from the whites, of
different natures, for different purposes, and
placed under different circumstances, adapted
to their nature and destinies ; that they must
return from all the ways of the whites to the
habits and opinions of their forefathers ; they
must not eat the flesh of hogs, of bullocks, of
sheep, &c., the deer and buffalo having been
created for their food ; they must not make
bread of wheat but of Indian corn ; they must
not wear linen nor woollen, but dress like their
fathers in the skins and furs of animals ; they
must not drink ardent spirits, and I do not re
member whether he extended his inhibitions to
the gun and gunpowder, in favor of the bow and
arrow. I concluded from all this that he was
a visionary, enveloped in the clouds of their
antiquities, and vainly endeavoring to lead back
his brethren to the fancied beatitudes of their
golden age. I thought there was little danger
of his making many proselytes from the habits
and comfort they had learned from the whites,
to the habits and privations of savageism, and
no great harm if he did. We let him go
on, therefore, unmolested. But his followers
increased till the English thought him worth
corruption and found him corruptible. I sup
pose his views were then changed ; but his pro
ceedings in consequence of them were after I
left the administration, and are, therefore, un
known to me. — To JOHN ADAMS, vi, 49. FORD
ED., ix, 346. (M., 1812.)
8862. WALSH (Robert), English critics
and. — The malevolence and impertinence of
Great Britain's critics and writers really called
for the rod, and I rejoiced when I heard it was
in hands so able to wield it with strength and
correctness. Your work will furnish the first
volume of every future American history ; the
Anti-Revolutionary part especially. — To ROBERT
WALSH. FORD ED., x, 155. (M., 1820.)
8863. . After the severe chas
tisement given by Mr. Walsh in his American
Register to English Scribblers, which they well
deserved and I was delighted to see, I hoped
there would be an end of this inter-crimination,
and that both parties would prefer the course
of courtesy and conciliation, and I think their
considerate writers have since shown that dis
position, and that it would prevail if equally cul
tivated by us. — To C. J. INGERSOLL. FORD ED.,
x, 325. (M., 1824.)
8864. WAR, Abhorrent.— I abhor war
and view it as the greatest scourge of man
kind. — To ELBRIDGE GERRY, iv, 173. FORD
ED., vii, 122. (Pa., 1797.)
8865. WAR, America and.— The insu
lated state in which nature has placed the
American continent should so far avail it that
no spark of war kindled in the other quarters
of the globe should be wafted across the wide
oceans which separate us from them. — To
BARON HUMBOLDT. vi, 268. FORD ED., ix, 431.
(M., 1813.)
War
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
916
8866. WAB, Americans in. — Whenever
an appeal to force shall take place, I feel a
perfect confidence that the energy and enter
prise displayed by my fellow citizens in the
pursuits of peace, will be equally eminent in
those of war. — To GENERAL SHEE. v, 33.
(W., 1807.)
8867. WAR, Avoidance of. — To remove
as much as possible the occasions of making
war, it might be better for us to abandon the
ocean altogether, that being the element
whereon we shall be principally exposed to
jostle with other nations; to leave to others
to bring what we shall want, and to carry
what we can spare. This would make us
invulnerable to Europe, by offering none of
our property to their prize, and would turn
all our citizens to the cultivation of the earth.
It might be time enough to seek employment
for them at sea, when the land no longer
offers it. — NOTES ON VIRGINIA, viii, 413.
FORD ED., iii, 279. (1782.)
8868. . How much better is it
for neighbors to help than to hurt one an
other ; how much happier must it make them.
If you will cease to make war on one another,
if you will live in friendship with all mankind,
you can employ all your time in providing
food and clothing for yourselves and your
families. Your ;men will not be destroyed in
war, your women and children will lie down
to sleep in their cabins without fear of being
surprised by their enemies and killed or car
ried away. Your numbers will be increased
instead of diminished, and you will live in
plenty and in quiet. — ADDRESS TO MANDAR
NATION, viii, 201. (1806.)
8869. . To cherish and maintain
the rights and liberties of our citizens, and
to ward from them the burthens, the miseries,
and the crimes of war, by a just and friendly
conduct towards all nations * * * [are]
among the most obvious and important duties
of those to whom the management of their
public interests * * * [are] confided. —
REPLY TO BAPTIST ADDRESS. viii, 119.
(1807.)
8870. . It is much to be desired
that war may be avoided, if circumstances will
admit. Nor in the present maniac state of
Europe, should I estimate the point of honor
by the ordinary scale. I believe we shall on
the contrary, have credit with the world, for
having made the avoidance of being engaged
in the present unexampled war, our first ob
ject. — To PRESIDENT MADISON, v, 438. (M.,
March 1809.)
8871. WAB, Bankruptcy and.— Bank
ruptcy is a terrible foundation to begin a
war on against the conquerors of the universe.
— To JAMES MONROE. FORD ED., vii, 241.
(Pa., 1798.)
8872. WAB, Bribery vs.— I hope we shall
drub the Indians well this summer, and then
change our plan from war to bribery. We
must do as the Spaniards and English do,
keep them in peace by liberal and constant
presents. They find it the cheapest plan, and
so shall we. The expense of this summer's
expedition would have served for presents for
half a century. In this way, hostilities being
suspended for some length of time, a real
affection may succeed on our frontiers to that
hatred now existing there. Another power
ful motive is that in this way we may leave
no pretext for raising or continuing an army.
Every rag of an Indian depredation will,
otherwise, serve as a ground to raise troops
with those who think a standing army and a
public debt necessary for the happiness of the
United States, and we shall never be per
mitted to get rid of either. — To JAMES MON
ROE. FORD ED., v, 319. (Pa., 1791.)
8873. . I hope we shall give the
Indians a good drubbing this summer, and
then change our tomahawk into a golden
chain of friendship. The most economical as
well as the most humane conduct towards
them is to bribe them into peace, and to re
tain them in peace by eternal bribes. The
expedition this year would have served for
presents on the most liberal scale for one
hundred years ; nor shall we otherwise ever
get rid of an army, or of our debt. The least
rag of Indian depredation will be an excuse
to raise troops for those who love to have
troops, and for those who think that a public
debt is a good thing.— To CHARLES CARROLL.
iii, 246. (Pa., 1791.)
8874. WAB, Commerce and.— This ex
uberant commerce * * * brings us into
collision with other powers in every sea, and
will force us into every war of the European
powers. — To BENJAMIN STODDERT. v, 426.
FORD ED., ix, 245. (W., 1809.)
8875. WAB, Commerce vs. — War is not
the best engine for us to resort to ; nature has
given us one in our commerce, which, if
properly managed, will be a better instrument
for obliging the interested nations of Europe
to treat us with justice. — To THOMAS PINCK-
NEY. iv, 177. FORD ED., vii, 129. (Pa., May
I797-)
8876. WAB, Contracts in.— I have the
highest idea of the sacredness of those con
tracts which take place between nation and
nation at war, and would be the last on earth
to do anything in violation of them. — To GEN
ERAL WASHINGTON, i, 228. FORD ED., ii, 247.
(I779-)
8877. WAB, Debt and.— We wish to
avoid the necessity of going to war, till our
revenue shall be entirely liberated from debt
Then it will suffice for war, without creating
new debt or taxes. — To GOVERNOR CLAIBORNE.
v, 381. FORD ED., ix, 213. (W., Oct. 1808.)
8878. WAB, Deprecated.— Wars with any
European powers are devoutly to be depre
cated. — NOTES ON VIRGINIA, viii, 412. FORD
ED., iii, 278. (1782.)
8879. WAB, Distresses of.— I desire to
see the necessary distresses of war alleviated
in every possible instance. — To BARON DE
RIEDESEL. i, 240. FORD ED., ii, 302. (R.,
1780.)
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
War
8880. WAR, Embargo vs. — I have ever
been anxious to avoid a war with England,
unless forced by a situation more losing than
war itself. But I did believe we could coerce
her to justice by peaceable means, and the
Embargo, evaded as it was, proved it would
have coerced her had it been honestly execu
ted. — To HENRY DEARBORN, v, 529. FORD
ED., ix, 278. (M., July 1810.)
8881. WAR, Evils of.— The evils of war
are great in their endurance, and have a
long reckoning for ages to come. — R. TO A.
PITTSBURG REPUBLICANS, viii, 142. (1808.)
8882. WAR, Executives and. — We have
received a report that the French Directory
has proposed a declaration of war against the
United States to the Council of Ancients, who
have rejected it. Thus we see two nations,
who love one another affectionately, brought
by the ill temper of their executive adminis
trations, to the very brink of a necessity to
imbrue their hands in the blood of each other.
— To AARON BURR, iv, 187. FORD ED., vii,
148. (Pa., June I797-)
8883. WAR, Genius for.— I see the diffi
culties and defects we have to encounter in
war, and should expect disasters if we had
an enemy on land capable of inflicting them.
But the weakness of our enemy there will
make our first errors innocuous, and the seeds
of genius which nature sows with even hand
through every age and country, and which
need only soil and season to germinate, will
develop themselves among our military men.
Some of them will become prominent, and
seconded by the native energy of our citizens,
will soon, I hope, to our force add the
benefits of skill. — To WILLIAM DUANE. vi,
75. FORD ED., ix, 365. (M., Aug. 1812.)
8884. WAR, Holy.— If ever there was a
holy war, it was that which saved our liberties
and gave us independence. — To J. W. EPPES.
vi, 246. FORD ED., ix, 416. (M., 1813.)
8885. - — . The war of the Revolu
tion will be sanctioned by the approbation of
posterity through all future ages. — To J. W.
EPPES. vi, 194. FORD ED., ix, 395. (P.F., Sep.
1813.)
8886. WAR, Honor and.— We are
alarmed here [Virginia] with the apprehen
sions of war, and sincerely anxious that it
may be avoided; but not at the expense either
of our faith or honor. — To TENCH COXE.
iv. 105. FORD ED., vi, 508. (M., May 1794.)
8887. WAR, Indian allies in. — [I argued
in cabinet] against employing Indians in war.
[It was] a dishonorable policy. — THE ANAS.
FORD ED., i, 183. (1792.)
8888. WAR, Injury.— If nations go to
war for every degree of injury, there would
never be peace on earth. — To MADAME DE
STAEL. v, 133. ( W., 1807.)
8889. WAR, Insult and.— I think it to
our interest to punish the first insult ; because
an insult unpunished is the parent of many
others. — To JOHN JAY. i, 405. FORD ED., iv,
89. (P., 1/85.)
8890. . It is an eternal truth
that acquiescence under insult is not the way
to escape war. — To H. TAZEWELL. iv, 121.
FORD ED., vii, 31. (M., 1795.)
8891. WAR, Interest and.— Never was
so much false arithmetic employed on any
subject, as that which has been employed to
persuade nations that it is their interest to go
to war. Were the money which it has cost
to gain, at the close of a long war, a little
town, or a little territory, the right to cut
wood here, or to catch fish there, expended
in improving what they already possess, in
making roads, opening rivers, building ports,
improving the arts, and finding employment
for their idle poor, it would render them
much stronger, much wealthier and happier.
This I hope will be our wisdom. — NOTES ON
VIRGINIA, viii, 413. FORD ED., iii, 279.
(1782.)
8892. WAR, Justifiable.— Qn the final
and formal declarations of England, that she
never would repeal her Orders of Council as
to us, until those of France should be repealed
as to other nations as well as us, and that no
practicable arrangement against her impress
ment of our seamen could be proposed or
devised, war was justly declared, and ought
to have been declared. — To J. W. EPPES. vi,
196. FORD ED., ix, 396. (P.P., Sep. 1813.)
8893. WAR, Losses in Revolutionary.—
I think that upon the whole [our loss during
the war] has been about one-half the number
lost by the British ; in some instances more,
but in others less. This difference is ascribed
to our superiority in taking aim when we
fire; every soldier in our army having been
intimate with his gun from his infancy. — To
. i, 208. FORD ED., ii, 157. (Wg.,
1778.)
8894. WAR, Markets and.— To keep open
sufficient markets is the very first object to
wards maintaining the popularity of the war.
— To PRESIDENT MADISON, vi, 78. (M., Aug.
1812.)
8895. WAR, Monarchies and.— War is
not the most favorable moment for divesting
the monarchy of power. On the contrary, it
is the moment when the energy of a single
hand shows itself in the most seducing form.
-To H. S. CREVECOZUR. ii, 458. (P., 1788.)
8896. WAR, Moral duty.— When wrongs
are pressed because it is believed they will
be borne, resistance becomes morality. — To
MADAME DE STAEL. v, 133. (W., 1807.)
8897. WAR, One enough. — I have seen
enough of one war never to wish to see an
other. — To JOHN ADAMS, iv, 104. FORD ED.,
vi, 505- (M., 1794.)
8898. . I think one war enough
for the life of one man ; and you and I have
gone through one which at least may lessen
pur impatience to embark in another. Still,
if it becomes necessary, we must meet it like
men, old men indeed, but yet good for some
thing. — To JOHN LANGDON. FORD ED., ix, 201.
(M., 1808.)
War
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
9l8
8899.
One war, such as that
of our Revolution, is enough for one life. — To
M. CORREA. vi, 407. (M., 1814.)
8900. WAR, Opposition to.— No country,
perhaps, was ever so thoroughly against war
as ours. These dispositions pervade every
description of its citizens, whether in or out
of office. — To GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. FORD ED.,
vi, 217. (Pa., April 1793.)
8901. WAR, Paroles.— By the law of na
tions, a breach of parole can only be punished
by strict confinement. No usage has per
mitted the putting to death a prisoner for this
cause. I would willingly suppose that no
British officer had ever expressed a contrary
purpose. It has, however, become my duty
to declare that should such a threat be carried
into execution, it will be deemed as putting
prisoners to death in cold blood, and shall be
followed by the execution of so many British
prisoners in our possession. I trust, however,
that this horrid necessity will not be intro
duced by you, and that you will, on the con
trary, concur with us in endeavoring, as far
as possible, to alleviate the inevitable miseries
of war by treating captives as humanity and
natural honor require. The event of this con
test will hardly be affected by the fate of a
few miserable captives in war.* — FORD ED., ii,
511. (R., March 1781.)
8902. WAR, Peace vs.— The evils which
of necessity encompass the life of man are
sufficiently numerous. Why should we add
to them by voluntarily distressing and de
stroying one another? Peace, brothers, is
better than war. In a long and bloody war,
we lose many friends and gain nothing. —
ADDRESS TO INDIANS, viii, 185. (1802.)
8903. . The cannibals of Europe
are going to eating one another again. A
war between Russia and Turkey is like the
battle of the kite and snake. Whichever de
stroys the other, leaves a destroyer the less
for the world. This pugnacious humor of
mankind seems to be the law of his nature,
one of the obstacles to too great multiplica
tion provided in the mechanism of the Uni
verse. The cocks of the henyard kill one an
other up. Bears, bulls, rams, do the same.
And the horse, in his wild state, kills all the
young males, until worn down with age and
war, some vigorous youth kills him, and takes
to himself the harem of females. I hope we
shall prove how much happier for man the
Quaker policy is, and that the life of the
feeder is better than that of the fighter; and
it is some consolation that the desolation by
these maniacs of one part of the earth is the
means of improving it in other parts. Let
the latter be our office, and let us milk the
cow, while the Russian holds her by the horns,
and the Turk by the tail. — To JOHN ADAMS.
vii, 244. FORD ED., x, 217. (M., 1822.)
8904. WAR, Power to declare.— The Ad
ministrator [of Virginia] shall not possess
* Addressed " To the Commanding Officer of the
British Force at Portsmouth". That officer was
Major-General Benedict Arnold.— EDITOR.
the prerogative * :! * of declaring war or
concluding peace. — PROPOSED VA. CONSTITU
TION. FORD ED., ii, 19. (June 1776.)
8905. . We have already given,
in example, one effectual check to the dog of
war, by transferring the power of declaring
war from the Executive to the legislative
body, from those who are to spend to those
who are to pay. I should be pleased to see
this second obstacle [that no generation shall
contract debts greater than may be paid during
the course of its own existence], held out
by us also, in the first instance. — To JAMES
MADISON, iii, 108. FORD ED., v, 123. (P.,
1789.) See GENERATIONS.
8906. — . The States of America
before their present Union possessed com
pletely, each within its own limits, the ex
clusive right to * * * [make war and]
by their act of Union, they have as completely
ceded [it] to the General Government. Art
ist. Section 8th, " The Congress shall have
power to declare war, to raise and sup
port armies ". Section loth, * * *
" No State shall without the consent of
Congress, keep troops or ships of war in
time of peace, enter into any argreement
or compact with another State or with
a foreign power, or engage in war, unless
actually invaded or in such danger as will
not admit of delay ". These paragraphs of
the Constitution, declaring that the General
Government shall have, and that the partic
ular ones shall not have, the right of war
* * * are so explicit that no commentary
can explain them further, nor can any ex
plain them away. — OPINION ON GEORGIAN
LAND GRANTS, vii, 468. FORD ED., v, 166.
(1790.)
8907. . The question of declar
ing war is the function equally of both
Houses. — THE ANAS, ix, 123. FORD ED., i,
206. (1792.)
8908. . I thought [the paper]
should be laid before both houses [of Con
gress], because it concerned the question of
declaring war, which was the function equally
of both houses. — THE ANAS, ix, 123. FORD
ED., i, 206. (1792.)
8909. . The question of war, be
ing placed by the Constitution with the Leg
islature alone, respect to that made it my duty
to restrain the operations of our militia to
those merely defensive ; and considerations in
volving the public satisfaction, and peculiarly
my own, require that the decision of that
question, whichever way it be, should be pro
nounced definitely by the Legislature them
selves.* — PARAGRAPH FOR PRESIDENT'S MES
SAGE. FORD ED., vi, 144. (1792.)
8910. . I opposed the right of
the President to declare anything future on
the question, Shall there or shall there not
be war? — THE ANAS, ix, 178. FORD ED., i,
266. (I793-)
* This is not dated, but was probably written In
December, 1792. The message was entirely differ
ent.— NOTE IN FORD EDITION.
919
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
War
8911. . As the Executive cannot
decide the question of war on the affirmative
side, neither ought it to do so on the negative
side, by preventing the competent body from
deliberating on the question.* — To JAMES
MADISON, iii, 519. FORD ED., vi, 192. (1793.)
8912. . If Congress are to act
on the question of war, they have a right to
information [from the Executive]. — To
JAMES MONROE. FORD ED., vii, 221. (Pa.,
March 1798.)
8913. . We had reposed great
confidence in that provision of the Constitu
tion which requires two-thirds of the Legis
lature to declare war. Yet it can be entirely
eluded by a majority's taking such measures
as will bring on war. — To JAMES MONROE.
FORD ED., vii, 222. (Pa., March 1798.)
8914. . We see a new instance
of the inefficiency of constitutional guards.
We had relied with great security on that
provision which requires two-thirds of the
Legislature to declare war. But this is com
pletely eluded by a majority's taking such
measures as will be sure to produce war. — To
JAMES MADISON, iv, 222. FORD ED., vii, 220.
(Pa., 1798.)
8915. . The power of declaring
war being with the Legislature, the Executive
should do nothing necessarily committing
them to decide for war.f — To VICE-PRESIDENT
CLINTON, v, 116. FORD ED., ix, 100. (W.,
1807.)
8916. WAR, Preferable.— War may be
come a less losing business than unresisted
depredation. — To PRESIDENT MADISON. v,
438. (M., March 1809.)
8917. WAR, Premeditated.— That war
with us had been predetermined may be fairly
inferred from the diction of Berkley's order,
the Jesuitism of which proves it ministerial
from its being so timed as to find us in the
midst of Burr's rebellion as they expected,
from the contemporaneousness of the Indian
excitements, and of the wide and sudden
spread of their maritime spoliations. — To
THOMAS PAINE, v, 189. FORD ED., ix, 137.
(M., Sep. 1807.)
8918. WAR, Preparations for. — Consid
ering war as one of the alternatives which
Congress may adopt on the failure of proper
satisfaction for the outrages committed on us
by Great Britain, I have thought it my duty
to put into train every preparation for that
which the executive powers * * * will
admit of. — To JOHN NICHOLAS, v, 168. (M.,
1807.)
8919. WAR, Prevention of.— The power
of making war often prevents it, and in our
case would give efficacy to our desire of peace.
— To GENERAL WASHINGTON, ii, 533. FORD
ED., v, 57. (P., 1788.)
* Not to convene Congress in special session would
be, in Jefferson's opinion, to " prevent " deliberation.
— EDITOR.
t This extract, Jefferson explained to Clinton, de
fined one of the principles that controlled his action
in the issuance of his proclamation after the attack
on the Chesapeake.— EDITOR.
8920. WAR, Principles and.— I do not
believe war the most certain means of enfor
cing principles. Those peaceable coercions
which are in the power of every nation, if
undertaken in concert and in time of peace,
are more likely to produce the desired effect.
— To ROBERT R. LIVINGSTON, iv, 411. FORD
ED., viii, 91. (M., 1801.)
- WAR, Prisoners of.— See 8966.
8921. WAR, Punishment by.— War is as
much a punishment to the punisher as to the
sufferer. — To TENCH COXE. iv, 105. FORD
ED., vi, 508. (M., May 1794.)
8922. WAR, Quixotic.— War against
Bedlam would be just as rational as against
Europe, in its present condition of total de
moralization. When peace becomes more
losing than war, we may prefer the latter on
principles of pecuniary calculation. But for
us to attempt, by war, to reform all Europe,
and bring them back to principles of morality,
and a respect for the equal rights of nations,
would show us to be only maniacs of another
character. We should, indeed, have the merit
of the good intentions as well as of the folly
of the hero of La Mancha. — To WILLIAM
WIRT. v, 595. FORD ED., ix, 319. (M., May
1811.)
8923. WAR, Readiness for.— Whatever
enables us to go to war, secures our peace.
—To JAMES MONROE. FORD ED., v, 198. (N.Y,.
1790.)
8924. WAR, Reason and.— The large
strides of late taken by the legislature of Great
Britain towards establishing over these Col
onies their absolute rule, and the hardiness of
the present attempt to effect by force of arms
what by law or right they could never ef
fect, render it necessary for us also to change
the ground of opposition, and to close with
their last appeal from reason to arms. — DEC
LARATION ON TAKING UP ARMS. FORD ED., i,
462. (July 1775.)
8925. WAR, Redress of wrongs by.—
The answer to the question : " Is it common
for a nation to obtain a redress of wrongs by
war " ? you will, of course, draw from history.
In the meantime, reason will answer it on
grounds of probability, that where the wrong
has been done by a weaker nation, the
stronger one has generally been able to en
force redress ; but where by a stronger nation,
redress by war has been neither obtained nor
expected by the weaker. On the contrary,
the loss has been increased by the expenses
of the war in blood and treasure. Yet it
may have obtained another object equally se
curing itself from future wrong. It may
have retaliated on the aggressor losses of
blood a-nd treasure far beyond the value to
him of the wrong he has committed, and thus
have made the advantage of that too dear a
purchase to leave him in a disposition to re
new the wrong in future. — To REV. MR. WOR
CESTER, vi, 539. (M., 1816.)
8926. WAR, Resort to.— The lamentable
resource of war is not authorized for evils of
War
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
92O
imagination, but for those actual injuries only,
which would be more destructive of our well-
being than war itself. — REPLY TO ADDRESS, iv,
388. (W., 1801.)
8927. WAR, Retaliation in.— England
may burn New York by her ships and con-
greve rockets, in which case we must burn the
city of London by hired incendiaries, of which
her starving manufacturers will furnish
abundance. A people in such desperation as
to demand of their government aut panem,
out furcam, either bread or the gallows, will
not reject the same alternative when offered
by a foreign hand. Hunger will make them
brave every risk for bread. — To GENERAL
KOSCIUSKO. vi, 68. FORD ED., ix, 362. (M.,
June 1812.)
8928. WAR, Revolutionary.— The cir
cumstances of our [Revolutionary] war were
without example. Excluded from all com
merce, even with neutral nations, without
arms, money or the means of getting them
abroad, we were obliged to avail ourselves of
such resources as we found at home. Great
Britain, too, did not consider it as an ordinary
war, but a rebellion; she did not conduct it
according to the rules of war, established by
the law of nations, but according to her acts
of parliament, made from time to time, to
suit circumstances. She would not admit our
title even to the 'strict rights of ordinary war.
— To GEORGE HAMMOND, iii, 369. FORD ED.,
vi, 16. (Pa., May 1792.) See REVOLUTION
(AMERICAN).
8929. WAR, Secretaryship of.— I much
regretted your acceptance of the War Depart
ment. Not that I know a person who I think
would better conduct it. But conduct it ever
so wisely, it will be a sacrifice of yourself.
Were an angel from heaven to undertake that
office, all our miscarriages would be ascribed
to him. Raw troops, no troops, insubordinate
militia, want of arms, want of money, want
of provisions all will be charged to want of
management in you. * * Not that I
have seen the least disposition to censure you.
On the contrary, your conduct on the attack
of Washington has met the praises of every
one, and your plan for regulars and militia,
their approbation. But no campaign is as yet
opened. No generals have yet an interest in
shifting their own incompetence on you, no
army agents their rogueries. — To JAMES MON
ROE, vi, 410. FORD ED., ix, 498. (M., 1815.)
8930. WAR, Security against. — The
justest dispositions possible in ourselves, will
not secure us against war. It would be neces
sary that all other nations were just also.
Justice, indeed, on our part, will save us from
those wars which would have been produced
by a contrary disposition. But how can we
prevent those produced by the wrongs of other
nations? By putting ourselves in a position
to punish them. Weakness provokes insult
and injury, while a condition to punish often
prevents them. This reasoning leads to the
necessity of some naval force ; that being the
only weapon by which we can reach an enemy.
— To JOHN JAY. 1,404. FORD ED., iv, 89. (P.,
1785.)
8931. WAR, Taxation and.— War re
quires every resource of taxation and credit.
— To GENERAL WASHINGTON, ii, 533. FORD
ED., v, 57- (P., 1788.)
8932. WAR, Taxation for.— Sound prin
ciples will not justify our taxing the industry
of our fellow citizens to accumulate treasure
for wars to happen we know not when, and
which might not perhaps happen but from
the temptations offered by that treasure. —
FIRST ANNUAL MESSAGE, viii, 9. FORD ED.,
viii, 119. (1801.)
8933. WAR, Unfeared.— We love and we
value peace; we know its blessings from ex
perience. We abhor the follies of war, and
are not untried in its distresses and calamities.
Unmeddling with the affairs of other nations,
we had hoped that our distance and our dis
positions would have left us free, in the ex
ample and indulgence of peace with all the
world. We had, with sincere and particular
dispositions, courted and cultivated the
friendship of Spain. We have made to it
great sacrifices of time and interest, and were
disposed to believe she would see her interests
also in a perfect coalition and good under
standing with us. Cherishing still the same
sentiments, we have chosen, in the present
instance, to ascribe the intimations in this
letter [of the Spanish Commissioners] to the
particular character of the writers, displayed
in the peculiarity of the style of their com
munications, and therefore, we have removed
the cause from them to their sovereign, in
whose justice and love of peace we have con
fidence. If we are disappointed in this appeal,
if we are to be forced into a contrary order of
things, our mind is made up. We shall meet
it with firmness. The necessity of our .posi
tion will supersede all appeal to calculation
now, as it has done heretofore. We confide
in our strength, without boasting of it;
we respect that of others without fearing it.
If we cannot otherwise prevail on the Creeks
to discontinue their depredations, we will
attack them in force. If Spain chooses to
consider our defence against savage butchery
as a cause of war to her, we must meet her
also in war, with regret, but without fear ; and
we shall be happier to the last moment, to
repair with her to the tribunal of peace and
reason. The President charges you to com
municate the contents of this letter to the
Court at Madrid, with all the temperance and
delicacy which the dignity and character of
that Court render proper; but with all the
firmness and self-respect which befit a nation
conscious of its rectitude, and settled in its
purpose. — To CARMICHAEL AND SHORT, iv, 16.
FORD ED., vi, 337. (Pa., June 1793.)
8934. — . Should the lawless vio
lences of the belligerent powers render it
necessary to return their hostilities, no na
tion has less to fear from a foreign enemy. —
R. TO A. VIRGINIA REPUBLICANS, viii, 168.
(1809.)
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
War
War of 1812
8935. WAR, Unity in.— It is pur duty
still to endeavor to avoid war; but if it shall
actually take place, no matter by whom
brought on, we must defend ourselves. If our
house be on fire, without inquiring whether
it was fired from within or without, we must
try to extinguish it. In that, I have no doubt,
we shall act as one man. — To JAMES LEWIS,
JR. iv, 241. FORD ED., vii, 250. (Pa., May
1798.)
8936. . If we are forced into
war [with France], we must give up political
differences of opinion, and unite as one man
to defend our country. But whether at the
close of such a war, we should be as free as
we are now, God knows. — To GEN. Kos-
CIUSKO. iv, 295. (Pa., 1799.)
8937. WAR, Unprepared for.— We are
now at the close of our second campaign with
England. During the first we suffered several
checks, from the want of capable and tried
officers; all the higher ones of the Revolution
having died off during an interval of thirty
years of peace. But this second campaign
has been more successful, having given us
all the Lakes and country of Upper Canada,
except the single post of Kingston, at its lower
extremity. — To DON V. TORONDA CORUNA. vi,
275. (M., Dec. 1813.)
8938. WAR, Unprofitable.— The most
successful war seldom pays for its losses. — To
EDMUND RANDOLPH, i, 435. (P., 1785.)
8939. WAR, Weakness provokes. — It
should ever be held in mind that insult and
war are the consequences of a want of re
spectability in the national character. — To
JAMES MADISON, i, 531. FORD ED., iv, 192.
(P., 1786.) See ARMY, GENERALS and REVO
LUTION.
8940. WARDS, Advantages of. — My
partiality for the division of counties into
wards is not founded in views of education
solely, but infinitely more as the means of a
better administration of our government, and
the eternal preservation of its republican prin
ciples. The example of this most admirable
of all human contrivances in government, is
to be seen in our Eastern States ; and its
powerful effect in the order and economy of
their internal affairs, and the momentum it
gives them as a nation, is the single circum
stance which distinguishes them so remark
ably from every other national association. —
To GOVERNOR NICHOLAS, vi, 566. (M., 1816.)
8941. WARDS, Good government and.
— I have long contemplated a division of our
own State into hundreds or wards, as the
most fundamental measure for securing good
government, and for instilling the principles
and exercise of good government into every
fibre of every member of our commonwealth.
—To JOSEPH C. CABELL. vi, 301. (M., 1814.)
8942. WARDS, Primary schools and.—
One of the principal objects in my endeavors
to get our counties divided into wards, is
the establishment of a primary school in each
[of them].— To JOHN TAYLOR, vii, 17. FORD
ED., x, 51. (M., 1816.)
8943. WARDS, Size of.— I hope [the con
vention to amend the Virginia Constitution]
will adopt the subdivision of our counties into
wards. The former may be estimated at an
average of twenty-four miles square; the
latter should be about six miles square each,
and would answer to the hundreds of your
Saxon Alfred. * * * The wit of men can
not devise a more solid basis for a free, du
rable, and well-administered republic. — To
JOHN CARTWRIGHT. vii, 357. (M., 1824.)
8944. WARDS, Vital principle.— These
wards, called townships in New England, are
the vital principles of their governments, and
have proved themselves the wisest invention
ever devised by the wit of man for the
perfect exercise of self-government, and for
its preservation. — To SAMUEL KERCHIVAL. vii,
13. FORD ED., x, 41. (M., 1816.) See COUNTIES.
8945. WAR OF 1812, Acrimonious.—
The exasperation produced * * * by the
late war * * * is great with you [Great
Britain], as I judge from your newspapers; and
greater with us, as I see myself. The reason
lies in the different degrees in which the war
has acted on us. To your people it has been a
matter of distant history only, a mere war in
the carnatic ; with us it has reached the bosom
of every man, woman and child. The maritime
ports have felt it in the conflagration of their
houses and towns, and desolation of their
farms ; the borderers in the massacres and
scalpings of their husbands, wives and children ;
and the middle parts in their personal labors
and losses in defence of both frontiers, and the
revolting scenes they have there witnessed. It
is not wonderful, then, if their irritations are
extreme. Yet time and prudence on the part
of the two governments may get over these. —
To SIR JOHN SINCLAIR, vii, 23. (M., 1816.)
8946. WAR OF 1812, Benefits of.— The
British war has left us in debt ; but that is a
cheap price for the good it has done us. The
establishment of the necessary manufactures
among ourselves, the proof that our govern
ment is solid and can stand the shock of war,
and is superior even to civil schism, are pre
cious facts for us ; and of these the strongest
proofs were furnished, when, with four Eastern
States tied to us, as dead to living bodies, all
doubt was removed as to the achievements of
the war, had it continued. But its best effect
has been the complete suppression of party.
The federalists who were truly American, and
their great mass was so, have separated from
their brethren who were mere Anglomen, and
are received with cordiality into the republican
ranks. — To MARQUIS DE LAFAYETTE, vii, 66.
FORD EDV x, 83. (M., 1817.)
8947. . The war [of 1812] has
done us * * the further [good] of as
suring the world, that although attached to
peace from a sense of its blessings, we will meet
war when it is made necessary. — To MARQUIS
DE LAFAYETTE, vii, 67. FORD ED., x, 84. (M.,
1817.)
8948. WAR OF 1812, British expecta
tions in.— Earl Bathhurst [in his speech in
Parliament] shuffles together chaotic ideas
merely to darken and cover the views of the
ministers in protracting the war ; the truth be
ing, that they expected to give us an exemplary
scourging, to separate us from the States east
of the Hudson, take for their Indian allies those
War of 1813
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
922
west of the Ohio, placing three hundred thou
sand American citizens under the government
of the savages, and to leave the residuum a
, owerless enemy, if not submissive subjects. I
cannot conceive what is the use of your Bedlam
when such men are out of it. And yet that
such were their views we have in evidence,
under the hand of their Secretary of State in
Henry's case, and of their Commissioners at
Ghent.— To MR. MAURY. vi, 471- (M., June
1815.)
8949. WAR OF 1812, Causes of.— It is
incomprehensible to me that the Marquis of
Wellesley * * * [should] say that " the
aggression which led to the war, was from the
United States, not from England ". Is there a
person in the world who, knowing the circum
stances, thinks this? The acts which produced
the war were, ist, the impressment of our citi
zens by their ships of war, and, 2d, the Orders of
Council forbidding our vessels to trade with any
country but England, without going to England
to obtain a special license. On the first subject
the British minister declared to our Charge,
Mr. Russel, that this practice of their ships
of war would not be discontinued, and that no
admissible arrangement could be proposed ; and
as to the second, the Prince Regent, by his
proclamation of April 2ist, 1812, declared in
effect solemnly that he would not revoke the
Orders of Council as to us, on the ground that
Bonaparte had revoked his decrees as to us :
that, on the contrary, we should continue under
them until Bonaparte should revoke as to all
the world. These categorical and definite an
swers put an end to negotiation, and were a
declaration of a continuance of the war in
which they had already taken from us one thou
sand ships and six thousand seamen. We de
termined then to defend ourselves, and to op
pose further hostilities by war on our side also.
Now, had we taken one thousand British ships
and six thousand of her seamen without any
declaration of war, would the Marquis of Wel
lesley have considered a declaration of war by
Great Britain as an aggression on her part?
They say we denied their maritime rights. We
never denied a single one. It was their taking
our citizens, native as well as naturalized, for
which we went into war, and because they for
bade us to trade with any nation without enter
ing and paying duties in their ports on both the
outward and inward cargo. Thus, to carry ^ a
cargo of cotton from Savannah to St. Mary's,
and take returns in fruits, for example, our
vessel was to go to England, enter and pay a
duty on her cottons there, return to St. Mary's,
then go back to England to enter and pay a duty
on her fruits, and then return to Savannah,
after crossing the Atlantic four times, and pay
ing tributes on both cargoes to England, in7
stead of the direct passage of a few hours.
And the taking ships for not doing this, the
Marquis says, is no aggression. — To MR. MAU
RY. vi, 470. (M., June 1815.)
8950. WAR OF 1812, Conquest and.—
The war, undertaken, on both sides, to settle
the questions of impressment, and the Orders
of Council, now that these are done away by
events, is declared by Great Britain to have
changed its object, and to have become a war
of conquest, to be waged until she conquers
from us our fisheries, the province of Maine,
the Lakes, States and territories north of the
Ohio, and the navigation of the Mississippi ; in
other words, till she reduces us to unconditional
submission. On our part, then, we ought to
propose, as a counterchange of object, the es
tablishment of the meridian of the mouth of the
Sorel northwardly, as the western boundary of
all her possessions. — To PRESIDENT MADISON.
vi, 391. FORD ED., ix, 489. (M., Oct. 1814.)
8951. WAR OF 1812, Declaration of.—
War was declared on June i8th, thirty years
after the signature of our peace in 1782.
* * * It is not ten years since Great Britain
began a series of insults and injuries which
would have been met with war in the threshold
by any European power. This course has been
unremittingly followed up by increased wrongs,
with glimmerings, indeed, of peaceable redress,
just sufficient to keep us in quiet, till she has
had the impudence at length to extinguish even
these glimmerings by open avowal. This would
not have been borne so long, but that France
has kept pace with England in iniquity of prin
ciple, although not in the power of inflicting
wrongs on us. The difficulty of selecting a foe
between them has spared us many years of war,
and enabled us to enter into it with less debt,
more strength and preparation. — To GENERAL
KOSCIUSKO. vi, 67. FORD ED., ix, 361. (M.,
June 1812.)
8952. . [The declaration of war
was] accompanied with immediate offers of
peace on simply doing us justice. These offers
were made through Russel, through Admiral
Warren, through the government of Canada,
and the mediation proposed by her best friend
Alexander, and the greatest enemy of Bona
parte, was accepted without hesitation. — To
DR. GEORGE LOGAN, vi, 216. FORD ED., ix,
422. (M., Oct. 1813.)
8953. WAR OF 1812, Grounds of.— The
essential grounds of the war were, first, the
Orders of Council ; and, secondly, the impress
ment of our citizens (for I put out of sight
from the love of peace the multiplied insults
on our government and aggressions on our com
merce, with which our pouch, like the Indian's,
had long been filled to the mouth). What im
mediately produced the declaration was, ist, the
proclamation of the Prince Regent that he
would never repeal the Orders of Council as to
us, until Bonaparte should have revoked his
decrees as to all other nations as well as ours ;
and 2d, the declaration of his minister to purs
that no arrangement whatever could be devised,
admissible in lieu of impressment. It was cer
tainly a misfortune that they did not know
themselves at the date of this silly and insolent
proclamation, that within one month they would
repeal the Orders, and that we, at the date of
our declaration, could not know of the repeal
which was then going on one thousand. leagues
distant. Their determinations, as declared by
themselves, could alone guide us, and they shut
the door on all further negotiation, throwing
down to us the gauntlet of war or submission
as the only alternatives. We cannot blame the
government for choosing that of war, because
certainly the great majority of the nation
thought it ought to be chosen. — To WILLIAM
SHORT, vi, 398. (M., Nov. 1814.)
8954. WAR OF 1812, Hartford conven
tion and.— The negotiators at Ghent are
agreed now on every point save one, the de
mand and cession of a portion of Maine. This,
it is well known, cannot be yielded by us, nor
deemed by them an object for continuing a war
so expensive, so injurious to their commerce
and manufactures, and so odious in the eyes of
the world. But it is a thread to hold by until
they can hear the result, not of the Congress
of Vienna, but of Hartford. When they shall
know as they will know, that nothing will be
done there, they will let go their hold, and
923
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
War of 1813
complete the peace of the world, by agreeing
to the status ante be Hum. Indemnity for the
past, and security for the future, which was
our motto at the beginning of this war, must be
adjourned to another, when, disarmed and bank
rupt, our enemy shall be less able to insult and
plunder the world with impunity. — To M. COR-
REA. vi, 407. (M., 1814.) See HARTFORD
CONVENTION.
8955. WAR OF 1812, Justifiable.—
[Great Britain threw] down to us the gauntlet
of war or submission as the only alternatives.
We cannot blame the government for choosing
that of war, because certainly the great majority
of the nation thought it ought to be chosen, not
that they were to gain by it in dollars and
cents ; all men know that war is a losing game
to both parties. But they know, also, that if
they did not resist encroachment at some point,
all will be taken from them, and that more
would then be lost even in dollars and cents by
submission than resistance. It is the case of
giving a part to save the whole, a limb to save
life. It is the melancholy law of human socie
ties to be compelled sometimes to choose a great
evil in order to ward off a greater ; to deter their
neighbors from rapine by making it cost them
more than honest gains. Had we
adopted the other alternative of submission,
no mortal can tell what the cost would have
been. I consider the war then as entirely justi
fiable on our part, although I am still sensible
it is a deplorable misfortune to us. — To WILL
IAM SHORT, vi, 399. (M., Nov. 1814.)
8956. WAR OF 1812, Lessons of.— I
consider the war as made * * * for just
causes, and its dispensation as providential, in
asmuch as it has exercised our patriotism and
submission to order, has planted and invigo
rated among us arts of urgent necessity, has
manifested the strong and the weak parts of our
republican institutions, and the excellence of a
representative democracy compared with the
misrule of kings, has rallied the opinions of
mankind to the natural rights of expatriation,
and of a common property in the ocean, and
raised us to that grade in the scale of nations
which the bravery and liberality of our citizen
soldiers, by land and by sea, the wisdom of our
institutions and their observance of justice,
entitled us to in the eyes of the world. — To
MR. WENDOVER. vi, 444. (M., 1815.)
8957. WAR OF 1812, Markets and.—
To keep the war popular, we must keep open the
markets. As long as good prices can be had,
the people will support the war cheerfully. — To
JAMES RONALDSON. vi, 93. FORD ED., ix, 372.
(M., Jan. 1813.)
8958. WAR OF 1812, Misrepresented.—
England has misrepresented to all Europe this
ground of the war [of 1812]. She has called
it a new pretension, set up since the repeal of
her Orders of Council. She knows there has
never been a moment of suspension of our rec
lamation against it, from General Washington's
time inclusive, to the present day ; and that it
is distinctly stated in our declaration of war,
as one of its principal causes. — To MADAME DE
STAEL. vi, 118. (M., May 1813.)
8959. . She has pretended we
have entered into the war to establish the prin
ciple of " free bottoms, free goods ", or to pro-
tecVnufVj." :;camen against her own rights over
the' lw w contend for neither of these. —
To^rtiJAME DE STAEL. vi, 118. (May 1813.)
8960. . She pretends we are
partial to France ; that we have observed a
fraudulent and unfaithful neutrality between
her and her enemy. She knows this to be false,
and that if there has been any inequality in
our proceedings towards the belligerents, it has
been in her favor. Her ministers are in pos
session of full proofs of this. Our accepting
at once, and sincerely, the mediation of the
virtuous Alexander, their greatest friend, and
the most aggravated enemy of Bonaparte, suf
ficiently proves whether we have partialities on
the side of her enemy. I sincerely pray that
this mediation may produce a just peace. — To
MADAME DE STAEL. vi, 119. (May 1813.)
8961. WAR OF 1812, Prolongation of.
— As soon as we heard of her partial repeal of
her Orders of Council, we offered instantly to
suspend hostilities by an armistice, if she would
suspend her impressments, and meet us in ar
rangements for securing our citizens against
them. She refused to do it, because impracti
cable by any arrangement, as she pretends ; but,
in truth, because a body of sixty to eighty thou
sand of the finest seamen in the world, which
we possess, is too great a resource for manning
her exaggerated navy, to be relinquished, as
long as she can keep it open. Peace is in her
hand, whenever she will renounce the practice
of aggression on the persons of our citizens.
If she thinks it worth eternal war, eternal war
we must have. She alleges that the sameness
of language, of manners, of appearance, renders
it impossible to distinguish us from her sub
jects. But because we speak English, and look
like them, are we to be punished? Are free
and independent men to be submitted to their
bondage? — To MADAME DE STAEL. vi, 118.
(May 1813.)
8962. WAR OF 1812, Provocation.—
Nothing but the total prostration of all moral
principle could have produced the enormities
which have forced us at length into the war.
On one hand, a ruthless tyrant, drenching Eu
rope in blood to obtain through future time the
character of the destroyer of mankind ; on the
other, a nation of buccaneers, urged by sordid
avarice, and embarked in the flagitious enter
prise of seizing to itself the maritime resources
and rights of all other nations, have left no
means of peace to reason and moderation. And
yet there are beings among us who think we
ought still to have acquiesced. As if while
full war was waging on one side, we could
lose by making some reprisal on the other. — To
HENRY MIDDLETON. vi, 91. (M., Jan. 1813.)
8963. WAR OF 1812, Reparation and.
— The sword once drawn, full justice must be
done. " Indemnification for the past and se
curity for the future " should be painted on
our banners. For one thousand ships taken,
and six thousand seamen impressed, give us
Canada for indemnification, and the only se
curity they can give us against their Henrys,
and the savages, and agree that the American
flag shall protect the persons of those sailing
under it, both parties exchanging engagements
that neither will receive the seamen of the other
on board their vessels. This done, I should be
for peace with England, and then war with
France. One at a time is enough, and in fight
ing the one we need the harbors of the other
for our prizes. — To MR. WRIGHT, vi, 78. (M.,
Aug. 1812.)
8964. WAR OF 1812, Victory and de
feat. — Perhaps this Russian mediation may
cut short the history of the present war, and
leave to us the laurels of the sea, while our
enemies are bedecked with those of the land.
War of 1813
Washington (City)
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
924
This would be the reverse of what has been ex
pected, and perhaps of what was to be wished.
— To WILLIAM DUANE. vi, no. (M., April
1813.)
8965. . I rejoice exceedingly
that our war with England was single-handed.
In that of the Revolution, we had France,
Spain, and Holland on our side, and the credit
of its success was given to them. On the late
occasion, unprepared, and unexpecting war, we
were compelled to declare it, and to receive the
attack of England, just issuing from a general
war, fully armed, and freed from all other en
emies, and have not only made her sick of it,
but glad to prevent by peace, the capture of her
adjacent possessions, which one or two cam
paigns more would infallibly have made ours.
She has found that we can do her more injury
than any other enemy on earth, and hencefor
ward will better estimate the value of our peace.
— To THOMAS LEIPER. vi. 466. FORD ED., ix,
521. (M. 1815.) See IMPRESSMENT.
8966. WAR (Prisoners of), Comfort of.
—Is an enemy so execrable, that, though in
captivity, his wishes and comforts are to be
disregarded and even crossed? I think not.
It is for the benefit of mankind to mitigate the
horrors of war as much as possible. The prac
tice, therefore, of modern nations, of treating
captive enemies with politeness and generosity,
is not only delightful in contemplation, but real
ly interesting to all the world, friends, foes and
neutrals. — To GOVERNOR HENRY, i, 218. FORD
ED., ii, 176. (Alb., I779-)
8967. WAR (Prisoners of), Exchange
of. — I am sorry to learn that the negotiations
for the exchange of prisoners have proved abor
tive, as well from a desire to see the necessary
distresses of war alleviated in every possible
instance, as that I am sensible how far yourself
and family are interested in it. Against this,
however, is to be weighed the possibility that we
may again have a pleasure we should otherwise,
perhaps, never have had — that of seeing you
again.* — To GENERAL DE RIEDESEL. i, 241.
FORD ED., ii, 303. (R., 1780.)
8968. WAR (Prisoners of), Health of.—
The health [of the British prisoners] is also
of importance. I would not endeavor to show
that their lives are valuable to us, because it
would suppose a possibility, that humanity was
kicked out of doors in America, and interest
only attended to. — To GOVERNOR HENRY, i,
218. FORD ED., ii, 175. (Alb., I779-)
8969. WAR (Prisoners of), Relief of.—
Be assured there is nothing consistent with the
honor of your country which we shall not, at all
times, be ready to do for the relief of yourself
and companions in captivity. We know that
ardent spirit and hatred for tyranny, which
brought you into your present situation, will
enable you to bear up against it with the firm
ness which has distinguished you as a soldier,
and to look forward with pleasure to the day
when events shall take place against which the
wounded spirits of your enemies will find no
comfort, even from reflections on the most re
fined of the cruelties with which they have
* General Riedesel, commander of the Hessian
troops, captured at Saratoga, was among the pris
oners sent to Albemarle, in 1779, and, with many of
his fellow officers, was a frequent guest at Monti-
cello. They all expressed their deep obligations to
Jefferson for the courtesies extended to them and
the efforts made by him to lighten the hardships of
their captivity.— EDITOR.
glutted themselves.* — To COLONEL GEORGE
MATTHEWS, i, 235. FORD ED., ii, 264. (Wg.,
I779-)
8970. WAR (Prisoners of), Treatment
of. — We think ourselves justified in Governor
Hamilton's strict confinement on the general
principle of national retaliation. * * * Gov
ernor Hamilton's conduct has been such as to
call for exemplary punishment on him person
ally. In saying this I have not so much in view
his particular cruelties to our citizens, prisoners
with him, * * * as the general nature of
the service he undertook at Detroit, and the
extensive exercise of cruelties which it in
volved. Those who act together in war are
answerable for each other. No distinction can
be made between principal and ally by those
against whom the war is waged. He who em
ploys another to do a deed makes the deed
his own. If he calls in the hand of the assassin
or murderer, himself becomes the assassin or
murderer. The known rule of warfare of the
Indian savages is an indiscriminate butchery of
men, women and children. These savages,
under this well known character, are employed
by the British nation as allies in the war
against the Americans. Governor Hamilton
undertakes to be the conductor of the war. In
the execution of that undertaking, he associates
small parties of the whites under his immediate
command with large parties of the savages, and
sends them to act, sometimes jointly, and some
times separately, not against our forts or
armies in the field, but the farming settlements
on our frontiers. Governor Hamilton is him
self the butcher of men, women and children.
I will not say to what length the fair rules of
war would extend the right of punishment
against him ; but I am sure that confinement
under its strictest circumstances, for Indian
devastation and massacre must be deemed
lenity. — To SIR GUY CARLETON. FORD ED., ii,
249. (i779-)
8971. WASHINGTON (City), Appro
priations. — We cannot suppose Congress in
tended to tax the people of the United States
at large, for all the avenues in Washington
and roads in Columbia. — To ROBERT BRENT, v,
50. FORD ED., ix, 33. (W., 1807.)
8972. WASHINGTON (City), Attach
ment to. — It is with sincere regret that I part
with the society in which I have lived here. It
has been the source of much happiness to me
during my residence at the seat of government,
and I owe it much for its kind dispositions. I
shall ever feel a high interest in the prosperity
of the city, and an affectionate attachment to its
inhabitants. — R. TO A. CITIZENS OF WASHING
TON, viii, 158. ( March 4, 1809.)
8973. WASHINGTON (City), British
capture of. — In the late events at Washing
ton I have felt so much for you that I cannot
withhold the expression of my sympathies.
For although every reasonable man must be
sensible that all you can do is to order, that
execution must depend on others, and failures
be imputed to them alone ; yet I know that
when such failures happen they afflict even
those who have done everything they could to
prevent them. Had General Washington him
self been now at the head of our affairs, the
same event would probably have happened.
We all remember the disgraces which be> '*'"' us
in his time in a trifling war with one (>5 l-vvo
petty tribes of Indians, in which two arrrties
* Colonel Matthews was an American officer in the
hands of the British. Jefferson was Governor of
Virginia.— EDITOR.
925
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Washington (City)
were cut off by not half their numbers. Every
one knew, and I personally knew, because 1 was
then of his council, that no blame was impu-
table to him, and that his officers alone were
the cause of the disasters. They must now do
the same justice. — To PRESIDENT MADISON, vi,
385. (M., Sep. 1814.)
8974. . [The incendiarism at
Washington] enlists the feelings of the world
on our side : and the advantage of public opin
ion is like that of the weather-gauge in a naval
action. In Europe, the transient possession of
our capital can be no disgrace. Nearly every
capital there was in possession of its enemy ;
some often and long. But diabolical as they
paint that enemy, he burned neither pubhc
edifices nor private dwellings. It was reserved
for England to show that Bonaparte, in atro
city, was an infant to their ministers and their
generals. They are taking his place in the eyes
of Europe, and have turned into our channel
all its good will. This will be worth the mil
lion of dollars their conflagration will cost us.
— To JAMES MONROE, vi, 408. FORD ED., ix,
496. (,M., Jan. 1815.)
8975. . The embarrassments at
Washington in August last, I expected would
be great in any state of things ; but they proved
greater than expected. I never doubted that
the plans of the President were wise and suf
ficient. Their failure we all impute, i, to the
insubordinate temper of Armstrong; and 2, to
the indecision of Winder. However, it ends
well. It mortifies ourselves and so may check,
perhaps, the silly boasting spirit of our news
papers. — To JAMES MONROE, vi, 408. FORD
ED.., ix, 496. (M., Jan. 1815.)
8976. — — . I set down the coup de
main at Washington as more disgraceful to
England than to us. — To W. H. CRAWFORD.
vi, 418. FORD ED., ix, 502. (M., 1815.)
8977. . The transaction has
helped rather than hurt us, by arousing the
general indignation of our country, and by
marking to the world of Europe, the Vandal
ism and brutal character of the English govern
ment. It has merely served to immortalize
their infamy. — To MARQUIS LAFAYETTE, vi,
424. FORD ED., ix, 508. (M., 1815.) See CAP
ITOL.
8978. WASHINGTON (City), Building
line. — I doubt much whether the obligation to
build the houses at a given distance from the
street, contributes to its beauty. It produces a
disgusting monotony ; all persons make this
complaint against Philadelphia. The contrary
practice varies the appearance, and is much
more convenient to the inhabitants. — FEDERAL
CAPITAL OPINION, vii, 513. FORD ED., v, 253
(1700.)
8979. WASHINGTON (City), Founda
tion of. — As to the future residence of Con
gress, I can give you an account only from the
information of others, all this haying taken
place before my arrival [in Philadelphia]
Congress, it seems, thought it best to generalize
their first determination by putting questions
on the several rivers on which it had been pro
posed that they should fix their residence. Th<
Hudson river, the Delaware, and the Potomac
were accordingly offered to the vote. The firs
obtained scarcely any votes ; the Delaware ob
tained seven. This, of course, put the Potoma*
out of the way ; and the Delaware being onc<
determined on, there was scarcely any differ
ence of opinion as to the particular spot. The
Falls met the approbation of all the States pres
nt, except Pennsylvania, which was for Ger-
nantown, and Delaware, which was for Wil-
nington. As to the latter, it appeared that she
lad been induced to vote for the Delaware on
he single idea of getting Congress to Wilming-
on, and that being disappointed in this, they
vould not wish them on that river at all, but
would prefer Georgetown to any other place.
This being discovered, the Southern delegates,
it a subsequent day, brought on a reconsidera-
ion of the question, and obtained a determina-
ion that Congress should sit one-half of their
ime at Georgetown, and that till all accommo
dations should be provided there, Annapolis
houM be substituted in its place. This was
Considered by some as a compromise ; by others
as only unhinging the first determination and
caving the whole matter open for discussion
at some future day. It was in fact a rally, and
making a drawn battle of what had at first ap-
>eared to be decided against us. — -To GOVERNOR
BENJAMIN HARRISON. FORD ED., iii, 340. (Pa.,
Nov. 1783-)
8980.
. I take the following to
the disposition of the several States : The
rour Eastern States are for any place in prefer
ence to Philadelphia, the more northern it is,
lowever, the more agreeable to them. New
York and New Hampshire are for the Falls of
Delaware. Pennsylvania is for Germantown
first, and next for the Falls of Delaware. It
s to be noted that Philadelphia had no attention
as a permanent seat. Delaware is for Wilming
ton ; but for Georgetown in preference to the
Falls of Delaware, or any other situation which
[may] attract the trade of their river. Mary
land is for Annapolis, and the smallest hope for
this will sacrifice a certainty for Georgetown.
Virginia, every place southward of Potomac
being disregarded by the States as every place
north of the Delaware, saw it would be useless
to consider her interests as to more southern
positions. The Falls of Potomac will probably,
therefore, unite the wishes of the whole State.
If this fails, Annapolis and the Falls of Dela
ware are then the candidates. Were the con
venience of the delegates alone to be considered,
or the general convenience to government in
their transaction of business with Congress,
Annapolis would be preferred without hesita
tion. But those who respect commercial ad
vantages more than the convenience of individ
uals, will probably think that every position
on the bay of Chesapeake, or any of its waters,
is to be dreaded by Virginia, as it may attract
the trade of that bay and make us, with respect
to Maryland, what Delaware State is to Penn
sylvania. Considering the residence of Con
gress, therefore, as it mav influence trade, if
we cannot obtain it on the Potomac, it seems
to be our interest to bring it past all the
waters of the Chesapeake bay. The three
Southern States are for the most southern situ
ation. It should be noted that New Hampshire
and Georgia were absent on the decisions of
these questions, but considering their interests
would be directly opposite, it was thought their
joint presence or absence would not change the
results From the preceding state of the views
of the several members of our Union, your
Excellency will be enabled to judge what will
be the probable determination on any future re
vision of the present plan. The establishment
of new States will be friendly or adverse to
Georgetown according to their situation. If a
State be first laid off on the Lakes, it will add a
vote to the northern scale ; if on the Ohio, it
will add one to the southern. — To GOVERNOR
BENJAMIN HARRISON. FORD ED., iii, 342. (Pa.,
Nov. 1783.)
Washington (City)
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
926
8981. . The General Assembly
shall have power * * * to cede to Con
gress one hundred square miles of territory in
any other part of this State, exempted from the
jurisdiction and government of this State, so
long as Congress shall hold their sessions there
in, or in any territory adjacent thereto, which
may be tendered to them by any other State.—
PROPOSED CONSTITUTION FOR VIRGINIA, viii,
446. FORD ED., iii, 325. (1783.)
8982. . Georgetown languishes.
The smile is hardly covered now when the
federal towns are spoken of. I fear that our
chance is at this time desperate. Our object,
therefore, must be, if we fail in an effort to
remove to Georgetown, to endeavor then to get
to some place off the waters of the Chesapeake
where we may be ensured against Congress con
sidering themselves as fixed. — To JAMES MADI
SON. FORD ED., iii, 400. (A., Feb. 1784.)
8983. . The remoteness of the
Falls of Potomac from the influence of any
overgrown commercial city recommends [that
place for the] permanent seat of Congress. —
NOTES ON PERMANENT SEAT OF CONGRESS.
FORD ED., iii, 458. (April 1784.)
8984. . Philadelphia. In favor
of it. i. Its unrivalled conveniency for trans
acting the public business, and accommodating
Congress. 2. Its being the only place where
all the public offices, particularly that of Fi
nance could be kept under the inspection and
control of, and _proper intercourse with Con
gress. 3. Its conveniency for foreign ministers,
to which, ceteris paribus, some regard would
be expected. 4. The circumstances which pro
duced a removal from Philadelphia ; which ren
dered a return, as soon as the insult had been
expiated, expedient for supporting in the eyes
of foreign nations the appearance of internal
harmony, and preventing an appearance of
resentment in Congress against the State of
Pennsylvania, or city of Philadelphia, an ap
pearance which was very much strengthened by
some of their proceedings at Princeton — partic
ularly by an unneccessary and irregular dec
laration not to return to Philadelphia. In ad
dition to these overt reasons, it was concluded
by sundry of the members, who were most anx
ious to fix Congress permanently at the Falls
of the Potomac, that a temporary residence in
Philadelphia would be most likely to prepare
a sufficient number of votes for that place in
preference to the Falls of Delaware, and to
produce a reconsideration of the vote in favor
of the latter. Against Philadelphia were al
leged, i. The difficulty and uncertainty of
getting away from it at the time limited. 2.
The influence of a large conrnercial and wealthy
city on the public councils. In addition to
these objections, the hatred against Mr. Morris,
and the hope of accelerating his final resigna
tion were latent motives with some, as perhaps
envy of the prosperity of Philadelphia, and dis
like of the support of Pennsylvania to obnox
ious recommendations of Congress were with
others. — NOTES ON PERMANENT SEAT OF CON
GRESS. FORD ED., iii, 459. (April 1784.)
8985. . I like your removal to
New York, and hope Congress will continue
there, and never execute the idea of building
their Federal town. Before it could be finished,
a change in members of Congress, or the ad
mission of new States, would remove them
somewhere else. It is evident that when a
sufficient number of the Western States come
in, they will remove it to Georgetown. In the
meantime, it is our interest that it should re
main where it is, and give no new pretensions
to any other place. — To JAMES MONROE, i, 347.
FORD ED., iv, 52. (P., 1785.)
8986. . Philadelphia was first
Eroposed, and had six and a half votes. The
alf vote was Delaware, one of whose members
wanted to take a vote on Wilmington. Then
Baltimore was proposed and carried, and after
wards rescinded, so that the matter stood open
as ever on the loth of August; but it was al
lowed the dispute lay only between New York
and Philadelphia, and rather thought in favor
of the last. — To WILLIAM SHORT, ii, 480. FORD
ED., v, 49. (P., Sep. 1788.)
8987. . On the question of resi
dence, the compromise proposed is to give it to
Philadelphia for fifteen years, and then perma
nently to Georgetown by the same act. This is
the best arrangement we have now any prospect
of, and therefore the one to which all our
wishes are at present pointed. If this does not
take place, something much worse will ; to wit,
an unqualified assumption [of the State debts],
and the permanent seat on the Delaware. — To
T. M. RANDOLPH. FORD ED., v, 186. (N.Y.,
1790.)
8988. WASHINGTON (City), Future
of. — That the improvement of this city must
proceed with sure and steady steps, follows
from its many obvious advantages, and from
the enterprising spirit of its inhabitants, which
promises to render it the fairest seat of wealth
and science. — R. TO A. CITIZENS OF WASHING
TON, viii, 158. (1809.)
8989. WASHINGTON (City), Houses.—
In Paris it is forbidden to build a house beyond
a given height, and it is admitted to be a good
restriction. It keeps down the price of ground,
keeps the houses low and convenient, and the
streets light and airy. Fires are much more
manageable where houses are low. — FEDERAL
CAPITOL OPINION, vii, 513. FORD ED., v, 253.
(1790.)
8990. . I cannot help again sug
gesting one regulation formerly suggested, to
wit: To provide for the extinguishment of
fires, and the openness and convenience of the
town, by prohibiting houses of excessive height ;
and making it unlawful to build on any one's
purchase any house with more than two floors
between the common level of the earth and the
eaves. — FEDERAL CAPITAL OPINION, vii, 561.
(March 1791.)
8991. WASHINGTON (City), Lots.—
The lots [should] be sold in breadths of fifty
feet; their depths to extend to the diagonal of
the square. — FEDERAL CAPITAL OPINION, vii,
513. FORD ED., v, 253. (1790.)
8992. WASHINGTON (City), Plans of.
— I shall send you * * * two dozen plans
of the city of Washington, which you are de
sired to display, not for sale, but for public in
spection, wherever they may be most seen by
those descriptions of people worthy and likely
to be attracted to it, dividing the plans among
the cities of London and Edinburgh chiefly,
but sending them also to Glasgow, Bristol, and
Dublin. — To THOMAS PINCKNEY. iii,
(Pa., 1792.)
500.
8993.
I sent you * *
dozen plans of the city of Washington in the
Federal territory, hoping you would have them
displayed to public view where they would be
most seen by those descriptions of men worthy
927
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
and likely to be attracted to it. Paris, Lyons
Rouen, and the seaport towns of Havre, Nantes
Bourdeaux and Marseilles would be proper
places to send some of them. — To GOUVERNEUR
MORRIS, iii, 523. FORD ED., vi, 201. (Pa.
I793-)
8994. WASHINGTON (City), Residence
in. — On the subject of your location for the
winter, it is impossible in my view of it, to
doubt on the preference which should be given
to this place. Under any circumstances it
could not but be satisfactory to you to acquire
an intimate knowledge of our political machine,
not merely of its organization, but the individ
uals and characters composing it, their general
mode of thinking, and of acting openly and se
cretly. Of all this you can learn no more at
Philadelphia than of a diet of the empire.
None but an eyewitness can really understand
it, and it is quite as important to be known to
them, and to obtain a certain degree of their
confidence in your own right. In a govern
ment like ours, the standing of a man well with
this portion of the public must weigh against a
considerable difference of other qualifications.
— To WILLIAM SHORT, v, 210. (W., Nov.
1807.)
8995. WASHINGTON (City), Streets.—
I should propose the streets [of the Federal
capital] to be at right angles, as in Philadelphia,
and that no street be narrower than one hundred
feet with footways of fifteen feet. Where a
street is long and level, it might be one hundred
and twenty feet wide. I should prefer squares
of at least two hundred yards every way. —
FEDERAL CAPITAL OPINION, vii, 512. FORD ED.,
v, 253. (1790.)
8996. WASHINGTON (George), Advice
and. — His mind has been so long used to un
limited applause that it could not brook contra
diction, or even advice offered unasked. To
advice, when asked, he is very open. — To ARCH
IBALD STUART. FORD ED., vii, 101. (M., Jan.
I797-)
8997. WASHINGTON (George), Attacks
on. — The President is extremely affected by
the attacks made and kept up on him in the pub
lic papers. I think he feels those things more
than any person I ever yet met with. I am
sincerely sorry to see them. — To JAMES MADI
SON, iii, 579. FORD ED., vi, 293. (June 1793.)
8998. - — . [At a cabinet meeting]
[Secretary] Knox in a foolish, incoherent sort
of a speech, introduced the pasquinade lately
printed, called the funeral of George Washing
ton and James Wilson [Associate Justice of the
Supreme Court] ; King and Judge, &c., where
the President was placed on a guillotine. The
President was much inflamed ; got into one of
those passions when he cannot command him
self ; ran on much on the personal abuse which
had been bestowed on him ; defied any man on
earth to produce one single act of his since he
had been in the government, which was not done
on the purest motives ; that he had never re
pented but once the having slipped the moment
of resigning his office, and that was every mo
ment since, that by God he had rather be in his
grave than in his present situation ; that he
had rather be on his farm than to be made
Emperor of the -world, and yet they were charg
ing him with wanting to be a King. That that
rascal Freneau sent him three of his papers
every day, as if he thought he would become
the distributor of his papers ; that he could see
in this, nothing but an impudent design to in-
Washington (City)
Washington (George)
suit him: he ended in this high tone.*— THE
ANAS, ix, 164. FORD ED., i, 254. (Aug. 1793.)
8999. WASHINGTON (George), Cere
mony and.— I remember an observation of
yours, made when I first went to New York,
that the satellites and sycophants that surround
ed him [Washington] had wound up the cere
monials of the government to a pitch of stateli-
ness which nothing but his personal character
could have supported, and which no character
after him could ever maintain. It appears now
that even his will be insufficient to justify them
m the appeal of the times to common sense as
the arbiter of everything. Naked, he would
have been sanctimoniously reverenced ; but en
veloped in the rags of royalty, they can hardly
be torn off without laceration. It is the more
unfortunate that this attack is planted on popu
lar ground, on the love of the people to France
and its cause, which is universal. — To JAMES
MADISON, iii, 579. FORD ED., vi, 293. (June
I793-)
9000. WASHINGTON (George), Cincin
nati and.— I have wished to see you standing
on ground separated from it [the Society of
the Cincinnati] ; and that the character which
will be handed to future ages at the head of our
Revolution, may, in no instance, be compro-
mitted in subordinate altercations. — To GEN
ERAL WASHINGTON, i, 333. FORD ED., iii, 465.
(1784.) See CINCINNATI SOCIETY.
9001. WASHINGTON (George), Confi
dence in.— Without pretensions to that high
confidence you reposed in our first and greatest
revolutionary character, whose preeminent serv
ices had entitled him to the first place in his
country's love, and destined for him the fairest
page in the volume of faithful history, I ask
so much confidence only as may give firmness
and effect to the legal administration of your
affairs. — FIRST INAUGURAL ADDRESS, viii 5.
FORD ED., viii, 5. (1801.)
9002. WASHINGTON (George), Crown
refused.— The alliance between the States
under the old Articles of Confederation, for
the purpose of joint defence against the aggres
sions of Great Britain, was found insufficient,
as treaties of alliance generally are, to enforce
compliance with their mutual stipulations; and
:hese, once fulfilled, that bond was to expire of
tself, and each State to become sovereign and
independent in all things. Yet it could not but
occur to every one, that these separate independ
encies, like the petty States of Greece, would
>e eternally at war with each other, and would
)ecome at length the mere partisans and satel-
ites of the leading powers of Europe. All then
must have looked to some further bond of union,
which would insure internal peace, and a polit-
cal system of our own, independent of that of
iurope. Whether all should be consolidated
nto a single government, or each remain inde
pendent as to internal matters, and the whole
orm a single nation as to what was foreign
only, and whether that national government
should be a monarchy or a republic, would of
•.ourse divide opinions according to the con-
titutions, the habits, and the circumstances of
:ach individual. Some officers of the army.
is it has always been said and believed (and
Steuben and Knox have ever been named as
he leading agents), trained to monarchy by
military habits, are understood to have proposed
o General Washington to decide this great ques-
ion by the army before its disbandment, and
* Genet's case was under consideration at the
meeting of the cabinet.— EDITOR.
Washington (George) THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
928
to assume himself the crown, on the assurance
of their support. The indignation with which
he is said to have scouted this parricide propo
sition was equally worthy of his virtue and his
wisdom.— THE ANAS, ix, 88. FORD ED., i, 157.
(1818.)
9003. WASHINGTON (George), Errors
of.— He errs as other men do, but errs with
integrity.— To W. B. GILES, iv, 125. FORD ED.,
vii, 41. (M., I795-)
9004. . I wish that his honesty
and his political errors may not furnish a second
occasion to exclaim " curse on his virtues, they
have undone his country ". — To JAMES MADISON.
iv, 136. FORD ED., vii, 69. (M., 1796.)
9005. . The President [Wash
ington] is fortunate to get off just as the
[bank and paper] bubble is bursting, leaving
others to hold the bag. Yet, as his departure
will mark the moment when the difficulties begin
to work, you will see that they will be ascribed
to the new administration, and that he will have
his usual good fortune of reaping credit from
the good acts of others, and leaving to them that
of his errors. — To JAMES MADISON. FORD ED.,
vii, 104. (M., Jan. 1797.)
9006. WASHINGTON (George), Esti
mate of. — His mind was great and powerful,
without being of the very first order ; his pene
tration strong, though not so acute as that of
a Newton, Bacon, or Locke ; and as far as he
saw, no judgment was ever sounder. It was
slow in operation, being little aided by invention
or imagination, but sure in conclusion. Hence
the common remark of his officers, of the ad
vantage he derived from councils of war, where,
hearing all suggestions, he selected whatever
was best ; and certainly no general ever planned
his battles more judiciously. But if deranged
during the course of the action, if any member
of his plan was dislocated by sudden circum
stances, he was slow in readjustment. The
consequence was that he often failed in the field,
and rarely against an enemy in station, as at
Boston and York. He was incapable of fear,
meeting personal dangers with the calmest un
concern. Perhaps the strongest feature in his
character was prudence, never acting until every
circumstance, every consideration, was maturely
weighed ; refraining if he saw a doubt, but,
when once decided, going through with his pur
pose, whatever obstacles opposed. His integrity
was most pure, his justice the most inflexible I
have ever known, no motives of interest or
consanguinity, of friendship or hatred, being
able to bias his decision. He was, indeed, in
every sense of the words, a wise, a good, and a
great man. His temper was naturally irritable
and high toned; but reflection and resolution
had obtained a firm and habitual ascendency
over it. If ever, however, it broke its bonds,
he was most tremendous in his wrath. In his
expenses he was honorable, but exact ; libera'
in contributions to whatever promised utility
but frowning and unyielding on all visionary
projects, and all unworthy calls on his charity
His heart was not warm in its affections ; bui
he exactly calculated every man's value, anc
gave him a solid esteem proportioned to it. His
person was fine, his stature exactly what one
would wish, his deportment easy, erect anc
noble ; the best horseman of his age, and the
most graceful figure that could be seen on horse
back. Although in the circle of his friends
where he might be unreserved with safety, he
took a free share in conversation, his colloquia
talents were not above mediocrity, possessing
either copiousness of ideas, nor fluency of
/ords. In public, when called on for a sudden
pinion, he was unready, short and embarrassed,
fet he wrote readily, rather diffusely, in an
asy and correct style. This he had acquired
>y conversation with the world, for his educa-
ion was merely reading, writing, and common
rithmetic, to which he added surveying at a
ater day. His time was employed in action
hiefly, reading little, and that only in agricul-
ure and English history. His correspondence
ecame necessarily extensive, and, with journal-
zing his agricultural proceedings, occupied most
jf his leisure hours within doors. On the
whole, his character was, in its mass, perfect,
n nothing bad, in few points indifferent; and
t may truly be said, that never did nature and
'ortune combine more perfectly to make a man
great, and to place him in the same constellation
with whatever worthies have merited from man
an everlasting remembrance. For his was the
ingular destiny and merit, of leading the armies
>f his country successfully through an arduous
var for the establishment of its independence ;
f conducting its councils through the birth of a
government, new in its forms and principles,
until it had settled down into a quiet and orderly
:rain ; and of scrupulously obeying the laws
:hrough the whole of his career, civil and mil-
tary, of which the history of the world fur
nishes no other example. How, then, can it be
perilous for you to take such a man on your
shoulders? I am satisfied the great body of
republicans think of him as I do. We were,
indeed, dissatisfied with him on his ratification
of the British treaty. But this was short-lived.
We knew his honesty, the wiles with which he
was encompassed, and that age had already
aegun to relax the firmness of his purposes ; and
I am convinced he is more deeply seated in the
love and gratitude of the republicans, than in
the Pharisaical homage of the federal monarch
ists. For he was no monarchist from preference
of his judgment. The soundness of that gave
him correct views of the rights of man, and his
severe justice devoted him to them. He has
often declared to me that he considered our
new Constitution as an experiment on the prac
ticability of republican government, and with
what dose of liberty man could be trusted for
his own good ; that he was determined the ex
periment should have a fair trial, and would lose
the last drop of his blood in support of it.
* * * I felt on his death with my country
men, that verily a great man hath fallen this
clay in Israel. — To DR. WALTER JONES, vi, 286.
FORD ED., ix, 448. (M., Jan. 1814.)
9007. WASHINGTON (George), Fame
of. — Washington's fame will go on increasing
until the brightest constellation in yonder heav
ens shall be called by his name. — DOMESTIC
LIFE OF JEFFERSON. 358.
9008.
Our first and greatest
revolutionary character, whose preeminent^ serv
ices have entitled him to the first place in his
country's love, and destined for him the fairest
page in the volume of faithful history. — FIRST-
INAUGURAL ADDRESS, viii, 5. FORD ED., viii,
5. (1801.)
9009. . The moderation of his
desires, and the strength of his judgment, en
abled him to calculate correctly, that the right
to that glory which never dies is to use power
for the support of the laws and liberties of our
country, not for its destruction ; and his will
accordingly survive the wreck of everything
now living. — To EARL OF BUCHAN. iv, 494.
(W., 1803.)
929
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA Washington (George)
9010. WASHINGTON (George), Fare
well address of. — With respect to his [Presi
dent Washington's] Farewell Address, to the
authorship of which, it seems, there are conflict
ing claims, I can state to you some facts. He
had determined to decline reelection at the end
of his first term, and so far determined, that he
had requested Mr. Madison to prepare for him
something valedictory, to be addressed to his
constituents on his retirement. This was done,
but he was finally persuaded to acquiesce in a
second election, to which no one more stren
uously pressed him than myself, from a convic
tion of the importance of strengthening, by
longer habit, the respect necessary for that of
fice, which the weight of his character only
could effect. When, at the end of this second
term, his Valedictory came out, Mr. Madison
recognized in it several passages of his draft;
several others, we were both satisfied, were from
the pen of Hamilton, and others from that of
the President himself. These he probably put
into the hands of Hamilton to form into a
whole, and hence it may all appear in Hamil
ton's handwriting, as if it were all of his com
position. — To WILLIAM JOHNSON, vii, 292.
FORD ED., x, 228. (M., 1823.)
9011. WASHINGTON (George), Feder-
Jists and.— General Washington, after the
retirement of his first cabinet, and the compo
sition of his second, entirely federal, * * *
had no opportunity of hearing both sides of
any question. His measures, consequently,
took the hue of the party in whose hands he
was. These measures were certainly not ap
proved by the republicans ; yet they were not
imputed to him but to the counsellors around
him ; and his prudence so far restrained their
impassioned course and bias, that no act of
strong mark, during the remainder of his admin
istration, excited much dissatisfaction. He
lived too short a time after, and too much \vith-
drawn from information, to correct the views
into which he had been deluded ; and the con
tinued assiduities of the party drew him into the
vortex of their intemperate career ; separated
him still farther from his real friends, and ex
cited him to actions and expressions of dissatis
faction, which grieved them, but could not
loosen their affections from him. They would
not suffer the temporary aberration to weigh
against the immeasurable merits of his life ; and
although they tumbled his seducers from their
places, they preserved his memory embalmed
in their hearts with undiminished love and devo
tion ; and there it will forever remain em
balmed, in entire oblivion of every temporary
thing which might cloud the glories of his
splendid life. It is vain, then, for Mr. Pick
ering and his friends to endeavor to falsify
his character, by representing him as an enemy
to republicans and republican principles, and
as exclusively the friend of those who were so ;
and had he lived longer, he would have re
turned to his ancient and unbiased opinions,
would have replaced his confidence in those
whom the people approved and supported, and
would have seen that they were only restoring
and acting on the principles of his own first
administration. — To MARTIN VAN BUREN. vii,
371. FORD ED., x, 314. (M., 1824.)
9012. . The federalists, pretend
ing to be the exclusive friends of General Wash
ington, have ever done what they could to sink
his character, by hanging theirs on it, and by
representing as the enemy of republicans him,
who, of all men, is best entitled to the appella
tion of the father of that republic which they
were endeavoring to subvert, and the repub
licans to maintain. They cannot deny, because
the elections proclaimed the truth, that the great
body of the nation approved the republican
measures. — To MARTIN VAN BUREN. vii, 371.
FORD ED., x, 314. (M., 1824.)
9013. . From the moment * * *
of my retiring from the administration, the
federalists got unchecked hold of General Wash
ington. His memory was already sensibly im
paired by age, the firm tone of mind for which
he had been remarkable, was beginning to relax,
its energy was abated ; a listlessness of labor, a
desire for tranquillity had crept on him, and a
willingness to let others act, and even think
for him. Like the rest of mankind, he was dis
gusted with the atrocities of the French Revo
lution, and was not sufficiently aware of the
difference between the rabble who were used as
instruments of their perpetration, and the steady
and rational character of the American people,
in which he had not sufficient confidence. The
opposition too of the republicans to the British
treaty, and zealous support of the federalists in
that unpopular, but favorite measure of theirs,
had made him all their own. Understanding,
moreover, that I disapproved of that treaty, and
copiously nourished with falsehoods by a malig
nant neighbor of mine [Henry Lee, " Light-
Horse Harry "], who ambitioned to be his cor
respondent, he had become alienated from my
self personally, as from the republican body
generally of his fellow citizens ; and he wrote
the letters to Mr. Adams and Mr. Carroll, over
which, in devotion to his imperishable fame,
we must forever weep as monuments of mortal
decay. — THE ANAS, ix, 99. FORD ED., i, 168.
(1818.)
9014. WASHINGTON (George), Influ
ence of. — You will have seen by the proceed
ings of Congress the truth of what I always ob
served to you, that one man outweighs them all
in influence over the people, who have supported
his judgment against their own and that of their
representatives. Republicanism must lie on its
oars, resign the vessel to its pilot, and them
selves to the course he thinks best for them. —
To JAMES MONROE, iv, 140. FORD ED., vii, 80
(M., June 1796.)
9015. WASHINGTON (George), Jeffer
son and.— I learn that he [General H. Lee]
has thought it worth his while to try to sow
tares between you and me, by representing me
as still engaged in the bustle of politics, and in
turbulence and intrigue against the government.
I never believed for a moment that this could
make any impression on you, or that your
knowledge of me would not overweigh the slan
der of an intriguer, dirtily employed in sifting
the conversations of my table, where alone he
could hear of me ; and seeking to atone for his
sins against you by sins against another, who
had never done him any other injury than that
of declining his confidences. Political conversa
tions I really dislike, and therefore avoid where
I can without affectation. But when urged by
others, I have never conceived that having been
in public life requires me to belie my sentiments,
or even to conceal them. When I am led by
conversation to express them, I do it with the
same independence here which I have practiced
everywhere, and which is inseparable from my
nature. But enough of this miserable tergiv-
ersator, who ought, indeed, either to have been
of more truth, or less trusted by his country. —
To PRESIDENT WASHINGTON, iv, 142. FORD
F.D., vii, 82. (M., 1796.)
9016. WASHINGTON (George), Just.—
General Washington was always just in ascri-
Washington (George)
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
930
bing to every officer the merit of his own
works. — NOTES ON M. SOULES'S WORK, ix, 301.
FORD ED., iv, 309. (P., 1786.)
9017. WASHINGTON (George), Loved
and venerated. — He possessed the love, the
veneration, and confidence of all. — THE ANAS.
FORD ED., i, 155- (1818.)
9018. WASHINGTON (George), Mar
shall's life of.— The party feelings of Gen
eral Washington's biographer [Marshall] to
whom after his death the collection of [Wash
ington's papers] was confided, have culled from
it a composition as different from what General
Washington would have offered, as was the
candor of the two characters during the period
of the war. The partiality of this pen is dis
played in lavishments of praise on certain
military characters, who had done nothing mil
itary, but who afterwards, and before he wrote,
had become heroes in party, although not in
war ; and in his reserve on the merits of others,
who rendered signal services indeed, but did not
earn his praise by apostatizing in peace from the
republican principles for which they had fought
in war. It shows itself too in the cold indiffer
ence with which a struggle for the most anima
ting of human objects is narrated. No act of
heroism ever kindles in the mind of this writer
a single aspiration in favor of the holy cause
which inspired the bosom, and nerved the arm
of the patriot warrior. No gloom of events, no
lowering of prospects ever excites a fear for the
issue of a contest which was to change the con
dition of man aver the civilized globe. The
sufferings inflicted on endeavors to vindicate
the rights of humanity are related with all the
frigid insensibility with which a monk would
have contemplated the victims of an auto da f e.
Let no man believe that General Washington
ever intended that his papers should be used for
the suicide of the cause for which he had lived,
and for which there never was a moment in
which he would not have died. The abuse of
these materials is chiefly, however, manifested
in the history of the period immediately follow
ing the establishment of the present Constitu
tion. * * * Were a reader of this period
to form his idea of it from this history alone,
he would suppose the republican party (who
were, in truth, endeavoring to keep the govern
ment within the line of the Constitution, and
prevent its being monarchized in practice) were
a mere set of grumblers, and disorganizes,
satisfied with no government, without fixed prin
ciples of any, and, like a British parliamentary
'pposition, gaping after loaves and fishes, and
ready to change principles, as well as position,
at any time, with their adversaries. But a
short review of facts omitted, or uncandidly
stated in this history will show that the contests
of that day were contests of principle between
the advocates of republican and those of kingly
government, and that had not the former made
the efforts they did, our government would
have been, even at this early day, a very differ
ent thing from what the successful issue of
those efforts have made it.* — THE ANAS. FORD
ED., i, 155. (1818.)
9019. WASHINGTON (George), Medal
lion of. — That our own nation should enter
tain sentiments of gratitude and reverence for
the great character who is the subject of your
medallion, is a matter of duty. His disinterest
ed and valuable services to them have rendered
it so ; but such a monument to his memory bv
the member of another community, proves a zeal
* In the Congressional edition this extract is
omitted except the last sentence.— EDITOR.
for virtue in the abstract, honorable to him
who inscribes it, as to him whom it commem
orates. * * This testimonial in favor of
the first worthy of our country will be grateful
to the feelings of our citizens generally. — To
DANIEL ECCLESTON. v, 213. (W., 1807.)
9020. WASHINGTON (George), Mem
ory of. — His memory will be adored while
liberty shall have votaries, his name will tri
umph over time and will in future ages assume
its just station among the most celebrated
worthies of the world. — NOTES ON VIRGINIA.
viii, 312. FORD ED., iii, 168. (1782.)
9021. WASHINGTON (George), Na
tional monument to.— In a former letter I
enclosed you an idea of Mr. Lee's for an imme
diate appropriation of a number of lots to raise
a sum of money for erecting a national monu
ment in the city of Washington. It was scarce
ly to be doubted but that you would avoid ap
propriations for matters of ornament till a suf
ficient sum should be secured out of the pro
ceeds of your sales to accomplish the public
buildings, bridges and such other objects as are
essential. Mr. Caracchi, the artist, who had
proposed to execute the monument, has had
hopes that a subscription set on foot for that
purpose, would have sufficed to effect it. That
hope is now over, and he is about to return to
Europe. He is unquestionably an artist of
the first class. He has had the advantage of
taking the President's person in plaster, equal
to every wish in resemblance and spirit. It is
pretty certain that the equestrian statue of the
President can never be executed by an equal
workman, who has had equal advantages, and
the question is whether a prudent caution will
permit you to enter into any engagement now,
taking time enough before the term of payment
to have accomplished the more material objects
of the public buildings, &c. He says to execute
the equestrian statue, with the cost of the ma
terials, in marble, will be worth twenty thousand
guineas ; that he would begin it on his return,
if four or five years hence you can engage to
pay him twenty thousand dollars, and the same
sum annually afterwards, till the whole is paid,
before which time the statue will be ready. It
is rather probable that within some time Con
gress would take it off your hands, in compli
ance with an ancient vote of that body. The
questions for your consideration are, whether,
supposing no difficulty as to the means, you
think such a work might be undertaken by you?
Whether you can have so much confidence in the
productiveness of your funds as to engage for a
residuum of this amount, all the more necessary
objects being first secured, and that this may
be within the time first proposed? And, in
fine, which will preponderate in your minds,
the hazard of undertaking this now, or that of
losing the aid of the artist? The nature of this
proposition will satisfy you that it has not been
communicated to the President, and of course
would not be, unless a previous acceptance on
your part, should render it necessary to obtain
his sanction. Your answer is necessary for the
satisfaction of Mr. Caracchi, at whose instance
I submit the proposal to you, and who, I be
lieve, will only wait here the return of that
answer.— To THE COMMISSIONERS OF WASH
INGTON, iii, 346. (1792.)
9022. WASHINGTON (George), Oath
of office. — Knox, Randolph and myself met
at Knox's where Hamilton was also to have met,
to consider the time, manner and place of the
President's swearing in.* Hamilton had been
* On the occasion of Washington's second inaugu
ration.— EDITOR.
931
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA Washington (George)
there before [us] and had left his opinion with
Knox, to wit, that the President should ask a
judge to attend him in his own house to admin
ister the oath, in the presence of the heads of
Departments, which oath should be deposited
in the Secretary of State's office. I concurred
in this opinion. E. Randolph was for the Pres
ident's going to the Senate chamber to take the
oath, attended by the Marshal of the United
States who should then make proclamation, &c.
Knox was for this and for adding the House of
Representatives to the presence, as they would
not yet be departed. Our individual opinions
were written to be communicated to the Pres
ident out of which he might form one. — THE
ANAS, ix, 139. FORD ED., i, 221. (Feb. I793-)
9023. WASHINGTON (George), Opin
ions of. — His opinions merit veneration and
respect ; for few men have lived whose opinions
were more unbiased and correct. Not that it
is pretended he never felt bias. His passions
were naturally strong ; but his reason, generally
stronger. — THE ANAS. FORD ED., i, 155-
(1818.)
9024. WASHINGTON (George), Oppo
sition to administration. — 1 told the Presi
dent [Washington] that in my opinion there was
only a single source of the discontents [with the
administration]. Though they had indeed ap
peared to spread themselves over the War De
partment also, yet I considered that as an over
flowing only from their real channel, which
would never have taken place, if they had not
first been generated in another Department, to
wit, that of the Treasury. That a system had
there been contrived, for deluging the States
with paper money instead of gold and silver,
for withdrawing our citizens from the pursuits
of commerce, manufactures, buildings, and other
branches of useful industry, to occupy them
selves and their capitals in a species of gambling
destructive of morality, and which had intro
duced its poison into the government itself.
That it was a fact, as certainly known as that
he and I were then conversing, that particular
members of the Legislature, while those laws
were on the carpet, had feathered their nests
with paper, had then voted for the laws, and
constantly since lent all the energy of their
talents, and instrumentality of their offices to
the establishment and enlargement of this sys
tem ; that they had chained it about our necks
for a great length of time, and in order to keep
the game in their hands had, from time to time,
aided in making such legislative constructions
of the Constitution, as made it a very different
thing from what the people thought they had
submitted to ; that they had now brought for
ward a proposition, far beyond every one yet
advanced, and to which the eyes of many were
turned, as the decision which was to let us
know, whether we live under a limited or an
unlimited government. He asked me to what
proposition I alluded? I answered to that in
the Report on Manufactures, which, under color
of giving bounties for the encouragement of
particular manufactures, meant to establish the
doctrine, that the power "-iven by the Constitu
tion to collect taxes to provide for the general
welfare of the United States, permitted Con
gress to take everything under their manage
ment which they should deem for the public
welfare, and which is susceptible of the applica
tion of money ; consequently, that the subse
quent enumeration of their powers was not the
description to which resort must be had. and
did not at all constitute the limits of their au
thority ; that this was a very different question
from that of the bank, which was thought an
incident to an enumerated power ; that, there
fore, this decision was expected with great
anxiety ; that, indeed, I hoped the proposition
would be rejected, believing there was a ma
jority in both Houses against it, and that if it
should be, it would be considered as a proof that
things were returning into their true channel ;
and that, at any rate, I looked forward to the
broad representation which would shortly take
place, for keeping the general Constitution on
its true ground ; and that this would remove a
great deal of the discontent which had shown
itself. — THE ANAS, ix, 104. FORD ED., i, 176.
(Feb. 29, 1792.)
9025. . The President said Gov
ernor Lee had that day informed him of the gen
eral discontent prevailing in Virginia, of which
he never had had any conception, much less
sound information ; that it appeared to him
very alarming. * * * I confirmed him in
the fact of the great discontents in the South ;
that they were grounded on seeing that their
judgments and interests were sacrificed to those
of the Eastern States on every occasion, and
their belief that it was the effect of a corrupt
squadron of voters in Congress, at the command
of the Treasury ; and they see that if the votes
of those members who had an interest distinct
om, and contrary to the general interest of
their constituents, had been withdrawn, as in
decency and honesty they should have been, the
laws wou'd have been the reverse of what they
are on all the great questions. I instanced the
new Assumption carried in the House of Rep
resentatives by the Speaker's vote. On this
subject he made no reply. — THE ANAS, ix, 130.
FORD ED., i, 215. (Feb. 7, 1793.)
9026. . The object of the oppo
sition which was made to the course of adminis
tration was to preserve the Legislature pure and
independent of the Executive, to restrain the
Administration to republican forms and princi
ples, and not permit the Constitution to be con
strued into a monarchy, and to be warped, in
practice, into all the principles and pollutions of
their favorite English model. Nor was this an
opposition to General Washington. He was
true to the republican charge confided to him ;
and has solemnly and repeatedly protested to
me, in our conversations that he would lose the
last drop of his blood in support of it ; and he
did this the oftener and with the more earnest
ness, because he knew my suspicions of Ham
ilton's designs against it, and wished to quiet
them. For he was not aware of the drift or
of the effect of Hamilton s schemes. Unversed
in financial projects and calculations and budg
ets, his approbation of them was bottomed on
his confidence in the man. — THE ANAS, ix, 95.
FORD ED., i, 165. (1818.)
9027. WASHINGTON (George), Popu
larity of. — Such is the popularity of Presi
dent Washington that the people will support
him in whatever he will do or will not do. with
out appealing to their own reason, or to any
thing but their feelings towards him. — To ARCH
IBALD STUART. FORD ED., vii, 101. (M., Jan.
I797-)
9028. WASHINGTON (George), Presi
dent. — Though we [in Paris] have not heard
of the actual opening of the new Congress, and
consequently have not official information of
your election as President of the LTnited States,
yet, as there never could be a doubt entertained
of it. permit me to express here my felicitations,
not to yourself, but to my country. Nobody
who has tried both public and private life, can
Washington (George) THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
932
doubt that you were much happier on the banks
of the Potomac than you will be at New York.
But there was nobody so well qualified as your
self to put our new machine into a regular
course of action ; nobody, the authority of whose
name could have so effectually crushed oppo
sition at home, and produced respect abroad. I
am sensible of the immensity of the sacrifice
on your part. Your measure of fame was full
to the brim ; and, therefore, you have nothing
to gain. But there are cases where it is a duty
to risk all against nothing, and I believe this was
exactly the case. We may presume, too, accord
ing to every rule of probability, that after do
ing a great deal of good, you will be found to
have lost nothing but private repose. — To GEN
ERAL WASHINGTON, iii, 30. FORD ED., v, 94.
(P., May 1789.)
9029. WASHINGTON (George), Presi
dential reeligibility and.— The perpetual
reeligibility of the same President will probably
not be cured during the life of General Wash
ington. His merit has blinded our countrymen
to the danger of making so important an officer
reeligible. I presume there will not be a vote
against him in the United States. — To WILLIAM
CARMICHAEL. ii, 465. (P., Aug. 1788.)
9030. WASHINGTON (George), Pru
dent. — The prudence of the President is an
anchor of safety to us. — To NICHOLAS LEWIS.
FORD ED., v, 282. (Pa., 1791.)
9031. WASHINGTON (George), Repub
licanism of. — It is fortunate that our first
Executive Magistrate is purely and zealously
republican. We cannot expect all his successors
to be so, and therefore, should avail ourselves
the present day to establish principles and ex
amples which may fence us against future here
sies preached now, to be practiced hereafter. —
To HARRY INNES. iii, 224. FORD ED., v, 300.
(Pa., 1791-)
9032. . General Washington was
himself sincerely a friend to the republican prin
ciples of our Constitution. His faith perhaps
in its duration, might not have been as confident
as mine ; but he repeatedly declared to me, that
he was determined it should have a fair chance
for success, and that he would lose the last drop
of his blood in its support, against any attempt
which might be made to change it from its re
publican form. He made these declarations the
oftener, because he knew my suspicions that
Hamilton had other views, and he wished to
quiet my jealousies on this subject. — To MARTIN
VAN BUREN. vii, 371. FORD EDV x, 314. (M.:
1824.)
9033. WASHINGTON (George), Repub
licans and. — I have long thought it was best
for the republican interest to soothe him by
flattering where they could approve his meas
ures, and to be silent where they disapprove,
that they may not render him desperate as to
their affections, and entirely indifferent to their
wishes, in short to lie on their oars while he
remains at the helm, and let the bark drift as
his will and a superintending Providence shall
direct. — To ARCHIBALD STUART. FORD ED., vii,
102. (M., Jan. I797-)
9034. WASHINGTON (George), Second
term. — When you first mentioned to me your
Purpose of retiring from the government, though
felt all the magnitude of the event, I was in a
considerable degree silent. I knew that, to
such a mind as yours, persuasion was idle and
impertinent ; that before forming your decision
you had weighed all the reasons for and against
the measure, had made up your mind on full
view of them, and that there could be little hope
of changing the result. Pursuing my reflec
tions, too, I knew we were some day to try to
walk alone, and if the essay should be made
while you should be alive and looking on, we
should derive confidence from that circumstance,
and resource, if it failed. The public mind,
too, was calm and confident, and therefore in
a favorable state for making the experiment.
Had no change of circumstances intervened, I
should not, with any hopes of success, have now
ventured to propose to you a change of purpose.
But the public mind is no longer confident and
serene ; and that from causes in which you are
no ways personally mixed. Though these
causes have been hackneyed in the public papers
in detail, it may not be amiss, in order to calcu
late the effect they are capable of producing, to
take a view of them in the mass, giving to each
the form, real or imaginary, under which they
have been presented. It has been urged, then,
that the public debt, greater than we can pos
sibly pay before other causes of adding new debt
to it will occur, has been artificially created by
adding together the whole amount of the debtor
and creditor sides of accounts, instead of only
taking their balances, which could have been
paid off in a short time ; that this accumulation
of debt has taken forever out of our power
those easy sources of revenue which, applied to
the ordinary necessities and exigencies of gov
ernment, would have answered them habitually,
and covered us from habitual murmurings
against taxes and taxgatherers, reserving ex
traordinary calls for those extraordinary occa
sions which would animate the people to meet
them ; that though the calls for money have been
no greater than we must expect generally, for
the same or equivalent exigencies, yet we are
already obliged to strain the impost till it pro
duces clamor, and will produce evasion and
war on our own citizens to collect it, and even
to resort to an excise law of most odious char
acter with the people, partial in its operation,
unproductive unless enforced by arbitrary and
vexatious means, and committing the authority
of the government in parts where resistance is
most probable and coercion least practicable.
They cite propositions in Congress, and suspect
other projects on foot still to increase the mass
of debt. They say, that by borrowing at two-
thirds of the interest, we might have paid off
the principal in two-thirds of the time ; but that
from this we are precluded by its being made
irredeemable but in small portions and long
terms ; that this irredeemable quality was given
it for the avowed purpose of inviting its trans
fer to foreign countries. They predict that this
transfer of the principal, when completed, will
occasion an exportation of three millions of
dollars annually for the interest, a drain of
coin, of which as there have been no examples,
no calculation can be made of its consequences :
that the banishment of our coin will be compli
cated by the creation of ten millions of paper
money, in the form of bank bills now issuing
into circulation. They think that the ten or
twelve per cent, annual profit paid to the lenders
of this paper medium taken out of the pockets
of the people, who would have had without in
terest the coin it is banishing ; that all the cap
ital employed in paper speculation is barren
and useless, producing, like that on a gaming
table, no accession to itself, and is withdrawn
from commerce and agriculture, where it
would have produced addition to the common
mass : that it nourishes in our citizens habits of
vice and idleness, instead of industry and mo
rality ; that it has furnished effectual means of
933
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA Washington (George)
corrupting such a portion of the Legislature as
turns the balance between the honest voters,
whichever way it is directed : that this corrupt
squadron, deciding the voice of the Legislature,
have manifested their dispositions to get rid of
the limitations imposed by the Constitution on
the general Legislature, limitations, on the faith
of which, the States acceded to that instrument :
that the ultimate object of all this is to
prepare the way for a change from the present
republican form of government to that of a
monarchy, of which the English constitution is
to be the model : that this was contemplated by
the convention is no secret, because its parti
sans have made none of it. To effect it then
was impracticable, but they are still eager after
their object, and are predisposing everything
for its ultimate attainment. So many of them
have got into the Legislature, that, aided by the
corrupt squadron of paper dealers, who are at
their devotion, they make a majority in both
houses. The republican party, who wish to pre
serve the government in its present form, are
fewer in number ; they are fewer even when
joined by the two, three, or half dozen anti-fed
eralists, who, though they dare not avow it, are
still opposed to any general government ; but,
being less so to a republican than a monarchical
one, they naturally join those whom they think
pursuing the lesser evil. Of all the mischiefs
objected to the system of measures before men
tioned, none is so afflicting and fatal to every
honest hope, as the corruption of the Legisla
ture. As it was the earliest of these measures,
it became the instrument for producing the rest,
and will be the instrument for producing in fu
ture a king, lords and commons, or whatever
else those who direct it may choose. With
drawn such a distance from the eye of their
constituents, and these so disposed as to be
inaccessible to public information, and particu
larly to that of the conduct of their own repre
sentatives, they will form the most corrupt gov
ernment on earth, if the means of their corrup
tion be not prevented. The only hope of safety
now hangs on the numerous representation
which is to come forward the ensuing year.
Some of the new members, will be., probably,
either in principle or interest, with the present
majority; but it is expected that the great mass
will form an accession to the republican party.
They will not be able to undo all which the two
preceding Legislatures, and especially the first,
have done. Public faith and right will oppose
this. But some parts of the system may be
rightfully reformed, a liberation from the rest
unremittingly pursued as fast as right will per
mit, and the door shut against similar commit
ments of the nation. Should the next Legisla
ture take this course, it will draw upon them
the whole monarchical and paper interest ; but
the latter, I think, will not go all lengths with
the former, because creditors will never, of their
own accord, fly off entirely from their debtors ;
therefore, this is the alternative least likely to
produce convulsion. But should the majority of
the new members be still in the same principles
with the present, and show that we have nothing
to expect but a continuance of the same prac
tices, it is not easy to conjecture what would be
the result, nor what means would be resorted to
for correction of the evil. True wisdom would
direct that they should be temperate and peace
able ; but the division of sentiment and interest
happens unfortunately to be so geographical,
that no mortal man can say that what is most
wise and temperate would prevail against what
is most easy and obvious? I can scarcely con
template a more incalculable evil than the break
ing of the Union into two or more parts. Yet
when we consider the mass which opposed
the original coalescence ; when we consider that
it lay chiefly in the Southern quarter ; that the
Legislature have availed themselves of no oc
casion of allaying it, but on the contrary when
ever Northern and Southern prejudices have
come into conflict, the latter have been sacri
ficed and the former soothed ; that the owers
of the debt are in the Southern, and the holders
of it in the Northern division : that the anti-
federal champions are now strengthened in ar
gument by the fulfillment of their predictions ;
that this has been brought about by the mon
archical federalists themselves, who, having
been for the new government merely as a step
ping stone to monarchy, have themselves adopt
ed the very constructions of the Constitution,
of which, when advocating its acceptance before
the tribunal of the people, they declared it
unsusceptible ; that the republican federalists
who espoused the same government for its in
trinsic merits, are disarmed of their weapons ;
that which they denied as prophecy, having now
become true history, who can be sure that these
things may not proselyte the small number
which was wanting to place the majority on the
other side ? And this is the event at which I
tremble, and to prevent which I consider your
continuance at the head of affairs as of the last
importance. The confidence of the whole
Union is centered in you. Your being at the
helm will be more than an answer to every ar
gument which can be used to alarm and lead the
people in any quarter, into violence and seces
sion. North and South will hang together if
they have you to hang on ; and if the first cor
rection of a numerous representation should fail
in its effect, your presence will give time for
trying others, not inconsistent with the Union
and peace of the States. I am perfectly aware
of the oppression under which your present
office lays your mind, and of the ardor with
which you pant for domestic life. But there is
sometimes an eminence of character on which
society have such peculiar claims as to control
the predilections of the individual for a par
ticular walk of happiness, and restrain him to
that alone arising from the present and future
benedictions of mankind. This seems to be
your condition, and the law imposed on you by
Providence in forming your character, and fash
ioning the events on which it was to operate ;
and it is to motives like these, and not to per
sonal anxieties of mine or others who have no
right to call on you for sacrifices, that I appeal,
and urge a revisal of it, on the ground of change
in the aspect of things. Should an honest ma
jority result from the new and enlarged repre
sentation ; should those acquiesce whose prin
ciples or interest they may control, your wishes
for retirement would be gratified with less
danger, as soon as that shall be manifest, with
out awaiting the completion of the second period
of four years. One or two sessions will deter
mine the crisis ; and I cannot but hope that you
can resolve to add more to the many years you
have already sacrificed to the good of mankind.
The fear of suspicion that any selfish motive
of continuance in office may enter into this so
licitation on my part, obliges me to declare that
no such motive exists. It is a thing of mere
indifference to the public whether I retain or
relinquish my purpose of closing my tour with
the first political renovation of the government.
I know my own measure too well to suppose that
my services contribute anything to the public
confidence, or the public utility. Multitudes
can fill the office in which you have been pleased
to place me, as much to their advantage and sat
isfaction. I have, therefore, no motive to con
sult but my own inclination, which is bent ir
resistibly on the tranquil enjoyment of my fam-
Washington (George) THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
934
ily, my farm and my books. I should repose
among them, it is true, in far greater security,
if I were to know that you remained at the
watch ; and I hope it will be so. To the induce
ments urged from a view of our domestic affairs,
I will add a bare mention, of what indeed need
only to be mentioned, that weighty motives for
your consideration are to be found in our for
eign affairs, i think it probable that both the
Spanish and English negotiations, if not com
pleted before your purpose is known, will be sus
pended from the moment it is known, and that
the latter nation will then use double diligence
in fomenting the Indian war.— To PRESIDENT
WASHINGTON, iii, 360. FORD ED., vi, i. (Pa.,
May 1792-)
9035. . My letter to the Presi
dent [May 23, 1792], directed to him at Mount
Vernon, came to him here [Philadelphia]. He
told me of this, and that he would take occasion
of speaking with me on the subject. He did
so this day [July 10]. He began by observing
that he had put it off from day to day, because
the subject was painful, to wit, his remaining
in office, which that letter solicited. He said
that the declaration he had made when he
quitted his military command, of never again
acting in public life, was sincere. That, how
ever, when he was called on to come forward
to set the present government in motion, it
appeared to him that circumstances were so
changed, as to justify a change in his resolu
tion ; he was made to believe that in two years
all would be well in motion, and he might re
tire. At the end of two years he found some
things still to be done. At the end of the third
year, he thought it was not worth while to dis
turb the course of things, as in one year more
his office would expire, and he was decided then
to retire. Now he was told there would still
be danger in it. Certainly, if he thought so,
he would conquer his longing for retirement.
But he feared it would be said his former pro
fessions of retirement had been mere affecta
tion, and that he was like other men, when
once in office he could not quit it. He was sen
sible, too, of a decay of his hearing; perhaps
his other faculties might fall off, and he not
be sensible of it. That with respect to the ex
isting causes of uneasiness, he thought there
were suspicions against a particular party, which
had been carried a great deal too far; there
might be desires, but he did not believe there
were designs to change the form of government
into a monarchy ; that there might be a few who
wished it in the higher walks of life, particu
larly in the great cities, but that the main body
of the people in the eastern States were as
steadily for republicanism as in the southern.
That the pieces lately published, and particu
larly in Freneau's paper, seemed to have in
view the exciting opposition to the government.
That this had taken place in Pennsylvania as
to the Excise law, according to information he
had received from General Hand. That they
tended to produce a separation of the Union,
the most dreadful of all calamities, and that
whatever tended to produce anarchy, tended,
of course, to produce a resort to monarchical
government. He considered those papers as
attacking him directly, for he must be a fool
indeed to swallow the little sugar plums here
and there thrown out to him. That in con
demning the administration of the government,
they condemned him. for if they thought there
were measures pursued contrary to his senti
ment, they must conceive him too careless to
attend to them, or too stupid to understand
them. That though, indeed, he had signed
many acts which he did not approve in all their
parts, yet he had never put his name to one
which he did not think, on the whole, was
eligible. That as to the Bank, which had been
an act of so much complaint, until there was
some infallible criterion of reason, a difference
of opinion must be tolerated. He did not be
lieve the discontents extended far from the seat
of government. He had seen and spoken with
many people in Maryland and Virginia in his
late journey. He found the people contented
and happy. He wished, however, to be better
informed on this head. If the discontent were
more extensive than he supposed, it might be
that the desire that he should remain in the gov
ernment was not general. — THE ANAS, ix, 116.
FORD ED., i, 198. (July 1792.)
9036. . President Washington
said [in conversation with me] that as yet he
was quite undecided whether to retire in March
or not. His inclinations led him strongly to
do it. Nobody disliked more the ceremonies of
his office, and he had not the least taste or grat
ification in the execution of its functions. That
he was happy at home alone, and that his pres
ence there was now peculiarly called for by
the situation of Major Washington, whom he
thought irrecoverable, and should he get well,
he would remove into another part of the coun
try, which might better agree with him. That
he did not believe his presence necessary ; that
there were other characters who would do the
business as well or better. Still, however, if
his aid was thought necessary to save the cause
to which he had devoted his life principally,
he would make the sacrifice of a longer con
tinuance. That he, therefore, reserved himself
for future decision, as his declaration would be
in time if made a month before the day of
election. He had desired Mr. Lear to find
out from conversation, without appearing to
make the inquiry, whether any otlv-'r person
would be desired by anybody. He had in
formed him, he judged from conversations that
it was the universal desire he should continue,
and he believed that those who expressed a
doubt of his continuance, did it in the language
of apprehension, and riot of desire. But this,
says he, is only from the north ; it may be very
different in the south. I thought this meant
as an opening to me to say what was the senti
ment in the south, from which quarter I come.
I told him, that as far as I knew, there was but
one voice there, which was for his continuance.
— THE ANAS, ix, 120. FORD ED., i, 202. (Oct.
1792.)
9037. WASHINGTON (George), Statue
of. — There could be no question raised as to
the sculptor who should be employed [to exe
cute Washington's statue] ; the reputation of
Monsieur Houdon of this city [Paris] being
unrivalled in Europe. He is resorted to for
the statues of most of the sovereigns in Europe.
On conversing with him. Doctor Franklin and
myself became satisfied that no statue could be
executed so as to obtain the approbation of
those to whom the figure of the original is
known, but on an actual view by the artist. Of
course no statue of General Washington, which
might be a true evidence of his figure to pos
terity, could be made from his picture. Statues
are made every day from portraits ; but if the
person be living, they are always condemned
by those who know him for a want of resem
blance, and this furnishes a conclusive presump
tion that similar representations of the dead are
equally unfaithful. Monsr. Houdon, whose rep
utation is such as to make it his principal ob
ject, was so anxious to be the person who
should hand down the figure of the General to
future ages, that without hesitating a moment,
935
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Washington (George)
Wealth
he offered to abandon his business here, to leave
the statues of Kings unfinished, and to go to
America to take the true figure by actual in
spection and mensuration. We believe, from
his character, that he will not propose any very
considerable sum for making this journey;
probably two or three hundred guineas, as he
must necessarily be absent three or four months,
and his expenses will make at least a hundred
guineas of the money. When the whole merit
of the piece was to depend on this previous
expenditure, we could not doubt your appro
bation of the measure; and that you would
think with us that things which are just or
handsome should never be done by halves. We
shall regulate the article of expense as eco
nomically as we can with justice to the wishes of
the world. This article, together with the habit,
attitude, devices, &c., are now under considera
tion, and till they be decided on, we cannot
ultimately contract with Monsr. Houdon. We
are agreed in one circumstance, that the size
shall be precisely that of life. Were we to have
executed a statue in any other case, we should
have preferred making it somewhat larger than
life ; because as they are generally a little ele
vated they appear smaller, but we think it. im
portant that some one monument should be
preserved of the true size as well as figure, from
which all other countries (and our own at
any future day when they shall desire it), may
take copies, varying them in their dimensions
as may suit the particular situation in which
they wish to place them. The duty as well as
the glory of this presentation we think belongs
peculiarly to Virginia. We are sensible that the
eye alone considered will not be quite as well
satisfied ; but connecting the consideration that
the whole, and every part of it presents the true
size of the life, we suppose the beholders will
receive a greater pleasure on the whole. — To
THE GOVERNOR OF VIRGINIA. FORD ED., iv, 26.
(P., 1785.)
9038. . I am happy to find * * *
that the modern dress for your statue would
meet your approbation. I found it strongly
the sentiment of West, Copley, Trumbull. and
Brown, in London ; after which, it would be
ridiculous to add, that it was my own. I think
a modern in an antique dress as just an object
of ridicule as a Hercules or Marius with a
periwig and a chapeau bras. — To GENERAL
WASHINGTON, ii, 250. (P., 1787.)
9039. . The marble statue of
General Washington in the Capitol at Rich
mond, with its pedestal, cost in Paris 24,000
livres or 1,000 Louis d'ors. It is of the size of
life, and made by Houdon, reckoned one of
the first statuaries in Europe. Besides this,
we paid Houdon's expenses coming to and re
turning from Virginia to take the General's like
ness, which, as well as I recollect, were about
500 guineas, and the transportation of the statue
to Virginia with a workman to put it up, the
amount of which I never heard. — To MR.
PARKER, iv, 309. (Pa., 1800.) See HOUDON.
9040. WATERHOUSE (Dr.), Marine
hospital appointment.— When the appoint
ment of Dr. Waterhouse to the care of the ma
rine hospital was decided on, no other candidate
had been named to me as desiring the place.
The respectable recommendations I had re
ceived, and his station as professor of medicine
in a college of high reputation, sufficientlv
warranted his abilities as a physician, and to
these was added a fact well known, that, to his
zeal, the United States were indebted for the
introduction of a great blessing, — vaccination,
which has extirpated one of the most loathsome
and mortal diseases which has afflicted human
ity some years, probably, sooner than would
otherwise have taken place. It was a pleasure,
therefore, as well as a duty, in dispensing the
public favors, to make this small return for the
great service rendered our country by Dr.
Waterhouse. — To JOSEPH B. VARNUM. v, 222.
(W., 1807.)
9041.
Dr. Waterhouse has been
appointed to the Marine Hospital of Boston, as
you wished. It was a just though small return
for his merit, in introducing the vaccination
earlier than we should have had it. His ap
pointment makes some noise there and here,
being unacceptable to some; but I believe that
schismatic divisions in the medical fraternity
are at the bottom of it. — To DR. BENJAMIN
RUSH, v, 225. (W., 1808.)
9042. - — . You have the blessings
of all the friends of human happiness for the
great peril from which they are rescued. — To
DR. BENJAMIN WATERHOUSE. FORD ED., ix, 532
(M., 1815.)
9043. WEAKNESS, National.— Weak
ness provokes insult and injury, while a con
dition to punish often prevents them. — To
JOHN JAY. i, 404. FORD ED., iv, 89. (P.,
1785-)
9044. WEALTH, Acquirement of.—
Wealth acquired by speculation and plunder
is fugacious in its nature, and fills society
with the spirit of gambling.— To GENERAL
WASHINGTON, ii, 252. (P., 1787.)
9045. WEALTH, Aristocracy of.— An
aristocracy of wealth [is] of more harm and
danger than benefit to society. — AUTOBIOGRA
PHY, i, 36. FORD ED., i, 49. (1821.)
9046. WEALTH, Checks on.— Our young
Republic * * * should prevent its citizens
from becoming so established in wealth and
power, as to be thought worthy of alliance by
marriage with the nieces, sisters, &c., of
Kings. — To DAVID HUMPHREYS, ii, 253. (P.,
1/87.)
9047. WEALTH, Croakings of.— Do not
be frightened into the surrender of [true prin
ciples] by the alarms of the timid, or the
croakings of wealth against the ascendency
of the people. — To SAMUEL KERCHIVAL. vii,
ii. FORD ED., x, 39. (M., 1816.)
9048. WEALTH, Dominion of.— Our ex
perience so far, has satisfactorily manifested
the competence of a republican government to
maintain and promote the best interests of its
citizens ; and every future year, I doubt not,
will contribute to settle a question on which
reason, and a knowledge of the character and
circumstances of our fellow citizens, could
never admit a doubt, and much less condemn
them as fit subjects to be consigned to the
dominion of wealth and force. — R. TO A.
CONNECTICUT REPUBLICANS, viii, 140. (1808.)
9049. WEALTH, Freedom vs.— Though
there is less wealth in America [than there is
in Europe], there is more freedom, more ease,
and less misery. — To BARON GEISMER. i, 427.
(P., 1785.)
9050. - — . There is no such thing
in this country as what would be called wealth
Wealth
Welfare Clause
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
936
in Europe. The richest are but a little at
ease, and obliged to pay the most rigorous
attention to their affairs to keep them to
gether. I do not mean to speak here of the
Beaujons of America; for we have some of
those though happily they are but ephemeral.
— To M. DE MEUNIER. FORD ED., vii, 13. (M.,
I795-)
9051. WEALTH, Greediness for.— Our
greediness for wealth, and fantastical expense,
have degraded, and will degrade, the minds
of pur maritime citizens. These are the pe
culiar vices of commerce. — To JOHN ADAMS.
vii, 104. FORD ED., x, 107. (M., 1818.)
9052. WEALTH, Liberty and.— What a
cruel reflection that a rich country cannot
long be a free one.— TRAVELS IN FRANCE, ix,
319. (1787.)
9053. WEALTH, Overgrown.— If the
overgrown wealth of an individual be deemed
dangerous to the State, the best corrective is
the law of equal inheritance to all in equal
degree ; and the better, as this enforces a law
of nature, while extra-taxation violates it—
NOTE IN TRACY'S POLITICAL ECONOMY, vi,
575. (1816.)
9054. WEALTH, Protection of .—Enough
wealthy men will find their way into every
branch of the legislature to protect them
selves.— To JOHN, ADAMS, vi, 224. FORD ED.,
ix, 426. (M., 1813.)
9055. WEALTH, Public office and.—
For promoting the public happiness those per
sons, whom nature has endowed with genius
and virtue, should be rendered by liberal
education worthy to receive, and able to guard
the sacred deposit of the rights and liberties
of their fellow citizens; and they should be
called to that charge without regard to wealth
* * * or other accidental condition or cir
cumstance.— DIFFUSION OF KNOWLEDGE BILL.
FORD ED., ii, 221. (i779-)
9056. WEATHER, Contemporary obser
vations.— As soon as I get into the house [in
New York] I have hired, * * I will pro
pose to you to keep a diary of the weather here,
and wherever you shall be, exchanging obser
vations from time to time. I should like to
compare the two climates by cotemporary obser
vations. My method is to make two observa
tions a day, the one as early as possible in the
morning, the other from 3 to 4 o'clock, because
I have found 4 o'clock the hottest and daylight
the coldest point of the 24 hours. I state them
in an ivory pocket book in the following form,
and copy them out once a week. The
first column is the day of the month, and the
second the thermometer in the morning. The
fourth do. in the evening. The third the weath
er in the morning. The fifth do. in the after
noon. The sixth is for miscellanies, such m as
the appearance of birds, leafing and flowering
of trees, frosts remarkably late or early, Aurora
Borealis, &c. * * * I distinguish weather
into fair or cloudy, according as the sky is more
or less than half covered with clouds. — To T.
M. RANDOLPH. FORD ED., v, 159. (N.Y., 1790.)
9057. WEATHER, Daily observations.
—I make my daily observations as early as
possible in the morning, and again about four
or vAock in the afternoon, these generally showing
the maxima of cold and heat in the course of 24
hours. — To . i, 208. FORD ED., ii,
158. (Wg., 1778.)
9058. WEATHER, Extreme cold.— It is
so cold that the ink freezes in my pen, so that
my letter will scarcely be legible. * * In
the winter of 1779-80, the mercury in Fahren
heit's thermometer fell at Williamsburg once to
six degrees above zero. In 1783-84, I was at
Annapolis without a thermometer, and I do
not know that there was one in that State ; I
heard from Virginia, that the mercury was
again down to six degrees. In 1789-90, I was
at Paris. The mercury here was as low as
eighteen degrees below zero, of Fahrenheit.
These have been the most remarkable cold
winters ever known in America. We are told,
however, that in 1762, at Philadelphia, it was
twenty-two degrees below zero ; in December,
1793, it was three degrees below zero there by
my thermometer. On the 3ist of January, 1796,
it was one and three-fourth degrees above zero
at Monticello. I shall, therefore, have to
change the maximum of our cold, if ever I
revise the Notes on Virginia ; as six degrees
above zero was the greatest which had ever
been observed. — To MR. VOLNEY. iv, 157.
(M., Jan. 1797.)
9059. WEATHER, Moon and.— I do not
know that the coincidence has ever been re
marked between the new moon and the greater
degrees of cold, or the full moon and the lesser
degrees ; or that the reflected beams of the moon
attemper the weather at all. On the contrary,
I think I have understood that the most power
ful concave mirror presented to the moon, and
throwing its focus on the bulb of a thermometer,
does not in the least affect it. — To DR. HUGH
WILLIAMSON. iv, 346. FORD ED., vii, 479.
(W., 1801.)
9060. WEATHER, Parisian.— From my
observations (I guess, because I have not cal
culated their result carefully) the sun does not
shine here [Paris] more than five hours of the
twenty-four through the whole year. — To JAMES
MADISON. FORD ED., v, 105. (P., 1789.)
9061. WEBSTER (Daniel), Future of.—
I am much gratified by the acquaintance made
with Mr. Webster. He is likely to become of
great weight in our government. — To JAMES
MONROE. FORD ED., x, 327. (M., 1824.)
9062. WEBSTER (Noah), Estimate of.
— Though I view Webster as a mere peda
gogue, of very limited understanding and very
strong prejudices and party passions, yet as
editor of a paper and as of the New Haven
association, he may be worth striking. — To
JAMES MADISON. FORD ED., viii, 80. (M., Aug.
1801.)
- WEIGHTS, Standard of. — See STAND
ARD (WEIGHTS).
9063. WELFARE, Public.— To preserve
the peace of our fellow citizens, promote their
prosperity and happiness, reunite opinion, cul
tivate a spirit of candor, moderation, charity
and forbearance toward one another, are ob
jects calling for the efforts and sacrifices of
every good man and patriot. Our religion en
joins it; our happiness demands it; and no
sacrifice is requisite but of passions hostile to
both. — To THE RHODE ISLAND ASSEMBLY, iv,
397- (W., 1801.)
- WELFARE CLAUSE, General.— See
GENERAL WELFARE CLAUSE.
937
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
West and South
West Indies
9064. WEST AND SOUTH, Free gov
ernment in. — It seems to me that in propor
tion as commercial avarice and corruption ad
vance on us from the north and east, the prin
ciples of free government are to retire to the
agricultural States of the south and west, as
their last asylum and bulwark. With honesty
and self-government for her portion, agricul
ture may abandon contentedly to others the
fruits of commerce and corruption. — To
HENRY MIDDLETON. vi, 91. (M., Jan. 1813.)
9065. . I fear, with you, all the
evils which the present lowering aspect of our
political horizon so ominously portends. That
at some future day, which I hoped to be very
distant, the free principles of our govern
ment might change with the change of cir
cumstances was to be expected. But I cer
tainly did not expect that they would not
over-live the generation which established
them. And what I still less expected was,
that my favorite Western country was to be
made the instrument of change. I had ever
and fondly cherished the interests of that
country, relying on it as a barrier against
the degeneracy of public opinion from our
original and free principles. But the bait of
local interests, artfully prepared for their
palate, has decoyed them from their kindred
attachments, to alliances alien to them. — To
CLAIBORNE W. GOOCH. vii, 430. (M., January
1826.)
9066. WEST INDIES, British.— I think
that the trade with Great Britain is a ruinous
one to ourselves ; and that nothing would be
an inducement to tolerate it, but a free com
merce with their West Indies ; and that this be
ing denied to us, we should put a stop to the
losing branch. The question is, whether they
are right in their prognostications that we have
neither resolution nor union enough for this. —
To T. PLEASANTS. i, 563. (P., 1786.)
9067. WEST INDIES, Coalition with
French. — In policy, if not in justice, the
National Assembly [of France] should be dis
posed to avoid oppression, which, falling on us,
as well as on their colonies, might tempt us to
act together. — To WILLIAM SHORT, lii, 276.
FORD ED., v, 364. (Pa., 1791.)
9068. WEST INDIES, Commerce with.
— The commerce with the English West In
dies is valuable and would be worth a sacrifice
to us. But the commerce with the British do
minion in Europe is a losing one and deserves
no sacrifice. Our tobacco they must have from
whatever place we make its deposit, because
they can get no other whose quality so well
suits the habits of their people. It is not a
commodity like wheat which will not bear a
double voyage. Were it so. the privilege of
carrying it directly to England might be worth
something. — To JAMES MADISON. FORD ED., iv,
37- (P., 1785.)
9069. - — . Our commerce is in
agonies at present, and these would be re
lieved by opening the British ports in the West
Indies. — To JOHN ADAMS, i, 436. (P., 1785.)
9070. - — . The merchants of this
country [France] are very clamorous against
our admission into the West Indies, and minis
ters are afraid for their p'ace*. — To JAMES
MONROE. FORD ED., iv, 31. (P., 1785.)
9071. . The effecting treaties
with the powers holding positions in the West
Indies, I consider as the important part of our
business. It is not of great consequence
whether the others treat or not. Perhaps trade
may go on with them well enough without. —
To JAMES MONROE. FORD ED., iv, 31. (1785.)
9072. . Access to the West In
dies is indispensably necessary to us. Yet how
gain it, when it is the established system of
these nations [France and England] to exclude
all foreigners from their colonies ? The only
chance seems to be this : our commerce to the
mother countries is valuable to them. We must
endeavor, then, to make this the price of an ad
mission into their West Indies., and to those
who refuse the admission, we must refuse our
commerce, or load theirs by odious discrimina
tions in our ports. — To JAMES MONROE, i, 351.
FORD ED., iv, 58. (P., 1785.)
9073. . To nations with which
we have not yet treated, and who have posses
sions in America, we may offer a free vent of
their manufactures in the United States, for a
full or modified admittance into those posses
sions. But to France, we are obliged to give
that freedom for a different compensation : to
wit, for her aid in effecting our independence.
It is difficult, therefore, to say what we have
now to offer her, for an admission into her West
Indies. Doubtless, it has its price ; but the
question is what this would be, and whether
worth our while to give it. Were we to propose
to give to each other's citizens all the rights
of natives, they would of course count what
they should gain by this enlargement of right,
and examine whether it would be worth to them
as much as their monopoly of their West In
dia commerce. If not, that commercial free
dom which we wish to preserve, and which
indeed is so valuable, leaves us little to offer.
An expression in my letter to the Count de
Vergennes * * * wherein I hinted that both
nations might, perhaps, come into the opinion
that the condition of natives might be a better
ground of intercourse for their citizens, than
that of the most favored nation, was intended
to furnish an opportunity to the minister of
parleying on that subject, if he was so dis
posed, and to myself, of seeing whereabouts they
would begin, that I might communicate it to
Congress, and leave them to judge of the ex
pediency of pursuing the subject. But no over
tures have followed.* — REPORT TO CONGRESS, ix,
243. FORD ED., iv, 129. (P., 1785.)
9074. . Our commerce with the
West Indies had never admitted amelioration
during my stay in France. The temper of that
period did not allow even the essay, and it was
as much as we could do to hold the ground
given us by the Marshal de Castries' Arret, ad
mitting us to their colonies with salted provi
sions, &C. To GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. ill, 448.
FORD ED., vi, 80. (Pa.. 1792.)
9075. WEST INDIES, Confederation
°f« — Could Napoleon obtain, at the close of
the present war, the independence of all the
West India islands, and their establishment in
a separate confederacy, our quarter of the globe
would exhibit an enrapturing prospect into
futurity. You will live to see much of this. I
shall follow, however, cheerfully my fellow la
borers, contented with having borne a part in
beginning this beatific reformation. — To BARON
HUMBOLDT. v, 581. (M., April 1811.)
* Report of a Conference with Count de Vergennes,
Foreign Minister of France, on the question of Com
merce.— EDITOR.
West Indies
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
938
9076. WEST INDIES, Dominion of.—
Whenever jealousies . are expressed as to any
supposed views of ours on the dominion of the
West Indies, you cannot go farther than the
truth in asserting we have none. If there be
one principle more deeply rooted than any other
in the mind of every American, it is that we
should have nothing to do with conquest. As to
commerce, indeed, we have strong sensations.
In casting our eyes over the earth, we see no
instance of a nation forbidden, as we are, by
foreign powers, to deal with our neighbors, and
obliged with them to carry into another hemi
sphere, the mutual supplies necessary to relieve
mutual wants. * * * An exchange of surpluses
and wants between neighbor nations, is both a
right and a duty under the moral law, and
measures against right should be mollified in
their exercise, if it be wished to lengthen them
to the greatest term possible. — To WILLIAM
SHORT, iii, 275. FORD ED., v, 363. (Pa., 1791.)
9077. WEST INDIES, French.— A jeal
ousy of our taking away the French carrying
trade is the principal reason which obstructs
our admission into their West India Islands. —
To M. LIMOZIN. ii. 339. (P., 1787.)
9078. WEST INDIES, French conces
sion. — France gives us an access to her West
Indies, which, though not all we wish, is yet
extremely valuable to us. — To JOHN ADAMS, i,
487. (P., 1785-)
9079. . France has explained
herself generously. She does not mean to in
terrupt our prosperity by calling for our guar
antee. On the contrary, she wishes to promote
it by giving us, in all her possessions, all the
rights of her native citizens, and to receive
our vessels as her vessels. — To JAMES MONROE.
FORD ED., vi, 281. (Pa., 1793.)
9080. WEST INDIES, Interposition in.
— As to the guarantee of the French Islands,
whatever doubts may be entertained of the mo
ment at which we ought to interpose, yet I
have no doubt but that we ought to interpose at
a proper time, and declare both to England and
France, that these Islands are to rest with
France, and that we will make a common cause
with the latter for that object. — To JAMES MAD
ISON, iv, 103. FORD EDV vi, 502. (M., April
I794-)
9081. WEST INDIES, Liberty in
French. — The emancipation of their islands
is an idea prevailing in the minds of several
members of the National -r^sembly, particularly
those most enlightened and most liberal in their
views. Such a step by this country would lead
to other emancipations or revolutions in the
same quarter. — To JOHN JAY. iii, 96. (P.,
1789.)
9082. WEST INDIES, Monopoly of.— I
observed [to the Count de Montmorin] that it
would be much against our interest that any
one power should monopolize all the West India
islands. — To JOHN JAY. iii, 96. (P., 1789.)
9083. WEST INDIES, Negroes in.—
What are you doing for your colonies? They
will be lost if not more effectually succored.
Indeed, no future efforts you can make will
ever be able to reduce the blacks. All that can
be done, in my opinion, will be to compound
with them, as has been done formerly in Ja
maica. We have been less zealous in aiding
them, lest your government should feel any
jealousy on our account. But, in truth, we as
sincerely wish their restoration and their con
nection with you, as you do yourselves. We
are satisfied that neither your justice nor their
distresses will ever again permit their being
forced to seek at dear and distant markets those
first necessaries of life which they may have at
cheaper markets, placed by nature at their door,
and formed by her for their support. — To GEN
ERAL LAFAYETTE, in, 450. FORD ED., vi 78.
(Pa., 1792.)
9084. . I become daily more
convinced that all the West India Islands will
remain in the hands of the people of color, and
a total expulsion of the whites sooner or later
take place. It is high time we should foresee
the bloody scenes which our children certainly,
and possibly ourselves (south of the Potomac),
have to wade through, and try to avert them. — -
To JAMES MONROE, iv, 20. FORD ED., vi, 340.
(P., July 1793.)
9085. . Inhabited already by a
people of their own race and color ; climates
congenial with their natural constitution ; in
sulated from the other descriptions of men ;
nature seems to have formed these islands to
become the receptacle of the blacks trans
planted into this hemisphere. — To JAMES MON
ROE, iv, 421. FORD ED., viii, 105. (W., 1801.)
9086. WEST INDIES, Opening the.—
Your communications to the Count de Moustier,
whatever they may have been, cannot have done
injury to my endeavors here [Paris], to open
the West Indies to us. On this head, the min
isters are invincibly mute, though I have often
tried to draw them into the subject. I have,
therefore, found it necessary to let it lie, till
war, or other circumstance, may force it on.
Whenever they are at war with England, they
must open the Islands to us, and perhaps during
that war they may see some price which might
make them agree to keep them always open. —
To GENERAL WASHINGTON, ii, 536. FORD ED.,
v, 57- (P., 1788.)
9087. WEST INDIES, Portuguese.—
Portugal [in making a commercial treaty with
us] will probably restrain us to their dominions
in Europe. We must expressly include the
Azores, Madeiras and Cape de Verde islands,
some of which are deemed to be in Africa. We
should also contend for an access to their pos
sessions in America * * * . — To JOHN
ADAMS, i, 495. (P., 1785.)
9088. WEST INDIES, Prosperity of.—
Our wishes are cordial for the reestablishment
of peace and commerce in those colonies, and
to give such proofs of our good faith both to
them and the mother country [France] as to
suppress all that jealousy which might oppose
itself to the free exchange of our mutual pro
ductions, so essential to the prosperity of those
colonies, and to the preservation of our agricul
tural interest. This is our true interest and
our true object, and we have no reason to con
ceal views so justifiable, though the expression
of them may require that the occasions be
proper, and tne terms chosen with delicacy. —
To GOUVERNEUR MORRIS, iii, 339. FORD ED.,
v, 450. (Pa., 1792.)
9089. WEST INDIES, Proximity.— Our
vicinity to their West India possessions, and to
the fisheries is a bridle which a small naval
force, on our part, would hold in the mouths
of the most powerful of * * * the [Euro
pean] countries. — To JOHN JAY. i, 405. FORD
ED., iv, 90. (P., 1785.)
9090. WEST INDIES, San Domingo.— I
expressed to [the San Domingo deputies] freely
my opinion * * that as to ourselves
939
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
"West Point
Western Territory
there was one case which would be peculiarly
alarming to us, to wit, were there a danger of
their falling under any other power [than
France]. — To WILLIAM SHORT, iii, 304. FORD
ED., v, 395- (Fa-> Nov- I79i»)
_ WEST POINT, Academy.— See ACAD
EMY (MILITARY).
9091. WESTERN EXPLORATION,
Michaux expedition.— The chief objects of
your journey are to find the shortest and most
convenient route of communication between the
United States and the Pacific ocean, within the
temperate latitudes, and to learn such particu
lars as can be obtained of the country through
which the Missouri passes, its productions, in
habitants, and other interesting circumstances.
As a channel of communication between these
States and the Pacific ocean, the Missouri, so
far as it extends, presents itself under circum
stances of unquestioned preference.
It would seem by the latest maps as if a. river
called the Oregon interlocked with the Missouri
for a considerable distance, and entered the
Pacific ocean not far southward from Nootka
Sound. But the [Philosophical] Society are
aware that these maps are not to be trusted,
so far as to be the ground of any positive in
struction to you. * * * You will in the
course of your journey, take notice of the coun
try you pass through, its general face, soil, riv
ers, mountains, its productions — animal, vege
table, and mineral — so far as they may be new
to us, and may also be useful or very curious.*
— To ANDRE MICHAUX. ix, 434. FORD ED., vi,
159. (Jan. 1793-)
9092. WESTERN POSTS, British re
tention of. — I had a good deal of conversa
tion with the Count de Vergennes on the situa
tion of affairs between England and the United
States, and particularly on their refusal to de
liver up our posts. I observed to him that the
obstructions thrown in the way of the recovery
of their debts were the effect and not the cause,
as they pretended, of their refusal to deliver
up the posts ; that the merchants interested
in these debts showed a great disposition to
make arrangements with us ; that the article
of time we could certainly have settled, and
probably that of the interest during the war,
but that the minister, showing no disposition
to have these matters arranged, I thought it a
sufficient proof that this was not the true cause
of their retaining the posts. He concurred as
to the justice of our requiring time for the
payment of our debts; said nothing which
showed a difference of opinion as to the article
of ^interest, and seemed to believe fully that
their object was to divert the channel of the
fur trade before they delivered up the posts,
and expressed a strong sense of the importance
of that commerce to us. I told him I really
could not foresee what would be the event of
this detention ; that the situation of the British
funds, anu desire of their minister to begin to
reduce the national debt, seemed to indicate
that they could not wish a war. He thought
so, but that neither were we in a condition to
go to war. I told him I was yet uninformed
what Congress proposed to do on this subject,
but that we should certainly always count on
the good offices of France, and I was sure that
the offer of them would suffice to induce Great
Britain to do us justice. He said that surely
we might always count on the friendship of
* This expedition Was started by private subscrip
tions under the patronage of the American Philo
sophical Society. Jefferson was a large subscriber
to the fund.— EDITOR.
France. I added that, by the treaty of alliance,
she was bound to guarantee our limits to us
as they should be established at the moment of
peace. He said they were so, " mais qit'il nous
etoit necessaire de les constater ". I told him
there was no question what our boundaries
were ; that the English themselves admitted
they were clear beyond all question. I feared,
however, to press this any further, lest a recip
rocal question should be put to me. — To JOHN
JAY. i, 575. FORD ED., iv, 228. (P., 1786.)
9093. WESTERN POSTS, Demand for
surrender. — The President * * * author
ized Mr. Gouverneur Morris to enter into con
ference with the British ministers in order to
discover their sentiments on their
retention of the western posts contrary to the
treaty of peace. * * * The letters of Mr.
Morris * * * [to the President] state the
communications, oral and written, which have
passed between him and the ministers ; and
from these the Secretary of State draws the
following inference : That the British court
is decided not to surrender the posts in any
event ; and that they will urge as a pretext that
though our courts of justice are now open to
British subjects, they were so long shut after
the peace as to have defeated irremediably the
recovery of debts in many cases. They suggest,
indeed, the idea of an indemnification on our
part. But, probably, were we disposed to ad
mit their right to indemnification, they would
take care to set it so high as to insure a dis
agreement. * * * The Secretary of State
is of opinion * * that the demands of the
posts * * * should n t be again made till
we are in readiness to do ourselves the justice
which may be refused. — OFFICIAL REPORT, vii,
517. FORD ED., v, 261. (December 1790.)
9094. WESTERN TERRITORY, Ac
ceptance of cession. — On receiving the act
of Assembly for the Western cession, our dele
gation agreed on the form of a deed ; we then
delivered to Congress a copy of the act, and the
form of the deed we were ready to execute
whenever they should think proper to declare
they would accept it. They referred the act
and deed to a committee, who reported the act
of Assembly to comport perfectly with the prop
ositions of Congress, and that the deed was
proper in its form, and that Congress ought to
accept the same. On the question to agree to
the report of the Committee, eight States being
present, Jersey was in the negative, and South
Carolina and Pennsylvania divided (being rep
resented each by two members). Of course
there were five ayes only and the report fell.
We determined on consultation that our proper
duty was to be still, having declared we were
ready to execute, we would leave it to them to
come lorward and tell us they were ready to
accept. We meddled not at all, therefore, and
showed a perfect indifference. New Hampshire
came to town which made us nine States. A
member proposed that we should execute the
deed and lay it on the table, which after what
had been done by Congress would be final, urg-
ine the example of New York which had exe
cuted their deed, laid it on the table, where it
remained eighteen months before Congress ac
cepted it. We replied, " No ", if the lands are
not offered for sale the ensuing spring, they
will be taken from us all by adventurers ; we
will, therefore, put it out of our power, by the
execution of a deed, to sell them ourselves, if
Congress will not. A member from Rhode-
Island then moved that Congress should accept.
Another from Jersey proposed as an amend
ment a proviso that it should not amount to an
Western Territory
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
940
acknowledgment of our right. We told them
we were not authorized to admit any conditions
or provisions ; that their acceptance must be
simple, absolute and unqualified, or we could
not execute. On the question there were six
ayes ; Jersey, " No " ; South Carolina and Penn
sylvania divided. The motion dropped, and the
House proceeded to other business. About an
hour after, the dissenting Pennsylvanian asked
and obtained leave to change his " no " into
" aye " ; the vote then passed and we executed
the deed. We have desired an exemplification
of it under the Seal of the States. * * *
This shows the wisdom of the Assembly in
not taking any new conditions, which would cer
tainly have defeated their accommodating in
tentions. — To GOVERNOR BENJ. HARRISON. FORD
ED., iii, 411. (A., March 1784.)
9095. WESTERN TERRITORY, Deed
of cession. — To all who shall see these pres
ents we [here name the delegates] the under
written delegates for the Commonwealth of Vir
ginia in the Congress of the United States of
America send greeting:
Whereas the General Assembly of the Com
monwealth of Virginia at their sessions begun
on the 2oth day of October, 1783, passed an
" Act entituled ' An Act to authorize the dele
gates, &c.' — in these words following to wit,
' Whereas the Congress, &c.' [reciting the act
verbatim].
And whereas the said General Assembly by
their Resolution of June 6th, 1783, had consti
tuted and appointed us the said A. B. C. &c.,
delegates to represent the said Commonwealth
in Congress for one year from the first Monday
in November then next following, which resolu
tion remains in full force.
Now, therefore, know ye that we the said
A. B. C. &c., by virtue of the power and au
thority, committed to us by the act of the said
General Assembly of Virginia before recited,
and in the name and for and on behalf of the
said Commonwealth, do by these presents con
vey, transfer, assign, and make over unto the
United States in Congress assembled, for the
benefit of the said States, Virginia inclusive, all
right, title and claim as well of soil as of juris
diction which the said Commonwealth hath to
the territory or tract of country within the
limits of the Virginia charter, situate, lying,
and being to the Northwest of the river Ohio,
to and for the uses and purposes and on the
conditions of the said recited act. In testimony
whereof we have hereunto subscribed our names
and affixed our seals in Congress the day
of in the year o.f our Lord 1784, and of
the Independence of the United States the
eighth. — DEED OF CESSION. FORD ED., iii, 406.
(March i, 1784.)
9096. WESTERN TERRITORY, Divi
sion into States.— With respect to the new
States, were the question to stand simply in this
form : How may the ultramontane territory
be disposed of, so as to produce the greatest
and most immediate benefit to the inhabitants
of the maritime States of the Union ? The plan
would be more plausible, of laying it off into
two or more States only. Even on this view,
however, there would still be something to be
said against it, which might render it at least
doubtful. But that is a question which good
faith forbids us to receive into discussion. This
requires us to state the question in its just
form : How may the territories of the Union
be disposed of, so as to produce the greatest
degree of happiness to their inhabitants f. With
respect to the maritime States, little or nothing
remains to be done. With respect, then, to the
ultramontane States, will their inhabitants be
happiest, divided into States of thirty thousand
square miles, not quite as large as Pennsylvania,
or into States of one hundred and sixty thou
sand square miles, each, that is to say, three
times as large as Virginia within the Alle-
ghany ? They will not only be happier in States
of a moderate size, but it is the only way in
which they can exist as a regular Society. Con
sidering the American character in general,
that of those people particularly, and the ener
getic nature of our governments, a State of
such extent as one hundred and sixty thousand
square miles, would soon crumble into little
ones. These are the circumstances which re
duce the Indians to such small societies. They
would produce an effect on our people, similar
to this. They would not be broken into such
small pieces, because they are more habituated
to subordination, and value more a government
of regular law. But you would surely reverse
the nature of things, in making small States
on the ocean, and large ones beyond the moun
tains. If we could, in our consciences, say, that
great States beyond the mountains will make
the people happiest, we must still ask, whether
they will be contented to be laid off into large
States ? They certainly will not : and, if they
decide to divide themselves, we are not able to
restrain them. They will end by separating
from our confederacy, and becoming its ene
mies. We had better, then, look forward, and
see what will be the probable course of things.
This will surely be a division of that country
into States of a small, or, at most, of a moderate
size. If we lay them off into such, they will ac
quiesce ; and we shall have the advantage of
arranging them so as to produce the best com
binations of interest. What Congress has al
ready done in this matter is an argument the
more in favor of the revolt of those States
against a different arrangement, and of their
acquiescence under a continuance of that.
Upon this plan, we treat them as fellow citi
zens ; they will have a just share in their own
government ; they will love us, and pride them
selves in an union with us. Upon the other,
we treat them as subjects; we govern them,
and not they themselves ; they will abhor us as
masters, and break off from us in defiance. I
confess to you, that I can see no other turn that
these two plans would take. But I respect your
opinion, and your knowledge of the country
too much, to be ever confident in my own. —
To JAMES MONROE, i, 587. FORD ED., iv, 246.
(P., 1786.)
9097. . I find Congress have re
versed their division of the Western States and
proposed to make them fewer and larger. This
is reversing the natural order of things. A
tractable people may be governed in large bod
ies ; but, in proportion as they depart from this
character, the extent of their government must
be less. We see into what small divisions the
Indians are obliged to reduce their societies.—
To JAMES MADISON, ii, 66. FORD ED., iv. 333.
(P., 1786.)
9098. WESTERN TERRITORY, Gov
ernment for. — The Committee appointed to
prepare a plan for the temporary Government
of the Western Territory have agreed to the
following resolutions : Resolved, that the terri
tory ceded or to be ceded by individual States
to the United States whensoever the same shall
have been purchased of the Indian inhabitants
and offered for sale by the United States shall
be formed into distinct States bounded in the
following manner as nearly as such cessions
will admit, that is to say : Northwardly and
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Western Territory
Southwardly by parallels of latitude so that
each State shall comprehend from South to
North two degrees of latitude beginning to
count from the completion of thirty-one degrees
North of the equator, but any territory North
wardly of the 47th degree shall make, part of the
State next below, and Eastwardly and West-
wardly they shall be bounded, those on the
Mississippi by that river on one side and the
meridian of the lowest point of the rapids of
Ohio on the other ; and those adjoining on the
East by the same meridian on their Western
side, and on their Eastern by the meridian of
the Western cape of the mouth of the Great
Kanawha. And the territory eastward of this
last meridian between the Ohio, Lake Erie and
Pennsylvania shall be one State. That the
settlers within the territory so to be purchased
and offered for sale shall, either on their own
petition or on the order of Congress, receive
authority from them, with appointments of
time and place for their free males of full age
to meet together for the purpose of establishing
a temporary government, to adopt the consti
tution and laws of any one of these States, so
that such laws nevertheless shall be subject to
alteration by their ordinary legislature, and to
erect, subject to a like alteration counties or
townships for the election of members for their
legislature. That such temporary government
shall only continue in force in any State until
it shall have acquired 20,000 free inhabitants,
when, giving due proof thereof to Congress,
they shall receive from them authority with ap
pointments of time and place to call a conven
tion of representatives to establish a perma
nent Constitution and Government for them
selves. Provided, that both the temporary and
permanent Governments be established on these
principles as their basis, i. That they shall
forever remain a part of the United States of
America. 2. That in their persons, property
and territory, they shall be subject to the Gov
ernment of the United States in Congress as
sembled, and to the Articles of Confederation
in all those cases in which the original States
shall be so subject. 3. That they shall be sub
ject to pay a part of the federal debts contracted
or to be contracted, to be apportioned on them
by Congress, according to the same common rule
and measure by which apportionments thereof
shall be made on the other States. 4. That
their respective Governments shall be in repub
lican forms, and shall admit no person to be
a citizen, who holds any hereditary title. 5.
That after the year 1800 of the Christian era,
there shall be neither slavery nor involuntary
servitude in any of the said States, otherwise
than in punishment of crimes, whereof the party
shall have been duly convicted to have been
personally guilty. That whenever any of the
said States shall have, of free inhabitants as
many as shall then be in any one the least nu
merous of the thirteen original States, such
State shall be admitted by its delegates into the
Congress of the United States, on an equal
footing with the said original States : After
which the assent of two-thirds of the United
States in Congress assembled shall be requisite
in all those cases, wherein by the Confedera
tion the assent of nine States is now required.
Provided the consent of nine States to such
admission may be obtained according to the
eleventh of the Articles of Confederation. Un
til such admission by their delegates into Con
gress, any of the said States, after the establish
ment of their temporary Government, shall have
authority to keep a sitting Member in Congress,
with a right of debating, but not of voting.
That the territorv Northward of the 45th de
gree, that is to say of the completion of 45°
from the Equator and extending to the Lake of
the Woods, shall be called SYLVANIA. That of
the territory under the 45 th and 44th degrees,
that which lies Westward of Lake Michigan
shall be called MICHIGANIA, and that which is
Eastward thereof, within the peninsula formed
by the lakes and waters of Michigan, Huron,
St. Clair and Erie, shall be called CHERRONESUS,
and shall include any part of the peninsula
which may extend above the 45th degree. Of
the territory under the 43d and 42d degrees,
that to the Westward through which the As-
senisipi or Rock river runs shall be called
ASSENISIPIA, and that to the Eastward in which
are the fountains of the Muskingum, the two
Miamis of Ohio, the Wabash, the Illinois, the
Miami of the lake and Sandusky rivers, shall
be called METROPOTAMIA. Of the territory
which lies under the 4ist and 4oth degrees the
Western, through which the river Illinois runs,
shall be called ILLINOIA; that the next adjoin
ing to the Eastward SARATOGA, and that between
this last and Pennsylvania and extending from
the Ohio to Lake Erie shall be called WASHING
TON. Of the territory which lies under the 39th
and 38th degrees to which shall be added so
much of the point of land within the fork of the
Ohio and Mississippi as lies under the 37th
degree, that to the Westward within and ad
jacent to which are the confluences of the rivers
Wabash, Shawanee, Tennessee, Ohio, Illinois,
Mississippi and Missouri, shall be called POLY-
POTAMIA, and that to the Eastward, farther up
the Ohio, otherwise called the Pelisipi, shall be
called PELISIPIA. That the preceding articles
shall be formed into a charter of Compact, shall
be duly executed by the President of the United
States in Congress assembled, under his hand
and the seal of the United States, shall be pro
mulgated, and shall stand as fundamental con
stitutions between the thirteen original States,
and those now newly described, unalterable but
by the joint consent of the United States in
Congress assembled, and of the particular State
within which such alteration is proposed to be
made. — REPORT ON GOVERNMENT FOR WESTERN
TERRITORY. FORD EDV iii, 407. (March i,
1784.)
9099. . The committee to whom
was recommitted the report of a plan for a
temporary government of the Western Territory
have agreed to the following resolutions : Re
solved. That so much of the territory ceded or
to be ceded by individual States to the United
States as is already purchased or shall be pur
chased of the Indian inhabitants and offered
for sale by Congress, shall be divided into dis
tinct States, in the following manner, as nearly
as such cessions will admit ; {hat is to say, by
parallels of latitude, so that each State shall
comprehend from South to North two degrees
of latitude beginning to count from the com
pletion of thirty-one degrees North of the
Equator ; and the meridian of longitude, one of
which shall pass through the lowest point of the
rapids of Ohio, and the other through the West
ern Cape of the mouth of the Great Kanawha.
but the territory Eastward of this last meridian,
between the Ohio, Lake Erie, and Pennsylvania
shall be one State, whatsoever may be its com
prehension of latitude. That which may lie
beyond the completion of the 45th degree be
tween the sd. meridians shall make part of the
State adjoining it on the South, and that part
of the Ohio which is between the same merid
ians coinciding nearly with the parallel of 39°
shall be substituted so far in lieu of that parallel
as a boundary line. That the settlers on any
territory so purchased and offered for sale.
e;ther on their own petition, or on the order of
Congress, receive authority from them, with ap-
Western Territory
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
942
pointments of time and place for their free
males of full age, within the limits of their State
to meet together for the purpose of establishing
a temporary government, to adopt the constitu
tion and laws of any one of the original States,
so that such laws nevertheless shall be subject
to alteration by their ordinary legislature; and
to erect, subject to a like alteration, counties
or townships for the election of members for
their legislature. That such temporary govern
ment shall only continue in force in any State
until it shall have acquired 20,000 free inhabit
ants, when giving due proof thereof to Con
gress, they shall receive from them authority
with appointment of time and place to call a
convention of representatives to establish a
permanent Constitution and Government for
themselves. Provided that both the temporary
and permanent governments be established on
these principles as their basis, i. They shall
forever remain a part of this confederacy of the
United States of America. 2. That in their
persons, property, and territory, they shall be
subject to the Government of the United States
in Congress assembled, and to the articles of
Confederation in all those cases in which the
original States shall be so subject. 3. That they
shall be subject to pay a part of the federal
debts contracted or to be contracted, to be ap
portioned on them by Congress, according to
the same common rule and measure, by which
apoortionments thereof shall be made on the
other States. 4. That their respective Govern
ments shall be in republican forms and shall ad
mit no person to be a citizen who holds any
hereditary title- 5. That after the year 1800 of
the Christian era, there shall be neither slavery
nor involuntary servitude in any of the sd
States, otherwise than in punishment of crimes
whereof the party shall have been convicted to
have been personally guilty. That whensoever
any of the sd States shall have, of free inhabit
ants, as many as shall be in any one the least
numerous, of the thirteen original States, such
State shall be admitted by its delegates into the
Congress of the United States on an equal foot
ing with the said original States : provided
nine States agree to such admission according
to the reservation of the nth of the Articles of
Confederation, and in order to adapt the sd
Articles of Confederation to the State of Con
gress when its numbers shall be thus increased,
it shall be proposed to the Legislatures of the
States originally parties thereto, to require the
assent of two-thirds of the United States in
Congress assembled in all those cases wherein
by the said Articles the assent of nine States is
now required ; which being agreed to by them
shall be binding on the new States. Until such
admission by their delegates into Congress, any
of the said States after the establishment of
their temporary government shall have authority
to keep a sitting member in Congress, with a
right of debating, but not of voting. That the
preceding articles shall be duly executed by
the President of the United States in Congress
assembled, under his hand and the seal of the
United States, shall be promulgated and shall
strmd as fundamental constitutions between the
thirteen original States and each of the several
States now newly described, unalterable but by
the joint consent of the United States in Con
gress assembled, and of the particular State
within which such alteration is proposed to be
made. That measures not inconsistent with the
principles of the Confederation, and necessary
for the preservation of peace and good order
among the settlers in any of the said new
States until they shall assume a temporary gov
ernment as aforesaid, may from time to time
be taken by the United States in Congress as
sembled. — WESTERN TERRITORY REPORT. FORD
ED., iii, 429. (March 22, 1784.)
9100. WESTERN TERRITORY, In
habitants. — I wish to see the Western coun
try in the hands of people well disposed, who
know the value of the connection between that
and the maritime States and who wish to culti
vate it. I consider their hanpiness as bound
up together, and that every measure should be
taken which may draw the bands of union tight
er. It will be an efficacious one to receive
them into Congress, as I perceive they are about
to desire. If to this be added an honest and
disinterested conduct in Congress, as to every
thing relating to them, we may hope for a per
fect harmony. — To JOHN BROWN, ii, 395. FORD
ED., v, 16. (P., 1788.)
9101. . In availing our western
brethren of those circumstances which occur
for promoting their interests, we only perform
that duty which we owe to every portion of our
Union, under circumstances equally favorable ;
and, impressed with the inconveniences to
which the citizens of Tennessee are subjected
by a want of contiguity in the portions com
posing their State, I shall be ready to do for
their relief, whatever the general Legislature
may authorize, and justice to our neighbors
permit. — R. TO A. TENNESSEE LEGISLATURE.
viii, 115. (1803.)
9102. WESTERN TERRITORY, Sepa
ration from Virginia. — I suppose some peo
ple on the western waters who are ambitious to
be governors, &c., will urge a separation by
authority of Congress. But the bulk of the
people westward are already thrown into great
ferment by the report of what is proposed, to
which I think they will not submit. This sepa
ration is unacceptable to us in form only, and
not in substance. On the contrary, I may safely
say it is desired by the eastern part of our coun
try whenever their western brethren shall think
themselves able to stand alone. In the mean
time, on the petition of the western counties, a
plan is digesting for rendering their access to
government more easy. — To JAMES MADISON.
i, 316. FORD ED., iii, 53. (M., 1782.)
9103. . I hope our country will
of herself determine to cede still further to the
meridian of the mouth of the Great Kanawha.
Further she cannot govern ; so far is necessary
for her own well being. — To GEORGE WASHING
TON. FORD ED., iii, 421. (A., 1784.)
9104. WESTERN TERRITORY, Sla
very in. — I am glad to find we have 4,000,000
acres west of Chafalaya. How much better to
have every 160 acres settled by an able-bodied
militiaman, than by purchasers with their
hordes of negroes, to add weakness instead of
strength. — To ALBERT GALLATIN. v, 222. (Dec.
1807.)
_ WESTERN TERRITORY, Trade of.
— See MONOPOLY.
9105. WHALE OIL, Candles.— A Mr.
Barrett has arrived here [Paris] from Boston
with letters of recommendation from Governor
Bowdoin, dishing and others, * * * to get
the whale business put on a general bottom, in
stead of the particular one which had been set
tled, the last year, for a special company. * * *
I propose to Mr. Barrett that he should induce
either his State, or individuals, to send a suf
ficient number of boxes of the spermaceti can
dle to give one to every leading house in Paris ;
I mean to those who lead the ton; and, at the
943
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Whale Oil
Whigs
same time, to deposit a quantity for sale here
and advertise them in the petites affiches. — T(
JOHN ADAMS, i, 498. (P., 1785.)
9106. WHALE OIL, Duties on.— The
result [of applications to the French govern
ment] was to put us on the footing of th<
Hanseatic towns, as to whale oil, and to reduce
the duties to * * about a guinea and a
haif the ton. But the oil must be brought in
American or French ships, and the indulgence
is limited to one year. However, as to this, ]
expressed to Count de Vergennes my hopes
that it would be continued ; and should a doubt
arise, I should propose at the proper time, to
claim it under the treaty on the footing gentis
amicissimee. — To JOHN ADAMS, i, 498. (P.
1785.)
9107. . It being material that
the reduction of the duties on whale oil, which
would expire with the close of this year, should
be revised in time for the whalemen to take
measures in consequence, we have applied for a
continuance of the reduction, and even for an
abolition of all duties. — To JOHN JAY. i, 584.
(P., 1786.)
9108. WHALE OIL, England and.— I
hope that England will, within a year or two,
be obliged to come here [France] to buy whale
oil for her lamps. — To JOHN ADAMS, i, 502.
(P., 1785.)
9109. WHALE OIL, Lafayette and.—
The importation of our whale oil is, by the suc
cessful endeavors of M. de Lafayette, put on a
good footing for this year. — To MR. OTTO, i,
559- (P., 1786.)
9110. WHALE OIL, Markets for.— I
am trying here [Paris] to get contracts for the
supplying the cities of France with whale oil
by the Boston merchants. It would be the
greatest relief possible to that State, whose
commerce is in agonies, in consequence of being
subjected to alien duties on their oil, in Great
Britain, which has, heretofore, been their only
market. Can anything be done in this way in
Spain? Or do they light their streets there in
the night? — To WILLIAM CARMICHAEL. i, 475.
(P., 1785.)
9111. WHALING, Encouragement of.
— To obtain leave for our whaling vessels to
refit and refresh on the coast of the Brazils
[is] an object of immense importance to that
class of our vessels. We must acquiesce un~
der such modifications as they [Portugal] may
think necessary for regulating this indulgence,
in hopes to lessen them in time, and to get a
pied a tcrre in that country. — To JOHN ADAMS.
i, 495- (P., 1785.)
9112. WHEAT, British prohibition of.
— The prohibition of our wheat in England
would, of itself, be of no great moment, be
cause I do not know that it is much sent there.
But it is the publishing a libel on our wheat,
sanctioned with the name of Parliament, and
which can have no object but to do us injury,
by spreading a groundless alarm in those coun
tries of Europe where our wheat is constantly
and kindly received. It is a mere assassination.
If the insect they pretend to fear be the Hessian
fly, it never existed in the grain. If it be the
weevil, our grain always had that: and the ex
perience of a century has proved that either the
climate of England is riot warm enough to hatch
the egg and continue the race, or that some
other unknown cause prevents any evil from it.
— To MR. VAUGHAN. ni, 38. (P., 1789.)
9113. WHEAT, Cultivation of.— The
cultivation of wheat is the reverse in every
circumstance of that of tobacco. Besides cloth
ing the earth with herbage, and preserving its
fertility, it feeds tfce laborers plentifully, re
quires from them only a moderate toil, except
in the season of harvest, raises great numbers
of animals for food and service, and diffuses
plenty and happiness among the whole. We
find it easier to make a hundred bushels of
wheat than a thousand weight of tobacco, and
they are worth more when made. — NOTE'S ON
VIRGINIA. viii, 407. FORD ED., iii 271
(1782.)
9114. WHEAT, Weevils and.— The
weevil is a formidable obstacle to the cultiva
tion of wheat with us. But principles are al
ready known which must lead to a remedy.
Thus a certain degree of heat, to wit, that of
the common air in summer, is necessary to
hatch the eggs. If subterranean granaries, or
others, therefore, can be contrived below that
temperature, the evil will be cured by cold A
degree of heat bevond that which hatches the
egg we know will kill it. But in aiming at this
we easily run into that which produced putre
faction. To produce putrefaction, however,
three agents are requisite, heat, moisture, and
the external air. If the absence of any one of
these be secured, the other two may safely be
admitted. Heat is the one we want. Moisture
then, or external air, must be excluded. The
former has been done by exposing the grain in
kilns to the action of fire, which produces heat,
and extracts moisture at the same time; the
latter, by putting the grain into hogsheads, cov
ering it with a coating of lime, and heading it
up. In this situation its bulk produced a heat
sufficient to kill the egg; the moisture is suf
fered to remain indeed, but the external air is
excluded. A nicer operation yet has been at
tempted ; that is, to produce an intermediate
temperature of heat between that which kills
the egg, and that which produces putrefaction.
The threshing the grain as soon as it is cut,
ond laying it in its chaff in large heaps, has
been found very nearly to hit this temperature,
though not perfectly, nor always. The heap
generates heat sufficient to kill most of the eggs,
whilst the chaff commonly restrains it from
rising into putrefaction. But all these methods
abridge too much the quantity which the farmer
can manage, and enable other countries to un
dersell him, which are not infested with this
insect. — NOTES ON VIRGINIA, viii, 407. FORD
ED., iii, 271. (1782.)
— WHEATLEY (Phyllis).— See NE
GROES, LITERARY.
— WHEELS (Wooden).— See INVEN
TIONS.
9115. WHIGS, Loyalty of.— I do not be-
ieve there has ever been a moment, when a
;ingle whig in any one State, would not have
shuddered at the very idea of a separation of
heir State from the Confederacy. — ANSWERS
TO M. DE MEUNIER. ix, 251. FORD ED., iv,
55- (P, i?86.)
9116. WHIGS, Principles of.— Before the
Devolution we were all good English Whigs,
:ordial in their free principles, and in their
ealousies of their executive magistrate.
These jealousies are very apparent in all our
State constitutions. — AUTOBIOGRAPHY, i, 81.
FORD ED., i, 112. (1821.)
Whigs
Will sky
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
944
9117. WHIGS, Tories and.— It has ever
appeared to me, that the difference between
the whig and tory of England is, that the
whig deduces his rights from the Anglo-
Saxon source, and the tory from the Norman.
—To JOHN CARTWRIGHT. vii, 355. (M.,
1824.)
9118. WHISKY, Commutation.— Rum
and other spirits we [Virginia] can furnish to
a greater amount than you require •* * *
and shall be glad to commute into that article
some others which we have not, particularly
sugar, coffee and salt. — To GENERAL GATES, i,
260. (R., 1780.)
9119. . [As to] your application
for spirits, there is not a hogshead belonging to
the State, but very great quantities are in the
hands of the Continental commissaries. I have
special returns of upwards of twenty thousand
gallons delivered them by the Commissioners
* * * and [there are] no doubt great quan
tities of which there is no return. * * * I
would observe to you that Baron Steuben in
formed me in conversation that spirit would
be allowed as a part of the daily ration, but only
on particular occasions. — To GENERAL NELSON.
FORD ED., ii, 436. (R., 1781.)
9120. WHISKY, Indians and.— I am
happy to hear that you have been so favored
by the Divine Spirit as to be made sensible of
those things which are for your good and that
of your people, and of those which are hurtful
to you ; and particularly that you and they see
the ruinous effects which the abuse of spirit
uous liquors has produced upon them. It has
weakened their bodies, enervated their minds,
exposed them to hunger, cold, nakedness, and
poverty, kept them in perpetual broils, and re
duced their population. I do not wonder, then,
brother, at your censures, not only on your
own people, who have voluntarily gone into
these fatal habits, but on all the nations of
white people who have supplied their calls for
this article. But these nations have done to
you only what they do among themselves.
They have sold what individuals wish to buy,
leaving to every one to be the guardian of his
own health and happiness. Spirituous liquors
are not in themselves bad ; they are often found
to be an excellent medicine for the sick ; it is
the improper and intemperate use of them, by
those in health, which makes them injurious.
But as you find that your people cannot re
frain from an ill use of them, I greatly applaud
your resolution not to use them at all. We
have too affectionate a concern for your hap
piness to place the paltry gain on the sale of
these articles in competition with the in jury they
do you. And as it is the desire of your nation,
that no spirits should be sent among them, I
am authorized by the great council of the
United States to prohibit them. I will sin
cerely cooperate with your wise men in any
proper measures for this purpose, which shall
be agreeable to them. — To BROTHER HANDSOME
LAKE, viii, 187. (1802.)
9121. WHISKY, Loathsome effects.—
The loathsome and fatal effects of whisky,
destroying the fortunes, the bodies, the minds,
and morals of our citizens. — To WILLIAM H.
CRAWFORD. FORD ED., x, 113. (M., 1818.)
9122. WHISKY, Military supplies.—
We approve of your accommodating * *
the Maryland troops with spirits. They really
deserve the whole, and I wish we had means
of transportation for much greater quantities
which we have on hand and cannot convey.
This article we could furnish plentifully to
you and them. — To GENERAL EDWARD STEVENS.
i, 253. FORD ED., ii, 339. (R., 1780.)
9123. WHISKY, Sale to Indians.— The
Indians are becoming very sensible of the bane
ful effects produced on their morals, their
health and existence, by the abuse of ardent
spirits, and some of them earnestly desire a
prohibition of that article from being carried
among them. The Legislature will consider
whether the effectuating that desire would not
be in the spirit of benevolence and liberality
which they have hitherto practiced toward these
our neighbors, and which has had so happy an
effect toward conciliating their friendship. —
SPECIAL MESSAGE, viii, 22. (Jan. 1802.)
9124. — . \ye have taken measures
to prevent spirituous liquors being carried into
your country, and we sincerely rejoice at this
proof of your wisdom. Instead of spending
the produce of your hunting in purchasing this
pernicious drink, which produces poverty, broils
and murders, it will be now employed in pro
curing food and clothing for your families, and
increasing instead of diminishing your numbers.
— ADDRESS TO MIAMIS AND DELAWARES. viii
191- (1803.)
9125. - — . Perceiving the injurious
effects produced by the Indians' inordinate use
of spirituous liquors, Congress passed laws au
thorizing measures against the vending or dis
tributing such liquors among them. Their in
troduction by traders was accordingly prohib
ited, and for some time was attended with the
best effects. I am informed, however, that
latterly the Indians have got into the practice
of purchasing such liquors themselves in the
neighboring settlements of whites, and of carry
ing them into their towns, and that in this way
our regulations so salutary to them, are now
defeated. I must, therefore, request your Ex
cellency to submit this matter to the consider
ation of your Legislature. I persuade myself
that in addition to the moral inducements which
will readily occur, they will find it not indiffer
ent to their own interests to give us their aid
in removing, for their neighbors, this great
obstacle to their acquiring industrious habits,
and attaching themselves to the regular and
useful pursuits of life; for this purpose it is
much desired that they should pass effectual
laws to restrain their citizens from vending,
and distributing liauors to the Indians. — To
. v. 407. (W., Dec. 1808.)
9126 . The French and after
wards the English kept the hatchet always in
your hand, exposing you to be killed in their
quarrels, and then gave you whisky that you
might quarrel and kill one another. — INDIAN
ADDRESS, viii, 235. (1809.)
9127. . I have not filled you
with whisky, as the English do, to make you
promise, or give up what is against your in
terest, when out of your senses. — INDIAN AD
DRESS, viii, 240. (1809.)
9128.
What do the English for
you? They furnish you with plenty of whisky,
to keep you in idleness, drunkenness and pov
erty. — INDIAN ADDRESS, viii, 233. (1809.)
9129. . If we feared you, if we
were your enemies, we should have furnished
you plentifully with whisky. — INDIAN ADDRESS.
viii, 233. (1809.)
945
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Whisky
Wilkinson (James)
9130. WHISKY, Tax on.— I shall be
glad if an additional tax of one-fourth of a
dollar a gallon on whisky shall enable us to
meet all our engagements with punctuality.
Viewing that tax as an article in a system of
excise, I was once glad to see it fall with the
rest of the system, which I considered as pre
maturely and unnecessarily introduced. It was
evident that our existing taxes were then equal
to our existing debts. It was clearly foreseen,
also, that the surplus from excise would only be
come aliment for useless offices, and would be
swallowed in idleness by those whom it would
withdraw from useful industry. Considering
it only as a fiscal measure, this was right. But
the prostration of body and mind which the
cheapness of this liquor is spreading through
the mass of our citizens, now calls the attention
of the legislator on a very different principle.
One of his important duties is as guardian of
those who, from causes susceptible of precise
definition, cannot take care of themselves.
Such are infants, maniacs, gamblers, drunkards.
The last, as much as the maniac, requires re
strictive measures to save him from the fatal
infatuation under which he is destroying his
health, his morals, his family, and his useful
ness to society. One powerful obstacle to his
ruinous self-indulgence would be a price be
yond his competence. As a sanitary measure,
therefore, it becomes one of duty in the public
guardians. Yet I do not think it follows neces
sarily that imported spirits should be subjected
to similar enhancement, until they become as
cheap as those made at home. A tax on whisky
is to discourage its consumption ; a tax on
foreign spirits encourages whisky by removing
its rival from competition. The price and pres
ent duty throw foreign spirits already out of
competition with whisky, and accordingly they
are used but to a salutary extent. You see no
persons besotting themselves with imported
spirits, wines, liquors, cordials, &c. Whisky
claims to itself alone the exclusive office of sot-
making. Foreign spirits, wines, teas, coffee,
cigars, salt, are articles of as innocent con
sumption as broadcloths and silks ; and ought,
like them, to pay but the average ad valorem
duty of other imported comforts. All of them
are ingredients in our happiness, and the gov
ernment which steps out of the ranks of the
ordinary articles of consumption to select and
lay under disproportionate burdens a particular
one, because it is a comfort, pleasing to the
taste, or necessary to health, and will therefore,
be bought, is, in that particular, a tyranny. — To
SAMUEL SMITH, vii, 284.. FORD ED., x, 251.
(M., 1823.)
9131. WHISKY INSURRECTION,
Commencement. — The people in the western
parts of Pennsylvania have been to the excise
officer, and threatened to burn his house, &c.
They were blackened and otherwise disguised,
so as to be unknown. He has resigned, and
Hamilton says there is no possibliity of getting
the law executed, and that probably the evil
will spread. A proclamation is to be issued,
and another instance of my being forced to
appear to approve what I have condemned uni
formly from its first conception. — To JAMES
MADISON, iii, 563. FORD ED., vi, 261. (Pa.,
May I793-)
9132. WHISKY INSURRECTION,
Hamilton and.— The servile copyist of Mr.
Pitt [Alexander Hamilton] thought he. too,
must have his alarms, his insurrections and
plots against the Constitution. * * * Hence
the example of employing military force for
civil purposes, when it has been impossible to
produce a single fact of insurrection, unless
that term be entirely confounded with occa
sional riots, and when ordinary process of law
had been resisted indeed in a few special cases
but by no means generally, nor had its effect
been duly tried. But it answered the favorite
purposes of strengthening government and in
creasing public debt ; and, therefore, an insur
rection was announced and proclaimed, and
armed against, but could never be found. And
all this under the sanction of a name which has
done too much good not to be sufficient to cover
harm also. What is equallv astonishing is that
by the pomp of reports, proclamations, armies,
&c., the mind of the Legislature itself was so
fascinated as never to have asked where^ when,
and by whom this insurrection has been pro
duced? The original of this scene in another
country was calculated to excite the indignation
of those whom it could not impose on ; the
mimicry of it here is too humiliating to excite
any feeling but shame. — To JAMES MONROE.
FORD EDV vii, 16. (M., May 1795.)
9133. WHISKY INSURRECTION,
Military and. — The information of our [Vir
ginia's] militia, returned from the westward,
is uniform, that though the people there let
them pass quietly, they were objects of their
laughter, not of their fear: that one thousand
men could have cut off their whole force in a
thousand places of the Alleghany ; that their
detestation of the excise law is universal, and
has now associated to it a detestation of the
government ; and that a separation which was
perhaps a very distant and problematical event,
is now near, and certain, and determined in the
mind of every man. — To JAMES MADISON, iv,
112. FORD ED., vi, 518. (M., Dec. 1794.)
9134. WHISKY INSURRECTION,
Proclamation against.— The proclamation
on the proceedings against the laws for raising
a revenue on distilled spirits, I return with my
signature. I think if, instead of the words,
" to render laws dictated by weighty reasons
of public exigency and policy as acceptable as
possible ", it stood, " to render the laws as ac
ceptable as possible ", it would be better. I see
no other particular expressions which need al
teration. — To PRESIDENT WASHINGTON, iii, 471.
FORD ED., vi, 113. (M., Sep. 1792.)
9135. . I am sincerely sorry to
learn that such proceedings have taken place ;
and I hope the proclamation will lead the per
sons concerned into a regular line of applica
tion which may end either in an amendment of
the law, if it needs it, or in their conviction that
it is right. — To PRESIDENT WASHINGTON, iii,
471. FORD ED., vi, 114. (M., Sep. 1792.)
9136. WILKINSON (James), Burr's
conspiracy. — I have ever and carefully re
strained myself from the expression of any
opinion respecting General Wilkinson, except
in the case of Burr's conspiracy, wherein, after
he had got over his first agitations, we believed
his decision firm, and his conduct zealous for
the defeat of the conspiracy, and although in
judicious, yet meriting, from sound intentions,
the support of the nation. As to the rest of his
life, I have left it to his friends and his ene
mies, to whom it furnishes matter enough for
disputation. I classed myself with neither. —
To JAMES MONROE, vi, 35. FORD ED., ix, 332.
(M., Jan. 1812.)
9137. WILKINSON (James), Com
mended. — I sincerely congratulate you on
your safe arrival at Richmond, against the im
pudent surmises and hopes of the band of con-
Wilkinson (James)
William and Mary Coll.
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
946
spirators, who, because they are as yet per
mitted to walk abroad, and even to be in the
character of witnesses until such a measure of
evidence shall be collected as will place them
securely at the bar of justice, attempt to cover
their crimes under noise and insolence. You
have indeed had a fiery trial at New Orleans,
but it was soon apparent that the clamorous
were only the criminal, endeavoring to turn the
public attention from themselves and their
leader upon any other object. — To GENERAL
WILKINSON, v, 109. FORD ED., ix, 5. (W.,
June 1807.)
9138. WILKINSON (James), Confi
dence in. — I am thoroughly sensible of the
painful difficulties of your situation, expecting
an attack from an overwhelming force, un
versed in law, surrounded by suspected persons,
and in a nation tender as to everything infring
ing liberty, and especially Irom the military.
You have doubtless seen a good deal of mali
cious insinuation in the papers against you.
This, of course, begot suspicion and distrust
in those unacquainted with the line of your
conduct. We, who knew it, have not failed to
strengthen the public confidence in you ; and
I can assure you that your conduct, as now
known, has placed you on ground extremely
favorable with the public. Burr and his emis
saries found it convenient to sow a distrust in
your mind of our dispositions towards you ;
but be assured that vou will be cordially sup
ported in the line of your duties. — To GENERAL
WILKINSON, v, 39. FORD ED., ix, 4. (W.,
Feb. 1807.)
9139. WILKINSON (James), Injustice
for. — Your enemies have filled the public ear
with slanders, and your mind with trouble on
that account. The establishment of their guilt
will let the world see what they ought to think
of their clamors ; it will dissipate the doubts of
those who doubted for want of knowledge, and
will place you on higher ground in the public
estimate and public confidence. No one is
more sensible than myself of the injustice
which has been aimed at you. — To GENERAL
WILKINSON, v, no. FORD ED., ix, 6. (W.,
June 1807.)
9140. WILKINSON (James), Plans
against Burr. — Although we at no time be
lieved Burr could carry any formidable force
out of the Ohio, yet we thought it safest that
you should be prepared to receive him with all
the force which could be assembled, and with
that view our orders were given ; and we were
pleased to see that without waiting for them,
you adopted nearly the same plan yourself,
and acted on it with promptitude ; the differ
ence between yours and ours proceeding from
your expecting an attack by sea, which we knew
was impossible, either by England or by a fleet
under Truxtun, who was at home ; or by our
own navy, which was under our eye. Your
belief that Burr would really descend with six
or seven thousand men, was no doubt founded
on what you knew of the numbers which could
be raised in the western country for an expe
dition to Mexico, under the authority of the
government; but you probably did not calculate
that the want of that authority would take
from him every honest man, and leave him only
the desperadoes of his party, which in no part
of the United States can ever be a numerous
body. — To GENERAL WILKINSON, v, 39. FORD
ED., ix, 4. (W.. Feb. 1807.)
9141. WILKINSON (James), Suspi
cions. — General Wilkinson, being expressly
declared by Burr to General Eaton, to be en
gaged with him in his design as his Lieutenant,
or first in command, and suspicions of infidelity
in Wilkinson being now become very general, a
question is proposed [in cabinet] what is
proper to be done as to him on this account,
as well as for his disobedience of orders re
ceived by him June n, at St. Louis, to descend
with all practicable dispatch to New Orleans,
to mark out the site of certain defensive works
there, and then repair to take command at
Natchitoches, on which business he did not
leave St. Louis till September. — THE ANAS.
FORD ED., i, 319. (Oct. 1806.)
9142. WILLIAM AND MARY COL
LEGE, Aid for.— The late change in the
form of our government, as well as the contest
of arms in which we are at present engaged,
calling for extraordinary abilities both in coun
cil and field, it becomes the peculiar duty of the
Legislature, at this time, to aid and improve
[William and Mary] Seminary, in which those
who are to be the future guardians of the rights
and liberties of their country may be endowed
with science and virtue, to watch and preserve
the sacred deposit. — WILLIAM AND MARY COL
LEGE BILL. FORD ED., ii, 233. (1779.)
9143. WILLIAM AND MARY COL
LEGE, Attachment for.— To William and
Mary, as my alma mater, my attachment has
been ever sincere, although not exclusive. — To
PATRICK K. RODGERS. vii, 328. (M., 1824.)
9144. WILLIAM AND MARY COL
LEGE, Changes.— Being elected, in 1779,
one of the Visitors of William and Mary Col
lege, a self-electing body, I effected, during
my residence in Williamsburg [as Governor of
the State] that year, a change in the organiza
tion of that institution, by abolishing the Gram
mar school, and the two professorships of Di
vinity and Oriental languages, and substituting
a professorship of Law and Police, one of An
atomy, Medicine and Chemistry, and one of
Modern Languages ; and the charter confining
us to six professorships, we added the Law of
Nature and Nations, and the Fine Arts to the
duties of the Moral professor, and Natural His
tory to those of the professor of Mathematics
and Natural Philosophy. — AUTOBIOGRAPHY, i,
50. FORD ED., i, 69. (1821.)
9145. WILLIAM AND MARY COL
LEGE, Church establishment.— The Col
lege of William and Mary was an establishment
purely of the Church of England; the Visitors
were required to be all of that Church ; the pro
fessors to subscribe its Thirty-nine Articles ; its
students to learn its catechism ; and one of its
fundamental objects was declared to be to
raise up ministers for that Church. The relig
ious jealousies, therefore, of all the dissenters
took alarm lest this might give an ascendancy
to the Anglican sect, and refused acting on that
bill. Its local eccentricity, too, and unhealthy
autumnal climate, lessened the general inclina
tion towards it. — AUTOBIOGRAPHY, i, 48. FORD
ED., i, 67. (M., 1821.)
9146. WILLIAM AND MARY COL
LEGE, Rivalry.— When the college [of
William and Mary] was located at the middle
plantation in 1693, Charles City was a frontier
county, and there were no inhabitants above the
falls of the rivers, sixty miles only higher up.
It was, therefore, a position nearly central to
the population, as it then was; but when the
frontier became extended to the Sandy river,
three hundred miles west of Williamsburg, the
public convenience called, first for a removal
947
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
William and Mary Coll.
Wines
of the seat of government, and latterly, not for
a removal of the college, but for the establish
ment of a new one in a more central and
healthy location ; not disturbing the old one in
its possessions or functions, but leaving them
unimpaired for the benefit of those to whom it
is convenient. And indeed, I do not foresee
that the number of its students is likely to be
much affected ; because I presume that, at pres
ent, its distance and autumnal climate prevent
its receiving many students from above the tide
waters, and especially from above the moun
tains. This is, therefore, one of the cases
where the lawyers say there is damnuin absque
injuria ; and they instance, as in point, the set
tlement of a new schoolmaster in the neighbor
hood of an old one. At any rate, it is one of
those cases wherein the public interest right
fully prevails, and the justice of which will be
yielded by none, I am sure, with more dutiful
and candid acquiescence than the enlightened
friends of our ancient and venerable institution.
The only rivalship, I hope, between the old and
the new (the University of Virginia) will be in
doing the most good possible in their respective
sections of country. — To PATRICK K. RODGERS.
vii, 328. (M., 1824.)
9147. WILLIAM AND MARY COL
LEGE, Unfavorable location. — We have in
Virginia a college (William and Mary) just
well enough endowed to draw out the miserable
existence to which a miserable constitution has
doomed it. It is moreover eccentric in its po
sition, exposed to all bilious diseases as all the
lower country is, and. therefore, abandoned by
the public care, as that part of the country itself
is in a considerable degree by its inhabitants.
— To JOSEPH PRIESTLEY, iv, 312. FORD ED.,
vii, 407. (Pa., 1800.) See UNIVERSITY OF
VIRGINIA.
9148. WINDS, Systematic observa
tions on. — I am sorry you have received so
little information on the subject of our winds.
I had once (before our Revolution-war) a
project on the same subject. As I had then an
extensive acquaintance over this State [Vir
ginia], I meant to have engaged some person in
every county of it, giving them each a ther
mometer, to observe that and the winds twice
a day, for one year, to wit, at sunrise and at
four p. m. (the coldest and the warmest point
of the twenty-four hours), and to communicate
their observations to me at the end of the year.
I should then have selected the days in which
it appeared that the winds blew to a centre
within the State, and have made a map of them,
and seen how far they had analogy with the
temperature of the air. I meant this to be
merely a specimen to be communicated to the
Philosophical Society at Philadelphia, in order
to engage them, by means of their correspond
ents, to have the same thing done in every
State, and through a series of years. By seiz
ing the days when the winds centred in any
part of the United States, we might, in time,
have come to some of the causes which deter
mine the direction of the winds, which I sus
pect to be very various. But this long-winded
project was prevented by the war * * *
and since that I have been far otherwise en
gaged. I am sure you will have viewed the
subject from much higher ground, and I shall
be glad to learn your views in some of the hours
of delassement, which I hoDe we are yet to pass
together. — To MR. VOLNEY. iv, 159. (M.,
I797-)
9149. WINES, Making.— The culture of
the vine is not desirable in lands capable of
producing anything else. It is a species of
gambling, and desperate gambling, too. wherein,
whether you make much or nothing, you are
equally ruined. The middling crop alone is the
saving point, and that the seasons seldom hit.
Accordingly, we see much wretchedness among
this class of cultivators. Wine, too, is so cheap
in these countries [of Europe], that a laborer
with us, employed in the culture of any other
article, may exchange it for wine, more and
better than he could raise himself. It is a re
source for a country the whole of whose good
soil is otherwise employed, and which still has
some barren spots, and surplus of population to
employ on them. There the vine is good, be
cause it is something in the place of nothing.
It may become a resource to us at a still later
period ; when the increase of population shall
increase our productions beyond the demand
for them, both at home and abroad. Instead of
going on to make an useless surplus of them,
we may employ our supernumerary hands on the
vine. — To WILLIAM DRAYTON. ii, 198. (P.,
1787.)
9150. . An experiment was made
in Virginia by a Mr. Mazzei, for the raising
vines and making wines. He was an Italian,
and brought over with him about a dozen la
borers of his own country, bound to serve him
four or five years. We had made up a sub
scription for him of £ 2,000 sterling, and he
began his experiment on a piece of land ad
joining mine. His intention was, before the
time of his people should expire, to import
more from Italy. He planted a considerable
vineyard, and attended to it with great diligence
for three years. The war then came on, the
time of his people soon expired, some of them
enlisted, others chose to settle on other lands
and labor for themselves ; some were taken
away by the gentlemen of the country for gar
deners, so that there did not remain a single one
with him, and the interruption of navigation
prevented his importing others. In this state
of things he was himself employed by the State
of Virginia to go to Europe as their agent to do
some particular business. He rented his place
to General Riedesel, whose horses in one week
destroyed the whole labor of three or four
years ; and thus ended an experiment which,
from every appearance, would in a year or
two more have established the practicability of
that branch of culture in America. — To ALBERT
GALLATIN. iii, 505. (Pa., 1793.)
9151. . We could, in the United
States, make as great a variety of wines as are
made in Europe, not exactly of the same kinds,
but doubtless as good. Yet I have ever ob
served to my countrymen, who think its intro
duction important, that a laborer cultivating
wheat, rice, tobacco, or cotton here, will be
able with the proceeds, to purchase double the
quantity of the wine he could make. — To M.
LASTEYRIE. v, 314. (W., 1808.)
9152. WINES, Sobriety and.— I am
persuaded that were the duty on cheap wines
put on the same ratio with the dear., it would
wonderfully enlarge the field of those who use
wine, to the expulsion of whisky. The intro
duction of a very cheap wine into my neigh
borhood, within two years past, has quadrupled
in that time the number of those who keep
wine, and will ere long increase them tenfold.
This would be a great gain to the treasury, and
to the sobriety of our country. — To ALBERT
GALLATIN. v, 86. FORD ED., ix, 69. (W.,
June 1807.)
9153. WINES, Tax on.— I rejoice, as a
moralist, at the prospect of a reduction of the
Wines
Women
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
948
duties on wine, by our national Legislature.
It is an error to view a tax on that liquor as
merely a tax on the rich. It is a prohibition of
its use to the middling class of our citizens, and
a condemnation of them to the poison of
whisky, which is desolating their houses. No
nation is drunken where wine is cheap ; and
none sober, where the dearness of wine substi
tutes ardent spirits as the common beverage.
It is, in truth, the only antidote to the bane of
whisky. Fix but the duty at the rate of other
merchandise, and we can drink wine here as
cheap as we do grog ; and who will not prefer
it? Its extended use will carry health and
comfort to a much enlarged circle. Every one
in easy circumstances (as the bulk of our citi
zens are) will prefer it to the poison to which
they are now driven by their government.
And the treasury itself will find that a penny
apiece from a dozen, is more than a groat from
a single one. This reformation, however, will
require time. — To M. DE NEUVILLE. vii, no.
(M., 1818.)
9154. . I think it a great error
to consider a heavy tax on wines, as a tax on
luxury. On the contrary, it is a tax on the
health of our citizens. It is a legislative decla
ration that none but the richest of them shall
be permitted to drink wine, and, in effect, a
condemnation of all the middling and lower
conditions of society to the poison of whisky.
* * * Surely it is not from the necessities
of our treasury that we thus undertake to debar
the mass of our citizens the use of not only an
innocent gratification, but a healthy substitute
instead of a bewitching poison. This aggres
sion on the public taste and comfort has been
ever deemed among the most arbitrary and op
pressive abuses of the English government. It
is one which, I hope, we shall never copy. — To
WILLIAM H. CRAWFORD. FORD ED., x, 112.
(M., 1818.) See LIFE, JEFFERSON'S HABITS OF.
9155. WIRT (William), Seat in Con
gress. — I pray you that this letter may be
sacredly secret, because it meddles in a line
wherein I should myself think it wrong to
intermeddle, were it not that it looks to a
period when I shall be out of office, but others
might think it wrong notwithstanding that
circumstance. I suspected, from your desire
to go into the army, that you disliked your pro
fession, notwithstanding that your prospects in
it were inferior to none in the State. Still, I
know that no profession is open to stronger
antipathies than that of the law. The object
of this letter, then, is to propose to you to come
into Congress. Th .t is the great commanding
theatre of this nation, and the threshold to
whatever department of office a man is quali
fied to enter. With your reputation, talents,
and correct views, used with the necessary
prudence, you will at once be placed at the head
of the republican body in the House of Repre
sentatives ; and after obtaining the standing
which a little time will ensure you, you may
look, at your own will, into the military, the
judiciary, diplomatic, or other civil departments,
with a certainty of being in either whatever
you please. And in the present state of what
may be called the eminent talents of our coun
try, you may be assured of being engaged
through life in the most honorable employ
ments. If you come in at the next election,
you will begin your course with a new adminis
tration. That administration will be opposed
by a faction, small in numbers, but governed
by no principle but the most envenomed ma
lignity. They will endeavor to batter down the
Executive before it will have time, by its purity
and correctness, to build up a confidence with
the people, founded on experiment. By sup
porting them you will lay for yourself a broad
foundation in the public confidence, and in
deed you will become the Colossus of the re
publican government of your country. * * *
Perhaps I ought to apologize for the frankness
of this communication. It proceeds from an
ardent zeal to see this government (the idol of
my soul) continue in good hands, and from a
sincere desire to see you whatever you wish to
be.— To WILLIAM WIRT. v, 233. (W., Jan.
1808.)
9156. WISDOM, Hereditary.— Wisdom
is not hereditary. — To WILLIAM JOHNSON.
vii, 291. FORD ED., x, 227. (M., 1823.)
9157. WISDOM, Honesty and.— A wise
man, if nature has not formed him honest,
will yet act as if he were honest; because he
will find it the most advantageous and wise
part in the long run. — To JAMES MONROE.
FORD ED., iv, 40. (P., 1785.)
9158. WISTAB (Caspar), Philosophical
society and. — I rejoice in the election of Dr.
Wistar [to the presidency of the Philosophical
Society], and trust that his senior standing in
the Society will have been considered as a fair
motive of preference of those whose merits,
standing alone, would have justly entitled them
to the honor, and who, as juniors, according to
the course of nature, may still expect their
turn. — To JOHN VAUGHAN. vi, 417. (M.,
1815.)
— WOMEN", Appointment to office.—
See OFFICES.
9159. WOMEN, Barbarism and.— The
[Indian] women are submitted to unjust
drudgery. This, I believe, is the case with
every barbarous people. With such, force is
law. The stronger sex, therefore, imposes on
the weaker. * * * Were we in equal bar
barism, our females would be equal drudges.
— NOTES ON VIRGINIA, viii, 305. FORD ED.,
iii, 153. (1782.)
9160. WOMEN, Civilization and.— It is
an honorable circumstance for man, that the
first moment he is at his ease, he allots the
internal employments to his female partner,
and takes the external on himself. And this
circumstance, or its reverse, is a pretty good
indication that a people are, or are not at their
ease. Among the Indians, this indication
fails from a particular cause; every Indian
man is a soldier or warrior, and the whole
body of warriors constitute a standing army,
always employed in war or hunting. To sup
port that army, there remain no laborers but
the women. Here, then, is so heavy a military
establishment, that the civil part of the na
tion is reduced to women only. But this is a
barbarous perversion of the natural destina
tion of the two sexes — TRAVELS IN LORRAINE.
ix, 396. (1787.)
9161. WOMEN, Domestic life.— You
think that the pleasures of Paris more than
supply its want of domestic happiness; in
other words, that a Parisian is happier than
an American. You will change your opinion,
and come over to mine in the end. Recollect
the women of this capital [Paris], some on
949
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Women
Wretchedness
foot, some on horses, and some in carriages,
hunting pleasure in the streets, in routs and
assemblies, and forgetting that they have left
it behind them in their nurseries; compare
them with our own countrywomen occupied
in the tender and tranquil amusements of
domestic life, and confess that it is a com
parison of Americans and angels. — To MRS.
WILLIAM BINGHAM. FORD ED., v, 9. (P.,
1788.)
9162. . American women have
the good sense to value domestic happiness
above all other, and the art to cultivate it
beyond all other. There is no part of the
earth where so much of this is enjoyed as in
America.— To MRS. WILLIAM BINGHAM.
FORD ED., v, 9. (P., 1788.)
— WOMEN, Education.— See EDUCATION,
FEMALE.
9163. WOMEN, Government and.—
However nature may by mental or physical
disqualifications have marked infants and the
weaker sex for the protection, rather than the
direction of government, yet among the men
who either pay or fight for their country, no
line of right can be drawn.— To JOHN H.
PLEASANTS. vii, 345. FORD ED., x, 303. (M.,
1824.)
9164. WOMEN, Horseback riding.— A
lady should never ride a horse which she
might not safely ride without a bridle. — To
MARY JEFFERSON. FORD ED., v, 328. (Pa.,
1791.)
9165. WOMEN, Labor and.— I observe
women and children carrying heavy burdens,
and laboring with the hoe. This is an un
equivocal indication of extreme poverty.
Men, in a civilized country, never expose their
wives and children to labor above their force
and sex, as long as their own labor can pro
tect them from it.— TRAVELS IN FRANCE, ix,
313. (1787.)
9166. . The women here [Lor
raine] as in Germany, do all sorts of work.
While one considers them as useful and
rational companions, one cannot forget that
they are also objects of our pleasures ; nor can
they ever forget it. While employed in dirt and
drudgery, some tag of a ribbon, some ring,
or bit of bracelet, earbpb or necklace, or some
thing of that kind, will show that the desire
of pleasing is never suspended in them. —
TRAVELS IN LORRAINE, ix, 396. (1787.)
9167. WOMEN, Natural equality of.—
It is civilization alone which replaces women
in the enjoyment of their natural equality.
That first teaches us to subdue the selfish
passions, and to respect those rights in others
which we value in ourselves.— NOTES ON VIR
GINIA, viii, 305. FORD ED., iii, 153- (1782.)
9168. WOMEN, Needlework.— In the
country life of America, there are many mo
ments when a woman can have recourse to
nothing but her needle for employment. In
a dull company, and in dull weather, for in
stance, it is ill-mannered to read, ill manners
to leave them; no card-playing there among
genteel people— that is abandoned to black
guards. The needle is, then, a valuable re
source. Besides, without knowing how to use
it herself, how can the mistress of a family
direct the work of her servants ? — To MARTHA
JEFFERSON. FORD ED., iv, 373. (1787.)
9169. WOMEN, Politics and.— All the
world is now politically mad. Men, women,
children talk nothing else, and you know that
naturally they talk much, loud and warm. So
ciety is spoiled by it, at least for those who,
like myself, are but lookers on. You, too,
[in America] have had your political fever.
But our good ladies, I trust, have been too
wise to wrinkle their foreheads with politics.
They are contented to soothe and calm the
minds of their husbands returning ruffled
from political debate. — To MRS. WILLIAM
BINGHAM. FORD ED., v, 9. (P., 1788.)
9170. WOMEN, Tenderness for.—
Women are formed by nature for attentions,
not for hard labor. A woman never forgets
one of the numerous train of little offices
which belong to her. A man forgets often. —
TRAVELS IN FRANCE, ix, 397. (1787.)
9171. WORDS, Use of.— I am not scrupu
lous about words when they are once explained.
— To GEORGE HAMMOND, iii, 515. FORD ED.,
vi, 187. (Pa., I793-)
9172. WORLD, End of.— I hope you will
have good sense enough to disregard those fool
ish predictions that the world is to be at an end
soon. The Almighty has never made known to
anybody at what time He created it ; nor will He
tell anybody when He will put an end to it, if
He ever means to do it. As to preparations
for that event, the best way for you is to be
always prepared for it. The only way to be so
is, never to say or do a bad thing. If ever you
are about to say anything amiss, or to do any
thing wrong, consider beforehand you will feel
something within you which will tell you it is
wrong, and ought not to be said or done. This
is your conscience, and be sure and obey it.
Our Maker has given us all this faithful in
ternal monitor, and if you always obey it you
will always be prepared for the end of the
world ; or for a much more certain event, which
is death. This must happen to all ; it puts an
end to the world as to us; and the way to be
ready for it is never to do a wrong act. — To
MARTHA JEFFERSON. D. L. J. 70. '(I783-)
9173. WORTH, American appreciation
of. — I know no country where * * * pub
lic esteem is so attached to worth, regardless
of wealth [as it is in America]. — To MRS.
CHURCH. FORD ED., vi, 455. (G., 1793.)
9174. WORTH, Esteem for moral.— My
anxieties on this subject will never carry me
beyond the use of fair and honorable means,
of truth and reason ; nor have they ever les
sened my esteem for moral worth, nor alien
ated my affections from a single friend, who
did not first withdraw himself. Whenever
this happened, I confess I have not been in
sensible to it ; yet have ever kept myself open
to a return of their justice. — To MRS. JOHN
ADAMS, iv, 562. FORD ED., viii, 312. (M.,
1804.)
9175. WRETCHEDNESS, Life and.—
The Giver of life gave it for happiness and
Wright (Frances)
Wythe (George)
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
950
not for wretchedness. — To JAMES MONROE, i,
319. FORD ED., iii, 59. (M., 1782.)
9176. WBIGHT (Frances), Works of.—
Miss Wright had before favored me with the
first edition of her American work ; but her
" Few Days in Athens ", was entirely new, and
has been a treat to me of the highest order.
The matter and manner of the dialogue is
strictly ancient ; and the principles of the sects
are beautifully and candidly explained and con
trasted ; and the scenery and portraiture of the
interlocutors are of higher finish than anything
in that line left us by the ancients ; and like
Ossian, if not ancient, it is equal to the best
morsels of antiquity. I augur, from this in
stance, that Herculaneum is likely to furnish
better specimens of modern than of ancient
genius ; and may we not hope more from the
same pen? — To MARQUIS LAFAYETTE, vii, 326.
FORD ED., x, 282. (M., 1823.)
9177. WHITING, For newspapers.— I
have preserved through life a resolution, set
in a very early part of it, never to write in a
public paper without subscribing my name to it,
and to engage openly an adversary who does
not let himself be seen, is staking all against
nothing. — To EDWARD RANDOLPH, iii, 470.
(1792.)
9178. WHITING, Illegible.— I return
you Mr. Coxe's letter which has cost me much
time at two or three different attempts to de
cipher it. Had I such a correspondent, I
should certainly admonish him that, if he would
not so far respect my time as to write to me
legibly, I should so far respect it myself as
not to waste it in decomposing and recomposing
his hieroglyphics. — To JAMES MADISON. FORD
ED., x, 275. (M., 1823.)
9179. WRONG, Correction of.— A con
viction that we are right accomplishes half
the difficulty of correcting wrong. — To ARCHI
BALD THWEAT. vii, 199. FORD ED., x, 184.
(M., 1821.)
9180. WRONG, Opposition to foreign.—
I doubt not your aid * * * towards carry
ing into effect the measures of your country,
and enforcing the sacred principle, that in
opposing foreign wrong there must be but one
mind. — R. TO A. N. Y. TAMMANY SOCIETY.
viii, 127. (Feb. 1808.)
9181. WRONG, Resistance to.— We have
borne patiently a great deal of wrong, on
the consideration that if nations go to war
for every degree of injury, there would never
be peace on earth. But when patience has
begotten false estimates of its motives, when
wrongs are pressed because it is believed they
will be borne, resistance becomes morality.
— To MADAME DE STAEL. v, 133. (W., 1807.)
9182. WRONG, Restrain.— We * * *
owe it to mankind, as well as to ourselves,
to restrain wrong by resistance, and to defeat
those calculations of which justice is not the
basis. — SEVENTH ANNUAL MESSAGE, viii.
FORD ED., ix, 146.
9183. WRONG, Submission to.— We
love peace, yet spurn a tame submission to
wrong.— R. TO A. N. Y. TAMMANY SOCIETY.
viii, 127. (1808.)
9184. WRONGS, Republican vs. Mon
archical. — Compare the number of wrongs
committed with impunity by citizens among
us, with those committed by the sovereigns in
other countries, and the last will be found
most numerous, most oppressive on the mind,
and most degrading to the dignity of man.—
ANSWERS TO M. DE MEUNIER. ix, 292. FORD
ED., iv, 147. (P., 1786.)
9185. WYTHE (George), Ability of.—
The pride of William and Mary College is Mr.
Wythe, one of the Chancellors of the State, and
Professor of Law. He is one of the greatest
men of the age, having held without compe
tition the first place at the bar of our General
Court for twenty-five years, and always dis
tinguished by the most spotless virtue. — To
RALPH IZARD. ii, 428. (P., 1788.)
9186. WYTHE (George), American
Revolution and.— George Wythe was one of
the very few (for I can barely speak of them
in the plural number) * * * who. from the
commencement of the [Revolutionary] contest,
hung our connection with Great Britain on its
true hook, that of a common king. His un
assuming character, however, made him appear
as a follower, while his sound judgment kept
him in a line with the freest spirit. — To WILL
IAM WIRT. vi, 368. FORD ED., ix, 469. (M.,
1814.)
9187 . On the dawn of the
Revolution, instead of higgling on half-way
principles, as others did who feared to follow
their reason, he took his stand on the solid
ground that the only link of political union be
tween us and Great Britain, was the identity
of our Executive ; that that nation and its
Parliament had no more authority over us than
we had over them, and that we were coordinate
nations with Great Britain and Hanover. — To
JOHN SAUNDERSON. i, 113. (M., 1820.)
9188. WYTHE (George), Cato of Amer
ica. — No man ever left behind him a charac
ter more venerated than George Wythe. His
virtue was of the purest tint ; his integrity in
flexible and his justice exact ; of warm patriot
ism, and, devoted as he was to liberty and the
natural and equal rights of man, he might truly
be called the Cato of his country, without the
avarice of the Roman, for a more disinterested
person never lived.* — To JOHN SAUNDERSON.
i, 114. (M., 1820.)
9189. WYTHE (George), Honor of his
age. — The honor of his own, and the model
of future times. — To JOHN SAUNDERSON. i,
114. (M., 1820.)
9190. WYTHE (George), Lectures of.—
Your favor gave me the first information that
the lectures of my late master and friend exist
in MS. * * * His mind was too accurate,
his reasoning powers too strong, to have com
mitted anything to paper materially incorrect.
It is unfortunate that there should be lacuna in
them. But you are mistaken in supposing I
could supply them. It is now thirty-seven
years since I left the bar, and have ceased to
think on subjects of law; and the constant
occupation of my mind by other concerns has
obliterated from it all but the strongest traces
of the science. Others, I am sure, can be
found equal to it, and none more so than Judge
Rpane. It is not my time or trouble which I
wish to spare on this occasion. They are due,
in any extent, to the memory of one who was
* George Wythe was one of the signers of the
Declaration, Jefferson, Chief Justice Marshall and
Henry Clay were among his law pupils.— EDITOR.
951
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Wythe (George)
X. Y. Z. Plot
my second father. My incompetence is the
real obstacle ; and in any other circumstance
connected with the publication, in which I can
be useful to his fame, and the public instruc
tion, I shall be most ready to do my duty. — To
JOHN TYLER. FORD ED., ix, 288. (M., 1810.)
9191. WYTHE (George), Mentor and
friend. — Mr. Wythe continued to be my
faithful and beloved mentor in youth, and my
most affectionate friend through life. In 1767,
he led me into the practice of the law at the
bar of the General Court, at which I continued
until the Revolution shut up the courts of jus
tice. — AUTOBIOGRAPHY, i, 3. FORD ED., i, 4.
(1821.)
9192. WYTHE (George), Supporter of
Jefferson. — Mr. Wythe, while speaker [of
the Virginia Legislature] in the two sessions
of 1777, * * * was an able and constant
associate [oi mine] in whatever was before a'
committee of the whole. His pure integrity,
judgment and reasoning powers, gave him great
weight. — AUTOBIOGRAPHY, i, 41. FORD ED., i,
56. (1821.)
9193. WYTHE (George), Virtuous.—
One of the most virtuous of characters, and
whose sentiments on the subject of slavery are
unequivocal. — To DR. PRICE, i, 377. FORD ED.,
iv, 83. (P., 1785.)
9194. . The exalted virtue of
the man will be a polar star to guide you in all
matters which may touch that element of his
character. But on that you will receive impu
tation from no man ; for, as far as I know, he
never had an enemy. — To JOHN SAUNDERSON.
i, 112. (M., 1820.)
— XENOPHON".— See PHILOSOPHY.
9195. X. Y. Z. PLOT, Artful misrepre
sentation of. — The most artful misrepre
sentations of the contents of these papers have
been published, and have produced such a shock
in the republican mind, as has never been seen
since our independence. We are to dread the
effects of this dismay till their fuller informa
tion.* — To JAMES MADISON, iv, 233. FORD
ED., vii, 236. (Pa., April 1798.)
9196. X. Y. Z. PLOT, Astonishment
over. — The public mind appears still in a
state of astonishment. There never was a mo
ment in which the aid of an able pen was so
important to place things in their just attitude.
On this depend the inchoate movement in the
eastern mind, and the fate of the elections in
that quarter. * * * I would not propose to
you such a task on any ordinary occasion. But
be assured that a well-digested analysis of
these papers would now decide the future turn
of things, which are at this moment on the
creen. — To JAMES MADISON, iv, 234. FORD
ED., vii, 237. (Pa., April 1798.)
9197. X. Y. Z. PLOT, Delusion through.
— There is a most respectable part of our
State [Virginia] who have been enveloped in
the X. Y. Z. delusion, and who destroy our
* In 1797, Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, Elbridge
Gerry and John Marshall were sent on an extraor
dinary mission to the French Republic, the Directory
being then in power. Shortly after their arrival in
Paris, they received letters from unofficial persons
signed X. Y. and Z, intimating that, as a preliminary
to the negotiation, it would be necessary to expend a
large sum of money in the way of bribes to the mem
bers of the Government. These demands were not
acceded to, and the federalists made skilful political
use of the incident in their warfare against the re
publicans.— EDITOR.
unanimity for the present moment. This dis
ease of the imagination will pass over, because
the patients are essentially republican. In
deed, the doctor is now on his way to cure it,
in the guise of a tax gatherer. But give time
for the medicine to work, and for the repetition
of stronger doses, which must be administered.
— To JOHN TAYLOR, iv, 259. FORD ED., vii,
309. (M., 1798.)
9198. . There is real reason to
believe that the X. Y. Z. delusion is wearing off,
and the public mind beginning to take the same
direction it ^ was getting into before that meas
ure. Gerry's dispatches will tend strongly to
open the eyes of the people. Besides this sev
eral other impressive circumstances will be
bearing on the public mind. The Alien and
Sedition laws as before, the direct tax, the ad
ditional army and navy, an usurious loan to set
these follies on foot, a prospect of heavy ad
ditional taxes as soon as they are completed,
still heavier taxes if the government forces on
the war recruiting officers lounging at every
court-house and decoying the laborer from his
plow. — To JAMES MONROE, iv, 265. FORD ED.,
vii, 320. (Pa., Jan. 1799.)
9199. - — . The violations of the
Constitution, propensities to war, to expense,
and to a particular foreign connection [Great
Britain], which we have lately seen, are becom
ing evident to the people, and are dispelling
that mist which X. Y. Z. had spread before their
eyes. — To EDMUND PENDLETON. iv, 287. FORD
ED., vii, 356. (Pa., Feb. 1799.)
9200. X. Y. Z. PLOT, Federalists and.—
When Pinckney, Marshall, and Dana were nom
inated to settle our differences with France, it
was suspected by many, from what was under
stood of their dispositions, that their mission
would not result in a settlement of differences,
but would produce circumstances tending to
widen the breach, and to provoke our citizens
to consent to a war with that nation, and union
with England. Dana's resignation and your
appointment gave the first gleam of hope of a
peaceable issue to the mission. For it was be
lieved that you were sincerely disposed to ac
commodation ; and it was not long after your
arrival there, before symptoms were observed
of that difference of views which had been
suspected to exist. In the meantime, however,
the aspect of our government towards the
French Republic had become so ardent,
that the people of America generally took the
alarm. To the southward, their apprehensions
were early excited. In the eastern States also,
they at length began to break out. Meetings
were held in many of your towns, and addresses
to the government agreed on in opposition to
war. The example was spreading like a wild
fire. Other meetings were called in other
places, and a general concurrence of sentiment
against the apparent inclinations of the govern
ment was imminent ; when, most critically for
the government, the [X. Y. Z.] despatches of
October 22d, prepared by your colleague Mar
shall, with a view to their being made public,
dropped into their laps. It was truly a godsend
to them, and they made the most of it. Many
thousands of copies were printed and dispersed
gratis, at the public expense ; and the zealots
for war cooperated so heartily, that there were
instances of single individuals who printed and
dispersed ten or twelve thousand copies at their
own expense. The odiousness of the corrup
tion supposed in those papers excited a general
and high indignation among the people. Un
experienced in such maneuvres, they did not
permit themselves even to suspect that the
X. Y. Z. Plot
Yellow Fever
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
952
turpitude of private swindlers might mingle it
self unobserved, and give its own hue to the
communications or the French government, of
whose participation there was neither proof nor
probability. It served, nowever, for a time, the
purpose intended. The people, in many places,
gave a loose to the expressions of their warm
indignation, and of their honest preference of
war to dishonor The fever was long and suc
cessfully kept up, and in the meantime, war
measures as ardently crowded. Still, however,
as it was known that your colleagues were com
ing away, and yourself to stay, though disclaim
ing a separate power to conclude a treaty, it
was hoped by the lovers of peace, that a pro
ject of treaty wouid have been prepared, ad
referendum, on principles which would have
satisfied our citizens, and overawed any bias of
the government towards a different policy. But
the expedition of the Sophia, and, as was sup
posed, the suggestions of the person charged
with your dispatches, and his probable misrep
resentations of the real wishes of the American
people, prevented these hopes. They had then
only to look forward to your return for such
information, either through the Executive, pr
from yourself, as might present to our view the
other side of the medal. The despatches of
October 22d, 1797, had presented one face.
That information, to a certain degree, is now
received, and the public will see from your
correspondence with Talleyrand, that France,
as you testify, " was sincere and anxious to
obtain a reconciliation, not wishing us to break
the British treatv, but only to give her equiva
lent stipulations ; and in general was disposed
to a liberal treaty ". And they will judge
whether Mr. Pickering's report shows an in
flexible determination to believe no declarations
the French government can make, nor any opin
ion which you, judging on the spot and from
actual view, can give of their sincerity, and to
meet their designs of peace with operations of
war. — To ELBRIDGE GERRY, iv, 270. FORD ED.,
vii, 330. (Pa., Jan. 1799.)
9201. X. Y. Z. PLOT, French govern
ment and. — You know what a wicked use
has been made of the French negotiation ; and
particularly the X. Y. Z. dish cooked up by
Marshall, where the swindlers are made to ap
pear as the French government. Art and in
dustry combined have certainly wrought out of
this business a wonderful effect on the people.
Yet they have been astonished more than they
have understood it, and now that Gerry's cor
respondence comes out, clearing the French
government of that turpitude, and showing
them " sincere in their dispositions for peace,
not wishing us to break the British treaty, and
willing to arrange a liberal one with us ", the
people will be disposed to suspect they have
been duped. But these communications are
too voluminous for them, and beyond their
reach. A recapitulation is now wanting
* * * . Nobody in America can do it so
well as vourself * * * . If the under
standing of the people could be rallied to the
truth on this subject, by exposing the dupery
practiced on them, there are so many other
things about to bear on them favorably for the
resurrection of their republican spirit, that a
reduction of the administration to constitu
tional principles cannot fail to be the effect. —
To EDMUND PENDLETON. iv, 274. FORD ED.,
vii, 337- (Pa., I799-)
9202. X. Y. Z. PLOT, War and.— Young
E. Gerry informed me some time ago that he
had engaeed a nerson to write the life of his
father, and asked for any materials I could fur
nish. I sent him some letters, but in searching
for them I found two, too precious to be
trusted by mail, of the date of 1801, January
15 and 20, in answer to one I had written him
January 26, 1799, two years before. It fur
nishes authentic proof that in the X. Y. Z. mis
sion to France, it was the wish of Pickering,
Marshall, Pinckney and the Federalists of that
stamp, to avoid a treaty with France and to
bring on war, a fact we charged on them at
the time and this lette proves, and that their
X. Y. Z. report was cooked up to dispose the
people to war. Gerry, tiieir colleague, was
not of their sentiment, and this is his statement
of that transaction. During the two years be
tween my letter and his answer, he was waver
ing between Mr. Adams and myself, between
his attachment to Mr. Adams personally on the
one hand, and to republicanism on the other ;
for he was republican, but timid and indecisive.
The event of the election of 1800-1, put an
end to his hesitations. — To JAMES MADISON.
FORD ED., x, 245. (M., Jan. 1823.)
9203. YAZOO LANDS, Speculation in.
— Arthur Campbell * * * says the Yazoo
bargain is likely to drop with the consent of the
purchasers. He explains it thus : They ex
pected to pay for the lands in public paper at
par, which they had bought at half a crown a
pound. Since the rise in the value of the pub
lic paper, they have gained as much on that
as they would have done by investing it in the
Yazoo lands ; perhaps more, as it puts a large
sum of specie at their command, which they
can turn to better account. They are, there
fore, likely to acquiesce under the determina
tion of the government of Georgia to consider
the contract as forfeited by non-payment. — To
PRESIDENT WASHINGTON, iii, 251. FORD ED.,
v, 324. (Pa., 1791-)
9204. YAZOO LANDS, Title to.— I * * *
return the petition of Mr. Moultrie on behalf
of the South Carolina Yazoo Company. With
out noticing that some of the highest functions
of sovereignty are assumed in the very papers
which he annexes as his justification, I am of
opinion that the government should formally
maintain this ground ; that the Indians have a
right to the occupation of their lands, inde
pendent of the States within whose chartered
lines they happen to be ; that until they cede
them by treaty or other transaction equivalent
to a treaty, no act of a State can give a right
to such lands ; that neither under the present
Constitution, nor the ancient confederation,
had any State or person a right to treat with
the Indians, without the consent of the Gen
eral Government ; that that consent has never
been given to any treaty for the cession of the
lands in question ; that the government is de
termined to exert all its energy for the patron
age and protection of the rights of the Indians,
and the preservation of peace between the
United States and them ; and that if any set
tlements are made on lands not ceded by them,
without the previous consent of the United
States, the government will think itself bound,
not only to declare to the Indians that such
settlements are without the authority or pro
tection of the United States, but to remove
them also by the public force. — To HENRY
KNOX. iii, 280. FORD ED., v, 370. (Pa.,
1791.)
9205. YELLOW FEVER, Cities and.—
[As to] the town which you have done me the
honor to name after me, and to lay out accord
ing to an idea I had formerly expressed to you,
I am thoroughly persuaded that it will be found
953
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Yellow Fever
Young Men
handsome and pleasant, and I do believe it
to be the best means of preserving the cities
of America from the scourge of the yellow
fever, which being peculiar to our country, must
be derived from some peculiarity in it. That
peculiarity I take to be our cloudless skies. In
Europe, where the sun does not shine more
than half the number of days in the year which
it does in America, they can build their town
in a solid block with impunity ; but here a
constant sun produces too great an accumu
lation of heat to admit that. Ventilation is in
dispensably necessary. Experience has taught
us that in the open air of the country the
yellow fever is not only not generated, but
ceases to be infectious. — To GOVERNOR HARRI
SON, iv, 471. (W., 1803.)
9206. - — . I have supposed it prac
ticable to prevent its generation by building
pur cities on a more open plan. Take, for
instance, the checker board for a plan. Let
the black squares only be building squares, and
the white ones be left open, in turf and trees.
Every square of houses will be surrounded by
four open squares, and every house will front
an open square. The atmosphere of such a
town would be like that of the country, insus
ceptible of the miasmata which produce yellow
fever. I have proposed that the enlargements
of the city of New Orleans * * * shall be
on this plan. — To C. F. VOLNEY. iv, 572.
(W., 1805.)
9207. — — . I really wish effect to
the hints in my letter to you for so laying off
the additions to the city of New Orleans, as to
shield it from yellow fever. My confidence
in the idea is founded in the acknowledged ex
perience that we have never seen the genuine
yellow fever extend itself into the country, or
even to the outskirts or open parts of a close-
built city. In the plan I propose, every square
would be surrounded, on every side, by open
and pure air, in fact, be a separate town with
fields or open suburbs around it. — To GOVERNOR
CLAIBORNE. v, 520. (M., 1810.)
9208. YELLOW FEVER, Infectious.-—
On the question whether the yellow fever is
infectious or endemic, the medical faculty is
divided into two parties, and it certainly is
not the office of the public functionary to de
nounce either party as Dr. Rush proposes. Yet,
so far as they are called on to act, they must
form for themselves an opinion to act on. In
the early history of the disease, I did suppose
it to be infectious. Not reading any of the
party papers on either side, I continued in this
supposition until the fever at Alexandria
brought facts under my own eye, as it were,
proving it could not be communicated but in a
local atmosphere, pretty exactly circumscribed.
With the composition of this atmosphere we
are unacquainted. We know only that it is
generated near the water side, in close built
cities, under warm climates. According to the
rules of philosophizing when one sufficient
cause for an effect is known, it is not within
the economy of nature to employ two. If local
atmosphere suffices to produce the fever, mi
asmata from a human subject are not necessary
and probably do not enter into the cause. !Still4
it is not within my province to decide the ques
tion ; but as it may be within yours to require
the performance of quarantine or not, I execute
a private duty in submitting Dr. Rush's letter
to your consideration. — To GOVERNOR PAGE.
FORD ED., viii, 316. (M., 1804.)
9209. YELLOW FEVER, Origin.— Facts
appear to have established that it is originated
here by a local atmosphere, which is never gen
erated but in the lower, closer, and dirtier parts
of our large cities, and in the neighborhood of
the water; and that, to catch the disease, you
must enter the local atmosphere. Persons hav
ing taken the disease in the infected quarter,
and going into the country, are nursed and
buried by their friends, without an example
of communicating it. * * * It is certainly
an epidemic, not a contagious disease. — To
C. F. VOLNEY. iv, 570. (W., 1805.)
9210. YELLOW FEVER, Quarantine
and. — In the course of the several visitations
by this disease [yellow fever], it has appeared
that it is strictly local, incident to the cities and
on the tide waters only ; incommunicable in the
country, either by persons under the disease
or by goods carried from diseased places ; that
its access is with the autumn, and that it dis
appears with the early frost"1. These restric
tions, within narrow limits of time and space,
give security even to our maritime cities, during
three-fourths of the year, and to the country
always. Although from these facts it appears
unnecessary, yet to satisfy the fears of foreign
nations, and cautions on their part not to be
complained of in a danger whose limits are yet
unknown to them, I have strictly enjoined on
the officers at the head of the customs to certify
with exact truth for every vessel sailing for a
foreign port, the state of health respecting this
fever which prevailed at the place from which
she sailed. Under every motive from character
and duty to certify the truth, I have no doubt
they have faithfully executed this injunction.
Much real injury has, however, been sustained
from a propensity to identify with this endemic,
and to call by the same name, fevers of very
different kinds, which have always been known
at all times and in almost all countries, and
never have been placed among those deemed
contagious. As we advance in our knowledge
of this disease, as facts develop the source from
which individuals receive it, the State authori
ties charged with the care of the public health,
and Congress with that of the general com
merce, will become able to regulate with effect
their respective functions in these departments.
The burden of quarantines is at home as well
as abroad ; their efficacy merits examination.
Although the health laws of the States should
be found to need no present revisal by Con
gress, yet commerce claims that their attention
be ever awake to them. — FIFTH ANNUAL MES
SAGE, viii, 46. FORD) ED., viii, 387. (Dec.
1805.)
- YEOMANRY, Beggared.— See EM
BARGO, 2589.
9211. YORKTOWN, Gratitude to
France. — If in the minds of any, the motives
of gratitude to our good allies were not suf
ficiently apparent, the part they have borne in
this action [Yorktown] must amply evince
them. — To GENERAL WASHINGTON, i, 314. FORD
ED., iii, 51. (M., 1781.)
9212. YOUNG MEN, Education.— I am
not a friend to placing young men in populous
cities [for their education] because they ac
quire there habits and partialities which do
not contribute to the happiness of their after
life. — To DR. WISTAR. v, 104. FORD ED., ix,
79. (W., 1807.)
9213. . A part of my occupation,
and by no means the least pleasing, is the
direction of the studies of such young men as
ask it They place themselves in the neigh
boring village and have the use of my library
Young Men
Zeal
THE JEFFERSON1AN CYCLOPEDIA
954
and counsel, and make a part of my society.
In advising the course of their reading, I en
deavor to keep their attention fixed on the
main objects of all science, the freedom and
happiness of man. So that coming to bear a
share in the councils and government of their
country, they will keep ever in view the. sole
objects of all legitimate government. — To
GENERAL KOSCIUSKO. v, 509. (M., 1810.)
9214. YOUNG MEN, Enthusiasm of.—
Bonaparte will conquer the world if they
[the European powers] do not learn his secret
of composing armies of young men only,
whose enthusiasm and health enable them to
surmount all obstacles.— To MR. BIDWELL. v,
16. (W., 1806.)
9215. YOUNG MEN, Future rulers.—
They [the students of the University of Vir
ginia] are exactly the persons who are to
succeed to the government of our country,
and to rule its future enmities, its friendships
and fortunes.— To J. EVELYN DENISON. vii,
415. (M., 1825.)
9216. YOUNG MEN, Patronizing.— I
have written to you in the style to which I
have been always accustomed with you, and
which perhaps it is time I should lay aside.
But while old men are sensible enough of
their own advance in years, they do not suf
ficiently recollect.it in those whom they have
seen young.— To WILLIAM SHORT, iii, 503.
FORD ED., vi, 156. (Pa., 1793.)
9217. YOUNG MEN, Public life and.—
Wythe's school is numerous. They hold
weekly courts and assemblies in the Capitol.
The professors join in it, and the young men
dispute with elegance, method and learning.
This single school, by throwing from time to
time new hands well principled, and well-in
formed into the Legislature, will be of infinite
value.— To JAMES MADISON. FORD ED., ii, 322.
(R, 1780.)
9218. YOUNG MEN, Reform and.— The
[French] officers, who had been to America,
were mostly young men, less shackled by
habit and prejudice, and more ready to as
sent to the suggestions of common sense and
feeling of common rights, than others. They
come back [to France] with new ideas and
impressions. — AUTOBIOGRAPHY, i, 69. FORD
ED., i, 96. (1821.)
9219. YOUNG MEN, Self-government
and. — Three sons, and hopeful ones too, are a
rich treasure. I rejoice when I hear of young
men of virtue and talents, worthy to receive,
and likely to preserve the splendid inheritance
of self-government, which we have acquired
and shaped for them.— To JUDGE TYLER, iv,
549. (W., 1804.)
9220. . The sentiments you ex
press * * * are particularly solacing to
those who, having labored faithfully in estab
lishing the right of self-government, see in
the rising generation, into whose hands it is
passing, that purity of principle, and energy
of character, which will protect and preserve
it through their day, and deliver it over to
their sons as they receive it from their fathers.
— R. TO A. PlTTSBURG YOUNG REPUBLICANS.
viii, 141. (1808.)
9221. YOUNG MEN, Slavery and.— I
look to the rising generation, and not to the
one now in power, for these great reforma
tions. [Respecting slavery.]— To GENERAL
CHASTELLUX. i, 340. FORD ED., iii, 71. (P.,
1785.)
9222. . The college of William
and Mary * * * is the place where are
collected together all the young men of Vir-
finia under preparation for public life. * * *
am satisfied if you could resolve to address
an exhortation to those young men, with all
that eloquence of which you are master, that
its influence on the future decision of this
important question [slavery] would be great,
perhaps decisive. — To DR. PRICE, i, 377. FORD
ED., iv, 83. (P., 1785-)
9223. . [In Virginia] * * *
the sacred side [in the conflict with slavery]
is gaining daily recruits from the influx into
office of young men grown and growing up.
These have sucked in the principles of liberty,
as it were, with their mothers' milk ; and it is
to them I look with anxiety to turn the fate
of this question.— To DR. PRICE, i, 377. FORD
ED., iv, 83. (P., 1785.)
9224. YOUNG MEN, Surrender to.— I
leave the world and its affairs to the young
and energetic, and resign myself to their care,
of whom I have endeavored to take care when
young. — To CHARLES PINCKNEY. vii, 180.
FORD ED., x, 162. (M., 1820.)
9225. YOUNG WOMEN, Power of.— All
the handsome young women [of Paris] are
for the Tiers Etat, and this is an army more
powerful in France than the 200,000 men of
the King. — To DAVID HUMPHREYS, iii, n.
FORD ED., v, 87. (P., 1789.)
9226. ZEAL, Fervent. — Fervent zeal is
all which I can be sure of carrying into their
[Congress] service.— To JOHN JAY. i, 339.
(P., 1785.)
9227. ZEAL, Resources of. — Utterly in
deed, should I despair, did not the presence
of many whom I here see remind me, that
in the high authorities provided by pur Con
stitution, I shall find resources of wisdom, of
virtue, and of zeal, on which to rely under all
difficulties.— FIRST INAUGURAL ADDRESS, viii,
i. FORD ED., viii, 2. (1801.)
9228. ZEAL, Ridicule and.— I fear that
my zeal will make me expose myself to ridi
cule * * * but this risk becomes a duty
by the bare possibility of doing good.— To
DR. RAMSAY, ii, 216. (P., 1787.)
APPENDIX
CONTENTS
PAGE
Reply to Lord North's Conciliatory Proposition 959
Committees of Correspondence 961
A Summary View of the Rights of British America 963
Declaration of Independence 969
Preamble to the Virginia Constitution 972
Debates on the Articles of Confederation 973
A Bill for Establishing Religious Freedom 976
Kentucky Resolutions 977
First Inaugural Address 980
Second Inaugural Address 982
Address to the General Assembly of Virginia 984
Address to the Inhabitants of Albemarle Co., in Virginia 985
Declaration and Protest of the Commonwealth of Virginia 986
Estrangement and Reconciliation of Jefferson and Adams 988
APPENDIX
REPLY TO LORD NORTH'S CONCILIATORY PROPOSITION
The Congress proceeding to take into their consideration a resolution of the House of
Commons of Great Britain, referred to them by the several Assemblies of New Jersey, Penn
sylvania, and Virginia, which resolution is in these words : " That it is the opinion, &c./' are of
opinion :
That the Colonies of America possess the exclusive privilege of giving and granting their
own money ; that this involves the right of deliberating whether they will make any gift, for
what purposes it shall be made, and what shall be the amount of the gift ; and that it is a high
breach of this privilege for any body of men, extraneous to their constitutions, to prescribe the
purposes for which money shall be levied on them ; to take to themselves the authority of
judging of their conditions, circumstances, and situation, of determining the amount of the
contribution to be levied :
That, as they possess a right of appropriating their gifts, so are they entitled at all times
to inquire into their application, to see that they be not wasted among the venal and corrupt
for the purpose of undermining the civil rights of the givers, nor yet be diverted to the support
of standing armies, inconsistent with their freedom, and subversive of their quiet. To propose,
therefore, as this resolution does, that the moneys, given by the Colonies, shall be subject to
the disposal of Parliament alone, is to propose, that they shall relinquish this right of inquiry,
and put it in the power of others, to render their gifts ruinous, in proportion as they are
liberal :
That this privilege of giving, or withholding our moneys, is an important barrier against
the undue exertion of prerogative, which, if left altogether without control, may be exercised
to our great oppression ; and all history shows how efficacious its intercession for redress of
grievances, and reestablishment of rights, and how improvident would be the surrender of so
powerful a mediator.
We are of opinion :
That the proposition contained in this resolution is unreasonable and insidious ; unreason
able, because if we declare we accede to it, we declare without reservation we will purchase
the favor of Parliament, not knowing, at the same time, at what price they will please to
estimate their favor. It is insidious, because individual colonies, having bid and bidden again,
till they find the avidity of the seller unattainable by all their powers, are then to return into
opposition, divided from their sister Colonies, whom the minister will have previously detached
by a grant of easier terms, or by an artful procrastination of a definitive answer :
That the suspension of the exercise of their pretended power of taxation being expressly
made commensurate with the continuing of our gifts, these must be perpetual to make that so ;
whereas no experience has shown that a gift of perpetual revenue secures a perpetual return of
duty, or of kind dispositions. On the contrary, the Parliament itself, wisely attentive to this
observation, are in the established practice of granting their own money from year to year only.
Though desirous and determined to consider, in the most dispassionate view every advance
towards reconciliation, made by the British Parliament, let our brethren of Britain reflect what
could have been the sacrifice to men of free spirits, had even fair terms been proffered by free
men when attended as these were, with circumstances of insu!t and defiance. A proposition to
give our money, when accompanied with large fleets and armies, seems addressed to our fears,
rather than to our freedom. With what patience, would they have received articles of treaty,
from any power on earth, when borne on the point of the bayonet, by military plenipotentiaries?
We think the attempt unnecessary and unwarrantable to raise upon us, by force or by
threats, our proportional contributions to the common defence, when all know, and themselves
acknowledge, we have fully contributed, whenever called to contribute, in the character of free
men.
We are of opinion it is not just that the Colonies should be required to oblige themselves to
other contributions, while Great Britain possesses a monopoly of their trade. This does of itself
lay them under heavy contribution. To demand, therefore, an additional contribution in the
form of a tax, is to demand the double of their equal proportion. If we are to contribute
equally with the other parts of the empire, let us equally with them enjoy free commerce with
the whole world. But while the restrictions on our trade shut to us the resources of wealth,
is it just we should bear all other burthens, equally with those to whom every resource is
open?
We conceive, that the British Parliament has no right to intermeddle with our provisions
for the support of civil government, or administration of justice : that the provisions we have
made are such as please ourselves. They answer the substantial purposes of government,
and of justice ; and other purposes than these should not be answered. We do not mean that
959
960 APPENDIX
our people shall be burthened with oppressive taxes to provide sinecures for the idle or wicked,
under color of providing for a civil list. While Parliament pursue their plan of civil gov
ernment within their own jurisdiction, we hope, also, to pursue ours without molestation.
We are of opinion the proposition is altogether unsatisfactory because it imports only
a suspension, not a renunciation of the right to tax us ; because, too, it does not propose to
repeal the several acts of Parliament, passed for the purposes of restraining the trade, and
altering the form of government of one of the Eastern Colonies ; extending the boundaries,
and changing the government and religion of Quebec; enlarging the jurisdiction of the Courts
of Admiralty and Vice-admiralty ; taking from us the rights of trial by jury of the vicinage in
cases affecting both life and prosperity ; transporting us into other countries to be tried for
criminal offences ; exempting, by mock trial, the murderers of Colonists from punishment ; and
for quartering soldiers upon us, in times of profound peace. Nor do they renounce the power
of suspending our own legislatures, and of legislating for us themselves in all cases whatsoever.
On the contrary, to show they mean no discontinuance of injury, they pass acts, at the very
time of holding out this proposition, for restraining the commerce and fisheries of the Province
of New England ; and for interdicting the trade of the other Colonies, with all foreign nations.
This proves unequivocally, they mean not to relinquish the exercise of indiscriminate legisla
tion over us.
Upon the whole, this proposition seems to have been held up to the whole world to de
ceive it into a belief that there is no matter in dispute between us but the single circumstance
of the mode of levying taxes, which mode they are so good as to give up to us, of course that
the Colonies are unreasonable if they are not, thereby, perfectly satisfied; whereas, in truth,
our adversaries not only still claim a right of demanding ad libitum, and of taxing us them
selves to the full amount of their demands if we do not fulfil their pleasure, which leaves us
without anything we can call property, but, what is of more importance, and what they keep
in this proposal out of sight, as if no such point was in contest, they claim a right of altering
our charters, and established laws which leave us without the least security for our lives or
liberties.
The proposition seems, also, calculated more particularly to lull into fatal security our
well-affected fellow subjects on that other side of the water, till time should be given for the
operation of those arms which a British minister pronounced would instantaneously reduce
the " cowardly " sons of America to unreserved submission. But, when the world reflects
how inadequate to justice are the vaunted terms, when it attends to the rapid and bold suc
cession of injuries, which, during a course of eleven years, have been aimed at these Colonies,
when it reviews the pacific and respectful expostulations, which, during that whole time, have
been made the s61e arms we oppose to them, when it observes, that our complaints were either
not heard at all, or were answered with new and accumulated injuries; when it recollects,
that the minister himself declared on an early occasion, " that he would never treat with
America, till he had brought her to his feet " ; and that an avowed partisan of ministry has,
more lately, denounced against America the dreadful sentence " Delenda est Carthago " ; and
that this was done in the presence of a British senate, and being unreproved by them, must
be taken to be their own sentiments, when it considers the great armaments with which they
have invaded us and the circumstances of cruelty, with which these have commenced and prose
cuted hostilities ; when these things, we say, are laid together, and attentively considered, can
the world be deceived into an opinion that we are unreasonable, or can it hesitate to believe
with us, that nothing but our own exertions, may defeat the ministerial sentence of death, or
submission?* — FORD ED., i, 476. (July 25, I775-)
* This is Jefferson's draft. Congress made several verbal alterations.— EDITOR.
APPENDIX 961
COMMITTEES OP CORRESPONDENCE
A court of inquiry held in Rhode Island in 1762, with a power to send persons to Eng
land to be tried for offiences committed here,* was considered at our session [Virginia House of
Burgesses] of the spring of 1773, as demanding attention. Not thinking our old and leading
members up to the point of forwardness and zeal which the times required, Mr. [Patrick]
Henry, Richard Henry Lee, Francis L. Lee, Mr. [Dabney] Carr and myself agreed to meet
in the evening, in a private room of the Raleigh [tavern"], to consult on the state of things.
* * * We were all sensible that the most urgent of all measures was that of coming to an
understanding with all the other Colonies to consider the British claims as a common cause
to all, and to produce a unity of action ; and, for this purpose, that a Committee of Corre
spondence in each Colony would be the best instrument for intercommunication ; and that their
first measure \\cnild probably be, to propose a meeting of deputies from every Colony, at some
central place, who should be charged with the direction of the measures which should be taken
by all. * * * The consulting members proposed to me to move * * [the resolutions
agreed upon], but I urged that it should be done by Mr. [Dabney] Carr, my friend and brother-
in-law, then a new member, to whom I wished an opportunity should be given of making known
to the house his great worth and talents. It was so agreed ; he moved them, they were agreed
to nem. con., and a Committee of Correspondence appointed, of whom Peyton Randolph, the
Speaker, was chairman. The Governor (then Lord Dunmore) dissolved us, but the Commit
tee met the next day, prepared a circular letter to the Speakers of the other Colonies, enclosing
to each a copy of the resolutions, and left it in charge with their chairman to forward them
by expresses. — AUTOBIOGRAPHY, i, 5. FORD ED., 7. (1821.)
The next event which excited our sympathies for Massachusetts, was the Boston port bill,
by which that port was to be shut up on the ist of June, 1774. This arrived while we [Virginia
House of Burgesses] were in session in the spring of that year. The lead in the House, on
these subjects, being no longer left to the old members, Mr. Henry, R. H. Lee, Francis L.
Lee, three or four other members, whom I do not recollect, and myself, agreeing that we must
boldly take an unequivocal stand in the line with Massachusetts, determined to meet and consult
on the proper measures in the council chamber, for the benefit of the library in that room.
We were under conviction of the necessity of arousing our people from the lethargy into
which they had fallen, as to passing events ; and thought that the appointment of a day of
general fasting and prayer would be most likely to call up and alarm their attention. No ex
ample of such a solemnity had existed since the days of our distresses in the war of '55, since
which a new generation had grown up. With the help, therefore, of Rushworth, whom we
rummaged over for the revolutionary precedents and forms of the Puritans of that day, pre
served by him, we cooked up a resolution, somewhat modernizing their phrases, for appointing
the ist day of June, on which the port bill was to commence, for a day of fasting, humiliation,
and prayer, to implore Heaven to avert from us the evils of civil war, to inspire us with firmness
in support of our rights, and to turn the hearts of the King and Parliament to moderation and
justice. To give greater emphasis to our proposition, we agreed to wait the next morning on
Mr. [Robert Carter] Nicholas, whose grave and religious character was more in unison with
the tone of our resolution, and to solicit him to move it. We accordingly went to him in the
morning. He moved it the same day; the ist of June was proposed; and it passed without
opposition. The Governor dissolved us as usual. * * * We returned home, and in our
several counties invited the clergy to meet assemblies of the people on the ist of June.t to
perform the ceremonies of the day, and to address to them discourses suited to the occasion.
The people met generally, with anxiety and alarm in their countenances, and the effect of the
day, through the whole colony, was like a shock of electricity, arousing every man, and placing
him erect and solidly on his centre. — AUTOBIOGRAPHY, i, 6. FORD ED., i, 9. (1821.)
The Governor dissolved us as usual. We retired to the Apollo, agreed to an association,
and instructed the Committee of Correspondence to propose to the corresponding committees of
the other Colonies, to appoint deputies to meet in Congress at such place, annually, as should
be convenient, to direct, from time to time, the measures required by the general interest : and
we declared that an attack on any one Colony, should be considered as an attack on the whole.
This was in May [27, 1774]. We further recommended to the several counties to elect deputies
to meet at Williamsburg, the ist of August, ensuing, to consider the state of the Colony, and
particularly to appoint delegates to a general Congress, should that measure be acceded to by
the committees of correspondence generally. It was acceded to ; Philadelphia was appointed for
the place, and the 5th of September for the time of meeting. — AUTOBIOGRAPHY, i, 7. FORD ED.,
i, ii. (1821.)
Respecting the question, whether Com'mittees of Correspondence originated in Virginia or
Massachusetts? You suppose me to have claimed it for Virginia; but certainly I have
never made such a claim. The idea, I suppose, has been taken up from what is said in
WIRT'S Life of Patrick Henry, page 87, and from an inexact attention to its precise terms. It
is there said, " this House (of Burgesses, of Virginia) had the merit of originating that power
ful engine of resistance, Corresponding Committees between the Legislatures and the different
Colonies ". That the fact, as here expressed is true, your letter bears witness, when it says,
that the resolutions of Virginia, for this purpose, were transmitted to the speakers of the differ
ent assemblies, and by that of Massachusetts, was laid, at the next session, before that body,
who appointed a committee for the specified object: adding, "thus, in Massachusetts, there
were two Committees of Correspondence, one chosen by the people, the other appointed by the
House of Assembly ; in the former, Massachusetts preceded Virginia ; in the latter, Virginia
preceded Massachusetts ". To the origination of committees for the interior correspondence
between the counties and towns of a State, I know of no claim on the part of Virginia ; and
* This was the famous u Gaspee " inquiry, the date being a slip for 1772.— NOTE IN FORD EDITION.
t The invitation read June 230!.
% The name of a public room in the Raleigh tavern.
962
APPENDIX
certainly none was ever made by myself. I perceive, however, one error, into which memory
had led me. Our Committee for national correspondence, was appointed in March, '73, and I
well remember, that going to Williamsburg, in the month of June following, Peyton Randolph,
our chairman, told me that messengers bearing dispatches between the two States, had crossed
each other by the way, that of Virginia carrying our propositions for a committee of national
correspondence, and that of Massachusetts, bringing, as my memory suggested, a similar propo
sition. But here I must have misremembered ; and the resolutions brought us from Massa
chusetts, were probably those you mention of the town-meeting of Boston, on the motion of
Mr. Samuel Adams, appointing a committee " to state the rights of the colonists, and of that
province in particular, and the infringements of them ; to communicate them to the several
towns, as the sense of the town of Boston, and to request, of each town, a free communication
of its sentiments on the subject." I suppose, therefore, that these resolutions were not received,
as you think, while the House of Burgesses was in session in March, 1773, but a few days after
we rose, and were probably what was sent by the messenger, who crossed ours by the way.
They may, however, have been still different. I must, therefore, have been mistaken in sup
posing, and stating to Mr. Wirt, that the proposition of a committee for national correspondence
was nearly simultaneous in Virginia and Massachusetts. — To SAMUEL A. WELLS, i, 115. FORD
ED., x, 127. (M., 1819.)
APPENDIX 963
A SUMMARY VIEW OF THE BIGHTS OF BRITISH AMERICA*
Resolved, That it be an instruction to the said deputies, when assembled in General Con
gress, with the deputies from the other States of British America, to propose to the said Con
gress, that an humble and dutiful address be presented to his Majesty, begging leave to lay
before him, as Chief Magistrate of the British Empire, the united complaints of his Majesty's
subjects in America: complaints which are excited by many unwarrantable encroachments and
usurpations, attempted to be made by the legislature of one part of the empire, upon the rights
which God, and the laws have given equally and independently to all. To represent to his
Majesty that these, his States, have often individually made humble application to his imperial
throne, to obtain, through its intervention, some redress of their injured rights ; to none of which
was ever even an answer condescended. Humbly to hope that this, their joint address, penned in
the language of truth, and divested of those expressions of servility, which would persuade his
Majesty that we are asking favors, and not rights, shall obtain from his Majesty a more respect
ful acceptance: and this his Majesty will think we have reason to expect, when he reflects that
he is no more than the chief officer of the people, appointed by the laws, and circum
scribed with definite powers, to assist in working the great machine of government, erected for
their use, and, consequently, subject to their superintendence ; and, in order that these, our
rights, as well as the invasions of them, may be laid more fully before his Majesty, to take a
view of them, from the origin and first settlement of these countries.
To remind him that our ancestors, before their emigration to America, were the free inhabit
ants of the British dominions in Europe, and possessed a right, which nature has given to all
men, of departing from the country in which chance, not choice, has placed them of going in quest
of new habitations, and of there establishing new societies, under such laws and regulations as,
to them, shall seem most likely to promote public happiness. That their Saxon ancestors had,
under this universal law, in like manner, left their native wilds and woods in the North of
Europe, had possessed themselves of the Island of Britain, then less charged with inhabitants,
and had established there that system of laws which has so long been the glory and protection of
that country. Nor was ever any claim of superiority or dependence asserted over them, by that
mother country from which they had migrated ; and were such a claim made, it is believed his
Majesty's subjects in Great Britain have too firm a feeling of the rights derived to them from
their ancestors, to bow down the sovereignty of their State before such visionary pretensions.
And it is thought that no circumstance has occurred to distinguish, materially, the British
from the Saxon emigration. America was conquered, and her settlements made and firmly
established, at the expense of individuals, and not of the British public. Their own blood was
spilt in acquiring lands for their settlement, their own fortunes expended in making that
settlement effectual. For themselves they fought, for themselves they conquered, and for them
selves alone they have right to hold. No shilling was ever issued from the public treasures of
his Majesty, or his ancestors, for their assistance, till of very late times, after the Colonies had
become established on a firm and permanent footing. That then, indeed, having become valu
able to Great Britain for her commercial purposes, his Parliament was pleased to lend them
assistance against an enemy who would fain have drawn to herself the benefits of their commerce,
to the great aggrandizement of herself, and danger of Great Britain. Such assistance, and in
such circumstances, they had often before given to Portugal and other allied States, with whom
they carry on a commercial intercourse. Yet these States never supposed, that by calling in
her aid, they thereby submitted themselves to her sovereignty. Had such terms been proposed,
they would have rejected them with disdain, and trusted for better, to the moderation of their
enemies, or to a vigorous exertion of their own force. We do not, however, mean to underrate
those aids, which, to us, were doubtless valuable, on whatever principles granted ; but we would
show that they cannot give a title to that authority which the British Parliament would arrogate
over us ; and that may amply be repaid by our giving to the inhabitants of Great Britain such
exclusive privileges in trade as may be advantageous to them, and, at the same time, not too
restrictive to ourselves. That settlement having been thus effected in the wilds of America, the
emigrants thought proper to adopt that system of laws, under which they had hitherto lived
in the mother country, and to continue their union with her, by submitting themselves to the
same common sovereign, who was thereby made the central link, connecting the several parts of
the empire thus newly multiplied.
But that not long were they permitted, however far they thought themselves removed from
the hand of oppression, to hold undisturbed the rights thus acquired at the hazard of their lives
and loss of their fortunes. A family of princes was then on the British throne, whose treason
able crimes against their people, brought on them, afterwards, the exertion of those sacred and
sovereign rights of punishment, reserved in the hands of the people for cases of extreme
necessity, and judged by the constitution unsafe to be delegated to any other judicature. While
every day brought forth some new and unjustifiable exertion of power over their subjects on
that side of the water, it was not to be expected that those here, much less able at that time to
oppose the designs of despotism, should be exempted from injury. Accordingly, this country
which had been acquired by the lives, the labors, and fortunes of individual adventurers, was by
these Princes, several times, parted out and distributed among the favoittes and followers of
their fortunes ; and, by an assumed right of the Crown alone, were erected into distinct and
independent governments ; a measure which, it is believed, his Majesty's prudence and under
standing would prevent him from imitating at this day ; as no exercise of such power, of dividing
*The SUMMARY VIEW was not written for publication. It was a draft I had prepared for a petition to
the King, which I meant to propose in mv place as a member of the convention of 1774. Being stopped on
the road by sickness, I sent it on to the Speaker, who laid it on the table for the perusal of the members
It was thought too strong for the times, and to become the act of the convention, but was printed by sub
scription of the members, with a short preface written by one of them. If it had any merit, it was that of
first taking our true ground, and that which was afterwards assumed and maintained.— To JOHN W CAMP
BELL. V, 465. FORD ED., ix, 258. (M., Aug. 1809.)
964
APPENDIX
and dismembering a country, has ever occurred in his Majesty's realm of England, though now
of very ancient standing; nor could it be justified or acquiesced under there, or in any part of
his Majesty's empire.
That the exercise of a free trade with all parts of the world, possessed by the American
colonists, as of natural right, and which no law of their own had taken away or abridged, was
next the object of unjust encroachment. Some of the colonies having thought proper to continue
the administration of their government in the name and under the authority of his Majesty,
King Charles the First, whom, notwithstanding his late deposition by the Commonwealth of
England, they continued in the sovereignty of their State, the Parliament; for the Commonwealth,
took the same in high offence, and assumed upon themselves the power of prohibiting their trade
with all other parts of the world except the Island of Great Britain. This arbitrary act, however,
they soon recalled, and by solemn treaty entered into on the i2th day of March, 1651, between the
said Commonwealth, by their Commissioners, and the colony of Virginia by their House of
Burgesses, it was expressly stipulated by the eighth article of the said treaty, that they should
have " free trade as the people of England do enjoy to all places and with all nations, according
to the laws of that Commonwealth " ? But that, upon the restoration of his Majesty, King
Charles the Second, their rights of free commerce fell once more a victim to arbitrary power;
and by several acts of his reign, as well as of some of his successors, the trade of the colonies
was laid under such restrictions, as show what hopes they might form from the justice of a
British Parliament, were its uncontrolled power admitted over these States.* History has
informed us, that bodies of men as well as individuals, are susceptible of the spirit of tyranny.
A view of these acts of Parliament for regulation, as it has been affectedly called, of the Amer
ican trade, if all other evidences were removed out of the case, would undeniably evince the truth
of this observation. Besides the duties they impose on our articles of export and import, they
prohibit our going to any markets Northward of Cape Finisterre, in the kingdom of Spain, for
the sale of commodities which Great Britain will not take from us, and for the purchase of others,
with which she cannot supply us ; and that, for no other than the arbitrary purpose of purchasing
for themselves, by a sacrifice of our rights and interests, certain privileges in their commerce
with an allied State, who, in confidence, that their exclusive trade with America will be continued,
while the principles and power of the British Parliament be the same, have indulged themselves
in every exorbitance which their avarice could dictate or our necessity extort ; have raised their
commodities called for in America, to the double and treble of what they sold for, before such
exclusive privileges were given them, and of what better commodities of the same kind would
cost us elsewhere ; and, at the same time, given us much less for what we carry thither, than
might be had at more convenient ports. That these acts prohibit us from carrying, in quest of
other purchasers, the surplus of our tobaccos, remaining after the consumption of Great Britain
is supplied ; so that we must leave them with the British merchant, for whatever he will please
to allow us, to be by him re-shipped to foreign markets, where he will reap the benefits of making
sale of them for full value.
That, to heighten still the idea of Parliamentary justice, and to show with what moderation
they are like to exercise power, where themselves are to feel no part of its weight, we take leave
to mention to his Majesty, certain other acts of the British Parliament, by which they would pro
hibit us from manufacturing, for our own use, the articles we raise on our own lands, with our
own labor. By an act passed in the fifth year of the reign of his late Majesty, King George the
Second, an American subject is forbidden to make a hat for himself, of the fur which he has
taken, perhaps, on his own soil ; an instance of despotism, to which no parallel can be produced in
the most arbitrary ages of British history. By one other act, passed in the twenty-third year of
the same reign, the iron which we make, we are forbidden to manufacture ; and, heavy as
that article is, and necessary in every branch of husbandry, besides commission and insurance,
we are to pay freight for it to Great Britain, and freight for it back again, for the purpose
of supporting, not men, but machines, in the island of Great Britain. In the same spirit of
equal and impartial legislation, is to be viewed the act of Parliament, passed in the fifth year
of the same reign, by which American lands are made subject to the demands of British cred
itors, while their own lands were still continued unanswerable for their debts ; from which,
one of these conclusions must necessarily follow, either that justice is not the same thing in
America as in Britain, or else, that the British Parliament pay less regard to it here than there.
But, that we do not point out to his Majesty the injustice of these acts, with intent to rest
on that principle the cause of their nullity ; but to show that experience confirms the propriety
of those political principles, which exempt us from the jurisdiction of the British Parliament.
The true ground on which we declare these acts void, is, that the British Parliament has no
right to exercise authorit3r over us.
That these exercises of usurped power have not been confined to instances alone, in which
themselves were interested ; but they have also intermeddled with the regulation of the internal
affairs of the Colonies. The act of the gth of Anne for establishing a post office in America,
seems to have had little connection with British convenience, except that of accommodating his
Majesty's ministers and favourites with the sale of a lucrative and easy office.
That thus have we hastened through the reigns which preceded his Majesty's, during which
the violations of our rights were less alarming, because repeated at more distant intervals,
than that rapid and bold succession of injuries, which is likely to distinguish the present from
all other periods of American story. Scarcely have our minds been able to emerge from the
astonishment into which one stroke of Parliamentary thunder has involved us, before another
more heavy and more alarming is fallen on us. Single acts of tyranny may be ascribed to the
accidental opinion of a day ; but a series of oppressions, begun at a distinguished period, and
pursued unalterably through every change of ministers, too plainly prove a deliberate, systemat
ical plan of reducing us to slavery.
* 12 C. 2 c. 18, 15 C. 2 c. ii, 25 C, 2 c. 7. 7. 8 W. M. c. 22. ii W, 34 Anne. 6 C. 2 c. 13.— NOTE BY JEF
FERSON.
APPENDIX 965
Act for grant- That the act passed in the fourth year of his Majesty's reign, entitled " An Act
One other act passed in the fifth year of his reign entitled " An Act
Stamp act. One other act passed in the sixth year of his reign, entitled "An Act
Act declaring And one other act, passed in the seventh year of his reign, entitled " An Act
right of Par- From that connected chain of Parliamentary usurpation, which has already
liament over been the subject of frequent application to his Majesty, and the Houses of
A(M.fnr°£rflSY Lords and Commons of Great Britain; and, no answers having yet been conde-
mg duties on scended to any °f these, we shall not trouble his Majesty with a repetition of the
paper, tea, &c. matters they contained.
Act suspend- But that one other act passed in the same seventh year of his reign, having
ing legislature been a peculiar attempt, must ever require peculiar mention. It is entitled
of New York. «An Act
One free and independent Legislature, hereby takes upon itself to suspend the powers of
another, free and independent as itself ; thus exhibiting a phenomenon unknown in nature, the
creator and creature of its own power. Not only the principles of common sense, but the com
mon feelings of human nature must be surrendered up, before his Majesty's subjects here,
can be persuaded to believe that they hold their political existence at the will of a British Par
liament. Shall these governments be dissolved, their property annihilated, and their people
reduced to a state of nature, at the imperious breath of a body of men whom they never saw,
in whom they never confided, and over whom they have no powers of punishment or removal,
let their crimes against the American public be ever so great? Can any one reason be assigned,
why one hundred and sixty thousand electors in the island of Great Britain, should give law
to four millions in the States of America, every individual of whom is equal to every individual
of them in virtue, in understanding, and in bodily strength ? Were this to be admitted, instead
of being a free people, as we have hitherto supposed, and mean to continue ourselves, we should
suddenly be found the slaves, not of one, but of one hundred and sixty tihousand tyrants;
distinguished, too, from all others, by this singular circumstance, that they are removed from
the reach of fear, the only restraining motive which may hold the hand of a tyrant.
That, by "An Act [14 G. 3.] to discontinue in such manner, and for such time as are
therein mentioned, the landing and discharging, lading or shipping of goods, wares and mer
chandise, at the town and within the harbor of Boston, in the province of Massachusetts Bay,
in North America ', which was passed at the last session of the British Parliament, a large and
populous town, whose trade was their sole subsistence, was deprived of that trade, and involved
in utter ruin. Let us for a while, suppose the question of right suspended, in order to examine
this act on principles of justice. An act of Parliament had been passed, imposing duties on
teas, to be paid in America, against which act the Americans had protested, as inauthoritative.
The East India Company, who, till that time, had never sent a pound of tea to America on
their own account, step forth on that occasion, the asserters of Parliamentary right, and send
hither many shiploads of that obnoxious commodity. The masters of their several vessels,
however, on their arrival in America, wisely attended to admonition, and returned with their
cargoes. In the province of New England alone, the remonstrances of the people were disre
garded, and a compliance, after being many days waited for, was flatly refused. Whether in
this, the master of the vessel was governed by his obstinacy, or his instructions, let those who
know, say. There are extraordinary situations which require extraordinary interposition.
An exasperated people, who feel that they possess power, are not easily restrained within
limits strictly regular. A number of them assembled in the town of Boston, threw the tea into
the ocean, and dispersed without doing any other act of violence. If in this they did wrong,
they were known, and were amenable to the laws of the land ; against which, it could not be
objected, that they had ever, in any instance, been obstructed or diverted from the regular
course, in favor of popular offenders. They should, therefore, not have been distrusted on this
occasion. But that ill-fated colony had formerly been bold in their enmities against the house
of Stuart, and were now devoted to ruin, by that unseen hand which governs the momentous
affairs of this great empire. On the partial representations of a few worthless ministerial de
pendants, whose constant office it had been to keep that government embroiled, and who, by
their treacheries, hope to obtain the dignity of British knighthood, without calling for a party
accused, without asking a proof, without attempting a distinction between the guilty and the
innocent, the whole of that ancient and wealthy town, is in a moment reduced from opulence
to beggary. Men who had spent their lives in extending the British commerce, who had in
vested, in that place, the wealth their honest endeavors had merited, found themselves and
their families, thrown at once on the world for subsistence by its charities. Not the hundredth
part of the inhabitants of that town, had been concerned in the act complained of ; many of
them were in Great Britain, and in other parts beyond sea ; yet all were involved in one
indiscriminate ruin, by a new executive power, unheard of till then, that of a British Parliament.
A property of the value of many millions of money, was sacrificed to revenge, not repay, the
loss of a few thousands. This is administering justice with a heavy hand indeed ! And when
is this tempest to be arrested in its course? Two wharves are to be opened again when his
Majesty shall think proper; the residue, which lined the extensive shores of the bay of Boston,
are forever interdicted the exercise of commerce. This little exception seems to have been
thrown in for no other purpose, than that of setting a precedent for investing his Majesty with
legislative powers. If the pulse of his people shall beat calmly under this experiment, another
and another will be tried, till the measure of despotism be filled up. It would be an insult on
common sense, to pretend that this exception was made, in order to restore its commerce to
that great town. The trade, which cannot be received at two wharves alone, must of necessity
be transferred to some other place ; to which it will soon be followed by that of the two wharves.
Considered in this light, it would be an insolent and cruel mockery at the annihilation of the
town of Boston.
By the act for the suppression of riots and tumults in the town of Boston [14 G. 3.], passed
also in the last session of Parliament, a murder committed there, is, if the Governor pleases,
to be tried in the court of King's Bench, in the island of Great Britain, by a jury of Middlesex.
The witnesses, too, on receipt of such a sum as the Governor shall think it reasonable for them
966 APPENDIX
to expend, are to enter into recognizance to appear at the trial. This is, in other words, taxing
them to the amount of their recognizance ; and that amount may be whatever a governor
pleases. For who, does his Majesty think, can be prevailed on to cross the Atlantic for the
sole purpose of bearing evidence to a fact? His expenses are to be borne, indeed, as they shall
be estimated by a governor; but who are to feed the wife and children whom he leaves behind,
and who have had no other subsistence but his daily labor? Those epidemical disorders, too,
so terrible in a foreign climate, is the cure of them to be estimated among the articles of
expense, and their danger to be warded off by the almighty power of a ParFiament ? And the
wretched criminal, if he happen to have offended on the American side, stripped of his privilege
of trial by peers of his vicinage, removed from the place where alone full evidence could be
obtained, without money, without counsel, without friends, without exculpatory proof, is tried
before judges predetermined to condemn. The cowards who would suffer a countryman to be
torn from the bowels of their society, in order to be thus offered a sacrifice to Parliamentary
tyranny, would merit that everlasting infamy now fixed on the authors of the act ! A clause,
for a similar purpose, had been introduced into an act passed in the twelfth year of his Majesty's
reign, entitled, " An Act for the better securing and preserving his Majesty's dockyards, maga
zines, ships, ammunition and stores " ; against which, as meriting the same censures, the several
Colonies have already protested.
That these are the acts of power, assumed by a body of men foreign to our constitutions,
and unacknowledged by our laws ; against which we do, on behalf of the inhabitants of British
America, enter this, our solemn and determined protest. And we do earnestly entreat his
Majesty, as yet the only mediatory power between the several States of the British empire, to
recommend to his Parliament of Great Britain, the total revocation of these acts, which, how
ever nugatory they may be, may yet prove the cause of further discontents and jealousies
among us.
That we next proceed to consider the conduct of his Majesty, as holding the executive
powers of the laws of these States, and mark out his deviations from the line of duty. By the
Constitution of Great Britain, as well as of the several American States, his Majesty possesses
the power of refusing to pass into a law, any bill which has already passed the other two
branches of the Legislature. His Majesty, however, and his ancestors, conscious of the im
propriety of opposing their single opinion to the united wisdom of two Houses of Parliament,
while their proceedings were unbiased by interested principles, for several ages past, have
modestly declined the exercise of this power, in that part of his empire called Great Britain.
But, by change of circumstances, other principles than those of justice simply, have obtained
an influence on their determinations. The addition of new States to the British empire has
produced an addition of new, and, sometimes, opposite interests. It is now, therefore, the
great office of his Majesty to resume the exercise of his negative power, and to prevent the
passage of laws by any one legislature of the empire, which might bear injuriously on the rights
and interests of another. Yet this will not excuse the wanton exercise of this power, which
we have seen his Majesty practice on the laws of the American Legislature. For the most
trifling reasons, and, sometimes for no conceivable reason at all, his Majesty has rejected laws
of the most salutary tendency. The abolition of domestic slavery is the great object of desire
in those Colonies, where it was, unhappily, introduced in their infant state. But previous to
the enfranchisement of the slaves we have, it is necessary to exclude all further importations
from Africa. Yet our repeated attempts to effect this, by prohibitions, and by imposing duties
which might amount to a prohibition, having been hitherto defeated by his Majesty's negative-
thus preferring the immediate advantages of a few British corsairs, to the lasting interests'
of the American States, and to the rights of human nature, deeply wounded by this infamous
practice. Nay, the single interposition of an interested individual against a law was scarcely
ever known to fail of success, though, in the opposite scale, were placed the interests of a whole
country. That this is so shameful an abuse of a power, trusted with his Majesty for other
purposes, as if, not reformed, would call for some legal restrictions.
While equal inattention to the necessities of his people here, has his Majesty permitted our
laws to he neglected, in England, for years, neither confirming them by his assent, nor annulling
them by his negative; so that, such of them as have no suspending clause, we hold on the
most precarious of all tenures, his Majesty's will; and such of them as suspend themselves till
his Majesty's assent be obtained, we have feared might be called into existence at some future
and distant period, when time and change of circumstances shall have rendered them destruc
tive to his people here. And, to render this grievance still more oppressive, his Majesty by
his instructions, has laid his Governors under such restrictions, that they can pass no law of
any moment, unless it have such suspending clause ; so that, however immediate mav be 'the
call for legislative interposition, the law cannot be executed, till it has twice crossed the Atlantic
by which time the evil may have spent its whole force.
But in what terms reconcilable to Majesty, and at the same time to truth shall we
speak of a late instruction to his Majesty's Governor of the Colony of Virginia' by which
he is forbidden to assent to any law for the division of a county, unless the new countv will
consent to have no representative in Assembly? That Colony has as yet affixed no boundary
to the westward. Their western counties, therefore, are of an indefinite extent. Some of them
are actually seated many hundred miles from their eastern limits. Is it possible then that
his Majesty can have bestowed a single thought on the situation of those people who in 'order
to obtain justice for injuries, however great or small, must, by the laws of that Colony attend
their county court at such a distance, with all their witnesses, monthly, till their litigation
be determined? Or does his Majesty seriously wish, and publish it to the world, that his sub
jects should give up the glorious right of representation, with all the benefits derived from
that, and submit themselves the absolute slaves of his sovereign will ? Or is it rather meant to
confine the legislative body to their present numbers, that they may be the cheaper bargain
whenever they shall become worth a purchase?
One of the articles of impeachment against Tresilian, and the other Judges of Westminster
Hall, in the reign of Richard the Second, for which they suffered death, as t?aitors t? Seir
country, was, that they had advised the King, that he might dissolve his Parliament at any time-
APPENDIX 967
and succeeding kings have adopted the opinion of these unjust judges. Since the establish
ment, however, of the British constitution, at the glorious Revolution, on its free and ancient
principles, neither his Majesty, nor his ancestors, have exercised such a power of dissolution
in the island of Great Britain;* and when his Majesty was petitioned by the united voice
of his people there, to dissolve the present Parliament, who had become obnoxious to them,
his ministers were heard to declare, in open Parliament, that his Majesty possessed no such
power by the constitution. But how different their language, and his practice, here ! To de
clare, as their duty required, the known rights of their country, to oppose the usurpation of
every foreign judicature, to disregard the imperious mandates of a minister or governor, have
been the avowed causes of dissolving Houses of Representatives in America. But if such
?owers be really vested in his Majesty, can he suppose they are there placed to awe the members
rom such purposes as these? When the representative body have lost the confidence of their
constituents, when they have notoriously made sale of their most valuable rights, when they
have assumed to themselves powers which the people never put into their hands, then, indeed,
their continuing in office becomes dangerous to the State, and calls for an exercise of the
power of dissolution. Such being the cause for which the representative body should, and
should not, be dissolved, will it not appear strange, to an unbiased observer, that that of Great
Britain was not dissolved, while those of the Colonies have repeatedly incurred that sentence?
But your Majesty, or your Governors, have carried this power beyond every limit known
or provided for by the laws. After dissolving one House of Representatives, they have refused
to call another, so that, for a great length of time, the Legislature provided by the laws, has
been out of existence. From the nature of things, every society must, at all times, possess
within itself the sovereign powers of legislation. The feelings of human nature revolt against
the supposition of a State so situated, as that it may not, in any emergency, provide against
dangers which, perhaps, threaten immediate ruin. While those bodies are in existence to
whom the people have delegated the powers of legislation, they alone possess, and may exercise,
those powers. But when they are dissolved, by the lopping off of one or more of their branches,
the power reverts to the people, who may use it to unlimited extent, either assembling together
in person, sending deputies, or in any other way they may think proper. We forbear to trace
consequences further ; the dangers are conspicuous with which this practice is replete.
That we shall, at this time also, take notice of an error in the nature of our land holdings,
which crept in at a very early period of our settlement. The introduction of the Feudal tenures
into the kingdom of England, though ancient, is well enough understood to set this matter
in a proper light. In the earlier ages of the Saxon settlement, feudal holdings were certainly
altogether unknown, and very few, if any, had been introduced at the time of the Norman
Conquest. Our Saxon ancestors held their lands, as they did their personal property, in abso
lute dominion, disencumbered with any superior, answering nearly to the nature of those pos
sessions which the feudalist termed allodial. William the Norman, first introduced that system
generally. The lands which had belonged to those who fell in the battle of Hastings, and in
the subsequent insurrections of his reign, formed a considerable proportion of the lands of the
whole kingdom. These he granted out, subject to feudal duties, as did he also those of a great
number of his new subjects, who, by persuasions or threats, were induced to surrender them
for that purpose. But still, much was left in the hands of his Saxon subjects, held of no superior,
and not subject to feudal conditions. These, therefore, by express laws, enacted to render uni
form the system of military defence, were made liable to the same military duties as if they had
been feuds ; and the Norman lawyers soon found means to saddle them, also, with the other
feudal burthens. But still they had not been surrendered to the king, they were not derived
from his grant, and therefore they were not holden of him. A general principle was introduced,
that " all lands in England were held either mediately or immediately of the Crown " ; but this
was borrowed from those holdings which were truly feudal, and only applied to others for the
purposes of illustration. Feudal holdings were, therefore, but exceptions out of the Saxon
laws of possession, under which all lands were held in absolute right. These, therefore, still
form the basis or groundwork of the Common law, to prevail wheresoever the exceptions have
not taken place. America was not conquered by William the Norman, nor its lands sur
rendered to him or any of his successors. Possessions there are, undoubtedly, of the allodial
nature. Our ancestors, however, who migrated hither, were laborers, not lawyers. The ficti
tious principle, that all lands belong originally to the king, they were early persuaded to
believe real, and accordingly took grants of their own lands from the Crown. And while the
Crown continued to grant for small sums and on reasonable rents, there was no inducement
to arrest the error, and lay it open to public view. But his Majesty has lately taken on him
to advance the terms of purchase and of holding, to the double of what they were; by which
means, the acquisition of lands being rendered difficult, the population of our country is likely
to be checked. It is time, therefore, for us to lay this matter before his Majesty, and to de
clare, that he has no right to grant lands of himself. From the nature and purpose of civil
institutions, all the lands within the limits, which any particular party has circumscribed
around itself, are assumed by that society, and subject to their allotment; this may be done by
themselves assembled collectively, or by their legislature, to whom they may have delegated
sovereign authority ; and, if they are allotted in neither of these ways, each individual of the
society, may appropriate to himself such lands as he finds vacant, and occupancy will give him
title.
That, in order to enforce the arbitrary measures before complained of, his Majesty has,
from time to time, sent among us large bodies of armed forces, not made up of the people
here, nor raised by the authority of our laws. Did his Majesty possess such a right as this,
it might swallow up all our other rights, whenever he should think proper. But his Majesty
has no right to land a single armed man on our shores; and those whom he sends here are
* On further inquiry, I find two instances of dissolutions before the Parliament wpuld, of itself, have been
at an end, viz.: the Parliament called to meet August 24, 1698, was dissolved by King William, December
IQ 1700, and a new one was called to meet February 6, 1701, which was also dissolved, November n, 1701, and
a new one met December 30, 1701.— NOTE BY JEFFERSON.
968
APPENDIX
liable to our laws, for the suppression and punishment of riots, routs, and unlawful assemblies,
or are hostile bodies invading us in defiance of law. When, in the course of the late war, it
became expedient that a body of Hanoverian troops should be brought over for the defence
of Great Britain, his Majesty's grandfather, our late sovereign, did not pretend to introduce
them under any authority he possessed. Such a measure would have given just alarm to his
subjects of Great Britain, whose liberties would not be safe if armed men of another country,
and of another spirit, might be brought into the realm at any time, without the consent of
their legislature. He, therefore, applied to Parliament, who passed an act for that purpose,
limiting the number to be brought in, and the time they were to continue. In like manner is his
Majesty restrained in every part of the empire. He possesses indeed the executive power of
the laws in every State ; but they are the laws of the particular State, which he is to administer
within that State, and not those of any one within the limits of another. Every State must
judge for itself, the number of armed men which they may safely trust among them, of whom
they are to consist, and under what restrictions they are to be laid. To render these proceedings
still more criminal against our laws, instead of subjecting the military to the civil power, his
Majesty has expressly made the civil subordinate to the military. But can his Majesty thus put
down all law under his feet? Can he erect a power superior to that which erected himself?
He has done it indeed by force ; but let him remember that force cannot give right.
That these are our grievances, which we have thus laid before his Majesty, with that free
dom of language and sentiment which becomes a free people, claiming their rights as derived
from the laws of nature, and not as the gift of their Chief Magstrate. Let those flatter, who
fear ; it is not an American art. To give praise where it is not due might be well from the
venal, but it would ill beseem those who are asserting the rights of human nature. They know,
and will, therefore, say, that kings are the servants, not the proprietors of the people. Open
your breast, Sire, to liberal and expanded thought. Let not the name of George the Third, be a
blot on the page of history. You are surrounded by British counsellors, but remember that
they are parties. You have no ministers for American affairs, because you have none taken
from among us, nor amenable to the laws on which they are to give you advice. It behooves
you, therefore, to think and to act for yourself and your people. The great principles of right
and wrong are legible to every reader ; to pursue them, requires not the aid of many coun
sellors. The whole art of government consists in the art of being honest. Only aim to do
your duty, and mankind will give you credit where you fail. No longer persevere in sacrificing
the rights of one part of the empire to the inordinate desires of another ; but deal out to all
equal and impartial right. Let no act be passed by any one legislature which may infringe on
the rights and liberties of another. This is the important post in which fortune has placed
you, holding the balance of a great, if a well-poised empire. This, Sire, is the advice of your great
American council, 'on the observance of which may perhaps depend your felicity and future fame,
and the preservation of that harmony which alone can continue, both to Great Britain and
America, the reciprocal advantages of their connection. It is neither our wish nor our interest
to separate from her. We are willing, on our part, to sacrifice everything which reason can
ask, to the restoration of that tranquillity for which all must wish. On their part, let them be
ready to establish union on a generous plan. Let them name their terms, but let them be just.
Accept of every commercial preference it is in our power to give, for such things as we can
raise for their use, or they make for ours. But let them not think to exclude us from going
to other markets to dispose of those commodities which they cannot use, nor to supply those
wants which they cannot supply. Still less, let it be proposed, that our properties, within our
territories, shall be taxed or regulated by any power on earth, but our own. The God who
gave us life, gave us liberty at the same time ; the hand of force may destroy, but cannot dis
join them.
This, Sire, is our last, our determined resolution. And that you will be pleased to inter
pose, with that efficacy which your earnest endeavors may insure, to procure redress of these
our great grievances, to quiet the minds of your subjects in British America against any appre
hensions of future encroachment, to establish fraternal love and harmony through the whole
empire, and that that may continue to the latest ages of time, is the fervent prayer of all Brit
ish America.—!, 124. FORD ED., i, 426. (1774-)
APPENDIX 969
DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE *
A Declaration by the Representatives of the United States of America, in
General Congress assembled.
When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people
to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and
to assume among the powers of the earth the separate and equal station to
which the laws of nature and of nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to
the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which
impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self evident: that all men are created equal;
that they are endowed by their creator with [inherent and] inalienable rights ; certain
that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness ; that to secure
these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers
from the consent of the governed ; that whenever any form of government
becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to
abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such
principles, and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most
likely to effect their safety and happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that
governments long established should notHbe changed for light and transient
canses; and accordingly all experience hath shown that mankind are more dis
posed to suffer while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing
the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and
usurpations, [begun at a distinguished period and] pursuing invariably the
same object, evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is
their right, it is their duty to throw off such government, and to provide new
guards for their future security. Such has been the patient sufferance of
these colonies: and such is now the necessity which constrains them to [ex
punge] their former systems of government. The history of the present king alter
of Great Britain is a history of [unremitting] injuries and usurpations [among
which appears no solitary fact to contradict the uniform tenor of the rest, but repeated
all have] in direct object the establishment of an absolute tyranny over these all having
states. To prove this, let facts be submitted to a candid world [for the truth
of which we pledge a faith yet unsullied by falsehood.]
He has refused his assent to laws the most wholesome and necessary for the
public good.
He has forbidden his governors to pass laws of immediate and pressing im
portance, unless suspended in their operation till his assent should be ob
tained ; and, when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.
He has refused to pass other laws for the accommodation of large districts
of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of representation in
the legislature, a right inestimable to them, and formidable to tyrants only.
He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable,
and distant from the depository of their public records, for the sole purpose
of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.
He has dissolved representative houses repeatedly [and continually] for
opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.
He has refused for a long time after such dissolutions to cause others to be
elected, whereby the legislative powers, incapable of annihilation, have re
turned to the people at large for their exercise, the state remaining, in the
meantime, exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without and convul
sions within.
He has endeavored to prevent the population of these states; for that pur
pose obstructing the laws for naturalization of foreigners, refusing to pass
* The parts struck out by Congress are printed in italics and enclosed in brackets
those inserted by Congress are placed in the margin, In paragraph 2, line 2, the edition of
JEFFERSON'S WRITINGS, printed by Congress, and also the FORD EDITION give "inalien
able rights " as the text in the engrossed copy of the Declaration. In the first draft of the
instrument Jefferson wrote u unalienable"^ which he changed to lt inalienable " in the draft
reported to Congress. In the United States Statutes At Large the word is "unalienable ".
The Hon. John Hay, Secretary of State, gives a certification of the text in the following
letter :
DEPARTMENT OF STATE, I
JOHN P. FOLEY, ESQ., WASHINGTON, May 4, IQOO. f
Brooklyn, N. Y.:
SIR— In response to your letter, * * * I have to advise you that the text of the Dec
laration of Independence (the original MS.) as signed by the delegates, reads, at the point
of your inquiry—" unalienable rights", while the text of Jefferson's MS. draft, as amended
in committee by Franklin and Adams, reads " inalienable rights". The latter is the paper
printed in Fora's edition of Jefferson's Writings, in fac simile. * * *
JOHN HAY.
—EDITOR.
97O APPENDIX
others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new
appropriations of lands.
obstructed He has [suffered] the administration of justice [totally to cease in some
by of these states] refusing his assent to laws for establishing judiciary powers.
He has made [our] judges dependent on his will alone for the tenure of
their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.
He has erected a multitude of new offices [by a self-assumed power], and
sent hither swarms of officers to harass our people and eat out their substance.
He has kept among us in times of peace standing armies [and ships of war]
without the consent of our legislatures.
He has affected to render the military independent of, and superior to, the
civil power.
He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our
constitutions and unacknowledged by our laws, giving his assent to their acts
of pretended legislation for quartering large bodies of armed troops among
us; for protecting them by a mock trial from punishment for any murders
which they should commit on the inhabitants of these States; for cutting off
our trade with all parts of the world; for imposing taxes on us without our
5 consent; for depriving us [ ] of the benefits of trial by jury; for transport
ing us beyond seas to be tried for pretended offences ; for abolishing the free
system of English laws in a neighboring province, establishing therein an ar
bitrary government, and enlarging its boundaries, so as to render it at once an
example and fit instrument for int'roducing the same absolute rule into these
colonies [states] ; for taking away our charters, abolishing our most valuable laws,
and altering fundamentally the forms of our governments; for suspending
our own legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legis
late for us in all cases whatsoever.
usoufofhi? ^e ^as abdicated government here [withdrawing his governors, and declar-
protection, ing us out of his allegiance and protection].
and waging He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and de-
war against us stroyed the lives of our people.
He is at this time transporting large armies of foreign mercenaries to com
plete the works of death, desolation and tyranny already begun with circum-
le£d intne ~ stances °f cruelty and perfidy [ ] unworthy the head of a civilized nation,
most barbar- He has constrained our fellow citizens taken captive on the high seas, to
ousages, bear arms against their country, to become the executioners of their friends
and totally and brethreri) or to fau themselves by their hands.
excited do- He has [ ] endeavored to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the
mestic insur- merciless Indian savages, whose known rule of warfare is an undistinguished
us?andnas0ng destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions [of existence],
[He has incited treasonable insurrections of our fellow citizens, with the
allurements of forfeiture and confiscation of our property.
He has waged cruel war against human nature itself, violating its most
sacred rights of life and liberty in the persons of a distant people who never
offended him, captivating and carrying them into slavery in another hemi
sphere, or to incur miserable death in their transportation thither. This pi
ratical warfare, the opprobrium of INFIDEL powers, is the warfare of the CHRIS
TIAN king of Great Britain. Determined to keep open a market where MEN
should be bought and sold, he has prostituted his negative for suppressing
every legislative attempt to prohibit or to restrain this execrable commerce.
And that this assemblage of horrors might want no fact of distinguished dye,
he is now exciting those very people to rise in arms among us, and to purchase
that liberty of which he has deprived them, by murdering the people upon whom
he also obtruded them: thus paying off former crimes committed against the
LIBERTIES of one people, with crimes which he urges them to commit against
the LIVES of another}.
In every stage of these oppressions we have petitioned for redress in the
most humble terms: our repeated petitions have been answered only by re
peated injuries.
A prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a
free tyrant is unfit to be the ruler of a [ ] people [who mean to be free. Future
ages will scarcely believe that the hardiness of one man adventured, within the
short compass of twelve years only, to lay a foundation^ so broad and undis
guised for tyranny over a people fostered and fixed in principles of freedom].
Nor have we been wanting in attentions to our British brethren. We have
anunwarant- warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend [a]
able jurisdiction over [these our states']. We have reminded them of the circum-
us stances of our emigration and settlement here [no one of which could warrant
so strange a pretension: that these were effected at the expense of our own blood
and treasure, unassisted by the wealth or the strength of Great Britain; that in
constituting indeed our several forms of government, we had adopted one com-
APPENDIX
mon king, thereby laying a foundation for perpetual league and amity with
them; but that submission to their parliament was no part of our constitution,
nor ever in idea, if history may be credited: and], we [ ] appealed to their
native justice and magnanimity [as well as to] the ties of our common kindred
to disavow these usurpations which [were likely to] interrupt our connection
and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of
consanguinity [and when occasions have been given them, by the regular
course of their laws, of removing from their councils the disturbers of our
harmony, they have, by their free election, re-established them in power. At
this very time too, they are permitting their chief magistrate to send over not
only soldiers of our common blood, but Scotch and foreign mercenaries to
invade and destroy us. These facts have given the last stab to agonising
affection, and manly spirit bids us to renounce forever these unfeeling breth
ren. We must endeavor to forget our former love for them, and hold them
as we hold the rest of mankind, enemies in war, in peace friends. We might
have been a free and a great people together; but a communication of grandeur
and of freedom, it seems, is below their dignity. Be it so, since they will have
it. The road to happiness and to glory is open to us too. We will tread it
apart from them, and], acquiesce in the necessity which denounces our [eter
nal] separation [ ] !
971
have
and we have
conjured them
by
would inevit
ably
We, therefore, the representatives of the
United States of America in General Congress
assembled, do in the name, and by the author
ity of the good people of these [states reject
and renounce all allegiance and subjection to
the kings of Great Britain and all others who
may hereafter claim by, through or under
them; we utterly dissolve all political connec
tion which may heretofore have subsisted be
tween us and the people or parliament of
Great Britain: and finally we do assert and
declare these colonies to be free and inde
pendent states], and that as free and inde
pendent states, they have full power to levy
war, conclude peace, contract alliances, estab
lish commerce, and to do all other acts and
things which independent states may of right
do.
And for the support of this declaration,
we mutually pledge to each other our lives,
our fortunes, and our sacred honor
we must
therefore
and hold them
as we hold the
rest of man
kind, enemies
in war, in
peace friends.
We, therefore, the representatives of the
United States of America in General Congress
assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge
of the world for the rectitude of our inten
tions, do in the name, and by the authority
of the good people of these colonies, solemnly
publish and declare, that these united colonies
are, and of right ought to be free and inde
pendent states; that they are absolved from
all allegiance to the British crown, and that
all political connection between them and the
state of Great Britain is, and ought to be.
totally dissolved ; and that as free and inde
pendent states, they have full power to levy
war, conclude peace, contract alliances, estab
lish commerce, and to do all other acts and
things which independent states may of right
do.
And for the support of this declaration,
with a firm reliance on the protection of Di
vine Providence, we mutually pledge to each
other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred
honor. — i, 19. FORD ED., ii, 42.
972 APPENDIX
PREAMBLE TO THE VIRGINIA CONSTITUTION
Whereas, the delegates and representatives of the good people of Virginia, in convention
assembled, on the twenty-ninth day of June, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven
hundred and seventy-six, reciting and declaring, that whereas George the Third, King of
Great Britain and Ireland, and Elector of Hanover, before that time intrusted with the
exercise of the kingly office in the government of Virginia, had endeavored to pervert the
same into a detestable and insupportable tyranny, by putting his negative on laws the most
wholesome and necessary for the public good ; by denying his governors permission to pass
laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation for his assent,
and when so suspended, neglecting to attend to them for many years; by refusing to pass
certain other laws unless the persons to be benefited by them would relinquish the inalienable
right of representation in the legislature ; by dissolving legislative assemblies, repeatedly and
continually, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions of the rights of the people ; when
dissolved by refusing to call others for a long space of time, thereby leaving the political
system without any legislative head ; by endeavoring to prevent the population of our country,
and for that purpose obstructing the laws for naturalization of foreigners ; by keeping among
us, in time of peace, standing armies and ships of war ; by affecting to render the military
independent of and superior to the civil power; by combining with others to subject us to a
foreign jurisdiction,, giving his assent to their pretended acts of legislation for quartering
large bodies of armed troops among us ; for cutting off our trade with all parts of the world ;
for imposing taxes on us without our consent; for depriving us of the benefit of trial by
jury; for transporting us beyond the seas for trial for pretended offences; for suspending
our own legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all
cases whatsoever; by plundering our seas, ravaging our coasts, burning our towns, and de
stroying the lives of our people; by inciting insurrection of our fellow-subjects with the
allurements of forfeiture and confiscation ; by prompting our negroes to rise in arms among
us — those very negroes whom, by an inhuman use of his negative, he had refused us permis
sion to exclude by law ; by endeavoring to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers the
merciless Indian savages, whose known rule of warfare is an undistinguished destruction of
all ages, sexes and conditions of existence ; by transporting hither a large Jarmy of -foreign
mercenaries to complete the work of death, desolation and tyranny, then already begun, with
circumstances of cruelty and perfidy unworthy the head of a civilized nation ; by answering
our repeated petitions for redress with a repetition of our injuries ; and finally, by abandoning the
helm of government and declaring us out of his allegiance and protection — by which several
acts of misrule, the government of this country, as before exercised under the crown of
Great Britain, was totally dissolved — did, therefore, haying maturely considered the premises,
and viewing with great concern the deplorable condition to which this once happy country
would be reduced unless some regular, adequate mode of civil policy should be speedily
adopted, and in compliance with the recommendation of the general Congress, ordain and
declare a form of government of Virginia. — POORE'S FEDERAL AND STATE CONSTITUTIONS.
APPENDIX 973
DEBATES ON THE ARTICLES OP CONFEDERATION
On Friday, July 12 [1776], the committee appointed to draw the Articles of Confederation
reported them, and, on the 2zd, the House resolved themselves into a committee to take them
into consideration. On the aoth and 3ist of that month, and ist of the ensuing, those articles
were debated which determined the proportion, or quota, of money which each state should
furnish to the common treasury, and the manner of voting in Congress. The first of these
articles was expressed in the original draught in these words. " Art. XI. All charges of war and
all other expenses that shall be incurred for the common defence, or general welfare, and al
lowed by the United States assembled, shall be defrayed out of a common treasury, which shall
be supplied by the several colonies in proportion to the number of inhabitants of every age, sex,
and quality, except Indians not paying taxes, in each colony, a true account of which, dis
tinguishing the white inhabitants, shall be triennially taken and transmitted to the Assembly
of the United States."
Mr. Chase moved that the quotas should be fixed, not by the number of inhabitants of every
condition, but by that of the " white inhabitants." tie admitted that taxation should be always
in proportion to property, that this was, in theory, the true rule ; but that, from a variety of diffi
culties, it was a rule which could never be adopted in practice. The value of the property in
every State, could never be estimated justly and equally. Some other measure for the wealth
of the State must therefore be devised, some standard referred to, which would be more simple.
He considered the number of inhabitants as a tolerably good criterion of property, and that this
might always be obtained. He therefore thought it the best mode which we could adopt, with
one exception only : he observed that negroes are property, and as such, cannot be distinguished
from the lands or personalties held in those States where there are few slaves ; that the surplus
of profit which a Northern farmer is able to lay by, he invests in cattle, horses, &c., whereas a
Southern farmer lays out the same surplus in slaves. There is no more reason, therefore, for
taxing the Southern States on the farmer's head, and on his slave's head, than the Northern ones
on their farmer's heads and the heads of their cattle : that the method proposed would, therefore,
tax the Southern States according to their numbers and their wealth conjunctly, while the
Northern would be taxed on numbers only ; that negroes, in fact, should not be considered as
members of the State, more than cattle, and that they have no more interest in it.
Mr. John Adams observed, that the numbers of people were taken by this article, as an index
of the wealth of the State, and not as subjects of taxation ; that, as to this matter, it was of no
consequence by what name you called your people, whether by that of freemen or of slaves ; that
in some countries the laboring poor were called freemen, in others they were called slaves ; but
that the difference as to the state was imaginary only. What matters it whether a landlord, em
ploying ten laborers on his farm, gives them annually as much money as will buy them the
necessaries of life, or gives them those necessaries at short hand? The ten laborers add as much
wealth annually to the State, increase its exports as much in the one case as the other. Cer
tainly five hundred freemen produce no more profits, no greater surplus for the payment of taxes,
than five hundred slaves. Therefore, the State in which are the laborers called freemen, should
be taxed no more than that in which are those called slaves. Suppose by an extraordinary
operation of nature or of law, one-half the laborers of a State could in the course of one night
be transformed into slaves; would the State be made the poorer or the less able to pay taxes?
That the condition of the laboring poor in most countries, that of the fishermen particularly of
the Northern States, is as abject as that of slaves. It is the number of laborers which produces
the surplus for taxation, and numbers, therefore, indiscriminately, are the fair index of wealth ;
that it is the use of the word " property " here, and its application to some of the people of the
State, which produces the fallacy. How does the Southern farmer procure slaves? Either by
importation or by purchase, from his neighbor. If he imports a slave, he adds one to the number
of laborers in his country, and proportionably to its profits and abilities to pay taxes ; if he buys
from his neighbor, it is only a transfer of a laborer from one farm to another, which does not
change the annual produce of the State, and therefore, should not change its tax: that if a
Northern farmer works ten laborers on his farm, he can, it is true, invest the surplus of ten
men's labor in cattle ; but so may the Southern farmer, working ten slaves ; that a State of
one hundred thousand freemen can maintain no more cattle, than one of one hundred thousand
slaves. Therefore, they have no more of that kind of property ; that a slave may indeed, from
the custom of speech, be more properly called the wealth of his master, than the free laborer
might be called the wealth of his employer; but as to the State, both were equally its wealth,
and should, therefore, equally add to the quota of its tax.
Mr. Harrison proposed, as a compromise, that two slaves should be counted as one freeman.
He affirmed that slaves did not do as much work as freemen, and doubted if two effected more
than one ; that this was proved by the price of labor ; the hire of a laborer in the Southern colonies
being from 8 to £12, while in the Northern it was generally £24.
Mr. Wilson said, that if this amendment should take place, the Southern colonies would
have all the benefit of slaves, whilst the Northern ones would bear the burthen : that slaves
increase the profits of a State, which the Southern States mean to take to themselves ; that they
also increase the burthen of defence, which would of course fall so much the heavier on the
Northern : that slaves occupy the places of freemen, and eat their food. Dismiss your slaves,
and freemen will take their places. It is our duty to lay every discouragement on the impor
tation of slaves; but this amendment would give the jus trinm hberornm to him who would
import slaves; that other kinds of property were pretty equally distributed through all the
colonies : there were as many cattle, horses and sheep, in the North as the South, and South as
the North; but not so as to slaves: that experience has shown that those colonies have been
always able to pay most, which have the most inhabitants, whether they be black or white; and
the practice of the Southern colonies has always been to make every farmer pay poll taxes
upon all his laborers, whether they be black or white. He acknowledges, indeed, that freemen
work the most; but they consume the most also. They do not produce a greater surplus for
taxation The slave is neither fed nor clothed so expensively as a freeman. Again, white
974 APPENDIX
women are exempted from labor generally, but negro women are not. In this, then, the
Southern States have an advantage as the article now stands. It has sometimes been said,' that
slavery is necessary, because the commodities they raise would be too dear for market if
cultivated by freemen ; but now it is said that the labor of the slave is the dearest.
Mr. Payne urged the original resolution of Congress, to proportion the quotas of the States
to the number of souls.
Dr. Witherspoon was of opinion, that the value of lands and houses was the best estimate
of the wealth of a nation, and that it was practicable to obtain such a valuation. This is the true
barometer of wealth. The one now proposed is imperfect in itseSf, and unequal between the
States. It has been objected that negroes eat the food of freemen, and, therefore, should be
taxed; horses also eat the food of freemen; therefore they also should be taxed. It has been
said too, that in carrying slaves into the estimate of the taxes the State is to pay, we do no more
than those States themselves do, who always take slaves into the estimate of the taxes the
individual is to pay. But the cases are not parallel. In the Southern colonies slaves pervade
the whole colony ; but they do not pervade the whole continent. That as to the original
resolution of Congress, to proportion the quotas according to the souls, it was temporary only,
and related to the moneys heretofore emitted : whereas we are now entering into a new compact,
and therefore stand on original ground.
August i. The question being put, the amendment proposed was rejected by the votes of
New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, and
Pennsylvania, against those of Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North and South Carolina.
Georgia was divided.
The other article was in these words. "Art. XVII. In determining questions, each colony
shall have one vote."
July 30, 31, August i. Present forty-one members. Mr. Chase observed this article was the
most likely to divide us, of any one proposed in the draught then under consideration : that the
larger colonies had threatened they would not confederate at all, if their weight in Congress
should not be equal to the numbers of people they added to the confederacy ; while the smaller
ones declared against a union, if they did not retain an equal vote for the protection of their
rights. That it was of the utmost consequence to bring the parties together, as, should we
sever from each other, either no foreign power will ally with us at all, or the different States
will form different alliances, and thus increase the horrors of those scenes of civil war and
bloodshed, which in such a state of separation and independence, would render us a miserable
people. That our importance, our interests, our peace required that we should confederate,
and that mutual sacrifices should be made to effect a compromise of this difficult question. He
was of opinion, the smaller colonies would lose their rights, if they were not in some instances
allowed an equal vote ; and, therefore, that a discrimination should take place among the
questions which would come before Congress. That the smaller States should be secured in all
questions concerning life or liberty, and the greater ones, in all respecting property. He
therefore, proposed, that in votes relating to money, the voice of each colony should be propor
tioned to the number of its inhabitants.
Dr. Franklin thought, that the votes should be so proportioned in all cases. He took notice
that the Delaware counties had bound up their delegates to disagree to this article. He thought
it a very extraordinary language to be held by any State, that they would not confederate with us,
unless we would let them dispose of our money. Certainly, if we vote equally, we ought to pay
equally ; but the smaller States will hardly purchase the privilege at this price. That had he
lived in a State where the representation, originally equal, had become unequal by time and
accident, he might have submitted rather than disturb government ; but that we should be very
wrong to set out in this practice, when it is in our power to establish what is right. That at the
time of the Union between England and Scotland, the latter had made the objection which the
smaller States now do ; but experience had proved that no unfairness had ever been shown them :
that their advocates had prognosticated that it would again happen, as in times of old, that the
whale would swallow Jonas, but he thought the prediction reversed in event, and that Jonas had
swallowed the whale ; for the Scotch had in fact got possession of the government, and gave laws
to the English. He reprobated the original agreement of Congress to vote by colonies, and,
therefore, was for their voting, in all cases, according to the number of taxables.
Dr. Witherspoon opposed every alteration of the article. All men admit that a confederacy
is necessary. Should the idea get abroad that there is likely to be no union among us, it will
damp the minds of the people, diminish the glory of our struggle, and lessen its importance ;
because it will open to our view future prospects of war and dissension among ourselves. If an
equal vote be refused, the smaller States will become vassals to the larger ; and all experience
has shown that the vassals and subjects of free States are the most enslaved. He instanced
the Helots of Sparta, and the provinces of Rome. He observed that foreign powers, discovering
this blemish, would make it a handle for disengaging the smaller States from so unequal a
confederacy. That the colonies should in fact be considered as individuals ; and that, as such,
in all disputes, they should have an equal vote ; that they are now collected as individuals
making a bargain with each other, and, of course, had a right to vote as individuals. That in
the East India Company they voted by persons, and not by their proportion of stock. That the
Belgic confederacy voted by provinces. That in questions of war the smaller States were as
much interested as the larger, and therefore, should vote equally ; and indeed, that the larger
States were more likely to bring war on the confederacy, in proportion as their frontier was more
extensive. He admitted that equality of representation was an excellent principle, but then it
must be of things which are co-ordinate ; that is, of things similar, and of the same nature : that
nothing relating to individuals could ever come before Congress ; nothing but what would
respect colonies. He distinguished between an incorporating and a federal union. The union
of England was an incorporating one ; yet Scotland had suffered by that union ; for that its
inhabitants were drawn from it by the hopes of places and employments : nor was it an instance
of equality of representation ; because, while Scotland was allowed nearly a thirteenth of repre
sentation, they were to pay only one-fortieth of the land tax. He expressed his hopes, that in
the present enlightened state of men's minds, we might expect a lasting confederacy, if it was
founded on fair principles.
APPENDIX 975
John Adams advocated the voting in proportion to numbers. He said that we stand here
as the representatives of the people: that in some States the people are many, in others they are
few ; that therefore, their vote here should be proportioned to the numbers from whom it comes.
Reason, justice and equity never had weight enough on the face of the earth, to govern the
councils of men. It is interest alone which does it, and it is interest alone which can be trusted :
that therefore the interests within doors, should be the mathematical representatives of the
interests without doors: that the individuality of the colonies is a mere sound. Does the
individuality of a colony increase its wealth or numbers? If it does, pay equally. If it does
not add weight in the scale of the confederacy, it cannot add to their rights, nor weigh in
argument. A. has £50, B. £500, C. £1000 in partnership. Is it just they should equally
dispose of the moneys of the partnership? It has been said, we are independent individuals
making a bargain together. The question is not what we are now, but what we ought to be
when our bargain shall be made. The confederacy is to make us one individual only; it is to
form us like separate parcels of metal, into one common mass. We shall no longer retain our
separate individuality, but become a single individual as to all questions submitted to the con
federacy. Therefore, all those reasons, which prove the justice and expediency of equal repre
sentation in other assemblies, hold good here. <It has been objected that a proportional vote
will endanger the smaller States. We answer that an equal vote will endanger the larger.
Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts, are the three greater colonies. Consider their dis
tance, their difference of produce, of interests, and of manners, and it is apparent they can never
have an interest or inclination to combine for the oppression of the smaller : that the smaller
will naturally divide on all questions with the larger. Rhode Island, from its relation, similarity
and intercourse, will generally pursue the same objects with Massachusetts; Jersey, Delaware,
and Maryland, with Pennsylvania.
Dr. Rush took notice, that the decay of the liberties of the Dutch republic proceeded from
three causes, i. The perfect unanimity requisite on all occasions. 2. Their obligation to consult
their constituents. 3. Their voting by provinces. This last destroyed the equality of rep
resentation, and the liberties of Great Britain also are sinking from the same defect. That a
part of our rights is deposited in the hands of our legislatures. There, it was admitted, there
should be an equality of representation. Another part of our rights is deposited in the hands
of Congress : why is it not equally necessary there should be an equal representation there ?
Were it possible to collect the whole body of the people together, they would determine the ques
tions submitted to them by their majority. Why should not the same majority decide when
voting here, by their representatives? The larger colonies are so providentially divided in situ
ation, as to render every fear of their combining visionary. Their interests are different, and
their circumstances dissimilar. It is more probable they will become rivals, and leave it in the
power of the smaller States to give preponderance to any scale they please. The voting by the
number of free inhabitants, will have one excellent effect, that of inducing the colonies to dis
courage slavery, and to encourage the increase of their free inhabitants.
Mr. Hopkins observed, there were four larger, four smaller, and four middle-sized colonies.
That the four largest would contain more than half the inhabitants of the confederated States,
and therefore, would govern the others as they should please. That history affords no instance
of such a thing as equal representation. The Germanic body votes by States. The Helvetic
body does the same ; and so does the Belgic confederacy. That too little is known of the
ancient confederations, to say what was their practice.
Mr. Wilson thought, that taxation should be in proportion to wealth, but that representation
should accord with the number of freemen. That government is a collection or result of the
wills of all : that if any government could speak the will of all, it would be perfect ; and that,
so far as it departs from this, it becomes imperfect. It has been said that Congress is a repre
sentation of States, not of individuals. I say, that the objects of its care are all the individuals
of the States. It is strange that annexing the name of " State " to ten thousand men, should
give them an equal right with forty thousand. This must be the effect of magic, not of reason.
As to those matters which are referred to Congress, we are not so many States ; we are one large
State. We lay aside our individuality, whenever wre come here. The Germanic body is a
burlesque on government ; and their practice, on any point, is a sufficient authority and proof that
it is wrong. The greatest imperfection in the constitution of the Belgic confederacy is their
voting by provinces. The interest of the whole is constantly sacrificed to that of the small States.
The history of the war in the reign of Queen Anne sufficiently proves this. It is asked, shall
nine colonies put it into the power of four to govern them as they please? I invert the question,
and ask, shall two millions of people put it in the power of one million to govern them as they
please? It is pretended, too, that the smaller colonies will be in danger from the greater.
Speak in honest language and say, the minority will be in danger from the majority. And is
there an assembly on earth, where this danger may not be equally pretended? The truth is, that
our proceedings will then be consentaneous with the interests of the majority, and so they
ought to be. The probability is much greater, that the larger States will disagree, than that they
will combine. I defy the wit of man to invent a possible case, or to suggest any one thing on
earth, which shall be for the interests of Virginia, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts, and which
will not also be for the interest of the other States.
These articles, reported July 12, '76, were debated from day to day, and time to time, for two
years, were ratified July 9, '78, by ten States, by New Jersey on the 26th of November of the
same'year> and by Delaware on the 23d of February following. Maryland alone held off two
years more, acceding to them March i, '81, and thus closing the obligation. — i, 26. FORD ED., i, 38.
APPENDIX
A BILL FOB ESTABLISHING RELIGIOUS FREEDOM
SECTION i. Well aware that the opinions and belief of men depend not on their own will,
but follow involuntarily the evidence proposed to their minds ; that Almighty God hath created
the mind free, and manifested His supreme will that free it shall remain by making it altogether
insusceptible of restraint : that all attempts to influence it by temporal punishments or burthens,
or by civil incapacitations, tend only to beget habits of hypocrisy and meanness, 'and are a
departure from the plan of the Holy Author of our religion, who being Lord both of body and
mind, yet chose not to propagate it by coercions on either, as was in his Almighty power to
do, but to exalt it by its influence on reason alone : that the impious presumption of legislature
arid ruler, civil as well as ecclesiastical, who, being themselves but fallible and uninspired men,
have assumed dominion over the faith of others, setting up their own opinions and modes of
thinking as the only true and infallible, and as such endeavoring to impose them on others,
hath established and maintained false religions over the greatest part of the world, and through
all time : That to compel a man to furnish contributions of money for the propagation of opin
ions which he disbelieves and abhors is sinful and tyrannical ; that even the forcing him to
support this or that teacher of his own religious persuasion, is depriving him of the comfort
able liberty of giving his contributions to the particular pastor whose morals he would make
his pattern, and whose powers he feels most persuasive to righteousness ; and is withdrawing
from the ministry those temporary rewards, which, proceeding from an approbation of their
personal conduct, are an additional incitement to earnest and unremitting labors for the in
struction of mankind, that our civil rights have no dependence on our religious opinions, any
more than our opinions in physics or geometry ; and therefore the proscribing any citizen as
unworthy the public confidence by laying upon him an incapacity of being called to office of
trust or emolument, unless he profess or renounce this or that religious opinion, is depriving
him injudiciously of those privileges and advantages to which, in common with his fellow citi
zens, he has a natural right ; that it tends also to corrupt the principles of that very religion
it is meant to encourage, by bribing with a monopoly of worldly honors and emoluments, those
who will externally profess and conform to it ; that though indeed these are criminals who do
not withstand such temptation, yet neither are those innocent who lay the bait in their way ;
that the opinions of men are not the object of civil government, nor under its jurisdiction;
that to suffer the civil magistrate to intrude his powers into the field of opinion, and to restrain
the profession or propagation of principles on supposition of their ill tendency is a dangerous
fallacy which at once destroys all religious liberty, because, he being of course judge of that
tendency, will make his opinions the rule of judgment, and approve or condemn the senti-
.ments of others only as they shall square with or differ from his own ; that it is time enough
for the rightful purposes of civil government for its officers to interfere when principles break
out into overt acts against peace and good order ; and finally, that truth is great and will
prevail if left to herself ; that she is the proper and sufficient antagonist to error, and has
nothing to fear from the conflict unless, by human interposition, disarmed of her natural
weapons, free argument and debate ; errors ceasing to be dangerous when it is permitted freely
to contradict them :
SECT. ii. We, the General Assembly of Virginia, do enact that no man shall be compelled
to frequent or support any religious worship, place, or ministry whatsoever, nor shall be enforced,
restrained, molested, or burthened in his body or goods, or shall otherwise suffer on account
of his religious opinions or belief ; but that all men shall be free to profess, and by argument to
maintain, their opinions in matters of religion, and that the same shall in no wise diminish,
enlarge, or affect their civil capacities.
.SECT. in. And though we well know that this Assembly, elected by the people for the
ordinary purposes of legislation only, have no power to restrain the acts of succeeding Assem
blies, constituted with powers equal to our own, and that, therefore, to declare this act to be
irrevocable would be of no effect in law ; yet we are free to declare, and do declare, that the
rights hereby asserted are of the natural rights of mankind, and that if any act shall be here
after passed to repeal the present or to narrow its operations, such act will be an infringement
of natural right. — viii, 454. FORD ED., ii, 237. (1786.)
APPENDIX 977
KENTUCKY RESOLUTIONS
1. Resolved, That the several States composing the United States of America, are not
united on the principle of unlimited submission to their General Government ; but that, by a
compact under the style and title of a Constitution for the United States, and of Amendments
thereto, they constituted a General Government for special purposes, — delegated to that govern
ment certain definite powers, reserving, each State to itself, the residuary mass of right to their
own self-government ; and that whensoever the General Government assumes undelegated powers,
its acts are unauthoritative, void, and of no force : that to this compact each State acceded as
a State, and is an integral party, its co-States forming, as to itself, the other party : that the
Government created by this compact was not made the exclusive or final judge of the extent
of the powers delegated to itself ; since that would have made its discretion, and not the Con
stitution, the measure of its powers : but that, as in all other cases of compact among powers
having no common judge, each party has an equal right to judge for itself, as well of infractions
as of the mode and measure of redress.
2. Resolved, That the Constitution of the United States, having delegated to Congress a
power to punish treason, counterfeiting the securities, and current coin of the United States,
piracies, and felonies committed on the high seas, and offences against the law of nations, and
no other crimes whatsoever : and it being true as a general principle, and one of the amendments
to the Constitution having also declared, that " the powers not delegated to the United States
by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or
to the people", therefore the act of Congress, passed on the i4th day of July, 1798, and intituled
" An Act in addition to the act intituled ' An Act for the punishment of certain crimes against
the United States ' ", as also the act passed by them on the — — day of June, 1789, intituled " An
Act to punish frauds committed on the Bank of the United States " (and all their other acts
which assume to create, define, or punish crimes, other than those so enumerated in the Consti
tution), are altogether void, and of no force: and that the power to create, define, and punish
such other crimes is reserved, and, of right, appertains solely and exclusively to the respective
States, each within its own territory.
3. Resolved, That it is true as a general principle, and is also expressly declared by one of
the amendments to the Constitution, that " the powers not delegated to the United States by the
Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the
people " ; and that no power over the freedom of religion, freedom of speech, or freedom of the
press being delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States,
all lawful powers respecting the same did of right remain, and were reserved to the States or
the people ; that thus was manifested their determination to retain to themselves the right of
judging how far the licentiousness of speech and of the press may be abridged without lessening
their useful freedom, and how far those abuses which cannot be separated from their use should
be tolerated, rather than the use be destroyed. And thus also they guarded against all abridg
ment by the United States of the freedom of religious opinions and exercises, and retained to
themselves the right of protecting the same, as this State, by a law passed on the general demand
of its citizens, had already protected them from all human restraint or interference. And that
in addition to this general principle and express declaration, another and more special pro
vision has been made by one of the amendments to the Constitution, which expressly declares,
that " Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the
free exercise thereof, or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press " ; thereby guarding in
the same sentence, and under the same words, the freedom of religion, of speech, and of the
press : insomuch, that whatever violated either, throws down the sanctuary which covers the
others, and that libels, falsehoods, and defamation, equally with heresy and false religion, are
withheld from the cognizance of Federal tribunals. That, therefore, the act of Congress of the
United States, passed on the i4th day of July, 1798, intituled " An Act in addition to the act
intituled ' An Act for the punishment of certain crimes against the United States ' " which does
abridge the freedom of the press, is not law, but is altogether void, and of no force.
4. Resolved, That alien friends are under the jurisdiction and protection of the laws of the
State wherein they are ; that no power over them has been delegated to the United States, nor
prohibited to the individual States, distinct from their power over citizens. And it being true
as a general principle, and one of the amendments to the Constitution having also declared, that
" the powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the
States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people ", the act of the Congress of the
United States, passed on the day of July, 1798, intituled "An Act concerning aliens",
which assumes powers over alien friends, not delegated by the Constitution, is not law, but is
altogether void, and of no force.
5. Resolved, That in addition to the general principle, as well as the express declaration,
that powers not delegated are reserved, another and more special provision, inserted in the
Constitution from abundant caution, has declared that " the migration or importation of such
persons as any of the States now existing shall think proper to admit, shall not be prohibited
by the Congress prior to the year 1808 " : that this Commonwealth does admit the migration
of alien friends, described as the subject of the said act concerning aliens: that a provision
against prohibiting their migration, is a provision against all acts equivalent thereto, or it would
be nugatory : that to remove them when migrated, is equivalent to a prohibition of their migra
tion, and is, therefore, contrary to the said provision of the Constitution, and void.
6. Resolved, That the imprisonment of a person under the laws of this Commonwealth, on
his failure to obey the simple order of the President to depart out of the United States, as is
undertaken by said act intituled " An Act concerning aliens " is contrary to the Constitu
tion, one amendment to which has provided that " no person shall be deprived of liberty without
due process of law " : and that another having provided that " in all criminal prosecutions the
accused shall enjoy the right to public trial by an impartial jury, to be informed of the nature
and cause of the accusation, to be confronted with the witnesses against him, to have compul
sory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the assistance of counsel for his
978
APPENDIX
defence ", the same act, undertaking to authorize the President to remove a person out of the
United States, who is under the protection of the law, on his own suspicion, without accusation,
without jury, without public trial, without confrontation of the witnesses against him, without
hearing witnesses in his favor, without defence, without counsel, is contrary to the provision also
of the Constitution, is therefore not law, but utterly void, and of no force : that transferring the
power of judging any person, who is under the protection of the laws, from the courts to the
President of the United States, as is undertaken by the same act concerning aliens, is against
the article of the Constitution which provides that " the judicial power of the United States shall
be vested in courts, the judges of which shall hold their offices during good behavior " ; and that
the said act is void for that reason also. And it is further to be noted, that this transfer of
judiciary power is to that magistrate of the General Government who already possesses all the
Executive and a negative on all Legislative powers.
7. Resolved, That the construction applied by the General Government (as is evidenced by
sundry of their proceedings) to those parts of the Constitution of the United States which
delegate to Congress a power " to lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts and excises, to pay the
debts, and provide for the common defence and general welfare of the United States ", and " to
make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the powers vested
by the Constitution in the government of the United States, or in any department or officer
thereof ", goes to the destruction of all limits prescribed to their power by the Constitution :
that words meant by the instrument to be subsidiary only to the execution of limited powers,
ought not to be so construed as themselves to give unlimited powers, nor a part to be so taken
as to destroy the whole residue of that instrument : that the proceedings of the General Gov
ernment under color of these articles, will be a fit and necessary subject of revisal and correc
tion, at a time of greater tranquillity, while those specified in the preceding resolution call for
immediate redress.
8. Resolved, That a committee of conference and correspondence be appointed, who shall
have in charge to communicate the preceding resolutions to the Legislatures of the several
States : to assure them that this Commonwealth continues in the same esteem of their friendship
and union which it has manifested from that moment at which a common danger first suggested
a common union : that it considers union, for specified national purposes, and particularly to those
specified in their late Federal compact, to be friendly to the peace, happiness and prosperity of all
the States : that faithful to that compact, according to the plain intent and meaning in which it
was understood and acceded to by the several parties, it is sincerely anxious for its preservation :
that it does also believe, that to take from the States all the powers of self-government and
transfer them to a general and consolidated government, without regard to the special delega
tions and reservations solemnly agreed to in that compact, is not for the peace, happiness or
prosperity of these States ; and that, therefore, this Commonwealth is determined, as it doubts
not its co-States are, to submit to undelegated, and consequently unlimited powers in no man, or
body of men on earth : that in cases' of an abuse of the delegated powers, the members of the
General Government, being chosen by the people, a change by the people would be the constitu
tional remedy ; but, where powers are assumed which have not been delegated, a nullification of
the act is the rightful remedy ; that every State has a natural right in cases not within the
compact (casus non fcederis}, to nullify of their own authority all assumptions of power by others
within their limits : that without this right, they would be under the dominion, absolute and
unlimited, of whosoever might exercise this right of judgment for them : that nevertheless, this
Commonwealth, from motives of regard and respect for its co-States, has wished to communicate
with them on the subject : that with them alone it is proper to communicate, they alone being
parties to the compact, and solely authorized to judge in the last resort of the powers exercised
under it, Congress being not a party, but merely the creature of the compact, and subject as to
its assumptions of power to the final judgment of those by whom, and for whose use itself and
its powers were all created and modified : that if the acts before specified should stand, these
conclusions would flow from them ; that the General Government may place any act they think
proper on the list of crimes, and punish it themselves whether enumerated or not enumerated by
the Constitution as cognizable by them ; that they may transfer its cognizance to the President,
or any other person, who may himself be the accuser, counsel, judge, and jury, whose suspicions
may be the evidence, his order the sentence, his officer the executioner, and his breast the sole
record of the transaction : that a very numerous and valuable description of the inhabitants of
these States being, by this precedent, reduced, as outlaws, to the absolute dominion of one man,
and the barrier of the Constitution thus swept away from us all, no rampart now remains against
the passions and the powers of a majority in Congress to protect from a like exportation, or other
more grievous punishment, the minority of the same body, the legislatures, judges, governors, and
councillors of the States, nor their other peaceable inhabitants, who may venture to reclaim the
constitutional rights and liberties of the States and people, or who for other causes, good or bad,
may be obnoxious to the views, or marked by the suspicions of the President, or be thought
dangerous to his or their election, or other interests, public or personal : that the friendless alien
has indeed been selected as the safest subject of a first experiment; but the citizen will soon fol
low, or rather, has already followed, for already has a Sedition Act marked him as its prey ; that
these and successive acts of the same character, unless arrested at the threshold, necessarily drive
these States into revolution and blood, and will furnish new calumnies against republican govern
ment, and new pretexts for those who wish it to be believed that man cannot be governed but by
a rod of iron ; that it would be a dangerous delusion were a confidence in the men of our choice
to silence our fears for the safety of our rights : that confidence is everywhere the parent of
despotism — free government is founded in jealousy, and not in confidence : it is jealousy and not
confidence which prescribes limited constitutions, to bind down those whom we are obliged to
trust with power : that our Constitution has accordingly fixed the limits to which, and no further,
our confidence may go ; and let the honest advocate of confidence read the Alien and Sedition
Acts, and say if the Constitution has not been wise in fixing limits to the government it created,
and whether we should be wise in destroying those limits. Let him say what the government
is, if it be not a tyranny, which the men of our choice have conferred on our President, and the
President of our choice has assented to, and accepted over the friendly strangers to whom the
APPENDIX 979
mild spirit of our country and its laws have pledged hospitality and protection : that the men of
our choice have more respected the bare suspicions of the President, than the solid right of inno
cence, the claims of justification, the sacred force of truth, and the forms and substance of law
and justice. In questions of power, then, let no more be heard of confidence in man, but bind him
down from mischief by the chains of the Constitution. That this Commonwealth does, therefore,
call on its co-States for an expression of their sentiments on the acts concerning aliens, and for
the punishment of certain crimes herein before specified, plainly declaring whether these acts
are or are not authorized by the Federal compact. And it doubts not that their sense will be
so announced as to prove their attachment unaltered to limited government, whether general
or particular. And that the rights and liberties of their co-States will be exposed to no dangers
by remaining embarked in a common bottom with their own. That they will concur with this
Commonwealth in considering the said acts as so palpably against the Constitution as to amount
to an undisguised declaration that that compact is not meant to be the measure of the powers
of the General Government, but that it will proceed in the exercise over these States, of all
powers whatsoever : that they will view this as seizing the rights of the States, and consolidating
them in the hands of the General Government, with a power assumed to bind the States (not
merely in the cases made Federal (castis foederis) but) in all cases whatsoever, by laws made,
not with their consent, but by others against their consent ; that this would be to surrender the
form of government we have chosen, and live under one deriving its powers from its own will,
and not from our authority ; and that the co-States, recurring to their natural right in cases not
made Federal, will concur in declaring these acts void, and of no force, and will each take
measures of its own for providing that neither these acts, nor any others of the General Govern
ment not plainly and intentionally authorized by the Constitution, shall be exercised within their
respective territories.
9. Resolved, That the said committee be authorized to communicate by writing or personal
conferences, at any times or places whatever, with any person or persons who may be appointed
by any one or more co-States to correspond or confer with them ; and that they lay their pro
ceeding before the next session of Assembly. — ix, 464. FORD ED., vii, 289. (1798.)
980 APPENDIX
FIRST INAUGURAL ADDRESS
March 4, 18O1
Friends and fellow-citizens :
Called upon to undertake the duties of the first executive office of our country, I avail myself
of the presence of that portion of my fellow-citizens which is here assembled, to express my
grateful thanks for the favor with which they have been pleased to look toward me, to declare a
sincere consciousness that the task is above my talents, and that I approach it with those anxious
and awful presentiments which the greatness of the charge and the weakness of my powers so
justly inspire. A rising nation, spread over a wide and fruitful land ; traversing all the seas
with the rich productions of their industry ; engaged in commerce with nations who feel power
and forget right ; advancing rapidly to destinies beyond the reach of mortal eye, — when I con
template these transcendent objects, and see the honor, the happiness, and the hopes of this
beloved country committed to the issue and the auspices of this day, I shrink from the con
templation, and humble myself before the magnitude of the undertaking. Utterly, indeed, should
I despair, did not the presence of many whom I here see remind me that in the other high
authorities provided by our Constitution I shall find resources of wisdom, of virtue, and of zeal,
on which to rely under all difficulties. To you, then, gentlemen, who are charged with the
sovereign functions of legislation; and to those associated with you, I look with encouragement
for that guidance and support which may enable us to steer with safety the vessel in which we
are all embarked, amid the conflicting elements of a troubled world.
During the contest of opinion through which we have passed, the animation of discussion
and of exertions has sometimes worn an aspect which might impose on strangers, unused to think
freely, and to speak and to write what they think ; but, this being now decided by the voice of
the nation, announced according to the rules of the Constitution, all will, of course, arrange them
selves under the will of the law, and unite in common efforts for the common good. All, too,
will bear in mind this sacred principle, that, though the will of the majority is in all cases to
prevail, that will, to be rightful, must be reasonable ; that the minority possess their equal
rights, which equal laws must protect, and to violate which would be oppression. Let us, then,
fellow-citizens, unite with one heart and one mind ; let us restore to social intercourse that
harmony and affection without which liberty and even life itself are but dreary things. And let
us reflect that having banished from our land that religious intolerance under which man
kind so long bled and suffered, we have yet gained little if we countenance a political intolerance
as despotic, as wicked, and capable of as bitter and bloody persecutions. During the throes
and convulsions of the ancient world, during the agonizing spasms of infuriated man, seeking
through blood and slaughter his long-lost liberty, it was not wonderful that the agitation of the
billows should reach even this distant and peaceful shore ; that this should be more felt and
feared by some and less by others ; that this should divide opinions as to measures of safety.
But every difference of opinion is not a difference of principle. We have called by different
names brethren of the same principle. We are all republicans ; we are all federalists. If there
be any among us who would wish to dissolve this Union, or to change its republican form, let
them stand, undisturbed, as monuments of the safety with which error of opinion may be
tolerated where reason is left free to combat it. I know, indeed, that some honest men fear that
a republican government cannot be strong ; that this Government is not strong enough. But
would the honest patriot, in the full tide of successful experiment, abandon a Government
which has so far kept us free and firm, on the theoretic and visionary fear that this Govern
ment, the world's best hope, may, by possibility, want energy to preserve itself? I trust not. I
believe this, on the contrary, the strongest Government on earth. I believe it is the only one
where every man, at the call of the law, would fly to the standard of the law, and would meet
invasions of the public order as his own personal concern. Sometimes it is said that man cannot
be trusted with the government of himself. Can he, then, be trusted with the government of
others? Or have we found angels in the form of kings to govern him? Let history answer
this question.
Let us, then, with a courage and confidence, pursue our own federal and republican princi
ples, our attachment to our Union and representative government. Kindly separated by nature
and a wide ocean from the exterminating havoc of one quarter of the globe; too high-minded
to endure the degradations of the others ; possessing a chosen country, with room enough for our
descendants to the hundredth and thousandth generation ; entertaining a due sense of our equal
right to the use of our own faculties, to the acquisitions of our industry, to honor and confidence
from our fellow-citizens, resulting not from birth but from our actions, and their sense of them ;
enlightened by a benign religion, professed, indeed, and practiced in various forms, yet all of
them inculcating honesty, truth, temperance, gratitude, and the love of man ; acknowledging and
adoring an overruling Providence, which, by all its dispensations, proves that it delights in the
happiness of man here, and his greater happiness hereafter ; with all these blessings, what more
is necessary to make us a happy and prosperous people? Still one thing more, fellow-citizens, —
a wise and frugal Government, which shall restrain men from injuring one another, which shall
leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall
not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned. This is the sum of good government,
and this is necessary to close the circle of our felicities.
About to enter, fellow-citizens, on the exercise of duties which comprehend every thing dear
and valuable to you, it is proper that you should understand what I deem the essential principles
of our Government, and, consequently, those which ought to shape its administration. I will
compress them within the narrowest compass they will bear, stating the general principle, but nojt
all its limitations. Equal and exact justice to all men, of whatever state or persuasion, religious
or political ; peace, commerce, and honest friendship with all nations, entangling alliances with
none ; the support of the State goveiynments in all their rights, as the most competent adminisr
trations for our domestic concerns, and the surest bulwarks against anti-republican tendencies;
the preservation of the General Government in its whole constitutional vigor, as the sheet-anchor
of our peace at home and safety abroad; a jealous care of the right of election by the people,—
APPENDIX 981
a mild and safe corrective of abuses which are lopped by the sword of revolution, where peaceable
remedies are unprovided; absolute acquiescence in the decisions of the majority, — the vital prin
ciple of republics, from which is no appeal but to force, the vital principle and immediate parent
of despotism ; a well-disciplined militia, — our best reliance in peace and for the first moments
of war, till regulars may relieve them ; the supremacy of the civil over the military authority ;
economy in the public expense, that labor may be lightly burdened ; the honest payment of our
debts and sacred preservation of the public faith ; encouragement of agriculture, and of commerce
as its handmaid ; the diffusion of information and arraignment of all abuses at the bar of public
reason ; freedom of religion ; freedom of the press ; freedom of person under the protection of the
habeas corpus; and trial by juries impartially selected. These principles form the bright con
stellation which has gone before us, and guided our steps through an age of revolution and
reformation. The wisdom of our sages and the blood of our heroes have been devoted to their
attainment. They should be the creed of our political faith, the text of civic instruction, the,
touch-stone by which to try the services of those we trust ; and should we wander from them in
moments of error or of alarm, let us hasten to retrace our steps, and to regain the road which
alone leads to peace, liberty, and safety.
I repair, then, fellow-citizens, to the post you have assigned me. With experience enough
in subordinate offices to have seen the difficulties of this, the greatest of all, I have learned to
expect that it will rarely fall to the lot of imperfect man to retire from this station with the
reputation and the favor which bring him into it. Without pretensions to that high confidence
reposed in our first and greatest revolutionary character, whose pre-eminent services had entitled
him to the first place in his country's love, and destined for him the fairest page in the volume
of faithful history, I ask so much confidence only as may give firmness and effect to the legal
administration of your affairs. I shall often go wrong, through defect of judgment. When
right, I shall often be thought wrong by those whose positions will not command a view of the
whole ground. I ask your indulgence for my own errors, which will never be intentional ; and
your support against the errors of others, who may condemn what they would not if seen in all
its parts. The approbation implied by your suffrage is a consolation to me for the past ; and
my future solicitude will be to retain the good opinion of those who have bestowed it in ad
vance, to conciliate that of others by doing them all the good in my power, and to be instru
mental to the happiness and freedom of all.
Relying, then, on the patronage of your good will, I advance with obedience to the work,
ready to retire from it whenever you become sensible how much better choice it is in your
power to make. And may that Infinite Power which rules the destinies of the universe, lead
our councils to what is best, and give them a favorable issue for your peace and prosperity.—
viii, i. FORD ED., viii, i. (March 4, iSox.)
982 APPENDIX
SECOND INAUGURAL ADDRESS
March 4, 18O5
Proceeding, fellow-citizens, to that qualification which the Constitution requires before
my entrance on the charge again conferred upon me, it is my duty to express the deep sense I
entertain of this new proof of confidence from my fellow-citizens at large, and the zeal with
which it inspires me so to conduct myself as may best satisfy their just expectations.
On taking this station, on a former occasion, I declared the principles on which I believed
it my duty to administer the affairs of our commonwealth. My conscience tells me that I have,
on every occasion, acted up to that declaration, according to its obvious import, and to the un
derstanding of every candid mind.
In the transaction of your foreign affairs, we have endeavored to cultivate the friendship
of all nations, and especially of those with which we have the most important relations. We
have done them justice on all occasions, favor where favor was lawful, and cherished mutual
interests and intercourse on fair and equal terms. We are firmly convinced, and we act on
that conviction, that with nations, as with individuals, our interests soundly calculated, will
ever be found inseparable from our moral duties; and history bears witness to the fact, that
a just nation is taken on its word, when recourse is had to armaments and wars to bridle others.
At home, fellow-citizens, you best know whether we have done well or ill. The suppres
sion of unnecessary offices, of useless establishments and expenses, enabled us to discontinue
our internal taxes. These, covering our land with officers, and opening our doors to their intru
sions, had already begun that process of domiciliary vexation, which, once entered, is scarcely
to be restrained from reaching, successively, every article of produce and property. If, among
these taxes some minor ones fell which had not been inconvenient, it was because their amount
would not have paid the officers who collected them, and because, if they had any merit, the
State authorities might adopt them instead of others less approved.
The remaining revenue, on the consumption of foreign articles, is paid cheerfully by those
who can afford to add foreign luxuries to domestic comforts. Being collected on our seaboard
and frontiers only, and incorporated with the transactions of our mercantile citizens, it may
be the pleasure and pride of an American to ask, what farmer, what mechanic, what laborer,
ever sees a tax-gatherer of the United States? These contributions enable us to support the
current expenses of the Government ; to fulfil contracts with foreign nations ; to extinguish
the native right of soil within our limits ; to extend those limits ; and to apply such a surplus
to our public debts as places at a short day their final redemption ; and, that redemption once
effected, the revenue thereby liberated may, by a just repartition among the States, and a cor
responding amendment of the Constitution, be applied, in time of peace, to rivers, canals, roads,
arts, manufactures, education, and other great objects, within each State. In time of war, if in
justice by ourselves or others must sometimes produce war, increased, as the same revenue
will be increased by population and consumption, and aided by other resources reserved for
that crisis, it may meet, within the year all the expenses of the year, without encroaching on
the rights of future generations, by burdening them with the debts of the past. War will then
be but a suspension of useful works ; and a return to a state of peace, a return to the progress
of improvement.
I have said, fellow-citizens, that the income reserved had enabled us to extend our limits ;
but that extension may possibly pay for itself before we are called on, and, in the mean time,
may keep down the accruing interest ; in all events, it will repay the advances we have made. I
know that the acquisition of Louisiana has been disapproved by some, from a candid appre
hension that the enlargement of our territory would endanger its union. But who can limit the
extent to which the federative principle may operate effectively? The larger our association,
the less will it be shaken by local passions ; and, in any view, is it not better that the opposite
bank of the Mississippi should be settled by our own brethren and children, than by strangers
of another family? With which shall we be most likely to live in harmony and friendly in
tercourse ?
In matters of religion, I have considered that its free exercise is placed by the Consti
tution independent of the powers of the General Government. I have therefore undertaken,
on no occasion, to prescribe the religious exercises suited to it, but have left them as the Con
stitution found them, under the direction and discipline of State and Church authorities acknowl
edged by the several religious societies.
The aboriginal inhabitants of these countries I have regarded with the commiseration
their history inspires. Endowed with the faculties and the rights of men, breathing an ardent
love of liberty and independence, and occupying a country which left them no desire but to
be undisturbed, the stream of overflowing population from other regions directed itself on these
shores. Without power to divert, or habits to contend against, they have been overwhelmed
by the current, or driven before it. Now reduced within limits too narrow for the hunter
state, humanity enjoins us to teach them agriculture and the domestic arts, to encourage them
to that industry which alone can enable them to maintain their place in existence, and to
prepare them, in time, for that state of society which to bodily comforts adds the improvement
of the mind and morals. We have, therefore, liberally furnished them with the implements
of husbandry and household use ; we have placed among them instructors in the arts of first
necessity ; and they are covered with the aegis of the law against aggressors from among our
selves.
But the endeavors to enlighten them on the fate which awaits their present course of life,
to induce them to exercise their reason, follow its dictates, and change their pursuits with
the change of circumstances, have powerful obstacles to encounter. They are combated by
the habits of their bodies, prejudice of their minds, ignorance, pride, and the influence of
interested and crafty individuals among them, who feel themselves something in the present
order of things, and fear to become nothing in any other. These persons inculcate a sancti
monious reverence for the customs of their ancestors; that whatsoever they did must be done
APPENDIX 983
through all time ; that reason is a false guide, and to advance under its counsel in their phys
ical, moral, or political conditions, is perilous innovation ; that their duty is to remain as their
Creator made them — ignorance being safety, and knowledge full of danger. In short, my
friends, among them is seen the action and counteraction of good sense and bigotry. They,
too, have their anti-philosophers, who find an interest in keeping things in their present state,
who dread reformation, and exert all their faculties to maintain the ascendency of habit over
the duty of improving our reason and obeying its mandates.
In giving these outlines, I do not mean, fellow-citizens, to arrogate to myself the merit
of the measures ; that is due, in the first place, to the reflecting character of our citizens at
large, who, by the weight of public opinion, influence and strengthen the public measures.
It is due to the sound discretion with which they select from among themselves those to whom
they confide the legislative duties. It is due to the zeal and wisdom of the characters thus
selected, who lay the foundations of public happiness in wholesome laws, the execution of
which alone remains for others. And it is due to the able and faithful auxiliaries whose
patriotism has associated with me in the executive functions.
During this course of administration, and in order to disturb it, the artillery of the press
has been levelled against us, charged with whatsoever its licentiousness could devise or dare.
These abuses of an institution so important to freedom and science are deeply to be regretted,
inasmuch as they tend to lessen its usefulness and to sap its safety. They might, indeed, have
been corrected by the wholesome punishments reserved and provided by the laws of the several
States against falsehood and defamation ; but public duties more urgent press on the time of
public servants, and the offenders have therefore been left to find their punishment in the public
indignation.
Nor was it uninteresting to the world, that an experiment should be fairly and fully
made, whether freedom of discussion, unaided by power, is not sufficient for the propagation
and protection of truth ? Whether a government, conducting itself in the true spirit of its
constitution, with zeal and purity, and doing no act which it would be unwilling the whole
world should witness, can be written down by falsehood and defamation? The experiment
has been tried. You have witnessed the scene. Our fellow-citizens have looked on cool and
collected. They saw the latent source from which these outrages proceeded. They gathered
around their public functionaries ; and, when the Constitution called them to the decision
by suffrage, they pronounced their verdict, honorable to those who had served them, and con
solatory to the friend of man, who believes he may be intrusted with his own affairs.
No inference is here intended that the laws provided by the State against false and de
famatory publications should not be enforced. He who has time, renders a service to public
morals and public tranquillity in reforming these abuses by the salutary coercions of the law.
But the experiment is noted to prove that, since truth and reason have maintained their ground
against false opinions, in league with false facts, the press, confined to truth, needs no other
legal restraint. The public judgment will correct false reasonings and opinions, on a full
hearing of all parties ; and no other definite line can be drawn between the inestimable liberty
of the press and its demoralizing licentiousness. If there be still improprieties which this
rule would not restrain, its supplement must be sought in the censorship of public opinion.
Contemplating the union of sentiment now manifested so generally, as auguring harmony
and happiness to our future course, I offer to our country sincere congratulations. With
those, too, not yet rallied to the same point, the disposition to do so is gaining strength.
Facts are piercing through the veil drawn over them ; and our doubting brethren will at length
see that the mass of their fellow-citizens, with whom they cannot yet resolve to act, as to
principles and measures, think as they think, and desire what they desire ; that our wish, as
well as theirs, is, that the public efforts may be directed honestly to the public good, that
peace be cultivated, civil and religious liberty unassailed, law and order preserved, equality
of rights maintained, and that state of property, equal or unequal, which results to every man
from his own industry, or that of his father's. When satisfied of these views, it is not in human
nature that they should not approve and support them. In the meantime, let us cherish them
with patient affection ; let us do them justice, and more than justice, in all competitions of
interest, — and we need not doubt that truth, reason, and their own interests, will at length
prevail — will gather them into the fold of their country, and will complete their entire union
of opinion which gives to a nation the blessing of harmony, and the benefit of all its strength.
I shall now enter on the duties to which my fellow-citizens have again called me, and
shall proceed in the spirit of those principles which they have approved. I fear not that any
motives of interest may lead me astray. I am sensible of no passion which could seduce me,
knowingly, from the path of justice ; but the weaknesses of human nature, and the limits
of my own understanding, will produce errors of judgment sometimes injurious to your in
terests. I shall need, therefore, all the indulgence I have heretofore experienced, the
want of it will certainly not lessen with increasing years. I shall need, too, the favor of that
Being in whose hands we are ; who led our forefathers, as Israel of old, from their native land,
and planted them in a country flowing with all the necessaries and comforts of life ; who has
covered our infancy with His providence, and our riper years with His wisdom and power; and to
whose goodness I ask you to join with me in supplications, that He will so enlighten the minds
of your servants, guide their councils, and prosper their measures, that whatsoever they do
shall result in your good, and shall secure to you the peace, friendship, and approbation of all
nations. — vift, 40. FORD ED., viii, 341. (March 4, 1805.)
984
APPENDIX
ADDRESS OP THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OP VIRGINIA
The " Valedictory Address of the General Assembly of Virginia ", which was agreed to on
the 7th of February, 1809, gives a good idea of the high estimation in which Jefferson was held
by his party, and the great majority of his countrymen, when he retired from the Presidency.
It is as follows : —
"Sir. — The General Assembly of your native State cannot close their session, without
acknowledging your services in the office which you are just about to lay down, and bidding
you a respectful and affectionate farewell.
" We have to thank you for the model of an administration conducted on the purest prin
ciples of republicanism ; for pomp and state laid aside ; patronage discarded ; internal taxes
abolished ; a host of superfluous officers disbanded ; the monarchic maxim that ' a national debt
is a national blessing ', renounced, and more than thirty-three millions of our debt discharged ;
the native right to nearly one hundred millions of acres of our national domain extinguished ;
and, without the guilt or calamities of conquest, a vast and fertile region added to our country,
far more extensive than her original possessions, bringing along with it the Mississippi and
the port of Orleans, the trade of the West to the Pacific ocean, and in the intrinsic value of
the land itself, a source of permanent and almost inexhaustible revenue. These are points in
your administration which the historian will not fail to seize, to expand, and teach posterity
to dwell upon with delight. -Nor will he forget our peace with the civilized world, preserved
through a season of uncommon difficulty and trial ; the good will cultivated with the unfortunate
aborigines of our country, and the civilization humanely extended among them ; the lesson
taught the inhabitants of the coast of Barbary, that we have the means of chastising their
piratical encroachments, and awing them into justice ; and that theme, on which, above all
others, the historic genius will hang with rapture, the liberty of speech and of the press, pre
served inviolate, without which genius and science are given to man in vain.
" In the principles on which you have administered the government, we see only the
continuation and maturity of the same virtues and abilities, which drew upon you in your
youth the resentment of Dunmore. From the first brilliant and happy moment of your resist
ance to foreign tyranny, until the present day, we mark with pleasure and with gratitude the
same uniform, consistent character, the same warm and devoted attachment to liberty and the
Republic, the same Roman love of your country, her rights, her peace, her honor, her pros
perity.
" How blessed will be the retirement into which you are about to go ! How deservedly
blessed will it be '. For you carry with you the richest of all rewards, the recollection of a life
well spent in the service of your country, and proofs the most decisive, of the love, the gratitude,
the veneration of your countrymen.
" That your retirement may be as happy as your life has been virtuous and useful ; that
our youth may see, in the blissful close of your days, an additional inducement to form them
selves on your model, is the devout and earnest prayer of your fellow-citizens who compose the
General Assembly of Virginia." — RAYNER'S Life of Jefferson, p. 494.
APPENDIX 985
ADDRESS TO THE INHABITANTS OP ALBEMARLE CO., IN VIRGINIA
Returning to the scenes of my birth and early life, to the society of those with whom I
was raised, and who have been ever dear to me, I receive, fellow-citizens and neighbors, with
inexpressible pleasure, the cordial welcome you were so good as to give me. Long absent on
duties which the history of a wonderful era made incumbent on those called to them, the pomp,
the turmoil, the bustle and splendor of office ; have drawn but deeper sighs for the tranquil and
irresponsible occupations of private life, for the enjoyment of an affectionate intercourse with
you, my neighbors and friends, and the endearments of family love, which nature has given
us all, as the sweetner of every hour. For these I gladly lay down the distressing burthen of
power, and seek, with my fellow-citizens, repose and safety under the watchful cares, the
labors and perplexities of younger and abler minds. The anxieties you express to administer
to my happiness, do, of themselves, confer that happiness ; and the measure will be complete,
if any endeavors to fulfil my duties in the several public stations to which I have been called,
have obtained for me the approbation of my country. The part which I have acted on the
theatre of public life, has been before them ; and to their sentence I submit it ; but the testi
mony of my native county, of the individuals who have known me in private life, to my con
duct in its various duties and relations, is the more grateful, as proceeding from eye-wit
nesses and observers, from triers of the vicinage. Of you, then, my neighbors, I may ask, in
the face of the world, " whose ox have I taken, or whom have I defrauded ? Whom have I
oppressed, or of whose hand have I received a bribe to blind mine eyes therewith " ? On your
verdict I rest with conscious security. Your wishes for my happiness are received with just
sensibility, and I offer sincere prayers for your own welfare and prosperity. — To THE INHABIT
ANTS OF ALBEMARLE COUNTY, VA. v, 439. FORD ED., ix, 250. (M., April 3, 1809.)
986
APPENDIX
DECLARATION AND PROTEST OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA*
We, the General Assembly of Virginia, on behalf, and in the name of the people thereof,
do declare as follows :
The States of North America which confederated to establish their independence of the
government of Great Britain, of which Virginia was one, became, on that acquisition free
and independent States, and as such, authorized to constitute governments, each for "itself, in
such form as it thought best.
They entered into a compact (which is called the Constitution of the United States of
America), by which they agreed to unite in a single government as to their relations with
each other, and with foreign nations, and as to certain other articles particularly specified.
They retained at the same time, each to itself, the other rights of independent government,
comprehending mainly their domestic interests.
For the administration of their Federal branch, they agreed to appoint, in conjunction,
a distinct set of functionaries, legislative, executive and judiciary, in the manner settled in
that compact; while to each, severally, and of course remained its original right of appoint
ing, each for itself, a separate set of functionaries, legislative, executive and judiciary, also,
for administering the domestic branch of their respective governments.
These two sets of officers, each independent of the other, constitute thus a whole of gov
ernment, for each State separately ; the powers ascribed to the one, as specifically made
federal, exercised over the whole, the residuary powers, retained to the other, exercisable ex
clusively over its particular State, foreign herein, each to the others, as they were before the
original compact.
To this construction of government and distribution of its powers, the Commonwealth of
Virginia does religiously and affectionately adhere, opposing, with equal fidelity and firmness,
the usurpation of either set of functionaries of the rightful powers of the other.
But the Federal branch has assumed in some cases, and claimed in others, a right of
enlarging its own powers by constructions, inferences, and indefinite deductions from those
directly given, which this Assembly does declare to be usurpations of the powers retained to
the independent branches, mere interpolations into the compact, and direct infractions of it.
They claim, for example, and have commenced the exercise of a right to construct roads,
open canals, and effect other internal improvements within the territories and jurisdictions ex
clusively belonging to the several States, which this Assembly does declare has not been given
to that branch by the constitutional compact, but remains to each State among its domestic
and unalienated powers, exercisable within itself and by its domestic authorities alone.
This Assembly does further disavow and declare to be most false and unfounded, the
doctrine that the compact, in authorzing its Federal branch to lay and collect taxes, duties,
imposts and excises, to pay the debts and provide for the common defence and general wel
fare of the United States, has given them thereby a power to do whatever they may think,
or pretend, would promote the general welfare, which construction would make that, of itself,
a complete government, without limitation of powers ; but that the plain sense and obvious
meaning were, that they might levy the taxes necessary to provide for the general welfare, by the
various acts of power therein specified and delegated to them, and by no others.
Nor is it admitted, as has been said, that the people of these States, by not investing
their Federal branch with all the means of bettering their condition, have denied to them
selves any which may effect that purpose ; since, in the distribution of these means they have
given to that branch those which belong to its department, and to the States have reserved
separately the residue which belong to them separately. And thus by the organization of the
two branches taken together, have completely secured the first object of human association,
the full improvement of their condition, and reserved to themselves all the faculties of multi
plying their own blessings.
Whilst the General Assembly thus declares the rights retained by the States, rights which
they have never yielded, and which this State will never voluntarily yield, they do not mean
to raise the banner of dissatisfaction, or of separation from their sister States, co-parties with
themselves to this compact. They know and value too highly the blessings of their Union as to
foreign nations and questions arising among themselves, to consider every infraction as
to be met by actual resistance. They respect too affectionately the opinions of those pos
sessing the same rights under the same instrument, to make every difference of construction
a ground of immediate rupture. They would, indeed, consider such a rupture as among the
greatest calamities which could befall them ; but not the greatest. There is yet one greater,
submission to a government of unlimited powers. It is only when the hope of avoiding this
shall have become absolutely desperate, that further forbearance could not be indulged. Should
a majority of the co-parties, therefore, contrary to the expectation and hope of this Assem
bly, prefer, at this time, acquiescence in these assumptions of power by the Federal member of
the government, we will be patient and suffer much, under the confidence that time, ere it be
too late, will prove to them also the bitter consequences in which that usurpation will involve
us all. In the meanwhile, we will breast with them, rather than separate from them, every
misfortune, save that only of living under a government of unlimited powers. We owe
every other sacrifice to ourselves, to our federal brethren, and to the world at large, to pursue
with temper and with perseverance the great experiment which shall prove that man is capable
of living in society, governing itself by laws self-imposed, and securing to its members the
enjoyment of life, liberty, property, and peace ; and further to show, that even when the govern-
* This paper was entitled by Jefferson, "The Solemn Declaration and Protest of the Commonwealth
same thing in a different form. It will be viewed with favor in contrast with the Georgia opposition, and
fear of strengthening that. It will be an example of a temperate mode of opposition in future and similar
cases."— EDITOR.
APPENDIX 987
ment of its choice shall manifest a tendency to degeneracy, we are not at once to despair but
that the will and the watchfulness of its sounder parts will reform its aberrations, recall it to
original and legitimate principles, and restrain it within the rightful limits of self-govern
ment. And these are the objects of this Declaration and Protest.
Supposing, then, that it might be for the good of the whole, as some of its co-States seem
to think, that the power of making roads and canals should be added to those directly given
to the Federal branch, as more likely to be systematically and beneficially directed, than by the
independent action of the several States, this Commonwealth, from respect to these opinions,
and a desire of conciliation with its co-States, will consent, in concurrence with them, to make
this addition, provided it be done regularly by an amendment of the compact, in the way
established by that instrument, and provided also, it be sufficiently guarded against abuses,
compromises, and corrupt practices, not only of possible, but of probable occurrence.
And as a further pledge of the sincere and cordial attachment of this Commonwealth to
the Union of the whole, so far as has been consented to by the compact called " The Con
stitution of the United States of America " (constructed according to the plain and ordinary
meaning of its language, to the common intendment of the time, and of those who framed
it) ; to give also to all parties and authorities, time for reflection and consideration, whether,
under a temperate view of the possible consequences, and especially of the constant obstruc
tions which an equivocal majority must ever expect to meet, they will still prefer the assump
tion of this power rather than its acceptance from the free will of their constituents ; and to
preserve peace in the meanwhile, we proceed to make it the duty of our citizens, until the
Legislature shall otherwise and ultimately decide, to acquiesce under those acts of the Federal
branch of our government which we have declared to be usurpations, and against which, in
point of right, we do protest as null and void, and never to be quoted as precedents of right.
We, therefore, do enact, and Be It Enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia, That all
citizens of this Commonwealth, and persons and authorities within the same, shall pay full
obedience at all times to the acts which may be passed by the Congress of the United States,
the object of which shall be the construction of post roads, making canals of navigation, and
maintaining the same in any part of the United States, in like manner as if said acts were
totidem verbis, passed by the Legislature of this Commonwealth. — ix, 496. FORD ED., x, 349.
(Dec. 24, 1825.)
988
APPENDIX
ESTRANGEMENT AND RECONCILIATION OF JEFFERSON AND ADAMS
[To Mrs. John Adams.]
Dear Madam, — The affectionate sentiments which you have had the goodness to express
in your letter of May 20, towards my dear departed daughter, have awakened in me sensibilities
natural to the occasion, and recalled your kindness to her, which I shall ever remember with
gratitude and friendship. I can assure you with truth, they had made an indelible impression
on her mind, and that to the last, on our meetings after long separations, whether I had heard
lately of you, and how you did, were among the earliest of her enquiries. In giving you this
assurance I perform a sacred duty for her, and, at the same time, am thankful for the occa
sion furnished me, of expressing my regret that circumstances should have arisen, which have
seemed to draw a line of separation between us. The friendship with which you honored me
has ever been valued, and fully reciprocated ; and although events have been passing which
might be trying to some minds, I never believed yours to be of that kind, nor felt that my
own was. Neither my estimate of your character, nor the esteem founded in that, has ever
been lessened for a single moment, although doubts whether it would be acceptable may have
forbidden manifestations of it.
Mr. Adams's friendship and mine began at an earlier date. It accompanied us through
long and important scenes. The different conclusions we had drawn from our political reading
and reflections, were not permitted to lessen personal esteem ; each party being conscious they
were the result of an honest conviction in the other. Like differences of opinion existing among
our fellow citizens, attached them to one or the other of us, and produced a rivalship in their
minds which did not exist in ours. We never stood in one another's way ; for if either
had been withdra\vn at any time, his favorers would not have gone over to the
other, but would have sought for some one of homogeneous opinions. This consid
eration was sufficient to keep down all jealousy between us, and to guard our friend
ship from any disturbance by sentiments of rivalship ; and I can say with truth, that
one act of Mr. Adams's life, and one only, ever gave me a moment's personal displeasure.
I did consider his last appointments to office as personally unkind. They were from among
my most ardent political enemies, from whom no faithful cooperation could ever be expected ;
and laid me under the embarrassment of acting through men whose views were to defeat mine',
or to encounter the odium of putting others in their places. It seemed but common justice to
leave a successor free to act by instruments of his own choice. If my respect for him did not
permit me to ascribe the whole blame to the influence of others, it left something for friend
ship to forgive, and after brooding over it for some little time, and not always resisting the
expressing of it, I forgave it cordially, and returned to the same state of esteem and respect
for him which had so long subsisted. Having come into life a little later than Mr. Adams,
his career has preceded mine, as mine is followed by some other ; and it will probably be closed
at the same distance after him which time originally placed between us. I maintain for him,
and shall carry into private life, an uniform and high measure of respect and good will, and for
yourself a sincere attachment. * * * — To MRS. JOHN ADAMS, iv, 545. FORD ED viii 306
(W., June 1804.)
[To Mrs. John Adams.]
Dear Madam, — Your favor of the ist inst. was duly received, and I would not have again
intruded on you, but to rectify certain facts which seem not to have been presented to you under
their true aspects.* My charities to Callender are considered as rewards for his calumnies. As
early, I think, as 1796, I was told in Philadelphia that Callender, the author of the " Political
and in distress,
persecuted.
to contribute to his relief, and to serve him. It was a considerable time after, that, on applica
tion from a person who thought of him as I did, I contributed to his relief, and afterwards
repeated the contribution. Himself I did not see till long after, nor ever more than two or
three times. When he first began to write, he told some useful truths in his coarse way;
but nobody sooner disapproved of his writing than I did, or wished more that he would be
silent. My charities to him were no more meant as encouragements to his scurrilities, than
those I give to the beggar at my door are meant as rewards for the vices of his life, and to
make them chargeable to myself. In truth, they would have been greater to him, had he never
written a word after the work for which he fled from Britain . ' * *
But another fact is, that " I liberated a wretch who was suffering for a libel against Mr.
Adams ''. I do not know who was the particular wretch alluded to ; but I discharged every
person under punishment or prosecution under the Sedition law, because I considered, and now
consider, that law to be a nullity, as absolute and as palpable as if Congress had ordered us to
fall down and worship a golden image ; and that it was as much my duty to arrest its execu
tion in every stage, a? it would have been to have rescued from the fiery furnace those who
should have been cast into it for refusing to worship the image. It was accordingly done in
every instance, without asking what the offenders had done, or against whom they had offended,
but whether the pains they were suffering were inflicted under the pretended Sedition law.
It was certainly possible that my motives for contributing to the relief of Callender, and
liberating sufferers under the Sedition law, might have been to protect, encourage, and re
ward slander ; but they may also have been those which inspire ordinary charities to objects
of distress, meritorious or not, or the obligation of an oath to protect the Constitution, violated
by an unauthorized act of Congress. Which of these were my motives, must be decided by a
* Mrs. Adams, in replying to the preceding letter,
lender as an offset to the midnight appointments. See
•f Quotation so gives the part of the letter omitted
•f Quotation 59 gives the part of the letter omitted at this point. — EDITOR.
put forward Jefferson's patronage of Editor Cal-
CALLENDER.— EDITOR.
APPENDIX 989
regard to the general tenor of my life. On this I am not afraid to appeal to the nation at large,
to posterity, and still less to that Being who sees Himself our motives, who will judge us from
His own knowledge of them, and not on the testimony of " Porcupine " or Fenno.
You observe, there has been one other act of my administration personally unkind, and
suppose it will readily suggest itself to me. I declare on my honor, Madam, I have not the
least conception what act is alluded to. I never did a single one with an unkind intention.
* * * — To MRS. JOHN ADAMS, iv, 555. FORD ED., viii, 308. (July 1804.)
[To Mrs. John Adams.]
Your letter, Madam, of the i8th of August, has been some days received, but a press of
business has prevented the acknowledgment of it; perhaps, indeed, I may have already tres
passed too far on your attention. With those who wish to think amiss of me, I have learned
to be perfectly indifferent ; but where I know a mind to be ingenuous, and to need only truth
to set it to rights, I cannot be as passive. The act of personal unkindness alluded to in your
former letter, is said in your last to have been the removal of your eldest son from some office
to which the judges had appointed him. I conclude, then, he must have been a commis
sioner of bankruptcy. But I declare to you, on my honor, that this is the first knowledge
I have ever had that he was so. It may be thought, perhaps, that I ought to have enquired
who were such, before I appointed others. But it is to be observed, that the former law
permitted the judges to name commissioners occasionally only, for every case as it arose,
and not to make them permanent officers. Nobody, therefore, being in office, there could
be no removal. The judges, you well know, have been considered as highly federal ; and
it was noted that they confined their nominations exclusively to federalists. The Legis
lature, dissatisfied with this, transferred the nomination to the President, and made the
offices permanent. The very object in passing the law was, that he should correct, not
confirm, what was deemed the partiality of the judges. I thought it, therefore, proper to
inquire, not whom they had employed, but whom I ought to appoint to fulfil the intentions
of the law. In making these appointments, I put in a proportion of federalists, equal, I
believe, to the proportion they bear in numbers through the Union generally. Had I known
that your son had acted, it would have been a real pleasure to me to have preferred him
to some who were named in Boston, in what was deemed the same line of politics. To this
I should have been led by my knowledge of his integrity, as well as my sincere disposi
tions towards yourself and Mr. Adams *. * * * The candor manifested in your letter,
and which I ever believed you to possess, has alone inspired the desire of calling your
attention, once more, to those circumstances of fact and motive by which I claim, to be
judged. I hope you will see these intrusions on your time to be, what they really are, proofs
of my great respect for you. I tolerate with the utmost latitude the right of others to differ
from me in opinion without imputing to them criminality. I know too well the weakness
and uncertainty of human reason to wonder at its different results. Both of our political
parties, at least the honest part of them, agree conscientiously in the same object — the pub
lic good ; but they differ essentially in what they deem the means of promoting that good.
One side believes it best done by one composition of the governing powers ; the other, by a
different one. One fears most the ignorance of the people ; the other, the selfishness of rulers
independent of them. Which is right, time and experience will prove. We think that one
side of this experiment has been long enough tried, and proved not to promote the good of
the many ; and that the other has not been fairly and sufficiently tried. Our opponents
think the reverse. With whichever opinion the body of the nation concurs, that must
prevail. My anxieties on this subject will never carry me beyond the use of fair and hon
orable means, of truth and reason ; nor have they ever lessened my esteem for moral worth,
nor alienated my affections from a single friend, who did not first withdraw himself. When
ever this has happened, I confess I have not been insensible to it ; yet have ever kept my
self open to a return of their justice. I conclude with sincere prayers for your health and
happiness, that yourself and Mr. Adams may long enjoy the tranquillity you desire and merit,
and see in the prosperity of your family what is the consummation of the last and warmest
of human wishes. — To MRS. JOHN ADAMS, iv, 560. FORD ED., viii, 310. (M., Sep. n, 1804.)
[To Dr. Benjamin Rush.]
I receive with sensibility your observations on the discontinuance of friendly correspondence
between Mr. Adams and myself, and the concern you take in its restoration. This discon
tinuance has not proceeded from me, nor from the want of sincere desire and of effort on my
part, to renew our intercourse. You know the perfect coincidence of principle and of action,
in the early part of the Revolution, which produced a high degree of mutual respect and
esteem between Mr. Adams and myself. Certainly no man was ever truer than he was, in
that day, to those principles of rational republicanism which, after the necessity of throwing
off our monarchy, dictated all our efforts in the establishment of a new government. And
although he swerved, afterwards, towards the principles of the English constitution, our
friendship did not abate on that account + .
You remember the machinery which the federalists played off, about that time, to beat
down the friends to the real principles of our Constitution, to silence by terror every ex
pression in their favor, to bring us into war with France and alliance with England, and
finally to homologize our Constitution with that of England. Mr. Adams, you know, was
overwhelmed with feverish addresses, dictated by the fear, and often by the pen, of the
bloody buoy, and was seduced by them into some open indications of his new principles of
* The part of the letter omitted here is printed in this volume under the title, SEDITION LAW, EXECU
TIVE vs. JUDICIARY.— EDITOR.
t For omitted clause, see quotation 89.— EDITOR.
990 APPENDIX
government, and in fact, was so elated as to mix with his kindness a little superciliousness
towards me. Even Mrs. Adams, with all her good sense and prudence, was sensibly flushed.
And you recollect the short suspension of our intercourse, and the circumstance which gave
rise to it which you were so good as to bring to an early explanation, and have set to rights,
to the cordial satisfaction of us all *. * * *
Two or three years after, having had the misfortune to lose a daughter, between whom
and Mrs. Adams there had been a considerable attachment, she made it the occasion of writing
me a letter, in which, with the tenderest expression of concern at this event, she carefully
avoided a single one of friendship towards myself, and even concluded it with the wishes " of
her who once took pleasure in subscribing herself your friend, Abigail Adams ". Unpromising
as was the complexion of this letter, I determined to make an effort towards removing the
cloud from between us. This brought on a correspondence which I now enclose for your
perusal, after which be so good as to return it to me, as I have never communicated it to
any mortal breathing, before. I send it to you, to convince you I have not been wanting
either in the desire, or the endeavor to remove this misunderstanding. Indeed, I thought
it highly disgraceful to us both, as indicating minds not sufficiently elevated to prevent a
public competition from affecting our personal friendship. I soon found from the correspond
ence that conciliation was desperate, and yielding to an intimation in her last letter, I ceased
from further explanation t. *
I have gone into these details, that you might know everything which had passed between
us, might be fully possessed of the state of facts and dispositions, and judge for yourself whether
they admit a revival of that friendly intercourse for which you are so kindly solicitous. I
shall certainly not be wanting in anything on my part which may second your efforts, which
will be the easier with me, inasmuch as I do not entertain a sentiment of Mr. Adams, the ex
pression of which could give him reasonable offence. — To DK. BENJAMIN RUSH, v, 558. FORD
ED., ix, 299. (M., Jan. 1811.)
[To Dr. Benjamin Rush.]
I communicated to you the correspondence which had parted Mrs. Adams and myself, in
proof that I could not give friendship in exchange for such sentiments as she had recently
taken up towards myself, and avowed and maintained in her letters to me. Nothing but a
total renunciation of these could admit a reconciliation, and that could be cordial only in pro
portion as the return to ancient opinions was believed sincere. In these jaundiced sentiments
of hers I had associated Mr. Adams, knowing the weight which her opinions had with him,
and notwithstanding she declared in her letters that they were not communicated to him. A
late incident has satisfied me that I wronged him as well as her, in not yielding entire con
fidence to this assurance on her part. Two of the Mr. , my neighbors and friends,
took a tour to the northward during the last summer. In Boston they fell into company with
Mr. Adams, and * * * passed a day with him at Braintree. He spoke out to them every
thing which came uppermost, * * * and seemed most disposed to dwell on those things
which happened during his own administration. He spoke of his masters, as he called his
Heads of departments, as acting above his control, and often against his opinions. Among
many other topics, he adverted to the unprincipled licentiousness of the press against my
self, adding, " I always loved lefferson, and still love him ".
This is enough for me. I only needed this knowledge to revive towards him all the affec
tions of the most cordial moments of our lives. Changing a single word only in Dr. Franklin's
character of him, I knew him to be always an honest man, often a great one, but sometimes
incorrect and precipitate in his judgments ; and it is known to those who have ever heard me
speak of Mr. Adams, that I have ever done him justice myself, and defended him when, as
sailed by others, with the single exception as to political opinions. But with a man possessing
so many other estimable qualities, why should we be dissocialized by mere differences of
opinion in politics, in religion, in philosophy, or anything else? His opinions are as honestly
formed as my own. Our different views of the same subject are the result of a difference
in our organization and experience. I never withdrew from the society of any man on this
account, although many have done it from me ; much less should I do it from one with whom
I had gone through, with hand and heart, so many trying scenes. I wish, therefore, but for
an apposite occasion to express to Mr. Adams my unchanged affections for him. There is an
awkwardness which hangs over the resuming a correspondence so long discontinued, unless
something could arise which should call for a letter. Time and chance may perhaps generate
such an occasion, of which I shall not be wanting in promptitude to avail myself. From this
fusion of mutual affections, Mrs. Adams is, of course, separated. It will only be necessary
that I never name her. In your letters to Mr. Adams, you can, perhaps suggest my continued
cordiality towards him, and knowing this, should an occasion of writing first present itself to
him, he will, perhaps, avail himself of it, as I certainly will, should it first occur to me. No
ground for jealousy now existing, he will certainly give fair play to the natural warmth of his
heart. — To DR. BENJAMIN RUSH, vi, 30. FORD ED., ix, 299. (P.F., Dec. 1811.)
* Quotations 77, 78, 83 and 88 give the continuation of the text.— EDITOR.
t Quotations 72 and 60, read consecutively, supply the omission in the text.— EDITOR.
TOPICAL INDEX
WITH CROSS-REFERENCES
Abilities, 1
Character, 133
Genius, 381
Talents, 848
Aborigines, 1
Cherokees, 136
Indians, 420, 944, 948, 952
Abuse, 2
Abuses, 2
Calumny, 122
Libels, 497
Ministers, 558
Newspapers, 635
Slander, 809
Academy, 3
Academies, 4
Education, 273
Schools, 790
University (National), 899
University of Va., 900
Accounts, 5
Finances, 336
Acquisition of Territory, 860
Canada, 124
Conquest, 185
Cuba, 222
Expansion, 319, 468, 512, 617, 862
Florida, 339
Louisiana, 509
Nova Scotia, 642
Policy (American), £S7
Actions, 5
Conduct, 167
Disinterestedness, 258
Labor, 458
Adair (James), 421
Indians, 421
Adams (John), 6, 13, 18, 678, 715,
763, 800
Adams (John Quincy), 12
Adams (Mrs. John), 988
Adams (Samuel), 13
Address, Washington's Farewell,
929
Addresses, 13
Addresses (Jefferson's Inaugu
ral) , 980, 982
Adjournment, 14
Congress, 172
Administration, 16
Cabinet, 117
Admiralty Courts, 19
Courts, 214
Admission of States, 941, 943
States, 834
Advertisements, 20
Newspapers, 635
Advice, 20
Council, 211
Instructions, 426
Aeronautics, 66
Balloons, 66
Affection, 21
Family, 321
Friends, 363
Friendship, 363
Happiness, 397
Home, 409
Sympathy, 848
Affliction, 21
Despair, 254
Grief, 395
Misfortune, 560
Age, Old, 21
Antiquities, 39
Time, 867
Agents, 342
Foreign Agents, 342
Aggression, 23
Filibusterism, 335
Agitation, 23
Lethargy, 419
Agrarianism, 23
Descents, 253
Entail, 307
Inheritances, 426
Primogeniture, 719
Monopoly, 579
Mortmain, 596
Agriculture, 23
Farmer, 322
Farmers, 322
Farming, 323
Horticulture, 411
Olive, 658
Potato, 707
Rice, 777
Sugar, 842
Tobacco, 868
Vegetables, 904
Wheat, 943
Alexander of Russsa, 27, 809
Catherine of Russia, 421, 786
Dashkoff (M ), 223
Russia, 786, 888
Alexandria, Va., 30
Cities, 143
Algiers, 80
Captives, 128
Alienage, 30
Land, 465
Alienation of Territory, 860
Territory, 860
Western Territory, 939
Alien and Sedition Laws, 30
Aliens, 32
Sedition, Law, 795
Aliens, 32
Alien and Sedition Laws, 30
Citizens, 144
Deportation Act, 252
Deportation of Aliens, 253
Expatriation 319, 780
Naturalization, 609
Sedition Law, 795
Allegiance, 32
Expatriation, 319, 780
Allen, Ethan, 32
Retaliation, 762
Alliance, 32
Alliance, Holy, 408
Alliances, 34
Policy (American), 697
Allodial Tenures, 465
Feudal Tenures, 465
Land, 465
Alloy in Money, 262
Coinage, 261, 573
Mint, 559
Allston, Washington, 34
Burr (Aaron), 111
Almanacs, 35
Astronomy, 61
Almighty, The, 248
Bible, 88
Church and State, 141
Deity, 248
God, 384
Providence, 731
Religion, 742
Alms, 134
Charity, 134
Altercations, 35
Aggression, 23
Amalgamation of Parties, 675
Politics, 701
Ambassadors, 555
Diplomacy, 258
Diplomatic Establishment, 258
Ambition, 35, 363
Applause, 39
Approbation, 42
Reputation, 761
Amendments to Constitution, 35
Bill of Rights, 88
Constitution (The Federal), 188
Internal Improvements, 429
Judiciary (Federal), 449
Louisiana, 510
President, 712
Virginia Protest, 986
America, 35
America (British), Rights of, 963
American Independence, 420
American Policy, 697
Americus Vespucius, 36
History (American), 406
Anarchy, 36
Law, 479, 481
Law (Lynch), 46
Order, 864
Anatomy, 36
Medicine, 547
Ancestors, 36
Ancestry, 36
Aristocracy, 48
Aristocrats, 51
Birth, 92
Birthday, 92
Posterity, 705
Primogeniture, 719
Angels, 37
Self-government, 796
Anger, 37
Passions, 679
Revenge, 767
Temper, 859
Anglomania, 37
Anglophobia, 37
Anglo-Saxon Language, 471
Language, 470
Neology, 624
(991)
992
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Animals, 110
Horses, 411, 504, 949
Natural History, 607
Paleontology, 667
Sheep, 803
Animosities, 37
Peace, 682
Annexation, 861
Canada, 124
Louisiana, 509
Territory, 860
Annuities, 38
Tontine, 869
Anonymous Writing, 38
Letters, 494
Letter-writing, 495
Anti-Federalists, 38
Democratic Societies, 251
Democrats, 252
Federalism, 328
Federalists, 329
Hartford Convention, 400
Jacobins, 435
Missouri Question, 563
Monarchy, 566
Parties, 675
Politics, 701
Republicanism (Partisan), 754
Republicans, 755
Antiquities, 39
Age, Old, 21
Apostasy, 39
Principle, 720
Applause, 39
Approbation, 42
Honor, 410
Honors, 411
Praise, 711
Reputation, 761
Appointment, 39
Office, 644
Offices, 647
Office-holders, 652
Relations, 741
Apportionment, 39
Apportionment Bill, 41
Representation, 747
Approbation, 42
Ambition, 35
Applause, 39
Reputation, 761
Appropriations, 43
Finances, 336
Funding, 369
Treasury, 874
Arbitration, 44
Umpire, 890
Arboriculture, 45
Architecture, 45
Arts, 58
Aristocracy, 48
Aristocrats, 51
Birth, 92
Birthday, 92
Aristocrats, 51
Aristocracy, 48
Birth, 92
Aristotle, 51
Philosophy, 695
Arms, 51, 631
Arms, American, 51
Arms of Jefferson Family, 52
Arms of Virginia, 52
Armstrong (John), 52
War of 1812, 921
Army, 52
Army Officers, 56
Deserters, 254
Discipline, 258
Draft, 263
Generals, 372
Martial Law, 542
Militia, 550
Volunteers, 915
War, 915
War of 1812, 921
War (Prisoners of), 924
Arnold, Benedict, 56
Treason, 873
Art, 57
Architecture, 45
Artisans, 57
Artists, 58
Arts, 58
Music, 599
Sculpture, 792
Artisans, 57
Labor, 458
Laborers, 459
Artists, 58
Arts, 58
Assassination, 58
Murder, 598
Assennisipia, Proposed State of,
941
Western Territory, 939
Assignats, 58
Paper Money, 668
Assumption of State Debts, 58
Funding, 369
Astor's Settlement, 61
Fur Trade, 369, 939
Astronomy, 61
East and West Line, 271
Latitude and Longitude, 475
Asylum, 62
Neutrality, 624
Atheism, 62
Atheist, 62
Deity, 248
Athens, 62, 950
Greeks, 394
Atmosphere, 23
Climate, 147
Cold, 148
Attachments, Foreign, 343
Alliance, 32
Alliances, 34
Attainder, 63
Law, 477
Attire, 264
Dress, 264
Fashion, 323
Foppery, 342
Attorney-General, 63
Attorneys, 63
Lawyers, 487
Aubaine, Droit d', 63
Law, 477
Austria, 446
Treaties of Commerce, 882
Authority, 63
Goverment, 384
Power, 708
Avarice, 65
Economy, 271
Generosity, 378
Bacon's Rebellion, 738
Rebellion, 738
Shays's Rebellion, 802
Badges, 65
Cockades, 150
Bainbridge (William), 66
Navy, 618
Balloons, 66
Inventions, 431
Ballot, 841
Suffrage, 841
Votes, 915
Voting, 915
Banishment, 319
Exile, 319
Bank (National), 66
Bank of North America, 61
Bank (IT. S.), 68
Banks, 73
Dollar, 260
Money, 571
Money Bills, 576
Money (Continental), 577
Money (Metallic), 578
Paper Money, 668
Bankruptcy, 72
Bubbles, 109
Panics, 667
Speculation, 828
Banneker (Benjamin), 80
Negroes, 622
Barbarism, 80
Civilization, 145
Barbary States, 80
Algiers, 80
Morocco, 595
Tripoli, 886
Barclay (Thomas), 83
Barbary States, 80
Barlow (Joel), 84
Poetry, 697
Barruel (Abbe*), 41S
llluminati, 413
Barry (Commodore J.), 597
Mourning, 597
Bastile, 84
French Revolution, 770
Bastrop's Case, 84
Yazoo Lands, 952
Batture, New Orleans, 85
Supreme Court, 845
Bayard (James A.), 86
Elections (Presidential), 285
Beaumarchais (M.), 86
Bee, 86
Natural History, 607
Beer, 86
Intemperance, 427
Whisky, 944
Wines, 947
Belligerents, 86
Blockades, 95
Neutrality, 624
Privateers, 723
Beneficence, 87
Charity, 134
Generosity, 378
Berlin Decrees, 87
Bonaparte, 96
Embargo, 286
Orders in Council, 664
TOPICAL INDEX, WITH CROSS-REFERENCES
993
Bible, 88
Deity, 248
Providence, 731
Religion, 742
Bigotry, 88
Bigotries, 88
Intolerance, 431
Bill of Rights, 88
Bill of Rights (French), 91
Constitution, 35, 186
Goverment, 384
Bimetalism, 574
Dollar, 260
Money, 571
Bingham (William), 92
Birds, 92
Natural History, 607
Birth, 93
Aristocracy, 48
Aristocrats, 51
Birthday, 92
Birthday, 92
Birth, 92
Aristocracy, 48
Aristocrats, 51
Bishop (Samuel), 93
Office, 644
Offices, 647
Office-holders, 652
Blackstone (Sir William), 94, 902
Lawyers, 487
Bland (Richard), 94
Blockades, 95
Belligerents, 86
Neutrality, 624
Privateers, 723
Blount (William) 95
Impeachment, 416
Bolingbroke (Lord), 95
Language, 470
Paine (Thomas), 665
Bollman (Eric), 95
Burr's (A.) Treason, 113
Bonaparte (Joseph), 96
Bonaparte (N.), 96
Berlin Decrees, 87
France, 347
Louisiana, 509
Spain, 821
Books, 102
Copyright, 102, 377, 381
Education, 273
History, 404
Knowledge, 457
Language, 470
Learning, 489
Library, 502
Literary Men, 506
Literature, 506
Printing, ' 12
Reading, 738
Study, 841
Boston Port Bill, 104, 769
Faneuil Hr1 ,, 322
Tea, 859
Botany, 105, 791
Horticulture, 411
Plants, 697
Trees, 886
Botta (C.), 105
History (American), 405, 406
Bottetourt (Lord), 105
Colonies (The American), 151
Boundaries, 106
Louisiana, 106
Massachusetts and New York,
106
Northwest, 106
Pennsylvania and Virginia, 107
United States and Great Britain,
107
Virginia and Maryland, 108
Bounties, 108, 348, 931
Fisheries, 337
France, Commerce with, 348
Free Trade, 361
General Welfare Clause, 374
Manufactures, 534
Subsidies, 808
Bourbons, 108
France, 347
Kings, 455
Bowles (W. A.), 108
Indians, 420
Boys, 108, 901
Children, 138
Discipline, 258
Young Men, 953
Brazil, 108
Correa de Serra (J.), 208
Portugal, 704
Bribery, 109,
Corruption, 209
Crime, 219
Briggs (Isaac), 109
Office (Talents), 646
Broglio (Marshal de), 109
Revolution (French), 770
Brown (James), 109
Union (Federal), 890
Bubbles, 109
Speculation, 828
Buchan (Earl of), 110
Buchanan (George), 110
Buffon (Count de), 110
Chemistry (Utility), ia5
Natural History, 607
Bunker Hill, 110
Revolution (American), 767
Burke (Edmund), 111
Marie Antoinette (Character), 536
Business, 111
Occupations, 642
Trade, 871
Burr (Aaron), 111
Burr's (A.) Treason, 113
Burr's (A.) Trial, 115
Morgan (George), 595
Tiffin (H. D.), 867
Wilkinson (James), 945, 946
Cabell (J. C.), 117
University of Virginia, 900
Cabinet, 117
Administration, 16
Cabinet Officers, 120
Cabinet Officers in Congress, 173
Cabot Family, 92
Birds, 92
Caesar (Julius), 142
People (Roman), 691
Callender (J. T.), 120
Estrangement of Jefferson and
Adams, 988
Calonne (C. A. de), 122
Revolution (French), 770
Calumny, 122
Abuse, 2
Libels, 497
Lies, 503
Ministers, 558
Newspapers, 635
Slander, 809
Camden, Battle of, 123
Gates (General Horatio), 372
Campbell (David), 123
Canada, 124
Arnold (Benedict), 56
Colonies (The American), 151
Canal, 125
River, 783
Rivers, 784
Candor, 126
Frankness, 357
Honesty, 410
Sincerity, 809
Truth, 887
Cannibals, 126
Kings, 455
Canning (George), 126
England (Jefferson and), 301
Canova (A.), 126
Sculpture, 792
Capital, 126
Labor, 458
Laborers, 459
Wealth, 935
Capital (National), 924
Capitals (State), 127
Capitol (United States), 48, 127
Capitol (Va.), 47
Captives, 128
Prisoners of War, 924
Carmichael (William), 128
Mississippi River Navigation, 561
Carondelet (Baron), 129
Louisiana, 509
Carr (Dabney), 129
Committees of Correspondence,
961
Carriages, 129
Exercise, 318
Horses, 411
Carrying Trade, 129, 624, 871
Drawbacks, 263
Free Ports, 358
Navigation, 610
Shipping, 805
Ships, 806
Carter (Landon), 129
Carthage, 129
Creek Indians, 219
People, Roman, 69
Catherine of Russia, 421, 786
Alexander of Russia, 27, 809
Russia, 786, 888
Censors, 130
Censure, 130
Criticism, 221
Censure, 130
Censors, 130
Criticism, 221
Census, 130
Population, 703
Centralization, 130
General Welfare Clause, 374
Judiciary, 448
State Rights, &32
Supreme Court, 842
994
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Ceremony, 138
Etiquette, 311
Formalities, 344
Levees, 496
Chancellors, English, 133
Chancery Courts, 214
Chaplains, 133
Clergy, 146
Ministers, 558
Character, 133
Abilities, 1
Genius, 381
Reputation, 761
Talents, 848
Charity, 134
Beneficence, 87
Friendship, 363
Charters, 134
Compacts, 166
Chase (Samuel), 135
Impeachment, 416
Chatham (Lord), 135
Colonies (The American), 151
Oratory, 664
Chemistry, 135
Buff on (Count de), 110
Science, 791
Sciences, 792
Cherbourg, 135
France, 347
Cherokees, 136
Aborigines, 1
Indians, 420, 944, 948, 952
Cherronesus, Proposed State of,
941
Western Territory, 939
Chesapeake Frigate, 136
Indemnification, 419
Children, 138
Boys, 108
Young Men, 953
Young Women, 954
China, 139
Ships, 808
Chocolate, 139
Tea, 104, 859
Christianity, 162
Church, 139
Church (Anglican), 140
Church and State, 141
Keligion, 742
Church, 139
Church (Anglican), 140
Church and State, 141
Keligion, 742
Cicero, 142
Eloquence, 286
Oratory, 664
People (Roman), 691
Plato's Republic, 698
Cincinnati Society, 142
Democratic Societies, 251
Cipher, 143
Writing, 950
Ciracchi, 143
Sculpture, 792
Cities, 143
Alexandria, 30
Baltimore, 30
Boston, 104, 110
Carthage, 129
Cherbourg, 135
Constantinople, 186
London, 509
New Orleans, 634
Cities, 143— (Continued)
New York, 634
Nice, 640
Norfolk, Va., 30
Paris, 674
Pensacola, 686
Philadelphia, 694
Richmond, Va., 779
San Juan, 359
Washington City, 924
Citizens, 144
Citizenship, 145
Expatriation, 319
Naturalization, 609
Civilization, 145
Barbarism, 80
Claiborne (W. C. C.), 146
Claimants, 146
Claims, 146
Clark (Geo. R.), 146
Lewis and Clark Expedition, 495
Clarke (Daniel), 146
Union (The Federal), G92
Classical Learning, 489
Education, 273
Language, 470
Science, 791
University of Virginia, 900
Clay (Henry), 146
Clergy, 146
Chaplains, 133
Clergy (French), 771, 775
Ministers, 558
Climate, 147
Atmosphere, 23
Cold, 148, 771
Weather, 936
Winds, 947
Clinton (De Witt), 149
Clinton (George), 149
Coast Line, 149
Cockades, 150
Badges, 65
Coercion (State), 150
State Rights, 832
Coinage, 261, 573
Decimal System, 240
Dollars, 260
Mint, 559
Coke (Lord), 150
Coles (Edward), 150
College (Electoral), 715
Elections (Presidential), 280
Colleges, Buildings, 4
Colleges, Veterinary, 905
Colonies (American), 151
Colonies (Ancient), 154
Colonization (Negro \ 154
Colony (Penal), 155
Columbia River, 61
River, 783
Rivers, 784
Cold, 148, 771
Atmosphere, 23
Climate, 147
Weather, 936
Winds, 947
Columbus (Christopher), 36, 156
History (American), 406
Commerce, 156
Commerce, Treaties of, 880
Commissions, 161
Commissioners, 161
Committee of the States, 169
Confederation, 167
Common Law, 16)3
Law, 477
Common Sense, 166
Judgment, 448
Moral Sense, 591
Senility, 801
Sense, 802
Compact, 166
Compacts, 166
Treaties, 874
Compromise, 167
Conciliation, 167
Harmony, 399
Conciliation, 167
Compromise, 167
Harmony, 399
Conchology, 804
Shells, 804
Condorcet (M.), 167
Conduct, 167
Actions, 5
Confederation, The, 167, 973
Colonies (The American), 151
Confidence (Public), 731
Credit, 217
Credulity, 219
Faith, 321
Jealousy, 438
Public Confidence, 731
Confiscation, 171
Property, 726
Congress, 172
Continental Congress, 174
Senate, U. S., 799, 876, 877, 878
Senators, U. S., 188
Continental Congress, 174
Congress, 172
Senate, U. S., 799, 876, 877, 878
Senators, U. S., 188
Connecticut, 184, 777
Conquest, 185
Glory, 384
Tyranny, 889
War, 915
Conscience, 185, 949
Actions, 5
Character, 133
Conduct, 167
Consent of Governed, 385
Authority, 63 '
Government, 384
Rights, 780
Rights of Man, 782
Self-government, 796
Constantinople, 186
Turkey, 888
Constitution, 35, 186
Bill of Rights, 88
Constitution (The Federal), 180
Constitution (French), 195
Constitution (Great Britain), 197
Constitution (Spanish), 197
•Constitutions (American), 198
Construction of the Constitution,
190, 200
Centralization, 130
Construction of Instruments, 200
General Welfare Clause, 374
Judiciary, 448
Supreme Court, 842
Consular Convention, 200
Consuls, 290
TOPICAL INDEX, WITH CROSS-REFERENCES
995
Contention, 203
Controversy, 205
Disputation, 259
Disputes, 259
Dissension, 259
Duel, 265
Quarrels, 735
Contentment, 204
Happiness, 398
Peace, 682
Repose, 747
Retirement, 765
Tranquillity, 872
Contraband of War, 204, 625, 028
Belligerents, 80
Enemy Goods, 296
Free Ships, Free Goods, 359
Neutrality, 625
War, 915
Contracts, 204
Compacts, 166
Treaties, 874
Controversy, 205
Contention, 203
Dissension, 259
Convent, 205
Religion, 742
Convention (Federal), 205
Convention, National, 205
Convention (Virginia), 206
Conventions (Constitutional), 206
Convicts, 206
Crime, 219
Criminals, 221
Prison, 46, 722
Cookery, 372
Gastronomy, 372
Cooper (Thomas), 206
Priestley (Joseph), 719
University of Virginia, 900
Copying Press, 207
Engraving, 307
Polygraph, 432
Copyright, 102, 377, 381
Books, 102
Library, 489
Printing, 722
Coray(A.), 207
Athens, 62
Greeks, 394
Cornwallis (Lord), 207
Cruelty, 221
Coroners, 208
Counties, 212
Corporations, 418
Bank, 66
Banks, 73
Monopoly, 579
Correa de Serra (J.), 208
Brazil, 108
Portugal, 704
Correspondence, 208
Correspondence, Committees of,
961
Letters, 494
Letters of Introduction, 431
Letter-writing, 495
Corruption, 209
Bribery, 109
Crime, 219
Cotton, 211
Cotton Gin, 211
Manufactures, 528
Council, 211
Advice, 20
Instructions, 420
Counties, 212
Wards, 921
Courtesy, 213
Courtiers, 213
Politeness, 700
Courtiers, 213
Courtesy, 213
Politeness, 700
Courts, 214
Courts (Admiralty), 19
Courts (Appeals), 214
Courts (Chancery), 214
Courts (County), 216
Courts (Federal), 448, 842
Courts (French Plenary), 217
Courts (Monarchical), 217
Courts (State), 450
Judiciary (Federal), 448
U. S. Supreme Court, 842
Crawford (W. H.), 217
Elections (Presidential, 1824), 286
Creation, 270
Deluge, 250
Earth, 269
World, 949
Credit, 217
Credulity, 219
Faith, 321
Public Confidence, 731
Credulity, 219
Credit, 217
Faith, 321
Public Confidence, 731
Creek Indians, 219
Aborigines, 1
Cherokees, 136
Indians, 420, 944, 948, 952
Cresap (Captain), 508
Logan (Mingo Chief), 508
Crime, 219
Convicts, 206
Criminals, 221
Murder, 598
Prison, 46, 722
Criminals, 221
Crime, 219
Pardons, 673
Criticism, 221
Censors, 130
Censure, 130
Cruelty, 221
Cornwallis (Lord), 207
Retaliation, 762
Revenge, 767
Tyranny, 889
Cuba, 222
Monroe Doctrine, 584
Territory, 860
Currency, National, 601
Money, 571
Paper Money, 608
" Curtius," 223
Webster (Noah), 936
Cushing (W.), 845, 846
Dalrymple (-), 223
Dana (Francis), 951
X. Y. Z. Plot, 951
Dancing, 223
Music, 599
Theatres, 865
Dashkoff (M.), 223
Russia, 786
David (J. L.), 223
Arts, 58
Dayton (J.), 223
Burr's (A.) Treason, 113
Burr's (A-) Trial, 115
Dead, 223
Death, 224
Death Penalty, 225
Epitaph, 308
Deane (S.), 223
Dearborn (H.), 224
Death, 224
Death Penalty, 225
Dead, 223
Epitaph, 308
Debate, 225
Congress (Previous Question),180
Eloquence, 286
Language, 470
Oratory, 664
Speech, 358
Words, 949
Debt, 226
Debt (French), 230
Debt (Revolutionary), 233
Debt (United States), 234, 932
Debtors (Fugitive), 367
Debt, 226
Debts Due British, 237
Treaty (British Peace), 884 '
Decimal System, 240, 830
Coinage, 261, 573
Dollar, 260
Mint, 559
"Decius,"737
Randolph (John), 737
Declaration of Independence, 241 ,
969
Declaration, Mecklenburg, 247
Independence, 420
Fourth of July, 346
Liberty, 499
Defence, 247
Fortifications, 345
Gunboats, 395, 617
Navy, 615
Torpedoes, 870
Deity, 248
Bible, 88
God, 384
Providence, 731
Religion, 742
Delaware, 250
Delay, 250
Idleness, 412
Procrastination, 725
Deluge, 250
Creation, 270
Earth, 269
World, 949
Delusion, 251
X. Y. Z. Plot, 951
Democratic Societies, 251
Anti-Federalists, 38
Democrats, 252
Federalism, 328
Federalists, 329
Hartford Convention, 400
Jacobins, 435
Missouri Question, 563
Monarchy, 566
Parties, 675
Politics, 701
Republicanism, Partisan, 754
Republicans, 755
THE JEFFEESOVLAN CYCIjOPEDlA
~ : TO : "i 1 ~ "
-- :- •- •-.- ---•
>
- : - -.':
: -- :-
: ?.-:
r :,
:.-.- -
;-,-.: .-._-.
• ".'
-
- "
" -- "
TOPICAL ESDEX. WITH CROSS-REFERENCES
A." - - - -••
: - --- .-
; - - . - - -
Monopoly. 579
Z r. *::•.-;'- -/..
.-.
Character. 133
Epicurus. 307. 685
?_...- ; ..
Epitaph. 308
Dead. 23
Death. Si
Equality, 308
I-:./.,.: .-.-.
Favoritism. £4
:-. .-.--- '-
Equity. 133
/notice, 423
Erie CanaL 125
CanaL IS
Elvers, 7S4
Error. 309
Erskine (William), 310
Escheat, 311
: .-_.'
1h*-*-c (Count d*), 311
Esteem, 311
:--:.=- i*:..;. •
Ethics. 311
?•'.:...! . = :
Moral Sense, 591
Morality. 592
Morality, National, 593
v - - ' -
Virtue, 914
Ethnology. 1. 421
Baoe (Huna), 735
Etiquette, 3U
Oeramany, 13S
Formalities, S44
Europe, 312
Affiance. ^
America, 95
Monroe Doctrine, 564
Policy v American^ 697
Eustis (W.), 313
Evils, 313
Bribery. 109
Crime," 51 9
Error. 309
Miafortnne. 560
Example, 313
Duty, e«8
Experience, 330
Experiment. SO
Excise, 313
Excise Law, 313. 945
WMsky Insurrection, 945
Executive, 314
President, Hi
Presidency, 715
Exercise, SIS
Health, 402
Exile, 819
Fugitives, 867
T-..-.Z •:-•-. •: .:
: .
FV.--L • -.-: •:•
Catamny, IS
•- ' . >'•
Libels 49T
-. - -.-
•'
Family. 321
" •:: - •
----- --•. v:
RUHMfl EUI, -V-
Bofton Port Bfll, 104.
Farmer, 322
Agriculture, 23
y .:-- >. :• • v:
Fashion, SB
Attire, »4
Fastdays, S2S
Church and State, 141
Fauquier (Francis), 324
Small iWUliamX SIS
Favoritism, 324
Equality. 30$
Equal Righto. AX
Special Legiatatioa,
Federal City. 9»4
Caprtab (StateX 127
Capitol a*. S.\ «> 1
-r- - :.:-.: S.V.:..-.-.-.-. ,
Florida, £9
s-
>': ^
Folly, S41
'• - . '-
Fontainbleu. S41
Loaw XVI^ 5
Foppery. S43
Attirv. «4
998
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Force, 342
Power, 708
Strength, National, 840
Foreign Agents, 342
Ministers, 555
Foreign Influence, 343
Alliance, 32
England, 301
War, 915
Foreign Intervention, 344
Alliance, 32
War, 915
Formalities, 344
Ceremony, 133
Etiquette, 311
Levees, 406
Fortifications, 345
Defence, 247
Gunboats, 395, 617
Navy, 615
Torpedoes, 870
Fortitude, 346
Character, 133
Duty, 268
Fortune, 346
Disinterestedness, 258
Fortunes, 346
Fourth of July, 346
Declaration of Independence, 241
Fox (C. J.), 347
France, 347
Bonaparte (N.), 96
Executive, 315
French Revolution, 770
Genet (E. C.), 378
San Domingo, 788
West Indies, 937
X. Y. Z. Plot, 951
Franking Privilege, 355
Letters, 494
Letter-writing, 495
Franklin (B.), 355
Franklin (W. T.), 357
Frankness, 357
Candor, 126
Honesty, 410
Sincerity, 809
Truth, 887
Franks (D.), 357
Frederick, The Great, 357
Frederick William II., 357
Freedom, 357
Freedom of Opinion, 660
Freedom of Person, 357
Freedom of the Press, 89, 717
Freedom of Religion, 742
Freedom of Speech, 358
Liberty, 499
Rights, 780
Rights of Man, 782
Slavery, 811
Free Ports, 358
Free Trade, 361
Free Ships, Free Goods, 359
Belligerents, 86
Contraband of War, 204, 625, 628
Enemy Goods, 296
Free Ships. Free Goods, 359
Neutrality, 625
War, 915
Free Trade, 361
Production, 725
Protection, 730
Tariff, 849
French Revolution, 770
Bastile, 84
Louis XVI., 520
Marie Antoinette, 536
Freneau (P.), 362
Newspapers, 638
Friends, 363, 949
Affection, 21
Family, 321
Friendship, 363
Happiness, 397
Home, 409
Sympathy, 848
Friendship, 363
Affection, 21
Family, 321
Friends, 363, 949
Friendship with England, 365
Happiness, 397
Home, 409
Sympathy, 848
Friendship With England, 365
England, 297
Frugality, 367, 689
Economy, 271
Paupers, 682
Poor, 703
Fugitives, 367
Deserters, 254
Funding, 369
Assumption of State Debts, 58
Hamilton (A.), 396
Fur Trade, 369
Astor's Settlement, 61
Future, 370
Future Life, 370
Immortality, 416
G
Gage (T.), 370, 769
Boston Port Bill, 104, 769
Gallatin (A.), 371
Publicity, 733
Gambling, 372
Bubbles, 109
Speculation, 828
Gardening, 411
Agriculture, 23
Arboriculture, 45
Botany, 105, 791
Plants, 697
Trees, 886
Vegetables, 904
Gastronomy, 372
Vegetables, 904
Gates (Horatio), 372
Camden, Battle of, 123
Geismer (Baron), 372
Gem (Dr.), 372
Generals, 372
Army, 52
Army Officers, 56
General Welfare Clause, 374
Centralization, 130
State Rights, 832
Generations, 375
Posterity, 705
Generosity, 378
Avarice, 65
Beneficence, 87
Charity, 134
Genet (E. C.), 378
Genius, 381
Abilities, 1
Character, 133
Talents, 848
Geographical Lines, 381
Missouri Question, 563
Sectionalism, 795
Union, 890
George III, 381, 769
George IV., 383
Geology, 383
Creation, 270
Earth, 269
Mountains, 596
Shells, 804
Gerry (E.), 383
X. Y. Z. Plot, 951
Giles (W. B.), 384
Hamilton (Alexander), 396
Glory, 384
Conquest, 185
Tyranny, 889
War, 915
God, 384
Deity, 248
Providence, 731
Gold and Silver Ptatio, 578
Goodrich (Eizur), 93, 384
Bishop (Samuel), 93
Government, 384
Authority, 63
Centralization, 130
Detail, 254
Federal Government, 325
Governments (American), 392
Governments (European), 394
Power, 708
Republicanism (Governmental),
753
Self-government, 796
Grammar, 394
Language, 470
Languages, 474
Granger (G.), 394
Gratitude, 394
Morality (National), 593
Great Britain, 297
Greek Language, 472
Athens, 62
Greeks, 394, 888
Greene (N.), 394
Grief, 395
Affliction, 21
Grimm (Baron), 395
Gulf Stream, 126
Canal, Panama, 126
Gunboats, 395, 617
Navy, 615
II
Habeas Corpus, 395
Jury, 450
Hamilton (Alexander), 5, 395
Assumption of State Debts, 58
Bank, 66
Monarchy, 568, 569
Retirement, 767
Treasury, 874
Treaties, 875, 877
Washington (George), 931
Whisky Insurrection, 945
Hamilton (Henry), 398
Prisoners of War, 924
Retaliation, 762
Happiness, 398
Affection, 21
Contentment, 204
Family, 321
TOPICAL INDEX, WITH CROSS-REFERENCES
999
Happiness, 398 — ( Continued)
Friends, 303
Friendship, 363
Home, 409
Sympathy, 848
Harmony, 399
Conciliation, 167
Hartford Convention, 400
Federalism, 328
Federalists, 329
Monarchy, 566
Secession, 793
Hastings (Warren), 401
Impeachment, 416
Hawkins (B.), 402
Health, 402
Life, 503
Medicinal Springs, 546
Medicine, 547
Sun, 842
Heaven, 402
Deity, 248
Future Life, 370
Immortality, 416
Henry (Patrick), 402
Committees of Correspondence,
961
History (Panegyric), 405
Yazoo Lands, 952
Hereditary Officers, 387
Aristocracy, 48
Birth, 92
Elections, 279
Governments, 384
Rotation in Office, 786
Heresy, 404
Religion, 742
Hessians, 404
Herschel (Sir W.), 404
Astronomy, 611
History, 404, 791, 900
History (American), 405
History (English), 406
History (Natural), 607
Reading, 738
Study, 841
Hogendorp (Count van), 407
Holland, 407
Nassau, 601
Orange (Prince of ), 407
Holy Alliance, 408
Alliance, 32
Alliances, 34
Home, 409
Affection, 21
Family, 321
Friends, 363
Friendship, 363
Happiness, 397
Monticello, 590
Retirement, 765
Sympathy, 848
Tranquillity, 872
Honesty, 410
Candor, 126
Honor, 410
Rogues, 785
Sincerity, 809
Honor, 410
Character, 133
Dignity, 258
Glory, 384
Honors, 411
Honesty, 410
Hope, 411
Despair, 254
Hopkinson (F.), 411
Music, 599
Horses, 411, 504, 949
Veterinary Colleges, 905
Horticulture, 411
Agriculture, 23
Arboriculture, 45
Botany, 105, 791
Plants, 697
Trees, 886
Vegetables, 901
Hospitality, 411
Friends, 363, 949
Hospitals (Marine), 536
Houdon (J. A.), 412
Sculpture, 792
Howe (Lord W.), 412
Hull (W.), 412
Humboldt (Baron), 412
Humphreys (D.), 412
Levees, 496
Ideas, 412
Inventions, 431
Inventors, 433
Theory, 865
Idleness, 412
Delay, 250
Procrastination, 725
Ignorance, 413
Education, 273
Folly, 341
Learning, 489
Study, 841
Wisdom, 948
Illinoia, Proposed State of, 941
Western Territory, 939
Illinois River, 783
River, 783
Rivers, 784
Illuminati, Order of, 413
Imbecility, 413
Dependence, 252
Insult, 426
Strength (National), 840
Tribute, 886
Immigrants, 413
Emigration, 296
Immigration, 414
Population, 703
Immortality, 416
Deity, 248
Future Life, 370
Heaven, 402
Religion, 742
Impeachment, 416
Judges, 446
Judiciary, 448
Impost, 313
Excise, 313
Impressment, 417
Draft, 263
Improvements (Internal), 429
General Welfare Clause, 374
Piers, 695
Post Roads, 707
Virginia Protest, 986
Inaugural Addresses, 980, 982
Income Tax, 852
Taxation, 852
Incorporation, 418
Bank. 66
Monopoly, 579
Indemnification, 419
Reparation. 740
Reprisal, 749
Independence, 420
Declaration of Independence, 241
Fourth of July, 340
Freedom, 357
Liberty, 499
Rights, 780
Indians, 420, 944, 948, 952
Aborigines, 1
Cherokces, 136
Greeks, 219
Industry, 424
Capital, 126
Labor, 458
Wealth, 935
Influence, Foreign, 343
Alliance, 32
England, Influence in U. S., 301
War, 915
Information, 425
Publicity, 732
Injury, 425
Insult, 426
Wrong, 950
Inheritances, 426
Distribution, 260
Entail, 307
Inness (H.), 426
Institutions, 426
Government, 384
Reform, 739
Innovation, 426
Reform, 739
Instructions, 426
Advice, 20
Council, 211
Lafayette, Hampered, 463
Insult, 426
Injury, 425
Wrong, 950
Insurrection, 427
Disunion, 260
Insurrection (Whisky), 945
Rebellion, 738
Secession, 793
Treason, 873
Intemperance, 427
Drunkards, 427
Temperance, 859
Whisky, 944
Interest, 428
Banks, 73
Interest, Money, 428
Money, 571
Internal Improvements, 429
General Welfare Clause, 374
Piers, 695
Post Roads, 707
Virginia Protest, 986
International Law, 62
Asylum, 62
Belligerents, 86
Consular Convention, 200
Consuls, 200
Contraband of War, 204
Enemy Goods, 296
Free Ships, 359
Genet (E. C.), 378
Ministers (Foreign), 555
Neutrality, 625
Privateering. 723
Privateers, 723
Treaties, 874
1000
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Intervention Foreign, 344
Alliance, 32
War, 915
Intolerance, 431
Bigotry, 88
Intrigue, 431
Duplicity, 266
Frankness, 357
Introduction, Letters of, 431
Friends, 363
Friendship, 363
Invasion, 431
Defence, 247
Fortifications, 345
Inventions, 431
Inventors, 433
Genius, 381
Science, 791
Ireland, 433
Aristocracy, 50
Aristocracy in Virginia. 50
Iron, 434
Ivernois (P.), 434
Academy, Geneva, 4
Jackson (Andrew), 434
New Orleans, 633
Jacobins, 435
French Revolution, 770
James River, 783
James River Canal, 125
River, 783
Rivers, 784
Jay (John), 435
Jay Treaty, 436, 785
Jealousy, 438
Confidence (Public), 731
Jefferson (Thomas), 7, 438
Adams (John), Friendship of
Jefferson for, 7, 988
Adams (John), Jefferson and
Election of, 8
Adams (John), Jefferson's Elec
tion and, 9
Adams (John), Jefferson, Paine,
and, 10
Adams (Mrs. John), Jefferson
and, 988
Address, Jefferson to Inhabit
ants of Albemarle Co., 985
Addresses, Jefferson's Inaugural,
980, 982
Administration, Summary of
Jefferson's First, 18
Advice, Jefferson's Ten Pre
cepts, 20
Agriculture, Model Plow, 25
Ancestry, Thomas Jefferson's, 36
Anti-Federalists, Jefferson and,
38
Arms of Jefferson Family, 52
Assumption of State Debts, Jef
ferson's Agency in, 60
Barbary States, Jefferson's Views
on, 81
Batture, Jefferson's Action in, 85
Birthday, Jefferson's, 92
Burr (Aaron), Relations with
Jefferson, 111
Burr (Aaron), Threatens Jeffer
son, 112
Burr's Trial, Jefferson Subpoe
naed, 914
Cabinet, Rules of Jeff erson's, 118
Callender (J. T.), Relations with
Jefferson, 121
Jefferson (Thomas), 7,438— (Con
tinued)
Captives, Jefferson and, 128
Cipher, Jefferson's, 143
Clay (Henry), Opposition to Jef
ferson, 146
Clinton (George), Estrangement
from Jefferson, 149
Congress, Messages to, 178
Constitution (French), Advice of
Jefferson, 195
Constitution (French), Coopera
tion of Jefferson Invited, 196
Constitution (French), Jefferson,
Patriots, and, 196
Copying Press, Jefferson's Port
able, 207
Creation, Jefferson's Views on,
270
Debt, Jefferson's Personal, 227,
238
Declaration of Independence. 241
Editors, Jefferson's Relations
with, 273
Education, Jefferson's, 438
Education, Jefferson's Bills on,
275, 276
Election (Presidential, 1796),
Candidature of Jefferson, 280
Election (Presidential, 1800), Bal
loting in House, 281
Election (Presidential, 1800), De
manding Terms, 282
Election (Presidential, 1808),
Neutrality of Jefferson, 285
Election (Presidential, 1824),
Passiveness of Jefferson, 286
England, Jefferson and, 301, 302
Epitaph, Jefferson's, 308
Family of Jefferson, 438
Farmer, Jefferson as a, 322, 438
Father of Jefferson, 438
Formalities, Jefferson and, 344
Franking Privilege, Jefferson
and, 355
Franklin (Benjamin), Greatness
of, 356
Freneau (Philip), Jefferson's Re
lations with, 362
Harvard's Honors to Jefferson,
438
History, Jefferson and, 438
Home of Jefferson, 590
Lawyer, Jefferson Becomes a, 439
Letters of Jefferson, 439
Lewis and Clark Expedition,
Jefferson Suggests, 495
Libels, Jefferson and, 497
Library of Jefferson, 502
Madison, Jefferson and, 523
Manufactures, Jefferson and,
532, 533
Marriage of Jefferson, 439
Mazzei, Jefferson's Letter to, 545
Ministers, Hostility to Jefferson,
559
Monticello, 590
Monroe (James), 587
Mrs. Jefferson's Death, 439
Nail maker, Jefferson as a, 439
Navigation, Jefferson's Report,
612
Office, Weary of, 444
Offices Held by Jefferson, 439
Offices Refused by Jefferson, 441
Paine (Thomas), Jefferson and,
441
Portrait of Jefferson, 442
Principles of Jefferson in 1799,
721
Jefferson (Thomas), 7, 438— (Con
tinued)
Relations, Appointment to Of
fice, 741
Religion, 744
Retirement of Jefferson, 765
Revolution (French), Jefferson's
Relations to, 772
Scientific Societies, Membership
in, 442
Services of Jefferson, 442
University of Virginia, Jefferson
and, 444, 900
Washington (George), Jefferson
and, 927
Johnson (Joshua), 444
Jones (John Paul), 445
Joseph II., 446
Journalism, 273, 635
Editors, 273
Newspapers, 635
Press, 89, 717
Judges, 446
Judiciary (Federal), 448
Judiciary (State), 450
Supreme Court (U. S.), 843
Judiciary (Federal), 448
Judiciary (State) 450
Supreme Court (U. S.), 842
Judgment, 448
Common Sense, 166
Discretion, 258
Moral Sense, 591
Senility, 801
Sense, 802
Jurisdiction, 450
Sovereignty, 820
Jury (Grand), 450
Jury (Trial by), 450
Neutrality, Treasury Depart
ment, 630
Justice, 452
Equity, 133
K
Kames (Lord), 453
Kanawha, River, 783
River, 783
Rivers, 784
Kentucky, 453
Kentucky Resolutions, 454, 977
Kings, 455
Cannibals, 126
Despots, 254
Monarchy, 566
Self-government, 796
King's Mountain, Battle, 123
Campbell (Col.), 123
Knowledge, 457
Education, 273
Learning, 489
Science, 791
Sciences, 792
Scientific Societies, 819
Study, 841
Knox (Henry), 457
Kosciusko (General), 458
Poland, 697
I*
Labor, 458
Artisans, 57
Laborers, 459
Industry, 424
Offices (Labor and), 649
Property, 726
TOPICAL INDEX, WITH CROSS REFERENCES
1001
Lafayette (Marquis de), 461
France, 347
Instructions, 426
Revolution (American), 767
Revolution (French), 770
Lafitau (J. F.), 423, 424
Lake George, 465
Scenery, 790
Lamps, 465
Franklin (B.), Argand's Lamp,
355
Matches, 544
Land, 465
Allodial Tenures, 465
Earth, 269
Feudal Tenures, 465
Land Companies, 467
Land Tax, 467
Lands (Indian), 468
Lands (Public), 469
Territory, 860
Unearned Increment, 890
Western Territory, 939
Langdon (J.), 470
Language, 470
Language (Anglo-Saxon), 471
Language (English), 471
Language (French), 472
Language (Gaelic), 665
Language (Greek), 472
Language (Italian), 473
Language (Latin), 473
Language (Spanish), 474
Languages, 474
Languages (Indian), 475
Neology, 624
Speech, Freedom of, 358
Words, 949
Languedoc Canal, 125
Canal, 125
River, 7a3
Rivers, 784
Latitude and Longitude, 475
Astronomy, 61
East and West Line, 271
Latrobe (B. EL), 477
Architecture, 48
Law, 477
Law (Common), 162 '
Law (Excise), 313
Law (International), 296, 359, 624
Law (Lynch), 481
Law (Maritime), 536
Law (Martial), 542
Law (Moral), 591
Law (Natural), 525
Law of Necessity, 620
Law (Patent), 680
Law (Parliamentary). 675
Law (Study), 487
La\v of Waste, 485
Laws (Alien and Sedition), 30
Laws of England, 486
Laws of Nature, 486
Laws of Virginia, 487
Lawyers, 176, 487
Attorney- General, 63
Attorneys, 63
Judges, 446
League, Marine, 150
Leander, Case of, 488
Chesapeake, 136
Lear (Tobias), 488
Learning (Classical), 489
Books, 102
Education, 273
Knowledge, 457
Learning (Classical), 489— (Con
tinued)
Language, 470, 472, 473
Literary Men, 506
Literature, 506
Science, 791
Scientific Societies, 819
Study, 841
Ledyard (John), 489
Lee (A.), 489
Lee (R. H.), 489
Legal Tender, 574
Money, 571
Legislation, 490
Congress, 172
Legislatures, 490
Parliament, 674
Revolution (French), 773, 774, 775
L'Enfant (Major), 494
Washington (City), 924
Lethargy, 494
Agitation, 23
Letters, 494
Correspondence, 208
Letters of Introduction, 431
Letters, Republic of, 753
Letter-writing, 495
Post-office, 705
Mails, 524
Letters of Marque, 541
Privateering, 723
Privateers, 723
Prizes, 724
Lewis and Clark Expedition, 495
Clark (George Rogers), 146
Levees, Presidential, 496
Ceremony, 133
Etiquette, 311
Formalities, 344
Liancourt (Duke of), 497
Libels, 497
Abuse, 2
Calumny, 122
Ministers, 558
Newspapers, 635
Slander, 809
Liberty, 499
Declaration of Independence, 241
Freedom, 357
Independence, 420
Patriotism, 681
Personal Liberty, 693
Rights, 780
Library, 502
Books, 102
Reading, 738
Lies, 503
Duplicity, 266
Falsehood, 321
Life, 503
Death, 224
Future Life, 370
Generations, 375
Happiness, 398
Health, 402
Immortality, 416
Liberty, 499
Life (Private), 723
Souls (Transmigration), 820
Lincoln (Levi), 506
Supreme Court, 845
Literary Men, 506
Literature, 506
Books, 102
Editors, 273
Fiction, 335
Literary Men, 506 — (Continued)
History, 404
Learning, 489
Library, 502
Newspapers, 635
Poetry, 697
Press, 89
Literature, 506
Books, 102
Editors, 273
Fiction, 335
Generations, 377
History, 404
Learning, 489
Library, 502
Monopoly (Inventions), 581
Newspapers, 635
Poetry, 697
Press, 89
Littlepage (L.), 506
Jay (John), 435
Livingston (E.), 506
Livingston (R. R.), 506
Loans, 507
Funding, 369
Taxation, 852
Locke (John), 392
Logan (George), 508
Logan, Mingo Chief, 508
London, 509
Longitude, 475
Astronomy, 61
East and West Line, 271
Looming, 560
Rainbows, 736
Lottery, 509
Gambling, 372
Speculation, 828
Louisiana, 509
Bonaparte (N.), 587
Dupont De Nemours, 267
Monroe (James), 587, 588
New Orleans, Right of Deposit,
634
Pike (Gen. Z. M.), 696
Territory, 860
Louis XVI., 520
Bastile, 84
Fontainbleau, 341
French Revolution, 770
Louis XVIII., 521
Marie Antoinette, 536
Luxuries, 521
Wines, 9471
Lynch Law, 481
Jury (Trial by), 450
Luzerne (Marquis de la) , 521
Lyon (Matthew), 522
Iff
Macdonough (Commodore), 523
Mace, 522
Arms, American, 51
Arms of Jefferson Family, 52
Arms of Virginia, 52
Mottoes, 596
Macon (Nathaniel), 522
Madeira, 148
Madison (James), 522
England, 302
Presidency, 716
Magnetic Needle, 476
Mails, 524
Letters, 494
Post Office, 705
Post Roads, 707
1002
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Maine, 524
Majority, 525
Minority, 559
Malesherbes (C. G. de la M.), 526
Malice, 526
Slander, 809
Malthus (T. R.), 704
Population, 703
Mammoth, 667
Mastodon, 544
Natural History, 607
Paleontology, 667
Man, 526
Man, Rights of, 782
Mankind, 527
Manners, American, 527
Manners, National, 528
Mansfield (Lord), 528
Supreme Court, 843
Manufactures, 528
Duties, 267
General Welfare Clause, 374
Protection, 730
Tariff, 849
Marbury vs. Madison, 535
Constitution (Federal), 190, 200
Marshall (John), 542
Marie Antoinette, 536
Bastile, 84
French Revolution, 770
Louis XVI., 520
Toulouse, Archbishop of, 870
Marine Hospitals, 536
Marine League, 150
Maritime Law, 536
Neutrality, 625
Markets, 536
Exports, 320
Prosperity, 730
Marque, Letters of, 541
Privateering, 723
Privateers, 723
Prizes, 724
Marriage, 541
Children, 138
Family, 321
Happiness, 398
Home, 409
Office-holders, 654
Marshall (John), 542
Batture, 85
History, 404
Judiciary (Federal), 448
Marbury vs. Madison, 535
Mazzei (Philip), 546
Supreme Court, 844
Washington (Geo.), Life of, 930
X. Y. Z. Plot, 951
Martial Law, 542
War, 915
Martin (Luther), 542
Mason (George), 543
Mason (J. M.), 542
Mason (J. T.), 543
Massachusetts, 543
Boston Port Bill, 104, 769
Constitution (Federal), 187
Revolution (American), 768
Mastodon, 544
Mammoth, 667
Paleontology, 667
Matches, Phosphoric, 544
Lamps, 465
Materialism, 544
Metaphysics, 549
Souls, 820
Mathematics, 545
Science, 791
Mazzei (Philip), 545
Measures, Standard, 830
Weights, Standard, 832
Mecklenburg Declaration, 247
Declaration of Independence, 241
Medicinal Springs, 546
Medicine, 547
Medicine, 547
Doctors, 547
Sun, 842
Mediterranean Trade, 548
Barbary States, 80
Trade, 871
Medium, Circulating, 571
Memory, 548
Mind, 554
Mercer (J. F.), 548
Merchants, 159, 548
England, Influence in U. S., 301
Jay Treaty, 437
Mercier (J.), 548
Merit, 549
Character, 133
Worth, 949
Merry (A.), 549
Etiquette, 311
Messages to Congress, 178
Simplicity, 809
Metaphysics, 549
Materialism, 544
Mind, 554
Souls, 820
Meteoric Stones, 549
Meteorology, 549
Weather, 936
Winds, 947
Metropotamia, Proposed State
of, 941
Western Territory, 939
Mexico, 550
Spanish America, 825
Michaux (Andre), 939
Michigania, Proposed State of,
941
Western Territory, 939
Midnight Commissions (Adams'),
161
Militia, 550
Army, 52
Draft, 263
Militia, Naval, 618
Mind, 554
Error, 309
Opinion, 659
Philosophy, 695
Reason, 738
Souls, 820
Mineralogists, 554
Geology, 383
Mineralogy, 555
Mines, 555
Ministers (Foreign), 555
Diplomacy, 258
Diplomatic Establishment, 258
Ministers (Imperial), 558
Ministers (Religious), 558
Chaplains, 133
Clergy, 146
Minority, 559
Majority, 525
Mint, 559
Coinage, 261, 573
Mirage, 560
Rainbows, 736
Miranda Expedition, 560
Filibusterism, 335
Misfortune, 560
Affliction, 21
Despair, 254
Grief, 395
Missionaries, 560
Religion, 7'42
Mississippi River, 783
Mississippi River Navigation, 561
Mississippi Territory, 563
Missouri, 563
Geographical Lines, 381
Missouri Question, 563
Missouri River, 783
Sectionalism, 795
Mobs, 565
Insurrection, 427
Revolution (French), 771, 774, 775
Moderation, 566
Contentment, 204
Happiness, 398
Modesty, 566
Obscurity, 642
Monarchy, 566
Federalism, 328
Federalists, 329
Kings, 455
Prerogative, 71
Washington (Geo.), 931, 933, 934
Money, 571
Bank, 66
Banks, 73
Dollar, 260
Money Bills, 576
Money (Continental), 577
Money (Metallic), 578
National Currency, 601
Paper Money, 668
Monopoly, 579
Agrarianism, 23
Bank, 66
Entail, 307
Incorporation, 418
Lands (Public), 469
Primogeniture, 719
Monroe Doctrine, 584
Monroe (James), 586
Policy (American), 697
Montesquieu (Baron), 590
Republics, Size of, 761
Monticello, 590
Home, 409
Montmorin (Count), 591
Moral Law, 591
Government, 388
Moral Sense, 591
Morality, 592
Morality, National, 593
Morals, 594
Virtue, 914
Moreau (J. V.), 594
Morgan (G.), 595
Morocco, 595
Barbary States, 80
Tripoli, 886
Morris (Commodore), 406
History (American) Naval, 406
TOPICAL INDEX, WITH CROSS-REFERENCES
1003
Morris (Gouverneur), 595
Mortmain, 596
Entail, 307
Primogeniture, 719
Mottoes, 596
Arms, American, 51
Arms of Jefferson Family, 52
Arms of Virginia, 52
Mace, 522
Mountains, 596
Earth, 269
Geology, 383
Mineralogy, 555
Mourning, 597
Grief, 395
Moustier (Count), 597
Murder, 598
Crime, 219
Duel, 265
Pardons, 673
Museums, 599
Theatres, 865
Music, 599
Arts, 58
Muskets, 600
Arms, 51
Nailmaker, Jefferson a, 439
Names, 600
Character, 133
Reputation, 761
Nassau, 601
Holland, 407
Nation (United States), 601
Nations, 604
National capital, 924
National currency, 601
Bank, 66
Banks, 73
Dollar, 260
Money, 571
Money Bills, 576
Money (Continental), 577
Money (Metallic), 578
Paper Money, 668
National University, 899
University of Virginia, 900
Natural Bridge, 607, 790
Natural History, 607, 791
Animals, 110
Horses, 411, 504, 949
Paleontology, 667
Sheep, 803
Natural Law, 535
Law, 477 ,
Moral Law, 591
Natural Rights, 608
Duties, Natural, 269, 608
Rights, 780
Rights of Man, 782
Natural Selection, 735
Man, 526
Mankind, 527
Naturalization, 609
Citizens, 144
Citizenship, 145
Expatriation, 319
Nature, 610
Creation, 270
Deluge, 250
Earth, 269
Natural History, 607
World, 949
Navies, Equalization of, 610
Navy, 615
Naval Academy, 4
Military Academy, 3
Navigation, 610
Carrying Trade, 129
Ocean, 643
Shipping (American), 805
Ships, 806
Navy, 615
Navy Department, 620
Navy yards, 620
Privateers, 723
Necessity, Law of, 620
Self-preservation, 799 .
Necker (Jacques), 620
French Revolution, 774, 775
Stael (Madame de), 830
Negroes, 621
Colonization (Negro), 154
Slavery, 811
Slaves, 814
Nelson (T.), 624
Neology, 624
Dictionary, 257
Language, 470, 471
Languages, 474
Neutrality, 624
Alexander of Russia, 28
Arms, 87
Asylum, 62
Belligerents, 86
Contrabrand of war, 204
Embargo, 286
Enemy's Goods, 296
Flag, 339
Free ships, Free goods, 360
Genet (E. C.), 378
Privateers, 723
New England Secession, 794
Embargo, 286
Hartford Convention, 400
New Hampshire, 633
New Haven Remonstrance, 93
Office, 644
Offices, 647
Office-holders, 652
New Jersey, 633
New Orleans, 633
New Orleans Batture, 85
New Orleans Canai, 125
New Orleans, Right of Deposit,
634
New Orleans, Yellow Fever, 953
New York, 634
New York City, 634
News, 635
Newspapers, 635
Newspapers, 635
Editors, 273
Press, 89, 717
Publicity, 732
Nice, city of, 640
Nicholas (W. C.), 640
Nightingales, 92
Birds, 92
Non-importation, 640
Embargo, 286
Non-intercourse, 641
Norfolk, Va., 30
Cities, 143
North Carolina, 641
North (Lord), 641
Reply to Lord North's Concilia
tory Proposition, 959
Northwest boundary, 106
Boundaries, 106
Notes on Virginia, 641
Virginia, 909
Nova Scotia, 642
Nullification, 642
Secession, 793
State Rights, 832
Union (The Federal), 890
o
Oath, 642
Oath of Office, 642
Obscurity, 642
Modesty, 566
Occupations, 642
Natural Rights, 609
Trade, 871
Ocean, 643
Carrying Trade, 129
Navigation, 610
Shipping (American), 805
Ships, 806
Office, 644
Appointment, 39
Offices, 647
Office-holders, 652
Ohio River, 784
River, 783
Old age, 21
Time, 867
Olive, 658
Plants, 698
Opinion, 659
Error, 309
Opinion (Public), 661
Opinions, 662
Reason, 738
Opposition, 663
Parties, 675
Oppression, 664
Despotism, 254
Despots, 254
Tyranny, 889
Optics, 664
Orange, Prince of, 407
Nassau, 601
Oratory, 664
Debate, 225
Eloquence, 886
Speech, 358
Words, 949
Order, 664
Berlin Decrees, 87
Embargo, 286
Orders in Council, 664
Oregon, 495
Orleans (Duke of), 664
French Revolution, 767
Marie Antoinette, 536
Ossian, 665
Ostentation, 665
Modesty, 566
Outacite, 423
Page (John), 665
Pain, 665
Affliction, 21
Grief, 395
Paine (Thomas), 665
Boliugbroke (Lord), 95
Paleontology, 667
Mammoth, 6C7
Mastodon, 544
Natural History, 607
1004
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Panama Canal, 126
Canal, 125
Panics, 667
Banks, 80
Bubbles, 109
Paper Money, 668
Speculation, 828
Paper and Civilization, 668
Papers (Executive), 179, 673
Paper Money, 668
Bank, 66
Banks, 73
Dollar, 260
Money, 571
Money Bills, 576
Money (Continental), 577
Money (Metallic), 578
Parasites, 673
Office, 644
Office-holders, 652
Parties, 675
Pardons, 673
Crime, 219
Murder, 598
Paris, 674
Cities, 143
Park (Mungo), 674
Parliament, 674
Colonies (American). 151
Parliamentary Law, 675, 801
Parties, 675
Anti-Federalists, 38
Democratic Societies, 251
Democrats, 252
Federalism, 328
Federalists, 329
Hartford Convention, 400
Jacobins, 435
Missouri Question, 563
Monarchy, 566
Politics, 701
Republicanism (Partisan), 754
Republicans, 755
Passions, 679
Politics, 701
Temper, 859
Patents, 679
Inventions, 431
Trade Marks, 872
Paternalism, 680
Mines, 555
Canal, New Orleans, 125
Public Works, 732
Patience, 681
Stability, 829
Patriotism, 681
Declaration of Independence, 241
Fourth of July, 346
Freedom, 357
Liberty, 499
Union"(The Federal), 890
Unity, 899
United States, 895
Patronage, 681
Office, 644
Offices, 647
Office-holders, 652
Paupers, 682
Labor, 458
Poor, 703
Wealth, 935
Peace, 682
Contentment, 204
• Repose, 747
Tranquillity, 872
Pedometer, 432
Inventions, 431
Pelisipia, Proposed State of, 941
Western Territory, 939
Pendleton (Edmund), 685
Law, 484
Pendulum, 685
Music, 600
Standard (Measures), 830
Pennsylvania, 107, 685
Boundaries, 107
Pensacola, 686
Florida, 339
Jackson (Andrew), 434
Pensions, 686
Taxation, 852
Taxes, 856
People, 686
People, English, 687
People, European, 688
People, French, 689
People, Prussian, 690
People, Roman, 691
Perceval (Spencer), 692
Perpetual Motion, 692
Inventions, 431
Personal Liberty, 693
Rights, 780
Rights, Personal, 781
Petition, 693
Petitions, 693
Pey rouse Expedition, 694
Philadelphia, 694
Cities, 143
Philosophy, 695
Epicurus, 308
Plato, 697
Pickering (Timothy), 695
Declaration of Independence, 244
X. Y. Z. Plot, 951
Piers, 695
General Welfare Clause, 374
Internal Improvements, 429
Post Roads, 707
Pike (Z. M.), 696
Lewis and Clark Expedition, 495
Pinckney (Charles), 696, 951
Pinckney (Thomas), 696
Pitt (William), 696
Chatham (Lord), 135
Plants, 697
Arboriculture, 45
Botany, 105
Horticulture, 411
Trees, 886
Plato, 697
Plato's Republic, 697
Philosophy, 695
Pleasure, 697
Dancing, 223
Music, 599
Pain, 665
Theatres, 865
Poetry, 697
Fiction, 335
Literature, 506
Poland, 697
Kosciusko, 458
Policy (American), 697
Alliance, 32
Alliances, 34
Politeness, 700
Courtesy, 213
Courtiers, 213
Political Economy, 272
Domestic Economy, 271
Politics, 701
Anti-Federalists, 38
Democratic Societies, 251
Democrats, 252
Federalism, 328
Federalists, 329
Hartford Convention, 400
Missouri Question, 563
Monarchy, 566
Parties, 675
Republicanism (Partisan), 754
Republicans, 755
Polygraph, 432
Copying Press, 207
Engraving, 307
Polypotamia, Proposed State of.
941
Western Territory, 939
Poor, 703
Economy, 271
Frugality, 367
Paupers, 682
Pope Pius VI, 703
Population, 703
Census, 130
Emigration, 296
Immigrants, 413
Immigration, 414
Porter (David), 704
Porto Rico, 359
West Indies, 937
Portugal, 704
Brazil, 108
Correa de Serra (J.), 208
Treaties of Commerce, 884
Posterity, 705
Generations, 375
Post Office, 705
Mails, 524
Post Roads, 707
Post Roads, 707
General Welfare Clause, 374
Internal Improvements, 429
Virginia, Protest, 986
Posts, Western, 707, 939
Treaty (British Peace), 885
Potato, 707
Horticulture, 411
Vegetables, 904
Potomac and Ohio Canal, 126
Canal, 125
Potomac River, 784
Power, 708
Authority, 63
Government, 384
Powers, 708
Powers (Assumed), 708
Centralization, 130
Pradt (Abbe de), 710
Praise, 711
Applause, 39
Approbation, 42
Honor, 410
Honors, 411
Precedent, 711
Abuses, 2
Example, 313
Preemption, Right of, 711
Land, 465
Lands, 468
Prerogative, 711
Privileges. 724
Presbyterian Spirit, 711
Liberty, 499
TOPICAL INDEX, WITH CROSS-REFERENCES
1005
Presents, 711
Bribery, 109
President, The, 712
Constitution (Federal), 188, 191
Elections (Presidential), 280
Electoral College, 715
Presidency, 715
Third Term, 865
Vice-Presidency, 907
Press (Freedom of the), 89, 717
Editors, 273
Libels, 497
Newspapers, 635
Price, Basis of, 718
Price of Wheat, 718
Priestley (Joseph), 719
Primogeniture, 719
Agrariauism, 23
Descents, 253
Entail, 307
Monopoly, 579
Principle, 720
Principles, 720
Truth, 887
Printing, 722
Books, 102
Newspapers, 635
Press, 89, 717
Prison, 46, 722
Crime, 219
Pardons, 673
Prisoners of War, 764, 765, 924
Captives, 128
Retaliation, 762
Privacy, 722
Private Life, 722
Privateering, 723
Letters of Marque, 541
Privateers, 723
Prizes, 724
Privilege (Franking), 355
Privileges, 724
Equality, 308
Equal Rights, 308
Favoritism, 324
Special Legislation, 828
Prizes, 724
Privateers, 723
Procrastination, 725
Delay, 250
Idleness, 412
Production, 725
Free Trade, 361
Protection, 730
Tariff, 849
Progress, 725
Innovation, 426
Reform, 739
Reformers, 741
Prohibition, 944
Intemperance, 427
Temperance, 859
Property, 726
Taxation, 852
Prophecy, 729
Prophet, Wabash, 730
Proscription, 730
Tyranny, 889
Prosperity, 730
Markets, 536
Peace, 682
Protection, 730
Duties, 267
Free Trade, 361
Tariff, 849
Protestants, 730
Bible, 88
Providence, 731
Bible, 88
Deity, 248
Religion, 742
Provisions, 628
Contraband of War, 204
Prussia, 357
Frederick the Great, 357
Frederick William II., 357
Psalms, 731
Bible, 88
Religion, 742
Public Confidence, 731
Credit, 217
Credulity, 219
Faith, 321
Public Works, 732
Paternalism, 680
Publicity, 732
Information, 425
Newspapers, 635
Punishment, 734
Crime, 219
Pardons, 673
€t
Quakers, 734
Quarantine, 735, 953
Quarrels, 735
Contention, 203
Dissenion, 259
Rebellion, 738
Quebec, 56
Canada, 124
Quiet, 735
Repose, 747
Quorum, 735
Dictator, 256
R
Race (Human), 735
Man, 526
Mankind, 527
Races, Mingling of, 736
Rainbows, 736
Meteorology, 549
Mirage, 560
Weather, 936
Randolph (Edmund), 736
Randolph (John), 176. 180, 737
Randolph (Peyton), 737
Randolph (Thomas Mann), 738
Ratio of Apportionment, 39
Reading, 738
Books, 102
Education, 273
Learning, 489
Library, 502
Study, &41
Reason, 738
Error, 309
Mind, 554
Opinion, 659
Philosophy, 695
Souls, 820
Rebellion, 738
Disunion, 260
Rebellion, Bacon's, 738
Rebellion, Shays'e, 802
Secession, 793
Reciprocity, 739
Duties. 267
Free Trade, 361
Markets, 540
Protection, 730
Tariff, 849
Rectitude, 739
Honor, 410
Virtue, 914
Red River, 784
River, 783
Reform, 739
Innovation, 426
Progress, 725
Reformers, 741
Regencies, 741
Kings, 455
Relations, 741
Apppointment, 39
Office, 644
Offices, 647
Office-holders, 652
Parasites, 673
Patronage, 681
Religion, 742
Bible, 88
Deity, 248
Providence, 731
Reparation, 746
Indemnification, 419
Repose, 747
Contentment, 204
Peace, 682
Retirement, 765
Sleep, 818
Tranquillity, 872
Representation, 747
Elections, 279
Republicanism, 753
Suffrage, 841
Votes, 915
Voting, 915
Reprisal, 749
Indemnification, 419
Reparation, 746
Republic, 749
Republic (American), 750
Republic (English), 751
Republic (French), 752
Republic of Letters, 753
Republic (Plato's), 697
Republicanism (Governmental),
753
Republicanism (Partisan), 754
Republicans, 755
Republics, 761
Republicanism (Governmental),
Republicanism (Partisan), 754
Republicans, 755
Republicanism (Partisan), 754
Republicans, 755
Democratic Societies, 251
Democrats, 252
Missouri Question, 563
Parties, 675
Politics, 701
Reputation, 761
Ambition, 35
Applause, 39
Approbation, 42
Resignation, 761
Patience, 681
Resistance, 761
Force, 342
Rebellion, 738
Strength, 840
War, 915
Resolution, 761
Character, 133
Respect, 762
Insult, 426
Respectability, 762
Wrong, 950
1006
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Respectability, 762
Responsibility, 762
Duty, 268
Honor, 410
Retaliation, 762
Captives, 128
Cruelty, 221
Prisoners of War, 924
Retirement, 765
Repose, 747
Tranquillity, 872
Retrenchment, 767
Economy, 271
Frugality, 367
Surplus, 847
Revenge, 767
Anger, 37
Enemies, 296
Passions, 679
Punishment, 734
Retaliation, 762
Revenue, 767
Debt (United States), 234
Internal Improvements, 429
Surplus, 847
Tariff, 849
Taxation, 852
Revolution, 767
Revolution (American), 767
Revolution (French), 770
War, 915
Rhode Island, 777
Rhone River, 784
River, 783
Rice, 777
Agriculture, 23
Farming, 323
Richmond, Va., 779
Cities, 143
Ridicule, 779
Abuse, 2
Medicine, Moliere and, 547
Riedesel (Baron), 779
Rienzi (Nicolo Gabrini), 779
Right, 779
Right of Asylum, 62
Right of Expatriation, 319, 780
Right of Representation, 780
Right of Search, 417
Right of Suffrage, 780
Rights, 780
Rights, Bill of, 88
Rights, Equal, 308
Rights, Natural, 608
Rights, State, 832
Rights of British America, 963
Rights of Conscience, 185
Rights of Man, 782
Rittenhouse (David), 783
River, Columbia, 61
Illinois, 783
James, 783
Kanawha, 783
Mississippi, 783
Missouri, 783
Ohio, 784
Potomac, 784
Red, 784
Rhone, 784
St. Croix, 784
Wabash, 784
Rivers, 784
Roane (Spencer), 785
Roads. Post, 707
Internal Improvements, 429
Virginia Protest, 986
Robespierre, 785
Jacobins, 435
Revolution (French), 770
Rochambeau (Count), 785
Rodney (Caesar A.), 785
Rogues, 785
Honesty, 410
Rohan (Cardinal de), 786
Rotation in Office, 786
Elections, 279
Hereditary Officers, 387
Third Term, 865
Rowan (A. H.), 786
Ireland, 433
Rules, 786
Rules (Jefferson's Ten), 20
Rush (Benjamin), 786
Russia, 786, 888
Alexander of Russia, 27
Bonaparte (N.), 101
Catherine of Russia, 421, 786
Dashkoff (M.), 223
Rutledge (Edward), 787
Rutledge (John), 787
m
Sacrifices, 787
Duty, 268
Service, 802
Safety, 787
Confidence (Public), 731
Rights, 780
St. Croix River, 784
River, 783
Rivers, 784
Salaries, 787
Congress (Compensation), 174
Judges, 446
Salt Water (Distillation), 788
Sancho (Ignatius), 622
San Domingo, 788
West Indies, 937
San Juan (Porto Rico), 359
West Indies, 937
Santee Canal, 126
Canal, 125
River, 783
Rivers, 784
Saratoga, Proposed State of, 941
Western Territory, 939
Sardinia, 789
Saussure (Horace B.), 790
Say (Jean Baptiste), 392
Scenery, American, 790
Lake George, 465
Monticello, 590
Natural Bridge, 607
Niagara, 790
Potomac, 784, 790
Schism, 790
Union, 890
Unity, 899
Schools, 790
Academies, 4
Academy, 3
Education, 273
University, National, 899
University of Virginia, 900
Science, 791
Education, 273
Sciences, 792
Scientific Societies. 819
Scipio, 664
People, Roman, 691
Screw Propeller, 431
Balloons, 66
Inventions, 431
Steam, 838
Sculpture, 792
Art, 57
Arts, 58
Houdon (J. A.), 412, 934
Seamen, 792
Fisheries, 337
Impressment, 417
Navigation, 610
Ships, 806
Search, Right of, 417
Impressment, 417
Secession, 793
Disunion, 260
Kentucky, 453
Kentucky Resolutions, 454, 977
Rebellion, 738
Union (The Federal), 890
Secrecy, 795
Secret Societies, 819
Secret Service Money, 795
Secretaries of Legation, 795
Diplomacy, 258
Ministers (Foreign), 555
Sectionalism, 795
Geographical Lines, 381
Missouri Question, 563
Union, 890
Sedition Law, 795
Alien and Sedition Laws, 30
Aliens, 32
Self-government, 796
Authority, 63
Consent of Governed, 385
Government, 384
Rights, 780
Rights of Man, 782
Self-preservation, 799
Necessity, Law of, 620
Senate (French), 799
Revolution (French), 770
Senate (Virginia), 801
Virginia Constitution, 911
Senate (United States), 799
Congress, 172
Constitution (The Federal), 188,
194
Impeachment, 417
Treaties, 876
Senators (United States), 188, 192
Congress, 172
Senate (United States), 799
Seneca, 801
Philosophy, 695
Senility, 801
Common Sense, 166
Moral Sense, 591
Sense, 802
Common Sense, 166
Moral Sense, 591
Senility, 801
Sermons, Political, 744
Ministers (Religious), 558
Service, 802
Duty, 268
Jefferson, Services of, 442
Sacrifices, 787
Shays's Rebellion, 802
Bacon's Rebellion, 738
Rebellion, 738
Whisky Insurrection, 945
TOPICAL INDEX, WITH CROSS-REFERENCES
1007
Shakespeare, 471
Duty, 268
Sheep, 803
Sheep (Merinos), 804
Manufactures, 528
Shells, 804
Deluge, 250
Geology, 383
Mineralogy, 555
Mountains, 596
Sheriff, 805
Counties, 212
Shipping (American), 805
Carrying Trade, 129
Drawbacks, 263
Navigation, 610
Ocean, 643
Ships, 806
Short (William), 808
Sierra Leone, 155
Colonization (Negro), 154
Sieyes (Abbe), 809
Revolution (French), 770
Silence, 809
Debate, 225
Lawyers, 487
Silver, 262
Bank, 66
Banks, 73
Dollar, 260
Mint, 559
Money, 571
Money (Continental), 577
Money (Metallic), 578
Paper Money, 668
Simplicity, 809
Ceremony, 133
Etiquette, 311
Formalities, 344
Levees, 496
Sincerity, 809
Candor, 126
Frankness, 357
Honesty, 410
Truth, 887
Sinclair (Sir John), 809
Sinecures, 809
Patronage, 681
Slander, 809
Abuse, 2
Calumny, 122
Libels, 497
Malice, 526
Ministers, 558
Newspapers, 635
Slave Trade, 811
Colonization (Negro), 154
Negroes, 621
Slavery, 811
Slaves, 814
Slaves (Emancipation), 816
Sleep, 818
Dreams, 264
Repose, 747
Small (William), 818
Smith (Adam), 392
Smith (John), 818
Smith (Robert), 818
Smith (Samuel), 818
Smith (William S.), 819
Smuggling, 819
Commerce, 156
Free Ports, 358
Free Trade, 361
Tariff, 849
Snakes, 819
Natural History, 607
Social Intercourse, 819
Conciliation, 167
Harmony .'i'.i'.i
Spirit (Party), 829
Societies (Communal), 819
Societies (Democratic), 251
Societies (Scientific), 819
Societies (Secret), 819
Society, 819
Society of the Cincinnati, 142
Socrates, 820
Epicurus, 307, 695
Philosophy, 695
Plato, 697
Solitude, 820
Silence, 809
Tranquillity, 872
Souls, Transmigration of, 820
Metaphysics, 549
Materialism, 544
Mind, 554
South America, 820
Spain, 821
Spanish America, 825
South and West, 937
South Carolina, 820
Sovereignty, 820
Jurisdiction, 450
Land, 467
Spain, 821
Spanish America, 825
Special Legislation, 828
Equality, 308
Equal Rights, 308
Favoritism, 324
Privileges, 724
Specie, 578
Speculation, 828
Bubbles, 109
Banks, 80
Gambling, 372
Panics, 667
Paper Money, 6C8
Speech, Freedom of, 358
Debate, 225
Eloquence, 286
Language, 470
Oratory, 664
Spelling, 829
Grammar, 394
Language, 470
Languages, 474
Spies, Treasury, 630, 706, 829
Spies, Post Office, 706
Spirit (Party), 829
Conciliation, 167
Harmony, 399
Social Intercourse, 819
Springs, Medicinal, 829
Medicinal Springs, 546
Medicine, 547
Squatters, 470, 829
Lands, 470
Preemption, 711
Stability, 829
Union (The Federal), 890
United States, 895
Stael (Madame de), 830
Necker (Jacques), 620
Standard, 830
Pendulum, 685
Standard (Money), 574
Standard (Measures), 830
Standard (Weights), 832
State Rights, 832
Coercion, State, 150
Centralization, 130
General Welfare Clause, 374
Judiciary, 448
Supreme Court. 842
States, 834
Union (The Federal), 890
United States, 895
Statesmen, 838
Abilities, 1
Genius, 381
Steam, 838
Inventions, 431
Screw Propeller, 431
Sterne (Laurence), 591
Steuben (Baron), 840
Washington (George), 927
Stewart (Dugald), 840
Metaphysics, 549
Tracy (Comte de), 870
Strength, National, 840
Force, 342
Power, 708
Strickland (William), 92
Stuart (Archibald), 840
Stuart (House of), 840
History (English), 406
Study, 841
Education, 273
Learning, 489
Submarine Boats, 620
Torpedoes, 870
Submission, 841
Dependence, 252
Subservience, 841
Tribute, 886
Subservience, 841
Dependence, 252
Submission, 841
Tribute, 886
Subsidies, 108
Fisheries, &37
France (Commerce with), 348
General Welfare Clause, 374
Manufactures, 534
Ships, 808
Subsistence, 841
Olive, 658
Plants, 697
Suffrage, 841
Votes, 915
Voting, 915
Sugar, 842
Agriculture, 23
Suicide, 599
Crime, 219
Sumter (Thomas), 842
Sun, 842
Astronomy, 61
Sun-dial, 842
Supreme Court, 842
Constitution (Federal), 190
Impeachment, 416
Judges, 446
Judiciary, 448
Law, 477
Surgery, 547
Surplus, 847
Economy, 271
Frugality, 367
Retrenchment, 767
Surveying, 848
Land, 465
Lauds, 468
1008
THE JEFFERSONIAN CYCLOPEDIA
Swartwout (Samuel), 848
Sylvania, Proposed State of, 941
Western Territory, 939
Sympathy, 848
Affection, 21
Family, 321
Friends, 363
Friendship, 363
Happiness, 397
Home, 409
T
Talents, 848
Abilities, 1
Character, 133
Genius, 381
Power, 708
Talleyrand, 849
X. Y. Z. Plot, 951
Tariff, 849
Duties, 267
Free Trade, 361
Protection, 730
Reciprocity, 160
Tarleton (Col. B.), 851
Taste, 852
Manners, 527
Taxation, 852
Taxes, 39, 856
Tax-gatherers, 859
Taylor (John), 859
Tea, 859
Boston Port Bill, 104, 769
Teachers, 859
Academies, 4
Academy, 3
Knowledge, 457
Learning, 489
Schools, 790
University of Virginia, 900
Temper, &59
Passions, 679
Temperance, 859
Beer, 86
Intemperance, 427
Whisky, 944
Wines, 947
Tenants, 859
Immigration, 414
Tender, Legal, 574
Money, 571
Ternant (J. B.), 859
Territory, 860
Canada, 124
Conquest, 185
Consent of Governed, 385
Cuba, 222
Expansion, 319, 468, 617, 862
Florida, 339
Louisiana, 509
Western Territory, 939
Tests, Religious, 864
Equality, 308
Thanksgiving, 323
Fast-day, 323
Theatres, 865
Dancing, 223
Music, 599
Pain, 665
Pleasure, 697
Theory, 865
Ideas, 412
Knowledge, 457
Third Terra, 865
Elections, 279
Hereditary officers, 387
President, 712
Presidency, 715
Rotation in Office, 786
Tiffin (H. D.), 867
Time, 867
Age, old, 21
Antiquities, 39
Title, 867
Simplicity, 809
Titles, 868
Tobacco, 868
Agriculture, 23
Toleration, 869
Conciliation, 167
Harmony, 399
Tontine, 869
Annuities, 38
Tories, 869
Parties, 676
Whigs, 943
Torpedoes, 870
Defence, 247
Fortifications, 845
Gunboats, 395, 617
Navy, 615
Torture, 870
Cruelty, 221
Retaliation, 762
Toulouse, Archbishop of, 870
Marie Antoinette, 536
French Revolution, 770
Tracy (Comte de), 870
Metaphysics, 549
Stewart (Dugald), 840
Trade, 871
Carrying Trade, 129, 871
Free Trade, 361
Free Ports, 358
Mediterranean Trade, 548
Slave Trade, 811
Trade Marks, 872
Tranquillity, 872
Happiness, 398
Repose, 747
Retirement, 765
Transmigration of Souls, 872
Metaphysics, 549
Mind, 554
Travel, 872
Europe, 312
Travelers, 873
Treason, 873
Burr's Treason, 113
Hartford Convention, 400
Rebellion, 738
Whisky Insurrection, 945
Treasury, 874
Assumption, 58
Finances, 336
Funding, 369
Hamilton (Alexander), 395
Loans, 507
Treasury spies, 630
Post-office spies, 706
Treaties, 874
Alliance, 32, 34
Alliances, 33, 34
Compact, 166
Compacts, 166
Treaties of Commerce, 880
Treaty (British Peace), 884
Jay Treaty, 436
Trees, 886
Arboriculture, 45
Tribute, 886
Dependence, 252
Insult, 426
Tripoli, 886
Barbary States, 80
Captives, 128
Morocco, 595
Trouble, 887
Difficulties, 257
Trumbull (John), 887
Cornwallis (Lord), 208
Trust, 887
Duty, 268
Office, 644
Truth, 887
Candor, 126
Frankness, 357
Honor, 410
Sincerity, 809
Truxtun (Thomas), 888
Tude (M. A. de la), 888
Bastile, 84
Turkey, 888
Constantinople, 186
Greeks, 394
Tyler (John), 889
Typhus Fever, 889
Yellow Fever, 952
Tyranny, 889
Conquest, 185
Cruelty, 221
Despotism, 254
Glory, 384
War, 915
u
Umpire, 890
Arbitration, 44
Unearned Increment, 890
Earth, 269
Labor, 458
Land, 465
Unger (John Louis de), 890
Uniformity, 890
Opinion, 660
Union (The Federal), 890
Embargo, 294
Schism, 790
United States, 895
Unit, Money, 576
United States, 895
Colonies, 151
Confederation, 167
Union (The Federal), 890
Unity, 899
Schism, 790
Secession, 793
Union (The Federal), 890
University (National), 899
Academies, 4
Acadejny, 3
University of Virginia, 900
William and Mary College, 946
Usurpation, 903
Tyranny, 889
Vacations, 903
Repose, 747
Retirement, 765
Vaccination, 904
Medicine, 547
Waterhouse (Dr.), 935
TOPICAL INDEX, WITH CROSS-REFERENCES
1009
Vanity, 904
Flattery, 339
Folly, 341
Foppery, 342
Van Rensselaer (Gen. S.), 004
Generals, 37'2
Vattel (Emmerich von), 904
Vegetables, 904
Agriculture, 23
Plants, 697
Vegetation, 904
Venison, 904
Kings, 455
Natural History, 007
Vergennes (Count de), 905
Vermont, 838, 905
Vespucius (Americus), 36, 156
History (American), 40(5
Veterinary Colleges, 905
Horses, 411, 949
Veto, 41, 905
Vice, 907
Crime, 219
Vice-Presidency, 907
Elections (Presidential), 280
Presidency, 715
Vigilance. 909
Wisdom, 948
Vincennes, 909
Vindication, 909
Reputation, 761
Vine, 909
Wines, 947
Virginia, 909
Virginia Constitution, 911
Virtue, 914
Vice, 907
Volney (Comte de), 915
Voltaire (F. M. A. de), 250, 499, 805
Volunteers, 915
Army, 52
Militia, 550
Votes, 915
Voting, 915
Suffrage, 841
W
Wabash Prophet, 730, 915
Prophecy, 729
Wabash River, 784
River, 783
Rivers, 784
Walsh (Robert), 915
War, 915
Conquest, 185
Contraband of War, 204, 625, 628
War of 1812, 921
War (Prisoners of), 924
Wards, 921
Cities, 143
Counties, 212
Washington City, 924
Capitol, U. S., 48, 127
Cities, 143
Washington (George), 570, 679,
759, 701, 766, 810, 927
Washington, Proposed State of,
941
Waterhouse (Dr.), 935
Vaccination, 904
Weakness, National, 935
Injury, 425
Insult, 426
Strength. 840
Tribute, 886
Wrong, 950
Wealth, 935
Capital, 126
Labor, 458
Laborers, 459
Weather, 936
Meteorology, 549
Winds, 930
Webster (Daniel), 936
Webster (Noah), 223, 930
Weights (Standard), 832
Decimal System, 241
Pendulum, 685
Measures (Standard), 830
Welfare, 936
Welfare Clause (General), 374
West and South, 937
Sectionalism, 795
West Indies, 937
Cuba, 222
Free Ports, 358
San Domingo, 788
West Point Academy, 3
Naval Academy, 4
Western Exploration, 939
Lewis and Clark Expedition, 495
Western Posts, 939
Treaty (British Peace), 884
Western Territory, 939
Louisiana, 509
Territory, 860
United States, 895
Whale oil, 942
Fisheries, 337
Whaling, 943
Wheat, 718, 943
Agriculture, 23
Wheatley (Phyllis), 622
Wheels, Wooden, 433
Inventions, 431
Whigs, 943
Parties, 676
Tories, 869
Whisky, 944
Beer, 86
Intemperance, 427
Whisky Insurrection, 945
Wines, 947
Wilkinson (James), 945
Burr1 s (A.) Treason, 113
William and Mary College, 946
University of Virginia, 900
Winds, 947
Meteorology, 549
Weather, 'J3U
Wines, 947
Beer, 80
Intemperance, 427
Whisky, 944
Wirt (William), 948
Wisdom, 948
Discretion, 258
Wistar (Caspar), 948
Women, 772, 948
Children, 138
Dress, 364
Economy, 271
Education, Female, 274
Fashion, 323
Home, 409
Marriage, 541
Office-holders, Matrimony and,
654
Offices, Women and, 652
Representation, Qualified, 748
Young Women, 954
Words, 949
Language, 470
Languages, 474
Works, Public, 732
Paternalism, 680
World, 949
Creation, 270
Deluge, 250
Earth, 269
Worth, 949
Character, 133
Merit, 549
Wretchedness, 949
Happiness, 398
Wright (Frances), 950
Writing, 950
Cipher, 143
Writing, Anonymous, 38
Wrong, 950
Wrongs, 950
Wythe (George), 950
Xenophon, 695
X. Y. Z. Plot, 951
France, Peace with, 351
Gerry (Elbridge), 383
Talleyrand, 849
Yazoo Lands, 952
Henry (Patrick), 404
Marshall (John), 542
Yellow Fever, 952
Typhus Fever, 889
Yeomanry, Beggared, 295
Yorktown, 853
Young Men, 953
Young Women, 954
Z
Zeal, 954
Ambition, 35
Enthusiasm, 307
Resolution, 761
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